news 2021

Human glioblastoma tumors are aggressive hard-to-treat brain cancers that have a high unmet need for new treatment options. A team of researchers led by Prof. Kiavash Movahedi and Prof. Jo Van Ginderachter (VIB-VUB), in collaboration with colleagues from VIB, VUB, and KU Leuven, have mapped the immune landscape in these glioblastoma tumors.

VUB FloodCitiSense project brings breakthrough in systematic mapping of flood problems March winds and April showers herald summers of intense downpours, leading to localised pluvial flooding. Accurately estimating this type of flooding is difficult. The FloodCitiSense project, an international participatory research project led by VUB professor of hydrology Boud Verbeiren, aims to remedy this by developing a flood warning service.

In brief : It's a first : approximately 100 scientists in 42 countries joined forces to learn about the incidence of parental burnout. They found that Western countries are the most affected by parental burnout. The cause? The often individualistic culture of Western countries. This international study, published in Affective Science , shows how culture, rather than socio-economic factors, plays a predominant role in parental burnout.

Biologists give first insight into distribution of ecologically important mangroves in the West Indian Ocean Mangrove forests are of great ecological and socio-economic importance. They have a permanent place on the international climate agenda because of their extensive carbon storage. Researchers from the Department of Biology at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel have now studied the genetic structure and diversity of mangrove forests in the Western Indian Ocean, a region where these aspects have been less studied until now.

River discharge changed significantly around the world in recent decades. An international research team including climate scientist Wim Thiery of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel has now been able to demonstrate that it is not water and land management but climate change that is playing a decisive role in this at a global level.

In 1960, Nobel Prize winner Sheldon Glashow predicted a process within the Standard Model, the most important model of particle physics. The theory describes the interaction of an antineutrino with an electron producing a new particle. However, no particle accelerator on Earth, not even the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, is able to make this process happen because it requires extremely high particle energy.

What if heart specialists could simulate the fitting of a new heart valve in 4D before an operation? 4D CT scanners add the dimension of time to three-dimensional images and visualise the movement of the heart in detail.

A new study led by Belgian and Spanish researchers published in Scientific Reports adds evidence about the potential benefits of green tea extracts in Down syndrome. The researchers observed that the intake of green tea extracts can reduce facial dysmorphology in children with Down syndrome when taken during the first three years of life.

Researchers find asteroid dust in impact crater that signalled end of dinosaurs VUB professor Steven Goderis and his team have published unique evidence linking the extinction of dinosaurs to the impact of an asteroid 66 million years ago. For the first time, the scientists found evidence of dust remnants from an asteroid in the Chicxulub impact crater itself in Mexico.

If a person takes oxytocin, also known as the 'love hormone', in the form of a nasal spray for a sustained period, the body will start to produce more oxytocin by itself. This was the effect found by researchers at KU Leuven in people with autism. One month after treatment, they still showed elevated oxytocin levels in their saliva.

A method that instructs immune system cells to help repair damaged tissues in the intestine has been developed by researchers at KU Leuven and Seoul National University. This opens the way for more effective treatment of inflammatory bowel disease, including ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. The study was carried out on humans and mice.

In his doctoral research, VUB legal historian Wouter De Rycke investigated the unique but forgotten contribution of the Mons lawyer Louis Bara (1821-1857) to the 19th-century international peace campaign. According to De Rycke, his research offers a glimpse into a rather unknown episode of our history: " In the 19th century, the first internationally organised movement to declare war emerged, a kind of 'NGO' avant la lettre.

There is growing consensus that conspiracy theories play an increasingly important role in influencing the behavior of both individuals and groups committed to violence. Raul Rios of the Institute for European Studies of the Free University of Brussels made an inventory of the most recent studies into the causes of this phenomenon.

VUB researcher Dr. Derya Yüksek has developed a method to transform conflicts, by using participatory community media practices to unite young people of Cyprus, a still deeply divided island with a violent past. Dr. Derya Yüksek: " In a worldwide tendency to relapse back to politics of antagonism and aggression, we need processes and models that can constructively deal with the diverse make-up of our societies, and the conflicts this brings.

Mobiel 21 and Netwerk Duurzame Mobiliteit (Network Sustainable Mobility), with researchers from the University of Ghent and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, have investigated the underlying factors of transport poverty.

KU Leuven researchers have identified the biological mechanism that explains why some people experience abdominal pain when they eat certain foods. The finding paves the way for more efficient treatment of irritable bowel syndrome and other food intolerances. Up to 20% of the world's population suffers from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), which causes stomach pain or severe discomfort after eating.

Creating stem cells that can give rise to any cell type in the early embryo and its supporting structures, including the placenta: some call it 'the holy grail' of stem cell research. An international team of researchers offer new criteria to determine whether a mouse stem cell line has this much-wanted ability, known as totipotency.