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Roggenbuck EC, Hall EA, Hanson IB, Roby AA, Zhang KK, Alkatib KA, Carter JA, Clewner JE, Gelfius AL, Gong S, Gordon FR, Iseler JN, Kotapati S, Li M, Maysun A, McCormick EO, Rastogi G, Sengupta S, Uzoma CU, Wolkov MA, Clowney EJ. Let's talk about sex: Mechanisms of neural sexual differentiation in Bilateria. WIREs Mech Dis 2024; 16:e1636. [PMID: 38185860 DOI: 10.1002/wsbm.1636] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2023] [Revised: 11/20/2023] [Accepted: 11/21/2023] [Indexed: 01/09/2024]
Abstract
In multicellular organisms, sexed gonads have evolved that facilitate release of sperm versus eggs, and bilaterian animals purposefully combine their gametes via mating behaviors. Distinct neural circuits have evolved that control these physically different mating events for animals producing eggs from ovaries versus sperm from testis. In this review, we will describe the developmental mechanisms that sexually differentiate neural circuits across three major clades of bilaterian animals-Ecdysozoa, Deuterosomia, and Lophotrochozoa. While many of the mechanisms inducing somatic and neuronal sex differentiation across these diverse organisms are clade-specific rather than evolutionarily conserved, we develop a common framework for considering the developmental logic of these events and the types of neuronal differences that produce sex-differentiated behaviors. This article is categorized under: Congenital Diseases > Stem Cells and Development Neurological Diseases > Stem Cells and Development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emma C Roggenbuck
- MCDB 464 - Cellular Diversity: Sex Differentiation of the Brain, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Elijah A Hall
- MCDB 464 - Cellular Diversity: Sex Differentiation of the Brain, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Isabel B Hanson
- MCDB 464 - Cellular Diversity: Sex Differentiation of the Brain, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Alyssa A Roby
- MCDB 464 - Cellular Diversity: Sex Differentiation of the Brain, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Katherine K Zhang
- MCDB 464 - Cellular Diversity: Sex Differentiation of the Brain, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Kyle A Alkatib
- MCDB 464 - Cellular Diversity: Sex Differentiation of the Brain, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Joseph A Carter
- MCDB 464 - Cellular Diversity: Sex Differentiation of the Brain, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
- Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Jarred E Clewner
- MCDB 464 - Cellular Diversity: Sex Differentiation of the Brain, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Anna L Gelfius
- MCDB 464 - Cellular Diversity: Sex Differentiation of the Brain, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Shiyuan Gong
- MCDB 464 - Cellular Diversity: Sex Differentiation of the Brain, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Finley R Gordon
- MCDB 464 - Cellular Diversity: Sex Differentiation of the Brain, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
- Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Jolene N Iseler
- MCDB 464 - Cellular Diversity: Sex Differentiation of the Brain, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Samhita Kotapati
- MCDB 464 - Cellular Diversity: Sex Differentiation of the Brain, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Marilyn Li
- MCDB 464 - Cellular Diversity: Sex Differentiation of the Brain, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Areeba Maysun
- MCDB 464 - Cellular Diversity: Sex Differentiation of the Brain, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Elise O McCormick
- MCDB 464 - Cellular Diversity: Sex Differentiation of the Brain, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Geetanjali Rastogi
- MCDB 464 - Cellular Diversity: Sex Differentiation of the Brain, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Srijani Sengupta
- MCDB 464 - Cellular Diversity: Sex Differentiation of the Brain, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Chantal U Uzoma
- MCDB 464 - Cellular Diversity: Sex Differentiation of the Brain, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Madison A Wolkov
- MCDB 464 - Cellular Diversity: Sex Differentiation of the Brain, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - E Josephine Clowney
- Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
- Michigan Neuroscience Institute Affiliate, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
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2
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Testing individual variations of horses’ tactile reactivity: when, where, how? Naturwissenschaften 2022; 109:41. [DOI: 10.1007/s00114-022-01811-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2022] [Revised: 07/19/2022] [Accepted: 07/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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3
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Perelmuter JT, Hom KN, Mohr RA, Demis L, Kim S, Chernenko A, Timothy M, Middleton MA, Sisneros JA, Forlano PM. Testosterone Treatment Mimics Seasonal Downregulation of Dopamine Innervation in the Auditory System of Female Midshipman Fish. Integr Comp Biol 2021; 61:269-282. [PMID: 33974077 DOI: 10.1093/icb/icab070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
In seasonally breeding vertebrates, hormones coordinate changes in nervous system structure and function to facilitate reproductive readiness and success. Steroid hormones often exert their effects indirectly via regulation of neuromodulators, which in turn can coordinate the modulation of sensory input with appropriate motor output. Female plainfin midshipman fish (Porichthys notatus) undergo increased peripheral auditory sensitivity in time for the summer breeding season, improving their ability to detect mates, which is regulated by steroid hormones. Reproductive females also show differences in catecholaminergic innervation of auditory circuitry compared with winter, non-reproductive females as measured by tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), the rate-limiting enzyme in catecholaminergic synthesis. Importantly, catecholaminergic input to the inner ear from a dopaminergic-specific forebrain nucleus is decreased in the summer and dopamine inhibits the sensitivity of the inner ear, suggesting that gonadal steroids may alter auditory sensitivity by regulating dopamine innervation. In this study, we gonadectomized non-reproductive females, implanted them with estradiol (E2) or testosterone (T), and measured TH immunoreactive (TH-ir) fibers in auditory nuclei where catecholaminergic innervation was previously shown to be seasonally plastic. We found that treatment with T, but not E2, reduced TH-ir innervation in the auditory hindbrain. T-treatment also reduced TH-ir fibers in the forebrain dopaminergic cell group that projects to the inner ear, and likely to the auditory hindbrain. Higher T plasma in the treatment group was correlated with reduced-ir TH terminals in the inner ear. These T-treatment induced changes in TH-ir fibers mimic the seasonal downregulation of dopamine in the midshipman inner ear and provide evidence that steroid hormone regulation of peripheral auditory sensitivity is mediated, in part, by dopamine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan T Perelmuter
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.,Department of Biology, Brooklyn College, The City University of New York, Brooklyn, NY, USA.,Psychology Subprogram in Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA
| | - Kelsey N Hom
- Department of Biology, Brooklyn College, The City University of New York, Brooklyn, NY, USA.,Doctoral Program in Biology, The Graduate Center, The City University of New York, New York, NY, USA.,Biology Subprogram in Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, and Behavior, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA
| | - Robert A Mohr
- Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Lina Demis
- Department of Biology, Brooklyn College, The City University of New York, Brooklyn, NY, USA
| | - Spencer Kim
- Department of Biology, Brooklyn College, The City University of New York, Brooklyn, NY, USA
| | - Alena Chernenko
- Department of Biology, Brooklyn College, The City University of New York, Brooklyn, NY, USA
| | - Miky Timothy
- Department of Biology, Brooklyn College, The City University of New York, Brooklyn, NY, USA
| | - Mollie A Middleton
- School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Joseph A Sisneros
- Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.,Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.,Virginia Merrill Bloedel Hearing Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Paul M Forlano
- Department of Biology, Brooklyn College, The City University of New York, Brooklyn, NY, USA.,Psychology Subprogram in Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA.,Biology Subprogram in Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, and Behavior, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA.,Biology Subprogram in Neuroscience, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA.,Aquatic Research and Environmental Assessment Center, Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, NY, USA
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Abstract
Explaining how animals respond to an increasingly urbanised world is a major challenge for evolutionary biologists. Urban environments often present animals with novel problems that differ from those encountered in their evolutionary past. To navigate these rapidly changing habitats successfully, animals may need to adjust their behaviour flexibly over relatively short timescales. These behavioural changes, in turn, may be facilitated by an ability to acquire, store and process information from the environment. The question of how cognitive abilities allow animals to avoid threats and exploit resources (or constrain their ability to do so) is attracting increasing research interest, with a growing number of studies investigating cognitive and behavioural differences between urban-dwelling animals and their non-urban counterparts. In this review we consider why such differences might arise, focusing on the informational challenges faced by animals living in urban environments, and how different cognitive abilities can assist in overcoming these challenges. We focus largely on birds, as avian taxa have been the subject of most research to date, but discuss work in other species where relevant. We also address the potential consequences of cognitive variation at the individual and species level. For instance, do urban environments select for, or influence the development of, particular cognitive abilities? Are individuals or species with particular cognitive phenotypes more likely to become established in urban habitats? How do other factors, such as social behaviour and individual personality, interact with cognition to influence behaviour in urban environments? The aim of this review is to synthesise current knowledge and identify key avenues for future research, in order to improve our understanding of the ecological and evolutionary consequences of urbanisation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victoria E Lee
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter Penryn Campus, Penryn, UK
| | - Alex Thornton
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter Penryn Campus, Penryn, UK
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Abstract
Studies on auditory laterality have revealed asymmetries for processing, particularly species-specific signals, in vertebrates and that each hemisphere may process different features according to their functional “value”. Processing of novel, intense emotion-inducing or finer individual features may require attention and we hypothesised that the “functional pertinence” of the stimuli may be modulating attentional processes and hence lateralisation of sound processing. Behavioural measures in “(food) distracted” captive Campbell’s monkeys and electrophysiological recordings in anesthetised (versus awake) European starlings were performed during the broadcast of auditory stimuli with different functional “saliences” (e.g., familiar/novel). In Campbell’s monkeys, only novel sounds elicited lateralised responses, with a right hemisphere preference. Unfamiliar sounds elicited more head movements, reflecting enhanced attention, whereas familiar (usual in the home environment) sounds elicited few responses, and thus might not be arousing enough to stimulate attention. In starlings, in field L, when awake, individual identity was processed more in the right hemisphere, whereas, when anaesthetised, the left hemisphere was more involved in processing potentially socially meaningless sounds. These results suggest that the attention-getting property of stimuli may be an adapted concept for explaining hemispheric auditory specialisation. An attention-based model may reconcile the different existing hypotheses of a Right Hemisphere-arousal/intensity or individual based lateralisation.
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Anesthesia and brain sensory processing: impact on neuronal responses in a female songbird. Sci Rep 2016; 6:39143. [PMID: 27966648 PMCID: PMC5155427 DOI: 10.1038/srep39143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2016] [Accepted: 11/10/2016] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Whether anesthesia impacts brain sensory processing is a highly debated and important issue. There is a general agreement that anesthesia tends to diminish neuronal activity, but its potential impact on neuronal “tuning” is still an open question. Here we show, based on electrophysiological recordings in the primary auditory area of a female songbird, that anesthesia induces neuronal responses towards biologically irrelevant sounds and prevents the seasonal neuronal tuning towards functionally relevant species-specific song elements.
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7
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Abstract
Complex vocal signals, such as birdsong, contain acoustic elements that differ in both order and duration. These elements may convey socially relevant meaning, both independently and through their interactions, yet statistical methods that combine order and duration data to extract meaning have not, to our knowledge, been fully developed. Here we design novel semi-Markov methods, Bayesian estimation and classification trees to extract order and duration information from behavioural sequences and apply these methods to songs produced by male European starlings, Sturnus vulgaris, in two social contexts in which the function of song differs: a spring (breeding) and autumn (nonbreeding) context. Additionally, previous data indicate that damage to the medial preoptic nucleus (POM), a brain area known to regulate male sexually motivated behaviour, affects structural aspects of starling song such that males in a sexually relevant context (i.e. spring) sing shorter songs than appropriate for this context. We further test the utility of our statistical approach by comparing attributes of song structure in POM-lesioned males to song produced by control spring and autumn males. Spring and autumn songs were statistically separable based on the duration and order of phrase types. Males produced more structurally complex aspects of song in spring than in autumn. Spring song was also longer and more stereotyped than autumn song, both attributes used by females to select mates. Songs produced by POM-lesioned males in some cases fell between measures of spring and autumn songs but differed most from songs produced by autumn males. Overall, these statistical methods can effectively extract biologically meaningful information contained in many behavioural sequences given sufficient sample sizes and replication numbers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah J. Alger
- Department of Biology, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, WI, U.S.A., Department of Zoology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI, U.S.A., Department of Statistics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI, U.S.A
| | - Bret R. Larget
- Department of Statistics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI, U.S.A., Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI, U.S.A
| | - Lauren V. Riters
- Department of Zoology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI, U.S.A., Correspondence: L. V. Riters, Department of Zoology, 428 Birge Hall, 430 Lincoln Drive, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, U.S.A. (L. V. Riters)
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8
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Abstract
Complex vocal signals, such as birdsong, contain acoustic elements that differ in both order and duration. These elements may convey socially relevant meaning, both independently and through their interactions, yet statistical methods that combine order and duration data to extract meaning have not, to our knowledge, been fully developed. Here we design novel semi-Markov methods, Bayesian estimation and classification trees to extract order and duration information from behavioural sequences and apply these methods to songs produced by male European starlings, Sturnus vulgaris, in two social contexts in which the function of song differs: a spring (breeding) and autumn (nonbreeding) context. Additionally, previous data indicate that damage to the medial preoptic nucleus (POM), a brain area known to regulate male sexually motivated behaviour, affects structural aspects of starling song such that males in a sexually relevant context (i.e. spring) sing shorter songs than appropriate for this context. We further test the utility of our statistical approach by comparing attributes of song structure in POM-lesioned males to song produced by control spring and autumn males. Spring and autumn songs were statistically separable based on the duration and order of phrase types. Males produced more structurally complex aspects of song in spring than in autumn. Spring song was also longer and more stereotyped than autumn song, both attributes used by females to select mates. Songs produced by POM-lesioned males in some cases fell between measures of spring and autumn songs but differed most from songs produced by autumn males. Overall, these statistical methods can effectively extract biologically meaningful information contained in many behavioural sequences given sufficient sample sizes and replication numbers.
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9
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De Groof G, George I, Touj S, Stacho M, Jonckers E, Cousillas H, Hausberger M, Güntürkün O, Van der Linden A. A three-dimensional digital atlas of the starling brain. Brain Struct Funct 2015; 221:1899-909. [PMID: 25690327 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-015-1011-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2014] [Accepted: 02/10/2015] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Because of their sophisticated vocal behaviour, their social nature, their high plasticity and their robustness, starlings have become an important model species that is widely used in studies of neuroethology of song production and perception. Since magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) represents an increasingly relevant tool for comparative neuroscience, a 3D MRI-based atlas of the starling brain becomes essential. Using multiple imaging protocols we delineated several sensory systems as well as the song control system. This starling brain atlas can easily be used to determine the stereotactic location of identified neural structures at any angle of the head. Additionally, the atlas is useful to find the optimal angle of sectioning for slice experiments, stereotactic injections and electrophysiological recordings. The starling brain atlas is freely available for the scientific community.
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Affiliation(s)
- Geert De Groof
- Bio-Imaging Lab, University of Antwerp, Campus Drie Eiken, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610, Wilrijk, Belgium.
| | - Isabelle George
- UMR6552-Ethologie Animale Et Humaine, Université Rennes 1-CNRS, Rennes, France
| | - Sara Touj
- Bio-Imaging Lab, University of Antwerp, Campus Drie Eiken, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610, Wilrijk, Belgium.,UMR6552-Ethologie Animale Et Humaine, Université Rennes 1-CNRS, Rennes, France
| | - Martin Stacho
- Department of Biopsychology, Faculty of Psychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Ruhr-University Bochum, 44780, Bochum, Germany
| | - Elisabeth Jonckers
- Bio-Imaging Lab, University of Antwerp, Campus Drie Eiken, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610, Wilrijk, Belgium
| | - Hugo Cousillas
- UMR6552-Ethologie Animale Et Humaine, Université Rennes 1-CNRS, Rennes, France
| | - Martine Hausberger
- UMR6552-Ethologie Animale Et Humaine, Université Rennes 1-CNRS, Rennes, France
| | - Onur Güntürkün
- Department of Biopsychology, Faculty of Psychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Ruhr-University Bochum, 44780, Bochum, Germany
| | - Annemie Van der Linden
- Bio-Imaging Lab, University of Antwerp, Campus Drie Eiken, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610, Wilrijk, Belgium
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De Groof G, Poirier C, George I, Hausberger M, Van der Linden A. Functional changes between seasons in the male songbird auditory forebrain. Front Behav Neurosci 2013; 7:196. [PMID: 24391561 PMCID: PMC3867637 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2013.00196] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2013] [Accepted: 11/23/2013] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
Songbirds are an excellent model for investigating the perception of learned complex acoustic communication signals. Male European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) sing throughout the year distinct types of song that bear either social or individual information. Although the relative importance of social and individual information changes seasonally, evidence of functional seasonal changes in neural response to these songs remains elusive. We thus decided to use in vivo functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine auditory responses of male starlings that were exposed to songs that convey different levels of information (species-specific and group identity or individual identity), both during (when mate recognition is particularly important) and outside the breeding season (when group recognition is particularly important). We report three main findings: (1) the auditory area caudomedial nidopallium (NCM), an auditory region that is analogous to the mammalian auditory cortex, is clearly involved in the processing/categorization of conspecific songs; (2) season-related change in differential song processing is limited to a caudal part of NCM; in the more rostral parts, songs bearing individual information induce higher BOLD responses than songs bearing species and group information, regardless of the season; (3) the differentiation between songs bearing species and group information and songs bearing individual information seems to be biased toward the right hemisphere. This study provides evidence that auditory processing of behaviorally-relevant (conspecific) communication signals changes seasonally, even when the spectro-temporal properties of these signals do not change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Geert De Groof
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Bio-Imaging Lab, University of Antwerp Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Colline Poirier
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Bio-Imaging Lab, University of Antwerp Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Isabelle George
- UMR6552 - Ethologie Animale et Humaine, Université Rennes 1 - CNRS Rennes, France
| | - Martine Hausberger
- UMR6552 - Ethologie Animale et Humaine, Université Rennes 1 - CNRS Rennes, France
| | - Annemie Van der Linden
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Bio-Imaging Lab, University of Antwerp Antwerp, Belgium
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