Arteriovenous Oscillometric Plethysmography for Fistula Functional Testing.

Introduction: The aim of the presented prospective observational study was to evaluate the effect of fistula flow on peripheral wave morphology and pulse wave velocity by means of the oscillometric Vicorder®-device with the purpose of fistula surveillance.

Methods: Digitized and normalized curves of 53 haemodialysis patients at the fistula and non-fistula arm were analysed. Slope parameters and the areas under the curve of characteristic sections of pulse waves as well as the power spectrum of the pulse waves and their first and second derivatives were computed.

Qualitative multi-stakeholder evaluation of the adoption, implementation and sustainment of the school-based dietary intervention "Jump-in".

Background: Comprehensive school-based programs applying the WHO Health Promoting School Model have the potential to initiate and sustain behavior change and impact health. However, since they often include intervention efforts on a school's policies, physical environment, curriculum, health care and involving parents and communities, they significantly 'intrude' on a complex system that is aimed primarily at education, not health promotion. More insights into and concrete strategies are therefore needed regarding their adoption, implementation, and sustainment processes to address the challenge to sustainable implementation of HPS initiatives in a primarily educational setting.

A system dynamics approach to understand Dutch adolescents' sleep health using a causal loop diagram.

Background: Healthy sleep is crucial for the physical and mental wellbeing of adolescents. However, many adolescents suffer from poor sleep health. Little is known about how to effectively improve adolescent sleep health as it is shaped by a complex adaptive system of many interacting factors.

Development of an action programme tackling obesity-related behaviours in adolescents: a participatory system dynamics approach.

System dynamics approaches are increasingly addressing the complexity of public health problems such as childhood overweight and obesity. These approaches often use system mapping methods, such as the construction of causal loop diagrams, to gain an understanding of the system of interest. However, there is limited practical guidance on how such a system understanding can inform the development of an action programme that can facilitate systems changes.

The effects of the COVID-19 lockdowns on motor skill development of 6- and 7-year old children in the Netherlands: a longitudinal study.

Background: The closing of schools and sports clubs during the COVID-19 lockdown raised questions about the possible impact on children's motor skill development. Therefore, we compared motor skill development over a one-year period among four different cohorts of primary school children of which two experienced no lockdowns during the study period (control cohorts) and two cohorts experienced one or two lockdowns during the study period (lockdown cohorts).

Methods: A total of 992 children from 9 primary schools in Amsterdam (the Netherlands) participated in this study (age 5 - 7; 47.

The Effects of the Jump-In Whole-School Intervention on the Weight Development of Children in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Background: This study assessed the effects of the "Jump-in" whole-school intervention in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on children's weight development by comparing children exposed to the intervention and controls from 3 other large Dutch cities. Jump-in is a comprehensive intervention that aims to stimulate healthy nutrition and physical activity in children at primary schools in Amsterdam. In addition, the relationship between the intervention's implementation degree and its effectiveness was studied.

Novel flours from leguminosae () pods for technological improvement and nutritional enrichment of wheat bread.

Wheat bread is widely consumed in many Western cultures (>70 kg//year) despite the fact that the flour milling process reduces the content of dietary fibre, vitamins and minerals resulting in baked goods nutritionally poor. () fruit is an American carob that can be grinded to obtain different fractions such as endocarp, seeds, residue and the whole pod flours. The objective of the work was to analyse the chemical compositions, colour and physical, functional and hydration properties of grinding fractions from (); and also, study their application in wheat bread and their effect on rheological, textural and organoleptic characteristics.

Empowered to Stay Active: Psychological Empowerment, Retirement Timing, and Later Life Work.

Motivating older employees both to prolong their working lives and to stay active even after retirement has become increasingly important due to rising old-age dependency ratios. Later life work-including both paid work and volunteering-has thus become an important topic for scholars and practitioners. We aim to extend research on later life work by hypothesizing that psychological empowerment at work increases not only desired and actual retirement ages but also levels of later life work.

Oscillometric pulse wave analysis for detecting low flow arteriovenous fistula.

Background: Pulse wave analysis may be useful to assess fistula function. We aimed to prospectively evaluate if convenient oscillometric devices are applicable to detect flow below 500 ml/min in a real life clinical setting.

Methods: Pulse waves were recorded ambilaterally with the vicorder® device at the brachial artery in 53 patients on haemodialysis with native fistula.

The relationships between children's motor competence, physical activity, perceived motor competence, physical fitness and weight status in relation to age.

The goal of this cross-sectional study was to further explore the relationships between motor competence, physical activity, perceived motor competence, physical fitness and weight status in different age categories of Dutch primary school children. Participants were 2068 children aged 4 to 13 years old, divided over 9 age groups. During physical education classes, they completed the 4-Skills Test, a physical activity questionnaire, versions of the Self-Perception Profile for Children, Eurofit test and anthropometry measurements.

Promoting children's sleep health: Intervention Mapping meets Health in All Policies.

Background: To design a comprehensive approach to promote children's sleep health in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, we combined Intervention Mapping (IM) with the Health in All Policies (HiAP) perspective. We aimed to create an approach that fits local infrastructures and policy domains across sectors.

Methods: First, a needs assessment was conducted, including a systematic review, two concept mapping studies, and one cross-sectional sleep diary study (IM step 1).

The supply of multiple ecosystem services requires biodiversity across spatial scales.

The impact of local biodiversity loss on ecosystem functioning is well established, but the role of larger-scale biodiversity dynamics in the delivery of ecosystem services remains poorly understood. Here we address this gap using a comprehensive dataset describing the supply of 16 cultural, regulating and provisioning ecosystem services in 150 European agricultural grassland plots, and detailed multi-scale data on land use and plant diversity. After controlling for land-use and abiotic factors, we show that both plot-level and surrounding plant diversity play an important role in the supply of cultural and aboveground regulating ecosystem services.

Adolescent sleep duration: associations with social-cognitive determinants and the mediating role of sleep hygiene practices.

Insufficient sleep duration among adolescents is a widespread public health problem. Gaining better insight into social-cognitive determinants associated with adolescent sleep duration is necessary for developing effective preventive interventions to support healthy sleep. This study aimed to explore whether social-cognitive determinants regarding sufficient sleep duration were associated with sleep duration, and if these associations were mediated by collective sleep hygiene practices.

Objective monitoring of functional recovery after total knee and hip arthroplasty using sensor-derived gait measures.

Background: Inertial sensors hold the promise to objectively measure functional recovery after total knee (TKA) and hip arthroplasty (THA), but their value in addition to patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) has yet to be demonstrated. This study investigated recovery of gait after TKA and THA using inertial sensors, and compared results to recovery of self-reported scores of pain and function.

Methods: PROMs and gait parameters were assessed before and at two and fifteen months after TKA ( = 24) and THA ( = 24).

Polyclonal Immunotactoid Glomerulopathy Associated with Monoclonal Gammopathy of IgM Type and Underlying Plasmacellular Disease: Successful Treatment with Rituximab Alone.

Immunotactoid glomerulopathy (ITG) occurs infrequently and is characterized by organized IgG containing deposits. It most usually manifests as a concomitant disease of a broad spectrum of oncologic entities. We here present an exceptional case of ITG without glomerular light chain restriction secondary to a IgM kappa type monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance.

Effect Evaluation of a School-Based Intervention Promoting Sleep in Adolescents: A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: This study evaluated the effect of the school-based intervention Charge Your Brainzzz on adolescents' social-cognitive determinants, sleep hygiene and sleep duration and quality.

Methods: A cluster-randomized controlled trial was conducted with 972 students from 10 Dutch high schools. Schools were randomly allocated to the intervention (N = 5) or control condition (N = 5).

Developing the logic framework underpinning a whole-systems approach to childhood overweight and obesity prevention: Amsterdam Healthy Weight Approach.

Background: Whole-systems approaches (WSAs) are well placed to tackle the complex local environmental influences on overweight and obesity, yet there are few examples of WSAs in practice. is a long-term, municipality-led program to improve children's physical activity, diet, and sleep through action in the home, neighborhood, school, and city. Adopting a WSA, local political, physical, social, educational, and healthcare drivers of childhood obesity are viewed as a complex adaptive system.

Correlates of inadequate sleep health among primary school children.

The aim of the present study was to explore potential factors of inadequate sleep health (i.e. sleep duration, quality, and timing) of school-aged children.

Contrasting responses of above- and belowground diversity to multiple components of land-use intensity.

Land-use intensification is a major driver of biodiversity loss. However, understanding how different components of land use drive biodiversity loss requires the investigation of multiple trophic levels across spatial scales. Using data from 150 agricultural grasslands in central Europe, we assess the influence of multiple components of local- and landscape-level land use on more than 4,000 above- and belowground taxa, spanning 20 trophic groups.

Improving Physical Activity Levels in Prevocational Students by Student Participation: Protocol for a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: A consistent finding in the literature is the decline in physical activity during adolescence, resulting in activity levels below the recommended guidelines. Therefore, promotion of physical activity is recommended specifically for prevocational students.

Objective: This protocol paper describes the background and design of a physical activity promotion intervention study in which prevocational students are invited to participate in the design and implementation of an intervention mix.

Independent and sensitive gait parameters for objective evaluation in knee and hip osteoarthritis using wearable sensors.

Background: Although it is well-established that osteoarthritis (OA) impairs daily-life gait, objective gait assessments are not part of routine clinical evaluation. Wearable inertial sensors provide an easily accessible and fast way to routinely evaluate gait quality in clinical settings. However, during these assessments, more complex and meaningful aspects of daily-life gait, including turning, dual-task performance, and upper body motion, are often overlooked.

Understanding obesity-related behaviors in youth from a systems dynamics perspective: The use of causal loop diagrams.

This paper reports how we applied systems dynamics methods to gain insight into the complexity of obesity-related behaviors in youth, including diet, physical activity, sedentary behavior, and sleep, by integrating a literature review into causal loop diagrams (CLDs). Results showed that the CLDs consisted of multiple subsystems and three types of dynamics appeared, including (1) feedback loops, (2) connections between feedback loops and subsystems, and (3) mechanisms. We observed clear similarities in the dynamics for the four behaviors in that they relate to "traditional" subsystems, such as home and school environments, as well as to newly added subsystems, including macroeconomics, social welfare, and urban systems.

Perceived Determinants of Children's Inadequate Sleep Health. A Concept Mapping Study among Professionals.

An increasing number of children experience inadequate sleep, which negatively effects their health. To promote healthy sleep among children, it is essential to understand the underlying determinants. This online concept mapping study therefore explores potential determinants of children's inadequate sleep as perceived by professionals with expertise in the sleep health of children aged 4-12 years.