Indoor heterogeneous photochemistry of molds and their contribution to HONO formation.

To better understand the impact of molds on indoor air quality, we studied the photochemistry of microbial films made by Aspergillus niger species, a common indoor mold. Specifically, we investigated their implication in the conversion of adsorbed nitrate anions into gaseous nitrous acid (HONO) and nitrogen oxides (NO ), as well as the related VOC emissions under different indoor conditions, using a high-resolution proton transfer reaction-time of flight-mass spectrometer (PTR-TOF-MS) and a long path absorption photometer (LOPAP). The different mold preparations were characterized by the means of direct injection into an Orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometer with a heated electrospray ionization (ESI-Orbitrap-MS).

Mismatch response in preterm and asphyxic neonates: a functional electrophysiological investigation of attention and habituation.

Background And Aim: There is a lack of diagnostic tools for early risk stratification of cognitive outcome in infants born preterm and infants with asphyxia. Using auditory event-related potentials and mismatch response, we aimed to assess possible differences in early attention and learning, as a marker for brain maturation to subsequently improve the allocation of early neurodevelopmental support.

Study Design And Methods: This cross-sectional study included 22 very preterm infants (gestational age (GA) < 32 weeks), eight term infants with asphyxia and 35 healthy term infants.

Indoor heterogeneous photochemistry of furfural drives emissions of nitrous acid.

People spend approximately 80% of their time indoor, making the understanding of the indoor chemistry an important task for safety. The high surface-area-to-volume ratio characteristic of indoor environments leads the semi-volatile organic compounds (sVOCs) to deposit on the surfaces. Using a long path absorption photometer (LOPAP), this work investigates the formation of nitrous acid (HONO) through the photochemistry of adsorbed nitrate anions and its enhancement by the presence of furfural.

Influence of indoor chemistry on the emission of mVOCs from Aspergillus niger molds.

People spend 80% of their time indoors exposed to poor air quality due to mold growth in humid air as well as human activities (painting, cooking, cleaning, smoking…). To better understand the impact of molds on indoor air quality, we studied the emission of microbial Volatile Organic Compounds (mVOCs) from Aspergillus niger, cultivated on malt agar extract, using a high-resolution proton transfer reaction- time of flight- mass spectrometer (PTR-TOF-MS). These emissions were studied for different cultivation time and indoor relative humidities.

The Role of Physicians During Hunger Strikes of Undocumented Migrant Workers in a Non-Custodial Setting.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, the living conditions of undocumented migrant workers in Belgium have deteriorated drastically. In Brussels, after various social actions, undocumented people began squatting and occupying public buildings to make their struggle visible to society. Desperate, some seized the possibility of a loophole in Belgian law that permits ill persons to have access to a temporary residence permit and started hunger striking.

Birth experience in newborn infants is associated with changes in nociceptive sensitivity.

Vaginal birth prepares the fetus for postnatal life. It confers respiratory, cardiovascular and homeostatic advantages to the newborn infant compared with elective cesarean section, and is reported to provide neonatal analgesia. We hypothesize that infants born by vaginal delivery will show lower noxious-evoked brain activity a few hours after birth compared to those born by elective cesarean section.

Neurofilament Light Chain: Blood Biomarker of Neonatal Neuronal Injury.

Neurofilament light chain (NfL) is a highly promising biomarker of neuroaxonal injury that has mainly been studied in adult neurodegenerative disease. Its involvement in neonatal disease remains largely unknown. Our aim was to establish NfL plasma concentrations in preterm and term infants in the first week of life.

Association between feeling threatened by a terrorist attack and subjective health: a web survey a week after the attacks of 22 March 2016 in Belgium.

: The wave of terrorist attacks over the past years in Europe and other regions may cause problems such as anxiety and depressive symptoms. Some studies suggest that perceived threat might also trigger physical health problems. : To investigate the association between feeling threatened and subjective health during the week following a terrorist attack.

Acute Effects of Glucose and Fructose Administration on the Neural Correlates of Cognitive Functioning in Healthy Subjects: A Pilot Study.

The present randomized double-blinded cross-over study aims to extensively study the neural correlates underpinning cognitive functions in healthy subjects after acute glucose and fructose administration, using an integrative multimodal neuroimaging approach. Five minutes after glucose, fructose, or placebo administration through a nasogastric tube, 12 participants underwent 3 complementary neuroimaging techniques: 2 task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) sequences to assess working memory (N-back) and response inhibition (Go/No-Go) and one resting state fMRI sequence to address the cognition-related fronto-parietal network (FPN) and salience network (SN). During working memory processing, glucose intake decreased activation in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) relative to placebo, while fructose decreased activation in the ACC and sensory cortex relative to placebo and glucose.

Predicting neurodevelopmental outcome in preterm born infants using auditory event-related potentials: A systematic review.

Prematurity is a known risk factor for later cognitive deficits. At present there are neither behavioral nor neurological tests available to detect those preterm infants who would benefit most from early interventions. Neurophysiologic methods, and more specifically, auditory event-related potentials (AERPs) are convenient tools to investigate early cognitive functioning.

Electrophysiological Measurement of Noxious-evoked Brain Activity in Neonates Using a Flat-tip Probe Coupled to Electroencephalography.

Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience. In non-verbal patients, it is very difficult to measure pain, even with pain assessment tools. Those tools are subjective or determine secondary physiological indicators which also have certain limitations particularly when exploring the effectiveness of analgesia.

Decreased Fronto-Parietal and Increased Default Mode Network Activation is Associated with Subtle Cognitive Deficits in Elderly Controls.

Background: Cognitive functions progressively deteriorate during aging and neurodegenerative diseases. The present study aims at investigating differences in working memory performance as well as functional brain changes during the earliest stages of cognitive decline in health elderly individuals.

Methods: 62 elderly individuals (41 females), including 41 controls (35 females) and 21 middle cognitive impairment subjects (6 females), underwent neuropsychological assessment at baseline and an fMRI examination in a N-back paradigm contrasting 2-back vs.

The impact of gut hormones on the neural circuit of appetite and satiety: A systematic review.

The brain-gut-axis is an interdependent system affecting neural functions and controlling our eating behaviour. In recent decades, neuroimaging techniques have facilitated its investigation. We systematically looked into functional and neurochemical brain imaging studies investigating how key molecules such as ghrelin, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), peptide tyrosine-tyrosine (PYY), cholecystokinin (CCK), leptin, glucose and insulin influence the function of brain regions regulating appetite and satiety.

Habituation as Parameter for Prediction of Mental Development in Healthy Preterm Infants: An Electrophysiological Pilot Study.

The aim of this prospective pilot study was to evaluate the predictive value of discrimination and habituation, which was measured by mismatch negativity in 17 healthy very preterm (mean gestational age 27.4 weeks; range 25.0-31.

Pilot Health Promoting Hospital in rural South Africa: evidence-based approach to systematic hospital transformation.

This project aimed at transforming a rural District Hospital in the Limpopo Province of South Africa into a Health Promoting Hospital according to standards developed by WHO-Europe. The intervention used a diagnostic approach and baseline needs assessment of hospital staff, patients, and their relatives to identify health education and promotion needs. Activities included empowerment training and skills development, implementation of health education and promotion activities, and the integration of health-promoting standards and values in the hospital structure and culture.

Contacts between general practitioners and migrants without a residence permit and the use of "urgent" medical care.

Aims: To examine the extent to which general practitioners (GPs) are consulted by migrants without a residence permit (MRP), their use of the government sponsored reimbursement system and the difficulties encountered therewith. To study what hurdles the care recipients (MRP) experience in using healthcare and the reimbursement system.

Methods: A written survey of GPs in the Brussels Capital region and semi-structured interviews with MRP in the same area.

Job satisfaction and turnover intent of primary healthcare nurses in rural South Africa: a questionnaire survey.

Aim: This paper is a report of a correlational study of the relationships between demographic variables, job satisfaction, and turnover intent among primary healthcare nurses in a rural area of South Africa.

Background: Health systems in Southern Africa face a nursing shortage fuelled by migration, but research on job satisfaction and turnover intent of primary healthcare nurses remains poorly described.

Method: A cross-sectional study with survey design was conducted in 2005 in all local primary healthcare clinics, including nurses on duty at the time of visit (n = 143).

Advances in health promotion in Africa: promoting health through hospitals.

A district hospital in a rural area of the Limpopo Province in South Africa has recently been launched as a 'Health Promoting Hospital', based on the principles of the Ottawa Charter and according to standards developed by WHO-Europe. The initiative was conceived as a project in partnership with stakeholders from the local community and is considered a pilot by Provincial health authorities, representing an advance in health promotion practice in the region. The project was designed as a research intervention, guided by the principles of critical action research integrated with the Precede-Proceed model for the systematic evaluation of health promotion and education.

Coverage of recommended vaccines in children at 7-8 years of age in Flanders, Belgium.

Aim: Evaluation of the coverage of primary diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP), poliomyelitis, hepatitis B (HBV) and measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine doses recommended before the age of 18 months in 7-year-old school children in Flanders, Belgium. Meningococcal serogroup C and DT-polio vaccines offered respectively as catch-up and booster vaccinations were also evaluated.

Methods: Parents of 792 children born in Flanders in 1997 and selected by cluster sampling were interviewed at home in 2005.

HIV/AIDS knowledge, attitudes, practices and perceptions of rural nurses in South Africa.

Aim: This paper is a report of a study exploring HIV/AIDS-related knowledge, attitudes, practices and perceptions of nurses in the largely black and rural Limpopo Province of South Africa.

Background: Studies of HIV/AIDS knowledge, attitudes and practices among healthcare workers in developing countries have shown gaps in knowledge and fear of contagion, coupled with ambivalent attitudes in caring for patients with HIV/AIDS and inconsistent universal precautions adherence.

Method: A cross-sectional study of a random sample of primary health care (PHC) (n = 71) and hospital nurses (n = 69) was carried out in 2005, using a questionnaire, focus groups and in-depth interviews.

Evidence for modality-independent order coding in working memory.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the representation of serial order in working memory, more specifically whether serial order is coded by means of a modality-dependent or a modality-independent order code. This was investigated by means of a series of four experiments based on a dual-task methodology in which one short-term memory task was embedded between the presentation and recall of another short-term memory task. Two aspects were varied in these memory tasks--namely, the modality of the stimulus materials (verbal or visuo-spatial) and the presence of an order component in the task (an order or an item memory task).

International comparison of orthotic brace prices.

This study compared market prices (i.e. third-party reimbursement and patient co-payment) of prefabricated neck, wrist and knee braces in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Ontario (Canada) and the UK.

Vaccination coverage in 14-year-old adolescents: documentation, timeliness, and sociodemographic determinants.

Objective: The objective of this study was to measure the coverage and influencing determinants of hepatitis B virus, measles-mumps-rubella, and Meningococcus serogroup C vaccination in 14-year-old adolescents in Flanders, Belgium, in 2005.

Methods: A total of 1500 adolescents who were born in 1991 and were living in Flanders were selected with a 2-stage cluster sampling technique. Home visits to copy vaccination documents and complete a questionnaire on sociodemographic and other related factors were conducted by trained interviewers.

Reforming the Belgian market for orthotic braces: what can we learn from the international experience?

Objectives: This article aims to review regulation governing outpatient orthotic braces (neck, wrist and knee braces) in France, the Netherlands and Sweden with a view to reforming the Belgian market.

Methods: Information about the regulatory framework was derived from an analysis of legal texts and a survey completed by national experts.

Results: Strategies to keep down prices include public procurement in Sweden, maximum prices in France, and exclusion of expensive braces from reimbursement in the Netherlands.

Service use in family caregivers of persons with dementia in Belgium: psychological and social factors.

This study aims to investigate whether selected social and psychological characteristics of family caregivers of persons with dementia are related to community-based service use in Belgium. Two aspects were distinguished in service utilisation: volume (number of contacts) and diversity (number of services). Within a selected region, dementia caregivers were traced via the detection of persons with dementia known to community health or social services.