Publications by authors named "Dijk S"

Climate anxiety is a phenomenon that is gaining importance due to the general public's increased awareness of the worsening climate crisis. At present, climate anxiety is not operationalized consistently across the existing literature. It is important to gain more consensus on the definition and operationalization of climate anxiety to facilitate reliable and generalizable research and to further develop interventions.

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Objective: To evaluate phenotype and genotype characteristics of fetuses and children with upper limb anomalies.

Method: Retrospective cohort study of a prenatal and postnatal cohort with upper limb anomalies from January 2007 to December 2021 in a Fetal Medicine Unit. Prenatally on ultrasound suspected upper limb anomalies, such as transverse and longitudinal reduction defects, polydactyly, and syndactyly, and postnatally identified children referred to the Congenital Hand Team were evaluated separately.

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Objectives: Quality assessment tools serve an important role in evaluating economic evaluations. This paper showcases the first application of the Checklist for Health Economic Quality Evaluations (CHEQUE) tool in a systematic review setting and offers descriptive reflections on its use.

Methods: We applied CHEQUE to 21 diverse economic evaluations in a systematic review on medical education.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The social motivation hypothesis suggests that individuals with Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC) pay less attention to social cues and have a lower desire for social relationships.
  • - A study involving interviews with eleven autistic men revealed five key themes about their social motivation: social networks, the importance of social contact, challenges in social interactions, the conditional nature of social contact, and the struggle between valuing social interaction and facing difficulties.
  • - Findings indicate that social motivation is not a simple concept for autistic men; instead, it fluctuates based on individual experiences and contexts, suggesting that their diminished motivation might stem from navigating these complexities rather than a lack of interest in social interaction.
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Overfishing is one of the greatest threats to fish populations. Size-selective harvesting favours faster juvenile growth, younger maturation, small adult body size and low reproductive output. Such changes might be slow to recover and ultimately threaten population fitness and survival.

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Complex health challenges require professionals to operate across disciplines and to better connect with society. Here, we showcase a community-engaged and challenge-based educational model in which undergraduate students conduct transdisciplinary research on authentic complex biomedical problems. This concept reinforces translational medicine, human capital, and exemplifies synergy between education, research, healthcare, and society.

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Overfishing not only drastically reduces the number of fish in an exploited population but is also often selective for body size by removing the largest individuals from a population. Here, we study experimentally the evolutionary effects of size-selective harvesting using whole-genome sequencing on a model organism, the zebrafish (Danio rerio). We demonstrate genomic shifts in the populations exposed to size-selective harvesting for five generations and show reduced genetic diversity in all harvested lines, including the control line (non-size-selected).

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Sensing of extracellular ATP (eATP) controls CD8 T cell function. Their accumulation can occur through export by specialized molecules, such as the release channel Pannexin 1 (Panx1). Whether Panx1 controls CD8 T cell immune responses , however, has not been previously addressed.

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Background: The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the criticality and complexity of decision making for novel treatment approval and further research. Our study aims to assess potential decision-making methodologies, an evaluation vital for refining future public health crisis responses.

Methods: We compared 4 decision-making approaches to drug approval and research: the Food and Drug Administration's policy decisions, cumulative meta-analysis, a prospective value-of-information (VOI) approach (using information available at the time of decision), and a reference standard (retrospective VOI analysis using information available in hindsight).

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Background: Almost all patients with Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) develop cutaneous neurofibroma (cNF), benign dermal tumours that have a large impact on the patient's Quality of Life (QoL). The French cNF-Skindex is the first questionnaire to specifically assess cNF-related QoL in patients with NF1. We aimed to adapt and validate a Dutch version of the cNF-Skindex.

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Objective: The diagnosis and management of Superior Canal Dehiscence Syndrome (SCDS) with concomitant otosclerosis can be a challenge. Otosclerosis can mask SCDS symptoms and stapes surgery may reveal or exacerbate vestibular symptoms. Our aim is to present four cases of SCDS with concomitant otosclerosis and thereby informing the reader about the possibility of this dual occurrence and its implications for treatment.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to create a framework based on value-based healthcare principles to assess health outcomes and costs on an institutional level, specifically investigating how these factors are related.
  • Conducted as a retrospective cohort study at a teaching hospital in Rotterdam, the research involved two populations: bariatric patients (856 total) and breast cancer patients (663 total), analyzing their health outcomes and associated costs of care.
  • Results indicated high quality cost indicators (QCI) for both populations, with the bariatric group maintaining stable costs and the breast cancer group showing more variability, while poor health outcomes were linked to increased hospital costs in both groups.
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Exclusive enteral nutrition (EEN) is effective in inducing remission in pediatric Crohn disease (CD). EEN alters the intestinal microbiome, but precise mechanisms are unknown. We hypothesized that pre-diagnosis diet establishes a baseline gut microbiome, which then mediates response to EEN.

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Background: The health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and cognition are important indicators for the quality of survival in patients with high-grade glioma (HGG). However, data on long-term survivors and their caregivers are scarce. We aim to investigate the interaction between cognition and HRQoL in long-term survivors, their caregivers' evaluations, and the effect on caregiver strain and burden.

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Context: Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is a complex system disorder, caused by alterations in RAS pathways. NF1 adults often suffer from chronic and severe fatigue, for which they are frequently referred to Internal Medicine/Endocrinology. Seeking medical help often leads to (invasive) diagnostic procedures.

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Background: Although several types of psychotherapy effectively reduce psychological distress associated with personality disorders, randomised controlled trials (RCT) have systematically excluded older patients. We aimed to examine the effectiveness of group schema therapy combined with psychomotor therapy (GST + PMT) in later life compared with treatment as usual (TAU).

Methods: We did an open-label, multicentre, RCT in eight outpatient clinics for geriatric psychiatry in the Netherlands.

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Background: Half of the patients with Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) develop one or more tumours called plexiform neurofibromas, which can have a significant impact on Quality of Life (QoL). The PlexiQoL questionnaire is a disease-specific QoL measure for adults with NF1-associated plexiform neurofibromas. The aim of this study was to adapt and validate a Dutch version of the PlexiQoL for the Netherlands.

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Although past research has established a relationship between functional connectivity and cognitive function, less is known about which cognitive domains are associated with which specific functional networks. This study investigated associations between functional connectivity and global cognitive function and performance in the domains of memory, executive function and psychomotor speed in 166 older adults aged 75-91 years (mean = 80.3 ± 3.

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Background: Due to shared symptoms, acute heart failure (AHF) is difficult to differentiate from an acute exacerbation of COPD (AECOPD). This systematic review aimed to identify markers that can diagnose AHF underlying acute dyspnea in patients with COPD presenting at the hospital.

Methods: All types of observational studies and clinical trials that investigated any marker's ability to diagnose AHF in acutely dyspneic COPD patients were considered eligible for inclusion.

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Overharvesting is a serious threat to many fish populations. High mortality and directional selection on body size can cause evolutionary change in exploited populations via selection for a specific phenotype and a potential reduction in phenotypic diversity. Whether the loss of phenotypic diversity that accompanies directional selection impairs response to environmental stress is not known.

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The exposure to sublethally high temperature reduces reproductive performance in diverse organisms. Although this effect has been particularly emphasized for males or male reproductive functioning, it remains largely unknown whether the effect of heat on fertility is sex-specific. Here we examined the impact of sublethally high temperature on male and female functions in a simultaneously hermaphroditic snail species, .

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Background: It is important that healthcare professionals recognise cognitive dysfunction in hospitalised older patients in order to address associated care needs, such as enhanced involvement of relatives and extra cognitive and functional support. However, studies analysing medical records suggest that healthcare professionals have low awareness of cognitive dysfunction in hospitalised older patients. In this study, we investigated the prevalence of cognitive dysfunction in hospitalised older patients, the percentage of patients in which cognitive dysfunction was recognised by healthcare professionals, and which variables were associated with recognition.

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Background: Patients with chronic kidney disease are often requested to engage in self-monitoring sodium (i.e. salt) intake, but it is currently unknown how self-monitoring would empower them.

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