Publications by authors named "Groot H"

Objective: Elderly patients with chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI) undergoing revascularization are prone to delirium and prolonged hospitalization. Preoperative prehabilitation may prevent delirium and reduce the length of stay. This study investigates the effect of multimodal prehabilitation on delirium incidence in elderly patients with CLTI undergoing revascularization.

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  • Zebrafish serve as a key model for studying neurodegenerative diseases, but achieving cellular resolution in their brain imaging has been difficult.
  • The study presents groundbreaking MRI results at a high magnetic field strength of 28.2 T, achieving a 20% better signal-to-noise ratio compared to the previous 17.6 T, allowing for clearer brain structure visualization.
  • Advanced imaging techniques like diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and constrained spherical deconvolution are used to non-invasively identify white matter structures with high resolution, paving the way for better understanding of microstructural changes in zebrafish models of brain diseases.
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  • A study evaluated a personalized eHealth app designed for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) patients undergoing surgery to assess patient satisfaction and feasibility.
  • Out of 65 patients, 91% installed the app, with high satisfaction scores for guidance, information, and overall usefulness, although 10% deactivated it.
  • The app is considered a valuable tool for enhancing prehabilitation and contributes to the digital transformation in healthcare, with users reporting positive lifestyle changes and areas for improvement.
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  • Early introduction of peanut for high-risk infants may help prevent peanut allergies, but it's unclear how to best diagnose reactions reported at home.
  • In a study of 186 infants who had reactions to peanut, 69% showed sensitization, but 73% of the oral food challenges were negative, allowing safe home introduction of peanut.
  • After 6 months, 96% of infants continued consuming peanut regularly without reactions, indicating that testing can prevent misdiagnosis and support long-term tolerance.*
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Galectin-3 and Suppression of tumorigenicity-2 (ST2) are known markers of cardiac fibrosis. We investigated the prognostic value of fibrotic markers for the development of diastolic dysfunction and long-term outcome in patients suffering an ST-elevated myocardial infarction (STEMI). We analyzed 236 patients from the GIPS-III cohort with available echocardiographic studies and plasma measurements at hospitalization and after 4 months follow-up.

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  • The study looks at how the environment and our genes can affect health, especially in young kids.
  • Researchers studied 416 Colombian children under 5 years old to see how different factors, like pollution and diet, impact DNA damage.
  • They found that some things, like being exposed to air pollution and living in crowded places, can increase DNA damage, while others, like drinking soft drinks, might actually help reduce it.
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Acute and chronic coronary syndromes (ACS and CCS) are leading causes of mortality. Inflammation is considered a key pathogenic driver of these diseases, but the underlying immune states and their clinical implications remain poorly understood. Multiomic factor analysis (MOFA) allows unsupervised data exploration across multiple data types, identifying major axes of variation and associating these with underlying molecular processes.

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  • - Understanding the immune system's role in STEMI could help reduce the risk of recurrent cardiovascular events, but current anti-inflammatory treatments may have serious side effects due to their broad impact.
  • - A study involving 38 STEMI patients and 38 controls revealed significant differences in immune cell types and gene expression, particularly in monocytes, right after STEMI and up to 24 hours later.
  • - Results indicated specific immune pathways affected by STEMI, suggesting that personalized approaches based on genetic variants and disease stages may optimize anti-inflammatory treatments for individual patients.
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Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) belongs to the TLR protein family that plays an important role in the immune and inflammation response system. While TLR2 is predominantly expressed in immune cells, its expression has also been detected in the brain, specifically in microglia and astrocytes. Recent studies indicate that genomic deletion of TLR2 can result in impaired neurobehavioural function.

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Exposome studies are advancing in high-income countries to understand how multiple environmental exposures impact health. However, there is a significant research gap in low- and middle-income and tropical countries. We aimed to describe the spatiotemporal variation of the external exposome, its correlation structure between and within exposure groups, and its dimensionality.

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Aims: The development and incidence of de-novo heart failure after ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) in the contemporary era of rapid reperfusion are largely unknown. We aimed to establish the incidence of post-STEMI heart failure, stratified by left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and to find predictors for its occurrence. Furthermore, we investigated the course of left ventricular systolic and diastolic function after STEMI.

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Observations of low-lying dark states in several photosynthetic complexes challenge our understanding of the mechanisms behind their efficient energy transfer processes. Computational models are necessary for providing novel insights into the nature and function of dark states, especially since these are not directly accessible in spectroscopy experiments. Here, we will focus on signatures of dark-type states in chlorosomes, a light-harvesting complex from green sulfur bacteria well-known for uniting a broad absorption band with very efficient energy transfer.

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Chlorosomes, the photosynthetic antenna complexes of green sulfur bacteria, are paradigms for light-harvesting elements in artificial designs, owing to their efficient energy transfer without protein participation. We combined magic angle spinning (MAS) NMR, optical spectroscopy and cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) to characterize the structure of chlorosomes from a mutant of . The chlorosomes of this mutant have a more uniform composition of bacteriochlorophyll (BChl) with a predominant homolog, [8Ethyl, 12Ethyl] BChl , compared to the wild type (WT).

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The largest light-harvesting antenna in nature, the chlorosome, is a heterogeneous helical BChl self-assembly that has evolved in green bacteria to harvest light for performing photosynthesis in low-light environments. Guided by NMR chemical shifts and distance constraints for Chlorobaculum tepidum wild-type chlorosomes, the two contrasting packing modes for syn-anti parallel stacks of BChl c to form polar 2D arrays, with dipole moments adding up, are explored. Layered assemblies were optimized using local orbital density functional and plane wave pseudopotential methods.

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Allergic rhinitis, caused by airborne pollen, is a common disease with a great impact on the quality of life for patients and high costs for society. Prevention of high pollen concentrations in the air is relevant for creating a safe environment for allergic patients. Due to climate change, the heat in cities during the summer is a recurring problem.

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A fundamental understanding of proton transport through graphene nanopores, defects, and vacancies is essential for advancing two-dimensional proton exchange membranes (PEMs). This study employs ReaxFF molecular dynamics, metadynamics, and density functional theory to investigate the enhanced proton transport through a graphene nanopore. Covalently functionalizing the nanopore with a benzenesulfonic group yields consistent improvements in proton permeability, with a lower activation barrier (≈0.

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A Lanthanum ion (La) incorporation strategy is implemented to modify BaBiO-based double perovskite photoelectrodes. X-ray diffraction (XRD) characterization shows that highly crystalline BaLaBiO double perovskites with the space group I2/m are successfully prepared. UV-vis absorption spectra and the Tauc-plot reveal an optical band gap E ≈1.

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Aims: Despite treatment advancements, cardiovascular disease remains a leading cause of death worldwide. Identifying new targets is crucial for enhancing preventive and therapeutic strategies. The gut microbiome has been associated with coronary artery disease (CAD), however our understanding of specific changes during CAD development remains limited.

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Fetuin-A acts as both an inhibitor of calcification and insulin signaling. Previous studies reported conflicting results on the association between fetuin-A and cardiometabolic diseases. We aim to provide further insights into the association between genetically predicted levels of fetuin-A and cardiometabolic diseases using a Mendelian randomization strategy.

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Propionate is a microbial metabolite formed in the gastrointestinal tract, and it affects host physiology as a source of energy and signaling molecule. Despite the importance of propionate, the biochemical pathways responsible for its formation are not clear in all microbes. For the succinate pathway used during fermentation, a key enzyme appears to be missing-one that oxidizes ferredoxin and reduces NAD.

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The antenna complex of green sulfur bacteria, the chlorosome, is one of the most efficient supramolecular systems for efficient long-range exciton transfer in nature. Femtosecond transient absorption experiments provide new insight into how vibrationally induced quantum overlap between exciton states supports highly efficient long-range exciton transfer in the chlorosome of . Our work shows that excitation energy is delocalized over the chlorosome in <1 ps at room temperature.

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Chlorosomes from green bacteria perform the most efficient light capture and energy transfer, as observed among natural light-harvesting antennae. Hence, their unique functional properties inspire developments in artificial light-harvesting and molecular optoelectronics. We examine two distinct organizations of the molecular building blocks as proposed in the literature, demonstrating how these organizations alter light capture and energy transfer, which can serve as a mechanism that the bacteria utilize to adapt to changes in light conditions.

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  • Early introduction of peanuts can help prevent peanut allergies in infants, but the ideal timing for introduction is still uncertain, especially for those with prior sensitization.
  • A study involving infants at pediatric centers in the Netherlands found that a significant portion (23%) were sensitized to peanuts before their first exposure, with certain risk factors like age and eczema severity affecting outcomes.
  • The findings recommend introducing peanuts before 8 months of age, particularly in infants with moderate to severe eczema, to minimize the risk of allergic reactions during the first exposure.
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