Publications by authors named "Hoek K"

Background: Anorexia nervosa may cause several gastro-intestinal complications.

Case Description: A 21-year-old woman presented herself with abdominal pain and vomiting a day after her first binge-eating episode. In her recent history she had lost 40 kg in weight and her BMI was 15 at presentation.

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Premise: The origin of diversity is a fundamental biological question. Gene duplications are one mechanism that provides raw material for the emergence of novel traits, but evolutionary outcomes depend on which genes are retained and how they become functionalized. Yet, following different duplication types (polyploidy and tandem duplication), the events driving gene retention and functionalization remain poorly understood.

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Background: Avian influenza viruses pose significant risk to human health. Vaccines targeting the hemagglutinin of these viruses are poorly immunogenic without the use of adjuvants.

Methods: Twenty healthy men and women (18-49 years of age) were randomized to receive 2 doses of inactivated influenza A/H5N1 vaccine alone (IIV) or with AS03 adjuvant (IIV-AS03) 1 month apart.

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One of the major contributors to child mortality in the world is diarrheal diseases, with an estimated 800,000 deaths per year. Many pathogens are causative agents of these illnesses, including the enteropathogenic or enterohemorrhagic forms of . These bacteria are characterized by their ability to cause attaching and effacing lesions in the gut mucosa.

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Objective: In medicine, especially in a preoperative setting, training of effective communication skills is challenging, since communication is often implicatively copied from professional environment. This phenomenological study describes the development and experience of two patient-embodied virtual reality experiences designed to be used as an educational tool.

Method: Two patient-embodied VR experiences from a first person patient perspective deployed negative or positive communication styles.

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One of the major contributors to child mortality in the world is diarrheal diseases, with an estimated 800,000 deaths per year. Many pathogens are causative agents of these illnesses, including the enteropathogenic (EPEC) or enterohemorrhagic (EHEC) forms of . These bacteria are characterized by their ability to cause attaching and effacing lesions in the gut mucosa.

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The immunological surveillance factors controlling vulnerability of the female reproductive tract (FRT) to sexually transmitted viral infections are not well understood. Interferon-epsilon (IFNɛ) is a distinct, immunoregulatory type-I IFN that is constitutively expressed by FRT epithelium and is not induced by pathogens like other antiviral IFNs α, β and λ. We show the necessity of IFNɛ for Zika Virus (ZIKV) protection by: increased susceptibility of IFNɛ-/- mice; their "rescue" by intravaginal recombinant IFNɛ treatment and blockade of protective endogenous IFNɛ by neutralising antibody.

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Purpose: Formative assessments can help motivate students and ease students' learning through feedback. There is a pressing need for improvement of clinical pharmacotherapy (CPT) education since junior doctors make many prescribing errors. The aim of this study was to determine whether a formative assessment with personalized narrative feedback helps medical students to increase their prescribing skills.

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We describe a case of neoehrlichiosis in an immunocompetent child with acute febrile illness in South Africa. Neoehrlichiosis was diagnosed by PCR on 16S rDNA from bone marrow aspirate. Phylogenetic analysis indicated an organism closely related to Candidatus Neoehrlichia.

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Aims: Prescribing errors occur frequently, especially among junior doctors. Our aim was to investigate prescribing errors made by final-year medical students. Information on these errors can help to improve education on and assessment of clinical pharmacotherapy (CPT).

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Study Objective: Quantitative neuromuscular monitoring is traditionally evaluated at the adductor pollicis muscle. By contrast, the TOF-Cuff compressomyograph evaluates neuromuscular block (NMB) at the upper arm. However, compressomyography has not been fully validated against other monitoring entities.

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Viperin has antiviral function against many viruses, including dengue virus (DENV), when studied in cells in culture. Here, the antiviral actions of viperin were defined both and in a mouse model of DENV infection. Murine embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) derived from mice lacking viperin (vip) showed enhanced DENV infection, accompanied by increased IFN-β and induction of ISGs; IFIT1 and CXCL-10 but not IRF7, when compared to wild-type (WT) MEFs.

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Article Synopsis
  • CD4 T cell activation and differentiation are crucial for effective immune responses, but need to be tightly regulated to avoid harmful reactions.
  • Granzyme B, a protease commonly linked to cytotoxic functions in certain CD4 T cells, has roles that are not fully understood, as not all granzyme B-expressing CD4 T cells exhibit cytotoxicity.
  • Research shows that granzyme B-deficient CD4 T cells produce more IL-17 and lead to quicker disease onset in models of intestinal inflammation, indicating that granzyme B plays an important role in the differentiation of these T cells.
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Peroxisomes are recognized as significant platforms for the activation of antiviral innate immunity where stimulation of the key adapter molecule mitochondrial antiviral signaling protein (MAVS) within the RIG-I like receptor (RLR) pathway culminates in the up-regulation of hundreds of ISGs, some of which drive augmentation of multiple innate sensing pathways. However, whether ISGs can augment peroxisome-driven RLR signaling is currently unknown. Using a proteomics-based screening approach, we identified Pex19 as a binding partner of the ISG viperin.

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Background: Although cancer screening has led to reductions in the incidence of invasive cervical cancer (ICC) across Canada, benefits of prevention efforts are not equitably distributed. This study investigated the sociodemographic characteristics of women with ICC in British Columbia compared with the general female population in the province.

Methods: In this descriptive study, data of individuals 18 years and older diagnosed with ICC between 2004 and 2013 were obtained from the BC Cancer Registry.

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The Human Papillomavirus FOr CervicAL cancer (HPV FOCAL) trial is a large randomized controlled trial comparing the efficacy of primary HPV testing to cytology among women in the population-based Cervix Screening Program in British Columbia, Canada. We conducted a cost-effectiveness analysis based on the HPV FOCAL trial to estimate the incremental cost per detected high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia of grade 2 or worse lesions (CIN2+). A total of 19,009 women aged 25 to 65 were randomized to one of two study groups.

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A 29-year-old man with no medical history presented to our emergency department with episodes of sudden speechlessness, hoarseness, vomiting after drinking cold water and spasms of his hands. Chvostek's and Trousseau's signs were both seen at presentation. Blood tests revealed severe hypocalcaemia (1.

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Viperin is an interferon-inducible protein that is pivotal for eliciting an effective immune response against an array of diverse viral pathogens. Here we describe a mechanism of viperin's broad antiviral activity by demonstrating the protein's ability to synergistically enhance the innate immune dsDNA signaling pathway to limit viral infection. Viperin co-localized with the key signaling molecules of the innate immune dsDNA sensing pathway, STING and TBK1; binding directly to STING and inducing enhanced K63-linked polyubiquitination of TBK1.

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Article Synopsis
  • Intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL) are crucial for immune responses in the gut, linking the intestinal lumen and the underlying sterile environment.
  • The study focuses on the role of the phosphoprotein osteopontin in maintaining the homeostasis of various IEL subpopulations, noting that its absence leads to lower cell numbers in specific IEL types due to increased apoptosis and reduced cell division.
  • Findings demonstrate that osteopontin supports the survival of IEL in vitro through interaction with the CD44 receptor, highlighting the significant role of iCD8α IEL in promoting the stability of the overall IEL population.
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This study aimed to determine the efficacy of mindfulness practice on emotional state and cognitive function of community-living elderly with mild cognitive impairment. A randomized controlled trial was conducted with the experimental group undergoing a Mindfulness Awareness Program (MAP) and an active control group undergoing a Health Education Program (HEP) over a nine month period. Sessions were conducted weekly for the first three months and monthly for the remaining six months.

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Article Synopsis
  • Innate CD8αα+ cells (iCD8α cells) are unique TCR-negative lymphocytes in the intestinal epithelium that play a key role in immune regulation.
  • They produce osteopontin, a cytokine important for immune cell homeostasis and involved in both tissue remodeling and inflammatory responses.
  • Research indicates that iCD8α cells enhance the survival of a specific type of immune cell (NKp46+NK1.1+ IEL), influencing the severity of intestinal inflammation in a mouse model, where fewer iCD8α cells lead to milder inflammatory responses.
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Background: A significant barrier to conducting clinical trials is their high cost, which is driven primarily by the time and resources required to activate trials and reach accrual targets. The high cost of running trials has a substantial impact on their long-term feasibility and the type of clinical research undertaken.

Methods: A scoping review of the empirical literature on the costs associated with conducting clinical trials was undertaken for the years 2001-2015.

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Background: Adjuvant System 03 (AS03) markedly enhances responses to influenza A/H5N1 vaccines, but the mechanisms of this enhancement are incompletely understood.

Methods: Using ribonucleic acid sequencing on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from AS03-adjuvanted and unadjuvanted inactivated H5N1 vaccine recipients, we identified differentially expressed genes, enriched pathways, and genes that correlated with serologic responses. We compared bulk PBMC findings with our previously published assessments of flow-sorted immune cell types.

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Background: The rapid diagnosis of extrapulmonary tuberculosis in children remains challenging. The presence of enlarged lymph nodes provides an opportunity to obtain diagnostic material through fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB). Mycobacterial culture, traditionally the reference standard, has a slow turnaround time and PCR-based methods are not widely available in developing countries.

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