Peer-mentorship and first-year inclusion: building belonging in higher education.

Background: An inclusive academic environment is pivotal to ensure student well-being and a strong sense of belonging and authenticity. Specific attention for an inclusive learning environment is particularly important during a student's transition to higher education. At Utrecht University's Medical School, explorative interviews with students from minority groups indicated they did not always feel included during the orientation programme of their academic education.

Circulating Neutrophils Do Not Predict Subclinical Coronary Artery Disease in Women with Former Preeclampsia.

Unlabelled: Introduction: Preeclampsia (PE) represents a hypertensive pregnancy disorder that is associated with increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. This increased risk has been attributed to accelerated atherosclerosis, with inflammation being a major contributor. Neutrophils play an important role in the onset and progression of atherosclerosis and have been associated with vascular damage in the placenta as well as the chronic inflammatory state in women with PE.

Platelet RNA modules point to coronary calcification in asymptomatic women with former preeclampsia.

Background And Aims: Women who develop preeclampsia during pregnancy are at a higher risk for developing cardiovascular disease. As platelets are affected by preeclampsia, we set out to identify whether platelets carry information in their transcriptome on cardiovascular risk in women with former preeclampsia.

Methods: Platelets were isolated from asymptomatic women with previous preeclampsia, who underwent screening with coronary computed tomography angiography.

Circulating CD14CD16 classical monocytes do not associate with a vulnerable plaque phenotype, and do not predict secondary events in severe atherosclerotic patients.

Aims: Mouse studies have established distinct monocyte subtypes that participate in the process of atherosclerotic lesion formation. The pro-inflammatory Ly6C monocyte subtype actively contributes to murine plaque progression and destabilization. Also in humans, different peripheral monocyte subtypes have been identified, of which the CD14CD16 classical monocyte is suggested to display similar pro-atherosclerotic properties as the murine Ly6C subtype.

Noncanonical NF-κB signaling in microvessels of atherosclerotic lesions is associated with inflammation, atheromatous plaque morphology and myocardial infarction.

Background And Aims: Neovascularization is associated with atherosclerotic plaque instability and increased chance of myocardial infarction (MI). Patients with chronic inflammatory diseases (CID) have increased risk of atherosclerosis, and evidence demonstrates that NF-κB inducing kinase (NIK)-mediated noncanonical NF-κB signaling in endothelial cells (EC) is linked to inflammation and angiogenesis. Here, we hypothesized NIK may also be activated in EC of atherosclerotic lesion microvessels.

Preeclampsia and coronary plaque erosion: Manifestations of endothelial dysfunction resulting in cardiovascular events in women.

Atherosclerosis is the major underlying pathology of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The risk for CVD is increased in women with a history of preeclampsia. Multiple studies have indicated that accelerated atherosclerosis underlies this increased CVD risk.

High Levels of (Un)Switched Memory B Cells Are Associated With Better Outcome in Patients With Advanced Atherosclerotic Disease.

Background: Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory lipid disorder and the main underlying pathology of acute ischemic events. Despite a vast amount of data from murine atherosclerosis models, evidence of B-cell involvement in human atherosclerotic disease is limited. We therefore investigated the association of circulating B-cell subtypes with the occurrence of secondary cardiovascular events in advanced atherosclerotic disease.

Prognostic Value of Circulating Inflammatory Cells in Patients with Stable and Acute Coronary Artery Disease.

Atherosclerosis is a lipid driven chronic inflammatory disease underlying the majority of ischemic events such as myocardial infarction or stroke. Clinical management of ischemic events has improved considerably in the past decades. Accordingly, survival rates have increased.

Circulating microRNAs in patients with intracranial aneurysms.

Introduction: We compared circulating microRNA (miRNA) levels in plasma of patients with intracranial aneurysms (IA) to those of controls as a first step towards finding potential biomarkers for individuals at high risk of IA development and its subsequent rupture.

Patients And Methods: Using a PCR array we measured 370 miRNAs in plasma of 15 patients with prior aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH), of whom 11 had an additional unruptured IA (UIA), and of 15 controls. MiRNAs with a difference in levels with an absolute fold change (FC) > 1.