TOSCCA: a framework for interpretation and testing of sparse canonical correlations.

Summary: In clinical and biomedical research, multiple high-dimensional datasets are nowadays routinely collected from omics and imaging devices. Multivariate methods, such as Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA), integrate two (or more) datasets to discover and understand underlying biological mechanisms. For an explorative method like CCA, interpretation is key.

Adherence to statin treatment in patients with familial hypercholesterolemia: A dynamic prediction model.

Background: Statins are the primary therapy in patient with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HeFH). Non-adherence to statin therapy is associated with increased cardiovascular risk.

Objective: We constructed a dynamic prediction model to predict statin adherence for an individual HeFH patient for each upcoming statin prescription.

BAHAMA: A Bayesian Hierarchical Model for the Detection of MedDRA-Coded Adverse Events in Randomized Controlled Trials.

Introduction: Patients participating in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are susceptible to a wide range of different adverse events (AE) during the RCT. MedDRA is a hierarchical standardization terminology to structure the AEs reported in an RCT. The lowest level in the MedDRA hierarchy is a single medical event, and every higher level is the aggregation of the lower levels.

The bleeding phenotype in people with nonsevere hemophilia.

Detailed information on the onset, frequency, and severity of bleeding in nonsevere hemophilia is limited. We aimed to assess the bleeding phenotype of persons with nonsevere hemophilia and to analyze the association between baseline factor VIII/IX (FVIII/IX) levels and the joint bleeding rate. In the DYNAMO (Dynamic Interplay Between Bleeding Phenotype and Baseline Factor Level in Moderate and Mild Hemophilia A and B) study, an international multicenter cohort, we included males with nonsevere hemophilia (FVIII/IX, 0.

Lipoprotein(a) levels from childhood to adulthood: Data in nearly 3,000 children who visited a pediatric lipid clinic.

Background And Aims: Elevated lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. In clinical practice, Lp(a) is mostly measured only once assuming that it does not change with age nor vary within individuals. This is mainly based on adult data and data on Lp(a) levels during childhood is scarce.

Mortality and Causes of Death From Sickle Cell Disease in The Netherlands, 1985-2017.

In the Netherlands, between 1985 and 2007 secular changes in the health care of patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) have taken place, such as penicillin prophylaxis, vaccination programs and stroke prevention. We investigated the number and causes of death in a cohort of 298 SCD patients, established in 2007, before introduction of neonatal screening, to determine preventable deaths. All patients were diagnosed with SCD before the age of 18 (median age at diagnosis 5.

Development and Validation of a Dynamically Updated Prediction Model for Attrition From Marine Recruit Training.

Dijksma, I, Hof, MHP, Lucas, C, and Stuiver, MM. Development and validation of a dynamically updated prediction model for attrition from Marine recruit training. J Strength Cond Res 36(9): 2523-2529, 2022-Whether fresh Marine recruits thrive and complete military training programs, or fail to complete, is dependent on numerous interwoven variables.

Feeding patterns and BMI trajectories during infancy: a multi-ethnic, prospective birth cohort.

Background: Milk feeding type (exclusive breastfeeding [EBF], formula feeding or mixed feeding) and timing of complementary feeding (CF) have been associated with infant growth. However, studies evaluating their combined role, and the role of ethnicity, are scarce. We examined associations of feeding patterns (milk feeding type combined with timing of CF) with infant body mass index (BMI) trajectories and potential ethnic-specific associations.

Improved selection of participants in genetic longevity studies: family scores revisited.

Background: Although human longevity tends to cluster within families, genetic studies on longevity have had limited success in identifying longevity loci. One of the main causes of this limited success is the selection of participants. Studies generally include sporadically long-lived individuals, i.

Long-term effectiveness and safety of treatment with dupilumab in patients with atopic dermatitis: Results of the TREAT NL (TREatment of ATopic eczema, the Netherlands) registry.

Background: Evidence on long-term dupilumab treatment for atopic dermatitis in daily practice is lacking.

Objective: To investigate patient characteristics, treatment aspects, effectiveness, and safety of up to 84 weeks of dupilumab treatment.

Methods: An observational prospective cohort study was conducted of patients with atopic dermatitis starting dupilumab in routine clinical care.

Contributions of amino acid, acylcarnitine and sphingolipid profiles to type 2 diabetes risk among South-Asian Surinamese and Dutch adults.

Introduction: People of South Asian origin are at high risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D), but the underpinning mechanisms are not fully understood. We determined ethnic differences in acylcarnitine, amino acid and sphingolipid concentrations and determined the associations with T2D.

Research Design And Methods: Associations between these metabolites and incident T2D among Dutch and South-Asian Surinamese were determined in participants from the Healthy Life in an Urban Setting (HELIUS) study (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) using Prentice-weighted Cox regression.

Growth patterns from birth to overweight at age 5-6 years of children with various backgrounds in socioeconomic status and country of origin: the ABCD study.

Introduction: Children from minority groups are at increased risk of overweight. This study compared BMI growth patterns from birth onwards of boys and girls with overweight at 5-6 years, according to socioeconomic status (SES) and country of origin, in order to gain more insight into the critical periods of growth to overweight.

Methods: A total of 3714 singletons of the multi-ethnic ABCD study were included.

Multiset sparse partial least squares path modeling for high dimensional omics data analysis.

Background: Recent technological developments have enabled the measurement of a plethora of biomolecular data from various omics domains, and research is ongoing on statistical methods to leverage these omics data to better model and understand biological pathways and genetic architectures of complex phenotypes. Current reviews report that the simultaneous analysis of multiple (i.e.

The high risk for type 2 diabetes among ethnic minority populations is not explained by low-grade inflammation.

Our aim was to identify whether low-grade inflammation, reflected by C-reactive protein (CRP), explains the higher risk for incident type 2 diabetes (T2D) among ethnic minorities. We included 837 Dutch, 712 South-Asian Surinamese, 797 African Surinamese, 804 Ghanaian, 817 Turkish and 778 Moroccan origin participants of the HELIUS study (Amsterdam, the Netherlands). We used multiple linear regression to assess ethnic differences in CRP levels.

20-Year Follow-up of Statins in Children with Familial Hypercholesterolemia.

Background: Familial hypercholesterolemia is characterized by severely elevated low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels and premature cardiovascular disease. The short-term efficacy of statin therapy in children is well established, but longer follow-up studies evaluating changes in the risk of cardiovascular disease are scarce.

Methods: We report a 20-year follow-up study of statin therapy in children.

From population reference to national standard: new and improved birthweight charts.

Background: Antenatal detection of intrauterine growth restriction remains a major obstetrical challenge, with the majority of cases not detected before birth. In these infants with undetected intrauterine growth restriction, the diagnosis must be made after birth. Clinicians use birthweight charts to identify infants as small-for-gestational-age if their birthweights are below a predefined threshold for gestational age.

Multiset sparse redundancy analysis for high-dimensional omics data.

Redundancy Analysis (RDA) is a well-known method used to describe the directional relationship between related data sets. Recently, we proposed sparse Redundancy Analysis (sRDA) for high-dimensional genomic data analysis to find explanatory variables that explain the most variance of the response variables. As more and more biomolecular data become available from different biological levels, such as genotypic and phenotypic data from different omics domains, a natural research direction is to apply an integrated analysis approach in order to explore the underlying biological mechanism of certain phenotypes of the given organism.

Does maternal pre-pregnancy overweight or obesity influence offspring's growth patterns from birth up to 7years? The ABCD-study.

Background: Maternal pre-pregnancy overweight is known to program offspring for adverse health outcomes later in life.

Aims: To investigate how growth patterns of weight, height and BMI from birth to 7years differ according to maternal pre-pregnancy weight (normal weight, overweight and obesity), with specific attention for sex differences.

Study Design: Prospective multi-ethnic ABCD-study.

Sparse redundancy analysis of high-dimensional genetic and genomic data.

Motivation: Recent technological developments have enabled the possibility of genetic and genomic integrated data analysis approaches, where multiple omics datasets from various biological levels are combined and used to describe (disease) phenotypic variations. The main goal is to explain and ultimately predict phenotypic variations by understanding their genetic basis and the interaction of the associated genetic factors. Therefore, understanding the underlying genetic mechanisms of phenotypic variations is an ever increasing research interest in biomedical sciences.

The Effect of Interpregnancy Interval on the Recurrence Rate of Spontaneous Preterm Birth: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

 We assessed, in women with a previous spontaneous preterm birth, the effect of interpregnancy interval on the subsequent preterm birth rate.  Retrospective cohort study.  A nationwide longitudinal dataset of the the Netherlands Perinatal Registry.

Fetal Gender of the First Born and the Recurrent Risk of Spontaneous Preterm Birth.

Objective: To study, in women with a spontaneous preterm birth (sPTB) in the first pregnancy, the effect of fetal sex in that first pregnancy on the recurrent sPTB risk.

Study Design: A nationwide retrospective cohort study (data from National Perinatal Registry) on all women with two sequential singleton pregnancies (1999-2009) with the first delivery ending in sPTB <37 weeks. We used logistic regression analysis to study the association between fetal gender in the first pregnancy and the risk of recurrent sPTB.

Adaptive list sequential sampling method for population-based observational studies.

Background: In population-based observational studies, non-participation and delayed response to the invitation to participate are complications that often arise during the recruitment of a sample. When both are not properly dealt with, the composition of the sample can be different from the desired composition. Inviting too many individuals or too few individuals from a particular subgroup could lead to unnecessary costs or decreased precision.

Severe heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia and risk for cardiovascular disease: a study of a cohort of 14,000 mutation carriers.

Background: Some recently emerged lipid-lowering therapies are currently restricted to patients with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH), and studies are underway to also assess these therapies in patients with 'severe heterozygous FH (HeFH)'. However, no uniform definition of 'severe HeFH' exists, although untreated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels above 8 mmol/L (309 mg/dl) have been historically used to define this phenotype. Our aim was to define severe HeFH, to establish its prevalence and CVD risk, and to study the relative contribution of classical risk factors to CVD risk in HeFH patients.