RATS: Unsupervised manifold learning using low-distortion alignment of tangent spaces.

With the ubiquity of high-dimensional datasets in various biological fields, identifying low-dimensional topological manifolds within such datasets may reveal principles connecting latent variables to measurable instances in the world. The reliable discovery of such manifold structure in high-dimensional datasets can prove challenging, however, largely due to the introduction of distortion by leading manifold learning methods. The problem is further exacerbated by the lack of consensus on how to evaluate the quality of the recovered manifolds.

Acceptability of automatic referrals to supportive and palliative care by patients living with advanced lung cancer: qualitative interviews and a co-design process.

Purpose: Timely access to supportive and palliative care (PC) remains a challenge. A proposed solution is to trigger an automatic referral process to PC by pre-determined clinical criteria. This study sought to co-design with patients and providers an automatic PC referral process for patients newly diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer.

Aggressive behaviour of psychiatric patients with mild and borderline intellectual disabilities in general mental health care.

Purpose: Little is known about the associations between mild intellectual disability (MID), borderline intellectual functioning (BIF) and aggressive behaviour in general mental health care. The study aims to establish the association between aggressive behaviour and MID/BIF, analysing patient characteristics and diagnoses.

Method: 1174 out of 1565 consecutive in-and outpatients were screened for MID/BIF with the Screener for Intelligence and Learning Disabilities (SCIL) in general mental health care in The Netherlands.

Adolescents' future in the balance of family, school, and the neighborhood: A multidimensional application of two theoretical perspectives.

Objective: Family, school, and neighborhood contexts provide cultural resources that may foster children's ambitions and bolster their academic performance. Reference group theory instead highlights how seemingly positive settings can depress educational aspirations, expectations, and performance. We test these competing claims.

Posttranslational modification of microtubules by the MATCAP detyrosinase.

The detyrosination-tyrosination cycle involves the removal and religation of the C-terminal tyrosine of α-tubulin and is implicated in cognitive, cardiac, and mitotic defects. The vasohibin-small vasohibin-binding protein (SVBP) complex underlies much, but not all, detyrosination. We used haploid genetic screens to identify an unannotated protein, microtubule associated tyrosine carboxypeptidase (MATCAP), as a remaining detyrosinating enzyme.

Kidney Function in Patients With Neuromuscular Disease: Creatinine Versus Cystatin C.

Accurate measurement of kidney function in patients with neuromuscular disorders is challenging. Cystatin C, a marker not influenced by skeletal muscle degradation, might be of clinical value in these patients. We consecutively enrolled 39 patients with neuromuscular disorders.

Intra- and inter-observer reliability of Cobb angle measurements in patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.

Purpose: The Cobb angle method is used to determine the severity of scoliosis. Therapeutic decisions for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) are guided by the Cobb angle. Therefore, high reliability is crucial.

The associations of quality of life and general functioning with trauma, borderline intellectual functioning and mild intellectual disability in outpatients with serious mental illness.

Background: Trauma and intellectual disability are highly prevalent in the serious mental ill (SMI). Little is known of their impact on general functioning and quality of life.

Aim: This study investigated the association of trauma and intellectual disability (ID) with general functioning and quality of life in SMI.

Increased prevalence of intellectual disabilities in higher-intensity mental healthcare settings.

Background: It has been suggested that people with intellectual disabilities have a higher likelihood to develop psychiatric disorders, and that their treatment prognosis is relatively poor.

Aims: We aimed to establish the prevalence of intellectual disability in different mental healthcare settings, and estimate percentage of cognitive decline. We hypothesised that the prevalence of intellectual disabilities increases with intensity of care.

The Role of Exposure to Neighborhood and School Poverty in Understanding Educational Attainment.

Because the demographic composition of neighborhoods and schools overlaps, their effects on educational attainment are not independent of each other. Throughout the early teenage years, the timing and duration of exposure to neighborhood and school contexts can vary, advocating for a longitudinal approach when studying schooling outcomes. This study uses Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children data (N = 4502; 49% female) to examine how exposure to poverty between ages 10-16 predicts educational attainment.

Evaluation of a shared decision-making strategy with online decision aids in surgical and orthopaedic practice: study protocol for the E-valuAID, a multicentre study with a stepped-wedge design.

Background: Inguinal hernia repair, gallbladder removal, and knee- and hip replacements are the most commonly performed surgical procedures, but all are subject to practice variation and variable patient-reported outcomes. Shared decision-making (SDM) has the potential to reduce surgery rates and increase patient satisfaction. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of an SDM strategy with online decision aids for surgical and orthopaedic practice in terms of impact on surgery rates, patient-reported outcomes, and cost-effectiveness.

[The predictive value of mild intellectual disability/ borderline intellectual functioning and ptsd for treatment results in severely mentally Ill patients].

Little is known about the influence of mild intellectual disability/borderline intellectual functioning (mid/biF) or posttraumatic stress disorder (ptsd) on treatment results in severely mentally ill (smi).
AIM: To investigate whether screeners determining mid/biF or ptsd are associated with less favorable treatment outcome in smi.
METHOD: The screener for intelligence and learning disabilities (scil) was used to screen for mid/biF.

Neighborhood social capital and adolescents' individual health development.

Neighborhood social capital is argued to influence individual health. However, many studies do not make the distinction between individual level and group level social capital. Furthermore, many studies on this topic are cross-sectional studies based in Western countries.

[Recognition and diagnosis in the intellectually impaired in mental health care].

Recognition of intellectual abilities of a patient is essential for good treatment. However, this may be hard to achieve, even by experienced professionals.
AIM: To educate professionals how to detect and diagnose intellectual impairment accompanied by an approximate knowledge on methods and pitfalls in establishing psychiatric diagnoses.

Clinical evaluation of capillary B-type natriuretic peptide testing.

Background Capillary B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) testing is attractive in outpatient and emergency settings. The aim of this study was to perform an evaluation of the clinical performances of capillary BNP testing as compared with venous whole blood and plasma point-of-care (POC) BNP as well as plasma N-terminal (NT) proBNP central laboratory testing. Methods BNP was measured with a novel single epitope POC assay (Minicare® BV, Eindhoven, The Netherlands) and NT-proBNP with a central laboratory assay (Roche Diagnostics®, Vienna, Austria).

Home initiation of chronic non-invasive ventilation in COPD patients with chronic hypercapnic respiratory failure: a randomised controlled trial.

Introduction: Chronic non-invasive ventilation (NIV) has become evidence-based care for stable hypercapnic COPD patients. While the number of patients increases, home initiation of NIV would greatly alleviate the healthcare burden. We hypothesise that home initiation of NIV with the use of telemedicine in stable hypercapnic COPD is non-inferior to in-hospital NIV initiation.

Crystal structure of the tubulin tyrosine carboxypeptidase complex VASH1-SVBP.

The cyclic enzymatic removal and ligation of the C-terminal tyrosine of α-tubulin generates heterogeneous microtubules and affects their functions. Here we describe the crystal and solution structure of the tubulin carboxypeptidase complex between vasohibin (VASH1) and small vasohibin-binding protein (SVBP), which folds in a long helix, which stabilizes the VASH1 catalytic domain. This structure, combined with molecular docking and mutagenesis experiments, reveals which residues are responsible for recognition and cleavage of the tubulin C-terminal tyrosine.

[Diaphragm pacemaker: alternative for long-term ventilatory support; 5 years later].

Currently, more than 3000 patients in the Netherlands receive long-term ventilatory support. In the majority of patients, long-term ventilatory support leads to increased survival without any complications. Diaphragm pacing with an external pacemaker (diaphragm pacing system, DPS) seems an attractive alternative for long-term ventilatory support by mask or tracheostomy.

Screening for intellectual disabilities and borderline intelligence in Dutch outpatients with severe mental illness.

Background: The reliability and validity of the Screener for Intelligence and Learning Disabilities (SCIL) are unknown in a population of outpatients with severe mental illness. The prevalence of mild or borderline intellectual disabilities (MBID); an umbrella term for people with borderline intellectual functioning (BIF) and mild intellectual disability (MID) in this population is also unknown.

Methods: A total of 625 patients were screened with the SCIL, 201 of which also had IQ test results.

Analytical performance of a single epitope B-type natriuretic peptide sandwich immunoassay on the Minicare platform for point-of-care diagnostics.

Point-of-care B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) testing with adequate analytical performance has the potential to improve patient flow and provide primary care givers with easy-to-use advanced diagnostic tools in the management of heart failure. We present the analytical evaluation of the Minicare BNP immunoassay under development on the Minicare I-20 platform for point-of-care testing. Analytical performance was evaluated using EDTA venous whole blood, EDTA plasma and capillary whole blood.

Not recognized enough: The effects and associations of trauma and intellectual disability in severely mentally ill outpatients.

Background: Little is known about the association between trauma and intellectual disability in SMI patients.

Aim: To establish the prevalence of trauma and its association with intellectual functioning in SMI outpatients.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in two mental health trusts in the Netherlands.

Data on children׳s neighborhood income trajectories using small geographical units to operationalize neighborhood boundaries.

It is well-known that the spatial scale at which neighborhoods are operationalized can affect the outcomes we observe. This article describes a typology of children׳s neighborhood income trajectories generated by sequence analysis using 100 × 100 m grids to define neighborhoods. The article further describes ethnic differences in the prevalence of the different types of neighborhood trajectories, focusing on the children of the four largest non-Western immigrant groups in the Netherlands (Turks, Moroccans, Surinamese, Antilleans) and native Dutch children.