Diabetes self-management education and support delivered by mobile health (mHealth) interventions for adults with type 2 diabetes-A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Diabetes self-management education (DSME) and support (DSME/S) delivered via mobile health (mHealth) is potentially cost-effective, if proven effective.

Objectives: To assess the effectiveness of DSME, DSMS or DSME/S delivered by mHealth interventions compared to usual care (UC) or attention placebo control (APC) in adults with type 2 diabetes.

Methods: We searched (1) MEDLINE, (2) Embase, (3) PsycINFO, (4) Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials via the Cochrane Register of Studies Online, (5) ClinicalTrials.

Effect of white matter uncertainty visualization in neurosurgical decision making.

Fiber tracking is a powerful technique that provides insight into the brain's white matter structure. Despite its potential, the inherent uncertainties limit its widespread clinical use. These uncertainties potentially hamper the clinical decisions neurosurgeons have to make before, during, and after the surgery.

Plant diversity enhances ecosystem multifunctionality via multitrophic diversity.

Ecosystem functioning depends on biodiversity at multiple trophic levels, yet relationships between multitrophic diversity and ecosystem multifunctionality have been poorly explored, with studies often focusing on individual trophic levels and functions and on specific ecosystem types. Here, we show that plant diversity can affect ecosystem functioning both directly and by affecting other trophic levels. Using data on 13 trophic groups and 13 ecosystem functions from two large biodiversity experiments-one representing temperate grasslands and the other subtropical forests-we found that plant diversity increases multifunctionality through elevated multitrophic diversity.

Cognitive brain activity before and after surgery in meningioma patients.

Neuropsychological studies have demonstrated that meningioma patients frequently exhibit cognitive deficits before surgery and show only limited improvement after surgery. Combining neuropsychological with functional imaging measurements can shed more light on the impact of surgery on cognitive brain function. We aimed to evaluate whether surgery affects cognitive brain activity in such a manner that it may mask possible changes in cognitive functioning measured by neuropsychological tests.

Preoperative executive functioning impairments in patients with a meningioma: does a frontal location matter?

Patients with meningiomas frequently exhibit impairments in executive functioning. There are few studies specifically examining the role of frontal meningioma localization in executive functioning impairments. This study examines whether frontally located meningiomas are specifically associated with executive functioning impairments in a large sample of meningioma patients before treatment, using an axis-wise and lobe-based approach to meningioma localization.

Can structure predict function at individual level in the human connectome?

Several studies predicting Functional Connectivity (FC) from Structural Connectivity (SC) at individual level have been published in recent years, each promising increased performance and utility. We investigated three of these studies, analyzing whether the results truly represent a meaningful individual-level mapping from SC to FC. Using data from the Human Connectome Project shared accross the three studies, we constructed a predictor by averaging FC of training data and analyzed its performance in the same way.

Cognitive functioning in untreated glioma patients: The limited predictive value of clinical variables.

Background: Previous research identified many clinical variables that are significantly related to cognitive functioning before surgery. It is not clear whether such variables enable accurate prediction for individual patients' cognitive functioning because statistical significance does not guarantee predictive value. Previous studies did not test how well cognitive functioning can be predicted for (yet) untested patients.

Working memory performance in glioma patients is associated with functional connectivity between the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and default mode network.

In healthy subjects, activity in the default mode network (DMN) and the frontoparietal network (FPN) has consistently been associated with working memory (WM). In particular, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) is important for WM. The functional-anatomical basis of WM impairment in glioma patients is, however, still poorly understood.

Executive functioning following surgery near the frontal aslant tract in low-grade glioma patients: A patient-specific tractography study.

Background: The Frontal Aslant Tract (FAT) has been associated with executive functions (EF), but it remains unclear what role the FAT plays in EF, and whether preoperative dysfunction of the FAT is associated to long-lasting postsurgical executive impairments.

Methods: In this study, we examined the course of EF from pre-surgery (n = 75) to 3 (n = 61) and 12 (n = 25) months after surgery in patients with frontal and parietal low-grade gliomas (LGGs), to establish the degree to which long-term EF deficits exist. Secondly, we used patient-specific tractography to investigate the extent to which overlap of the tumor with the FAT, as well as integrity of the FAT, presurgery were related to EF on the short and longer term after surgery.

Subject-Specific Automatic Reconstruction of White Matter Tracts.

MRI-based tractography is still underexploited and unsuited for routine use in brain tumor surgery due to heterogeneity of methods and functional-anatomical definitions and above all, the lack of a turn-key system. Standardization of methods is therefore desirable, whereby an objective and reliable approach is a prerequisite before the results of any automated procedure can subsequently be validated and used in neurosurgical practice. In this work, we evaluated these preliminary but necessary steps in healthy volunteers.

Characterization and Classification of Spatial White Matter Tract Alteration Patterns in Glioma Patients Using Magnetic Resonance Tractography: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Introduction: Magnetic resonance (MR) tractography can be used to study the spatial relations between gliomas and white matter (WM) tracts. Various spatial patterns of WM tract alterations have been described in the literature. We reviewed classification systems of these patterns, and investigated whether low-grade gliomas (LGGs) and high-grade gliomas (HGGs) demonstrate distinct spatial WM tract alteration patterns.

Host plant height explains the effect of nitrogen enrichment on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities.

Nitrogen (N) enrichment is widely known to affect the root-associated arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) community in different ways, for example, via altering soil properties and/or shifting host plant functional structure. However, empirical knowledge of their relative importance is still lacking. Using a long-term N addition experiment, we measured the AMF community taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity at the single plant species (roots of 15 plant species) and plant community (mixed roots) levels.

Oligodendrogliomas tend to infiltrate the frontal aslant tract, whereas astrocytomas tend to displace it.

Introduction: MR-tractography is increasingly used in neurosurgical practice to evaluate the anatomical relationships between glioma and nearby subcortical tracts. In some patients, the subcortical tracts seem displaced by the glioma, while in other patients, the subcortical tracts seem infiltrated without displacement. At this point, it is unknown whether these different patterns are related to tumor type.

Exploratory Study of Associations and Agreement between Prognostic Patient-Registered Factors, Physiotherapists' Intuitive Synthesis, and Patient-Reported Factors in Whiplash-Associated Disorders.

Background: A large proportion of people who sustain a whiplash injury will have persistent pain, disability, and participation problems. Several prognostic factors for functional recovery have been reported in the literature but these factors are often evaluated based on differing implementations in clinical practice. Additionally, physiotherapists also rely on their clinical intuition to estimate the functional prognosis of their patients, but this is seldom measured in experimental research.

The impact of the covid-19 pandemic on diabetes care: the perspective of healthcare providers across Europe.

Aims: Covid-19 caused changes on the delivery of diabetes care. This study aimed to explore perceptions of healthcare providers across Europe concerning 1) the impact of covid-19 on delivery of diabetes care; 2) impact of changes in diabetes care on experienced workload; 3) experiences with video consultation in diabetes care.

Methods: Cross-sectional survey among healthcare providers in the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Turkey, Ukraine and Sweden, with a focus on primary care.

Presurgical Executive Functioning in Low-Grade Glioma Patients Cannot Be Topographically Mapped.

Executive dysfunctions have a high prevalence in low-grade glioma patients and may be the result of structural disconnections of particular subcortical tracts and/or networks. However, little research has focused on preoperative low-grade glioma patients. The frontotemporoparietal network has been closely linked to executive functions and is substantiated by the superior longitudinal fasciculus.

Limited health literacy in primary care physiotherapy: Does a physiotherapist use techniques to improve communication?

Objectives: Research shows that health professionals should adapt their communication when addressing patients with limited health literacy (HL). However, the extent to which physiotherapists apply recommended communication techniques is unclear.

Methods: We conducted a two phase mixed-method study, first holding focus group interviews among patients and experts on communication to explore the need for adjusted communication in physiotherapist-patient interaction.

Improved quality of physiotherapy care in patients with Whiplash-Associated Disorders: Results based on 16 years of routinely collected data.

Quality improvement is now a central tenet in physiotherapy care, and quality indicators (QIs), as measurable elements of care, have been applied to analyze and evaluate the quality of physiotherapy care over the past two decades. QIs, based on Donabedian's model of quality of care, provide a foundation for measuring (improvements in) quality of physiotherapy care, providing insight into the many remaining evidentiary gaps concerning diagnostics, prognostics and treatment, as well as patient-related outcome measures. In this overview we provide a synthesis of four recently published articles from our project group on the topic of quantitative measures of quality improvement in physiotherapy care, in this context specifically focused on patients with WAD in primary care physiotherapy.

The Aftercare Survey: Assessment and intervention practices after brain tumor surgery in Europe.

Background: People with gliomas need specialized neurosurgical, neuro-oncological, psycho-oncological, and neuropsychological care. The role of language and cognitive recovery and rehabilitation in patients' well-being and resumption of work is crucial, but there are no clear guidelines for the ideal timing and character of assessments and interventions. The goal of the present work was to describe representative (neuro)psychological practices implemented after brain surgery in Europe.

Opinions on hypertension care and therapy adherence at the healthcare provider and healthcare system level: a qualitative study in the Hague, Netherlands.

Objectives: Hypertension is a common cause of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Although hypertension can be effectively controlled by blood pressure-lowering drugs, uncontrolled blood pressure is common despite use of these medications. One explanation is therapy non-adherence.

Key Factors Relevant for Healthcare Decisions of Patients with Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes in Secondary Care According to Healthcare Professionals.

Purpose: Understanding which factors are important for healthcare decisions of patients with diabetes in clinical practice is important to personalise diabetes care strategies and tailor care plans to the individual. The main drivers for these healthcare decisions remain unclear. This study assessed which key factors are relevant for healthcare decisions during clinical consultations for patients with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) and type 2 diabetes (T2DM), according to healthcare professionals.

Shared decision making in primary care: Process evaluation of the intervention in the OPTIMAL study, a cluster randomised trial.

Aims: To analyse the performance of a Shared Decision Making (SDM) intervention, we assessed perceived and experienced SDM in General Practitioners (GPs) and patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM).

Methods: Cluster-Randomised Controlled Trial (cRCT) testing the effect of a decision aid. Opinions and experienced role regarding SDM were assessed in 72 patients and 18 GPs with the SDM-Q-9 (range 0-45) and Control Preferences Scale (CPS, 0-5), and observed SDM with the OPTION5 (0-20).

Fatigue after neurosurgery in patients with a brain tumor: The role of autonomic dysregulation and disturbed sleep.

Background Fatigue is prevalent in patients with a brain tumor and high levels of fatigue persist after neurosurgical tumor resection. The underlying mechanisms are insufficiently understood and this study examines the role of autonomic nervous system dysregulation and objective sleep characteristics in fatigue among post-surgical patients. Methods Patients undergoing craniotomy (N = 52; age 52.