On the lagged non-linear association between air pollution and COVID-19 cases in Belgium.

Exposure to air pollution has been proposed as a determinant of COVID-19 dynamics. While the connection between air pollution and COVID-19 has been established for several countries worldwide, few such analyses exist in Belgium. Therefore, we examine this potential association in Belgium, using COVID-19 cases of all 581 municipalities between September 2020 and January 2022.

An exploratory clinical study of the diagnosis and staging of typhoid fever using label-free surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy liquid biopsy.

Typhoid fever is a highly contagious tropical disease that requires early diagnosis to avoid rapid spread among communities and long-lasting effects on patients. Standard diagnostic protocols rely on microbial cultures and agglutination assays, which have inherent limitations, including low sensitivity, slow clinical results, and the need for often unavailable reagents and equipment in the regions of the outbreak. Label-free surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is a promising chemical identification technology that can be performed in liquid samples.

Outcome measurement in functional neurological disorder: A qualitative study on the views of patients, caregivers and healthcare professionals.

Background: In this qualitative study, we aimed to obtain and synthesise the views of patients with functional neurological disorder (FND), their caregivers, and relevant healthcare professionals (HCPs) on outcome measurement in FND.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 FND patients, 18 caregivers and 21 HCPs, sampled purposively in the United Kingdom. Transcripts were analysed through inductive thematic analysis.

Bronchoscopic biopsies - a novel source for primary airway epithelial cells in respiratory research.

Background: Using primary airway epithelial cells (AEC) is essential to mimic more closely different types and stages of lung disease in humans while reducing or even replacing animal experiments. Access to lung tissue remains limited because these samples are generally obtained from patients who undergo lung transplantation for end-stage lung disease or thoracic surgery for (mostly) lung cancer. We investigated whether forceps or cryo biopsies are a viable alternative source of AEC compared to the conventional technique.

Losses and emissions in polypropylene recycling from household packaging waste.

In this study we replicated a typical high-quality post-consumer polypropylene (PP) recycling process to investigate its losses and emissions and study potential improvements. To our knowledge this is the first time that quantitative measurements on all process steps have been performed instead of an accumulated yield and emissions in water. In the process an overall PP yield of 85 wt% based on pure PP input is achieved.