Coupling Modelling and Experiments to Analyse Leaf Photosynthesis Under Far-Red Light.

Leaf photosynthesis models are used extensively in photosynthesis research and are embedded in many larger scale models. Typical photosynthesis models simplify light intensity as the integrated intensity over the 400-700 nm waveband (photosynthetic active radiation, PAR). However, far-red light (700-750 nm, FR) also drives photosynthesis when supplied in addition to light within the PAR spectrum.

Intermittent preventive treatment regimens for malaria in HIV-positive pregnant women.

Background: Malaria and HIV infection overlap geographically in sub-Saharan Africa and share risk factors. HIV infection increases malaria's severity, especially in pregnant women. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy (IPTp) with sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) for pregnant women living in areas of stable malaria transmission.

Shining light on diurnal variation of non-photochemical quenching: Impact of gradual light intensity patterns on short-term NPQ over a day.

Maximal sunlight intensity varies diurnally due to the earth's rotation. Whether this slow diurnal pattern influences the photoprotective capacity of plants throughout the day is unknown. We investigated diurnal variation in NPQ, along with NPQ capacity, induction, and relaxation kinetics after transitions to high light, in tomato plants grown under diurnal parabolic (DP) or constant (DC) light intensity regimes.

Immunisation coverage and factors associated with incomplete immunisation in children under two during the COVID-19 pandemic in Sierra Leone.

Background: Routine childhood immunisation is one of the most important life-saving public health interventions. However, many children still have inadequate access to these vaccines and millions remain (partially) unvaccinated globally. As the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted health systems worldwide, its effects on immunisation have become apparent.

Coverage of intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in infants after four years of implementation in Sierra Leone.

Background: Intermittent Preventive Treatment of malaria in infants (IPTi) is a malaria control strategy consisting of the administration of an anti-malarial drug alongside routine immunizations. So far, this is being implemented nationwide in Sierra Leone only. IPTi has been renamed as Perennial Malaria Chemoprevention -PMC-, accounting for its recently recommended expansion into the second year of life.

Comparative effectiveness of antiepileptic drugs in juvenile myoclonic epilepsy.

Objective: To study the effectiveness and tolerability of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) commonly used in juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME).

Methods: People with JME were identified from a large database of individuals with epilepsy, which includes detailed retrospective information on AED use. We assessed secular changes in AED use and calculated rates of response (12-month seizure freedom) and adverse drug reactions (ADRs) for the five most common AEDs.

Validity of health insurance data to identify people with epilepsy.

Background: Large administrative databases may prove useful to assess epilepsy-related comorbidity and mortality. Despite their increased use, their validity as data source in epilepsy is yet under-ascertained.

Methods: Achmea is a large Dutch health insurance company covering about 25% of the population.

Comparative effectiveness of antiepileptic drugs in patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis.

Objective: Mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis (MTLE-HS) is a common epilepsy syndrome that is often poorly controlled by antiepileptic drug (AED) treatment. Comparative AED effectiveness studies in this condition are lacking. We report retention, efficacy, and tolerability in a cohort of patients with MTLE-HS.

Electro-clinical criteria and surgical outcome: Is there a difference between mesial and lesional temporal lobe epilepsy?

Objectives: Mesial temporal lobe epilepsy syndrome (MTLE) with specific electrophysiological and clinical characteristics and hippocampal sclerosis (HS) on MRI is considered the prototype of a syndrome with good surgical prognosis. Ictal onset zones in MTLE have been found to extend outside the hippocampus and neocortical seizures often involve mesial structures. It can, thus, be questioned whether MTLE with HS is different from lesional temporal epilepsies with respect to electro-clinical characteristics and surgical prognosis.

Photosensitivity in Dravet syndrome is under-recognized and related to prognosis.

Objective: To detect determinants for photoparoxysmal EEG response (PPR) in SCN1A-related Dravet syndrome (DS).

Methods: Data were studied from nationwide medical histories and EEGs of DS-patients (n=53; 31 males, age 2-19years). Detailed questionnaires on visual stimuli were completed by parents (n=49).

Anti-epileptic drug changes and quality of life in the community.

Objective: Changes in anti-epileptic drug (AED) regimens may indicate unsatisfactory treatment results such as insufficient seizure control or adverse effects. This inference underlies epilepsy management and research, yet current studies often do not account for AED changes. We assessed AED change patterns and their association with quality of life (QoL), as main outcome measure, in a community-based setting.

Sudden cardiac arrest in people with epilepsy in the community: Circumstances and risk factors.

Objective: To ascertain whether characteristics of ventricular tachycardia/fibrillation (VT/VF) differed between people with epilepsy and those without and which individuals with epilepsy were at highest risk.

Methods: We ascertained 18 people with active epilepsy identified in a community-based registry of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) with ECG-confirmed VT/VF (cases). We compared them with 470 individuals with VT/VF without epilepsy (VT/VF controls) and 54 individuals with epilepsy without VT/VF (epilepsy controls).

Seizure precipitants in Dravet syndrome: What events and activities are specifically provocative compared with other epilepsies?

Objectives: This study aimed to describe seizure precipitants in Dravet syndrome (DS) compared with other epilepsies.

Methods: Seizure precipitants as reported in a Dutch cohort of patients with DS with pathogenic SCN1A mutations (n=71) were compared with those of a cohort with childhood epilepsy (n=149) and of a community-based cohort with epilepsy (n=248); for all three Dutch cohorts, the same type of questionnaire was used. Seizure precipitants were categorized as 'fever', 'visual stimuli', 'sleep deprivation', 'stress, including physical exercise', 'auditory stimuli', and 'other'.

Seizure precipitants in a community-based epilepsy cohort.

Epileptic seizures can be provoked by several factors. Better understanding of these factors may improve a patient's sense of control and could reduce seizures. In daily practice, the recognition of seizure precipitants relies heavily on clinical or video-EEG evidence, which can be difficult to obtain.

Treatment of epilepsy in daily clinical practice: have outcomes improved over the past 10 years?

In the past decade, many new antiepileptic drugs have become available, but their influence on patient outcomes in daily practice is not well known. In a community-based study, we assessed changes in epilepsy treatment and outcomes over a 10-year period. We compared two cross-sectional community-based samples that were obtained from the same Dutch suburban region in 2000 and 2010 using pharmacy records for recruitment, including 344 and 248 epilepsy patients, respectively.

Prognostic factors for medically intractable epilepsy: a systematic review.

Objective: One third of all epilepsy patients have medically intractable epilepsy. Knowledge of prognostic factors that, in an early therapeutic stage of epilepsy, herald intractability could facilitate patient management. In this systematic review, we examined the evidence for independent prognostic factors of intractability in patients with epilepsy.

Automated image analysis of hand radiographs reveals widened joint spaces in patients with long-term control of acromegaly: relation to disease activity and symptoms.

Objective: Arthropathy is an invalidating complication of acromegaly. Although acromegalic arthropathy shares features with primary osteoarthritis, joint spaces are widened rather than narrowed in patients with long-term cure of acromegaly. The late effects of acromegaly on hand joints have not been characterized.

Magnetic resonance imaging for diagnosing lumbar spinal pathology in adult patients with low back pain or sciatica: a diagnostic systematic review.

Purpose: In about 5% of all cases LBP is associated with serious underlying pathology requiring diagnostic confirmation and directed treatment. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is often used for this diagnostic purpose yet its role remains controversial. Consequently, this review aimed to summarize the available evidence on the diagnostic accuracy of MRI for identifying lumbar spinal pathology in adult low back pain (LPB) or sciatica patients.

Computed tomography for the diagnosis of lumbar spinal pathology in adult patients with low back pain or sciatica: a diagnostic systematic review.

Aim: In low back pain if serious pathology is suspected diagnostic imaging could be performed. One of the imaging techniques available for this purpose is computed tomography (CT), however, insight in the diagnostic performance of CT is unclear.

Method: Diagnostic systematic review.

Low prevalence of hypopituitarism after traumatic brain injury: a multicenter study.

Objective: Hypopituitarism after traumatic brain injury (TBI) is considered to be a prevalent condition. However, prevalence rates differ considerably among reported studies, due to differences in definitions, endocrine assessments of hypopituitarism, and confounding factors, such as timing of evaluation and the severity of the trauma. Aim To evaluate the prevalence of hypopituitarism in a large cohort of TBI patients after long-term follow-up using a standardized endocrine evaluation.

High prevalence of vertebral fractures despite normal bone mineral density in patients with long-term controlled acromegaly.

Objective: To establish the prevalence of osteoporosis, vertebral fractures (VFs), and non-VFs in acromegaly patients with long-term controlled disease and factors potentially influencing fracture risk.

Design: Case-control study. Patients and measurements Eighty-nine patients (46% male, mean age: 58 years) were included.

Effects of active and passive smoking on Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis in a cohort from a regional hospital.

Objective: Smoking is detrimental for Crohn's disease (CD), but beneficial for ulcerative colitis (UC). Earlier, we studied the effects of active and passive smoking in CD and UC patients from a university hospital. This study was conducted to assess the same effects in patients from a regional hospital.

Arthropathy in long-term cured acromegaly is characterised by osteophytes without joint space narrowing: a comparison with generalised osteoarthritis.

Objective: To compare the distribution of osteophytes and joint space narrowing (JSN) between patients with acromegaly and primary generalised osteoarthritis to gain insight into the pathophysiological process of growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor type I (IGF-I)-mediated osteoarthritis.

Methods: We utilised radiographs of the knee and hip joints of 84 patients with controlled acromegaly for a mean of 14.0 years with 189 patients with primary generalised osteoarthritis.

Increased psychopathology and maladaptive personality traits, but normal cognitive functioning, in patients after long-term cure of acromegaly.

Objective: Active acromegaly is associated with psychopathology, personality changes, and cognitive dysfunction. It is unknown whether, and to what extent, these effects are present after long-term cure of acromegaly.

Aim: The aim of the study was to assess psychopathology, personality traits, and cognitive function in patients after long-term cure of acromegaly.