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Brussels Free University[Affiliation] Publications | LitMetric

991 results match your criteria: "Brussels Free University[Affiliation]"

Low Risk of Atrioventricular Conduction Disease in Patients With Unexplained Syncope and Negative Ajmaline Challenge.

JACC Clin Electrophysiol

November 2024

Heart Rhythm Management Centre, Postgraduate Program in Cardiac Electrophysiology and Pacing, University Hospital Brussels - Free University Brussels, European Reference Networks Guard-Heart, Brussels, Belgium. Electronic address:

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Atrial fibrillation burden: Stepping beyond the categorical characterization.

Heart Rhythm

August 2024

Heart Rhythm Management Centre, Postgraduate Program in Cardiac Electrophysiology and Pacing, University Hospital Brussels-Free University Brussels, European Reference Networks Guard-Heart, Brussels, Belgium. Electronic address:

Article Synopsis
  • Traditional classifications of atrial fibrillation (AF) are evolving, now seen as a continuous variable instead of just paroxysmal, persistent, or permanent forms, highlighting the importance of AF burden, which measures the duration of AF episodes.
  • This review discusses how AF burden is measured, its effect on patient outcomes, and the need for personalized strategies that consider both AF burden and clinical scores like CHADS-VASc, although current studies call these approaches into question.
  • Continuous monitoring technologies have potential benefits for managing AF, but challenges remain in setting clinically relevant thresholds; future research should aim to refine these metrics and evaluate interventions to reduce AF burden for better patient care.
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Background: The burden of gestational diabetes (GDM) and the optimal screening strategies in African populations are yet to be determined. We assessed the prevalence of GDM and the performance of various screening tests in a Cameroonian population.

Methods: We carried out a cross-sectional study involving the screening of 983 women at 24-28 weeks of pregnancy for GDM using serial tests, including fasting plasma (FPG), random blood glucose (RBG), a 1-hour 50g glucose challenge test (GCT), and standard 2-hour oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT).

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Article Synopsis
  • The study compares the anatomy of pulmonary veins (PVs) between patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) and persistent atrial fibrillation (PeAF) using cardiac computed tomography (CCT).
  • It found that patients with PeAF have larger PV ostial areas and different anatomical orientations compared to those with PAF, indicating significant variability in anatomical characteristics.
  • Understanding these differences could help in selecting the right catheter and technology for more effective ablation procedures in PeAF treatment.
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Regular physical activity (PA) is essential in cystic fibrosis (CF). This study assessed the impact of a motivational interviewing (MI)-based project titled "Just move it . .

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Aims: Specific patterns in incidence may reveal environmental explanations for type 1 diabetes incidence. We aimed to study type 1 diabetes incidence in European childhood populations to assess whether an increase could be attributed to either period or cohort effects.

Methods: Nineteen EURODIAB centres provided single year incidence data for ages 0-14 in the 25-year period 1989-2013.

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Background & Aims: Fatigue is highly prevalent among patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and only limited treatment options are available. Based on the hypothetical link between low serum tryptophan concentrations and fatigue, we determined the effect of 5-hydroxytryptophan supplementation on fatigue in patients with inactive IBD.

Methods: A multicenter randomized controlled trial was performed at 13 Belgian hospitals, including 166 patients with IBD in remission but experiencing fatigue, defined by a fatigue visual analog scale (fVAS) score of ≥5.

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Are Words the Quanta of Human Language? Extending the Domain of Quantum Cognition.

Entropy (Basel)

December 2021

Center Leo Apostel for Interdisciplinary Studies, Brussels Free University, Krijgskundestraat 33, 1160 Brussels, Belgium.

In previous research, we showed that 'texts that tell a story' exhibit a statistical structure that is not Maxwell-Boltzmann but Bose-Einstein. Our explanation is that this is due to the presence of 'indistinguishability' in human language as a result of the same words in different parts of the story being indistinguishable from one another, in much the same way that 'indistinguishability' occurs in quantum mechanics, also there leading to the presence of Bose-Einstein rather than Maxwell-Boltzmann as a statistical structure. In the current article, we set out to provide an explanation for this Bose-Einstein statistics in human language.

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Background: Islet cell-specific autoantibodies are useful to classify diabetes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of commercially available ELISAs to detect autoantibodies to glutamic acid decarboxylase 65-kDa isoform (GADA), tyrosine phosphatase-related islet antigen 2 (IA-2A), zinc transporter protein 8 (ZnT8A), and insulin (IAA). The performance of ELISA was compared to the performance of RIA.

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Ongoing beta cell death in type 1 diabetes (T1D) can be detected using biomarkers selectively discharged by dying beta cells into plasma. microRNA-375 (miR-375) ranks among the top biomarkers based on studies in animal models and human islet transplantation. Our objective was to identify additional microRNAs that are co-released with miR-375 proportionate to the amount of beta cell destruction.

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Objectives: Vitamin D deficiency was previously correlated with incidence and severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We investigated the association between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) level on admission and radiologic stage and outcome of COVID-19 pneumonia.

Methods: A retrospective observational trial was done on 186 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-infected individuals hospitalized from March 1, 2020, to April 7, 2020, with combined chest computed tomography (CT) and 25(OH)D measurement on admission.

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The formation of hair follicles, a landmark of mammals, requires complex mesenchymal-epithelial interactions and it is commonly believed that embryonic epidermal cells are the only cells that can respond to hair follicle morphogenetic signals in vivo. Here, we demonstrate that epithelial stem cells of non-skin origin (e.g.

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Objectives: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) serology tests are clinically useful to document prior SARS-CoV-2 infections. Data are urgently needed to select assays with optimal sensitivity at acceptable specificity for antibody detection.

Methods: A comparative evaluation was performed of 7 commercial SARS-CoV-2 serology assays on 171 sera from 135 subjects with polymerase chain reaction-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection (71 hospitalized patients and 64 paucisymptomatic individuals).

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Diagnostic Performance of Chest CT for SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Individuals with or without COVID-19 Symptoms.

Radiology

January 2021

From the Department of Radiology (K.D.S., T.R., E.L., B.H., R.V., S.G.), Department of Laboratory Medicine (D.D.S., G.A.M.), and Department of Pulmonary Diseases (I.D., B.B.), AZ Delta General Hospital, Deltalaan 1, 8800 Roeselare, Belgium; Department of Biomolecular Medicine, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium (G.A.M.); and Department of Pathology, Molecular and Cellular Medicine, Brussels Free University, Brussels, Belgium (G.A.M.).

Background The use of chest CT for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) diagnosis or triage in health care settings with limited severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) capacity is controversial. COVID-19 Reporting and Data System (CO-RADS) categorization of the level of COVID-19 suspicion might improve diagnostic performance. Purpose To investigate the value of chest CT with CO-RADS classification to screen for asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections and to determine its diagnostic performance in individuals with COVID-19 symptoms during the exponential phase of viral spread.

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Some pesticides increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, but whether fetal exposure carries transgenerational risk remains unknown. We evaluated the metabolic effects of gestational exposure to chlorpyrifos and imidacloprid in female Wistar rats and their offspring. We studied female nulliparous Wistar rats, including six exposed to imidacloprid (IMI) and six to chlorpyrifos (CPF) once daily throughout gestation at 1/10 lethal dose 50, while six (control group) received distilled water.

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Background: One of most accepted principles for treating Kienböck's disease before wrist degeneration settles in is to decompress the lunate by an osteotomy. Several osteotomies have been proposed since 1935. However, they are based on biomechanical hypotheses that are sometimes conflicting: This study compares the decompression effect of radius transverse shortening, radius lateral closing and medial closing wedge osteotomies, capitate shortening - with and without hamate shortening - and a Camembert-type radius wedge osteotomy with and without ulnar head shortening according to Sennwald.

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At diagnosis, most people with type 1 diabetes (T1D) produce measurable levels of endogenous insulin, but the rate at which insulin secretion declines is heterogeneous. To explain this heterogeneity, we sought to identify a composite signature predictive of insulin secretion, using a collaborative assay evaluation and analysis pipeline that incorporated multiple cellular and serum measures reflecting β cell health and immune system activity. The ability to predict decline in insulin secretion would be useful for patient stratification for clinical trial enrollment or therapeutic selection.

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Introduction: Improved outcome has been shown in patients with synchronous oligometastatic (sOM) NSCLC when treated with radical intent. As a uniform definition of sOM NSCLC is lacking, we developed a definition and diagnostic criteria by a consensus process.

Methods: A pan-European multidisciplinary consensus group was established.

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Lotus II, a randomized, open-label, multicenter, international study compared the efficacy and safety of oral dydrogesterone versus micronized vaginal progesterone (MVP) gel for luteal support in IVF. A prespecified subgroup analysis was performed on 239 Chinese mainland subjects from the overall study population ( = 1034), who were randomized to oral dydrogesterone 30 mg or 8% MVP gel 90 mg daily from the day of oocyte retrieval until 12 weeks of gestation. The aim was to demonstrate non-inferiority of oral dydrogesterone to MVP gel, assessed by the presence of a fetal heartbeat at 12 weeks of gestation.

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Device-encapsulated human stem cell-derived pancreatic endoderm (PE) can generate functional β-cell implants in the subcutis of mice, which has led to the start of clinical studies in type 1 diabetes. Assessment of the formed functional β-cell mass (FBM) and its correlation with in vivo metabolic markers can guide clinical translation. We recently reported ex vivo characteristics of device-encapsulated human embryonic stem cell-derived (hES)-PE implants in mice that had established a metabolically adequate FBM during 50-week follow-up.

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Pesticide exposure may induce biochemical alterations including oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation. However, in the context of developmental origin of health and disease, putative trans-generational effect of exposure to pesticides are insufficiently studied. We therefore aimed to evaluate the biochemical effect of gestational exposure to four pesticides on female Wistar rats and their offspring at adult age.

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Purpose Of Review: Pain continues to be a prevalent symptom in cancer patients. Patient's ethnicity may influence the experience of pain with variations in pain outcomes among different ethnic groups. The objective of this thematic review is to investigate the relationship between ethnicity and cancer pain experience, assessment and management.

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Aims/hypothesis: Against a background of a near-universally increasing incidence of childhood type 1 diabetes, recent reports from some countries suggest a slowing in this increase. Occasional reports also describe cyclical variations in incidence, with periodicities of between 4 and 6 years.

Methods: Age/sex-standardised incidence rates for the 0- to 14-year-old age group are reported for 26 European centres (representing 22 countries) that have registered newly diagnosed individuals in geographically defined regions for up to 25 years during the period 1989-2013.

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Aim: Several biomarkers have been proposed to detect pancreatic β cell destruction in vivo but so far have not been compared for sensitivity and significance.

Methods: We used islet transplantation as a model to compare plasma concentrations of miR-375, 65-kDa subunit of glutamate decarboxylase (GAD65), and unmethylated insulin DNA, measured at subpicomolar sensitivity, and study their discharge kinetics, power for outcome prediction, and detection of graft loss during follow-up.

Results: At 60 minutes after transplantation, GAD65 and miR-375 consistently showed near-equimolar and correlated increases proportional to the number of implanted β cells.

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