Pesticide exposure enhances dominance patterns in a zooplankton community.

Exposure to pesticides can profoundly alter community dynamics. It is expected that dominance patterns will be enhanced or reduced depending on whether the dominant species is less or more sensitive to the pesticide than the subdominant species. Community dynamics are, however, also determined by processes linked to population growth as well as competition at carrying capacity.

A Bayesian approach to estimate the probability of resistance to bedaquiline in the presence of a genomic variant.

Background: Bedaquiline is a core drug for treatment of rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis. Few genomic variants have been statistically associated with bedaquiline resistance. Alternative approaches for determining the genotypic-phenotypic association are needed to guide clinical care.

Spatio-temporal model to investigate COVID-19 spread accounting for the mobility amongst municipalities.

The rapid spread of COVID-19 worldwide led to the implementation of various non-pharmaceutical interventions to limit transmission and hence reduce the number of infections. Using telecom-operator-based mobility data and a spatio-temporal dynamic model, the impact of mobility on the evolution of the pandemic at the level of the 581 Belgian municipalities is investigated. By decomposing incidence, particularly into within- and between-municipality components, we noted that the global epidemic component is relatively more important in larger municipalities (e.

Within-host modeling to measure dynamics of antibody responses after natural infection or vaccination: A systematic review.

Background: Within-host models describe the dynamics of immune cells when encountering a pathogen, and how these dynamics can lead to an individual-specific immune response. This systematic review aims to summarize which within-host methodology has been used to study and quantify antibody kinetics after infection or vaccination. In particular, we focus on data-driven and theory-driven mechanistic models.

Dietary outcomes of community-based CVD preventive interventions: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: We aimed to synthesise available evidence on the effects of community-based interventions in improving various dietary outcome measures.

Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Setting: We searched databases including Medline, EMBASE, PSYCINFO, CINAHL and the Cochrane registry for studies reported between January 2000 and June 2022.

Incidence, prevalence, and co-occurrence of autoimmune disorders over time and by age, sex, and socioeconomic status: a population-based cohort study of 22 million individuals in the UK.

Background: A rise in the incidence of some autoimmune disorders has been described. However, contemporary estimates of the overall incidence of autoimmune diseases and trends over time are scarce and inconsistent. We aimed to investigate the incidence and prevalence of 19 of the most common autoimmune diseases in the UK, assess trends over time, and by sex, age, socioeconomic status, season, and region, and we examine rates of co-occurrence among autoimmune diseases.

Diagnostic yield of combined cranial and large vessel PET/CT, ultrasound and MRI in giant cell arteritis: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objectives: To estimate the diagnostic accuracy of combined cranial and large vessel imaging by PET/CT, ultrasound and MRI for giant cell arteritis (GCA).

Methods: PubMed, Embase, Cochrane and Web of Science databases were searched from inception till August 31, 2022. Studies were included if they involved patients with suspected GCA and assessed the diagnostic accuracy of combined cranial and large vessel imaging by PET/CT, ultrasound or MRI with the final clinical diagnosis as reference standard.

Validation of a rapid SARS-CoV-2 antibody test in general practice.

Objectives: To validate a rapid serological test (RST) for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies used in seroprevalence studies in healthcare providers, including primary healthcare providers (PHCPs) in Belgium.

Design: A phase III validation study of the RST (OrientGene) within a prospective cohort study.

Setting: Primary care in Belgium.

Rethinking Screening Intensity in Terms of Reducing Prevalence or Increasing Selection Pressure for the Emergence of Resistant Gonorrhea: A Modeling Study of Men Who Have Sex With Men in Belgium.

Background: (NG) has developed antimicrobial resistance (AMR) to multiple classes of antibiotics. While treatment of symptomatic NG in groups, such as men who have sex with men (MSM), is crucial, screening programs targeting asymptomatic NG cases may contribute to excessive antibiotic exposure of the population and thus to the emergence of gonococcal AMR. Our primary aim was to assess if intense screening could promote AMR in NG.

Long-term effects of orthodontic interceptive expansion treatment : A retrospective study.

Purpose: The aim of this retrospective cohort study was to evaluate the long-term effects of interceptive orthodontic treatment with a removable expansion plate, based on transversal, sagittal, and vertical parameters.

Methods: A total of 90 patients needing interceptive treatment due to a crossbite or space deficiency were included. Records consisting of clinical photos, radiographs, and digital dental casts were collected for evaluation at two time points: the start of interceptive treatment (T0) and the start of comprehensive treatment (T1).

Maternal and Early-Life Exposure to Antibiotics and the Risk of Autism and Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Childhood: a Swedish Population-Based Cohort Study.

Introduction: Antibiotics represent the most common type of medication used during pregnancy and infancy. Antibiotics have been proposed as a possible factor in changes in microbiota composition, which may play a role in the aetiology of autism and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Our aim was to investigate the association between maternal and early-life antibiotic use and autism and ADHD in childhood.

NMR-Metabolomics Reveals a Metabolic Shift after Surgical Resection of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

Background: Lung cancer can be detected by measuring the patient's plasma metabolomic profile using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. This NMR-based plasma metabolomic profile is patient-specific and represents a snapshot of the patient's metabolite concentrations. The onset of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) causes a change in the metabolite profile.

Tick-borne pathogens and body condition of cattle in smallholder rural livestock production systems in East and West Africa.

Background: The majority of the African population lives in rural areas where they heavily depend on crop and livestock production for their livelihoods. Given their socio-economic importance, we initiated a standardized multi-country (Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Nigeria, Ethiopia Tanzania and Uganda) surveillance study to assess the current status of important tick-borne haemoparasites (TBHPs) of cattle.

Methods: We assessed pathogen prevalences (Anaplasma marginale, Anaplasma centrale, Babesia bigemina, Babesia bovis, Ehrlichia ruminantium, and Theileria parva) in the blood of 6447 animals spread over fourteen districts (two districts per country).

Embolization therapy for type 2 endoleaks after endovascular aortic aneurysm repair: imaging-based predictive factors and clinical outcomes on long-term follow-up.

Purpose: To evaluate the technical, radiological, and clinical outcomes after type 2 endoleak (T2EL) embolization in patients with a growing aneurysm sac after endovascular aortic aneurysm repair (EVAR). Additionally, to determine clinical and imaging-based factors for outcome prediction after embolization of a T2EL.

Methods: A single-institution, retrospective analysis was performed of 60 patients who underwent a T2EL embolization procedure between September 2005 and August 2016 to treat a growing aneurysm sac diameter following EVAR.

Economic burden and health-related quality-of-life among infants with respiratory syncytial virus infection: A multi-country prospective cohort study in Europe.

Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes a considerable disease burden in young children globally, but reliable estimates of RSV-related costs and health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) are scarce. This study aimed to evaluate the RSV-associated costs and HRQoL effects in infants and their caregivers in four European countries.

Methods: Healthy term-born infants were recruited at birth and actively followed up in four European countries.

Cohort-based smoothing methods for age-specific contact rates.

The use of social contact rates is widespread in infectious disease modeling since it has been shown that they are key driving forces of important epidemiological parameters. Quantification of contact patterns is crucial to parameterize dynamic transmission models and to provide insights on the (basic) reproduction number. Information on social interactions can be obtained from population-based contact surveys, such as the European Commission project POLYMOD.

A neutral comparison of statistical methods for analyzing longitudinally measured ordinal outcomes in rare diseases.

Ordinal data in a repeated measures design of a crossover study for rare diseases usually do not allow for the use of standard parametric methods, and hence, nonparametric methods should be considered instead. However, only limited simulation studies in settings with small sample sizes exist. Therefore, starting from an Epidermolysis Bullosa simplex trial with the above-mentioned design, a rank-based approach using the R package nparLD and different generalized pairwise comparisons (GPC) methods were compared impartially in a simulation study.

Modeling antibody dynamics following herpes zoster indicates that higher varicella-zoster virus viremia generates more VZV-specific antibodies.

Introduction: Studying antibody dynamics following re-exposure to infection and/or vaccination is crucial for a better understanding of fundamental immunological processes, vaccine development, and health policy research.

Methods: We adopted a nonlinear mixed modeling approach based on ordinary differential equations (ODE) to characterize varicella-zoster virus specific antibody dynamics during and after clinical herpes zoster. Our ODEs models convert underlying immunological processes into mathematical formulations, allowing for testable data analysis.

Effect of a Combined Drug Approach on the Severity of Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury During Liver Transplant: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: In a porcine model of liver transplant, a combined drug approach that targeted the donor graft and graft recipient reduced ischemia-reperfusion injury, a major hurdle to the success of liver transplant.

Objective: To assess the effect of a clinical form of a perioperative combined drug approach delivered immediately before implantation to the procured liver and to the liver recipient on the degree of ischemia-reperfusion injury.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This unicentric, investigator-driven, open-label randomized clinical trial with 2 parallel arms was conducted in Belgium from September 2013 through February 2018, with 1-year follow-up.

Morphological Medial Gastrocnemius Muscle Growth in Ambulant Children with Spastic Cerebral Palsy: A Prospective Longitudinal Study.

Only cross-sectional studies have demonstrated muscle deficits in children with spastic cerebral palsy (SCP). The impact of gross motor functional limitations on altered muscle growth remains unclear. This prospective longitudinal study modelled morphological muscle growth in 87 children with SCP (age range 6 months to 11 years, Gross Motor Function Classification System [GMFCS] level I/II/III = 47/22/18).

Heart rate variability is not suitable as a surrogate marker for pain intensity in patients with chronic pain.

The search towards more objective outcome measurements and consequently surrogate markers for pain started decades ago; however, no generally accepted biomarker for pain has qualified yet. The goal is to explore the value of heart rate variability (HRV) as surrogate marker for pain intensity chronic pain setting. Pain intensity scores and HRV were collected in 366 patients with chronic pain, through a cross-sectional multicenter study.

Effect of switching from intermittently scanned to real-time continuous glucose monitoring in adults with type 1 diabetes: 24-month results from the randomised ALERTT1 trial.

Background: Comparing Continuous With Flash Glucose Monitoring In Adults With Type 1 Diabetes (ALERTT1) examined whether switching from first-generation intermittently scanned continuous glucose monitoring (isCGM) without alerts to real-time continuous glucose monitoring (rtCGM) with alert functionality offers additional benefits to adults with type 1 diabetes. The extension of the randomised ALERTT1 trial assessed the effect of switching from isCGM to rtCGM up to 24 months.

Methods: In this 6-month, double-arm, parallel-group, non-masked, randomised, controlled trial, done across six hospitals in Belgium, 254 adults aged 18 years or older with type 1 diabetes previously using isCGM were randomly assigned (1:1) to rtCGM with alerts (intervention; n=127) or isCGM without alerts (control; n=127).

An approximate Bayesian approach for estimation of the instantaneous reproduction number under misreported epidemic data.

In epidemic models, the effective reproduction number is of central importance to assess the transmission dynamics of an infectious disease and to orient health intervention strategies. Publicly shared data during an outbreak often suffers from two sources of misreporting (underreporting and delay in reporting) that should not be overlooked when estimating epidemiological parameters. The main statistical challenge in models that intrinsically account for a misreporting process lies in the joint estimation of the time-varying reproduction number and the delay/underreporting parameters.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Registration and Care Provision of Mental Health Problems in General Practice: Registry-Based Study.

Background: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health in general practice remains uncertain. Several studies showed an increase in terms of mental health problems during the pandemic. In Belgium, especially during the first waves of the pandemic, access to general practice was limited.

Individualized Net Benefit estimation and meta-analysis using generalized pairwise comparisons in N-of-1 trials.

Background: The Net Benefit (Δ) is a measure of the benefit-risk balance in clinical trials, based on generalized pairwise comparisons (GPC) using several prioritized outcomes and thresholds of clinical relevance. We extended Δ to N-of-1 trials, with a focus on patient-level and population-level Δ.

Methods: We developed a Δ estimator at the individual level as an extension of the stratum-specific Δ, and at the population-level as an extension of the stratified Δ.