The clinical assessment of lung involvement in patients with Still's disease, results from the multicentre international AIDA Network Still's Disease Registry.

Objectives: To assess the lung involvement in patients with Still's disease, an inflammatory disease assessing both children and adults. To exploit possible associated factors for parenchymal lung involvement in these patients.

Methods: A multicentre observational study was arranged assessing consecutive patients with Still's disease characterized by the lung involvement among those included in the AIDA (AutoInflammatory Disease Alliance) Network Still's Disease Registry.

Effect of targeted education of patients with atrial fibrillation on unplanned cardiovascular outcomes: results of the multicentre randomized AF-EduCare trial.

Aims: Trials on integrated care for atrial fibrillation (AF) showed mixed results in different AF populations using various approaches. The multicentre, randomized AF-EduCare trial evaluated the effect of targeted patient education on unplanned cardiovascular outcomes.

Methods And Results: Patients willing to participate were randomly assigned to in-person education, online education, or standard care (SC) and followed for minimum 18 months.

Plant species, inundation, and sediment grain size control the development of sediment stability in tidal marshes.

Tidal marshes can contribute to nature-based shoreline protection by reducing the wave load onto the shore and reducing the erosion of the sediment bed. To implement such nature-based shoreline erosion protection requires the ability to quickly restore or create highly stable and erosion-resistant tidal marshes at places where they currently do not yet occur. Therefore, we aim to identify the drivers controlling the rate by which sediment stability builds up in young pioneer marshes.

The Clinical Significance of HLA Compatibility Scores in Lung Transplantation.

Lung transplantation is a life-saving therapeutic option for many chronic end-stage pulmonary diseases, but long-term survival may be limited by rejection of the transplanted organ. Since HLA disparity between donor and recipient plays a major role in rejection, we performed a single center, retrospective observational cohort analysis in our lung transplant cohort (n = 128) in which we calculated HLA compatibility scores for B-cell epitopes (HLAMatchmaker, HLA-EMMA), T-cell epitopes (PIRCHE-II) and missing self-induced NK cell activation (KIR Ligand Calculator). Adjusted Cox proportional hazards model was used to investigate the association between mismatched scores and time to development of donor-specific antibodies (DSA) post-transplant, time to first biopsy-proven acute rejection episode, freedom from CLAD, graft survival and overall survival.

Navigating diabetes care inequities: an observational study linking chronic care model's structural elements to process and outcomes of type 2 diabetes care in Belgium.

Background: Although the Chronic Care Model (CCM) provides the essential structural components of practice organisation to deliver high-quality type 2 diabetes (T2D) care, little is known about which of its elements are most important, and the extent to which it may reduce social inequities in the quality of T2D care. This study aims to assess the association between the implementation of CCM's structural elements and the quality of T2D care processes and outcomes in Flanders (Belgium), paying specific attention to differences by patients' socioeconomic vulnerability.

Methods: We developed a longitudinal database combining information on primary care practices' CCM implementation, with individual-level health insurance and medical lab data.

Unexpected High Prevalence of Focal Facial Dermal Dysplasia (FFDD) Type IV Is Linked to a Founder Effect in the Belgian Population.

Focal facial dermal dysplasia (FFDD) type IV is a rare inherited facial defect caused by biallelic variants in CYP26C1. This study reports two novel Belgian FFDD type IV cases, both homozygous for a recurrent CYP26C1 frameshift variant, with a common 700 kb haplotype, indicating a founder effect.

Advancing precision psychiatry and targeted treatments: Insights from immunopsychiatry.

Despite tremendous advancements in neuroscience, there has been limited impact on patient care. Current psychiatric treatments are largely non-specific, and drug development is hindered by outdated, overinclusive diagnostic categories and a "one-size-fits-all" approach. Additionally, mechanisms underlying psychiatric illnesses and their treatments with conventional medications remain poorly understood.

3'-deoxytubercidin: A potent therapeutic candidate for the treatment of Surra and Dourine.

Surra and Dourine are widespread diseases caused by two protozoan parasites Trypanosoma brucei evansi and Trypanosoma brucei equiperdum, respectively. A wide range of animals including camels, horses, cattle and buffaloes are susceptible to infection. These diseases pose a significant socio-economic burden, primarily due to the limited therapeutic options and the complications associated with toxicity and drug resistance, making disease management particularly challenging.

Integrating vestibular and visual cues for verticality perception.

Verticality is the perception of what's upright relative to gravity. The vestibular system provides information about the head's orientation relative to gravity, while visual cues influence the perception of external objects' alignment with the vertical. According to Bayesian integration, the perception of verticality depends on the relative reliability of visual and vestibular cues.

Stakeholders' perspective on sustainable cement made with naturally occurring radioactive by-products: A cross-country comparison.

The use of industrial by-products as substitutes for raw materials in cement production not only reduces raw material use, thereby contributing to the circular economy, but also offers an avenue for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This study investigates the perceptions of industry representatives and end-users across Belgium, Czechia and Slovenia regarding alternative cement made with industrial by-products categorised as naturally occurring radioactive materials. Based on 66 interviews, three main concerns were discerned: health, performance, and economic.

Strategies for introducing and implementing vaccines for adults into national immunization programs in Europe: Good practices and key insights of the adult immunization board meeting.

In April 2024, the Adult Immunization Board convened a technical meeting to explore the latest strategies and identify exemplary approaches regarding the implementation of vaccines for adults into Europe's National Immunization Programs (NIPs). The meeting was built around three pillars: decision making for introducing a new vaccine, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. The increasing number of new vaccines available in a context of competing health priorities warrants transparent and evidence-based decision-making processes for vaccine introduction.

Anatomical investigation of safety determining factors for keyhole drilling trajectories for robotic cochlear implant surgery.

Purpose: Cochlear implants (CI) are the most successful bioprosthesis in medicine probably due to the tonotopic anatomy of the auditory pathway and of course the brain plasticity. Correct placement of the CI arrays, respecting the inner ear anatomy are therefore important. The ideal trajectory to insert a cochlear implant array is defined by an entrance through the round window membrane and continues as long as possible parallel to the basal turn of the cochlea.

Genomic reanalysis of a pan-European rare-disease resource yields new diagnoses.

Genetic diagnosis of rare diseases requires accurate identification and interpretation of genomic variants. Clinical and molecular scientists from 37 expert centers across Europe created the Solve-Rare Diseases Consortium (Solve-RD) resource, encompassing clinical, pedigree and genomic rare-disease data (94.5% exomes, 5.

The effect of a general practitioner's perception of a patient request for antibiotics on antibiotic prescribing for respiratory tract infections: secondary analysis of a point prevalence audit survey in 18 European countries.

Background: Illness severity, comorbidity, fever, age and symptom duration influence antibiotic prescribing for respiratory tract infections (RTI). Non-medical determinants, such as patient expectations, also impact prescribing.

Aim: To quantify the effect of general practitioners' (GPs') perception of a patient request for antibiotics on antibiotic prescribing for RTI and investigate effect modification by medical determinants and country.

Allowed response time and estimated average body size influence visual body size estimates.

Studies show that body size estimates exhibit a contraction bias wherein participants with a lower-than-average BMI overestimate their bodies while participants with a higher-than-average BMI underestimate. We attempted to replicate this effect and test its relationship to allowed response time and estimates of average body size. Neurotypical female Dutch participants (n = 277) estimated their body size using a forced-choice task, which we modified to modulate allowed response time, and a method-of-adjustment task.

Improving Atrial Fibrillation or Flutter Detection and Management by Smartphone-Based Photoplethysmography Rhythm Monitoring Following Cardiac Surgery: A Pragmatic Randomized Trial.

Background And Aims: Atrial fibrillation (AF) or atrial flutter (AFL) after cardiac surgery are common and associated with adverse outcomes. The increased risk related to AF or AFL may extend beyond discharge. This study aims to determine whether photoplethysmography (PPG)-based smartphone monitoring to detect AF or AFL after hospital discharge following cardiac surgery improves AF management.

Walking or hanging: the role of habitat use for body shape evolution in lacertid lizards.

Differences in habitat use impose ecological constraints which in turn lead to functional and morphological differences through adaptation. In fact, a convergent evolutionary pattern is evident when species exhibit similar responses to similar environments. In this study we examine how habitat use influences the evolution of body shape in lizards from the family Lacertidae.

Design of a new Ni@NCNT/graphene hybrid structured catalyst for high-performance electrochemical CO reduction: unravelling the roles of N-doping.

Doping strategies have been recognized as effective approaches for developing cost-effective and durable catalysts with enhanced reactivity and selectivity in the electrochemical synthesis of value-added compounds directly from CO. However, the reaction mechanism and the specific roles of heteroatom doping, such as N doping, in advancing the CO reduction reaction are still controversial due to the lack of precise control of catalyst surface microenvironments. In this study, we investigated the effects of N doping on the performances for electrochemically converting CO to CO over Ni@NCNT/graphene hybrid structured catalysts (Ni@NCNT/Gr).

Determinants of COVID-19 vaccination coverage in European and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.

Introduction: In relatively wealthy countries, substantial between-country variability in COVID-19 vaccination coverage occurred. We aimed to identify influential national-level determinants of COVID-19 vaccine uptake at different COVID-19 pandemic stages in such countries.

Methods: We considered over 50 macro-level demographic, healthcare resource, disease burden, political, socio-economic, labor, cultural, life-style indicators as explanatory factors and coverage with at least one dose by June 2021, completed initial vaccination protocols by December 2021, and booster doses by June 2022 as outcomes.

Insights into the subdaily variations in methane, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide fluxes from upland tropical tree stems.

Recent studies have shown that stem fluxes, although highly variable among trees, can alter the strength of the methane (CH) sink or nitrous oxide (NO) source in some forests, but the patterns and magnitudes of these fluxes remain unclear. This study investigated the drivers of subdaily and seasonal variations in stem and soil CH, NO and carbon dioxide (CO) fluxes. CH, NO and CO fluxes were measured continuously for 19 months in individual stems of two tree species, Eperua falcata (Aubl.

Clinical Relevance of 'Cap' and 'Track' Development after Recent Small Subcortical Infarct.

Objective: After a recent small subcortical infarct (RSSI), some patients develop perilesional or remote hyperintensities ('caps/tracks') to the index infarct on T2/FLAIR MRI. However, their clinical relevance remains unclear. We investigated the clinicoradiological correlates of 'caps/tracks', and their impact on long-term outcomes following RSSI.

Postprandial glycaemic response and pain sensitivity in breast cancer survivors suffering from chronic pain: a double-blind, randomised controlled cross-over pilot experiment.

Introduction: The study's primary goal is to investigate differences in postprandial glycaemic response (PPGR) to beverages with varying glycaemic index (i.e. low and medium) between breast cancer survivors (BCS) with chronic pain and healthy pain-free controls (HC).

Feasibility of a comprehensive supervised exercise program during and after treatment of head and neck cancer: a mixed-methods study.

Purpose: This study evaluates the feasibility of a comprehensive supervised exercise program (CSEP) for head and neck cancer (HNC) patients during and after (chemo)radiotherapy, integrating quantitative and qualitative data to identify participation barriers and facilitators.

Methods: To investigate the feasibility of the CSEP, a mixed-method study was performed. For the quantitative part, first, adherence to and safety of the CSEP were considered as quantitative feasibility outcome measures.

Biomarker-Directed Radiotherapy in Breast Cancer: A Narrative Review.

Importance: Integration of molecular biomarker information into systemic therapy has become standard practice in breast cancer care. However, its implementation in guiding radiotherapy (RT) is slower. Although postoperative RT is recommended for most patients after breast-conserving surgery and, depending on risk factors, following mastectomy, emerging evidence has indicated that patients with low scores on gene expression signatures or selected clinical-pathological features may have very low local recurrence rates.

Prognostic models for depression and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms following traumatic brain injury: a CENTER-TBI study.

Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is associated with an increased risk of major depressive disorder (MDD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We aimed to identify predictors and develop models for the prediction of depression and PTSD symptoms at 6 months post-TBI.

Methods: We analysed data from the Collaborative European NeuroTrauma Effectiveness Research in Traumatic Brain Injury study.