Informal care for people with dementia in Europe.

Introduction: Informal care estimates for use in health-economic models are lacking. We aimed to estimate the association between informal care time and dementia symptoms across Europe.

Methods: A secondary analysis was performed on 13,529 observations in 5,369 persons from 9 European pooled cohort or trial studies in community-dwelling persons with dementia.

Diagnostic accuracy in coronary CT angiography analysis: artificial intelligence versus human assessment.

Background: Visual assessment of coronary CT angiography (CCTA) is time-consuming, influenced by reader experience and prone to interobserver variability. This study evaluated a novel algorithm for coronary stenosis quantification (atherosclerosis imaging quantitative CT, AI-QCT).

Methods: The study included 208 patients with suspected coronary artery disease (CAD) undergoing CCTA in Perfusion Imaging and CT Coronary Angiography With Invasive Coronary Angiography-1.

Uncertainties around net-zero climate targets have major impact on greenhouse gas emissions projections.

Globally, more than 100 countries have adopted net-zero targets. Most studies agree on how this increases the chance of keeping end-of-century global warming below 2°C. However, they typically make assumptions about net-zero targets that do not capture uncertainties related to gas coverage, sector coverage, sinks, and removals.

Antepartum insomnia symptoms and its association with postpartum depression symptoms in women with and without psychiatric vulnerability: A prospective cohort study.

Background: Postpartum depression is common and may be linked to antepartum insomnia, a potentially modifiable risk factor. We examine the association between insomnia- and postpartum depression symptoms, considering whether psychiatric vulnerability moderates this link.

Method: Participants completed the Insomnia Severity Index during trimester two and three and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression questionnaire postpartum.

Quantifying DNA Lesions and Circulating Free DNA: Diagnostic Marker for Electropathology and Clinical Stage of AF.

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) persistence is associated with molecular remodeling that fuels electrical conduction abnormalities in atrial tissue. Previous research revealed DNA damage as a molecular driver of AF.

Objectives: This study sought to explore the diagnostic value of DNA damage in atrial tissue and blood samples as an indicator of the prevalence of electrical conduction abnormalities and stage of AF.

Pediatric Brain Tumors in Western Kenya: Patient Outcomes and Healthcare Providers' Perspectives.

Background: Pediatric brain tumors are understudied compared to other pediatric malignancies in low- and middle-income countries. Care delivery is inherently dependent on collaboration between multiple departments. This study aimed to present baseline data of pediatric neuro-oncology care in Western Kenya and illustrate barriers and facilitators of multidisciplinary care.

The Impact of Diabetes Mellitus and Metformin Use on Outcomes After Endovascular Aneurysm Repair.

: To study the influence of diabetes mellitus (DM) and metformin treatment on aneurysm sac remodeling after endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR). : A retrospective single-center cohort analysis was conducted on consecutive patients who underwent elective EVAR for an infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) between January 2011 and December 2021. Differences between study groups were analyzed and Kaplan-Meier analysis were employed to describe overall and reintervention-free survival.

Treatment Response Evaluation in Necrotizing Otitis Externa Using 18F-FDG-PET Imaging.

Objective: This study aims to identify 18F-FDG-PET imaging features for improving treatment response evaluation in patients with necrotizing otitis externa (NOE), aiding in the difficult differentiation between sterile inflammation and active infection.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Tertiary hospital.

Flexible or fortified? How lichens balance defence strategies across climatic harshness gradients.

Lichens play important roles in habitat formation and community succession in polar and alpine ecosystems. Despite their significance, the ecological effects of lichen traits remain poorly researched. We propose a trait trade-off for managing light exposure based on climatic harshness.

Instruments for Value Elucidation in Older Adults in Clinical Practice-A Scoping Review.

Background: To ensure appropriate care for the individual older adult, an ideal treatment should align with patients' values. However, healthcare professionals struggle with how to elucidate patient values effectively. To offer guidance to healthcare professionals, we performed a scoping review, thereby mapping and categorizing instruments specifically developed to elucidate values of older adults in clinical practice.

The effectiveness of psychologically-informed physiotherapy for people with neck pain and the mediating role of illness perceptions: a replicated single-case experimental design study.

Purpose: (1) To evaluate the effectiveness of personalised psychologically-informed physiotherapy in people with neck pain; (2) To explore the mediating role of changes in illness perceptions.

Method: In this replicated single-case study, 14 patients with non-specific neck pain at risk for chronicity received a personalised intervention addressing unhelpful illness perceptions and dysfunctional movement behaviour, according to principles of cognitive functional therapy. Outcomes included the mediating role of illness perceptions on overall effect, function, pain intensity and self-efficacy.

Unhelpful Information About Low Back and Neck Pain on Physiotherapist's Websites.

Background: The internet is increasingly used as a primary source of information for patients with musculoskeletal pain. Private physiotherapy practices provide informative content on low back pain (LBP) and neck pain (NP) on their websites, but the extent to which this information is biopsychosocial, guidelines-consistent, and fear-inducing is unknown. The aim of this study was to analyse the information on websites of private physiotherapy practices in the Netherlands about LBP and NP regarding consistency with the guidelines and the biopsychosocial model and to explore the use of fear-inducing language.

Evaluation of efficiency and effectiveness of different recruitment strategies for the FINGER-NL multidomain lifestyle intervention trial via the Dutch Brain Research Registry.

Introduction: Recruitment of participants for intervention studies is challenging. We evaluated the effectiveness and efficiency of a participant recruitment campaign through an online registry for the FINGER-NL study, a multi-domain lifestyle intervention trial targeting cognitively healthy individuals aged 60-79 with dementia prevention potential. Additionally, we explored which recruitment strategy successfully reached individuals from underrepresented groups in research.

The Healthy Supermarket Coach: effects of a nutrition peer-education intervention in Dutch supermarkets on adolescents' food purchases.

Background: Dutch adolescents predominantly purchase unhealthy snacks in supermarkets, which negatively influence their health. The aim of this study was to investigate the short- and longer-term effects of a nutrition peer-education intervention in supermarkets on food purchases and determinants of food purchase behaviour among adolescents of different education levels.

Methods: We performed a quasi-experimental study in three supermarkets (two intervention and one comparison school) in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Implementing a workplace participatory approach to support working caregivers in balancing their work, private life and informal care: results of a process evaluation.

Background: Many organizations are faced with growing numbers of employees who combine their jobs with informal caregiving responsibilities. To support working caregivers in maintaining a good balance between work, private life and informal care, a workplace participatory approach (PA) intervention was implemented in four Dutch organizations. This study's aims were to evaluate the degree of PA implementation, contextual factors influencing implementation, and stakeholder experiences with the PA.

Multidisciplinary care pathways for falls prevention in older adults: visualizing the needs of primary care-based health care professionals.

Purpose: Multidisciplinary care pathways for falls prevention, which include falls risk stratification, multifactorial falls risk assessment, and management of multidomain interventions, can reduce falls in older adults. However, efficient multidisciplinary falls prevention care is challenging due to issues such as poor communication and role allocation. This study aimed to identify and visualize the multidisciplinary care needs of primary care-based health care professionals (HCPs) for falls prevention in the Netherlands using the novel co-design approach of journey mapping.

Statistical learning of spatiotemporal target regularities in the absence of saliency.

In previous studies, it was established that individuals can implicitly learn spatiotemporal regularities related to how the distribution of target locations unfolds across the time course of a single trial. However, these regularities were tied to the appearance of salient targets that are known to capture attention in a bottom-up way. The current study investigated whether the saliency of target is necessary for this type of learning to occur.

Powerful together with diabetes, a group-based self-management intervention for patients with type 2 diabetes from lower educational groups: study protocol for a hybrid type 2 evaluation.

Introduction: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a major burden on public health worldwide. To reduce adverse events and complications, effective T2DM self-management is required. Self-management and glycaemic control are generally poorer in lower educated people compared with higher educated people.

Randomised double-blind placebo-controlled trial protocol to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of lyophilised faecal microbiota capsules amended with next-generation beneficial bacteria in individuals with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis.

Background: The spectrum of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is highly prevalent, affecting 30% of the world's population, with a significant risk of hepatic and cardiometabolic complications. Different stages of MASLD are accompanied by distinct gut microbial profiles, and several microbial components have been implicated in MASLD pathophysiology. Indeed, earlier studies demonstrated that hepatic necroinflammation was reduced in individuals with MASLD after allogenic faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) from healthy donors on a vegan diet.

Outcomes and Complications of Chait Trapdoor Cecostomy in Pediatric Patients with Therapy-Resistant Constipation and Fecal Incontinence: A 14-Year Retrospective Study.

Aim of the study To assess the incidence and types of complications and patient-reported outcomes in pediatric patients with therapy-resistant constipation or fecal incontinence (FI) without constipation who underwent Chait TrapdoorTM cecostomy (CTC). The findings contribute to the discussion on selecting the optimal antegrade continence (ACE) procedure for this population. Materials and Methods A retrospective review was conducted on all pediatric patients with therapy-resistant constipation or FI without constipation who underwent a CTC procedure at our tertiary referral center between 2009 and 2023.

Memory load influences our preparedness to act on visual representations in working memory without affecting their accessibility.

It is well established that when we hold more content in working memory, we are slower to act upon part of that content when it becomes relevant for behavior. Here, we asked whether this load-related slowing is due to slower access to the sensory representations held in working memory (as predicted by serial working-memory search), or by a reduced preparedness to act upon those sensory representations once accessed. To address this, we designed a visual-motor working-memory task in which participants memorized the orientation of two or four colored bars, of which one was cued for reproduction.

Determinants of Caregiver Burden Among Spouses of Patients With Kidney Failure: A Qualitative Study.

Rationale & Objective: Spousal caregivers participate extensively in the care of patients with kidney failure. Although previous studies suggested that these caregivers experience a high burden, a comprehensive understanding of the determinants of this burden and strategies to alleviate it are needed. Therefore, this study sought to explore the contributing and alleviating determinants of burden in spousal caregivers of patients with kidney failure.

Gynecological gender-affirming surgeries: what are the motivations and experiences? A qualitative study.

Background: Although many transmasculine individuals undergo 1 or more gynecological surgeries (ie, hysterectomy, oophorectomy, tubectomy, or colpectomy), little has been published about motivation, subjective experiences, and the effect on dysphoria and quality of life.

Aim: The aim of this study was to acquire an in-depth understanding of patients' motivations and experienced outcomes of gynecological gender surgery.

Methods: In this qualitative study, in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted.