Now showing items 41-60 of 5221

    • Extra-intestinal pathogenic lineages of extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Escherichia coli are associated with prolonged ESBL gene carriage

      van der Putten, Boas C L; van Hattem, Jarne M; Penders, John; Consortium, Combat; Mende, Daniel R; Schultsz, Constance (2024-02-12)
      Extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli (ESBL-Ec) are frequently acquired during international travel, contributing to the global spread of antimicrobial resistance. Human-adapted ESBL-Ec are predicted to exhibit increased intestinal carriage duration, resulting in a higher likelihood of onward human-to-human transmission. Yet, bacterial determinants of increased carriage duration are unknown. Previous studies analysed small traveller cohorts, with short follow-up times, or did not employ high-resolution molecular typing, and were thus unable to identify bacterial traits associated with long-term carriage after recent acquisition. We aimed to identify which ESBL-Ec lineages are associated with increased carriage duration after return from international travel.
    • Long-term exposure to air pollution and incidence of gastric and the upper aerodigestive tract cancers in a pooled European cohort: The ELAPSE project.

      Nagel, Gabriele; Chen, Jie; Jaensch, Andrea; Skodda, Lea; Rodopoulou, Sophia; Strak, Maciej; de Hoogh, Kees; Andersen, Zorana J; Bellander, Tom; Brandt, Jørgen; et al. (2024-02-10)
      Air pollution has been shown to significantly impact human health including cancer. Gastric and upper aerodigestive tract (UADT) cancers are common and increased risk has been associated with smoking and occupational exposures. However, the association with air pollution remains unclear. We pooled European subcohorts (N = 287,576 participants for gastric and N = 297,406 for UADT analyses) and investigated the association between residential exposure to fine particles (PM2.5 ), nitrogen dioxide (NO2 ), black carbon (BC) and ozone in the warm season (O3w ) with gastric and UADT cancer. We applied Cox proportional hazards models adjusting for potential confounders at the individual and area-level. During 5,305,133 and 5,434,843 person-years, 872 gastric and 1139 UADT incident cancer cases were observed, respectively. For gastric cancer, we found no association with PM2.5 , NO2 and BC while for UADT the hazard ratios (95% confidence interval) were 1.15 (95% CI: 1.00-1.33) per 5 μg/m3 increase in PM2.5 , 1.19 (1.08-1.30) per 10 μg/m3 increase in NO2 , 1.14 (1.04-1.26) per 0.5 × 10-5  m-1 increase in BC and 0.81 (0.72-0.92) per 10 μg/m3 increase in O3w . We found no association between long-term ambient air pollution exposure and incidence of gastric cancer, while for long-term exposure to PM2.5 , NO2 and BC increased incidence of UADT cancer was observed.
    • A Smartphone Food Record App Developed for the Dutch National Food Consumption Survey: Relative Validity Study.

      Ocké, Marga; Dinnissen, Ceciel Simone; van den Bogaard, Coline; Beukers, Marja; Drijvers, José; Sanderman-Nawijn, Eline; van Rossum, Caroline; Toxopeus, Ido (2024-02-09)
    • Menthol and related compounds in waterpipe products.

      Bakker-'t Hart, Ingrid Μ Ε; Bakker, Frank; Pennings, Jeroen L Α; Talhout, Reinskje (2024-02-09)
    • Human biomonitoring and toxicokinetics as key building blocks for next generation risk assessment.

      Reale, Elena; Zare Jeddi, Maryam; Paini, Alicia; Connolly, Alison; Duca, Radu; Cubadda, Francesco; Benfenati, Emilio; Bessems, Jos; S Galea, Karen; Dirven, Hubert; et al. (2024-02-08)
    • Recreational hazard: Vegetation and host habitat use correlate with changes in tick-borne disease hazard at infrastructure within forest stands.

      Van Gestel, Mats; Heylen, Dieter; Verheyen, Kris; Fonville, Manoj; Sprong, Hein; Matthysen, Erik (2024-02-08)
    • A Circular, Wireless Surface-Electromyography Array.

      Deprez, Kenneth; De Baecke, Eliah; Tijskens, Mauranne; Schoeters, Ruben; Velghe, Maarten; Thielens, Arno (2024-02-08)
      Commercial, high-tech upper limb prostheses offer a lot of functionality and are equipped with high-grade control mechanisms. However, they are relatively expensive and are not accessible to the majority of amputees. Therefore, more affordable, accessible, open-source, and 3D-printable alternatives are being developed. A commonly proposed approach to control these prostheses is to use bio-potentials generated by skeletal muscles, which can be measured using surface electromyography (sEMG). However, this control mechanism either lacks accuracy when a single sEMG sensor is used or involves the use of wires to connect to an array of multiple nodes, which hinders patients' movements. In order to mitigate these issues, we have developed a circular, wireless s-EMG array that is able to collect sEMG potentials on an array of electrodes that can be spread (not) uniformly around the circumference of a patient's arm. The modular sEMG system is combined with a Bluetooth Low Energy System on Chip, motion sensors, and a battery. We have benchmarked this system with a commercial, wired, state-of-the-art alternative and found an r = 0.98 (p < 0.01) Spearman correlation between the root-mean-squared (RMS) amplitude of sEMG measurements measured by both devices for the same set of 20 reference gestures, demonstrating that the system is accurate in measuring sEMG. Additionally, we have demonstrated that the RMS amplitudes of sEMG measurements between the different nodes within the array are uncorrelated, indicating that they contain independent information that can be used for higher accuracy in gesture recognition. We show this by training a random forest classifier that can distinguish between 6 gestures with an accuracy of 97%. This work is important for a large and growing group of amputees whose quality of life could be improved using this technology.
    • Duurzaam medicijngebruik: van ‘groene’ pillen tot nul verspilling

      Oosterhof, P; Moermond, C; Bekker, C (2024-02-08)
    • Editorial: Future directions of active lifestyle promotion in community-dwelling older adults.

      de Jong, Johan; van der Lucht, Fons; Stathi, Afroditi (2024-02-06)
    • Risk of death due to COVID-19 among current and former smokers in the Netherlands: a population-based quasi-cohort study.

      van Westen-Lagerweij, Naomi A; Plasmans, Marjanne H D; Kramer, Iris; Harteloh, Peter P M; Poos, Marinus J J C; Hilderink, Henk B M; Croes, Esther A (2024-02-05)
    • Increased incidence of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infections and hospital admissions in the Netherlands, November to December 2023

      Bolluyt, Dita C; Euser, Sjoerd M; Souverein, Dennis; van Rossum, Annemarie Mc; Kalpoe, Jayant; van Westreenen, Mireille; Goeijenbier, Marco; Snijders, Dominic; Eggink, Dirk; Jongenotter, Femke; et al. (2024-02-05)
      Mycoplasma pneumoniae is an important cause of pneumonia and extra-pulmonary manifestations. We observed a rise in admissions due to M. pneumoniae infections starting October 2023 in a regional hospital in the Netherlands and an increased incidence in national surveillance data. The incidence in the Netherlands has not been that high since 2011. The patients had a lower median age compared with 2019 and 2020 (28 vs 40 years). M. pneumoniae should be considered in patients with respiratory symptoms, especially children.
    • In vitro neurotoxicity of particles from diesel and biodiesel fueled engines following direct and simulated inhalation exposure.

      Gerber, Lora-Sophie; de Leijer, Dirk C A; Rujas Arranz, Andrea; Lehmann, Jonas M M L; Verheul, Meike E; Cassee, Flemming R; Westerink, Remco H S (2024-02-05)
      Combustion-derived particulate matter (PM) is a major source of air pollution. Efforts to reduce diesel engine emission include the application of biodiesel. However, while urban PM exposure has been linked to adverse brain effects, little is known about the direct effects of PM from regular fossil diesel (PMDEP) and biodiesel (PMBIO) on neuronal function. Furthermore, it is unknown to what extent the PM-induced effects in the lung (e.g., inflammation) affect the brain. This in vitro study investigates direct and indirect toxicity of PMDEP and PMBIO on the lung and brain and compared it with effects of clean carbon particles (CP). PM were generated using a common rail diesel engine. CP was sampled from a spark generator. First, effects of 48 h exposure to PM and CP (1.2-3.9 µg/cm2) were assessed in an in vitro lung model (air-liquid interface co-culture of Calu-3 and THP1 cells) by measuring cell viability, cytotoxicity, barrier function, inflammation, and oxidative and cell stress. None of the exposures caused clear adverse effects and only minor changes in gene expression were observed. Next, the basal medium was collected for subsequent simulated inhalation exposure of rat primary cortical cells. Neuronal activity, recorded using microelectrode arrays (MEA), was increased after acute (0.5 h) simulated inhalation exposure. In contrast, direct exposure to PMDEP and PMBIO (1-100 µg/mL; 1.2-119 µg/cm2) reduced neuronal activity after 24 h with lowest observed effect levels of respectively 10 µg/mL and 30 µg/mL, indicating higher neurotoxic potency of PMDEP, whereas neuronal activity remained unaffected following CP exposure. These findings indicate that combustion-derived PM potently inhibit neuronal function following direct exposure, while the lung serves as a protective barrier. Furthermore, PMDEP exhibit a higher direct neurotoxic potency than PMBIO, and the data suggest that the neurotoxic effects is caused by adsorbed chemicals rather than the pure carbon core.
    • Evaluation of Acute and Convalescent Antibody Concentration Against Pneumococcal Capsular Polysaccharides for the Diagnosis of Pneumococcal Infection in Children with Community-Acquired Pneumonia

      Carter, Michael J; Shrestha, Sonu; O’Reilly, Peter; Gurung, Pallavi; Gurung, Meeru; Tcherniaeva, Irina; Berbers, Guy; et al. (2024-02-05)
    • Response of Chlorella vulgaris to exposure to CuO NPs: Contributions of particulate and dissolved metal forms as modulated by tannic acid and pH.

      Liu, Yang; Wang, Xia; Pan, Bo; Wei, Zhuo; Zhao, Jing; Qiu, Hao; Steinberg, Christian E W; Peijnenburg, Willie J G M; Vijver, Martina G (2024-02-02)
      A suspension of copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO NPs) is a mixture of dissolved and particulate Cu, the relative proportions of which highly depend on the water chemistry. However, the relationship between different proportions of particulate and dissolved Cu and the overall toxicity of CuO NPs is still unknown. This study investigated the response of Chlorella vulgaris to CuO NPs at varying solution pH and at different tannic acid (TA) additions, with a focus on exploring whether and how dissolved and particulate Cu contribute to the overall toxicity of CuO NPs. The results of the exposure experiments demonstrated the involvement of both dissolved and particulate Cu in inducing toxicity of CuO NPs, and the inhibition of CuO NPs on cell density of Chlorella vulgaris was found to be significantly (p < 0.05) alleviated with increased levels of TA and pH (< 8). Using the independent action model, the contribution to toxicity of particulate Cu was found to be enhanced with increasing pH values and TA concentrations. The toxic unit indicator better (R2 = 0.86, p < 0.001) explained impacts of CuO NPs on micro-algae cells than commonly used mass concentrations (R2 = 0.27-0.77, p < 0.05) across different levels of pH and TA. Overall, our study provides an additivity-based method to improve the accuracy of toxicity prediction through including contributions to toxicity of both dissolved and particulate Cu and through eliminating the uneven distribution of data due to large variations in total Cu, particulate Cu, dissolved Cu, Cu2+ activities, Cu-TA complexes and other Cu-complexes concentrations with varying water chemistry conditions.
    • Reported effectiveness of COVID-19 monovalent booster vaccines and hybrid immunity against mild and severe Omicron disease in adults: A systematic review and -regression analysis.

      Nealon, Joshua; Mefsin, Yonatan M; McMenamin, Martina E; Ainslie, Kylie E C; Cowling, Benjamin J (2024-02-02)
      Waning of COVID-19 vaccine efficacy/effectiveness (VE) has been observed across settings and epidemiological contexts. We conducted a systematic review of COVID-19 VE studies and performed a meta-regression analysis to improve understanding of determinants of waning.
    • A prospective ecological risk assessment of high-efficiency III-V/silicon tandem solar cells.

      Blanco, C F; Quik, J T K; Hof, M; Fuortes, A; Behrens, P; Cucurachi, S; Peijnenburg, W J G M; Dimroth, F; Vijver, M G (2024-02-01)
    • Similarity of multicomponent nanomaterials in a safer-by-design context: the case of core-shell quantum dots

      di Batista, V; Sanchez-Lievanos, KR; Jeliazkova, N; Murphy, F; Tsiliki, G; Oomen, AG (2024-01-31)
    • Placental transfer of tofacitinib in the ex vivo dual-side human placenta perfusion model

      Eliesen, GAM; Fransen, M; van Hove, H; van den Broek, PHH; Greupink, R (2024-01-31)