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Matches in Ghent University Academic Bibliography for { ?s <http://schema.org/abstract> ?o. }

• 01GNQJQAZX6XZ8Z7W7VFF5AQXF abstract "Japaridze’s provability logic GLP has one modality [n] for each natural number and has been used by Beklemishev for a proof theoretic analysis of Peano arithmetic (PA) and related theories. Among other benefits, this analysis yields the so-called Every Worm Dies (EWD) principle, a natural combinatorial statement independent of PA. Recently, Beklemishev and Pakhomov have studied notions of provability corresponding to transfinite modalities in GLP. We show that indeed the natural transfinite extension of GLP is sound for this interpretation, and yields independent combinatorial principles for the second order theory ACA of arithmetical comprehension with full induction. We also provide restricted versions of EWD related to the fragments IΣn of Peano arithmetic.".
• 01GNQM4CXNDVW29PF3V16HQN40 abstract "Recurrent atrial tachycardia (AT) is a common phenomenon after catheter ablation for AF, particularly in the setting of additional substrate ablation, with many studies demonstrating gap-related macro re-entrant AT (predominantly mitral and roof dependent) to be the dominant mechanism. Although multiple inducible ATs after ablation of the clinical AT are commonly described at repeat procedures, the optimal ablation strategy, and procedural endpoints are unclear in this setting. A recent randomized study addressing the question of non-inducibility as a procedural endpoint demonstrated no additional benefits to the ablation of all induced, non-clinical ATs, but it was limited by small numbers and high rates of non-inducibility. Nevertheless, once ablation of the clinical AT has been successfully performed, ensuring durable linear block and PV isolation may be sufficient for the prevention of further AT. Durable linear block, particularly at the mitral isthmus, is difficult to achieve but may be facilitated by the real-time evaluation of lesion quality and contiguity and the novel technique of vein of Marshall ethanol infusion. Large-scale, randomized trials are needed, nonetheless, to fully assess the optimal ablation strategy in the setting of recurrent AT post-AF ablation.".
• 01GNQM6M8TNMK7C09SFT5QT2ZF abstract "Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis may occur in patients with genetic predisposition and in sporadic cases due to malignancy or infection. We describe a 49-year old man with hemorrhagic fever, type 1 respiratory insufficiency and acute kidney injury. Diagnostic work up showed a hyperinflammatory syndrome, hypertriglyceridemia, hemophagocytosis, very high ferritin and significantly elevated sCD25. The findings were compatible with hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis based on the HLH-2004 criteria. Serological testing indentified Puumala virus as the causal pathogen. The patient was successfully treated with pulse corticosteroids, intravenous immunoglobins and supportive therapy.".
• 01GNRV2X1MVFX6JPWQSJKR155G abstract "The law of neutrality evolved from 1776 to 1870, but not in a linear way. Enlightenment saw neutrality as an autonomous choice of a sovereign polity. The First League of Armed Neutrality (1780) and the Declaration of Paris (1856) can be seen as landmarks in the rise of the free ships/free goods-principle and the promotion of free trade. The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars brought a regression. The British restrictive position before 1856 was starkly criticized. Even in the late 1880s, the lack of codification and unity in the law of neutrality was striking: national case law, criminal law and ad hoc neutrality declarations remained essential sources for individuals and states alike to interpret the seemingly candid and simple twin obligation of impartiality and abstention. This period also saw the birth of the malleable concept permanent neutrality, imposed or guaranteed by the European Great Powers.".
• 01GNRWY2YHNJMVR8C33PCP679N abstract "Determining cocoa bean quality is crucial for many players in the international supply chain. However, actual methods rely on a cut test protocol, which is limited by its subjective nature, or on time-consuming, expensive and destructive wet-chemistry laboratory procedures. In this context, the application of near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy, particularly with the recent developments of portable NIR spectrometers, may represent a valuable solution for providing a cocoa beans’ quality profile, in a rapid, non-destructive, and reliable way. Monitored parameters in this work were dry matter (DM), ash, shell, fat, protein, total polyphenols, fermentation index (FI), titratable acidity (TA) and pH. Different chemometric analyses were performed on the spectral data and calibration models were developed using modified partial least squares regression. Prediction equations were validated using a fivefold cross-validation and a comparison between the different prediction performances for the portable and benchtop NIR spectrometers was provided. The NIRS benchtop instrument provided better performance of quantification considering the whole than the portable device, showing excellent prediction capability in protein and DM quantification. On the other hand, the NIRS portable device, although showing lower but valuable performance of prediction, can represent an appealing alternative to benchtop instruments for food business operators, being applicable in the field.".
• 01GNRZ7RNCWV3HZXJQXJET3C5Q abstract "Het vakgebied Openbare financiën, dat de financiën van overheden bestudeert, is veelzijdig en multidisciplinair. In dit boek hebben de auteurs dan ook aandacht voor economische, juridische, politieke, beleidsmatige en bestuurskundige aspecten. In het eerste deel belichten ze de rol van de overheid in de economie, met onderwerpen als publieke besluitvorming en begrotingsprocedures, belastingheffing, overheidsuitgaven, begrotingssaldi en schuld. In het tweede deel lichten ze het institutionele en wettelijke kader van de begrotingen op de diverse niveaus – Europees, federaal, regionaal en lokaal – grondig door.".
• 01GNRZT87B7F7ETB57MVSBWQEH abstract "Questions: Ecological succession is the process during which ecosystems recover after disturbances. Studies investigating community reassembly during tropical forest succession have rarely compared lianas to trees. We addressed two questions: (1) how do changes in stem density, total basal area and species richness of lianas and trees compare throughout a secondary succession, and to what extent does the relative basal area of lianas change along a secondary succession; and (2) how do the successional trajectories of functional community trait values of lianas and trees compare? Location: Yoko forest reserve, central Congo basin. Methods: Using univariate Bayesian modeling techniques, we analyzed differences in successional pathways between lianas and trees in terms of community structure, and functional assembly in a replicated chronosequence spanning from young to old-growth forests. Results: We found divergent structural trajectories between lianas and trees along the forest chronosequence. The stem density of lianas peaked at the intermediate stage, while that of trees almost linearly decreased from early to late stages of succession. The basal area of lianas increased at a higher rate than that of trees, which translated into a marginal increase of liana relative basal area over succession. On the contrary, we observed a lower rate of increase in species richness for lianas than trees over succession. We found a progressive convergence in the responses of lianas and trees to changes with succession in terms of specific leaf area and leaf nitrogen content, but a diverging response in terms of leaf phosphorus content. These functional composition patterns most probably resulted from environmental filtering, induced by a change from nitrogen to phosphorus limitation as the succession progressed to a mature forest. Conclusions: These findings underscore the rapid colonization of tropical forests by lianas after agricultural abandonment, presumably by deploying a more diverse leaf economic spectrum early in succession.".
• 01GNS1ESKYRTHRHB9KH6W52PK3 abstract "Impurities can be incorporated during thin film deposition, but also can originate from atmosphere exposure. As impurities can strongly affect the composition-structure-property relations in magnetron sputter deposited thin films, it is important to distinguish between both incorporation channels. Therefore, the impurity incorporation by atmosphere exposure into sputtered Mg, Al, and Ca thin films is systematically studied by a variation of the deposition temperatures and atmosphere exposure times. Deposition temperature variation results in morphological modifications explained by considering surface and bulk diffusion as well as grain boundary motion and evaporation. The film morphologies exhibiting the lowest oxygen concentrations, as measured by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, are obtained at a homologous temperature of 0.4 for both Mg and Al thin films. For Ca, preventing atmosphere exposure is essential to hinder impurity incorporation: By comparing the impurity concentration in Al-capped and uncapped thin films, it is demonstrated that Ca thin films are locally protected by Al-capping, while Mg (and Al) form native passivation layers. Furthermore, it can be learned that the capping (or self-passivation) efficiency in terms of hindering further oxidation of the films in atmosphere is strongly dependent on the underlying morphology, which in turn is defined by the growth temperature.".
• 01GNS28YX4MA264YBNFW1Z9H5T abstract "BackgroundDue to the COVID-19 pandemic, schools were closed, teachers had to teach from home and after a while, they had to return to the classroom while the pandemic was still on-going. Even before the pandemic, teachers were already more at risk for burn-out syndrome compared to the general population. Furthermore, not much research pertaining to this population has been carried out during the pandemic and so the impact of the pandemic on teachers' risk of burn-out syndrome and recovery need remains unclear. The aim of the current study was to fill this knowledge gap and map out the impact on risk of burn-out syndrome and recovery need at different time points during the pandemic. Methods and findingsAt baseline, 2,167 secondary school teachers in Flanders were included in this prospective study. Questionnaire data were obtained at ten different time points between September 2019 and August 2021. To assess risk of burn-out syndrome and its dimensions, the Utrecht Burn-out Scale for Teachers was administered. Need for recovery was assessed using questions adopted from the Short Inventory to Monitor Psychosocial Hazards. The results revealed an initial positive effect of the first lockdown (Mar/Apr 2020) with a decrease in risk of burn-out syndrome [Odds ratio (OR) Jan/Feb 2020-Mar/Apr 2020 = 0.33, p < 0.001], emotional exhaustion (EMM Jan/Feb 2020-Mar/Apr 2020 = -0.51, p < 0.001), depersonalization (EMM Jan/Feb 2020-Mar/Apr 2020 = -0.13, p < 0.001) and recovery need [Estimated marginal mean (EMM) Jan/Feb 2020-Mar/Apr 2020 = -0.79, p < 0.001]. No significant effect on personal accomplishment was found (p = 0.410). However, as the pandemic went on, higher risk of burn-out syndrome, emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and recovery need, and lower personal accomplishment were observed. ConclusionsDespite the initial positive impact on risk of burn-out syndrome, its dimensions and recovery need, a negative long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic became visible. This study highlights once again the importance for interventions to reduce teachers' risk of burn-out syndrome, especially in such difficult times as a pandemic.".
• 01GNS5NQKFF25VWXC60TZBVZGZ abstract "Quantifying climate mitigation benefits of biosphere protection or restoration requires accurate assessment of forest above-ground biomass (AGB). This is usually estimated using tree size-to-mass allometric models calibrated with harvested biomass data.Using three-dimensional laser measurements across the full range of tree size and shape in a typical UK temperate forest, we show that its AGB is 409.9 t ha(-1), 1.77 times more than current allometric model estimates. This discrepancy arises partly from the bias towards small trees in allometric model calibration: 50% of AGB in this forest was in less than 7% of the largest trees (stem diameter > 53.1 cm), all larger than the trees used to calibrate the widely used allometric model.We present new empirical evidence that the fundamental assumption of tree size-to-mass scale-invariance is not well-justified for this kind of forest. This leads to substantial biases in current biomass estimates of broadleaf forests, not just in the UK, but elsewhere where the same or similar allometric models are applied, due to overdependence on non-representative calibration data, and the departure of observed tree size-to-mass from simple size-invariant relationships.We suggest that testing the underlying assumptions of allometric models more generally is an urgent priority as this has wider implications for climate mitigation through carbon sequestration. Forests currently act as a carbon sink in the UK. However, the anticipated increase in forest disturbances makes the trajectory and magnitude of this terrestrial carbon sink uncertain. We make recommendations for prioritizing measurements with better characterized uncertainty to address this issue.".
• 01GNS74SNJQWSS4JD1N1HM69TK abstract "The human gastrointestinal tract (GIT) harbors numerous defensive mechanisms to impede pathogen coloniza-tion, including gastric acidity and bile acids in the small intestine. This study aims to elucidate the survival of Salmonella Typhimurium and Listeria monocytogenes under different levels of gastric pH (2.0-3.5) and bile acid concentrations (2.5 mM - 10.0 mM), during an in vitro digestion process following the ingestion of a contami-nated food model system. The results showed that S. Typhimurium was more susceptible to gastric acidity than L. monocytogenes, yet more bile acid tolerant. Interestingly, the bile acids bactericidal effect towards L. mono-cytogenes was higher if the previous exposure to the gastric acidity was harsher. Our findings suggest that, despite the different microbial behavior of the two species in the simulated GIT, the effects of gastric acidity and bile acids alone could not prevent their survival in the intestine.Industrial relevance: S. Tau yphimurium and L. monocytogenes represent biological threats that are of major concern for the food industry due to their ubiquitous nature and their ability to trigger foodborne illnesses. Their ability to survive the gastrointestinal passage is crucial for their subsequent intestinal colonization that can lead to host infection. Therefore, obtaining a deeper insight into the factors affecting pathogen survival in the gut is vital for the establishment of more efficient strategies to prevent foodborne diseases. Given the limitations and ethical constraints of conducting studies like this in vivo, the applied in vitro digestion model system along with the mathematical modelling can provide a valuable alternative that can be readily utilized in the food and phar-maceutical industry as a platform for similar digestion studies.".
• 01GNSBM85P0FRR01G48TRDVE1V abstract "Flexible attention toward relevant positive or negative information depending on specific contextual affective goals underlies resilience and is thought to be modulated by individual dif-ferences in motivational self-focuses. In this study, it was tested how promotion and prevention motivational self-focuses modulate context-based affective attention flexibility toward goal -relevant emotional information. A sample of 102 participants with different promotion and prevention levels completed a novel eye-tracking task, requiring switching attention toward positive or negative goal-relevant emotional information in different motivationally relevant contexts. High promotion participants showed difficulties in affective attention switching (i.e., less flexibility) in prevention but not in promotion contexts. Conversely, high prevention par-ticipants showed difficulties in affective attention switching in promotion but not in prevention contexts. Results thus support that contextual affective attention flexibility depends on specific motivational self-focuses.".
• 01GNSE8MH73F7HMJAPDFRCPBNS abstract "Aurora kinase A (AURKA) is a well-established target in neuroblastoma (NB) due to both its catalytic functions during mitosis and its kinase-independent functions, including stabilization of the key oncoprotein MYCN. We present a structure-activity relationship (SAR) study of MK-5108-derived PROTACs against AURKA by exploring different linker lengths and exit vectors on the thalidomide moiety. PROTAC SK2188 induces the most potent AURKA degradation (DC50,24h 3.9 nM, Dmax,24h 89%) and shows an excellent binding and degradation selectivity profile. Treatment of NGP neuroblastoma cells with SK2188 induced concomitant MYCN degradation, high replication stress/DNA damage levels and apoptosis. Moreover, SK2188 significantly outperforms the parent inhibitor MK-5108 in a cell proliferation screen and patient-derived organoids. Furthermore, altering the attachment point of the PEG linker to the 5-position of thalidomide allowed us to identify a potent AURKA degrader with a linker as short as 2 PEG units. With this, our SAR-study provides interesting lead structures for further optimization and validation of AURKA degradation as a potential therapeutic strategy in neuroblastoma.".
• 01GNTCJMQPD2V47G70ZNR98KV9 abstract "Plants, as sessile living organisms, are dependent on signalling mechanisms. Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) are a highly conserved gene family that take a role in switching an extracellular signal into an intercellular signal. Ripening-related processes in non-climacteric fruits are not as well understood as in climacteric fruits. In this regard, studying MAPKs in grape berries during developmental stages may lead to a better understanding of physiological interactions during commercially relevant stages, such as pigmentation, ripening, and phenolics accumulation in the berries. Each MAPK cascade involves three or four MAPK proteins that facilitate signal transduction by phosphorylation of downstream targets. We examined the relative expression of VvMAP2Ks and VvMAP4Ks in berries at two-weekly intervals, from flowering to over-ripening. Expression analysis of 5 MAP2Ks and 7 MAP4Ks suggested that both gene families may play an active role in development of berries. Expression of VvMAP2K1 showed a correlation with abscisic acid (ABA) and ethylene accumulation. Moreover, the expression pattern of VvMAP2K2 and VvMAP2K3 shows a correlation with auxin, and ABA accumulation respectively. Furthermore, VvMAP2K4 may have a role in berry size increment and halting stomatal development. In addition, VvMAP2K5 may play a role in floral organ development. VvMAP4Ks expression pattern moves them forward to be excellent markers for monitoring the effect of for instance climate changerelated stress on berry development.".
• 01GNTH90K0PVDBYHTBKJQ1RBG6 abstract "Compliance equations based on back-face strain or crack mouth opening displacement, and potential drop techniques are widely used to calculate fatigue crack growth rate. Standard ASTM E647 for fatigue crack growth rate testing does not include compliance based equations for single edge notched four-point bending (SENB-4P) specimens. Equations developed based on finite element (FE) analysis have been reported in literature; however, they are limited to the long crack propagation regime (i.e., relative crack length ratios a/W > 0.15). No compliance relations for crack growth in the physically short crack regime were found in literature. This work reports on a complementary numerical-experimental study towards the development of compliance equations with an extended application range in terms of relative crack length. FE simulations have been used to calibrate a back-face strain compliance equation for calculation of relative crack length in the range 0.05 ≤ a/W ≤ 0.5 for SENB-4P specimens. Four point bending fatigue tests were performed on SENB specimens extracted from 50 mm thick welded steel plates. Direct current potential drop (DCPD) for crack monitoring was used as benchmark and validation of the crack lengths determined from a back-face strain gage.".
• 01GNTJ5205G1H3517PWD0E7J3N abstract "Optimization algorithms (OAs) are a vital tool to deal with complex problems, and the improvement of OA is inseparable from practical strategies and mechanisms. Among the OAs, Bee Algorithm (BA) is an intelligent algorithm with a simple mechanism and easy implementation, in which effectiveness has been proven when handling optimization problems. Nevertheless, BA still has some fundamental drawbacks, which can hinder its effectiveness and accuracy. Therefore, this paper proposes a novel approach to tackle the shortcomings of BA by combining it with Genetic Algorithm (GA). The main intention is to combine the strengths of both optimization techniques, which are the exploitative search ability of BA and the robustness with the crossover and mutation capacity of GA. An investigation of a real-life suspension footbridge is considered to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method. A baseline Finite Element model of the bridge is constructed based on vibration measurement data and model updating, which is used to generate different hypothetical damage scenarios. The proposed HBGA is tested against BA, GA, and PSO to showcase its effectiveness in detecting damage for each scenario. The results show that the proposed algorithm is effective in dealing with the damage assessment problems of SHM.".
• 01GNVBZSJ26PD4YJ8H7H74R7J7 abstract "This study investigates players' perceived realism of historical video games. Perceived realism is understood as a multidimensional concept, going beyond the more traditional use of 'realism' in historical game studies, where it often refers to the plausibility or accuracy of historical reconstructions. The study further examines how perceived realism relates to players' enjoyment of historical games. Specifically, this study analyses Assassin's Creed, Assassin's Creed Unity and Assassin's Creed Odyssey. Through an online survey among 1,317 respondents, this study found that the five-dimensional structure of perceived realism holds for historical games. The three games differed in their perceptions of social realism, perceptual pervasiveness, freedom of choice and enjoyment. Finally, perceptual pervasiveness and character involvement were identified as strong predictors of enjoyment in historical games. This study contributes towards further validation of the perceived realism scale across game genres and pleads for a systematic use of the multidimensional term 'realism' in historical game research.".
• 01GNVC3RGKN3Z82XC4BXANDM02 abstract "The analysis of digital games is a widely used method in the field of game studies and an important instrument to study games and game-related topics. However, existing methodological work showcases a divergency of perspectives on game analyses, hindering the development of clear guidelines on how to actually conduct them. This lack of methodological consensus is fueled further by several complexities when analyzing games, such as the active participation that is required on the part of the researchers. Therefore, the current paper proposes the Digital Game Analysis Protocol (DiGAP), a methodological toolkit that, compared to existing methodological frameworks, provides researchers with sufficient flexibility and adaptability in order to cater to a game analysis’ specific focus and needs. DiGAP’s goal is twofold: to make researchers reflect on the potential impact of their methodological choices on the analysis and interpretation of game content, and to promote the transparent reporting of game analyses in academic manuscripts. Based on previous methodological scholarship, the authors’ prior game analysis experience and brainstorm meetings between members of our interdisciplinary author team, DiGAP consists of 31 items categorized in seven sections: (1) Rationale & objectives, (2) Researcher background, (3) Game selection, (4) Boundaries, (5) Analysis approach, (6) Coding techniques & data extraction and (7) Reporting & transparency. Due to its comprehensive setup and its reflexive nature, DiGAP may be used as a (didactic) checklist to make insights from the field of game studies regarding game analyses accessible to a broader range of research fields (e.g., communication and human-computer interaction). This, in turn, makes it equally valuable for (student) researchers unfamiliar with the method of game analysis as well as more experienced game scholars.".
• 01GNVCJ5KBFE3S94CR88ATPFQS abstract "The purpose of this study was to conduct challenge studies in raw pork by strictly following all aspects of the 2014 EURL technical guidance document for conducting shelf-life studies on Listeria monocytogenes. Growth potential was assessed on three batches of self-cut pork chops and one batch of in-house prepared pure minced pork without any additives in air and MAP (70 % O2/30% CO2) packaging. Pork chops did not support the growth of the pathogen throughout the shelf-life, given the specific conditions used in this study, with growth potential values of 0.28 and 0.46 log CFU/g, respectively, for both air and MAP. Substantial growth (>0.5 log CFU/g) was obtained in minced pork after investigating only one batch, with growth potential values of 1.69 and 0.80 log CFU/g, for air and MAP. However, both intra-and inter-batch variability for pork chops and intra-batch variability for minced pork was observed; with elevated growth being evened out by the way growth potential is calculated in the EURL 2014 document, leading to underestimations and posing a potential risk to public health. Maximum growth rate in minced pork at a constant temperature of 7 degrees C was estimated at mu max = 0.680 log CFU/ day and mu max = 0.489 log CFU/day in air and MAP, respectively. Model predictions for the growth potential showed acceptable results for air-packed minced pork with better accuracy when the lag phase was implemented as indicated in the renewed protocol (CRL EU, 2021). In MAP, all models used, including the Combase Growth model and to a lesser extent the DMRI dynamic safety model, overestimate the growth potential probably due to a lack of integration of the changing CO2 levels in the packages. The predictive models used in this study do not adequately account for the dynamics in the raw pig matrix, which may have an inhibitory effect on the growth of L. monocytogenes, including interaction with the microbiome and CO2, and emphasize the importance of remaining critical of predictive model outcomes. In addition, the experimental intra-and inter-batch variability raise questions about the sense or nonsense of using predictive microbiology in these raw pork products.".
• 01GNVGPNAZNTA1X2TYYBKHAK5D abstract "The effects of exposure to black carbon (BC) on various diseases remains unclear, one reason being potential exposure misclassification following modelling of ambient air pollution levels. Urinary BC particles may be a more precise measure to analyze the health effects of BC. We aimed to assess the risk of prediabetes and metabolic syndrome (MetS) in relation to urinary BC particles and ambient BC and to compare their associations in 5453 children from IDEFICS/I. Family cohort. We determined the amount of BC particles in urine using label-free white-light generation under femtosecond pulsed laser illumination. We assessed annual exposure to ambient air pollutants (BC, PM2.5 and NO2) at the place of residence using land use regression models for Europe, and we calculated the residential distance to major roads (<= 250 m vs. more). We analyzed the cross-sectional relationships between urinary BC and air pollutants (BC, PM2.5 and NO2) and distance to roads, and the associations of all these variables to the risk of prediabetes and MetS, using logistic and linear regression models. Though we did not observe associations between urinary and ambient BC in overall analysis, we observed a positive association between urinary and ambient BC levels in boys and in children living <= 250 m to a major road compared to those living >250 m away from a major road. We observed a positive association between log-transformed urinary BC particles and MetS (ORper unit increase = 1.72, 95% CI = 1.21; 2.45). An association between ambient BC and MetS was only observed in children living closer to a major road. Our findings suggest that exposure to BC (ambient and biomarker) may contribute to the risk of MetS in children. By measuring the internal dose, the BC particles in urine may have additionally captured non-residential sources and reduced exposure misclassification. Larger studies, with longitudinal design including measurement of urinary BC at multiple time-points are warranted to confirm our findings.".
• 01GNVH0QBZPA31J4XT732FRJWD abstract "Background Several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are associated with blood pressure (BP) levels. A combination of SNPs, forming a genetic risk score (GRS) could be considered a useful genetic tool to identify individuals at risk of developing hypertension from early stages in life. Therefore, the study aims to predict the genetic predisposition to hypertension in European adolescents from a GRS. Methods A total of 869 adolescents (53% female), aged 12.5–17.5, were included from the “Healthy Lifestyle in Europe by Nutrition in Adolescence” (HELENA) cross-sectional study. The sample was divided into altered (≥ 130 mmHg for systolic and/or ≥ 80 mmHg for diastolic) or normal BP. Results From 1534 SNPs available, An initial screening of SNPs univariately associated with BP (p < 0.10) was established, to finally obtain a number of 16 SNPs significantly associated with BP (p < 0.05) in the multivariate model. Both unweighted GRS (uGRS) and weighted GRS (wGRS) were associated with altered BP. The area under the curve was explored using ten-fold internal cross-validation for uGRS (0.796) and wGRS (0.803). Further covariates were added to obtain a higher predictive ability. Conclusions Both GRSs, could be useful to evaluate the genetic predisposition to hypertension in European adolescents.".
• 01GNVH8B22B8D58R2WD59VHG2Y abstract "Blood plasma, one of the most studied liquid biopsies, contains various molecules that have biomarker potential for cancer detection, including cell-free DNA (cfDNA) and cell-free RNA (cfRNA). As the vast majority of cell-free nucleic acids in circulation are non-cancerous, a laboratory workflow with a high detection sensitivity of tumor-derived nucleic acids is a prerequisite for precision oncology. One way to meet this requirement is by the combined analysis of cfDNA and cfRNA from the same liquid biopsy sample. So far, no study has systematically compared the performance of cfDNA and cfRNA co-purification to increase sensitivity. First, we set up a framework using digital PCR (dPCR) technology to quantify cfDNA and cfRNA from human blood plasma in order to compare cfDNA/cfRNA co-purification kit performance. To that end, we optimized two dPCR duplex assays, designed to quantify both cfDNA and cfRNA with the same assays, by ensuring that primers and probes are located within a highly abundant exon. Next, we applied our optimized workflow to evaluate the co-purification performance of two manual and two semi-automated methods over a range of plasma input volumes (0.06–4 mL). Some kits result in higher nucleic acid concentrations in the eluate, while consuming only half of the plasma volume. The combined nucleic acid quantification systematically results in higher nucleic acid concentrations as compared to a parallel quantification of cfDNA and cfRNA in the eluate. We provide a framework to evaluate the performance of cfDNA/cfRNA co-purification kits and have tested two manual and two semi-automated co-purification kits in function of the available plasma input amount and the intended use of the nucleic acid eluate. We demonstrate that the combined quantification of cfDNA and cfRNA has a benefit compared to separate quantification. We foresee that the results of this study are instrumental for clinical applications to help increase mutation detection sensitivity, allowing improved disease detection and monitoring.".
• 01GNVJVE4GZW7RX58946B57AHG abstract "This introductory text reflects on some relations between art and law, and particularly transitional justice, and presents the collection of articles of this special issue on ‘Art & Human Rights’.".
• 01GNVJYD01FD3PW9G1Q7GGR9GV abstract "On May first 2019, the new Belgian corporate law, “Wetboek van vennootschappen en verenigingen” (WVV) replaced the former “Wetboek van Vennootschappen” (W.Venn.). This study will focus in-depth on one specific novelty: the replacement of the former “Private Company with Limited Liability” (BVBA) by the “Private Company” (BV). Earlier, Belgium had voluntarily chosen to apply many of the stringent European regulations to the former BVBA. The BV now ends this phenomenon of “goldplating”. Although existing literature gives a profound justification to include less stringent regulation in corporate law, there is a gap in the literature when it comes to the impact on practice. This research will reveal important insights for practitioners by means of a qualitative (interviews) and quantitative (database) study. In doing so, we can conclude that the new BV, although much more flexible, will not differ fundamentally from its predecessor.".
• 01GNVJYD01FD3PW9G1Q7GGR9GV abstract "Op 1 mei 2019 trad het nieuwe Wetboek van vennootschappen en verenigingen (WVV) in werking. Dit wetboek werd gecreëerd vanuit het standpunt dat het Belgisch vennootschapsrecht (W.Venn.) op tal van aspecten achterliep op dat in de Europese buurlanden. Deze studie focust op een specifieke nieuwigheid, namelijk de vervanging van de voormalige besloten vennootschap met beperkte aansprakelijkheid (BVBA) door de besloten vennootschap (BV). Op basis van kwalitatief (diepte-interviews), aangevuld met kwantitatief (database) onderzoek, brengen we de praktische impact van het nieuwe WVV in kaart. Het zal blijken dat, alhoewel het nieuwe vennootschapsrecht positief wordt onthaald in de praktijk, de impact ervan zeer beperkt is, twee jaar na de inwerkingtreding. Algemeen concluderen we dat de nieuwe BV in de praktijk dan ook niet sterk afwijkt van haar streng(er) gereguleerde voorganger (BVBA).".
• 01GNVK78QA54AMPCFE56Z6EH3Q abstract "In de pyrometallurgische sector worden koelvloeistoffen gebruikt voor het verlengen van de levensduur van de oven alsook voor het verbeteren van de arbeidsomstandigheden van de werknemers rond de oven. Echter, wanneer een koelvloeistof in contact komt met een gesmolten fase kan een stoomexplosie ontstaan. Deze explosie kan leiden tot schade aan de infrastructuur, gewonden en zelfs doden. Kleinschalige experimenten werden uitgevoerd waarbij een druppel gesmolten materiaal in een waterbak werd gegoten. Een hogesnelheidscamera en hydrofoon monitorden de explosie, en het puin werd gezeefd voor verdere analyse. Deze studie onderzocht de explosie kans en intensiteit als een functie van de massa, temperatuur en samenstelling van de warme druppel, alsook de samenstelling van de koelvloeistof. Uit een statistisch onderzoek van de resultaten bleek dat: * lucht meegetrokken vanaf het wateroppervlak een grote invloed heeft; * een warmere druppel een hogere explosie intensiteit veroorzaakt; * de explosie kans en intensiteit stijgen met het volume van de druppel, alsook met de zout concentratie in het water; * lage MEG concentraties een stijgende explosie kans en intensiteit veroorzaken, terwijl hogere concentraties de kans en intensiteit beperken; * de explosie kans en intensiteit stijgen met de liquidus temperatuur, terwijl de intensiteit daalt met het verschil tussen de liquidus en solidus temperatuur.".
• 01GNVP8R2W0X3WAKR2CZ8XQQ5E abstract "Objectives: We aim to contribute to the assessment of the screening performance in Flanders (Belgium) and to identify valuable mammograms for subsequent studies and training. Materials and Methods: Initially negative prior screening mammograms (sMx) of 210 women with confirmed breast cancer detected by the Flemish screening programme between 2011–2013 were reviewed by a highly experienced radiologist. The review of the prior sMx was performed in three steps: 1) only prior mammograms available; 2) with index sMx (=subsequent positive sMx) present; 3) with index sMx and clinical information present. Results: The radiological review yielded 94 (45%) mammograms ‘without suspicious lesions’, 77 (37%) ‘with minimal signs in at least one breast’, and 39 (19%) ‘with clearly visible tumours’. In univariate analyses, the reclassification of prior sMx was significantly associated with the date of the prior sMx, the need for a third reader for arbitration, image quality and the detector system used (computed radiography versus direct readout digital radiography), and it was not associated with the interval between screening rounds, age at prior sMx, breast density, or tumour characteristics (<T2 versus ≥T2, in situ versus invasive). In multivariate analyses, the date of the prior sMx (p = 0.001), need for arbitration (p = 0.001) and image quality (p < 0.001) remained significantly associated with the reclassification. Conclusion: This retrospective review reclassified 19% of the sMx as clearly visible tumours. With this, the Flemish screening programme performs in accordance with similar studies. The sMx reviewed in this study, form a valuable set of mammograms for training and further research.".
• 01GNVQ4EQY3SDXM0EYG15HFKS1 abstract "This research presents an innovative method to accurately and repeatedly position electronic components in thermoformed electronics. The paper focuses on 3D shaped electronics, which are made up of stretchable metal structures integrated into thermoformable material. We used the degree of freedom theory to develop a design method that allows us to build the circuit in 2D in such a way that there is only one possible position for electronic components in the final 3D shape after thermoforming the sample. As a result, we have a reproducible design process for thermoformed electronics. We have assessed the result of the fabricated samples by measuring the 3D coordinates of the components on the 3D shaped design using a 3D scanner. The results proved that we have a repeatable component positioning methodology.".
• 01GNVSKZRTG7Q5DKMARCHQS2S0 abstract "Post war Japan’s intellectual circles were preoccupied with Hegelian readings of Karl Marx, based on the a priori scheme developed by the former in the 19th century. The 20th century Japanese economist Kuruma Samezō (1893 1982) put an end to this preoccupation, by proposing a novel understanding of Marx’ major work, Capital , instead. His ideas were developed at the Ohara Institute for Social Research, founded by Japanese businessman and philanthropist Ōhara Magosaburō, to address the problems of poverty and social inequality in the aftermath of the 1918 rice riots, economic hardship, and subsequent political crisis. Kuruma’s approach to understanding Marx by putting aside the prevailing Hegelian interpretations of his work, relied on attentively reading Capital , and focusing on the concrete problems which Marx addresses in it. Despite his opposition to the post war tendency, Kuruma still recognises a Hegelian influence in Marx, and as such also addresses it in his own work. This already testifies to Kuruma’s intellectual honesty. I argue that his interpretation of Marx has remained vital to a broader understanding of Marx’s work until the present day. In my paper, I will show how Kuruma’s understanding may be relevant to the debate concerning the Hegel Marx relation today.".
• 01GNVSM6JCKBFK78CMQY4V7JHF abstract "Endometrial cancer is the most common malignancy of the female genital tract with rising incidence due to increased life expectancy and obesity. Most women presenting with postmenopausal bleeding are diagnosed at an early stage with a favourable outcome. Yet, a significant number of patients have advanced stage disease, or present with recurrent disease, and have limited treatment options. Primary treatment consists of hysterectomy and salpingo-oophorectomy, preferably by a minimal invasive approach. Lymph node dissection is recommended for patients with grade 3 endometrioid, serous and clear cell histology, since these patients are at significant risk of extended disease. Adjuvant radiotherapy can improve local control in a subgroup of patients. Chemotherapy is recommended for patients with metastatic disease. Alternatively, hormonal treatment can be effective with less side effects, but development of resistance to hormonal treatment limits the duration of effect. Prevention of endometrial cancer may be accomplished by a healthy lifestyle and improving the body weight.".
• 01GNVTS5CQDHKYJW5NRYPV0DEC abstract "The integration of structural electronics in injection-molded parts is a challenging step. The films-comprising of laminated stacks with electronics-are exposed to shear stresses and elevated temperatures by the molten thermoplastic. Hence, molding settings have a significant impact on the successful, damage-free manufacturing of such parts. In this paper, test films with polycarbonate (PC) sheets as outer and two different thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPUs) as middle layers incorporating conductive tracks on a flexible printed circuit board (flexPCB) are manufactured and overmolded with PC. Parameter studies investigating the influence of the melt temperature, mold temperature, injection speed and used TPU layer were performed. The molded parts were inspected visually and compared with a numerical simulation using injection molding software. A shear distortion factor for the TPU layer was derived based on the simulations that linked the shear stresses with the injection time and the softening (melting) of the TPU. The distortion of the films was found to reduce with higher melt temperature, lower mold temperature and faster injection speed. Films using the TPU with the higher melting temperature yielded significantly better results. Moreover, distortion on the films reduced with the increasing distance to the gate and a larger cavity thickness was found to be beneficial. All those relations could be correlated with the shear distortion factor.".
• 01GNVV0M3NF86QMZ8K2CA0KT8S abstract "Curve-shaped electronics have been on the rise in recent years. One crucial challenge in this area is reproducibility, which means in the different fabricated samples, the position of the electronic components should be the same. This paper aims to present a reliable approach for accurate component positioning in thermoformed electronics. We have proposed a non-stretchable conductive structure for accurate positioning of the electronic components, which can assure the conductive routes' mechanical stability during lamination and thermoforming of the substrate. We have verified our approach's accuracy by applying our method on a real industrial luminaire mold for positioning six LEDs in the center of the luminaire parts. We have measured the LEDs' position after thermoforming to prove the design's repeatability. The experiment results state that the proposed method is capable of positioning electronic components in thermoformed 3D electronics and 400% improvement is reported in comparison with the previous fabrication approaches.".
• 01GNVVJZ8G2ENDXKZTJNR4FG7S abstract "This paper presents a novel approach for removing out-of-plane deformation in metal interconnects by adding a fractional structure to the original meander shape and using the optimised fabrication stack. In thermoformed electronics in cases where copper is used as the conductor, the twisting of meander-shaped structures caused by excessive mechanical stress can cause a non-uniform surface, delamination of the metal interconnect from the substrate, and in some cases, a short circuit to the adjacent tracks. Typically, stretchable electronics designers use various shapes and widths of the copper interconnect to tackle this issue. Using conventional meander shapes such as horseshoes and U shapes is not universally practical, especially when stretching is higher than 30 percent leading to significant out-of-plane deformation. Limiting this out-of-plane deformation by reducing the track width is not always applicable, as a minimum width is needed from a technology and conductivity perspective. The presented approach is inspired by computational and experimental studies of multiple meander shapes and fabrication methods. A geometry-based and fabrication-based approach is presented, which can reduce the mechanical stress of almost all possible meander shapes by increasing the meander’s path length to accommodate the metal track’s produced torque during stretching. An analytical approach is provided for calculating the optimal meander parameters, and the optimal fabrication stack is achieved based on simulation results. Experiments and finite-element modeling for an industrial case study show the improvement in the stress distribution and reduction of out-of-plane.".
• 01GNVYJJKR7F42ZBMW4EYJPE26 abstract "In this work, the impact of the channel doping density on the low-frequency noise of silicon Gate-All-Around (GAA) Vertical Nanowire (VNW) pMOSFETs on Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) substrates will be described and discussed. It is demonstrated that the dominant fluctuation mechanism of the 1/f noise in the subthreshold regime changes from number (Δn) to mobility (Δμ) fluctuations with increasing p-type doping density of the silicon nanowires. At the same time, the lowest input-referred voltage noise Power Spectral Density is observed for an intermediate boron concentration in the nanowire of 5 × 10^18 cm^(-3).".
• 01GNVZFZHW502AH0W5BFJ60RM6 abstract "This 5-wave longitudinal study aimed to monitor the feeling of we-ness and separateness over one year of the COVID-19 pandemic by examining partners' natural pronoun usage when reporting couple interactions. Compared to the start of the pandemic, a general decline of we-ness was found after one year. Moreover, the changes in couple we-ness were non-linear, resulting in an increase at the end of the strict lockdown, followed by a decrease. No change in couple separateness was found.".
• 01GNW0H597NJ99H7Q2DW6SN58D abstract "Gemeenten kunnen op allerlei manieren sociale meerwaarde realiseren binnen het voedselsysteem van hun stad of regio, mits zij hierbij nauw samenwerken met burgers en lokale stakeholders. Op basis van haar doctoraatsonderzoek ontwikkelde Sara Smaal een bordspel waarmee stedelijke actoren met elkaar in gesprek kunnen gaan over de sociale impact van voedselbeleid en voedselinitiatieven. In dit artikel legt ze uit hoe de RE-ADJUSTool werkt en blikt ze terug op het creatieve proces dat ze heeft doorlopen.".
• 01GNW1MHQ79GSZC3441MEAJQR4 abstract "The low-frequency (LF) noise characterization of Si_0.7Ge_0.3 pFinFETs and transistors’ performance were analyzed for different NH₃ post deposition annealing (PDA) temperatures. The flicker noise of these pFinFETs is dominated by carrier number fluctuations at low and intermediate drain currents. At high gate overdrive, the voltage noise Svg increases dramatically and the effect of the access resistance cannot be ignored. By analyzing the input-referred voltage noise power spectral density(PSD) at flat band voltage ( S_vgfb ), we will demonstrate that nitridation of the high- κ layer at 650 °C yields the best quality gate-stack and also results in the highest mobility. While NH₃ PDA temperature above 650 °C may introduce more hydrogen at the oxide layer and at the interface, hydrogen can induce hole traps and interface traps that degrade the quality of the gate-stack and reduce the mobility.".
• 01GNW1RBA1NG04P68JX655Z6P8 abstract "Recent advances in personality theory and research have led to the introduction of the "Too-much-of-a-good-thing-effect" in the relationship between conscientiousness and desirable outcomes, challenging the "more is better" idea that has been dominating research on this trait for a long time. Thus, the question arises as to how people evaluate their conscientiousness levels themselves, more specifically, whether they regard their trait levels as "too little", "the right amount", or "too much". The current study describes how an existing personality inventory can be adjusted to explore such evaluations of conscientiousness levels by incorporating a too little/too much response format. The structural characteristics of this new assessment approach are examined and compared against responses that are collected using a traditional Likert rating format asking people to describe themselves. Results show that - in this sample (N = 367) - about 11 % of participants evaluated their conscientiousness as adequate, whereas the majority (75 %) indicated it to be too high. Further, the "right amount" of conscientiousness was most frequently associated with a 7 on a 9-point Likert scale, while very high Likert-scale ratings of 9 were regarded as "too much" in over three-fourth of the ratings. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.".
• 01GNW51KDKARV5FJBJZYS3SGT8 abstract "What is it to be “an ideal parent”? Does the answer differ across countries and social classes? To answer these questions in a way that minimizes bias and ethnocentrism, we used open-ended questions to explore ideal-parent beliefs among 8,357 mothers and 3,517 fathers from 37 countries. Leximancer Semantic Network Analysis was utilized to first determine parenting culture zones (i.e., countries with shared ideal-parent beliefs) and then extract the predominant themes and concepts in each culture zone. The results yielded specific types of ideal-parent beliefs in five parenting culture zones: being “responsible and children/family-focused” for Asian parents, being “responsible and proper demeanor-focused” for African parents, and being “loving and responsible” for Hispanic-Italian parents. Although the most important themes and concepts were the same in the final two zones—being “loving and patient,” there were subtle differences: English-speaking, European Union, and Russian parents emphasized “being caring,” while French-speaking parents valued “listening” or being “present.” Ideal-parent beliefs also differed by education levels within culture zones, but no general pattern was discerned across culture zones. These findings suggest that the country in which parents were born cannot fully explain their differences in ideal-parent beliefs and that differences arising from social class or education level cannot be dismissed. Future research should consider how these differences affect the validity of the measurements in question and how they can be incorporated into parenting intervention research within and across cultures.".
• 01GNW79VY3N9CCE8TZF9SWRGCZ abstract "Thanks to recent advances in multisensory observation systems and high-resolution numerical weather prediction (NWP) models, a wealth of information is available to feed and improve operational weather forecasting systems. At the same time, end users such as the renewable energy sector and hydrological services require increasingly detailed and timely weather forecasts that take into account the latest observations. However, data assimilation in NWP models cannot yet leverage the full spatial or temporal resolution of today's observation systems. Moreover, the combined assimilation and model run takes significantly more time than an extrapolation-based nowcast, and cannot match its accuracy at short lead times. Therefore, many National Meteorological Services (NMSs) are moving towards seamless prediction systems. Seamless prediction aims to make optimal use of today's rapidly available, high-resolution multisensory observations, nowcasting algorithms and state-of-the-art convection-permitting NWP models. This approach integrates multiple data and model sources to provide a single, frequently updating deterministic or probabilistic forecast for lead times from minutes to days. We present the seamless ensemble prediction system of the Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium, called Project IMA (Japanese for "now" or "soon"). It provides rapidly updating seamless forecasts for the next 5 minutes to 24 hours. The nowcasting component is based on two systems: (1) the open-source probabilistic precipitation nowcasting scheme pySTEPS, which now features a scale-dependent blending with NWP ensemble forecasts (also presented in this session) and (2) an ensemble of INCA-BE nowcasts using two different NWP models, for other meteorological variables. The short-range NWP component consists of a multimodel lagged Mini-EPS of two convection-permitting configurations of the ACCORD system: AROME and ALARO, running at 1.3km resolution. It features a 3-hourly DA cycle and provides high-frequency precipitation output to facilitate the blending of precipitation nowcasts and forecasts. The system runs robustly using our NodeRunner tool based on EcFlow, ECMWF's operational work-flow package. We will give an overview of the development (past and future), some lessons learned, and use cases for Project IMA.".
• 01GNW7SB7VEJWVWA4BFC3JGCGE abstract "In the context of the COVID-19 outbreak, a strict lockdown was ordered by Belgian authorities from 18/03/2020 till 04/05/2020. This led to a limitation of industrial production, human activities and transport use where only essential motorized transport were permitted. This research is an attempt to study the impact of these measures on the canopy layer urban heat island intensity in the city of Ghent. We used the high-accuracy observational MOCCA (MOnitoring the City’s Climate and Atmosphere) network. This network is monitoring the urban climate of the city of Ghent since July 2016. The network consists of six weather stations in the Ghent region and provides a database of hourly observation including 2m temperature at six locations (including dense urban, industrial and suburban). Only clear-sky days with an average wind speed lower than 3 m/s were selected for both the confinement period in 2020 and for similar periods in the reference years 2017, 2018 and 2019. For the years 2017, 2018 and 2019 respectively 3, 3 and 7 reference days were retained to compare with 9 selected days of the 2020 confinement period. Results indicate a lower UHI intensity during the day for 2020 compared to the reference years for the dense, industrial and suburban site. A statistically significant difference was found at 15h, 16h, and 17h for the dense urban site (Provinciehuis). The statistical test did not give significant difference for the suburban site (Wondelgem). Human activities in the urban dense areas release a large amount of heat, which can directly heat the air and during the daytime around 16h when the storage heat flux switch from positive to negative values with weak value of the net radiation fluxes, the external source of energy due to the anthropogenic heat can drive the surrounding hot air to mix with local air and further warm near‐surface air temperature (2 m above ground level). However, during the lockdown period this external contribution to the surface energy balance was absent inducing a cooling gradient of the temperature in the dense urban site (Provinciehuis) up to 0.4°C/h around 18h-19h stronger in 2020 compared to the references years. During nighttime the UHI intensity becomes larger mainly driven by the release of energy stored during the day and the UHI intensities are similar for 2020 and the reference years indicating that the lockdown measures will not have had an impact on the UHI intensity during the night.".
• 01GNW80D06FA74PSCD1V2YWRT7 abstract "Due to its high population density and strong industrialisation, Europe is subject to a high degree of air pollution. Reliable information on current and future air quality (AQ) is therefore necessary to develop policies. This information can be based on regional climate models (RCMs) such as used in CORDEX where weather-related uncertainties are estimated using RCM ensemble. Air polution peaks often occur during stagnant atmospheric conditions. We validate EURO-CORDEX RCMs to reproduce stagnant periods characterized by the Horton atmospheric stability index. We first prove the index's relation with both average and extreme air pollutant concentrations. The spatio-temporal features of air stagnant periods over continental Europe are then compared with reanalysis data from ERA5 for 25 RCM models. Overall a satisfactorily agreement is found for the stagnant periods despite a systematically underestimated frequency and stagnation duration. This bias is tracked back to the behavior of a large group of models over orographically complex regions. We show how bias correction can be used to improve the average, the variability and the duration of stagnation periods. ".
• 01GNW85P0ESV7QGP6KAN3AGY00 abstract "Sub-daily precipitation extremes can have a huge impact on society as they cause hazards such as flooding, erosion and landslides. For example, the July floods in Germany, Belgium and nearby countries, were one of the costliest events in Europe, with insured losses up to USD 13 billion. Climate change is expected to intensify precipitation extremes as atmospheric water content increases by 6-7% per degree of warming, underscoring the need to predict future hydrological hazards. Regional Climate Models (RCMs) typically run at a spatial resolution of 12-25 km, but they insufficiently describe the small-scale features of observed sub-daily precipitation extremes. The past decade, convection-permitting RCMs were developed which run at high resolution (1-4 km), and explicitly resolve deep convection. Confidence in future projections requires that RCMs adequately simulate the statistical features of observed sub-daily extreme precipitation and also represent the physical processes associated with convective events. We propose a diagnostic framework for simulated 1h-24h rainfall extremes that summarizes the overall RCM performance. This includes the following metrics: the seasonal/diurnal cycle, temperature and humidity dependency, temporal scaling, and spatiotemporal clustering. A substantial part of the work is devoted to the statistical modelling of the metrics with Extreme Value Theory (EVT). We illustrate the evaluation tool with convection-permitting RCM simulations over Belgium against high-frequency observations and assess the benefit of the convection-permitting RCMs with respect to coarser scales. Finally, we give some guidelines for bias correction of simulated precipitation extremes.".
• 01GNWEKGEB72S0ZDR67CQ9DK1H abstract "Avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) can cause colibacillosis in poultry, characterised by localised or systemic infections. Colibacillosis is considered one of the leading causes of economic losses in the poultry industry due to reduced performance, increased mortality, treatment costs and carcass condemnations. A live attenuated Escherichia coli O78 aroA gene mutant is widely used to prevent disease. However, no effective strategies to differentiate the vaccine strain from field strains are available, hampering follow-up of vaccination campaigns. In the current study, we report a PCR-based method to simultaneously detect the vaccine strain by targeting the vaccine-specific mutation in the aroA gene, as well as the wild type E . coli strains by targeting the xanQ gene. The specificity of this PCR was evaluated using 123 E . coli isolates, form which 5 WT aroA auxotrophic strains (WT strains with a natural aroA deficiency), as well as 7 non- Escherichia isolates. The PCR showed 100% sensitivity of the xanQ primers for E . coli detection and 100% sensitivity of the Δ aroA primers for the vaccine strain. In order to allow quantification of the vaccine strain in complex samples containing many different E . coli strains and other related organisms, such as chicken faeces, a probe-based duplex qPCR was developed. The limit of detection (LOD) of this duplex qPCR method was 8.4*10 ³ copies/g faeces. The specificity of the duplex qPCR was confirmed by determining both the vaccine strain levels, and the total E . coli load in intestinal digesta from both vaccinated and non-vaccinated birds. E . coli could be detected in both vaccinated and non-vaccinated birds. The duplex qPCR was specific for the vaccine strain as this strain was detected in all vaccinated birds, whereas no signal was detected in non-vaccinated birds. The duplex qPCR is helpful in monitoring colonization and shedding of the vaccine strain.".
• 01GNWEV5EHKACS5V41P6DVWYGR abstract "Necro-hemorrhagic enteritis in calves, caused by Clostridium perfringens type A, is a fatal disease, mostly affecting calves in intensive rearing systems. The lack of development of active immunity against α toxin, an essential virulence factor in the pathogenesis, has been proposed as a main trigger. In this experimental study, the effect of a set of milk replacer components on α toxin production, and the effect of lactose on in vivo antibody production, were investigated. For the latter, Holstein-Friesian bull calves (n = 18) were fed an all liquid diet that contained either a milk replacer with high-lactose content (45% DM) or the same milk replacer that was lactase treated, resulting in a lactose-free equivalent. Antibody levels against α toxin were monitored from 2 to 12 wk of age. In the in vitro part of the study, a concentration-dependent inhibitory effect of lactose on in vitro C. perfringens α toxin activity was observed, whereas protein did not influence α toxin activity. The in vivo experiment then showed from the age of 10 wk onwards, that anti-α toxin antibody levels of high-lactose animals declined, whereas antibody levels of the animals consuming lactose-free milk replacer remained the same throughout the trial. This points to a natural decline in maternal immunity of lactose-consuming animals, that is not compensated by the development of an active immunity, resulting in inferior protection. This study suggests that dietary lactose reduces C. perfringens α toxin production in vivo, which may lead to a decreased antigen presentation and thus lower serum antibody levels against the toxin. Consequently, any event causing massive α toxin production puts lactose-consuming calves at higher risk of developing necro-hemorrhagic enteritis.".
• 01GNWGKA5RHH3ZEV149JYQBG7J abstract "Quality of life (QOL) has gained increased interest as a critical pathway to better understanding the lives and circumstances of children and adolescents in both the general population and among specific populations. Yet, QOL assessment among youngsters in youth care services remains a highly under-researched topic. This study examines the suitability and psychometric properties of a new QOL self-report scale for adolescents between 12 and 18 years old in youth care: the Quality of Life in Youth Services Scale (QOLYSS). The provisional version of the QOLYSS was pre-tested in a sample of 28 adolescents in youth care to examine its applicability and feasibility. Next, a comprehensive evaluation of the psychometric properties of the field-test version was conducted in a sample of 271 adolescents in youth care in Flanders, Belgium (M = 15.43, SD = 1.73). Classical item and factor analyses were carried out per subscale, (test-retest) reliability and item-discriminant validity of the subscales were examined, convergent validity was explored, and confirmatory factor analysis was used to examine the goodness-of-fit of different measurement models. Reliability measures of the scale are satisfactory, results are indicative of convergent validity, and confirmatory factor analysis provides evidence for the eight correlated factors model. Future lines of research concerning the ongoing development and application of the QOLYSS are discussed.".
• 01GNWH3F4H5FGCHCM23DCCN4G4 abstract "Theory-driven interventions can be defined as practices or interventions which are based on an explicit theoretical model including an articulation of the causal link between an intervention and its outcomes. A clear description is provided how and why the intervention leads to specific outcomes such as improved quality of life (QoL).".
• 01GNX01A8YADCBGS9MS2RVF6GF abstract "This book gives an overview of the empirical research regarding police discretionary decision-making worldwide through 2022 by means of a scoping review. In total, eleven databases were searched and 15,193 publications have been assessed in terms of relevance for this topic, with 1,563 of these being assessed more thoroughly. The shortlist consists of 526 publications. It answers the following questions: What is the amount of available research concerning police decision-making and what are its characteristics? How and where is police decision-making studied? Which crime phenomena are studied? Which types of decisions are studied? Which factors impact police discretion? Overall, the scoping review summarizes the available empirical research on police discretion and helps understand police decision-making processes. These findings are then used to discuss the current scholarship and give recommendations concerning research (e.g. which decision-making processes/decisions are currently lacking in research, which factors need to be explored further, which research methods can be utilized more frequently) and police practice (i.e. how to support police officers in their decision-making and optimize these decision-making processes).".
• 01GNXSY8BFJJAYWH9FHW99SD1V abstract "Introduction: Identifying patient-reported outcomes of the nurse-patient relationship is a priority in inpatient mental healthcare to guide clinical decision-making and quality improvement initiatives. Moreover, demonstrating nurse-sensitive patient outcomes can be a strategy to avoid further erosion of the specialism of psychiatric and/or mental health nursing. Aim/question: To measure nurse-sensitive patient outcomes of the nurse-patient relationship. Method: In a multicentred cross-sectional study, 296 inpatients admitted to five psychiatric hospitals completed the recently developed and validated Mental Health Nurse-Sensitive Patient Outcome-Scale (MH-NURSE-POS). The MH-NURSE-POS consists of 21 items (six-point Likert-scale) in four domains: 'growth', 'expression', 'control', and 'motivation'. Results: Participants displayed moderate to good average scores for the MH-NURSE-POS total (4.42) and domain scores (≥4.09). Especially outcomes related to 'motivation' to follow and stay committed to the treatment received high average scores (≥4.60). Discussion: The results demonstrate that patients perceive the nurse-patient relationship and the care given by psychiatric and/or mental health nurses as contributing to their treatment. Implications for practices: Patient-reported outcomes can guide nurses and managers to provide and organize nursing care and to build a nurse-patient relationship that has a positive impact on these outcomes. Additionally, outcomes can create nursing visibility as a profession in- and outside mental healthcare.".
• 01GNXTCFKDXY97EMACVBF400P7 abstract "Objective: Pain is prevalent among breast cancer survivors and can persist for years, impeding quality of life. Both prevention and pain treatment are important. However, this requires an interdisciplinary approach and complex models of care. We report on the design and implementation of an intervention that follows a step-wise care model, aimed at timely and adequate pain follow-up among breast cancer survivors. Methods: We used intervention mapping to guide our planning process. The intervention was developed in co-design with relevant stakeholders, such as breast cancer survivors and healthcare providers. Results: An e-learning training was developed aimed at changing healthcare providers' knowledge, beliefs, and interprofessional behaviour regarding pain follow-up. Second, guides were produced to empower patients in talking about pain and stimulate referral to other disciplines. Conclusion: To achieve change in pain follow-up, multiple levels should be addressed. Additionally, the implementation and adoption of an intervention opposes challenges. Intervention mapping can serve as a theory-based and data-driven approach for decision-making during planning. Practice implications: This study can inform others about how to prepare for the development and implementation of an intervention. The developed intervention can also be adapted according to the target population and context, and used for other cancer populations.".
• 01GNY3NXZ6GXC5W7D5H0MTXTYA abstract "The Egyptian-Greek contact situation has lasted almost a thousand years and many documents have been preserved to us from this period. In this paper, we apply a new quantitative approach to this rich corpus of documentary papyri to map the relationships between the linguistic variables (the variant spellings) and several non-linguistic variables. A multidimensional scaling of the co-occurrences of the linguistic variables shows that there is a strong association between most of the Greek variant spellings that can be explained by Egyptian phonological transfer, while others do not typically co-occur with them. Several new linguistic variables not yet connected to Egyptian phonological transfer also show a strong relation with the first group of features, some of them representing the same phonological transfer processes. A comparison of the contexts in which these variables are used allows us to further substantiate this observation: several of the previously and newly Egyptian-associated variables turn out to have a strong correlation with bilingual Egyptian-Greek documents or occur in Egyptian dominated environments. The spelling variants are chronologically dependent and different features are typically associated with different historical periods illustrating changes taking place in the Egyptian Greek contact variety over time. A multiple correspondence analysis shows that the variables strongly interact, illustrating the importance of a multifactorial approach combining various linguistic and non-linguistic factors.".
• 01GNY4JK9A612MA9NVW7HZ2A18 abstract "Aflatoxins (AFs) frequently contaminate food and animal feeds, especially in (sub) tropical countries. If animals consume contaminated feeds, AFs (mainly aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), B2 (AFB2), G1 (AFG1), G2 (AFG2) and their major metabolites aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) and M2 (AFM2)) can be transferred to edible tissues and products, such as eggs, liver and muscle tissue and milk, which ultimately can reach the human food chain. Currently, the European Union has established a maximum level for AFM1 in milk (0.05 mu g kg(-1)). Dietary adsorbents, such as bentonite clay, have been used to reduce AFs exposure in animal husbandry and carry over to edible tissues and products. To investigate the efficacy of adding bentonite clay to animal diets in reducing the concentration of AFB1, AFB2, AFG1, AFG2, and the metabolites AFM1 and AFM2 in animal-derived foods (chicken muscle and liver, eggs, and cattle milk), chicken and cattle plasma and cattle ruminal fluid, a sensitive and selective ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) method has been developed. High-throughput sample preparation procedures were optimized, allowing the analysis of 96 samples per analytical batch and consisted of a liquid extraction using 1% formic acid in acetonitrile, followed by a further clean-up using QuEChERS (muscle tissue), QuEChERS in combination with Oasis((R)) Ostro (liver tissue), Oasis((R)) Ostro (egg, plasma), and Oasis((R)) PRiME HLB (milk, ruminal fluid). The different procedures were validated in accordance with European guidelines. As a proof-of-concept, the final methods were used to successfully determine AFs concentrations in chicken and cattle samples collected during feeding trials for efficacy and safety evaluation of mycotoxin detoxifiers to protect against AFs as well as their carry-over to animal products.".
• 01GNY66FSMWG1VKRFF5G2QNZCW abstract "This article studies five shaped panels of Duchesse de Bruxelles lace, part of the collection of the MoMu Fashion Museum in Antwerp. These handmade panels were created c. 1900 but never fashioned into a gown and, consequently, never worn. The first part of this article uses an object-based approach to examine how the panels might have looked if they had been constructed into a gown, what type of gown this would have been, to what occasions it would have been worn and by whom. In 2021, the renovated MoMu reopened with, in addition to its space for temporary exhibitions, a permanent display showing highlights from the museum collection. This unconstructed gown being a highlight of its historical lace collection, the museum is currently considering how to best exhibit it. The second part of this article therefore examines different display possibilities, ranging from a full reconstruction, to a deconstructed display, to the possibility of replication all the while keeping in mind the ethics of conservation-restoration and display, and what it means to exhibit fashion.".
• 01GNY7FBXWA0P9TJNQJMYCHT8G abstract "Liposomes are spherically shaped phospholipid bilayers which may be used to deliver drugs to the specific sites by encapsulating them in the hydrophilic core or the lipophilic bilayer part. However, this delivery may not be efficient because of untimely drug release. Therefore, the permeation rate through the liposomal membrane is a crucial parameter in drug design. This work investigates how two liposome parameters, i.e. the curvature and the lipid composition, affect the permeability. For this, flat bilayers and three liposomes with different diameters (11 nm, 21 nm, and 27 nm) are simulated with coarse-grained molecular dynamics. The 23 simulated systems have varying lipid composition of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC), cholesterol, and fatty acids. The water permeability is determined using the counting crossings method [1]. Moreover, two types of permeants with different free energy profile across the membrane, i.e. well and barrier, are added to the simulation to investigate the effect of the permeant’s solubility in the membrane [2]. New definitions for entrance, escape and liposome permeability are introduced to allow for comparison with flat bilayers. It is observed that the curvature increases the entrance permeability of the permeants, permeating from the outer space of the liposome to the inner space of the liposome. The concentration of cholesterol and fatty acids does affect the permeability, which is in accordance with the observed changes in the free energy profiles and area per lipid. As the curvature effect is smaller than the concentration effect in the simulations, the focus should lie on lipid composition when timely drug release is aimed for.".
• 01GNY7RRPRFH1E8PX2ZZ1PA2E0 abstract "The ‘oxygen paradox’ can be explained as two opposing biological processes with oxygen (O2) as a reactant. On the one hand, oxygen is essential to aerobic metabolism, being used by mitochondria to fuel oxidative phosphorylation. On the other hand, an excess supply of oxygen will generate reactive species which are harmful for the cell. To maintain oxygen homeostasis, the first process should be maximized compared to the second one. We have hypothesized that curved and cholesterol-enriched membrane invaginations called caveolae help maintain the proper oxygen level by taking up oxygen and attenuating its release to the mitochondria. The mechanism by which caveolae may help to buffer the oxygen level in cells is still unclear. Here, we aim to assess how structural aspects of caveolae—namely the curvature and the cholesterol content of the membrane—influence the local oxygen abundance and the membrane permeability. We have modelled liposomes with varying size (curvature) and with varying ratios of phosphatidylcholine (POPC) and cholesterol, using molecular dynamics simulation. Associated changes in the oxygen free energy profile and permeability will be presented.".
• 01GNY9QCM5YGHH5XVQZ5TAPDK5 abstract "This paper compares several collective heat distribution network alternatives developed to supplies heat in a neighborhood with 305 dwellings. For the collective alternatives different networks layout strategy definition, namely considering that the allocation of the distribution pipe layout is able or not to cross the main and small streets; equally, the option of crossing or not green zones, as well as, considering or not the phases of the project construction were studied. The problem definition, the structure and the solution which involves economical, technical, thermodynamic, and environmental issues are described. For the hydraulic calculations, pipe layout definition and cost estimation, a well-integrated process approach was guaranteed by mean of Comsof Heat, an automated, geographical information system (GIS) based district heating network routing and planning tool. The paper quantifies and compare the performance of different neighborhood heat supply design concepts. The results highlight the potential of the new automated district heating design tool towards solutions for sustainable energy planning.".
• 01GNYJNH5K4W47KWTB66BCH41P abstract "De laatste 5 jaar (2015-2020) zijn de woningprijzen sterk gestegen in België en Nederland. Nochtans werken beide woningmarkten op een andere manier. Zo kent de Belgische woningmarkt een woningoverschot en de Nederlandse een woningtekort. Het ene wijst op een extra aanbod onder de vorm van tweede verblijven, kamers en opbrengsteigendommen in een vrije markt van vraag en aanbod. Het andere wijst op druk vanuit de deeleconomie met o.a. AirBnB en een sterk gereguleerde sociale woningmarkt door de woningcorporaties. De woningmarkt in Nederland en in België is gesegmenteerd, zowel naar type (huur vs. koop) als ruimtelijk (steden vs. landelijke gebieden). Rond die steden zien we dat suburbanisatie en verstedelijking de woningmarkt ruimtelijk oprekken (Randstad, Brabantse stedenrij, Brussel, Antwerpen, Gent). De stedelijke vastgoedbubbel groeit dus zowel ruimtelijk als naar betaalbaarheidsproblematiek. We zien hier verschillende reacties vanuit de markt: enerzijds wordt gepleit voor meer aanbod (door realisatie van uitleglocaties), anderzijds zien we anti-stedelijke coalities om de verstedelijking tegen te gaan in de rand van de grootsteden. Een voorbeeld hiervan is het stadsgewest Gent. Dit artikel analyseert de betaalbaarheid van de wonen in België en Nederland tegen het licht van het gevoerde grondbeleid. Het geeft de trends weer van de afgelopen jaren en doet een aanzet van voorstellen om de woningmarkt betaalbaar te houden.".
• 01GNYK7PCQJ6MMD3S93G9TMJR8 abstract "Rhododendron species are typical calcifuges that do not grow well in calcareous soils characterized by alkaline pH and high concentrations of Ca2+. In this study, we investigated the effects of three pH levels and a Ca2+ treatment on the in vitro germination and seedling growth of three Rhododendron species: R. chihsinianum, R. fortunei, and R. vernicosum. Alkaline pH had no significant effect on germination parameters (g(MAX), mean germination time and germination uniformity) but significantly increased abnormal leaf development (AL) and mortality in all three species. Adding extra Ca2+ reduced the mean germination time for R. vernicosum. The negative influence of alkaline pH on seedlings was already visible on the second day of treatment as measured by chlorophyll fluorescence imaging parameters (F-v/F-m and phi(PSII)) on R. fortunei. Extra Ca2+ alleviated the negative effect of alkaline pH and increased F-v/F-m 41 days after seed germination in R. fortunei and R. chihsinianum and reduced mortality for all three species. In conclusion, alkaline pH mainly influenced seedling development and growth but not the germination process itself. Chlorophyll fluorescence imaging can be an efficient way to perform high-throughput in vitro screening of Rhododendron seedlings for alkalinity tolerance.".
• 01GNYKBZRF1ERNS56JMF1E1BAH abstract "De totale oppervlakte ruimtebeslag in Vlaanderen bedroeg in 2016 ca. 448.500 hectare. In 2019 was dit al aangegroeid tot 454.000 ha, tegen een tempo van zo’n vijf hectare extra ruimte-inname per dag. Om tegen 2040 het transitietraject van nul hectare per dag te halen, mag er in de periode 2020-2040 nog maximaal 16.300 ha worden ingenomen als ruimtebeslag. Dit omvat dan zowel huisvesting, als bedrijven, recreatie, landbouwzetels enz. In Vlaanderen liggen er evenwel nog 43.380 ha onbebouwde percelen die in aanmerking komen voor bebouwing – veel meer dan wat er volgens het transitietraject nog kan worden ingenomen. Een deel van de woongebieden s.l. hoeft dus niet meer ontwikkeld te worden en kan best een andere (open ruimte) functie krijgen.".
• 01GNYKG0ZDE33HE79EFA21Q0JN abstract "Microbial communities living in the proximity of crop roots in the soil shape the biochemical composition of the rhizosphere root zone and thereby affect the susceptibility of the crop to pathogenic organisms and the availability of mineral and organic nutrients. In hydroponic culturing conditions the context in which the roots grow is very different, which likely affects the composition of the rhizosphere microbiome and the response of the plant root system. In a previous experiment, we found that rhizosphere microbes isolated from hydroponically-grown lettuce promoted biomass production. Here we asked whether the lettuce roots inoculated initially with beneficial bacteria from hydroponically-grown plants would propagate the beneficial bacteria and serve as an inoculum for future lettuce growth stimulation. Analyses of the fresh and dry weights of lettuce shoot and lettuce roots showed that plants inoculated with rhizosphere microbes were not different from one another. Root electrolyte leakage measurements indicated that plants were presumably stressed yet not significantly different across the treatments. The inoculation with microbial rhizosphere extract did not alter the total phenolic content in root exudate, and hence no evidence was obtained for a differential response from the lettuce plants. The results show that growth-promoting activity is not transferred from one cultivation to the next and that re-inoculation with the original microbial source is likely a prerequisite for reproducing growth stimulation.".
• 01GNYM54SECEK48F6VKZRB3T7H abstract "Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) dynamics play an important role in maintaining a stable central nervous system environment and are influenced by different physiological processes. Multiple studies have investigated these processes but the impact of each of them on CSF flow is not well understood. A deeper insight into the CSF dynamics and the processes impacting them is crucial to better understand neurological disorders such as hydrocephalus, Chiari malformation, and intracranial hypertension. This study presents a 3D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model which incorporates physiological processes as boundary conditions. CSF production and pulsatile arterial and venous volume changes are implemented as inlet boundary conditions. At the outlets, 2-element windkessel models are imposed to simulate CSF compliance and absorption. The total compliance is first tuned using a 0D model to obtain physiological pressure pulsations. Then, simulation results are compared with in vivo flow measurements in the spinal subarachnoid space (SAS) and cerebral aqueduct, and intracranial pressure values reported in the literature. Finally, the impact of the distribution of and total compliance on CSF pressures and velocities is evaluated. Without respiration effects, compliance of 0.17 ml/mmHg yielded pressure pulsations with an amplitude of 5 mmHg and an average value within the physiological range of 7-15 mmHg. Also, model flow rates were found to be in good agreement with reported values. However, when adding respiration effects, similar pressure amplitudes required an increase of compliance value to 0.51 ml/mmHg, which is within the range of 0.4-1.2 ml/mmHg measured in vivo. Moreover, altering the distribution of compliance over the four different outlets impacted the local flow, including the flow through the foramen magnum. The contribution of compliance to each outlet was directly proportional to the outflow at that outlet. Meanwhile, the value of total compliance impacted intracranial pressure. In conclusion, a computational model of the CSF has been developed that can simulate CSF pressures and velocities by incorporating boundary conditions based on physiological processes. By tuning these boundary conditions, we were able to obtain CSF pressures and flows within the physiological range.".
• 01GNYMPJ7SXP5S8MQ8YMRQMM68 abstract "Importance With a prevalence between 0.2% and 6.1% of all live births, congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) infection is a major cause of congenital nonhereditary sensorineural hearing loss. Despite the large amount of research on cCMV-related hearing loss, it is still unclear which newborns are at risk of hearing loss. Objective To identify independent risk factors for cCMV-related congenital hearing loss and predictors of hearing loss severity at birth. Design, Setting, and Participants This cross-sectional study of newborns with cCMV infection used data included in the Flemish CMV registry that was collected from 6 secondary and tertiary hospitals in Flanders, Belgium, over 15 years (January 1, 2007, to February 7, 2022). Data were analyzed March 3 to October 19, 2022. Patients were included in the study after confirmed diagnosis of cCMV infection and known hearing status at birth. Patients who presented with other possible causes of sensorineural hearing loss were excluded. Main Outcomes and Measures Primary outcome was hearing status at birth. Clinical, neurological, and laboratory findings along with the timing of seroconversion and blood viral load were separately considered as risk factors. Binary logistic regression was performed to identify independent risk factors for congenital hearing loss in newborns with cCMV. Effect sizes were measured using Hedges g, odds ratio, or Cramer V. Results Of the 1033 newborns included in the study (553 of 1024 [54.0%] boys), 416 (40.3%) were diagnosed with symptomatic cCMV infection and 617 (59.7%) with asymptomatic cCMV infection. A total of 15.4% of the patients (n = 159) presented with congenital hearing loss; half of them (n = 80 [50.3%]) had isolated hearing loss. The regression model revealed 3 independent risk factors for congenital hearing loss: petechiae at birth (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 6.7; 95% CI, 1.9-23.9), periventricular cysts on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI; aOR, 4.6; 95% CI, 1.5-14.1), and seroconversion in the first trimester (aOR, 3.1; 95% CI, 1.1-9.3). Lower viral loads were seen in patients with normal hearing compared with those with congenital hearing loss (median [IQR] viral load, 447.0 [39.3-2345.8] copies per milliliter of sample [copies/mL] vs 1349.5 [234.3-14 393.0] copies/mL; median difference, −397.0 [95% CI, −5058.0 to 174.0] copies/mL). Conclusions and Relevance Findings of this cross-sectional study suggest that newborns with cCMV infection and petechiae at birth, periventricular cysts on MRI, or a seroconversion in the first trimester had a higher risk of congenital hearing loss. Clinicians may use these risk factors to counsel parents in the prenatal and postnatal periods about the risk of congenital hearing loss. Moreover, linking clinical features to hearing loss may provide new insights into the pathogenesis of cCMV-related hearing loss. The importance of viral load as a risk factor for congenital hearing loss remains unclear.".
• 01GNYP0ERAY503SVRXAXR31NK0 abstract "Objective To search for existing evidence of a beneficial effect of (val)ganciclovir on hearing in children with congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) infection and to identify future research questions. Study Design Systematic review following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, searches were performed in PUBMED, EMBASE, and WEB OF SCIENCE on December 15, 2021. Methods Studies providing ear-specific hearing results after treating children with cCMV-related hearing loss with (val)ganciclovir were retained. A meta-analysis [Peto odds ratio (OR), Review Manager 5.3] was performed to compare hearing outcome between treated and untreated children. The National Institutes of Health tool was used for quality assessment and heterogeneity was assessed with I-2 statistics. Results Eighteen studies with a total of 682 treated patients were included for the systematic review. Our meta-analysis showed that treating symptomatic children with hearing loss resulted in more hearing improvement [Peto OR 7.72, 95% confidence interval (CI) 3.08-19.34] and less hearing deterioration (Peto OR 0.23, 95% CI 0.10-0.57). Relative to an improvement and deterioration rate of 9.4% and 28.2% in an untreated group, the rate of the treated group was 44.5% and 6.3%, respectively. Conclusions There is sufficient evidence in literature to support treatment with (val)ganciclovir of children with symptomatic cCMV and hearing loss. However, still today, there is insufficient evidence of the potential beneficial role of (val)ganciclovir on hearing outcome of children with isolated hearing loss, late-onset hearing loss, and asymptomatic cCMV. The urgent need for future prospective, randomized clinical trials still exists. A standardization of definitions and treatment protocols would create uniformity in future studies".
• 01GNZ1D477PF444CYF3EPM3E37 abstract "Late elementary education constitutes a critical period in the development of reading comprehension strategies, a key competence in today's society. However, to date, appropriate measurements to map late elementary students' reading strategies are lacking. In this respect, the present article first describes the development and validation of the 26-item reading comprehension strategies questionnaire (RCSQ). To this aim, exploratory (sample 1: n = 1585 students) and confirmatory (sample 2: n = 1585 students) factor analyses were conducted. These analyses resulted in the RCSQ, consisting of five subscales: (1) overt cognitive reading strategies, (2) covert cognitive reading strategies, (3) monitoring, and (4) evaluating. For non-native and bilingual students, a fifth subscale 'using home language in view of comprehending texts' emerged. Second, multilevel analyses were performed to explore individual differences in late elementary students' reading comprehension strategy use. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.".
• 01GP0JMT6Y5X3CMKBEGN69SWXQ abstract "We empirically test the prediction of Pa ' stor et al. (2021) that green firms outperform brown firms when concerns about climate change increase unexpectedly, using data for S&P 500 companies from January 2010 to June 2018. To capture unexpected increases in climate change concerns, we construct a daily Media Climate Change Concerns index using news about climate change published by major U.S. newspapers and newswires. We find that on days with an unexpected increase in climate change concerns, the green firms' stock prices tend to increase, whereas brown firms' prices decrease. Furthermore, using topic modeling, we conclude that this effect holds for concerns about both transition and physical climate change risk. Finally, we decompose returns into cash flow and discount rate news components and find that an unexpected increase in climate change concerns is associated with an increase (decrease) in the discount rate of brown (green) firms.".
• 01GP0JV1J6Z6HV4WHTYD3BSM4B abstract "To provide improved recommendations for selecting an adequate lubrication method for tapered roller bearings (TRB’s), detailed measurements of global friction and temperature distribution in TRB is performed as function of different speed, loads. Moreover, different lubrication methods will be investigated, considering different oil levels in the bearing housing. The experimental data will be compared with two existing frictional models, i.e., Harris and SKF models, and their range of applicability will be assessed. We anticipate that bearing friction and temperature distribution will be different w.r.t. the lubrication method and that corrections to the analytical models are necessary to improve their predicting capabilities.".
• 01GP0JXAMGB8S70CBV30YZGMR2 abstract "A fluid-structure interaction model is employed to numerically investigate the interaction between the pressurized thin lubricant film and the radial, plastically deformed steel wire in a dry wire drawing process. A transient simulation is presented, with the implementation of a sliding fluid-structure interaction interface. Moreover, the fluid film has been calculated by the Navier-Stokes equations and the coupling with the wire model is performed by the IQN-ILS technique. This results on the one hand in the monitoring of the stresses and displacements of the structure and on the other hand in an observation of the hydrodynamic pressure build-up and wall shear stresses in the lubricant. Additionally, the evolution of the thickness of the fluid film is presented.".
• 01GP0KPQRNW305VW47DXQ3TPXP abstract "The investigation of an initial-boundary value problem for a fractional wave equation with space-dependent variable-order wherein the coefficients have a dependency on the spatial and time variables is the concern of this work. This type of variable-order fractional differential operator originates in the modelling of viscoelastic materials. The global in time existence of a unique weak solution to the model problem has been proved under appropriate conditions on the data. Rothe's time discretization method is applied to achieve that purpose.".
• 01GP0M62T2DJWYJRFK32RNZ4HY abstract "In this paper, we investigate the longtime behavior of time fractional reaction-diffusion equations with delay. The governing partial differential equation generalizes the Hutchinson, the Mackey-Glass and the Nicholson's blowflies equations. Energy estimates, asymptotic stability and asymptotic contractivity of the problem are proved. The finite difference technique is used to discretize the time-fractional Caputo derivative, and the spectral Galerkin approach is used for the spatial approximation. Additionally, the ability to preserve asymptotic contractivity and stability rates can be proved for the numerical solution similarly as for the true solution. Finally, some numerical experiments are performed to confirm our findings.".
• 01GP0PYTV8TMRJ3ZS3P9PDWJ30 abstract "Guard cells control the opening of stomatal pores in the leaf surface, with the use of a network of protein kinases and phosphatases. Loss of function of the CBL-interacting protein kinase 23 (CIPK23) was previously shown to decrease the stomatal conductance, but the molecular mechanisms underlying this response still need to be clarified. CIPK23 was specifically expressed in Arabidopsis guard cells, using an estrogen-inducible system. Stomatal movements were linked to changes in ion channel activity, determined with double-barreled intracellular electrodes in guard cells and with the two-electrode voltage clamp technique in Xenopus oocytes. Expression of the phosphomimetic variant CIPK23(T190D) enhanced stomatal opening, while the natural CIPK23 and a kinase-inactive CIPK23(K60N) variant did not affect stomatal movements. Overexpression of CIPK23(T190D) repressed the activity of S-type anion channels, while their steady-state activity was unchanged by CIPK23 and CIPK23(K60N). We suggest that CIPK23 enhances the stomatal conductance at favorable growth conditions, via the regulation of several ion transport proteins in guard cells. The inhibition of SLAC1-type anion channels is an important facet of this response.".
• 01GP0QF582REPNARQ8A1RKW8SD abstract "Polymers are composed of macrospecies that are characterized by a broad range of molecular variations such as chain length, functionality, comonomer composition, branching density, and crosslinking amount that can be controlled through (i) a plethora of macromolecular chemistries and (ii) many reactor configurations and operations. To fully grasp and exploit these control handles, it is strongly recommended (i) to develop modeling tools that are synergetic with experimental methods and (ii) to identify which in silico tool is suited most in which context. In the present chapter, we give an overview of the most important in silico multiscale tools for macromolecular chemistry and engineering. This is done by addressing both deterministic and stochastic modeling approaches, allowing application at both lab and industrial scale. We first explain how computational chemistry (e.g., ab initio calculations) can contribute to the understanding and tuning of chemical reactivities and chain interactions, thus molecular scale phenomena. This illustrated through a Case study 2.1 on controlled radical polymerization. We then introduce the concept of microscale modeling to map the competition of chemistry and diffusional limitations, as polymerization processes are very prone to viscosity increases. Specific emphasis is on the benchmarking of the popular method of moments and the recently more employed matrix-based kinetic Monte Carlo simulations (Case study 2.2) as well as machine learning tools. Mesoscale modeling tools are subsequently discussed to enable the description of multiphase/particulate polymerizations such as emulsion polymerization or the synthesis of high impact polymeric materials. A Case study 2.3 is devoted to surface initiated polymerization. We further elaborate on macro-scale modeling tools that allow to account for scale-up effects, due to nonhomogeneity in temperature and mixing intensities. Here we specifically deal with the recent advances in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations, as illustrated through a Case study 2.4. Finally, we link the already introduced multiscale polymer reaction engineering approaches with the field of materials science.".
• 01GP0RNDPNGDH3GR4NVGN6B6PM abstract "Airborne wind energy (AWE) is an emerging technology for the conversion of wind energy into electricity. There are many types of AWE systems, and one of them flies crosswind patterns with a tethered aircraft connected to a generator. The objective is to gain a proper understanding of the unsteady interaction of air and this flexible and dynamic system during operation, which is key to developing viable, large AWE systems. In this work, the effect of wing deformation on an AWE system performing a crosswind flight maneuver was assessed using high-fidelity time-varying fluid–structure interaction simulations. This was performed using a partitioned and explicit approach. A computational structural mechanics (CSM) model of the wing structure was coupled with a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of the wing aerodynamics. The Chimera/overset technique combined with an arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) formulation for mesh deformation has been proven to be a robust approach to simulating the motion and deformation of an airborne wind energy system in CFD simulations. The main finding is that wing deformation in crosswind flights increases the symmetry of the spanwise loading. This property could be used in future designs to increase the efficiency of airborne wind energy systems.".
• 01GP0S62C7CFT3GXGTT3D26CQM abstract "With numerous approaches to choose from, knowing where to start when doing qualitative data analysis (QDA) can be a challenge. This book gives you direction with an accessible and thorough introduction to nine different approaches to QDA, written by a multi-disciplinary team with years of experience teaching and analysing data using these methods. With a clear focus on the ‘how to’ of QDA, each chapter includes: •Step-by-step descriptions of how to apply each approach in your research •Online and in-text activities to help you practice your skills •Annotated reading lists so you can dig deeper into key topics •Case studies from a range of disciplines so you can see how each approach works in practice. The perfect companion on your journey through QDA, the book also offers a comprehensive introduction to the use of NVivo QDA software, helping both new and experienced researchers get to grips with the essentials.".
• 01GP0SGE0DNBDYCB395S30110R abstract "Pyrolysis is one of the promising routes for the chemical recycling of polystyrene. However, the challenge lies in developing optimal contacting patterns to enhance the yield of liquid products (styrene). The present work demonstrates the applicability of a vortex reactor to effectively pyrolyze polystyrene. Three experiments were conducted at temperatures of 450, 500 and 550 oC, wherein the polystyrene was fed at a rate of 1kg/h. Prior experiments had indicated that such a flow rate ensures a smooth and uniform injection of PS in the reactor. The liquid products obtained were condensed in a system of two condensers. Subsequently, the products were analyzed offline in GC x GC- FID. The analysis showed the significant formation of styrene.".
• 01GP0X34Y51ZAF3RNMH631K7Z6 abstract "Photonic reservoir computing has been demonstrated to be able to solve various complex problems. Although training a reservoir computing system is much simpler compared to other neural network approaches, it still requires considerable amounts of resources which becomes an issue when retraining is required. Transfer learning is a technique that allows us to re-use information between tasks, thereby reducing the cost of retraining. We propose transfer learning as a viable technique to compensate for the unavoidable parameter drift in experimental setups. Solving this parameter drift usually requires retraining the system, which is very time and energy consuming. Based on numerical studies on a delay-based reservoir computing system with semiconductor lasers, we investigate the use of transfer learning to mitigate these parameter fluctuations. Additionally, we demonstrate that transfer learning applied to two slightly different tasks allows us to reduce the amount of input samples required for training of the second task, thus reducing the amount of retraining.".
• 01GP0XNAJRX1JSEM9PF3D5ZM1S abstract "In photonic reservoir computing, semiconductor lasers with delayed feedback have shown to be suited to efficiently solve difficult and time-consuming problems. The input data in this system is often optically injected into the reservoir. Based on numerical simulations, we show that the performance depends heavily on the way that information is encoded in this optical injection signal. In our simulations we compare different input configurations consisting of Mach-Zehnder modulators and phase modulators for injecting the signal. We observe far better performance on a one-step ahead time-series prediction task when modulating the phase of the injected signal rather than only modulating its amplitude. (C) 2022 Optica Publishing Group under the terms of the Optica Open Access Publishing Agreement".
• 01GP106503XXKTCK5Q9SXH9YZB abstract "Photonic reservoir computing is a promising processing solution for the equalization of fiber optic communication signals. We simulate the nonlinear equalization of 64 Quadrature-Amplitude Modulated signals using a fully passive space multiplexed reservoir. The system deploys direct detection using the recently proposed Kramers-Kronig receiver. (C) 2022 The Author(s)".
• 01GP13FJKYWFY1RC8WRDS84EJ0 abstract "This study documented indigenous knowledge and use of medicinal plants among the Kuria communities in Mara Region, Tanzania. Ethnobotanical data were collected in collaboration with 20 traditional healers (THs), by jungle-walk-and-identify, field guides and observation, semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions and scientific identification of plants. Kuria medicinal plant healers reported 100 medicinal plants from 34 families. Asteraceae (15%) prevailed, followed by Fabaceae (13%) and Lamiaceae (12%). Herbs constituted the largest fraction (41%), followed by shrubs (27%), trees (24%), grasses (4%), climbers (4%), and ferns (1%). Leaves were the most used plant part. Healers listed about 53 diseases treated with plants.".
• 01GP15ZGJY05S1HJDS1HX4Q7W1 abstract "Myoblast fusion is fundamental for the development of multinucleated myofibers. Evolutionarily conserved proteins required for myoblast fusion include RAC1 and its activator DOCK1. In the current study we analyzed the contribution of the DOCK1-interacting ELMO scaffold proteins to myoblast fusion. When Elmo1(-/-) mice underwent muscle-specific Elmo2 genetic ablation, they exhibited severe myoblast fusion defects. A mutation in the Elmo2 gene that reduced signaling resulted in a decrease in myoblast fusion. Conversely, a mutation in Elmo2 coding for a protein with an open conformation increased myoblast fusion during development and in muscle regeneration. Finally, we showed that the dystrophic features of the Dysferlin-null mice, a model of limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type 2B, were reversed when expressing ELMO2 in an open conformation. These data provide direct evidence that the myoblast fusion process could be exploited for regenerative purposes and improve the outcome of muscle diseases.".
• 01GP18N1CC8MVNPT3W8QQ3XHS9 abstract "Background: We aimed to develop a single step method for the production of human platelet lysate (hPL). The method must result in high hPL yields, be closed system and avoid heparin use. Study Design and Methods: The method aimed at using glass beads and calcium. An optimal concentration of calcium and glass beads was determined by serial dilution. This was translated to a novel method and compared to known methods: freeze-thawing and high calcium. Quality outcome measures were transmittance, fibrinogen and growth factor content, and cell doubling time. Results: An optimal concentration of 5 mM Ca2+ and 0.2 g/ml glass beads resulted in hPL with yields of 92% +/- 1% (n = 50) independent of source material (apheresis or buffy coat-derived). The transmittance was highest (56% +/- 9%) compared to known methods (<39%). The fibrinogen concentration (7.0 +/- 1.1 mu g/ml) was well below the threshold, avoiding the need for heparin. Growth factor content was similar across hPL production methods. The cell doubling time of adipose derived stem cells was 25 +/- 1 h and not different across methods. Batch consistency was determined across six batches of hPL (each n = 25 constituting concentrates) and was <11% for all parameters including cell doubling time. Calcium precipitation formed after 4 days of culturing stem cells in media with hPL prepared by the high (15 mM) Ca2+ method, but not with hPL prepared by glass bead method. Discussion: The novel method transforms platelet concentrates to hPL with little hands-on time. The method results in high yield, is closed system, without heparin and non-inferior to published methods.".
• 01GP18ZC77FC3HDK7JNNM1H6HY abstract "Background Acquired von Willebrand syndrome (aVWS) is common in patients with mechanical circulatory support (MCS) devices. In these patients, the high shear stress in the device leads to increased shear-induced proteolysis of von Willebrand factor (VWF) by A Disintegrin And Metalloprotease with Thrombospondin type 1 repeats, number 13 (ADAMTS13). As a result, the high molecular weight (HMW) VWF multimers are lost, leading to a decreased VWF function and impaired hemostasis that could explain the bleeding complications that are frequently observed in these patients. To counteract this abnormal VWF degradation by ADAMTS13, we developed a novel targeted therapy, using an anti-ADAMTS13 monoclonal antibody (mAb) that inhibits the shear-induced proteolysis of VWF by ADAMTS13. Methods Human or bovine blood was circulated through in vitro MCS device systems with either inhibitory anti-ADAMTS13 mAb 3H9 or 17C7 (20 mu g/ml) or control anti-ADAMTS13 mAb 5C11 or phosphate buffered saline (PBS). VWF multimers and function (collagen binding activity) were determined at different time points. Next, Impella pumps were implanted in calves and the calves were injected with PBS and subsequently treated with mAb 17C7. VWF, ADAMTS13, and blood parameters were determined. Results We demonstrated that blocking ADAMTS13 could prevent the loss of HMW VWF multimers in in vitro MCS device systems. Importantly, our antibody could reverse aVWS in a preclinical Impella-induced aVWS calf model. Conclusion Hence, inhibition of ADAMTS13 could become a novel therapeutic strategy to manage aVWS in MCS device patients.".
• 01GP196MWQK3TM28E2D0D7VYN8 abstract "We compared the performance of SARS-CoV-2 neutralising antibody testing between 12 European laboratories involved in convalescent plasma trials. Raw titres differed almost too-fold differences between laboratories when blind-testing 15 plasma samples. Calibration of titres in relation to the reference reagent and standard curve obtained by testing a dilution series reduced the inter-laboratory variability ca to-fold. The harmonisation of neutralising antibody quantification is a vital step towards determining the protective and therapeutic levels of neutralising antibodies.".
• 01GP197DH117ZX2Q7A62QH5R6Y abstract "Single-cell and spatial transcriptomic technologies have revealed an underappreciated heterogeneity of liver macrophages. This has led us to rethink the involvement of macrophages in liver homeostasis and disease. Identification of conserved gene signatures within these cells across species and diseases is enabling the correct identification of specific macrophage subsets and the generation of more specific tools to track and study the functions of these cells. Here, we discuss what is currently known about the definitions of these different macrophage populations, the markers that can be used to identify them, how they are wired within the liver, and their functional specializations in health and disease.".
• 01GP1CRVH4D0E88REBVSA8W3KQ abstract "Background: In Mozambique, 76% of adolescents have been pregnant before the age of 20 years. Thus, this study explores adults’ perceptions on adolescent attitudes towards pregnancy and abortion in Maputo and Quelimane cities. Methods: A qualitative study was conducted in Maputo and Quelimane, with four focus group discussions. A cross-sectional household survey was used to select adult women participants. Data were analysed applying a thematic analysis approach. Results: Intrapersonal, interpersonal, cultural, and environmental factors influence pregnancy and abortion decision making among adolescents. Generational conflicts reduce the importance paid to traditional knowledge transfer, contraceptive beliefs, denial of paternity, lack of parental support, and procreation value were found to influence abortion decision making and early pregnancy among adolescents. Conclusions: There is a need to improve relationships between adults and adolescents to reduce girls’ vulnerability to early pregnancy, as well as empowering adolescents in order to negotiate safe sex, reducing unwanted pregnancy and induced abortion.".
• 01GP1MCH3GGZHKQS1X8NY2B9JZ abstract "Study guide "European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The European Court of Human Rights" contains a detailed analysis of the legal foundations of the organization and activities of the European Court of Human Rights. It is aimed at educational and methodological support for the teaching and learning of the course "Case law of the European Court of Human Rights", which is read by master's students of the Faculty of Law of Kharkiv National University named after V. N. Karazin.".
• 01GP1MSYSRK6FBB3W7YEDJYHP2 abstract "The educational manual "The right to life and the prohibition of torture in the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights: an analysis of judicial practice under Articles 2 and 3 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms" contains a detailed analysis of the relevant legal positions of the European Court. It is aimed at educational and methodological support teaching and studying the course "Case Law of the European Court of Human Rights", which is taught to master's students of the Faculty of Law of Kharkiv National University named after V. N. Karazin.".
• 01GP33FJKGVFXCA1R52WKFKXQD abstract "Carbenium ions are important intermediates in both zeolite and plasma chemistry. The construction of kinetic models for zeolite and plasma chemistry requires the incorporation of thermody-namic properties of these carbenium ions. In this way, thermodynamic equilibrium is incorporated resulting in more accurate and general kinetic models, which facilitate rational zeolite design and plasma process development. In this work, a consistent set of 46 group additive values (GAVs) and non-nearest neighbor interactions (NNIs) is determined for the standard enthalpy of formation, standard molar entropy, and heat capacity. The GAVs are regressed based on 165 quantum chemistry calculations with the CBS-QB3 composite method for carbenium ions as CBS-QB3 was proven a valid method for carbenium property prediction. The presented group additive approach gives the first GAVs and NNIs for entropy and heat capacity and 33 novel values for enthalpy prediction. The determined non-nearest neighbor interactions account for the effect of longer range hyperconjugation, resonance stabilization, and inductive stabilization, which are shown to be crucial for the carbenium stability. The presented group additivity scheme ensures an accurate prediction of all properties with a mean absolute error of 4.82 kJ/mol, 4.92 J/(mol center dot K), and 1.95 J/(mol center dot K) for the standard enthalpy of formation, standard molar entropy, and heat capacity, respectively. The reported GAVs and NNIs ensure the thermodynamic property prediction of paraffinic, olefinic, alkynic, aromatic, and five-and six-ring naphthenic cations.".
• 01GP368Q5BMYASYWV2GBRS0250 abstract "Evaluation is widely considered an essential part of drug policy. Nevertheless, evaluators are often confronted with methodological and theoretical challenges, especially when dealing with complex policy initiatives like a national drug policy. After all, drug policies are characterized by high degrees of uncertainty and emergence, but also by gradual adaptation and dynamical patterns, bringing high levels of unpredictability. To match the evaluation framework to this complexity, we rely on a theory-driven evaluation (TDE) framework that explains how drug policy works rather than solely focusing on whether it works. By presenting the findings of a TDE of the Belgian drug policy, we discuss the challenges and benefits of designing and conducting a TDE of complex drug policy initiatives. This study relies on various methods to design and test the policy theory. Through a document analysis of the central policy documents, the policy theory is constructed. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups with practitioners, experts, and civil servants (n=39) as well as people with lived experiences (n=22) were then conducted to explore how the policy theory is translated into practice. Based on the experience of a TDE of the Belgian drug policy, we draw lessons learned of how complex policy initiatives benefit from a TDE framework. These lessons include, amongst others, the visualization of the complexity and central mechanisms of the policy theory, identification of gaps in the policy theory, and the potential to demonstrate how the central mechanisms interact with context. The added value of a theory-based framework primarily lies in the theoretical understanding of mechanisms bringing about change, how they interact, and how they are operationalized in a (Belgian) context. Although a theory-driven framework has advantages for evaluating a complex drug policy, the models should still be understood as a simplification to guide the process examination.".
• 01GP36V3PN9B56S48G7RDRW5KW abstract "Iedereen is vertrouwd met de ‘war on drugs’. In de praktijk is er vooral sprake van een ‘warboel on drugs’: ons huidige drugslandschap is versnipperd. Dat toont onderzoek van de Universiteit Gent aan. “Samenwerken is het antwoord.”".
• 01GP37D6W8299E7AE1YVZGDV5S abstract "We are presenting the Belgian Federal COVID-19 corpus, nicknamed the BeCoS (Belgian Covid Sign language) corpus. It consists of the entire archive of official press conferences from the Belgian Federal Government concerning the COVID-19 pandemic. The speakers speak mostly in Dutch or French and occasionally in German, and nearly all speech is accompanied by a deaf signer who performs live interpreting from what is being said. We have preprocessed the corpus with speaker diarisation, applied Belgian Dutch ASR, and post-ASR language identification and punctuation prediction as well as signer diarisation, sign language identification and sign language keypoint recognition. The corpus is made publicly available.".
• 01GP38BMCJYXC2T55Q0BYT543Q abstract "The high economic value of wood requires intensive breeding towards multipurpose biomass. However, long breeding cycles hamper the fast development of novel tree varieties that have improved biomass properties, are tolerant to biotic and abiotic stresses, and resilient to climate change. To speed up domestication, the integration of conventional breeding and new breeding techniques is needed. In this review, we discuss recent advances in genome editing and Cas-DNA-free genome engineering of forest trees, and briefly discuss how multiplex editing combined with multi-omics approaches can accelerate the genetic improvement of forest trees, with a focus on wood.".
• 01GP39PYP59CP15S0VX0RXRGGQ abstract "Review of the Tussen Blok en Blad: 200 jaar studententijdschriften aan de faculteit Letteren en Wijsbegeerte Exhibition at Ghent University.".
• 01GP3AHHZ8VR3BTBCPA6FEXGM0 abstract "Interpreting and visualizing synteny relationships across several genomes is a challenging task. We previously proposed a network-based approach for better visualization and interpretation of large-scale microsynteny analyses. Here, we present syntenet, an R package to infer and analyze synteny networks from whole-genome protein sequence data. The package offers a simple and complete framework, including data preprocessing, synteny detection and network inference, network clustering and phylogenomic profiling, and microsynteny-based phylogeny inference. Graphical functions are also available to create publication-ready plots. Synteny networks inferred with syntenet can highlight taxon-specific gene clusters that likely contributed to the evolution of important traits, and microsynteny-based phylogenies can help resolve phylogenetic relationships under debate.".
• 01GP3AQJ1MBXTRYT76D4E2WBB4 abstract "The quantification of how healthy the indoor air is, is a complex issue comprising of a large number of contaminants of various sources. The health implication of exposure to each of the contaminant deemed of importance can be expressed using Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs). The sum of all DALYs indicates how harmful the indoor air was during the investigated time-frame. This metric was originally developed by the World Bank and the WHO. In 2012, Logue et. al described two methods to estimate the DALYs related to exposure to contaminants in the indoor air based on the yearly mean exposure concentration of a population. The downside of these methods is that, when detailed exposure concentration profiles are available the method results in a loss of information. A novel method was developed to estimate DALYs originating from exposure to indoor pollutants that can be used for time-resolved exposure concentration data without this loss of information: Dynamic DALYs. The advantage of this method is that it can be calculated in real-time and for short or long periods of data. As such it can be used for pin-pointing problematic events in the exposure profile of a person and, as it can be calculated in real-time, makes it a candidate for use in automated optimization problems. The use of Dynamic DALYs is demonstrated for a simulation case-study of an occupied apartment. One continuously ventilated system (Dcont) and one smart ventilation system (Dsmart) are compared. Sources of typically indoor generated Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) were added and the related exposure profile and Dynamic DALY results of the working adult were analyzed. The results showcase detailed and more summative results with regards to health and energy use using the novel indicator. For Dcont and Dsmart the total Dynamic DALYs are 2.2 years and 8.6 years, respectively (population of 100 000, duration of 1 year), for the VOCs and sources considered in the analysis.".
• 01GP3C4HYPW8SBPEWY2F7H0KTR abstract "Substitute addictions – addictions that replace terminated substance use disorders (SUDs) – involving addictive behaviours such as a new substance, food/eating, gambling, shopping, or sex, have implications for recovery but remain poorly understood. While extant studies suggest a multifaceted aetiology, research is needed to illuminate the nature, dynamics/mechanisms, motives and risk factors of substitute addictions. This multiple-methods study (1) reviewed the available literature on substitute addiction in people with SUDs using a scoping review method; (2) explored the experience of substitute addiction from a first-person perspective using a case study; (3) investigated the prevalence of substitute addiction and associated factors among service users during and after residential substance use treatment using a quantitative longitudinal cohort design (n=137, 66% follow-up rate); (4) explored recovery support group members’ (n=23) perceptions and experiences of substitute addictions using in-depth interviews; and (5) explored service providers’ (n=22) perceptions of substitute addiction through focus group discussions. Findings were integrated across datasets to offer recommendations for prevention, practice and research.".
• 01GP3FA4EJSZ5K8W0C36DPQBZ1 abstract "This paper demonstrates a 200 V GaN-on-SOI smart power integrated circuits (ICs) platform developped on 200 mm substrates. Depletion-mode (d-mode) MIS-HEMTs and Gated-Edge-Termination Schottky barrier diodes (GET-SBDs) have been successfully integrated in an enhancement-mode (e-mode) HEMT technology baseline. A variety of low-voltage analog/logic devices and passive components further supports the GaN ICs platform. These results significantly contribute to monolithic GaN integration for power ICs and create key opportunities for the development of GaN power circuits and complex converter topologies.".
• 01GP3GH7S8R87BGBAQXXNN29EJ abstract "Biosensors based on Fo''rster resonance energy transfer (FRET) have revolutionized cellular biology by allowing the direct measurement of biochemical processes in situ. Many genetically encoded sensors make use of fluorescent proteins that are limited in spectral versatility and that allow few ways to change the spectral properties once the construct has been created. In this work, we developed genetically encoded FRET biosensors based on the chemigenetic SNAP and HaloTag domains combined with matching organic fluorophores. We found that the resulting constructs can display comparable responses, kinetics, and reversibility compared to their fluorescent protein based ancestors, but with the added advantage of spectral versatility, including the availability of red-shifted dye pairs. However, we also find that the introduction of these tags can alter the sensor readout, showing that careful validation is required before applying such constructs in practice. Overall, our approach delivers an innovative methodology that can readily expand the spectral variety and versatility of FRET-based biosensors.".
• 01GP3JN9SM08CHREMYZ893SBAE abstract "BackgroundIn magnetic drug targeting (MDT), micro- or nanoparticles are injected into the human body to locally deliver therapeutics. These magnetic particles can be guided from a distance by external magnetic fields and gradients from electromagnets. PurposeDuring the particles' movement through the vascular network, they are affected by magnetic forces, fluid (drag) forces, particle interactions, diffusion, etc. Adequate targeting is hindered when drag forces overcome the magnetic forces and particles present in vessels are carried away from the targeted region. Moreover, the magnetic force directions and diffusion mechanisms can cause particles to scatter, while they should remain together for an effective targeting performance. In this work, these adverse effects are tackled using optimization methods. MethodsWe formulate an optimization problem with respect to the currents in surrounding electromagnets that aims to maximize the magnetic force on a particle along a predefined direction. A boundary on the magnetic force divergence is introduced as a constraint to limit particle spreading. We also consider particles to be moved from an initial to a target location in a finite-time interval. To this end dynamic optimization is applied. ResultsSimulations for particles in a bifurcated vessel show an increase of particle speed by 20% and a successful movement towards the targeted regions without spreading. For the dynamic optimization, simulation results demonstrate that particle collections are accurately guided with 10 times less scattering and 10 times more particles at the target than without the divergence constraint. ConclusionsThe proposed methods significantly improve the steering and capturing of particles in a region of interest. They are applicable to any magnetic drug targeting configuration with electromagnets.".
• 01GP3K5JGKA7NHJ3DFSN1AABES abstract "Food waste can be a useful carbon resource when chemically recycled. While co-pyrolysis of realistic food waste (FW) has been studied, its complex upgrading is yet to be investigated. The catalytic hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) was employed for studying the pyrolysis oil generated from microwave co-pyrolysis of FW and low-density polyethylene (LDPE). More particularly, the effects of reaction temperature and time on stream were assessed in a continuous flow reactor. The combination of 48 h on stream at 200 ? exhibited optimal performance in terms of nitro-oxygenated compounds reduction (N1-2, O1N1, O(1)N(2 )and O2N1 classes) and large oxygenated compounds classes (O-7-O-9) conversion into smaller ones (O-1-O-4). Stability analysis of pyrolysis oil showed that HDO significantly improved the properties of HDO oil (density, pH, TAN and HHV) and stabilized its properties for longer storability (60 days), i.e., after HDO at 48 h/200 ? the oil quality had improved in terms of lower density (18 %), moisture content (88 %) and TAN (74 %) along with a higher pH and HHV (28 % and 51 %, respectively). This brings the HDO oil quality close to generic bio-oil and bio-diesel standard requirements.".
• 01GP3M3B9KSEHFXCKR03QQ3ZZH abstract "MnNaW/SiO2 oxide system based on a mesoporous silica matrix synthesized using tetraethoxysilane and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide as precursors were prepared and characterized by SEM/EDS, XRD, EPR, N-2 adsorption-desorption measurements and studied in the oxidative conversion of methane (OCM). It is shown that MnNaW/SiO2 catalyst consists of MnOx, Na2WO4, MnWO4, and SiO2 phases. At the reaction temperature of 750-850 degrees C the molten Na2WO4 phase covers the surface of crystalline SiO2, and the interaction of MnOx, Na2WO4 and SiO2 matrix forms "liquid glass". It is assumed that Na1-yMnOx particles formed as a result of the interaction of the system components during catalyst formation and characterized by the presence of ion-radical lattice oxygen are catalytically active sites in the OCM process.".

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