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Bayesian mixed effect models to account for environmental modulators of acute malnutrition treatment in children
No full textAcute child malnutrition is not only a global public health problem influenced not only by very diverse factors, including socioeconomic and dietary aspects, but also by seasonal and geographic factors. The present study is a secondary analysis that attempts to characterize which variables have influenced the Middle Upper-Arm Circumference (MUAC) upon admission and the Length of Stay (LOS) for treatment recovery. The sample of children analysed was 852. Initially, data cleaning and a reduction of the dimensionality of dietary diversity were carried out. A selection of the importance of the variables using the Watanabe Akaike Information Criteria (WAIC) was carried out prior to the adjustment of Bayesian mixed effects models, with the variables of travel time to health site and week of admission as random factors, on the MUAC and LOS variables. Clear differences were seen between both contexts, highlighting significant interactions of travel time in Niger while the seasonal effect stood out in Mali. The MUAC models identified a positive effect of age in both contexts, and in Niger, influences of diet diversity, comorbidities, breastfeeding and vaccination appeared. On the other hand, the LOS models highlighted the severity upon admission, and, in Niger, also factors related to the treatment protocol and the distance to the water source, while in Mali, the quality of water was more decisive. The present study shows the importance of considering acute child malnutrition from a multidimensional and complex approach, where diverse factors (biological, socioeconomic, ecological, etc.) can influence directly or as modulators of the disease and its treatment.Funding
Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. This research project was funded by Elrha's Research for Health in Humanitarian Crisis (R2HC) programme. R2HC aims to improve health outcomes for people affected by crises by strengthening the evidence base for public health interventions. The R2HC programme is funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), Wellcome and the UK National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). LJ S-M was granted with a predoctoral fellowship from the Complutense University and Banco Santander
An ichthyological borderland: The fishfauna of Nyungwe National Park and surroundings (Rwanda, East Africa)
No full textNyungwe National Park (NP) is a mountainous region situated in the southwestern part of Rwanda on Congo-Nile watershed. In spite of the high biodiversity in primates, birds and plants, no fish were reported to occur in the park, probably because of the cold temperatures of the rivers. An expedition in 2022 examined the fish diversity within the Nyungwe NP and its buffer zones. Additional sampling was performed in the main river draining the park into Lake Kivu: the Kamiranzovu. Three hundred and twenty specimens belonging to 13 species were collected. Specimens were collected only in the western part of the park, draining towards the Congo basin. The diversity within the park proper was limited to two putative species within the complex of Amphilius cf. kivuensis, which were caught on either side of the Kivu-Rusizi watershed. In contrast, a higher fish diversity, including one clariid species and two species of Enteromius, was observed in the rivers at a lower altitude of the buffer zone. However, the highest species diversity was found near the mouth of Kamiranzovu River, including 11 species, of which 4 were non-native: the guppy Poecilia reticulata, Astatotilapia burtoni, the blue-spotted tilapia Oreochromis leucosticus and the Egyptian mouth-brooder Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor.FUNDING INFORMATION
This study is part of the BRAIN project KEAFish (The biodiversity, biogeography and evolutionary history of the northern basins of the Great African Lakes: The enigmatic fish faunas of Lakes Kivu, Edward and Albert revisited), funded by the Belgian Science Policy Office (B2/202/P1/KEAFish), and a PhD fellowship to Heleen Maetens funded by the Fund for Scientific Research (FWO: 1128222N). The fieldwork in the Nyungwe NP was funded by the Volkswagen Foundation's initiative ‘Knowledge for Tomorrow – Cooperative Research Projects in Sub-Saharan Africa’ awarded to Viola Clausnitzer.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We thank the project funder Volkswagen Foundation for funding the field school and Prof. Beth Kaplin and Methode Majyambere for organizing the field school. We thank the participating institutions: Center of Excellence in Biodiversity and Natural Resource Management in Huye (Rwanda), Senckenberg Research Institute (Germany) and African Parks
Velden met zonnebloem, mosterd, klaver & Phacelia, kunnen oorzaak van wintersterfte zijn in het voorjaar van 2025 - Deel 3
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Echocardiography-guided Injection for Targeted and Reliable Intramyocardial Stem Cell Delivery in a Rat Model of Myocardial Infarction
No full textEchocardiography-guided intramyocardial injection (EGI) is a minimally invasive technique for delivering stem cell therapies in preclinical myocardial infarction (MI) models. Compared to traditional open-chest approaches, EGI offers improved clinical translatability, reduced invasiveness, and minimized physiological impact on the animal. While EGI is well established in murine models, its application in rats remains limited due to anatomical and technical challenges. In particular, thinning of the left ventricular anterior wall (LVAW) in infarcted and peri-infarct regions complicates safe and accurate myocardial delivery, as wall thickness can fall below the needle bevel size of commonly used 27 G or 28 G needles, increasing the risk of ventricular perforation or failed delivery. To address this limitation, we optimized a protocol for EGI in rat MI models using 29 G Spinocan needles. The smaller-diameter, longer needle enables precise targeting of thin myocardial tissue, minimizing damage and enhancing injection accuracy, independent of LVAW thickness. This technique is compatible with standard transthoracic echocardiography platforms and eliminates the need for thoracotomy, allowing longitudinal studies in the same animal. Our refined method enables robust, reproducible delivery of therapeutic agents into viable myocardium adjacent to the infarct zone, where regenerative therapies are most effective. By improving safety and targeting precision, this approach increases the translational relevance of preclinical cardiac research and supports the development of standardized protocols across laboratories.We thank Kim Nijsten for assistance with fluorescence imaging. This work was financially supported by a Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship (VLAIO) Baekeland Mandate (HBC.2021.0811)
ModulARboard: Exploring AR Dashboards for Immersive Analytics
No full textDeze thesis is gesitueerd binnen het veld van Immersive Analytics (IA) dat immersieve technologieën combineert met data-analyse. IA heeft als doel data-analyse toegankelijker te maken door de data en de data-analysetools toegankelijker te maken voor de gemiddelde mens. Deze thesis wil een bijdrage leveren aan Immersive Analytics door te onderzoeken hoe Augmented Reality kan worden ingezet om traditionele datadashboards opnieuw vorm te geven. Het gaat dieper in op de specifieke kenmerken van AR. Bovendien definieert het een nieuwe, bijgewerkte definitie van AR door oudere definities te combineren en aan te passen om meer aandacht te besteden aan andere zintuigen en toepassingen in grijze zones. Het onderzoekt hoe virtuele elementen in de fysieke ruimte kunnen worden gepositioneerd door verschillende AR-systemen te vergelijken, wat resulteert in de verankeringsmechanismen. Deze omvatten marker-based, object-relative, observer-relative, view frustum en spatial anchoring. Deze zijn geïmplementeerd in het prototype ModulARboard, samen met personalisatiemogelijkheden voor een unieke twist. ModulARboard stelt gebruikers in staat een traditioneel dashboard op te splitsen in aparte modules en deze te verankeren aan de echte omgeving om augmented data-analyse mogelijk te maken
Een transformatieve waardepositionering van dienstverlenende organisaties: kernprincipes voor succes
No full textThe probability of improved prediction as a new concept for model selection in the presence of outliers
No full textRobust regression techniques in combination with dedicated information criteria have proven to be successful in resolving model selection issues related to outlying data points. Often, the employed loss function in these criteria is made more robust through the consideration of a bounded version. In this paper, the probability of improved prediction (PIP) is proposed as an alternative that does not require the modification of the loss function. In general, the PIP is a probabilistic measure for directly comparing two competing models. Based on a user-defined loss function, this is achieved by quantifying the frequency of instances that one model gives better predictions than the other model. The simulation study shows comparable performance between the PIP and its competitors for selecting linear regression models. It is also shown how the PIP can be applied within more complicated machine learning models as well.The authors gratefully acknowledge Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO) for providing the funding for this research (Grant nr. G0D1221N)
Fit Hearts, Better Outcomes? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Exercise Intensity and Peak VO2 in Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
No full textBackground: This study aimed to systematically review and analyze the available evidence on the safety and efficacy of physical activity (PA) in patients with HCM. Methods: We conducted a systematic search of PubMed, Cochrane, and Web of Science databases up to March 30, 2025. Fourteen studies (4 RCTs) were included in the qualitative synthesis and ten in the quantitative synthesis, totaling 10478 patients. Results: The meta-analysis demonstrated a significant improvement in peak VO2 in the moderate intensity PA (MIPA) group, with a mean difference of 1.77 mL/kg/min (95% CI: 0.93 to 2.60, I2 = 38.2%, p = 0.19), while changes in body mass index were not significant (MD: -0.66 kg/m2; 95% CI: -1.77 to 0.44; I2 = 62%; p = 0.07). No significant differences were observed in the occurrence of non-sustained ventricular tachycardia (NSVT) (OR = 1.54, 95% CI: 0.93 to 2.52, I2 = 28.3%, p = 0.24), atrial fibrillation (OR = 0.89, 95% CI: 0.77 to 1.03, I2 = 28.6%, p = 0.23), or syncope (OR = 1.23, 95% CI: 0.72 to 2.10, I2 = 25.6%, p = 0.24) between the MIPA and sedentary group. Additionally, the occurrence of NSVT between the high-intensity PA and MIPA group showed no significant difference (OR = 1.19, 95% CI: 0.60 to 2.36, I2 = 0%, p = 0.99). Conclusion: The results suggest that regular exercise does not increase the risk of NSVT, AF, or syncope while enhancing peak VO2, indicating that regular exercise is safe and beneficial in HCM patients.This study was supported by the Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation of the Republic of Serbia (grant No. 200110), and the University of East Sarajevo, Faculty of Medicine Foca, RS, BiH (No. 01-3-36)