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Energy and Pilot Efficient Beamforming for LoS Wireless Power Transfer
No full textsponsorship: This work was supported in part by the SUPERIOT Project through the Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking (SNS JU) under European Union's Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Program under Grant 101096021, in part by the Flemish Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek-Vlaanderen (FWO) Strategisch Basisonderzoek (SBO) Sustainable Internet of Battery-Less Things (IoBaLeT) under Project S001521N, and in part by the Massive Backscattering for High Throughput Zero Power Wireless Networking under Project FWO G085818N. The editor coordinating the review of this article was J. Gong. (SUPERIOT Project through the Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking (SNS JU) under European Union's Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Program|101096021, Flemish Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek-Vlaanderen (FWO) Strategisch Basisonderzoek (SBO) Sustainable Internet of Battery-Less Things (IoBaLeT)|S001521N, Massive Backscattering for High Throughput Zero Power Wireless Networking|FWO G085818N)status: Publishe
The Role of Glutamine and Arginine in Wound Healing of Pressure Ulcers: A Systematic Review
No full textPressure ulcers pose a significant health challenge, requiring effective management strategies. Nutrition, particularly arginine and glutamine, supports collagen synthesis and tissue repair. This review evaluates the role of enteral glutamine and arginine supplementation on wound healing outcomes, addressing gaps in previous research. A PRISMA-guided systematic search of five databases identified studies published between 2004 and 2024 on adults with pressure ulcers receiving these supplements. Outcomes assessed included healing time, wound size reduction, local infection, recurrence, and pain. A narrative synthesis was performed due to heterogeneity, with bias assessed via Cochrane RoB2 and JBI checklists. Fifteen studies involving 1085 participants were included. Findings indicated a trend toward improved healing with arginine or combined arginine/glutamine supplements, with relative wound size reductions of 18.6% to 98.2% over 2 to 20 weeks. However, inconsistencies were noted, with seven studies showing non-significant or unreported differences in wound size, and six studies with similar issues for healing time. Glutamine was examined only in combination with arginine, limiting insights into its isolated effects. None of the studies reported on recurrence or pain outcomes. While arginine shows potential for enhancing healing, evidence remains inconclusive. Future research should emphasise follow-up until complete wound closure and explore the independent effects of glutamine on wound healing outcomes.sponsorship: The authors would like to thank the Odisee University College for facilitating this study. (Odisee University College)status: Publishe
Verschoning bij diefstal tussen echtgenoten, bloedverwanten en aanverwanten (niet opgenomen in Sw. 2024; art. 462 Sw. 1867)
No full textstatus: Publishe
Process gas influence on Very-High-Cycle fatigue response of Inconel 718 fabricated by laser powder bed fusion
No full textInconel 718 (IN-718) is a precipitation-strengthened nickel-based superalloy that is widely explored for its applicability in fatigue-critical applications when fabricated using additive manufacturing (AM) at an industrial scale. Among the various factors influencing its performance, the choice of shielding gas during laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) plays a crucial yet often overlooked role in determining the material’s microstructure and mechanical behaviour. This study investigates the critical influence of shielding gases like argon and nitrogen on the microstructure, defect distribution and the very high cycle fatigue (VHCF) durability of heat-treated L-PBF fabricated IN-718. Defect quantification was undertaken using a combination of optical microscopy, Archimedes density measurements, X-ray computed tomography (XCT), revealing higher defect contents in samples processed under nitrogen shielding. Microstructural analysis through scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) revealed pronounced variations in grain morphology and inclusion content between the two gas environments. VHCF tests were performed under fully reversed, uniaxial, stress-controlled loading at 20 kHz using dog-bone specimens with larger risk volumes to capture a conservative fatigue life assessment. Fatigue life distributions were analysed using a Weibull accelerated failure time model, revealing similar median lives but narrower scatter for argon-shielded specimens. Fractographic analysis revealed distinct crack-initiation mechanisms, microstructure driven initiation in argon-shielded specimens leaving facets at initiation sites versus defect-assisted initiation often involving inclusions along with pores and lack-of-fusion (LOF) defects in nitrogen-shielded counterparts. Although nitrogen shielding produced a refined microstructure, the elevated porosity and inclusion density-controlled crack initiation and degraded fatigue performance.status: Publishe
Longitudinal mycological profiling of influenza-associated and COVID-19-associated pulmonary aspergillosis.
No full textOBJECTIVES: Influenza- and COVID-19-associated pulmonary aspergillosis (IAPA and CAPA respectively) are associated with increased mortality in critically ill patients. We evaluated whether longitudinal bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) galactomannan (GM) dynamics predict clinical outcomes in these patients. METHODS: In a retrospective cohort (2009-2024) at a tertiary care ICU in Belgium, 180 adult patients with probable/proven IAPA (n = 68) or CAPA (n = 112) requiring mechanical ventilation were included. A total of 698 BAL samples were analysed. GM optical density values were modelled using linear mixed-effects models (10- and 30-day follow-up windows), with outcome measures at 30 and 90 days. Bayesian joint models linked longitudinal GM trends with time-to-death, adjusting for age, Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) and immunosuppression. Associations between Aspergillus culture results dynamics and mortality were also assessed. RESULTS: In general, BAL GM values declined significantly over days after diagnosis of aspergillosis, with steeper reductions in survivors (interaction p < 0.05). Joint models revealed each unit increase in GM over time corresponded to a 19% higher hazard of death at both 30 (aHR 1.19, p = 0.02) and 90 days (aHR 1.19, p = 0.007) after ICU admission. Persistent BAL culture positivity also correlated with worse outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: In this large virus-associated pulmonary aspergillosis cohort, BAL GM kinetics emerged as a potential prognostic biomarker. Early and sustained increases in BAL GM values identify patients at increased risk of mortality.status: Published onlin
Master trends in the elasto-viscoplastic behaviour of highly cross-linked epoxy resins
No full textsponsorship: NK is a research fellow of the Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique de Belgique - FNRS and gratefully acknowledges their support. CB kindly acknowledges the funding obtained from the Research Foundation - Flanders FWO under grant number grant agreement No 1231322N (COCOMI). The research has been partially (epoxy 8552) funded by the Walloon Region under the agreement no.7911-VISCOS in the context of the 21st SKYWIN call. The authors would like to thank the members of the LACaMI platform for providing the necessary equipment and expertise, and Wael Ballout, Pascal Van Velthem and Vincent Destoop for their support during specimen preparation. We also thank Catherine Rasse for providing aid for the statistical analysis of the data. (Fonds De La Recherche Scientifique - FNRS, Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique de Belgique - FNRS|1231322N, Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique de Belgique - FNRS|8552, Research Foundation - Flanders FWO, Walloon Region)status: Publishe
BEKKENBODEMDYSFUNCTIE EN OBSTETRISCH TRAUMA AAN HET ACHTERSTE COMPARTIMENT
No full textDuring pregnancy and more so during vaginal birth, the pelvic floor undergoes important biochemical changes and physical strain and compression. This can lead to dysfunction and structural injuries to the pelvic floor muscles and nerves, eventually leading to pelvic floor dysfunction (PFD). During pregnancy and in the postpartum, anorectal dysfunction is very common and bothersome. In particular, anal incontinence is feared the most as it is very debilitating. Its etiology is wide and it is also difficult to treat successfully. The advent of ultrasound has enabled the documentation of structural injuries of the pelvic floor muscles, encompassing obstetric anal sphincter injury (OASI) and levator avulsion. Studies consistently confirmed both anal sphincter and levator injuries as being more prevalent in women who gave birth vaginally and who report PFD. In addition, OASI and levator avulsion often co-occur, suggesting a common origin. Herein we studied the relationship between pelvic floor (dys)function, in particular anorectal symptoms, and pelvic floor structure as assessed by Transperineal Ultrasound (TPUS). Additionally, we investigated whether these findings, as well as other clinical variables were associated to symptoms of PFD during pregnancy and after vaginal birth. We first performed two systematic reviews and meta-analyses to identify childbirth-related risk factors for anorectal dysfunction and prolapse (Chapters 2 and 3).
Besides OASI, also operative delivery, advanced maternal age and obesity were associated with anal incontinence after vaginal birth. Spontaneous vaginal birth also increased the odds of postpartum anal incontinence when compared to caesarean section. However, the evidence for those associations is of low certainty, due to the observational nature of the included studies. Our review did not identify obstetric risk factors for postpartum constipation, as few prospective studies addressed this question and none used a standardized validated questionnaire. For pelvic organ prolapse, the first vaginal birth put the woman at risk for both findings and symptoms of prolapse. The presence of levator avulsion was a strong predictor. Conversely, giving birth exclusively by cesarean section was protective for developing signs and symptoms of prolapse. In our original research, we first compared different ultrasound modalities to visualize the anal sphincter (Chapter 4) in a general gynecologic population. We hypothesized that introital acquisition with a high-frequency vaginal transducer would yield better anal sphincter image quality, thus more reproducible sphincter evaluation, than a transperineal acquisition (TPUS).
Yet, mid-sagittal introital acquisitions generated the most inconclusive images owing to unsatisfactory quality. For the transverse introital acquisitions, the inter- and intra-rater agreement of external and internal anal sphincter measurements were worse than for the TPUS acquisitions. Therefore, in our hands, TPUS acquisition with a 4-to-8 MHz probe performs better than introital acquisition with a 5-to-9 MHz probe to assess the anal sphincter complex, hence this was further used. As a next step, we explored the feasibility of TPUS of the anal sphincter in the labour suite (Chapter 5). 88.5% of acquired volumes were of 'adequate' or 'ideal' quality, and in those measurements of the anal sphincter were reproducible. The number of OASI in this cohort was low (8.3%), but the agreement on the presence of sphincter defects was good, yet it was poor for measurement of the extension of defects (grading). In Chapter 6 we documented symptom bother and structural changes on TPUS in women with flatus incontinence attending a urogynaecology unit several years after delivery. 32% had an abnormality of the external anal sphincter, and 9.8% had a significant sphincter defect (≥4 slices on tomography). Both findings were associated with flatus incontinence. In addition, the flatus item in the St. Mark's Incontinence Score contributes to a better prediction of patient bother from anal incontinence, than omitting it.
In reason of this, we collected data on flatus incontinence in our subsequent prospective cohort studies. First, we assessed the prevalence of PFDs, their clustering and their impact on body image in a cohort of pregnant women (n=208) followed up for one year postpartum (Chapter 7). Most women report one or multiple dysfunctions already early in pregnancy and nearly all in late pregnancy. Anorectal dysfunction was extremely common. In late pregnancy, 65% report constipation and 62% report anal incontinence, mainly to flatus. One year after delivery, anal incontinence persisted in 45%, while constipation in 43%. After correcting for BMI, parity and mode of birth, the severity of body image disturbance was associate with the severity of urinary incontinence, of constipation, of symptoms of prolapse, but not to anal incontinence as assessed by the St. Mark's Incontinence Score. However, in the few patients with fecal incontinence one year postpartum (n=8), body image disturbance was higher than in women without fecal incontinence. Eventually, we moved to the core of this thesis, i.e., to identify TPUS predictors of PFD during pregnancy and postpartum, again with special interest for anorectal symptoms (Chapter 8 and 9).
Identifying such factors may eventually be used to timely define patients at higher risk to develop PFD. Chapter 8 was a planned secondary 216 analysis of the above cohort to correlate findings on TPUS at 12-14 weeks and 28-32 weeks with PFD symptoms. At Valsalva, pregnant women with urinary incontinence had a larger bladder neck descent and urethral rotation angle, as well as a wider retrovesical angle and larger hiatal areas. When correcting for age, BMI and parity, the severity of urinary incontinence correlated with the retrovesical angle. However, no sonographic features associated with symptoms of anorectal dysfunction or prolapse symptoms during pregnancy were identified. In Chapter 9 we studied the correlation between TPUS findings immediately after vaginal birth and postpartum anorectal dysfunction. Immediately after birth, one out of five women has levator avulsion, one in two external sphincter abnormalities and one in six a rectovaginal septum defect. Six weeks postpartum, 60% women report symptoms of anal incontinence and 43% constipation. On univariate regression, anal sphincter abnormalities were associated with anal incontinence. On multivariate regression, levator avulsion was the only independent sonographic predictor of anal incontinence, whereas sphincter abnormalities, dimensions of the genital hiatus or rectovaginal defects, were not.
We could not identify any factors associated to constipation. Whereas in these cohorts, there was no obvious correlation between anal sphincter morphology and anal incontinence, this was the case for levator avulsion. This work demonstrates a more complex than anticipated relationship between structure and anorectal dysfunction in women giving birth vaginally.status: Publishe
Inborn errors of immunity: manifestation, treatment, and outcome - an ESID registry 1994-2024 report on 30,628 patients.
No full textThe European Society for Immunodeficiencies patient registry (ESID-R), established in 1994, is one of the world's largest databases on inborn errors of immunity (IEI). IEI are genetic disorders predisposing patients to infections, autoimmunity, inflammation, allergies and malignancies. Treatments include antimicrobial therapy, immunoglobulin replacement, immune modulation, stem cell transplantation and gene therapy. Data from 194 centers in 33 countries capture clinical manifestations and treatments from birth onward, with annually expected updates. This report reviews the ESID-R's structure, data content, and impact. The registry includes 30,628 patient datasets (aged 0-97.9 years; median follow-up: 7.2 years; total 825,568.2 patient-years), with 13,550 cases in 15 sub-studies. It has produced 84 peer-reviewed publications (mean citation rate: 95). Findings include real-world observations of IEI diagnoses, genetic causes, clinical manifestations, treatments, and survival trends. The ESID-R fosters global collaboration, advancing IEI research and patient care. This report highlights the key role of the multi-national ESID-R, led by an independent medical society, in evidence-based discovery
Terug naar de Basis: Re-integratie na Zending
No full textThis dissertation investigates the reintegration process of crisis service personnel, including military personnel and NGO staff. Previous research has mainly focused on the military and on negative psychological outcomes of deployment such as PTSD and depression. Less attention has been given to positive outcomes (e.g. increased confidence and resilience) or to the reintegration of deployed NGO workers. Four research questions guided this work: (1) Is reintegration of military and NGO personnel comparable? (2) Is reintegration a dual process involving both positive and negative experiences? (3) How does professional reintegration unfold? (4) How do different sources of support - colleagues, supervisors and the organisation - influence professional reintegration?
A staged research approach addressed these questions across three studies. Study 1 reported a systematic literature review of 104 studies, revealing inconsistent definitions, a predominant negative focus, and limited attention to the professional dimension of reintegration. Reintegration emerged as a dual process that unfolds in phases, with both positive and negative experiences developing independently. Study 2 examined professional reintegration using Organisational Support Theory (OST) and a mixed‑method study with 30 military and NGO personnel. Support from colleagues and supervisors varied, while perceived organisational support was generally low. This is primarily due to perceived unfairness and inconsistent HR practices. Military and NGO staff reported similar professional reintegration challenges and expectations, although the latter scored higher on negative reintegration. In Study 3, a mediation model was tested using survey data from 803 Belgian soldiers. The study examined how support from colleagues, supervisors, and the organisation relates to various work outcomes with separate paths for positive and negative professional reintegration. The results confirmed the dual nature of reintegration, with distinct mediation patterns for each source of support.
This dissertation advances the understanding of reintegration after deployment by indicating that positive and negative experiences coexist, and relate differently to a variety of outcomes. Differentiating sources of support deepen the understanding of reintegration. Military and NGO reintegration share many commonalities; however, context-specific factors differ. This dissertation presents an adapted reintegration framework for future research as well for development of reintegration policies and practices.status: Accepte
