1,720,974 research outputs found
Residential air pollution increases the risk for persistent pulmonary hypertension after pulmonary endarterectomy
No full textsponsorship: The University Hospitals of Leuven is member of the European Reference Network for rare lung diseases (ERN-LUNG). The authors would like to thank the Belgian Association of Patients for Pulmonary Hypertension (Belgische Pulmonale Hypertensie Patientenvereniging) for its support. (Belgian Association of Patients for Pulmonary Hypertension (Belgische Pulmonale Hypertensie Patientenvereniging))status: Publishe
Microbial exposures, cleaning products and child health
No full textBackground and aims: The immune, respiratory and central nervous system start
developing during pregnancy and continue during the first years of life. Therefore,
environmental exposures during these periods may play a role on the maturation of
these systems. In particular, the exposure to indoor microbial agents, indoor factors
such as pets or dampness, and to household cleaning products during infancy or
childhood may have important implications in the development processes. This thesis
aims to assess the long term effects of indoor exposure to microbial agents and
chemical based cleaning products on respiratory and mental health among children
from birth to the age of 13 years old.
Methods: We used data from nine European birth cohorts that are part of three
projects: the European HITEA project, the Spanish INMA project; and the German
GINIplus and LISAplus birth cohort studies. Information on the exposure to indoor
dampness, pet ownership, the use of cleaning products and allergy and respiratory
health was periodically collected through questionnaires and health tests. Living room
dust samples were collected when the children were 2-3 months and analysed for
microbial agents concentrations (bacterial endotoxin, fungal extracellular
polysaccharides (EPS) from Aspergillus spp. and Penicillium spp, and mould β(1,3)-
glucans). Multivariable regression models were used to assess the associations
between the exposures and the health outcomes.
Results: 1) Concentrations of measured microbial agents varied differently across the
cohorts. 2) Season of dust sampling, dog ownership, indoor report of dampness, and
number of people living in the home is associated with the concentrations of microbial
agents. 3) Early life exposure to endotoxin and dogs in the home is associated with
lower levels of FeNO at school age. 4) Domestic use of cleaning sprays, air fresheners
and solvents during pregnancy is associated with a higher prevalence of wheezing and
LRTI during the first year of life. 5) At school age, bystander exposure to domestic
cleaning sprays increases the levels of FeNO, and exposure to air freshening sprays
and solvents decreases the lung function. 6) Persistent exposure to indoor dampness
during early life has negative effects on the cognitive function and social competences
at 4 years old. 7) Exposure to visible mould, dampness and pet ownership during the
first 10 years of life increases the risk of borderline or abnormal scores in the SDQ at
10 years of age.
Conclusion: Our results suggest that indoor exposure to microbial agents during early
life and exposure to chemical based cleaning products during pregnancy, infancy and
childhood play a role in the development of the respiratory, immune and central
nervous systems.Introducció i objectius: El desenvolupament dels sistemes immunitari, respiratori i
nerviós central comença durant l’embaràs i continua al llarg la infància. Així, els
primers anys de vida són moments crucials en que qualsevol exposició ambiental pot
influir el desenvolupament d’aquests sistemes. Concretament, l’exposició durant la
infància a agents microbiològics, humitat, animals de companyia i productes de neteja
pot tenir implicacions importants en els processos de maduració d’aquests sistemes.
L’objectiu principal d’aquesta tesi és el d’avaluar els efectes a llarg termini de la
exposició a agents microbiològics i a productes de neteja de base química a la llar,
sobre la salut respiratòria i mental des del naixement fins a l’edat de 13 anys.
Mètodes: En aquesta tesi hem fet servir dades de nou cohorts de naixement europees
que formen part de tres projectes: el projecte europeu HITEA, el projecte espanyol
INMA, i els estudis alemanys GINIplus i LISAplus. La informació sobre la exposició a
humitat, a animals de companyia, la utilització de productes de neteja, al·lèrgies i salut
respiratòria es va recollir en tots els projectes mitjançant qüestionaris administrats als
pares/mares i proves mèdiques o tests neuropsicològics. A més, es van recollir
mostres de pols dels menjadors de les cases quan els nens/es tenien 2-3 mesos
d’edat que es van analitzar per determinar les concentracions d’agents microbiològics
(endotoxines bacterianes, polisacàrids extracel·lulars (EPS) d’Aspergillus spp. i
Penicillium spp i β(1,3)-glucans fúngics). Per l’avaluació de les associacions entre
exposicions i resultats de salut s’han desenvolupat models de regressió múltiple.
Resultats: 1) Les concentracions d’agents microbiològics mesurats en pols de les llars
varien per cohort. 2) L’estació de l’any en que es recull la mostra de pols, la presència
de gossos a la casa, reportar humitat a la casa i el número de persones que hi viuen
estan associats amb la concentració d’agents microbiològics a la pols. 3) L’exposició
durant els primers mesos de vida a endotoxines i gossos a la llar s’associa amb nivells
baixos de FeNO a edat escolar. 4) L’ús d’esprais i dissolvents per la neteja de la casa,
i ambientadors durant l’embaràs està relacionat amb un increment en la prevalença de
sibilants i infeccions respiratòries de vies baixes al llarg del primer any de vida. 5) En
edat escolar, la exposició passiva a productes de neteja domèstics utilitzats en forma
d’esprais incrementa els nivells de FeNO, i l’exposició a esprais ambientadors i
dissolvents per la neteja de la llar disminueix la funció pulmonar. 6) L’exposició
persistent a humitat a la llar durant els 2 primers anys de vida té un efecte negatiu
sobre la funció cognitiva i les competències socials mesurades als 4 anys d’edat. 7)
L’exposició a fongs procedents de la humitat, a humitat i a animals de companyia a
casa al llarg dels primers 10 anys de vida incrementa el risc de puntuacions
“borderline” o anormals al questionari SDQ administrat als 10 anys.
Conclusió: els resultats presentats en aquesta tesi suggereixen que l’exposició a
agents microbiològics durant els primers mesos de vida i l’exposició a productes de
neteja durant l’embaràs i la infància juguen un paper important en el desenvolupament
dels sistemes respiratori, immunològic i nerviós central.Programa de doctorat en Biomedicin
High temperatures trigger suicide mortality in Brussels, Belgium: A case-crossover study (2002-2011)
No full textBACKGROUND: Temperature may trigger the risk of suicide, however, the extent and shape of the associations show geographical variation. Here, we investigate the short-term effects of temperature on suicide deaths occurring in Brussels between January 1st, 2002 and December 31st, 2011. METHODS: We conducted a bidirectional time-stratified case-crossover study with cases being suicide deaths occurring among Brussels residents aged 5 years or older. Cases were matched by day of the week with control days from the same month and year. The exposure was the daily average temperature measured at the Uccle station (Brussels) and obtained from the Belgian Royal Meteorological Institute. We combined conditional logistic regression with distributed lag non-linear models (DLNM) to obtain one week (lag 0-6) cumulative risk ratios (RR) and their 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the effects of moderate and extreme cold (5th and 1st percentiles of temperature, respectively) and moderate and extreme heat (95th and 99th percentiles of temperature, respectively), relative to the median temperature. RESULTS: In total, 1891 suicide deaths were included. The median temperature was 11.6 °C, moderate and extreme cold temperatures were 0 and -3.1 °C, respectively, and moderate and extreme high temperatures were 20.9 and 24.4 °C, respectively. The cumulative risk of suicide mortality was almost twice higher among lags 0 to 6 for both moderate and extreme heat, relative to the period median temperature (e.g. moderate heat RR = 1.80 CI:1.27-2.54). No statistically significant associations were observed for cold temperatures. CONCLUSIONS: In Brussels, a western European city with temperate climate, high temperatures may trigger suicide deaths up to one week later. In the context of climate change, adaptation strategies must take into consideration the effects of temperature on mental health.sponsorship: Lidia Casas and Bianca Cox are recipients of post-doctoral fellow-ships of the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) , grant numbers 12I1517N and 12Q0517N, respectively. (Research Foundation Flanders (FWO)|12I1517N, Research Foundation Flanders (FWO)|12Q0517N)status: Publishe
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Geographies of asthma medication purchase for pre-schoolers in Belgium
No full textWe describe the spatial differences in asthma medication prescribed to pre-schoolers within Belgium, and evaluate the correlations with some relevant socio-economic and environmental factors, such as population density, income, air pollution, farming activity and greenness
Health effects of exposure to residential air pollution in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension: a cohort study in Belgium
No full textsponsorship: The University Hospitals of Leuven is member of the European Reference Network for rare lung diseases (ERN-LUNG). The authors would like to thank the Belgian Association of Patients for Pulmonary Hypertension (Belgische Pulmonale Hypertensie Patientenvereniging) for its support. M. Delcroix is holder of the Actelion/Janssen chair for Pulmonary Hypertension at the KU Leuven. (Belgian Association of Patients for Pulmonary Hypertension (Belgische Pulmonale Hypertensie Patientenvereniging))status: Publishe
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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