AIDS knowledge and sexual activity among Flemish secondary school students: a multilevel analysis of the effects of type of education

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The behavior of adolescents puts them at an increased risk for HIV and other STIs, and their knowledge about HIV/AIDS is often inadequate. An understanding of how AIDS knowledge and sexual activity co-vary among Flemish secondary school students and of how education type, specifically, affects these students is limited. This study addresses the question of whether the effects of education type on HIV/AIDS knowledge and sexual activity are independent of the socio-demographic characteristics of the students.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data from the Flemish Educational Assessment survey, which collected data from a large representative sample of third- and fifth-grade high school students (<it>N </it>= 11,872), were used. Data were analyzed using multilevel logistic and Poisson regression techniques.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There is an indication that type of education affects both an adolescent's sexual activity and his/her AIDS knowledge; these effects prove robust for differences in socio-economic backgrounds. Students in lower status education types are more likely to be sexually active and to have poorer AIDS knowledge. The relationship between AIDS knowledge and sexual activity is, however, more complex. Although students in education types with poorer AIDS knowledge are more sexually active, within each of these groups the sexually active have better AIDS knowledge than the non-sexually active. There is also evidence of active information seeking by sexually active students, which leads to improved AIDS knowledge.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These findings are consistent with the literature on the role of the educational system in the reproduction of social inequalities. Students from lower status education types are at increased sexual risk compared to those from higher status types. There is also evidence of active information seeking by sexually active students, which leads to improved AIDS knowledge.</p

Alcohol and cannabis use among adolescents in Flemish secondary school in Brussels: effects of type of education

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Research regarding socio-economic differences in alcohol and drug use in adolescence yields mixed results. This study hypothesizes that (1) when using education type as a proxy of one's social status, clear differences will exist between students from different types of education, regardless of students' familial socio-economic background; (2) and that the effects of education type differ according to their cultural background.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data from the Brussels youth monitor were used, a school survey administered among 1,488 adolescents from the 3rd to 6th year of Flemish secondary education. Data were analyzed using multilevel logistic regression models.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Controlling for their familial background, the results show that native students in lower educational tracks use alcohol and cannabis more often than students in upper educational tracks. Such a relationship was not found for students from another ethnic background.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Results from this study indicate that research into health risks should take into account both adolescents' familial background and individual social position as different components of youngsters' socio-economic background.</p

Re-annotation of 191 developmental and epileptic encephalopathy-associated genes unmasks de novo variants in SCN1A

Funder: Agency for Innovation by Science and Technology, IWTFunder: U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)Funder: BOF-University of Antwerp (FFB180053) and FWO (1861419N).Abstract: The developmental and epileptic encephalopathies (DEE) are a group of rare, severe neurodevelopmental disorders, where even the most thorough sequencing studies leave 60–65% of patients without a molecular diagnosis. Here, we explore the incompleteness of transcript models used for exome and genome analysis as one potential explanation for a lack of current diagnoses. Therefore, we have updated the GENCODE gene annotation for 191 epilepsy-associated genes, using human brain-derived transcriptomic libraries and other data to build 3,550 putative transcript models. Our annotations increase the transcriptional ‘footprint’ of these genes by over 674 kb. Using SCN1A as a case study, due to its close phenotype/genotype correlation with Dravet syndrome, we screened 122 people with Dravet syndrome or a similar phenotype with a panel of exon sequences representing eight established genes and identified two de novo SCN1A variants that now - through improved gene annotation - are ascribed to residing among our exons. These two (from 122 screened people, 1.6%) molecular diagnoses carry significant clinical implications. Furthermore, we identified a previously classified SCN1A intronic Dravet syndrome-associated variant that now lies within a deeply conserved exon. Our findings illustrate the potential gains of thorough gene annotation in improving diagnostic yields for genetic disorders

La raison dans les limites de la "simple religion"

International audienc

La raison dans les limites de la "simple religion"

International audienc

Midfacial morphology in children with unilateral cleft lip and palate treated by different surgical protocols

The purpose of this study was to compare cranio-facial, particularly midfacial morphology, in two groups of children with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) treated at two different cleft centres (Hannover, Germany and Brussels, Belgium) following different surgical treatment protocols. A total of 62 children (40 males; 22 females) with non-syndromic UCLP were included in this study at approximately the age of 10. The Hannover group comprised 36 children, who had repair of the lip at a mean age of 5.83 ± 1.16 months, followed by repair of the hard and soft palate at a mean age of 29.08 ± 4.68 and 32.25 ± 4.29 months, respectively. The Brussels group consisted of 26 children who underwent surgical treatment according to the Malek protocol: the soft palate was closed at a mean age of 3.04 ± 0.20 months, followed by simultaneous repair of the lip and hard palate at a mean age of 6.15 ± 0.68 months. Midfacial morphology was evaluated by means of cephalometric analysis according to Ross. The children in the Hannover UCLP group did not differ significantly from those in the Brussels group in the anteroposterior-dimension of the midface. However, the maxillary plane was significantly more open in the Brussels group due to less posterior vertical maxillary development.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe