Quantified Self @Work:How can a combination of self-tracking and persuasive eCoaching positively influence employees’ stress management and resilience?

Poster about the project Quantified Self @Work for the Hanze Research Day 201

Regional diversity in oligodendrocyte progenitor cells:implications for remyelination in grey and white matter

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disease of the central nervous system in which myelin -an insulating layer around axons- is locally damaged. Myelin can be regenerated by an endogenous process called remyelination, which ultimately fails in MS. Remarkably, remyelination is faster in the grey than in the white matter. For robust remyelination, oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) have to maturate into myelinating oligodendrocytes. This study revealed that OPCs from grey matter are better equipped for remyelination than their white matter counterparts. Cultured OPCs from grey matter are less mature, an important prerequisite for the initiation of remyelination. Furthermore, the maturation of grey matter OPCs is less hampered by inflammatory mediators and myelin debris than the maturation of white matter OPCs. The latter may be partially explained by the fact that grey matter OPCs process several environmental signals using a cellular antenna, the primary cilium. White matter OPCs are less receptive to these signals via the primary cilium. A surprising finding is that the characteristic binding of antibody A2B5 to cells directly isolated from brain apparently is not restricted to OPCs. The antibody apparently binds multiple cell types, which differ in the developing and adult brain. While these cell types are not different in the grey and white matter, transcriptomic analysis does indicate functional differences. Altogether, studies investigating the failure of remyelination in MS should take regional differences in OPCs into account. This can potentially lead to regionally differing therapeutic avenues aimed at restoring remyelination in MS

Macroglial diversity:white and grey areas and relevance to remyelination

Macroglia, comprising astrocytes and oligodendroglial lineage cells, have long been regarded as uniform cell types of the central nervous system (CNS). Although regional morphological differences between these cell types were initially described after their identification a century ago, these differences were largely ignored. Recently, accumulating evidence suggests that macroglial cells form distinct populations throughout the CNS, based on both functional and morphological features. Moreover, with the use of refined techniques including single-cell and single-nucleus RNA sequencing, additional evidence is emerging for regional macroglial heterogeneity at the transcriptional level. In parallel, several studies revealed the existence of regional differences in remyelination capacity between CNS grey and white matter areas, both in experimental models for successful remyelination as well as in the chronic demyelinating disease multiple sclerosis (MS). In this review, we provide an overview of the diversity in oligodendroglial lineage cells and astrocytes from the grey and white matter, as well as their interplay in health and upon demyelination and successful remyelination. In addition, we discuss the implications of regional macroglial diversity for remyelination in light of its failure in MS. Since the etiology of MS remains unknown and only disease-modifying treatments altering the immune response are available for MS, the elucidation of macroglial diversity in grey and white matter and its putative contribution to the observed difference in remyelination efficiency between these regions may open therapeutic avenues aimed at enhancing endogenous remyelination in either area

Comorbidities, complications and treatment of childhood obesity

Childhood obesity is an increasing health issue. In the first part of this thesis comorbidities in children with obesity were studied, concerning the diagnostic process and dosing regimens. In children with obesity and respiratory symptoms the diagnosis of asthma was studied and in children with ADHD dosing regimens. Overtreatment as a consequence of overdiagnosis was frequently observed in children with obesity and asthma and undertreatment due to relative underdosing in the ADHD population with obesity. This highlights the necessity for accurate diagnostic processes alongside dosing regimens based on pharmacokinetic changes caused by obesity. The focus in the second part of this thesis was on screening for complications of obesity namely insulin resistance and cardiovascular diseases. Given the high prevalence of insulin resistance and the observed changes of cardiovascular parameters, screening on cardiometabolic complications is warranted in all children with obesity. Pharmacological treatment with metformin in addition to lifestyle intervention was studied in the last part of this thesis. Given the favorable effect on BMI in children and adults and the maintenance of weight loss and reduction in progression towards T2DM in adults, metformin can be considered in children with obesity and insulin resistance in addition to lifestyle intervention.Pharmacolog

Wearables at work:preferences from an employee’s perspective

This exploratory study aims to obtain a first impression of the wishes and needs of employees on the use of wearables at work for health promotion. 76 employ-ees with a mean age of 40 years old (SD ±11.7) filled in a survey after trying out a wearable. Most employees see the potential of using wearable devices for workplace health promotion. However, according to employees, some negative aspects should be overcome before wearables can effectively contribute to health promotion. The most mentioned negative aspects were poor visualization and un-pleasantness of wearing. Specifically for the workplace, employees were con-cerned about the privacy of data collection