Effectiveness of rotavirus vaccination in prevention of hospital admissions for rotavirus gastroenteritis among young children in Belgium : case-control study

Objective : To evaluate the effectiveness of rotavirus vaccination among young children in Belgium. Design : Prospective case-control study. Setting : Random sample of 39 Belgian hospitals, February 2008 to June 2010. Participants : 215 children admitted to hospital with rotavirus gastroenteritis confirmed by polymerase chain reaction and 276 age and hospital matched controls. All children were of an eligible age to have received rotavirus vaccination (that is, born after 1 October 2006 and aged >= 14 weeks). Main outcome measure : Vaccination status of children admitted to hospital with rotavirus gastroenteritis and matched controls. Results : 99 children (48%) admitted with rotavirus gastroenteritis and 244 (91%) controls had received at least one dose of any rotavirus vaccine (P= 12 months. The G2P[4] genotype accounted for 52% of cases confirmed by polymerase chain reaction with eligible matched controls. Vaccine effectiveness was 85% (64% to 94%) against G2P[4] and 95% (78% to 99%) against G1P[8]. In 25% of cases confirmed by polymerase chain reaction with eligible matched controls, there was reported co-infection with adenovirus, astrovirus and/or norovirus. Vaccine effectiveness against co-infected cases was 86% (52% to 96%). Effectiveness of at least one dose of any rotavirus vaccine (intention to vaccinate analysis) was 91% (82% to 95%). Conclusions : Rotavirus vaccination is effective for the prevention of admission to hospital for rotavirus gastroenteritis among young children in Belgium, despite the high prevalence of G2P[4] and viral co-infection

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Ann Verdonck en Marc Dubois De Woning Peeters in Deurne (1932-34) van Gaston Eysselinck: een Vlaamse Machine à habiter. [The Peeters House in Deurne (1932-34) by Gaston Eysselinck: a Flemish Machine a Habiter.]Het lijkt welk een boutade, maar toch is het wel degelijk de Weissenhofsiedlung in Stuttgart die de jonge Gaston Eysselinck in 1930 confronteerde met het gebruik van kleur in woningen.Twee jaar later gebouwd en in 1934 door de Prijs Van de Ven gelauwerd met een 2de vermelding, bleef zijn woning Peeters in Deurne door fotos tot voor kort enkel bekend in grijs-en-wit waarden.Naar aanleiding van de restauratie en na grondig architecturaal kleuronderzoek ontluisteren Ann Verdonck en Marc Dubois de hardnekkige mythe van de mediterane witte architectuur.Dirk Van Eenhooge Middeleeuwse Brugse Huizen en Hofsteden langs de Spiegelrei. [Medieval houses and domains along the city canal Spiegelrei in Bruges.]Bouwhistorisch onderzoek en de raadpleging van archiefbronnen lichtten in een gezamenlijk project een aantal middeleeuwse panden door langsheen de Spiegelrei. In een samenvattend overzicht brengt Dirk Van Eenhooge in de Brugse binnenstad halverwege de 14de eeuw ruim twintig vrijstaande hofsteden weer tot leveneen verrassende vaststelling in deze toendertijd chique buurt met dure bouwgronden.Jan D\u27hondt Het historisch huizenonderzoek in Brugge: van werkgroep tot website. [Historical housing research in Bruges: from study group to website.]Dat achter historisch bouwkundig erfgoed ook bouwheren en bewoners schuilgaan lijkt vanzelfsprekend, maar blijft bij onderzoekers nog te zeer miskend.Met een doorgedreven onderzoek naar de bewoningsgeschiedenis van Brugse huizen levert het Stadsarchief aldaar terzake reeds geruime tijd pionierswerk, resulterend in thematische publicaties en een website met Geoloket. Een langlopend project waar Jan Dhondt even op terugblikt.Summar

L'école sauve des vies : l'éducation physique au cœur du développement de citoyens responsables

Face à un arrêt cardiaque, moins de 20% de la population est capable d'effectuer les gestes qui sauvent (Plant & Taylor, 2013). Un témoin qui pratique une réanimation cardio-respiratoire (RCP) pourrait presque tripler les chances de survie de la victime, voire les multiplier par six s'il utilise un défibrillateur (ERC, 2015). L'apprentissage des gestes qui sauvent à l'école, et plus particulièrement au cours d'éducation physique, est recommandé pour contribuer à former des citoyens responsables (Colquhoun, 2012). L'objectif de cette étude était de développer et d'étudier les effets de trois dispositifs pédagogiques en éducation physique, validés par les enseignants (n=23), et enseignés à des élèves de fin de primaire (11-12 ans), de milieu (13-15 ans) et de fin d'études secondaires (17-18 ans) en Belgique francophone (n= 617). Une approche mixte (qualitative/quantitative) a été utilisée pour étudier l'impact des dispositifs auprès des enseignants et des élèves.Ecole sauve des vie

Nucleation Mechanism during WS2 Plasma Enhanced Atomic Layer Deposition on Amorphous Al2O3 and Sapphire Substrates

The structure, crystallinity and properties of as-deposited two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides are determined by nucleation mechanisms in the deposition process. 2D materials grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD) in absence of a template, are polycrystalline or amorphous. Little is known about their nucleation mechanisms. Therefore, we investigate the nucleation behavior of WS2 during plasma enhanced ALD from WF6, H2 plasma and H2S at 300 °C on amorphous ALD Al2O3 starting surface and on monocrystalline, bulk sapphire. Preferential interaction of the precursors with the Al2O3 starting surface promotes fast closure of the WS2 layer. The WS2 layers are fully continuous at WS2 content corresponding to only 1.2 WS2 monolayers. On amorphous Al2O3, (0002) textured and polycrystalline WS2 layers form with grain size of 5 nm to 20 nm due to high nucleation density (~1014 nuclei/cm2). The WS2 growth mode changes from 2D (layer-by-layer) growth on the initial Al2O3 surface to three-dimensional (Volmer-Weber) growth after WS2 layer closure. Further growth proceeds from both WS2 basal planes in register with the underlying WS2 grain, and from or over grain boundaries of the underlying WS2 layer with different in-plane orientation. In contrast, on monocrystalline sapphire, WS2 crystal grains can locally align along a preferred in-plane orientation. Epitaxial seeding occurs locally albeit a large portion of crystals remain randomly oriented, presumably due to the low deposition temperature. The WS2 sheet resistance is 168 MΩµm suggesting that charge transport in the WS2 layers is limited by grain boundaries.status: publishe

Moderators of the effect of psychosocial interventions on fatigue in women with breast cancer and men with prostate cancer:Individual patient data meta-analyses

Objective Psychosocial interventions can reduce cancer-related fatigue effectively. However, it is still unclear if intervention effects differ across subgroups of patients. These meta-analyses aimed at evaluating moderator effects of (a) sociodemographic characteristics, (b) clinical characteristics, (c) baseline levels of fatigue and other symptoms, and (d) intervention-related characteristics on the effect of psychosocial interventions on cancer-related fatigue in patients with non-metastatic breast and prostate cancer. Methods Data were retrieved from the Predicting OptimaL cAncer RehabIlitation and Supportive care (POLARIS) consortium. Potential moderators were studied with meta-analyses of pooled individual patient data from 14 randomized controlled trials through linear mixed-effects models with interaction tests. The analyses were conducted separately in patients with breast (n = 1091) and prostate cancer (n = 1008). Results Statistically significant, small overall effects of psychosocial interventions on fatigue were found (breast cancer: beta = -0.19 [95% confidence interval (95%CI) = -0.30; -0.08]; prostate cancer: beta = -0.11 [95%CI = -0.21; -0.00]). In both patient groups, intervention effects did not differ significantly by sociodemographic or clinical characteristics, nor by baseline levels of fatigue or pain. For intervention-related moderators (only tested among women with breast cancer), statistically significant larger effects were found for cognitive behavioral therapy as intervention strategy (beta = -0.27 [95%CI = -0.40; -0.15]), fatigue-specific interventions (beta = -0.48 [95%CI = -0.79; -0.18]), and interventions that only targeted patients with clinically relevant fatigue (beta = -0.85 [95%CI = -1.40; -0.30]). Conclusions Our findings did not provide evidence that any selected demographic or clinical characteristic, or baseline levels of fatigue or pain, moderated effects of psychosocial interventions on fatigue. A specific focus on decreasing fatigue seems beneficial for patients with breast cancer with clinically relevant fatigue