The Geoff Egan Memorial Lecture 2011. Artefacts, art and artifice: reconsidering iconographic sources for archaeological objects in early modern Europe

A first systematic analysis of historic domestic material culture depicted in contemporaneous Western painting and prints, c.1400-1800. Drawing on an extensive data set, the paper proposes to methodologies and hermeneutics for historical analysis and archaeological correspondence

Health-related costs in a sample of premenopausal non-diabetic overweight or obese females in Antwerp region : a cost-of-illness analysis

Background: People with overweight or obesity are at increased risk for disease later in life which cause important health costs. The aim of this study was to estimate the health status and the corresponding costs in a sample of females with overweight or obesity which were participating in a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) exploring the effect of lifestyle habits changes on ectopic adipose tissue. Methods: Sixty-two non-diabetic premenopausal females without major comorbidities of overweight and obesity were recruited among patients visiting endocrinologists at the obesity clinic of the University Hospital of Antwerp and the University of Antwerp. A RCT-embedded cost-of-illness approach with societal perspective, based on self-reported questionnaires and cost diaries (3 months recall) was applied to estimate the prevalence of different comorbidities and the related direct and indirect costs in this sample of overweight or obese females. The European Quality-of-Life-5D questionnaire was used to define the health state and the corresponding utility index of the participants. Results: The average direct health costs and health utilities observed in this sample were comparable with the general Flemish female population. This may partially be explained by the strict inclusion criteria of the RCT (i.e. overweight or obesity without diabetes type 2 or cardiovascular diseases). However, 15% of the participants had five or more comorbidities resulting in higher average costs and lower average health utility as compared to the general population, only 3 participants were diagnozed with the metabolic syndrome. In this subsample productivity was low due to high average absenteeism, yielding important total costs for the society. Conclusion: Secondary prevention to avoid health deterioration in overweight or obese females without major comorbidies is needed to contain health care costs. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02831621, approval of the ethics committee of the University Hospital of Antwerp (number: 14/17/205 -ref: 7543075363)

Teratoma of the anterior mediastinum presenting as a cystic neck mass: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Teratomas of anterior mediastinum are rare tumors and are often slow growing, asymptomatic and detected incidentally on chest imaging. Results of surgical resection are very satisfactory.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 19-years old male presented with an asymptomatic cystic neck mass. X-ray and CT scan of chest and neck showed an extrathyroidal multi-septate, predominantly cystic neck mass, that was continuous with a solid intrathoracic mass extending up to the level of right atrium and which contained areas of calcification and cystic necrosis. The mediastinal structures did not show any features of compression or infiltration. Fine needle aspiration cytology from the neck mass was suggestive of a dermoid cyst. In view of the extent and uncertain pathological nature of the tumor, it was excised via a combined cervical and trans-sternal route. Histo-pathology of the resected specimen confirmed the diagnosis of a mature cystic teratoma. The patient made an uneventful recovery, and after five years of follow-up, he has been symptom free with no clinical or radiological evidence of recurrent disease. We discuss the role of imaging and the need for surgical treatment to avoid possible catastrophic complications in patients with cervical and mediastinal masses of uncertain histological nature.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>A mediastinal teratoma may rarely present as a cystic neck swelling due to its cephalad extension. This entity needs to be considered in cases where clinical and investigative work-up fail to provide a convincing clue to a primary neck pathology as cause of a cystic neck swelling.</p

Heat Transfer Through Vertically Downward-Blowing Single-Jet Air Curtains for Cold Rooms

One of the major sources of heat gain in refrigerated storage rooms is the infiltration of warm ambient air through doorways. Air curtains reduce this amount of heat transfer by blowing a plane air jet in the doorway while allowing an easy passage of the traffic. An air curtain device installed at the doorway of a cold room in a supermarket was studied in detail. Thermographic images were taken, recording the temperature field across the doorway. Tracer gas decay measurements were used to estimate the air flow rate through the door. These measurements were then used to validate a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model of the air curtain. With this CFD model the impact of some important air curtain parameters, such as the jet velocity and the jet nozzle width, on the heat transfer rate through the opening is determined. Finally, an expression to estimate the heat transfer rate through the air curtain is proposed

Behandeling en stigmamanagement bij opzettelijke zelfverwonding: het smalle pad tussen te veel en te weinig interveniëren

Opzettelijke zelfverwonding wordt gedefinieerd als de intentionele directe beschadiging van het eigen lichaam, zonder bewuste suïcidale intentie. De behandeling varieert van gedwongen opname in een psychiatrische instelling (in het Britse Gemenebest), tot een permissieve aanpak zonder behandeling en uiteenlopende behandelingsmogelijkheden er tussenin. Eerst wordt de gepastheid van de mate van interveniëren besproken in functie van verschillende diagnosen. Het tweede gedeelte van het artikel bespreekt het advies dat door hulpverleners verstrekt wordt aangaande de omgang met wonden en littekens en aangaande de mogelijkheden voor een (gewezen) zelfverwonder om het stigma van een deviante identiteit te vermijden. Een rondvraag bij Belgische hulpverleners bracht aan het licht dat velen onder hen adviseren om littekens te verbergen, terwijl er anderzijds aanwijzingen zijn dat niet-verbergen een teken van herstel is. Aangezien verbergen en smoesjes verzinnen ook kunnen leiden tot de instandhouding van een deviante identiteit, wordt gewezen op meer gepaste vormen van stigmamanagement

Stress in nurses : stress-related affect and its determinants examined over the nursing day

Peer reviewedPostprin

<i>ATP5PO </i>levels regulate enteric nervous system development in zebrafish, linking Hirschsprung disease to Down Syndrome

Hirschsprung disease (HSCR) is a complex genetic disorder characterized by the absence of enteric nervous system (ENS) in the distal region of the intestine. Down Syndrome (DS) patients have a &gt;50-fold higher risk of developing HSCR than the general population, suggesting that overexpression of human chromosome 21 (Hsa21) genes contribute to HSCR etiology. However, identification of responsible genes remains challenging. Here, we describe a genetic screening of potential candidate genes located on Hsa21, using the zebrafish. Candidate genes were located in the DS-HSCR susceptibility region, expressed in the human intestine, were known potential biomarkers for DS prenatal diagnosis, and were present in the zebrafish genome. With this approach, four genes were selected: RCAN1, ITSN1, ATP5PO and SUMO3. However, only overexpression of ATP5PO, coding for a component of the mitochondrial ATPase, led to significant reduction of ENS cells. Paradoxically, in vitro studies showed that overexpression of ATP5PO led to a reduction of ATP5PO protein levels. Impaired neuronal differentiation and reduced mitochondrial ATP production, were also detected in vitro, after overexpression of ATP5PO in a neuroblastoma cell line. Finally, epistasis was observed between ATP5PO and ret, the most important HSCR gene. Taken together, our results identify ATP5PO as the gene responsible for the increased risk of HSCR in DS patients in particular if RET variants are also present, and show that a balanced expression of ATP5PO is required for normal ENS development.</p