Showing papers by "Maastricht University published in 2006"
TL;DR: This paper summarizes the proceedings of several meetings of the European Network for Non-invasive Investigation of Large Arteries and is aimed at providing an updated and practical overview of the most relevant methodological aspects and clinical applications in this area.
Abstract: In recent years, great emphasis has been placed on the role of arterial stiffness in the development of cardiovascular diseases. Indeed, the assessment of arterial stiffness is increasingly used in the clinical assessment of patients. Although several papers have previously addressed the methodological issues concerning the various indices of arterial stiffness currently available, and their clinical applications, clinicians and researchers still report difficulties in selecting the most appropriate methodology for their specific use. This paper summarizes the proceedings of several meetings of the European Network for Non-invasive Investigation of Large Arteries and is aimed at providing an updated and practical overview of the most relevant methodological aspects and clinical applications in this area.
4,901 citations
TL;DR: The present study used meta-analytic techniques to determine the patterns of mean-level change in personality traits across the life course and showed that people increase in measures of social dominance, conscientiousness, and emotional stability in young adulthood and decrease in both of these domains in old age.
Abstract: The present study used meta-analytic techniques (number of samples = 92) to determine the patterns of mean-level change in personality traits across the life course. Results showed that people increase in measures of social dominance (a facet of extraversion), conscientiousness, and emotional stability, especially in young adulthood (age 20 to 40). In contrast, people increase on measures of social vitality (a 2nd facet of extraversion) and openness in adolescence but then decrease in both of these domains in old age. Agreeableness changed only in old age. Of the 6 trait categories, 4 demonstrated significant change in middle and old age. Gender and attrition had minimal effects on change, whereas longer studies and studies based on younger cohorts showed greater change.
2,791 citations
TL;DR: The most important determinants of the gut microbiotic composition in infants were the mode of delivery, type of infant feeding, gestational age, infant hospitalization, and antibiotic use by the infant.
Abstract: OBJECTIVE.The aim of this study was to examine the contribution of a broad range of external influences to the gut microbiotic composition in early infancy. METHODS.Fecal samples from 1032 infants at 1 month of age, who were recruited from the KOALA Birth Cohort Study in the Netherlands, were subjected to quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction assays for the enumeration of bifidobacteria, Escherichia coli, Clostridium difficile, Bacteroides fragilis group, lactobacilli, and total bacterial counts. Information on potential determinants of the gut microbiotic composition was collected with repeated questionnaires. The associations between these factors and the selected gut bacteria were analyzed with univariate and multivariate analyses. RESULTS.Infants born through cesarean section had lower numbers of bifidobacteria and Bacteroides, whereas they were more often colonized with C difficile, compared with vaginally born infants. Exclusively formula-fed infants were more often colonized with E coli, C difficile, Bacteroides, and lactobacilli, compared with breastfed infants. Hospitalization and prematurity were associated with higher prevalence and counts of C difficile. Antibiotic use by the infant was associated with decreased numbers of bifidobacteria and Bacteroides. Infants with older siblings had slightly higher numbers of bifidobacteria, compared with infants without siblings. CONCLUSIONS.The most important determinants of the gut microbiotic composition in infants were the mode of delivery, type of infant feeding, gestational age, infant hospitalization, and antibiotic use by the infant. Term infants who were born vaginally at home and were breastfed exclusively seemed to have the most “beneficial” gut microbiota (highest numbers of bifidobacteria and lowest numbers of C difficile and E coli).
2,006 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors synthesize the existing evidence that addresses the question: "What are the effects of faculty development interventions on the knowledge, attitudes and skills of teachers in medical education, and on the institutions in which they work?"
Abstract: Background: Preparing healthcare professionals for teaching is regarded as essential to enhancing teaching effectiveness. Although many reports describe various faculty development interventions, there is a paucity of research demonstrating their effectiveness.Objective: To synthesize the existing evidence that addresses the question: “What are the effects of faculty development interventions on the knowledge, attitudes and skills of teachers in medical education, and on the institutions in which they work?”Methods: The search, covering the period 1980–2002, included three databases (Medline, ERIC and EMBASE) and used the keywords: staff development; in-service training; medical faculty; faculty training/development; continuing medical education. Manual searches were also conducted.Articles with a focus on faculty development to improve teaching effectiveness, targeting basic and clinical scientists, were reviewed. All study designs that included outcome data beyond participant satisfaction were accepted....
1,091 citations
TL;DR: Three years of SFT or TFP proved to be effective in reducing borderline personality disorder-specific and general psychopathologic dysfunction and in improving quality of life; SFT is more effective than TFP for all measures.
Abstract: Context Borderline personality disorder is a severe and chronic psychiatric condition, prevalent throughout health care settings. Only limited effects of current treatments have been documented. Objective To compare the effectiveness of schema-focused therapy (SFT) and psychodynamically based transference-focused psychotherapy (TFP) in patients with borderline personality disorder. Design A multicenter, randomized, 2-group design. Setting Four general community mental health centers. Participants Eighty-eight patients with a Borderline Personality Disorder Severity Index, fourth version, score greater than a predetermined cutoff score. Intervention Three years of either SFT or TFP with sessions twice a week. Main Outcome Measures Borderline Personality Disorder Severity Index, fourth version, score; quality of life; general psychopathologic dysfunction; and measures of SFT/TFP personality concepts. Patient assessments were made before randomization and then every 3 months for 3 years. Results Data on 44 SFT patients and 42 TFP patients were available. The sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of the groups were similar at baseline. Survival analyses revealed a higher dropout risk for TFP patients than for SFT patients (P = .01). Using an intention-to-treat approach, statistically and clinically significant improvements were found for both treatments on all measures after 1-, 2-, and 3-year treatment periods. After 3 years of treatment, survival analyses demonstrated that significantly more SFT patients recovered (relative risk = 2.18;P = .04) or showed reliable clinical improvement (relative risk = 2.33;P = .009) on the Borderline Personality Disorder Severity Index, fourth version. Robust analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) showed that they also improved more in general psychopathologic dysfunction and measures of SFT/TFP personality concepts (P Conclusions Three years of SFT or TFP proved to be effective in reducing borderline personality disorder–specific and general psychopathologic dysfunction and measures of SFT/TFP concepts and in improving quality of life; SFT is more effective than TFP for all measures.
1,087 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this article, the authors synthesize the existing evidence that addresses the question: "What are the effects of faculty development interventions on the knowledge, attitudes and skills of teachers in medical education, and on the institutions in which they work?"
Abstract: Background: Preparing healthcare professionals for teaching is regarded as essential to enhancing teaching effectiveness. Although many reports describe various faculty development interventions, there is a paucity of research demonstrating their effectiveness.Objective: To synthesize the existing evidence that addresses the question: “What are the effects of faculty development interventions on the knowledge, attitudes and skills of teachers in medical education, and on the institutions in which they work?”Methods: The search, covering the period 1980–2002, included three databases (Medline, ERIC and EMBASE) and used the keywords: staff development; in-service training; medical faculty; faculty training/development; continuing medical education. Manual searches were also conducted.Articles with a focus on faculty development to improve teaching effectiveness, targeting basic and clinical scientists, were reviewed. All study designs that included outcome data beyond participant satisfaction were accepted....
1,080 citations
TL;DR: Using spatially and temporally unsmoothed data, this cortex‐based analysis revealed comparable results but with a set of spatially more confined group clusters and more differential group region of interest time courses.
Abstract: The Functional Image Analysis Contest (FIAC) 2005 dataset was analyzed using BrainVoyager QX. First, we performed a standard analysis of the functional and anatomical data that includes preprocessing, spatial normalization into Talairach space, hypothesis-driven statistics (one- and two-factorial, single-subject and group-level random effects, General Linear Model [GLM]) of the block- and event-related paradigms. Strong sentence and weak speaker group-level effects were detected in temporal and frontal regions. Following this standard analysis, we performed single-subject and group-level (Talairach-based) Independent Component Analysis (ICA) that highlights the presence of functionally connected clusters in temporal and frontal regions for sentence processing, besides revealing other networks related to auditory stimulation or to the default state of the brain. Finally, we applied a high-resolution cortical alignment method to improve the spatial correspondence across brains and re-run the random effects group GLM as well as the group-level ICA in this space. Using spatially and temporally unsmoothed data, this cortex-based analysis revealed comparable results but with a set of spatially more confined group clusters and more differential group region of interest time courses.
1,042 citations
TL;DR: The overwhelming evidence indicates that ATP and Ado are important endogenous signaling molecules in immunity and inflammation, and it is proposed that their immunological role is both interdependent and multifaceted, meaning that the nature of their effects may shift from immunostimulatory to immunoregulatory or vice versa depending on extracellular concentrations as well as on expression patterns of purinergic receptors and ecto-enzymes.
963 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the association of a country's investor protection regime with the quality of reported earnings is examined for a large sample of firms from 42 countries, and three attributes of earnings are evaluated: the magnitude of abnormal accruals, the likelihood of reporting losses, and earnings conservatism (timely loss recognition).
Abstract: The association of a country's investor protection regime with the quality of reported earnings is examined for a large sample of firms from 42 countries. Three attributes of earnings are evaluated: the magnitude of abnormal accruals, the likelihood of reporting losses, and earnings conservatism (timely loss recognition). We find that earnings quality increases for firms with Big 4 auditors when a country's investor protection regime gives stronger protection to investors; specifically, abnormal accruals are smaller, there is a greater likelihood of reporting losses, and earnings conservatism is greater. In contrast, earnings of firms with non-Big 4 auditors are largely unaffected by different investor protection regimes. The study adds to a growing body of research showing that accounting practices are influenced by a country's institutions. However, our results differ from prior studies by demonstrating that country-level effects are mediated by audit enforcement, and in particular the incentives of Big 4 auditors to perform higher quality audits in countries with stricter investor protection regimes.
836 citations
TL;DR: The guidelines for the use of oral nutritional supplements (ONS) and tube feeding (TF) in cancer patients were developed by an interdisciplinary expert group in accordance with officially accepted standards as discussed by the authors.
790 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyzed the innovative performance of alliance networks as a function of the technological distance between partners, a firm's network position (centrality) and total network density.
Abstract: In this paper we analyze the innovative performance of alliance networks as a function of the technological distance between partners, a firm's network position (centrality) and total network density. We study how these three elements of an alliance network, apart and in combination, affect the 'twin tasks' in exploration, namely novelty creation on the one hand and its efficient absorption on the other hand. For an empirical test, we study technology-based alliance networks in the pharmaceutical, chemical and automotive industry.
TL;DR: A team is more than a group of people in the same space, physical or virtual as discussed by the authors, and increasing attention has been devoted to the social bases of cognition, taking into consideration how...
Abstract: A team is more than a group of people in the same space, physical or virtual. In recent years, increasing attention has been devoted to the social bases of cognition, taking into consideration how ...
TL;DR: This chapter argues that despite considerable advances in the literature in recent years, a number of important problems have not yet received adequate attention, including: the factors influencing the successful implementation of performance measurement systems for supply chains; the forces shaping their evolution over time; and the problem of their ongoing maintenance.
Abstract: This chapter aims to go some way towards addressing the dearth of research into performance measurement systems and metrics of supply chains by critically reviewing the contemporary literature and suggesting possible avenues for future research. The article provides a taxonomy of performance measures followed by a critical evaluation of measurement systems designed to evaluate the performance of supply chains. The chapter argues that despite considerable advances in the literature in recent years, a number of important problems have not yet received adequate attention, including: the factors influencing the successful implementation of performance measurement systems for supply chains; the forces shaping their evolution over time; and, the problem of their ongoing maintenance. The chapter provides both a taxonomy of measures and outlines specific implications for future research.
TL;DR: In this article, a simple test for causality in the frequency domain is proposed to investigate the predictive content of the yield spread for future output growth, which can also be applied to cointegrated systems.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors compare two devices previously found to increase contributions to public goods in laboratory experiments: communication, and punishment (allowing subjects to engage in costly reductions of one another's earnings after learning of their contribution decisions).
Abstract: We compare two devices previously found to increase contributions to public goods in laboratory experiments: communication, and punishment (allowing subjects to engage in costly reductions of one another's earnings after learning of their contribution decisions). We find that communication increases contributions more than punishment, and, taking into account the cost of punishment, only communication significantly increases subjects' earnings and thus efficiency. We study three forms of communication to understand what elements of communication are essential to this result: exchanges of nume rical messages, exchanges of verbal messages through a computer chat room, and face-to-face communication. Compared with a baseline of no communication and no punishment, we find that chat room communication increases cooperation and efficiency nearly as much as face-to-face communication, even though the chat room environment does not communicate cues of facial expression, tone of voice, and body language. Verbal communication is so effective that adding a punishment option to it does not significantly change the level of contributions or earnings. In contrast, communication limited to sending numerical messages has no net effect on contributions or efficiency.
TL;DR: Combined loss of E-cadherin and p53 resulted in accelerated development of invasive and metastatic mammary carcinomas, which show strong resemblance to human ILC.
TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of age, gender, and education on Stroop test performance were investigated to adequately stratify the normative data, and the results showed that especially the speed-dependent Stroop scores (time to complete a subtest), rather than the accuracy measures (the errors made per Stroop sub-task), were profoundly affected by the demographic variables.
Abstract: The Stroop Color-Word Test was administered to 1,856 cognitively screened, healthy Dutch speaking participants aged 24 to 81 years. The effects of age, gender, and education on Stroop test performance were investigated to adequately stratify the normative data. The results showed that especially the speed-dependent Stroop scores (time to complete a subtest), rather than the accuracy measures (the errors made per Stroop sub-task), were profoundly affected by the demographic variables. In addition to the main effects of the demographic variables, an Age Low Level of Education interaction was found for the Error III and the Stroop Interference scores. This suggests that executive function, as measured by the Stroop test, declines with age and that the decline is more pronounced in people with a low level of education. This is consistent with the reserve hypothesis of brain aging (i.e., that education generates reserve capacity against the damaging effects of aging on brain functions). Normative Stroop data were established using both a regression-based and traditional approach, and the appropriateness of both methods for generating normative data is discussed.
TL;DR: It is shown that treatment elements that do not deliberately target cognitive factors can reduce pain catastrophizing and internal control of pain, and reduces the improvement of functioning in patients with chronic low back pain.
TL;DR: It is concluded that lamins seem to be key players in, among others, controlling the process of cellular ageing, since disturbance in lamin protein structure gives rise to several forms of premature ageing.
Abstract: It has been demonstrated that nuclear lamins are important proteins in maintaining cellular as well as nuclear integrity, and in maintaining chromatin organization in the nucleus. Moreover, there is growing evidence that lamins play a prominent role in transcriptional control. The family of laminopathies is a fast-growing group of diseases caused by abnormalities in the structure or processing of the lamin A/C (LMNA) gene. Mutations or incorrect processing cause more than a dozen different inherited diseases, ranging from striated muscular diseases, via fat- and peripheral nerve cell diseases, to progeria. This broad spectrum of diseases can only be explained if the responsible A-type lamin proteins perform multiple functions in normal cells. This review gives an overview of current knowledge on lamin structure and function and all known diseases associated with LMNA abnormalities. Based on the knowledge of the different functions of A-type lamins and associated proteins, explanations for the observed phenotypes are postulated. It is concluded that lamins seem to be key players in, among others, controlling the process of cellular ageing, since disturbance in lamin protein structure gives rise to several forms of premature ageing.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors compared the power and bias of ANCOVA and ANOVA of change from baseline in a non-randomized study of preventing depression using regression and repeated measures models.
TL;DR: The application of a dual-process view on the environment – behavior relationship may guide research towards causal mechanisms linking specific environmental features with energy balance-related behaviors in distinct populations.
Abstract: Background
Studies on the impact of the 'obesogenic' environment have often used non-theoretical approaches. In this journal's debate and in other papers authors have argued the necessity of formulating conceptual models for differentiating the causal role of environmental influences on behavior.
TL;DR: An overview of different lipidic nanoparticles for use in MRI is given, with the main emphasis on Gd–based contrast agents.
Abstract: In the field of MR imaging and especially in the emerging field of cellular and molecular MR imaging, flexible strategies to synthesize contrast agents that can be manipulated in terms of size and composition and that can be easily conjugated with targeting ligands are required. Furthermore, the relaxivity of the contrast agents, especially for molecular imaging applications, should be very high to deal with the low sensitivity of MRI. Lipid-based nanoparticles, such as liposomes or micelles, have been used extensively in recent decades as drug carrier vehicles. A relatively new and promising application of lipidic nanoparticles is their use as multimodal MR contrast agents. Lipids are amphiphilic molecules with both a hydrophobic and a hydrophilic part, which spontaneously assemble into aggregates in an aqueous environment. In these aggregates, the amphiphiles are arranged such that the hydrophobic parts cluster together and the hydrophilic parts face the water. In the low concentration regime, a wide variety of structures can be formed, ranging from spherical micelles to disks or liposomes. Furthermore, a monolayer of lipids can serve as a shell to enclose a hydrophobic core. Hydrophobic iron oxide particles, quantum dots or perfluorocarbon emulsions can be solubilized using this approach. MR-detectable and fluorescent amphiphilic molecules can easily be incorporated in lipidic nanoparticles. Furthermore, targeting ligands can be conjugated to lipidic particles by incorporating lipids with a functional moiety to allow a specific interaction with molecular markers and to achieve accumulation of the particles at disease sites. In this review, an overview of different lipidic nanoparticles for use in MRI is given, with the main emphasis on Gd-based contrast agents. The mechanisms of particle formation, conjugation strategies and applications in the field of contrast-enhanced, cellular and molecular MRI are discussed.
TL;DR: PACSLAC and DOLOPLUS2 are the most appropriate scales currently available for pain assessment in elderly people with severe dementia, based on the psychometric qualities and criteria regarding sensitivity and clinical utility.
Abstract: Pain is a common and major problem among nursing home residents. The prevalence of pain in elderly nursing home people is 40–80%, showing that they are at great risk of experiencing pain. Since assessment of pain is an important step towards the treatment of pain, there is a need for manageable, valid and reliable tools to assess pain in elderly people with dementia. This systematic review identifies pain assessment scales for elderly people with severe dementia and evaluates the psychometric properties and clinical utility of these instruments. Relevant publications in English, German, French or Dutch, from 1988 to 2005, were identified by means of an extensive search strategy in Medline, Psychinfo and CINAHL, supplemented by screening citations and references. Quality judgement criteria were formulated and used to evaluate the psychometric aspects of the scales. Twenty-nine publications reporting on behavioural pain assessment instruments were selected for this review. Twelve observational pain assessment scales (DOLOPLUS2; ECPA; ECS; Observational Pain Behavior Tool; CNPI; PACSLAC; PAINAD; PADE; RaPID; Abbey Pain Scale; NOPPAIN; Pain assessment scale for use with cognitively impaired adults) were identified. Findings indicate that most observational scales are under development and show moderate psychometric qualities. Based on the psychometric qualities and criteria regarding sensitivity and clinical utility, we conclude that PACSLAC and DOLOPLUS2 are the most appropriate scales currently available. Further research should focus on improving these scales by further testing their validity, reliability and clinical utility.
TL;DR: Impulsivity is a personality characteristic that potentially has crucial consequences for the development and maintenance, as well as treatment of obesity, and the children that were the least effective in inhibiting responses, lost less weight in the residential treatment program.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present evidence that measures of social cohesion, such as income inequality and ethnic fractionalization, endogenously determine institutional quality, which in turn causally determines growth.
Abstract: We present evidence that measures of social cohesion, such as income inequality and ethnic fractionalization, endogenously determine institutional quality, which in turn causally determines growth.
TL;DR: Preventative strategies should take into account general, undifferentiated drinking motivation in late childhood, and social and enhancement motives in adolescence, particularly among boys and neurotic, anxious girls.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the post-M&a innovative performance of acquiring firms in four major high-tech sectors and found that the relatedness between the acquired and acquiring firms' knowledge bases has a curvilinear impact on the acquiring firm's innovative performance.
TL;DR: The five-factor model developed in this study is an improvement above previously published models as it represents a complex factor model and is more stable.
TL;DR: The role of galectin-1 in tumor angiogenesis is demonstrated in the zebrafish model, where expression knockdown results in impaired vascular guidance and growth of dysfunctional vessels as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: We describe that galectin-1 (gal-1) is a receptor for the angiogenesis inhibitor anginex, and that the protein is crucial for tumor angiogenesis. gal-1 is overexpressed in endothelial cells of different human tumors. Expression knockdown in cultured endothelial cells inhibits cell proliferation and migration. The importance of gal-1 in angiogenesis is illustrated in the zebrafish model, where expression knockdown results in impaired vascular guidance and growth of dysfunctional vessels. The role of gal-1 in tumor angiogenesis is demonstrated in gal-1-null mice, in which tumor growth is markedly impaired because of insufficient tumor angiogenesis. Furthermore, tumor growth in gal-1-null mice no longer responds to antiangiogenesis treatment by anginex. Thus, gal-1 regulates tumor angiogenesis and is a target for angiostatic cancer therapy.
TL;DR: Evaluation of the most recent studies investigating physical and chemical characteristics of ambient and traffic-related PM in relation to its toxicological activity shows that the smaller PM size fractions have the highest toxicity, contain higher concentrations of extractable organic matter, and possess a relatively high radical-generating capacity.
Abstract: Particulate air pollution (PM) is an important environmental health risk factor for many different diseases. This is indicated by numerous epidemiological studies on associations between PM exposure and occurrence of acute respiratory infections, lung cancer and chronic respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. The biological mechanisms behind these associations are not fully understood, but the results of in vitro toxicological research have shown that PM induces several types of adverse cellular effects, including cytotoxicity, mutagenicity, DNA damage and stimulation of proinflammatory cytokine production. Because traffic is an important source of PM emission, it seems obvious that traffic intensity has an important impact on both quantitative and qualitative aspects of ambient PM, including its chemical, physical and toxicological characteristics. In this review, the results are summarized of the most recent studies investigating physical and chemical characteristics of ambient and traffic-related PM in relation to its toxicological activity. This evaluation shows that, in general, the smaller PM size fractions (