Hasselt University

No significant changes in synaptic density and gray matter volume following motor learning—a pilot study

Abstract In animal neurophysiology, motor learning induces long-term potentiation- and depression-like plasticity. In humans, gray matter volume (GMV) changes, measured non-invasively by MRI, in response to motor learning are interpreted as a surrogate measure of plasticity. Here...

BIOCOST: A Costing Tool for Belgian Biobanks

BACKGROUND: Biobanks are essential infrastructures for biomedical research, yet their long-term sustainability is increasingly challenged by complex and often underestimated costs. While numerous cost-accounting approaches have been proposed over the past decade, comparable empir...

Residential early-life air pollution exposure and oculomotor markers of cognitive workload in children: a prospective birth cohort study

Background Growing evidence indicates that early brain development is particularly vulnerable to environmental influences, with early-life air pollution exposure linked to attention problems, anxiety, and depression. In this study, we examined associations of early-life air pollu...

Influences of socioeconomic and environmental factors on STEMI incidence and related mortality: Insights from the Belgian Environmental Myocardial Infarction Risk (EMIR) Study

Abstract Background Current risk models for myocardial infarction incidence and post-event mortality primarily rely on clinical parameters and do not account for environmental or socioeconomic factors. We aimed to provide a more comprehensive assessment of determinants of ST-elev...

Non-algorithmic Truth and the Structure of Reality: Distinguishing the Mental and Real Lucas-Penrose Arguments

Abstract Can physical reality be fully captured by an algorithmic Theory of Everything? We argue not. Gödelian incompleteness shows that no sound, recursively axiomatizable formalism proves all truths of a sufficiently rich domain, while Tarskian undefinability shows that no such...

Application Usability, Engagement, and Postpartum Weight Retention: Secondary Analysis of the INTER-ACT Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objective: To examine whether perceived usability of the INTER-ACT application influences postpartum weight loss and whether this effect is mediated by application use, motivational power, and implementation of lifestyle recommendations. Patients and Methods: Dutch-speaking women...

Bacterial Communities Associated with Deschampsia antarctica in Chronically Diesel-Contaminated Soils: Candidate Taxa for Microbe-Assisted Phytoremediation

More than six decades of human activity in Antarctica resulted in chronic diesel contamination of soils surrounding research stations. Phytoremediation assisted by the native vascular plant Deschampsia antarctica is one of the few remediation strategies compatible with the Antarc...

Feasibility of radiomics and deep learning methods for prognosis of non–small cell lung cancer using 18F-FDG PET/CT

Accurate prognostication for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is challenging due to tumor heterogeneity and the limitations of conventional PET biomarkers. This technical feasibility study compared the difference in prognostic performance of radiomics and deep learning (CNN) me...

Antithrombotic therapy after percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with atrial fibrillation: an individual patient data network meta-analysis

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Randomized trials demonstrated that in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) direct oral anticoagulants (DOAC) and a P2Y12 inhibitor reduce bleeding compared with vitamin K antagonist (VKA) plus dual antipl...

Endothelial function in relation to low-level chronic residential air pollution in a general population: a cohort study

Background Given the recently updated clean-air targets, this population study assessed endothelial function at low exposure to particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of ≤10 µm (PM10) and ≤2.5 µm (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and black carbon (BC).Methods In 453 Flemi...

AI for tumour proportion scoring of programmed death‐ligand 1 immunohistochemistry in non‐small cell lung cancer: a review of commercial and non‐commercial tools

Programmed death‐ligand 1 (PD‐L1) expression, commonly quantified as tumour proportion score (TPS), is a key biomarker guiding immunotherapy in non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Manual scoring of PD‐L1 immunohistochemistry (IHC) is time‐consuming and challenged by preanalytical...

Dose-dependent microbiome, metabolome and lipidome shifts in a mouse model of colitis-associated colorectal cancer using azoxymethane and dextran sodium sulphate

Colorectal cancer (CRC) remains a major health burden, underscoring the need for continued research to improve screening methods and treatment outcomes. The colitis-associated azoxymethane (AOM) and dextran sodium sulphate (DSS) mouse model has proven valuable for CRC research, a...

Hypoxia-activated scleraxis a mediates epicardial progenitor differentiation into a unique cardiac perivascular cell type

Abstract The epicardium is a crucial source of progenitor cells and paracrine signals that support heart development and regeneration. However, the molecular mechanisms that guide epicardial cell fate decisions remain incompletely understood. Here, we identify the transcription f...

Integrating road infrastructure condition into intelligent transportation systems: a machine learning-based infrastructure-aware risk prediction approach

Although the majority of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and risk-prediction frameworks keep considering pavement quality and dynamic traffic behavior as separate phenomena, road infrastructure degradation and traffic flow instability both contribute to risky driving sit...

An UndergraduateBiochemistry Lab Exploring Elastin-LikePolypeptide Behavior and Degradation: From Purification to Proteolysis

Abstract The development of smart biomaterials that mimic the native extracellular matrix forms the basis for many innovations within the field of regenerative medicine. Elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs) are widely used in biomaterials due to their unique physicochemical propertie...

Variations in lower‑limb body composition asymmetry and leg length discrepancy by sex and training level, and their association with performance in recreational endurance runners: a cross‑sectional study

Body composition plays a critical role in endurance running. While anthropometric characteristics have been incorporated into performance prediction models, potential inter-limb morphological asymmetries in lower-limb body composition remain largely unexplored. Therefore, this st...

Modeling local vulnerability to COVID-19 in an outbreak setting

Identifying factors that affect the vulnerability of areas to COVID-19 infection is essential, as it helps to identify the locations or risk groups that require additional attention. While connectivity among regions is a crucial driver in the epidemic growth, it is also observed...

Multilevel structural equation modelling of walkability in a motorcycle-dominated city: A case study of Da Nang, Vietnam

In Southeast Asian cities, rapid urbanisation, characterised by a motorcycle-dominated landscape, has eroded pedestrian infrastructure and compromised walkability. Conventional frameworks, primarily rooted in temperate, car-centric contexts, inadequately capture micro-scale, clim...

Impact of highly intensive functional balance training in children with developmental coordination disorder

Abstract Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (cDCD) face significant motor coordination challenges, impacting daily activities and participation. This study examined the effects of highly intensive, functional balance training across different levels of the Internat...

Longitudinal characterization of medial gastrocnemius muscle growth deficits throughout childhood in spastic cerebral palsy

The prospective longitudinal study compared muscle growth in children with spastic cerebral palsy (CP) with typically developing (TD) peers and across Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS)-groups, and investigated muscle deficit trajectories across GMFCS-groups. Thre...