In accordance with its mission to support high level research in Belgium, the University Foundation provides financial support towards the publication in high level international journals of scientific papers which report on research in Belgian research groups. Financial support may be granted to partially cover the costs due by the author for illustrations, for page charges and for article processing fees, and for linguuistic control.
Because the possible support is restricted to Belgian research groups, the regulations and application procedures are only available in French and in Dutch.
What follows is a list of articles to which a subsidy was awarded by the University Foundation. The titles are ordered by year of publication and by title.
Bourmorck, D. (2023) SPICT as a predictive tool for risk of 1-year health degradation and death in older patients admitted to the emergency department: a bicentric cohort study in Belgium. BMC Palliative Care https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-023-01201-9
Abstract
Background Older patients are increasingly showing multi-comorbidities, including advanced chronic diseases.When admitted to the emergency department (ED), the decision to pursue life-prolonging treatments or to initiate a
palliative care approach is a challenge for clinicians. We test for the first time the diagnostic accuracy of the Supportive and Palliative Care Indicators Tool (SPICT) in the ED to identify older patients at risk of deteriorating and dying, and timely address palliative care needs.
Gheysen, J ; Kashiwar, A ; Idrissi, H ; Villanova, J (2023) Simar, A. Suppressing hydrogen blistering in a magnesium-rich healable laser powder bed fusion aluminum alloy analyzed by in-situ high resolution techniques. In: Materials & Design, Vol. 231, p. 112024 (2023) http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/275034 -- DOI : 10.1016/j.matdes.112024.
Hydrogen blistering, i.e. precipitation of supersaturated hydrogen at elevated temperatures, increases porosity during heat treatments in 4xxx series Al alloys manufactured by laser powder bed fusion (LPBF), as demonstrated by 3D X-ray nano-imaging in AlSi12. This paper proposes the design of a healable Al alloy to suppress hydrogen blistering and improve the damage management. The strategy consists of solute atoms diffusing towards nano-voids and precipitating on their surface, thereby filling the damage sites.
De Proost, M. (2023). The Dilemma of Socrates’ Position: Interview Methods and Feminist Empirical Bioethics. The Qualitative Report, 28(7), 2095-2112. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2023.6069
There is a growing body of bioethics research that addresses the importance of adapting empirical, predominantly qualitative, methods to generate debate on ethical arguments. However, there is an absence of illustrative work examining how this could be realised from a feminist perspective. This article, seeking to address the research gap, examines interview methods through a reflexive lens.
Quicray M., et al. (2023) The Drosophila-parasitizing wasp Leptopilina heterotoma: A comprehensive model system in ecology and evolution. Ecology and Evolution https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9625.
The parasitoid Leptopilina heterotoma has been used as a model system for more than 70 years, contributing greatly to diverse research areas in ecology and evolution.Here, we synthesized the large body of work on L. heterotoma with the aim to identify new research avenues that could be of interest also for researchers studying other parasitoids and insects. We start our review with a description of typical L. heterotoma characteristics, as well as that of the higher taxonomic groups to which this species belongs.
Claus L, Schouler-Ocak M, Braakman MH, Sabbe B, Van Beuren G & van den Ameele S (2023) Unlocking asylum seekers’ voices: protocol of a mixed-method clinical study on the use of the cultural formulation interview with asylum seekers in Belgium. Front. Psychiatry 14:1156803. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1156803.
Background: Despite a high prevalence of mental disorders among asylum seekers, many barriers to mental healthcare exist. Cultural and contextual factors strongly influence the experience and expression of psychological distress, putting asylum seekers at greater risk of misdiagnosis and inappropriate treatment. The Cultural Formulation Interview (CFI) is a useful tool to map out cultural and contextual factors of mental disorders; however, to the best of our knowledge, it has not yet been investigated in asylum seekers specifically.
Van Rickstal R, Vleminck A, Engelborghs S, Versijpt J, Van den Block L. (2022) A qualitative study with people with young-onset dementia and their family caregivers on advance care planning: A holistic, flexible, and relational approach is recommended. Palliat Med. Apr 26:2692163221090385. doi: 10.1177/02692163221090385.
The role of membrane lipids is increasingly claimed to explain biological activities of natural amphiphile molecules. To decipher this role, biophysical studies with biomimetic membrane models are often helpful to obtain insights at the molecular and atomic levels. In this review, the added value of biophysics to study lipid-driven biological processes is illustrated using the case of surfactins, a class of natural lipopeptides produced by Bacillus sp. showing a broad range of biological activities.
Bonnechère, B., Samadoulougou, S., Cisse, K., et al. (2022) Alcohol consumption and associated risk factors in Burkina Faso: results of a population-based cross-sectional survey. BMJ Open 12:e058005. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2021-058005
Biset, N.; Kestens, W.; Detemmerman, D.; Lona, M.; Karakaya, G.; Ceuppens, A.; Pochet, S.; De Vriese, C. (2022) Analysis of the Consumption of Drugs Prescribed for the Treatment of Asthma in Belgian Children. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 19, 548. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19010548
Abstract: (1) Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases in the world among children. The main purpose of this study was to analyze the consumption of asthma medications in order to investigate asthma in children (2–18 years) and the association with health care consumption; (2) a retrospective study using anonymized administrative data for 2013–2018 from the third largest Belgian health insurer was conducted; (3) in 2018, 12.9% of children received at least one asthma medication and 4.4% received at least two packages with a minimum of 30 days between purchases.
Delporte C. & Soyfoo M. (2022) Aquaporins: Unexpected actors in autoimmune diseases, Autoimmunity Reviews.
Aquaporins (AQPs), transmembrane proteins allowing the passage of water and sometimes other small solutes and molecules, are involved in autoimmune diseases including neuromyelitis optica, Sjögren’s syndrome and rheumatoid arthritis. Both autoantibodies against AQPs and altered expression and/or trafficking of AQPs in various tissue cell types as well as inflammatory cells are playing key roles in pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases.
Bensemmane, S.; Loayza Villarroel, K.; Montaño, K.; Louati, E.; Ascarrunz, C.; Rodriguez, P.; Fontaine, V.; Laokri, S. Assessing Barriers Encountered by Women in Cervical Cancer Screening and Follow-Up Care in Urban Bolivia, Cochabamba. Healthcare 2022, 10, 1604. https://doi.org/10.3390/ healthcare10091604
Background: Timely detection of cervical cells infected with high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) improves cervical cancer prevention. In Bolivia, actual screening coverage only reaches 33.3% of the target population aged between 25 and 64 years despite free cytology screening. Furthermore, 50% to 80% screened women are lost during follow-up. This study aimed at identifying factors explaining this lack of follow-up care.
Sow, M., Raynault, MF. & De Spiegelaere, M. (2022) Associations between socioeconomic status and pregnancy outcomes: a greater magnitude of inequalities in perinatal health in Montreal than in Brussels. BMC Public Health 22, 829. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-13165-1
Background
Comparing health inequalities between countries helps us to highlight some factors specific to each context that contribute to these inequalities, thus contributing to the identification of courses of action likely to reduce them. This paper compares the associations between socioeconomic status (SES) and 1) low birth weight (LBW) and 2) preterm birth, in Brussels and Montreal (in general population, natives-born mothers, and immigrant mothers).
Wauters A., Tiete J., Reis J.,Lambotte I., Marchini S., and Delvenne V. (2022) Child, adolescent, and parent mental health in general population during a year of COVID‑19 pandemic in Belgium: a cross‑sectional study. Discover Mental Health, vol. 2, issue 1, article 16 (https://doi.org/10.1007/s44192-022-00019-w)
Abstract
Background This study aims to evaluate the mental health status of children, adolescents and their parents during the first year of COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium.
Method Analysis compared results before and during the second national lockdown, which started on November 2nd 2020. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted between May 2020 and April 2021.
Vandelanotte, L. (2022) Constructions of speech and thought representation. WIREs Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcs.1637.
Gabarró, S. & and Meurant, L. (2022) Contrasting signed and spoken languages: towards a renewed perspective on language. Languages in Contrast 22:2 pp.169-194 & pp. 322-360.
For years, the study of spoken languages, on the basis of written and then also oral productions, was the only way to investigate the human language capacity. As an introduction to this first volume of Languages in Contrast devoted to the comparison of spoken and signed languages, we propose to look at the reasons for the late emergence of the consideration of signed languages and multimodality in language studies. Next, the main stages of the history of sign language research are summarized.