De NECCST dataset omvat gegevens van 5700 vrouwen in Nederland die ooit hebben meegedaan aan de chlamydia screening implementatie tussen 2008 en 2011 en toen hebben aangegeven benaderd te kunnen worden voor vervolgonderzoek naar seksueel overdraagbare aandoeningen. Dat is in 2015 gebeurd in het kader van de Nederlandse chlamydia cohort studie (NECCST). Door middel van een informed consent kregen vrouwen toegang tot een online vragenlijst met vragen over demografie, chlamydia historie, zwangerschappen, lange termijn complicaties...

Serology is a crucial part of the public health response to the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Here, we describe the development, validation and clinical evaluation of a protein micro-array as a quantitative multiplex immunoassay that can identify S and N-directed SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies with high specificity and sensitivity and distinguish them from all currently circulating human coronaviruses. The method specificity was 100% for SARS-CoV-2 S1 and 96% for N antigen based on extensive syndromic (n=230 cases)...

Exposure to different nanoforms (NFs) via the dermal route is expected in occupational and consumer settings and thus it is important to assess their dermal toxicity and the contribution of dermal exposure to systemic bioavailability. We have formulated four grouping hypotheses for dermal toxicity endpoints which allow NFs to be grouped to streamline and facilitate risk assessment. The grouping hypotheses are developed based on insight into how physicochemical properties of NFs (i.e. composition, dissolution kinetics,...

Additional file 1: Table S1. Details on studied forest sites. Table S2. The qPCR protocol for detection of tick symbionts and pathogens. Table S3. Bacterial loads of samples for the 16S rRNA sequencing; sample scheme. Table S4. Details on a positive control, primers, protocol, and in silico analysis used in the 16S rRNA quantification analyses. Table S5. OTU table. Table S6. Prevalence of veritcally and horizontally transmitted symbionts and pathogens per location. Table S7. Expected...

Abstract Background Microbial communities can affect disease risk by interfering with the transmission or maintenance of pathogens in blood-feeding arthropods. Here, we investigated whether bacterial communities vary between Ixodes ricinus nymphs which were or were not infected with horizontally transmitted human pathogens. Methods Ticks from eight forest sites were tested for the presence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, Babesia spp., Anaplasma phagocytophilum, and Neoehrlichia mikurensis by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), and their microbiomes were...

Additional file 2: Supplementary tables and figures. Figure S1. Pearson correlation between the 117 original metabolites. Figure S2. Sensitivity analyses of mutually adjusted ORs for the overall associations and cancer type-specific deviations. Figure S3. Sensitivity analysis of mutually adjusted ORs for the overall associations and cancer type-specific deviations with or without excluding hormone users. Figure S4. p-values of tests for departure from linearity and effect modification by BMI. Figure S5. ORs for the overall associations...

Weekly scarlet fever case counts for the analysis period.

Objective: Community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) is common among men who have sex with men (MSM) in the USA. It is unknown whether this is also the case in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Sexually transmitted infection outpatient low- threshold clinic, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Participants: Between October 2008 and April 2010, a total of 211 men were included, in two groups: (1) 74 MSM with clinical signs of a skin or soft tissue...

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a global public health challenge. Whilst the advent of genome-wide association studies has identified >400 genetic variants associated with T2D, our understanding of its biological mechanisms and translational insights is still limited. The EPIC-InterAct project, centred in 8 countries in the European Prospective Investigations into Cancer and Nutrition study, is one of the largest prospective studies of T2D. Established as a nested case-cohort study to investigate the interplay between genetic...

Aim: High levels of nitrogen deposition have been responsible for important losses of plant species diversity. It is often assumed that reduction of ammonia and nitrogen oxide emissions will result in the recovery of the former biodiversity. In Western Europe N deposition peaked between 1980 and 1988 and declined thereafter. In a 60-year experiment in hay meadows we tested the hypothesis that increasing and declining nitrogen deposition had negative, respectively, positive effects on plant species...

Background: Tick-borne pathogens other than Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato - the causative agent of Lyme borreliosis - are common in Ixodes ricinus ticks. How often these pathogens cause human disease is unknown. In addition, diagnostic tools to identify such diseases are lacking or reserved to research laboratories. To elucidate their prevalence and disease burden, the study 'Ticking on Pandora's Box' has been initiated, a collaborative effort between Amsterdam University Medical Center and the National Institute...

Supplementary Material 1

Abstract Background Microbial communities can affect disease risk by interfering with the transmission or maintenance of pathogens in blood-feeding arthropods. Here, we investigated whether bacterial communities vary between Ixodes ricinus nymphs which were or were not infected with horizontally transmitted human pathogens. Methods Ticks from eight forest sites were tested for the presence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, Babesia spp., Anaplasma phagocytophilum, and Neoehrlichia mikurensis by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), and their microbiomes were...

Additional file 1: Table S1. Association between hand hygiene and activity index during baseline and intervention; Table S2. Overall (i.e. for all HCWs) hand hygiene compliance per hospital, during baseline and the intervention period; Figure S1. Boxplot (median, quartiles and ranges) of individual HH compliance both during baseline and intervention period; Figure S2. Boxplot (median, quartiles and ranges) of hand hygiene increase (in percentage points) in the group of improving HCWs; Figure S3. Variability within...

Additional file 1. Supplementary material regarding (i) the definition of cancer cases for HCC, GBC, Adv.PrC and Loc.PrC; (ii) the definition and implementation of the data-shared lasso; (iii) the models used to derive point estimates and confidence intervals from the model selected by the data-shared lasso; and (iv) the univariate analysis conducted for comparison.

Reliable characterization of exposure is indispensable for ecological risk assessment of chemicals. To deal with mixtures, several approaches have been developed, but their relevance for predicting ecological effects on communities in the field has not been elucidated. In the present study, we compared nine metrics designed for estimating the total toxicity of mixtures regarding their relationship with an effect metric for stream macroinvertebrates. This was done using monitoring data of biota and organic chemicals, mainly...

Soil biota are responsible for essential ecosystem services such as carbon storage, nutrient cycling and water retention. However, assessment of the condition of soil biota is hampered by an overwhelming level of diversity. With representatives in all trophic levels of the food web, nematode communities can be used as bio-indicators. Accurate assessment of nematode assemblages requires insight in the distribution of specimens with distinct food preferences. With the availability of taxon-specific quantitative-PCR assays, distribution patterns...

Exposure to different nanoforms (NFs) via the dermal route is expected in occupational and consumer settings and thus it is important to assess their dermal toxicity and the contribution of dermal exposure to systemic bioavailability. We have formulated four grouping hypotheses for dermal toxicity endpoints which allow NFs to be grouped to streamline and facilitate risk assessment. The grouping hypotheses are developed based on insight into how physicochemical properties of NFs (i.e. composition, dissolution kinetics,...

Abstract Background Epidemiological studies of associations between metabolites and cancer risk have typically focused on specific cancer types separately. Here, we designed a multivariate pan-cancer analysis to identify metabolites potentially associated with multiple cancer types, while also allowing the investigation of cancer type-specific associations. Methods We analysed targeted metabolomics data available for 5828 matched case-control pairs from cancer-specific case-control studies on breast, colorectal, endometrial, gallbladder, kidney, localized and advanced prostate cancer, and hepatocellular carcinoma nested...

Weekly scarlet fever case counts for the analysis period.

Background. Scarlet fever, an infectious disease caused by Streptococcus pyogenes, largely disappeared in developed countries during the twentieth century. In recent years, scarlet fever is on the rise again, and there is a need for a better understanding of possible factors driving transmission. Methods. Using historical case notification data from the three largest cities in the Netherlands (Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague) from 1906 to 1920, we inferred the transmission rate for scarlet fever using...

Additional file 1: Table S1. Association between hand hygiene and activity index during baseline and intervention; Table S2. Overall (i.e. for all HCWs) hand hygiene compliance per hospital, during baseline and the intervention period; Figure S1. Boxplot (median, quartiles and ranges) of individual HH compliance both during baseline and intervention period; Figure S2. Boxplot (median, quartiles and ranges) of hand hygiene increase (in percentage points) in the group of improving HCWs; Figure S3. Variability within...

Abstract Background The diagnostic accuracy of unsupervised self-testing with rapid antigen diagnostic tests (Ag-RDTs) is mostly unknown. We studied the diagnostic accuracy of a self-performed SARS-CoV-2 saliva and nasal Ag-RDT in the general population. Methods This large cross-sectional study consecutively included unselected individuals aged $$\ge$$ ≥ 16 years presenting for SARS-CoV-2 testing at three public health service test sites. Participants underwent molecular test sampling and received two self-tests (the Hangzhou AllTest Biotech saliva self-test and...

Supplementary Material 1

1. Understanding which factors determine tick-borne disease hazard can contribute to effective disease control. In Europe, the hazard of the pathogens Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. and Anaplasma phagocytophilum is determined by local tick densities (mainly Ixodes ricinus) and the reservoir competence of the host species community. Sand lizards (Lacerta agilis) are common hosts for larvae and nymphs of I. ricinus and non-competent reservoirs for both pathogens. Consequently, high relative abundance of L. agilis is hypothesized to...