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.
Claeys A, Merseburger P, Staut J, Marchal K & Van den Eynden J, Benchmark of tools for in silico prediction of MHC class I and class II genotypes from NGS data BMC Genomics (doi.org/10.1186/s12864-023-09351-z )
Background The Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) genes are a group of highly polymorphic genes that are located in the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) region on chromosome 6. The HLA genotype affects the presentability of tumour antigens to the immune system. While knowledge of these genotypes is of utmost importance to study differences in immune responses between cancer patients, gold standard, PCR-derived genotypes are rarely available in large Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) datasets.
Asante, F. et al.(2023) Does mangrove vegetation structure reflect human utilization of ecosystem goods and services? iScience, vol. 26, 106858.
Many coastal communities in developing countries depend on mangrove ecosystem services (ES). A combination of anthropogenic and environmental stresses threatens mangroves globally. This study at the Ankobra catchment communities in Ghana focused on the relation between ES utilization and mangrove forest structure. Through vegetation survey, we observed significant effects of selective logging, branch cutting, density of Acrostichum aureum, and water stress on tree stocking and sapling densities.
Mortier, F. et al. (2023) Effect of laboratory and sample storage factors on urinary protein: creatinine ratios and clinical decision making in cats. Journal of Internal Veterinary Medicine Vol.37, pp. 1038-1046.
Background
Urinary protein:creatinine ratio (UPC) results affect the diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy of chronic kidney disease in cats.
Objectives
To investigate the interlaboratory and intralaboratory variability and the effect of storage on UPC and International Renal Interest Society (IRIS) proteinuria substaging in cats.
Animals
Healthy and diseased client-owned cats.
Wechs J,, Branciard C. & Oreshkov, O. (2023) Existence of processes violating causal inequalities on time-delocalised subsystems. Nature Communications https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-36893-3.
Van Acker, I.; Dewaele, A.; Elaut, E.& Baetens, K. (2023) Exploring Care Needs of Partners of Transgender and Gender Diverse Individuals in Co-Transition: A Qualitative Interview Study. Healthcare, 11, 1535. https://doi.org/10.3390/ healthcare11111535
Abstract: Scientific knowledge on the impact of a gender-affirming transition on intimate partners of transgender and gender diverse (TGD) individuals is limited. It is unclear which care needs partners have and which role health care professionals can play during this transition process. The aim of this study was to explore the unique experiences and care needs of people partnering with TGD people in the context of a gender-affirming transition.
Vanhuysse, S. et al. (2023) Fine-scale mapping of urban malaria exposure under data scarcity: an approach centred on vector ecology, Malaria Journal vol. 22, art. number 113.
Background Although malaria transmission has experienced an overall decline in sub-Saharan Africa, urban malaria is now considered an emerging health issue due to rapid and uncontrolled urbanization and the adaptation of vectors to urban environments. Fine-scale hazard and exposure maps are required to support evidence-based policies and targeted interventions, but data-driven predictive spatial modelling is hindered by gaps in epidemiological and entomological data.
Qayyum M., Kerre E.E. & Rana S. (2023) .FMIAT: Frequency Matrix Inclusion Analysis Technique for MCDM. Proceedings of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Tome 76, No 7, pp. 999-1007.
The wider applicability of inclusion measures as well as the diversity of data existing in real life situations has motivated most of the researchers to introduce a two degree inclusion indicator within the intuitionistic fuzzy framework. Although these measures are capable of portraying the level of inclusion as well as a non inclusion relation existing between objects under consideration yet, they lose their practical application due to their computational complexity in many decision making situations.
De Weerdt, J. et al. (2023) Migratory destinations and spatial structuring of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) wintering off Nicaragua, Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-41923-7
Understanding the migratory patterns of large whales is of conservation importance, especially in identifying threats to specific populations. Migration ecology, including migratory destinations, movements and site fidelity for humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) remain poorly studied in parts of the range of the Central America population, considered endangered under the United States Endangered Species Act. This study aimed to investigate the migratory destinations of humpback whales sighted at two study sites in Nicaragua, which are part of the Central America population.
Esposito G. et al. (2023) Participatory governance in megaprojects: the Lyon–Turin high-speed railway among structure, agency, and democratic participation. Policy and Society. puac/029.
Megaprojects are increasingly common across countries and attract substantial political attention from a variety of actors. Recent studies have highlighted the need to move from an understanding of megaprojects as linear and rational processes towards a more nuanced approach that accounts for non-linear and conflictual aspects. Participatory governance is often proposed as a valuable resource in this regard.
Ryckx S. et al. (2023) Peripheral precocious puberty in Li–Fraumeni syndrome: a case report and literature review of pure androgen‑secreting adrenocortical tumors Journal of Medical Case Reports 17:195, https://doi.org/10.1186/s13256-023-03889-y
Introduction Pure androgen-secreting adrenocortical tumors are a rare but important cause of eripheral precocious puberty.
Opsomer S. et al. Resilience in advanced cancer caregiving promoted by an intimate partner’s support network: insights through the lens of complexity science. A framework analysis. BMC Palliative Care (2023) 22:12 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-023-01134-3
Abstract Background The tremendous physical and mental burden that comes with caregiving puts the intimate partners of patients diagnosed with advanced cancer at risk for mental disorders. However, most partners seem to be protected by resilience. Such a resilience process is promoted by certain individual characteristics (e.g., flexibility, positive attitude, internal strength, capacity to balance incoming and outgoing information, and ability to ask for and accept
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.