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Open AccessAssociations between ambient air pollutants and hospital admissions: more needs to be done
Deaths from air pollution in the UK are higher by a factor of 10 than from car crashes, 7 for drug-related deaths and 52 for murders, and yet awareness seems to be lacking in local government. We conducted an ...
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Article
Open AccessA decade of commitment to hospital quality of care: overview of and perceptions on multicomponent quality improvement policies involving accreditation, public reporting, inspection and pay-for-performance
Quality improvement (QI) initiatives such as accreditation, public reporting, inspection and pay-for-performance are increasingly being implemented globally. In Flanders, Belgium, a government policy for acute...
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Article
Open AccessLower iodine storage in the placenta is associated with gestational diabetes mellitus
The micronutrient iodine is essential for a healthy intrauterine environment and is required for optimal fetal growth and neurodevelopment. Evidence linking urinary iodine concentrations, which mainly reflects...
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Article
Open AccessDNA methylation of insulin-like growth factor 2 and H19 cluster in cord blood and prenatal air pollution exposure to fine particulate matter
The IGF2 (insulin-like growth factor 2) and H19 gene cluster plays an important role during pregnancy as it promotes both foetal and placental growth. We investigated the association between cord blood DNA methyl...
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Open AccessDeterminants of placental iodine concentrations in a mild-to-moderate iodine-deficient population: an ENVIRONAGE cohort study
Iodine is an essential trace element for the production of thyroid hormones, and plays a key role during the gestational period for optimal foetal growth and (neuro-)development. To this day, iodine deficiency...
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Article
Pre-admission air pollution exposure prolongs the duration of ventilation in intensive care patients
Air pollutant exposure constitutes a serious risk factor for the emergence or aggravation of (existing) pulmonary disease. The impact of pre-intensive care ambient air pollutant exposure on the duration of art...
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Article
Open AccessSex-specific associations between telomere length and candidate miRNA expression in placenta
In the early-life environment, proper development of the placenta is essential for both fetal and maternal health. Telomere length at birth has been related to life expectancy. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) as potential ...
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Article
Open AccessRetinal microcirculation and leukocyte telomere length in the general population
Retinal arteriolar narrowing increases with age and predict adverse cardiovascular outcomes. Telomere length keeps track of the division of somatic cells and is a biomarker of biological age. We investigated t...
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Open AccessAuthor Correction: Mother’s Pre-pregnancy BMI and Placental Candidate miRNAs: Findings from the ENVIRONAGE Birth Cohort
A correction to this article has been published and is linked from the HTML and PDF versions of this paper. The error has not been fixed in the paper.
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Open AccessRelationships between aeroallergen levels and hospital admissions for asthma in the Brussels-Capital Region: a daily time series analysis
Outdoor pollen grain and fungal spore concentrations have been associated with severe asthma exacerbations at the population level. The specific impact of each taxon and the concomitant effect of air pollution...
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Does air pollution trigger suicide? A case-crossover analysis of suicide deaths over the life span
In addition to underlying health disorders and socio-economic or community factors, air pollution may trigger suicide mortality. This study evaluates the association between short-term variation in air polluti...
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Open AccessMother’s Pre-pregnancy BMI and Placental Candidate miRNAs: Findings from the ENVIRONAGE Birth Cohort
There is increasing evidence that the predisposition for development of chronic diseases arises at the earliest times of life. In this context, maternal pre-pregnancy weight might modify fetal metabolism and t...
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Open AccessShort-term air pollution exposure decreases lung function: a repeated measures study in healthy adults
Daily changes in ambient concentrations of particulate matter, nitrogen oxides and ozone are associated with increased cardiopulmonary morbidity and mortality, with the lungs and their function being a vulnera...
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Open AccessDairy cattle mortality as a sensitive warning system for the effects of high and low ambient temperature on human health
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Open AccessHealth benefits of smoke-free legislation in early and in later life
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Open AccessCattle mortality as a sentinel for the effects of ambient air pollution on human health
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Open AccessHost and environmental predictors of exhaled breath temperature in the elderly
Exhaled breath temperature has been suggested as a new method to detect and monitor pathological processes in the respiratory system. The putative mechanism of this approach is based upon changes in the blood ...
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Article
Open AccessValidity of parent-reported weight and height of preschool children measured at home or estimated without home measurement: a validation study
Parental reports are often used in large-scale surveys to assess children's body mass index (BMI). Therefore, it is important to know to what extent these parental reports are valid and whether it makes a diff...
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Gender gaps in life expectancy and expected years with activity limitations at age 50 in the European Union: associations with macro-level structural indicators
Women generally live longer than men, but women’s longer lives are not necessarily healthy lives. The aim of this article is to describe the pattern of gender differences in expected years with and without act...
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Monitoring of all-cause mortality in Belgium (Be-MOMO): a new and automated system for the early detection and quantification of the mortality impact of public health events
Be-MOMO is the monitoring of all-cause death registry data in Belgium. The new methods are described and the detection and quantification of outbreaks is presented for the period April 2006–March 2007. Sensiti...
