The starting point of Hermans' research is how both children's physical play and dance improvisation by professionals can be considered somatic practices where sense-making manifests itself in and... Show moreThe starting point of Hermans' research is how both children's physical play and dance improvisation by professionals can be considered somatic practices where sense-making manifests itself in and between bodies, and through movement. Hermans makes use of the concept of ‘participatory sense-making’ (De Jaegher & Di Paolo, 2007) to understand the role of movement, and the lived experience, in the way we make sense of self, others and world. This philosophical-scientific premise is closely aligned with enactivism, a movement in cognitive science that claims that cognition is not so much an internal, mental phenomenon as it is the result of the dynamic relationship between an organism and its environment. Enactivism offers an alternative to traditional models that conceive of cognition as an internal information-processing process in which perception and action serve primarily as inputs and outputs. Body, context, and (the lived) experience thus play a crucial role in the sense-making process. Show less
Abdi, A.; Eckhardt, C.L.; Velzen, A.S. van; Vuong, C.; Coppens, M.; Castaman, G.; ... ; INSIGHT Study Grp 2021
Background Non-severe hemophilia A patients have a life-long inhibitor risk. Yet, no studies have analyzed risk factors for inhibitor development after 50 factor VIII (FVIII) exposure days (EDs).... Show moreBackground Non-severe hemophilia A patients have a life-long inhibitor risk. Yet, no studies have analyzed risk factors for inhibitor development after 50 factor VIII (FVIII) exposure days (EDs). Objectives This case-control study investigated treatment-related risk factors for inhibitor development in non-severe hemophilia A and assessed whether these risk factors were different for early versus late inhibitor development. Patients/Methods Non-severe hemophilia A patients (FVIII:C 2%-40%) were selected from the INSIGHT study. Inhibitor-positive patients were defined as early (<50 EDs) or late (>50EDs) cases and matched to 1-4 inhibitor-negative controls by year of birth, cumulative number of EDs, and center/country. We investigated treatment intensity during the last 10 EDs prior to inhibitor development. Intensive treatment was defined as: surgery, peak treatment (10 consecutive EDs), and high mean FVIII dose (>45 IU/kg/ED). Odds ratios (OR) were calculated by logistic regression. Results Of 2709 patients, we analyzed 63 early and 26 late cases and 195 and 71 respectively matched controls. Peak treatment was associated with early and late inhibitor risk (crude OR 1.8, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.0-3.4; 4.0, 95%CI 1.1-14.3). This association was slightly less pronounced after adjustment for mean FVIII dose. High mean FVIII dose was also associated with early and late inhibitor risk (crude OR 2.8, 95%CI 1.5-5.1; 4.5, 95%CI 1.2-16.6). Surgery increased inhibitor risk for early cases. This was less pronounced for late cases. Conclusions Our findings suggest that intensive FVIII treatment remains a risk factor for inhibitor development in non-severe hemophilia A after more than 50 EDs. Therefore, persistent caution is required throughout the life-time treatment course. Show less
Velzen, A.S. van; Eckhardt, C.L.; Peters, M.; Leebeek, F.W.G.; Escuriola-Ettingshausen, C.; Hermans, C.; ... ; Fijnvandraat, K. 2017
Global distributions of atmospheric ammonia (NH3) measured with satellite instruments such as the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) contain valuable information on NH3... Show moreGlobal distributions of atmospheric ammonia (NH3) measured with satellite instruments such as the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) contain valuable information on NH3 concentrations and variability in regions not yet covered by ground-based instruments. Due to their large spatial coverage and (bi-)daily overpasses, the satellite observations have the potential to increase our knowledge of the distribution of NH3 emissions and associated seasonal cycles. However the observations remain poorly validated, with only a handful of available studies often using only surface measurements without any vertical information. In this study, we present the first validation of the IASI-NH3 product using ground-based Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) observations. Using a recently developed consistent retrieval strategy, NH3 concentration profiles have been retrieved using observations from nine Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC) stations around the world between 2008 and 2015. We demonstrate the importance of strict spatiotemporal collocation criteria for the comparison. Large differences in the regression results are observed for changing intervals of spatial criteria, mostly due to terrain characteristics and the short lifetime of NH3 in the atmosphere. The seasonal variations of both datasets are consistent for most sites. Correlations are found to be high at sites in areas with considerable NH3 levels, whereas correlations are lower at sites with low atmospheric NH3 levels close to the detection limit of the IASI instrument. A combination of the observations from all sites (N-obs = 547) give a mean relative difference of -32.4 +/- (56.3) %, a correlation r of 0.8 with a slope of 0.73. These results give an improved estimate of the IASI-NH3 product performance compared to the previous upper-bound estimates (-50 to + 100 %). Show less
Velzen, A.S. van; Eckhardt, C.L.; Streefkerk, N.; Peters, M.; Astermark, J.; Brons, P.P.; ... ; INSIGHT Study Grp 2014
