Only 18% of the Dutch population watches TV commercials. This means more than 80% does not watch them and zaps to another channel or walks away from the television. In general TV commercials are evaluated to be an irritating interruption during a program or movie that is broadcasted. Research shows that …

Probiotic bacteria harbor effector molecules that confer health benefits, but also adaptation factors that enable them to persist in the gastrointestinal tract of the consumer. To study these adaptation factors, an antibiotic-resistant derivative of the probiotic model organism Lactobacillus plantarum …

BACKGROUND On the psychiatric department of the Zaans Medisch Centrum, respiration and relaxation is offered as PMT- activity. However, patients who suffer from psychotic symptoms are not allowed to participate, despite the fact that multiple researches have proven these exercises can be beneficial for …

Background: Endothelial dysfunction is a marker of early stages of atherosclerosis and in general of cardiovascular disease. Assessing the endothelium can be achieved non-invasively, using the flow-mediated dilatation technique. Method: For the experiment 21 patients with an inactive cardiovascular …

The purpose of the present case control study was to assess parental satisfaction with speech and facial appearance in Ugandan children with complete unilateral or bilateral cleft lip and palate (CLP), who underwent a synchronous lip and palatal closure. The results are compared with an age- and gender-matched …

Purpose: The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of a Self-Management Program for workers with a chronic disease. This program is based on the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program of Stanford University, modified for workers with a chronic somatic disease. Methods: In a randomized …

The Internet offers many opportunities to provide parenting support. An overview of empirical studies in this domain is lacking, and little is known about the design of web based parenting resources and their evaluations, raising questions about its position in the context of parenting intervention programs. …

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of training with the Wii-balance board on balance and balance-related skills of children with poor motor performance. Twenty-nine children (23 boys, 6 girls; aged 7–12 years) participated in this study and were randomly assigned to an experimental …

BACKGROUND: Depression in later life is a common mental disorder with a prevalence rate of between 3% and 35% for minor depression and approximately 2% for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). The most common treatment modalities for MDD are antidepressant medication and psychological interventions. Recently, …

BACKGROUND: T lymphocytes are orchestrators of adaptive immunity. Naïve T cells may differentiate into Th1, Th2, Th17 or iTreg phenotypes, depending on environmental co-stimulatory signals. To identify genes and pathways involved in differentiation of Jurkat T cells towards Th1 and Th2 subtypes we performed …