Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A systematic review and meta‐analysis estimating the population prevalence of comorbidities in children and adolescents aged 5 to 18 years

Evidence for the health impact of obesity has largely focussed on adults. We estimated the population prevalence and prevalence ratio of obesity‐associated comorbidities in children and adolescents aged 5 to 18 years. Five databases were searched from inception to 14 January 2018. Population‐based observational studies reporting comorbidity prevalence by weight category (healthy weight/overweight/obese) in children and adolescents aged 5 to 18 years from any country were eligible. Comorbidity prevalence, stratified by weight category, was extracted and prevalence ratios (relative to healthy weight) estimated using random effects meta‐analyses. Of 9183 abstracts, 52 eligible studies (1 553 683 participants) reported prevalence of eight comorbidities or risk markers including diabetes and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Evidence for psychological comorbidities was lacking. Meta‐analyses suggested prevalence ratio for prediabetes (fasting glucose ≥ 100 mg/dL) for those with obesity relative to those of a healthy weight was 1.4 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.2‐1.6) and for NAFLD 26.1 (9.4‐72.3). In the general population, children and adolescents with overweight/obesity have a higher prevalence of comorbidities relative to those of a healthy weight. This review provides clinicians with information when assessing children and researchers a foundation upon which to build a comprehensive dataset to understand the health consequences of childhood obesity.
Social context moderates the effects of quest for significance on violent extremism.

Quest for significance theory (Kruglanski et al., 2013; Kruglanski, Jasko, Chernikova, Dugas, & Webber 2017) states that extreme behavior for an ideological cause is more likely under psychological conditions that induce a search for significance and social recognition. Two forms of motivation for significance have been identified; the quest for individual significance rooted in personal experiences and the quest for collective significance rooted in the perception that one's social group is humiliated and/or disrespected. Whereas past research has demonstrated associations between both forms of quest for significance and political extremism, there is little understanding of the conditions that moderate those effects. In the present study, we tested the moderating role of belonging to radical versus nonradical social context. Four studies were conducted in three different cultural settings: Sri Lanka (Study 1, n = 335), Morocco (Study 2, n = 260), and Indonesia (Study 3, n = 379 and Study 4, n = 334). Each study compared the responses from participants residing in social contexts that were more or less radical. Radical social contexts were identified based either on participants' belonging to known extremist organizations (Studies 1, 3, and 4) or residence within a locale that is a known hotbed for recruitment into terrorist organizations (Study 2). Across studies, we found evidence that radical social contexts strengthen the link between quest for significance-particularly collective significance-and support for political violence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
Single and population coding of taste in the gustatory-cortex of awake mice

Electrophysiological analysis has reveals much about the broad coding and neural ensemble dynamics that characterize gustatory cortical (GC) taste processing in awake rats, and about how these dynamics relate to behavior. With regard to mice, meanwhile, data concerning cortical taste coding have largely been restricted to imaging—a technique that reveals average levels of neural responsiveness, but that (currently) lacks the temporal sensitivity necessary for evaluation of fast response dynamics; furthermore, the few extant studies have thus far failed to provide consensus on basic features of coding. We have recorded the spiking activity of ensembles of GC neurons while presenting representatives of the basic taste modalities (sweet, salty, sour and bitter) to awake mice. Our first central result is the identification of similarities between rat and mouse taste processing: most mouse GC neurons (~66%) responded distinctly to multiple (3-4) tastes; temporal coding analyses further reveal, for the first time, that single mouse GC neurons sequentially code taste identity and palatability—the latter responses emerging ~0.5s after the former—with whole GC ensembles transitioning suddenly and coherently from coding taste identity to coding taste palatability. The second finding is that spatial location plays very little role in any aspect of taste responses—neither between- (anterior-posterior) nor within-mouse (dorsal-ventral) mapping revealed anatomical regions with narrow or temporally simple taste responses. These data confirm recent results showing that mouse cortical taste responses are not “gustatopic,” but also go beyond these imaging results to show that mice process tastes through time.
Symptom Clusters and Health-related Quality of Life in Chinese patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

This study aimed to identify symptom clusters of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and to examine the relationship between symptom clusters and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). It included 154 hospitalized patients with COPD. The majority of the participants (88.6%) were aged 60 years and above, and the numbers of men and women were approximately equal (men: 55.2%). The Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale (MSAS), and the Chinese version of the Clinical COPD Questionnaire (CCQ) were used to evaluate comorbidity, participant’s symptoms, and HRQoL, respectively. Five symptom clusters were identified using exploratory factor analysis, and symptom clusters, especially the Psychological, Pain and Fatigue, GI, and Dyspnea-Sweat symptom clusters, had negative effects on HRQoL in patients with COPD. Understanding the patterns and occurrences of symptom clusters could be essential for developing effective interventions to manage COPD symptoms and improve the patients’ HRQoL.
Biomarkers associated with idiopathic frozen shoulder: a systematic review

ABSTRACT Background: The pathophysiology of idiopathic frozen shoulder (FS) remains poorly described. There is a lack of differentiation between idiopathic and secondary cause. The aim of this systematic review was to summarize the evidence regarding the pathophysiology of idiopathic FS on a molecular level and emphasize the clinical relevance. Methods: A database search of Medline, EMBASE and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials from inception to April 2018 was performed. Participants who underwent previous injections or surgeries were excluded. A thorough selection and quality assessment process using the Cochrane Risk of Bias assessment tool and the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklist was conducted by two reviewers independently. Results: A total of 15 studies analyzing 333 study subjects were included. Twelve studies evaluated capsular tissue and three studies investigated blood samples. The tissue samples revealed increased expression of various inflammatory cytokines including interleukins, cyclooxygenase and tumor necrosis factor. Several types of acid-sensing ion channels (ASIC1 and ASIC3) were associated with disturbed neurogenesis and melatonin-regulated pain mechanism. The blood samples showed prevalence of specific interleukin and metalloproteinase genotypes. A decreased matrix metalloproteinase/tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase ratio was found both in tissue and blood. Conclusion: The findings indicate an abnormal local neurogenesis with possible regulation through melatonin. The disturbance in remodeling of the extracellular matrix and in collagen translation, together with a persistent inflammation and an impaired healing, all interact in the process that leads to persistent fibrosis. There is global fibroplasia with localized anterior capsule contracture.
Optoacoustic image formation approaches—a clinical perspective

Clinical translation of optoacoustic imaging is fostered by the rapid technical advances in imaging performance as well as the growing number of clinicians recognizing the immense diagnostic potential of this technology. Clinical optoacoustic systems are available in multiple configurations, including hand-held and endoscopic probes as well as raster-scan approaches. The hardware design must be adapted to the accessible portion of the imaged region and other application-specific requirements pertaining the achievable depth, field of view or spatio-temporal resolution. Equally important is the adequate choice of the signal and image processing approach, which is largely responsible for the resulting imaging performance. Thus, new image reconstruction algorithms are constantly evolving in parallel to the newly-developed set-ups. This review focuses on recent progress on optoacoustic image formation algorithms and processing methods in the clinical setting. Major reconstruction challenges include real-time image rendering in two and three dimensions, efficient hybridization with other imaging modalitites as well as accurate interpretation and quantification of bio-markers, herein discussed in the context of ongoing progress in clinical translation.
Indonesian Private University Lecturer Performance Improvement Model to Improve a Sustainable Organization Performance.

Lecturer performance is related to the quality of educators that are owned by a university. Poor performance will affect the quality and carrying capacity of the sustainability of an organization, in this case the university. There are many models developed to measure the performance of teachers, but not much to discuss the influence of faculty performance itself towards sustainability of an organization that houses the professor. This study was conducted in an attempt to measure the performance of lecturers to support the sustainability of the university. A faculty performance assessment model is developed to see whether the performance of lecturers affect the sustainability of the university. The method used is descriptive and verification of data sample of 275 private university lecturers in Banten Province. Application of Structural Equation Model (SEM) was used to test the model and estimate hypothesis using LISREL Results showed that leadership, motivation, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment affect positively and significantly to the performance of lecturers either partially or together with a contribution of 84%. The perception of organizational commitment variable was high which is good. In addition, responsibility for the improvement of organizational performance based on indicators of commitment to the organization ranked highest score of the respondent's perception. This showed that the lecturers were highly committed to the organization which is a great asset in the process of sustainability of an organization. In addition to the score of a continuing commitment to the organization shows lecturers should continue to be fostered in order to maintain the quality of organizational performance. This study shows that the performance of lecturers can support the sustainability of the organization
Feeding-Related Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices among Grandparents in Singapore

Childhood obesity is a growing concern worldwide. Though multifactorial, the family environment exerts significant influence on children’s eating habits. Grandparents are increasingly involved as caregivers and they can significantly influence their grandchildren’s eating habits. Yet, literature on this topic is lacking. This exploratory sequential mixed methods study (qualitative interview and interviewer-administered questionnaire) aims to understand grandparents’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices on the feeding of their grandchildren in Singapore. A total of 11 interview participants and 396 questionnaire respondents with at least one grandchild, aged 12 years and below were included. Qualitative interviews informed the questionnaire development. Responses to interview questions about knowledge, attitudes, and practices revealed sub-themes such as knowledge on the impact of feeding, attitude toward feeding role, and challenges to feeding. Of the 396 participants, 35% were primary caregivers (defined as the person who spends the most time with the grandchild and performs most of the caregiving tasks). Nutritional knowledge was fair (median score 5/8), with misconceptions centered around healthy feeding practices. Grandparents who were primary caregivers, female, Malay, and younger than 70 years old believed that they played an important role in feeding their grandchild (p < 0.05). Overall, 47.2% of the grandparents rarely or never set a maximum limit on the amount of unhealthy food eaten, of which 77.1% are non-primary caregivers. In comparison, primary caregivers tend to set a maximum limit to the amount of unhealthy food their grandchildren eat and choose a wide variety of food (p < 0.05). These findings support the need for further improvement of grandparents’ feeding knowledge and practices as part of tackling childhood obesity.
Filling in the gaps: The interpretation of curricula vitae in peer review

In this article, we study the use of curricula vitae (CV) for competitive funding decisions in science. The typically sober administrative style of academic résumés evokes the impression of straightforwardly conveyed, objective evidence on which to base comparisons of past achievements and future potentials. We instead conceptualize the evaluation of biographical evidence as a generative interplay between an historically grown, administrative infrastructure (the CV), and a situated evaluative practice in which the representational function of that infrastructure is itself interpreted and established. The use of CVs in peer review can be seen as a doubly comparative practice, where referees compare not only applicants (among each other or to an imagined ideal of excellence), but also their own experience-based understanding of practice and the conceptual assumptions that underpin CV categories. Empirically, we add to existing literature on peer review by drawing attention to self-correcting mechanisms in the reproduction of the scientific workforce. Conceptually, we distinguish three modalities of how the doubly comparative use of CVs can shape the assessment of applicants: calibration, branching out, and repair. The outcome of this reflexive work should not be seen as predetermined by situational pressures. In fact, bibliographic categories such as authorship of publications or performance metrics may themselves come to be problematized and reshaped in the process.
Profiling of mRNA of interstitial fibrosis and tubular atrophy with subclinical inflammation in recipients after kidney transplantation

Interstitial fibrosis and tubular atrophy (IFTA) with inflammation (IFTA-I) is strongly correlated with kidney allograft failure. Diagnosis of IFTA-I accurately and early is critical to prevent graft failure and improve graft survival. In the current study, through analyzing the renal allograft biopsy in patients with stable function after kidney transplantation (STA), IFTA and IFTA-I group with semi-supervised principal components methods, we found that CD2, IL7R, CCL5 based signature could not only distinguish STA and IFTA-I well, but predict IFTA-I with a high degree of accuracy with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.91 (P = 0.00023). Additionally, IRF8 demonstrated significant differences among STA, IFTA and IFTA-I groups, suggesting that IRF8 had the capacity to discriminate the different classifications of graft biopsies well. Also, with Kaplan-Meier and log-rank methods, we found that IRF8 could serve as the prognostic marker for renal graft failure in those biopsies without rejection (AUC = 0.75) and the recipients expressing high had a higher risk for renal graft loss (P < 0.0001). This research may provide new targets for therapeutic prevention and intervention for post-transplantation IFTA with or with inflammation.
Neurodevelopmental and Metabolomic Responses from Prenatal Co-Exposure to Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS) and Methylmercury (MeHg) in Sprague-Dawley Rats.

Methylmercury (MeHg) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) are major contaminants of human blood that are both common in dietary fish, thereby raising questions about their combined impact on human development. Here, pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats ingested a daily dose, from gestational day 1 through to weaning, of either 1 mg/kg bw PFOS (PFOS-only), 1 mg/kg MeHg (MeHg-only), a mixture of 0.1 mg/kg PFOS and 1 mg/kg MeHg (Low-Mix), or of 1 mg/kg of PFOS and 1 mg/kg MeHg (High-Mix). Newborns were monitored for physical milestones and reflexive developmental responses, and in juveniles the spontaneous activity, anxiety, memory and cognition were assessed. Targeted metabolomics of 199 analytes was applied to sectioned brain regions of juvenile offspring. Newborns in the High-Mix group had decreased weight gain, as well as delayed reflexes and innate behavioural responses compared to controls and individual chemical groups indicating a toxicological interaction on early development. In juveniles, cumulative mixture effects increased in a dose-dependent manner in tests of anxiety-like behaviour. However, other developmental test results suggested antagonism, as PFOS-only and MeHg-only juveniles had increased hyperactivity and thigmotaxic behaviour, respectively, but fewer effects in Low-Mix and High-Mix groups. Consistent with these behavioural observations, a pattern of antagonism was also observed in neurochemicals measured in rat cortex, as PFOS-only and MeHg-only juveniles had altered concentrations of metabolites (e.g. lipids, amino acids, and biogenic amines), while no changes were evident in the combined exposures. The cortical metabolites altered in PFOS-only and MeHg-only exposed groups are involved in inhibitory and excitatory neurotransmission. These proof-of-principle findings at relatively high doses indicate the potential for toxicological interaction between PFOS and MeHg, with developmental-stage specific effects. Future mixture studies at lower doses are warranted, and prospective human birth cohorts should consider possible confounding effects from PFOS and mercury exposure on neurodevelopment.
Human vestibulo-ocular reflex adaptation is frequency-selective.

The vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) is the only system that maintains stable vision during rapid head rotations. The VOR gain (eye/head velocity) can be trained to increase using a vestibular-visual mismatch stimulus. We sought to determine whether low-frequency (sinusoidal) head rotation during training leads to changes in the VOR during high-frequency head rotation testing, where the VOR is more physiologically relevant. We tested 8 normal subjects over 3 sessions. For training protocol 1, subjects performed active sinusoidal head rotations at 1.3Hz while tracking a laser target whose velocity incrementally increased relative to head velocity so that the VOR gain required to stabilize the target went from 1.1 to 2 over 15 minutes. Protocol 2 was the same as protocol 1 except that head rotations were at 0.5 Hz. For protocol 3, head rotation frequency incrementally increased from 0.5 to 2Hz over 15 minutes, while the VOR gain required to stabilize the target was kept at 2. We measured the active and passive, sinusoidal (1.3Hz) and head impulse, VOR gains before and after each protocol. Sinusoidal and head impulse VOR gains increased due to protocols 1 and 3; however, although the sinusoidal VOR gain increase was ~20%, the related head impulse gain increase was only ~10%. Protocol 2 resulted in no gain adaptation. This data shows human VOR adaptation is frequency-selective, suggesting that if one seeks to increase the higher frequency VOR response, i.e. where it is physiologically most relevant, then higher frequency head movements are required during training, e.g. head impulses.
The effects of body armour on the power development and agility of police officers

Abstract A study was conducted in which 11 police officers wore one of three different types of Individual Light Armour Vests (ILAV), or normal station wear, for an entire day while completing power and agility-based tasks including a vertical jump (VJ), agility test, 20 m sprint and counter movement jump (CMJ). Despite all three ILAVs being significantly (p < .05) heavier than normal station wear, there were no significant differences between any of the ILAVs in VJ, time to complete the agility test, 20 m sprint time, peak force, velocity, power and jump distance in the CMJ. There was a significantly (p < .05) higher mean force produced in the CMJ while wearing all three ILAVs. The ILAV’s investigated do not appear to be heavy enough to significantly affect the power or agility of police officers. The utilisation of ILAVs by police officers does not appear to hinder policing tasks that involve agility or power development. Practitioner summary: The addition of the extra load of military-styled body armour is known to decrease performance and mobility. When compared to normal station wear, the wearing of three different ILAV types used in policing do not appear to be heavy enough to affect the power or agility of police officers. Abbreviations: ILAV: individual light armour vest; VJ: vertical jump; CMJ: counter movement jump; N: normal station wear