Diabetes and disordered eating behaviours in a community-based sample of australian adolescents

Background:People with diabetes have been shown to be at risk for disordered eating compared to their non-diabetic peers. However, the majority of studies have been conducted in relatively small samples drawn from clinical diabetes settings or registries. Community-based samples are required to better understand disordered eating behaviours in this population. In a large community-based population sample of Australian adolescents, this study aimed to (1) investigate disordered eating behaviours in adolescents reporting a diagnosis of diabetes compared to their non-diabetic peers and (2) test associations between disordered eating behaviours and insulin restriction.Methods:Secondary school students (n = 4854; mean (SD) age 14.4 (1.6) years; 47% boys) completed an online survey, including self-reported presence of diabetes, demographics, weight status, substance use, insulin restriction and disordered eating behaviours. Clinically meaningful cut-offs for disordered eating behaviours were generated for analysis.Results:Disordered eating behaviours, specifically self-induced vomiting (diabetes 19.2%, no diabetes 3.3%; p p p p Conclusion:There was a high rate of disordered eating behaviours in adolescents with diabetes compared to their peers without diabetes. The findings of this study may have the potential to inform future health promotion, prevention, and early intervention approaches for those with comorbid diabetes and disordered eating behaviours. Future longitudinal studies are required to evaluate disordered eating behaviours in those with diabetes over time in community-based samples

Schrodinger cat states prepared by Bloch oscillation in a spin-dependent optical lattice

We propose to use Bloch oscillation of ultra-cold atoms in a spin-dependent optical lattice to prepare schrodinger cat states. Depending on its internal state, an atom feels different periodic potentials and thus has different energy band structures for its center-of-mass motion. Consequently, under the same gravity force, the wave packets associated with different internal states perform Bloch oscillation of different amplitudes in space and in particular they can be macroscopically displaced with respect to each other. In this way, a cat state can be prepared.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures; slightly modifie

Impact of Excess Auditor Remuneration on the Cost of Equity Capital around the World

This study examines the relation between excess auditor remuneration and the implied required rate of return (IRR hereafter) on equity capital in global markets. We conjecture that when auditor remuneration is excessively large, investors may perceive the auditor to be economically bonded to the client, leading to a lack of independence. This perceived lack of independence increases the information risk associated with the credibility of financial statements, thereby increasing IRR. Consistent with this notion, we find that IRR is increasing in excess auditor remuneration, but only in countries with stronger investor protection. Finding evidence of a relation only in stronger investor protection countries is consistent with the more prominent role of audited financial statements for investors' decisions in these countries. In settings in which investors are less likely to rely on audited financial statements and instead rely on alternative sources of information (i.e., in countries with weaker investor protection), the impact of client-auditor bonding should have less of an effect on investors' decisions.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

Experience with tacrolimus in children with steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome

Children with steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome (SRNS) are at risk of developing renal failure. We report here the results of a single-center retrospective observational study of the remission rate in pediatric patients with SNRS receiving tacrolimus. Serial renal biopsies from children on tacrolimus therapy were evaluated for tubulointerstitial fibrosis and transforming growth factor-β immunostaining. Of the 16 children with SRNS, 15 went into complete remission after a median of 120 days of therapy. Nine children were able to stop steroids, while the others were on tapering doses. Forty-seven percent had relapses, most of which were steroid-responsive. Serial renal biopsies were obtained from seven children after a median treatment duration of 24 months; two of these children had increased tubulointerstitial fibrosis and four showed increased transforming growth factor-β tissue staining. Children with worsening histological findings were younger. There was no significant association between tacrolimus exposure and biopsy changes, although the average trough level was higher in those children with worsening histological findings. In conclusion, tacrolimus may be a safe and effective alternative agent for inducing remission in children with SRNS. However, caution needs to be taken when prescribing this agent due to its narrow therapeutic index. Serial renal biopsies are necessary to check for subclinical nephrotoxicity, especially in younger children and those with higher trough levels

Reference values for serum creatinine in children younger than 1 year of age

Reliable reference values of enzymatically assayed serum creatinine categorized in small age intervals are lacking in young children. The aim of this study was to determine reference values for serum creatinine during the first year of life and study the influence of gender, weight and height on these values. Serum creatinine determinations between 2003 and 2008 were retrieved from the hospital database. Strict exclusion criteria ensured the selection of patients without kidney damage. Correlation analysis was performed to evaluate the relation between height, weight and serum creatinine; the Mann–Whitney test was used to evaluate the relation between gender and serum creatinine. A broken stick model was designed to predict normal serum creatinine values. Mean serum creatinine values were found to decrease rapidly from 55 μmol/L on day 1 to 22 μmol/L in the second month of life; they then stabilized at 20 μmol/L until the seventh month, followed by a slight increase. No significant relation was found between serum creatinine and gender, weight and height. We present here reference values of serum creatinine in infants not at risk of decreased renal function. The absence of a relationship with gender, weight and height confirms that height-based equations to estimate glomerular filtration rate are less useful in patients of this age group

Can auditors be independent? – Experimental evidence on the effects of client type

Recent regulatory initiatives stress that an independent oversight board, rather than the management board, should be the client of the auditor. In an experiment, we test whether the type of client affects auditors’ independence. Unique features of the German institutional setting enable us to realistically vary the type of auditors’ client as our treatment variable: we portray the client either as the management preferring aggressive accounting or the oversight board preferring conservative accounting. We measure auditors’ perceived client retention incentives and accountability pressure in a post-experiment questionnaire to capture potential threats to independence. We find that the type of auditors’ client affects auditors’ behaviour contingent on the degree of the perceived threats to independence. Our findings imply that both client retention incentives and accountability pressure represent distinctive threats to auditors’ independence and that the effectiveness of an oversight board in enhancing auditors’ independence depends on the underlying threat

MicroRNAs MiR-17, MiR-20a, and MiR-106b Act in Concert to Modulate E2F Activity on Cell Cycle Arrest during Neuronal Lineage Differentiation of USSC

MicroRNAs are short (∼22 nt) non-coding regulatory RNAs that control gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. Here the functional impact of microRNAs on cell cycle arrest during neuronal lineage differentiation of unrestricted somatic stem cells from human cord blood (USSC) was analyzed./M transition. Most strikingly, miR-17, -20a, and -106b were found to promote cell proliferation by increasing the intracellular activity of E2F transcription factors, despite the fact that miR-17, -20a, and -106b directly target the transcripts that encode for this protein family./S transition