Physical control and coordination in childhood and adult obesity: longitudinal birth cohort study

Objective To identify whether measures of childhood physical control and coordination as markers of neurological function are associated with obesity in adults

Assessing Trustworthy AI in times of COVID-19. Deep Learning for predicting a multi-regional score conveying the degree of lung compromise in COVID-19 patients

Abstract—The paper's main contributions are twofold: to demonstrate how to apply the general European Union’s High-Level Expert Group’s (EU HLEG) guidelines for trustworthy AI in practice for the domain of healthcare; and to investigate the research question of what does “trustworthy AI” mean at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. To this end, we present the results of a post-hoc self-assessment to evaluate the trustworthiness of an AI system for predicting a multi-regional score conveying the degree of lung compromise in COVID-19 patients, developed and verified by an interdisciplinary team with members from academia, public hospitals, and industry in time of pandemic. The AI system aims to help radiologists to estimate and communicate the severity of damage in a patient’s lung from Chest X-rays. It has been experimentally deployed in the radiology department of the ASST Spedali Civili clinic in Brescia (Italy) since December 2020 during pandemic time. The methodology we have applied for our post-hoc assessment, called Z-Inspection®, uses socio-technical scenarios to identify ethical, technical and domain-specific issues in the use of the AI system in the context of the pandemic.</p

On Assessing Trustworthy AI in Healthcare. Machine Learning as a Supportive Tool to Recognize Cardiac Arrest in Emergency Calls

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to greatly improve the delivery of healthcare and other services that advance population health and wellbeing. However, the use of AI in healthcare also brings potential risks that may cause unintended harm. To guide future developments in AI, the High-Level Expert Group on AI set up by the European Commission (EC), recently published ethics guidelines for what it terms “trustworthy” AI. These guidelines are aimed at a variety of stakeholders, especially guiding practitioners toward more ethical and more robust applications of AI. In line with efforts of the EC, AI ethics scholarship focuses increasingly on converting abstract principles into actionable recommendations. However, the interpretation, relevance, and implementation of trustworthy AI depend on the domain and the context in which the AI system is used. The main contribution of this paper is to demonstrate how to use the general AI HLEG trustworthy AI guidelines in practice in the healthcare domain. To this end, we present a best practice of assessing the use of machine learning as a supportive tool to recognize cardiac arrest in emergency calls. The AI system under assessment is currently in use in the city of Copenhagen in Denmark. The assessment is accomplished by an independent team composed of philosophers, policy makers, social scientists, technical, legal, and medical experts. By leveraging an interdisciplinary team, we aim to expose the complex trade-offs and the necessity for such thorough human review when tackling socio-technical applications of AI in healthcare. For the assessment, we use a process to assess trustworthy AI, called 1Z-Inspection® to identify specific challenges and potential ethical trade-offs when we consider AI in practice.</jats:p

Self-perceived Psychological Health and Vascular Changes in Childhood

Self-perceived Psychological Health and Vascular Changes in Childhood AKADEMISK AVHANDLING som för avläggande av medicine doktorsexamen vid Sahlgrenska akademin vid Göteborgs universitet kommer att offentligen försvaras i hörsal Arvid Carlsson, Academicum, Medicinaregatan 3, Göteborg Onsdagen den 13 juni 2007 kl 13.00 av Walter Osika Leg. läkare Fakultetsopponent: Professor Thöres Theorell Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm This thesis is based on the following papers: I. Osika W, Friberg P, Währborg P. A new short self-completion questionnaire to assess stress in children. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine. In press. II. Osika W, Dangardt F, Grönros J, Lundstam U, Myredal A, Johansson M, Volkmann R, Gustavsson T, Gan LM, Friberg P. Increasing peripheral artery intima thickness from childhood to seniority. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2007;3:671-6. III. Osika W, Dangardt F, Montgomery SM, Volkmann R, Gan LM, Friberg P. Gender differences in peripheral artery intima, media and and intima media thickness in childhood and adolescence. Manuscript. IV. Osika W, Montgomery SM, Dangardt F, Währborg P, Volkmann R, Tideman E, Friberg P. Anger, Depression and Anxiety associated with endothelial function in childhood and adolescence. Manuscript. Self-perceived Psychological Health and Vascular Changes in Childhood Walter Osika Department of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy at Göteborg University, Göteborg, Sweden. Thesis defended June 13, 2007. Abstract There is strong evidence that cardiovascular disease (CVD) has its origin in childhood, and that childhood cardiovascular risk factors and various other forms of adversity track into adulthood. Poorer psychological health and psychosocial factors are associated with CVD in adults, and this association is also likely to have its origins in childhood. There are no well-established validated questionnaires specifically designed to measure stress in childhood and adolescence. Currently available methods to study early atherosclerotic changes in vascular wall layers are restricted to relatively crude measurements because of low resolution. Measuring the various vessel wall layers separately will facilitate the study of early atherosclerotic changes. The overall aim of this thesis was to develop non-invasive techniques which make it possible to detect early changes in vascular wall structures in a healthy, young population and to study associations of vascular wall structure and function with self-perceived psychological health. Our hypothesis was that psychological health, particularly “stress”, is associated with endocrine measures of stress system activation and with endothelial function, and that sex differences in vascular wall function and structure already exist among the young. A self-assessment questionnaire designed to measure perceived stress in children (SiC) was constructed. Cronbach’s α for the entire SiC questionnaire was 0.86, and higher stress scores were associated with higher morning saliva cortisol levels in girls. The recently introduced Beck Youth Inventories (BYI) of Emotional and Social Impairment were also associated with saliva cortisol levels in girls. The new very high resolution ultrasound system (55 MHz, Visualsonics) was validated in vitro and in humans. The resolution of ~25 μm made it possible to study the intima separately from the media. Greater intima thickness (IT) in the radial artery was seen in boys compared with girls (0.057 ±0.010 vs. 0.054 ±0.008, p=0.007). IT also increased with age (10-17 vs 60-90 years, 0.049±0.008 to 0.081±0.019 mm), and was thicker in peripheral artery disease patients compared with healthy controls (0.089±0.017 vs. 0.074±0.011 mm; P=0.05) and in the dorsal pedal artery (0.074±0.030 mm) compared with the radial artery IT (0.064±0.019 mm; P=0.007). A total of 248 children (age 14.5±1.0 years, 136 girls, 112 boys) underwent reactive hyperemia peripheral arterial tonometry (RH-PAT) testing, a measure of endothelial function predictive of cardiovascular disease in adults. Information on self-assessed psychological health was also collected for these subjects. No sex differences were observed for the RH-PAT score (1.82±0.55). Girls had higher scores for depression, anger and anxiety, and they showed statistically significant associations between lower RH-PAT values and higher scores for anger, depression and anxiety. Among boys, disruptive behaviour was associated with higher RH-PAT scores indicating better endothelial function. In conclusion, identifying early changes in both vascular function and psychological health in childhood demands high quality sensitive methods. Self–perceived psychological health was associated with endothelial function; and there were sex differences in structural vascular changes. These findings in childhood underline the importance of adopting a broad perspective on childhood and adolescence health to reduce adult CVD risk. Key words: CVD, intima thickness, endothelial function, RH-PAT, stress, childhood, cortisol. ISBN 978-91-628-7212-0

Cultivating the Interpersonal Domain: Compassion in the Supervisor-Doctoral Student Relationship

The long-term and complex supervisor-doctoral student relationship is often characterised by tension and frictions. In higher education research, models, and interventions that take the potential beneficial interpersonal effects of compassion into account seem to be scarce. Hence, the aim of this study was to conceptualise the potential role compassion could have in the cultivation of an affiliative and sustainable supervisor-doctoral student relationship. The concept of compassion was investigated and analysed in relation to a contemporary model of supervisor behaviours. Furthermore, a systematic literature search in the scientific databases PubMed, PsychInfo, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar was performed. The conceptual analysis revealed that the interpersonal domain, in which compassion could afford a shared sense of warmth, is neglected in previous definitions. Furthermore, the integration of compassion into a model of adaptive supervisor behaviour indicates a strong case for a salutary role for compassion in the supervisor-doctoral student relationship. However, the literature review showed that empirical data are lacking, and more studies are needed. The role of compassion deserves to be investigated empirically in this particular interpersonal context

Economic disadvantage modifies the association of height with low mood in the US, 2004: The disappointment paradox

Introduction Taller stature is associated with greater health potential reflected by reduced risks for coronary heart disease (CHD) and depression. Previous studies demonstrated that the reduced CHD and depression risks associated with tall stature were eliminated by financial disadvantage in adult life.Hypothesis The reduced risk of depression, defined as low mood, associated with taller stature is eliminated by adult financial adversity. This study also attempts to replicate earlier findings, that the reduced risk of CHD associated with taller stature is eliminated by adult financial adversity.Methods The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System is an ongoing survey of the adult population of the US conducted by state health departments and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, providing a representative sample of 45,210 adults resident in USA in 2004 with data on low mood and CHD. Low mood was defined by self-reported low mood for more than 15 days in the previous month and CHD by a diagnosis of angina or coronary heart disease. Short stature was defined as the lower 20% of sex-standardised heights and economic disadvantage as household income below $15,000 per annum.Results Tall stature was associated with a statistically significant reduced risk for low mood in the entire population. After stratification by economic disadvantage, taller individuals in the higher income stratum maintained a statistically significant reduced risk of low mood, with an odds ratio (and 95% confidence interval) of 0.90 (0.90, 0.91) after adjustment for potential confounding factors and application of the survey weighting. In contrast, taller stature represented a raised risk for low mood in the lower income stratum, with a statistically significant odds ratio of 1.27 (1.26, 1.28) with weighting. This effect modification was confirmed by interaction testing, producing an odds ratio for interaction of 1.39 (1.37, 1.39; p 

“It is more important than food sometimes”; Meanings and Functions of Music in the Lives of Autistic Adults Through a Hermeneutic-phenomenological Lens

Subjective experiences of autistic adults remain under-researched, especially in the field of art. To learn more about their uses and functions of music, we interviewed 13 autistic adults and, through a hermeneutic-phenomenological analysis, found four overarching themes: Well-being, Identity and self-development, Connectedness, and Negative experiences. Findings show a broad and deep meaning of music in their lives, spanning from seemingly trivial functions such as making chores more enjoyable to existential questions such as choosing to stay alive. We discuss the often-overlooked negative effects or experiences of music, noting that positive and negative effects must always be addressed together if we are to use music to lower stress and support well-being

Man's best friend(s): Effects of a brief befriending meditation on human-animal relations.

In two studies using samples representative of the US adult population with regard to age, sex and ethnicity, we investigated relationships between loving-kindness and compassion-based practices with speciesism, animal solidarity and desire to help animals. In a cross-sectional study (Study 1, N = 2,822), results showed that past 30 days practice and estimated lifetime number of hours of lovingkindness or compassion meditation were associated with more animal solidarity and greater desire to help animals. Past 30 days practice was also associated with less speciesism, but only when adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics. In an experimental study (Study 2, N = 1,102), results showed that participants randomized to a befriending meditation (a practice similar to loving-kindness and compassion meditation) condition scored higher on animal solidarity and desire to help animals than participants randomized to a control condition. No significant difference was observed on speciesism, but mediation analyses suggested that effects on all three outcomes were mediated through perceived commonality with animals

Contemplative Inquiry in Movement: Managing Writer´s Block in Academic Writing

This exploratory study stems from a meditation exercise in contemplative inquiry with transdisciplinary researchers. A master’s student with writers block was asked to perform body movements reflecting a thesis writing process over time. An interview with a phenomenological hermeneutic method was used to uncover the significance of the student’s experience during the exercise, including bodily sensations, feelings, and thoughts. New embodied knowledge helped the student to enable identification and acceptance of both adverse and blocking information. By systematically using a “thinking in movement” approach after applying body movements, new self-confidence was generated in the writing process. The interpretation of the study is called the “Contemplation in Movement” (CIM), and is considered as a rite of passage. Due to the use of CIM as a rite of passage, the following processes occurred: acceptance, identification of emotions/inner space, body/mind expansion, body memories, bodily metaphors, and symbols. This study suggests that non-verbal ways of learning can be applied in research writing. The conclusion is that embodied knowledge after contemplative inquiry with body movements may be helpful both in student supervision and in the research writing process to move through obstacles in the academic writing process