Characterization of Resting-State Functional Connectivity Changes in Hypertension by a Modified Difference Degree Test.

Hypertension affects over a billion people worldwide, and the application of neuroimaging may elucidate changes brought about by the disease. We have applied a graph theory approach to examine the organizational differences in resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data between hypertensive and normotensive participants. To detect these groupwise differences, we performed statistical testing using a modified difference degree test (DDT).

Exercise effects on arterial stiffness and heart health in children with excess weight: The SMART RCT.

Introduction: Childhood obesity and inactivity are associated with cardiovascular risk. Evidence is limited for exercise effects on arterial health in children.

Methods: One hundred and seventy-five inactive children with overweight or obesity (8-11 years, ≥85th percentile BMI, 61% female, 87% Black, 73% with obesity) were randomized to an 8-month daily after-school aerobic exercise program (40 min/day, n = 90) or a sedentary control condition (n = 85).

Exercise effects on quality of life, mood, and self-worth in overweight children: the SMART randomized controlled trial.

Overweight children are at risk for poor quality of life (QOL), depression, self-worth, and behavior problems. Exercise trials with children have shown improved mood and self-worth. Few studies utilized an attention control condition, QOL outcomes, or a follow-up evaluation after the intervention ends.

Inactive Matrix Gla Protein, Arterial Stiffness, and Endothelial Function in African American Hemodialysis Patients.

Background: Matrix Gla protein (MGP) is a vascular calcification inhibitor dependent upon vitamin K for activation. Evidence suggests that elevated plasma inactive MGP levels (desphospho-uncarboxylated MGP, dp-ucMGP; indicating poorer vascular vitamin K status) are associated with greater cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Despite African Americans experiencing highest rates of kidney failure and CVD events, relationships between dp-ucMGP and CVD risk markers have not been examined in this population.

Fitness, Sleep-Disordered Breathing, Symptoms of Depression, and Cognition in Inactive Overweight Children: Mediation Models.

Objectives: We used mediation models to examine the mechanisms underlying the relationships among physical fitness, sleep-disordered breathing (SDB), symptoms of depression, and cognitive functioning.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional secondary analysis of the cohorts involved in the 2003-2006 project PLAY (a trial of the effects of aerobic exercise on health and cognition) and the 2008-2011 SMART study (a trial of the effects of exercise on cognition). A total of 397 inactive overweight children aged 7-11 received a fitness test, standardized cognitive test (Cognitive Assessment System, yielding Planning, Attention, Simultaneous, Successive, and Full Scale scores), and depression questionnaire.

Phylloquinone Intake Is Associated with Cardiac Structure and Function in Adolescents.

Background: Associations between childhood vitamin K consumption and cardiac structure and function have not been investigated.

Objective: We determined associations between phylloquinone (vitamin K-1) intake and left ventricular (LV) structure and function in adolescents.

Methods: We assessed diet with three to seven 24-h recalls and physical activity (PA) by accelerometry in 766 adolescents (aged 14-18 y, 50% female, 49% black).

Physical Activity Interventions for Neurocognitive and Academic Performance in Overweight and Obese Youth: A Systematic Review.

This article examines cognitive, academic, and brain outcomes of physical activity in overweight or obese youth, with attention to minority youth who experience health disparities. Physically active academic lessons may have greater immediate cognitive and academic benefits among overweight and obese children than normal-weight children. Quasi-experimental studies testing physical activity programs in overweight and obese youth show promise; a few randomized controlled trials including African Americans show efficacy.

Passive Smoke Exposure and Its Effects on Cognition, Sleep, and Health Outcomes in Overweight and Obese Children.

Background: Passive smoke exposure (PSE) may be a risk factor for childhood overweight and obesity and is associated with worse neurocognitive development, cognition, and sleep in children. The purpose of the study is to examine the effects of PSE on adiposity, cognition, and sleep in overweight and obese children using an objective measure of PSE.

Methods: Overweight or obese children (n = 222) aged 7-11 (9.

Antisaccade-related brain activation in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder--A pilot study.

While antisaccade paradigms invoke circuitry associated with cognitive control and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), there is a dearth of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) investigations using antisaccade tasks among children with ADHD. Neural correlates associated with antisaccade performance were examined with fMRI in 11 children with ADHD (10 medicated) matched to 11 typically developing children. Significantly greater brain activation in regions in right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and caudate nucleus was observed in children with ADHD relative to the control group.