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Background: Supervisor support is crucial for the successful and timely completion of the PhD and the largest contributor to PhD students' overall job satisfaction. The COVID-19 pandemic affected PhD students' life substantially through delayed experiments, missed timelines, running out of funding, change to online team- and supervisor meetings, mandatory working from home, and social confinement., Aim: This contribution considers PhD students' satisfaction scores to reflect the extent to which PhD students felt supported by their supervisor during the COVID-19 pandemic so far and aims to investigate to what extent did PhD students' satisfaction with supervisor support changed over time., Method: It uses two longitudinal two cohorts of wave 4 to 5 of the PhD Survey at a Belgian university. These cohorts are representative of two different ways the COVID-19 pandemic might have impacted doctoral research. Cohort 1 (n = 345) includes a pre-COVID measurement (April-May 2019) and a measurement immediately after the start of the abrupt lockdown in April-May 2020. Cohort 2 (n = 349) includes the measurement at the onset of the pandemic in 2020 and after a year with continuously changing containment policies (April-May 2021). The composite measure of satisfaction with supervisor support is based on six items with high internal consistency., Results: No significant net effect of time was revealed. Instead within subject interactions with time showed that in cohort 1, PhD students at the start of their PhD trajectory and PhD students with family responsibilities reported lower supervisor satisfaction scores over time. In cohort 2, PhD students not pursuing academic careers reported lower satisfaction scores over time., Conclusion: In times of crises, special attention needs to be paid to PhD students who are extra susceptible to uncertainties because of their junior status or personal situation, and especially those PhD students for whom doctoral research is not a trajectory to position themselves in academia., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Background: Globally, the International Classification of Activities for Time-Use Statistics (ICATUS) is one of the most widely used time-use classifications to identify time spent in various activities. Comprehensive 24-h activities that can be extracted from ICATUS provide possible implications for the use of time-use data in relation to activity-health associations; however, these activities are not classified in a way that makes such analysis feasible. This study, therefore, aimed to develop criteria for classifying ICATUS activities into sleep, sedentary behaviour (SB), light physical activity (LPA), and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), based on expert assessment., Method: We classified activities from the Trial ICATUS 2005 and final ICATUS 2016. One author assigned METs and codes for wakefulness status and posture, to all subclass activities in the Trial ICATUS 2005. Once coded, one author matched the most detailed level of activities from the ICATUS 2016 with the corresponding activities in the Trial ICATUS 2005, where applicable. The assessment and harmonisation of each ICATUS activity were reviewed independently and anonymously by four experts, as part of a Delphi process. Given a large number of ICATUS activities, four separate Delphi panels were formed for this purpose. A series of Delphi survey rounds were repeated until a consensus among all experts was reached., Results: Consensus about harmonisation and classification of ICATUS activities was reached by the third round of the Delphi survey in all four panels. A total of 542 activities were classified into sleep, SB, LPA, and MVPA categories. Of these, 390 activities were from the Trial ICATUS 2005 and 152 activities were from the final ICATUS 2016. The majority of ICATUS 2016 activities were harmonised into the ICATUS activity groups (n = 143)., Conclusions: Based on expert consensus, we developed a classification system that enables ICATUS-based time-use data to be classified into sleep, SB, LPA, and MVPA categories. Adoption and consistent use of this classification system will facilitate standardisation of time-use data processing for the purpose of sleep, SB and physical activity research, and improve between-study comparability. Future studies should test the applicability of the classification system by applying it to empirical data.

Background: Regular physical activity decreases the risk for numerous non-communicable diseases. The World Health Organization has suggested physical activity (PA) guidelines that, based on previous research, would provide health benefits to those who comply. The first guideline for health benefits suggests 150 min of moderate PA or equivalent per week. The guideline for additional health benefits suggests 300 min of PA or equivalent per week. The objective of this paper is to analyze to what extent these two WHO PA guidelines for adults are met in the Belgian region of Flanders. Furthermore, we are interested to see which groups are more or less likely to meet the PA guidelines., Methods: Crosstables and logistic regressions are used on a sample of 3028 adults in the Belgian region of Flanders. All respondents filled in a 7-day time-diary in which they continuously recorded all their activities., Results: Firstly, men are more likely than women to comply to both PA guidelines. Secondly, living with a partner increases the odds to comply to the guidelines. For men, this is the case for both guidelines, while for women, this only applies to the first guideline. Thirdly, women with a young child have lower odds to comply to the guidelines, while having a young child doesn't have an effect for men., Conclusion: Previous research on meeting PA guidelines in Flanders shows diverging results. Time-diary data allows researchers to strictly follow the WHO definition when operationalizing compliance to PA guidelines. There is a need for future research that combines time-diaries with a PA questionnaire and accelerometer data to gain more insights on the benefits and pitfalls of both methodologies., Competing Interests: The Belgian Privacy Commission gave permission for the time-use data collection (RR 65/2012). Participants were fully informed about the study in the invitation letter.Not applicableThe authors declare that they have no competing interests.Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0173349.].

Aim: To investigate growth patterns and anthropometrics in former extremely low birth weight (ELBW, <1000 g) children and link these outcomes to neurocognition and body composition in childhood., Methods: ELBW children were examined at birth (n = 140), at 9 and 24 months (n≥96) and at approximately 11 years within the framework of the PREMATCH (PREMATurity as predictor children's of Cardiovascular and renal Health) case-control (n = 93-87) study. Regional growth charts were used to convert anthropometrics into Z-scores. Catch-up growth in the first two years of life was qualified as present if ΔZ-score >0.67 SDS. At 11 years, anthropometrics, neurocognitive performance, body composition, grip strength and puberty scores were assessed., Results: ELBW neonates displayed extra-uterine growth restriction with mean Z-scores for height, weight and head circumference of -0.77, -0.93 and -0.46 at birth, -1.61, -1.67 and -0.72 at 9 months, -1.22, -1.61 and -0.84 at 24 months, and -0.42, -0.49 and -1.09 at 11 years. ELBW children performed consistently worse on neurocognitive testing with an average intelligence quotient equivalent at 11 years of 92.5 (SD 13.1). Catch-up growth was not associated with neurocognitive performance. Compared to controls, ELBW cases had lower grip strength (13.6 vs. 15.9 kg) and percentage lean body weight (75.1 vs. 80.5%), but higher body fat (24.6 vs. 19.2%) and advanced puberty scores at 11 years (all P≤0.025). Catch-up growth for weight and height in the first two years of life in cases was associated with a lower percentage body fat compared to cases without catch-up growth (16.8% catch-up growth for weight vs. 25.7%, P<0.001; 20.9% catch-up for height vs. 25.8%, P = 0.049)., Conclusions: In young adolescence, former ELBW children still have difficulties to reach their target height. Compared to normal birth weight controls, ELBW adolescents show lower neurocognitive performance and grip strength and a higher percentage body fat, a potential risk factor for adverse health outcomes in adulthood. Our key finding is that catch-up growth in ELBW children in the first two years of life is associated with a lower percentage body fat and is therefore likely to be beneficial.

Low birth weight and prematurity are risk factors for hypertension in adulthood. Few studies in preterm or full-term born children reported on plasma renin activity (PRA). We tested the hypothesis that renin might modulate the incidence of hypertension associated with prematurity. We enrolled 93 prematurely born children with birth weight <1000 g and 87 healthy controls born at term, who were all examined at ≈11 years. Renal length and glomerular filtration rate derived from serum cystatin C were 0.28 cm (95% confidence interval, 0.09-0.47) and 11.5 mL/min per 1.73 m 2 (6.4-16.6) lower in cases, whereas their systolic/diastolic blood pressure (BP) was 7.5 mm Hg (4.8-10.3)/4.0 mm Hg (2.1-5.8) higher ( P <0.001 for all). The odds of having systolic prehypertension or systolic hypertension associated with extreme low birth weight were 6.43 (2.52-16.4; P <0.001) and 10.9 (2.46-48.4; P =0.002). Twenty-four hours of urinary sodium excretion was similar in cases and controls (102.1 versus 106.8 mmol; P =0.47). Sodium load per nephron was estimated as sodium excretion divided by kidney length (mmol/cm). PRA was 0.54 ng/mL per hour (0.23-0.85; P =0.001) lower in cases. PRA, systolic BP, and sodium load were available in 43 cases and 56 controls. PRA decreased with systolic BP (slope -0.022 ng/mL per hour/ - mm Hg ; P =0.048), but was unrelated to sodium load (slope +0.13 mmol/cm - mm Hg ; P =0.54). The slope of PRA on systolic BP was similar ( P =0.17) in cases and controls. In conclusion, extremely low birth weight predisposes young adolescents to low-renin hypertension, but does not affect the inverse association between PRA and BP., Clinical Trial Registration: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT02147457., (© 2017 American Heart Association, Inc.)

Background: Congenital anomalies of kidneys and urinary tract (CAKUT) are the most predominant developmental disorders comprising ∼20-30% of all anomalies identified in the prenatal period. Mutations in hepatocyte nuclear factor 1-beta (HNF-1β) involved in the development of kidneys, liver, pancreas and urogenital tract are currently the most frequent monogenetic cause of CAKUT found in 10-30% of patients depending on screening policy and study design. We aimed to validate criteria for analysis of HNF1B in a prospective cohort of paediatric and adult CAKUT patients., Methods: We included CAKUT patients diagnosed in our paediatric and adult nephrology departments from January 2010 until April 2013 based on predefined screening criteria. Subjects presenting with at least one major renal criterion or one minor renal criterion combined with one or more extra-renal criteria in the personal history or a familial history of renal or extra-renal manifestations were considered eligible., Results: We prospectively screened 205 patients and detected HNF1B mutations in 10% [n = 20, 12 children, median age 4.2 (range 0-13.1) years and 8 adults, median age 34.8 (range 16.6-62) years]. We observed that bilateral renal anomaly, renal cysts from unknown origin, a combination of two major renal anomalies and hypomagnesaemia were predictive for finding HNF1B mutations (P < 0.001; P < 0.001; P = 0.004; P = 0.008, respectively)., Conclusions: We demonstrated that HNF1B mutations are responsible for ∼10% of CAKUT cases, both in children and in adults. Based on our results we propose adapted criteria for HNF1B analysis to reduce the screening costs without missing affected patients. These criteria should be reaffirmed in a larger validation cohort., (© The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of ERA-EDTA. All rights reserved.)

In psychiatry, the social zeitgeber theory argues that social life provides important social cues that entrain circadian rhythms. Disturbance of these social cues might lead do dis-entrainment of circadian rhythms and evoke somatic symptoms that increase the risk of mood disorders. In preventing and treating patients with bipolar disorders, the Interpersonal and Social Rhythm Therapy (IPSRT) relies on the Social Rhythm Metric (SRM) to (re)establish patients' social cues and an re-entrain circadian rhythms. Since the SRM quantifies social rhythms that are derived from a patient's interaction with a social environment, this contribution (a) calculates the SRM of the social environment of a representative healthy population study (n = 1249), (b) evaluates the robustness of the SRM as a quantifier of social rhythms by matching the scores of the pilot study, revealing the near absence of variance across population characteristics and investigation months-circadian rhythms need to be entrained for every month and for everyone-and (c) examines its use in IPSRT by relating high SRM-scores to lower psychological distress (p = 0.004) and low SRM-scores to higher social and emotional dysfunction (p = 0.018).