Background Prognosis research is on the rise, its importance recognised because chronic health conditions and diseases are increasingly common and costly. Prognosis systematic reviews are needed to collate and synthesise these research findings, especially to help inform effective clinical decision-making and healthcare policy. A detailed, comprehensive search strategy is central to any systema...

Regulatory engagement theory [Higgins, E. T. (2006). Value from hedonic experience and engagement. Psychological Review, 113, 439–460.] proposes that value is a motivational force of attraction to or repulsion from something, and that strength of engagement contributes to value intensity independent of hedonic and other sources of value direction. This paper reviews different sources of engagem...

Syndromal classification is a well-developed diagnostic system but has failed to deliver on its promise of the identification of functional pathological processes. Functional analysis is tightly connected to treatment but has failed to develop testable. replicable classification systems. Functional diagnostic dimensions are suggested as a way to develop the functional classification approach, a...

The gustatory system develops in utero and is influenced by the amniotic environment resulting from the mother’s diet during pregnancy. Prenatal exposure to high levels of fat and salt can predispose the offspring to have a preference for those tastants. However, the resulting preference for fatty and salty foods can exacerbate the development and progression of high-risk health conditions. Thi...