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Weight Data (weight + data)
Selected AbstractsMaternal exposure to first-trimester sunshine is associated with increased birth weight in human infantsDEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOBIOLOGY, Issue 4 2004Karen Tustin Abstract Two alternative hypotheses have been generated to account for seasonal variation in the birth weight of human infants born in industrialized countries. First, it has been hypothesized that low ambient temperature during the second trimester of gestation decreases birth weight. Second, it has been hypothesized that exposure to bright sunshine during the first trimester increases birth weight. We tested these two hypotheses to determine which, if either, accounted for seasonal variation in birth weight of full-term infants. Birth weight data, collected over a 5-year period, were analyzed as a function of peak and trough sunshine and ambient temperature. Although there was no effect of ambient temperature during any trimester on birth weight, infants whose mothers were exposed to peak sunshine during their first trimester were born significantly heavier than infants whose mothers experienced trough levels of sunshine during the same trimester. Furthermore, infants whose mothers were exposed to trough levels of sunshine during their second and third trimesters were born significantly heavier than infants whose mothers were exposed to peak levels of sunshine during the same trimesters. We hypothesize that high levels of sunshine during early gestation may increase the level of insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1, facilitating prenatal growth. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 45: 221,230, 2004. [source] Wasted fishery resources: discarded by-catch in the USAFISH AND FISHERIES, Issue 4 2005Jennie M Harrington Abstract Fishery by-catch, especially discarded by-catch, is a serious problem in the world's oceans. Not only are the stocks of discarded species affected, but entire trophic webs and habitats may be disrupted at the ecosystem level. This paper reviews discarding in the marine fisheries of the USA; however, the type, diversity and regulatory mechanisms of the fisheries are similar to developed fisheries and management programmes throughout the world. We have compiled current estimates of discarded by-catch for each major marine fishery in the USA using estimates from existing literature, both published and unpublished. We did not re-estimate discards or discard rates from raw data, nor did we include data on protected species (turtles, mammals and birds) and so this study covers discarded by-catch of finfish and fishable invertebrates. For some fisheries, additional calculations were required to transform number data into weight data, and typically length and weight composition data were used. Specific data for each fishery are referenced in Harrington et al. (Wasted Resources: Bycatch and discards in US Fisheries, Oceana, Washington, DC, 2005). Overall, our compiled estimates are that 1.06 million tonnes of fish were discarded and 3.7 million tonnes of fish were landed in USA marine fisheries in 2002. This amounts to a nationwide discard to landings ratio of 0.28, amongst the highest in the world. Regionally, the southeast had the largest discard to landings ratio (0.59), followed closely by the highly migratory species fisheries (0.52) and the northeast fisheries (0.49). The Alaskan and west coast fisheries had the lowest ratios (0.12 and 0.15 respectively). Shrimp fisheries in the southeast were the major contributors to the high discard rate in that region, with discard ratios of 4.56 (Gulf of Mexico) and 2.95 (South Atlantic). By-catch and discarding is a major component of the impact of fisheries on marine ecosystems. There have been substantial efforts to reduce by-catch in some fisheries, but broadly based programmes covering all fisheries are needed within the USA and around the world. In response to international agreements to improve fishery management, by-catch and discard reduction must become a regular part of fishery management planning. [source] Accuracy of self-reported weight and height: Relationship with eating psychopathology among young womenINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EATING DISORDERS, Issue 4 2009Caroline Meyer PhD Abstract Objective: Self-reported height and weight data are commonly reported within eating disorders research. The aims of this study are to demonstrate the accuracy of self-reported height and weight and to determine whether that accuracy is associated with levels of eating psychopathology among a group of young nonclinical women. Method: One hundred and four women were asked to report their own height and weight. They then completed the Eating Disorders Examination-Questionnaire. Finally, they were weighed and their height was measured in a standardized manner. Accuracy scores for height and weight were calculated by subtracting their actual weight and height from their self-reports. Results: Overall, the women overestimated their heights and underestimated their weights, leading to significant errors in body mass index where self-report is used. Those women with high eating concerns were likely to overestimate their weight, whereas those with high weight concerns were more likely to underestimate it. Discussion: These data show that self-reports of height and weight are inaccurate in a way that skews any research that depends on them. The errors are influenced by eating psychopathology. These findings highlight the importance of obtaining objective height and weight data, particularly when comparing those data with those of patients with eating disorders. © 2008 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 2009 [source] Rheological study of ternary mixtures and pectic gels of red fruit pulpsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, Issue 6 2007Charles Windson Isidoro Haminiuk Summary In this work, the rheological behaviour of ternary mixtures of strawberry, blackberry and raspberry pulps in steady shear was studied using the response surface methodology. In addition, the rheology of pectic gels extracted from these pulps was investigated by means of oscillatory shear tests. The flow curves were adequately described by the rheological model of Herschel,Bulkley. All the formulations analysed exhibited shear-thinning behaviour. The rheological responses were influenced by the difference in pulp proportions and also by the temperatures (20 and 60 °C). The quadratic and cubic models used to fit the response were considered suitable owing to the higher values of determination coefficient (R2). The pectic gels from strawberry, blackberry and raspberry showed a strong gel character, with strawberry presenting the stronger gel, which was confirmed by the Cox,Merz experiment, degree of esterification and average molecular weight data. [source] Menstrual age,dependent systematic error in sonographic fetal weight estimation: A mathematical modelJOURNAL OF CLINICAL ULTRASOUND, Issue 3 2002Max Mongelli MD Abstract Purpose We used computer modeling techniques to evaluate the accuracy of different types of sonographic formulas for estimating fetal weight across the full range of clinically important menstrual ages. Methods Input data for the computer modeling techniques were derived from published British standards for normal distributions of sonographic biometric growth parameters and their correlation coefficients; these standards had been derived from fetal populations whose ages were determined using sonography. The accuracy of each of 10 formulas for estimating fetal weight was calculated by comparing the weight estimates obtained with these formulas in simulated populations with the weight estimates expected from birth weight data, from 24 weeks' menstrual age to term. Preterm weights were estimated by interpolation from term birth weights using sonographic growth curves. With an ideal formula, the median weight estimates at term should not differ from the population birth weight median. Results The simulated output sonographic values closely matched those of the original population. The accuracy of the fetal weight estimation differed by menstrual age and between various formulas. Most methods tended to overestimate fetal weight at term. Shepard's formula progressively overestimated weights from about 2% at 32 weeks to more than 15% at term. The accuracy of Combs's and Shinozuka's volumetric formulas varied least by menstrual age. Hadlock's formula underestimated preterm fetal weight by up to 7% and overestimated fetal weight at term by up to 5%. Conclusions The accuracy of sonographic fetal weight estimation based on volumetric formulas is more consistent across menstrual ages than are other methods. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Ultrasound 30:139,144, 2002; DOI 10.1002/jcu.10051 [source] Body weight distributions of European HymenopteraOIKOS, Issue 3 2006Werner Ulrich Species number,body weight distributions are generally thought to be skewed to the right. Hence it is assumed that the number of relatively small species is larger than the number of relatively large species. While this pattern is well documented in vertebrates, comparative studies on larger invertebrate taxa are still scarce. Here I show that the weight distributions of European Hymenoptera (based on 12,601 species body weight data compiled from major catalogues) do not exhibit a general trend towards right skewed species,body weight distributions. Skewness did not depend on the number of species per taxon. Species richness peaked at intermediate body weights irrespective of taxonomic level. Kernel density analysis revealed that hymenopteran taxa had between one and four peaks in their size distributions with larger taxa having fewer peaks. Within genus variability in body weight was allometrically related to mean body weight (,2=,1.81) in line with a proportional rescaling pattern. These results call for a rethinking about the generality of current vertebrate centred models of body size evolution. [source] Pathogenicity and host-parasite relationships of the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita on celeryPLANT PATHOLOGY, Issue 5 2008N. Vovlas Pathogenicity and host-parasite relationships in root-knot disease of celery (Apium graveolens ) caused by Meloidogyne incognita race 1 were studied under glasshouse conditions. Naturally and artificially infected celery cv. D'elne plants showed severe yellowing and stunting, with heavily deformed and damaged root systems. Nematode-induced mature galls were spherical and/or ellipsoidal and commonly contained more than one female, males and egg masses with eggs. Feeding sites were characterized by the development of giant cells that contained granular cytoplasm and many hypertrophied nuclei. The cytoplasm of giant cells was aggregated along their thickened cell walls and consequently the vascular tissues within galls appeared disrupted and disorganized. The relationship between initial nematode population density (Pi) and growth of celery plants was tested in glasshouse experiments with inoculum levels that varied from 0 to 512 eggs and second-stage juveniles (J2) mL,1 soil. Seinhorst's model y = m + (1 , m)zP,T was fitted to height and top fresh weight data of the inoculated and control plants. The tolerance limit with respect to plant height and fresh top weight of celery to M. incognita race 1 was estimated as 0·15 eggs and J2 mL,1 soil. The minimum relative values (m) for plant height and top fresh weight were 0·37 and 0·35, respectively, at Pi , 16 eggs and J2 mL,1 soil. The maximum nematode reproduction rate (Pf/Pi) was 407·6 at an initial population density (Pi) of 4 eggs and J2 mL,1 soil. [source] Age-dependent quantitative trait loci affecting growth traits in Scottish Blackface sheepANIMAL GENETICS, Issue 2 2009G. Hadjipavlou Summary To dissect age-dependent quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with growth and to examine changes in QTL effects over time, the Gompertz growth model was fitted to longitudinal live weight data on 788 Scottish Blackface lambs from nine half-sib families. QTL were mapped for model parameters and weekly live weights and growth rates using microsatellite markers on chromosomes 1, 2, 3, 5, 14, 18, 20 and 21. QTL significance (using , = 0.05 chromosome-wide significance thresholds, unless otherwise stated) varied with age, and those for growth rate occurred earlier than equivalent QTL for live weight. A chromosome 20 QTL for growth rate was significant from 4 to 9 weeks (maximum significance at 6 weeks) and for maximum growth rate. For live weight, this QTL was significant from 8 to 16 weeks (maximum significance at 12 weeks). A nominally significant chromosome 14 QTL was detected for growth rates from birth to week 2 in the same families and location as an 8-week weight QTL. In addition, at the same position on chromosome 14, a QTL was significant for growth rate for 17,28 weeks (maximum significance at 24 weeks). A chromosome 3 QTL was significant for weights at early ages (birth to week 4) and a growth rate QTL on chromosome 18 was significant from 8 to 12 weeks. Fitting growth curves allowed the combination of information from multiple measurements into a few biologically meaningful variables, and the detection of growth QTL that were not observed from analyses of raw weight data. These QTL describe distinct parts of an animal's growth curve trajectory, possibly enabling manipulation of this trajectory. [source] Influence of body mass index on prostate-specific antigen failure after androgen suppression and radiation therapy for localized prostate cancerCANCER, Issue 8 2007Jason A. Efstathiou MD Abstract BACKGROUND Increasing body mass index (BMI) is associated with shorter time to prostate-specific antigen (PSA) failure after radical prostatectomy. Whether BMI is associated with time to PSA failure was investigated in men treated with androgen suppression therapy (AST) and radiation therapy (RT) for clinically localized prostate cancer. METHODS The observational prospective cohort study consisted of 102 men with clinically localized prostate cancer who received 70 Gy RT with 6 months of AST on a single arm of a randomized trial between December 1995 and April 2001. Height and weight data were available at baseline for 99 (97%) of the men, from which BMI was calculated. Adjusting for age (continuous) and known prognostic factors including PSA level (continuous), Gleason score, and T-category, Cox regression analyses were performed to analyze whether BMI (continuous) was associated with time to PSA failure (PSA >1.0 ng/mL and increasing >0.2 ng/mL on 2 consecutive visits). RESULTS Median age and median BMI (interquartile range [IQR]) at baseline was 72 (69.1,74.7) years and 27.4 (24.8,30.7) kg/m,2 respectively. In addition to an increasing PSA level (P = .006) and Gleason 8,10 cancer (P = .024), after a median follow-up (IQR) of 6.9 (5.6,8.5) years, an increasing BMI was also significantly associated with a shorter time to PSA failure (adjusted hazard ratio [HR]: 1.10; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.01,1.19; P = .026) after RT and AST. CONCLUSIONS After adjusting for known prognostic factors, baseline BMI is significantly associated with time to PSA failure after RT and AST for men with clinically localized prostate cancer. Further study is warranted to assess the impact of an increasing BMI after AST administration on PSA failure, prostate cancer-specific, and all-cause mortality. Cancer 2007. © 2007 American Cancer Society. [source] Update on risk factors and future perspectives for preterm infantsACTA OPHTHALMOLOGICA, Issue 2009A HELLSTRöM Purpose To give an update on risk factors for retinopathy of prematurity with special focus on postnatal growth and growth factors Methods The relationship between birth weight, serum levels of IGF-I as well as postnatal longitudinal growth and ROP will be presented. Preventive measures will be discussed. Results Birth weight data on 451 infants demonstrated initially a significant difference in BW between different ROP stages but when taking gestational age and sex into account the significance was eliminated. Recently, a new diagnostic tool based on weekly neonatal measurements of body weight and serum insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-I) levels, was shown to be predictive for ROP development. The algorithm "Weight IGF-I Neonatal ROP" (WINROPÔ) predicted early (mean 10 weeks) all infants who later developed proliferative ROP requiring treatment. The WINROP algorithm was then taken one step further using only serial weight measurements (n=700), excluding blood sampling for measuring IGF-I. With this approach WINROP predicted all infants who later developed proliferative ROP requiring treatment (100% sensitivity) and correctly identified 75% of those who did not develop proliferative ROP, and thus would not need any ophthalmologic screening. We have also shown a close relationship between postnatal growth, severe ROP and poor brain development. Conclusion For decades, neonatal intensive care has focused on survival of the most immature babies. Time has come to find methods to ameliorate the nutrition for the children born very preterm. It is known that IGF-I is essential for growth and development of the immature vasculature of the eye. Intervention with substitution of IGF-I to the very preterm babies to raise IGF-I up to normal intrauterine levels might be beneficial. Commercial interest [source] Is the prevalence of overweight and obesity declining among 4-year-old Swedish children?ACTA PAEDIATRICA, Issue 12 2009Erik Bergström Abstract Aim:, To investigate the trend in overweight and obesity prevalence among 4-year-old Swedish children. Methods:, Height and weight data registered at the regular health check up at the child health centres in the county of Västerbotten during the years 2007/2008 (2225 boys and 2156 girls) were analysed and compared with data from 2002/2003 (2231 boys and 2176 girls). Overweight and obesity were estimated using the International Obesity Task Force cut-off values (ISO BMI). Results:, In both boys and girls, overweight prevalence (ISO BMI > 25) decreased over the 5-year period, boys from 17.2% to 14.2% and girls from 22.3% to 19.0%. Among girls, there was also a decrease in obesity prevalence (ISO BMI > 30) from 5.7% to 3.1%. Conclusion:, The result of this study indicates that the overweight and obesity epidemic among Swedish pre-school children may be levelling off. [source] | |||||||||||||