Seasonal changes in weight and body composition of yak grazing on alpine-meadow grassland in the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau of China

Forty-five male yaks (born April 2001) were studied to determine how seasonal changes on the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau affected BW and body composition. Thirty yaks were weighed monthly from birth to 26 mo of age to determine seasonal changes in BW. The remaining 15 yaks were allocated randomly to five groups (three yaks per group), designated for slaughter at 13, 15, 18, 22, and 25 mo to measure seasonal effects on body chemical composition. All yaks were grazed on the alpine-meadow grassland of the plateau without any supplementation. All BW and body composition data were calculated on an individual basis. Body weight and body composition data were both compared across seven growth periods spanning 2 yr and defined by season. From April (birth) to December 2001 of the first growing season, yak BW increased (P < 0.01); however, during the subsequent cold season (December 2001 to May 2002), BW decreased (P < 0.01). The second growing season ran from May 2002 (13 mo of age) to October 2002 (18 mo of age), and the second live weight-loss season ran from October 2002 until May 2003. The weight loss experienced by yaks during the first weight loss season was 25.64% of the total weight gain in the first growing season. The weight loss experienced by yaks during the second weight-loss season was 29.73% of the total weight gain in the second growing season. Energy retention in the second growing season was 291.07 MJ, 50.8% of which was consumed during the subsequent cold season. Energy accumulation in the summer (from May to July) and fall (from July to October) of the second growing season did not differ (5.01 and 6.30 MJ/kg of EBW gain, respectively; P = 0.63). The energy mobilized during the second winter (from October 2002 to February 2003) was 16.49 MJ/kg of EBW, and in the second spring (from February to May 2003), it was 9.06 MJ/kg of EBW. These data suggest that the decrease in grazing yak BW during the first cold season is much less than during the second cold season, and that the energy content per unit of BW mobilized is greater (P = 0.02) in winter than in spring. Results from this study demonstrate highly efficient compensatory growth in grazing yaks following the first weight loss period during the first cold season. This benefit could be exploited by herders to improve yak production. Yaks may have developed a type of self-protection mechanism to overcome the long cold seasons in the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau.

Muscle function and body composition profile in adolescents withrestrictive anorexia nervosa: Does resistance training help?

The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of short-term resistance training on the body composition profile and muscle function in a group of Anorexia Nervosa restricting type (AN-R) patients. The sample consisted of AN-R female adolescents (12.8 ± 0.6 years) allocated into the control and intervention groups (n¼18 each). Body composition and relative strength were assessed at baseline, after 8 weeks and 4 weeks following the intervention. Body mass index (BMI) increased throughout the study (p = 0.011). Significant skeletal muscle mass (SMM) gains were found in the intervention group (p = 0.045, d = 0.6) that correlated to the change in BMI (r = 0.51, p < 0.031). Meanwhile, fat mass (FM) gains were significant in the control group (p = 0.047, d = 0.6) and correlated (r > 0.60) with change in BMI in both the groups. Significant relative strength increases (p < 0.001) were found in the intervention group and were sustained over time.

Nutrition, growth and body composition in preterm infants

The goal of neonatal nutrition in the preterm infant is to achieve postnatal growth and body composition approximating that of a normal fetus of the same postmenstrual age and to obtain a functional outcome comparable to infants born at term. However, in clinical practice such a pattern is seldom achieved, with growth failure and altered body composition being extensively reported. The BabyGrow preterm nutrition study was a longitudinal, prospective, observational study designed to investigate nutrition and growth in 59 preterm infants following the implementation of evidence-based nutrition guidelines in the neonatal unit at Cork University Maternity Hospital. Nutrient delivery was precisely measured during the entire hospital stay and intakes were compared with current international recommendations. Barriers to nutrient delivery were identified across the phases of nutritional support i.e. exclusive parenteral nutrition and transition (establishment of enteral feeds) phases of nutrition and nutritional strategies to optimise nutrient delivery were proposed according to these phases. Growth was measured from birth up to 2 months corrected age and body composition was assessed in terms of fat mass and lean body mass by air displacement plethysmography (PEA POD) at 34 weeks gestation, term corrected age and 2 months corrected age. Anthropometric and body composition data in the preterm cohort were compared with a term reference group from the Cork BASELINE Birth Cohort Study (n=1070) at similar time intervals. The clinical and nutritional determinants of growth and body composition during the neonatal period were reported for the first time. These data have international relevance, informing authoritative agencies developing evidence-based practice guidelines for neonatal nutritional support. In the future, the nutritional management of preterm infants may need to be individualised to consider gestational age, birth weight as well as preterm morbidity.

Nutrition, growth and body composition in infancy

This thesis is presented in two parts. Data for this research is from the Cork BASELINE (Babies after SCOPE, Evaluating Longitudinal Impact using Neurological and Nutritional Endpoints) Birth Cohort Study (n = 2137). In this prospective birth cohort study, pediatric follow-up with in-person appointments were repeated from the time of birth through to 2, 6 and 12 months, and at 2 years. Body composition was measured by air displacement plethysmography at birth and at 2 months using the PEA POD Infant Body Composition Tracking System. This thesis provides the first extensive report on the study’s 2 year assessment. In part one, the aims were to investigate potential early-life risk factors for childhood overweight and obesity, including rapid growth and body composition in infancy and umbilical cord concentrations of leptin and high molecular weight (HMW) adiponectin. This research is the first to describe rapid growth in early infancy in terms of changes in direct measures of body composition. These are also the first data to examine associations between umbilical cord leptin and HMW adiponectin concentrations and changes in fat and lean mass in early infancy. These data provide additional insight into characterising the growth trajectory in infancy and into the role of perinatal factors in determining infant growth and subsequent overweight/obesity risk. In part two of this thesis, the aims were to quantify vitamin D intake and status at 2 years and to investigate whether 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations in early pregnancy and in umbilical cord blood are associated with infant growth and body composition. There was a low prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among Irish 2 year olds (n = 742) despite a high prevalence of inadequate intakes and high latitude (51°N). Maternal 25(OH)D concentrations at 15 weeks gestation and cord 25(OH)D concentrations at delivery were not associated with infant growth or adiposity.

Walking in old age and development of metabolic syndrome: the health, aging, and body composition study.

BACKGROUND: The specific health benefits of meeting physical activity guidelines are unclear in older adults. We examined the association between meeting, not meeting, or change in status of meeting physical activity guidelines through walking and the 5-year incidence of metabolic syndrome in older adults. METHODS: A total of 1,863 Health, Aging, and Body Composition (Health ABC) Study participants aged 70-79 were followed for 5 years (1997-1998 to 2002-2003). Four walking groups were created based on self-report during years 1 and 6: Sustained low (Year 1, <150 min/week, and year 6, <150 min/week), decreased (year 1, >150 min/week, and year 6, <150 min/week), increased (year 1, <150 min/week, and year 6, >150 min/week), and sustained high (year 1, >150 min/week, and year 6, >150 min/week). Based on the Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP III) panel guidelines, the metabolic syndrome criterion was having three of five factors: Large waist circumference, elevated blood pressure, triglycerides, blood glucose, and low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels. RESULTS: Compared to the sustained low group, the sustained high group had a 39% reduction in odds of incident metabolic syndrome [adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 0.61; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.40-0.93], and a significantly lower likelihood of developing the number of metabolic syndrome risk factors that the sustained low group developed over 5 years (beta = -0.16, P = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: Meeting or exceeding the physical activity guidelines via walking significantly reduced the odds of incident metabolic syndrome and onset of new metabolic syndrome components in older adults. This protective association was found only in individuals who sustained high levels of walking for physical activity.

Body image and body satisfaction differ by race in overweight postpartum mothers.

BACKGROUND: Body image (BI) and body satisfaction may be important in understanding weight loss behaviors, particularly during the postpartum period. We assessed these constructs among African American and white overweight postpartum women. METHODS: The sample included 162 women (73 African American and 89 white) in the intervention arm 6 months into the Active Mothers Postpartum (AMP) Study, a nutritional and physical activity weight loss intervention. BIs, self-reported using the Stunkard figure rating scale, were compared assessing mean values by race. Body satisfaction was measured using body discrepancy (BD), calculated as perceived current image minus ideal image (BD<0: desire to be heavier; BD>0: desire to be lighter). BD was assessed by race for: BD(Ideal) (current image minus the ideal image) and BD(Ideal Mother) (current image minus ideal mother image). RESULTS: Compared with white women, African American women were younger and were less likely to report being married, having any college education, or residing in households with annual incomes >$30,000 (all p < 0.01). They also had a higher mean body mass index (BMI) (p = 0.04), although perceived current BI did not differ by race (p = 0.21). African Americans had higher mean ideal (p = 0.07) and ideal mother (p = 0.001) BIs compared with whites. African Americans' mean BDs (adjusting for age, BMI, education, income, marital status, and interaction terms) were significantly lower than those of whites, indicating greater body satisfaction among African Americans (BD(Ideal): 1.7 vs. 2.3, p = 0.005; BD(Ideal Mother): 1.1 vs. 1.8, p = 0.0002). CONCLUSIONS: Racial differences exist in postpartum weight, ideal images, and body satisfaction. Healthcare providers should consider tailored messaging that accounts for these racially different perceptions and factors when designing weight loss programs for overweight mothers.

I'll have what she's having: Effects of social influence and body type on the food choices of others

This research examines how the body type of consumers affects the food consumption of other consumers around them. We find that consumers anchor on the quantities others around them select but that these portions are adjusted according to the body type of the other consumer. We find that people choose a larger portion following another consumer who first selects a large quantity but that this portion is significantly smaller if the other is obese than if she is thin. We also find that the adjustment is more pronounced for consumers who are low in appearance self-esteem and that it is attenuated under cognitive load. © 2009 by Journal of Consumer Research, Inc.

Environmental hypoxia but not minor shell damage affects scope for growth and body condition in the blue mussel Mytilus edulis (L.)

The effects of short-term (7 d) exposure to environmental hypoxia (2.11 mg O-2 L-1; control: 6.96 mg O-2 L-1) and varying degrees of shell damage (1 or 2, 1 mm diameter holes; control: no holes) on respiration rate, clearance rate, ammonia excretion rate, scope for growth (SFG) and body condition index were investigated in adult blue mussels (Mytilus edulis). There was a significant hypoxia-related reduction in SFG (>6.70 to 0.92J g(-1) h(-1)) primarily due to a reduction in energy acquisition as a result of reduced clearance rates during hypoxia. Shell damage had no significant affect on any of the physiological processes measured or the SFG calculated. Body condition was unaffected by hypoxia or shell damage. In conclusion, minor physical damage to mussels had no effect on physiological energetics but environmental hypoxia compromised growth, respiration and energy acquisition presumably by reducing feeding rates.

The circle in the relationship between space and body. Photo-essay based on Isidro Blasco and the BAPNE method

This article demonstrates a visual study on the educational space in which the teaching of body percussion is carried out in universities. The methodological framework is chosen by the Visual Arts Based Educational Research, using the work of an artist as a conceptual and methodological model. The research remains notable (1) due to the theoretical reference to the BAPNE method, (2) due to the visual reference to the work of Isidro Blasco – especially with the piece “Shanghai Planet 2009” - ;(3) due to the parallelisms established between the object of study in this investigation -the spatial analysis- and the focuses of interest revealed by the art critics in relation to the work of this artist. By means of a visual speech formed with 7 photo-collages the relationship between body and educational space is visualized in the basic disposition of circular learning. The visual constructions by way of photo-collage and their aesthetic charge brings us closer to the intimacy of the educational space, in the style in which it is distributed to the students in the music classroom, the materialization of interpersonal relationships, the occupied and empty volumes.

Light-color and body-mass. The subjectivity of the Argentinean nation, according to the painting of Pío Collivadino

Pío Collivadino was a highly recognized painter in life, occupying the most important charges in the artistic field and receiving awards in his country and abroad, which turned him into an inescapable reference of young Argentinean artists who earned recognition throughout the twentieth century. Why, then, with the time, his work began to fall to the wayside? In response to this question, the present article, based on the analysis of the work of that artist, proposes to problematize the notion of subjectivity, both in its individual dimension and its national character, underlining the role that the figure of the artist meets for its formation. Developing the concepts of light-color and body-mass, from Collivadino painting, this article will attempt to explain the relation between the emergence of an Argentinean subjectivity, at the beginning of 20th century, and the art, not only at the level of the issues addressed, but, especially, taking into consideration its formal characteristics.