Childhood neglect and cognitive development in extremely low birth weight infants: A prospective study

Objective. To examine the relationship between child maltreatment and cognitive development in extremely low birth weight infants, adjusting for perinatal and parental risk factors. Methods. A total of 352 infants with birth weight of

Sonographic estimation of fetal weight in macrosomic fetuses: diabetic versus non-diabetic pregnancies

The objective of this study is to compare the accuracy of sonographic estimation of fetal weight of macrosomic babies in diabetic vs non-diabetic pregnancies. Ali babies weighing 4000 g or more at birth, and who had ultrasound scans performed within one week of delivery were included in this retrospective study. Pregnancies with diabetes mellitus were compared to those without diabetes mellitus. The mean simple error (actual birthweight - estimated fetal weight); mean standardised absolute error (absolute value of simple error (g)/actual birthweight (kg)); and the percentage of estimated birthweight falling within 15% of the actual birthweight between the two groups were compared. There were 9516 deliveries during the study period. Of this total 1211 (12.7 %) babies weighed 4000 g or more. A total of 56 non-diabetic pregnancies and 19 diabetic pregnancies were compared. The average sonographic estimation of fetal weight in diabetic pregnancies was 8 % less than the actual birthweight, compared to 0.2 % in the non-diabetic group (p < 0.01). The estimated fetal weight was within 15% of the birthweight in 74 % of the diabetic pregnancies, compared to 93 % of the non-diabetic pregnancies (p < 0.05). In the diabetic group, 26.3 % of the birthweights were underestimated by more than 15 %, compared to 5.4 % in the non-diabetic group (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the prediction accuracy of fetal weight estimation using standard formulae in macrosomic fetuses is significantly worse in diabetic pregnancies compared to non-diabetic pregnancies. When sonographic fetal weight estimation is used to influence the mode of delivery for diabetic women, a more conservative cut-off needs to be considered.

Automatic construction of explicit R matrices for the one-parameter families of irreducible typical highest weight (0(m)vertical bar alpha(n)) representations of U-q[gl(m vertical bar n)]

We detail the automatic construction of R matrices corresponding to (the tensor products of) the (O-m\alpha(n)) families of highest-weight representations of the quantum superalgebras Uq[gl(m\n)]. These representations are irreducible, contain a free complex parameter a, and are 2(mn)-dimensional. Our R matrices are actually (sparse) rank 4 tensors, containing a total of 2(4mn) components, each of which is in general an algebraic expression in the two complex variables q and a. Although the constructions are straightforward, we describe them in full here, to fill a perceived gap in the literature. As the algorithms are generally impracticable for manual calculation, we have implemented the entire process in MATHEMATICA; illustrating our results with U-q [gl(3\1)]. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.

Who does not gain weight? Prevalence and predictors of weight maintenance in young women

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prevalence and predictors of weight maintenance over time in a large sample of young Australian women. DESIGN: This population study examined baseline and 4y follow-up data from the cohort of young women participating in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health. SUBJECTS: A total of 8726 young women aged 18 - 23y at baseline. MEASURES: Height, weight and body mass index (BMI); physical activity; time spent sitting; selected eating behaviours (eg dieting, disordered eating, takeaway food consumption); cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption; parity; and socio-demographic characteristics. RESULTS: Only 44% of the women reported their BMI at follow-up to be within 5% of their baseline BMI (maintainers); 41% had gained weight and 15% had lost weight. Weight maintainers were more likely to be in managerial or professional occupations; to have never married; to be currently studying; and not to be mothers. Controlling for sociodemographic factors, weight maintainers were more likely to be in a healthy weight range at baseline, and to report that they spent less time sitting, and consumed less takeaway food, than women who gained weight. CONCLUSIONS: Fewer than half the young women in this community sample maintained their weight over this 4y period in their early twenties. Findings of widespread weight gain, particularly among those already overweight, suggest that early adulthood, which is a time of significant life changes for many women, may be an important time for implementing strategies to promote maintenance of healthy weight. Strategies which encourage decreased sitting time and less takeaway food consumption may be effective for encouraging weight maintenance at this life stage.

Dietary chromium tripicolinate supplementation reduces glucose concentrations and improves glucose tolerance in normal-weight cats

The effect of dietary chromium supplementation on glucose and insulin metabolism in healthy, non-obese cats was evaluated. Thirty-two cats were randomly divided into four groups and fed experimental diets consisting of a standard diet with 0 ppb (control), 150 ppb, 300 ppb, or 600 ppb added chromium as chromium tripicolinate. Intravenous glucose tolerance, insulin tolerance and insulin sensitivity tests with minimal model analysis were performed before and after 6 weeks of feeding the test diets. During the glucose tolerance test, glucose concentrations, area under the glucose concentration-time curve, and glucose half-life (300 ppb only), were significantly lower after the trial in cats supplemented with 300 ppb and 600 ppb chromium, compared with values before the trial. Fasting glucose concentrations measured on a different day in the biochemistry profile were also significantly lower after supplementation with 600 ppb chromium. There were no significant differences in insulin concentrations or indices in either the glucose or insulin tolerance tests following chromium supplementation, nor were there any differences between groups before or after the dietary trial. Importantly, this study has shown a small but significant, dose-dependent improvement in glucose tolerance in healthy, non-obese cats supplemented with dietary chromium. Further long-term studies are warranted to determine if the addition of chromium to feline diets is advantageous. Cats most likely to benefit are those with glucose intolerance and insulin resistance from lack of exercise, obesity and old age. Healthy cats at risk of glucose intolerance and diabetes from underlying low insulin sensitivity or genetic factors may also benefit from long-term chromium supplementation. (C) 2002 ESFM and AAFP.

Experimental study of phase equilibria in the "FeO"-ZNO-(CaO+SiO2) system with the CaO/SiO2 weight ratio of 0.71 at metallic iron saturation

The pseudoternary section FeO-ZnO-(CaO + SiO2) with a CaO/SiO2 weight ratio of 0.71 in equilibrium with metallic iron has been experimentally investigated in the temperature range from 1000 degreesC to 1300 degreesC (1273 to 1573 K). The liquidus surface in this pseudoternary. section has been determined in the composition range of 0 to 33 wt pct ZnO and 30 to 70 wt pct (CaO + SiO2)The system contains primary-phase fields of wustite (FexZn1-xO1+y), zincite (ZnzFe1-zO), fayalite (FewZn2-wSiO4), melilite (Ca2ZnuFe1-uSi2O7), and pseudowollastonite (CaSiO3). The phase equilibria involving the liquid phase and the solid solutions have also been measured.

Application of a simplified method based on regular regime approach to determine the effective moisture diffusivity of mixture of low molecular weight sugars and maltodextrin during desorption

The binary diffusivities of water in low molecular weight sugars; fructose, sucrose and a high molecular weight carbohydrate; maltodextrin (DE 11) and the effective diffusivities of water in mixtures of these sugars (sucrose, glucose, fructose) and maltodextrin (DE 11) were determined using a simplified procedure based on the Regular Regime Approach. The effective diffusivity of these mixtures exhibited both the concentration and molecular weight dependence. Surface stickiness was observed in all samples during desorption, with fructose exhibiting the highest and maltodextrin the lowest. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fruit weight and shoot diameter relationship in early ripening peaches

Data were collected in early ripening peach [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch] varieties trained to a vase system to determine if a relationship exists between fruit weight and shoot diameter. The experiment was conducted with 3 varieties at Gainesville, FL with detailed pruning and with 3 other varieties at Atapulgus, GA with minimum pruning. All the varieties were similar in fruit development period (FDP) and fruit size. The largest shoot diameter was generally found in the upper canopy in all varieties. There was no correlation between shoot diameter and fruit weight for 'TropicBeauty', 'TropicSnow' and 'UF2000' at Gainesville under detailed pruning. There was a significant (p = 0.01) correlation for 'Flordacrest' in the lower (r = 0.53) canopy and for 'White Robin' in both the upper (r = 0.38) and lower (r = 0.40) canopy at Attapulgus, GA under minimal pruning. In these situations, large stems were associated with large fruit. 'Delta', grown at Attapulgus with minimal pruning, showed no correlation between shoot diameter and fruit weight, probably because it is male sterile and produced large fruit due to a reduced crop load.

Effect of weight reduction on liver histology and biochemistry in patients with chronic hepatitis C

Background: Steatosis occurs in more than 50% of patients with chronic hepatitis C and is associated with increased hepatic fibrosis. In many of these patients the pathogenesis of steatosis appears to be the some as for patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease-that is, related to visceral adiposity and obesity. Methods: The effect of a three month weight reduction programme on liver biochemistry and metabolic parameters was examined in 19 subjects with steatosis and chronic hepatitis C. Paired liver biopsies were performed in 10 subjects, prior to and 3-6 months following the intervention, to determine the effect of weight loss on liver histology. Results: There was a mean weight loss of 5.9 (3.2) kg and a mean reduction in waist circumference of 9.0 (5.0) cm. In 16 of the 19 patients, serum alanine aminotransferase levels fell progressively with weight loss. Mean fasting insulin fell from 16 (7) to 11 (4) mmol/l (p