Obesity Is Associated with Increased 11-Oxyandrogen Serum Concentrations during Puberty.

Introduction: While the influence of various factors on classical androgen synthesis in children and adolescents and its impact on puberty has been widely investigated, there appear to be gaps and contradictory findings regarding the association of overweight and obesity with the synthesis of adrenal-derived 11-oxygenated androgen (11-OA) serum levels. With this study, we aimed to examine how overweight and obesity affect 11-OA serum levels during puberty in a large cohort of children and adolescents.

Methods: Our cohort comprised 1,054 healthy children aged 6-19 years providing serum samples at a total of 1,734 visits.

Straightforward access to biocompatible poly(2-oxazoline)-coated nanomaterials by polymerization-induced self-assembly.

We report the synthesis of poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline)-based (PEtOx) nanoobjects by polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA). First, well-defined PEtOx macromolecular chain transfer agents were synthesized by cationic ring-opening polymerization and click chemistry. The photoinitiated PISA of 2-hydroxypropyl methacrylate mediated by these PEtOx produced nanoobjects spanning the full range of core-shell morphologies.

Magnetic resonance imaging safety of the floating mass transducer.

Hypothesis: The goals of this study are to observe 1.5-T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-related changes to the Vibrant Soundbridge floating mass transducer (FMT) magnetization, function, and position in different coupling modes within the middle ear; changes to middle ear structures; and effects on the transfer function to the inner ear.

Background: The MRI safety of implantable hearing devices is important in daily routine clinical care as well as in urgent care.

Vestibular and taste disorders after bilateral cochlear implantation.

The objective of this study was to investigate the occurrence of vestibular receptor deficiency and taste disorders after bilateral cochlear implantation in postlingually deafened patients and to find out whether the risk for these complications is higher for the second implantation. In a retrospective cohort study, we examined 20 patients (11-58 years, mean age 41.5 years), implanted sequentially between 2000 and 2007 (mean period between cochlear implantation 32.

Mid- to late-Holocene El Nino-Southern Oscillation dynamics reflected in the subtropical terrestrial realm.

High resolution pollen analysis of mid- to late-Holocene peat deposits from southwest Florida reveals a stepwise increase in wetland vegetation that points to an increased precipitation-driven fresh water flow during the past 5,000 years. The tight coupling between winter precipitation patterns in Florida and the strength of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) strongly suggests that the paleo-hydrology record reflects changes in ENSO intensity. A terrestrial subtropical record outside the Indo Pacific Warm Pool both documents ecosystem response to the known onset of modern-day ENSO periodicities, between approximately 7,000 and 5,000 years B.

Stomatal frequency responses in hardwood-swamp vegetation from Florida during a 60-year continuous CO2 increase.

In a stomatal frequency analysis of leaf remains of Quercus nigra, Acer rubrum, Myrica cerifera, Ilex cassine, and Osmunda regalis that were preserved in precisely dated peat deposits of north-central Florida, the stomatal index decreased as a response to an atmospheric CO(2) increase from 310 ppmv to 370 ppmv over the past 60 years. The observations indicate that CO(2) responsiveness may occur in different canopy levels of hardwood-swamp vegetation. Apart from common woody plants, long-lived ferns of the undergrowth appear to be affected by CO(2) changes.

Stomatal frequency adjustment of four conifer species to historical changes in atmospheric CO2.

The species-specific inverse relation between atmospheric CO(2) concentration and stomatal frequency for many woody angiosperm species is being used increasingly with fossil leaves to reconstruct past atmospheric CO(2) levels. To extend our limited knowledge of the responsiveness of conifer needles to CO(2) fluctuations, the stomatal frequency response of four native North American conifer species (Tsuga heterophylla, Picea glauca, Picea mariana, and Larix laricina) to a range of historical CO(2) mixing ratios (290 to 370 ppmV) was analyzed. Because of the specific mode of leaf development and the subsequent stomatal patterning in conifer needles, the stomatal index of these species was not affected by CO(2).

Rapid atmospheric CO2 changes associated with the 8,200-years-B.P. cooling event.

By applying the inverse relation between numbers of leaf stomata and atmospheric CO2 concentration, stomatal frequency analysis of fossil birch leaves from lake deposits in Denmark reveals a century-scale CO2 change during the prominent Holocene cooling event that occurred in the North Atlantic region between 8,400 and 8,100 years B.P. In contrast to conventional CO2 reconstructions based on ice cores from Antarctica, quantification of the stomatal frequency signal corroborates a distinctive temperature-CO2 correlation.