Clustering of metabolic syndrome traits is associated with maladaptive carotid remodeling and stiffening: a 6-year longitudinal study.

Maladaptive arterial remodeling may constitute a mechanism underlying the risk of stroke in individuals with the metabolic syndrome (MetS), but evidence supporting this contention derives from cross-sectional studies only. We, therefore, investigated, in apparently healthy adults, whether changes in MetS status between the ages of 36 and 42 years (never [n=207, reference group], incident [n=31], recovery [n=23], and persistent [n=32]) were associated with changes in carotid interadventitial diameter, lumen diameter, intima-media thickness, circumferential wall tension and stress, and Young's elastic modulus. All data analyses were adjusted for sex, height, and (changes in) age, lifestyle variables, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and use of antihypertensive medication.

Cumulative low back load at work as a risk factor of low back pain: a prospective cohort study.

Purpose: Much research has been performed on physical exposures during work (e.g. lifting, trunk flexion or body vibrations) as risk factors for low back pain (LBP), however results are inconsistent.

The relationship between body composition and physical fitness in 14 year old adolescents residing within the Tlokwe local municipality, South Africa: the PAHL study.

Background: Little is known about the relationship between body composition and physical fitness in 14 year-old high school adolescents of South Africa. Baseline data from a longitudinal study on physical activity and health (PAHLS) may provide valuable information for future studies, hence to inform public health policy makers. The objectives of this study are to determine the prevalence of underweight, normal weight and overweight among adolescents aged 14 years in the Tlokwe Local Municipality of the North West Province of South Africa, and to assess the association between physical fitness and body composition separately for boys and girls, adjusted for race and locality.

Lower lifetime dietary fiber intake is associated with carotid artery stiffness: the Amsterdam Growth and Health Longitudinal Study.

Background: Fiber intake is associated with lower cardiovascular disease risk. Whether arterial stiffness is influenced by lifetime fiber intake is not known. Any such association could explain, at least in part, the cardioprotective effects attributed to fiber intake.

Missing data: a systematic review of how they are reported and handled.

Background: The objectives of this systematic review are to examine how researchers report missing data in questionnaires and to provide an overview of current methods for dealing with missing data.

Methods: We included 262 studies published in 2010 in 3 leading epidemiologic journals. Information was extracted on how missing data were reported, types of missing, and methods for dealing with missing data.

Implementing the chronic care model for frail older adults in the Netherlands: study protocol of ACT (frail older adults: care in transition).

Background: Care for older adults is facing a number of challenges: health problems are not consistently identified at a timely stage, older adults report a lack of autonomy in their care process, and care systems are often confronted with the need for better coordination between health care professionals. We aim to address these challenges by introducing the geriatric care model, based on the chronic care model, and to evaluate its effects on the quality of life of community-dwelling frail older adults.

Methods/design: In a 2-year stepped-wedge cluster randomised clinical trial with 6-monthly measurements, the chronic care model will be compared with usual care.

Cognitive decline in Parkinson's disease is associated with slowing of resting-state brain activity: a longitudinal study.

The pathophysiological mechanisms of Parkinson's disease (PD)-related dementia (PDD) are still poorly understood. Previous studies using electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) have demonstrated widespread slowing of oscillatory brain activity as a neurophysiological characteristic of PD-related dementia. Here, we use MEG to longitudinally study early changes in oscillatory brain activity in initially nondemented PD patients that may be associated with cognitive decline.

Methionine requirement of the enterally fed term infant in the first month of life in the presence of cysteine.

Background: The essential amino acid methionine can be used for protein synthesis but also serves as a precursor for homocysteine and cysteine.

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the minimal obligatory methionine requirement of infants in the presence of excess cysteine (91 mg ⋅ kg(-1) ⋅ d(-1)) by using the indicator amino acid oxidation (IAAO) method with l-[1-(13)C]phenylalanine as the indicator.

Design: Fully enterally fed term infants <1 mo of age were randomly assigned to methionine intakes that ranged from 3 to 59 mg ⋅ kg(-1) ⋅ d(-1) as part of an elemental formula.

Cohort profile: the Amsterdam Growth and Health Longitudinal Study.

The Amsterdam Growth and Health Longitudinal Study (AGHLS) is a unique, multidisciplinary cohort study that was initially set up to examine growth and health among teenagers. Throughout the years, the AGHLS has aimed to answer research questions dealing with the relationships between the (natural) development of anthropometry, lifestyle and health from adolescence into adulthood. The AGHLS specifically focuses on anthropometrics, physical activity and fitness, cardiovascular disease risk, lifestyle, musculoskeletal health, psychological health and well-being.

Lumbar bone mass predicts low back pain in males.

Study Design: Longitudinal study of lumbar bone mass as predictor of low back pain (LBP).

Objective: To investigate whether low bone mineral content (BMC) and bone mineral density (BMD) values at the age of 36 years are associated with the prevalence of LBP at the age of 42 years among the study population of the Amsterdam Growth and Health Longitudinal Study.

Summary Of Background Data: Results of epidemiological, clinical, and in vitro studies indicate that spinal injuries, caused by mechanical loading, might be a cause of LBP.

The physiological variation of the retinal nerve fiber layer thickness and macular volume in humans as assessed by spectral domain-optical coherence tomography.

Purpose: With the introduction of spectral domain-optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), changes in retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness and macular volume (MV) can be detected with high precision. The aim of this study was to determine whether there is a physiological quantifiable degree of variation of these structures in humans.

Methods: This study took place during a 10-km charity run at VU University Medical Center Amsterdam.

Is a severe clinical profile an effect modifier in a Web-based depression treatment for adults with type 1 or type 2 diabetes? Secondary analyses from a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Depression and diabetes are two highly prevalent and co-occurring health problems. Web-based, diabetes-specific cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) depression treatment is effective in diabetes patients, and has the potential to be cost effective and to have large reach. A remaining question is whether the effectiveness differs between patients with seriously impaired mental health and patients with less severe mental health problems.

Improved clinical outcome after invasive management of patients with recent myocardial infarction and proven myocardial viability: primary results of a randomized controlled trial (VIAMI-trial).

Background: Patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) not treated with primary or rescue percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) are at risk for recurrent ischemia, especially when viability in the infarct-area is present. Therefore, an invasive strategy with PCI of the infarct-related coronary artery in patients with viability would reduce the occurrence of a composite end point of death, reinfarction, or unstable angina (UA).

Methods: Patients admitted with an (sub)acute myocardial infarction, who were not treated by primary or rescue PCI, and who were stable during the first 48 hours after the acute event, were screened for the study.

Physical activity and performance at school: a systematic review of the literature including a methodological quality assessment.

Objective: To describe the prospective relationship between physical activity and academic performance.

Data Sources: Prospective studies were identified from searches in PubMed, PsycINFO, Cochrane Central, and Sportdiscus from 1990 through 2010.

Study Selection: We screened the titles and abstracts for eligibility, rated the methodological quality of the studies, and extracted data.

The relationship of body fatness and body fat distribution with microvascular recruitment: The Amsterdam Growth and Health Longitudinal Study.

Introduction: Microvascular function has been proposed to link body fatness to CVD and DM2. Current knowledge of these relationships is mainly based on studies in selected populations of extreme phenotypes. Whether these findings can be translated to the general population remains to be investigated.

The longitudinal relation between smoking and muscle strength in healthy adults.

Aim: To assess longitudinally whether smoking tobacco is related to muscle strength in healthy adults and to assess the influence of lifestyle covariates on this relation.

Methods: Data were obtained from the observational Amsterdam Growth and Health Longitudinal Study, with four repeated measurements at the ages of 21 (n = 181), 27 (n = 144), 32 (n = 426) and 36 (n = 373) years. Knee muscle strength (KMS) was measured at an angle of 300° per second.

Physical inactivity is a risk factor for physical activity-related injuries in children.

Objectives: To describe the risk factors associated with injuries resulting from physical education (PE), leisure time physical activity (leisure time PA) and sports in 9-12-year-old children.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: Primary schools.

The importance of addressing heteroscedasticity in the reliability analysis of ratio-scaled variables: an example based on walking energy-cost measurements.

Aim: When analysing the reliability of ratio-scaled variables, such as walking energy cost, variability of the error term often increases with increasing mean values. This phenomenon is called heteroscedasticity, and it makes the analysis of reliability more complicated. This study presents an examination of heteroscedasticity for walking energy cost before analysing the reliability.

Carotid stiffness in young adults: a life-course analysis of its early determinants: the Amsterdam Growth and Health Longitudinal Study.

Cardiovascular risk factors affecting arterial stiffness in adulthood may develop at different critical periods earlier in life. We examined whether the trajectories, from adolescence to young adulthood, of blood pressure, body fatness and fat distribution, blood lipids, cardiorespiratory fitness, and heart rate determined levels of arterial stiffness in young adults. We investigated 373 apparently healthy adults in whom cardiovascular risk factors were repeatedly examined between the ages of 13 and 36 years and carotid stiffness estimates were obtained at the age of 36 years.

Is the intake of sugar-containing beverages during adolescence related to adult weight status?

Objective: To investigate the relationship between the intake of sugar-containing beverages (SCB) at the age of 13 years and adult weight status 24–30 years later.

Design: A longitudinal study with 30 years of follow-up from adolescence (age 13 years in 1976) to adulthood (up to 2000 and 2006). Dietary intake was assessed through cross-check dietary history face-to-face interviews by a dietitian.

Lysine requirement of the enterally fed term infant in the first month of life.

Background: Infant nutrition has a major impact on child growth and functional development. Low and high intakes of protein or amino acids could have a detrimental effect.

Objective: The objective of the study was to determine the lysine requirement of enterally fed term neonates by using the indicator amino acid oxidation (IAAO) method.

Non-invasive viability assessment of day-4 frozen-thawed human embryos using near infrared spectroscopy.

This study investigated if metabolomic profiling of culture media using near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy was related to live-birth rates after single-embryo transfer of frozen-thawed embryos. Analysis of culture media of frozen-thawed embryos was performed by NIR spectroscopy. A viability score was calculated using a predictive multivariate algorithm of fresh day-5 embryos with known pregnancy outcomes.

DiAlert: a lifestyle education programme aimed at people with a positive family history of type 2 diabetes and overweight, study protocol of a randomised controlled trial.

Background: Family history is a known risk factor for type 2 diabetes (T2DM), and more so in the presence of overweight. This study aims to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of a new lifestyle education programme 'DiAlert' targeted at 1st degree relatives of people with T2DM and overweight. In view of the high risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease in immigrants from Turkish origin living in Western Europe, a culturally appropriate Turkish version of DiAlert will be developed and tested.

Adolescent predictors of objectively measured physical activity and sedentary behaviour at age 42: the Amsterdam Growth and Health Longitudinal Study (AGAHLS).

Background: This study investigated the associations of physical characteristics and personality in adolescence with physical activity and sedentary behaviour in adulthood.

Findings: Physical characteristics (i.e.