Physical activity levels in 10- to 11-year-olds: clustering of psychosocial correlates.

Objectives: To evaluate gender differences for levels of physical activity, for sedentary behaviour and for psychosocial correlates in children, to evaluate whether psychosocial correlates cluster in meaningful ways and to examine whether physical activity and sedentary behaviour differ between children of clusters, differentiated by the level of perceived barriers and benefits, attitudes, social support and self-efficacy.

Design: Cross-sectional study using the Flemish Physical Activity Questionnaire.

Setting: Questionnaires to be filled out by the children and one of their parents, contacted through the school system.

High level of correlation of human papillomavirus-16 DNA viral load estimates generated by three real-time PCR assays applied on genital specimens.

Human papillomavirus-16 (HPV-16) viral load could be a biomarker predictive of the presence of high-grade cervical lesions. Recently, several real-time PCR assays have been developed to accurately measure HPV-16 viral load. However, results from various reports using these assays cannot be compared because interassay test correlation has not been documented.

Physical activity and psychosocial correlates in normal weight and overweight 11 to 19 year olds.

Objective: This study examined differences in (1) psychosocial correlates of physical activity and in (2) physical activity within different contexts and sedentary behaviors between normal weight and overweight adolescents. It further explored whether the prediction of physical activity by the psychosocial correlates is different in normal weight and overweight adolescents.

Research Methods And Procedure: A community sample of 6078 11 to 19 year olds from 38 secondary schools, which were randomly selected throughout the country, completed a validated computerized questionnaire about physical activity, sedentary behaviors, and psychosocial correlates.

High levels of HPV-16 DNA are associated with high-grade cervical lesions in women at risk or infected with HIV.

Objective: To examine associations between levels of episomal and integrated human papillomavirus (HPV) 16 DNA and the grade of cervical disease.

Design: Cross-sectional data were obtained from a cohort of women with and without HIV infection and with high-risk sexual behaviour.

Methods: Episomal and integrated HPV-16 DNA loads were measured in cervicovaginal lavages collected from 75 women (58 HIV seropositive, 17 HIV seronegative) using real-time polymerase chain reaction assays, controlling for cell content and the presence of inhibitors.

How to assess physical activity? How to assess physical fitness?

Regular aerobic physical activity (PA) increases exercise capacity and physical fitness (PF), which can lead to many health benefits. Accurate quantification of PA and PF becomes essential in terms of health outcome and effectiveness of intervention programmes. In this manuscript we present a review regarding the assessment of physical activity and fitness.

Adolescent growth spurts in female gymnasts.

Objectives: Three questions were addressed: (1) Do female gymnasts have adolescent growth spurts in height, sitting height, and leg length? (2) Are the sequence and magnitude of spurts comparable with female adolescent non-athletes? (3) How do the data compare with other female gymnasts and with short girls?

Study Design: Height and sitting height were measured annually on 15 Belgian gymnasts from 8.7 +/- 1.5 to 15.

The tie effect in simple arithmetic: an access-based account.

Simple arithmetic problems with repeated operands (i.e., ties such as 4 + 4, 6 x 6, 10 - 5, or 49 / 7) are solved more quickly and accurately than similar nontie problems (e.

Stages of change for physical activity in a community sample of adolescents.

The aims of the present study were to investigate (1) the proportion of adolescents in each of the stages of change, (2) the differences in psychosocial factors and in physical activity between the stages, and (3) the classification accuracy using several reference criteria. A random sample of 38 schools from the Flemish community in Belgium resulted in a sample of 5931 adolescents (mean age=14.8, range 12-18, 61% females).

Adolescent correlates of adult physical activity: a 26-year follow-up.

Purpose: It is hypothesized that adolescent physical activity, fitness, anthropometric dimensions, fatness, biological maturity, and family characteristics contribute to the variation in physical activity at 40 yr of age, and that these associations vary with age.

Methods: Subjects were 166 males followed from 1969 to 1996, between the ages of 14 and 40 yr from the Leuven Longitudinal Study on Lifestyle, Fitness and Health. Sports participation, fitness, anthropometric dimensions, fatness, and biological maturity were observed during the growth period.

Skeletal maturity and socio-economic status in Portuguese children and youths: the Madeira growth study.

Background: Skeletal maturity is used to evaluate biological maturity status. Information about the association between socio-economic status (SES) and skeletal maturity is limited in Portugal.

Aims: The aim of this study is to document the skeletal maturity of youths in Madeira and to evaluate variation in maturity associated with SES.

Human papillomavirus type 16 viral load is higher in human immunodeficiency virus-seropositive women with high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions than in those with normal cytology smears.

Human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV-16) viral load in cervicovaginal lavage samples collected from 66 human immunodeficiency virus-seropositive women was inversely correlated with blood CD4 count (P = 0.002). HPV-16 viral load was 81-fold higher in women with cervical smears suggestive of high-grade lesions (median, 4,425,883 copies/ micro g of DNA) than in women with normal smears (median, 54,576), controlling for age (P = 0.

Spondylodiscitis due to Aerococcus urinae: a first report.

Aerococcus urinae is an uncommon urinary tract pathogen which causes infections predominantly in elderly persons with local and general predisposing conditions. There are few case reports of severe infections caused by Aerococcus urinae among which only 14 cases of endocarditis caused by Aerococcus urinae have been reported. We report the first case of Aerococcus urinae spondylodiscitis.

Prevalence of selective inhibition of HPV-16 DNA amplification in cervicovaginal lavages.

HPV-16 viral load has been assessed with real-time PCR assays by measuring HPV-16 DNA and a human gene in genital samples. HPV-16 viral load measurements are thus based on the inference that inhibitors contained in samples will equally impede amplification of DNA sequences from HPV-16 and human DNA. We have previously shown that sample lysates can inhibit amplification of HPV-16 but not beta-globin DNA.

Real-time PCR assays using internal controls for quantitation of HPV-16 and beta-globin DNA in cervicovaginal lavages.

High-risk human papillomavirus 16 (HPV-16) DNA viral load has been measured with real-time PCR assays by amplifying HPV-16 and a human gene. However, these assays have not used internal controls (ICs) to screen for the presence of inhibitors contained in samples. To quantitate HPV-16 DNA and cell content with real-time PCR, ICs for HPV-16 DNA and beta-globin were synthesised and used to control for inhibition.

Influence of participation in high-impact sports during adolescence and adulthood on bone mineral density in middle-aged men: a 27-year follow-up study.

This study examined whether participation in high-impact sports during adolescence and adulthood contributes to bone health in males aged 40 years. Data were analyzed on 154 Belgian men aged 13 years at study onset in 1969 and aged 40 years at the end of the 27-year follow-up. In a second analysis, subjects were divided into three groups according to their sports participation history: participation during adolescence and adulthood in high-impact sports (HH; n=18), participation during adolescence in high-impact sports and during adulthood in nonimpact sports or no sports (HN; n=15), and participation during adolescence and adulthood in nonimpact sports or no sports (NN; n=14).

Phonological and visual working memory in mental addition.

The goal of the present research was to examine the role of working memory in mental arithmetic. Adults (n = 96) solved multidigit arithmetic problems (e.g.

Doing as they are told and telling it like it is: self-reports in mental arithmetic.

Adults (n=64) solved single-digit multiplication problems under both speed and accuracy instructions. Half also provided self-reports of their solutions to the problems. The participants with relatively low levels of arithmetic fluency were most influenced by instructional requirements.

Modeling stability and change in strength development: a study in adolescent boys.

The purpose of this study was to investigate stability and change in different expressions of strength development in adolescent boys using structural equation modeling. Three models were used: Markov simplex to study stability or tracking, Wiener or random walk to investigate fanning-out or spread effects in change, and latent growth to study differences in individual pathways of change as well as group changes. In the Leuven Growth Study, 588 male subjects were followed for 6 years with a mean age of 12.

Effects of problem format on division and multiplication performance: division facts are mediated via multiplication-based representations.

In 2 experiments participants solved division problems presented in multiplication-based formats (e.g., 8 x _ = 72) more quickly than division problems presented in division-based formats (e.

Age at menarche in relation to anthropometric characteristics, competition level and boat category in elite junior rowers.

Background: Within the context of the effects of training for sports on growth and maturation, there is very little menarcheal data for elite rowing athletes. Knowledge of the relationship of the maturational status with training level, different boat categories, and somatic features of the athletes will clarify the assumed impact of rowing training on the growth and maturational process of youngsters.

Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the age at menarche in world top junior rowing athletes and to investigate its relationship with anthropometric characteristics, and competition level, rowing style and boat category.

Physical fitness and physical activity in obese and nonobese Flemish youth.

Objective: To assess different aspects of physical fitness and physical activity in obese and nonobese Flemish youth.

Research Methods And Procedures: A random sample of 3214 Flemish schoolchildren was selected and divided into an "obese" and "nonobese" group based on body mass index and sum of skinfolds. Physical fitness was assessed by the European physical fitness test battery.

A single mutation in the activation site of bovine trypsinogen enhances its accumulation in the fermentation broth of the yeast Pichia pastoris.

We produced bovine trypsinogen in the yeast Pichia pastoris. Little or no trypsinogen was detected when the gene with its native leader sequence was expressed under the control of the strong aox1 promoter, suggesting that expression of the wild-type bovine trypsinogen was toxic to the cells. We altered the trypsinogen native propeptide sequence by replacing the lysine at position 6 with an aspartic acid, thus destroying the site in the propeptide cleaved by enterokinase and by trypsin.