Jewish denominations and longevity.

This study examined the relationship between affiliation with one of three denominations within Judaism representing a conservative-liberal continuum of Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform Judaism. The criterion for affiliation was burial in a cemetery maintained by these denominations. Longevities of married congregants born 1850-1910 were compared, controlling for birth year.

Hysterectomy subsequent to endometrial ablation.

Study Objective: To estimate the incidence of and factors associated with hysterectomy subsequent to endometrial ablation.

Design: Retrospective cohort study (Canadian Task Force classification II-2).

Setting: Gynecology practice.

Maternal and paternal age and twinning in the United States, 2004-2008.

Aims: To determine the effects of increasing maternal age and related maternal and possibly paternal factors.

Methods: A US database of more than 8 million births was analyzed to determine the relationships between maternal age, maternal ethnicity, marital status, maternal smoking and paternal age on twinning rates.

Results: Twinning rates increased proportionally with maternal age.

Adverse obstetric outcomes associated with sonographically identified large uterine fibroids.

Study Objective: To determine the impact of sonographically identified large uterine fibroids (>5 cm in diameter) on obstetric outcomes.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: University teaching hospital.

Facial resemblances between heterosexual, gay, and lesbian couples.

Researchers have noted a physical resemblance (homophily) between human sex partners. To date, these studies and their related interpretations have been based on heterosexual couples. The present study compared physical resemblances between gay, lesbian, and heterosexual couples, using 40 photographs of each from national newspapers, which were rated by 34 men and 56 women (M age = 53 yr.

Escitalopram treatment of menopausal hot flashes.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the effects of 10 and 20 mg/day of escitalopram on objectively recorded hot flashes and on the rectal temperature threshold for sweating.

Methods: Two studies were performed: 16 women received 10 mg/day and 26 women received 20 mg/day escitalopram for 8 weeks. They were randomly assigned in equal numbers to receive active drug or placebo in a double-blind fashion.

Heart rate variability in menopausal hot flashes during sleep.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine if heart rate variability changes during hot flashes recorded during sleep.

Methods: This study was performed in a university medical center laboratory with 16 postmenopausal women demonstrating at least four hot flashes per night. Polysomnography, heart rate, and sternal skin conductance to indicate hot flashes were recorded in controlled, laboratory conditions.

Endometrial morphology and modulation of hormone receptors during ovarian stimulation for assisted reproductive technology cycles.

Objective: To study the biochemical and morphologic implications of different hormonal levels on endometrial development during assisted reproductive technology (ART) cycles.

Design: Prospective, controlled study.

Setting: University center.

Birth month affects longevity.

The authors examined the association between birth month and longevity for major league baseball players. Players born in the month of November had the greatest longevities whereas those born in June had the shortest life spans. These differences remained after controlling for covariates such as birth year, career length, age at debut, height, and player position.

Athletes, doctors, and lawyers with first names beginning with "D" die sooner.

For many people, names have symbolic power that extends to their timing of death. This study examined the relationship between the symbolic significance of the first letters in the names of professional athletes (baseball, football, hockey, and basketball) and their longevity. A similar analysis was performed for doctors (radiologists, dermatologists, obstetricians/gynecologists) and lawyers for comparison purposes.

The widowhood effect: a comparison of Jews and Catholics.

Using mortality data derived from tombstones in two Midwestern cemeteries, we compared the "widowhood effect" (decreased survival following the death of a spouse) among Jews and Catholics. Jewish men and women were both more likely to die sooner after the death of their spouses compared to Catholic men and women. Life table survival analysis indicated that the median number of years of survival following widowhood for Catholic and Jewish men were 7.

Age heterogamy and longevity: evidence from Jewish and Christian cemeteries.

In most marriages, husbands are older than wives at the time of marriage. The extent of this age difference is referred to as age heterogamy. Studies of age heterogamous marriages have found men and women married to younger spouses live longer than those married to spouses that are the same age at time of marriage.

Mortality salience of birthdays on day of death in the Major Leagues.

The authors assessed the relationship of mortality salience, as represented by birthdays, on the day of death. Preliminary studies considered the role of possible artifacts such as seasonality of birth and death, and time units for evaluation. On the basis of terror management theory's concept of "mortality salience," the authors hypothesized that famous people, in this case Major League Baseball (MLB) players, would be more likely to die on or after their birthdays than would be expected by chance (the "birthday blues"), and that the greater their fame, as represented by induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, the greater the concentration of deaths shortly after birthdays.

Endometrial thickness dynamics and morphologic characteristics during pituitary downregulation with antagonists in assisted reproductive technology cycles.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the dynamics of endometrial stripe thickness during gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) antagonist pituitary downregulation in in vitro fertilization (IVF)/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycles are related to implantation and pregnancy outcomes.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study evaluated 115 conventional IVF/ICSI cycles. All patients underwent ovarian stimulation with gonadotropins and the GnRH antagonist ganirelix acetate.

The effect of estradiol on the expression of estrogen, progesterone, androgen, and prolactin receptors in human peritoneal fibroblasts.

Purpose: To assess the ability of fibroblasts isolated from normal peritoneum and adhesion tissues to express various hormone receptors when cultured with exogenous estradiol.

Methods: Primary cultures of fibroblasts from normal human peritoneum and adhesion tissue were treated with zero (control), 10(-10), 10(-8), and 10(-6) M concentrations of 17beta-estradiol. We performed real time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction to determine mRNA levels of estradiol-alpha receptor (ER-alpha) and estradiol-beta receptor (ER-beta), progesterone receptor (P-R), androgen receptor (A-R), and prolactin receptor (PRL-R) in the two types of fibroblast cultures.

Timing and duration of use of GnRH antagonist down-regulation for IVF/ICSI cycles have no impact on oocyte quality or pregnancy outcomes.

Purpose: To evaluate whether oocyte quality, implantation and pregnancy outcomes in in vitro fertilization (IVF)/intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) are related to the duration of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH)-antagonist use or the timing of its initiation.

Methods: Retrospective cohort study of 178 conventional IVF/ICSI cycles. All patients underwent ovarian stimulation with gonadotropins and GnRH-antagonist for pituitary down-regulation.

A relative age effect in NASCAR.

The distribution of birth months and quarterly birth months of NASCAR drivers (N = 1054) showed significant differences in quarterly birth month distributions between drivers. The highest percentage (27.1%) of drivers were born April-June.

Performance of older versus younger brothers: data from major league baseball.

Batting and pitching records and career lengths of 312 sets of brothers who became major league baseball players were compared. Older brothers at non-pitching positions (N = 262) had significantly higher batting averages and longer careers than their younger siblings. Differences for pitchers were not statistically significant.

Precocity predicts shorter life for major league baseball players: confirmation of McCann's precocity-longevity hypothesis.

We tested McCann's precocity-longevity hypothesis, which proposes that early career achievement is related to premature death, for Major League baseball players (N = 3,760). Age at debut was the definition for precocity. We controlled for possible artifacts of life expectancy selection, the "healthy worker" effect, player position, and body-mass index.

Heaping in anniversary reaction studies: a cautionary note.

Several studies have reported evidence that death is often associated with significant ceremonial events like holidays and birthdays, a phenomenon variously called the "anniversary reaction," "holiday effect," "birthday blues," etc. This article, using data from the social security death index (SSDI), shows how evidence for this phenomenon can arise from an artifact in death records called "death heaping" in which certain dates, usually the 1st or the 15th, are systematically entered for missing data. In this study, each calendar birthday for the year 2003 in the SSDI was paired with either the 14th or 15th calendar day of death.

Endometrial thickness is related to miscarriage rate, but not to the estradiol concentration, in cycles down-regulated with gonadotropin-releasing hormone antagonist.

In this retrospective cohort study of 102 ovarian stimulation cycles for IVF/intracytoplasmic sperm injection using GnRH antagonist and gonadotropins, we sought to assess the effect of high E(2) levels on endometrial stripe thickness and its association with pregnancy outcomes and serum E(2) levels. We found no significant correlation between serum E(2) levels (both peak and area under the curve E(2) concentration) and the endometrial thickness. However, there was a statistically significant inverse relationship with early pregnancy loss (31%) if the endometrial thickness was <9.

Seasonality of birth in the majors, 1880-1999.

We examined two alternative explanations, one demographic, the other sociological, for the uneven distribution of birth months of Major League baseball (MLB) players active between 1880 and 1999. Beginning in 1900, players born between August and October were significantly overrepresented, and this uneven distribution was almost identical for the next five 20-year periods. During the last 20-year period (1980-1999), the disparity in birth months became even more pronounced.

Lefties are still a little shorter.

Heights and weights of right- and left-handed major league baseball pitchers (N=5780) were analyzed, adjusted for birth year. Right-handed pitchers were about 1.6 cm taller and 1.

Symbolic significance of initials on longevity.

The longevities of deceased major league baseball players who died prior to 1950 (N=3835) and whose initials formed acronyms, words, or names with "positive" or "negative" affect, as rated a priori by two judges, were compared with those for a group of neutral controls matched for birth year and career length, using the Berkeley standardized mortality tables. Players (n=11) with positive initials, e.g.