Role of prenatal characteristics and early growth on pubertal attainment of British girls.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to explore the influence of maternal prenatal characteristics and behaviors and of weight and BMI gain during early childhood on the timing of various puberty outcomes in girls who were enrolled in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children.

Methods: Repeated self-assessments of pubertal development were obtained from approximately 4000 girls between the ages of 8 and 14. Data on prenatal characteristics and weight at birth and 2, 9, and 20 months of age were obtained from questionnaires, birth records, and clinic visits.

Pubertal pathways in girls enrolled in a contemporary british cohort.

Data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children were used to describe initiation of secondary sexual characteristic development of girls. Tanner stages of breast and pubic hair and menarche status were self-reported via mailed questionnaires, administered from ages 8-14. Initiation pathway was categorized as breast [thelarche] or pubic hair [pubarche] development alone, or synchronous.

Papillary renal cell carcinoma with diffuse clear cells and thyroid-like macrofollicular areas.

Papillary renal cell carcinoma may display some unusual morphologic variations, including diffuse oncocytic change not otherwise specified, oncocytic change associated with an inverted nuclear pattern or nonoverlapping low-grade nuclei, low-grade spindle cells, and diffuse clear cells. Tumors comprised predominantly of thyroid-like follicles and inspissated eosoinophilic, colloid-like secretions (thyroid-like follicular carcinoma of the kidney) have been recently recognized. We report herein an unusual renal carcinoma that displayed diffuse clear cells, papillary architecture, foamy histiocytes, psammomatous calcifications, and large areas (approximately 20% of tumor volume) with thyroid macrofollicular-like structures and eosinophilic, colloid-like secretions.

Insights from the conduct of a device trial in older persons: low magnitude mechanical stimulation for musculoskeletal health.

Background: Osteoporosis is a common complication of aging. Alternatives to pharmacologic treatment are needed for older adults. Nonpharmacologic treatment with low magnitude, high frequency mechanical stimulation has been shown to prevent bone loss in animal and human studies.

Low-level vibrations retain bone marrow's osteogenic potential and augment recovery of trabecular bone during reambulation.

Mechanical disuse will bias bone marrow stromal cells towards adipogenesis, ultimately compromising the regenerative capacity of the stem cell pool and impeding the rapid and full recovery of bone morphology. Here, it was tested whether brief daily exposure to high-frequency, low-magnitude vibrations can preserve the marrow environment during disuse and enhance the initiation of tissue recovery upon reambulation. Male C57BL/6J mice were subjected to hindlimb unloading (HU, n = 24), HU interrupted by weight-bearing for 15 min/d (HU+SHAM, n = 24), HU interrupted by low-level whole body vibrations (0.

Public health partnerships in medical toxicology education and practice.

In December 2002, the medical toxicology sub-board, which consists of representatives from emergency medicine, preventive medicine, and pediatrics, released revised core content for medical toxicology, aiming to better meet the academic challenges imposed by the continually expanding knowledge base of medical toxicology. These challenges included the addition of relatively new areas of interest in medical toxicology, including population health, while simultaneously ensuring that a structural framework existed to accommodate future areas of interest. There is no evidence readily available to assess how well the educational curricula of existing fellowship programs are meeting these needs.

Investigation of sex differences in hip structure in peripubertal children.

Context: There is evidence that sex differences in hip structure are increased during puberty, possibly as a consequence of associated changes in body composition.

Objectives: The objective of the study was to explore relationships between sex, puberty, hip structure, and body composition.

Design/setting: The design was a longitudinal birth cohort study: The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children.

Postmortem blood cadmium, lead, and mercury concentrations: comparisons with regard to sampling location and reference ranges for living persons.

This study's goal was to determine cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), total mercury (THg), and inorganic mercury (IHg) levels in human cadavers to compare measured levels with established reference ranges for living persons and to determine whether blood levels varied with time from death to sample collection or by body collection site. Subjects (n = 66) recruited from the Fulton County Medical Examiner's Office in Atlanta, GA, were 20 years of age or older, had no penetrating trauma, no obvious source of environmental contamination of the vasculature, and had whole blood accessible from the femoral (F) site, the cardiac (C) site, or both. Geometric mean results were as follows: 2.

Characterization of the correlation between ages at entry into breast and pubic hair development.

Purpose: The timing of breast and pubic hair development in girls are related, but the degree of correlation has not been well characterized. Periodic observations also are complicated by interval censoring.

Methods: Data used were from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children.

Efficacy and safety of muraglitazar: a double-blind, 24-week, dose-ranging study in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Muraglitazar is a dual (alpha/gamma) PPAR activator. Dual receptor activation may improve glycaemic and lipid profiles in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.This randomised double-blind trial in 1,477 drug-naive patients with type 2 diabetes compared the efficacy and safety of muraglitazar (0.

Coadministration of muraglitazar plus glyburide: improvement of glycaemic and lipid profiles in patients with type 2 diabetes.

In this trial we evaluated the efficacy and safety of muraglitazar, a dual (alpha/gamma) peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor activator, plus glyburide in patients with type 2 diabetes not controlled with sulphonylurea monotherapy. After 2 weeks of open-label glyburide (15 mg/day), 583 patients were randomised to additionally receive muraglitazar 2.5 mg, 5 mg, or placebo.

Whole-genome resequencing reveals loci under selection during chicken domestication.

Domestic animals are excellent models for genetic studies of phenotypic evolution. They have evolved genetic adaptations to a new environment, the farm, and have been subjected to strong human-driven selection leading to remarkable phenotypic changes in morphology, physiology and behaviour. Identifying the genetic changes underlying these developments provides new insight into general mechanisms by which genetic variation shapes phenotypic diversity.

Dynamic skeletal muscle stimulation and its potential in bone adaptation.

To identify mechanotransductive signals for combating musculoskeletal deterioration, it is essential to determine the components and mechanisms critical to the anabolic processes of musculoskeletal tissues. It is hypothesized that the interaction between bone and muscle may depend on fluid exchange in these tissues by mechanical loading. It has been shown that intramedullary pressure (ImP) and low-level bone strain induced by muscle stimulation (MS) has the potential to mitigate bone loss induced by disuse osteopenia.

Is bone formation induced by high-frequency mechanical signals modulated by muscle activity?

Bone formation and resorption are sensitive to both external loads arising from gravitational loading as well to internal loads generated by muscular activity. The question as to which of the two sources provides the dominant stimulus for bone homeostasis and new bone accretion is arguably tied to the specific type of activity and anatomical site but it is often assumed that, because of their purportedly greater magnitude, muscle loads modulate changes in bone morphology. High-frequency mechanical signals may provide benefits at low- (<1g) and high- (>1g) acceleration magnitudes.

Mechanical signals as anabolic agents in bone.

Aging and a sedentary lifestyle conspire to reduce bone quantity and quality, decrease muscle mass and strength, and undermine postural stability, culminating in an elevated risk of skeletal fracture. Concurrently, a marked reduction in the available bone-marrow-derived population of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) jeopardizes the regenerative potential that is critical to recovery from musculoskeletal injury and disease. A potential way to combat the deterioration involves harnessing the sensitivity of bone to mechanical signals, which is crucial in defining, maintaining and recovering bone mass.

Devastation of bone tissue in the appendicular skeleton parallels the progression of neuromuscular disease.

A mouse model of spinal muscular atrophy with respiratory distress (SMARD1) was used to study the consequences of neuromuscular degenerative disease on bone quantity and morphology. Histomorphometry and micro-computed tomography were used to assess the cortical and cancellous bone in the tibia, femur and humerus of adult neuromuscular degeneration (nmd) mice (up to 21w) and age-matched wild-type controls (WT). At 21w, the average lengths of the humerus, tibia and femur were 15%, 10%, and 10% shorter in the nmd mice, respectively.

Development of diet-induced fatty liver disease in the aging mouse is suppressed by brief daily exposure to low-magnitude mechanical signals.

The age-induced decline in the body's ability to fight disease is exacerbated by obesity and metabolic disease. Using a mouse model of diet-induced obesity, the combined challenge of a high-fat diet and age on liver morphology and biochemistry was characterized, while evaluating the potential of 15 min per day of high frequency (90 Hz), extremely low-magnitude (0.2 G) mechanical signals (LMMS) to suppress lipid accumulation in the liver.

Timing of maturation and predictors of menarche in girls enrolled in a contemporary British cohort.

This study describes the timing of puberty in 8- to 13-year-old girls enrolled in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) and identifies factors associated with earlier achievement of menarche. Women were enrolled during pregnancy and their offspring were followed prospectively. We analysed self-reported Tanner staging and menstrual status information collected annually from daughters up to age 13.

Serum concentrations of selected persistent organic pollutants in a sample of pregnant females and changes in their concentrations during gestation.

Objectives: In this study we evaluated the concentrations of selected persistent organic pollutants in a sample of first-time pregnant females residing in the United States and assessed differences in these concentrations in all pregnant females during gestation.

Methods: We reviewed demographic and laboratory data for pregnant females participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, including concentrations of 25 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), 6 polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), 9 polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), and 9 organochlorine pesticides. We report serum concentrations for first-time pregnant females (2001-2002; n = 49) and evaluate these concentrations in all pregnant females by trimester (1999-2002; n = 203) using a cross-sectional analysis.

Neuronal and intestinal protein kinase d isoforms mediate Na+ (salt taste)-induced learning.

Ubiquitously expressed protein kinase D (PKD) isoforms are poised to disseminate signals carried by diacylglycerol (DAG). However, the in vivo regulation and functions of PKDs are poorly understood. We show that the Caenorhabditis elegans gene, dkf-2, encodes not just DKF-2A, but also a second previously unknown isoform, DKF-2B.

Medication-associated diethylene glycol mass poisoning: a review and discussion on the origin of contamination.

Diethylene glycol (DEG), an extremely toxic chemical, has been implicated as the etiologic agent in at least 12 medication-associated mass poisonings over the last 70 years. Why DEG mass poisonings occur remains unclear. Most reports do not contain detailed reports of trace-back investigations into the etiology.