Telomere tracking from birth to adulthood and residential traffic exposure

Background

Telomere attrition is extremely rapid during the first years of life, while lifestyle during adulthood exerts a minor impact. This suggests that early life is an important period in the determination of telomere length. We investigated the importance of the early-life environment on both telomere tracking and adult telomere length.

Methods

Among 184 twins of the East Flanders Prospective Twin Survey, telomere length in placental tissue and in buccal cells in young adulthood was measured. Residential addresses at birth and in young adulthood were geocoded and residential traffic and greenness exposure was determined.

Results

We investigated individual telomere tracking from birth over a 20 year period (mean age (SD), 22.6 (3.1) years) in association with residential exposure to traffic and greenness. Telomere length in placental tissue and in buccal cells in young adulthood correlated positively (r?=?0.31, P?<?0.0001). Persons with higher placental telomere length at birth were more likely to have a stronger downward shift in telomere ranking over life (P?<?0.0001). Maternal residential traffic exposure correlated inversely with telomere length at birth. Independent of birth placental telomere length, telomere ranking between birth and young adulthood was negatively and significantly associated with residential traffic exposure at the birth address, while traffic exposure at the residential address at adult age was not associated with telomere length.

Conclusions

Longitudinal evidence of telomere length tracking from birth to adulthood shows inverse associations of residential traffic exposure in association with telomere length at birth as well as accelerated telomere shortening in the first two decades of life.

     

Nutritional status,especially body mass index,from birth to adulthood and lung function in young adulthood

Objective: The study assessed the impact of body mass index (BMI) at birth, infancy, and adulthood, and waist circumference on lung function.

Methods: Using a longitudinal design 1221 Chilean young adults were studied. A standardized respiratory questionnaire was used. Forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV₁), forced vital capacity (FVC), height, weight and waist circumference were measured. Data at birth and at 1 year were obtained from clinical notes.

Results: Males with a BMI?≥?30 and women with a BMI?<?20 had a lower FEV₁ (?230 mL, 95% CI ?363 to ?98; ?106 mL, 95% CI ?211 to ?0.18, respectively). In both sexes those with a BMI 20–25 had the highest FEV₁ and FVC. In males there was a negative association between waist circumference and FEV₁ and FVC while in women the middle tertile had the highest FEV₁ and FVC. There was an association between birthweight and BMI at birth, and FEV₁ in men, when unadjusted for other measurements.

Conclusions: BMI and waist circumference in adulthood make a greater impact on lung function in adulthood than anthropometric measurements at birth and infancy. Proxy measures of fatness in adulthood reduce lung function, but the pattern between fatness and lung function by sex may be different.     

CHARGE syndrome from birth to adulthood: an individual reported on from 0 to 33 years

CHARGE syndrome was independently reported by Hall [(1979): J Pediatr 95:395-398] and Hittner et al. [(1979): J Pediatr Ophthalmol Strabismus 16:122-128] and was initially considered to be a non-random association between distinct multiple congenital anomalies. It is now considered to be a recognizable syndrome with well-characterized diagnostic criteria and a genetic pathogenesis. We report on a 33-year-old adult male with CHARGE syndrome, with emphasis on the unique medical, behavioral, and psychological issues faced in adulthood. Characteristic facial and ear abnormalities were obvious in early childhood, and bilateral retinal colobomata, left choanal atresia, right congenital hip dislocation, and hypogonadism were diagnosed during the first year. Walking was delayed due to vestibular problems, speech was impaired due to moderately severe hearing loss, and use of sign communication was limited. Choanal atresia was surgically corrected in infancy, and atrial septal defect, ventricular septal defect, and patent ductus arteriosus were surgically corrected in childhood. Undescended testes were removed in adolescence, and gallstones were removed in early adulthood. Puberty was delayed until hormone replacement therapy began at 15 years. Behavioral disturbances and anxiety persisted throughout childhood, adolescence, and into adulthood, often resulting from communication challenges. At 33 years of age, he lives independently in a supervised group home, receives regular eye check-ups and is being monitored for severely reduced bone density.     

Attachment and development: a prospective, longitudinal study from birth to adulthood

There is much to digest in a 30 year longitudinal study of the developing person (Sroufe, Egeland, Carlson, & Collins, 2005a). The following paper summarizes some key points regarding the place of infant attachment in the developmental course. It is argued that understanding the role of attachment entails grasping the organizational nature of the attachment construct and embracing a non-linear transactional model. Using such concepts, attachment history was shown in the Minnesota study to be clearly related to the growth of self-reliance, the capacity for emotional regulation, and the emergence and course of social competence, among other things. Moreover, specific patterns of attachment had implications for both normal development and pathology. Even more important than such linkages, however, study of the place of early attachment in later adaptation reveals much about developmental processes underlying both continuity and change. Findings are over-viewed concerning the complex links between attachment and ultimate outcomes and the preservation of early patterns even during times of change. In all, these findings have implications both for future research and for clinical application.     

Size at birth and growth trajectories to young adulthood.

Few studies in developing countries follow growth trajectories from birth to adulthood. Such studies are important because size at birth and postnatal growth affect risk of chronic disease in adulthood. This study examines the inter-relationships of maternal factors during pregnancy, infant birth weight and length, early postnatal growth, and young adult height, weight, BMI, and skinfold thicknesses, with particular attention to patterns of growth associated with increased chronic disease risk. Women were recruited in pregnancy, and offspring were followed from birth to age 21 in the community-based Cebu (Philippines) Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey. Birth weight and length are independently, positively associated with height, BMI and sum of skinfolds in young adult males and females, and inversely associated with the subscapular to triceps ratio in males only. The effects of size at birth on adult size were modified by birth order, and remained significant after adjusting for maternal nutritional status, socioeconomic status at birth and throughout the growth period, and maturation. Early postnatal growth was strongly influenced by BMI at birth, with rapid early infant weight gain associated with thinness. The growth pattern of the at-risk group most often associated with increased risk of chronic disease (small at birth, relatively heavy as an adult), was characterized by more rapid growth in the first 4 postnatal months. The high level of inter-relatedness of maternal nutrition in pregnancy, prenatal growth, and postnatal growth emphasizes the need to consider the full growth trajectory in studies of developmental origins of adult disease.     

Holoprosencephaly from conception to adulthood

Holoprosencephaly (HPE) consists of a spectrum of malformations related to incomplete separation of the prosencephalon. There is a wide clinical variability depending on the HPE subtype seen on imaging. Early postnatal lethality is common, however a significant fraction of newborns diagnosed with HPE will survive into childhood and even adulthood. Here we will review the clinical management of HPE during different ages from the prenatal period to adulthood.     

Segmental morphometrics of the olive baboon (Papio anubis): a longitudinal study from birth to adulthood

The linear dimensions and inertial characteristics of the body are important in locomotion and they change considerably during the ontogeny of animals, including humans. This longitudinal and ontogenetic study has produced the largest dataset to date of segmental morphometrics in a Catarrhini species, the olive baboon. The objectives of the study were to quantify the changes in body linear and inertial dimensions and to explore their (theoretical) mechanical significance for locomotion. We took full‐body measurements of captive individuals at regular intervals. Altogether, 14 females and 16 males were followed over a 7‐year period, i.e. from infancy to adulthood. Our results show that individual patterns of growth are very consistent and follow the general growth pattern previously described in olive baboons. Furthermore, we obtained similar growth curve structures for segment lengths and masses, although the respective time scales were slightly different. The most significant changes in body morphometrics occurred during the first 2 years of life and concerned the distal parts of the body. Females and males were similar in size and shape at birth. The rate and duration of growth produced substantial size‐related differences throughout ontogeny, while body shapes remained very similar between the sexes. We also observed significant age‐related variations in limb composition, with a proximal shift of the centre of mass within the limbs, mainly due to changes in mass distribution and in the length of distal segments. Finally, we observed what we hypothesize to be ‘early biomechanical optimization’ of the limbs for quadrupedal walking. This is due to a high degree of convergence between the limbs’ natural pendular periods in infants, which may facilitate the onset of quadrupedal walking. Furthermore, the mechanical significance of the morphological changes observed in growing baboons may be related to changing functional demands with the onset of autonomous (quadrupedal) locomotion. From a wider perspective, these data provide unique insights into questions surrounding both the processes of locomotor development in primates and how these processes might evolve.     

Flow cytometric analysis of the expression of murine B and T surface markers from birth to adulthood.

The proportion of nucleated splenocytes bearing B-lymphocyte markers B220, surface IgM (sIgM) and sIgD, as well as the T-lymphocyte markers Thy 1.2, CD5, CD8a and CD4 were quantitated by flow cytometric analysis (FACS) throughout postpartum development in the A/J mouse. Full expression of B lymphocyte markers was achieved much sooner than expression of T lymphocyte markers. This was especially true for B220, which was found on 8% of all splenocytes at day 5 and reached adult levels (47-50%) by weaning at day 22. Expression of sIgM and sIgD were 13% and 9%, respectively, of all splenocytes at day 5 with mature levels not expressed until day 35 postpartum (approximately 36% of cells were positive for these markers). T lymphocyte markers, on the other hand, did not reach full expression until sexual maturity. For example, Thy 1.2 expression was 8% on day 5 and did not reach mature levels (28-30%) until day 56. CD5 closely paralleled Thy 1.2 expression rising from only 2% on day 5 to 27% by day 56. Likewise, CD8a and CD4 marker development paralleled one another with CD8a rising from 1% on day 5 to 10% by day 56 and CD4 rising from 5% on day 5 to 19% by day 56. These data demonstrate the variability in the time of appearance and rate of maturation of the various lymphocyte cell surface markers during postpartum development. They also serve as a reference to identify alterations in lymphocyte development created by immunodeficiency diseases.     

Discovering pattern in developing lives: reflections on the Minnesota study of risk and adaptation from birth to adulthood

The Minnesota Study of Risk and Adaptation was initiated in the mid-1970s as a short-term longitudinal study of infants at elevated risk for abuse and neglect. At the outset, the project leaders intended to characterize the infant, the caregiving environment, and the larger social milieu of the family in as comprehensive a manner as possible so as to test explicitly posed hypotheses about pathways leading from the child, the caregiving environment, and the social milieu to abuse or neglect. Paradoxically, only a minority of infants recruited to the study were ultimately abused or neglected over the 36-month period for which funding had been provided, but it proved possible to identify several antecedent indicators that predicted their outcome. It was also evident from the data that developmental casualty was elevated in this sample and the frequencies of suboptimal outcomes in social, emotional, and behavioral domains were greater than expected for less stressed samples. The study had yielded a wealth of information about infants and families from this at-risk sample and it was clear that the sample must be followed into childhood so as to describe the trajectories of developmental successes and casualties that were already apparent in the first 24 months of data. Alan Sroufe joined the project leaders in this endeavor and the childhood data supported the study of the sample into adolescence and now into adulthood. At this point, children of the original sample of infants are now being assessed using many of the protocols and procedures used with their parents. The study has produced hundreds of published reports about risk and its consequences, as well as about positive adjustment to life in a socio-cultural milieu that frequently can be non-supportive or even dangerous. This essay is a reflection on some accomplishments of the Minnesota study as these have helped shape how developmental scientists think about social and emotional development and more generally about how theory has guided the conceptual, empirical, and measurement plans for the study from its beginning.     

Discovering pattern in developing lives: Reflections on the Minnesota study of risk and adaptation from birth to adulthood

Abstract

The Minnesota Study of Risk and Adaptation was initiated in the mid-1970s as a short-term longitudinal study of infants at elevated risk for abuse and neglect. At the outset, the project leaders intended to characterize the infant, the caregiving environment, and the larger social milieu of the family in as comprehensive a manner as possible so as to test explicitly posed hypotheses about pathways leading from the child, the caregiving environment, and the social milieu to abuse or neglect. Paradoxically, only a minority of infants recruited to the study were ultimately abused or neglected over the 36-month period for which funding had been provided, but it proved possible to identify several antecedent indicators that predicted their outcome. It was also evident from the data that developmental casualty was elevated in this sample and the frequencies of suboptimal outcomes in social, emotional, and behavioral domains were greater than expected for less stressed samples. The study had yielded a wealth of information about infants and families from this at-risk sample and it was clear that the sample must be followed into childhood so as to describe the trajectories of developmental successes and casualties that were already apparent in the first 24 months of data. Alan Sroufe joined the project leaders in this endeavor and the childhood data supported the study of the sample into adolescence and now into adulthood. At this point, children of the original sample of infants are now being assessed using many of the protocols and procedures used with their parents. The study has produced hundreds of published reports about risk and its consequences, as well as about positive adjustment to life in a socio-cultural milieu that frequently can be non-supportive or even dangerous. This essay is a reflection on some accomplishments of the Minnesota study as these have helped shape how developmental scientists think about social and emotional development and more generally about how theory has guided the conceptual, empirical, and measurement plans for the study from its beginning.     

The efficiency of clinical microwave applicators measured by a calorimetric method

When inducing localized hyperthermia for superficial cancer therapy with microwaves there has often been question about the total power output from the applicator. Although specific absorption rates and thermograms are used to obtain localized power distributions and heating patterns, these provide, at best, only an approximation of the total power applied to tissues or phantoms. In this paper a calorimetric technique for obtaining total microwave output power from applicators is described. An experimental apparatus was constructed and it was found to be accurate to approximately +/- 5 W. The power output from four clinical microwave applicators as a function of applied electric power was measured and the efficiency was found to be 40% in average. Along with enhancing quality assurance, the areas of hyperthermia research which may benefit the most from this calorimetric technique are computer modeling and patient treatment planning.     

Change in conflict strength measured by Color-Word Test in childhood, adulthood, and the aged

A life span survey of conflict induced in color naming when words and colors appear in incongruent combination was carried out. Subjects' ages ranged from six years to 89 years, totaling 721. As the index of conflict, (C-B)/A was used. The result indicated that conflict scores were highest in six-year-old children and the next highest in the eldery of 70 to 89 years. The result of ANOVA indicated no sex difference on conflict scores, but showed a difference in faster performance by females on the color and color-word cards. The result suggested that six-year olds are immature in cognitive ability and that the 70-year olds and above declined in their cognitive ability. The elevation of conflict scores in 10 years may be due to the stage of puberty.