Cardiorespiratory fitness and body mass index values in 9-year-old rural Norwegian children

Aim: To describe cardiorespiratory fitness and body mass index (BMI) values in a representative population of 9-year-old Norwegian children in two rural communities and compare present values with previous findings.
Methods: Two hundred and fifty-nine 9-year-old children were invited, and 256 participated in this study. Maximal oxygen uptake was directly measured during a continuous progressive treadmill protocol. Body mass and height were also measured.
Results: The mean ± SD relative maximal oxygen uptake was 52.8 ± 6.5 for boys and 46.9 ± 7.2 mL/kg/min for girls. Eight percent of the boys and 16.8% of the girls were classified as overweight, and 1.6% of the boys and 6.9% of the girls as obese. Mean age, body mass, height and Ponderal index were not significantly different between sexes. Girls had a higher BMI than boys (p = 0.05).
Conclusion: Compared to earlier Norwegian studies, children's BMI values seem to have increased substantially. This increase is most pronounced in girls. When assessing these differences using the PI, this increase is less marked. Comparing maximal oxygen uptake data with that in earlier Nordic studies, there is no evidence that fitness has declined among 9-year olds. However, the limitations of the few earlier studies make reliable comparisons difficult.     

An inconsistent relationship between insulin and blood pressure in three Pacific Island populations

The evidence linking insulin to blood pressure is controversial, and results for groups similarly categorized by body mass, ;glucose tolerance and hypertensive status are often contradictory. We have investigated the relationship in three. population-based samples of Micronesian (Nauru), Polynesian (Western Samoa) and Melanesian (New Caledonia) Pacific islanders, who are known to be susceptible to obesity, non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM), hyperinsulinaemia and hypertension. After controlling for age and body mass index (BMI); mean fasting and 2-hr (post 75 g glucose) insulin levels were not significantly different between hypertensive and non-hypertensive subjects, in any population or glucose tolerance sub-group, excepting 2-hr insulin in New Caledonians with normal glucose, tolerance. Similarly, there were no strong trends for a higher prevalence of hypertension amongst those with insulin levels in the upper quartile of the distribution for each population, although it was apparent in some BMI/glucose tolerance sub-groups of two populations. Multiple linear regression analyses also showed an inconsistent and where: present, weak, independent association between insulin and blood pressure in models predicting, both systolic and diastolic blood pressures. We therefore conclude that the hypothesis implicating insulin as a major determinant of blood pressure and as the pathophysiological link between obesity, NIDDM and hypertension is not strongly supported either by the literature or the present data.     

Is Serum Anhydroglucitol an Alternative to the Oral Glucose Tolerance Test for Diabetes Screening?

The oral glucose tolerance test is inconvenient for diabetes screening. In clinical studies a reduced serum anhydroglucitol level has proved to be a sensitive and specific test for diabetes. A new minicolumn enzymatic method which is simple and robust makes use in population screening feasible. The aim of our study was to assess the usefulness of a single measurement of anhydroglucitol to screen for diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance. Assays were performed on samples taken from 227 Mauritian Chinese subjects at the time of glucose tolerance testing. Subjects had normal glucose tolerance (n = 82), impaired glucose tolerance (n = 76), newly diagnosed diabetes (n = 38), and known diabetes (n = 31). Anhydroglucitol concentrations (mean ± SD) were similar for normal and impaired glucose tolerance subjects (23.7 ± 8.2 vs 23.4 ± 8.6 mg l^-1). Although the differences between normal and newly diagnosed diabetes (15.0 ± 11.0 mg l^-1) and known diabetic subjects (11.8 ± 10.6 mg l^-1) were significant (p < 0.001), diagnostic sensitivity and specificity were poor. We conclude that measurement of serum anhydroglucitol is not suitable for screening for the diagnoses of impaired glucose tolerance and diabetes.     

Is Hyperinsulinaemia a Central Characteristic of a Chronic Cardiovascular Risk Factor Clustering Syndrome? Mixed Findings in Asian Indian,Creole and Chinese Mauritians

The aim of the study was to investigate whether the constellation of cardiovascular disease risk factors, described as Insulin Resistance Syndrome, exists in the multi-ethnic population of Mauritius, and to assess whether hyperinsulinaemia is the key feature of this syndrome. A sample of 5080 Mauritian subjects (aged 25–74 years) was examined in a non-communicable diseases survey in 1987. Survey procedure included an oral glucose tolerance test, and anthropometric, blood pressure, plasma lipids and serum insulin measurements. Abnormal glucose tolerance (diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance), general obesity, upper-body obesity, hypertension, low HDL-cholesterol, and hypertriglyceridaemia were defined as risk factor conditions. Mean values for a series of risk factor variables were compared between reference subjects (no risk factors) and those with a risk factor condition (either one condition only, or in combination with one or more others). Prevalence estimates for each risk factor condition in combination with three or more other conditions were three to four times greater than expected by chance, and levels of risk factors for subjects with more than one risk factor condition were further away from the reference levels than for those with just one condition. Fasting and 2-h serum insulin levels were elevated for each condition when in combination with others, or to a lesser extent when isolated. However, this was not the case for isolated hypertension where insulin levels were not elevated. When adjusted for age, sex, and body mass index, insulin levels were only significantly elevated in subjects with upper-body obesity if in association with general obesity. A clustering of cardiovascular risk factors was therefore found in Mauritius. However, insulin levels although high for most conditions were not high in hypertension.     

Use of pulse oximetry for blood pressure measurement after cardiac surgery

Blood pressure measurement using pulse oximeter waveform change was compared with an oscillometric measurement and the gold standard, intra-arterial measurement, in children after cardiac surgery. Forty six patients were enrolled and divided into groups according to weight. Simultaneous blood pressure measurements were obtained from the arterial catheter, the oscillometric device, and the pulse oximeter. Pulse oximeter measurements were obtained with a blood pressure cuff proximal to the oximeter probe. The blood pressure measurements from the pulse oximeter method correlated better with intra-arterial measurements than those from the oscillometric device (0.77-0.96 v 0.42-0.83). The absolute differences between the pulse oximeter and intra-arterial measurements were significantly smaller than between the oscillometric and intra-arterial measurements in children less than 15.0 kg. The pulse oximeter waveform change is an accurate and reliable way to measure blood pressure in children non-invasively, and is superior to the oscillometric method for small patients.     

4-芳杂环单/双氨甲基酚衍生物的合成和量化计算

本文在前报的基础上,设计和合成了4-芳杂环取代的氨甲基酚衍生物28个。初步药理试验表明,多数显示不同程度的抗炎活性。用CNDO/2法计算所得数据提示,该类化合物分子中的氨甲基氮和酚羟基氧与受体正电荷中心的结合,可能对抗炎活性起着重要作用。     

程序变温法确定药物降解反应级数

通过电子计算机模拟程序升温加速试验,从理论上阐明了常规的程序升温法不能确定药物降解反应级数的原因是因为同一组数据可由不同的反应级数和活化能的组合所拟合;解决这一问题的关键是在一个变温程序中包含升温和降温部分;据此提出了一种新的程序变温方法(程序升降温法)。利用这种方法,可以真正做到只通过一次程序变温加速试验,就获得包括反应级数在内的药物降解的动力学参数,且确定反应级数的能力与恒温法相近似。     

药物在室内自然光照射下的贮存期预测方法研究

以己酸孕酮注射液为例,研究了药物在自然光和不同灯光照射下的含量变化规律,预测了药物在室内自然光照射下的贮存期。找出了不同光源对药物稳定性影响的等效数量关系,使在今后的研究中可以用灯光为光源预测药物在室内自然光照射下的贮存期。己酸孕酮注射液在光照试验中含量变化服从零级反应规律:C=C₀-K(Et),在室内自然光照射下的贮存期约为1.9年。