Intra- and interobserver reproducibility of Cybex EDI 320 measuring spinal mobility

The purpose of the present study was to conduct intra- and interobserver reproducibility tests of the measurement of spinal movement using and electronic digital inclinometer (Cybex EDI 320). Sixteen healthy subjects with no history of back pain were tested. Their mean age was 28.5 years (range 24–34). After palpation of reference points and a standard warming-up procedure, three repetitions of maximal ventral, dorsal, and lateral flexion were performed for measurements of lumbar and thoracolumbar movements. Intra- and interobserver reproducibility were conducted with 2–5 days interval. The coefficient of variance in the intraobserver test for ventral and lateral flexion varied between 4.3 and 10.1%, in the two interobserver tests between 3.4 and 13.8%. However, the coefficient of variance in intra-and interobserver tests for dorsiflexion varied between 18.1 and 27.6%.     

医院制水、制氧技术与设备一体化解决方案

通过对医院制水、制氧技术与设备的发展现状分析和对比研究，重点介绍了反渗透-电去离子技术和分子筛变压吸附技术在制水、制氧领域中的技术先进性和经济适应性。     

对北京市女中学生进食行为及相关心理因素的调查

目的:调查北京市区女中学生进食行为的状况及相应心理影响因素.方法:运用进食障碍问卷和病态饮食行为量表对636名北京女中学生进行调查.结果:(1)80.3%的被试比较关注自己的体重和身材.(2)全体被试的体重指数平均值属于正常范围(BMI＝19.38±2.87),而她们自己理想的体重指数(IBMI)和她们所认同女人最理想的体重指数都属于过低体重范围内(小于17.5).(3)瘦身态度与暴食和对身体的不满存在显著正相关.结论:女中学生普遍崇尚偏瘦的体形,其瘦身态度、暴食行为与学生对自己躯体不满有关.     

The clinical presentation of Japanese women with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa: a study of the Eating Disorders Inventory-2

OBJECTIVE: The current study described the clinical presentation of anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN) in Japan utilizing the Eating Disorders Inventory-2 (EDI-2) and assessed whether the clinical profile of eating disorder cases in Japan differs significantly from North American data. METHOD: Statistical comparisons of Japanese AN, BN, and non-eating-disordered (NonED) EDI-2 data were conducted across diagnostic groups and with the North American standardization sample. RESULTS: The Japanese diagnostic groups reported significant between-group differences on all eight EDI-2 subscales. Compared with the standardization sample, all the Japanese groups reported significantly greater maturity fears, the Japanese AN-restricting subtype group (AN-R) reported lower levels of drive for thinness and perfectionism, the Japanese BN group reported lower levels of drive for thinness, and the Japanese NonED Group reported lower levels of drive for thinness and perfectionism but higher rates of ineffectiveness. DISCUSSION: Differences between the Japanese and North American groups suggest that certain cultural differences exist in eating disorder profiles.     

Gender, eating behavior, and personality characteristics in physically active students

The aim of this paper was to examine associations between personality traits, eating disorder (ED) behavior, exercise, and gender. The participants (n=1482: 905 women and 577 men) were students from four universities in Norway. The subjects filled out a compound questionnaire including demographics, weekly hours of exercise, type of sport, Karolinska Scales of Personality (KSP), and the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI). Because of the data collection procedure, it is difficult to provide a clear-cut response rate in this study. The results showed that the risk ratio for women who scored 40 or higher on the EDI was three times higher compared with men. ED behavior did not seem to be associated with high weekly hours of physical activity in general. There were significant gender differences in personality traits. However, women and men with high scores on the EDI showed no differences on the KSP scales, except on "detachment" and "indirect aggression". The most important predictors for weekly hours of physical activity were the EDI scales "drive for thinness" and "body dissatisfaction", and the personality variables "extraversion" and "neuroticism". The factors that contributed most to the differences between students who scored 40 or higher on the EDI and those who scored below 40 on the EDI were neuroticism, BMI, gender, and age.     

Detection of ECG effects of (2R,4R)-monatin,a sweet flavored isomer of a component first identified in the root bark of the Sclerochitin ilicifolius plant

Enzymatically-synthesized (2R,4R)-monatin has, due to its pure sweet taste, been evaluated for potential use in foods. Non-clinical studies have shown that (2R,4R)-monatin is well tolerated at high dietary concentrations, is not genotoxic/mutagenic, carcinogenic, or overtly toxic. In a pharmacokinetic and metabolism study involving 12 healthy males, consumption of a single oral dose (2 mg/kg) of (2R,4R)-monatin resulted in a small reduction of heart rate and prolongation of the QTcF interval of 20–24 ms, corresponding to the time of peak plasma levels (t_max). These findings were evaluated in a cross-over thorough QT/QTc study with single doses of 150 mg (2R,4R)-monatin, placebo and positive control (moxifloxacin) in 56 healthy males. Peak (2R,4R)-monatin plasma concentration (1720 ± 538 ng/mL) was reached at 3.1 h (mean t_max). The placebo-corrected, change-from-baseline QTcF (ΔΔQTcF) reached 25 ms three hours after dosing, with ΔΔQTcF of 23 ms at two and four hours. Using exposure response (QTc) analysis, a significant slope of the relationship between (2R,4R)-monatin plasma levels and ΔΔQTcF was demonstrated with a predicted mean QT effect of 0.016 ms per ng/mL. While similarly high plasma levels are unlikely to be achieved by consumption of (2R,4R)-monatin in foods, QTc prolongation at this level is a significant finding.     

Heavy metal bioaccumulation in different fish species in the coast of the Persian Gulf,Iran

This study project aimed to determine the concentrations of five heavy metals (Al, As, Cd, Hg and Pb) in different fish species in the coast of the Persian Gulf in Iran. Ninety samples divided to three types’ fish including Rastrelliger kanagurta, Tenualosa ilisha and Scomberomorus commerson. The investigation performed by ICP-OES technique. The estimated daily intake of heavy metals compared with allowable daily intake of these. Also, the means compared with the allowable limit regulated by national Iranian standards. Results showed that the heavy metal contamination of these was in the standard limit, except Pb in R. kanagurta (43.33%), T. ilisha (23.33%) and S. commerson (13.3%) had greater than European Union limit (300?μg L^?1). Therefore, monitoring of the heavy metals contents, specially Pb is very important yet because of the presence of these in soils due to increase of industrial activity and use pesticides and fertilizers.