Prevalence of bowlegs among child and adolescent soccer players.

OBJECTIVE: Little is known about the interactions of sports-related demands and human body, in particular on musculoskeletal features, during growth. Focusing on the relationship between soccer and lower limb alignment, we examined the hypothesis that varus knee deviation is more prevalent among high-performance pediatric and adolescent soccer players. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study with focused sampling. SETTING: First league sports clubs. PARTICIPANTS: 106 male child/adolescent soccer players aged 10 to 21 years and 68 age-matched tennis players. INTERVENTIONS: All athletes completed a demographic questionnaire and underwent physical examinations, which included height, weight, generalized laxity, knee, ankle, foot and spine axis, hip range of motion, tibial torsion, Q angle, foot navicular height, and progression angle. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENT: Varus/valgus axis was determined by the intercondylar intermalleolar distance while standing. Soccer and tennis players were compared on knee axis and other outcome variables by analysis of covariance, adjusting for age and by t-tests within age groups. RESULTS: A significantly higher prevalence of knee varus was found among the soccer players compared to that among the tennis players. The difference in intracondylar distance was statistically significant after the age of 13 years (P < 0.001). In addition, compared to tennis players, soccer players had higher foot arches, decreased hip external rotation and increased external tibial torsion. CONCLUSIONS: Varus knee axis deviation was more common among children and adolescent soccer players than among tennis players. The prevalence was more pronounced among players aged 13 years or older. Further research is needed to explore the rationale of this phenomenon.     

Pharmacodynamics of Phenobarbital Anesthesia and Pentylenetetrazol-Induced Maximal Seizures in a Rat Model of Neoplastic Spinal Cord Compression

The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether paraplegia induced by neoplastic cord compression affects the pharmacodynamics of phenobarbital general anesthesia or of pentylenetet-razol (PTZ)-induced convulsions. Paraplegic rats harboring a thora-columbar epidural tumor, or an identical hindlimb tumor mass, received an i.v. infusion of phenobarbital until the onset of anesthesia. At that point, the phenobarbital concentrations in the CSF and serum were measured. Similarly, PTZ was infused until the onset of maximal seizures. It was found that changes related to systemic tumor growth and newly developed paraplegia due to neoplastic spinal cord compression did not attenuate the pharmacodynamics of phenobarbital. However, sustained paraplegia of 4 days duration reduced CNS sensitivity to the hypnotic action of the barbiturate as evidenced by the higher cerebrospinal fluid phenobarbital concentration required to induce anesthesia (170 ± 31 vs 125 ± 20 mg/L; P < 0.05). On the other hand, sustained paraplegia did not affect brain threshold concentration for PTZ-induced seizures.     

Pregnancy outcome of patients with pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy.

OBJECTIVE: The study was designed to investigate obstetric risk factors and pregnancy outcome of patients with pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy (PUPPP). METHODS: A population-based study comparing all pregnancies of women with and without PUPPP was conducted. Deliveries occurred during the years 1988-2002 at the Soroka University Medical Center. A multivariable logistic regression model was constructed in order to find independent risk factors associated with PUPPP. RESULTS: During a 15-year period, 159 197 deliveries took place. PUPPP complicated 42 (0.03%) of all pregnancies. Using a multivariable analysis, the following conditions were significantly associated with PUPPP: multiple pregnancies (odds ratio (OR) = 4.9, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.7-14.1), hypertensive disorders (OR = 2.2, 95% CI 1.1-4.7), and induction of labor (OR = 7.6, 95% CI 4.0-14.5). Higher rates of 5-minute Apgar scores lower than 7 (OR = 8.0, 95% CI 4.4-14.9) and of cesarean deliveries (OR = 2.9, 95% CI 1.5-5.6) were noted in the PUPPP as compared to the comparison group. While investigating other perinatal outcome parameters such as oligohydramnios, intrauterine growth restriction, meconium-stained amniotic fluid and perinatal mortality, no significant differences were observed between the groups. CONCLUSION: Pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy is a condition significantly associated with multiple pregnancies, hypertensive disorders, and induction of labor. Perinatal outcome is comparable to pregnancies without PUPPP.     

Languages and future-oriented economic behavior—Experimental evidence for causal effects

Studies have shown that the use of languages which grammatically associate the future and the present tends to correlate with more future-oriented behavior. We take an experimental approach to go beyond correlation. We asked bilingual research participants, people fluent in two languages (12 language pairs) which differ in the way they encode time, to make a set of future-oriented economic decisions. We find that participants addressed in a language in which the present and the future are marked more distinctly tended to value future events less than participants addressed in a language in which the present and the future are similarly marked. In an additional experiment, bilingual research participants (seven language pairs) were asked to choose whether they wish to complete a more enjoyable task first or later (delayed gratification). When addressed in a language in which the present and the future are marked more distinctly, participants tended to prefer immediate gratification more than when addressed in a language in which the present and the future are marked less distinctly. We shed light on the mechanism in a within-person experiment in which bilingual research participants (nine language pairs) were asked to spatially mark the distance between the present and the future. When participants were addressed in a language in which the present and the future are marked more distinctly, they tended to express more precise temporal beliefs compared with when addressed in a language in which the present and the future are marked less distinctly.

Do languages affect the attitudes, preferences, and behaviors of the people who speak them?Numerous studies have documented correlations between the linguistic features and grammatical structures of languages and the attitudes, preferences, and behaviors of the people who speak them. Thus, for example, it has been shown that speakers of languages with different structures and features differ accordingly in their processing of colors, future-oriented economic behavior, and gendered attitudes (1–8). However, evidence for the causal effects of the features and structure of languages on attitudes, preferences, and behaviors is harder to establish. It is a challenge to demonstrate empirically that using a specific language can affect and not just merely reflect or correlate with the way we perceive the world. Indeed, scholars across several disciplines have debated, and continue to debate, the relationship between language and thought (8). Some have argued that languages do not restrict people’s perceptions and behavior (9), whereas others (who subscribe to the linguistic relativity hypothesis) have asserted that speakers of languages develop language-specific schemas and structures which affect their perceptions and behavior (10–18).We contribute to this long-standing debate by providing evidence for the causal impact of the encoding of time in the language spoken on the intertemporal economic choices that people make and on the precision of their temporal beliefs. Our findings suggest that perceptions of time are differently embedded in languages and can impact everyday human behavior.Languages vary in the ways in which they encode time. In some languages, like German, the same grammatical tense is often used to refer to both present and future events (“futureless languages”; “weak-FTR languages”). Other languages, like English and French, have the obligatory grammatical marking of the future tense (“futured languages”; “strong-FTR languages”).^*Studies based on survey data show that the use of futureless [weak future time reference (weak-FTR)] languages, which grammatically associate the future and the present, tends to correlate with more future-oriented behavior on the part of people and organizations. Thus, for example, across and within countries, speakers of such languages save more, retire with more accumulated wealth, smoke less, practice safer sex, are less obese, and care more about the environment (1, 19–26).Why would speakers of weak-FTR languages express more future-oriented economic behavior?One possible explanation is that consistently speaking about future events in the present tense can make the future seem more immediate and less distant (the “distance hypothesis”). Thus, the speakers of weak-FTR languages may tend to view the future as less distant and as a result value future rewards more than the speakers of languages in which the present and the future are distinctly marked (26)(1).Another possible explanation is that because weak-FTR languages do not obligate speakers to mark present and future events differently, speakers of these languages might not think as precisely about the temporal distance of future events as speakers of strong future time reference (strong-FTR) languages (the “precision hypothesis”). In other words, speakers of weak-FTR languages might less finely divide the temporal space between the present and the future than speakers of strong-FTR languages. As a result, speakers of weak-FTR languages may tend to more fuzzily distinguish between the present and the future. Relatedly, speakers of weak-FTR languages might vary more in their temporal beliefs compared with speakers of strong-FTR languages. Because people’s time discounting function tends to be convex, speakers of weak-FTR languages may therefore tend to discount future rewards less than speakers of strong-FTR languages, individually or on average (26). Fig. 1 illustrates the two hypotheses (for a similar illustration, see ref. 26, figure 2.1).Open in a separate windowFig. 1.Time discounting and the “distance” and “precision” hypotheses.Note that perceptions of distance and the precision of temporal beliefs might be directly activated by the linguistic future time reference (FTR) or indirectly activated by the evocation of the cultural beliefs about time associated with the language and its FTR. In other words, being addressed in a strong-FTR language might directly affect people’s perception of how distant the future is or how precise their temporal beliefs are. Alternatively, being addressed in a strong-FTR language might indirectly activate cultural beliefs about time associated with the language that might result in viewing the future as more distant or expressing more precise temporal beliefs.Finally, a third possible explanation for the correlation found between languages and future-oriented economic behavior is that cultural differences regarding time preferences across and within countries (27) might be reflected both in the languages spoken and in the observed differences in the speakers’ future economic behavior (the “correlation hypothesis”).Although survey data do provide the opportunity to identify correlations between the way in which a language encodes time and the future-oriented economic behavior of the people who speak it, it is hard to use it as a means of determining a “causal effect” between the language spoken and future-oriented economic behavior. In other words, it is nearly impossible to hold constant the unmeasured cultural differences, across and within countries, that might be reflected both in the language spoken and in the observed differences in the future economic behavior of its speakers. Indeed, following Chen’s (1) research, some studies have argued that the research merely shows that the languages we speak reflect the societies and cultures in which we live but does not show that the languages we speak influence our perceptions and behaviors (28–31).Weighing in on the debate, Sutter et al. (32) studied differences in the intertemporal choices of children living in a bilingual city where about half of the inhabitants spoke German (a weak-FTR language) and the other half spoke Italian (a strong-FTR language). Using an intertemporal choice experiment, they found that German-speaking primary school children were more likely than their Italian-speaking peers to delay gratification. However, like Chen’s study, their study could not rule out the possibility that the observed differences in behavior were generated by the cultural differences between the two groups. Galor et al. (33) sought to provide evidence for the causal effect of the encoding of time in a language on its speakers’ educational attainment. To do so, they exploited variations in the native languages spoken by the children of migrants with identical ancestral countries of origin; they were able to show the significant positive effect of speaking a futureless language on educational attainment. Because the analysis compared children with the same ancestral countries of origin, the experiment’s design controlled for all the cultural differences associated with countries of origins. Yet, it is not possible to fully control for the cultural differences associated with subcultures within countries (those reflected in languages within countries).Finally, in one recent study, a different approach was taken to address the relationship between the obligation to use the future tense and future-oriented economic behavior. Instead of focusing on the distinction between strong- and weak-FTR languages, the researchers have focused on the effects of participants’ tendency to use the future tense within a language. It was found that a higher use by participants of the future tense within a language (English or Dutch) resulted in less—not more—temporal discounting (34). These interesting—within language—findings point to an additional mediating mechanism; the grammatical obligation to use the future tense in strong-FTR languages tends to oblige speakers to use terms like “will” that denote the high certainty of future events (modal notions of high certainty). As a result, speakers of strong-FTR languages may perceive the certainty of future events as greater than speakers of weak-FTR languages.We take a different methodological approach to identifying the causal effect of language on future-oriented behavior and to shed light on the mechanisms. We wish to show that the encoding of time in a language not only reflects but also generates differences in future-oriented economic behavior. Thus, we hypothesize that when people are addressed in a futured language, one that grammatically differentiates between the present and the future—i.e., it has a strong-FTR—they tend to discount future events more. This, in turn, encourages less future-oriented behavior, such as spending more in the present and preferring more immediate gratification. When people are addressed in a futureless language, one that does not differentiate grammatically between the present and the future—i.e., it has a weak-FTR—they discount the future less. This, in turn, encourages more future-oriented behavior, such as saving for the future and delaying gratification.We also wish to show that perceptions of time are differently embedded in languages and are activated when the language is spoken. In doing so, we test both the distance hypothesis and the precision hypothesis. First, we test whether when people are addressed in a futured language (a strong-FTR language), they tend to view the future as more distant compared with when addressed in a futureless language (a weak-FTR language) (the distance hypothesis). Then, we test whether when people are addressed in a futured language (a strong-FTR language), they express more precise temporal beliefs than when addressed in a futureless language (a weak-FTR language) (the precision hypothesis).To do so, we conducted three experiments. The Yale University Institutional Review Board approved all three studies. In all studies, informed consent was obtained online after participants were directed to Qualtrics. All participants consented. (All data and codes are available at (35)). The first study focused on discounting of future rewards. In a between-subject study, we asked bilingual people, fluent in two languages which differ in the way that they encode time, to make a future-oriented economic decision: Specifically, we asked participants, in one of the two languages in which they are fluent, to make a set of binary choices about whether they wished to be paid a certain amount of money earlier (today) or a larger amount of money later (the following week). We then tested whether the people randomly assigned the question in a strong-FTR language required more by way of future compensation than those asked the question in a weak-FTR language.Following the EUROTYP project (36) and Chen (1), we separated the languages we explored into two broad categories: weak- and strong-FTR. Strong-FTR languages are those that require future events to be grammatically marked when making predictions. Weak-FTR languages do not require such grammatical marking.Altogether, in the first study, we used 12 language pairs, in which one language uses the same grammatical tense for the present and the future—i.e., it has a weak-FTR—and the other has a strong-FTR.The second study focused on delayed gratification. We asked bilingual people, fluent in two languages which differ in the way in which they encode time, to fulfill two tasks; one task was presented as more enjoyable and the other as more tiring. Participants were addressed in one of the two languages in which they are fluent and asked to choose with which of the two tasks they would like to start. After fulfilling the two tasks, participants were addressed in the other language in which they are fluent and were asked to make a similar choice between two additional tasks. Altogether, in the second study, we used seven language pairs, in which one language has a weak-FTR—and the other has a strong-FTR.The third study focused on the mechanisms. In a randomized within-subject study, we asked bilingual people, fluent in two languages which differ in the way in which they encode time, to mark the distance between the present and the future: Specifically, we asked participants, in one of the two languages in which they are fluent, to spatially mark the distance between “now” and “later” and then in the other language to spatially mark the distance between “today” and “tomorrow.” Altogether, in the third study, we used eight language pairs, in which one language has a weak-FTR—and the other has a strong-FTR.     

Mitogen-activated protein kinases, inhibitory-kappaB kinase, and insulin signaling in human omental versus subcutaneous adipose tissue in obesity

MAPKs and inhibitory-kappaB kinase (IKK) were suggested to link various conditions thought to develop in adipose tissue in obesity (oxidative, endoplasmic reticulum stress, inflammation) with insulin resistance. Yet whether in obesity these kinases are affected in a fat-depot-differential manner is unknown. We assessed the expression and phosphorylation of these kinases in paired omental and abdominal-sc fat biopsies from 48 severely obese women (body mass index > 32 kg/m(2)). Protein and mRNAs of p38MAPK, ERK, c-Jun kinase-1, and IKKbeta were increased 1.5-2.5-fold in omental vs. sc fat. The phosphorylated (activated) forms of these kinases were also increased to similar magnitudes as the total expression. However, phosphorylation of insulin receptor substrate-1 on Ser312 (equivalent of murine Ser307) was not increased in omental, compared with sc, fat. Consistently, fat tissue fragments stimulated with insulin demonstrated that tyrosine phosphorylation and signal transduction to Akt/protein kinase B in omental fat was not inferior to that observable in sc fat. Comparison with lean women (body mass index 23.2 +/- 2.9 kg/m(2)) revealed similar ERK2 and IKKbeta expression and phosphorylation in both fat depots. However, as compared with lean controls, obese women exhibited 480 and 270% higher amount of the phosphorylated forms of p38MAPK and c-Jun kinase, respectively, in omental, but not sc, fat, and this expression level correlated with clinical parameters of glycemia and insulin sensitivity. Increased expression of stress-activated kinases and IKK and their phosphorylated forms in omental fat occurs in obesity, potentially contributing to differential roles of omental and sc fat in the pathophysiology of obesity.