血清锌、钙、锰含量对矮小儿童身高、骨龄的影响

目的:探讨血清锌、钙、锰含量对儿童身高、骨龄的影响。方法:用高频等离子体发射光谱法测定30例矮小儿童血清锌、钙、锰含量,同30例正常健康儿童比较。并进行锌、钙、锰与身高、骨龄相关分析。结果:矮小儿童血清锌、钙、锰含量明显低于对照组。相关分析发现,血清锌、钙、锰与身高呈明显正相关(P<0.01),血清锌、锰与骨龄呈明显正相关(P<0.01),而血清钙与骨龄无相关性(P>0.05)。结论:血清锌、钙、锰与儿童身高增长,骨龄成熟密切相关。     

Regional patterns of birthweights in Papua New Guinea in relation to diet,environment and socio-economic factors

Regional differences in mean birthweight in rural Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the importance of differences in family diet and maternal education and socio-economic status on such patterns were explored using birthweight data collected by the 1982/83 PNG National Nutrition Survey. A total of 6137 birthweight measurements from 85 PNG districts were available, representing 22% of all children included in the survey. The nature of possible selection biases are assessed and their implications discussed. Hierarchical Bayesian spatial models based on conditional autoregressive (CAR) priors were used to model spatial patterns in birthweights and their relation to different sets of covariates. Birthweights were found to exhibit striking geographical differences. Children from the central PNG highlands and from affluent lowland areas had the highest birthweights, while they were lowest in the (largely lowland) Sepik, Western, Madang and Milne Bay Provinces and in remote highland fringe areas. Maternal education, socio-economic status and diet were all important predictors, but only differences in family diet were correlated with the observed spatial patterns. The results of the present study highlight the importance of nutrition and socio-economic status in explaining differences in birthweights in PNG. Besides improving maternal health, interventions for improving birthweights in PNG should therefore aim at strengthening the economic base of rural populations and promote the cultivation and consumption of high quality foods.     

Estimation of stature and sex from scapular measurements by three-dimensional volume-rendering technique using in Chinese

In order to develop population – specific discriminant function equations and stature prediction equations for predicting sex and stature from measurements of the scapula in a contemporary Chinese, 414 individual 3D CT images were collected from participants undergoing routine examination. Sex differences for the variables were tested by Student’s t-test. Fisher’s method has been followed for discriminant analysis. Regression analysis was applied to match the six linear parameters against stature. The stepwise analysis of all measurements yielded a sex classification accuracy rate of 86.7% and a sex bias of 3.1%. All the classification accuracy rates of the univariate discriminant function analyses are of more than 80%. For stature estimation, the accuracy of stature prediction ranged from 5.252 to 7.210 cm for male, from 4.630 to 6.484 cm for female, respectively. This paper provides indications that the scapula is an important bone for sex diagnosis and it could be effectively used as alternatives in forensic cases. Furthermore, the equations presented for stature estimation in this study should be used as alternatives in forensic cases when long bones were unavailable for stature estimation.     

Measurement of height: Practical considerations for the study of osteoporosis

Osteoporotic vertebral fractures result in loss of height and so regular measurement of stature may be a useful method for detecting the onset of the disease and monitoring its progress. The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability of height measurement in a clinical setting by estimating its precision and the effects of diurnal variation and supine bone densitometry. Duplicate measurements of standing height were made in 50 normal volunteers (25 female) in the morning and 7h later; similar measurements were made in 25 female patients before and after densitometry (spine, one hip and whole body). Portable Harpenden stadiometers were used. The pooled standard deviation (coefficient of variation) ranged from 0.9 mm (0.05%) to 1.7 mm (0.11%). Significant height decrease (>6 mm) occurred in volunteers during the course of a day while patients showed a significant increase (>5 mm) after lying supine for an average period of 49 min. Height can be estimated precisely if measurements are made consistently, i.e. using the same equipment and technique, at the same time of day and before bone densitometry. The provision of stadiometers in primary care surgeries and hospital clinics would provide a simple, inexpensive and non-invasive method of assessing the progress of spinal osteoporosis.     

Intra-individual difference between recumbent length and stature among growing children

Objective Difference between recumbent length and stature in an individual has been observed by many researchers in the past in European and American populations. The present study explores the intra-individual differences between recumbent length and stature (R.L.-Stature).Methods: A sample of 920 school going children was considered in Chandigarh city.Result: These differences are found to be statistically significant and have definite relationship with age and weight of the children. The mean difference between recumbent length and stature is found to be greater in males than in females between 5 through 10 years and between 15 through 18 years of age. However, between 10 through 15 years, it was greater in females than in males.Conclusion: This was largely due to the fact that adolescent spurt in stature preceded by two to three years in girls than that of boys. This difference was also found to be significantly correlated with age, weight and stature in both the sexes. Two regression equations are derived separately for the two sexes, from which, one can convert recumbent length into stature and vice-versa     

Psychological functioning in boys of short stature: effects of different levels of growth hormone secretion

Aim: To examine the relationship between growth hormone (GH) and psychological functioning, especially self-perception and well-being, in 60 prepubertal boys of short stature with a wide range of GH levels. Methods: A comparison was made of the well-being and self-perception of children with GH insufficiency, children with idiopathic short stature (ISS), a normative sample and healthy boys with normal stature. Results: Children with GH insufficiency had a more negative perception of their own physical appearance than the normative sample. They perceived themselves as more alert but also more inhibited than both the children with ISS and the healthy boys with normal stature. In comparison with the healthy boys with normal stature they perceived themselves as having more stability. The parents of the boys with GH insufficiency also perceived their children as being more stable compared with how the parents of boys with ISS perceived their children. To elucidate the effects of GH on psychological functioning a multiple regression analysis was performed.

Conclusion: The lower the levels of GH the more inhibited were the boys of short stature, as perceived both by themselves and by their parents. The boys with GH insufficiency had a more negative perception of their physical appearance than the normative sample.     

Estimation of stature from cranial sutures in a South Indian male population

The aim of this study was to investigate the possibility of estimating height from length of coronal and sagittal sutures of the skull for the positive identification of the height in forensic investigations concerned with fragmentary skeletal remains. The study was conducted on 87 male bodies subjected to medicolegal autopsy in the Department of Forensic Medicine, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, South India and the Department of Forensic Medicine, Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, South India. Length of coronal suture was measured from left pterion at the junction of sphenoparietal with the sphenofrontal suture, along the coronal plane, over the coronal suture to the pterion on the right side. Length of sagittal suture was measured from bregma along the sagittal plane over the sagittal suture to the lambda. The data collected were subjected to statistical methods. Significant correlation was found between height and coronal suture length in males, when compared to sagittal suture. The correlation coefficient between height and coronal suture was 0.363. The correlation coefficient between height and sagittal suture was 0.090. Linear regression equations for stature estimation were derived from coronal suture length in male population. Coronal suture length gives more accurate results in estimating stature than sagittal suture. However, in cases where identification is required by means of only skull, this method could prove useful.     

Height and weight in children with vesicoureteric reflux and renal scarring

Height standard deviation scores (HSDS) and weight-for-height index (WHI) at diagnosis were evaluated in 156 children aged 2 months to 10.8 years (mean 3.7 years) with vesicoureteric reflux (VUR) and normal creatinine clearance, and in 156 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Forty-three patients had bilateral VUR with scintigraphic signs of renal scarring (B SCAR+), 25 had bilateral VUR without renal scarring (B SCAR–); 40 had unilateral VUR with (U SCAR+) and 48 unilateral VUR without (U SCAR–) renal scarring. B SCAR+ patients had an average HSDS of –0.5±1.4 (SD) which was significantly (P = 0.02) below that of controls (0.05±1 HSDS) and an average WHI of 100.6%±16% which was significantly (P = 0.007) below that of controls (108%±12%); 14% of B SCAR+ patients had a height below –2 HSDS. B SCAR–, U SCAR+, and U SCAR– patients had heights near to O HSDS which was not different from that of controls, as well as WHI between 104% and 107.9%, which was not different from that of controls. HSDS and WHI were significantly (P = 0.00001) correlated in patients but not in controls. B SCAR–, U SCAR+, and U SCAR– patients are similar to healthy controls in weight and in height growth and have, on average, some excess weight as do the latter. In contrast, B SCAR+ subjects have a significant decrease of the relative height and normal WHI. Received May 23, 1995; received in revised form and accepted January 5, 1996     

The heights of British male convict children transported to Australia, 1825–1840. Part II

ABSTRACT. This survey of 7,877 indents of convict arrivals at Port Jackson 1825–40 examines the hypotheses of Dr. Bryan Gandevia that transported males did not attain maximum height until 25–29 years of age; that the growth potential of male and female convicts was never achieved; and that the Australian environment had a dramatic positive impact on the stature of second-generation native-born children. It is argued that adult height was achieved by 23 years of age; that original estimates of mean adult stature were too low; and that the growth rate of 'convict stock'children has probably been exaggerated.     

Estimation of stature from cephalo-facial dimensions by regression analysis in Indo-Mauritian population

Determination of stature from fragmented human remains is vital part of forensic investigation for the purpose of identification. The present study was aimed to modelling the stature both for male and female separately on the basis of craniofacial dimensions. The study was conducted on 150 young and healthy students (75 males and 75 females) in the age group ranging from 20 to 28 years. The stature and fourteen cephalo-facial dimensions were measured on each subject by using standard anthropometric instruments. It is remarked that the stature and craniofacial measurements of males were significantly higher than that of females, except for nasal height where no significant difference was observed (p?>?0.05). The correlation coefficients (r) of all cephalo-facial dimensions were less than 0.5. It means the estimation of stature is not reliable with the help of cephalo-facial dimensions.