This study evaluated the ability to use the relationship between heart rate (HR) and oxygen uptake (VO2 ) to estimate energy expenditure (EE) from low to high physical activity with different ...HR-based prediction equations. General prediction equations were established based on the individual relations between HR and EE. Possibilities to improve the EE estimation with using alternatives for respective HR were also assessed. The alternatives were % of HR reserve: 100 x (activity HR - resting HR)/(maximal HR - resting HR), (HRR), and the difference between activity HR and resting HR (activity HR - resting HR), (HRnet). Forty-two men (age mean 36.5 sd 7.6 y, BMI 24.5 2.4 kg x m(-2), VO2 max 45.2 6.5) kg x ml x min(-1) and 47 women (mean age 37.5 9.5, BMI 23.3 3.4, VO2 max 36.3 5.4) performed an exercise test consisting of physically low-activity tasks and a maximal treadmill uphill walking test. Respiratory gases were obtained from indirect calorimetry. HR was registered by electrocardiography and EE was calculated from (VO2 ) and carbon dioxide (VCO2 ) production. Generalised linear models with random effects were used for the prediction of EE. EE values of the tests (one value at each intensity level) were predicted in separate models by the respective HR, HRR or HRnet values. The other predictors used in all models were body weight, sex and the intensity of exercise. The standard error of estimate (SEE) was 1.41 kcal x min(-1) (5.89 kJ) in the model with HR variable as a predictor, 1.01 kcal x min(-1) (4.22 kJ) with HRR variable, and 1.08 (4.51 kJ) with HRnet variable. The results show that the prediction of EE is more accurate if HRR or HRnet are used in prediction equation instead of HR.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the independent associations and the possible interaction of body mass index (BMI), leisure time physical activity (LTPA) and perceived physical fitness and functional ...capability with the risk of mortality. DESIGN: Prospective 16 y follow-up study. SUBJECTS: A regionally representative cohort of 35-63 -y-old Finnish men (n=1090) and women (n=1122). MEASUREMENTS: All-cause, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality were derived from the national census data until the end of September 1996 while the initial levels of BMI, LTPA, physical fitness and function were determined from self-administered questionnaires. RESULTS: After adjustment for age, marital and employment status, perceived health status, smoking and alcohol consumption, the Cox proportional hazards model showed that BMI was not associated with the risk of death among the men or the women. Compared with the most active subjects the men and women with no weekly vigorous activity had relative risks of 1.61 (95% confidence interval, CI, 0.98-2.64) and 4.68 (95% CI, 1.41-15.57), respectively, for CVD mortality, and for the men there was a relative risk of 1.66 (95% CI, 0.92-2.99) for CHD mortality. When compared with the men who perceived their fitness as better than their age-mates, the men with the 'worse' assessment had a relative risk of 3.29 (95% CI, 1.80-6.02) for all-cause mortality and 4.37 (95% CI, 1.80-10.6) for CVD mortality. Men with at least some difficulty in walking a distance of 2 km had a relative risk of 1.62 (95% CI, 1.05-2.50) for all-cause mortality when compared with those who had no functional difficulties. In addition, in the comparison with subjects with no functional difficulties, the men and women who had some difficulty climbing several flights of stairs had relative risks of 1.47 (95% CI, 0.97-2.23) and 2.39 (95% CI, 1.25-4.60) for all-cause mortality, respectively. For CVD mortality the relative risks were 1.85 (95% CI, 1.04-3.30) and 3.38 (1.22-9.41), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Although BMI did not prove to be an independent risk factor for mortality from CVD, CHD or from all causes combined, perceived physical fitness and functional capability did. An increase in LTPA seems to have a similar beneficial effect on the mortality risk of obese and nonobese men and women, and the effect also seems to be similar for fit and unfit subjects. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OBESITY: (2000) 24, 1465-1474
Bacterial soft rot is a globally significant plant disease that causes major losses in the production of many popular crops, such as potato. Little is known about the dispersal and ecology of ...soft‐rot enterobacteria, and few animals have been identified as vectors for these pathogens. This study investigates whether soil‐living and bacterial‐feeding nematodes could act as vectors for the dispersal of soft‐rot enterobacteria to plants. Soft‐rot enterobacteria associated with nematodes were quantified and visualized through bacterial enumeration, GFP‐tagging, and confocal and electron scanning microscopy. Soft‐rot enterobacteria were able to withstand nematode grazing, colonize the gut of Caenorhabditis elegans and subsequently disperse to plant material while remaining virulent. Two nematode species were also isolated from a rotten potato sample obtained from a potato storage facility in Finland. Furthermore, one of these isolates (Pristionchus sp. FIN‐1) was shown to be able to disperse soft‐rot enterobacteria to plant material. The interaction of nematodes and soft‐rot enterobacteria seems to be more mutualistic rather than pathogenic, but more research is needed to explain how soft‐rot enterobacteria remain viable inside nematodes.
To investigate whether walking or resistance training improves weight maintenance after weight loss when added to dietary counselling.
Two months' weight reduction with very-low-energy-diet (VLED) ...followed by randomization into three groups (control, walking, resistance training) for 6 months' weight maintenance (WM) program and 23 months' unsupervised follow-up. During VLED and WM all groups received similar dietary counselling.
The main inclusion criteria were BMI >30 kg/m(2), waist>100 cm and physical inactivity (exercise < or = once a week). Ninety healthy, obese (mean BMI 32.9 kg/m(2) and waist 112.5 cm), 35-50 y-old men started the study and 68 were measured at the end of the study.
Weight and body composition assessed by underwater weighing. Exercise diaries and dietary records to assess energy balance.
During VLED the mean body weight decreased from 106.0 (s.d. 9.9) kg to 91.7 (9.4) kg. Weight was regained mostly during follow-up and in the end of the study the mean weight in groups was 99.9-102.0 kg. Exercise training did not improve short or long-term weight maintenance when compared to the control group. However, resistance training attenuated the regain of body fat mass during WM (P=0.0l), but not during follow-up. In the combined groups the estimated total energy expenditure (EE) of reported physical activity was associated with less weight regain during WM. EE of 10.1 MJ/week was associated with maintaining weight after weight loss. EE of physical activity tended to decrease after WM in exercise groups due to poor long-term adherence to prescribed exercise. Energy intake seemed to increase during follow-up.
Exercise training of moderate dose did not seem to improve long-term weight maintenance because of poor adherence to prescribed exercise.
To identify bacteria causing soft rot and blackleg in potato in Finland, pectinolytic enterobacteria were isolated from diseased potato stems and tubers. In addition to isolates identified as ...Pectobacterium atrosepticum and Dickeya sp., many of the isolated strains were identified as Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. carotovorum. Phylogenetic analysis and biochemical tests indicated that one of the isolates from potato stems resembled Pectobacterium wasabiae. Furthermore, two blackleg‐causing P. carotovorum strains recently isolated in Europe clustered with P. wasabiae, suggesting that at least some of these isolates were originally misidentified. All the other Finnish P. carotovorum isolates resembled the subsp. carotovorum type strain in biochemical tests but could be clustered into two distinct groups in the phylogenetic analysis. One of the groups mainly contained strains isolated from diseased tubers, whereas the other mainly included isolates from potato stems. In contrast to the tuber isolates, the stem isolates lacked genes in Type III secretion genes, were not able to elicit a hypersensitive response in tobacco leaves and produced only small amounts of autoinducers in the stationary phase in vitro. P. wasabiae isolate was able to cause similar amount of blackleg‐like symptoms as P. atrosepticum in a field experiment with vacuum‐infiltrated tubers, whereas both P. atrosepticum and P. carotovorum isolates reduced emergence and delayed growth more than P. wasabiae. Our findings confirm the presence of P. wasabiae in Finland and show that the Finnish P. carotovorum subsp. carotovorum isolates can be divided into two groups with specific characteristics and possibly also different ecologies.
The agreement between self-reported diseases in a questionnaire survey and data from medical records was assessed in a representative sample of Finnish men and women (n = 596) aged 45–73 years. The ...accumulated medical record information was abstracted from the records in the health centers and the central hospital in the study region. The agreement between the two information sources was substantial (kappa 0.73–0.80) for cardiovascular diseases as a group, hypertension, angina pectoris, myocardial infarction, and diabetes. The lowest agreement (kappa < 0.55) was found for lower back disorder, hip and knee arthrosis, and claudication. These results showed that the agreement between questionnaire data and medical records was good for well-known chronic diseases that have clear diagnostic criteria and are easily communicated to the patient. Conversely, the agreement was poor for diseases with nonestablished diagnostic criteria and a fluctuating course. Am J Epidemiol 1997;145:762–9.
Background
Uterine leiomyomas (ULs) are the most common gynecologic tumors and affect 3 of every 4 women by the age of 50 years. The majority of ULs are classified as conventional tumors, whereas 10% ...represent various histopathological subtypes with features that mimic malignancy. These subtypes include cellular and mitotically active ULs and ULs with bizarre nuclei. Uterine leiomyosarcoma (ULMS), the malignant counterpart of UL, is an aggressive cancer with poor overall survival. The early diagnosis and preoperative differentiation of ULMS from UL are often challenging because their symptoms and morphology resemble one another. Recent studies have shown frequent loss of alpha‐thalassemia/mental retardation syndrome X‐linked (ATRX) or death domain–associated protein (DAXX) expression in ULMS, and this is often associated with an alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT) phenotype.
Methods
To investigate ATRX and DAXX expression and the presence of ALT in UL subtypes, immunohistochemical and telomere‐specific fluorescence in situ hybridization analyses were performed. The study material consisted of 142 formalin‐fixed, paraffin‐embedded tissue samples representing various UL subtypes and 64 conventional ULs.
Results
A loss of ATRX or DAXX and/or ALT was detected in 6.3% of the histopathological UL subtype samples (9 of 142). Two patients whose ULs showed either ATRX loss or ALT were later diagnosed with a pulmonary smooth muscle tumor. Pulmonary tumors displayed molecular alterations found in the corresponding uterine tumors, which indicated metastasis to the lungs. All conventional ULs displayed normal ATRX, DAXX, and telomeres.
Conclusions
These results highlight the differences between conventional and histopathologically atypical ULs and indicate that some UL subtype tumors may harbor long‐term malignant potential.
A loss of alpha‐thalassemia/mental retardation syndrome X‐linked (ATRX)/death domain–associated protein (DAXX), alternative lengthening of telomeres, or both were found in 9/142 of uterine leiomyoma variant tumors. Two of these patients developed a pulmonary tumor, which indicated dissemination of the uterine tumor. Some variant uterine leiomyomas may harbor long‐term malignant potential.
The maximum amount of bone a person can obtain during the first two decades of life is an important determinant of bone mass in later life, and an increase in peak bone mass has been associated with ...decreased risk for osteoporotic fractures. It is known that growth of bone and thus development of peak bone mass are strongly controlled by genetic factors, but information on the role of environmental factors, such as exercise and nutrition, (e.g., exercise) on growing bone is limited. We tested a hypothesis that in growing girls the benefit of mechanical loading on bone mineral mass and bone strength is better before rather than after the menarche. Sixty-four girls (25 premenarcheal, 39 postmenarcheal) carried out a supervised 9-month step-aerobic program (two sessions per week), each session complemented with additional jumps. Sixty-two girls (33 premenarcheal, 29 postmenarcheal) served as controls. Bone mineral content (BMC) at the lumbar spine and proximal femur was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). In addition, the cortical density (CoD, mg/cm3) and cortical cross-sectional area (CoA, mm2) and the density-weighted polar section modulus (BSI, mm3) of the tibial midshaft were determined by peripheral quantitative tomography (pQCT). In the premenarcheal girls, BMC increased statistically significantly more in the trainees than controls at the lumbar spine (p = 0.012) (8.6% vs 5.3%) and femoral neck (p = 0.014) (9.3% vs 5.3%). In the tibial midshaft, the intergroup differences (CoD, CoA and BSI) were not significant. The postmenarcheal girls showed no significant post-training intergroup differences in any of the bone parameters (BMC increased in the lumbar spine 6.0% vs 4.9%; femoral neck 3.4% vs 3.2%; and trochanter 2.6% vs 3.5%). Although a large proportion of bone mineral increase in the growing girls of this study was attributable to growth itself, this 9-month exercise intervention showed that a clear and large additional bone gain could be obtained in exercising premenarcheal girls, but not in exercising postmenarcheal girls. In other words, exercise seemed more beneficial for additional bone mineral acquisition before menarche (i.e., during the growth spurt) rather than after it.
Weight loss may lead to bone loss but little is known about changes in bone mass during regain of reduced weight. We studied changes in bone mineral density (BMD) and bone mineral content (BMC) ...during voluntary weight reduction and partial regain. The study consisted of three phases: a 3 month weight reduction with very-low-energy diet (VLED), a 9 month randomized, controlled walking intervention period with two training groups (target energy expenditure 4.2 or 8.4 MJ/week) and a 24-month follow-up. The participants were premenopausal women with a mean body mass index of 34.0 (SD 3.6) kg/m2. Seventy-four of 85 subjects completed the whole study. Total body, lumbar spine, proximal femur and dominant radius BMD and BMC were measured with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). The mean weight loss during VLED was 13.2 (3.4) kg, accompanied by unchanged total body BMC and decreased lumbar, trochanteric and radial BMD (p < 0.05). During months 3-36, an average of 62% of the weight loss was regained, total body BMC decreased and trochanteric BMD increased (p < 0.05). At the end of the study, total body BMC and lumbar and femoral neck BMD were lower than initially (p < 0.05). Weight change throughout the study correlated significantly with the change in radial (r = 0.54), total body (r = 0.39) and trochanteric (r = 0.37) BMD. Exercise-group assignment had no effect on BMD at weight-bearing sites. In conclusion, the observed changes in BMD and BMC during weight reduction and its partial regain were clinically small and partly reversible. More studies are needed to clarify whether the observed weight changes in BMD and BMC are real or are artifacts arising from assumptions, inaccuracies and technical limitations of DXA.
PDF
