The Contribution of Prenatal Environment and Genetic Factors to the Association between Birth Weight and Adult Grip Strength

Low birth weight has been associated with reduced hand grip strength, which is a marker of future physical function and disease risk. The aim of this study was to apply a twin pair approach, using both ‘individual’ data and ‘within-pair’ differences, to investigate the influence of birth weight on hand grip strength and whether this association may be mediated through fat free mass (FFM). Participants from the East Flanders Prospective Twin Survey were included if born without congenital abnormalities, birth weight >500 g and ≥22 weeks of gestation. Follow up in adulthood (age: 18–34 year), included anthropometric measures and hand grip (n = 783 individuals, n = 326 same-sex twin pairs). Birth weight was positively associated with hand grip strength (β = 2.60 kg, 95% CI 1.52, 3.67, p<0.001) and FFM (β = 4.2, 95% CI 3.16, 5.24, p<0.001), adjusted for gestational age, sex and adult age. Using ‘within-pair’ analyses, the birth weight hand grip association was significant in DZ men only (β = 5.82, 95% CI 0.67, 10.97, p = 0.028), which was attenuated following adjustment for FFM. Within-pair birth weight FFM associations were most pronounced in DZ men (β = 11.20, 95% CI 7.18, 15.22, p<0.001). Our ‘individual’ analyses show that higher birth weight is associated with greater adult hand grip strength, which is mediated through greater adult FFM. The ‘within-pair’ analyses confirm this observation and furthermore show that, particularly in men, genetic factors may in part explain this association, as birth weight differences in DZ men result in greater differences in adult strength and FFM

Curves of Placental Weights of Live-Born Twins

The purpose of this study is to present curves of estimated placental growth in twins and to evaluate the relative contribution of gestational age, zygosity, chorionicity, fusion of the placentas, sex of the individual and of the twin pair, site of the umbilical cord insertion, birth order, maternal age, and parity. Perinatal data and placental data were obtained from 6315 live-born twin pairs from the East Flanders Prospective Twin Survey. Of 4318 twin pairs, with no missing values, the placental weights of different gestational ages were analyzed using a nonlinear multivariate Gaussian regression. Two groups were distinguished: (1) twins with two separate placentas, and (2) twins with only one placental mass (one placenta in case of monochorionic twins or two fused placentas in case of dichorionic placentas). Overall, placental weight was influenced by gestational age, fusion of the placentas, and parity. In the case of one placental mass, monozygotic dichorionic twins had the lowest weights. If two separate placentas were present, birth order played a role in favor of the first-born twin. For parity and zygosity, the differences were most pronounced between 27 and 29 weeks, whereas the difference for birth order was most pronounced between 33 and 37 weeks. In conclusion, basic physiological characteristics, routinely examined at birth, influence placental weight. Taking these covariates into account allows a better evaluation of the placental weight given a gestational age, as an indicator of growth

Prediction of the Effect of Adaptation and Active HB Mechanics on Prestin-Based Amplification Using a Macroscopic Model of the Cochlea

Introduction: Negative social evaluation is associated with psychopathology. Given the frequency of evaluation through increasingly prevalent virtual social networks, increased understanding of the effects of this social evaluation is urgently required. Methods: A new digital social peer evaluation experiment (digi-SPEE) was developed to mimic everyday online social interactions between peers. Participants received mildly negative feedback on their appearance, intelligence, and congeniality. Two hundred and forty-one young people [58.9% female, aged 18.9 years (15 to 34)] from an ongoing novel general population twin study participated in this study. Positive affect (PA), negative affect (NA), implicit self-esteem, and cortisol were assessed before and after exposure to the social evaluation experiment. Results: The social evaluation experiment decreased PA (B=-5.25, p Conclusion: The digi-SPEE represents a social evaluation stressor that elicits biological and implicit and explicit mental changes that are relevant to mechanisms of psychopathology

Rehabilitation in patients with radically treated respiratory cancer: A randomised controlled trial comparing two training modalities.

INTRODUCTION: The evidence on the effectiveness of rehabilitation in lung cancer patients is limited. Whole body vibration (WBV) has been proposed as an alternative to conventional resistance training (CRT). METHODS: We investigated the effect of radical treatment (RT) and of two rehabilitation programmes in lung cancer patients. The primary endpoint was a change in 6-min walking distance (6MWD) after rehabilitation. Patients were randomised after RT to either CRT, WBVT or standard follow-up (CON). Patients were evaluated before, after RT and after 12 weeks of intervention. RESULTS: Of 121 included patients, 70 were randomised to either CON (24), CRT (24) or WBVT (22). After RT, 6MWD decreased with a mean of 38m (95% CI 22-54) and increased with a mean of 95m (95% CI 58-132) in CRT (p<0.0001), 37m (95% CI -1-76) in WBVT (p=0.06) and 1m (95% CI -34-36) in CON (p=0.95), respectively. Surgical treatment, magnitude of decrease in 6MWD by RT and allocation to either CRT or WBVT were prognostic for reaching the minimally clinically important difference of 54m increase in 6MWD after intervention. CONCLUSIONS: RT of lung cancer significantly impairs patients' exercise capacity. CRT significantly improves and restores functional exercise capacity, whereas WBVT does not fully substitute for CRT

The complex and dynamic interplay between self-esteem, belongingness and physical activity in daily life:An experience sampling study in adolescence and young adulthood

Physical activity has positive effects on self-esteem and sense of belongingness and vice versa. The experience sampling method allows for a level of analysis of the within-subject temporal dynamics of these interactions. We hypothesized that physical activity would predict prospective increases of self-esteem and belongingness in the flow of daily life, and vice versa. Additionally, we hypothesized that belongingness would predict self-esteem at the beep level. The study included 781 individuals (17.4 +/- 3.5 years; 59% female) who responded to 10 beeps daily for 6 days to items on physical activity, self-esteem and belongingness. Univariate and multivariate multilevel models were used to examine within-person prospective bidirectional associations. We found that physical activity predicted higher self-esteem and belongingness at t0+1. Participants who had a stronger increase of self-esteem following an increase in physical activity also had a concurrent stronger increase in belongingness. In contrast, self-esteem had no effect on physical activity at the next beep. Belongingness predicted self-esteem. We conclude that the interactions between physical activity, self-esteem and belongingness are complex and fluctuating in daily life. This has important implications for current theories describing the mental health benefits of physical activity

Randomised controlled trial of adjunctive inspiratory muscle training for patients with COPD.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate whether adjunctive inspiratory muscle training (IMT) can enhance the well-established benefits of pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) in patients with COPD. METHODS: 219 patients with COPD (FEV1: 42%±16% predicted) with inspiratory muscle weakness (PImax: 51±15 cm H2O) were randomised into an intervention group (IMT+PR; n=110) or a control group (Sham-IMT+PR; n=109) in this double-blind, multicentre randomised controlled trial between February 2012 and October 2016 (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01397396). Improvement in 6 min walking distance (6MWD) was a priori defined as the primary outcome. Prespecified secondary outcomes included respiratory muscle function and endurance cycling time. FINDINGS: No significant differences between the intervention group (n=89) and the control group (n=85) in improvements in 6MWD were observed (0.3 m, 95% CI -13 to 14, p=0.967). Patients who completed assessments in the intervention group achieved larger gains in inspiratory muscle strength (effect size: 1.07, p<0.001) and endurance (effect size: 0.79, p<0.001) than patients in the control group. 75 s additional improvement in endurance cycling time (95% CI 1 to 149, p=0.048) and significant reductions in Borg dyspnoea score at isotime during the cycling test (95% CI -1.5 to -0.01, p=0.049) were observed in the intervention group. INTERPRETATION: Improvements in respiratory muscle function after adjunctive IMT did not translate into additional improvements in 6MWD (primary outcome). Additional gains in endurance time and reductions in symptoms of dyspnoea were observed during an endurance cycling test (secondary outcome) TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT01397396; Results

Lower emotional complexity as a prospective predictor of psychopathology in adolescents from the general population

Emotional complexity (EC) involves the ability to distinguish between distinct emotions (differentiation) and the experience of a large range of emotions (diversity). Lower EC has been related to psychopathology in cross-sectional studies. This study aimed to investigate (a) whether EC prospectively predicts psychopathology and (b) whether this effect is contingent on stressful life events. To further explore EC, we compared the effects of differentiation and diversity. Adolescents from the general population (N = 401) rated 8 negatively valenced emotions 10 times a day for 6 consecutive days. Further, they completed the Symptom Checklist-90 (baseline and 1-year follow-up) and a questionnaire on past year's life events at follow-up. Logistic regression analyses tested whether EC-reflected by emotion differentiation (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC]) and diversity (diversity index [DI])-predicted prognosis (good: remitting or lacking symptoms vs. bad: worsening or persisting symptoms). EC predicted prognoses but only when based on the ICC (OREC.ICC = 1.42, p = .02). An ECICC 1 SD above average increased the probability of good prognosis from .67 to .74. This effect was not related to stressful life events (OREC × Life events = 1.03, p = .86) and disappeared when emotion intensity (mean level) was taken into account (OREC = 1.20, p = .20). Predicting future prognosis does not necessitate complex measures of emotional experience (ICC, DI) but rather might be achieved through simpler indices (mean). The discrepant effects of the ICC and DI on prognosis suggest that impaired emotion representation (ICC) plays a more important role in vulnerability to mental ill health than does low diversity of emotions (DI)