Life Years Lost Associated with Obesity-Related Diseases for U.S. Non-Smoking Adults

The objectives of this paper are to predict life years lost associated with obesity-related diseases (ORDs) for U.S. non-smoking adults, and to examine the relationship between those ORDs and mortality. Data from the National Health Interview Survey, 1997–2000, were used. We employed mixed proportional hazard models to estimate the association between those ORDs and mortality and used simulations to project life years lost associated with the ORDs. We found that obesity-attributable comorbidities are associated with large decreases in life years and increases in mortality rates. The life years lost associated with ORDs is more marked for younger adults than older adults, for blacks than whites, for males than females, and for the more obese than the less obese. Using U.S. non-smoking adults aged 40 to 49 years as an example to illustrate percentage of the life years lost associated with ORDs, we found that the mean life years lost associated with ORDs for U.S. non-smoking black males aged 40 to 49 years with a body mass index above 40 kg/m² was 5.43 years, which translates to a 7.5% reduction in total life years. White males of the same age range and same degree of obesity lost 5.23 life years on average – a 6.8% reduction in total life years, followed by black females (5.04 years, a 6.5% reduction in life years), and white females (4.7 years, a 5.8% reduction in life years). Overall, ORDs increased chances of dying and lessened life years by 0.2 to 11.7 years depending on gender, race, BMI classification, and age.     

Age-specific birth rate and lifetime reproductive success of chimpanzees at Bossou,Guinea

Preliminary calculations of the age-specific birth rate for wild female chimpanzees were based on demographic records from a long-term study at Bossou, Republic of Guinea. Primiparous age was 12-14 years. Birth rate for a female reached a peak of 0.333 a year at 20-23 years, and then decreased until menopause at more than 40 years of age. Mean birth rate for a female of more than 12 years was 0.197 a year. Mean interbirth interval was 4.6 years overall, but 5.1 years, if all cases in which the previous infant had died within its first three years were excluded. Infant survival rate for the first four years was 0.727 and that of juveniles (four to seven years) was 0.714; however, that of adolescents (eight to 11 years) was only 0.222. Some adolescents who disappeared from Bossou are thought to have migrated to adjacent habitats. From age-specific birth rate and survival rate, the lifetime reproductive success was calculated as only 0.74 offspring per female. This rose to 2.39 when adolescent survival rate was assumed to be the same as that of juveniles. This must be less than the minimum reproductive success required for continued survival of the population. The recent and continuing degradation of the environment will lead to the extermination of this species from the area in the near future. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Evaluation of the Quality of Codonopsis Radix in Different Growth Years by the AHP-CRITIC Method

The quality of traditional Chinese medicines (TCM) has a significant correlation with the source and growth years. However, there is no research on the relationship between the growth period and the quality of Codonopsis Radix (CR). This work aims to evaluate the quality of CR in different growth years (2–5 years). First, the content of 6 efficacy-related and 28 nutrient-related components in different growth years of CR was analyzed. The results showed that with the increase in growth years of CR, the content of some components increased, while some decreased. Then, the AHP-CRITIC method was performed to score the CR in different growth years, the results showed that the comprehensive score of CR increased with the increase of growth years, and the 5-year-CR had the highest score. Finally, in vitro activity assays were designed to verify the evaluation results. The results demonstrated that with the increase of growth years, the spleen lymphocyte proliferation activity and DPPH free radical scavenging activity of CR were enhanced, which proved that the AHP-CRITIC method is reasonable to evaluate the quality of CR in different growth years. The aforementioned findings demonstrated that CR quality improved with longer planting years.     

Correlations between ultraviolet coloration, overwinter survival and offspring sex ratio in the blue tit

We studied the correlations between offspring sex ratio, UV coloration and overwinter survival in a population of blue tits, breeding in Gotland, Sweden, over three consecutive breeding seasons. In 2 of 3 years, we found that females paired to males with relatively brighter UV-coloration produced a greater proportion of sons in their broods, and that this effect was significant with all 3 years combined, despite a significant year by male UV interaction. In addition, we found other correlates of sex ratio (breeding time, female age and clutch size) in some, but not all years, and some of these showed significantly different relationships with sex ratio between years. In both years for which data were available, there were indications that males with relatively brighter UV coloration, and that paired with females that produced male-biased clutches, were more likely to survive to the next year. In addition, we also found that in both males and females, individuals produced similar sex ratios in consecutive years. Because correlations with the sex ratio may be expected to be weak, variation in results between years within the same population may be explained by low statistical power or genuine biological differences. Our results suggest that conclusions about sex ratio variation in birds should be based on multiple years. The correlations that we found in some years of this study are consistent with models of adaptive sex ratio adjustment in response to mate quality. However, careful experimental work is required to provide tests of the assumptions of these models, and should be a priority for future work.     

亚高山针叶林人工恢复过程中生物量和材积动态研究

研究了近70年不同林龄亚高山人工云杉林的地上部分生物量及材积变化规律．结果表明,20年林龄前的云杉单株生物量增长缓慢,以小枝和叶生长为主,约占50％;20年以后,单株生物量增长加快,以树干积累为主,大体上超过60％;30年后增长速度相对减慢,自40年开始并保持快速增长．云杉种群生物量表现出类似的增长,但林龄在30至50年间增长速度减慢．群落生物量总体上持续增长,但灌木层生物量在初期快速增长,从20年林龄后逐渐减少;草本层生物量则一直减少,到70年时仅占不足0．2％．在近70年人工恢复过程中,云杉单株材积平均生长量和连年生长量都逐渐增大,越在后期生长越迅速;林分蓄积则在30至50年林龄之间有一段连年生长量相对减小的时期．根据树干解析资料,建立了70年人工云杉林的单株材积与胸径和树高的数学模型．     

Sickle cell disease in the People's Republic of Angola. 1. Epidemiology and clinical aspects

In a period of 6 years 819 children affected with drepanocytosis (S. E.) were treated at the children's clinic in Luanda. At the time of diagnosis the age of the 457 boys amounted to 3.4 +/- 2.7 years and that of girls to 4.3 +/- 3.4 years. The age distribution shows that 40.2% of the patients were in their first 2 years of life. Conditions of crisis which affected 70% of the diseased children are typical of this disease. The family anemnesis demonstrated that 13.6% of all brothers and sisters covered were HbSS positive. 34.1% of them died at an age of 3.5 +/- 3.5 years (boys) or 2.4 +/- 2.3 years (girls) respectively. The physical development measured in the body mass shows that it is significantly diminished in comparison with healthy children of the same age. The characteristic symptom of this disease, splenomegaly, existed in 27.8% of the children with a mean age of 2.8 +/- 2.3 years. In one age group of 4.4 +/- 2.6 years it could even be identified in 11.3% of the cases.     

河岸带农田不同恢复年限对土壤碳氮磷生态化学计量特征的影响——以温榆河为例

弃耕地撂荒是土壤与植被向自然方向进行的次生演替,研究河岸带土壤撂荒后碳氮磷生态化学计量特征,是恢复和重建由农田干扰导致的退化河岸带生态系统的重要科学基础之一。以河岸带农地为对照,不同撂荒年限(撂荒2年、撂荒8年、撂荒10年)的土壤为研究对象,探索不同撂荒年限对土壤碳、氮、磷含量及相互关系的影响。结果表明:(1)土壤有机碳、氮的含量均呈现撂荒10年>撂荒8年>农田>撂荒2年;土壤中磷含量呈现撂荒10年>撂荒8年>撂荒2年>农田;农田和各撂荒年限的土壤碳、氮、磷含量,均随着土层深度的增加而呈降低的规律,但土壤碳和氮差异的显著性比磷明显。(2)河岸带土壤中C/N、C/P的均值均呈现:撂荒10年>农田>撂荒8年>撂荒2年趋势。N/P的均值呈现:撂荒10年(0.78)>农田(0.77)>撂荒8年(0.77)>撂荒2年(0.67),表明N是本研究区河岸带植被恢复的限制性营养元素。(3)河岸带农田和不同撂荒年限土壤碳、氮含量均存在极显著的耦合线性关系,而碳与磷、氮与磷之间的线性拟合程度相对较低。(4)在农田撂荒演替的初期阶段(2...     

新疆伊犁六个民族的初潮年龄

1983年7月至1984年7月,用回忆法调查了新疆伊犁地区3972名12—23岁的女性的初潮年龄,其中哈萨克族924人,维吾尔族864人,锡伯族486人,回族209人,蒙古族216人,汉族1273人。其平均初潮年龄是:哈萨克族14.37±1.09岁,维吾尔族14.34±1.41岁,蒙古族14.21±1.05岁,回族13.89±1.32岁,锡伯族13.78±1.02岁,汉族13.61±1.11岁。各族中均以七、八、九三个月来月经的最多。此外,还发现六个民族中1969—1972年出生的与1961—1964年出生的相比,平均初潮年龄都明显提前。在八年中,回族提前2.67岁,蒙古族提前1.90岁,锡伯族提前1.78岁,汉族提前1.64岁,哈萨克族提前1.17岁,维吾尔族提前1.13岁。     

青藏高原高寒草甸气温、降水和地上净初级生产力变化的周期特征

依据中国科学院海北高寒草甸生态系统定位站1980—2007共28年的气温、降水和地上净初级生产力数据,采用墨西哥小帽母函数对其进行周期特征的小波分析.结果表明:气温、降水和地上净初级生产力均存在13年的主要周期,但气温和地上净初级生产力的次要周期(均为2年)对其年际变化的影响较小,而降水次要周期(4年)的影响较大.三者的滞后相关分析发现,地上净初级生产力的变化在20年时间尺度上主要受控于气温,且对后者存在5～9年较弱的延迟效应;而与降水的关系较小.     

Finding from Asia, Australia, Europe, and North Amercia on secular change in mean height of children, youths, and young adults.

Studies conducted during the past century in Australia, Canada, Japan, Norway and the United States indicate that the magnitude of secular increase in mean height rose with advancing age from childhood to mid-adolescence. Comparisons for a period approximating two-thirds of a century yield average increases in mean height of 12.2 cm for female youths age 12 years, and 12.5 cm for male youths age 14 years; for the same calendar span, the amount of secular increase in mean height declines from mid-adolescence to early adulthood. Comparisons of Belgian females, spanning a period approximating 130 years, yield increases in mean height of 18.1 cm at age 12 years, 11.9 cm at age 16 years, and 3.7 cm in early adulthood. For a period of 90 years, increases obtained on United States White males are 14.8 cm at age 14 years, 8.8 cm at age 17 years, and 5.3 cm in early adulthood. These and other displayed findings show clearly that the search for causes of secular change should take particular account of a phenomenon widespread among human populations, i.e., the phenomenon of childhood and early adolescent growth in body height proceeding at a faster pace in recent decades than about a century ago.     

The influence of climatic variability on local population dynamics of Cercidium microphyllum (foothill paloverde)

This study investigated correlations among climatic variability, population age structure, and seedling survival of a dominant Sonoran Desert tree, Cercidium microphyllum (foothill paloverde), at Tucson, Arizona, USA. A major goal was to determine whether wet years promote seedling establishment and thereby determine population structure. Plant age was estimated from basal circumference for a sample of 980 living and dead trees in twelve 0.5-ha plots. Ages ranged from 1 to 181 years. Age frequency distribution showed that the population is in decline. Most (51.2%) of the 814 living trees were 40-80 years old; only 6.5% were younger than 20 years. The average age of the 166 dead trees was 78 years. Fifty-nine percent of dead trees were aged 60-100 years. Survival of newly emerged seedlings was monitored for 7 years in a 557-m² permanent plot. Mean survival in the 1st year of life was 1.7%. Only 2 of 1,008 seedlings lived longer than 1 year. Length of survival was not correlated with rainfall. Residual regeneration, an index of the difference between predicted and observed cohort size, showed that regeneration was high during the first half of the twentieth century and poor after the mid-1950s. Trends in regeneration did not reflect interannual variation in seasonal temperature or rain before 1950, that is, in the years before urban warming. Taken together, the seedling study and the regeneration analysis suggest that local population dynamics reflect biotic factors to such an extent that population age structure might not always be a reliable clue to past climatic influences.     

不同生长年份移山参根的比较解剖学研究

采用石蜡制片法、显微观察生长8年、12年和16年的移山参主根中部的组织结构,并以4年生栽培参(二马牙)和西洋参为对照进行比较分析。结果表明,移山参主根结构由周皮和次生维管组织组成。不同生长年份的移山参主根结构具有一定差异:随生长年份的增长,木栓层细胞体积变小,排列趋于紧密;栓内层草酸钙结晶越来越少;分泌道均为3轮,但平均口径逐渐减小;韧皮部外侧和木质部靠近根中央处的薄壁组织的裂隙逐渐增大;韧皮部与木质部的面积比则不断下降;12年、16年生移山参主根次生木质部中导管数量和层数明显多于8年生。PAS 反应表明淀粉粒含量在生长12年以后趋于稳定。表明通过观察移山参木质部与韧皮部的面积比和次生维管组织中木质部导管的数量及层数,可以初步判断移山参的生长年份。     

Three-year results of treatment with growth hormone, alone or associated with oxandrolone, in girls with Turner syndrome. The Kabi Collaborative Study Group.

22 girls with Turner syndrome aged 10.8 +/- 2.4 years with bone age 8.58 +/- 1.32 years, randomized in two groups, were treated for 3 years with either growth hormone (GH), 0.1 U/kg daily (group A), or GH, 0.1 U/kg, plus oxandrolone, 0.06 mg/kg (group B). This resulted in a sharp increase in growth rate for the first year of treatment, followed in the second and third years by a growth rate near to the normal mean for age. The growth velocity was better in group B, the difference being significant during the first year only. After 3 years, the predicted adult height had increased by 2.1 cm as a mean in group A and by 4.5 cm in group B, with important individual variations, resulting in a gain of at least 3 cm in 3/10 patients of group A and 9/12 of group B. No metabolic or other side effects occurred. These 3-year data confirm that GH improves the predictable height in Turner girls. They suggest that it may be useful for at least 3 years and that adding a small dose of oxandrolone for 2 years in girls aged more than 8 years could be of good practice. However, earlier and more protracted treatment with GH has to be studied with the hope to better improve the predictable adult height.     

Age at time of first intercourse v. chronologic age as a basis for Pap smear screening.

The Walton Report on cervical cancer screening programs recently recommended a new program for screening for cervical cancer based on chronologic age, calling for 3- and 5-year intervals between examinations. It recommended that such examinations be discontinued after 60 years of age. In a group of 232 routinely examined women (aged 18 to 47 years) in whom cervical intraepithelial neoplasia developed the timing of onset of the disease and the implications for screening were studied. The average age at the time of diagnosis was 30 years; in 20% of the patients the diagnosis had been made after age 35. The screening program recommended in the Walton Report would have been effective in diagnosing most cases (80%) in this sample by age 35 and all by age 60. However, when the patients were grouped according to age at the time of first intercourse, the diagnosis had been made after age 35 in only 13% of those who started having intercourse at age 15 to 17 years, 20% of those who started at age 18 to 19 years and 33% of those who started at age 20 years of later. When the times of diagnosis were expressed by number of years of intercourse the distributions became uniform in the same three groups; in 72% of all the patients the diagnosis had been made within the first 15 years of intercourse, in 88% it had been made within 20 years and in 100% it had been made by 30 years. These data suggest that a program based on number of years of intercourse may be more uniform and more efficient than one based on chronologic age, and that cytologic examinations should be concentrated during the time when most cases develop -- 6 to 20 years after the time of first intercourse.     

Incidence of Rubella Antibodies in Female Subjects

Sera from females aged 1 to 40 years were assayed for rubella virus antibodies. Results showed that by age 14 years, 60% had antibodies and that by 19 years, 70% were positive. This figure rose to 80% by 24 years of age and remained unchanged in older age groups.A comparison of the incidence of high and low levels of antibodies in each age group revealed that antibody levels fell between ages 20 and 40 years. Only 20% of individuals in the latter group had a high antibody level compared to 80% in the former.These results are discussed as they relate to the problems of reinfection and possible vaccination procedures.     

Inter‐annual variation in primary production of a semi‐arid grassland related to previous‐year production

Mean annual precipitation accounts for a large proportion of the variation in mean above‐ground net primary production (ANPP) of grasslands worldwide. However, the inter‐annual variation in production in any grassland site is only loosely correlated with precipitation. The longest record of variation in production and precipitation for a site corresponds to a shortgrass steppe in Colorado, USA. A previous study of this record showed that current‐year precipitation accounted for 39% of the inter‐annual variation in ANPP. In this note, we show that ca. one third of the unexplained variation is related to previous‐year ANPP: ANPP per mm of precipitation was higher in years preceded by wet, more productive years than in years preceded by average years; similarly, ANPP per mm of precipitation was lower in years preceded by dry, less productive years than in years preceded by average years. Since previous‐year ANPP was, in turn, associated with precipitation of a year before, current‐year ANPP was also explained by precipitation of two previous years. Our finding not only increases our predictive ability, but it also changes our understanding of how ANPP responds to fluctuations in precipitation. If ANPP is thought to vary according to current‐year precipitation only, it will simply track annual precipitation in time. According to this new result, however, ANPP fluctuations are buffered if wet, more productive years alternate with dry, less productive years, and they are amplified if wet or dry sequences of several years take place.     

Effects of Age,Sex, and Polycystic Disease on Progressive Bone Disease of Renal Failure

A study of 150 patients undergoing haemodialysis has shown that age had a striking effect on the radiological presentation of renal bone disease, erosions being common in the young and uncommon in older patients and vascular calcification showing opposite trends to this. Men aged 20 to 59 years had a greater tendency to develop erosions than did women in this age range. Examination of a group of 53 patients over a period of five years showed that the half time for the development of vascular calcification was 4·6 years, erosions 26·7 years, and fractures 6·9 years. Nine out of 16 polycystic patients matched for age and sex with 50 controls did not develop erosions and had consistently less vascular calcification than the controls when examined over a six-year period.     

A skeletochronological study of breeding females in a population of Japanese clouded salamanders (Hynobius nebulosus)

The age structure of breeding females of Hynobius nebulosus has not been studied sufficiently. We estimated the ages of 76 individuals from a population in Kyoto by using skeletochronology. The mean age and snout-vent length (SVL) of this population were 4.6 years and 55.7 mm, respectively. It was estimated that the youngest females breed two years post hatching at a mean SVL of 46.5 mm, but a larger number of individuals begins breeding at three years and a mean SVL of 52.2 mm. Because most males also start to breed at three years, there seems to be no gender difference in the timing of sexual maturation. The age of the oldest female was estimated to be 11.8 years. It is possible that the life history of H. nebulosus is characterized by early maturation and arrested growth, and short longevity.     

Clonal structure and flowering traits of a bamboo [Phyllostachys pubescens (Mazel) Ohwi] stand grown from a simultaneous flowering as revealed by AFLP analysis

Abstract Although many bamboo species are characterized by simultaneous flowering at long intervals of up to 120 years, few studies have revealed the length of the flowering interval for very-long-lived bamboo species by observing the whole life cycle of a single clone. The flowering interval of Phyllostachys pubescens had been determined to be 67 years by means of observation through the entire life cycle from 1912 to 1979. We observed and analysed the clonal structure and flowering traits of a P. pubescens community which had regenerated from seed in 1930 and began to flower in 1997. Although this interval was again 67 years, flowering and nonflowering culms were mixed, and the flowering event lasted three years in the community. AFLP analysis of DNA samples showed distinct genets that originated from the previous flowering event and that each genet had its own flowering time. This is the first report to show that (i) different genets are mixed in a community of a large bamboo species with a leptomorphic rhizome system, and (ii) a community that originated from a single flowering event can have a range of flowering years.     

人工驯养下扬子鳄的生长规律

研究结果表明扬子鳄在饲养条件下的生长具有一定的规律性。饲养群体中,5龄以前的鳄生长速率较快,其中在2龄前生长速率最快,在5龄至7龄间生长速率明显减慢;鳄体长与体重之间呈正相关,两者在体长小于50cm时呈直线相关,体长大于50cm时呈曲线相关。不同性别的扬子鳄年生长状况不同,从5龄开始雌雄鳄体重出现显著差异,雄鳄重于雌鳄;从6龄开始雌雄鳄在体长方面的生长速率出现差异,雄鳄生长明显快于雌鳄;达到10龄后,雌雄鳄在体长和体重方面的增长均明显减慢,达到15龄时两者的体形已相差悬殊,雄性大于雌性。由von Berta-lanffy生长模型分析,雌鳄达到25龄而雄鳄达到35龄后,各自的体长几乎停止生长,雌鳄平均最大体长为173cm,雄鳄平均最大体长为219cm。在人工越冬下,除第一次越冬外,扬子鳄在越冬室内的冬眠中体况无明显变化,体能明显消耗出现在户外冬眠过程中。本研究为扬子鳄的科学化饲养提供理论依据。