INTRODUCTION: Although focal atrial tachycardia (AT) is known to sometimes be ablated from the noncoronary aortic cusp (NCC), the electro-anatomic characteristics of NCC-AT are not well known. METHODS: We compared the clinical, 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG), and transthoracic echocardiogram characteristics of 6 women (median age, 66.5 years) with NCC-AT and 12 age-matched ...

Adult sexual dimorphism is well established. However, data regarding fetuses are sparse with contradictory results. Our study aimed to look for fetal sexual dimorphism. Multislice computed tomography (MSCT) examinations and three-dimensional (3D) reconstructions were recorded on 93 fetal iliac bones aged between 21 and 40 weeks of amenorrhea (WA). The collection ...

Using a nationally representative sample of 1280 Asian Americans, we examined the extent to which major depressive disorder (MDD) onset differs by ethnicity and its associated factors for each of the three ethnic groups: Vietnamese, Filipino, and Chinese. We employed the Kaplan-Meier method to estimate the survival and hazard functions ...

PURPOSE: Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) tend to begin in adolescence and young adulthood, although the seizures can occur in a wide range of ages. In the current study, we investigated the age of onset in patients with PNES and tried to determine the correlation between the age of onset and ...

Functional base of support (FBOS), the effective area for center of pressure (COP) movement, decreases with aging, which would reduce one's ability to restore balance during perturbed stance. We investigated the relationship between ankle muscle strength and FBOS as well as the threshold perturbation acceleration that required a heel-rise (HR) ...

Abstract Objective. The aim of this study was to compare the nasomaxillary complex in subjects with nasopharyngeal obstruction symptoms and the group with normal nasopharyngeal patency. Materials and methods. The study analyzed lateral cephalograms and dental plaster casts of 229 orthodontic subjects from the orthodontic clinic, i.e. 129 (56%) females ...

Background: Information on within- and between-individual variation in energy and nutrient intake is critical for precisely estimating usual dietary intake; however, data from Japanese populations are limited.Methods: We used dietary records to examine within- and between-individual variation by age and sex in the intake of energy and 31 selected nutrients ...

Facial reconstruction is a widely used technique in forensic sciences to identify human bone remains and, for such, it is necessary to be aware of the values of facial soft tissue thickness characteristic for each population group. In Colombia, no conclusive values exist regarding facial soft tissue thickness for populations ...

Stretching is known to be an effective method for increasing range of motion. Proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) is a stretching technique that is often associated with a partner. The goal of this study was to examine the changes in hip range of motion (hip ROM) and hip, back and shoulder ...

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to analyse the impact of different socio-economic variables on the lifestyle factors, like lack of physical activity, diet rich in meat, and smoking, across sex and age groups in the general Austrian population to formulate more targeted public health measures. METHODS: The Austrian ...

BACKGROUND: Whereas the safety of teens in early licensing countries has been extensively studied, little is known about the safety of pre-license teens in late licensing countries, where these teens also may be at risk. This risk exists because of the combination of a) increasing use of travel modes with ...

BACKGROUND: Airflow obstruction in asthma is usually reversible, but fixed obstruction develops in some individuals. Little is known about risk factors for development of fixed airflow obstruction in nonsmokers with asthma. METHODS: This case-comparison study recruited nonsmokers aged over 45 with physician-diagnosed asthma from specialist outpatient clinics and primary care. ...

BACKGROUND:: Although craniofacial asymmetry is frequently involved in the congenital muscular torticollis (CMT) patients, it has not been evaluated appropriately. Little is still known concerning the severity and change of craniofacial asymmetry with aging. The authors analyzed preoperative craniofacial asymmetry objectively and confirmed the relationship between craniofacial asymmetry and aging ...

AIMS: To detect the prevalence of Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacillus fermentum in plaque obtained from severe early childhood caries (S-ECC) and caries-free (CF) groups and to assess any association between their prevalence, feeding habits and oral hygiene practices within each group. STUDY DESIGN: Sixty-four supra-gingival plaque samples were collected from ...

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease resulting from progressive loss of dopaminergic nigrostriatal neurons. Alpha-synuclein protein conformational changes, resulting in cytotoxic/aggregated proteins, have been linked to PD pathogenesis. We investigated a unilateral rotenone-lesioned mouse PD model. Unilateral lesion of the medial forebrain bundle for two groups of male C57 ...

Abstract Objective: We aimed to determine the association between young maternal age at delivery with adverse pregnancy outcome in a single, tertiary, university affiliated medical center. Methods: A retrospective, cohort, matched control study using the 1(st) percentile distribution of maternal age at delivery (21 years old, N = 461) as ...

The minimum variance theory proposes that motor commands are corrupted by signal-dependent noise and smooth trajectories with low noise levels are selected to minimize endpoint error and endpoint variability. The purpose of the study was to determine the contribution of trajectory smoothness to the endpoint accuracy and endpoint variability of ...

To evaluate the effect of age on quality of life (QOL) in breast cancer survivors following resistance training, 20 women were assigned to one of two groups based on age (YRT: 40-59 years; ORT: 60-80 years). Both groups completed 3 sets of 8 exercises twice a week for 8 weeks. ...

BACKGROUND: We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a community-wide campaign (CWC) for promoting physical activity in middle-aged and elderly people. METHODS: A cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) with a community as the unit of randomization was performed using a population-based random-sampled evaluation by self-administered questionnaires in the city of ...

OBJECTIVE: To determine the rate of pleural plaques and malignant mesothelioma and other factors that affect people living close to ophiolites. METHODS: The study population was comprised of 2970 volunteers who resided <10 km from an ophiolitic unit. Control group comprised of 157 residents >25 km from ophiolites. Information gathered from the ...

OBJECTIVE: Changes in antral follicle count, hormone production, and menstrual cyclicity as women age are well documented. However, age-related changes in ovarian follicular wave dynamics in women are not understood. The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that major follicular wave dynamics (ie, those in which a ...

Aim: The present study aims to estimate the relative importance of genetic and environmental factors for health-related quality of life (HRQL) measured by the 12-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-12). Methods: The study was based on two Danish twin cohorts (46,417 twin individuals) originating from the nationwide, population-based Danish Twin Registry. ...

Objective :  To determine the age-specific communication functioning of children with cleft lip and palate (CLP) in the age groups of 1 to 11 months, 12 to 23 months, and 24 to 48 months. Design :  A retrospective, descriptive, cross-sectional survey design was employed. Participants   Purposive sampling was implemented ...

The presumed dangers presented by sex offenders who have absconded from authorities have played a prominent role in public discourse surrounding state and federal sex offender management policy. The current study is the first to empirically investigate the characteristics of absconded sex offenders and explore how this group compares to ...

Although considered an important component of a healthy personality, self-reflection has not so far been shown to have any specific benefits for mental health. This research addresses this issue by taking into consideration two important suppressor variables, self-rumination and the need for absolute truth. The latter is an innovative variable, ...

Reference ranges for serum thyroid hormones free triiodothyronine (FT3), free thyroxine (FT4) and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) in children were set using the assay kits currently used in clinical settings. A total of 342 children (111 males and 231 females) who were negative for antithyroid antibodies (TgAb, TPOAb) and were ...

It is important to develop an accurate method of measuring controlled force exertion. This study examined the age differences between the controlled force exertion measured by a sinusoidal waveform and a bar chart display. The participants comprised 175 right-handed male adults aged 20-86 years. The participants were divided into three ...

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to evaluate ethnic group differences in concerns, knowledge, and beliefs about Alzheimer's disease (AD) in three ethnic groups of older adults (White, Latino, and Black). METHODS: The Health and Retirement Study is a US national representative study of older adults over the age of 50 years and ...

BACKGROUND: Catheter ablation (CA) has been the most effective treatment for both paroxysmal and persistent atrial fibrillation (AF). However, the impact of age on CA for persistent AF is not well defined. METHODS: Between January 2010 and August 2011, 258 consecutive patients (85 females, 32.9%), with long-standing persistent AF who ...

BACKGROUND:It has been reported that relative to other sports participants, ice hockey players suffer from cam-type femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) in higher numbers. α angles have been reported to increase with the likelihood of symptomatic FAI. It is unclear how prevalent increased α angles, commonly associated with cam FAI, are in ...

During smile evaluation and anterior esthetic construction, the anatomic and racial variations should be considered in order to achieve better matching results. The aims of this study were to validate an objective method for recording spontaneous smile process and to categorize the smile and upper lip curvature of Chinese Han-nationality ...

Skewed X-chromosome inactivation (SXCI) was found in some apparently healthy females mainly from Western countries. It has been linked to development of ovarian, breast and pulmonary carcinomas. The present study aimed to observe the SXCI frequencies in apparently healthy Chinese females and patients with esophageal carcinoma. DNA was extracted from ...

PURPOSE: Currently degeneration of the intervertebral disc and joint in the degenerative process of the lumbar spine has mainly attracted the attention, however, there are very few literatures focusing on the height of the spinous process. Our objective was to examine in what generation the change in spinous process height ...

Age-related decline in physical capacity and diminishing physiological reserves may increase the demand placed on lower extremity joints during everyday activities. This study aimed to characterize the FD at the knee and hip joints of older adults during various mobility activities. Eighty-four healthy participants (60-88 years) performed strength tests using ...

BACKGROUND: Infertility is a public health disorder affecting 10% of the population worldwide. Research on the impact of body mass index (BMI) on male fertility is very limited as compared to the multiple studies evaluating the impact of overweight in women's fertility. Although 25%-30% of the cases of couples consulting ...

Fruit and vegetable (FV) intake, which is often low in older people, may be associated with improved muscle strength and physical function. However, there is a shortage of intervention trial evidence to support this. The current study examined the effect of increased FV consumption on measures of muscle strength and ...

Purposes: Use multidimensional polytomous item response modeling (MPIRM) to evaluate the psychometric properties of a television (TV) parenting practices (PP) instrument. Perform differential item functioning (DIF) analysis to test whether item parameter estimates differed across education, language, or age groups. METHODS: Secondary analyses of data from three studies that included ...

Objective: To describe ethnic, socioeconomic and geographical differences in road traffic injury (RTI) within Auckland, New Zealand's largest city. Methods: We analysed rates of RTI deaths and non-fatal hospital admissions using the New Zealand Mortality Collection and the National Minimum Data Set 2000-08. Poisson regression examined the association of age, ...

Studies examining the natural course of borderline personality disorder (BPD) over the life span have yielded declining prevalence rates in older age groups. However, there is evidence that different BPD symptoms have different longitudinal patterns, with impulsivity decreasing with advancing age and negative affect remaining stable into late adulthood. However, ...

Pectus excavatum involves wide range of chest wall depression. The degree of depression or asymmetry varies between young and adolescent patients. It has not been clear how the deformity progresses as patients grow. To elucidate the change of asymmetric deformity, preoperative computed tomography (CT) scan was evaluated according to different ...

To compare patient and injury characteristics, rehabilitation services, and outcomes between people incurring traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) at younger and older ages. Multisite prospective observational cohort study. Six acute rehabilitation facilities. Patients (N=866) aged ≥16 years admitted to participating centers for their initial rehabilitation after SCI. Not applicable. Motor ...

Although lower limb strength becomes asymmetrical with age, past studies of aging effects on gait biomechanics have usually analyzed only one limb. This experiment measured how aging and treadmill surface influenced both dominant and nondominant step parameters in older (mean 74.0 y) and young participants (mean 21.9 y). Step-cycle parameters ...

The aim of this research was to identify the etiologic factors associated with palatally impacted canines and buccally impacted canines in a Chinese population by using the cone-beam computed tomography technique. Pretreatment cone-beam computed tomography scans of 170 Chinese subjects with impacted maxillary canines and 170 age- and sex-matched subjects ...

Donor age, cold ischemia time, delayed graft function (DGF), prior sensitization, HLA mismatches, acute rejection episodes, glomerular disease and viral nephropathy are some factors that shorten graft survival. Patients with excellent graft function at 10 years posttransplant have probably successfully overcome these detrimental factors. The effect of initial functional renal ...

SummaryBialveolar protrusion and dental crowding seems to have common features in terms of aetiology and treatment method, although they result in different facial profiles and tooth alignment. The aim of this longitudinal study is to determine when children begin to show bialveolar protrusive traits in order to get more clue ...

Small noncoding microRNAs regulate gene expression in cardiac development and disease and have been implicated in the aging process and in the regulation of extracellular matrix proteins. However, their role in age-related cardiac remodeling and atrial fibrillation (AF) was not well understood. The present study was designed to decipher molecular ...

ABSTRACT Purpose: To describe change in corneal astigmatism in infants and children of a Native American tribe with a high prevalence of astigmatism. Methods: Longitudinal measurements of corneal astigmatism were obtained in 960 Tohono O'odham children aged 6 months to <8 years. Change in corneal astigmatism (magnitude (clinical notation), J0, ...

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to measure sagittal condylar inclination (SCI) in male and female participants and to assess differences between the two groups. This measurement has a clinical value in setting the articulator SCI before fabrication of indirect restorations. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included 32 dental ...

The purpose of this study was to examine clinical features and treatment modality approaches in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), particularly in those aged 80 years and older. Using databases available at Mito Kyodo General Hospital (Japan), the medical records of COPD patients between April 2009 and December ...

Control of hypertension is unsatisfactory among older women. Data about Mediterranean countries are not currently reported. The aim of the present study was to describe the features of blood pressure (BP) control and the clustering of other cardiovascular (CV) risk factors in Mediterranean post-menopausal hypertensive women. We consecutively selected 516 ...