Thomas C. Chenier

Systemic and ocular findings in 169 prospectively studied child deaths: retinal hemorrhages usually mean child abuse

The presence and location of ocular hemorrhages were prospectively studied in 169 randomly selected child deaths referred to a medical examiner. Causes of death in the study group included natural diseases and various injuries involving the head, trunk, and asphyxia. Retinal hemorrhages were identified in 70 cases: 62 head injuries, four central nervous system diseases (but not other natural diseases), and four deaths of undetermined cause. The presence of retinal, peripheral retinal, optic nerve sheath, and intrascleral hemorrhages were strongly associated with head injury as compared to other injuries and natural diseases (Yates corrected P-values < 0.001). Among the head-injured with retinal hemorrhages, nine had a history of severe traumatic event (e.g., an unrestrained rear-seat passenger in high-speed collision) and 53 were victims of inflicted injury (e.g. violent shaking). In the absence of a verifiable history of a severe head injury or life-threatening central nervous system disease, retinal and ocular hemorrhages were diagnostic of child abuse.

The Effects of Static and Ballistic Stretching on Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness and Creatine Kinase

The purpose of this study was to determine if static and ballistic stretching would induce significant amounts of delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) and increases in creatine kinase (CK). Twenty males were randomly assigned to a static (STATIC) or ballistic stretching (BALLISTIC) group. All performed three sets of 17 stretches during a 90-min period, the only group difference being that STATIC remained stationary during each 60-s stretch while BALLISTIC performed bouncing movements. Subjective ratings of DOMS (scale: 1-10) and serum CK levels were assessed before and every 24 hours post stretching, for 5 days. A repeated measures ANOVA revealed a significant main effect due to time (p < 0.05), with peak soreness occurring at 24 hours after (M = 2.8 +/- 1.6). Surprisingly, a group effect (p < .05) demonstrated that DOMS was significantly greater for STATIC than for BALLISTIC. At 24 hours there was a 62% (p < .05) increase in CK for combined groups. These findings indicate that similar bouts of static and ballistic stretching induce significant increases in DOMS and CK in subjects unaccustomed to such exercise. Furthermore, static stretching induced significantly more DOMS than did ballistic.

Eosinophil recruitment is associated with IL-5, but not with RANTES, twenty-four hours after allergen challenge

Several lines of evidence suggest that the chemokine RANTES may play a role in eosinophilia observed during allergic inflammation. To test this hypothesis, six patients with allergic asthma were studied. After performing bronchoalveolar lavage in a lung segment (baseline), segmental bronchoprovocation was performed with saline solution in another segment and with ragweed in a third segment. Bronchoalveolar lavage was performed 24 hours later in the saline-challenged (sham) and ragweed-challenged lung segments. The bronchoalveolar lavage fluids from the baseline, sham, and ragweed segments were analyzed for cell counts and for the levels of IL-5, RANTES, and eosinophil-derived neurotoxin. IL-5 levels were elevated in the ragweed (984 +/- 588 pg/ml) compared with sham segments (2.8 +/- 0.2 pg/ml, p = 0.02). Likewise, RANTES levels were elevated in the ragweed (12.93 +/- 3.4 pg/ml) compared with the sham segments (3.05 +/- 1.19 pg/ml, p = 0.006). The IL-5 levels correlated with both eosinophil numbers (r = 0.90, p < 0.02) and eosinophil-derived neurotoxin levels (r = 0.89, p < 0.02). In contrast, RANTES levels did not correlate with either eosinophil numbers or eosinophil-derived neurotoxin levels. These results indicate that although both IL-5 and RANTES are elevated 24 hours after allergen challenge, only IL-5 correlates with eosinophil recruitment and degranulation.

Relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness and lipoprotein(a) in men and women

Lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] is a distinct lipoprotein of the low density lipoprotein (LDL) class. Research has shown that elevated Lp(a) is an independent risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD). The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to determine whether fitness was associated with Lp(a) concentrations. Cardiorespiratory (CR) fitness, assessed by maximal treadmill time, percent body fat (hydrodensitometry), body fat distribution (waist/hip ratio), lipoprotein profile and LDL particle size (2-16% gel electrophoresis) were determined in healthy Caucasian men (N = 100) and women (N = 50). As expected, the frequency distribution of Lp(a) was highly skewed with a mean level of 16.9 +/- 19.1 mg.dl-1 (range 0.10-90 mg.dl-1) for men and women combined. Lp(a) was only significantly (P < 0.05) correlated with cholesterol (r = 0.29) in women and LDL-C (r = 0.22) in men. However, after correcting LDL-C for Lp(a) content, the correlation was not significant (r = 0.06). A MANCOVA, controlling for age, across highest and lowest CR fitness quartiles suggest a typical positive influence of improved CR fitness on lipoproteins, body composition, and fat distribution; however, Lp(a) levels were not affected. These data indicate that there is no direct association between plasma Lp(a) and body composition, fat distribution, or CR fitness in healthy men and women.

Do over‐the‐counter analgesics reduce delayed onset muscle soreness and serum creatine kinase values?

The purpose of this study was to determine whether aspirin or acetaminophen would significantly reduce delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) and blood levels of creatine kinase (CK), a marker of muscle tissue damage, after an unaccustomed bout of, eccentric exercise. Thirty‐six untrained men were randomly assigned to an aspirin (3.0 g/day), acetaminophen (3.0 g/day), or placebo group in a double‐blind fashion. Drug or placebo administration began 48 hours before exercise and continued to 72 hours after exercise. Each subject performed the eccentric phase of a supine bench press at a resistance equivalent to 120% of maximum concentric strength, 1 RM (4 sets, 12 repetitions/set). A subjective sensation score of DOMS (1 = normal, 10 = very sore) and serum CK activity were measured before and at 24, 48, 72, 96, and 120 hours after exercise, using a repeated measures ANOVA. No significant group differences (p > 0.05) were found in perception of soreness; a significant time effect was observed (p <, 0.05) with p...

JUNIOR HIGH HEALTH TEACHERS’ KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES ABOUT AGING AND IMPLEMENTATION OF AGING EDUCATION

The purpose of this study was to determine the status of aging education in North Carolina junior high schools, to assess junior high school health teachers’ knowledge and attitudes about aging and the elderly, and to investigate the relationship between teachers’ knowledge and attitudes about aging and their implementation of aging education. Junior high school health teachers (N – 304) were chosen to represent the educational regions of North Carolina. The instruments used were Kogans Attitudes Toward Old People Scale, Facts on Aging Quiz Part I, and a questionnaire comprised of demographic items and items designed to assess the implementation of aging education. Results indicated that a majority of these junior high school health education teachers do not teach aging education and have little background and training in aging education or gerontology. The greatest perceived barrier to teaching about aging was lack of student interest. The most useful assistance for lesson‐plan preparation indicated was...

Meting van de grijpkracht: waarde en betrouwbaarheid van de bloeddrukmeter en de ‘Jamar grijpdynamometer’,

In het verleden zijn verschillende instrumenten en methoden voor het meten van grijpkracht van de hand ontwikkeld. In de jaren vijftig werden de dynamometers van Sklar, Narrangansett, Geckler en Collins gebruikt. In 1954 introduceerde Bechtol de Jamar dynamometer. Het bestond uit een hydraulisch systeem

A note on the box correction factor for degrees of freedom in certain f tests

The adequacy of the Box correction factor for degrees of freedom in omnibus F tests for equality of means is investigated. A range of multivariate normal models is simulated to show the extent to which this first order correction maintains test size and power under different covariance and mean structures. A key component of the investigation involves sampling from populations which have the same correction but different covariance structures.