Thesis (M.S.)-West Virginia University, 2007. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains ix, 155 p. : ill. Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 127-144).

Estimation of the biological profile from as many skeletal elements as possible is a necessity in both forensic and bioarchaeological contexts; this includes non-standard aspects of the biological profile, such as body mass index (BMI). BMI is a measure that allows for understanding of the composition of an individual and is traditionally divided into four groups: underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obese. BMI estimation incorporates both estimation of stature and body mass. The estimation of stature from skeletal elements is commonly included into the standard biological profile but the estimation of body mass needs to be further statistically validated to be consistently included. The bones of the foot, specifically the first metatarsal, may have the ability to estimate BMI given an allometric relationship to stature and the mechanical relationship to body mass. There are two commonly used methods for stature estimation, the anatomical method and the regression method. The anatomical method takes into account all of the skeletal elements that contribute to stature while the regression method relies on the allometric relationship between a skeletal element and living stature. A correlation between the metrics of the first metatarsal and living stature has been observed, and proposed as a method for valid stature estimation from the boney foot (Byers et al., 1989). Body mass estimation from skeletal elements relies on two theoretical frameworks: the morphometric and the mechanical approaches. The morphometric approach relies on the size relationship of the individual to body mass; the basic relationship between volume, density, and weight allows for body mass estimation. The body is thought of as a cylinder, and in order to understand the volume of this cylinder the diameter is needed. A commonly used proxy for this in the human body is skeletal bi-iliac breadth from rearticulated pelvic girdle. The mechanical method of body mass estimation relies on the ideas of biomechanical bone remodeling; the elements of the skeleton that are under higher forces, including weight, will remodel to minimize stress. A commonly used metric for the mechanical method of body mass estimation is the diameter of the head of the femur. The foot experiences nearly the entire weight force of the individual at any point in the gait cycle and is subject to the biomechanical remodeling that this force would induce. Therefore, the application of the mechanical framework for body mass estimation could stand true for the elements of the foot. The morphometric and mechanical approaches have been validated against one another on a large, geographically disparate population (Auerbach and Ruff, 2004), but have yet to be validated on a sample of known body mass. DeGroote and Humphrey (2011) test the ability of the first metatarsal to estimate femoral head diameter, body mass, and femoral length. The estimated femoral head diameter from the first metatarsal is used to estimate body mass via the morphometric approach and the femoral length is used to estimate living stature. The authors find that body mass and stature estimation methods from more commonly used skeletal elements compared well with the methods developed from the first metatarsal. This study examines 388 `White' individuals from the William M. Bass donated skeletal collection to test the reliability of the body mass estimates from femoral head diameter and bi-iliac breadth, stature from maximum femoral length, and body mass and stature from the metrics of the first metatarsal. This sample included individuals from all four of the BMI classes. This study finds that all of the skeletal indicators compare well with one another; there is no statistical difference in the stature estimates from the first metatarsal and the maximum length of the femur, and there is no statistical between all three of the body mass estimation methods. When compared to the forensic estimates of stature neither of the tested methods had statistical difference. Conversely, when the body mass estimates are compared to forensic body mass there was a statistical difference and when further investigated the most difference in the body mass estimates was in the extremes of body mass (the underweight and obese categories). These findings indicate that the estimation of stature from both the maximum femoral length and the metrics of the metatarsal are accurate methods. Furthermore, the estimation of body mass is accurate when the individual is in the middle range of the BMI spectrum while these methods for outlying individuals are inaccurate. These findings have implications for the application of stature and body mass estimation in the fields of bioarchaeology, forensic anthropology, and paleoanthropology.

Syntetiskt oxytocin är en vanlig behandling under förlossning. Oxytocin används som induktionsmetod och för att behandla värksvaghet. För att diagnostisera värksvaghet behöver kvinnan vara i aktiv fas, men varken för diagnosen värksvaghet eller för begreppet aktiv fas råder konsensus. Konsensus saknas även för längden på en normal förlossning och det råder individuell variation. Idag administreras oxytocin utan hänsyn till Body Mass Index. Syftet med litteraturöversikten var att belysa om och i så fall hur dosen av syntetiskt oxytocin påverkas av kvinnans Body Mass Index under förlossning. Metoden var en litteraturöversikt med systematisk ansats. Databassökningen utfördes i CINAHL och PubMed. Artiklarna kvalitetsgranskades och 15 kvantitativa artiklar inkluderades. Artiklarna analyserades med integrerad analys med en induktiv ansats. Dataanalysen resulterade i fyra huvudkategorier: exponering av syntetiskt oxytocin, oxytocindos, infusionslängd/duration av oxytocininfusion och varierande förlossningsutfall. Tre subkategorier påträffades under huvudkategorin oxytocindos: genomsnittlig medelhastighet, administrerad totaldos och högsta infusionshastighet. Resultatet visade att dosen av oxytocin under förlossning delvis påverkas av kvinnans Body Mass Index. Det sågs att ett högre Body Mass Index ökar sannolikheten att exponeras med oxytocin under förlossning. Ingen entydighet gällande oxytocindos i relation till Body Mass Index sågs för övriga kategorier. Det sågs en viss antydan att kvinnor som induceras behöveren högre högsta infusionshastighet och totaldos i relation till ett högre Body Mass Index. Slutsatsen var att sannolikt påverkas oxytocinadministreringen av fler faktorer än kvinnans Body Mass Index. Då oxytocin är en vanlig förlossningsintervention behövs fortsatt forskning på hur oxytocin kan doseras på ett mer individanpassat sätt. / Synthetic oxytocin is a common treatment during labor. Oxytocin is used as a method for induction and for augmentation of labor. To diagnose dystocia the woman needs to be in active stage, however there is no common definition either for the diagnose dystocia or concept of active stage. There is no agreement about the length of a normal labor and individual variety occurs. Today oxytocin is administrated without consideration for Body Mass Index. The aim of the literature review was to illustrate if and is so how the dose of synthetic oxytocin is affected by maternal Body Mass Index during labor. The method was a literature review with a systematic approach. The search was conducted in CINAHL and PubMed. The quality of the studies was assessed and 15 quantitative studies were included. The studies were analyzed through integrated analysis with an inductive approach. The data analysis resulted in four main categories: exposure of synthetic oxytocin, oxytocin dose, duration of oxytocin and varying labor outcomes. Three subcategories were found in the main category oxytocin dose: average rate, total dose and peak infusion rate. The result was that the oxytocin dose used during labor was partly affected by maternal Body Mass Index. A higher Body Mass Index was seen to increase probability for oxytocin exposure during labor. No unambiguity was seen regarding oxytocin dose in relation to Body Mass Index for the other categories. A trend towards the need of a higher peak infusion rate and total dose regarding a higher Body Mass Index was shown for women who underwent induction. In conclusion the administration of oxytocin is plausibly affected by other factors than maternal Body Mass Index. Since oxytocin is a common intervention during labor further research is needed to explore how administration of oxytocin could occur in a more individualized manner.

Published Article / Studies were undertaken in the Limpopo and Free State Provinces of South Africa to understand the beliefs, perceptions and health implications associated with geophagia. Questionnaires administered to 225 geophagic females covered their demographic details, their reasons for ingesting geophagic clayey soils and their perceptions regarding associated health conditions and implications. Respondents ingested clayey soils for body cleansing, craving, nutrient supplementation and weight loss. Some respondents considered the soils harmful, and < 50% of respondents had some knowledge of the contents of soils they ingested. Medical reasons in support of geophagia included lack of knowledge on the health implications of the practice. Medical consequences associated with geophagia may have occurred as a result of a lack of knowledge of the health implications of the practice. A clear need for educating geophagic individuals regarding the health implications of geophagia is called for.

Harvesting is a human-imposed selective pressure. Harvest-induced mortality is not random and mostly targets heritable traits. Human harvest may impose an artificial selection pressure on life history traits, often opposite to natural selection. Therefore in harvested populations life history strategies will evolve under natural and human imposed selective pressures, favoring individuals with the highest fitness. In ungulate populations hunting is the most common cause of adult mortality. By increasing adult mortality, hunting may have both ecological and evolutionary consequences affecting phenotypic traits and life history strategies. Typically, in sexually dimorphic species large horn and weapon size is the major determinant of success in male-male competition. Large males gain high dominance rank and enjoy high reproductive success. By removing males with large horn and body size, hunters may favor small individuals, opposite to sexual selection. In long lived mammals longevity is the main determinant in female reproductive success. Typically females reproduce once a year, therefore in the energy allocation trade-off they invest more in body maintenance and survival rather than reproduction to increase lifetime reproductive success. By increasing adult female mortality hunting may reduce age and size at maturation, selecting for a strategy of early maturation and great current maternal investment. In this thesis I studied chamois ecology and evolution by comparing hunted and unhunted populations. I tested for possible differences in life history traits and examined the ecological and evolutionary consequence of hunting. In the chamois populations under study phenotypic traits and reproductive strategies were not strongly affected by hunting. There was no evidence of a strong evolutionary effect of sport hunting on horn length or body mass of adult males or yearlings. Although hunters seek long horned males, hunter selectivity is unlikely to lead to an artificial selective pressure on horn size. I found few differences in body and horn size between hunted and protected populations, suggesting the absence of strong effects of hunting on male phenotype. Although yearling body mass declined over time in both hunted populations, environmental factors explained much of the trends. The combination of low variability in adult horn length, weak correlation between horn length and body mass for adult males and strong compensatory horn growth apparently reduced the potential for hunters to selectively remove young adult males with vigorous growth. Although early development in body and horn growth affected reproductive potential in young and senescent females chamois, I found no evidence that female early development affected hunter selectivity. Sport harvest did not appear to have strong impacts on the evolution of phenotypic traits and reproductive strategies of female chamois, likely because of a low harvest rate and weak selection for long-horned females as hunters appeared more concerned with avoiding lactating females. The biology of chamois seems to prevent impact of selective hunting, at least in the case of weak hunting pressure.

Background: Infant mortality rate is a serious problem in today’s society. This statistic is often used as one measure of a country’s success and growth. One factor that is strongly associated with infant mortality is low weight in children. In Mozambique, the percentage of underweight children under the age of five was 16% in 2012 (UNICEF, 2013). In order to reduce the number of underweight children in this country, characteristics of caregivers that could potentially contribute to this problem should be investigated. One particularly important characteristic is maternal literacy, which to date has been under investigated. Objective: This study aimed to determine whether maternal literacy affected the weight and body-mass-index (BMI) of children ages 0 to 3 years old in Mozambique. Methodology: A cross-sectional study of 6,762 children between the ages of 0 and 47 months was conducted using the 2011 Demographic and Health Survey for Mozambique. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) procedures with Scheffe post hoc tests were performed in order to identify differences in mean child weight and BMI Z-score in reference to maternal literacy level. The data were analyzed using Statistical Analysis Software Version 9.4. Results: 396 (6.05%) of the children in the study sample were found to be underweight and 4467 (58.69%) of mothers were found to be illiterate. There was a statistically significant association between maternal literacy level and the weight and BMI of children between the ages of 0 and 3 years of age. Interestingly, a trend of stronger association was observed for each one-year increase in child age. Conclusion: Maternal literacy is significantly associated with child weight and BMI. Therefore, prioritizing secondary education for women is one important approach for ameliorating the risk of underweight children. Increased literacy rates in women could lead to better understanding of child nutritional needs, and ultimately, an overall reduction in the number of underweight children.

No description available.

ABSTRACT ASSOCIATION OF ANTIOXIDANT INTAKE AND BODY MASS INDEX IN PRE-TO-EARLY ADOLESCENT CHILDREN by E. Kelly Imboden Background: The prevalence of overweight (Body Mass Index [BMI]85-<95th percentile) and obesity (BMI>95thpercentile) for individuals aged 2-19 years in the United States in 2009-2010 was estimated to be 31.8%. Excessive body fat increases the risk for chronic conditions such as hypertension and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Studies have established an association between obesity and oxidative stress and inflammation in children and adolescents. Antioxidants have been shown to have protective effects against inflammation and oxidative stress. However, the effect of dietary antioxidant intake on obesity is not fully understood. Objective: To examine dietary antioxidant intake by BMI classification in a population of normal, overweight and obese children. Methods: The study population included 296 healthy pre-to-early adolescent (age 6-15 years) African American and Caucasian children residing in Pittsburgh, PA. Demographic characteristics, anthropometric measures and nutrient intake were assessed at baseline and six months. A food frequency questionnaire was used to assess antioxidant intake (vitamin C, carotene, total vitamin A, zinc and vitamin E). Frequency analysis was used to describe demographic, anthropometric and nutrient data. The Kruskal Wallis test was used to evaluate difference in median antioxidant and kilocalorie intake by BMI classification at baseline. A Kendall’s tau correlation was performed to test for a linear relationship between BMI and antioxidant intake at baseline. Results: The median age of the population was 10 years (range, 8 to 11 years). The majority of the population was male (53%) and African American (60%). Weight and BMI (p = 0.028 and 0.000, respectively) were the only demographic and anthropometric characteristics that differed by gender. For the total cohort, median nutrient intake by BMI classification was significantly different for vitamin C (p = 0.015), zinc (p = 0.019), vitamin E (p = 0.022) and kilocalories (p = 0.015). When divided by gender, zinc intake in males (p = 0.047) and kilocalorie intake in females (p = 0.017) were the only nutrients found to be statistically different by weight classification. No linear relationship was observed between antioxidant intake and BMI for the total cohort and for each gender. Conclusion: Our results do not support a linear relationship between antioxidant intake and BMI. In contrast to our hypothesis, antioxidant intake was found to be highest in children who were overweight. Future studies should include a serum measure of inflammation and antioxidant levels in addition to antioxidant intake to better understand the impact, if any, of antioxidants in overweight and obese children and adolescents.

The American College of Sports Medicine advocates the use of a percentage of maximal oxygen uptake reserve (%VO2R) for exercise prescription purposes because it's thought to provide a close match with percentage of heart rate reserve (%HRR) than a given percentage of maximal oxygen uptake (%VO2max). However, some recent studies have challenged the validity of this matching. The purpose of this study was to assess the association of body mass index (BMI) with the matching of %HRR and %VO2R during graded exercise testing. The study sample included 626 subjects (281 men; 345 women); mean age of 45.5+11.7 years; mean BMI of 27.9+5.4 kg .m-2) who completed a maximal treadmill test to volitional fatigue using the BSU/Bruce Ramp protocol. The distribution of BMI measures within the sample was 31.4% <25; 38% between 25.0 and 29.9; 17.9% between 30 and 34.9%; 8.8% between 35 and 39.9%; and 3.1% were > 40 kg•m"2. Subjects were excluded from the analysis if they failed to achieve a peak RER > LO during the maximal exercise test, possessed pulmonary or cardiovascular disease (excluding hypertension), or incomplete/erroneous submaximal heart rate and/or V02 data that was unable to be retrieved from subject's existing file. Heart rate and VO2 data from minutes 3, 6, and 9 were converted into %HRR and %VO2R, with 3.5 ml•kg-'•min' serving to represent resting VO2. The relative exercise intensity for minutes 3, 6, and 9 represented 39.7 +12.2, 62.9 ± 15.6, and 80.8 ± 12.5% of VO2R, respectively and 43.1 f 12.6, 64.7 ± 14.9, and 83.5 + 10.6% of HRR. %HRR significantly overestimated %VO2R at each measurement point during the exercise test with mean differences 3.3, 2.0, and 3.8%, respectively (p<0.05). The association of BMI with the matching of %HRR and %VO2R was assessed by correlation with the difference the scores (AHRRVO2R) at each specified time during exercise test. Correlations for BMI and AHRRVO2R were -0.102, -0.175, and -0.231 for minutes 3,6, and 9, respectively (p<0.05). These results demonstrate a low association between BMI and the matching of HRR and VO2R. / School of Physical Education, Sport, and Exercise Science

The primary purpose of the study was to determine if measured LBM could be used as a more powerful predictor of BMR than could surface area (SA) as calculated by the formula of DuBois and DuBois (1916). It was also of interest to develop a prediction equation for BMR using multiple regression analysis. Data from 82 women and 76 men were included in the study. Pearson product-moment correlations indicated that LBM was a better predictor for BMR than SA on either of the principal SA prediction equations, those of Aub and DuBois (1917) and Harris and Benedict (1919). Age, sex, and fat weight were not found to contribute significantly to prediction when included by multiple regression analyses. Linear equations for BMR as a function of LBM were developed for each sex. Tables based on these equations were also generated as a quick reference for clinicians.