abstract: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of mortality yet largely preventable, but the key to prevention is to identify at-risk individuals before adverse events. For predicting individual CVD risk, carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT), a noninvasive ultrasound method, has proven to be valuable, offering several advantages over CT coronary artery calcium score. However, each CIMT examination includes several ultrasound videos, and interpreting each of these CIMT videos involves three operations: (1) select three enddiastolic ultrasound frames (EUF) in the video, (2) localize a region of interest (ROI) in each selected frame, and (3) trace the lumen-intima interface and the media-adventitia interface in each ROI to measure CIMT. These operations are tedious, laborious, and time consuming, a serious limitation that hinders the widespread utilization of CIMT in clinical practice. To overcome this limitation, this paper presents a new system to automate CIMT video interpretation. Our extensive experiments demonstrate that the suggested system significantly outperforms the state-of-the-art methods. The superior performance is attributable to our unified framework based on convolutional neural networks (CNNs) coupled with our informative image representation and effective post-processing of the CNN outputs, which are uniquely designed for each of the above three operations. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Computer Science 2016

Orientador: Wilson Nadruz Junior / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Ciencias Medicas / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-11T18:42:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Gemignani_Tiago_M.pdf: 1392345 bytes, checksum: 25697107f179a8a592c3843115eec95e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008 / Resumo: A aterosclerose de artérias periféricas tipicamente afeta vasos dos membros inferiores, sugerindo que estímulos locais tenham função importante neste processo. O presente estudo avaliou os efeitos das mudanças posturais na tensão circunferencial das artérias poplítea e carótida e investigou a correlação entre a tensão circunferencial vascular local e a espessura íntima-média destas artérias. Cento e dezessete indivíduos não diabéticos, não hipertensos, não fumantes foram avaliados (48 homens e 69 mulheres). A pressão arterial foi mensurada em braço e panturilha dos pacientes, nas posições supina e ortostática. Análise com Eco-Doppler foi realizada em artérias carótida comum e poplítea após medida de pressão arterial. A tensão circunferencial foi calculada de acordo com a Lei de Laplace. Foi encontrado que a mudança da posição supina para a ortostática aumentou a tensão circunferencial poplítea, mas não em artérias carótidas. Análises de correlação parcial, ajustadas por idade e índice de massa corpórea, revelaram que os valores de tensão circunferencial média obtidos em posição supina e ortostática exibiram correlação similar com a espessura íntima-média carotídea, enquanto que a tensão circunferencial sistólica ortostática revelou correlação mais forte com a espessura íntima-média poplítea, que a tensão circunferencial obtida em posição supina. Estes resultados foram confirmados após análise de regressão múltipla incluindo idade, sexo, índice de massa corpórea e níveis de lípides e glicemia como variáveis independentes. Em conclusão, a tensão circunferencial ortostática foi melhor preditor hemodinâmico da espessura íntima-média poplítea do que a tensão circunferencial supina. Estes dados sugerem que a posição ereta seja um fator de risco potencial para aterosclerose poplítea devido ao aumento da sobrecarga hemodinâmica local. / Abstract: Atherosclerosis of peripheral arteries typically affects vessels of the lower limbs, suggesting that local hemodynamic stimuli play a role in this process. The present study evaluated the effects of body posture changes on carotid and popliteal circumferential wall tension (CWT) and investigated the relationship between local CWT and intima-media thickness (IMT) of these arteries. One hundred seventeen nondiabetic, nonhypertensive, nonsmoker subjects (48 men and 69 women) were evaluated. Blood pressure was measured in the arm and calf of subjects in supine and orthostatic positions. Echo-Doppler analysis evaluated the common carotid and popliteal arteries after blood pressure measurements. CWT was calculated according to Laplace's law. Changing from supine to orthostatic posture increased CWT in popliteal but not in carotid arteries. Partial correlation analysis controlled for age and body mass index revealed that supine and orthostatic CWT exhibited comparable correlation coefficients with carotid IMT, while orthostatic CWT displayed a stronger relationship with popliteal IMT than supine CWT. These results were further confirmed by multiple linear regression analysis including age, sex, body mass index, lipid fractions and glucose as independent variables. Orthostatic CWT is a better hemodynamic predictor of popliteal IMT in comparison to supine CWT. These data suggest that orthostatic posture may be a potential risk factor for popliteal atherosclerosis by increasing local hemodynamic burden. / Mestrado / Clinica Medica / Mestre em Clinica Medica

Submitted by Cássia Santos (cassia.bcufg@gmail.com) on 2015-11-11T14:43:27Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Mariana Costa Guimaraes - 2015.pdf: 615661 bytes, checksum: 397662fdb8f468546a22b382c9f02d56 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2015-11-12T09:19:31Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Mariana Costa Guimaraes - 2015.pdf: 615661 bytes, checksum: 397662fdb8f468546a22b382c9f02d56 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-11-12T09:19:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Mariana Costa Guimaraes - 2015.pdf: 615661 bytes, checksum: 397662fdb8f468546a22b382c9f02d56 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-07-08 / This work is the result of a research developed, under the master degree, in the women penitentiary Consuelo Nasser in order to determine whether, in this prison, the exercise of sexuality, through conjugal visits of spouses and partners, is assured. If so, I would inquire the specifics of granting private visit in the female prison (general purpose). The specific purposes were: identify the legal, bureaucratic and socio-cultural barriers that hinder, impede or distort the private visit in this prison; reveal what do women in jail think about their sexuality, how are their experiences, what are their wishes and worries; point (possible) individual and social benefits achieved with the full exercise of sexuality in prison. Therefore, I performed a possible observation of the field, followed by in-depth interviews, from a semi- structured script, to research gender relations, sexuality and human rights in that women's prison. This research advances toward interdisciplinarity, dialoguing with Law, but not limited to the study of legislation nor to the verification of the implementation of the right to equality in women's prison. We start from the dialectical conception proposed by Roberto Lyra Filho (1982), according to which the law is liberation/emancipation ("found in the street"), and move forward on issues related to gender relations, identity, social representations, body control and crime, that requires a deconstruction of disciplinary walls allowing the intersection and the dialogue between Law and Anthropology, Sociology, Criminology and Human Rights in addressing the proposed issue, which would not be possible for a fragmented science. After the field observation, we concluded that granting conjugal visits in that prison does not result from the understanding that it is a right. Regardless the official speech, prison’s administration, under the argument of ensuring private visit in Consuelo Nasser, uses it as a bargaining object, violating women’s dignity. There, as indeed in other women's prisons in the country, women, mostly black and mostly poor, are (will be) exposed to the same social abandonment they were on the street. Prison, now of their own, once again, will establish their family relationships. How to socially reintegrate women who have never entered? How to protect them if their bodies are known to be used by the state to ensure peace in the male prison? How to value them, if they are not recognized as rights holders? When women under the guard and state protection, are taken - in its possible connotations - to exchange sex for money, to keep the drug addiction or to buy food, they are not free in the exercise of their sexuality. There, the right to sexuality is not emancipatory. Because of precariousness and abandonment (social and family), observed in a prison for women, conjugal visits turned into an instrument of oppression and subjugation, impairing the democratic right to sexuality and especially against human dignity. / O presente trabalho é resultado de pesquisa realizada, no mestrado, na penitenciária feminina Consuelo Nasser, com o objetivo de verificar se nesse estabelecimento prisional o exercício da sexualidade, por meio da visita íntima de cônjuges e companheiros/as, é assegurado. Em caso positivo, perquiriria as especificidades da concessão da visita privada no cárcere feminino (objetivo geral). Em seguida, busquei identificar os entraves legais, burocráticos e socioculturais que dificultam, impedem ou desvirtuam a visita privada; revelar o que pensam as mulheres em situação de cárcere sobre a sua sexualidade, como são suas experiências, quais são seus desejos e suas preocupações; e apontar os (possíveis) benefícios individuais e sociais alcançados com o pleno exercício da sexualidade no cárcere. Para tanto, foi realizada uma observação possível do campo, seguida de entrevistas em profundidade, a partir de um roteiro semiestruturado, para pesquisar as relações de gênero, sexualidade e Direitos Humanos no cárcere feminino. A presente pesquisa avança em direção à interdisciplinaridade, dialogando com o Direito, mas não se limitando ao estudo da legislação que trata da visita íntima, tampouco à verificação da implementação do direito à igualdade no cárcere feminino. Partimos da concepção dialética de Roberto Lyra Filho (1982), segundo a qual o Direito é libertação/emancipação (“achado na rua”), e avançamos sobre questões relativas ao gênero, identidade, representações sociais, controle corporal e criminalidade, o que exige uma desconstrução dos muros disciplinares, permitindo o cruzamento e o diálogo do Direito com a Antropologia, a Sociologia, a Criminologia e com os Direitos Humanos no enfrentamento da problemática estabelecida, o que não seria possível a uma ciência fragmentada. Da observação em campo concluímos que a concessão da visita íntima, no estabelecimento prisional pesquisado, não decorre da compreensão de que se trata de direito da/o presa/o. Embora o discurso oficial seja diferente, a administração penitenciária, sob o pretexto de assegurar a visita privada na Penitenciária Feminina Consuelo Nasser, a utiliza como objeto de troca, violando a dignidade da mulher presa. Lá, como certamente em outras unidades prisionais femininas no país, mulheres, quase sempre negras, e quase sempre pobres, são (serão) novamente submetidas ao abandono social que conheceram na rua. O cárcere, agora o delas, mais uma vez pautará suas relações familiares. Como reinserir socialmente mulheres que nunca estiveram inseridas? Como protegê-las, se seus corpos são sabidamente utilizados pelo Estado para conter ânimos no presídio masculino? Como valorizá-las, se sequer são reconhecidas (se reconhecem) como titulares de direitos? Quando mulheres, sob a guarda e a proteção estatal, são levadas  em suas possíveis conotações  a trocar sexo por dinheiro, para manter o vício em drogas ou para comprar comida, não são livres no exercício de sua sexualidade. Lá, o direito à sexualidade não é emancipatório. Em razão da precariedade e do abandono (social e familiar) que marcam o cárcere feminino, a visita íntima se transformou em um instrumento de opressão e subjugo, atentando contra o direito democrático à sexualidade e, principalmente, contra a dignidade humana.

Introduction: Atherosclerosis remains asymptomatic until it progresses to cause flow-limiting disease. Identifying patients at high risk in the early stages of the atherosclerotic process may allow modification of cardiovascular risk by effective preventive strategies. Various non-invasive tests have been studied and have shown promising results in predicting future adverse cardiovascular events. The objective of this study was to establish the carotid ultrasonographic markers that best correlate with angiographic coronary artery disease (CAD) and the relationship between left ventricular geometry, carotid atherosclerosis, biomarkers and CAD in patients with unobstructed coronary arteries, chronic stable angina (CSA) and acute coronary syndromes (ACS). Methods: Carotid ultrasound examination, echocardiography and serum biomarker estimation were performed in consecutive patients who underwent coronary angiography for evaluation of stable or acute chest pain. Results: A total of 146 subjects were recruited into the study with a mean age of 56.9 ± 10.6 (range 29 to 85) years; 120 were men (82%) and 26 (18%) women. Twenty-one percent of the study population had unobstruced coronaries, 42% had stable CAD and 37% had presented with ACS. There was no significant difference in the carotid intima media thickness (CIMT) measurements between the three groups. CIMT correlated with abnormal left ventricular geometry but not with the presence or severity of CAD. The presence of carotid plaque and plaque score correlated with obstructive CAD, but was not significantly different between stable CAD and ACS patients. There was a trend towards more echogenic plaque in the stable CAD group. The composite score of IMT and plaque was positively correlated with the presence and severity of CAD. The averaged myocardial peak systolic and early diastolic velocities were significantly lower in those with obstructive CAD. CRP and osteopontin levels were higher in the ACS patients. Conclusions: Carotid plaque and not CIMT was associated with angiographic coronary artery disease. Averaged systolic and early diastolic myocardial velocities by tissue doppler imaging correlated with obstructive CAD. Novel serum biomarkers are promising and further studies are needed.

Magister Scientiae (Medical Bioscience) - MSc(MBS) / Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are among the top 10 causes of death in all ages in South Africa. The prevalence of maternal smoking and alcohol consumption during pregnancy is alarmingly high in South Africa. In utero exposure to nicotine and alcohol may cause CVD later in life. There is a global need for early detection of CVD especially those vulnerable during early childhood, to prevent the development of CVD risk factors in adulthood. The aim of this study was to compare CVD risk in five-year-old children from a low socio-economic population with in utero dual exposure to nicotine and alcohol and in utero nicotine exposure by measuring carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT), anthropometric measurements and clinical measurements including blood pressure. A case-control study was conducted on 468 children at five years old through interviews to collect data on demographic characteristics and health statistics. The cIMT was measured using B-mode ultrasonography. Anthropometric measurements were taken such as skinfold thickness, waist circumference, height and weight to calculate Body Mass Index (BMI). Blood pressure measurements such as systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR) were taken. The data was analysed using SPSS version 26. Descriptive and inferential statistics (Spearman’s correlations, non-parametric partial correlations), Kruskal-Wallis H, Chi-square tests and logistic regression were used for statistical analysis. Results showed a significantly higher right cIMT (RcIMT) (0.36 ± 0.05 mm; P < 0.01) in children with in utero exposure to nicotine and alcohol during pregnancy and a higher RcIMT in males (0.37 ± 0.06 mm; P < 0.01) with in utero dual exposure to nicotine and alcohol when compared to females. A significant association was found between in utero dual exposure to nicotine and alcohol and a high RcIMT, specifically in females at five years old after the adjustment for confounders (B= -1.618, P = 0.002). Consequently, females in the dual exposed group were 7.6 times more likely to exhibit higher RcIMT with a relative risk of 2.6 times greater to children with no exposure. Females also had significantly higher SBP (U= 3829.50, p <0.01), DBP (U= 3527.50, p <0.05), MAP (U= 3561.00, p <0.05) and HR (U= 3887.50, p <0.01) in the dual exposed group. Cardiovascular risk factors were modestly prevalent at five years old in children with in utero teratogen exposures. However, increased adiposity indices were not observed in this population at five years old and were not associated with teratogen exposures. This may indicate that dual exposure to nicotine and alcohol has a significant effect on the intima-media thickness of the carotid arteries in children, but not necessarily on central and peripheral adiposity at five years old. Therefore, CVD risk factors need to be identified early in children in low socioeconomic regions with in utero exposure to nicotine and alcohol to prevent CVD later in life.

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a disability that impacts a person throughout their lifespan and may place adults with the condition at an increased risk of physical inactivity and cardiovascular disease. Cardiovascular structure and function in adults with CP has not been comprehensively investigated previously. In the current cross-sectional, observational study, endothelial function, carotid distensibility, and arterial stiffness were assessed using flow-mediated dilation (FMD), B-mode ultrasound, and pulse wave velocity (PWV), respectively, in forty adults with CP (age 33.7 ± 12.7 years). The study sample was separated based on whether subjects were community ambulant or community non-ambulant using the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS). Those in GMFCS I-II were labeled community ambulant (age 31.7 ± 10.4 years) while those in GMFCS III-V were community non-ambulant (age 34.8 ± 13.6 years). Resting arterial stiffness was examined through assessment of central and upper and lower limb peripheral PWV (cPWV, uPWV, lPWV). Carotid intima-media thickness (IMT), a measure of vascular structure, was also quantified using B-mode ultrasound images and a semi-automated edge detection software program. cPWV was calculated using the distance (carotid to femoral using the subtraction method) and time delay between the foot of the carotid waveform and the foot of the femoral waveform. uPWV was calculated from the carotid to radial artery distance (subtracting the distance from the carotid to sternal notch from the carotid to radial distance) and the time delay between the arrival of the foot of each corresponding waveform. lPWV was calculated from the femoral to posterior tibialis artery using the distance between each site and time delay between the arrival of the foot of each corresponding waveform. Physical activity (PA) levels were assessed using Actigraph accelerometry with cut points that had been previously determined in normal adults. Cardiometabolic markers of fasting serum interleukin-6, insulin, glucose, and a lipid panel were analyzed. The non-ambulant group had an increased uPWV (10.2 m/s ± 1.9) compared to the ambulant group (8.28 m/s ± 1.6) (p<0.01) despite no differences in cPWV or lPWV. There were no group differences (p>0.05) in absolute, relative or normalized FMD responses. Both groups also had similar values of carotid IMT and carotid distensibility. No group differences were found in any of the cardiometabolic or inflammatory markers. Moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) levels were greater in the ambulant group (2.4 mins ± 2.1 per hour) compared to the non-ambulant group (0.3 mins ± 0.6 per hour) (p<0.01). Furthermore, sedentary time was greater in the non-ambulant group (57.8 mins ± 1.9 per hour) compared to the ambulant group (51.6 mins ± 4.7 per hour) (p<0.01). Despite differences in PA levels, MVPA was not a significant independent predictor of vascular or metabolic health in this cohort of adults with CP. However, GMFCS level was predictive of both uPWV and resting heart rate. Future research should include adults with CP who are older in age to gain further insight into the potential consequences of an activity-limited lifestyle (specifically in the non-ambulant group) on cardiovascular and metabolic health in this clinical population. / Thesis / Master of Science in Kinesiology

[pt] O Projeto Golfinhos é uma proposta de atendimento familiar aos adolescentes em cumprimento de medida socioeducativa no Rio de Janeiro e suas famílias, realizado entre 1995 a 2002. Esta dissertação tem como objetivo principal abordar o sistema socioeducativo, através da análise de implicação no campo de atuação socioeducativo. Procura também articular o direito à convivência familiar ao direito à visita íntima, garantido pela Lei numero 12.594/2012 - SINASE para adolescentes em privação de liberdade, que possam comprovar vinculo estável, com o(a) parceiro(a) de referência, contemplando direitos sexuais e reprodutivos. Apresenta a relevância da análise de implicação para a proposta desse trabalho, focando na prática profissional, no desenvolvimento do projeto, na relação existente com a instituição. Desenvolve uma abordagem de conceitos de memória e seu significado, relacionando com histórias de vida destes adolescentes, fazendo uso de registros do projeto e de produções deles e das famílias e remete a uma análise histórica do percurso profissional no reconhecimento de mudanças necessárias no sistema. Delineia um panorama das normativas em torno da garantia do direito à visita íntima, articulando com a proposta de elaboração de um programa de saúde e sexualidade, observando a relação desse direito com a atenção às famílias. Discorre as conclusões através da metodologia plural utilizada, promovida pela Análise Institucional, propiciadora do encontro de pistas cartográficas e a aproximação a uma autoetnografia, através de uma arqueologia do método de trabalho com famílias. / [en] The Golfinhos Project is a family care proposal for adolescents under socialeducational measures in Rio de Janeiro and their families, held from 1995 to 2002. This paper aims to address the socialeducational system of Rio de Janeiro, through analysis of implication in the socialeducational working field. It also aims to propose the living family the right to conjugal visit, guaranteed by law number 12.594 / 2012 – SINASE, for teenagers in deprivation of liberty that can prove stable bond with a partner, covering sexual and reproductive rights. This paper presents the relevance of the analysis of implication for the purpose of this work, with the focus on the professional practice and the development of the project, and the relationship with the institution. It develops an approach to concepts of memory and its meanings, relating to life stories of adolescents in conflict with the law, making use of project records, productions made from the adolescents and their families. It also refers to a historical analysis of my institutional career and the recognition of necessary changes in the socialeducational system. It outlines a normative panorama around the right of conjugal visit, articulating it with the proposal of a health and sexuality program, observing the relation with the right to the attention to the families. This paper also discusses the conclusions trough a plural methodology, promoted by Institucional Analysis, that produces the meeting of cartographies signs and an approach to a self ethnography through an archeology of a method work with families.

Background and Purpose – The relationship between abdominal body fat and cardiovascular health is not completely understood. This study investigated the association between percent body fat, fat distribution and intima-media thickness (IMT) in healthy middle-aged women. Methods – 224 middle-aged (mean age = 43.1 years ± 3.0), nonsmoking women were included in this study. The women were assessed with a B-mode, high-resolution ultrasonograph to measure the intima-media thickness of the right common carotid artery (CCA). Measurements for percent body fat and fat distribution were assessed using Bod Pod and waist circumference (WC) measured at the umbilicus, respectively.Results – Data were separated into quartiles with the middle two groups combined in order to identify potential differences in IMT based on waist circumference and body fat percent groups. Mean IMT for the entire sample was .569 mm ± .06. Multiple regression with and without control for potential confounding factors yielded insignificant results for all analyses. Conclusions – In the present study, using a sample of healthy middle-aged women, there were no differences in IMT based on overall body fat percent or waist circumference measurements. This finding is somewhat unexpected, however, regional body fat and CCA-IMT have been shown in some, but not all studies to be positively associated with IMT. More research is needed in this area in order to more clearly identify and understand early risk for cardiovascular disease in women.

Young women have testified about how they feel forced to agree to hard sex that leaves them with pain and injuries. The aim of this study is to examine if there is a link between pornography and violence in adolescents’ intimate relationships. By using a theory that conducts that pornography consumers develops a sexual callousness, this study has analyzed materials selected through a coding process to answer the research questions and achieve the purpose of the study. A certain connection between pornography and violence was found as adolescents tend to use pornography as a way to get inspired and to learn about sex. When mainstream pornography contains violence and when school offer inadequate sex education, pornography sends out a one-sided depiction of sex that isn’t questioned or challenged. The author reached the conclusion that adolescents today are affected by pornography in a different way than older generations, because of how easily accessible internet pornography is today and because of how pornography has been normalized through media and therefor turned more hardcore. Further studies are considered necessary in order to investigate how the consequences of pornography can be prevented among adolescents, and measures has to be taken to educate teachers in order to give children and adolescents adequate sex education.

Motivation - The burden of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) is increasing in developing countries worldwide, but even more so in sub-Saharan Africa. Due to rapid urbanisation, black populations experience lifestyle changes (e.g. unhealthy diet, increased access to alcohol and tobacco) that predispose them to increased obesity and cardiovascular risk. In this study, attention will be given to cardiovascular alterations, specifically arterial calcification, in lean and overweight/obese women nearing or already experiencing menopause. These include elevated blood pressure, large artery stiffness (indicated by increased central pulse pressure (cPP)) and carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT). Other factors linked to arterial calcification include the level of obesity as well as low bone mineral density. Ectopic calcification plays a significant role in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, especially in renal failure patients, osteoporotic and elderly women. Factors contributing to the development and progression of arterial calcification include calciotropic hormones and altered bone metabolism, particularly in older postmenopausal women. This is due to the lack of protective effects of oestrogen against vascular alterations and bone loss after menopause. Previous studies have shown that increased bone resorption indicated by elevated levels of c-telopeptide of type I collagen (CTX), parathyroid hormone (PTH), low 25- hydroxycholecalciferol (25(OH)D3) and parathyroid hormone to 25-hydroxycholecalciferol ratio (PTH:25(OH)D3) are independently linked to arterial stiffening, CIMT and vascular calcification. Knowledge on the contribution of altered bone metabolism and associated calciotropic hormones on cardiovascular health in Africans is limited. Previous studies on ectopic calcification in South Africans focused on men and renal failure patients. This study will explore the possible role of altered calcium regulation and bone metabolism in the development of arterial calcification and CVD in older African women. Aim - The aim of this study was to investigate the associations of brachial and central pressures and CIMT with PTH, PTH:25(OH)D3 and CTX, a marker of bone resorption, in lean and overweight/obese African women older than 46 years. Methodology - This sub-study forms part of the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study. A total of 434 urban and rural women older than 46 years were included in the study. Women infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) were excluded from the study. The study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of the North-West University (Potchefstroom campus) and all participants signed an informed consent form prior to enrolment into the project. Field workers administered demographic, general health and physical activity questionnaires in the participants’ home language. Anthropometric measurements included weight, height and waist circumference, while body mass index (BMI) was calculated in kg/m2. Cardiovascular measurements included brachial and central systolic blood pressure (SBP), brachial diastolic blood pressure (DBP), brachial and central pulse pressure (PP) as well as CIMT and carotid cross-sectional wall area (CSWA). Blood pressure measurements were performed on the right arm with the participant in the sitting position. Blood was drawn after an overnight fasting period. We performed biochemical analyses from serum and plasma samples for follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), PTH, 25(OH)D3, and CTX. HIV testing was performed according to standardised procedures. Since interactions existed for BMI with regards to associations of CIMT and cPP with PTH:25(OH)D3, the study population was divided into the lean (BMI <25 kg/m2) and overweight/obese (BMI ≥25 kg/m2) groups. We performed independent T-tests to compare means and used the chi-square test to compare proportions. Single and multiple regression analyses were performed to investigate the associations of markers of vascular structure and function with CTX and calciotropic hormones. Results - In this study, 90% of the women displayed an FSH concentration exceeding the cut-off value of 35 mIu/mL, indicating a postmenopausal state. When comparing lean and overweight/obese African women, we found that lean women had higher levels of CTX and 25(OH)D3 (both p<0.001), while the overweight/obese group was older (p=0.007) and presented with higher PTH and PTH:25(OH)D3 levels (both p<0.001). Brachial and central pressures did not differ between the groups (p≥0.23), except for DBP being higher in the overweight/obese group (p=0.017). Overweight/obese women had higher CIMT (p<0.001) and CSWA (p=0.001) as compared to their lean counterparts. A larger proportion of lean women smoked (63%) and self-reported on alcohol use (37%) than overweight/obese women (41% and 18%, respectively) (both p<0.001). Forty-one percent of overweight/obese women used antihypertensive medication, opposed to 25% in the lean group (p=0.001). In multivariate regression analyses, an independent positive association existed between CIMT and PTH:25(OH)D3 (R2=0.22; β=0.26; p=0.003) in lean women. In the overweight/obese group independent positive associations were confirmed between brachial SBP and PTH (p=0.013) and CTX (p=0.038), and between DBP and PTH (p=0.030). Brachial PP and central SBP remained positively associated with CTX (p=0.016 and p=0.024, respectively), while cPP was independently associated with PTH:25(OH)D3 (R2=0.20; β=0.17; p=0.017) and CTX (R2=0.20; β=0.17; p=0.025). Conclusion - Our results indicate that in older African women, large artery structure and function are associated with calciotropic hormones and bone resorption, suggesting that altered bone metabolism and associated calciotropic hormones play a role in the development of vascular calcification. The different associations in lean and overweight/obese women suggest different mechanisms at work regarding arterial calcification in states of low and high adiposity. These findings need confirmation in larger prospective and experimental studies. / MSc (Physiology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014