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PubMed1984

Molecular weight measurement of human satietin.

Attempts were made to estimate the actual molecular weight of satietin, an endogenous food intake inhibitor, by means of classical and high-performance gel filtration and gel electrophoresis. Satietin, which proved to be a glycoprotein, was isolated from human plasma. Sephacryl S-300 gel and TSK-GEL G 3000 SW columns were used as media for gel filtration and gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS-PAGE), respectively. A relatively good correlation was established between the molecular weight measurements carried out by different methods, although satietin as a carbohydrate-rich glycoprotein gave an underestimated value by gel filtration when the calibration graphs were constructed with simple proteins. The molecular weight of satietin was determined to be about 43,000 daltons by SDS-PAGE and 29,000 daltons by gel filtration when using a buffer containing 1% of sodium dodecyl sulphate.

Chromatography, Gel↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Noncompliance with body weight measurement in tertiary care teaching hospitals.

BACKGROUND: Body weight provides vital information for patient care; therefore, measurement at hospital admission should be standard practice. Our objective was to test compliance with this standard. METHODS: This was a study of 300 patients, aged > or = 18 years, admitted to general medicine and surgery services of 3 tertiary care teaching hospitals in Nashville, Chicago, and San Francisco. At 24 to 36 hours after admission, participants were queried as to whether they had been weighed, and if not, they were asked whether they had been questioned by nursing personnel about their weight. Subjects were then weighed by research personnel using identical protocol at all 3 institutions. Any admission body weight documented by nursing was noted. RESULTS: Compliance was similar at all 3 institutions, with only 197 (65.7%) of patients reporting being weighed. There were 213 (71.0%) patients who had a weight documented in the nursing record. Of those who had not been weighed, 69 (67.0%) indicated that they had been queried about their weight. Comparison of documented weights in the nursing records with those measured by research personnel revealed that 55 (25.9%) differed by > or = 5 pounds (2.27 kg). Those who had a documented weight in the nursing record but were not weighed by nursing personnel were also more likely to deviate from the weight measured by research personnel by > or = 5 pounds (2.27 kg) in comparison with those who had been weighed by nursing personnel (42.8% versus 21.8%, respectively, p < .0147). CONCLUSION: Overall compliance with weight measurement is poor. Recorded weights are often inaccurate.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Body weight measurement of patients receiving nutritional support.

A review of patient records over a 14-day period revealed that daily weights were recorded in only 65.5% of patients receiving parenteral nutrition and 53% of patients receiving enteral alimentation despite a hospital nursing practice requirement for daily weights during nutritional support. A semi-structured questionnaire was given to staff nurses to elicit their opinions regarding the importance of weight obtainment and to ascertain their reasons why patients are not weighted. Of 74 staff nurses who completed the survey, 68% considered weights "very important" but only 34% believed this attitude to be prevalent among their co-workers. The three reasons most often cited for failure to weigh patients were: (1) "patient too critically ill"; (2) "nurse felt other priorities of care existed; and, (3) "patient refuses." The two factors nurses most often felt should be changed to increase body weight measurement were "nurse staffing shortage" and "scales broken and/or unreliable." This study documents a need for both logistical changes (eg, equipment availability and reliability and timing of patient weights) and educational changes at both nursing staff and patient level to improve compliance with established requirements for daily weights during nutritional support.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed1998

How accurate are antenatal weight measurements? A survey of hospital and community clinics in a South Thames Region NHS Trust.

The accuracy of antenatal weight data recorded in obstetric notes was investigated in the 45 hospital and community antenatal clinics within a South Thames Region NHS Trust. In order to assess the reliability and validity of all 60 clinic scales triplicate measurements of body weight for low- and high-weight subjects were recorded on each clinical scale and on a calibrated standard scale. The quality of weighing practice during antenatal care was investigated by means of semi-structured interviews conducted with all 33 midwives who currently provide antenatal care within the Trust. Beam balances had the highest reliability and validity, whereas scales with spring mechanisms were the least accurate. Only 40% of the clinics surveyed had access to beam balances, yet most of the maternal weight measurements recorded during antenatal care are likely to be out by no more than 1-1.5% of body weight. Weighing practice was generally inconsistent, and serial measurements of maternal body weight collected during pregnancy are probably too imprecise to provide a sensitive screen for conditions associated with unusual weight gain and too inaccurate to assess compliance with guidelines for weight gain.

Body Weight↗
PubMed2000

Modification of a household microwave oven for continuous temperature and weight measurements during drying of foods.

The main objective of this study was to modify a conventional household microwave oven for recording temperature and weight measurements continuously during microwave drying of foods. A household microwave oven with digital control was equipped with an electronic balance and a set of standard thermocouples that were connected to a PC for continuous data collection. The efficiency of the modified thermocouples was tested against the built-in probe of the oven. It was found that this microwave oven dryer set-up could be used for drying kinetics studies of foods since both the temperature and weight of the sample could be recorded continuously during the microwave drying operation.

Food Preservation↗
PubMed1981

Genetic analysis of the Stanford LRC family study data. I. Structured exploratory data analysis of height and weight measurements.

A new methodology for determining mode for inheritance of continuously distributed traits in nuclear families, structured exploratory data analysis (SEDA), is described and applied to height and weight measurements. The family data were collected as part of the Lipid Research Clinic's collaborative study (LRC) and consists of first degree relatives of Stanford University employees who were selected either as a 2% random sample or were identified through a high lipid value. The variables are all standardized using three methods of age and sex adjustment based on two reference populations. The analysis and interpretations are based on the following statistics and indices: 1) the major gene index (MGI (alpha); 2) two measures of correlations between the midparental value and offspring (MPCC); and 3) the offspring between parent functions (OBP (beta). Consistent with a number of other studies, the results support that height shows multifactorial inheritance while height is principally under the influence of non-genetic environmental factors. In contrast to the random families, the male children of the probands who were selected due to their high lipid values exhibit height measurements which appear to involve environmental components or some major gene concomitants. The difference between the random and high lipid families is supported by all three statistical methods.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

[Left heart ventricle in chronic cor pulmonale patients. Etiological, pathomorphological and organ weight measurement studies].

The histories and the results of the postmortem examinations of 507 patients with chronic pulmonary heart disease were studied. In 62.6% of them left ventricular hypertrophy was found. As probable causes for this left ventricular hypertrophy are suggested: arterial hypertension, ischemic heart disease, hypoxemia, hypercapnia, heart failure, diabetes mellitus. The weight measurement correlations between the left and the right heart ventricles were studied in: "normal hearts", hearts with right ventricular, hypertrophy only, hypertrophy of both ventricles, left ventricular hypertrophy only. A correlation between the mass increase and the wall thickness of the ventricles was established. In the patients with chronic pulmonary heart disease and hypertrophy of both ventricles the mass and the wall thickness of the ventricles increase simultaneously. The possible pathogenetic mechanisms of the left ventricular involvement in patients with chronic pulmonary heart disease are discussed.

Cardiomegaly↗
PubMed1992

Canine pulmonary filtration coefficient calculated from optical, radioisotope, and weight measurements.

Three independent methods were used to estimate filtration coefficient (Kf) in isolated dog lungs perfused with low-hematocrit (Hct) blood. Pulmonary vascular pressure was increased by 12-23 cmH2O to induce fluid filtration. Average Kf (ml.min-1 x cmH2O-1 x 100 g dry wt-1) for six lungs was 0.26 +/- 0.05 (SE) with use of equations describing conservation of optically measured protein labeled with indocyanine green. Good agreement was found when a simplified version of the multiequation theory was applied to the data (0.24 +/- 0.05). Both optical estimates were lower than those predicted by constant slope (0.55 +/- 0.07) or extrapolation (1.20 +/- 0.15) techniques, which are based on changes in total lung weight. Subsequent studies in five dog lungs investigated whether the higher Kf from weight analyses could be caused by prolonged pulmonary vascular filling. We found that 51Cr-labeled red blood cells (RBCs), monitored over the lung, continued to accumulate for 30 min after vascular pressure elevations of 9-16 cmH2O.Kf was determined by subtracting computed vascular filling from total weight change (0.28 +/- 0.06) and by perfusate Hct changes determined from radiolabeled RBCs (0.23 +/- 0.04). These values were similar to those obtained from analysis of optical data with the complete model (0.30 +/- 0.06), the simplified version (0.26 +/- 0.05), and from optically determined perfusate Hct (0.16 +/- 0.03). However, constant slope (0.47 +/- 0.04) and extrapolation (0.57 +/- 0.07) computations of Kf were higher than estimates from the other methods. Our studies indicate that prolonged blood volume changes may accompany vascular pressure elevations and produce overestimates of Kf with standard weight measurement techniques. However, Kf computed from optical measurements is independent of pulmonary blood volume changes.

Albumins↗
PubMed1988

Effect of dietary fiber on young adult genetically lean, obese and contemporary pigs: body weight, carcass measurements, organ weights and digesta content.

Twenty-one genetically lean, obese or contemporary barrows (6 mo old; seven of each genotype) were assigned to individual tether stalls and fed a control diet (low-fiber) or a diet containing 80% alfalfa meal (high-fiber) at 1.50% of initial body weight for 71 d (1.75% for d 1 to 4). Backfat thickness was recorded ultrasonically at 2-wk intervals, and body weight was recorded at the beginning and end of the 10-wk experiment. Pigs were slaughtered after a 24-h fast, and carcass weight, length and backfat thickness and cross-sectional area of the longissimus muscle were measured. Weights of cecum, heart, liver and kidney and of full and empty stomach and colon and empty small intestine were recorded. Volume and weight of colon and cecum contents were determined. Restriction of digestible energy reduced weight gain to zero or below in pigs fed alfalfa meal compared with 220 g daily in pigs fed the low-fiber diet. Restriction of energy reduced backfat in all three genotypes. Liver, kidney and empty segments of the gastrointestinal tract as a percentage of body weight were increased by high fiber. Obese pigs had smaller longissimus muscle area, more backfat and smaller liver, heart, empty stomach and colon than lean or contemporary pigs, but there were no diet X genotype interactions for any of these traits. Obese pigs consistently had smaller digesta volumes and dry matter weights than the other genotypes. The increased relative organ weights and the associated disproportionate contribution of these organs to body energy expenditure have important implications for effects on basal metabolic rate.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Measured weights in PEI adults reveal higher than expected obesity rates.

BACKGROUND: The increasing prevalence of obesity and overweight in Canada is a significant health concern. Unfortunately, we know very little about the actual weight status and associated health risks in our population since most surveys use only self-reported body weights and heights and typically do not include a measure of body fat distribution. This paper summarizes the findings of the Prince Edward Island Nutrition Survey. METHODS: A random sample of 1,995 adults aged 18-74 were interviewed in their homes and weights, heights and waist circumference measurements were obtained. Relative health risks, population proportions and their corresponding 95% confidence intervals were calculated. RESULTS: Overall, almost one third of PEI adults are obese (BMI > or = 30). This is almost double that reported in the 1995 National Population Health Survey using self-reported heights and weights. More women were classified as being very severely obese (Class III) than men, but for both men and women there appears to be a trend of increased mild obesity with age. Based on BMI and waist circumference, over one third of the population is considered to be at high to extremely high risk for health problems. CONCLUSION: Self-reported height and weight data appear to result in significant underestimation of the problem of obesity. Given the serious health consequences associated with this condition, it is critical that measured heights and weights be collected in future population-based surveys to ensure that public health interventions are based on accurate prevalence data.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

A comparative review of four preference-weighted measures of health-related quality of life.

Four generic, preference-weighted, health-related quality of life (HRQL) questionnaires (the Quality of Well-Being, the Health Utilities Index, the EQ-5D, and the SF-6D) are reviewed. Although all of these questionnaires are designed to measure the same concept, each uses a different model of health, a different method of deriving preferences, and a different scoring formula. Head-to-head comparisons of preference-weighted questionnaires are limited. By considering several hypothetical health states, we found that utility scores for equivalent states can vary substantially, depending on the measure used. Clinicians and researchers applying preference-weighted HRQL questionnaires should be aware of such differences and exercise caution when interpreting the results.

Health Status Indicators↗
PubMed2005

Cerebral cortex thickness in 15-year-old adolescents with low birth weight measured by an automated MRI-based method.

Infants with low birth weight are at increased risk of perinatal brain injury. Disruption of normal cortical development may have consequences for later motor, behavioural and cognitive development. The aim of this study was to measure cerebral cortical thickness, area and volume with an automated MRI technique in 15-year-old adolescents who had low birth weight. Cerebral MRI for morphometric analysis was performed on 50 very low birth weight (VLBW, birth weight </=1500 g), 49 term small for gestational age births (SGA, birth weight <10th percentile at term) and 58 control adolescents. A novel method of cortical surface models yielded measurements of cortical thickness and area for each subject's entire brain and computed cross-subject statistics based on cortical anatomy. The cortical surface models demonstrated regional thinning of the parietal, temporal and occipital lobes in the VLBW group, whereas regional thickening was demonstrated in the frontal and occipital lobes. The areas of change were greatest in those with the shortest gestational age at birth and lowest birth weight. Cortical surface area and cortical volume were lower in the VLBW than in the Control group. Within the VLBW group, there was an association between surface area and estimation of the intelligence quotient IQ (IQ(est)) and between cortical volume and IQ(est). Furthermore, cortical grey matter as a proportion of brain volume was significantly lower in the VLBW, but not in the SGA group compared with Controls. This observed reorganization of the developing brain offers a unique opportunity to investigate any relationship between changes in cortical anatomy and cognitive and social impairments, and the increase in psychiatric disorders that have been found in VLBW children and adolescents.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Diffusion in compartmental systems. II. Diffusion-weighted measurements of rat brain tissue in vivo and postmortem at very large b-values.

Diffusion-weighted single-voxel (1)H spectroscopic measurements were performed on rat brain tissue in vivo and postmortem. Diffusion weighting was achieved by varying the diffusion time from 23 ms to 1.18 sec via the mixing time in a stimulated echo sequence. A series of constant gradient (cg-) experiments of eight effective gradient strengths q(2)(q(2) = gamma(2)delta(2)g(2)) from 24.2 x 10(3) to 490.2 x 10(3) mm(-2) was performed, resulting in a maximum attenuation factor of b = 580,000 s/mm(2). A fit of three exponential terms was found to be appropriate to represent the attenuation signal over the whole b-range. The behavior of the slowest decaying component can be fully understood in terms of a long time limit of a modified Kärger formalism for a two-compartment system. This allowed estimation of the transmembrane water exchange rate: the intracellular exchange time was determined to be 622 +/- 29 ms and 578 +/- 20 ms in vivo and postmortem, respectively.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Serum thyroid hormone and thyroid gland weight measurements in protein-energy malnutrition.

Protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) is a problem which concerns about half the world's children. We investigated the effects of malnutrition on thyroid gland weight and thyroid hormone levels. 22 children suffering from malnutrition (14 children suffering from marasmus and 8 children suffering from kwashiorkor) and 7 healthy controls were studied. Malnutrition was confirmed clinically and according to the Wellcome classification definition of malnutrition. Serum thyroid hormone concentrations were measured by radioimmunoassay and the weights of the thyroid gland were evaluated scintigraphically. In the groups with marasmus and kwashiorkor the mean TT4, TT3 and FT3 levels were significantly lower, and TSH levels were significantly higher, compared to controls. FT4 was not influenced by PEM. The mean thyroid gland weights of the groups with marasmus and kwashiorkor were higher than that of the control group. We found no significant differences in all these parameters between groups with marasmus and kwashiorkor. In each of the three groups, the most marked positive correlation was between thyroid gland weight and ratio of thyroid gland weight to body surface area.

Body Surface Area↗