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Biomedical subjects

A F Roche

Publications and source records attributed to A F Roche.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Alternative genetic models for the inheritance of the phenylthiocarbamide taste deficiency.

Pedigree segregation analysis was used to examine several one- and two-locus models of the inheritance of phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) taste deficiency that extend the traditional one-locus recessive model by the addition of either another allele or another locus, and in some cases predict two types of nontasters. These models allow nontaster by nontaster matings to produce taster offspring, consistent with our data and several previous studies which use the Harris and Kalmus [Annals of Eugenics 15:24-32, 1949] dilution method. The models fit our data set of 1,152 individuals from 120 families significantly better than the one-locus recessive model. The best fit was obtained with a two-locus model in which one locus controls PTC tasting and the other locus controls a more general taste ability. This model is consistent with research on the physiology of PTC tasting and with results from genetic linkage studies. Further study is suggested to evaluate better the accuracy of the proposed model.

Alleles↗

Weight and recumbent length from 1 to 12 mo of age: reference data for 1-mo increments.

Serial data from 504 infants were used to develop reference data for 1-mo increments in weight and recumbent length by fitting a family of three-parameter mathematical functions to the serial data for each individual. The percentiles for status and for increments tended to be larger for the boys than for the girls except for the lower percentiles of increments for weight after 9-10 mo and for recumbent length after 8-9 mo. These data can be used to assess growth in white or black infants whether they are breast-fed or formula-fed. These new data will allow earlier evaluation of growth velocity than the reference data for 3- and 6-mo increments that were available previously. This can lead to the earlier initiation of diagnostic procedures and treatment. The present data should be useful also in research studies.

Body Height↗

Estimation of body composition from bioelectric impedance of body segments.

The hypothesis that body composition can be estimated accurately from measurements of the length and resistance of the body segments was tested. Weight; stature; whole-body resistance; and the resistances, lengths, and circumferences of the leg, trunk, and arm were measured for 135 white men and women aged 18-58 y. Fat-free mass (FFM) and percent body fat (%BF) were obtained from densitometry. The resistance of the whole body was determined almost entirely by the resistances of the arm and the leg. The accuracy of the prediction of FFM from arm length2/arm resistance and of %BF from weight x arm resistance/arm length2 was only marginally less than that obtained by using whole-body measurements. Thus, measurements of the resistance and length of the arm can be used in place of the whole-body methods for estimating body composition from bioelectric impedance.

Adipose Tissue↗

Fat-free mass in children and young adults predicted from bioelectric impedance and anthropometric variables.

Fat-free mass (FFM) values calculated from densitometry by using a multicomponent model were significantly (p less than 0.05) larger than those from the Siri two-component model (465 males, 441 females), especially in children and females. The multicomponent model assumes the density of FFM varies by age and sex because of differences in its constituents. With FFM values from the multicomponent model as the dependent variable and impedance and anthropometry as the independent variables, prediction equations were derived by all possible subsets of regression (140 males, 110 females). These equations had RMSEs of 2.2-2.3 kg and CVs of 5.0-5.8%. Cross-validation results were excellent for young adults but less satisfactory for children for whom a different calf skinfold had been measured. The selected equations are applicable to healthy white individuals aged 7-25 y.

Adipose Tissue↗

Associations between plasma lipoprotein cholesterols, adiposity and adipose tissue distribution during adolescence.

Associations between changes with age in 'fat pattern' and lipoprotein cholesterols during adolescence were analyzed using serial data for 214 boys and girls between 11 and 18 years of age who were participants in the Fels Longitudinal Study. The logarithms of the ratios of the subscapular to lateral calf and the subscapular to triceps skinfold thicknesses increased with age in each sex, but the increases were greater in the boys. Plasma levels of HDL cholesterol decreased with age in the boys, but not in the girls. Within annual age-groups, neither plasma LDL cholesterol nor HDL cholesterol were correlated with percent body fat or either of the 'fat pattern' indices in each sex. In 51 children with serial data 5 years apart, changes with age in HDL cholesterol had significant negative correlations with changes in the 'fat pattern' indices that were independent of changes in percent body fat in the boys, but not in the girls. In the girls, changes in the indices were due to greater increases in the thickness of the subscapular skinfold than in the triceps and lateral calf skinfolds as percent body fat increased and were not associated with changes in levels of plasma lipoproteins. In the boys, changes in the 'fat pattern' indices were due to decreases in the thicknesses of the lateral calf and triceps skinfolds and increases in thickness of the subscapular skinfold as percent body fat decreased. These results suggest that a redistribution of adipose tissue occurs during adolescence in boys and is associated with decreases in HDL cholesterol.

Adipose Tissue↗

Reference data for head circumference and 1-month increments from 1 to 12 months of age.

Serial head circumference measurements in 462 participants in the Fels Longitudinal Study were used to develop reference data for ages 1 to 12 months. We used a three-parameter mathematical function to model the serial head circumference data for each individual and estimated head circumference at 1-month intervals. Reference data for selected percentiles of head circumference status and 1-month increments were calculated from the estimated head circumferences. These reference data are presented in tables and charts for use in testing hypotheses about group differences or to monitor changes within individuals.

Cephalometry↗

Late growth changes in the craniofacial skeleton.

Analysis of serial radiographs shows that growth in the cranial base and in the mandible continues into the third decade. Variations in rate and timing are great, and the total increments after 18 years are usually small.

Adolescent↗

Bioelectric impedance phase angle and body composition.

The use of bioelectric impedance phase angle for predicting body composition was determined in 53 males and 69 females 9-62 y of age. The phase angle describes the amount of reactance (Xc) in a conductor relative to the amount of resistance (R). Bioelectric resistance (R) and reactance (Xc) were determined for the whole body and separately for arm, leg, and trunk. Weight, stature, and skinfold thicknesses were measured. Body composition was determined from densitometry. Phase angles for the trunk (phi t), leg (phi 1), and whole body (phi w) had significant (p less than 0.05) negative correlations with percent body fat (%BF) in each sex, and positive correlations with fat-free mass (FFM) in males. In multiple regression analyses, phi t was associated significantly with %BF after controlling for age, mean skinfold thickness, and weight/stature2 in each sex. Bioelectric phase angle for the trunk may be useful for predicting %BF in clinical and survey research.

Adipose Tissue↗

Specific resistivity used to estimate fat-free mass from segmental body measures of bioelectric impedance.

This report provides estimates of specific resistivity for a sample of 123 children and adults aged 9-62 y. The mean muscle-specific resistivities for the upper and lower extremities (arm and leg) and trunk of these participants were used to compute estimates of fat-free mass (FFM) from the sum of the corrected total muscle conductive volumes of the arms, legs, and trunk. Mean values for predictions of FFM from S2/Z or from the product of total muscle conductive volume and the density of FFM were not significantly different from means of FFM estimated from body density by underwater weighing. This analysis demonstrates that an estimate of FFM can be obtained by summing the conductive muscle volumes of each body segment derived from the corresponding segment lengths squared, measures of bioelectric impedance, and mean muscle-specific resistivities. These mean estimates of FFM are not as accurate as mean predictions of FFM from S2/Z in regression equations.

Adipose Tissue↗

Abdominal composition quantified by computed tomography.

Abdominal composition was quantified from computed tomography (CT) scans of 96 clinically normal men and women aged 20-83 y. Measurements were taken of total and intraabdominal areas and of muscle, bone, and subcutaneous and intraabdominal adipose-tissue areas from each of six 8-mm-thick transverse slices from CT images of abdomen and pelvis. Men had a significantly greater percentage of intraabdominal adipose tissue than women and the percentage increased with age in each sex. Percentages of total abdominal area that were adipose tissue were significantly negatively correlated with percentages of muscle and bone in each sex. Ratios of total areas of abdominal slices to total areas of pelvic slices (analogous to waist:hip ratios) had significant positive correlations with the absolute and relative areas of intraabdominal and subcutaneous adipose tissue for the abdomen in women but not in men. These ratios also had significant negative correlations with absolute and relative areas of muscle and bone in women.

Abdomen↗

Prediction of body weight for the nonambulatory elderly from anthropometry.

Body weight is one of the most important measurements in assessing nutritional status. Weight is also an important variable in equations that are needed to predict caloric expenditure and in indexes of body composition. Equations to predict the body weight of nonambulatory elderly persons with known errors should make use of body measurements that are indexes of the actual constituents of body composition and that can be collected regardless of an elderly person's level of mobility. The study samples consisted of a validation sample of 228 ambulatory white elderly persons, a cross-validation sample, and a clinical-validation sample of nonambulatory white elderly persons. Equations to predict body weight in the validation sample were derived from recumbent measures of arm and calf circumferences, triceps and subscapular skinfolds, and knee height. The accuracy, sensitivity, and validity of the equations were independently tested in the cross-validation sample; mean signed differences in actual and predicted weight ranged from 0.1 to 1.8 kg. In the clinical-validation sample, the mean differences were larger. Prediction equations are presented using two, three, and four body measurements to allow the selection of an equation based upon those measurements that are possible to collect from a nonambulatory person on an individual basis.

Aged↗

Fatness and fat patterns: associations with plasma lipids and blood pressures in adults, 18 to 57 years of age.

As a part of the Fels Body Composition Study (an extension of the Fels Longitudinal Study in Yellow Springs, Ohio), the hypothesis was examined that a centripetal fat pattern, characterized by a greater proportion of trunkal than extremity adiposity, was associated independent of age and per cent body fat with levels of plasma lipids and lipoprotein cholesterols and blood pressures. A cross-sectional sample of 303 white men and women, 18 to 57 years of age, measured between September 1976 and August 1979, was selected without regard to diagnosis of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, or obesity. The degree of centripetal adipose tissue distribution was indexed by the logarithm of the ratio of the subscapular to lateral calf skinfold thicknesses. Per cent body fat was estimated by densitometry. In multiple regression equations controlling for age, age2, and per cent body fat, centripetal fat pattern had a small but significant positive association with systolic blood pressure in men (R2 = 0.02, p less than 0.05). In women, centripetal fat pattern had small but significant positive associations with plasma triglycerides (R2 = 0.05, p less than 0.005), and a significant negative association with plasma high density lipoprotein cholesterol (R2 = 0.08, p less than 0.0005) after effects due to age, age2, and per cent body fat had been removed. Centripetal fat patterns appear to be associated with an "atherogenic" lipid profile in women, but the association in men is confounded with effects due to age and total body adiposity.

Adipose Tissue↗