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W H Mueller

Publications and source records attributed to W H Mueller.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1982

Fatness and fat patterning among athletes at the Montreal Olympic Games, 1976.

Six skinfold measurements for male and female athletes (N=456) at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games were analyzed to identify principal components of fatness and anatomical distribution of fat, i.e., fat patterning. As in non-athletes, two principal components were evident among the athletes. All skinfolds were correlated positively with the first component, which was termed fatness, while extremity fat measurements were correlated positively and trunk measurements were correlated negatively with the second principal component, which was termed an extremity/trunk ratio component. The two principal components accounted for about 85% of the variance. The first component was related to control variables in order of descending contribution to its variance as follows: sex (21-31%), sport (19%), ethnicity (3%), and age (1-3%). Likewise, the second component (extremity/trunk ratio) was related to the control variables: sex (20-35%), age (4-7%), ethnicity (2%), and sport (2%). Fatness is more influenced by sport and by inference training than is the anatomical distribution or patterning of fat on the extremities relative to the trunk. The latter characteristic may be more dependent on biological or environmental factors unrelated to sport and training.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed1982

Pharmacokinetics of liposome encapsulated cisplatin in rats.

The chemotherapeutic anticancer agent Cisplatin--cis-diamine-dichloroplatinum (II)--has several disadvantages, such as its extreme nephrotoxicity, fast elimination via the kidneys, and rapid binding to plasma proteins. Encapsulation into negatively charged, multilamellar liposomes (MLV), composed of egg-lecithin: cholesterol: dicetylphosphate in 5:5:1 molar ratio, causes drastic changes in behavior after a single i.v. injection: marked increase in the circulation half life paralleled by slower urinary excretion; remarkedly higher levels of free drug in the blood; increased uptake in liver, spleen and lymph nodes, and decreased uptake in skin and bones. In the kidneys a reduced and retarded uptake over 15 hr, then a higher uptake was found. The liposomal Cisplatin has a strong transitory diuretic effect, which nevertheless is not paralleled by other signs of renal injury such as decreased output of creatinine or increased output of protein or urinary enzymes. By pre-ejection of empty liposomes the diuresis can be reduced and the additional Pt deposit in the kidneys prevented.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Height distributions of U.S. children: associations with race, poverty status and parental size.

The stature of children, relative to that of a reference population, is often used as a measure of the nutritional status of a population. But while undernourished children are often small in stature, all small-statured children cannot be assumed to be undernourished as a wide range of hereditary, socioeconomic and health factors also influence growth processes. The distribution of heights of 3850 "healthy" U.S. children 1-11 years of age who participated in the first National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a probability sample of the U.S. population, have been examined in relation to age- and sex-specific reference medians, and in relation to race, family income, and height of their parents. The distribution of heights of black children was shifted to the right (i.e., taller) of that of white children (Index of Dissimilarity = 7.9%). The distribution of heights of children of above poverty level income families was shifted to the right of that of children of below poverty level income families (Index of Dissimilarity = 8.4%). In both races, and with family incomes both above and below the poverty income level, the distribution of heights of children of tall parents was shifted to the right of that of children of short parents (Index of Dissimilarity = 20.25%). We concluded that parental stature, economic conditions and race must be considered in interpreting the growth of children in all societies, and before concluding that nutritional factors are the major determinants of short stature.

Black People↗
PubMed1981

Anatomical distribution of subcutaneous fat and its description by multivariate methods: how valid are principal components?

Principal components analyses of subcutaneous fat measurements covering arm, trunk, and leg areas of the body were performed on 44 samples varying in sex, age, and ethnicity of subjects; measurement technique; and number of sites studied. Three major components emerged, similar in all samples: A first component of obesity, a second component of anatomical fat distribution contrasting trunk and extremity fat, and a third distributional component contrasting leg and arm fat. These components did not appear to vary with age (school children to older adults), sex, ethnicity (Black-White), technique (caliper, ultrasound, or X-rays), or number of sites (five to 13). The three major components are similar to vectors or obesity and relative fat patterning reported earlier by anthroposcopic (Skerlj et al., 1953) and graphic (Garn, 1955) methods. One of the pattern components (trunk-extremity) appears to correspond to a body build continuum associated with adult chronic diseases (Vague, 1956). The stability of these components among samples that differ in several characteristics suggests the validity of these components in describing aspects of body build of anthropological and epidemiological importance.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed1979

A multivariate analysis of fatness and relative fat patterning.

Skinfold measurements (triceps, subscapular, suprailiac and medial calf) in four samples (376 boys, 352 girs, 338 men and 380 women from rural Colombia) were subjected to principal components analysis to identify components of obesity and relative fat patterning. Three components emerged which were similar in the four samples: a first component of fatness explaining 70-80% of the variance and two fat pattern components each explaining 10-15% of the variance: trunk-extremity and upper-lower body. Fatness and the trunk-extremity pattern components changed with age in children (7-12 years), but none of the components changed with age in adults (25-60+). The fatter tended to be more patterned in both age groups. Canonical correlation analysis revealed that socioeconomic status was more related to fatness than to patterning. With the exception of brothers, all first degree relatives (sib, parent-off-spring) and spouses were correlated in fatness. Some of the correlations between relatives--usually sibs, but not spouses--were also significant for the pattern components, suggesting a genetic basis for the known stability of this characteristic (Garn, '55a). Principal components analysis is a useful multivariate alternative for quantitative studies of anthropometric patterning.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed1979

A multinational Andean genetic and health program. VIII. Lung function changes with migration between altitudes.

Studies of lung function in high altitude populations have suggested the influence of hypoxic environment on the development of this characteristic independent of confounding variables such as ethnicity and habitual exercise. However, often the effect of altitude on vital capacity is greater in children than adults, suggesting that more than developmental adaptation is operative. Also selective migration could account for the similarity of migrants and permanent residents at a destination altitude. To explore these problems we studied the lung function (FVC, FEV1, PFR) of 377 individuals who had migrated between altitudes in northern Chile. Migrant measurements were adjusted to those of permanent residents of appropriate age, sex and height at the altitudes of origin and destination. The measurements were then related to ethnicity (Spanish-Aymara ancestry), occupation and permanence, the latter combining information on both age at migration to and length of stay at a destination altitude. Upward migration was associated with increased chest depth, FVC and FEV1, but not height or other chest measurements. Downward migration had no significant effect. The flow-dependent test PFR was so sensitive to observer variability and occupation that it was difficult to establish its relationship to permanence. Unlike the body measurements, lung function measurements (especially PFR) tended to deviate from permanent controls at the origin altitude in a direction suggestive of selective migration, nor was permanence itself independent of ethnicity and occupation. Because of these difficulties the question of developmental adaptation in lung function may not be answerable in cross-sectional studies like the present and previous efforts, but rather in longitudinal investigations in which the control is the individual him/herself.

Adaptation, Physiological↗
PubMed1978

Altitude, heredity and body proportions in northern Chile.

Recent studies of the effects of hypoxia on human growth and adult size have focused mainly on the variability of single measurements. In this paper we explore changes with altitude and ethnicity (Spanish-Aymara ancestry) in body proportions of permanent residents of an altitudinal gradient (0-4000 meters) in northern Chile. Body proportion or shape is assessed by anthropometric indices and principal components of 14 bone measurements. Ethnicity independent of altitude had its major effect on proportions and a lesser effect on size. Aymara had larger relative sitting heights, broader builds and prominent facial development as compared to non-Aymara (Spanish). Altitude also affected head and chest proportions during growth. On the whole, the effects of altitude and Aymara ancestry on the measurements and indices were independent (not necessarily of similar direction or magnitude), in spite of a correlation of ethnicity and altitude in Andean populations.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1978

A multinational Andean genetic and health program: growth and development in an hypoxic environment.

In 1972 a multidisciplinary study sought to assess the health status of the indigenous peoples of the Department of Arica in northern Chile, the Aymara, and to relate disease, morphological, physiological and biochemical variation, to the wide changes in altitude of the region. Presented here are the morphological changes which accompany age, altitude and ethnicity amoung 1047 children and adults, permanent residents of the coast, sierra and altiplano. At comparable ages, high-altitude residents were shorter, lighter and leaner but with more expansive and rounder chests than sea-level controls. None of these effects was systematically related to ethnicity (Spanish-Aymara surname), although when stature was held constant, children with greater Aymara ancestry had largest chest circumferences and longer bones. These results suggest that (1) altitude confers allometric growth changes (expensive growth of the chest and diminished growth of the structures less related to oxygen transport); and (2) size changes associated with altitude are acquired during development while shape changes may be under genetic control. Altitude appears to account for less of the variation in growth in this relatively homogeneous Chilean sample than has been reported for other Andean samples, suggesting other concomitants confounding the effects of hypoxia in Andean South America.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1978

Transient environmental changes and age-limited genes as causes of variation in sib-sib and parent-offspring correlations.

Correlations between 116 adult siblings in soft tissue measurements (weight, muscle, fat) diminished with increasing age difference between members of a sibling pair. This did not occur for bone measurements. The estimated heritabilities of the latter are less likely to vary among samples drawn from different environments than are estimated heritabilities of soft tissue.

Adult↗