Do sexual maturation stages affect flexibility in adolescent boys aged 14 years?

AIM: Pubertal changes constitute a background for development of motor abilities and flexibility as an important component of physical fitness. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the flexibility is actually related to sexual maturation stages in adolescent boys. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 69 healthy boys aged 14 years. Before testing, all participants performed a 3 min warm up and static stretch routine, emphasizing the lower body. The flexibility tests were performed in a counterbalanced design. Sit-and-reach test and goniometric measurement of hamstring flexibility was administered. The results of flexibility tests and body measures were analysed for cross-sectional comparison. Groups were formed according to Tanner's classification and consisted of boys in Stage II, III, IV, V, respectively. RESULTS: The results of sit and reach test scores and goniometric measurements did not correlate with age in months, height, weight and BMI; and furthermore they did not correlate with the sexual maturation stages (p>0.05). The sit and reach test scores were significantly correlated with goniometric measurements (right: r=0.653, p=0.00; left: r=0.638, p=0.00). CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that sexual maturation stages in pubertal period would not be effective in determining the flexibility. Besides, sexual maturation is not a cause of decreased flexibility in adolescent boys aged 14 years.

A portable device based on the interrupter technique for measuring airway resistance in preschool children.

The interrupter technique for measuring airway resistance is a noninvasive method reported to require minimal subject cooperation. Therefore it has a good potential for use in young children who are not able to cooperate with conventional lung function tests. The interrupter method is based on transient interruption of airflow at the mouth for a brief period during which alveolar pressure equilibrates with mouth pressure. In order to investigate the compliance rate with the interrupter technique in preschool children and to look for associated baseline measures of RINT we performed a study in 214 children of ages from 3 months to 5 years. There was a significant inverse correlation between baserint and age (r = -0.672, p<0.001), and standing height (r = -0.692, p<0.001) in children with recurrent wheezing. However, this was not seen in healthy children. We concluded that the portable interrupter device is very useful in preschool children. The measurements showed that the age and standing height are inversely proportional to the baseline RINT values measured. We reported that these differences would be more apparent in children with a history of recurrent wheezing.

Severe microangiopathic hemolytic anemia and thrombocytopenia in a child with Brucella infection.

We present a case of severe microangiopathic hemolytic anemia and thrombocytopenia with epistaxis, gross hematuria, hemoglobinuria, and skin purpura in a child with Brucella septicemia proven by culture. The patient showed the features of this illness: leukopenia, severe hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia, fragmentation of erythrocytes in the peripheral blood smear, increased erythropoiesis, megakaryopoiesis, and granulomata cell invasion in the bone marrow. The patient was treated with rifampin and doxycycline. Platelets and leukocyte numbers rose to normal values by the 6th day. She was discharged on the 14th day. Follow-up of the patient 1 year later showed normal bone marrow morphology. Differential diagnosis, pathogenesis, and therapy of Brucella infection are discussed.

A randomized trial of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor in neonates with sepsis and neutropenia.

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether adjunctive therapy with recombinant human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (rhGM-CSF) could reverse sepsis-associated neonatal neutropenia and improve neonatal survival and to assess its safety compared with conventional therapy in a control group. STUDY DESIGN: This prospective, randomized, controlled trial was performed in 60 infants with neutropenia and clinical signs of sepsis. A subcutaneous injection of rhGM-CSF (5 microgram/kg/day) was administered to 30 of the patients for 7 consecutive days. Hematologic parameters (absolute neutrophil, eosinophil, monocyte, lymphocyte counts, and platelet number) and outcome were compared with 30 conventionally treated (control) patients. RESULTS: Twenty-five patients from the GM-CSF-treated group and 24 from the conventionally treated group had early-onset sepsis (3 days' postnatal age). There was no difference between groups in terms of birth weight; gestational age; gender; maturity; maternal age; and incidence of prolonged rupture of membranes, maternal hypertension, or severity of sepsis. All neonates tolerated GM-CSF well with no adverse reactions. The absolute neutrophil count on day 7 was significantly increased in the GM-CSF-treated group compared with the conventionally treated group: 8088 +/- 2822/mm(3) versus 2757 +/- 823/mm(3). The mean platelet count was significantly higher on days 14 in the GM-CSF-treated group compared with conventionally treated group: 266 867 +/- 55 102/mm(3) versus 229 200 +/- 52 317/mm(3). Hematologic parameters were otherwise similar between groups before treatment and on day 28. Twenty-seven neonates in the rh-GMCSF group and 21 in the control group survived to hospital discharge. The mortality rate in the rhGM-CSF group (10%) was significantly lower than in the conventionally treated group (30%). CONCLUSION: Treatment with rhGM-CSF is associated with an increase in absolute neutrophil, eosinophil, monocyte, lymphocyte, and platelet counts and decreased mortality in critically ill septic neutropenic neonates. These results suggest that rhGM-CSF may be effective in the treatment of neonatal sepsis with neutropenia, and further randomized trials are needed to confirm its beneficial effects.

Predictors for multiple hospital admissions in children with asthma.

BACKGROUND: Asthma is one of the most frequent causes of preventable hospital admissions among children. OBJECTIVES: To identify preventable risk factors for future hospital admissions. Some of the environmental and patient characteristics of children who were hospitalized more than once with an acute asthma attack were investigated. DESIGN, SETTING AND PATIENTS: An analysis was performed of 140 children with asthma, aged three to 15 years, admitted to the Department of Pediatrics at Dicle University Hospital, Diyarbakir, Turkey, over three years, followed for a maximum of 48 months. Associations between hospital admissions and probable predictors (clinical findings, laboratory studies and a detailed case history) were analyzed. RESULTS: The asthma admissions were higher in boys than in girls (male to female ratio 1.86). Of 140 children, 30 (21.4%) had multiple admissions, defined as a mean of more than one admission per year during the follow-up period. The following factors were associated significantly with the frequency of hospital admission for asthma attacks when analyzed using a Chi2 test: indoor cigarette smoking (odds ratio [OR] 2.55), maternal smoking (OR 4.05), symptoms of dermal atopy (OR 2.96), symptoms of allergic conjunctivitis (OR 2.68), age less than five years (OR 5.12) and use of inhaled corticosteroids during the follow-up (OR 0.37). With multi-variate logistic regression analysis, among other factors, only maternal smoking (r=0.29, P=0.017) and age less than five years (r=-0.32, P=0.012) were significant effective factors for the multiple hospital admissions. No significant association with the frequency of hospital admission was found for sex, serum total immunoglobulin E, history of frequent upper respiratory tract infections or number of family members. CONCLUSIONS: Prevention of indoor smoking, especially maternal smoking, may be effective in decreasing hospital admissions in children with asthma. Children less than five years of age are more likely to be hospitalized than are children five years of age or greater.

The novel genetic disorder microhydranencephaly maps to chromosome 16p13.3-12.1.

We studied a large consanguineous Anatolian family with children who exhibited hydranencephaly associated with microcephaly. The children were severely affected. This novel genetic disorder is autosomal recessive. We used autozygosity mapping to identify a locus at chromosome 16p13.3-12.1; it has a LOD score of 4.11. The gene locus is within a maximal 11-cM interval between markers D16S497 and D16S672 and within a minimal critical region of 8 cM between markers D16S748 and D16S490.

Passive smoking and expired carbon monoxide concentrations in healthy and asthmatic children.

BACKGROUND: Carbon monoxide (CO) in expired air has been reported to be an indirect measurement for the quantity of passive smoking. Since endogen CO is produced in inflammatory processes and inflammation is the main pathogenetic mechanism of asthma, it was aimed to investigate the relationship between the intensity of passive smoking and CO concentration in expired air of healthy and asthmatic children. METHODS AND RESULTS: The study was performed in the outpatient pediatrics clinics and day care centers. Knowledge about indoor smoking habits were obtained from parents. The exhaled CO concentrations were measured by a portable device in 235 healthy (mean age, 4.4 +/- 2.3 years) and 54 asthmatic (mean age, 4.5 +/- 1.7 years) children. Children with no smoking parents had the lowest exhaled CO concentrations. Significant relationships were found between the number of smoking cigarettes in the house and exhaled CO concentrations in both healthy (p = 0.003) and asthmatic (p = 0.01) children. Carbon monoxide concentrations were higher in asthmatic children than healthy ones (mean +/- SD, 1.32 +/- 1.50 ppm and 0.86 +/- 1.35 ppm, respectively, p = 0.028) if their parental smoking habits were not taken into account. Asthmatic children of non-smoking parents had higher CO concentrations than healthy subjects of non-smoking parents (1.05 +/- 1.55 ppm vs 0.37 +/- 0.53 ppm, p = 0.01). On the other hand, asthmatic children who has no smoking parents and did not receive inhaled steroids had significantly higher CO concentrations (1.75 +/- 1.45 ppm) than those who received steroids (0.58 +/- 0.65 ppm, p = 0.024). CONCLUSIONS: Exhaled CO can be used as an indicator of passive smoking in children. Higher expired CO of asthmatic children may reflect inflammation of the lung in asthma.

The relationship between osteocalcin levels and sexual stages of puberty in male children.

Osteocalcin is a specific and reliable marker which increases with rapid bone turnover and gives data about bone metabolism. The pubertal growth spurt is also known as a good example of rapid bone turnover. The aim of this study was to determine whether osteocalcin is a useful marker for the pubertal growth spurt period. In this study, osteocalcin levels in male adolescents were examined in relation to their sexual maturation stage and age. The osteocalcin levels and alkaline phosphatase levels were compared during the pubertal growth spurt. Serum osteocalcin and alkaline phosphatase levels were evaluated in 100 eligible healthy male children and adolescents (aged 10 to 17 years). Five groups (n: 20 each) of children and adolescents were formed according to their sexual maturation stages. Finally, the subjects were divided into three main groups in relation to the pubertal growth spurt and sexual maturation stages. Data were evaluated and compared among these three groups: First group = Stage 1 (prepuberty) + Stage 2 (early puberty) consisted of 40 (20 + 20) children and adolescents. Their mean osteocalcin value was 17.2 +/- 6.3 ng/ml and alkaline phosphatase 573.8 +/- 143.9 IU/L. Second group: Stage 3 + Stage 4 consisted of 40 (20 + 20) children and adolescents. These groups were known as the pubertal growth spurt groups. Their mean osteocalcin value was 29.4 +/- 10.6 ng/ml and alkaline phosphatase 728.4 +/- 233.9 IU/L. Third group: In this group, there were 20 children and adolescents who reached Stage 5 of sexual maturation and whose pubertal growth spurt was slowing. Their mean osteocalcin value was 15.3 +/- 5.8 ng/ml and alkaline phosphatase 435.8 +/- 184.8 IU/L. During the pubertal growth spurt, there is a relationship between bone remodelling and increasing osteocalcin and alkaline phosphatase levels. When sexual maturation reaches Stage 4 at 14 years old, osteocalcin and alkaline phosphatase levels make a peak, associated with the rapid growth in height. As sexual maturation reaches Stage 5, osteocalcin and alkaline phosphatase levels gradually decrease with growth maturation and their levels decline to the level of adults at the completion of this period. Our study showed that osteocalcin and alkaline phosphatase levels can be used as markers for evaluation of the growth spurt period.

Intravenous magnesium sulphate in the management of moderate to severe acute asthmatic children nonresponding to conventional therapy.

Management of severe acute asthma attacks in children sometimes bring difficulties to the physician. Some current treatment strategies have focused on intravenous magnesium sulphate administration in patients nonresponding to therapy with beta-2 agonists and corticosteroids. The use and efficacy of this drug has been discussed in this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial consisting of 20 children with moderate to severe acute asthma exacerbation admitted to the emergency department in Dicle University Hospital, Turkey. Magnesium sulphate infusion therapy of 40 mg/kg doses (maximum 2 g) or an equivalent volume of normal saline solution were administered to randomly assigned 10 patients in each group to the selected patients who were being treated for an acute asthma exacerbation with a peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) less than 60% of the predicted value after receiving three beta-2 adrenergic nebulizer treatments (salbutamol) given at an interval of 20 minutes each. Vital signs, PEFR and physical examinations were serially recorded at 15 minutes intervals for a total of 90 minutes after the initiation of magnesium sulphate therapy. At 30 minutes, compared with the placebo group, the magnesium sulphate receiving group had lower clinical asthma scores (4.0+/-0.5 vs. 5.5+/-0.5, p = 0.0002) and a significantly greater percentage of improvement from baseline in PEFR (43.0+/-6.3% vs. 14.6+/-3.7%, p = 0.0002). These significant changes persisted at 45, 60, 75 and 90 minutes. No significant side effects were observed. In conclusion, severe asthmatic cases may benefit from magnesium sulphate therapy when beta-2 agonists are inadequate in preventing deterioration.

NMR Self-Diffusion Studies of the Water and the Oil Components in a W/O/W Emulsion

The application of the pulsed field gradient NMR technique to a double emulsion is presented. This method determines the diffusion behavior of the different components of the emulsion. The details of the system studied, which is of the W/O/W type, have been taken from the literature. Information obtained pertains to the size distribution of the water droplets in both the starting emulsion and the double emulsion. In addition, the different phenomena that govern the oil diffusion in both systems have been identified and discussed.