PURPOSE The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) prospective cohort was used to determine the accuracy of the Paley multiplier method for predicting leg length. Using menarche as a proxy, physiological age was then used to increase the accuracy of the multiplier. METHODS Chronological age was corrected in female patients over the age of eight years with documented date of ...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Environmental factors such as serious trauma or abuse and related stress can lead to nightmares or night terrors. Being bullied can be very distressing for children, and victims display long-term social, psychological, and health consequences. Unknown is whether being bullied by peers may increase the risk for experiencing parasomnias such as nightmares, night terrors,...

OBJECTIVES Most studies reporting evidence of adverse effects of lead and cadmium on the ability to balance have been conducted in high-exposure groups or have included adults. The effects of prenatal exposure have not been well studied, nor have the effects in children been directly studied. The aim of the study was to identify the associations of lead (in utero and in childhood) and cadmium (...

The existence of long-lived nuclear spin states in four-spin systems is explored by solution-state NMR experiments. Long-lived states are proved to exist in three different natural product molecules, each containing either a AA'BB' or a AA'XX' proton spin system. The measured state lifetimes are between four and eight times the spin-lattice relaxation time constants.

INTRODUCTION There is evidence that high levels of mercury exposure to the pregnant woman can result in damage to the brain of the developing fetus. However there is uncertainty as to whether lower levels of the metal have adverse effects on the development of the infant and whether components of fish consumption and/or the selenium status of the woman is protective. METHODS In this study we ...

BACKGROUND In the few studies available, the risk of developing systemic reactions (SR) to hymenoptera stings in patients with previous large local reactions (LLRs) to stings ranges from 0 to 7 %. We evaluated both retrospectively and prospectively the risk of SRs in patients with LLRs to stings. METHODS An overall number of 477 patients, 396 with an SR as the first manifestation of allergy a...

OBJECTIVE Identify the prevalence of obesity in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) compared with healthy adolescents, and those identified with CFS in a population cohort. DESIGN Cross-sectional analysis of multiple imputed data. SETTING Data from UK paediatric CFS/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) services compared with data collected at two time points in the Avon Longitudinal ...

The aim of this study was to explore the association between parental separation during childhood (up to 18 years of age) and cardiometabolic risk factors (body mass index, fat mass index, blood pressure, physical activity, smoking, and alcohol consumption) in late adolescence using a cross-cohort comparison and to explore whether associations differ according to the age at which the parental s...

OBJECTIVES To investigate whether infants with weight faltering have impaired psychosocial and educational outcomes in later childhood. DESIGN Follow-up of infants with weight faltering in a large UK cohort study. SETTING The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). PARTICIPANTS 11 534 term infants from ALSPAC with complete weight records. Weight gain (conditional on init...

BACKGROUND Evidence suggests that the hormonal milieu of pregnancy is an important determinant of subsequent cancer and other chronic diseases in both the mother and the offspring. Many of the existing maternity and birth cohorts include specimens drawn only once during pregnancy. How well a single blood specimen collected during a pregnancy characterizes exposure to these hormones throughout g...