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The effect of early childhood nutritional supplementation on skeletal maturation at adolescence was investigated in 663 rural Guatemalans, aged 11-18 y. Skeletal maturation was assessed by the Tanner-Whitehouse-2 method. The subjects were former participants in the Institute of Nutrition of Central America and Panama longitudinal study of growth and development (1969-77) residing in four villages (two large and two small) in eastern Guatemala. The villages were randomized within pairs to receive either a high energy, high protein supplement (Atole) or a low energy supplement with no protein (Fresco). Skeletal maturity was observed across all villages to be delayed significantly relative to a British reference for boys < 14 y of age, but not for older boys or for girls < 14 y of age. Delays in girls > 14 years could not be determined reliably because many had reached maturity. Girls < 14 years from Atole villages were more advanced in skeletal maturity than similar age girls from Fresco villages but these differences were found only in comparisons of the large villages. The relationship between early nutrition and biological maturation at adolescence may be obscured in this sample by the advanced age at which the subjects were examined in adolescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Parkinson's disease is accompanied by deficits in passive motion and limb position sense.Objective: To investigate whether deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus (STN-DBS) reverses these proprioceptive deficits.Methods and Results: A passive movement task was applied to nine patients with Parkinson's disease and bilateral chronic STN-DBS and to seven controls. Thresholds for 75% correct responses were 0.9 degrees for controls, 2.5 degrees for Parkinson's disease patients when stimulation was OFF, and 2.0 degrees when stimulation was ON.Conclusions: STN-DBS improves kinaesthesic deficits in Parkinson's disease, but does not lead to a full recovery of proprioceptive function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Most women who stop smoking during their pregnancy will relapse within the first 6 months after birth, with health risks to the mother and family. There have been few UK-specific studies identifying factors associated with relapse. Such information would help health care providers identify those most at risk so that extra support and resources can be targeted. We examined whether a small set of factors that are potentially readily measured or observable in routine health care settings were associated with women at risk for relapse postpartum. Design and setting Analysis of the first wave of the Millennium Cohort Study. Variables in the final model were selected using backwards logistic regression weighted to account for the complex survey design. Participants 2353 natural mothers who reported quitting smoking during their pregnancy. Main outcome measure Postpartum smoking relapse. Results 58% of mothers who quit during pregnancy were smoking again at 9 months. Only 16.2% of smoking couples quit together. The strongest risk factors were related to postnatal partner smoking status and single parenthood. Compared to mothers with a non-smoking partner, the risk of relapse was higher for those with a partner who smoked at 9 months (OR 3.2, 95% CI 2.6 to 3.9), a partner who smoked antenatally (1.2, 1.4 to 2.1), and those who had no live-in partner postnatally (3.2, 2.2 to 4.8) or antenatally (2.3, 1.5 to 3.4). Other significant risk factors remaining in the models were the mother having no-one to share her feelings with, drinking 1–2 times a month or 1–2 times a week, having fewer educational qualifications and more children in the household. Factors that did not appear to be influential in the final models were age, ethnicity, change in marital status from birth to 9 months, depression history, financial status, timing of entry into ante-natal care, feelings about the pregnancy or breastfeeding. Conclusion Pragmatic variables can be used to identify women at higher risk for relapse. The validity of these findings are potentially limited by the inability to measure antenatal intent to relapse, the smoking cessation and relapse prevention interventions actually received, and timing/sequence of relapse for partner-mother pairs in this data set. Both partner smoking habits and single marital status are strongly associated with relapse and can be readily identified both antenatally and postnatally by healthcare providers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Introduction Chile is a middle-income country that has experienced progressive economic stability and improvement of its health status, however, one persistent and complex public health problem is disability. Social determinants of health have emerged as a significant aspect of current debates on this health problem. This analysis focuses on the international immigrants, who have not necessarily benefited from the country's economic development. Objective To compare the social determinants of disability between the international immigrants and the Chilean-born population. Methods Cross-sectional analysis of a Chilean population-based survey of 268 873 people. Independent variable: any disability (visual/hearing/speaking/learning/physical/psychiatric; dichotomous variable). Dependent variables: socio-demographics (age/sex/marital status/geographic location), socio-economics status (3 categories, low/medium/high, by combining income, occupation and education through complete-linkage hierarchical cluster analysis), and material living standards (overcrowding/sanitary conditions/quality of the housing). Descriptive, comparative and adjusted multiple logistic regression models were estimated using STATA 10.0. Results 1% of the sample reported being an international immigrant and a further 0.67% did not respond to the question on migration status. International immigrants reported a lower prevalence of disability than the Chilean-born (3.55% vs 6.93%, p<0.001); and a clear inverse gradient of disability emerged by immigrants' socio-economic status. There was a significant association with single status, self-employed/public-sector employees, and being ill and retired (p<0.001). International immigrants living >20 years in Chile and those from Peru had a higher chance of disability (OR 2.95 and 7.85, respectively). A protective effect of living in rural areas (OR 0.99) and a negative association with adequate quality of material living standards (OR 0.96) was also found. Those who preferred not to report their migration status showed a higher prevalence of disability than the international immigrants (7.42%, p<0.001), particularly if they were in the poorest income quintile (OR 6.91). Discussion Social determinants of disability varied between the international immigrants, those who did not respond to the migration status question and the Chilean-born population. Immigrants showed a clear inverse gradient of disability by socio-economic status. A possible healthy migrant effect was apparent among the international immigrants, but disappeared after 20 years living in Chile. Those who did not respond to the question on migration, potentially undocumented immigrants, showed some particular poverty-related vulnerability towards disability. Overall, international immigrants were a complex and heterogeneous group and their social determinants for disability require further consideration in future health policy interventions in Chile. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]