Search results for "Confounding"

Reference growth charts for Posidonia oceanica seagrass: An effective tool for assessing growth performance by age and depth

2016

Abstract Growth performance of rhizomes has become among the most used descriptors for monitoring Posidonia oceanica seagrass dynamics and population status. However, ability to detect any change of growth in space or in time is often confounded by natural age-induced decline. To overcome this problem, we have produced reference growth charts, which in other areas are universally recognized as a very powerful tool for comparing growth of living beings during their ontogeny. Reference growth charts involving different P. oceanica growth performance measures (speed of growth and primary production of rhizomes) have been built using proper statistical frameworks (GLMM, Segmented and Quantile R…

Measuring phenotypes in fluctuating environments

2020

Despite considerable theoretical interest in how the evolution of phenotypic plasticity should be shaped by environmental variability and stochasticity, how individuals actually respond to these aspects of the environment within their own lifetimes remains unclear. We propose that this understanding has been hampered by experimental approaches that expose organisms to fluctuating environments (typically treatments where fluctuations in the environment are cyclical vs. erratic) for a pre‐determined duration while ensuring that the mean environment over that the entire exposure period is invariable. This approach implicitly assumes that responses to the mean and variance/predictability in the…

Stature and long-term labor market outcomes: Evidence using Mendelian randomization.

2017

We use the Young Finns Study (N = ∼2000) on the measured height linked to register-based long-term labor market outcomes. The data contain six age cohorts (ages 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18, in 1980) with the average age of 31.7, in 2001, and with the female share of 54.7. We find that taller people earn higher earnings according to the ordinary least squares (OLS) estimation. The OLS models show that 10 cm of extra height is associated with 13% higher earnings. We use Mendelian randomization, with the genetic score as an instrumental variable (IV) for height to account for potential confounders that are related to socioeconomic background, early life conditions and parental investments, which ar…

Occupational Heat Exposure and Breast Cancer Risk in the MCC-Spain Study.

2021

Background: Mechanisms linking occupational heat exposure with chronic diseases have been proposed. However, evidence on occupational heat exposure and cancer risk is limited. Methods: We evaluated occupational heat exposure and female breast cancer risk in a large Spanish case-control study. We enrolled 1,738 breast cancer cases and 1,910 frequency-matched population controls. A Spanish job exposure matrix, MatEmEsp, was used to assign estimates of the proportion of workers exposed (P greater than or equal to 25% for at least one year) and work time with heat stress (wet bulb globe temperature ISO 7243) for each occupation. We used three exposure indices: ever vs. never exposed, lifetime c…

Coffee consumption and total mortality in a Mediterranean prospective cohort

2018

Background The relation of coffee consumption with total mortality is controversial, because the available evidence is still inconsistent. Objective This study aimed to assess this association in a highly educated, middle-aged Mediterranean cohort. Design We analyzed data from 201,055 person-years of follow-up arising from 19,888 participants. Coffee consumption was obtained at baseline with the use of a previously validated semiquantitative food-frequency questionnaire. Information on mortality was ascertained by permanent contact with the "Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra" (SUN) participants and their families, postal authorities, and consultation of the National Death Index. We used Co…

Childhood growth predicts higher bone mass and greater bone area in early old age: findings among a subgroup of women from the Helsinki Birth Cohort …

2017

Abstract Summary: We examined the associations between childhood growth and bone properties among women at early old age. Early growth in height predicted greater bone area and higher bone mineral mass. However, information on growth did not improve prediction of bone properties beyond that predicted by body size at early old age. Introduction: We examined the associations between body size at birth and childhood growth with bone area, bone mineral content (BMC), and areal bone mineral density (aBMD) in early old age. Methods: A subgroup of women (n = 178, mean 60.4 years) from the Helsinki Birth Cohort Study, born 1934–1944, participated in dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) measuremen…

2020

BACKGROUND Women experience drastic hormonal changes during midlife due to the menopausal transition. Menopausal hormonal changes are known to lead to bone loss and potentially also to loss of lean mass. The loss of muscle and bone tissue coincide due to the functional relationship and interaction between these tissues. If and how physical activity counteracts deterioration in muscle and bone during the menopausal transition remains partly unresolved. This study investigated differences between premenopausal, early perimenopausal, late perimenopausal, and postmenopausal women in appendicular lean mass (ALM), appendicular lean mass index (ALMI), femoral neck bone mineral density (BMD) and T …

Fruit and vegetable consumption and health outcomes: an umbrella review of observational studies

2019

The aim of this study was to provide a comprehensive evaluation of current evidence on fruit and vegetable consumption and health outcomes. A systematic search for quantitative syntheses was performed. Several criteria, including study design, dose-response relationship, heterogeneity and agreement of results over time, and identification of potential confounding factors, were used to assess the level of evidence. The strongest (probable) evidence was found for cardiovascular disease protection; possible evidence for decreased risk of colon cancer, depression and pancreatic diseases was found for fruit intake; and colon and rectal cancer, hip fracture, stroke, depression and pancreatic dise…

Multidimensional frailty increases cardiovascular risk in older people: An 8-year longitudinal cohort study in the Osteoarthritis Initiative.

2021

Background:\ud \ud Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the most important cause of mortality and an important cause of disability. Frailty seems to be associated with higher cardiovascular risk, but limited research has been done using a multidimensional approach to frailty. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate whether the multidimensional prognostic index (MPI), based on comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA), is associated with CVD risk in the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI) study.\ud \ud Methods:\ud \ud Community-dwellers affected by knee OA or at high risk for this condition were followed for 8 years. A standardized CGA including information on functional, nutritional, mood, co…

Serum Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone Levels and Frailty in the Elderly: The Progetto Veneto Anziani Study

2016

High or low thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels seem to be associated with several negative outcomes in the elderly, but the literature about TSH and frailty is still limited. In this article, we investigated whether TSH is associated with prevalent and incident frailty in a cohort of older community-dwelling subjects. Among 3099 initially screened in the Progetto Veneto Anziani Study, 2571 men and women aged ≥65 years (for cross-sectional analyses) and 1732 (longitudinal, mean follow-up period of 4.4 years) were divided into sex-specific quintiles according to baseline serum TSH concentrations within normal range (0.3 and 4.2 mUI/L). Frailty was defined as the presence of three among …