Height Component Research Articles

Early life influences on adult leg and trunk length in the 1958 British birth cohort

Short leg length has been associated with increased disease risk. We investigated (1) whether taller childhood stature predicts longer adult leg than trunk length; (2) the effects of early life factors on adult leg/trunk length. We used data from the 1958 British birth cohort on height in childhood and at 45 years, leg and trunk length at 45 years and early life factors (n approximately 5,900). For a SD increase in height at 7 years, adult leg length increased more than trunk length (2.5-2.8 cm vs. 1.9 cm). Parental height had a stronger association with adult than childhood height, and leg than trunk length. Prenatal factors were associated with leg (maternal smoking) and trunk length (birth order); birth weight had a similar effect on leg and trunk lengths. Large family size, overcrowding, and social housing were more strongly associated with leg than trunk length: deficits in adult height (0.4-0.8 cm) were mostly due to shorter legs. Socio-economic adversity in childhood is associated with delayed early growth, shorter adult leg length, and stature. Leg length is the height component most sensitive to early environment. Studies of early life and adult disease could usefully assess adult leg length in addition to height.

Relationship Between Leg Length and Gestational Diabetes Mellitus in Chinese Pregnant Women

The relationship between maternal short stature and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) remains controversial. While such an association has been shown in Europeans, South Americans, and Southern Asians (1–5), it was not demonstrated in Hungarians of European origin (6). Apart from ethnic differences, the contribution of the different components of height to overall height could have influenced this association, since leg length rather than trunk length has been correlated with type 2 diabetes in British women (7), and a similar observation in women with GDM has since been reported (5). As Chinese women are generally shorter than their European counterparts because of shorter legs, we have examined the relationship between overall height and components of height with the development of GDM in Chinese women to address this issue. This prospective cohort study was conducted in Kunming, China, from August 2004 to March 2005. All the patients were ethnic Chinese. A 75-g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was arranged at booking for women with risk factors for GDM. If the initial results were normal, the OGTT was repeated at 28–32 weeks. All low-risk women received the OGTT at 28–32 weeks. No preliminary challenge test was used. The OGTT results were interpreted by World Health Organization criteria (8), which have been studied in Chinese populations before (9–11 …

Spatial variation of shell morphometrics in the subantarctic land snail Notodiscus hookeri from Crozet and Kerguelen Islands

The land snail Notodiscus hookeri, widely distributed in subantarctic islands, shows a large intraspecific variation in shell morphology. In the present work, shell size and form of individuals from populations located in Crozet and Kerguelen archipelagos were investigated by means of multivariate statistics. Variation in shell morphometrics was analysed after the partitioning of the overall variation into size and shape components by means of a principal component-based approach. Shell size shows a significant spatial heterogeneity, which seems essentially related to environmental pressures. Previous works pointed to a greater conchological variation between populations from Kerguelen but present observations show that intra-island variances are not significantly different in the two islands studied. Variation in shell shape splits the populations into two main entities because of different allometric relationships between two shell height components and all other measurements. However, using geographical affinities of populations as instrumental variables shows that more complex environmental features interfered in population clustering.

Anomalous harmonics in the spectra of GPS position estimates

Prior studies of the power spectra of GPS position time series have found pervasive seasonal sig- nals against a power-law background of flicker noise plus white noise. Dong et al. (2002) estimated that less than half the observed GPS seasonal power can be explained by redistributions of geophysical fluid mass loads. Much of the residual variation is probably caused by unidentified GPS technique errors and analysis arti- facts. Among possible mechanisms, Penna and Stewart (2003) have shown how unmodeled analysis errors at tidal frequencies (near 12- and 24-hour periods) can be aliased to longer periods very efficiently. Signals near fortnightly, semiannual, and annual periods are expected to be most seriously affected. We have examined spectra for the 167 sites of the International GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Systems) Service (IGS) network having more than 200 weekly measurements during 1996.0-2006.0. The non-linear residuals of the weekly IGS solutions that were included in ITRF2005, the latest version of the International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF), have been used. To improve the detection of common-mode signals, the normalized spectra of all sites have been stacked, then boxcar smoothed for each local north (N), east (E), and height (H) component. The stacked, smoothed spectra are very similar for all three components. Peaks are evident at harmonics of about 1 cycle per year (cpy) up to at least 6 cpy, but the peaks are not all at strictly 1.0 cpy intervals. Based on the 6th harmonic of the N spectrum, which is among the sharpest and largest, and assuming a linear overtone model, then a common fundamental of 1.040 ± 0.008 cpy can explain all peaks well, together with the ex- pected annual and semiannual signals. A flicker noise power-law continuum describes the background spectrum down to periods of a few months, after which the residuals become whiter. Similar sub-seasonal tones are not apparent in the residuals of available satellite laser ranging (SLR) and very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) sites, which are both an order of magnitude less numerous and dominated by white noise. There is weak evidence for a few isolated peaks near 1 cpy harmonics in the spectra of geophysical loadings, but these are much noisier than for GPS positions. Alternative expla- nations related to the GPS technique are suggested by the close coincidence of the period of the 1.040 cpy frequency, about 351.2 days, to the ''GPS year''; i.e., the interval required for the constellation to repeat its inertial orientation with respect to the sun. This could indicate that the harmonics are a type of systematic error related to the satellite orbits. Mechanisms could involve orbit modeling defects or aliasing of site-dependent position- ing biases modulated by the varying satellite geometry.

Effect of the selection of reference radio sources on geodetic estimates from VLBI observations

This paper evaluates the effect of the accuracy of reference radio sources on the daily estimates of station positions, nutation angle offsets, and the estimated site coordinates determined by very long baseline interferometry (VLBI), which are used for the realization of the international terrestrial reference frame (ITRF). Five global VLBI solutions, based on VLBI data collected between 1979 and 2006, are compared. The reference solution comprises all observed radio sources, which are treated as global parameters. Four other solutions, comprising different sub-sets of radio sources, were computed. The daily station positions for all VLBI sites and the corrections to the nutation offset angles were estimated for these five solutions. The solution statistics are mainly affected by the positional instabilities of reference radio sources, whereas the instabilities of geodetic and astrometric time-series are caused by an insufficient number of observed reference radio sources. A mean offset of the three positional components (Up, North, East) between any two solutions was calculated for each VLBI site. From a comparison of the geodetic results, no significant discrepancies between the respective geodetic solutions for all VLBI sites in the Northern Hemisphere were found. In contrast, the Southern Hemisphere sites were more sensitive to the selected set of reference radio sources. The largest estimated mean offset of the vertical component between two solutions for the Australian VLBI site at Hobart was 4 mm. In the worst case (if a weak VLBI network observed a limited number of reference radio sources) the daily offsets of the estimated height component at Hobart exceeded 100 mm. The exclusion of the extended radio sources from the list of reference sources improved the solution statistics and made the geodetic and astrometric time-series more consistent. The problem with the large Hobart height component offset is magnified by a comparatively small number of observations due to the low slewing rate of the VLBI dish (1°/ s). Unless a minimum of 200 scans are performed per 24-h VLBI experiment, the daily vertical positions at Hobart do not achieve 10 mm accuracy. Improving the slew rate at Hobart and/or having an increased number of new sites in the Southern Hemisphere is essential for further improvement of geodetic VLBI results for Southern Hemisphere sites.

Tropospheric parameters: combination studies based on homogeneous VLBI and GPS data

The combination of tropospheric parameters derived from different space-geodetic techniques has not been of large interest in geodesy so far. However, due to the high correlation between station coordinates and tropospheric parameters, the latter should not be neglected in combinations. This paper deals with the comparison and combination of tropospheric parameters derived from global positioning system (GPS) and very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations stemming from a 15-day campaign of continuous VLBI observations in 2002 (CONT02). The observation data of both techniques were processed homogeneously to avoid systematic differences between the solutions. We compared the tropospheric estimates of GPS and VLBI at eight co-location sites and found a very good agreement in the temporal behavior of the tropospheric zenith path delays (ZPD), reflected by correlation factors up to 0.98. Following this, a combination of the tropospheric parameters was performed. We demonstrate that the combination of tropospheric parameters leads to a stabilization of combined station networks. This becomes visible in the improvement of the repeatabilities of the station height components. Furthermore, the potential use of independent data from water vapor radiometers (WVRs) to validate space-technique-derived tropospheric parameters was investigated. Correlation coefficients of 0.95 or better were estimated between the tropospheric parameters of WVR and GPS or VLBI. Additionally, the utility of the tropospheric parameters for validation of local tie vectors was investigated. Both tropospheric zenith delays and tropospheric gradients were found to be very suitable to validate the height component and the horizontal components of the local tie, respectively.

Use of ethephon and chlormequat chloride to manage plant height and lodging of irrigated barley (cv. Puma) when high rates of N-fertiliser are applied

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of the plant growth regulators (PGR's) chlormequat, ethephon and their combination on plant height, lodging, grain yield and yield components of ‘Puma’ barley with differing amounts of N (120, 150 & 180 kg N ha−1). The PGR treatments and a water control were applied at three times of application (TOA): the beginning of stem elongation, at the flag leaf stage, or as a split (double) application at elongation and the flag leaf stage at two localities (Bethlehem and Vaalharts). Field trials were planted as 4 × 32 factorials in RCBD's with 4 replications in the 2004 and 2005 seasons. Plant height, lodging (at Vaalharts) and grain yield (at both sites) were significantly reduced with applications of ethephon and the PGR combination at the flag leaf stage and as a split application. Chlormequat application alone did not produce a response. Yield reductions with ethephon and the PGR combination were attributed to reductions in grains spike−1 and mass grain−1. Higher N levels increased lodging and simultaneously reduced grain yields, however, applications of ethephon significantly controlled lodging at higher N levels. Ethephon and the PGR combination, applied at the flag leaf stage, can be utilized as lodging controlling tools with ‘Puma’ in environments conducive to lodging.

Comparative expression profiling in meristems of inbred-hybrid triplets of maize based on morphological investigations of heterosis for plant height

Heterosis, the superior performance of hybrids as compared to their parental mean is an agronomically important phenomenon well-described morphologically. However, little is known about its molecular basis. We investigated four genetically unrelated maize (Zea mays L.) inbred lines and their F(1) crosses both at the phenotype and transcriptome level, focusing on plant height (PHT) component traits. Substantial mid-parent heterosis (MPH) was found for all parent-hybrid triplets for PHT in the range of 37.9-56.4% in the field and 11.1-39.5% under controlled greenhouse conditions. Analyses of heterosis for number and length of internodes showed two to three times higher MPH in the field as compared to the greenhouse. All three traits exhibited high heritabilities, highest for PHT 95-98%. Two methods for gene expression quantification were applied. High-density cDNA uni-gene microarrays containing 11,827 ESTs were utilized for the selection of differentially expressed genes related to heterosis for PHT. For the four triplets with eight possible parent-hybrid comparisons we identified 434 consistently differentially expressed genes with a p < or = 0.05. Microarray results were used to verify the dominance/overdominance hypothesis. In our study, more than 50% genes showed overdominance, 26% partial dominance, 12.6% complete dominance and 10.2% additive gene action. Moreover, more consistently differentially expressed genes were detected in related triplets, sharing one parent, than in unrelated triplets. Quantitative RT-PCR was applied in order to validate microarray results. The role of the differentially expressed genes in relation to heterosis for PHT is discussed.

A lesion‐mimic mutant of wheat with enhanced resistance to leaf rust

A lesion‐mimic mutant was obtained from a mutagenic treatment performed with ethyl methanesulfonate on the Argentine bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) cultivar Sinvalocho M.A. The HLP (hypersensitive‐like phenotype) mutant exhibited tiny, discrete, white lesions in the absence of any pathogen, resembling the typical hypersensitive response (HR). The lesions only became evident once the fifth or sixth leaf emerged, and spread at random along the leaf blades and leaf sheaths of the developing plant, including tissues of the spike. Because the lesion‐mimic mutant showed no lesions at the seedling stage, the phenotypes of both the mutant and its mother line were identical at this point. Histochemical studies showed that spontaneous hypersensitive‐like lesions in the HLP mutant corresponded to cell death. In leaf‐rust (Puccinia triticina) infection experiments performed at seedling and adult‐plant stages, adult HLP plants showed enhanced resistance to leaf‐rust attack compared with plants of Sinvalocho M.A. of comparable developmental stage, suggesting that the HLP mutation may confer increased resistance to the fungus. Because enhanced resistance coincided with the presence of spontaneous HR lesions, activation of HLP plant defence responses appeared to be tightly linked to this phenomenon. Final plant height and yield components in the lesion‐mimic mutant did not differ from those of the mother line, indicating that the HLP mutation caused no detrimental pleiotropic effects that significantly affected agronomic performance. These data support the direct use of mutations in disease‐resistance breeding.

Metal-on-Metal Hybrid Surface Arthroplasty

Following the reintroduction of metal-on-metal articulating surfaces for total hip arthroplasty in Europe in 1988, we developed a surface arthroplasty prosthetic system using a metal-on-metal articulation. The present study describes the clinical and radiographic results of the first 400 hips treated with metal-on-metal hybrid surface arthroplasties at an average follow-up of three and a half years. Between November 1996 and November 2000, 400 metal-on-metal hybrid surface arthroplasties were performed in 355 patients. All femoral head components were cemented, but only fifty-nine of the short metaphyseal stems were cemented. The patients had an average age of forty-eight years, 73% were men, and 66% had a diagnosis of osteoarthritis. Clinical and radiographic follow-up was performed at three months postoperatively and yearly thereafter. The majority of the patients returned to a high level of activity, including sports, and 54% had activity scores of >7 on the University of California at Los Angeles activity assessment system. Kaplan-Meier survivorship curves demonstrated that the rate of survival of the components at four years was 94.4%. For patients with a surface arthroplasty risk index score of >3, the rate of survival of the components at four years was 89% compared with a rate of 97% for those with a score of <or=3. The patients with a higher risk index were 4.2 times more likely to undergo revision to a total hip replacement at four years. Twelve hips (3%) had a revision to a total hip replacement. Seven of the twelve hips were revised because of loosening of the femoral component, and three were revised because of a femoral neck fracture. Substantial radiolucencies were seen around sixteen uncemented metaphyseal femoral stems. No femoral radiolucencies were observed among the hips in which the metaphyseal stem was cemented. The most important risk factors for femoral component loosening and substantial stem radiolucencies were large femoral head cysts (p = 0.029), patient height (p = 0.032), female gender (p = 0.005), and smaller component size in male patients (p = 0.005). The preliminary experience with this hybrid metal-on-metal bearing is encouraging. Optimal femoral bone preparation and component fixation are critical to improving durability. The metal-on-metal hybrid surface arthroplasty is easily revised to a standard femoral component if necessary.

Metal-on-Metal Hybrid Surface Arthroplasty

BACKGROUND: Following the reintroduction of metal-on-metal articulating surfaces for total hip arthroplasty in Europe in 1988, we developed a surface arthroplasty prosthetic system using a metal-on-metal articulation. The present study describes the clinical and radiographic results of the first 400 hips treated with metal-on-metal hybrid surface arthroplasties at an average follow-up of three and a half years. METHODS: Between November 1996 and November 2000, 400 metal-on-metal hybrid surface arthroplasties were performed in 355 patients. All femoral head components were cemented, but only fifty-nine of the short metaphyseal stems were cemented. The patients had an average age of forty-eight years, 73% were men, and 66% had a diagnosis of osteoarthritis. Clinical and radiographic follow-up was performed at three months postoperatively and yearly thereafter. RESULTS: The majority of the patients returned to a high level of activity, including sports, and 54% had activity scores of >7 on the University of California at Los Angeles activity assessment system. Kaplan-Meier survivorship curves demonstrated that the rate of survival of the components at four years was 94.4%. For patients with a surface arthroplasty risk index score of >3, the rate of survival of the components at four years was 89% compared with a rate of 97% for those with a score of ≤3. The patients with a higher risk index were 4.2 times more likely to undergo revision to a total hip replacement at four years. Twelve hips (3%) had a revision to a total hip replacement. Seven of the twelve hips were revised because of loosening of the femoral component, and three were revised because of a femoral neck fracture. Substantial radiolucencies were seen around sixteen uncemented metaphyseal femoral stems. No femoral radiolucencies were observed among the hips in which the metaphyseal stem was cemented. The most important risk factors for femoral component loosening and substantial stem radiolucencies were large femoral head cysts (p = 0.029), patient height (p = 0.032), female gender (p = 0.005), and smaller component size in male patients (p = 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: The preliminary experience with this hybrid metal-on-metal bearing is encouraging. Optimal femoral bone preparation and component fixation are critical to improving durability. The metal-on-metal hybrid surface arthroplasty is easily revised to a standard femoral component if necessary.

Birth weight, components of height and coronary heart disease: evidence from the Whitehall II study

Previous studies have suggested that shorter leg length, not trunk length, may explain the inverse association between height and coronary heart disease (CHD) risk. However, investigation of the importance of birth weight for these associations has been limited. This study examines associations of measures of stature and birth weight with CHD risk factors (measures of blood pressure and lipids, 2 h glucose, waist-hip ratio and fibrinogen) and incident non-fatal coronary events in middle age. Data were derived mostly from the Phase 5 (1997-99) clinical screening of the Whitehall II study of British civil servants. The main cross-sectional analyses included 1084 women and 2290 men with complete data. In women total height and leg length were the measures that tended to be most strongly associated with CHD risk factors, while in men leg length demonstrated the closest associations. Although associations between trunk length and CHD risk factors were weaker, trunk length was the component of height that appeared to be most closely associated with coronary events. Associations between birth weight and CHD risk factors and coronary events were generally weaker than for any measure of stature. Adjustment for birth weight had little effect on associations between components of stature and CHD risk factors or events. Findings from this relatively privileged cohort confirmed that shorter leg length underlies the inverse association between height and CHD risk factors in middle-aged women and men. Furthermore, in this study population shorter trunk length was more closely associated with incident, non-fatal coronary events.

The relation between components of adult height and intimal-medial thickness in middle age: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study.

The authors aimed to investigate the relation between components of adult height (leg and trunk length) and atherosclerosis in middle age, using data from 12,254 participants (aged 44-65 years) in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study. Intimal-medial thickness (IMT) as measured by B-mode ultrasound was the outcome, and exposures were trunk and leg lengths as estimated (using sitting height and the difference between sitting and standing height) at the first study examination in 1987-1989. The mean IMT was 0.73 (standard deviation, 0.17) mm. Greater leg length was associated with lower IMT, with the largest difference being for Black men (a 0.045 (95% confidence interval: 0.023, 0.068)-mm lower IMT per 10-cm higher leg length). Greater trunk length was associated with higher IMT, with the largest difference being for White men (a 0.024 (95% confidence interval: 0.005, 0.044)-mm higher IMT per 10-cm higher trunk length). Although the effect sizes were small, leg length was inversely associated with atherosclerosis, consistent with the results of other studies with cardiovascular disease outcomes.

Insulin-Like Growth Factor-I and Growth in Height, Leg Length, and Trunk Length between Ages 5 and 10 Years

IGF-I, a major regulator of childhood growth, is also associated with the risk of several cancers in adult life. Adult height and particularly leg length are also associated with cancer risk. Prepubertal growth is more in leg than trunk length, and it has been suggested that leg length might be a biomarker of childhood IGF-I. However, there is little information on the association between childhood IGF-I and subsequent leg and trunk growth. In this study, we investigated the association of IGF-I measured at 5 and 7-8 yr with growth in height and the components of height (leg and trunk length) from 5 yr to 9-10 yr. A total of 675 children participated in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. IGF-I was strongly positively associated with growth in height in both sexes. Among boys, IGF-I was strongly associated with subsequent growth in both leg and trunk length, but there was no evidence that IGF-I was more strongly associated with one component of growth than the other. Among girls, IGF-I was strongly positively associated with growth in trunk but not leg length, although there was only weak evidence that these two associations differed in strength (P = 0.058). These results support the contention that the associations between height and cancer may be mediated by variation in childhood IGF-I. However, they provide no evidence to support the hypothesis that leg length is a better biomarker of childhood IGF-I levels than trunk length.

On three-dimensional continuous saltating process of sediment particles near the channel bed

The purpose of this study is to develop a three-dimensional continuous saltation model which is able to simulate the saltating behaviors of a single particle near the channel bed. A real-time flow visualization system, including two charge-coupled device cameras, an image-grabbing card and an OPTIMAS image-processing software, is developed to measure the three-dimensional saltating trajectories and corresponding velocity components. The averaged dimensionless saltation length, height and width were found to follow Pearson type III distributions and the dimensionless saltation velocity follows a normal distribution. The impacting and rebounding angles increase as the flowtransport capacity T* increases. The rebounding angles, under various impacting conditions, follow a normal distribution. Based on the data colleted, an impacting and rebounding mechanism is derived, and thus a three-dimensional saltation model is established to simulate the dynamic characteristics of the saltating particles. Regression equations for the important saltating characteristics, including saltation length, height, width and three-dimensional velocity components were obtained. Based on these equations, bed load equation was derived. This equation tends to slightly overestimate the bed load transport. Nevertheless, the overall accuracy is satisfactory.

Associations of Childhood and Adulthood Height and the Components of Height with Insulin-Like Growth Factor Levels in Adulthood: A 65-Year Follow-Up of the Boyd Orr Cohort

Taller individuals with longer legs have a higher risk of cancer but a lower risk of coronary heart disease. We investigated whether childhood height and its components are associated with the IGF system in adulthood. We analyzed data from 429 participants of the Boyd Orr cohort, for whom height measured in childhood (mean age, 7.4 yr) in 1937-1939 could be related to levels of IGF-I, IGF-II, IGF binding protein (IGFBP)-2, and IGFBP-3 in adulthood (mean age, 71.1 yr). In 385 participants, measured height in adulthood could be related to IGF levels. In fully adjusted models (controlling for age, sex, socioeconomic factors, lifestyle, and body mass index), childhood height and its components were not associated with adult circulating IGF-I, IGF-II, or IGFBP-2 levels. IGFBP-3 was 85.5 ng/ml higher (95% confidence interval, -11.6 to 182.5; P = 0.08) per sd increase in childhood trunk length and 83.6 ng/ml lower (95% confidence interval, -10.3 to 177.5; P = 0.08) per sd increase in childhood leg/trunk ratio. Height in adulthood was not associated with IGF-I, IGF-II, or IGFBP-3 and was inversely associated with IGFBP-2 (P = 0.05) after additionally controlling for childhood height. There was no evidence that associations of childhood height with cancer and coronary heart disease risk are mediated by IGF-I in adulthood. The anthropometric associations with IGFBP-2 and IGFBP-3 could be chance findings but warrant additional investigation. IGF levels in childhood may be more important determinants of long-term disease risk than adult levels.

QTL analysis of yield traits in an advanced backcross population derived from a cultivated Andean × wild common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) cross

Advanced backcross QTL analysis was used to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) for agronomic performance in a population of BC2F(3:5) introgression lines created from the cross of a Colombian large red-seeded commercial cultivar, ICA Cerinza, and a wild common bean accession, G24404. A total of 157 lines were evaluated for phenological traits, plant architecture, seed weight, yield and yield components in replicated trials in three environments in Colombia and genotyped with microsatellite, SCAR, and phaseolin markers that were used to create a genetic map that covered all 11 linkage groups of the common bean genome with markers spaced at an average distance of every 10.4 cM. Segregation distortion was most significant in regions orthologous for a seed coat color locus (R-C) on linkage group b08 and two domestication syndrome genes, one on linkage group b01 at the determinacy (fin) locus and the other on linkage group b02 at the seed-shattering (st) locus. Composite interval mapping analysis identified a total of 41 significant QTL for the eight traits measured of which five for seed weight, two for days to flowering, and one for yield were consistent across two or more environments. QTL were located on every linkage group with b06 showing the greatest number of independent loci. A total of 13 QTL for plant height, yield and yield components along with a single QTL for seed size showed positive alleles from the wild parent while the remaining QTL showed positive alleles from the cultivated parent. Some QTL co-localized with regions that had previously been described to be important for these traits. Compensation was observed between greater pod and seed production and smaller seed size and may have resulted from QTL for these traits being linked or pleiotropic. Although wild beans have been used before to transfer biotic stress resistance traits, this study is the first to attempt to simultaneously obtain a higher yield potential from wild beans and to analyze this trait with single-copy markers. The wild accession was notable for being from a unique center of diversity and for contributing positive alleles for yield and other traits to the introgression lines showing the potential that advanced backcrossing has in common bean improvement.

Application of Generalized approach to Datum Transformation between Local Classical and Satellite-based Geodetic Networks

The major problem with transforming from a classical to a satellite-based network is the typically low and heterogeneous accuracy of the classical network coordinates, especially in the height component. The accuracies and the statistical correlations between the point coordinates are expressed in the variance-covariance matrix (VCV). There is a great advantage if this prior information is included in the transformation model, together with the VCV matrix of the satellite-based network. An analysis of the northern part of the geodetic network of the State of Israel was conducted, using real data coming from both classical and satellite-based networks. The detailed investigation of the VCV matrix of the northern part of the G1 network, the satellite geodetic geodynamic network, and the M points from the classical network, confirmed the suitability of the so-called "Generalized Approach" to datum transformation.

Adolescent nutrition and growth

Nutrition is an essential component of total adolescent health care. Two important changes occurring during adolescence can cause a crisis in the teenager's nutritional needs. First, growth in height, weight, and body component is greater and more rapid than at any time since infancy. Second, an adolescent's eating habits may change from regular meals prepared at home to irregular meals, skipped meals, and nutrition-poor snacks and fast-food meals. Adolescents have been found to have the highest prevalence of any age group of an unsatisfactory nutritional status. To understand the nutritional requirements of the adolescent, health practitioners should be aware of the intensity and timing of the adolescent growth spurt, the differences in the growth spurt between males and females, and the individual variation in timing of the growth spurt from teenager to teenager

Contributions of GPS and VLBI for understanding station motions

Abstract The occurrence of non-secular signals in site positions is well known. Since a few years, a main objective of research has been the separation of apparent motions from real geophysical motions and deformations. We investigated eight weekly Global Positioning System (GPS), one daily solution from Scripps Orbit and Permanent Array Center (SOPAC), and two Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) station coordinate time series and the corresponding baselines. One major hurdle in our investigation was the handling of constraints imposed on the GPS solutions. Seasonal signals in the height component with amplitudes of up to 9 mm for a few sites on the Asian continent were recovered. For baselines longer than 5000 km, the precision of the GPS technique is superior to the VLBI technique from the point of view of repeatability. The improvement on VLBI baseline repeatability after applying the atmospheric pressure loading time series provided by the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) VLBI group reaches 3.3% (median value). Coordinate time series or baseline lengths derived from GPS and VLBI Analysis Centers (ACs) solutions have not yet achieved an unambiguously assessment of sub-cm agreement.