OBJECTIVE:To examine relationships between body mass index (BMI) and psychological correlates in Chinese school adolescents during the period of economic transition. DESIGN: Baseline data of 1655 Chinese adolescents aged 11-15 y were retrieved from a longitudinal smoking cessation and health promotion program in Wuhan, China. Assessments of body weight and height, depressive symptoms, perceived peer isolation (PPI) and perceived availability of social support (PASS) were collected. RESULTS: Based on the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) age-and sex-specific BMI cutoffs, 12.5% of boys and 9.2% of girls were overweight. In girls, high BMI was significantly related to higher self-reported depressive symptoms, and was dominantly mediated by PPI. On the contrary, high BMI boys reported significantly lower levels of PPI although high PPI level aggravated depressive symptoms. For both girls and boys, the observed effect of PPI on the relationship between BMI and depressive symptoms was sustained only in low PASS boys and girls. CONCLUSIONS: The present study revealed different effects of PPI on the association of BMI and depressive symptoms between boys and girls, which were buffered by levels of PASS. The findings of this study may contribute to our understanding of the influences of psychological correlates in pediatric overweight in the Eastern cultural environment.

Pattern reliability, or the invariance of relationships among variables, was investigated in this study. The consistency of theoretical constructs reflected by measures taken at two separate occasions can be tested using confirmatory factor analysis. Self-report data were obtained from 323 narcotics addicts in two face-to-face interviews conducted in 1974/75 and 1985/86. The two interviews overlapped approximately 4 years between 1970 and 1974/75. Through the testing of the invariance of measurement and structural models, pattern reliability was confirmed in one of the models developed. Explication of pattern reliability offers an alternative means of assessing validity of self-report data.

Objective: To examine the odds of overweight and related correlates in Chinese adolescents. Method: Cross-sectional study in 9023 adolescents. Results: Chinese youth were more likely to be overweight if they spent more time being sedentary; slept <7 hours/night; were male; were younger; participated more in vigorous physical activity; and had higher levels of parental education, a higher frequency of veg-etable intake, and a lower frequency of sweet/fast food intake. Conclusions: Overweight-related correlates seem to play different roles in the Chinese culture than in Western cultures. This may be due to culture-specific perceptions and changes in lifestyle accompanying socioeconomic transitions.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of superselective splenic artery embolization (SAE) using a coaxial catheter technique in patients with blunt splenic injury. Patient Selection and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed cases of 24 consecutive patients undergoing splenic angiography for blunt splenic injury at a Level 1 trauma center. After angiographic confirmation of splenic injury, superselective SAE was performed using gelfoam pledgets (n=15), with or without coils, and liquid embolic materials (n=9). All procedures were performed through a microcatheter advanced coaxially through a selective angiographic catheter. Severity of splenic injury was graded using CT imaging. The angiographic findings were retrospectively divided into four groups. Outcome measures included technical success, complications and recurrence of symptoms requiring additional intervention or surgery despite embolization. Results: All cases were technically successful, with immediate occlusion of targeted vessels after embolization. One patient underwent distal pancreatectomy- splenectomy 3 days after splenic embolization due to symptoms related to distal pancreatic injury, unrelated to the angiographic intervention. A second embolization was performed 1-3 days after initial embolization in 4 patients with clinical suspicion of re-bleeding. One of these four patients underwent splenectomy 3 days after the second embolization, during exploration for associated bowel and diaphragmatic injury. A second patient underwent splenectomy 1 day after a second embolization due to need for continued transfusions. The splenic salvage rate was not significantly related to CT grade of splenic injury (p=1.0) or angiographic classification (p=0.8). Conclusion: Superselective SAE can be performed as a safe alternative to splenectomy in patients with blunt splenic trauma, particularly when there is no additional major organ injury. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/njr.v3i2.9606 Nepalese Journal of Radiology Vol.3(2)July-Dec, 2013: 37-48