Abdominal fat distribution is influenced by androgen levels in both men and women. The purpose of this study was to assess the effects on fat distribution of administering nandrolone decanoate (ND; an anabolic steroid with weak androgenic activity) or spironolactone (SP; an antiandrogen) in obese postmenopausal women. The design was a randomized, placebo-controlled, 9-month trial with simultaneous calorie restriction for weight loss. Women in all three groups lost comparable amounts of weight, but the ND-treated women gained lean mass relative to the other two groups (P < 0.0005) and lost more body fat than women in the SP group (P < 0.01). The resting metabolic rate also increased slightly in the ND group. ND treatment produced a gain in visceral fat, as determined by computed tomography scan, and a relatively greater loss of sc abdominal fat. SP-treated women lost significantly less sc fat than the other two groups. Serum cholesterol decreased in the placebo group, but increased slightly in the other two groups (significant for SP vs. placebo, P < 0.05). High density lipoprotein cholesterol decreased significantly in the ND-treated women. There were no significant changes in fasting glucose or insulin sensitivity. We conclude that administration of exogenous androgens modulates body composition in obese postmenopausal women and independently affects visceral and sc abdominal fat.

bean on its introduction from South America, include cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz subsp. esculenta), Little information is available regarding the relationship of Caribpineapple [Ananas comosus (L.) Merr.], and peanuts bean bean landraces with the Andean and Mesoamerican gene pools of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) While small-seeded Meso-(Arachis hypogaea L.) (Rouse, 1992). Historical referamerican black beans are prevalent in parts of the Caribbean, many ences show that beans were well distributed in the Caribof the regionally preferred red mottled and medium-to-large-seeded bean dating from the voyages of Christopher Columbus bean landraces found there are postulated to belong to the Andean in 1493, who observed fields of "beans," unlike those gene pool. To test this hypothesis, we analyzed the morphological produced in Spain, planted on the northern coast of Cuba characteristics, phenological traits, phaseolin status, and random am-(Castiñ eiras et al., 1991) and later those of Oviedo and plified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) banding patterns of 54 red mottled Valdé s who in 1535 noted that Native Americans proor large-seeded bean landraces and cultivars from the Caribbean (16 duced beans in Hispanola (Gepts and Debouck, 1991). from the Dominican Republic, 14 from Haiti, 1 from Jamaica and 23 Common beans are believed to have been domestifrom Puerto Rico) compared with 11 Andean bean lines from other cated in two centers of origin, one in Middle-America regions. To estimate phylogenetic relationships among the lines, distances were calculated and dendrograms constructed for morphologi-and one in South America giving rise to two separate cal and/or phenological and molecular characteristics by the complete gene pools, the Mesoamerican and the Andean, that clustering method. The landraces were grouped into two clusters morare distinguished at the morphological, physiological, phologically: one with Mesoamerican characteristics, which included and molecular levels (including phaseolin seed protein, all the red mottled lines from Haiti and three landraces from the isozyme, and DNA polymorphisms) (Gepts et al., 1986; Dominican Republic collected near the Haitian border and the other

The use of the brace is extremely relevant with the Ponseti technique outcome (recurrence) in the treatment of idiopathic talipes equinovarus. Noncompliance is not related to family education, cultural, or income level. The Ponseti postcasting orthotic protocol needs to be reevaluated to a less demanding option to improve outcome and brace compliance.

We examined the demographic responses of Fagus grandifolia to Hurricane Kate (1985) in an old-growth Southern mixed-hardwood forest in northern Florida. Matrix population models were used to contrast pre-and post-hurricane population trends (1978)(1979)(1980)(1981)(1982)(1983)(1984)(1985)(1986)(1987)(1988)(1989)(1990)(1991)(1992) with predictions of four hypotheses of the persistence of this shade-tolerant species in hurricane-frequented forests (resistance, recovery, release, and complementation). Although growth and mortality schedules changed as a result of the hurricane, the asymptotic population growth rate did not change significantly and did not depart significantly from ϭ 1 (stability) in either the pre-or the posthurricane periods. Long-term trends simulated for varying hurricane frequencies also projected stability in population size. These results supported the resistance hypothesis. Elasticity analysis showed that, while recruitment had a minor influence, survival of medium-sized trees was the most critical character influencing population growth. Similar patterns of life history sensitivity are common among other trees, suggesting that traits related to survival of large understory individuals would often be under high selection pressure. Among these traits, those associated with hurricane resistance could also be advantageous in forests subjected to light to moderate disturbance. Thus, resistance to canopy disruption could have remained linked to shade tolerance during expansions and contractions of the distribution of F. grandifolia.