Body form and nutritional status among adult males of different social groups in Orissa and Bihar States in India

This paper aims to carry out a biological investigation of the body form and nutritional status of the major social groups of Orissa and Bihar States in India. For this, Cormic Index (CI) and Body Mass Index (BMI) have been computed using data on height, sitting height and weight, taken from adult males of age 18-62 years of various ethnic groups in these two states. The subjects have been classified on the basis of chronic energy deficiency (CED). It is found that a substantial proportion of the people with CED are in the grade II and grade III categories. ANOVA, t-tests, correlation and regression were carried out separately. The results reveal that in Orissa, Scheduled Tribes are shorter, lighter and have lowest mean values of BMI and Cormic Index compared to other groups, but in Bihar, though the Scheduled Tribes are shorter, Scheduled Castes are lower in weight and have the lowest mean values of BMI. There are significant differences in BMI as well as in CI between Scheduled Tribes of Orissa and Bihar. Scheduled Castes and Tribes of Bihar have the highest percentage of CED with 64.71% and 57.45%, respectively. Muslims of Bihar are also affected (52.95%), but overall prevalence of CED is lower in Orissa (49.11%) than in Bihar (54.62%). BMI and CI are highly correlated for each of the social groups in Bihar and Orissa.     

Genetic heterogeneity of Apo CII locus in north India

Apolipoprotein CII genotypes were determined in Brahmins, Banias, Jat Sikhs, Khatris, Ramgarhia, Ramdasia and Scheduled Castes of Punjab, North India (n = 930). The Apo CII exhibits three common polymorphic alleles CII*1, CII*2 and CII*3 with pooled frequencies 0.883, 0.114 and 0.003, respectively. CII*3 was absent in Brahmins. Distribution of Apo CII isoforms highlights a considerable variation among different ethnic groups across the world. The average heterozygosity of the Punjabi populations was 0.208. The gene diversity among these population groups was less than 0.1%.     

Genetic studies of Pangwalas, Transhumant and Settled Gaddis. 4. Colour blindness, mid-phalangeal hair, ear lobe attachment and behavioural traits

Frequency distributions of colour blindness, midphalangeal hair, ear lobe attachment, hand clasping, arm folding, leg folding and handedness are reported for different population groups from Himachal Pradesh, North India, namely Pangwalas, Transhumant Gaddis (Brahmans, Rajputs and Scheduled Castes) and Settled Gaddis (Brahmans, Rajputs and Schedules Castes). An attempt has been made to compare the results of the present study within and between these groups as well as with the results of other reports from different population groups of India and Asia.     

Child height and intergenerational transmission of health: Evidence from ethnic Indians in England

A large literature documents a widespread prevalence of small stature among Indian children as well as adults. We show that a height gap relative to a richer population such as whites in England also exists, although substantially reduced, among adult immigrants of Indian ethnicity in England. This is despite positive height selection into migration, demonstrated by ethnic Indian adults in England being on average 6–7 cm taller than in India. However, the difference between natives and ethnic Indians in England disappears among their younger sons and daughters, although it re-appears among adolescents. We estimate that, conditional on age, gender and parental height, ethnic Indian children of age 2–4 in England are 6–8% taller than in India. Such degree of catch up in one generation is remarkable, also because in England children of ethnic Indians have much smaller birthweight than whites, by about 0.4 kg on average.     

中国现代人群两性身高差异分布及其影响因素

本文对中国现代人群的两性身高差异分布状况及其影响因素进行了分析。选用152处中国现代人群（含69处汉族人群和83处少数民族人群）的男、女性身高数据,计算两性身高差异指数,并对比该指数在南、北方汉族和少数民族人群间的分布差异,同时分析纬度、气候、体格大小与城乡环境因素对两性身高差异程度的影响。结果表明,中国男性的平均身高比女性高出约7.16%(4.72%~9.26%）;南、北方汉族和少数民族之间的两性身高差异程度相似,北方汉族和南方汉族两性身高差异程度相似,但北方少数民族的两性身高差异明显大于南方少数民族。此外,两性身高差异程度与纬度、气温年较差和年均风速呈低度线性正相关,与年均气温、年均降水量和年均相对湿度呈低度线性负相关,而与体格大小和城乡环境并无显著关联。这提示遗传和自然环境因素在中国现代人群两性身高差异的区域化演变中更趋主导性,而社会环境因素的影响程度相对较低。     

The Patterning Cascade Model and Carabelli's trait expression in metameres of the mixed human dentition: exploring a morphogenetic model

Since ancient times the Mediterranean island of Sardinia has been known for harboring a population with an average body height shorter than almost every other ethnic group in Europe. After over a century of investigations, the cause(s) at the origin of this uniqueness are not yet clear. The shorter stature of Sardinians appears to have been documented since prehistoric times, as revealed by the analysis of skeletal remains discovered in archaeological sites on the island. Recently, a number of genetic, hormonal, environmental, infective and nutritional factors have been put forward to explain this unique anthropometric feature, which persisted for a long time, even when environmental and living conditions improved around 1960. Although some of the putative factors are supported by sound empirical evidence, weaker support is available for others. The recent advent of whole genome analysis techniques shed new light on specific variants at the origin of this short stature. However, the marked geographical variability of stature across time and space within the island, and the well‐known presence of pockets of short height in the population of the southern districts, are still puzzling findings that have attracted the interest of anthropologists and geneticists. The purpose of this review is to focus on the state‐of‐the‐art research on stature, as well as the factors that made Sardinians the shortest among Europeans.     

Determinants of maternity care services utilization among married adolescents in rural India

Background

Coupled with the largest number of maternal deaths, adolescent pregnancy in India has received paramount importance due to early age at marriage and low contraceptive use. The factors associated with the utilization of maternal healthcare services among married adolescents in rural India are poorly discussed.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Using the data from third wave of National Family Health Survey (2005–06), available in public domain for the use by researchers, this paper examines the factors associated with the utilization of maternal healthcare services among married adolescent women (aged 15–19 years) in rural India. Three components of maternal healthcare service utilization were measured: full antenatal care, safe delivery, and postnatal care within 42 days of delivery for the women who gave births in the last five years preceding the survey. Considering the framework on causes of maternal mortality proposed by Thaddeus and Maine (1994), selected socioeconomic, demographic, and cultural factors influencing outcome events were included as the predictor variables. Bi-variate analyses including chi-square test to determine the difference in proportion, and logistic regression to understand the net effect of predictor variables on selected outcomes were applied. Findings indicate the significant differences in the use of selected maternal healthcare utilization by educational attainment, economic status and region of residence. Muslim women, and women belonged to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes are less likely to avail safe delivery services. Additionally, adolescent women from the southern region utilizing the highest maternal healthcare services than the other regions.

Conclusions

The present study documents several socioeconomic and cultural factors affecting the utilization of maternal healthcare services among rural adolescent women in India. The ongoing healthcare programs should start targeting household with married adolescent women belonging to poor and specific sub-groups of the population in rural areas to address the unmet need for maternal healthcare service utilization.     

中国蒙古族的身高特征

研究目前中国蒙古族主要族群身高情况。对中国蒙古族共13个族群4410例（男43%,女57%）成人身高进行了测量,分析蒙古族身高分型情况,探讨不同年龄组之间、不同族群之间的身高变化趋势。中国蒙古族男性为超中等身材,女性为中等身材。在13个族群中,男性是额济纳土尔扈特部身高最高,云南蒙古族身材最矮。女性是鄂尔多斯部身材最高,云南蒙古族身材最矮。3个年龄组间身高差异均具有统计学意义。男性、女性都以高型出现率最高,过矮型出现率和很高型出现率都很低。中国蒙古族身高与中国其他北方族群接近,高于7个中国南方族群,低于北方汉族,但高于南方汉族,低于日本人、韩国人。中国蒙古族13个族群间身高差异均具有统计学意义,在中国族群中蒙古族属于身材较高的族群。     

Geographical Distribution of Testate Amoebae in Tibet and Northwestern Yunnan and their Relationships with Climate

In Asia, especially in China, our knowledge of the distribution of testate amoebae is still limited. In this paper, the geographical distribution of testate amoebae in Tibetan Plateau and northwestern Yunnan Plateau, southwest China and their relationships with the climatic factors have been studied. We found testate amoebae shifted in the most dominant species and increased in species (or genus) richness from northwest to southeast. Further, the linear regression analyses revealed that both species richness and genus richness have higher positive correlations with the mean temperature of the warmest month and annual mean precipitation as contrasted with the mean altitude, which showed weak negative correlation. This indicates that the temperature and precipitation are more significant influences on the richness than the altitude. The cluster analysis based on the community structure, defined by Sørenson’s coefficient matrix, suggested four groups from the 10 physiographical regions. This geographical distribution pattern was also closely related with the climatic regionalization. The present climatic regionalization pattern of the study area originated from the uplift of Tibetan Plateau and mainly occurred in or after the late Pleistocene. Therefore, the geographical distribution of testate amoebae in our study area may have experienced complicated and drastic changes corresponding to the variation of the climate caused by the geological events.     

Diversity in palmar pattern ridge counts among 12 Iranian populations

Bilateral palmar prints of 604 male individuals from 12 Iranian groups, six Mongoloid and six Caucasoid, have been analyzed for palmar pattern ridge counts (PPRC). Highly significant variation has been observed in the size of the palmar patterns in all the configurational areas among the Iranian groups. The distance analysis based on PPRCs differentiated the Iranian Mongoloid from the Iranian Caucasoid groups into distinct clusters. The pattern of differentiation based on PPRCs explained the ethnohistoric relationships between the Iranian groups as well as between the Iranian and the 20 Caucasoid groups from India much better than the palmar pattern frequencies. The results of this study demonstrate the existence of variation in the size of the palmar patterns across different populations within an ethnic group, as well as that among different ethnic groups, and seems to be a better indicator of interpopulational diversity than the palmar pattern frequencies.     

Femur/stature ratio and estimates of stature in mid- and late-Pleistocene fossil hominids

In previous limited investigations of the human femur/stature ratio we (Feldesman and Lundy: Journal of Human Evolution 17:583-596, 1988; Feldesman et al.: American Journal of Physical Anthropology 79:219-220, 1989) have shown it to be remarkably stable across ethnic and gender boundaries. In this study we evaluate the femur/stature ratio in 51 different "populations" of contemporary humans (n = 13,149) sampled from all over the world. We find that the mean ratio of femur length to stature in these populations is 26.74%, with a very restricted range of variation. When we compare mean femur/stature ratios of males and females, there are no statistically significant differences. ANOVA performed on a naive grouping of samples into "whites," "blacks," and "Asians" indicates that there are significant racial differences (P less than 0.001). When we subject these groups to Tukey's HSD procedure (a post-hoc test), we find that "blacks" are responsible for the significant ANOVA, being significantly (P less than 0.005) different from the other ethnic groups. "Whites" and "Asians" are not significantly different (P = 0.067) under the conditions of this analysis, although all these racial comparisons may be suspect given the small sample sizes. We tested the efficacy of the ratio in three situations: predicting stature of repatriated white Vietnam veterans; predicting stature in a random sample of South African blacks (of known stature), and predicting the stature of a single Akka pygmy. In the first and third cases, the femur/stature ratio does better than the traditionally recommended regression equation, while in the second case the predictions from the femur/stature ratio are less accurate than from the appropriate regression equation. These results encouraged us to apply this ratio to mid- and late-Pleistocene fossil hominids, where the choice of reference population for stature estimates continues to trouble workers. We estimated stature for a sizeable number of Homo erectus (HE), early Neanderthal (EN), Near Eastern Neanderthal (NEN), and early anatomically modern Homo sapiens (EAMHS) by using the simple relationship: stature (cm) = femur length (cm) * 100/26.74. Our results show that HE fossils are slightly taller on average than either EN or NEN samples, which do not differ significantly in stature, while EAMHS fossils are significantly taller than all three earlier groups. While these results are not surprising, our stature estimates for these fossils differ from currently published estimates based on sample-specific regression-based formulae.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

Genetic structure and diversity in Ramonda myconi (Gesneriaceae): effects of historical climate change on a preglacial relict species

The importance of the Mediterranean Basin as a long-term reservoir of biological diversity has been widely recognized, although much less effort has been devoted to understanding processes that allow species to persist in this area. Ramonda myconi (Gesneriaceae) is a Tertiary relict plant species restricted to the NE Iberian Peninsula. We used RAPD and chloroplast markers to assess the patterns of genetic structure in eight mountain regions covering almost the full species range, to identify the main historical processes that have shaped its current distribution and to infer the number and location of putative glacial refugia. While no cpDNA variation was detected, the species had relatively high levels of RAPD variation. Maximum levels of diversity were found within populations (71%), but there was also a significant differentiation between geographical regions (20%) and among populations within regions (9%). A spatial AMOVA identified three main groups of populations, corresponding to previously recognized centers of endemism and species richness. In addition, we found a marked geographical pattern of decreasing genetic diversity and increasing population differentiation from west to east. Our results support a complex phylogeographic scenario in the Iberian Peninsula of "refugia-within-refugia" and suggest that the higher diversity observed in western regions might be associated with prolonged and more stable climatic conditions in this area during the Quaternary.     

青藏高原区域不同功能群植物氮磷生态化学计量学特征

生态化学计量学为揭示植物养分利用状况及植物对环境的适应策略提供了重要手段,研究不同功能群植物在区域尺度生态化学计量学特征中所产生的贡献,有助于揭示区域尺度植物元素特征的形成机制。已有研究多是从不同功能群植物元素生态化学计量学特征的比较上进行分析,未能对每种功能群植物元素含量随地理因子和气候因子的变化规律展开探讨。基于生态化学计量学理论,对青藏高原区域不同功能群植物(豆科、禾本科、莎草科、杂类草)叶片水平N、P元素含量随纬度、海拔、年降水量、年均温度的变化规律展开研究,探讨不同植物功能群在区域尺度植物生态化学计量学特征中所产生的贡献,尝试从植物功能群角度揭示青藏高原高寒区域N、P元素含量特征的形成机制。结果显示,1)不同功能群植物叶片元素含量差异显著,豆科植物N、P元素含量最高,禾本科植物N、P含量最低,N/P比值在不同功能群间差异不显著;2)随纬度变化,莎草科植物P元素及杂类草N元素含量变化显著;随海拔变化,豆科、禾本科植物及杂类草叶片N元素含量变化较为显著;随年降水量和年均温度的变化,杂类草和莎草科植物叶片N、P含量变化显著;3)莎草科植物N、P含量对纬度和降水的响应趋势与区域内所有植物叶片N、P含量对纬度和降水的响应趋势一致,豆科、禾本科及杂类草植物叶片元素含量对海拔和温度的响应趋势与区域内所有植物叶片元素平均含量对海拔和温度的响应趋势一致。研究表明,不同功能群植物元素特征对环境因子的响应不同,植物功能群组成对区域尺度植物生态化学计量学特征有重要作用,但在较大的植物结构层次上(如植物群落、生态系统、区域或全球尺度等),不同功能群植物之间的相互组合会抵消或掩盖掉某一类群的特性,从而对区域尺度植物元素特征的变化规律产生影响。     

Variation in anthropometric characters and their relationship with climatic factors: a study on the peoples of Arunachal Pradesh, India

In the present study an attempt has been made to examine the anthropometric variation and the relationship of anthropometric variables with climatic factors among the peoples of Arunachal Pradesh, India. The distance analysis does not seem to provide any interesting corroboration between anthropometric data and the intra- and intergroup relationship. A similar trend has also been noticed while analysing the correlation coefficient between two indices (i.e. the cephalic and total facial index). The present study suggests that the climatic factors are playing an important role in regulating the variation of anthropometric characters among the different population groups of Arunachal Pradesh.     

Patterns of life-history traits in open-nesting palearctic passerines as a function of the climatic variation of their ranges

Latitude, a surrogate of climatic conditions, is commonly used in the examination of life-history variation. However, the climatic mechanisms underlying latitudinal life-history variation have only rarely been tested. Here, we test whether the number of climates to which species are subjected in their ranges predicts geographical life-history variation. In particular, we examine whether eurytopic species, the range of which covers more climates, show different reproductive effort to stenotopic species, which are distributed over climatically more homogeneous environments. We examined female body mass, egg mass controlled for female body mass, clutch size and the number of breeding attempts per season for 34 sedentary and short-distance migratory passerine species of the Western Palearctic. For each species, we assessed how many climate zones extend over the species' wintering and breeding ranges. We found that avian body mass, and also clutch size, significantly increases with the number of climatic zones extended over the species' wintering range. In turn, species whose breeding ranges span more climates show more breeding attempts per season. Whereas the mass of a single egg declines, clutch size increases with increasing climatic variation in breeding ranges. Our study suggests that the level of climatic variation over species' ranges during and outside the breeding season might be responsible for variation in life-history traits in open-nesting Western Palearctic passerines.     

Energy analysis of solar water heating systems in india

This analysis can be called energy accounting of solar water heating systems. Five types of solar water heating systems have been considered. With the help of material balance, energy content has been found in these systems. Yearly output of systems has been found by conducting transient simulations using hourly data of radiation and ambient temperature. Such analysis has been done separately for one representative city of each of six climatic zones of India. The energy payback for India ranges from 0.73 to 4.16 years for the thirty cases considered here.     

Using richness of native and non-native aquatic species along a climatic gradient to test the intermediate disturbance hypothesis

The intermediate disturbance hypothesis (IDH) has been thoroughly investigated, but much controversy has been found for supporting its assumptions, which rely largely on the nature of the disturbance, spatial scale, and biological predictors tested. In this paper, richness of native and non-native species along a suite of Neotropical aquatic ecosystems across a broad latitudinal and geographical range was used to test the IDH predictions. An extensive literature survey was performed to compile native species richness and the occurrence of several taxonomic groups listed as non-native for twenty-four coastal rivers and bays evenly distributed into three climatic zones (tropical, transitional, and subtropical). The climatic gradient was confirmed by NMDS and PERMANOVA, but IDH predictions were only significantly supported for native and total species richness in the coastal bays. The distribution patterns of non-native marine species showed a linear instead unimodal pattern of increase with latitudinal climatic gradient, but the responses are complex and dependent of many non-exclusive factors, such as the sampling effort per ecosystem and the potential interference of other disturbance gradients that should be further addressed to unravel the role of IDH for non-native species distribution.

     

中国东部海岛植物功能性状及其影响因子

研究海岛植物功能性状及其影响因子,有助于理解植物在海岛环境中的适应策略。以中国东部近海7个海岛典型植物群落为研究对象,测定群落内每种植物的6个功能性状(胸径、株高、平均单叶面积、比叶面积、小枝密度和小枝含水率),比较植物功能性状在不同气候带间的差异,探讨功能性状对气候因子(年均温、年降水和年平均风速)和土壤因子(土壤含水率、土壤总碳、土壤总氮和土壤总磷)的响应关系,并分析影响这些性状的主要驱动因子。研究结果表明:(1)所测功能性状中除比叶面积外,其他性状在不同气候带间差异显著,但常绿和落叶植物的功能性状在不同气候带间的差异不同,表明不同生活型植物对环境的响应程度和适应能力不同。(2)海岛植物功能性状对气候和土壤因子均有不同程度的响应,气候因子是影响中国东部海岛植物功能性状的重要因子,其中水热条件(年均温和年降水)是主导因子,在水热资源丰富的南方海岛,植物具有较大的胸径和小枝含水率、较小的叶片和小枝密度,北方海岛反之。此外,海岛植物的小枝性状(小枝密度和小枝含水率)受年平均风速的影响显著。该研究结果可为海岛植被恢复重建中物种的选择及植被布局规划提供一定的参考。     

Preferential policies and the movement of the disadvantaged: The case of the Scheduled Castes in India

This article examines the effect of state actions on the political behaviour of disadvantaged minorities. Most studies of political mobilization fail to inquire about the role of the state in the formation and maintenance of political groups. This article describes the process through which the polity constructs new forms of group awareness and political action among previously inarticulate, unorganized sections of society. More specifically, it is about the political mobilization of an oppressed minority in India, the Scheduled Castes ‐ a group composed of distinct caste groups with specific cultural and occupational characteristics but lumped under a single category by the state. Through a longitudinal study comparing two periods in a state's political history I show how progressive state intervention in the form of preferential policies increased the political organization and activism of this oppressed minority. The analysis is based on a survey of government documents; coding of newspaper reports; interviews with politicians, administrative and police officials, grass‐roots activists and organizational leaders of the movement.