Sexual dimorphism in digital dermatoglyphic traits among Sinhalese people in Sri Lanka

Background

The purpose of this study was to evaluate gender-wise diversity of digital dermatoglyphic traits in a sample of Sinhalese people in Sri Lanka.

Findings

Four thousand and thirty-four digital prints of 434 Sinhalese individuals (217 males and 217 females) were examined for their digital dermatoglyphic pattern distribution. The mean age for the entire group was 23.66 years (standard deviation = 4.93 years). The loop pattern is observed more frequently (n = 2,592, 59.72%) compared to whorl (n = 1,542, 35.53%) and arch (n = 206, 4.75%) in the Sinhalese population. Females (n = 1,274, 58.71%) have a more ulnar loop pattern than males (n = 1,231, 56.73%). The plain whorl pattern is observed more frequently in males (n = 560, 25.81%) compared to females (n = 514, 23.69%).The double loop pattern is observed more frequently on the right and left thumb (digit 1) of both males and females. Pattern intensity index, Dankmeijer index and Furuhata index are higher in males.

Conclusions

Ulnar loop is the most frequently occurring digital dermatoglyphic pattern among the Sinhalese. All pattern indices are higher in males. To some extent, dermatoglyphic patterns of Sinhalese are similar to North Indians and other Caucasoid populations. Further studies with larger sample sizes are recommended to confirm our findings.     

ACUTE EFFECTS OF MOVEMENT VELOCITY ON BLOOD LACTATE AND GROWTH HORMONE RESPONSES AFTER ECCENTRIC BENCH PRESS EXERCISE IN RESISTANCE-TRAINED MEN

This study aimed to compare the effects of different velocities of eccentric muscle actions on acute blood lactate and serum growth hormone (GH) concentrations following free weight bench press exercises performed by resistance-trained men. Sixteen healthy men were divided into two groups: slow eccentric velocity (SEV; n = 8) and fast eccentric velocity (FEV; n = 8). Both groups performed four sets of eight eccentric repetitions at an intensity of 70% of their one repetition maximum eccentric (1RMecc) test, with 2-minute rest intervals between sets. The eccentric velocity was controlled to 3 seconds per range of motion for SEV and 0.5 seconds for the FEV group. There was a significant difference (P < 0.001) in the kinetics of blood lactate removal (at 3, 6, 9, 15, and 20 min) and higher mean values for peak blood lactate (P = 0.001) for the SEV group (9.1 ± 0.5 mM) compared to the FEV group (6.1 ± 0.4 mM). Additionally, serum GH concentrations were significantly higher (P < 0.001) at 15 minutes after bench press exercise in the SEV group (1.7 ± 0.6 ng · mL⁻¹) relative to the FEV group (0.1 ± 0.0 ng · mL⁻¹). In conclusion, the velocity of eccentric muscle action influences acute responses following bench press exercises performed by resistance-trained men using a slow velocity resulting in a greater metabolic stress and hormone response.     

Relationship between growth hormone levels and time spent by soldiers in an active war zone

In a study involving soldiers in an active war zone, we found that serum levels of growth hormone correlated significantly with the amount of time spent in the war zone. Serum cortisol and prolactin showed no such correlation. Our observation suggests that growth hormone may be a useful marker of chronic stress.     

A large gap opening of graphene induced by the adsorption of CO on the Al-doped site

We investigated CO adsorption on the pristine, Stone-Wales (SW) defected, Al- and Si- doped graphenes by using density functional calculations in terms of geometric, energetic and electronic properties. It was found that CO molecule is weakly adsorbed on the pristine and SW defected graphenes and their electronic properties were slightly changed. The Al- and Si- doped graphenes show high reactivity toward CO, so calculated adoption energies are about ?11.40 and ?13.75 kcal mol^?1 in the most favorable states. It was found that, among all the structures, the electronic properties of Al-doped graphene are strongly sensitive to the presence of CO molecule. We demonstrate the existence of a large E_g opening of 0.87 eV in graphene which is induced by Al-doping and CO adsorption.     

DFT studies of acrolein molecule adsorption on pristine and Al- doped graphenes

The ability of pristine graphene (PG) and Al-doped graphene (AlG) to detect toxic acrolein (C₃H₄O) was investigated by using density functional calculations. It was found that C₃H₄O molecule can be adsorbed on the PG and AlG with adsorption energies about ?50.43 and – v30.92 kcal mol^?1 corresponding to the most stable configurations, respectively. Despite the fact that interaction of C₃H₄O has no obvious effects on the of electronic properties of PG, the interaction between C₃H₄O and AlG can induce significant changes in the HOMO/LUMO energy gap of the sheet, altering its electrical conductivity which is beneficial to sensor designing. Thus, the AlG may be sensitive in the presence of C₃H₄O molecule and might be used in its sensor devices. Also, applying an external electric filed in an appropriate orientation (almost stronger than 0.01 a.u.) can energetically facilitate the adsorption of C₃H₄O molecule on the AlG.