Sports-anthropological analysis of Tunisian elite karateka

This study is based on a careful sport anthropological investigation (ca. 15 min) of 25 Tunisian athletes of the Karate team (aged 18 - 31 years) with special permission of the Tunisian Ministry of Youth and Sports. Considering the height of the Tunisian elite athletes (175.6 +/- 4.9 cm), heavier kareteka are bigger (178.9 +/- 2.2 cm vs. 171.4 +/- 3.9 cm). The mean weight was 73.1 +/- 8.2 kg (heavier athletes 78.7 +/- 5.9 kg vs. lighter athletes 66.0 +/- 4.1 kg). On Conrad's chessboard diagram all the Tunisian karateka were placed in the leptomorph half, only two in the metromorph corridor, but most of them in the middle between hypoplastic and hyperplastic poles. The AKS index diagram demonstrates a faint diagonal positioning of the single weight categories, with progression of body mass from the lower to the upper right area. None of the athletes surpasses a body height of 184 cm. The variation of the AKS index is higher than the variation of body height. The constitutional analysis according to Knussmann (1961) reveals an orientation of heavier weight classes towards macrosomia and pyknomorphism. The proportional figures of the athletes show a small variation of joint heights in lower extremities. In Parnell's somatochart (1954, 1958) the concentration of Tunisian karateka is found in the mesoectomorph third as well as in the somatochart of Heath & Carter (1967). Further sport anthropological karate studies should focus on adolescents and females as well as on physiological and biomechanic parameters.     

The impact of basic motor abilities on the specific motoricity performance in elite karateka

The aim of the study was to identify motor structures that determine high performance in karate. The study included a group of 85 karateka aged 18-29 years, competing as senior category athletes within the Croatian Karate Society. A battery of 22 motor tests (9 basic motoricity tests and 13 specific motoricity tests) were used. Factor analysis of the basic motor variables pointed to the existence of three significant factors: coordination, explosive strength and movement frequency; whereas factor analysis of the specific motoricity area indicated two significant factors, i.e., factor of technical efficiency and factor of specific agility. Canonical correlation analysis showed the isolated set of basic motor factors to significantly determine both technical efficiency and specific agility-mobility of the karateka, with a predominance of the explosive strength (force) factor, followed by the speed and coordination factors.     

Some reflections on anthropological structural Marxism

The primary topic in this discussion is the brief career of anthropological structural Marxism and the possibility of its continued relevance. That issue is framed by a more general one: on what basis are explanatory theories adopted and discarded in anthropology? The discussion of structural Marxism is framed within recent debates about the desirability of socio-cultural anthropology's traditional associations with other sub-fields of anthropology, and it is argued that the isolation of sub-fields is a regressive theoretical move.     

Several linguistic observations on the Mongol anthropological problem

The origin and migratory ways of Mongols during the neolithic period are hitherto unsettled. This paper remembers any facts of comparative linguistics which demonstrate remnants of a Protomongolian substratum in olden and living languages of Central Asia, the Near Orient, Europe, and the Canary Islands.     

Comparison of Avar period anthropological series

This study concerns human skeletal remains recovered from nine Avar period cemeteries from two regions, one in Northern Hungary and the other from Backa in Yugoslavia. Regional differences are compared using Penrose's generalised distance method, Alexeyeva's indices and preauricular facio-cerebral indices.     

Survey of anthropological features of the Illyrians

The purpose of this paper is to bring to evidence the physical traits of the ancient inhabitants of Albania, the Illyrians, through an anthropological study of 93 human skeletons of different periods. Based on the available typological data the author comes to the conclusion that the Illyrians of the Albanian territory constituted an Adriatic-Mediterranean population with Nordic and Alpine minorities. The results of this study throw light on certain historical phenomena, which are linked with the origin and formation of the Illyrians.     

Long DOP-PCR of rare archival anthropological samples

The application of molecular DNA technologies to anthropological questions has meant that rare or archival samples of human remains, including blood, hair, and bone, can now be used as a source of material for genetic analysis. Often, these samples are irreplaceable, and/or yield very small quantities of DNA, so methods for preamplifying as much of the whole genome as possible would greatly enhance their usefulness. DOP-PCR (degenerate oligonucleotide-primed polymerase chain reaction) is an amplification method that uses a degenerate primer and very low initial annealing temperatures to amplify the whole genome. We adapted a published DOP-PCR protocol to long PCR enzyme and amplification conditions. The effectiveness of these modifications was tested by PCR amplification of DOP-PCR products at a mixture of genomic targets including 66 different microsatellites, 11 Alu insertion polymorphisms, and variable-length segments of the human lipoprotein lipase gene (LPL). The selected microsatellite markers were chosen to represent every chromosome, with expected product sizes ranging from 150 base pairs to 8,000 base pairs in length, while the 22 Alu insertion polymorphisms were selected to reveal biases in the recovery of alleles of different sizes. To determine nucleotide sequence variation, 2 kilobases (kb) of the LPL gene in 30 Mongolian individuals were sequenced. All gene-specific targets from DOP-PCR product template were amplified. No unexpected polymorphisms in the sequence results attributable to the DOP-PCR step were found, and 93% to 95% of Alu genotypes that have been amplified from total genomic DNA were replicated. The incorrect typings were all due to the preferential amplification of the shorter of two possible alleles in individuals heterozygous for an Alu insertion and were all correctly typed on subsequent reamplification of the gene-specific PCR products. This method of whole-genome amplification promises to be an efficient way to maximize the genetic use of rare anthropological samples.     

Evolutionary trends in Albanian anthropological materials

The documentation of the brachy-cephalization, as long-term process of transformation, is based on studies of human skeletal remains from different times as well as on the available metric data of the recent population samples. Apart from a range of diachronic sequences, the author tries to determined the beginning and speed of the process according to the present state of knowledge: additionally he looks for correlated ethnohistorical events. To confirm the general opinion, the genetical background and the probable involvement of some external factors are discussed this article.     

The significance of primate paleontology for anthropological studies

The correct use of taxonomic names must become widespread if a clear understanding of primate paleontology is to exist among anthropologists. Physical anthropologists are urged to acquire genuine competence in the paleontology, systematics, and taxonomy of mammals. Examples are given of improper taxonomic procedure and of the perpetuation of invalid names. The need for a stable and correct nomenclature of the primates is emphasized. The importance of examining actual fossil specimens is stressed. The taxonomy of the Hominoidea is discussed and a summary of invalid names in current use is given. Recently discovered fossils from Oligocene strata in the Egyptian Fayum are figured and the pertinence of these to the origins of higher primates is suggested.     

Contributions of nutrition science to anthropological research.

Certain investigations of nutrition scientists have demonstrated the effects of cultural practices on nutrient intake. Anthropologists, too, have studied diets and food-related behavior, although until recently their interests infrequently included nutritional status. In the last decade, nutrition scientists' research helped stimulate the creation of an interdisciplinary specialty, nutritional anthropology, that combines techniques from both nutritional and anthropological science in the study of food use in relation to health. Practitioners of this expanding field make useful contributions to research in human nutrition through study of social aspects of the diet of individuals and groups. Their assistance can be particularly helpful in studies of populations in developing countries and of ethnic minorities in this country. Certain unanswered nutritional questions, which might more readily be solved by the combined efforts of nutritionists and nutritional anthropologists than by either professional alone, are presented.     

A genetic and anthropological study of atlanto-occipital fusion

Summary Families of 20 probands with atlanto-occipital fusion were studied, and the neurological complications in these patients described. In X-ray studies of 115 close relatives, 4 additional cases (3.5%) with the same anomaly were detected. In a comparison of adult patients with closely related age- and sex-matched controls, all anthropological measurements except length and breadth of the head tended to be smaller in the patients; for height, weight, leg and foot length, and the robusticity index, these differences were statistically significant.     

The roots of ethics: an anthropological approach

The roots of ethics are to be found within man's freedom and his ability to pursue values from the choices he makes. These values may be sought within the structure of the human being. Some of these values will correspond to man's vital needs (such as socializing, cooperation, family ties, etc.), yet they are not to be interpreted as being genetically determined, since they are consciously interiorized and experienced and planned at both individual and group level. Other values, such as religion, a moral sense, or art transcend those needs strictly linked with physical life. These values may be considered to be “natural universals” or ‘trans-cultural” values because they are to be found in various cultures. The fact that they offer man an advantage, does not necessarily mean that they are genetically determined or that they have been fixed through selection processes. These can be extended to include the values that have matured from the historical experience of single human beings and groups. The transcendental value of the person-man as opposed to infra-human beings, has also been confirmed as a priority criterion for value judgements and for a rational ethics, particularly within the field of bio-ethics.