A Hungarian twin study on hand clasping, arm folding and tongue curling

A twin study was performed in adult Hungarian monozygotic and dizygotic pairs for hand clasping, arm folding and tongue curling. Genetic background of these traits could not be confirmed, although there appears to be a positive correlation between hand clasping type and handedness.     

Hand clasping and arm folding in the Basque population

Hand clasping and arm folding have been analysed in 286 males and 455 females of the Basques. The results are compared with those from other Spanish populations. Examination of the association between hand clasping and arm folding shows a strong correlation between the right type of one and the left type of the other.     

Study on pottical type, palmar and plantar digital formulae, hand clasping, arm folding, handedness, leg folding and stride type in the Daur population, China

The pottical type, palmar and plantar digital formulae, hand clasping, arm folding, handedness, leg folding and stride type have been investigated on a sample of 143 male and 160 female students of the Daur population of Molidawa Banner, Inner Mongolia. The results of this study are the following: 1. the frequency of the hyperextensive pottical type is 49.17%, the relative length of index over annularis 12.21%, right hand clasping 45.87%, right arm folding 49.50%, right handedness 94.39%, right leg folding 72.28% and right stride type 44.88%, 2. pottical type, hand clasping, handedness, leg folding and stride type do not show significant sex differences, 3. there are some relations between hand clasping and arm folding as well as between arm folding and stride type, 4. compared with other population groups, the Daur population shows a low frequency of right hand clasping, a moderate frequency of right arm folding and a low frequency of left handedness.     

Genetic factors in the population of Plati,Greece

One-thousand, thirty-eight individuals from Plati, Greece were examined for the following red cell antigens, serum proteins, and red cell enzymes A A₁ A_i B H; MNSs Mg Henshaw Ny^a Mur V^w; CC^wcDEeCe; K k Kp^a Kp^b Js^a Js^b; P₁; Lu^a; Fy¹ Fy²; Jk^a Jk^b; Wr^a; Zt; Vel; Sw^a; Jensen, Radin, Gerbich, Diego, Gregory, Haptoglobin, Transferrin, Acid phosphatase, Adenylate kinase, Adenosine deaminase, Esterase-D, Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, Phosphoglucomutase, 6-Phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, Phosphohexose isomerase, Lactate dehydrogenase, Malate dehydrogenase, and Superoxide dismutase. The results are discussed in detail and compared with other Greek and neighbouring populations. Because of the Plati population's long history of residence in the Cappadocian area of Turkey the data have been compared, whenever possible, with results for that region.     

Floristic notes from the mountains of Northern Greece Materials for the Mountain Flora of Greece, 7

The authors present an annotated list of rare or otherwise interesting vascular plants collected in the mountains of northern Greece by themselves in 1979 and by Strid and Georgiadou in 1977. The following are apparently new to Greece: Thesium linophyllon L. ssp. montanum (Ehrh. ex. Hoffm.) Čelak., Moehringia pendulo (Waldst. & Kit.) Fenzl, Gypsophila glomerata Pallas ex. Bieb., Dianthus peiraeus Waldst. & Kit. ssp. noeanus (Boiss.) Tutin, Dianthus superbus L., Ranunculus fon–tanus C. Presl, Thlaspi arvense L., Potentilla apennina Ten. ssp. stoianovii Urum. & Jav., Trifolium badium Schreber, Rhamnus pumila Turra, Viola palustris L., Athamanta albanica Alston & Sandwith, Peucedanum oligophyllum ssp. aequiradium (Vandas) Tutin, Vaccinium gaultherioides Bigelow, Galeopsis speciosa Miller, G. bifida Boenn., Melampyrum sylvaticum L., Odontites lutea (L.) Clairv., Sambucus racemosa L., Symphyandra wanneri (Rochel) Heuffel, Galinsoga parviflora Cav., Achillea distans Waldst. & Kit. ex Willd., Centaurea grbavacensis (Rohlena) Stoj. & Acht., C. indurata Janka, Lactuca aurea (Schultz Bip. ex PanČić) Stebbins, Festuca gigantea (L.) Vill., F. pirinica Horvat ex Markgr.–Dannenb., Sparganium minimum (Hartm.) Fries, and Rhynchospora alba (L.) Vahl.     

Fire,Heroes and the Cosmic: Aesthetic Resonances of Fire‐walking in Northern Greece

In the Greek village of Mavrolefki in Thrace, a small number of women and men. about ten in number, once a year, on the feast day of St. Constantine, undertake a series of rites, ranging from dancing to the icons, blood sacrifice, to the most spectacular fire‐walking (pyrovasia). It is the last which brings spectators from all over Greece and further afield. The principal participants, however, are known as the anastenarides (shakers, tremblers). Several concerns are addressed in the paper. Given the peculiar mix of proceedings, the first is to lay out the components of the affair, asking what's going on? Furthermore, there are the conceptual issues. What aesthetic is being implicated? What emotions are being brought into play? What does the event amount to? In addressing such questions the paper draws on certain aesthetic formulations of the Hindu rasa theory.     

Anatomy of the hand and arm in Daubentonia madagascariensis : a functional and phylogenetic outlook

The aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) is easily the most enigmatic of living primates. It sports a unique combination of derived characters, including continuously growing incisors, functional claws, the largest hand of any primate and a highly modified middle finger. The specialised middle finger is no longer used in locomotion and serves as a probe-like instrument for investigating, locating and extracting xylophagous (wood-boring) larvae as well as other food items. Its phalanges can be moved both at great speed and independently of each other. The present study reports on dissections of the forelimbs of two individuals of D. madagascariensis and one specimen each of Lemur catta and Cercopithecus cephus. Derived characters of the forelimb musculature in Daubentonia are interpreted within the context of its distinct locomotor and foraging adaptations. The primary adaptations underlying speed and mobility in the third manual digit of Daubentonia are found in the intrinsic hand musculature and notably in the arrangement of the dorsal aponeurosis. Implications for the interpretation of suggested convergences between the aye-aye, the diprotodont marsupial Dactylopsila palpator and the early Tertiary apatemyid genus Heterohyus are discussed.     

Matrimonial radius and anthropologic differentiation of the population of the Peloponnese, Greece

Mean matrimonial radius (MMR) and mean breeding radius (MBR) were studied in the population of the Peloponnese (Greece). The historical and geographical causes of these important genetical variables are discussed considering, too, their effects on the anthropological differentiation of this population.     

Health status of the Neolithic population of Alepotrypa Cave, Greece

During the Neolithic, human health and lifestyle changed following the adoption of domesticated plants and animals and sedentism. This paper presents a study on human osteological remains from Alepotrypa Cave, an important and very well-preserved Late and Final Greek Neolithic site occupied from 5000-3200 BC. The Alepotrypa sample comes from primary and secondary burials as well as scattered bone, and consists of a minimum number of 161 individuals. It includes equal proportions of adults and subadults and males and females, is characterized by high child mortality, and falls within the range of other Neolithic sites in terms of age profiles and stature. The most frequent pathological conditions observed in this population are: 1) anemic conditions (cribra orbitalia and porotic hyperostosis), mild or healed in manifestation, most probably of nutritional origin, resulting from a poor diet focused on terrestrial resources such as domesticated cereals; 2) osteoarthritis and musculoskeletal stress markers, indicative of increased physical activity and heavy workloads; and 3) elevated prevalence of healed, depressed cranial fractures, serving as evidence of violent, nonlethal confrontations. Teeth exhibit a low prevalence of dental carries and linear enamel hypoplasia. The overall demographic, pathological, and behavioral results are consistent with observations of Neolithic populations elsewhere in Greece and the Mediterranean.     

Some genetic traits in Solomon Island populations. II. Hand clasping, arm folding, and handedness

Among 1,438 persons in four Solomon Island populations, handclasp showed no age, sex, or tribal differences. The percentage of R-claspers (right thumb on top), 66.4, exceeded those previously reported for Caucasian and Mongoloid peoples and resembled those for Oceanic and African samples. Handclasp was associated with handedness but not with armfold; it showed no assortative mating and no simple form of inheritance. Armfold showed an age association (more R-folders among the youngest children), but none with sex or tribe, no assortative mating, and no pattern of inheritance. Its frequency, 41.4%, resembled those of populations around the world. Left handedness, 2.8% over all four tribes, paralleled contact with Western culture.