The structure of body measurements for the determination of shoe sizing for young Croatian men

The determination and promotion of the system of shoe sizing requires accurate knowledge of morphological properties of the foot and lower leg of the tested population. Similarly it is necessary to establish the occurrence and regional distribution of definite sizes in the tested population. Possible regional differences in morphological properties must not be ignored because it has been established by means of anthropological measuring that both foot dimensions and foot shapes differ between populations and within the same population. This has been proven by the investigation of body measures, carried out for the purpose of establishing a system of footwear sizes, which was executed on a randomly selected sample of 4,268 healthy and normally developed males aged 18-22. The investigation was carried out in 1993 on five locations each of which representing a definite region of the Republic of Croatia: Jastrebarsko (central), Koprivnica (northwestern), Pula (southwestern), Sinj (southern) and Pozega (northeastern). The measuring instrument was 31 foot and lower-leg sizes according to the existing ISO standards for footwear. Interregional differences are significant in all body measures. The role and the contribution of individual measures to these differences has been established by means of discriminatory analysis with regions as a priori defined samples. In order to constitute a convenient and purposeful standard for the footwear size system it is necessary to work out a database with referent values for the same system.     

Anthropometry and the comparison of garment size systems in some European countries

This work points to the relevance of regional and state systems of garment sizes. High quality, garment size systems, garment design and economy are currently the focal points, which belie the outdated strategy of competitiveness based on product cost. The average body dimensions have considerably changed in the last decades. We have investigated these differences in a number of European countries and compared the garment size systems. A concrete example is provided by the hind part of women's trousers and comparisons have been made. The conclusion is that most countries still possess their own official garment size systems, which differ in many aspects from the others. In addition, larger firms in some countries use their internal standards, which vary to some extent. The conclusion based on research is that they depend on the function and purpose of the garment, on trends in fashion, on the design and on the economy of production.     

中国天然林资源保护工程温室气体排放及净固碳能力

基于天然林资源保护工程(简称天保工程)一期(2000—2010年)营造林过程工程边界内碳排放和边界外碳泄漏的计算,分析了天保工程及各区域碳排放和碳泄漏年际变化及影响因素,对比了天保工程及各区域碳排放和碳泄漏的组成特征,研究了天保工程及各区域净固碳量的变化特征。结果表明:天保工程一期西北、中西部地区、南部地区、东北地区和天保工程的碳排放分别为0.89、1.47、0.09、2.45 Tg C;碳泄漏分别为3.17、3.11、6.50、12.78 Tg C。工程措施和碳排放强度的区域性差异导致各区域碳排放组成特征不同。造林及配套森林基础设施建设是西北、中西部地区和南部地区最大的工程措施碳排放;新造林及森林管护是东北地区最大的工程措施碳排放。相应地,各种物资消耗中,建材是西北、中西部地区和南部地区最大的物资碳排放;燃油是东北地区最大的物资碳排放。天保工程在工程边界内外引起的额外温室气体排放量达到15.23 Tg C,抵消了工程固碳效益的9.82%;在西北、中西部地区、南部地区和东北地区的抵消作用分别为10.08%、8.16%和11.24%。天保工程一期净固碳量为139.77 Tg C,年均净固碳量为12.71 Tg C/a。因此,碳排放和碳泄漏对天保工程固碳的抵消较小,工程一期在我国温室气体减排和减缓全球气候变暖上做出了巨大贡献。避免工程基础设施的盲目建设和对工程进行合理规划是减少温室气体排放的可能途径。     

Determination of growth and maturation in the common frog, Rana temporaria, by skeletochronology

Growth and maturation in a Swiss population of Rana temporaria were studied in 1983 and 1984 by means of skeletochronology. Resting line (growth ring) diameters were used to back-calculate individual body sizes in previous years; these permitted establishment of an average growth curve and determination of individual ages and sizes at first reproduction. Growth was rapid up to maturation, but continued thereafter at a decreased rate. Males were larger than females at age two but females grew faster thereafter, causing sexual dimorphism in adult body sizes. Body size distributions for both years and for frogs recaptured and first captured in 1984 were established. Growth in immatures was positively, but in adults negatively correlated with body size, with considerable variation at all sizes. Individual adult sizes were positively correlated with body sizes at the end of the first year. Average individual age at first reproduction was 2.8 years in males and 3.1 years in females (range in both sexes two to four years). There is no evidence for a two-year-cycle of reproduction.     

The effectiveness of delineating ecoregions in the Kyushu region of Japan to establish environmental indicators

Throughout Japan, numerous restoration projects and efforts to conserve the river environment are underway. However, in spite of such efforts, effective measures to conserve the river ecosystem or post-evaluation of restoration projects remain insufficient due to a lack of environmental indicators. In many European countries and the United States, a number of biological indicators have been developed and adapted. However, it appears to be difficult to directly apply these indicators to Japan, because its biota is finely classified according to its many islands and peninsulas. The ultimate goal of this study is to comprehensively evaluate indicators of aquatic biodiversity from both physical and biological aspects. We divided the Kyushu region in Japan into several ecoregions as a preliminary step to establish an indicator. We delineated the ecoregions of the Kyushu region using the fish fauna data of 21 rivers within the Kyushu region. Presence–absence (0/1) data for each fish species were used to run a two-way indicator species analysis (TWINSPAN analysis). As a result, the Kyushu region was divided into four ecoregions (A: northwest Kyushu, B1: northeast Kyushu, B2: south Kyushu, and C: Amami-Oshima Island). Each ecoregion was characterized by the following fish species: (A) Cyprinidae, in particular Acheilognathinae, is abundant; (B1) Gobiidae is abundant, while Cyprinidae such as Tanakia limbata (not confirmed in B2) are also present; (B2) Gobiidae is abundant, while Rhingobius sp. DA and Rhingobius sp. CO (not confirmed in B1) are present. These results indicate that the fish fauna of the Kyushu region is finely delineated, and that an assessment standard for biological integrity should be established, based on differences in fish fauna.     

Effects of hantaviral infection on survival, growth and fertility in wild rat (Rattus norvegicus) populations of Baltimore, Maryland

Survival, growth rates, body size and fertility of wild caught Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus), infected and uninfected with a Hantavirus (antigenically related to Seoul virus), were compared. No differences were found in the survival of seronegative versus seropositive rats, as measured by mark-recapture experiments. Growth rates, as measured by weight gain but not by increased body length, were slower in seropositive, sexually mature (greater than 200 g) rats, although no differences in the ultimate body size of infected versus uninfected rats were found. No differences in external measures of sexual maturity, or in embryo counts or testes sizes, were found for infected versus uninfected rats. We conclude that hantaviral infections have little or no impact on demographic processes in Norway rat populations.     

Niche variation and the maintenance of variation in body size in a burying beetle

1. In burying beetles (Nicrophorinae), body size is known to provide both a fecundity advantage (in females) and successful resource defence (in males and females). Despite this, considerable variation in body sizes is observed in natural populations. 2. A possible explanation for the maintenance of this variation, even with intra‐ and inter‐specific resource competition, is that individuals might assort according to body size on different‐sized breeding resources. 3. We tested prediction that ‘bigger is always better’, in the wild and in the laboratory, by experimentally manipulating combinations of available breeding‐resource size (mouse carcasses) and competitor's body size in Nicrophorus vespilloides (Herbst 1783). 4. In the field, large female beetles deserted small carcasses, without breeding, more often than they did larger carcasses, but small females used carcasses indiscriminately with respect to size. In the laboratory, large beetles reared larger broods (with more offspring) on larger carcasses than small beetles, but on small carcasses small beetles had a reproductive advantage over large ones. Offspring size covaried with carcass size independently of parental body size. 5. The present combined results suggest breeding resource value depends on an individual's body size, and variation in body size is environmentally induced: maintained by differences in available carcass sizes. This produces a mechanism by which individual specialisation leads to an increase in niche variation via body size in these beetles.     

Relative brain size and ecology in birds

We test the hypothesis that the relative sizes of the different parts of the brain (brain stem, optic lobes, cerebellum and cerebral hemispheres), measured after body size effects have been removed, are associated with differences in behaviour and ecology across bird species.
The results demonstrate that behavioural and ecological correlates of relative brain size are not independent of each other. When the effects of variation in other categories are accounted for, the strongest single effect is due to relatively large brain sizes being associated with altricial development. It is unlikely that this effect is due to the confounding influence of taxonomic associations.
Overall, the results do not provide support for the idea that differences in measures of environmental complexity select for differences in relative brain size.     

SPECIES-WIDE POPULATION STRUCTURE IN A SOUTHEASTERN U.S. FRESHWATER FISH,HETERANDRIA FORMOSA: GENE FLOW AND BIOGEOGRAPHY

The phylogeography of the freshwater fish fauna of the southeastern United States has almost achieved paradigm status in evolutionary biology (Avise 1992), and the major geographic features responsible for shaping species distributions are well-characterized. Nevertheless, variation among species in distributions of allele or haplotype frequencies suggests that species-specific processes (e.g., migration) may also play a role in establishing those distributions. There has also been relatively little investigation into how population structure may differ among subregions in the Southeast, for example, on the Florida peninsula versus the U.S. mainland to the northwest and/or northeast. The geology of the peninsula is such that both physical and biotic fluctuations may have been (and still be) particularly important in establishing the population structure of freshwater taxa. This possibility leads to two interesting questions in population genetics. (1) Does gene flow in freshwater species of the region better approximate a one- or two-dimensional pattern? (2) Are populations on the peninsula farther from migration-genetic drift equilibrium than their counterparts on the mainland? These questions were addressed by examining the population strucuture of a livebearing fish, Heterandria formosa; several features of the biology of the species make it particularly likely that recent gene flow has been important in its evolution. I surveyed electrophoretic variation in 34 populations distributed throughout the species range. The phylogeographic patterns observed are in general concordance with those found in other species, although with some differences. A two-dimensional hypothesis of gene flow on the Florida peninsula better explains the data than does a one-dimensional one. There is no evidence that populations on the peninsula are farther from migration-drift equilibrium than those to the northwest. Populations in the northeast have lower genetic diversity than those to the south and west and show no isolation by distance; those results are consistent with a recent range expansion into the northeast, although smaller historical effective population sizes could also explain the pattern.     

Mixed population genomics support for the central marginal hypothesis across the invasive range of the cane toad (Rhinella marina) in Australia

Understanding factors that cause species' geographic range limits is a major focus in ecology and evolution. The central marginal hypothesis (CMH) predicts that species cannot adapt to conditions beyond current geographic range edges because genetic diversity decreases from core to edge due to smaller, more isolated edge populations. We employed a population genomics framework using 24 235–33 112 SNP loci to test major predictions of the CMH in the ongoing invasion of the cane toad (Rhinella marina) in Australia. Cane toad tissue samples were collected along broad‐scale, core‐to‐edge transects across their invasive range. Geographic and ecological core areas were identified using GIS and habitat suitability indices from ecological niche modelling. Bayesian clustering analyses revealed three genetic clusters, in the northwest invasion‐front region, northeast precipitation‐limited region and southeast cold temperature‐limited region. Core‐to‐edge patterns of genetic diversity and differentiation were consistent with the CMH in the southeast, but were not supported in the northeast and showed mixed support in the northwest. Results suggest cold temperatures are a likely contributor to southeastern range limits, consistent with CMH predictions. In the northeast and northwest, ecological processes consisting of a steep physiological barrier and ongoing invasion dynamics, respectively, are more likely explanations for population genomic patterns than the CMH.     

Ontogeny of worker body size distribution in bumble bee (Bombus impatiens) colonies

1. Bumble bees exhibit worker size polymorphisms; highly related workers within a colony may vary up to 10‐fold in body mass. As size variation is an important life history feature in bumble bees, the distribution of body sizes within the colony and how it fluctuates over the colony cycle were analysed. 2. Ten commercially purchased colonies of Bombus impatiens (Cresson) were reared in ad libitum conditions. The size of all workers present and newly emerging workers (callows) was recorded each week. 3. The average size of bumble bee workers did not change with colony age, but variation in body size tended to decrease over time. The average size of callows did not change with population size, but did tend to decrease with colony age. In all measures, there was considerable variation among colonies. 4. Colonies of B. impatiens usually produced workers with normally distributed body sizes throughout the colony life cycle. Unlike most polymorphic ants, there was no increase in worker body size with colony age or colony size. This provides the first, quantitative data on the ontogeny of bumble bee worker size distribution. The potential adaptive significance of this size variation is discussed.     

Colonization, dispersal, and hybridization influence phylogeography of North Atlantic sea urchins (Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis)

We used frequency-based and coalescent-based phylogeographic analysis of sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis) mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences and previously published microsatellite data to understand the relative influence of colonization and gene flow from older (north Pacific) and younger (northeast Atlantic) sea urchin populations on genetic variation in the northwest Atlantic. We found strong evidence of survival of northwestern Atlantic populations in local Pleistocene glacial refugia: most haplotypes were the same as or closely related to Pacific haplotypes, with deep gene genealogies that reflect divergence times within the northwestern Atlantic that are much older than the last glacial maximum. We detected gene flow across the North Atlantic in the form of haplotypes shared with or recently descended from European populations. We also found evidence of significant introgression of haplotypes from a closely related species (S. pallidus). The relative magnitude of gene flow estimated by coalescent methods (and the effective population size differences among oceanic regions) depended on the genetic marker used. In general, we found very small effective population size in the northeastern Atlantic and high trans-Arctic gene flow between the Pacific and northwestern Atlantic. Both analyses suggested significant back-migration to the Pacific. However, microsatellites more strongly reflected older Pacific migration (with similar effective population sizes across the Arctic), whereas mtDNA sequences appeared to be more sensitive to recent trans- Atlantic dispersal (with larger differences in effective population size). These differences across marker types might have several biological or methodological causes, and they suggest caution in interpretation of the results from a single locus or class of markers.     

Climate change and shrinking salamanders: alternative mechanisms for changes in plethodontid salamander body size

An increasing number of studies have demonstrated relationships between climate trends and body size change of organisms. In many cases, climate might be expected to influence body size by altering thermoregulation, energetics or food availability. However, observed body size change can result from a variety of ecological processes (e.g. growth, selection, population dynamics) or imperfect observation of biological systems. We used two extensive datasets to evaluate alternative mechanisms for recently reported changes in the observed body size of plethodontid salamanders. We found that mean adult body size of salamanders can be highly sensitive to survey conditions, particularly rainfall. This systematic bias in the detection of larger or smaller individuals could result in a signature of body size change in relation to reported climate trends when it is simply observation error. We also identify considerable variability in body size distributions among years and find that individual growth rates can be strongly influenced by weather. Finally, our study demonstrates that measures of mean adult body size can be highly variable among surveys and that large sample sizes may be required to make reliable inferences. Identifying the effects of climate change is a critical area of research in ecology and conservation. Researchers should be aware that observed changes in certain organisms can result from multiple ecological processes or systematic bias due to nonrandom sampling of populations.     

The influence of sex and body size on food habits of a giant tropical snake, Python reticulatus

1. In many animal species, dietary habits shift with body size, and differ between the sexes. However, the intraspecific range of body sizes is usually low, making it difficult to quantify size-associated trophic shifts, or to determine the degree to which sex differences in diet are due to body-size differences. Large snakes are ideal for such a study, because they provide a vast range of body sizes within a single population.
2. More than 1000 Reticulated Pythons ( Python reticulatus ) from southern Sumatra were examined, with specimens from 1·5 to > 6 m in snout–vent length, and from 1 to 75 kg in mass. Females attained much larger body sizes than did conspecific males (maxima of 20 vs 75 kg, 5 vs 7 m), but had similar head lengths at the same body lengths.
3. Prey sizes, feeding frequencies and numbers of stomach parasites (ascarid nematodes) increased with body size in both sexes, and dietary composition changed ontogenetically. Small snakes fed mostly on rats, but shifted to larger mammalian taxa (e.g. pangolins, porcupines, monkeys, wild pigs, mouse deer) at 3–4-m body length.
4. Adult males and females showed strong ecological divergence. For some traits, this divergence was entirely caused by the strong allometry (combined with sexual size dimorphism), but in other cases (e.g. feeding frequency, dietary composition), the sexes followed different allometric trajectories. For example, females shifted from rats to larger mammals at a smaller body size than did conspecific males, and feeding frequencies increased more rapidly with body size in females than in males. These allometric divergences enhanced the degree of sex difference in trophic ecology induced by sexual size dimorphism.     

The developmental basis for allometry in insects

Within all species of animals, the size of each organ bears a specific relationship to overall body size. These patterns of organ size relative to total body size are called static allometry and have enchanted biologists for centuries, yet the mechanisms generating these patterns have attracted little experimental study. We review recent and older work on holometabolous insect development that sheds light on these mechanisms. In insects, static allometry can be divided into at least two processes: (1) the autonomous specification of organ identity, perhaps including the approximate size of the organ, and (2) the determination of the final size of organs based on total body size. We present three models to explain the second process: (1) all organs autonomously absorb nutrients and grow at organ-specific rates, (2) a centralized system measures a close correlate of total body size and distributes this information to all organs, and (3) autonomous organ growth is combined with feedback between growing organs to modulate final sizes. We provide evidence supporting models 2 and 3 and also suggest that hormones are the messengers of size information. Advances in our understanding of the mechanisms of allometry will come through the integrated study of whole tissues using techniques from development, genetics, endocrinology and population biology.     

Analysis of colon cancer features in Croatia

Qualitative and quantitative parametars were evaluated in 186 colorectal cancer patients. Quality of life was evaluated in subgroup of 84 patients. Correlation between Dukes stage of disease and qualitative (gender, blood type, marital status, region of Croatia from where patients were coming) and quantitative biological parametars (age, body mass index) was analysed. There was no statistically significant difference considering distribution of the patients disease stage and gender, blood type, marital status, region of Croatia from where patients were coming and body mass index (p > 0.05). Patients with Dukes D stage of colorectal cancer were statistically significantly younger in comparison to other stages (p < 0.05). Quality of life was the best before surgery, significantly deteriorated immediately after and partially improved three months after the surgery without significant differences between investagted groups with different colorectal cancer stage and type of surgery.     

Oceanographic-related variation in the bone sizes of extinct great auks

Summary We measured the bones of extinct great auks Pinguinis impennis that were killed during recent centuries on Funk Island off the northeast coast of Newfoundland. Comparisons of these measurements with those taken elsewhere suggest that great auks from Funk Island, which is situated in a Low Arctic oceanographic region, were larger than conspecifics from Boreal oceanographic regions. This finding is supported by extant alcid species that inhabit Boreal, Low Arctic or Boreal through High Arctic ocean regions and tend to increase in body size with increasing latitude (generally decreasing sea surface temperature). We suggest that paleoecological sea surface temperatures and food webs may have favored oceanographic-related variation in body sizes of great auks. The variances of the bone sizes of great auks from Funk Island were not less than those of a sample of great auk bones collected from Scandinavian archaeological sites that cover an extensive geographic range and that span seven millenia. This finding is inconsistent with a previously suggested latitudinal cline in body size among great auks in Scandinavia. Research techniques and studies that could address questions of great auk feeding ecology and population genetics are considered.     

Evolution of body size in Galapagos marine iguanas

Body size is one of the most important traits of organisms and allows predictions of an individual's morphology, physiology, behaviour and life history. However, explaining the evolution of complex traits such as body size is difficult because a plethora of other traits influence body size. Here I review what we know about the evolution of body size in a group of island reptiles and try to generalize about the mechanisms that shape body size. Galapagos marine iguanas occupy all 13 larger islands in this Pacific archipelago and have maximum island body weights between 900 and 12 000g. The distribution of body sizes does not match mitochondrial clades, indicating that body size evolves independently of genetic relatedness. Marine iguanas lack intra- and inter-specific food competition and predators are not size-specific, discounting these factors as selective agents influencing body size. Instead I hypothesize that body size reflects the trade-offs between sexual and natural selection. We found that sexual selection continuously favours larger body sizes. Large males establish display territories and some gain over-proportional reproductive success in the iguanas' mating aggregations. Females select males based on size and activity and are thus responsible for the observed mating skew. However, large individuals are strongly selected against during El Ni?o-related famines when dietary algae disappear from the intertidal foraging areas. We showed that differences in algae sward ('pasture') heights and thermal constraints on large size are causally responsible for differences in maximum body size among populations. I hypothesize that body size in many animal species reflects a trade-off between foraging constraints and sexual selection and suggest that future research could focus on physiological and genetic mechanisms determining body size in wild animals. Furthermore, evolutionary stable body size distributions within populations should be analysed to better understand selection pressures on individual body size.     

Male differentiation patterns in two polyphenic sister species of the genus Onthophagus Latreille, 1802 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae): a geometric morphometric approach

This paper focuses on morphological (both shape and size ) differences that quite similar polyphenic sister species evolve during divergence processes. Traits were analysed using a geometrical morphometric approach, which has the ability to evidence also very subtle differences in shape. As a case study, we considered males of the dung beetle sister species pair Onthophagus taurus and Onthophagus illyricus (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae); these species represent a typical example of polyphenic trait expression concerning the facultative development of horns and considerable body size differences. External shape morphology failed to discriminate O. taurus from O. illyricus , whereas the reproductive system shape showed significant interspecific discrimination power. However, the head of O. taurus was significantly larger than that of O. illyricus and the reverse was true for the elytra. The two species also showed different allometric values of the head with respect to body size. This complex pattern of interspecific morphological divergence is discussed in the light of the differential trait divergence rate hypothesis. In both species, differences between major and minor forms concern the overall shape of head and pronotum: we suggest that such different forms, which likely reflect morphological readjustment to accommodate horns of considerable bulk and disproportionate length, may be nevertheless advantageously used by the two male morphs in their alternative reproductive tactics. Male genitalia sizes were virtually constant with respect to body size; however, the ratio between phallotheca and body size was significantly higher in minor males, in keeping with the hypothesis of a higher investment in genitalia borne by this morph.     

Latitudinal gradients in butterfly body sizes: is there a general pattern?

We tested for the existence of latitudinal gradients in the body sizes of butterflies in North America, Europe, Australia and the Afrotropics. We initially compared body sizes (measured as male forewing length) of all butterflies found in 5° latitudinal bands in each region, and then evaluated the relationship between body size and latitude statistically using the latitudinal midpoint of each species' distribution. Trends were examined for species in all butterfly families together and for each family separately. We found that gradients in body sizes were inconsistent in different geographical regions and butterfly families; in some cases species were larger towards the tropics, in some they were smaller, and in other cases there were no relationships. Most of the gradients, when they existed, reflected between-family effects arising from changes in the relative numbers of species in each family across regions. We conclude that general ecological explanations for geographical trends in butterfly body sizes are inappropriate, and gradients largely reflect historical patterns of speciation within and between taxa in each biogeographical realm. Thus, the robustness of body size gradients found in other insect groups should be confirmed in future studies by including more than one geographical region whenever possible.