Human Biology

Large-scale genotyping and next-generation sequencing techniques have allowed great advances in the field of molecular genetics. Numerous common variants of low impact have been associated with many complex human traits and diseases, such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Although they may exert a greater impact on risk, few rare disease variants have been found, owing to the greatly increased sample sizes that are typically necessary to demonstrate association with rarer variants. One alternative strategy is to study isolated populations, where historical bottlenecks reduce genetic diversity and some otherwise rare variants may drift to higher frequencies. Here we describe the Mennonite population settlements, considering their history of multiple bottlenecks followed by demographic expansion and a currently widespread geographical distribution. We argue that Mennonite populations are valuable partners for studies seeking genetic variants that exert a high impact on risk for a...

The Composite Index of Anthropometric Failure (CIAF) is an overall indicator of undernutrition composed of stunting, underweight and wasting. A cross sectional study was conducted in an urban area (Haldia) of Purba Medinipur District, West Bengal, India, to assess the effect of socioeconomic factors on CIAF among 621 (307 boys; 314 girls) children aged 3-12 years. Body height (cm) and weight (kg) were recorded using standard procedure. Selected socioeconomic and demographic information were recorded using pre-structured schedule. The NCHS reference values were used to calculate Z (<-2SD) scores for the three conventional indices namely underweight, stunting and wasting, and finally, to derive CIAF. Data were analyzed using chi-square test and binary as well as stepwise multiple logistic regression analysis. The CIAF showed a high prevalence of 47.66%. Sex specific prevalence was higher among girls. Low monthly per capita income (Odds ratio, OR = 2.1; p< 0.001) and households having two or less number of rooms (OR = 1.55, p < 0.001) were independently associated with higher risk of anthropometric failure (AF). Factors having a direct impact on earnings which provide basic infrastructure for a healthy livelihood seemed to be the major predictor of AF among children.

Animals, from the pomace fly to the mouse, are widely
utilized in research project. They are crucial for allowing
scientists to find out more about human biology and
health, and for developing new medicines. The use of animals
in research project has long been the topic of heated debate.
On the one hand it’s considered morally wrong to use animals
during this way solely for human benefit. On the other hand,
our understanding of health and disease would impede after
removing animals completely from the lab, and consequently
affect the event of latest and vital treatments [1]. No responsible
scientist wants to use animals or cause them unnecessary
suffering if it are often avoided, and thus scientists accept
controls on the utilization of animals in research [2].
Are animal models useful? Animal models are wont to address
a spread of scientific questions, from basic science to the event
and assessment of novel vaccines, or therapies. The use of
animals is not only supported the vast commonalities within the
biology of most mammals, but also on the very fact that human
diseases often affect other animal species. It is particularly the
case for many infectious diseases but also for quite common
conditions like Type I diabetes, hypertension, allergies, cancer,
epilepsy, myopathies then on. Not only are these diseases
shared but the mechanisms are often also so similar that 90% of
the veterinary drugs wont to treat animals are identical or very
similar to those used to treat humans. Due to observations and
testing on animal models, a number of major breakthroughs
in basic science and medical research are possible. Most
vaccines, which save many human and animal lives per annum,
are successfully developed using animal models. However the
results obtained on animals aren’t necessarily confirmed in
further human studies [3]. No animal model is ever perfect and
there are still many differences between model organisms and
humans [1].
To help minimise the harm animals may experience while being
studied within the laboratory, researchers are required to follow
a group of principles, the ‘three Rs’. These three Rs Reduction,
Refinement, Replacement was proposed by Russel and Birch in
1959 [4]. Replace: Replacing an animal experiment to the best
possible extent, as long as adequate alternatives are available.
Reduce: The reduction of animal experiments and therefore the
number of laboratory animals to the best possible extent. In so
doing, it’s important to use as many animals as are needed to
get a statistically significant outcome. An adequate number of
animals are required for the results to be sufficiently significant.
Refine: The methods and treatment of the animals during the
experiments, and with reference to the way they’re kept, should
make sure that the distress caused to them is minimized to
the best possible extent which their well-being is taken under
consideration as far as possible [5].
The inspection and licensing of animal premises, the training
and competence of all personal designing projects, performing
animal procedures and taking care of animals are the regulatory
provisions with which research on animals is conducted and
therefore the mandatory authorization of each project by a
competent authority upon ethical evaluation by an Animal ethics
panel. The criteria for evaluation are supported the 3Rs rules
and a cost-benefit analysis to guage if the potential harm to the
animals, which must be reduced to the lowest possible level, is
outweighed by significant progress in terms of data on human
or animal health. Modern medical research facing the greatest
challenges that concern complex, multifactorial, diseases
such as cancer, infectious diseases, cardiovascular diseases,
neurodegenerative disorders, pathological consequences of
aging among others, for which all experimental approaches are
indispensable. Research on animal models will remain for an
extended time a crucial step for fundamental discoveries, for
testing hypotheses at the organism level and for the validation
of human data. Likewise, animal protection requires permanent
consideration. These two objectives, far away from being
antagonistic, must be anchored in high-quality science [3].

BACKGROUND:
In spite of its indusrial usefulness and varied daily uses, lead (Pb) pollution is a widespread ecological problem that faces the humans in the 21th century. Pb was found to produces a wide range of toxic effects including neurotoxicity especially to the developing and young offspring. Recently, the utilization of herbal plants has received a significant attention where there has been rising awareness in their therapeutic use; among these is the garlic.
AIM OF THE WORK:
In light of the above, the current study is designed experimentally in female pregnant rats in order to investigate the beneficial role of garlic extract in the protection from the maternal and fetal cerebellar damage that produced by administration of different doses of Pb during pregnancy.
MATERIALS AND METHODS:
Positively pregnant female rats were divided into five groups; one control group, two Pb-treated groups (exposed to 160 and 320 mg/kg b.wt. of Pb, respectively) and two groups treated with both Pb and garlic (exposed to Pb as previous groups together with 250 mg/ kg b.wt. /day of garlic extract). Treatments started from day 1 till day 20 of pregnancy, where the mother rats of different experimental groups were sacrified to obtain the fetuses. Pb level in the maternal nd fetal blood and cerebellum was estimated by spectrophotometry. Specimens of the cerebellum of different mother and fetal groups were processed to histological and immunohistochemical staining for microscopic examination.
RESULTS:
The results showed that administration of Pb to pregnant rats resulted in a dose-dependent toxicity for both mothers and fetuses in the form of decrease of maternal weight gain, placental and fetal weights, brain weight and diminished fetal growth parameters, which were prominent in rat's group treated with larger dose of Pb. In Pb-treated rats, Pb level in blood and cerebellum was high when compared to the control. The histopathological examination of the cerebellum of treated dams and fetuses showed marked alterations mainly in the form of Purkinje cell degeneration and lack of deveopmet of fetal cerebellum. Co-treatment of garlic extract along with Pb resulted in a significant decrease in Pb levels as compared with those treated with Pb alone with improvement of the histopathological changes.
CONCLUSIONS:
This study was useful in evaluating the hazardous effects of uncontrolled use of Pb in general and in assessing the developmental and neurotoxicity of fetuses due to exposure during pregnancy in particular. Co-administration of garlic has beneficial effects in amelioration of Pb-induced neurotoxicity and reversing the histopathological changes of the cerebellum of mother rats and fetuses.
KEYWORDS:
garlic; glial fibrillary acidic protein; lead; purkinje cells

The island of Sardinia has been of particular interest to geneticists for decades. The current model for Sardinia’s genetic history describes the island as harboring a founder population that was established largely from the Neolithic peoples of southern Europe and remained isolated from later Bronze Age expansions on the mainland. To evaluate this model, we generate genome-wide ancient DNA data for 70 individuals from 21 Sardinian archaeological sites spanning the Middle Neolithic through the Medieval period. The earliest individuals show a strong affinity to western Mediterranean Neolithic populations, followed by an extended period of genetic continuity on the island through the Nuragic period (second millennium BCE). Beginning with individuals from Phoenician/Punic sites (first millennium BCE), we observe spatially-varying signals of admixture with sources principally from the eastern and northern Mediterranean. Overall, our analysis sheds light on the genetic history of Sardini...

Our purpose in this chapter is to explain how human physical growth reflects the biocultural environment in which groups of people live. We do this in the context of our research on the physical growth and health of Maya children and adults. The Maya are one of the native peoples of the Americas.
There are an estimated 7-8 million Maya living in Guatemala, the Yucatan Peninsula and a few other areas of southern Mexico, Belize, El Salvador, and western Honduras (Figure 1.1). The majority, about 6.5 million live in the highlands of Guatemala (Bogin, 2012). These demographic statistics make
the Maya the most populous Native American ethnic group. To better understand the Maya people we created the Maya Project, a blend of art and science portraying the biocultural realities of the Maya in Mesoamerica. One aspect of the Maya Project is a web site – http://mayaproject.org.uk. We will
highlight some aspects of the Maya Project web site in later sections of this chapter. First we offer some explanation of the biocultural perspective of human growth.

By 1998, the internet had become robust enough to return good information during a search. I found the web site of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society and a reference to the evolutionary psychologist Kevin MacDonald's trilogy on Judaism published by Praeger Scholastic Publishers in their Human Evolution, Behavior and Intelligence Series. I hurriedly completed a paper I had been writing over a few years and sent him a copy asking him if I was right about the very basic things I was saying. After awhile he replied. He said I was basically right but he couldn't relate to my theological perspective. That was fine. I continued the paper and soon began to write others. Natural Selection and the Nature of God was the first.

La progettazione biofilica può ridurre lo stress, accrescere la creatività e la lucidità del pensiero, migliorare il nostro benessere e accelerare la guarigione. Così, mentre si assiste  all’espansione del processo di urbanizzazione da parte della popolazione mondiale, queste qualità assumono importanza crescente.
Teorici, ricercatori e progettisti hanno lavorato decenni per definire quali aspetti della natura hanno un maggiore impatto sulla nostra soddisfazione per gli ambienti antropizzati, ed è in questa prospettiva che i “14 modelli per la progettazione biofilica” – che si articolano attorno alla relazione tra la natura, l’uomo in quanto essere biologico e la progettazione dell’ambiente antropico – si propongono di vagliare i benefici della biofilia e della progettazione applicata.

Abstract

The present study was conducted to find out the changes in anthropometric measurements with advancing age among elderly males living in old-age homes and those living in family. Cross-sectional data on anthropometric measurements and other general information were obtained for 400 male subjects (200 living in old-age homes and 200 living with family) ageing 60 years and above, and data were collected from various districts in Punjab. Height decreased non-significantly and sitting height decreased significantly (p = 0.03) from 60 years to ≥80 years of age in both the groups of elderly males. Weight decreased significantly among the elderly males residing in old-age homes (p < 0.001). Biceps (p = 0.03) and thigh skinfold (p = 0.009) thicknesses decreased significantly only among elderly
residing in old-age homes. Abdominal (p = 0.01) and supra-iliac (p = 0.01) skinfold thickness measurements decreased significantly among elderly residing with
their families. Circumference measurements on limbs decreased significantly (p < 0.01) among both the groups of elderly (except upper arm circumference
among elderly residing with their families). Abdominal circumference decreased significantly (p = 0.04) among the elderly males residing with their families. Elderly
residing in old-age homes retained more abdominal subcutaneous fat mass and lost more appendicular fat mass as compared with those residing with their
families. Elderly residing with their families lost lesser appendicular muscle mass as compared with their counterpart’s elderly residing in old-age homes.

Abstract
Objective: To use mid upper arm circumference (MUAC) as a proxy measure of undernutrition in elderly males of Punjab, India.
Design and measurements: Male participants in old age homes (n=215) and community based (n=239) were measured for standing height, weight and mid upper arm circumference (MUAC) during … from different areas of Punjab. Chronic energy deficiency (CED) was determined using the WHO international guidelines as BMI<18.5 kg/m2 and normal as BMI≥18.5 kg/m2. Descriptive statistics and percentiles were calculated and multiple linear regression analysis was undertaken to assess the associations between age, MUAC and BMI. Receiver-operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis was performed to determine the best MUAC cut-off values to identify CED status. The χ2 test was used to assess significance of the difference in CED prevalence across MUAC categories.
Setting: Old age homes and selected community based elderly of Punjab State, India.
Participants: Elderly males in old age homes (n=215) and community based (n=239) were chosen after obtaining the informed consent. Results: MUAC cut-off value of 22.9 cm among the elderly in old age home and 23.4 cm among the community based elderly were the best cut-off points to differentiate between CED and non-CED individuals.
Conclusions: The present study proposes the MUAC of 23.5 cm to differentiate between CED and non-CED male elderly individuals. There is a greater need to establish statistically appropriate MUAC cutoff values to predict undernutrition and morbidity in elderly across different ethnic groups.
Keywords: Mid upper arm circumference, body mass index, chronic energy deficiency, elderly, old age home.

This course will involve the intensive study of the evolutionary implications of genetic variation within/between human populations in relationship to ecological and cultural variation. It will take a biocultural and evolutionary approach to the investigation of these patterns and will investigate questions relating to human biological variation on a population level.  Evolutionary theory and genetic advances will be considered in relation to climatic adaptation, nutrition, energetics, disease, and stress adaptation.  We will explore unique patterns in the human life cycle and in human growth and aging.  We will further examine demographic patterns as they exist in the world today and as they might inform the future of human population biology.

Эта книга может представлять интерес как для будущих и уже работающих биологов, так и для представителей точных наук. Для биологов --- чтобы не просто освоить логику, но освоить ее в применимой для их деятельности форме, чтобы задуматься о логике своей науки. Для представителей точных наук --- чтобы понять, где именно в биологии работают строгие и хорошо логически формализуемые структуры, к которым они привыкли, а где такие структуры осекаются.

Одни из самых полезных книг --- это те, которые позволяют найти и прочитать другие книги. Авторы старались написать этот учебник прежде всего для достижения данной цели. В нем нет ни большого количества формул, ни переизбытка терминов. Тем не менее, ознакомившись с этой книгой, читатель легко ответит на вопрос типа: "Эквивалентны ли друг другу закон противоречия и закон исключения третьего?" Но еще важней, что он приобретет навык корректных и содержательных рассуждений в значимых для него областях деятельности, научится избегать логических ошибок и ловушек.

Естественно, чтобы научиться плавать, надо плавать, а чтобы научиться рассуждать --- надо рассуждать. И если для занятий в большой группе книге может понадобиться дополнение в виде задачника, то для индивидуального и коллективного самообразования заданий в ней вполне достаточно.

Кроме того, книга адресована биологу, который задумывается о логике развития своей науки, о логике биологических рассуждений, а также о применимости к этим проблемам тех или иных формализаций, которых в истории логики предлагалось немало. Для читателей такого рода предназначена часть текста, набранная мелким шрифтом. Она же позволит не скучать, даже начиная с азов. А последовательность в изучении подобного материала очень важна.

Книга содержит материал, дающий возможность работать как со свойствами, так и с отношениями. Последние главы посвящены разным типам противоречий и причинам их возникновения.

The authors of this edition propose a novel and inspiring research approach to the subject of plants, which – being a form of life that is different, yet akin to us – is a constant source of nourishment and metaphors, decoration and obsessions. The articles included in this thematic block on plants enter into lively ongoing debates on genetics, feminism, ecology and plant ontology. They are excellent examples of the fact that in Polish philosophical and cultural reflection there was an understanding very early on of the challenges that posthumanism poses to our anthropocentric intellectual habits. Foreign readers will recognize in these Polish reflections a bold willingness to ask ethical and aesthetic questions of great relevance to the modern world that go far beyond the safe, though most likely imagined, limits of what it is to be human.

ABSTRACT

The present study was conducted to understand the prevalence of thinness and its associations with socio-economic and demographic characteristics among school children. A total of 552 boys and 567 girls aged between 3 and 11 years from Haldia and Deshopran of Purba Medinipur districe, West Bengal were Incorporated in the present cross sectional study. The overall prevalence of thinness was 67.74%. However, the prevalence of thinness was lower among boys (66.12%) compared to girls (69.31%). Binary logistic regression analysis revealed that parents education, fathers occupation, sanitation, number of living room and illness were significantly (p < 0.05) associated with thinness.
Step-wise logistic regression analysis demonstrated that father occupation, illness and sanitation were also significantly (p < 0.05) associated with thinness.

Keywords: children, BMI, thinness, socio-economic and demographic factors.

ABSTRACT

Malnutrition refers to deficiencies, excesses, or imbalances in a person’s intake of energy and/or nutrients. Malnutrition as a result of disordered nutrient assimilation is also characterized by recurrent
infections as well as chronic inflammation, suggesting an underlying immune defect and thus increased susceptibility to infections in children.
I
nfectious disease is one of the primary causes of morbidity and mortality
in developing countries, particularly among children. Studies demonstrated
impaired immune organ growth, thymic atrophy, preformed T-cell deficiency, altered ratio of T-cell subsets, decreased natural killer (NK) cell activity and cytokine production, decreased T-cell function and the ability of lymphocytes to respond appropriately to cytokines among undernourished infants and children.
However, the interrelationship between malnutrition and infections in childhood is complex and much
remains to be learned.

Keywords: Malnutrition, undernutrition, infection, immunity, children.

ABSTRACT

Child undernutrition remains an enduring public health concern in low-income and middle-income countries. The present cross-sectional study was undertaken to assess the prevalence of malnutrition among rural primary school children utilizing new internationally accepted age and sex specific cut offs of body mass index (BMI). Our study was conducted among 822 rural primary school children of Jangipara Block of Hooghly District, West Bengal, India. A total of 812 children (431 girls; 381 boys) aged from 6 to 10 years were eligible for the present study.

Anthropometric variables like height in cm and weight in kg were measured according to standard procedures. The BMI was computed following the standard equation to evaluate the nutritional status of these children. All data was analysed in Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS, version 16.0) software and significance level was set at p<0.05.
Results of Independent Sample t test revealed that there was no statistically significant sex difference in mean height, weight and BMI. Significant age differences were observed for girls (HT: F = 117.597, p<0.001; WT: F = 37.210, p<0.001; and BMI: F = 3.988, p<0.01) as well
as boys (HT: F = 104.184, p<0.001; WT: F = 26.602, p<0.001 and BMI: F = 2.838, p<0.05). The prevalence of overall thinness, normal, overweight and obese was 48.5%, 45.4%, 4.8% and 1.2%, respectively.  No significant age group and sex wise differences were observed in prevalence of different nutritional status category except in overweight (χ2 = 9.538, df = 4 and p<0.05) category. Results of χ2 test also revealed
that age combined sex differences in different grades of nutritional status were not statistically significant (χ2 = 4.112; df = 5 and p>0.05). Results indicated that girls were thinner than boys. In contrast, boys were prone
to be overweight and obese. All regional studies (including the present) had reported very high prevalence rate of overall thinness according to
World Health Organization. Most of the international and national studies had observed a lower rate of overall thinness than our study. In conclusion, the present study clearly indicated that half of the studied girls (50.6%) were undernourished and more boys were overweight and obese. Surveillance of present nutritional schemes and state specific appropriate and immediate new nutritional interventions are required to ameliorate the problem of malnutrition.

Keywords: malnutrition, children, nutritional status, thinness, body mass index