Zeitschrift fur Morphologie und Anthropologie最新文献

Cross-sectional material gathered in the years 1962-1992 in a group of 7001 men and 3852 women served as a basis for some measurements of body height (V-B), trunk length (sst-sy), lower limb length (sy-B), upper limb length (a-da), and length of the head together with the neck (V-sst). On the basis of results of mean values obtained from an annual series of examinations--altogether 31 observations were carried out--some statistical methods of analysis were applied with reference to each feature, among others the method of a simple moving average and linear regression of smoothed trend curves. The obtained results allow an evaluation of the dimorphic differences in the size of changes of particular linear features and a determination of the direction of these changes. A greater dynamism of the growth of body height and trunk length as well as tendencies of decreasing the length of lower limbs were observed in men, whereas the dynamism of changes with reference to the length of the head together with the neck was smaller than in women. The pace of changes of the analyzed linear features indicates clearly the process of deepening the differences in the proportions of body build.

The nasal floor structures in catarrhine primates have been studied on the basis of histological serial sections of older fetuses of Presbytis, Hylobates, Gorilla, Pan, Pongo and Homo. For outgroup comparisons, sections of the strepsirhine Daubentonia and the platyrrhine Callimico are presented; in these taxa the nasal floor cartilages are intimately connected not only with the nasopalatine duct (STENO) but also with the persisting vomeronasal organ (JACOBSON). Whereas the vomeronasal organ has disappeared as a functioning sensory organ in catarrhines (occasional embryonic vestiges are reported), the nasopalatine duct is retained in cercopithecoids, hylobatids and in Gorilla; in Pan, Pongo and Homo at least remnants of the duct and of the associated cartilages are preserved. The systematic meanings of these findings have been discussed.

The present paper reports the variability of PTC taste sensitivity among eight endogamous tribal populations inhabiting the Eastern Ghats of North Coastal Andhra Pradesh. It was compared with the genetic diversity of PTC taste sensitivity among tribal and caste populations of Andhra Pradesh. The tribal and caste groups present a relatively high genetic diversity, of which a major proportion is due to genetic differences within populations rather than that between populations. Castes show a higher heterogeneity than tribes, the difference being significant. The high genetic diversity found among Andhra populations may be attributed to social stratification and the practice of strict endogamy.

In this paper, the individual biological sequence of change with age in a sample taken in metropolitan city, Calcutta, West Bengal, is discussed. The study comprises a few anthropometric measurements (stature, weight, biacromial breadth, nasal length, nasal breadth, upper facial height) taken on the same population at an interval of five years (first in the year 1982 and again in the year 1987). The study reveals that the amount of increment or decrement of some characters (the above mentioned traits) are different for different chronological age; and these differences can only be identified with the help of a longitudinal study which is free from the effect of secular change in the younger generations.

The origin and distribution of nerves forming the cardiac plexus and the subdivision of this plexus were studied in six human foetuses (2 male, 4 female) of gestational ages 30 to 40 weeks. The cardiac plexus was not divided into superficial and deep parts in any foetus. True plexiform arrangement of nerves forming the cardiac plexus was seen only after the nerves reached the walls of the heart. The sympathetic trunks, vagi, recurrent laryngeal nerves and phrenic nerves of both sides contributed to the cardiac plexus. The cervical sympathetic trunk showed only two ganglia bilaterally in one foetus; this has not been reported before. In one foetus on the right side, the middle cervical sympathetic cardiac branch joined the recurrent laryngeal and the phrenic nerves which has not been reported earlier. The sympathetic pathways to the heart were found to be very variable; no two foetuses showed the same arrangement. Awareness of these variations in the nerves forming the cardiac plexus would enhance the success of sympathectomy to augment cardiac blood flow or to relieve the severity of cardiac pain.

Studies on the formation of morphological traits of the quadriceps femoris muscle were carried out on the material of 138 human fetuses (70 males and 68 females), 9-36 weeks old, and 50 adults (33 male, and 17 female). Some intermediary conclusions were drawn for probable changes occurring in the morphological formation of the muscle after birth by comparing proportions of the muscle at the fetal stage with its form in adults. In this research, anthropometric methods and statistical analysis of results have been applied. The analysis of the results in the fetal group has shown that all metrical characteristics of the muscle reach their maximum values at the end of the investigated ontogenetic period. This is, naturally, a consequence of the development and growth of all fetal body measures, including an elongation of the thigh. Yet, the development of the individual muscle characteristics is not regular and although the trend of this growth is similar, its extent varies, and differs slightly in the two sexual groups. A comparison of the values of muscle indices for 9 month old fetuses with the same indices for adults shows that the relative dimensions of all investigated muscular characteristics decrease during the post-natal period except the relative length of the tendon.

The report illustrates secular changes in the development of body height and mass in Lódź school children and youths in a period of time covering 65 years between 1930-1994. The lowest values of both traits were found in the early post-war period (1948-1949) increasing gradually until the end of the seventies. From that time the secular trend diminished successively, restraining completely in the last years (1992-1994). This seems to be connected with the economic crisis of the eighties in Poland, and the deep transformation of socio-economic relations in the last several years. According to the secular changeability values, the rate of that process in relation to younger groups of children increases considerably from the 12th year of life. The biggest changes (in centimeters and kilograms per decade) can be observed in the age of 15 and 16 years. Usually more distinctive variableness is apparent in boys than in girls.

User attitudes towards certain lighting conditions have as yet been predominantly a field of lighting engineering research, aiming at an optimisation of lighting conditions on the basis of averages. Therefore, data on the interindividual variability of subjective responses hardly exist. In contrast to this, the methodological approach of industrial anthropology is based on the consideration of individual variation to provide basic data which are required to design our dwelling environment. Against this background we simulated an office work situation in the light laboratory and-using semantic differentials-studied subjective responses to four different lighting conditions in which different illuminance levels were combined with different colour temperatures of the light source. Colour temperature is an aspect of artificial illumination that has rarely been considered in lighting studies. The results of our study indicate that (1) subjective judgements of the four lighting situations differ significantly, (2) relatively long, repeated exposures of test participants to lighting situations lead to a change of attitudes, and (3) subjective judgements and preferences show a considerable interindividual variation. These results suggest that lighting designs of office rooms that are merely orientated towards averages are inadequate and support lighting concepts that allow for individually adjustable light sources.

Different cephalometric lines or planes may be used to determine vertical head tilt. 94 subjects were used to assess the difference in inclination between the Frankfurt horizontal and Reid's line by means of a photographic method. We found that the inclination of Reid's line differs about 13 degrees from the inclination of the Frankfurt horizontal and depends on the subject's sex but not on their age. Hand held inclinometer are used in most studies for determining the inclination of the head. In our study different experimenters assessed the above mentioned inclinations at our 94 subject's using a hand held inclinometer. It turned out that the results depend statistically significant on the experimenter. Data were compared to the ones assessed using the photographic method. By means of an analysis of variance in which the experimenter is considered, a significant correlation (p < 0.001) between data assessed with the two different methods was found. However, only 51% of the variance can be explained by our model. Variance might be due to inaccuracy in determining some of the points defining the Frankfurt horizontal and Reid's line, i.e. the lower orbit and the centre of the outer ear channel. The inclination of another reference line running from the tragion to the outer canthus was measured using the same subjects and the same experimental procedure as mentioned above. This line is easier to determine than the Frankfurt horizontal or Reid's line as its defining points can be assessed with greater accuracy. The inclination of this differs 10.5 degrees from the one of the Frankfurt horizontal.

The relations between 10 anthropometric variables describing the amount of adipose tissue and the serum levels of thyroxine, triiodothyronin, thyroid stimulating hormone, estradiol, progesterone, 17-hydroxyprogesterone, prolactin, luteinizing hormone, follicle stimulating hormone, DHEA-S, androstendion, testosterone, sex hormone binding globulin, growth hormone, IGF I as well as cortisol were investigated in 39 premenopausal and 38 postmenopausal women. Several statistically significant correlations between hormonal parameters and the amount and the distribution of subcutaneous fat tissue were found for the premenopausal group. The postmenopausal probands, however, showed fewer statistically significant connections between the two trait systems. The correlation patterns in both proband groups resembled each other. Only with regard to the gonadotropines (LH and FSH) a difference in the algebraic sign of the correlation coefficients can be observed for pre- and postmenopausal probands. The multiple regression analysis corroborated the hypothesis that hormonal parameters are responsible for somatic changes after menopause.