Size increase without genetic divergence in the Eurasian water shrew Neomys fodiens.

When a population shows a marked morphological change, it is important to know whether that population is genetically distinct; if it is not, the novel trait could correspond to an adaptation that might be of great ecological interest. Here, we studied a subspecies of water shrew, Neomys fodiens niethammeri, which is found in a narrow strip of the northern Iberian Peninsula. This subspecies presents an abrupt increase in skull size when compared to the rest of the Eurasian population, which has led to the suggestion that it is actually a different species. Skulls obtained from owl pellets collected over the last 50 years allowed us to perform a morphometric analysis in addition to an extensive multilocus analysis based on short intron fragments successfully amplified from these degraded samples. Interestingly, no genetic divergence was detected using either mitochondrial or nuclear data. Additionally, an allele frequency analysis revealed no significant genetic differentiation. The absence of genetic divergence and differentiation revealed here indicate that the large form of N. fodiens does not correspond to a different species and instead represents an extreme case of size increase, of possible adaptive value, which deserves further investigation.

Fundamentos do cuidado na pesagem do recém-nascido / Fundamentals of care in weighing the newborn / Fundamentos de cuidado de peso en el recién

Objetivo: Descrever, comparativamente, duas imagens representativas do procedimento de pesagem dos recém-nascidos, contidas em obras de 1949 e 2011. Metodologia: O estudo tem por proposta a história comparada. Resultados e discussão: Na publicação do ano de 1949, identificou-se a preocupação acentuada no recém-nascido com quantitativo de imagens utilizadas para o seu manuseio, que, de forma distinta, é possível se identificar em 2011, quando se aponta a preocupação com a técnica da pesagem direcionada ao lençol. Conclusão: Pela visualização dos mosaicos, evidenciou-se que, em 1949, o recém-nascido era o ponto maior de importância do cuidado direto; enquanto que, em 2011, infere-se ser o instrumento tecnológico o que merece destaque visual. Dessa maneira, o presente estudo traz à baila reflexões que permitem margens para futuras pesquisas sobre o quão semelhante, ou não, poder-se-ia apontar os cuidados realizados numa vertente observacional do passado no presente no cuidado em neonatologia

Purpose: to describe, comparatively, two representative images of the weighing procedure of newborns contained in works from 1949 and 2011. Methodology: The study proposes comparative history. Results and discussion: In the publication of 1949, a marked concern was identified in the newborn with quantitative images used to handle it, which is distinctly identifiable in 2011, when it is pointed out the concern with the Weighing technique directed to the sheet. Conclusion: From the visualization of the mosaics, it was evidenced that in 1949, the newborn was the greatest point of importance of direct care; While in 2011, it is inferred to be the technological instrument that deserves visual prominence. In this way, the present study brings to the fore reflections that allow margins for future research on how similar, or not, it would be possible to point out the care performed in an observational aspect of the past in the present in neonatology care

Objetivo: Describir comparativamente dos imágenes representativas del procedimiento de peso de los recién nacidos contenida en las obras de 1949 y 2011. Métodos: El estudio se propone la historia comparada. Resultados y discusión: En la publicación del año 1949, que identifican la fuerte preocupación en el recién nacido con imágenes cuantitativos utilizados para el manejo de la misma, que de diferentes maneras puede ser identificado en 2011, cuando se señala la preocupación por pesar el arte dirigido a la hoja. Conclusión: Para la visualización de mosaicos, se hizo evidente que en 1949, el recién nacido era el punto más importante de la atención directa; mientras que en 2011, se infiere que la herramienta tecnológica que merece más destacado visual. Por lo tanto, este estudio nos lleva a reflexiones que permiten márgenes para futuras investigaciones sobre cómo similares o no, el poder desea señalar a la atención proporcionada en un brazo de observación del pasado en el presente en el cuidado de neonatología

The first Seriatum study of growth by R. E. Scammon.

Richard E. Scammon's article, "The First Seriatim Study of Human Growth," provided one of the best-known visuals in the field of human biology. Scammon resurrected longitudinal height data of one child from Buffon's Histoire Naturelle, converted them to metric, and plotted these measurements as a function of age. The result was the first graph of one individual's growth curve from birth to 18 years of age. This image was subsequently reproduced in numerous texts on human growth and biology. Published in 1927, Scammon's article provides a snapshot of the state of growth research at the time and gives a (literal) picture of the future of human biology. The graph of the growth of one child symbolizes the importance of process and variation in biological anthropology.

Ladies from hell, Aberdeen free gardeners, and the Russian influenza: an anthropometric analysis of WWI-era Scottish soldiers and civilians.

We analyze data on the height of Scottish men, both civilians and members of the military forces serving in World War I measured in the 1910s, in order to provide another window into the biological well-being of late nineteenth-century birth cohorts. The evidence indicates that rural residents still had a distinct height advantage over their urban counterparts and that military men displayed a slower growth profile than did civilians, but mean heights for the two groups of adults were similar. Mean stature for both groups is well above those found by Floud for British troops born in the 1880s and greater than that of Scottish convicts from the 1830s. Men who were in utero between 1889 and 1893 were slightly stunted, "marked for life" by an encounter with the Russian influenza which struck the region repeatedly.

Digit ratio (2D:4D) in Lithuania once and now: testing for sex differences, relations with eye and hair color, and a possible secular change.

The second-to-fourth digit ratio (2D:4D) is a sexually dimorphic somatic trait and has been proposed as a biomarker for the organizational, i.e., permanent, effects of prenatal testosterone on the human brain. Accordingly, recent research has related 2D:4D to a variety of sex-dependent, hormonally influenced traits and phenotypes. The geographical variation in typical 2D:4D is marked and presently poorly understood. This study presents the first investigation into the 2D:4D ratio in a Baltic country. A contemporary sample of 109 Lithuanian men and women was compared with data from a historical sample of 100 Lithuanian men and women, collected and published in the 1880s and rediscovered only now. The findings included the following lines of evidence: (i) seen in an international perspective, the average 2D:4D in Lithuania is low; (ii) there was a sex difference in 2D:4D in the expected direction in both samples; (iii) a previously adduced hypothesis of an association of lighter eye and hair color with higher, i.e., more feminized, 2D:4D received no support in both samples; and (iv) the average 2D:4D in the contemporary sample was higher than in the historical sample. In view of a hypothesized increase in 2D:4D in modern populations, owing to increased environmental levels of endocrine disruptors such as xenoestrogens, this latter finding appears to be of particular notice. However, because finger-length measurement methods differed across the samples, it cannot be safely ruled out that the apparent time trend in Lithuanian 2D:4D in truth is an artifact. The puzzling geographical pattern seen in the 2D:4D ratio and the question of possible time trends therein deserve further investigations.

Methods for determining healthy body weight in end stage renal disease.

Several formulas for calculating desirable body weight are used in chronic kidney failure patients. Ideal body weight (IBW) derived from Metropolitan Life Insurance tables has been available since the 1950s. The Hamwi formula was proposed in the 1960s as a simple tool for quickly estimating desirable body weight, especially in people with diabetes. Since the 1970s, National Health and Nutrition Evaluation Surveys I, II, and III have provided an in-depth evaluation of the average body weights of Americans. These standard body weights (SBW) are often interpreted to be normal and healthy weight goals. Body mass index (BMI) has also been studied for decades and is used internationally as the standard for determining healthy weight, especially in relationship to obesity. These 4 methods are discussed and compared along with a brief review of the history of using the adjusted body weight (ABW) formulas, followed by recommendations for clinical practice.

Weight charts and well-child care: how the pediatrician became the expert in child health.

Weighing children became popular in the 1910s, when public health workers hoped to identify malnourished children based on weight. They measured tens of thousands of children in school halls and church basements, compared their results with standard weight charts, and reported evidence of widespread malnutrition. In the 1920s, physicians argued that a complete medical history and a physical examination, not just weight, were necessary to diagnose malnutrition. By the 1930s, the weight chart had become merely one of the many diagnostic tools used to monitor the health of well children in the physician's office. Weight charts remain an essential part of pediatric practice, but their history is more than a simple tale of scientific progress. This article explores how pediatrics emerged as a primary care specialty in the midst of conflict over the meaning of weight, the professional role of women in medicine, and the pediatrician's preeminence as a child health expert.

The origin of the "ideal" body weight equations.

OBJECTIVE: To provide a historical perspective on the origin and similarity of the "ideal" body weight (IBW) equations, and clarify the terms ideal and lean body weight (LBW). DATA SOURCES: Primary and review literature were identified using MEDLINE (1966-November 1999) and International Pharmaceutical Abstracts (1970-November 1999) pertaining to ideal and lean weight, height-weight tables, and obesity. In addition, textbooks and relevant reference lists were reviewed. DATA EXTRACTION: All articles identified through the data sources were evaluated. Information deemed to be relevant to the objectives of the review were included. DATA SYNTHESIS: Height-weight tables were generated to provide a means of comparing a population with respect to their relative weight. The weight data were found to correlate with mortality and resulted in the use of the terms desirable or ideal to describe these weights. Over the years, IBW was interpreted to represent a "fat-free" weight and thus was used as a surrogate for LBW. In addition, the pharmacokinetics of certain drugs were found to correlate with IBW and resulted in the use of IBW equations published by Devine. These equations were consistent with an old rule that was developed from height-weight tables to estimate IBW. Efforts to improve the IBW equations through regression analyses of height-weight data resulted in equations similar to those published by Devine. CONCLUSIONS: The similarity between the IBW equations was a result of the general agreement among the various height-weight tables from which they were derived. Therefore, any one of these equations may be used to estimate IBW.