BACKGROUND: Although absolute handgrip strength has been associated with health-related outcomes in older adults, little evidence has been provided regarding its adjustment by a variety of body size dimensions. Therefore, the main purpose of the study was to establish the most appropriate normalization of handgrip strength by different body size parameters in a large sample of noninstitutionalized older adults. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, we enrolled 643 men and women aged > 60, who were part of the rehabilitation center facility program. Handgrip strength was objectively measured using a Jamar Plus* + Digital Hand Dynamometer. Body size parameters included body weight and height, body mass index, waist circumference, waist-to-height ratio, fat mass and fat-free mass. The most appropriate parameter associated with handgrip strength was identified using allometry. RESULTS: Findings showed that the most appropriate body size parameter for handgrip strength normalization was height (allometric exponent: 0.85), compared to fat-free mass (0.26) and body mass (0.12). Other body size variables were not significantly associated with handgrip strength and were omitted from further analyses. The correlations between normalized handgrip strength were significant when handgrip strength was normalized by body mass and fat-free mass, while no significant correlations were found, when handgrip strength was normalized by body height. CONCLUSION: Based on the study results, body height seems to be the best body size parameter for handgrip strength normalization in older adults, omitting the influence of body size on strength performance. If handgrip strength is measured, body height may help normalize strength for large-scale research.
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
The subject of study was the anthropometry of an adult population in the period of early adulthood. In this study we evaluated twenty-four anthropometric parameters of Slovak population from three different districts (Bardejov, Zvolen and Považská Bystrica) in Slovakia. Our dataset consisted of 200 probands (108 men and 92 women) of young productive peoples with the age 18 to 35 years old with mean age 22.45 years for men. We measured body mass (V1) and 24 anthropometric parameters (V2 - V24). It also included calculation of the body mass index (BMI). The measurements in sexes overlapped, but both the univariate analysis (unpaired t-test) and multivariate analysis (two-way ANOVA) confirmed significant differences between them. The results of BMI values confirmed that both sexes belongs to “about right” weight category, i.e. the values in the range (18.50-24.99 kg/m2). For males and females were confirmed positive allometry between body mass and body height. Our data confirmed men biased sexual dimorphism with significantly higher dimensions than women and these results are fully consistent with the previous findings from above cited authors. Different allometric patterns obtained for sexes suggests that different changes during growth exist and may be due by different role in reproduction.
- MeSH
- Anthropometry * methods MeSH
- Adult MeSH
- Epidemiologic Factors MeSH
- Body Mass Index MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Young Adult MeSH
- Growth MeSH
- Statistics as Topic MeSH
- Body Weights and Measures * methods statistics & numerical data MeSH
- Age Factors MeSH
- Check Tag
- Adult MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Young Adult MeSH
- Male MeSH
- Female MeSH
- Publication type
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
- Geographicals
- Slovakia MeSH
Proximate control of the development of sexual dimorphism is still hotly debated in reptiles. In some squamates, many male-typical exaggerated traits including body size were assumed to be controlled by masculinization by male gonadal androgens. We performed a manipulative experiment to test the importance of this mechanism in the development of pronounced sexual differences in body size and size of head casque in the chameleon Chamaeleo calyptratus. Castrated males attained male-typical body size highly deviating from the body size of control females. Ontogenetic allometries of casque size on head length revealed that sexes depart considerably in casque growth later in the ontogeny; however, castrated males still follow male-typical casque growth. Paradoxically, exogenous testosterone led in females to slight increase of casque size, which might reflect interference with the feminizing effects of female gonadal hormones. The results in males strongly suggest that masculinization by male gonadal androgens during growth is not required for the development of sexual dimorphism in body size and casque size in the chameleon. The ontogeny of sexually dimorphic body size and exaggerated traits in at least some squamates is likely controlled by other proximate mechanism, possibly by feminization by ovarian hormones.
- MeSH
- Androgens genetics metabolism MeSH
- Gonads metabolism MeSH
- Lizards anatomy & histology genetics growth & development metabolism MeSH
- Castration MeSH
- Skull anatomy & histology metabolism MeSH
- Sex Characteristics * MeSH
- Testosterone genetics metabolism MeSH
- Body Size genetics MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Check Tag
- Male MeSH
- Female MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
1. The potential growth of modern turkey genotypes was measured using male and female BUT 6 (BUT) and Hybrid Converter (HYB) strains. At one-day-old, 720 male and 960 female poults were randomly allocated to 48 littered pens in two houses with 30 males or 40 females of each strain per pen. Five feeds of decreasing protein content were fed to both sexes during the growing period. 2. Birds were weighed at 1, 7, 14, 21, 35, 56, 77, 119 d (males only), 126 d (females only) and 140 d (males only) and, on each occasion, six birds were selected and removed for carcass analysis. 3. Growth was similar in both strains, but the growth rate of females appeared to decline relative to the earlier trajectory after 70 d, and this tendency being greater in HYB females. 4. HYB birds of both sexes had more feathers than BUT to 77 d, but thereafter these differences were non-significant. A single allometry between feather and body protein weight was observed over all genotypes with no differences apparent between sexes within strains. The Gompertz curve adequately described the growth of body protein, water and ash. 5. Body lipid (g/100g bodyweight) declined in the early stages of growth. This might reflect an energy deficiency in the diet or might indicate that the present description of lipid growth does not apply in turkeys as it does in other species. 6. Whereas the description of body growth, feather growth and the chemical components of growth given in this paper may not fully reflect the true potential of the genotypes used, nevertheless they provide useful information regarding the latest genotypes available in the turkey industry. Some of the observations suggested that current performance might be improved if further research is conducted regarding dietary energy transactions.
- MeSH
- Genotype MeSH
- Weight Gain * genetics MeSH
- Turkeys genetics growth & development MeSH
- Random Allocation MeSH
- Feathers growth & development MeSH
- Body Composition * genetics MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Check Tag
- Male MeSH
- Female MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
Identification of animals is often hindered by decoupling of phenotypic and molecular evolutionary rates. The Acanthocyclops vernalis (Fischer, 1853) complex is arguably the most problematic group of cyclopoids and possibly of all copepods, with diversity estimates based on morphology ranging from 2 to 34 taxa. We reconstructed their phylogeny based on one nuclear and three mitochondrial markers, revealing only four species in the Holarctic and always the following sister-species pairs: vernalis-europensis sp. nov. and robustus-americanus. Landmarks for quantitative shape analyses were collected from 147 specimens on five structures commonly used to delineate cyclopoids. Procrustes ANOVA showed small directional asymmetry in all datasets, but large sexual dimorphism in shape and size. Allometry was also highly significant. Principal component analyses of size-corrected data almost completely separated species in morphospace based on the last exopodal and endopodal segments of the fourth leg. These two structures showed the highest amount of covariation, while modularity could not be proven and a phylogenetic signal was only observed in one structure. Spinules and sensilla have a limited use in delineating species here. Calculating mean shapes and the extent of inter and intraspecific phenotypic variability opens new horizons for modern taxonomy.
Green algae of the genus Halimeda have modular siphonous thalli composed of multiple repeated segments. Morphological variation among the segments has been related to various environmental factors, which often jointly affect their size and shape. The segments are bilaterally symmetric, which means that their shape variation can be decomposed into the symmetric and asymmetric components. Asymmetric variation might reflect both environmental heterogeneity and developmental instability of morphogenetic processes during the development of segments. In the present study, we examined if segment shape in H. tuna is related to their size and if an allometric relationship can also be found with respect to their asymmetry. Relative contributions of directional and fluctuating asymmetry to the segment shape variation within individual plants were investigated at two close localities in the northern Adriatic Sea. A series of equidistant semilandmarks were set along the outline of the segments, and analyzed by geometric morphometrics using two parallel methods to optimize their final position. Symmetric variation was strongly constrained by allometry, which also explained differences between populations. Smaller segments were significantly more asymmetric, but the difference in asymmetry between populations could not be explained solely by this allometric relationship. These differences between populations might have been caused by variation in local environmental factors. We conclude that members of the genus Halimeda represent an intriguing model system for studies of morphometric symmetry and asymmetry of sessile marine organisms, including effects of allometric relationships and infraspecific variation in relation to environmental factors of the benthic coastal habitats.
- MeSH
- Biological Evolution MeSH
- Models, Biological MeSH
- Chlorophyta anatomy & histology physiology MeSH
- Ecosystem MeSH
- Morphogenesis physiology MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Check Tag
- Animals MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
Alders (Alnus spp.) often dominate at nutrient-poor sites by symbiotic relations with atmospheric nitrogen-fixing bacteria. However, little is known about quantitative relationships between root nodule as a nitrogen acquisition organ and leaf as a carbon acquisition organ. To examine carbon allocation, nitrogen acquisition and net production in nutrient-poor conditions, we examined allocation patterns among organs of shrub Alnus fruticosa at a young 80-year-old moraine in Kamchatka. Slopes of double-log allometric equations were significantly smaller than 1.0 for the root mass, leaf mass and root nodule mass against stem mass, and for the root nodule mass against root mass, indicating that smaller individuals invested disproportionally more biomass into resource-acquiring leaf and root tissues than to supportive tissues compared to older individuals. The slope of allometric equation of root depth against stem height was 0.542, indicating that smaller/younger individuals allocate disproportionally more biomass into root length growth than stem height growth. On the contrary, the root nodule mass isometrically scaled to leaf mass. The whole-plant nitrogen content also isometrically scaled to root nodule mass, indicating that a certain ratio of nitrogen acquisition depended on root nodules, irrespective of plant size. Although the net production per plant increased with the increase in stem mass, the slope of the double-log regression was smaller than 1.0. On the contrary, the net production per plant isometrically increased with leaf mass, root nodule mass and leaf nitrogen content per plant. Since the leaf mass isometrically scaled to root nodule mass, growth of each individual occurred at the leaves and root nodules in a coordinated manner. It is suggested that their isometric increase contributes to the increase in net production per plant for A. fruticosa in nutrient-poor conditions.
- MeSH
- Biomass MeSH
- Nitrogen metabolism MeSH
- Root Nodules, Plant growth & development physiology MeSH
- Plant Roots growth & development physiology MeSH
- Ice Cover MeSH
- Alnus growth & development physiology MeSH
- Plant Stems growth & development physiology MeSH
- Symbiosis MeSH
- Carbon metabolism MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Geographicals
- Russia MeSH
The surface area-to-volume ratio of cells is one of the key factors affecting fundamental biological processes and, thus, fitness of unicellular organisms. One of the general models for allometric increase in surface-to-volume scaling involves fractal-like elaboration of cellular surfaces. However, specific data illustrating this pattern in natural populations of the unicellular organisms have not previously been available. This study shows that unicellular green algae of the genus Micrasterias (Desmidiales) have positive allometric surface-to-volume scaling caused by changes in morphology of individual species, especially in the degree of cell lobulation. This allometric pattern was also detected within most of the cultured and natural populations analysed. Values of the allometric S:V scaling within individual populations were closely correlated to the phylogenetic structure of the clade. In addition, they were related to species-specific cellular morphology. Individual populations differed in their allometric patterns, and their position in the allometric space was strongly correlated with the degree of allometric S:V scaling. This result illustrates that allometric shape patterns are an important correlate of the capacity of individual populations to compensate for increases in their cell volumes by increasing the surface area. However, variation in allometric patterns was not associated with phylogenetic structure. This indicates that the position of the populations in the allometric space was not evolutionarily conserved and might be influenced by environmental factors.
- MeSH
- Phylogeny MeSH
- Micrasterias classification cytology genetics MeSH
- Regression Analysis MeSH
- RNA, Ribosomal, 18S genetics MeSH
- Cell Size MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
In the forensic sciences, knowledge of facial ageing is very important in searching for both dead and living individuals. Ageing estimations typically model the biological profile, which can be compared to missing persons. The main goals of this current study were to construct ageing trajectories for adult human faces of both sexes and evaluate sexual dimorphism in relation to static allometry. Our study was based on the analysis of three-dimensional facial surface models of 194 individuals 20-80 years of age. The evaluation consisted of a dense correspondence analysis of facial scans and multivariate statistics. It was shown that both age and sex have a significant influence on facial form and shape. Male features included a longer face, with more protruded foreheads, eyebrow ridges and nose, including the region under the upper lip and mandible region, but more retruded cheeks compared to females. Ageing in both sexes shared common traits, such as more pronounced roundness of the face (rectangular in males), decreased facial convexity, increased visibility of skin folds and wrinkles connected with the loss of skin elasticity, and soft tissue stretching, especially in the orbital area and lower face; however, male faces exhibited more intense ageing changes. The above-mentioned sexual dimorphic traits tended to diminish in the elderly age category, though overall sexual dimorphism was heightened with age. The static allometric relationships between size and form or shape were similar in both sexes, except that the larger faces of elderly males displayed more intensive ageing changes.
- MeSH
- Principal Component Analysis MeSH
- Adult MeSH
- Middle Aged MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Young Adult MeSH
- Multivariate Analysis MeSH
- Face anatomy & histology physiology MeSH
- Sex Characteristics * MeSH
- Cross-Sectional Studies MeSH
- Aged, 80 and over MeSH
- Aged MeSH
- Aging physiology MeSH
- Models, Statistical MeSH
- Imaging, Three-Dimensional * MeSH
- Check Tag
- Adult MeSH
- Middle Aged MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Young Adult MeSH
- Male MeSH
- Aged, 80 and over MeSH
- Aged MeSH
- Female MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
OBJECTIVES: To evaluate sexual dimorphism of facial form and shape and to describe differences between the average female and male face from 12 to 15 years. SETTING AND SAMPLE POPULATION: Overall 120 facial scans from healthy Caucasian children (17 boys, 13 girls) were longitudinally evaluated over a 4-year period between the ages of 12 and 15 years. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Facial surface scans were obtained using a three-dimensional optical scanner Vectra-3D. Variation in facial shape and form was evaluated using geometric morphometric and statistical methods (DCA, PCA and permutation test). Average faces were superimposed, and the changes were evaluated using colour-coded maps. RESULTS: There were no significant sex differences (p > 0.05) in shape in any age category and no differences in form in the 12- and 13-year-olds, as the female faces were within the area of male variability. From the age of 14, a slight separation occurred, which was statistically confirmed. The differences were mainly associated with size. Generally boys had more prominent eyebrow ridges, more deeply set eyes, a flatter cheek area, and a more prominent nose and chin area. CONCLUSION: The development of facial sexual dimorphism during pubertal growth is connected with ontogenetic allometry.
- MeSH
- Principal Component Analysis MeSH
- Anatomic Variation MeSH
- Chin anatomy & histology MeSH
- Forehead anatomy & histology MeSH
- Child MeSH
- Photogrammetry methods MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Longitudinal Studies MeSH
- Adolescent MeSH
- Nose anatomy & histology MeSH
- Face anatomy & histology MeSH
- Eyebrows anatomy & histology MeSH
- Eye anatomy & histology MeSH
- Optical Imaging methods MeSH
- Sex Characteristics * MeSH
- Puberty physiology MeSH
- Lip anatomy & histology MeSH
- Cheek anatomy & histology MeSH
- Mouth anatomy & histology MeSH
- Age Factors MeSH
- Imaging, Three-Dimensional methods MeSH
- Check Tag
- Child MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Adolescent MeSH
- Male MeSH
- Female MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
- Comparative Study MeSH
