Recent research has reported an association between facial width-to-height ratio (fWHR) and both fighting performance and judgments of formidability in a sample of mixed martial arts (MMA) combatants. The results provide evidence of fWHR being associated with sporting performance and aggression in men. However, it has been argued that the effect of fWHR might be a by-product of associations between body size and behavioral measures. Here we tested whether fWHR is associated with perceived aggressiveness, fighting ability and success in physical confrontation, while controlling for body size, also in a sample of MMA fighters. We found that perceived fighting ability was predicted by weight but not by fWHR. In contrast, both fWHR and body weight independently predicted perceived aggressiveness. Furthermore, we found positive associations between fWHR and fighting performance which appear to be independent of body size. Our findings provide further support for the proposal that fWHR is associated with fighting ability and perceived aggression, and that these effects are independent of body size. Therefore, fWHR might be considered as a viable and reliable marker for inference of success in male intra-sexual competition.

• MeSH
• Aggression physiology   MeSH
• Martial Arts physiology   MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Face anatomy & histology   MeSH
• Facial Recognition physiology   MeSH
• Social Perception * MeSH
• Check Tag
• Humans MeSH
• Male MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Comment MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH

• MeSH
• Mathematics MeSH
• Statistics as Topic MeSH

• Conspectus
• Statistika
• NML Fields
• statistika, zdravotnická statistika

We explored the transition of 13 X-linked markers across two separate portions of the house mouse hybrid zone, asking whether such a comparison can distinguish the effects of selection from random factors. A heuristic search in the likelihood landscape revealed more complex likelihood profiles for data sampled in two-dimensional (2D) space relative to data sampled along a linear transect. Randomized resampling of localities analyzed for individual loci showed that deletion of sites away from the zone center can decrease cline width estimates whereas deletion of sites close to the center can significantly increase the width estimates. Deleting localities for all loci resulted in wider clines if the number of samples from the center was limited. The results suggest that, given the great variation in width estimates resulting from inclusion/exclusion of sampling sites, the geographic sampling design is important in hybrid zone studies and that our inferences should take into account measures of uncertainty such as support intervals. The comparison of the two transects indicates cline widths are narrower for loci in the central part of the X chromosome, suggesting selection is stronger in this region and genetic incompatibilities may have at least partly common architecture in the house mouse hybrid zone.

• MeSH
• Species Specificity MeSH
• Genetic Markers genetics   MeSH
• Genotype MeSH
• Hybridization, Genetic MeSH
• Mice genetics   MeSH
• Likelihood Functions MeSH
• Reproduction genetics   MeSH
• Selection, Genetic MeSH
• Stochastic Processes MeSH
• Genetic Speciation MeSH
• Geography MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Mice genetics   MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Comparative Study MeSH
• Geographicals
• Czech Republic MeSH
• Germany MeSH

The main purpose of the study was to explore the effects of carrying police equipment on spatiotemporal and kinetic gait parameters. Two-hundred and seventy-five healthy men and women attending police academy (32% women) were randomly recruited. Gait analysis without and with a police equipment load (≈3.5 kg) was analyzed using the Zebris pressure platform. Differences and effect sizes were calculated using a Student t-test and Wilcoxon test for dependent samples and Cohen's D statistics. In both men and women, carrying police equipment significantly increased the foot rotation (effect size 0.13-0.25), step width (0.13-0.33), step time (0.25), stride time (0.13-0.25) and peak plantar pressure beneath the forefoot (0.16-0.30), midfoot (0.15-0.32) and hindfoot (0.13-0.25) region of the foot. Significant reductions in the step length (0.12-0.25), stride length (0.14-0.23), cadence (0.15-0.28) and walking speed (0.20-0.22) were observed in both sexes. Although significant, the effect sizes were mostly trivial in men and small in women. Our study shows significant changes in the spatiotemporal and kinetic gait parameters when carrying police equipment for both men and women. Although the effect sizes are trivial to small, carrying police equipment of ≈3.5 kg may have a negative impact on gait characteristics in first-year police officers.

• MeSH
• Biomechanical Phenomena MeSH
• Gait * MeSH
• Walking * MeSH
• Adult MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Young Adult MeSH
• Foot MeSH
• Police * MeSH
• Equipment Failure MeSH
• Check Tag
• Adult MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Young Adult MeSH
• Male MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH

OBJECTIVES: This prospective morphometric study evaluated the growth of the upper dental arch in UCLP patients after early neonatal cheiloplasty and compared the selected dimensions with published data on non-cleft controls and on later operation protocol patients. METHODS: The sample comprised 36 Czech children with nonsyndromic complete UCLP (cUCLP) and 20 Czech children with nonsyndromic incomplete UCLP (UCLP + b). 2-D and 3-D analyses of palatal casts were made at two time points: before neonatal cheiloplasty at the mean age of 3 days (±1 day), and 10 months after surgery at the mean age of 10 months (±1 month). RESULTS: The upper dental arch of cUCLP and UCLP + b patients showed similar developmental changes, but the cleft type influenced growth significantly. The initial high shape variability in cUCLP patients diminished after 10 months, and approached the variability in UCLP + b patients. Both the width and length dimensions increased after surgery. Important growth concerned the anterior ends of both segments. The width and length dimensions illustrated similar growth trends with non-cleft controls and UCLP patients who underwent later cheiloplasty. CONCLUSION: Early neonatal cheiloplasty caused no reduction in the length or width dimensions during the first year of life. Our data suggest a reconstructed lip has a natural formative effect on the actively growing anterior parts of upper dental arch segments, which cause narrowing of the alveolar cleft.

• MeSH
• Principal Component Analysis MeSH
• Infant MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Infant, Newborn MeSH
• Orthognathic Surgical Procedures * MeSH
• Image Processing, Computer-Assisted MeSH
• Prospective Studies MeSH
• Cleft Palate surgery   MeSH
• Cleft Lip surgery   MeSH
• Case-Control Studies MeSH
• Imaging, Three-Dimensional MeSH
• Models, Dental * MeSH
• Dental Arch growth & development   MeSH
• Check Tag
• Infant MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Male MeSH
• Infant, Newborn MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH

Innovation in training equipment is important for increasing training effectiveness, performance and changes in body composition, especially in wheelchair users with paraplegia. The main objective of a workout session is to induce an adaptation stimulus, which requires overload of involved muscles by voluntary effort, yet this overload may be highly influenced by the size of the spinal cord lesion. Krancykl construction is designed to allow exercise on any wheelchair and with adjustable height or width of crank handles, where even the grip handle may be altered. The aim of this study was to determine the differences in body composition, performance and the rate of perceived exertion (RPE) in paraplegics with a different level of paralyses after a 12 week training programme of a unilateral regime on Krankcycle equipment (a crank machine). The study sample included four men and one women at a different spine lesion level. The 12 weeks programme was successfully completed by four participants, while one subject got injured during the intervention process. Three participants were paraplegics and one was quadriplegic with innervation of the biceps humeri, triceps humeri and deltoideus. The Krankcycle 30 min programme was followed by four other exercises, which were performed after themselves rather than in a circuit training manner as the latter would result in much longer rest periods between exercises, because paraplegics have to be fixed by straps during exercise on hydraulic machines. The RPE after the workout decreased following the twelve week adaptation period.

• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH

OBJECTIVES: To demonstrate the advantages of dense surface models in the evaluation of surgical-assisted rapid maxillary expansion's effect (SARME) on palatal morphology. Furthermore, we compared the palatal surface before (T1) and after (T2) therapy with controls. SETTING AND SAMPLE POPULATION: Surgical-assisted rapid maxillary expansion's effect group of 15 adult patients (Le Fort I and midpalatal sagittal osteotomy, hyrax screw) and 50 adult individuals. Patients were treated in General Faculty Hospital, Prague. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eighty plaster casts were digitized using a three-dimensional laser scanner and evaluated using traditional and geometric morphometrics. RESULTS: An unpaired Student's t-test on the controls and the SARME T1 group revealed significant differences in all width measurements. Between the controls and the SARME T2 group, significant differences were only related to the interdental angle between the first molars and particularly to the palatal height. The most remarkable differences between the pre- and post-treatment palatal morphology were a widening of the dental arch and buccal shift of the lateral teeth associated with apparent flattening of the alveolar crest. CONCLUSIONS: Dense surface model provided descriptive visualization of the treatment effect and was helpful in the evaluation of palatal shape variability including detection of the most difficult patients. Correction of the dental arch width discrepancy by SARME was successfully achieved. After therapy, palatal shape variability of most of the patients was comparable to the variability of the control group.

• MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Maxilla MeSH
• Molar MeSH
• Palatal Expansion Technique * MeSH
• Dental Arch surgery   MeSH
• Tooth MeSH
• Check Tag
• Humans MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to explore the lasting effects of stress experienced by pregnant women during World War II (WWII) on body and head measurements of their adult daughters. METHODS: The research sample consists of 336 female university students born in Poland between 1925 and 1951. The data include body measurements and socioeconomic information (parental occupation and number of siblings) acquired from questionnaires collected between the 1950s and 1970s. Student's t-test, Mann-Whitney test and Analysis of Variance were used to analyze differences in body measurements between groups of women born before and during the war, as well as the possible influences of socioeconomic variables. RESULTS: The mean measurements of body height, symphysion height, and waist circumference were lower in women conceived and born during the war compared to those born in the pre-war period. In contrast, the mean measurements of biacromial (shoulder) width, trunk length, and three head dimensions were higher in women conceived and born during the war. Additionally, the number of siblings appeared to be a significant factor that may have influenced the body measurements of women in both groups. For instance, a higher number of living siblings, particularly sisters, was associated with reduced body dimensions, such as body height and waist circumference, while a greater number of deceased siblings was linked to an increase in certain body dimensions. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that war-related prenatal conditions may have influenced the postnatal growth and development of women conceived and born during the war. Notably, the direction of these changes varied, which indicates that the growth response to the war-related conditions was a complex adaptation, reflecting both positive and negative changes in different body parts, rather than a uniform pattern of growth suppression.

• MeSH
• World War II * MeSH
• Adult MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Young Adult MeSH
• Stress, Psychological MeSH
• Socioeconomic Factors MeSH
• Pregnancy MeSH
• Check Tag
• Adult MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Young Adult MeSH
• Pregnancy MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Geographicals
• Poland MeSH

INTRODUCTION Traumatic bone injuries or pathological processes may sometimes result in very extensive bone defects. Currently, the standard procedure applied in clinical humane as well as veterinary medicine to fill a bone defect is the autogenous bone graft which, however, necessitates a more invasive procedure for the patient and in the cases of extensive defects it fails to provide adequate amount of graft. Synthetic bone replacements can be used with no further burden for the patient and can simultaneously be used as the carriers for bioactive molecules or therapeutic drugs. For clinical use, an easy and simple application is one of the requirements that have to be taken into consideration. These requirements are best satisfied by preparations in the form of gel, which may be injected into the defects of various shapes even through minimal surgical approach. MATERIAL AND METHODS Synthetic transparent PGD-AlphaProA hydro-peptide-gel was used as a basis to develop a composite hydrogel scaffold. This gel was enriched by cryogenically ground poly- -caprolactone nanofibers (PCL) in a ratio of 1 ml of gel to 16 μg of nanofibres. In experimental animals (laboratory rat Wistar, n=20), a single regular circular defect of 1.5 mm in diameter was drilled by a low speed drill machine across the whole width of distal femur diaphysis, identically in both the hind legs. In the right hindleg, this defect was filled by injection of 0.05 ml of the composite peptide gel with nanofibers (experimental defect). In the contralateral limb a similar defect was left untreated, without filling (control defect), for spontaneous healing. The group of experimental animals was subsequently divided into four sub-groups (A, B, C, D) for the purpose of further follow-up. One week after the surgical implantation, in the first group of experimental animals (Group A; n = 5) lege artis euthanasia was performed, a radiological examination of both the hind legs was carried out and a sample of the bone from both the control and experimental defect was collected for histologic examination. The other groups of experimental animals were evaluated similarly at 2, 4 and 6 weeks after the surgical procedure (Group B, C, D; n = 5). These groups of experimental animals were assessed using various histological techniques by two independent pathologists. RESULTS A difference between the control and the experimental bone defect was observed only at the healing stage at two weeks after the implantation, when a tendency for greater formation of new bone trabeculas was seen in the defect treated with the composite hydro-peptide-gel with PCL nanofibers. The results show a slightly higher angiogenesis and cellularity at the bone defect site with an increase of newly formed bone tissue and faster colonisation of lamellar bone structures by bone marrow cells at early stages of the healing process (1-2 weeks old defect). In the experimental and control groups, at the later stage of healing (4-6 weeks old defect), the process of healing and bone modelling at the defect site shows no detectable morphological differences. CONCLUSIONS The experimental use of hydro-peptide-gel with PCL nanofibers in vivo in laboratory rats shows very good applicability into the defect site and, compared to the untreated defect within two weeks after the implantation, accelerates the bone healing. This fact could be an advantage especially at the early stage of healing, and thus accelerate the healing of more extensive defects. Key words: peptide gel, polycaprolactone, PCL, replacement, bone, healing, scaffold, nanofibers, biomaterial.

• MeSH
• Biocompatible Materials adverse effects   therapeutic use   MeSH
• Cellular Structures physiology   MeSH
• Femur surgery   MeSH
• Fracture Healing physiology   MeSH
• Bone and Bones abnormalities   cytology   injuries   pathology   MeSH
• Bone Substitutes adverse effects   therapeutic use   MeSH
• Rats MeSH
• Angiogenesis Inducing Agents MeSH
• Models, Animal MeSH
• Nanofibers therapeutic use   MeSH
• Bone Diseases pathology   therapy   MeSH
• Polyesters administration & dosage   MeSH
• Rats, Wistar MeSH
• Bone Transplantation methods   MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Rats MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Comparative Study MeSH

During the growing season, trees allocate photoassimilates to increase their aboveground woody biomass in the stem (ABIstem). This 'carbon allocation' to structural growth is a dynamic process influenced by internal and external (e.g., climatic) drivers. While radial variability in wood formation and its resulting structure have been intensively studied, their variability along tree stems and subsequent impacts on ABIstem remain poorly understood. We collected wood cores from mature trees within a fixed plot in a well-studied temperate Fagus sylvatica L. forest. For a subset of trees, we performed regular interval sampling along the stem to elucidate axial variability in ring width (RW) and wood density (ρ), and the resulting effects on tree- and plot-level ABIstem. Moreover, we measured wood anatomical traits to understand the anatomical basis of ρ and the coupling between changes in RW and ρ during drought. We found no significant axial variability in ρ because an increase in the vessel-to-fiber ratio with smaller RW compensated for vessel tapering towards the apex. By contrast, temporal variability in RW varied significantly along the stem axis, depending on the growing conditions. Drought caused a more severe growth decrease, and wetter summers caused a disproportionate growth increase at the stem base compared with the top. Discarding this axial variability resulted in a significant overestimation of tree-level ABIstem in wetter and cooler summers, but this bias was reduced to ~2% when scaling ABIstem to the plot level. These results suggest that F. sylvatica prioritizes structural carbon sinks close to the canopy when conditions are unfavorable. The different axial variability in RW and ρ thereby indicates some independence of the processes that drive volume growth and wood structure along the stem. This refines our knowledge of carbon allocation dynamics in temperate diffuse-porous species and contributes to reducing uncertainties in determining forest carbon fixation.

• MeSH
• Biomass MeSH
• Fagus * MeSH
• Wood MeSH
• Forests MeSH
• Trees MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH