Does physical capacity explain the height premium?

The paper examines the role of physical capacity in the determination of the height premium by using the “Health 2000 in Finland” data that contain both self-reported information on the physical strenuousness of work, and information on muscle mass from medical examinations. Our results show that the height premium does not vary according to the physical strenuousness of work. We also find that muscle mass is not related to wages. Furthermore, we observe that the shortest men do physically very demanding work and the tallest do sedentary work, even after controlling for the effects of age and education.Height; Height premium; Body composition; Wages

Hot-spots of insect diversity in northern Europe

Peer reviewe

Prediction of orthognathic surgery need in children with unilateral cleft lip palate : Dental arch relationships and 5-year-olds' index

Objective To evaluate whether dental arch relationships at 6 years of age can categorize treatment outcome and predict later need for orthognathic surgery in children with unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP). Setting and sample population A retrospective longitudinal single-centre study. The study sample comprised 70 consecutive non-syndromic children (47 boys) with complete UCLP operated on by pushback techniques during 1981-1989 and followed until early adulthood in the same cleft centre. Materials and methods Dental casts and maxillomandibular relationships were assessed before orthodontic treatment and secondary alveolar bone grafting at mean age 6.1 years (range 5.6-6.8) using the 5-year-olds' index and lateral cephalograms. The need for orthognathic surgery was retrieved from patient files. Student's t test, Pearson's correlation, and Kappa statistics were used in statistical analyses. Results Orthognathic surgery frequency was 41% (29/70). Those needing orthognathic surgery comprised all 3 patients with an index score of 5 (very poor), 14 of 17 (82%) scoring 4 (poor), 10 of 26 (38%) scoring 3 (fair), and 2 of 19 (11%) scoring 2 (good). Of the five patients with index score 1 (excellent), none needed osteotomies. The mean index score was 2.9. The score was significantly better in those without orthognathic surgery (2.4 versus 3.6). A significant negative correlation existed between the 5-year-olds' index and cephalometric angles ANB and anb. Conclusion The use of 5-year-olds' index may help to predict treatment outcome and the clinical need for orthognathic surgery especially in patients with the lowest and highest index scores.Peer reviewe

Natural relapses in vivax malaria induced by Anopheles mosquitoes

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Endemic malaria: an 'indoor' disease in northern Europe : Historical data analysed

Background: Endemic northern malaria reached 68°N latitude in Europe during the 19th century, where the summer mean temperature only irregularly exceeded 16°C, the lower limit needed for sporogony of Plasmodium vivax. Because of the available historical material and little use of quinine, Finland was suitable for an analysis of endemic malaria and temperature. Methods: Annual malaria death frequencies during 1800–1870 extracted from parish records were analysed against long-term temperature records in Finland, Russia and Sweden. Supporting data from 1750–1799 were used in the interpretation of the results. The life cycle and behaviour of the anopheline mosquitoes were interpreted according to the literature. Results: Malaria frequencies correlated strongly with the mean temperature of June and July of the preceding summer, corresponding to larval development of the vector. Hatching of imagoes peaks in the middle of August, when the temperature most years is too low for the sporogony of Plasmodium. After mating some of the females hibernate in human dwellings. If the female gets gametocytes from infective humans, the development of Plasmodium can only continue indoors, in heated buildings. Conclusion: Northern malaria existed in a cold climate by means of summer dormancy of hypnozoites in humans and indoor transmission of sporozoites throughout the winter by semiactive hibernating mosquitoes. Variable climatic conditions did not affect this relationship. The epidemics, however, were regulated by the population size of the mosquitoes which, in turn, ultimately was controlled by the temperatures of the preceding summer.Peer reviewe

Wing variation of Maculinea arion (Linnaeus) in Finland (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae)

Wing variation in the large blue butterfly, Maculinea arion (Linnaeus, 1758), was studied using 22 measurements of the wing shape, venation and coloration in males and females of Finnish and Karelian populations. The results showed that the spots were fewer and smaller in the western populations than in the eastern ones, whereas the black marginal stripe was wider in the west. The samples from the western populations (Lohja, Kangasala, Hattula, Asikkala, etc.) formed a distinctive group differing from the eastern populations (Taipalsaari, Liperi, Isthmus of Karelia). The temporal within-population variation in Asikkala was relatively high compared to the between-population variation within both the western and eastern population groups

Melanophila formaneki (Jakobson) (Coleoptera, Buprestidae) new to Finland

The buprestid Melanophila formaneki (Jakobson) (= Phaenops aerea Formanek) is reported for the first time from Finland. The beetles (5 adults and 32 larvae) were reared from three stems of recently dead approx. 4-m-high Scots pines (Pinus sylvestris L.). The pines had been cut in a heavily polluted industrial arca at Harjavalta, southwestern Finland, in 1989. A specimen collected in 1929 from Sakkola, on the Karelian Isthmus, was redetermined in museum material. M.formaneki is compared with M. cyanea, and the la¡va is described