Regional Patterns of Gender Differences in Body Build in Modern Human Populations

One of the most important aspects in modern anthropological research is the study of the level of sexual dimorphism in morphological characteristics, because its variability in different populations may serve as an indicator of the influence of environmental factors, including those of ecological and social stress. The aim of this paper is to study the regional differences in variations of sexual dimorphism indicators in morphological characteristics of various population groups in Russia and the neighbouring countries. Complex anthropological investigations of students were carried out in several cities of Russia (Moscow, Samara, Arkhangelsk, Saransk) and neighbouring countries (the city of Tiraspol, Transdniestrian Moldavian Republic), as well as in the villages of Zubovo-Polyansky district of Mordovia. Data on 756 young women and 651 young men, mostly of Russian ethnicity, between 17 to 23 years of age (total number 1407 individuals) are presented in this paper. The programme included the following measurements: height and body weight, shoulder and pelvic breadth, circumferences of trunk and extremities, skinfolds thickness. To evaluate the level of sexual dimorphism the following indices were used in this study: coefficient of sexual dimorphism according to Deryabin, index of sexual dimorphism according to Tanner, and Mahalanobis distances between male and female groups obtained by multivariate discriminant analysis. Despite of some mosaic patterns in separate somatic traits, young men and women from Moscow were the tallest among their counterparts from other regions, with the lowest values of subcutaneous fat layer. The analysis of all sets of measurements (skeletal traits, circumferences, skinfolds) revealed minimal level of sex differences in Moscow students when compared to young men and women investigated in other areas (Arkhangelsk, Samara, Saransk, Tiraspol and the villages of Mordovia). In Moscow as compared to other regions, the highest frequency of girls with andromorphic body type occurred (32%) and the lowest frequency of those with the gynecomorphic type (6%), which was the reflection of the trend towards relative somatic masculinity of modern young women living in Moscow megapolis

Regional Patterns of Gender Differences in Body Build in Modern Human Populations

One of the most important aspects in modern anthropological research is the study of the level of sexual dimorphism in morphological characteristics, because its variability in different populations may serve as an indicator of the influence of environmental factors, including those of ecological and social stress. The aim of this paper is to study the regional differences in variations of sexual dimorphism indicators in morphological characteristics of various population groups in Russia and the neighbouring countries. Complex anthropological investigations of students were carried out in several cities of Russia (Moscow, Samara, Arkhangelsk, Saransk) and neighbouring countries (the city of Tiraspol, Transdniestrian Moldavian Republic), as well as in the villages of Zubovo-Polyansky district of Mordovia. Data on 756 young women and 651 young men, mostly of Russian ethnicity, between 17 to 23 years of age (total number 1407 individuals) are presented in this paper. The programme included the following measurements: height and body weight, shoulder and pelvic breadth, circumferences of trunk and extremities, skinfolds thickness. To evaluate the level of sexual dimorphism the following indices were used in this study: coefficient of sexual dimorphism according to Deryabin, index of sexual dimorphism according to Tanner, and Mahalanobis distances between male and female groups obtained by multivariate discriminant analysis. Despite of some mosaic patterns in separate somatic traits, young men and women from Moscow were the tallest among their counterparts from other regions, with the lowest values of subcutaneous fat layer. The analysis of all sets of measurements (skeletal traits, circumferences, skinfolds) revealed minimal level of sex differences in Moscow students when compared to young men and women investigated in other areas (Arkhangelsk, Samara, Saransk, Tiraspol and the villages of Mordovia). In Moscow as compared to other regions, the highest frequency of girls with andromorphic body type occurred (32%) and the lowest frequency of those with the gynecomorphic type (6%), which was the reflection of the trend towards relative somatic masculinity of modern young women living in Moscow megapolis

Sex and gender differences in tempos of ageing of Moscow population and their biosocial meaning: a pilot study.

The aim of the present paper is to study sex and gender differences in the biological age and tempos of ageing in men and women of Moscow population. The study is based on the integrated medical-anthropological survey of 69 males from 41 to 92 years of age and 157 females from 41 to 97 years of age, inhabitants of Moscow, examined in 2012. The program included the following: anthropometric measurements (height and weight, waist and hip circumferences); the whole-body impedance was measured on the right hand side of the body using the bioimpedance meter ABC-01 ‘Medas’ (SRC Medas, Russia); functional characteristics of cardiovascular systems: systolic and diastolic blood pressure (mmHg), heart rate (beats per min); hand grip strength for right and left hands measured with the hand dynamometer; estimation of biological age was performed with the software “Diagnostics of Aging. BioAge”, which was developed by the National Centre of Gerontology (Moscow) and included the set of functional biomarkers of cardiovascular and respiratory systems; questionnaire: type of work (mental or physical labour), number of children per family, age at the birth of the first child, father’s and mother’s longevity. According to the results of this study, in Moscow males there was a tendency to higher intensity of ageing processes as compared to Moscow females. Tempos of age changes in several morphofunctional characteristics (systolic blood pressure, hearing acuity and hand grip strength) were different for both sexes and higher in males. In men there was a higher frequency of individuals with accelerated tempos of ageing (20% vs 12% in women). Higher tempos of ageing in men were much more expressed after 60 years of age, which could be explained by different gender roles and the influence of socioeconomic factors. Among socioeconomic factors, the most important were the following ones: type of work and number of children per family. Slow tempos of aging were more typical for men and women, who most of their life were involved in mental labour and had only one child

Sex-Specific Phenotypic Plasticity as a Complex Reaction of Human Organism to Different Environmental Conditions

Complex anthropological investigations of modern students were carried out in the three big cities of the Russian Federation (Samara, Arkhangelsk, Saransk), as well as in the villages of Mordovia. The program of morphofunctional investigation included body characteristics, body mass components (evaluated with the bioelectrical impedance analyzer “Medass-1”), physiological characteristics of cardiovascular and respiratory systems, right hand grip strength (dynamometry). To evaluate the level of sexual dimorphism, coefficient of sexual dimorphism (CSD) was used in this study. The total number of the studied subjects was 476 young women and 375 young men, from 17 to 23 years old. The results of ANOVA analyses show the presence of non-random variations for the majority of studied characteristics in the examined groups. On this basis, it is possible to consider that different environmental conditions exert significant influence on human organism, which is the core of the adaptation process. The largest distance separates the groups from the city of Saransk and Mordovian villages. It shows that the impact of social and environmental factors for rural and urban inhabitants is much larger as compared to ecological ones, e.g., latitude of the location. Comparison of the CSD values in all groups showed that the degree of adaptation potentials is considerably different in males and females for many characteristics. Thus, for body mass components, characteristics of respiratory system, height and BMI, males are more sensitive to environmental influences. For the cardiovascular system traits, the degree of fat tissue development and body mass, the strength of adaptation changes is practically equal in men and women, with slight advantages in men

Gender and Regional Differences in Body Image Dissatisfaction in Modern University Students: A Pilot Study in Two Cities of Eastern Europe

Complex anthropological and psychological study of the university students was carried out in two regions (the cities of Moscow and Tiraspol) with the aim to reveal gender and regional differences of body image dissatisfaction and their connection with the body build. 502 individuals (187 males and 315 females) aged from 17 to 25 years were investigated. The program included anthropometric measurements (height and weight, with further calculation of Body Mass Index – BMI), evaluation of body mass components, as well as psychological testing with Stunkard’s silhouette scale and the Situational Inventory of Body-Image Dysphoria (SIBID). It was found that among the representatives of both sexes the level of dissatisfaction with their own body is relatively similar (69% of males and 67% of females). However the girls were mostly dissatisfied with their excessive, as they perceived, body mass (83% of the total number of dissatisfied individuals) while the boys were dissatisfied mostly because of their underweight (60% of the total number of dissatisfied individuals). Besides, the girls were more likely to exaggerate their weight while the boys perceived it as smaller than it really was. In girls certain social influences had more impact on body image dissatisfaction than in boys. Among the girls studied, the Muscovites were more critical to their own physical appearance, which resulted in lower self-assessment of their body image and, consequently, in less positive influence of this assessment on the quality of life compared to the girls from Tiraspol

Model-Based Analysis of Changes in the Morphological Characteristics of Moscow Students for the Last Two Decades

The aim of the paper is to develop a model of changes in morphological characteristics of young males and females body structure at the beginning of the 21st century. For this purpose the results of Moscow students’ annual screenings from 2000 to 2018 were analyzed (total number of 17–18-year-olds − 6,433 individuals). As a result, five factors describing the trends of changes were revealed and further analysis demonstrated variants of their values over time. An original model was developed, which reflected real morphological transformations in the body parameters of the young generation for the last 20 years. For both sex groups a trend towards macrosomia (gr. macros − big, soma- body) was revealed. For the boys some increase in linear traits was found with a decrease in muscularity. In girls, parabolic association between athletic characteristics and the year of investigation was found: the decrease in muscularity for the first decade, and its increase for the second one

Challenges and recommendations to improve institutional review boards’ review of community-engaged research proposals: A scoping review

Academic and community investigators conducting community-engaged research (CEnR) are often met with challenges when seeking Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval. This scoping review aims to identify challenges and recommendations for CEnR investigators and community partners working with IRBs. Peer-reviewed articles that reported on CEnR, specified study-related challenges, and lessons learned for working with IRBs and conducted in the United States were included for review. Fifteen studies met the criteria and were extracted for this review. Four challenges identified (1) Community partners not being recognized as research partners (2) Cultural competence, language of consent forms, and literacy level of partners; (3) IRBs apply formulaic approaches to CEnR; & (4) Extensive delays in IRB preparation and approval potentially stifle the relationships with community partners. Recommendations included (1) Training IRBs to understand CEnR principles to streamline and increase the flexibility of the IRB review process; (2) Identifying influential community stakeholders who can provide support for the study; and (3) Disseminating human subjects research training that is accessible to all community investigator to satisfy IRB concerns. Findings from our study suggest that IRBs can benefit from more training in CEnR requirements and methodologie

Badanie genowego polimorfizmu systemów neurotransmiterów (HTR1A oraz SLC6A3) oraz charakterystyka morfofunkcjonalna u studentów zobjawami depresji

In the last decades, due to the increasing level of stress, the study of different de-pressive states and search for morpho-functional and genetic markers of depression have become important for modern society. This article is an interdisciplinary study of morpho-functional characteristics and variability of genes in the neurotransmitter systems (HTR1A and SLC6A3) in young men and women with the expression of depressive symptoms. The materials used include: morpho-functional characteristics (height, weight, body circumferences, skinfold thickness in the trunk and the extremities, and characte-ristics of cardiovascular and respiratory systems); evaluation of depression symptoms performed with the Beck questionnaire; determination of polymorphisms of the HTR1A and SLC6A3 genes for 372 students from the cities of Samara and Saransk (170 men and 202 women aged 16-23, predominantly of Russian ethnicity. The results obtained are as follows: young men and women with depression symptoms are characterized by significantly different morpho-functional characteristics (p<0.05), lower adiposity and abdominal skinfold thickness, as well as a relatively higher specific metabolic rate. No differences in the frequencies of the genotypes of the neurotransmitter systems genes (DAT1, HTR1A) were found between the groups of students with or without depression symptoms. Differences in the number of individuals with the presence of depression symptoms were revealed (p<0.05) in relation to gender: these symptoms were twice as high in women (14%) as in men (7%).W ostatnich dziesięcioleciach, ze względu na rosnący poziom stresu, badania nad różnymi stanami depresyjnymi i poszukiwanie morfofunkcjonalnych i genetycznych markerów depresji stają się coraz ważniejsze dla współczesnego społeczeństwa. Celem niniejszej pracy jest interdyscyplinarne badanie cech morfofunkcjonalnych i zmienności genów w układach neuroprzekaźników (HTR1A i SLC6A3) u młodych mężczyzn i kobiet z objawami depresyjnymi. Materiał: cechy morfofunkcjonalne (wysokość i masa, obwody ciała i grubości fałdów skórnych na tułowiu i kończynach, charakterystyka układu sercowo-naczyniowego i oddechowego); ocena objawów depresji za pomocą kwestionariusza Becka; określenie polimorfizmów genów HTR1A i SLC6A3 dla 372 uczniów z miast Samara i Sarańsk (170 mężczyzn i 202 kobiety w wieku 16 do 23 lat, głównie pochodzenia rosyjskiego). Wyniki: młode kobiety i mężczyźni z obecnością stanu depresyjnego charakteryzują się zmiennie odmiennymi cechami morfofunkcjonalnymi (p< 0, 05); mniejszą otyłością i grubością fałdów skórnych brzucha, względnie wyższą specyficzną przemianą materii. Nie stwierdzono różnic w częstości genotypów genów systemów nerwowych (DAT1, HTR1A) pomiędzy grupami uczniów z objawami depresji lub bez nich. Różnice między płciami w liczbie osób z objawami depresji zostały pokazane (p< 0, 05); objawy te były dwukrotnie wyższe u kobiet (14%) niż u mężczyzn (7%)

Secular Trend of Body Dimensions in Highly Qualified Wrestlers

The purpose of the paper was to study the physique of highly qualified martial art athletes engaged in different types of wrestling, and to perform a retrospective analysis of the morphological characteristics of wrestlers examined since the early 1920s. The materials of the anthropometric survey of 48 athletes engaged in different types of wrestling with qualification from the candidate for master of sports and above were used for this purpose and compared to the "control group" of young men (N = 97) who were not engaged in sports (similar to the group of athletes by age, ethnicity and percentage of individuals with different weight categories). A set of morphological traits was established that contributed to the successful achievements in sports. When comparing the physique of modern athletes with that of the wrestlers surveyed in the early and mid-20th century (the 1920s and 1960s), it has been shown that the secular trend towards increase in height typical for modern population, was expressed in athletes to a much lesser extent. Striking similarities were revealed for absolute and relative dimensions characterizing the skeletal body proportions of the wrestlers, which pointed to the secular stability of this sports morphotype. The obtained results can be used as additional morphological criteria for sports selection, professional orientation and prediction of competitive success

Sex-Specific Phenotypic Plasticity as a Complex Reaction of Human Organism to Different Environmental Conditions

Complex anthropological investigations of modern students were carried out in the three big cities of the Russian Federation (Samara, Arkhangelsk, Saransk), as well as in the villages of Mordovia. The program of morphofunctional investigation included body characteristics, body mass components (evaluated with the bioelectrical impedance analyzer “Medass-1”), physiological characteristics of cardiovascular and respiratory systems, right hand grip strength (dynamometry). To evaluate the level of sexual dimorphism, coefficient of sexual dimorphism (CSD) was used in this study. The total number of the studied subjects was 476 young women and 375 young men, from 17 to 23 years old. The results of ANOVA analyses show the presence of non-random variations for the majority of studied characteristics in the examined groups. On this basis, it is possible to consider that different environmental conditions exert significant influence on human organism, which is the core of the adaptation process. The largest distance separates the groups from the city of Saransk and Mordovian villages. It shows that the impact of social and environmental factors for rural and urban inhabitants is much larger as compared to ecological ones, e.g., latitude of the location. Comparison of the CSD values in all groups showed that the degree of adaptation potentials is considerably different in males and females for many characteristics. Thus, for body mass components, characteristics of respiratory system, height and BMI, males are more sensitive to environmental influences. For the cardiovascular system traits, the degree of fat tissue development and body mass, the strength of adaptation changes is practically equal in men and women, with slight advantages in men