A century of trends in adult human height

Being taller is associated with enhanced longevity, and higher education and earnings. We reanalysed 1472 population-based studies, with measurement of height on more than 18.6 million participants to estimate mean height for people born between 1896 and 1996 in 200 countries. The largest gain in adult height over the past century has occurred in South Korean women and Iranian men, who became 20.2 cm (95% credible interval 17.5-22.7) and 16.5 cm (13.3-19.7) taller, respectively. In contrast, there was little change in adult height in some sub-Saharan African countries and in South Asia over the century of analysis. The tallest people over these 100 years are men born in the Netherlands in the last quarter of 20th century, whose average heights surpassed 182.5 cm, and the shortest were women born in Guatemala in 1896 (140.3 cm; 135.8-144.8). The height differential between the tallest and shortest populations was 19-20 cm a century ago, and has remained the same for women and increased for men a century later despite substantial changes in the ranking of countries

Colonisation of grapevine wood by Trichoderma harzianum and Eutypa lata

The definitive version may be found at www.wiley.comBackground and Aims: Trichoderma species have potential in biocontrol of eutypa dieback; however, little is known about their ability to colonise grapevine wood. The colonisation of vines by Trichoderma harzianum and its effects on colonisation by Eutypa lata were studied. Methods and Results: T. harzianum colonised canes over a total distance (above and below the inoculation point) of 10 cm or more in 12 weeks after inoculation. Application of T. harzianum to canes prior to E. lata, either at the same inoculation point or at a different point, reduced recovery of the pathogen. In the field, T. harzianum grew 3 cm from the inoculation point in 4 months in all seven of the mature vines treated. The fungus persisted for 20 months in four of the seven vines at 6 cm from the inoculation point and reached the crown of one vine. Prior inoculation of mature vines with Trichodowels, containing T. harzianum, reduced recovery of E. lata 14 months after inoculation. Conclusions: T. harzianum colonised wood of Chardonnay, Shiraz and Nyora and reduced colonisation by E. lata. T. harzianum persisted in wood of mature vines of Nyora for up to 20 months. Significance of the Study: The results support the potential of T. harzianum in the biocontrol of eutypa dieback. © 2008 Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology Inc.S. John, T.J. Wicks , J.S. Hunt and E.S. Scot