Факторы изменчивости неспецифического иммунитета жителей северо-запада европейской части России

The impact of geographical position and presence of industrial press on nonspecific immunity of Karelian Republic and Murmansk Region population was investigated. Immunological status of a subject was estimated on bactericidal activity of skin and oral microflore composition. The highest level of nonspecific immunity was observed in non-industrial settlements of Murmansk Region and the lowest in industrial settlements of Karelia. The level of immunity in non-industrial settlements of Karelia and in industrial settlements of Murmansk Region was about the same.Исследовалось влияние географического положения населенного пункта и наличия промышленного стресса на неспецифический иммунитет жителей Республики Карелия и Мурманской области. Иммунологический статус испытуемого оценивался по бактерицидной активности кожи и состоянию микрофлоры полости рта. Наиболее высокий уровень неспецифического иммунитета наблюдался в непромышленных населенных пунктах Мурманской области, наиболее низкий - в промышленных населенных пунктах Карелии. Иммунитет в непромышленных населенных пунктах Карелии и промышленных населенных пунктах Мурманской области находился примерно на одинаковом уровне

MultiTest V.1.2, a program to binomially combine independent tests and performance comparison with other related methods on proportional data

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Combining multiple independent tests, when all test the same hypothesis and in the same direction, has been the subject of several approaches. Besides the inappropriate (in this case) Bonferroni procedure, the Fisher's method has been widely used, in particular in population genetics. This last method has nevertheless been challenged by the SGM (symmetry around the geometric mean) and Stouffer's <it>Z</it>-transformed methods that are less sensitive to asymmetry and deviations from uniformity of the distribution of the partial <it>P</it>-values. Performances of these different procedures were never compared on proportional data such as those currently used in population genetics.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We present new software that implements a more recent method, the generalised binomial procedure, which tests for the deviation of the observed proportion of <it>P</it>-values lying under a chosen threshold from the expected proportion of such <it>P</it>-values under the null hypothesis. The respective performances of all available procedures were evaluated using simulated data under the null hypothesis with standard <it>P</it>-values distribution (differentiation tests). All procedures more or less behaved consistently with ~5% significant tests at <it>α </it>= 0.05. Then, linkage disequilibrium tests with increasing signal strength (rate of clonal reproduction), known to generate highly non-standard <it>P</it>-value distributions are undertaken and finally real population genetics data are analysed. In these cases, all procedures appear, more or less equally, very conservative, though SGM seems slightly more conservative.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Based on our results and those discussed in the literature we conclude that the generalised binomial and Stouffer's <it>Z </it>procedures should be preferred and <it>Z </it>when the number of tests is very small. The more conservative SGM might still be appropriate for meta-analyses when a strong publication bias in favour of significant results is expected to inflate type 2 error.</p

Can we understand modern humans without considering pathogens?

Throughout our evolutionary history, humankind has always lived in contact with large numbers of pathogens. Some cultural traits, such as sedentarization and animal domestication, have considerably increased new parasitic contacts and epidemic transitions. Here, we review the various phenotypic traits that have been proposed to be affected by the highly parasitic human environment, including fertility, birth weight, fluctuating asymmetry, body odours, food recipes, sexual behaviour, pregnancy sickness, language, religion and intellectual quotient. We also discuss how such knowledge is important to understanding several aspects of the current problems faced by humanity in our changing world and to predicting the long-term consequences of parasite eradication policies on our health and well-being. The study of the evolutionary interactions between humans and parasites is a burgeoning and most promising field, as demonstrated by the recent increasing popularity of Darwinian medicine

Utilization of polarization method for additional seismic exploration and while regular field production

The seismic polarization method (1) is widely and successfully used in well surveys. At observation on a day surface it is applied occasionally. In the report it is resulted geophysical substantiations of expediency of ground observation by a polarizing method for studying fissuring rocks and allocation subvertical discontinuity, reservoir of hydrocarbons complicating structure, and also some results of investigation based on complexificatin observation in well and on a day time surface are discussed. Such investigation are especially important at late stages of exploration works when more difficult are applied, than at an initial stage of development of reservoir hydrocarbons, technology of their development increase of requirements to self descriptiveness results of geophysical investigation

Utilization of polarization method for additional seismic exploration and while regular field production

The seismic polarization method (1) is widely and successfully used in well surveys. At observation on a day surface it is applied occasionally. In the report it is resulted geophysical substantiations of expediency of ground observation by a polarizing method for studying fissuring rocks and allocation subvertical discontinuity, reservoir of hydrocarbons complicating structure, and also some results of investigation based on complexificatin observation in well and on a day time surface are discussed. Such investigation are especially important at late stages of exploration works when more difficult are applied, than at an initial stage of development of reservoir hydrocarbons, technology of their development increase of requirements to self descriptiveness results of geophysical investigation

Utilization of polarization method for additional seismic exploration and while regular field production

The seismic polarization method (1) is widely and successfully used in well surveys. At observation on a day surface it is applied occasionally. In the report it is resulted geophysical substantiations of expediency of ground observation by a polarizing method for studying fissuring rocks and allocation subvertical discontinuity, reservoir of hydrocarbons complicating structure, and also some results of investigation based on complexificatin observation in well and on a day time surface are discussed. Such investigation are especially important at late stages of exploration works when more difficult are applied, than at an initial stage of development of reservoir hydrocarbons, technology of their development increase of requirements to self descriptiveness results of geophysical investigation

Human fertility variation, size-related obstetrical performance and the evolution of sexual stature dimorphism.

In several animal species, change in sexual size dimorphism is a correlated response to selection on fecundity. In humans, different hypotheses have been proposed to explain the variation of sexual dimorphism in stature, but no consensus has yet emerged. In this paper, we evaluate from a theoretical and an empirical point of view the hypothesis that the extent of sexual dimorphism in human populations results from the interaction between fertility and size-related obstetric complications. We first developed an optimal evolutionary model based on extensive simulations and then we performed a comparative analysis for a total set of 38 countries worldwide. Our optimization modelling shows that size-related mortality factors do indeed have the potential to affect the extent of sexual stature dimorphism. Comparative analysis using generalized linear modelling supports the idea that maternal death caused by deliveries and complications of pregnancy (a variable known to be size related) could be a key determinant explaining variation in sexual stature dimorphism across populations. We discuss our results in relation to other hypotheses on the evolution of sexual stature dimorphism in humans

Worldwide Variation in Life-Span Sexual Dimorphism and Sex-Specific Environmental Mortality Rates

International audienceIn all human populations mean life span of women generally exceeds that of men, but the extent of this sexual dimorphism varies across different regions of the world. Our purpose here is to study, using global demographic and environmental data, the general tendency of this variation and local deviations from it. We used data on male and female life history traits and environmental conditions for 227 countries and autonomous territories; for each country or territory the life-span dimorphism was defined as the difference between mean life spans of women and men. The general tendency is an increase of life-span dimorphism with increasing average male-female life span; this tendency can be explained using a demographic model based on the Makeham-Gompertz equation. Roughly, the life-span dimorphism increases with the average life span because of an increase in the duration of expressing sex- and age-dependent mortality described by the second (exponential) term of the Makeham-Gompertz equation. Thus we investigated the differences in male and female environmental mortality described by the first term of the Makeham-Gompertz equation fitted to the data. The general pattern that resulted was an increase in male mortality at the highest and lowest latitudes. One plausible explanation is that specific factors tied to extreme latitudes influence males more strongly than females. In particular, alcohol consumption increases with increasing latitude and, on the contrary, infection pressures increase with decreasing latitude. This finding agrees with other observations, such as an increase in male mortality excess in Europe and Christian countries and an increase in female mortality excess in Asia and Muslim countries. An increase in the excess of female mortality may also be due to increased maternal mortality caused by an increase in fertility. However, this relation is not linear: In regions with the highest fertility (e.g., in Africa) the excess of female mortality is smaller than in regions with relatively lower fertility (e.g., in Asia). A possible explanation of this phenomenon is an evolutionary adaptation of women to the pressures of extremely high fertility by means of some reduction of their maternal mortality

Worldwide Variation in Life-Span Sexual Dimorphism and Sex-Specific Environmental Mortality Rates

In all human populations mean life span of women generally exceeds that of men, but the extent of this sexual dimorphism varies across different regions of the world. Our purpose here is to study, using global demographic and environmental data, the general tendency of this variation and local deviations from it. We used data on male and female life history traits and environmental conditions for 227 countries and autonomous territories; for each country or territory the life-span dimorphism was defined as the difference between mean life spans of women and men. The general tendency is an increase of life-span dimorphism with increasing average male–female life span; this tendency can be explained using a demographic model based on the Makeham–Gompertz equation. Roughly, the life-span dimorphism increases with the average life span because of an increase in the duration of expressing sex- and age-dependent mortality described by the second (exponential) term of the Makeham–Gompertz equation. Thus we investigated the differences in male and female environmental mortality described by the first term of the Makeham–Gompertz equation fitted to the data. The general pattern that resulted was an increase in male mortality at the highest and lowest latitudes. One plausible explanation is that specific factors tied to extreme latitudes influence males more strongly than females. In particular, alcohol consumption increases with increasing latitude and, on the contrary, infection pressures increase with decreasing latitude. This finding agrees with other observations, such as an increase in male mortality excess in Europe and Christian countries and an increase in female mortality excess in Asia and Muslim countries. An increase in the excess of female mortality may also be due to increased maternal mortality caused by an increase in fertility. However, this relation is not linear: In regions with the highest fertility (e.g., in Africa) the excess of female mortality is smaller than in regions with relatively lower fertility (e.g., in Asia). A possible explanation of this phenomenon is an evolutionary adaptation of women to the pressures of extremely high fertility by means of some reduction of their maternal mortality