C. G. N. Mascie-Taylor

Hand-clasping and arm-folding: A review and a genetic model

SummaryThe literature on hand-clasping is reviewed and it is shown to be suitable for genetic analysis, there being no classification problems, sex differences, assortative mating or maternal inheritance. Further data from two studies of our own are reported.Two-allele genetic models are discussed and shown to be inadequate at explaining the data. A simple three-allele model will, however, fit all the available data adequately, and will also account for the east-west cline in left hand-clasping. The limited data on arm-folding were also consistent with the three-allele model. Hand-clasping, arm-folding and handedness were shown not to be correlated one with another nor to show simple genetic linkage.The genetic model is discussed in relation to the problem of asymmetry as a whole.

Biosocial correlates of cognitive abilities.

The children in the cohort followed by the National Child Development Study were tested for cognitive ability at the age of eleven, and the influence of a number of biological and social variables was sought on the results of tests of reading, mathematics, verbal and non-verbal abilities. Reading relates strongly to social class, birth order and parental age, suggesting strong social influences upon it, but it is also related to height and acquired myopia, suggesting biological influences. Mathematics ability relates to social class and parental age, but not to birth order, but its relationship with height, birthweight and maternal smoking suggests biological effects. Verbal ability and non-verbal ability have relatively few correlates apart from sex and region. It appears that different cognitive abilities show different relationships to social, biological and personal variables.

The association between phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) tasting ability and psychometric variables

Tasters and nontasters of the chemical phenylthiocarbamide differ in personality and in IQ test scores. Using an undergraduate sample, nontasters were significantly more “placid” (rather than “apprehensive”) “relaxed” (rather than “tense”), and “practical” (rather than “imaginative”) and scored higher on the more visuospatial component of an IQ test than their taster counterparts.

Birth Order and Health Status in a British National Sample

Researchers analyzed data from the National Child Development Study--a cohort of every child born in England, Scotland, and Wales during the 1st week of March 1953 with follow up studies in 1965, 1969, 1973, and 1980-1981 to examine the relationship between health status and birth order and whether children with low birth orders were less likely to experience illness than those with older siblings. 1st born children tended to have received the needed number of immunizations, but children of higher birth order did not tend to have received them. Further they were more likely to have attended infant welfare and toddler clinics for health care than children of higher birth order. The only childhood contagious disease which demonstrated a social class effect was pertussis. It tended to afflict children from nonmanual homes regardless of birth order. Absences from school lasting between 1 week-1 month of 1st born children were less frequent than for other children. The leading reasons for 1st, 3rd, and later born 11 year old children who experienced such long absences included infectious diseases; bronchitis; ear, nose, and throat complaints; pneumonia; tonsillitis, or viral influenza. After age 15, 1st and 2nd born children were less likely to be absent and, if absent, they tended to only miss 1 week of school. Significantly more 3rd and 4th born children were absent from school for 1 week-3 months. 1st and 2nd born children from more affluent families tended to have early childhood asthma. In conclusion, the health experiences of the later birth orders were different than those of the 1st born. This did not mean, however, that later birth order children were in poorer health than 1st born children.

Smoking and asthma among 23-year-olds.

Participants in a longitudinal cohort study (the National Child Development Study) were asked, at the age of 23, about their smoking habits and asthmatic experiences since 16 years of age. Of the total sample (n = 8860) 10.8% reported smoking cigarettes, and the percentages were very similar in the two sexes although males tended to be heavier smokers. There was an association between asthma and smoking; more than expected of those reported as having asthma at any age had smoked, and of those with asthma since 16 years of age more reported smoking than expected by chance. In addition, all who report asthma at any time since the age of 16 are overrepresented among those who report current smoking (p < 0.001). Those reporting asthma since 16 are more likely to be living with others who smoke, and their spouses or partners were more likely to be heavy smokers (30+ cigarettes per day). In addition, in more than the expected number of homes where asthmatics live, there are others who smoke (p < 0.003).

Biosocial correlates of stature in a 16-year-old British cohort

Analyses of the height variation of 16-year-old members of the British National Child Development Study revealed a number of biological and social variables which associated with stature. After multiple regression analyses only eight variables, namely social class, family size, tenure (owner occupied or one of several types of rented home), crowding status, number of children sleeping in the bed, region of the country, sex of child, and pubic hair rating, remained significant. The total variation explained by these biosocial variables was 37.5%.

Endemic disease, nutrition and fertility in developing countries.

Subfecundity is caused by disease and nutrition as well as by genetic, environmental, and psychological components. Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are caused by 21 different pathogens of which syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia are the most important. Syphilis is caused by the bacterium Treponema pallidum with incidence of 10% in Thailand. 20% in Papua New Guinea, and 40% in Ethiopia. Stillbirths in infected mothers range from 66% to 80%. Gonorrhea is caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoea and its incidence was 18% in female patients in Ugandan clinic. 20% of women in Africa with cervical gonorrhea develop salpingitis. The risk of pelvic inflammatory disease is several times higher in IUD users. The bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis caused infertility in 15.4% of men in a 1991 study. Herpes simplex virus 2 infects 15-30% of sexually active adults, and the chance of fetal transmission is 40% when maternal lesions are present. Diseases other than STDs include tuberculosis (TB) whose development is aided by conditions such as malnutrition, malaria, leprosy, syphilis, and African sleeping sickness. Genital TB causes a 5-50% rate of menstrual disorders including amenorrhea and a 55-85% rate of sterility in women. Malaria is caused by Plasmodium protozoa, and the feverish state included by it can lead to oligospermia. Severe malarial anemia can lead to fetal and maternal mortality. The protozoa Trypanosoma causes African sleeping sickness that produces azoospermia and impairs the pituitary gland and ovaries. Schistosomiasis (bilharzia) and filariasis have less direct effect on fecundity but they negatively impact nutritional status. Maternal nutrition substantially impacts fetal and infant survival. During the Dutch famine of 1944-45 there was a 50% decrease in births 9 months subsequently. A 10-15% weight loss results in amenorrhea.

Applications of biological anthropology to human affairs

1. Introduction G. W. Lasker 2. Reproductive ecology and human fertility P. T. Ellison 3. Nutritional status: its measurement and relation to health C. G. N. Mascie-Taylor 4. Pollution and human growth: lead, noise, polychlorobiphenol compounds, and toxic wastes L. M. Schell 5. Human physiological adaptation to high altitude environments L. P. Greksa 6. Darwinian fitness, physical fitness and physical activity R. M. Malina 7. Human evolution and the genetic epidemiology of chronic degenerative diseases D. E. Crews and G. D. James 8. The biology of human aging W. A. Stini Literature cited Index.

Inbreeding coefficients from the surnames of grandparents of the schoolchildren in Albanian-speaking Italian villages.

Data on grandparental surnames were obtained from children in 45 Italo-Albanesi villages in nine provinces of southern Italy and Sicily. Concordance of surnames (isonymy) and inbreedding by village were estimated for each province and on the total sample. Total mean isonymy is 0.0251. The weighted mean inbreeding coefficient, and its random and non-random components are 0.0063, 0.0024 and 0.0039, respectively. Isonymy values are similar to those of rural Italian villages except that Alpine and some Appennine villages appear to be more isolated and inbred.

Influence of social class on the correlation of stature of adult children with that of their mothers and fathers

Studies of parent-child correlations in stature require data which can be viewed as random samples of some general population and which are large enough to allow partition of the variable and evaluation of non-genetic and genetic influences. In a sample of 4336 individuals drawn from a cohort of all persons born in England, Scotland and Wales in 1 week in 1958, the correlation of statures of the males with their fathers, the females with their fathers, the males with their mothers and the females with their mothers were 0.36, 0.43, 0.41 and 0.47 respectively at age 16 of the offspring and 0.41, 0.41, 0.47 and 0.46 respectively at age 23. Allowance for the occupational social class of the fathers lowers the correlations, but in no case by more than 5%. Allowance for the occupational class achieved by the offspring by age 23 has little effect on the correlations.