Body Size Data Research Articles

Factors affecting dystocia in Brahman-cross heifers in subtropical southeastern United States.

This study was conducted to determine relative relationships among factors affecting dystocia in Brahman-cross heifers. Body and pelvic measurements were obtained in mid-June (when heifers were approximately 17 mo old), 45 d after a 60-d breeding season. Heifers studied were 207 Red Brangus, 209 Simbrah, and 250 Braford bred to Black Angus bulls; calving began on December 1. Heifers grazed stockpiled bahia and hemarthria grass or ryegrass supplemented with 0.9 kg of 32% protein cottonseed meal and 1.8 kg of mill-run black strap molasses daily during calving. Calvings were scored (1 = no difficulty to 4 = major difficulty). A random sample of birth weights were obtained on 131 and 210 calves in 1992 and 1993. Data were analyzed within year by SAS procedures. Breed differences in dam size and pelvic measurements were highly significant. Residual correlations between body weight and pelvic area were .20 and .35 (both P < .01) for 1991 and 1992. Dystocia incidence was 6.9% in 1992 and 10.5% in 1993, with higher incidence in males than in females (1992, 10.6 vs 3.1%, P = .08; 1993, 15.6 vs 4.2%, P < .01, male vs female, respectively). Male birth weight exceeded (P < .01) that of females (26.7 vs 24.3 kg, 1992; 28.1 vs 26.1 kg, 1993). Correlations among dam size and calf birth weight were not significant. Birth weight was significantly correlated with dystocia score (.19 and .49, 1992 and 1993). Path analyses of influences on dystocia found birth weight, dam heart girth, and body weight significant in 1992, but only birth weight significant in 1993. Regression of calving score on birth weight was curvilinear and significant in both years, with the birth weight inflection point at 22 kg. We conclude that dam body size data obtained following the breeding season were of minor value in determining dystocia, but birth weight was consistently important.

Rarity and Body Size: Some Cautionary Remarks

Dobson and Yu (1993) advocate removal of the statistical interaction of body size with abundance and geographic range size before species are classified with respect to rarity. They argue that the relative rarity of small and large species can be fairly assessed only when any systematic tendencies for different-sized species to have somewhat different natural densities and range sizes have been accounted for. We have some sympathy with this viewpoint, but we urge caution in the general application of such an approach for several reasons. (1) Other variables may be important. Body size is only one of a great many variables for which correlations with abundance and range size have been reported. Other variables include diet, trophic level, reproductive strategy, dispersal ability, and phylogeny (see Brown & Maurer 1987; Gaston & Lawton 1988; Gaston 1988, 1990, 1994a; Nee et al. 1991; Kunin & Gaston 1993; Blackburn et al. 1994). Some of these relationships are doubtless second-order effects resulting from correlations between these additional variables and body size; body size is known to interact with a variety of life-history and ecological parameters (Peters 1983; Calder 1984). Others are likely to be more direct interactions, however, which raises two questions. First, should body size have any logical precedence over other variables for explicit treatment as a covariate of abundance or geographic range size (aside from the fact that body size data are more likely to be available)? Second, shouldn't rarity also be adjusted for these other effects? We suggest that it is arguable whether body size per se should be treated differently from any other variable, particularly given that the cause and effect of many body-size interactions are poorly understood. Following recent trends in comparative biology, one can argue that the basis for removing any effect of body size on abundance or range size is particularly weak unless due account is taken of the consequences of the phylogenetic relatedness of the taxa concerned (see Harvey & Pagel 1991). Failure to recognize this problem could lead to removal of the wrong interactions. (2) Body size is seldom related to abundance or range size in a simple manner. Dobson and Yu's analyses are based on linear relationships of density and range size with body mass. The interactions of either, however, are seldom simple. Descriptions based on correlation coefficients or linear regressions are often rather poor. For example, body size explained more than 20% of the variance in population abundance in only one of 14 animal assemblages examined by Blackburn et al. (1993), and less than 10% in nine of the assemblages. Brown and Maurer (1987) showed that the most abundant landbird species in North America tend-to be medium-sized, not the smallest species. The shape of the relationship between body size and abundance among these species was approximately triangular (see Gaston 1988; Morse et al. 1988; Nee et al. 1991; Blackburn et al. 1993, 1994). Analysis of species rarity in data of this kind assuming a linear relationship between body size and abundance may tend to rank the commonest small species as relatively rare. Clearly, an analysis controlling for the effects of body size on rarity should take account of the shape of the size-abundance relationship. If the relationship between body size and abundance is triangular, however, then analysis is not straightforward. Linear regression cannot be used because the magnitude of residuals of densitybody size plots are themselves likely to be functions of body size: residuals will tend to be constrained to be small at large body sizes in a triangular relationship. Similar problems pertain to the analysis of range sizebody size relationships, which also tend to be triangular in that small-bodied species tend to have a breadth of geographic range sizes and large-bodied species tend to have only large range sizes (Brown & Maurer 1987; Gaston 1994a). One solution may be to fit polynomial regressions to triangular relationships (see Cotgreave et al. 1993), although how the residuals from such relationships would be interpreted is unclear. Dobson and Yu argue that the influence of body size on population density and range size should be removed in assessing rarity when there is a priori evidence of a signiflcant influence of body size. In practice, such evidence may be misleading. Paper submitted December 7, 1993; revised manuscript acceptedAugust 19, 1994.

全身放射能計測装置の校正方法の標準化 Ｉ 人体計測学的ファントムを用いた校正

To standardize the calibration methods of whole-body counters, three anthropometric phantoms were manufactured based on dozens of Japanese average value of body size data. Using these phantoms, the calibrations of some whole-body counters were carried out and the comparison of counting efficiency between anthropometric phantoms and block phantoms, which used to be used for the calibration of whole-body counters generally, was implemented. Five whole-body counters, one scanning system, two stationary systems and two chair systems, were used for this study. The following results were derived: As an example, in NIRS scanning system, the counting efficiency of anthropometric phantom of 162cm height was 12.7% greater than that of block phantom of the same height. This means 137Cs body burdens in adult men used to be estimated with the excess of about 10%. Body burdens tended to be estimated excessively in adult because the difference of counting efficiency between anthropometric phantom and block phantom increases with increase of height. To standardize body burden data measured with various whole-body counters, the calibration of each whole-body counter should be conducted using anthoropometric phantoms and phantoms which used to be used for the calibration of that whole-body counter.

Latitudinal variation in egg and clutch size in turtles

Reproductive and body size data from 169 populations of 146 species (56% of those recognized), 65 genera (75%), and 11 families (92%) of turtles were tabulated to test for latitudinal variation in egg and clutch size. Body-size-adjusted correlation analysis of all populations (as well as within most families) revealed (i) a significant negative relationship (r2 = 0.26) between latitude and egg size, (ii) a significant positive relationship (r2 = 0.21) between latitude and clutch size, and (iii) no relationship between latitude and clutch mass. Phylogenetic contrast analyses corroborated these patterns. Clutch size was also negatively correlated with egg size across all populations as well as within most families. We evaluate the applicability to turtles of hypotheses postulated to explain such latitudinal patterns for other vertebrate groups. The observed pattern may be the result of latitudinal variation in selection on egg size and (or) clutch size, as well as on the optimal trade-off between these two traits.

F statistics in Drosophila buzzatii: selection, population size and inbreeding.

Drosophila buzzatii is confined to reproducing in a well defined patchy environment consisting of rotting cactus cladodes which are ephemeral, permitting at most three generations. Flies emerging from such rots were used to estimate the additive genetic variance within rots and the genetic variance between rots for body size and also were electrophoresed to determine their genotypes at six polymorphic loci. F statistics were estimated from body size and allozyme data. The FST derived from body size was significantly larger than the allozyme FST. It is proposed this is due to selective differentiation of body size. The allozyme FST is used to estimate effective population size: 10 < N < 50. It is suggested that the regularly observed positive FIS's could be due to partial sib mating, S. If so, the estimated lower bound is S = 0.258. Experiments are identified which could support or contradict these interpretations.

International differences in body height and weight and their relationship to cancer incidence

The relationship between body size (adult height and weight) and cancer incidence was investigated in an international ecological study of 24 populations. Site-specific and total cancer incidence rates (age standardized) from 1973 to 1977 were correlated with body size data generally obtained between 1954 and 1974. All-sites cancer incidence was highly correlated with height among both men (r = 0.50; p less than or equal to 0.01) and women (r = 0.70; p less than or equal to 0.001). Among men, there were significant correlations between height and cancers of the central nervous system (r = 0.72), prostate (r = 0.66), bladder (r = 0.65), pancreas (r = 0.59), lung (r = 0.47), and colon (r = 0.46). Significant correlations were observed for cancers of the rectum (r = 0.76), pancreas (r = 0.75), ovary (r = 0.73), central nervous system (r = 0.68), breast (r = 0.65), uterine corpus (r = 0.50), and bladder (r = 0.48) in women. Adjustment for weight altered these correlations only minimally. Weight was significantly correlated to all-sites cancer only among women (r = 0.44; p less than 0.05), and site-specific correlations were significant for the same sites as for height, but the magnitude of the correlation coefficients was somewhat diminished. In addition, adjustment for height greatly reduced the correlations with weight. These findings support previously observed associations between height and specific cancers (e.g., breast and colon) and identify several additional cancer sites that may be similarly related.

Body size data of Sri Lankan workers and comparison with other populations in the world: its impact on the use of imported goods

The Journal of the National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka publishes the results of research in all aspects of Science and Technology. The journal also has a website at http://www.nsf.gov.lk/. 2020 Impact Factor: 0.515The JNSF provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.

Growth in the Common Map Turtle, Graptemys geographica

Female common map turtles (Graptemys geographica) in Indiana grew significantly faster than males after their second year, and reached significantly larger body sizes. Body size and growth data are compared to those from a population in Canada. Females and males average larger in Canada than in Indiana. The extraordinary sexual size dimorphism found among members of the genus Graptemys is well established (Fitch, 1981). However, few data are available to permit growth rate comparisons by sex. Although preliminary growth data are available for G. barbouri (Cagle, 1952), G. pulchra (Cagle, 1952; Shealey, 1976), G. flavimaculata and G. nigrinoda (Cagle, 1954), G. oculifera (Cagle, 1953b), G. pseudogeographica (Webb, 1961; Cagle, 1953a; Vogt, 1980), and G. geographica (Gordon and MacCulloch, 1980), most of the data are from turtles less than 3 years old, and a sexual difference in juvenile growth rate is indicated only in the latter three species. A detailed study of carapacial or plastral growth has not been published for any Graptemys species, and the only growth information available for the common map turtle Graptemys geographica is from the northeastern extreme of its range (Gordon and MacCulloch, 1980). The purpose of this study is to provide growth curves for male and female G. geographica (Fig. 1, Table 1) based on plastral lengths (PL in mm) of turtles from Dewart Lake, Kosciusko County, Indiana (captured and marked between May 1979 and September 1987), calculated from abdominal scute annuli (Sergeev, 1937; Iverson 1979). Turtles were sexed by the presence of secondary sexual characteristics (e.g., elongate tails in males; Ernst and Barbour, 1972). Carapacial growth can be calculated from the data presented here based on the ratios of PL to carapace length (CL in mm) in females (0.908 ? 0.026 S.D.; N = 27; significantly different from males and juveniles; P < 0.01), males (0.889 + 0.020; N = 38; not significantly different from juveniles), and juveniles (0.894 + 0.015; N = 42). Changes in body mass (BM in g) can be calculated from the BM-PL regressions based on log-transformed This content downloaded from 157.55.39.108 on Fri, 17 Jun 2016 05:52:47 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 154 TRANSACTIONS OF THE KANSAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE

Gigantism in Island Populations of Wood Mice (Apodemus) in Europe

Many rodents have large body sizes on islands, and there are many hypotheses that try to explain this observed pattern. Using body size data on Apodemus in Europe as an example, I try to evaluate t ...

Systematic estimation of food intakes from food frequency data

To convert food frequency data to food intake figures expressed in grams per day, one needs serving size information specific for that food and subject. A computer-aided procedure is described that adjusts serving size data for age, sex, body size, activity level, pregnancy and lactation.

Weight loss and catabolic adaptations to starvation in grey seal pups.

Five grey seal pups lost from 18 to 32% of their initial body weight during a 21 day starvation period. Blubber fat mass density was 0.93 +/- 0.03 g/cm3. A considerable loss of blubber fat was recorded, but analysis of the weight loss and body size data indicated that blubber fat was retained for thermoregulatory reasons, particularly in the lean, smaller seals. It is possible that phocid seals during periods of negative energy balance have a higher rate of protein catabolism than normal for terrestrial mammals.

Sexual dimorphism and cultural evolution in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene of Europe

Dental, cranial and body size data are reviewed for European Upper Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic males and females. Over these three periods there is a substantial decrease in the level of sexual dimorphism. From separate analysis of trends occurring between males and females, it is shown that the major cause for this decrease in sexual dimorphism is gracilization of the males between the Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic. Reduction in males is related to shifting technological patterns associated with hunting and changes in the types of animals hunted. Further reduction in sexual dimorphism between the Mesolithic and Neolithic and from the Neolithic to modern European populations is shown to be more closely tied to changes occurring among females. Analysis of changing patterns of sexual dimorphism in Late Pleistocene and Holocene populations of Europe suggests an interrelationship between cultural and biological evolution.

Anthropometric Resources vs. Civilian Needs

For several decades after World War II, the only comprehensive source of body size data was that of large-scale anthropometric surveys of military personnel. While the range of most dimensions measured on military populations, both male and female, are comparable to those found in the overall U.S. population, self-selection or body size criteria dictated by particular jobs often result in considerable physical variability among occupational groups, a phenomenon which has been amply borne out by surveys of such diverse populations as law enforcement officers and airline stewardess trainees. It has become clear in the civilian sector that “all-purpose” body size data are often misleading and inadequate and that designers of clothing, equipment and workspaces are increasingly faced with the need for a wide assortment of differentiated data to meet many specialized needs. Resources will be explored and solutions suggested.

Anthropometry of Women of the U.S. Army

A new anthropometric survey of U. S. Army women was planned and carried out in 1976–1977 in response to the need for current and comprehensive body size data for the women who make up an increasingly large part of the United States Army. The main purpose of the survey was to obtain and develop statistical data on the body sizes and proportions of Army women. As a result, new anthropometric data now are available for Army women, as well as workspace and strength measurements. While there has been relatively little change in the body dimensions of Army women between 1946 and 1977, comparisons of data for men and women clearly show that serious design and sizing problems will be encountered in the development of clothing and equipment intended for use by both Army men and women.

Reproductive biology, breeding seasons, and growth of eastern chipmunks, Tamias striatus (Rodentia: Sciuridae) in Canada.

Reproductive, age, and body-size data from 1403 museum specimens from Manitoba to Nova Scotia and data on live chipmunks studied in the field in southeastern Ontario were analyzed. Schedules of the major stages of reproduction and growth are summarized graphically. Most adult males are in breeding condition (with large testes in black scrotal sacs and macroscopic tubules in caudae epididymidon) from March to June. As females can breed in March–April and (or) June–July, eastern chipmunks are unique among hibernating sciurids in that they have two breeding seasons per year. These occur over much of the Canadian range, with distinct waves of young appearing above ground in June and September. Spring breeding is probably annual and ubiquitous but records are too few to reveal the local frequency of summer breeding. Young have emerged in four consecutive Septembers at Stanley Corners, Ontario. Litter sizes from embryo and scar counts averaged 4.8 and 4.9. Although the young attain adult size and dentition in 3 months, most do not breed until 11 months old. We have questioned or explained conflicting reports and conclude that the breeding habits of Canadian chipmunks are essentially similar to those described by some U.S. workers.

Dynamic Anthropometry of Working Positions

This paper provides a review of the principles and procedures of workspace design for engineers. It emphasizes that human body size, anthropometry, and muscle force capability, biomechanics, are both essential for the efficient sizing of equipment. The proper method of workspace design, the “design limits concept”, is described, and the fallacy of the “average man” concept is demonstrated. General methods of gathering body size and strength data are outlined, and major information sources noted. The author's ideas on human muscle strength in the weightless state are included.