Taller Individuals Research Articles

Does the height to entrepreneurship nexus have two stages? New evidence from 27 nations

We examine the association between height and entrepreneurship in 27 nations, finding that the relationship between height and entrepreneurship can be considered to be a two-stage process. During the first stage, individuals make the decision of whether or not to try to set up their own business. At this stage, the effect of height is stronger: each 10-cm increase in height is associated with an approximately 1.4 percentage point increase in the probability of having tried to set up a business. During the second stage, after a positive decision to embark upon entrepreneurship has already been taken, people may find success in setting up their business. At this stage, although taller individuals are still more likely to experience success than their shorter counterparts, the effect of height becomes much weaker. Each 10-cm increase in height is associated with an approximately 0.4 percentage point increase in the probability of having tried to set up a business without success, and an approximately 0.4 percentage point increase in the likelihood of having set up a business in which the respondent is no longer involved, or that is no longer operational. Finally, each 10-cm increase in height is associated with an approximately 1 percentage point increase in the probability of remaining an entrepreneur. At the same time, we found that the effect of height is stronger in magnitude than the effects of gender, health and university education. This finding is remarkable insofar as gender, health and university education are usually considered to be the main determinants of entrepreneurship.

Growth Rates in the Giant Rosette Plants Dendrosenecio adnivalis and Lobelia wollastonii on the Ruwenzori Mountains, Uganda

Stem lengths of Dendrosenecio adnivalis and Lobelia wollastonii were measured three times over 5.5 years in the Ruwenzori Mountains, Uganda. These are the only growth data for these two species. Both species had highly variable growth rates. Absolute growth rates in D. adnivalis were not related to the number of rosettes, inflorescences or initial height of plants. The D. adnivalis that were shorter at the beginning of the study grew proportionately faster than did taller individuals. Growth rate was positively associated with annual rainfall for D. adnivalis on the Ruwenzori Mountains, D. keniodendron on Mount Kenya, and D. battiscombei on the Aberdare Mountains. Lobelia wollastonii that were taller at the beginning of the study had greater absolute growth rates than did shorter plants. There was no significant relationship between the initial height and proportional increase in height for L. wollastonii. Growth rate and height are unreliable indicators of age for both species.

The Contact Between Sports Talent Identification and Tracking of Tall and Short Height

Understanding the qualities of elite athletes is necessary in trying to determine ability as sports talent. However, there are few findings based on analyses that objectively grasp the characteristics of exceptional athletes. If the characteristics of changes with age in tall and short height ranking could be clarified, the physical characteristics of tall and short height judged to be advantageous in certain sports could be identified. In this study, we analyzed the tracking status of tall and short individuals and verified the changes in height ranking level with changes in age. We then verified a logical system for the viewpoint of sports talent identification from the genetic contribution to height after birth. We then established a span evaluation chart for height with age using the wavelet interpolation model, and demonstrated the tracking of height rankings. In other words, individuals ranked as short or tall moved within that rank without change into adulthood. The major significance of this study is thought to be that, by verifying the tracking phenomenon for height, it paradoxically revealed a potential methodology for discussing heritability. By elucidating the tracking of height ranking, a logical system for the viewpoint of identifying sports talent based on the genetic contribution to height after birth could be seen in this study. Thus, if people with superior athletic ability and tall height could be identified from a very young age, it would lead to the identification of future talent in sports where height is an advantage. In sports where short height is an advantage, identifying individuals with superior athletic ability and short height would be beneficial. Therefore, a logical system for sports talent identification may have been established in this study by establishing a tracking analysis for tall and short height rank.

Combined Non-Invasive Cardiac Imaging and Genetic Testing of Elite Volleyball Players: A Ten-Year Experience.

Sudden cardiac death in athletes is a devastating event. Although significant progress has been made in identifying the underlying pathophysiology and genetic basis for sudden cardiac death in young athletes, controversy exists regarding cost-effective screening measures to identify at-risk individuals. In this report we describe our ten-year experience performing cardiovascular assessments on 150 members of the United States Men’s and Women’s National Volleyball teams. Through a combination of history, physical, echocardiography and genetic testing, we have identified one previously undiagnosed athlete with Marfan syndrome, along with four others with a possible aortopathy. Taken together, this approach is a cost-effective strategy for the identification of at-risk tall athletes leading to potentially lifesaving interventions, and raises the issue of the feasibility of screening for all tall individuals.

Height is associated with more self-serving beliefs about wealth redistribution

Abstract People vary widely in their attitudes towards how much their government should redistribute wealth. Evolutionary theory may shed light on why this variation occurs. Numerous studies have established an association between upper body strength and attitudes towards equality and wealth redistribution in males, showing that physically stronger men are more likely to hold self-serving beliefs on these issues. This effect is typically weaker or absent in women. A question that has received little attention is whether there are similar associations between other aspects of formidability and attitudes towards wealth redistribution. One such aspect is height. I tested this prediction using data from the European Social Survey, in a sample of 27031 people from 20 European countries. Results show that taller people are more likely to have self-serving attitudes towards government redistribution of wealth. The result was robust to numerous control variables and alternative model specifications, but the direct effects of height were small. Taller individuals were less supportive of government wealth redistribution overall, but were especially averse if they were also wealthier. Post-hoc analyses suggested that for lower income deciles, the association was reversed. For these people, there was a positive association between height and support for wealth redistribution. However, effects were equally strong in males and females, and so are not fully consistent with current evolutionary psychological theories of resource distribution.

Height, Chest Size, and Household Composition in Late-Nineteenth-Century Catalonia

AbstractThis article measures the impact of early-life household composition on adult height and chest size in men born in Catalonia in the late nineteenth century. It combines data from military drafts with census records, observing the same individual twice over his lifetime. For family composition characteristics I control for the number of siblings, intergenesic interval, parental occupation and educational level, fatherless or motherless families, and other relatives living in the household. I show that taller individuals were more likely to come from well-off families and that men who grew up in orphanages or in motherless households were shorter than their counterparts. Results also uncover that there was a negative association between height and the number of siblings and the age gap between them. However, this negative association is driven by having more brothers (instead of sisters). If we are to gain a fuller understanding of the factors that have influenced height, we need to consider the composition of the household as an explanatory variable.

Overgrowth mutants determine the causal role of gibberellin GA2oxidaseA13 in Rht12 dwarfism of wheat

The induced dwarf mutant Rht12 was previously shown to have agronomic potential to replace the conventional DELLA mutants Rht-B1b/Rht-D1b in wheat. The Rht12 dwarfing gene is not associated with reduced coleoptile length (unlike the DELLA mutants) and it is dominant, characteristics which are shared with the previously characterized dwarfing genes Rht18 and Rht14. Using the Rht18/Rht14 model, a gibberellin (GA) 2-oxidase gene was identified in the Rht12 region on chromosome 5A. A screen for suppressor mutants in the Rht12 background identified tall overgrowth individuals that were shown to contain loss-of-function mutations in GA2oxidaseA13, demonstrating the role of this gene in the Rht12 dwarf phenotype. It was concluded that Rht12, Rht18, and Rht14 share the same height-reducing mechanism through the increased expression of GA 2-oxidase genes. Some of the overgrowth mutants generated in this study were semi-dwarf and taller than the original Rht12 dwarf, providing breeders with new sources of agronomically useful dwarfism.

Evaluation of users' experience and posture in a rotated swivel seating configuration

Objective This study aims to evaluate a car passenger’s experience and actions in a rotated seat in terms of interaction with an adjacent passenger. Methods A static user study was conducted, using a stationary test vehicle with two front row seats facing rearwards. The seats were mounted on a swivel plate which allowed inboard rotation. Thirty-two participants in 16 test pairs were grouped based on stature; short or tall. The participants within each pair knew each other. Three seating configurations were evaluated; 0° and 10° and 20° inboard rotated position of both seats. The participants were seated in each seating configuration for 10 min; 5 min they engaged in a conversation with each other and 5 min they were watching media on an Ipad mounted in front of them. Subjective data from each participant on their experiences and preferences were collected through questionnaires, and objective data on sitting postures and eye gaze were collected through video recording. Results Ninety-two percent of the short participants preferred to sit in the 20° rotated seating configuration when watching media and 75% preferred the 20° seating configuration when engaged in conversation. Compared to short participants, the tall participants showed a relative larger spread in seating configuration preference; 15% and 30% of them preferred the reference position for media and conversation, respectively. Leg interference was common for tall participants when 20° inboard rotated. They perceived it uncomfortable and used various strategies to avoid contact, including crossing legs or feet. Time spent with mutual eye contact did not vary by seating configuration. Conclusions This static user study shows that rotated seats could be a desired seating configuration in future autonomous vehicles for individuals who know each other. It reveals the reasons behind the preferences and the extent of desired seat rotation, showing differences between tall and short individuals. By understanding how occupant position and posture can be influenced by offering various seating configurations, the occupant can choose a comfortable position that is also safe. The leg and feet positions are raised as the body region with most variations and for which an increased understanding of influence in a crash is encouraged.

Height, marriage, and partner characteristics for women in low- and middle-income countries

In both historical and contemporary populations, taller individuals have been shown to fare better in marriage markets. Height has been positively associated with the propensity to marry, length of marriage, and the education and economic outcomes of marriage partners. These associations are most commonly identified for male samples. Studies using female samples are few in number and mixed in their findings. This study uses a pooled sample of national surveys from 64 countries to evaluate how women’s height may relate to the timing of marriage and partner characteristics. The findings suggest that women’s height shows modest associations to the timing of marriage, partner education, and partner occupation status. The strongest effects from height occur toward the extremes of the height distribution. There is some variation in these relationships across three major developing regions (Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and South Asia), and for education in particular, the association is shown to be stronger in countries with shorter average female height.

Height, nevus count, and risk of cutaneous malignant melanoma: Results from 2 large cohorts of US women

Taller individuals are at higher risk of melanoma. To prospectively investigate the association of height with nevus count and melanoma and estimate the proportion of height-melanoma association explained by nevus count among white participants from the Nurses' Health Study (NHS) and Nurses' Health Study 2 (NHS2). We used Cox proportional hazards regression and multinomial logistic regression for data analyses, with adjustment of potential confounders in the multivariate model. We included 82,468 and 106,069 women from NHS and NHS2, respectively. The hazard ratio was 1.21 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.12-1.31) for the association between every 10-cm increase in height and melanoma. Compared with women with no nevi, the odds ratios (95% CIs) associated with a 10-cm increase in height were 1.35 (95% CI 1.23-1.48) in the NHS and 1.12 (95% CI 1.09-1.15) in the NHS2 for women with greater than or equal to 10moles. The proportion of excess melanoma risk associated with each 10-cm increase in height explained by nevus count was 8.03% in the NHS and 10.22% in the NHS2. Self-reported height and nevus count. Mole counts were limited to 1 arm or both legs. Nevus count is an important explanatory factor for the excess risk of melanoma among taller white women.

Influence of height on likelihood of employment, occupational sorting, and earnings in 27 post-communist countries.

We study the influence of height on labour market outcomes using micro-data from a recent survey that cover 27 post-communist countries. Specifically, we focus on the influence of height on three dimensions of labour market outcome: (1) likelihood of employment, (2) occupational sorting, and (3) earnings. We use micro-data from 2016 Life-In-Transition survey (LITS) which was jointly conducted by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Bank. We run several types of regression to show how height influences (1) likelihood of employment, (2) occupational sorting, and (3) earnings. When controlling for a comprehensive set of covariates, for each 10 cm increase in height, the probability of getting a job increases by 1% points for males and by 3 for females. Equally, for each 10 cm increase in height, the probability of getting a job increases by 2% points in urban areas and rural areas. Our findings demonstrate that taller women and men are more likely: (a) being an employer rather than an employee; (b) to be employed in higher-paid and more prestigious sectors of finance, insurance, and real estate; (c) to be employed in private enterprises. Finally, when occupational sorting and socio-demographics are controlled for, a 10 cm increase in height results in a 5% increase in earning for men, and a 12% increase in earnings for women. Using a diverse sample of 27 post-communist countries, we found that taller individuals have better labour market outcomes in terms of employment, occupational sorting, and earnings.

Preferences for Sexually Dimorphic Body Characteristics Revealed in a Large Sample of Speed Daters

While hundreds of studies have investigated the indices that make up attractive body shapes, these studies were based on preferences measured in the laboratory using pictorial stimuli. Whether these preferences translate into real-time, face-to-face evaluations of potential partners is unclear. Here, 539 (275 female) participants in 75 laboratory-based sessions had their body dimensions measured before engaging in round-robin speed dates. After each date, they rated each other’s body, face, personality, and overall attractiveness and noted whether they would go on a date with the partner. Women with smaller waists and lower waist-to-hip ratios were found most attractive, and men with broader shoulders and higher shoulder-to-waist (or hips) ratios were found most attractive. Taller individuals were preferred by both sexes. Our results show that body dimensions associated with greater health, reproductive value (in women), and formidability (in men) influence face-to-face evaluations of attractiveness, consistent with a role of intersexual selection in shaping human bodies.

P44 Homocystinuria is a rare cause of fracture in young patients: a case report

Abstract Background Homocysteinuira is a rare autosomal recessive disorder in the metabolism of sulfur-containing aminoacid caused by mutations in the cystathionine beta-synthase gene which encodes the pyridoxine dependent enzyme cystathionine beta-synthase. It is characterised by significant elevations in plasma and urine homocysteine concentrations and fractures. Methods We describe a case of homocysteinuira in a patient who suffered from a low impact patellar fracture, along with a literature review highlighting the critical relationship between homocysteine level and bone health. Results We reported a 36-year-old female with homocysteinuira due to pyridoxine (B6) unresponsive severe Cystathionine Beta-Synthase deficiency. She developed a right patellar low-impact fracture with osteopenia on X-ray. Examination revealed severe scoliosis with bilateral aphakia (absence of the lens of the eye). Her labs showed, persistent high homocysteine above 100 umol/L (4-10), methionine 383 umol/L (10-42), vitamin D 12 ng/ml. Her spine X-ray revealed severe scoliosis with osteopenia but no fracture. Her DXA scan showed her Z-Score was within the expected range for her age in hip, spine and 1/3 radius areas, however her ultra-distal radius Z-Score was -4.0. Her homocysteine level was mostly higher than 100 due to non-compliance with dietary advice and treatment. The severity of complications primarily depends on the age at diagnosis and the residual cystathionine beta-synthase activity. Most homocysteinuira patients diagnosed in adulthood have severe osteoporosis. Notably, a thinning and lengthening of the long bones result in tall and thin individuals with an appearance like that of Marfan’s syndrome. However, osteoporosis, particularly of the spine, which is associated with scoliosis, is one of the distinguishing features of the disease. High homocysteine levels in homocysteinuric patients impair the function of bone cells that regulate bone remodeling as well as bone material properties such as collagen cross-linking. This imbalance between bone formation and resorption may lead to a low BMD and fracture in patients with. Interestingly, even in general population hyperhomocysteinemia with a plasma level of more than > 13 nmol/ml has been found to be associated with low BMD and an increased risk of fractures that is independent of BMD. Deficiencies in vitamin B6, B12, or folate can lead to increased serum levels of homocysteine as these vitamins act as co-factors for various enzymes involved in homocysteine metabolism. This can be easily rectified with dietary intervention. Conclusion In young patients with a fracture or low BMD, hyperhomocysteinemia could play an important role in the pathogenesis. Homocysteine level should be included in the work up for secondary osteoporosis at young age-group. Simple dietary measures and vitamin B6, folate and B12 supplement should be considered as adjuvant therapeutic option for lowm BMD patients if deficient. Possibly the BMD of the ultra-distal radius is the most sensitive to detect bone changes in hyperhomocysteinemic patients. Disclosures A. Al-Allaf None. T. Paul None. B. Awadh None.

Height shrinkage, health and mortality among older adults: Evidence from Indonesia

In this paper, we analyze the correlates of height shrinkage and the association of height shrinkage and late-life health among mid-aged and older adults from the Indonesian Family Life Survey. We first document the extent of height shrinkage based on measured height over 17 years. Height shrinkage is higher among older age groups, taller individuals, and women. Socioeconomic and initial health correlates of shrinkage are found to be different for men and women. Higher education, marital status, household consumption, urban birth and poor self-reported health in adulthood and childhood are found to be significant correlates for men. Ethnicity, working in the agricultural sector and availability of local health infrastructure are key correlates of height shrinkage for women. Height shrinkage of 1 cm is associated with a 0.02 s.d. decrease in cognition scores for Indonesian men and a 0.01 s.d. decrease for women, and 4% increase in index of mobility difficulties for both men and women. Extreme height loss, defined as height loss greater than 3 cm is associated with 8–10 percent lower lung function and grip strength among both men and women. Extreme height loss among Indonesian older women is also associated with a 7-percentage-point increase in the likelihood of death in the most recent wave. Our results emphasize the importance of taking into account age related height loss as a significant covariate for health and mortality of older adults, independent of baseline height and health.

Improving anatomical stature estimation method. The relationship between living stature and intervertebral disc thickness.

Anatomical stature estimation methods reconstruct stature for skeletal specimens by adding up the heights of skeletal elements contributing to stature. In addition, these estimations factor in a certain amount of soft tissue known as "soft tissue correction". Our study focuses on the relationship between living stature and one of the major soft tissue contributors to stature: the intervertebral disc thickness/height. The purpose of this study was to clarify whether intervertebral disc thickness is greater in tall individuals and whether there is a linear correlation between stature and intervertebral disc height. To conduct this study, we utilized a subsample of the Northern Finland Birth Cohort of 1966 (n = 12,058) with known stature. We measured vertebral heights and intervertebral disc heights from low back MRI examination performed at the age of 46 years (n = 200). All subjects were considered healthy with no spinal injuries or pathologies. Our results clearly indicate that stature and intervertebral disc height have positive, statistically significant association. According to our results it is advisable to take into account the individual's skeletal height when soft tissue corrections for anatomical stature estimations are performed. Further studies utilizing full body MRI are needed to produce more accurate soft tissue corrections.

The relationship between height and leadership: Evidence from across Europe

To better explicate the well-researched finding that taller individuals have higher wages on average, potential mechanisms should be studied in detail. The present analysis investigates the relationship between height and the probability of being in a leadership position in the workplace using multinational European Social Survey data from 19 countries. Studying full-time, employed individuals between 20 and 55 years of age reveals considerable country differences which is beneficial for the estimated multilevel models as variation is increased.The results indicate a statistically significant effect whereby women are 0.15 percentage points more likely to be in a leadership position for each additional centimetre of absolute height when controlling for education and occupational position whereas there is no effect for men.In order to study the relevance of absolute vs relative height, which is the difference to the local peer-group, regional data is utilized. The main findings are that there is no effect of relative height for men but a statistically significant effect for women. For them, absolute and relative effects are about equally strong.

The assessment of morphological features in Hereford cattle

The purpose of the study was to compare the morphological characteristics of Hereford mature herd of different body types at various stages of ontogenesis. Work was carried out in LLC “AF Kalininskaya” of Chelyabinsk region on two groups (n = 15 individual seach) of Hereford cows which are daughters from sires of different body conformation type. Newborn offspring from tall parents were characterized by significant (P < 0.01-0.001) superiority of body length and chest girth characterizing the axial part of the skeleton, and the development of altitudinal measurements characterized the growth of the peripheral skeleton. Later intergroup differences became less noticeable in the linear growth of heifers, which was associated with the limiting factor of dams’ milk productivity, as well as with the pronounced precocity of compact animals. Intensive development of body measurements ended at 15 months of age in animals with compact body type. They reached fully formed skeletal structure at the age of 5 years in terms of basic measurements. Tall individuals have the ability for a longer linear growth up to 6 years of age. The pronounced precocity of compact animals was confirmed by the variability of body volume and area of animals. The results of the study proved that the most noticeable differentiation of cows into body types occurs at later stages of ontogenesis.

Expert consensus on spontaneous ventilation video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery in primary spontaneous pneumothorax (Guangzhou).

Primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) has an estimated incidence ranging from 17–24/100,000 and 1–6/100,000 among males and females, respectively (1,2). It usually occurs in tall thin individuals between 10–30 years of age, especially smokers (3).

Mathematical model to evaluate the effect of carbon monoxide exposure as a function of gender, age and height

This study develops and solves mathematical models using a time-dependent Fick’s law of diffusion with the tools of non-Newtonian mechanics specifically the power-law fluid model with appropriate boundary conditions to predict the concentration profiles of carboxyhemoglobin (COHb) species in the human bloodstream from carbon monoxide (CO) inhaled over some time. The concentration of CO and the length of exposure determines how much harm it does to the body. The model developed prediction compares favourably with experimental results and other models in the literature. The standard error obtained when compared with the experiment is 1.02. The results show that the height of individuals has a significant effect on COHb and CO concentration in both adult male and female such that taller individuals are more susceptible to CO poisoning than shorter ones, but height has no significant effect in children. Similarly, the male is at a higher risk of CO poisoning than the female counterpart of the same age and height.Keywords: CO poisoning, concentration, exposure time, carboxyhemoglobin

Update on the predictability of tall stature from DNA markers in Europeans

Predicting adult height from DNA has important implications in forensic DNA phenotyping. In 2014, we introduced a prediction model consisting of 180 height-associated SNPs based on data from 10,361 Northwestern Europeans enriched with tall individuals (770 > 1.88 standard deviation), which yielded a mid-ranged accuracy (AUC = 0.75 for binary prediction of tall stature and R2 = 0.12 for quantitative prediction of adult height). Here, we provide an update on DNA-based height predictability considering an enlarged list of subsequently-published height-associated SNPs using data from the same set of 10,361 Europeans. A prediction model based on the full set of 689 SNPs showed an improved accuracy relative to previous models for both tall stature (AUC = 0.79) and quantitative height (R2 = 0.21). A feature selection analysis revealed a subset of 412 most informative SNPs while the corresponding prediction model retained most of the accuracy (AUC = 0.76 and R2 = 0.19) achieved with the full model. Over all, our study empirically exemplifies that the accuracy for predicting human appearance phenotypes with very complex underlying genetic architectures, such as adult height, can be improved by increasing the number of phenotype-associated DNA variants. Our work also demonstrates that a careful sub-selection allows for a considerable reduction of the number of DNA predictors that achieve similar prediction accuracy as provided by the full set. This is forensically relevant due to restrictions in the number of SNPs simultaneously analyzable with forensically suitable DNA technologies in the current days of targeted massively parallel sequencing in forensic genetics.