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The present study aimed to compare V̇O 2 max (absolute, adjusted to total body mass, and adjusted to lean mass) in recreational runners and sedentary women < and > 50 yr and verify the effect of aging and physical activity level on the three types of V̇O 2 max expression. The study included 147 women:85 runners (45.7 ± 14.1 yr) and 62 sedentary controls (48.8 ± 9.8 yr). They were subjected to cardiopulmonary exercise testing for V̇O 2 max measurement and a body composition test by dual-emission X-ray absorptiometry system. V̇O 2 max were expressed as absolute values (L/min), relative to total body mass values (mL/kg/min), and relative to lean mass values (mL/kgLM/min). The two-way analysis of variance revealed a significant interaction [F(2,131) = 4.43, p < 0.001] and effects of age group [F(2,131) = 32.79, p < 0.001] and physical activity group [F(2,131) = 55.64, p < 0.001] on V̇O 2 max (mL/min). V̇O 2 max (mL/kg/min) and V̇O 2 max (mL/kgLM/min) were significantly influenced by age and physical activity levels. The multiple regression model explains 76.2 % of the dependent variable V̇O 2 max (mL/kg/min), age (β = -0.335, t = -7.841, p < 0.001), and physical activity group (β = -0.784, t = -18.351, p < 0.001). In conclusion, female runners had higher V̇O 2 max values than sedentary women at all ages, even though aging has a greater impact on V̇O 2 max in the runners group. In addition to cardiorespiratory fitness, women's metabolic lean mass function, as measured by V̇O 2 max adjusted by lean mass, is significantly influenced by aging. Finally, physical activity has a greater impact on V̇O 2 max levels than aging., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

A combination of evidence, based on genetic, fossil and archaeological findings, indicates that Homo sapiens spread out of Africa between ~70-60 thousand years ago (kya). However, it appears that once outside of Africa, human populations did not expand across all of Eurasia until ~45 kya. The geographic whereabouts of these early settlers in the timeframe between ~70-60 to 45 kya has been difficult to reconcile. Here we combine genetic evidence and palaeoecological models to infer the geographic location that acted as the Hub for our species during the early phases of colonisation of Eurasia. Leveraging on available genomic evidence we show that populations from the Persian Plateau carry an ancestry component that closely matches the population that settled the Hub outside Africa. With the paleoclimatic data available to date, we built ecological models showing that the Persian Plateau was suitable for human occupation and that it could sustain a larger population compared to other West Asian regions, strengthening this claim., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Our understanding of prehistoric societal organization at the family level is still limited. Here, we generated genome data from 32 individuals from an approximately 3,800-y-old burial mound attributed to the Bronze Age Srubnaya-Alakul cultural tradition at the site of Nepluyevsky, located in the Southern Ural region of Central Eurasia. We found that life expectancy was generally very low, with adult males living on average 8 y longer than females. A total of 35 first-degree, 40 second-degree, and 48 third-degree biological relationships connected 23 of the studied individuals, allowing us to propose a family tree spanning three generations with six brothers at its center. The oldest of these brothers had eight children with two women and the most children overall, whereas the other relationships were monogamous. Notably, related female children above the age of five were completely absent from the site, and adult females were more genetically diverse than males. These results suggest that biological relationships between male siblings played a structural role in society and that descent group membership was based on patrilineality. Women originated from a larger mating network and moved to join the men, with whom they were buried. Finally, the oldest brother likely held a higher social position, which was expressed in terms of fertility.

The major genetic divergences among non-Africans took place within a relatively short period of time, between 50 and 40 thousand years ago. These events shaped human diversity worldwide and set the basis for our current understanding of demographic history, patterns of adaptation and genetic burden across human populations. While the global picture appears already set, with the main human expansion Out of Africa inferred to have occurred between 60 and 70 thousand years ago and the main separation between contemporary East and West Eurasian to have taken place at around 40 thousand years ago, several finer details remain unresolved, including the whereabouts of such expansions and the dynamics of their interactions with archaic hominins and the interplay between environmental, cultural and demographic effectors. Here we review the major events that characterize human movements across and beyond Eurasia until the last glacial maximum and, at the end of each paragraph, spell out in italics the major questions that remain unsolved and that may provide major breakthroughs in the field in the upcoming years.

Northern Pakistan is home to many diverse ethnicities and languages. The region acted as a prime corridor for ancient invasions and population migrations between Western Eurasia and South Asia. Kho, one of the major ethnic groups living in this region, resides in the remote and isolated mountainous region in the Chitral Valley of the Hindu Kush Mountain range. They are culturally and linguistically distinct from the rest of the Pakistani population groups and their genetic ancestry is still unknown. In this study, we generated genome-wide genotype data of ~1 M loci (Illumina WeGene array) for 116 unrelated Kho individuals and carried out comprehensive analyses in the context of worldwide extant and ancient anatomically modern human populations across Eurasia. The results inferred that the Kho can trace a large proportion of their ancestry to the population who migrated south from the Southern Siberian steppes during the second millennium BCE ~110 generations ago. An additional wave of gene flow from a population carrying East Asian ancestry was also identified in the Kho that occurred ~60 generations ago and may possibly be linked to the expansion of the Tibetan Empire during 7th to 9th centuries CE (current era) in the northwestern regions of the Indian sub-continent. We identified several candidate regions suggestive of positive selection in the Kho, that included genes mainly involved in pigmentation, immune responses, muscular development, DNA repair, and tumor suppression., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to European Society of Human Genetics.)

The population dynamics that followed the Out of Africa (OoA) expansion and the whereabouts of the early migrants before the differentiation that ultimately led to the formation of Oceanian, West and East Eurasian macropopulations have long been debated. Shedding light on these events may, in turn, provide clues to better understand the cultural evolution in Eurasia between 50 and 35 ka. Here, we analyze Eurasian Paleolithic DNA evidence to provide a comprehensive population model and validate it in light of available material culture. Leveraging on our integrated approach we propose the existence of a Eurasian population Hub, where Homo sapiens lived between the OoA and the broader colonization of Eurasia, which was characterized by multiple events of expansion and local extinction. A major population wave out of Hub, of which Ust'Ishim, Bacho Kiro, and Tianyuan are unadmixed representatives, is broadly associated with Initial Upper Paleolithic lithics and populated West and East Eurasia before or around 45 ka, before getting largely extinct in Europe. In this light, we suggest a parsimonious placement of Oase1 as an individual related to Bacho Kiro who experienced additional Neanderthal introgression. Another expansion, started before 38 ka, is broadly associated with Upper Paleolithic industries and repopulated Europe with sporadic admixtures with the previous wave (GoyetQ116-1) and more systematic ones, whereas moving through Siberia (Yana, Mal'ta). Before these events, we also confirm Zlatý Kůň as the most basal human lineage sequenced to date OoA, potentially representing an earlier wave of expansion out of the Hub., (© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.)

The contemporary European genetic makeup formed in the last 8,000 years when local Western Hunter-Gatherers (WHGs) mixed with incoming Anatolian Neolithic farmers and Pontic Steppe pastoralists. 1-3 This encounter combined genetic variants with distinct evolutionary histories and, together with new environmental challenges faced by the post-Neolithic Europeans, unlocked novel adaptations. 4 Previous studies inferred phenotypes in these source populations, using either a few single loci 5-7 or polygenic scores based on genome-wide association studies, 8-10 and investigated the strength and timing of natural selection on lactase persistence or height, among others. 6 , 11 , 12 However, how ancient populations contributed to present-day phenotypic variation is poorly understood. Here, we investigate how the unique tiling of genetic variants inherited from different ancestral components drives the complex traits landscape of contemporary Europeans and quantify selection patterns associated with these components. Using matching individual-level genotype and phenotype data for 27 traits in the Estonian biobank 13 and genotype data directly from the ancient source populations, we quantify the contributions from each ancestry to present-day phenotypic variation in each complex trait. We find substantial differences in ancestry for eye and hair color, body mass index, waist/hip circumferences, and their ratio, height, cholesterol levels, caffeine intake, heart rate, and age at menarche. Furthermore, we find evidence for recent positive selection linked to four of these traits and, in addition, sleep patterns and blood pressure. Our results show that these ancient components were differentiated enough to contribute ancestry-specific signatures to the complex trait variability displayed by contemporary Europeans., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The present study assesses the adaptation of a group of female patients with either manifest or suspected breast cancer who have undergone Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) after receiving psychological support. Several studies in literature have reported the effectiveness of such support in reducing anti-oxidant and depression aspects related to MRI. Two random groups of patients, from the Service of Diagnostics Imaging of the Oncological Unit of the Regina Elena Institute of Rome, were enrolled. The experimental group (EG) received routine information together with extra psychological. The control group (CG) received only routine information. All the patients underwent a psychological evaluation, before (TO) and after (T1) the exam. The following evaluation instruments were used: the Crown Crisp Experimental Index (C.C. E.I.), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (S.T.A.I. Y1-Y2) and the Self Rating Depression Scale (S.D.S.) for TO and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (S.T.A.I. Y1 and the Self Rating Depression Scale (S.D.S.) for T1. Results prior to the MRI exam (TO), show that the women receiving extra information and emotional support (EG) suffer considerably less anxiety and depression compared to the control group. Results after the MRI exam (T1), indicate that the way the exam is carried out is also relevant in reducing anxiety. The level of anxiety, however, was significantly lower in the experimental group compared to the control. Depression levels, on the other hand, remained unaltered. Our results indicate that a psychological intervention aimed at providing more information and giving more emotional support helps patients adapt with a reduction of anxiety and depression.