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Objectives: To study and analyze the impact of socio‐economic factors on secular changes in height, weight, and body mass index (BMI) among Moscow's youth over the time interval from the late 19th–early 20th century to the present. Methods: Anthropometric data, including height, weight, and BMI, were collected through surveys conducted on youths aged 17–20 years in Moscow from the 1880s for males and from the 1920s for females to the present. The dataset includes information on 6434 individuals surveyed from 2000 to 2019, as well as previously published mean values. Economic development indicators, such as gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, monthly average income per capita, and the Gini coefficient, were examined to analyze the association between secular trends in body size and socio‐economic conditions. Results: A positive secular trend in height and weight has been observed among Moscow's youth from the early 20th century to the present. Substantial increases in height occurred during the second half of the previous century, stabilizing in the 2000s. Over the analyzed period, both average body weight and BMI values showed a consistent rise. The pattern for BMI exhibited a U‐shaped trend, with a decline from the 1970s to the mid‐1990s, followed by a subsequent increase. Strong correlations were found between the secular changes in body size among Moscow's youth and temporal fluctuations in key socio‐economic indicators, including GDP per capita, monthly average income per capita, and the Gini coefficient. Conclusion: The study demonstrates the significant influence of socio‐economic conditions on intergenerational changes in body size, as evidenced by the positive secular trend in physique indicators (height, weight, and BMI) among Moscow's youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives To figure out which and how many systems of genetic markers should be used to control for the effects of shared population history in studies examining the association between morphology and climate and to test cranial non-metric traits as an additional source of neutral distances for such studies. Materials and Methods We employed three systems of genetic markers (mtDNA, Y-chromosome and autosomal SNPs) and cranial non-metrics to control for potential impact of population history on apparent associations between climatic variables and mid-facial morphology found in a set of seven North Asian and one East Asian populations. Results A significant association between morphology and climate remained, independent of which of the four neutral distance matrices were used as a control. Matrices of neutral distances based on different systems of genetic markers show just one case of significant correlation among each other namely between the mtDNA and autosomal SNPs matrices. The correlation between the autosomal SNP and cranial non-metrics matrices is also fairly high but does not reach significance. Discussion A combination of several sources of genetic information could provide a more robust control for the effect of shared population history compared to just one type of markers since each of them has its own sources of bias and each provides a slightly different view of genetic relationships among the populations. Use of cranial non-metrics in researches examining the association between morphology and climate appears promising as they produce results that are generally consistent with those obtained using genetic markers. Am J Phys Anthropol 159:517-522, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Sexual dimorphism in the relative length of the second-to-fourth digits (the digit ratio, or 2D:4D) in humans has been reported in many studies. The aim of our study was to ascertain possibility of using the 2D:4D ratio as an additional marker for sex determination in the study of human skeletal remains. Methods We have studied 2D:4D ratios obtained from measurements of finger phalanges and metacarpal bones in Russian (45 adult males and 26 adult females) and German (58 adult males and 29 adult females) skeletal series. Results The difference in 2D:4D ratio between the male and female subsamples in both skeletal series was not statistically significant. Analysis of variance revealed that the 2D:4D ratios in our sample varied more by ethnicity than by the sexual identity of the skeletal material. Conclusion Our results suggest that the 2D:4D ratio cannot be used as an appropriate trait for the sex determination of human skeletal remains. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 28:591-593, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Explores the origin of Armenian ethnicity. Characteristics of an Armenoid; Analysis of Armenian civilization; Use of phylogenetic trees to study Armenian history.