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The impact of maternal undernutrition on morphological changes of the retina was assessed in two generations of aged offspring. Wistar 18 rats (9 of each generation of 20-month-old female offspring; in total – 27 eyes) were analyzed. The first generation offspring were born to mothers who: (a) were restricted to food only before pregnancy (pre-pregnancy); (b) whose food was restricted before and during pregnancy. The control group and all the offspring were fed normally. After enucleating the eyes, paraffin sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin. The thickness of retina layers was measured. Cryosections were immunostained using glial fibrillary acidic protein, ionized calcium-binding adaptor molecule1, RNA-binding protein with multiple splicing for evaluation of macroglia, microglia and retinal ganglion cells by digital image analysis tools. Our data have shown atrophy of photoreceptor layer and degeneration of outer nuclear layer in all investigated groups, but less damage was found in the control group. Higher Müller cell activity and greater number of microglial cells was observed in the second generation offspring born from both restricted diet groups. Higher numbers of microglial and retinal ganglion cells were observed in the second generation in comparison to the first generation offspring. Malnutrition of the mother may be one of the possible causes of degeneration of the outer layers of the retina and activation of Müller cells in the second generation offspring. The effect of maternal nutritional restriction on the number of microglial and retinal ganglion cells is unclear.

Purpose. The aim of the study was to evaluate biomechanics of the patellofemoral joint using full weight bearing kinematic MRI. We postulated that females with unilateral PFP might have greater medial femoral rotation in comparrison to the contralateral knee, also greater lateral patella tilt and displacement. Methods. Forty four females aged 20–40 years with unilateral PFP were included in the study. The kinematic MRI examination was performed with a 1.5 T MRI unit. Full-weight bearing was used. Sagittal and axial images of the patellofemoral joint were acquired with a transmit-receive surface body coil. The study parameters, i. e. bisect offset, patella tilt angle, medial femoral rotation, patellar rotation at 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50° of flexion, were measured for both knees. Results. Statistically significant changes were confirmed for greater bisect offset at all angles of flexion. The patella tilt angle increased steadily throughout full extension, but there was no significant difference in the tilt angle at 50° flexion. Greater medial femoral rotation was observed at all degrees of flexion, while patellar rotation showed no difference. Conclusions. Our study has confirmed the growing body of literature, theorizing that the primary cause of PFP pain is altered femur dynamics under relatively stable patella.

Objective. To evaluate changes in anthropometric and biochemical parameters in pregnancy and their dynamics during last two decades and to determine the association between anthropometric and biochemical parameters, their influence on fetal and neonatal development. Material and methods. In 1985–2005, anthropometric (height, body mass, weight gain during pregnancy, pelvic measurements, skinfold thicknesses, passive body mass) and biochemical (cholesterol, triglyceride, protein, and iron levels) parameters, their correlation, changes in pregnancy were examined; also the correlations between these parameters and neonatal body mass indices were evaluated. In 1986–1987, 383 pregnant women were examined, in 1998 – 130, and in 2003–2005 – 133. Results. During 20 years, the height of examined women increased on an average of 2.5 cm; they became thinner; body mass index decreased. The body composition became similar to “cylinder” shape due to decreased thickness of adipose tissue in the limbs. The dimensions of bony pelvis – external conjugate and bicristal diameters – decreased. Primiparous women became older (1995 – 22.5 years of age, 2004 – 27.6). At the beginning of investigation, the weight gain was on an average of 21.9% of body mass before pregnancy (13.3 kg) and at the end – 23.9% (14.2 kg). The values of anthropometric parameters vary in a consistent pattern during pregnancy: the lower body mass and body mass index at the beginning of pregnancy, the higher weight gain at the end of pregnancy. Blood serum levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, and especially iron were decreased during the study. Conclusions. An inverse correlation between body mass index and lipid metabolism in pregnancy was revealed: the higher body mass index was at the beginning of pregnancy, the lower increase in lipid concentration was during pregnancy. At the beginning of investigation as well as after 20 years, women with low body mass index showed...

Background. Discrete cranial traits are used in anthropology for estimating the genetic divergence of palaeopopulations and for assessing the kinship of individuals within a population. The goal of the present research was to test the effectiveness of the topographical method in kinship assessment. Materials and methods. The 5th–6th cc. burial ground in Plinkaigalis (Central Lithuania) was investigated. The spatial distribution of 45 discrete cranial traits in 360 individuals was examined, their local increasing in density (clusters) was estimated, and the concordance of their clustering areas was checked up by superposing the grave localization maps. The dispersion of some archaeological finds was analysed in the same way. Results. Nine discrete characters demonstrated a significant clustering on the situation plan of the cemetery; in seven places their density focuses coincided and in two they were rather doubtful. The trait concentration areas differ from those of interments. The characters are of different nature: sutural bones, varieties of openings, even cribra orbitalia, a pathological manifestation. In respect of the occurrence in the Plinkaigalis population, some traits were comparative rare, and some of them were frequent. No relations to inter-group variability and trait taxonomic value in inter-population comparisons were detected. Several kinds of adornments and tools used in the research demonstrated a clustering independent of those of discrete cranial traits... [to full text] Įvadas. Diskretūs, arba nemetriniai, kaukolės požymiai nuo praėjusio amžiaus vidurio naudojami paleopopuliacinėje genetikoje atstumui tarp populiacijų nustatyti, o pastaraisiais dešimtmečiais ieškoma patikimų būdų giminystės laipsniui tarp tos pačios populiacijos individų apibrėžti. Dauguma tų būdų sudėtingi, todėl nedažnai naudojami. Šio darbo tikslas – išmėginti paprastą topografinį metodą, taip pat išskirti ir apibūdinti svarbius giminystei požymius. Medžiaga ir metodai. Ištirta 360 griautinių kapų, iškastų V. Kazakevičiaus V–VI a. Plinkaigalio (Kėdainių rajonas) kapinyne, kaulinė medžiaga. 45 diskretūs kaukolės požymiai nustatyti įprastiniais metodais ir pavadinti lotyniškais terminais, pasiūlytais vieno iš autorių. Kapinyno situacijos plane kartografuoti atskiri požymiai, tikrintas jų pasiskirstymas. Siekiant išryškinti požymių sutirštėjimą, požymių žemėlapiai buvo užklojami vienas ant kito. Tokiu pačiu būdu buvo tiriamas ir kai kurių archeologinių radinių pasiskirstymas. Rezultatai. Dauguma požymių išsibarstė difuziškai, tik devyni susispietė atskirais židiniais. Sugretinus žemėlapius (2 pav.), septyniais atvejais židinių plotai daugmaž sutapo, dviejuose plotuose sutapimas buvo sąlyginis – trijų požymių arealai tik lietėsi neužklodami vienas kito. Nustatyta, kad diskrečių požymių plotai nesusiję su palaidojimų tankumu (3 pav.). Netolygiai pasiskirsčiusių ir toliau vadinamų diskriminantiniais požymių prigimtis įvairi – tai ir siūlių kaulai, ir įvairios angos, ir net... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]

Šis straipsnis skiriamas Vilniaus universiteto Anatomijos, histologijos ir antro¬pologijos katedros docento, ilgamečio „Medicinos“ žurnalo redakcinės kolegijos nario, anatomo ir antropologo Antano Adomaičio 65 metų sukakčiai ir darbo katedroje 40-mečiui pažymėti. Pirmosios Antano Adomaičio mokslinės publikacijos pasirodė XX a. septintajame dešimtmetyje, o dabar jo publikacijų sąraše – daugiau kaip 140 darbų. Docento mokslinių tyrinėjimų sritis plati – nuo augimo ir brendimo ypatumų iki suaugusių žmonių fizinės būklės bei jos pokyčių, susijusių su konkrečiu laikotarpiu. Tačiau svarbiausi Antano Adomaičio moksliniai darbai yra klinikinės antropologijos srityje. Antanas Adomaitis nagrinėjo augimą ir brendimą patologijos sąlygomis, suaugusių žmonių kūno sudėjimą, nutukimo paplitimą, augimo įvairovę ir epochinę tendenciją: 1975 m. apgynė medicinos daktaro disertaciją „Vaikų su įgimtomis širdies ydomis fizinis vystymasis ir lytinis brendimas“; vėliau nagrinėjo vaikų su įgimtais veido raidos defektais, aklųjų ir silpnaregių vaikų augimą ir brendimą. Dabar docentas kartu su kitais katedros mokslininkais tiria įvairių Lietuvos miestų ir kaimo vietovių vaikų augimo įvairovę, fizinės būklės epochinius pokyčius. Antanas Adomaitis sukaupęs bene daugiausia Lietuvos gyventojų (vaikų ir suaugusių žmonių) antropologinių duomenų, o tai svarus įnašas į Lietuvos auksologiją ir klinikinę antropologiją, vertinga medžiaga vaikų augimo ir brendimo, taip pat suaugusių žmonių fizinės būklės ir... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] The present paper is dedicated to docent Antanas Adomaitis, anatomist and anthropologist, former member of editorial board of journal “Medicina”, on the occasion of his 65th birthday and 40 years of scientific activity. First publications of Antanas Adomatis appeared in the 1960s, and now the list of his scientific publications exceeds 140 in number. The research field of docent Antanas Adomaitis is wide and covers problems from growth and development to physical status of adult people and its changes associated with a particular period. However, his most important scientific works are in the field of clinical anthropology. Antanas Adomaitis investigated growth and maturation under pathological circumstances, body composition of adult people, prevalence of obesity, growth diversity and secular trend: in 1975 he defended his thesis entitled “Physical development and sexual maturation of children with congenital heart defects” for the degree of Doctor of Medicine, later focused on growth and development of children with congenital facial anomalies, also blind and weak-sighted children. Recently docent together with the other scientists of our Department investigates growth variety of children from different towns and rural areas of Lithuania. Antanas Adomaitis collected probably most anthropological data on Lithuanians (children and adults) – this is ponderable contribution to Lithuanian auxology and clinical anthropology, valuable material for the future researches of growth... [to full text]

On the occasion of 65th birthday of Professor Gintautas Česnys present paper gives a review of scientific and other activity of this outstanding personality – the expert member of Lithuanian Academy of Science, former Dean of the Medical Faculty (1988–1999) and Head of the Department of Anatomy, Histology and Anthropology (1988–2001) of Vilnius University, prizeman of Lithuanian National Prize of Science (1989) and Estonian State prize (2005). Gintautas Česnys graduated from Medical Faculty in 1963. His scientific and pedagogical activity developed from problems of auxology (first dissertation “Auxological characteristics of Lithuanians during infancy, longitudinal study, 1970”) to ethnic anthropology (second dissertation “Anthropology of ancient inhabitants in Lithuania”, 1986). Recently Professor devotes his scientific potentiality for generalizing and summing up of the main historical moments and most outstanding personalities of Lithuanian anthropology.

The aim of this study was to reveal trends in height, weight, and body mass index of preterm very low birth weight children from birth up to 5 years of age. Material and methods. The present study is based on cross-sectional growth study carried out in the Clinic of Neonatology of Kaunas University of Medicine. Total sample consisted of 735 children from birth up to 5 years of age: 379 preterm children with very low birth weight; and 356 term children with normal (appropriate for gestation age) birth weight. Height, weight, body mass index were measured. In order to verify if normal birth weight group corresponds to Lithuanian standards, the data of normal birth weight group children were compared with Lithuanian standard measures. Then data of very low birth weight group and normal birth weight group were compared. Results. We found that height and weight of very low birth weight girls and boys were significantly lower than height and weight of term normal birth weight infant from birth up to 5 years of age (p