Evolutionary theory posits that grandmothers can increase their inclusive fitness by investing time and resources in their grandchildren. According on the X-linked grandmother hypothesis, the asymmetric inheritance of X-chromosomes should be responsible for the biased effect of the investment by maternal and paternal grandmothers towards granddaughters and grandsons. The British Millennium Cohort Study (n=4445 children) was used to investigate the association between grandmaternal childcare and children’s injuries between the ages of 9 months and 3 years. Support was found for the X-linked grandmother hypothesis predicting that the investment of paternal grandmothers benefits more granddaughters than grandsons, the investment of paternal grandmothers benefits granddaughters more than the investment of maternal grandmothers, and the investment of maternal grandmothers is similarly associated with the injuries of granddaughters and grandsons. However, no support was found for the prediction that maternal grandmothers benefit more grandsons than paternal grandmothers. Thus, some, although not univocal, evidence for the prediction that X-chromosomal relatedness shapes the grandmaternal effect on child outcomes was found.

The diabetes epidemic is expanding rapidly in India, with 69.2 million people living with diabetes in 2015. This study assessed the spatial pattern and determinants of diagnosed diabetes prevalence in the districts of six states and one union territory (UT) in southern India – a region that has a high prevalence of diabetes. Using cross-sectional population-based survey data from the 2012–13 District Level Household and Facility Survey-4, the prevalence and magnitude of diagnosed diabetes at district level for the population aged 18 years and above were computed. Moran’s I was calculated to explore the spatial clustering of diagnosed diabetes prevalence. Ordinary Least Square (OLS) and Spatial Lag (SL) regression models were carried out to investigate the spatial determinants of diagnosed diabetes prevalence. The prevalence of diagnosed diabetes was found to be substantially higher than that of self-reported diabetes in southern India (7.64% vs 2.38%). Diagnosed diabetes prevalence in the study area varied from 10.52% in Goa to 4.89% in Telangana. The Moran’s I values signified positive moderate autocorrelation. Southern India had 14.15 million individuals with diagnosed diabetes in 2012–13. Bangalore had the highest number of persons with diagnosed diabetes, and Palakkad had the smallest number. In the OLS and SL models, the proportion of people with secondary education and above, wealthy and Christian populations were found to be significant determinants of diagnosed diabetes prevalence. In addition, in the OLS model, the proportion of Scheduled Tribe population showed a negative relationship with diagnosed diabetes prevalence. In order to prevent or postpone the onset age for diabetes, there is a need to raise awareness about diabetes in India.

This study was conducted to determine sexual experiences and gender differences in sexual behaviour in university students. In this cross-sectional and descriptive study conducted between 1st February and 12th November 2017. A total of 491 volunteer students were selected at a state university in the Mediterranean region of Turkey using a systematic sampling method. Questionnaires were distributed to the students in sealed envelopes and collected on completion. The data were collected using a socio-demographic form and a sexual experiences and sexual health behaviours form. A total of 414 students (78 males; 336 females) were included in this study. The prevalence of sexual intercourse among these was 4.3%, and total oral and anal sex experiences were 35% and 16.7%, respectively. A significantly higher number of female students of those who reported having sexual intercourse (n = 9; 50.0%), oral sex (n = 81; 55.9%) and anal sex (n = 60; 87.0%), also reported not telling anyone about his/her partner (77.2%), not talking about sex (82.4%) and not buying contraceptive products, even when necessary (78.3%). Hidden sexuality was seen to affect female students more often and this may lead to risky sexual behaviours, sexually transmitted diseases, an unhealthy sexual life with multiple partners and even unplanned, unwanted pregnancies.

Extant humans are currently increasing their genetic load, which is informing present and future human microevolution. This has been a gradual process that has been rising over the last centuries as a consequence of improved sanitation, nutritional improvements, advancements in microbiology and medical interventions, which have relaxed natural selection. Moreover, a reduction in infant and child mortality and changing societal attitudes towards fertility have led to a decrease in total fertility rates (TFRs) since the 19th century. Generally speaking, decreases in differential fertility and mortality have meant that there is less opportunity for natural selection to eliminate deleterious mutations from the human gene pool. It has been argued that the average human may carry ~250–300 mutations that are mostly deleterious, as well as several hundred less-deleterious variants. These deleterious alleles in extant humans mean that our fitness is being constrained. While such alleles are viewed as reducing human fitness, they may also have had an adaptive function in the past, such as assisting in genetic complexity, sexual recombination and diploidy. Saying this, our current knowledge on these fitness compromising alleles is still lacking.