Birth order

T3. Thompson, M. W., Heredity, maternal age, and birth order in etiology of celiac disease. Am. J. Human Genet. 3, 159 (1951). 

In the face of the difficulties in finding children and young people who would talk about these aspects of their lives, the research strategy to sample purposively, across the birth order and equally between genders etc, had to adapt to the reality that the sample would be opportunistic. In the event, the most likely child to be interviewed was the eldest, and more females than males agreed to be interviewed (20 16). It was most likely that they would be older in years too. Partly this was because younger children (8-10 years)... 

Because the time between births increases with increasing parity (Leridon, 1977), comparisons within birth order (parity) are more appropriate. 

Ruder, A. Paternal-age and birth-order effect on the human secondary sex ratio. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 37 362-372, 1985. 

Sulloway has argued that birth order is of vital importance in determining traits in particular, he argues that the first-born child has unique behavioural characteristics. See Sulloway, F. J. (1996). Born to Rebel Birth Order, Family Dynamics and Creative Lives. Random House of Canada, Toronto. 

Better Birth order can influence children s personalities in startling ways. 

Reichenbach et al., 1994b Sharma and Ehinger, 1997b) the same sequence of cytogenesis is found. There are no estimates as to how many amacrine cells are produced in the early phase and how many in the late phase of proliferation. In species in which the retinal development takes place over a short period of time (Xenopus), there is overlapping in the birth dates of cells, whereas species in which retinal development is extended (monkeys), birthdays are more sharply demarcated. As discussed earUer, the birth order of retinal neurons is conserved during the evolution and reflects the evolutionary sequence of retinal neurons. 

The answer is c. (Murray, pp 812-828. Scriver, pp 3-45. Sack, pp 97—158. Wilson, pp 23-39.) For each pregnancy, the probability that the child will be affected is 1/2. Therefore, the probability that all three children will be affected is the product of the three independent events—that is, 1/2 X 1/2 X 1/2 = 1/8. The probability that all three children will be unaffected is the same. When evaluating the probability that one of the three children will be affected, it must be noted that there are three of eight possible birth orders that have one affected child (Www, wWw, wwW). For two of three children to be affected, there are also three of eight possible birth orders (WWw, WwW, wWW). 

The hygiene hypothesis was first proposed by Strachan [2(IIIC)] in 1989 that allergic diseases could be prevented by infection in early childhood. This arose from the observation that hay fever at 11 and 23 years of age was inversely related to the number of children in the household at age 11 years, with the number of older children being more influential than birth order, and that eczema in the first year of life was independently inversely related to the number of older siblings. He proposed that allergic diseases could be prevented by infection in early childhood transmitted by unhygienic contact with older siblings or acquired... 

In a cohort study of 6,000 children that investigated the effect of maternal smoking together with socio-economic status and low birth order on the risk of allergic disease, maternal smoking was found to be an additional risk factor for wheeze primarily in low socio-economic groups [293(Ib)]. 

Matricardi PM, Franzinelli F, Franco A, et al Sibship size, birth order, and atopy in 11,371 Italian young men.. 1 Allergy Clin Immunol 1998 101(4 pt 1) 439 44. 

Lewis SA, Britton JR Measles infection, measles vaccination and the effect of birth order in the aetiology of hay fever. Clin Exp Allergy 1998 28 1493-1500. 

Lewis SA, Britton JR Consistent effects of high socioeconomic status and low birth order, and the modifying effect of maternal smoking on the risk of allergic disease during childhood. Respir Med 1998 92 1237-1244. 

Hierarchical societies are normally either ranked or stratified. Ranked societies are those in which birth order determines one s position in society. Within families, the first-bom inherits the property the seventh son inherits nothing. Rank determines status. Generational lines are also ranked so that lineages have status with regard to one another. Such systems are generally referred to as ranked societies, or chiefdoms. 

Hsieh CC, Tzonou A, Zavitsanos X, Kaklamani E, Lan SJ, Trichopoulos D (1992) Age at first establishment of chronic hepatitis B virus infection and hepatocellular carcinoma risk. A birth order study. Am J Epidemiol 136 1115-1121... 

In this phase of writing, it is helpful for you to develop a full character sketch, with as much specificity as possible. Include details such as birth order, colloquialisms, and turns of phrase specific to the time period. Middle children, for example, tend to be overlooked they may talk a lot to be noticed. The meaning of what they say is less important than the degree that they talk in order to get attention. You should note gender, age, and... 

The first sentence provides facts, and thaf s it. You have no idea what kind of dog, or how the writer feels about the introduction of a dog to the home. The second sentence provides only a small additional piece of evidence—the writer s birth order in the family. The third sentence, however, gives you a lot of information. You learn the writer s opinion about his brother as well as his tendency to love dogs the dog is no longer just a dog, but is now a darling little puppy. 

Another interesting and unexpected phenomenon is the fraternal birth order effect.20 Surveys show without equivocation that homosexual men have a greater number of older brothers than heterosexual men. The estimated odds of being homosexual increase by approximately 33 percent with each older brother. 

Statistical analysis suggests that in approximately i in 7 homosexual men, their homosexuality is related to the fraternal birth order effect. There is no such effect in female homosexuals. Homosexual males with older brothers also have significantly lower birth weights compared to heterosexual males with older brothers. One possible reason for this phenomenon is that as mothers become progressively immunized to male-linked antigens produced by successive male fetuses, the mothers produce antibodies against these antigens. The antibodies then divert the development of the fetal brain from heterosexual male to homosexual male. But this maternal immunity theory remains a speculation. 

Even animals and plants seem to confer special advantages on their offspring depending on birth order. Egrets hatch during successive days, and, if resources are scarce, the latter hatchings are allowed to die. Fruit trees tend to set many more fruits than they can support, so a good many of them never mature. 

Guay, R. B. (1978). Factors ejecting spatial test performance Sex, handedness, birth order, and experience. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 

H. B. Newcombe and O. G. Tavendale, Maternal age and birth order correlations. Problems of distinguishing mutational from environmental components. Mutation Res. 1, 446-467 (1964). 

H. B. Newcombe, Screening for effects of maternal age and birth order in a register of handicapped children, Ann. Human Genet. 27, 367-382 ( 1964). 

Family size is the number of children in the family and birth order indicates the child s position in the family. A measure of overcrowding in the child s household was given by the occupation ratio, the number of habitable rooms per person. 

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