Search results for " Reproduction"

The paradox of the Italian clinical embryologist in the national public health system: hints towards harmonization of a postgraduate educational curr…

2022

Clinical embryologists are highly trained laboratory professionals with multiple roles, including laboratory, clinical, biobanking and quality system management. In most European countries, clinical embryologists are trained to work in Medically Assisted Reproduction (MAR) centres without a specifically dedicated educational path. The criteria required for employment vary according to the educational structure and the public or private nature of the centre. We have herein described the educational profile required by Italian clinical embryologists to work in MAR centres of the National Health System (NHS). Public centres currently represent 36% of all the Italian MAR clinics. According to t…

Control of ovarian steroidogenesis in insects: A locust neurohormone is active in vitro on blowfly ovaries

2009

0016-6480 doi: DOI: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2009.04.034; Ovarian steroidogenesis controlling insect reproduction is mainly regulated by brain gonadotropins liberated from corpora cardiaca (CC). Till now, different neurohormones have been identified in two insect groups only, locusts and mosquitoes, and it is unknown whether they could be active in other insects. In order to complete previous observations on the control of ovarian steroidogenesis in the blowfly, Phormia regina, we examined whether neuropeptides isolated from locust CC have an effect in vitro on ovarian steroidogenesis in our dipteran model. Our experiments showed that crude extracts from locust CC efficiently stimulated steroidogene…

CO2 effects on behaviour and reproduction of nesting fish species

2014

Ocean acidification is a global phenomenon linked to the CO2 absorption by the surface of the sea. This increasing process leads to a rise of the CO2 partial pressure (pCO2) that changes the seawater chemistry. It is known that such changes have negative consequences for many marine organisms. However, the effects of acidification on fishes are yet poorly understood. Fishes have been hypothesized to be more physiologically tolerant to elevated CO2. Nevertheless, many researches have described severe effects of altered pCO2 levels on fish behaviour, especially during early life history stages, and only few authors have focused on fish reproduction. The aim of my Ph.D. research is to investig…

Induction of body weight loss through RNAi-knockdown of APOBEC1 gene expression in transgenic rabbits

2014

In the search of new strategies to fight against obesity, we targeted a gene pathway involved in energy uptake. We have thus investigated the APOB mRNA editing protein (APOBEC1) gene pathway that is involved in fat absorption in the intestine. The APOB gene encodes two proteins, APOB100 and APOB48, via the editing of a single nucleotide in the APOB mRNA by the APOBEC1 enzyme. The APOB48 protein is mandatory for the synthesis of chylomicrons by intestinal cells to transport dietary lipids and cholesterol. We produced transgenic rabbits expressing permanently and ubiquitously a small hairpin RNA targeting the rabbit APOBEC1 mRNA. These rabbits exhibited a moderately but significantly reduced …

Conceptual silencing as a rhetorical tool. A cognitive lexical semantics study of the lexical item Europe

2021

Taking a cognitive lexical semantics perspective, the article introduces the concept of conceptual silencing as a rhetorical tool. Understood as a process of conceptual dissolution of meaning to offer a more coarse-grained sense of an expression, conceptual silencing is demonstrated to have a potential rhetorical value in that it allows for more opaque reproduction of ideology. From a cognitive linguistic standpoint, the process of conceptual silencing hinges upon a polysemous nature of a lexical item and boils down to triggering a given sense of a given lexical item in a given context. To illustrate the workings of conceptual silencing, the article reports on a case study of the lexical it…

Data from: The oxidative cost of reproduction depends on early development oxidative stress and sex in a bird species

2016

In the early 2000’s, a new component of the cost of reproduction was proposed: oxidative stress. Since then the oxidative cost of reproduction hypothesis has, however, received mixed support. Different arguments have been provided to explain this. Among them, the lack of a life history perspective on most experimental tests was suggested. We manipulated the levels of a key intracellular antioxidant (glutathione) in captive zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) during a short period of early life and subsequently tested the oxidative cost of reproduction. Birds were allowed to mate freely in an outdoor aviary during several months. We repeatedly enlarged or reduced their broods to increase or …

Il progetto EFIAN per Noto Antica, indagine storica e rappresentazione digitale: un connubio necessario

2017

Il progetto “Experimental Fruition Ingenious Ancient Noto” (E.F.I.A.N) cofinanziato dal M.I.U.R nell’ambito di fondi dedicati all’incentivazione delle start up, costituisce l’ultima iniziativa, in ordine di tempo, rivolta allo studio, alla salvaguardia e alla valorizzazione del sito archeologico di Noto Antica, città distrutta e poi abbandonata in seguito al terremoto del 1693 che devastò la Sicilia sud-orientale. Lo scopo del progetto EFIAN, avviato nel 2014 e concluso nell’ ottobre 2016, è stato quello di incrementare le potenzialità attrattive della antica Noto, nell’ambito del turismo culturale, attraverso i supporti multimediali, fruibili sia nella sede museale di Noto, destinata alla …

Surrogacy relationships: a critical interpretative review

2020

Abstract Based on a critical interpretative review of existing qualitative research investigating accounts of ‘lived experience’ of surrogates and intended parents from a relational perspective, this article proposes a typology of surrogacy arrangements. The review is based on the analysis of 39 articles, which belong to a range of different disciplines (mostly sociology, social psychology, anthropology, ethnology, and gender studies). The number of interviews in each study range from as few as seven to over one hundred. Countries covered include Australia, Canada, Greece, India, Iran, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Norway, Russia, Sweden, UK, Ukraine, and the USA. Most studies focus only on surrog…

Effect of temperature rising and ocean acidification on reproductive success of thermophilic sea urchin Arbacia lixula

2012

Modelling the relationship between sexual reproduction and rhizome growth in Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile

2006

The relationship between flowering and growth performance of Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile in meadows distributed along the south-eastern coast of Sicily (Italy) was investigated by means of a statistical model (generalized linear mixed model) combined with the lepidochronological analysis. Over a 28-year period, 67 floral stalk remains were observed. The highest flowering index was recorded in lepidochronological year 1998 (10.1%) and the Inflorescence Frequency per age showed a clear decrease corresponding to 15-year-old shoots. The sexual reproductive event had positive effects on rhizome elongation (cm year−1) and leaf production (no. leaves year−1) in the same flowering year, whilst n…