Search results for "fertility"

Gene expression is stronger associated with behaviour than with age and fertility in ant workers

2018

AbstractThe ecological success of social insects is based on division of labour, not only between queens and workers, but also among workers. Whether a worker tends the brood or forages is strongly influenced by age, fertility and nutritional status, with brood carers being younger, more fecund and corpulent. Here, we experimentally disentangle behaviour from age and fertility inTemnothorax longispinosusant workers and analyse how these parameters are linked to whole-body gene expression. Our transcriptome analysis reveals four times more genes associated with behaviour than with age and only few fertility-associated genes. Brood carers exhibited an upregulation of genes involved in lipid b…

Illness Narrative and Self-Help Culture – Self-Help Writing on Age-Related Infertility

2014

Both self-help books and illness narratives are motivated by an impulse to overcome a crisis and, simultaneously, to help others who suffer from similar conditions. In doing so, authors of self-help and illness narratives move in between polar opposites: they have both individual and collective motives, they have a desire to overcome uncertainty and achieve control and they negotiate the authority of experience versus the authority of expertise. This paper has two objectives: (1) It describes the intersections of illness life writing and self-help culture and traces the thematic, cultural and historical similarities. (2) It analyzes a selection of four autobiographical, U.S.-American self-h…

Do highly ornamented and less parasitized males have high quality sperm? - an experimental test for parasite-induced reproductive trade-offs in Europ…

2014

Parasites take their resources from hosts and thus directly reduce available resources for hosts’ own body functions, such as growth and reproduction. Furthermore, parasite infections cause significant indirect costs to their hosts in terms of increased investments on immune defense. In this study, we investigated the impact of parasite infection on the sperm quality and expression of secondary sexual ornamentation (saturation of the red abdominal colouration and number of breeding tubercles) in the Eurasian minnow (Phoxinus phoxinus). We exposed minnows to a high and low dose of common nonspecific fish ectoparasite, the glochidia larvae of duck mussel (Anodonta anatina) and tested whether …

Human endometrial CD98 is essential for blastocyst adhesion.

2010

Background Understanding the molecular basis of embryonic implantation is of great clinical and biological relevance. Little is currently known about the adhesion receptors that determine endometrial receptivity for embryonic implantation in humans. Methods and Principal Findings Using two human endometrial cell lines characterized by low and high receptivity, we identified the membrane receptor CD98 as a novel molecule selectively and significantly associated with the receptive phenotype. In human endometrial samples, CD98 was the only molecule studied whose expression was restricted to the implantation window in human endometrial tissue. CD98 expression was restricted to the apical surfac…

Uterus transplantation from a deceased donor

2018

Blastocyst formation is similar in obese and normal weight women: a morphokinetic study

2021

Abstract STUDY QUESTION Does the embryo cleavage pattern and rate of blastocyst formation differ between normal weight and obese women undergoing IVF? SUMMARY ANSWER Embryo morphokinetic development, final blastocyst formation rate and blastocyst morphology do not differ between obese and normal weight women. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY Female obesity has been related to impaired IVF outcomes. Although the mechanisms responsible for this detrimental effect are thought to include impaired oocyte and embryo quality and reduced endometrial receptivity, they are yet to be confirmed. Embryo quality has been commonly assessed using static morphological criteria. Only three studies have analysed the pro…

Clinical factors affecting endometrial receptiveness in oocyte donation cycles.

2008

Objective To provide a summary of the actual knowledge about the clinical factors affecting the oocyte recipient (other than those associated with uterine cavity abnormalities) on the outcome of oocyte donation cycles. Design Review of the literature. Setting Information regarding the association between age, body mass index (BMI), endometrial priming, tobacco consumption, hydrosalpinx, and endometriosis/adenomyosis in oocyte recipients and the results of oocyte donation cycles. Result(s) Recipient age and the presence of hydrosalpinx are clearly associated with a poorer outcome in oocyte donation cycles. The negative impact of tobacco consumption has recently been confirmed. The exact rele…

Operative Reconstruction of the External and Internal Genitalia in Female Patients with Bladder Exstrophy or Incontinent Epispadias

1995

AbstractPurpose: Urologists and gynecologists rarely encounter questions on cohabitation and pregnancy in female patients with bladder exstrophy or incontinent epispadias.Materials and Methods: Until 1994, 41 female patients underwent surgery at our institution (vaginal cutback or vaginoplasty in 23, correction of the external genitalia in 25 and uterus fixation to correct or prevent prolapse in 13).Results: Followup was available in 37 patients (mean 16.8 years, with followup of 18 years or longer in 19). Of the patients 94 percent are satisfied with the cosmetic results. All adults engage in sexual intercourse, 4 delivered 6 children by cesarean section and 5 presently desire children.Con…

How reproductive and regenerative medicine meet in a Chinese fertility clinic. Interviews with women about the donation of embryos to stem cell resea…

2010

The social interface between reproductive medicine and embryonic stem cell research has been investigated in a pilot study at a large IVF clinic in central China. Methods included observation, interviews with hospital personnel, and five in-depth qualitative interviews with women who underwent IVF and who were asked for their consent to the donation of embryos for use in medical (in fact human embryonic stem cell) research. This paper reports, and discusses from an ethical perspective, the results of an analysis of these interviews. The participants talked of extreme social pressure to become pregnant. Once they had a baby, 'spare' embryos lost practical significance due to the Chinese one-…

Field application of the juvenile hormone analogue fenoxycarb against hopper bands of Locusta migratoria capito in Madagascar

1997

Summary Field trials have been carried out to examine the suitability of the JHA fenoxycarb in locust control. Laboratory tests have shown that a variety of JHAs, including fenoxycarb, applied to last instar larvae increased mortality, induced morphogenetic defects during metamorphosis, reduced fertility and provoked solitarisation of gregarious hoppers. The phase shift was indicated by green coloration and the acquisition of morphological and behavioural characteristics typical for solitary locusts. The present field experiments should clarify whether or not the effects observed in the laboratory are also observed with hopper bands in their natural habitat and if swarm formation and emigra…