Search results for "reproductive and urinary physiology"
showing 10 items of 365 documents
Absence of long-term effects of reproduction on longevity in the mouse model.
2014
Background Most human demographic data, particularly those on natural fertility populations, find no relationship or even a positive association between fertility and longevity. The present study aims to ascertain whether there is a trade-off between fertility and longevity in the mouse model. Methods The study was focused on the first litter produced by 10- to 14-wk-old hybrid (C57BL/6JIco female X CBA/JIco male) mice. A single female/male per litter was individually housed with a male/female at the age of 25 and 52 wk, respectively, until the end of reproductive life in females or natural death in males under controlled housing conditions. Post-reproductive females and virgin mice were re…
Offspring growth, survival and reproductive success in the bank vole: a litter size manipulation experiment.
1998
To estimate the optimality of brood size, it is essential to study the effects of brood size manipulation on offspring survival and reproductive success. Moreover, testing the generality of the hypothesis of reproductive costs requires experimental data from a diversity of organisms. Here I present data on the growth, survival and reproductive success of bank vole Clethrionomys glareolus individuals from manipulated litters. Furthermore, the survival of mothers whose litter size was manipulated was studied. At weaning, the mean weight of pups from enlarged litters was lower and from reduced litters higher compared to control litters. After winter, at the start of the breeding season, indivi…
Reproductive Biology and Its Impact on Body Size: Comparative Analysis of Mammalian, Avian and Dinosaurian Reproduction
2011
Janis and Carrano (1992) suggested that large dinosaurs might have faced a lower risk of extinction under ecological changes than similar-sized mammals because large dinosaurs had a higher potential reproductive output than similar-sized mammals (JC hypothesis). First, we tested the assumption underlying the JC hypothesis. We therefore analysed the potential reproductive output (reflected in clutch/litter size and annual offspring number) of extant terrestrial mammals and birds (as "dinosaur analogs") and of extinct dinosaurs. With the exception of rodents, the differences in the reproductive output of similar-sized birds and mammals proposed by Janis and Carrano (1992) existed even at the …
Predictive Capacity of Boar Sperm Morphometry and Morphometric Sub-Populations on Reproductive Success after Artificial Insemination
2021
The aim of the study was to compare the morphometric features of sperm head sizeand shape from the Pietrain line and the Duroc×Pietrain boar crossbred terminal lines, and toevaluate their relationship with reproductive success after artificial insemination of sows producedfrom crossbreeding the York, Landrace and Pietrain breeds. Semen samples were collected from 11sexually mature boars. Only ejaculates with greater than 70% motility rate and <15% of abnormalsperm were used for artificial inseminations (AI) and included in the study. Samples were analyzedusing an ISAS®v1 computer-assisted sperm analysis system for eight morphometric parameters ofhead shape and size (CASA-Morph). Sub-populat…
Maternal Motivation: Exploring the Roles of Prolactin and Pup Stimuli
2020
Motherhood entails increased motivation for pups, which become strong reinforcers and guide maternal behaviours. This depends on steroids and lactogens acting on the brain of females during pregnancy and postpartum. Since virgin female mice exposed to pups are nearly spontaneously maternal, the specific roles of endocrine and pup-derived signals in the induction of maternal motivation remain unclear. This work investigates maternal motivation in dams and virgin female mice, using a novel variant of the pup retrieval paradigm, the motivated pup retrieval test. We also analyse the role of prolactin (PRL) and of stimuli derived from a litter of pups and its mother, in the acquisition of matern…
Morphological and Postural Changes in the Foot during Pregnancy and Puerperium: A Longitudinal Study
2021
The aim of this study is to observe the morphological and postural changes to the foot that take place during pregnancy and the puerperium. Method: In this descriptive, observational, longitudinal study, we analysed 23 pregnant women, with particular attention to morphological and postural aspects of the foot, at three time points during and after pregnancy: in weeks 9–13 of gestation, weeks 32–35 of gestation and weeks 4–6 after delivery. The parameters considered were changes in foot length, the Foot Posture Index (FPI) and the Hernández Corvo Index, which were analysed using a pedigraph and taking into account the Body Mass Index (BMI). The same procedure was conducted in each review. Re…
Multixenobiotic resistance efflux activity in Daphnia magna and Lumbriculus variegatus
2014
Multixenobiotic resistance is a phenomenon in which ATP-binding cassette (ABC) family proteins transfer harmful compounds out of cells. Daphnia magna and Lumbriculus variegatus are model species in aquatic ecotoxicology, but the presence and activity of ABC proteins have not been well described in these species. The aim of this work was to study the presence, activity, and inhibition of ABC transport proteins in D. magna and L. variegatus. The presence of abcb1 and abcc transcripts in 8-9-day-old D. magna was investigated by qRT-PCR. The activity of MXR in D. magna and L. variegatus was explored by influx of the fluorescent ABC protein substrates rhodamine B and calcein-AM, with and without…
Metabolic fluxes and l-lysine synthesis by Corynebacterium glutamicum in relation to cellular total reducing activity
2001
Abstract The total reducing activity (TRA) of cells was used to estimate the physiological activity of Corynebacterium glutamicum under conditions of l -lysine synthesis. This was estimated as the rate of reduction of 2,3,5- triphenyltetrazolium chloride by intact cells. TRA of cells was linearly correlated with the intracellular concentrations of RNA and the bacterial growth rate. It was concluded that this activity reflected the rate of energy generation in cells. A decrease in TRA of growing cells was related to an increase in bacterial lysine synthesis activity. Alteration in metabolic pathway functioning and an increase in the intracellular concentrations of lysine precursors favoured …
No evidence for prezygotic postcopulatory avoidance of kin despite high inbreeding depression.
2018
11 pages; International audience; Offspring resulting from mating among close relatives can suffer from impaired fitness through the expression of recessive alleles with deleterious effects. Postcopulatory sperm selection (a prezygotic mechanism of cryptic female choice) has been suggested to be an effective way to avoid inbreeding. To investigate whether postcopulatory female choice allows the avoidance of fertilization by close kin, we performed artificial inseminations in a promiscuous bird, the houbara bustard (Chlamydotis undulata undulata). Females were inseminated with a mix of sperm from triads of males, each constituted of a male genetically unrelated to the female, a first cousin …
Evolution of male and female choice in polyandrous systems
2017
We study the evolution of male and female mating strategies and mate choice for female fecundity and male fertilization ability in a system where both sexes can mate with multiple partners, and where there is variation in individual quality (i.e. in the availability of resources individuals can allocate to matings, mate choice and production of gametes). We find that when the cost of mating differs between sexes, the sex with higher cost of mating is reluctant to accept matings and is often also choosy, while the other sex accepts all matings. With equal mating costs, the evolution of mating strategies depends on the strength of female sperm limitation, so that when sperm limitation is stro…