Widespread poaching prior to the 1989 ivory ban greatly altered the demographic structure of matrilineal African elephant (Loxodonta africana) family groups in many populations by decreasing the number of old, adult females. We assessed the long-term impacts of poaching by investigating genetic, physiological, and reproductive correlates of a disturbed social structure resulting from heavy poac...

conclusion: this study showed positive effect of the 2000 iu/day oral vitamin d on the serum level elevation of this vitamin in reproductive women. results: at baseline the mean serum levels of vitamin d in the control group was 23.34 ± 15.87 nmol/l and in intervention group was 25.13 ± 18.46 nmol/l, that these values didn’t have any significant difference (p = 0.43), while after intervention, ...

conclusions there was a significant association between pms scores and the prevalence of metabolic syndrome. further studies are needed to confirm and validate the relationships between lipid profile abnormalities and metabolic disorders with pms. objectives this study was designed to investigate the association of hormonal and metabolic factors with pms among iranian women of reproductive age....

Argentine sexual and reproductive rights activists insist on using the language and framework of "human rights," even when many reproductive rights activists in the US and elsewhere now prefer the framework of "reproductive justice." Reflecting on conversations with Argentine feminist anthropologists, social scientists, and reproductive rights activists, this paper analyzes why the Argentine mo...

Life histories in Mediterranean pines are well known to be closely related to different fire and disturbance regimes. Variation in these factors is also reflected in reproductive strategies at the specific and intraspecific level. Specifically, the onset of reproduction is a crucial stage for any organism because it has profound implications on fitness. In this paper we focus on the intraspecif...

BACKGROUND In Ghana, priority-setting for reproductive health service interventions is known to be rudimentary with little wider stakeholder involvement. In recognizing the need for broad stakeholder engagement to advance reproductive care provision and utilization, it is necessary to jointly study the varied stakeholder views on reproductive care services. METHODS We applied an ethnographic ...

Reproductive investment and output are integral fitness components, often incorporated into life-history trade-off models and important to population dynamics. The trade-offs associated with reproduction can be dramatic in species such as snakes that make especially large investments into reproduction. Unfortunately, traditional methods used to determine reproductive investment and output are e...

Mathematical models of transmission have become invaluable management tools in planning for the control of emerging infectious diseases. A key variable in such models is the reproductive number R. For new emerging infectious diseases, the value of the reproductive number can only be inferred indirectly from the observed exponential epidemic growth rate r. Such inference is ambiguous as several ...

The purpose of this study was to analyze the reproductive cycle of the oyster Crassostrea gasar (= C. brasiliana) in the field and the laboratory. The reproductive cycle of the animals was evaluated in the field at Sambaqui Beach, Florianópolis, SC (27° 29'18″ S and 48° 32'12″ W) from May 2008 through November 2009. In July, the animals were in the resting stage. The early growth stage began in...