BACKGROUND Bull fertility is the degree of sperm's ability to fertilize and activate the egg and support embryo development, and this is critical for herd reproductive performance. We used the bull as a unique model organism for the study of male fertility because cattle genetics and physiology is similar to those of other mammals including humans. Moreover, reliable fertility data along with w...

Male fertility assessment is performed in the context of WHO guidelines. Currently the 5th edition of the WHO guidelines have been published and technicians and clinicians are confronted with a new set of criteria. Apart from coming to grips with these criteria it is accepted/assumed that human fertility is declining? However, both aspects are debatable. The accuracy/consistency of semen evalua...

With 21,650 new cases every year, ovarian cancer is currently the fifth leading cause of death from all cancers in women in the USA [1]. Among gynecological cancers, it is the leading cause of death, typically presenting with stage III/IV disease. At present, 12.2% of ovarian cancers occur in women younger than 40 years of age [2]. Most of these cases are tumors of low malignant potential, mali...

Introduction: Fertility transition is outright by prime four proximate determinants (marriage, contraception, postpartum infecundability, and abortion). The present study examines the contributions of proximate determinants on fertility decline and quantifies inhibiting the effect of major proximate determinants according to the socioeconomic characteristics in Bangladesh.<br /...

Summer heat stress (HS) is a major contributing factor in low fertility in lactating dairy cows in hot environments. Although modern cooling systems are used in dairy farms, fertility remains low. This review summarizes the ways in which the functioning of various parts of the reproductive system of cows exposed to HS is impaired. The dominance of the large follicle is suppressed during HS, and...

This study was conducted to evaluate soil fertility status in the eight major agro ecosystems viz., coconut, banana, rubber, paddy, arecanut, nutmeg, pepper and vegetables in Thrissur District, Kerala. For this, a total of 30 panchayats out of 92 were selected representing 6 agro ecological zones in the district. Surface soil samples (0-15 cm) @ one sample/ ha. were collected from dominant agro...

Is there an economic rationale for pronatalist policies? We propose and analyze a particular market failure that leads to inefficiently low fertility in equilibrium. The friction is caused by the lack of ownership of children: if parents have no claim on their children’s income, the private benefit from producing a child can be smaller than the social benefit. We analyze an overlapping-generati...

This paper explains the decline in total fertility rate (TFR) in China by investigating the quantitative effect of social insurance on peoplesąŕ fertility choice when investment in children is risky. The price and income effects are heterogeneous: low-income people tend to raise more children due to the reinforcing income and price effects, whereas for rich families the income effect dominates ...

In this paper we analyze the changing relationship between childbearing and abortion in Ukraine, which has had one of the world’s highest abortion rates and lowest fertility rates. Using the 2007 Ukrainian Demographic and Health Survey, we examine changes in abortion before and after the dramatic fertility decline. We estimate event history models for first abortions as well as competing risks ...

In every developed country, the economic transition from pre-industrial stagnation to modern growth was accompanied by a demographic transition from high to low fertility. Even though the overall pattern is repeated, there are large cross-country variations in the timing and speed of the demographic transition. What accounts for falling fertility during the transition to growth? To answer this ...