From contraception to cloning and pregnancy to populations, reproduction presents urgent challenges today. This field-defining history synthesizes a vast amount of scholarship to take the long view. Spanning from antiquity to the present day, the book focuses on the Mediterranean, western Europe, North America and their empires. It combines history of science, technology and medicine with social, cultural and demographic accounts. Ranging from the most intimate experiences to planetary policy, it tells new stories and revises received ideas. An international team of scholars asks how modern 'reproduction' - an abstract process of perpetuating living organisms - replaced the old 'generation' - the active making of humans and beasts, plants and even minerals. Striking illustrations invite readers to explore artefacts, from an ancient Egyptian fertility figurine to the announcement of the first test-tube baby. Authoritative and accessible, Reproduction offers students and non-specialists an essential starting point and sets fresh agendas for research.

Winner of the NCTE George Orwell Award for Distinguished Contribution to Honesty and Clarity in Public Language Although Roe v. Wade identified abortion as a constitutional right in1973, it still bears stigma-a proverbial scarlet A. Millions of Americans have participated in or benefited from an abortion, but few want to reveal that they have done so. Approximately one in five pregnancies in the US ends in abortion. Why is something so common, which has been legal so long, still a source of shame and secrecy? Why is it so regularly debated by politicians, and so seldom divulged from friend to friend? This book explores the personal stigma that prevents many from sharing their abortion experiences with friends and family in private conversation, and the structural stigma that keeps it that way. In public discussion, both proponents and opponents of abortion's legality tend to focus on extraordinary cases. This tendency keeps the national debate polarized and contentious, and keeps our focus on the cases that occur the least. Professor Katie Watson focuses instead on the cases that happen the most, which she calls "ordinary abortion." Scarlet A gives the reflective reader a more accurate impression of what the majority of American abortion practice really looks like. It explains how our silence around private experience has distorted public opinion, and how including both ordinary abortion and abortion ethics could make our public exchanges more fruitful. In Scarlet A, Watson wisely and respectfully navigates one of the most divisive topics in contemporary life. This book explains the law of abortion, challenges the toxic politics that make it a public football and private secret, offers tools for more productive private exchanges, and leads the way to a more robust public discussion of abortion ethics. Scarlet A combines storytelling and statistics to bring the story of ordinary abortion out of the shadows, painting a rich, rarely seen picture of how patients and doctors currently think and act, and ultimately inviting readers to tell their own stories and draw their own conclusions. The paperback edition includes a new preface by the author addressing recent cultural developments in abortion discourse and new legal threats to reproductive rights, and updated statistics throughout.

'A big-picture forecast of how medicine stands on the threshold of a revolution that will radically change all of our lives' The Times Welcome to a revolution in the science of you! This landmark new book from award-winning scientist Daniel M. Davis explores the future of the human body. Imagine taking drugs to help you acquire new skills, or knowing years in advance the precise likelihood of developing specific cancers, or following a diet and health regime tailored to your microbiome, or even having continuous monitoring of your body's workings and well-being. Written by an award-winning scientist, this landmark book shows how these radical and disconcerting possibilities have been made real. It is at once a gripping drama of scientific ingenuity, discovery and collaboration, and a vision of the human body of dizzying complexity and wonder. 'The startling new discoveries...are radically altering our understanding of how we function and what our future holds' BRIAN COX 'Thrilling' BILL BRYSON 'Brilliant' TIM SPECTOR 'Extraordinary' ALICE ROBERTS

This valuable reference work provides a synthesis of the latest knowledge about the acrosomatic reaction of human sperm. The acrosomatic reaction, which is a fundamental step in the process of fertilisation, is examined on both the fundamental and clinical levels. Three very recent aspects are also dealt with: what happens to the acrosome during intracytoplasmic microinjections, the usefulness of screening spermatozoa that have completed their acrosomatic reaction, and the development of contraception by a vaccine that targets one of the proteins of the acrosome. International Symposium, Collioure, France, September 1995.

This concise, truncated version of Zini and Agarwal's Sperm Chromatin: Biological and Clinical Applications in Male Infertility and Assisted Reproduction offers select, research-oriented chapters for a handy, more affordable, state-of-the-art resource. Sperm Chromatin for the Researcher addresses such vital issues as: - Structure and function of human sperm chromatin - Biological determinants of sperm chromatin damage - Laboratory evaluation of sperm chromatin - Protocols to measure sperm chromatin damage Ideal for novice and experienced researchers alike, Sperm Chromatin for the Researcher contains all of the need-to-know information about these cutting-edge topics in reproductive medicine.

From contraception to cloning and pregnancy to populations, reproduction presents urgent challenges today. This field-defining history synthesizes a vast amount of scholarship to take the long view. Spanning from antiquity to the present day, the book focuses on the Mediterranean, western Europe, North America and their empires. It combines history of science, technology and medicine with social, cultural and demographic accounts. Ranging from the most intimate experiences to planetary policy, it tells new stories and revises received ideas. An international team of scholars asks how modern 'reproduction' - an abstract process of perpetuating living organisms - replaced the old 'generation' - the active making of humans and beasts, plants and even minerals. Striking illustrations invite readers to explore artefacts, from an ancient Egyptian fertility figurine to the announcement of the first test-tube baby. Authoritative and accessible, Reproduction offers students and non-specialists an essential starting point and sets fresh agendas for research.

In Infertile Environments, Janelle Lamoreaux investigates how epigenetic research into the effects of toxic exposure conceptualizes and configures environments. Drawing on fieldwork in a Nanjing, China, toxicology lab that studies the influence of pesticides and other pollutants on male reproductive and developmental health, Lamoreaux shows how the lab's everyday research practices bring national, hormonal, dietary, maternal, and laboratory environments into being. She situates the lab's work within broader Chinese history as well as the contemporary cultural and political moment, in which declining fertility rates and reproductive governance and technology are growing concerns. She also points to how toxicology in China is a transnational endeavor tied to both local conditions and international research agendas and infrastructures, which highlights the myriad scales and scope of epigenetic environments. At a moment of growing concerns about toxins, endocrine-disrupting chemicals, and climate change, Lamoreaux demonstrates that epigenetic research's proliferation of environments produces new kinds of toxic relations that impact multiple generations of humans.

In Infertile Environments, Janelle Lamoreaux investigates how epigenetic research into the effects of toxic exposure conceptualizes and configures environments. Drawing on fieldwork in a Nanjing, China, toxicology lab that studies the influence of pesticides and other pollutants on male reproductive and developmental health, Lamoreaux shows how the lab's everyday research practices bring national, hormonal, dietary, maternal, and laboratory environments into being. She situates the lab's work within broader Chinese history as well as the contemporary cultural and political moment, in which declining fertility rates and reproductive governance and technology are growing concerns. She also points to how toxicology in China is a transnational endeavor tied to both local conditions and international research agendas and infrastructures, which highlights the myriad scales and scope of epigenetic environments. At a moment of growing concerns about toxins, endocrine-disrupting chemicals, and climate change, Lamoreaux demonstrates that epigenetic research's proliferation of environments produces new kinds of toxic relations that impact multiple generations of humans.

Reproduction is a fundamental feature of life, it is the way life persists across the ages. This book offers new, wider vistas on this fundamental biological phenomenon, exploring how it works through the whole tree of life. It explores facets such as asexual reproduction, parthenogenesis, sex determination and reproductive investment, with a taxonomic coverage extended over all the main groups - animals, plants including 'algae', fungi, protists and bacteria. It collates into one volume perspectives from varied disciplines - including zoology, botany, microbiology, genetics, cell biology, developmental biology, evolutionary biology, animal and plant physiology, and ethology - integrating information into a common language. Crucially, the book aims to identify the commonalties among reproductive phenomena, while demonstrating the diversity even amongst closely related taxa. Its integrated approach makes this a valuable reference book for students and researchers, as well as an effective entry point for deeper study on specific topics.

The new, fully updated edition of this successful book, brings together the combined experience of a leading dedicated unit over 25 years in delivering expert medical and surgical care to children with DSD (Disorders|Differences of Sex Development) in a holistic environment. It documents the most recent advances in the molecular biology and embryology of sex development, and describes each variation in detail. The main focus of the book is on patients with variations with their anatomy and hormone function. New chapters describe the developments in the field in terms of definitions and incidence, the mental health of DSD patients and discuss the perspectives of patients families and support groups. The clinical presentation and approach to diagnosis are described both for babies and for children presenting later in childhood or at adolescence. The chapters on management highlight all the latest knowledge and include the shared wisdom of the authors on current controversies, such as the timing of surgical treatment. Finally, the authors describe their short-, medium-, and long-term outcomes, which demonstrate the strengths of holistic team management.

Rationalization is concerned with making the most effective use of the resources available. In many places where this process is taking place it is plagued with public opposition and misunderstanding. Hitherto rationalization in the acute care sector has primarily been concerned with closing sites closing beds moving beds between services and moving beds from one site to another. This book discusses the need for rationalization in the context of health service reforms and future strategy. It considers recent changes in the health service the case for rationalization health care needs the role of public relations the future of the acute care hospital site and facilities appraisal and the costs of rationalization. The text is essential reading for managers and clinicians involved in acute care services non-executive members of boards and trusts and students of health services management.

Our technologies are progressively developing into algorithmic devices that seamlessly interface with digital personhood. This text discusses the ways in which technology is increasingly becoming a part of personhood and the resulting ethical issues. It extends upon the framework for a brain-based cyberpsychology outlined by the author's earlier book Cyberpsychology and the Brain: The Interaction of Neuroscience and Affective Computing (Cambridge, 2017). Using this framework, Thomas D. Parsons investigates the ethical issues involved in cyberpsychology research and praxes, which emerge in algorithmically coupled people and technologies. The ethical implications of these ideas are important as we consider the cognitive enhancements that can be afforded by our technologies. If people are intimately linked to their technologies, then removing or damaging the technology could be tantamount to a personal attack. On the other hand, algorithmic devices may threaten autonomy and privacy. This book reviews these and other issues.

Since the first "test tube baby" was born over 40 years ago, In Vitro Fertilization and other Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ARTs) have advanced in extraordinary ways, producing millions of babies. An estimated 20% of American couples use infertility services to help them conceive, and that number is growing. Such technologies permit thousands of people, including gay and lesbian couples and single parents, to have offspring. Couples can now transmit or avoid passing on certain genes to their children, including those for chronic disease and, probably sometime soon, height and eye color as well. Prospective parents routinely choose even the sex of their future child and whether or not to have twins. The possibilities of this rapidly developing technology are astounding-especially in the United States, where the procedures are practically unregulated and a large commercial market for buying and selling human eggs is swiftly growing. New gene-editing technology, known as CRISPR, allows for even more direct manipulation of embryos' genes. As these possibilities are increasingly realized, potential parents, doctors, and policy-makers face complex and critical questions about the use-or possible misuse-of ARTs. Designing Babies confronts these questions, examining the ethical, social, and policy concerns surrounding reproductive technology. Based on in-depth interviews with providers and patients, Robert Klitzman explores how individuals and couples are facing quandaries of whether, when, and how to use ARTs. He articulates the full range of these crucial issues, from the economic pressures patients face to the moral and social challenges they encounter as they make decisions which will profoundly shape the life of their offspring. In doing so, he reveals the broader social and biological implications of controlling genetics, ultimately arguing for closer regulation of procedures which affect the lives of generations to come and the future of our species as a whole.

South Asia Region (SAR) has decreased maternal mortality ratio (MMR) by 65 percent between 1990 and 2013, which was the greatest progress among all world regions. Such achievement implores the question, What made SAR stand out against what is predicted by standard socioeconomic outcomes? Improving Maternal and Reproductive Health in South Asia: Drivers and Enablers identifies the interventions and factors that contributed to reducing MMR and improving maternal and reproductive health (MRH) outcomes in SAR. In this study, the analytical framework assumes that improving MRH outcomes is influenced by a multitude of forces from within and outside the health system and considers factors at the household and community levels, as well as interventions in other sectors and factors in the enabling environment. The analysis is based on a structured literature review of the interventions in SAR countries, relevant international experience, and review of the best available evidence from systematic reviews. The focus of the analysis is mainly on assessing the effectiveness of interventions. The findings from this study indicate that the most effective interventions that prevent maternal mortality are those that address the intra-partum stage - the point where most maternal deaths occur - and include improving skilled birth attendance coverage, increasing institutional delivery rates, and scaling up access to emergency obstetric care. There is also adequate evidence that investing in family planning to increase contraceptive use also played a key role during the inter-partum phase by preventing unwanted pregnancies and thus averting the risk of maternal mortality in SAR countries. Outside the programmatic interventions, the levels of household income, women's education, and completion of secondary education of girls were also strongly correlated with improved MRH outcomes. Also, there is strong evidence that health financing schemes - both demand and supply side - and conditional cash transfer programs were effective in increasing the uptake of MRH services. The study points out to many other interventions with different degrees of effectiveness. The study also identified four major reasons for why SAR achieved this progress in MMR reduction. The best practices and evidence of what works synthesized in this study provide an important way forward for low- and middle-income countries toward achieving the health-related Sustainable Development Goals

Why are human embryos so important to many Christians? What does theology say concerning the moral status of these embryos? Answers to these questions can only be obtained by considering the manner in which Christian theology understands the great theme of the image of God. This book examines the most important aspects in which this image, and the related Christian notion of personhood, can be used in the context of theological arguments relating to the moral status of the human embryo. Thoughtful in approach and ecumenical in perspective, the author combines a thorough knowledge of the science of embryology with a broad knowledge of the theological implications.

This book covers human female biology, how the menstrual cycle is controlled, how steroidogenesis is controlled and how the follicle and the egg are formed. This book covers male biology, and how steroid hormones are made, and how sperm are synthesised and matured. Then this book covers sex biology, such as how the brain deals with libido and sexual images, and how the brain controls erection and ejaculation. This book deals with how sperm are matured upon intercourse, how fertilisation takes place, and how the fertilised embryo is matured and implants in the uterus. The subjects of sexuality and homosexuality, chromosome disorders and hydatidiform moles are carefully discussed and considered. Sexual maturation of the foetus during pregnancy is carefully considered. This book carefully describes puberty, adrenarche and menarche. The subject of menopause is carefully considered. The subject of major bacterial and viral and sexual diseases is carefully considered as is the subject of reproductive cancers. In writing this book, care has been taken to update everything and check out the information available on medline and on the internet. This is a textbook for undergraduates, medical students and graduates describing all the details of human reproduction. It is also the only up-to-date book on the market. Having examined a total 70 books on human reproduction, obstetrics and gynaecology, they all, with no exceptions, include mostly out-of-date science. This is corrected in this book. This book is also a monograph for reproductive biology scientists, covering all the most recent findings in this field. It can also be sold as a general obstetrics and gynaecology information source for use by physicians, the general public and in libraries. This is a unique one-of-a-kind reference on human reproduction.

In this book the authors present current research in the study of spermatozoa. This compilation focuses on the biology, motility and function and chromosomal abnormalities of spermatozoa. Topics discussed are the epigenetic mechanisms in mammalian male germline; biological characteristics of sperm in two oyster species; sub-cellular dynamics occurring during capacitation of mammalian spermatozoa; new perspectives on the study of prion and prion-like proteins; meiotic segregation studies in spermatozoa of males carrying a structural chromosome abnormality; testicular germ cell apoptosis during orchitis; the influence of leukocytospermia on semen parameters; and spermatozoa motility and morphology.

Few of us know much about the biology of sex determination, but what could be more interesting than to discover how we are shaped into males and females? In this book, Elof Carlson tells the incredible story of the difficult quest to understand how the body forms girls and boys. Carlson s history takes us from antiquity to the present day to detail how each component of human reproduction and sexuality was identified and studied, how this knowledge enlarged our understanding of sex determination, and how it was employed to interpret such little understood aspects of human biology as the origin of intersex births."

A challenging look at today's most hotly debated issues in bioethics. Within the high-paced, highly controverted field of bioethics, the most hotly debated issues center on sexuality, reproductive technology, and the family. This new volume from the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity provides a thought-provoking appraisal of the ethical dimension of the reproductive revolution from a Christian perspective. Thirty scholars and medical practitioners discuss some of the most pressing topics related to human reproduction, including: the moral status of embryos; the use of donor eggs and sperm; surrogate motherhood and human cloning; the abortifacient effect of birth control pills.

"The Neuropsychology of Aging" is a comprehensive yet concise introduction to what is currently known about the impact of aging on brain function. This book reviews both the current state-of-the art knowledge on cognition and aging and its neurobiological substrates, and methods for assessment and prospects for treatment.

The book begins with an overview of the topic, and reviews neuropsychological, neurobiological, and neuroanatomical assessment of the elderly. The author goes on to discuss aging in the nervous system, including neuropathological brain aging in diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. The final section provides neuropsychological perspectives on cognition functions such as attention, learning and memory, and language and communication. The book concludes with a discussion of interventions into neuropsychological processes, and future directions in the field.

In this new, revised edition of his landmark book, Montagu compels us to reevaluate the way we think about growth and development, in all its phases, throughout life. Humans are designed to grow and develop their childlike qualities, and not to become the ossified adults prescribed by society. Montagu demonstrates how our culture, schools, and families are in conspiracy against such childlike traits as the need to love, to learn, to wonder, to know, to explore, to think, to experiment, to be imaginative, creative and curious, to sing, dance, or play. He also reveals the many links between physical and mental aging and tells how to prevent psychosclerosis, the hardening of the mind, so that we can die young--as late as possible. The best statement ever written on the most important, neglected theme of human life and evolution. "Stephen Jay Gould, Harvard University"

In this new, revised edition of his landmark book, Montagu compels us to reevaluate the way we think about growth and development, in all its phases, throughout life. Humans are designed to grow and develop their childlike qualities, and not to become the ossified adults prescribed by society. Montagu demonstrates how our culture, schools, and families are in conspiracy against such childlike traits as the need to love, to learn, to wonder, to know, to explore, to think, to experiment, to be imaginative, creative and curious, to sing, dance, or play. He also reveals the many links between physical and mental aging and tells how to prevent psychosclerosis, the hardening of the mind, so that we can die young--as late as possible.

This short volume selects and describes the main facts about the 'facts of life' and discusses their significance to man. It is only natural that it includes much information gleaned from mammalian reproductive patterns. It was their investigation that historically gave the clues to understanding what happens in human reproduction.