These proceedings of the 2018 XIII International Symposium on Spermatology focus on comparative biology, and encourages discussion and the exchange of ideas. The aim of this Symposium was to provide a unique opportunity and bring together scientists from a wide spectrum of research fields - human, domestic animals and other mammals, vertebrates, insects, and plants. The underlying focus is on the function of the spermatozoon - a common feature for sexual reproduction, but extremely varied. By exploring the variability, a better understanding of male reproductive functions can develop. These proceedings address the mechanisms of physiology and pathophysiology, rather than diagnosis and treatment. The symposium featured keynote lectures by invited speakers, followed by presentations on specific aspects of the general topic of the session. Experimental studies are given priority over clinical studies of patient populations. The proceedings comprise both keynote speakers' texts and selected free communications. Posters were considered for publication in the proceedings, and the volume includes exhibited materials on the work of prominent spermatologists, highlighting their important past achievements in the field.

Child development comprises children's cognitive, linguistic, motor, social and emotional development, communication, and self-care skills. Understanding developmental periods means that possible problems or roadblocks can be planned for or prevented. Knowledge of child development is necessary for achieving educational goals and is integral to promoting children's healthy and timely development. Global Perspectives on Prenatal, Postnatal, and Early Childhood Development is an essential scholarly reference source that compiles critical findings on children's growth periods and characteristics as well as the principles that affect their development. Covering a wide range of topics such as at-risk children, early intervention, and support programs, this book is ideally designed for child development specialists, pediatricians, educators, program developers, administrators, psychologists, researchers, academicians, and students. Additionally, the book provides insight and support to health professionals working in various disciplines in the field of child development and health.

This new edition provides an update on the molecular mechanisms that regulate spermatogenesis. In addition to the rodent as a study model, chapters also include research on studies in humans. It includes the latest approaches of studying spermatogenesis, such as the use of bioinformatics, molecular modeling and others which are not commonly found in published materials. It also reviews the latest developments in the field, such as studies on the role of regulatory RNAs on spermatogenesis. Due to the declining fertility rate among men, a brand new chapter highlights the impact of environmental toxicants on spermatogenesis.

Whether they are in developed or developing nations, all women are susceptible to dying from complications in childbirth. While some of these complications are unavoidable, many develop during pregnancy and can be prevented or, when caught in time, treated. These difficulties are often a result of inaccessibility to care, inadequate health services, poor prenatal screening, and uninformed mothers, among others, that in many cases are a direct consequence of the mother's geographical location and economic status. Innovations in Global Maternal Health: Improving Prenatal and Postnatal Care Practices explores new techniques, tools, and solutions that can be used in a global capacity to support women during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period, regardless of their wealth or location. Highlighting a range of topics such as maternal care models, breastfeeding, and social media and internet health forums, this publication is an ideal reference source for world health organizations, obstetricians, midwives, lactation consultants, doctors, nurses, hospital staff, directors, counselors, therapists, academicians, and researchers interested in the latest practices currently in use that can combat maternal mortality and morbidity and lead to healthier women and newborns.

This book provides concrete scientific basis that we can conceive the possibility of modifying or even completely canceling aging process, despite the fact that aging is commonly regarded as the result of the overall effects of many uncontrollable degenerative phenomena. The authors illustrate in detail the mechanisms by which cells and the whole organism age. Actions by which it is possible, or will be possible within a limited time, to operate for modifying aging are also debated. The discussion is conducted within the frame and the concepts of evolutionary medicine, which is also indispensable for distinguishing between the manifestations of aging and: (i) diseases that worsen with age, and (ii) acceleration of normal aging rates, caused by unhealthy lifestyle habits and other avoidable factors. The book also discusses the impact of aging on overall mortality and the strange situation that, according to official statistics, aging does not exist as cause of death. This book is a turning point between a gerontology and geriatrics conceived as the study and vain treatment of an incurable condition and one in which these disciplines examine the how and why of a physiological phenomenon that can be modified up to a possible total control. This means transforming the medical prevention and treatment of physiological aging from the greatest failure to the greatest success of medicine.

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.

"Recent Events in the Psychology of Aging" documents the successful integration of aging into the mainstream of psychology. Leading psychologists present overviews of the key issues and research findings on mainstream topics. These include cognitive neuroscience, visual attention, learning, memory and cognition, as well as personality and happiness. The intersection of aging content with mainstream psychology is also prominent in the areas of emotions, personality, and social psychology as seen in the chapters on subjective well-being, emotional development, self-esteem and personality trajectories.
The seven chapters of this book offer information on such topics as: the seven sins of memory, categorizing the common breakdowns of memory in everyday life and the special breakdown of sins that increase with aging; problems with attention and learning; and offers answers to questions such as do emotions get blunted with age; do older people focus more on positive feelings; and the age old question of whether older people are happier than younger people is given in the chapter on the evolving concept of subjective well-being and the multifaceted nature of happiness. Questions about what occurs to one's self-esteem and personality are also masterfully discussed and the answers may be surprising. The concluding seventh chapter provides a cultural lens on the biopsychosocial study of aging.

Since the first randomized controlled studies were conducted on medical circumcision to assess their effectiveness on reducing HIV transmission, health systems have made considerable progress in adopting this practice in their HIV/AIDS and sexual reproductive health policies. As such, medical circumcision is being adopted as an additional intervention measure to support previous practices for reducing HIV infections in various countries or settings. James Kityo's pioneering book examines contexts, processes, policy projections, and likely engagements by reviewing sexual reproductive health policies or practices, and literature on medical circumcision, and identifies existing opportunities and challenges. His book also explores the medical, gender, ethical, socio-economic, and human rights dimensions of medical circumcision as an HIV/AIDS prevention method. Following peer-reviewed studies, Kityo found compelling evidence documenting the effectiveness of medical circumcision in reducing HIV transmission, and discusses this evidence in the context of HIV/AIDS in a developing health system in Sub-Saharan Africa. The author concludes that there is a range of opportunities from research and current practice to enable policy makers to adopt medical circumcision and other interventions at their disposal in order to reduce infections from HIV and AIDS-related deaths. The author suggests feasible recommendations for implementing successful HIV/AIDS prevention programs in developing nations' health systems, including medical circumcision's gradual inclusion in health practices; stakeholder support; an elaborate review of this intervention by women, politicians, religious communities, and funding agencies. The author introduces a guided action plan, which can be used as a launch pad to enhance the learning process in the integration of medical circumcision in existing health practices.

This manual provides insights into clinical and laboratory techniques used in assisted human reproduction, for example hormone therapy, in vitro fertilization, diagnostic and microsurgical techniques, cryoconservation, oocyte maturation etc.. Detailed information is given on the practical clinical value of the methods, as well as on their applications in basic research. This comprehensive manual covers the state of the art and prospects for future developments in assisted reproduction. The book is thus a quick and precise guide for clinical gynecologists and specialists in reproductive medicine.

Collectively, the chapters in this work will provide the reader with novel insight into the inter-relationships of the function of different organelles in the sequences of events that lead to cellular dysfunction and degeneration in the aging human population. The chapters are rich in information for cell and molecular biologists pursuing studies of the different diseases covered. In addition, the clinician will find value in understanding mechanisms underlying age-related disease as such an understanding will lead to novel therapeutic approaches for an array of age-related diseases.

This book describes in fascinating detail the history of the use of anesthesia in childbirth and in so doing offers a unique perspective on the interaction between medical science and social values. Dr. Donald Caton traces the responses of physicians and their patients to the pain of childbirth from the popularization of anesthesia to the natural childbirth movement and beyond. He finds that physicians discovered what could be done to manage pain, and patients decided what would be done. Dr. Caton discusses how nineteenth-century physicians began to think and act like scientists; how people learned to reject the belief that pain and suffering are inevitable components of life; and how a later generation came to think that pain may have important functions for the individual and society. Finally he shows the extent to which cultural and social values have influenced "scientific" medical decisions.

This volume of "Advances in Cell Aging and Gerontology" critically reviews the rapidly advancing area of telomerase research with a focus at the molecular and cellular levels. The clearly established function of telomerase is to maintain chromosome ends during successive rounds of cell division by adding a six base DNA repeat on to the telomeric ends of chromosomes. As presented in the chapters of this volume, the mechanisms that regulate telomerase expression and activity are complex. Moreover, emerging data suggest additional roles for telomerase in the regulation of cell differentiation and survival.

It is expected that this quite comprehensive volume will provide a valuable resource for graduate students and postdocs in the telomerase field and for established investigators in other fields who are beginning to study telomerase in their particular research program. With an increasing number of proteins being brought into the fold of telomerase research (e.g., DNA damage and repair response proteins, heat-shock proteins, and proteins in various signal transduction cascades) many new scientists are beginning to study this enzyme from novel vantage points.

Human Reproduction-The Missing Parts of the Puzzle; B.P. Setchell. Genes, Chromosomes and Fertility: Human Y Chromosome Deletions in Yq11 and Male Fertility; P.H. Vogt. Frequency of Y-Chromosome Microdeletions; (Yq11.22-23) in Men with Reduced Sperm Quality Requesting Assisted Reproduction; A. Bonhoff, et al. Germ Cell Differentiation and Tumorigenesis: Endocrine Control of Germ Cell Proliferation in the Primate Testis: What Do We Really Know?; G.F. Weinbauer, E. Nieschlag. The Role of the Testicular Accessory Cells: Molecular Pathophysiology of the Pituitary-Gonadal Axis; M. Simoni, et al. Compartmentalization, Vascularization and Angiogenesis: Compartmentalization of the Intertubular Space in the Human Testis; A.F. Holstein, M. Davidoff. Post-Testicular Sperm Maturation: The Role of Apocrine Released Proteins in the Post-Testicular Regulation of Human Sperm Function; G. Aumuller, et al. Control of the Male and Female Tracts: Interactions Between Leukocytes and the Male Reproductive System: The Unanswered Question; A.G. Rossi, R.J. Aitken. Gamete Interaction and Fertilization: The Cell Biology of Fertilization; R.J. Aitken. 45 Additional Articles. Index.

This pioneering text formally introduces an all-inclusive approach to preventive health care that is targeted at female factor associated infertility. All female factor problems and related issues are examined critically. This is followed by the proposal of preventive strategies that are based on the three tiers of preventive health care (primary, secondary and tertiary prevention). This exceptional book is currently the only available comprehensive text on the subject. It is an invaluable resource guide for a wide range of medical, health and allied professionals. You will find:

This second edition offers an expanded and updated history of the field of fetal and neonatal development, allowing readers to gain a comprehensive understanding of the biological aspects that contribute to the wellbeing or pathophysiology of newborns. In this concluding opus of a long and prominent career as a clinical scientist, Dr. Longo has invited new contributions from noted colleagues with expertise in various fields to provide a historical perspective on the impact of how modern concepts emerged in the field of fetal physiology and contributed to the current attention paid to the fetal origins of diseases in adults. In addition to new chapters on maternal physiology and complications during pregnancy, others trace the history of the Society for Reproductive Investigation, governmental funding of perinatal research, and major initiatives to support training in the new discipline of maternal fetal medicine, including the Reproductive Scientist Development program. The extensive survey provided by the author, who personally knew most of the pioneers in the field, offers a unique guide for all clinical and basic scientists interested in the history of - and future approaches to diagnosing and treating - pathologies that represent the leading causes of neonatal mortality and, far too often, life-long morbidity.