'Mind-blowing ... It is a hugely important book ... His story is crucial' Matt Ridley, The Times One of the world's top behavioural geneticists argues that we need a radical rethink about what makes us who we are The blueprint for our individuality lies in the 1% of DNA that differs between people. Our intellectual capacity, our introversion or extraversion, our vulnerability to mental illness, even whether we are a morning person - all of these aspects of our personality are profoundly shaped by our inherited DNA differences. In Blueprint, Robert Plomin, a pioneer in the field of behavioural genetics, draws on a lifetime's worth of research to make the case that DNA is the most important factor shaping who we are. Our families, schools and the environment around us are important, but they are not as influential as our genes. This is why, he argues, teachers and parents should accept children for who they are, rather than trying to mould them in certain directions. Even the environments we choose and the signal events that impact our lives, from divorce to addiction, are influenced by our genetic predispositions. Now, thanks to the DNA revolution, it is becoming possible to predict who we will become, at birth, from our DNA alone. As Plomin shows us, these developments have sweeping implications for how we think about parenting, education, and social mobility. A game-changing book by a leader in the field, Blueprint shows how the DNA present in the single cell with which we all begin our lives can impact our behaviour as adults.

The role of male-derived factors in infertility now receives increasing prominence, as investigations focus more on the couple, rather than solely the female partner. Although there are many books on infertility, few devote themselves wholly to the male partner. Male Infertility redresses this balance by increasing awareness of both the causes and management of infertility in the male. This revised and updated edition contains new chapters covering urological disorders that may occur concomitantly with male infertility, such as testicular cancer, penile disorders and prostate cancer. A practical and clinical guide, Male Infertility enables clinicians to make quick and accurate diagnoses of the cause before pursuing the most appropriate treatment option to maximise the chances of conception. Of particular value to gynaecologists and andrologists, this text will be of great interest to any clinician working in the infertility clinic, as well as primary care practitioners and trainees.

In order to maximize the chance of IVF success, couples need to ensure that their preconceptual health is optimal to increase the quality of gametes and reproductive fitness. This text reviews the medical and lifestyle factors that can affect the body at preconception stage, such as micronutrients, stress, hormonal and gynecologic assessment, as well as environmental factors such as optimal weight and age for childbirth. This book will enable all medical practitioners and healthcare professionals to give evidence-based advice to influence the success rate of subsequent IVF cycles, and ensure that every child is born in the best possible condition. Part of a four-book series on optimizing different aspects of the IVF cycle, this book focusses on preparing the body for assisted conception. Other books in the series focus on the egg and embryo, the endometrium, and the sperm.

Understand the rapidly growing complexities of obstetric hematology and high-risk pregnancy management, with experts in the field. Now in its second edition, this comprehensive and essential guide focuses on providing the best support for patients and clinical staff, to prevent serious complications in pregnancy and the post-partum period for both mother and baby. Wide-ranging and detailed, the guide offers discussions on basic principles of best care, through to tackling lesser-known hematological conditions, such as cytopenias and hemoglobinopathies. Updated with color illustrations, cutting-edge research, accurate blood film reproductions, and practical case studies, the revised edition places invaluable advice into everyday context. This unique resource is essential reading for trainees and practitioners in obstetrics, anesthesia, and hematology, as well as midwives, nurses, and laboratory staff. Clarifying difficult procedures for disease prevention, the guide ensures safety when the stakes are high. Reflecting current evidence-based guidelines, the updated volume is key to improving pregnancy outcomes worldwide.

In this witty and uplifting book Parisian blogger Mylene Desclaux speaks tenderly and honestly about turning 50 and what it means for herself and for the other women in her entourage. Mylene assures us that we are still 'young women' in our fifties - but with more opportunities. 'By the time we're fifty, we've generally done all the important things - career, family. Now we can re-centre and discover a new energy within ourselves. It's our time to blossom - to reprogramme gently. To revitalise. We realise that we are the mistresses of our own lives... The desire to do battle disappears. We feel calm. And we know we're going to have time to make the most of it.' With acerbic French humour she distils the essence of getting the most out of your middle age and gives advice on everything from: * Relationships * Sex * Fashion * Dating * Skincare * Friendships * Kids * Beauty In WHY FRENCH WOMEN FEEL YOUNG AT 50 you will learn how to take pleasure from the simple things in life and how to make the most of your fifties, the Parisian way.

Molecular Biology of Placental Development and Disease, the latest volume in the Progress in Molecular Biology and Translational Science series, focuses on placental development and disease.

Introduced in Phnom Penh around 1990, at the twilight of socialism and after two decades of conflict and upheaval, ultrasound took root in humanitarian and then privatized medicine. Services have since multiplied, promising diagnostic information and better prenatal and general health care. In Fixing the Image Jenna Grant draws on years of ethnographic and archival research to theorize the force and appeal of medical imaging in the urban landscape of Phnom Penh. Set within long genealogies of technology as tool of postcolonial modernity, and vision as central to skilled diagnosis in medicine and Theravada Buddhism, ultrasound offers stabilizing knowledge and elicits desire and pleasure, particularly for pregnant women. Grant offers the concept of "fixing"-which invokes repair, stabilization, and a dose of something to which one is addicted-to illuminate how ultrasound is entangled with practices of care and neglect across different domains. Fixing the Image thus provides a method for studying technological practice in terms of specific materialities and capacities of technologies-in this case, image production and the permeability of the body-illuminating how images are a material form of engagement between patients, between patients and their doctors, and between patients and their bodies.

From its crude and uneasy beginnings thirty years ago, Chinese sperm banking has become a routine part of China's pervasive and restrictive reproductive complex. Today, there are sperm banks in each of China's twenty-two provinces, the biggest of which screen some three thousand to four thousand potential donors each year. Given the estimated one to two million azoospermic men--those who are unable to produce their own sperm--the demand remains insatiable. China's twenty-two sperm banks cannot keep up, spurring sperm bank directors to publicly lament chronic shortages and even warn of a national 'sperm crisis' (jingzi weiji). Good Quality explores the issues behind the crisis, including declining sperm quality in the country due to environmental pollution, as well as a chronic national shortage of donors. In doing so, Wahlberg outlines the specific style of Chinese sperm banking that has emerged, shaped by the particular cultural, juridical, economic and social configurations that make up China's restrictive reproductive complex. Good Quality shows how this high-throughput style shapes the ways in which men experience donation and how sperm is made available to couples who can afford it.

In recent years increasing numbers of women from wealthy countries have turned to egg donation, egg freezing, and in vitro fertilization to become pregnant, especially later in life. This trend has created new ways of using, exchanging, and understanding oocytes-the reproductive cells specific to women. In The Oocyte Economy Catherine Waldby draws on 130 interviews---with scientists, clinicians, and women who have either donated or frozen their oocytes or received those of another woman---to trace how the history of human oocytes' perceived value intersects with the biological and social life of women. Demonstrating how oocytes have come to be understood as discrete and scarce biomedical objects open to valuation, management, and exchange, Waldby examines the global market for oocytes and the power dynamics between recipients and the often younger and poorer donors. With this exploration of the oocyte economy and its contemporary biopolitical significance, Waldby rethinks the relationship between fertility, gendered experience, and biomedical innovation.

This open access edited book brings together new research on the mechanisms by which maternal and reproductive health policies are formed and implemented in diverse locales around the world, from global policy spaces to sites of practice. The authors - both internationally respected anthropologists and new voices - demonstrate the value of ethnography and the utility of reproduction as a lens through which to generate rich insights into professionals' and lay people's intimate encounters with policy. Authors look closely at core policy debates in the history of global maternal health across six different continents, including: Women's use of misoprostol for abortion in Burkina Faso The place of traditional birth attendants in global maternal health Donor-driven maternal health programs in Tanzania Efforts to integrate qualitative evidence in WHO maternal and child health policy-making Anthropologies of Global Maternal and Reproductive Health will engage readers interested in critical conversations about global health policy today. The broad range of foci makes it a valuable resource for teaching in medical anthropology, anthropology of reproduction, and interdisciplinary global health programs. The book will also find readership amongst critical public health scholars, health policy and systems researchers, and global public health practitioners.

This handbook is a guide to infertility and ultrasound for gynaecologists and infertility specialists. The second edition has been fully revised and includes many new topics, providing the latest information in the field. Divided into two sections, the first half of the book covers infertility. Beginning with discussion on assessment of an infertile couple, the following chapters examine different hormone treatments, sperm preparation, and ovulation induction, including in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome. The remaining chapters cover male infertility, recurrent pregnancy loss, and practical tips for infertility management. The second part of the book covers ultrasound. Beginning with discussion on transvaginal sonography and ultrasound in different uterine diseases, the following chapters cover ultrasound in infertility treatment, as well as in the different trimesters of pregnancy. Screening for foetal abnormalities is also discussed in depth. The comprehensive text is highly illustrated with more than 700 ultrasound images, diagrams and photographs. Key points Practical guide to infertility and ultrasound for specialists in gynaecology and infertility Fully revised, second edition featuring many new topics Highly illustrated with more than 700 ultrasound images and diagrams Previous edition (9789351528562) published in 2015

Women and Positive Aging: An International Perspective presents the noted research in the fields of psychology, gerontology, and gender studies, reflecting the increasingly popular and pervasive positive aging issues of women in today's society from different cohorts, backgrounds, and life situations. Each section describes a bridge between the theoretical aspects and practical applications of the theory that is consistent with the scientist-practitioner training model in psychology, including case studies and associated intervention strategies with older women in each chapter. In addition to incorporating current research on aging women's issues, each section provides the reader with background about the topic to give context and perspective.

For many years, the focus of fertility research and treatment has been the female. In reality, at least half of all infertility cases have a male factor as a major or contributing cause. Recent advances in the diagnosis and treatment of male infertility have enabled pregnancies in cases where the male partner was previously considered to be untreatable or even sterile. With contributions from world- renowned experts, this comprehensive overview of male infertility covers anatomy, evaluation, treatment and prevention. The elucidation of the molecular genetics underpinning spermatogenesis and the development of new sperm function tests have increased our understanding of male infertility and led to new treatments which are discussed and evaluated. This volume presents the latest scientific developments in a clinically useful and practical format. The book is packaged with a high-quality surgical atlas on CD- ROM. This text will be valuable for urologists and reproductive endocrinologists at all levels.

Too tiny to see with the naked eye, the human embryo was just a hypothesis until the microscope made observation of embryonic development possible. This changed forever our view of the minuscule cluster of cells that looms large in questions about the meaning of life. Embryos under the Microscope examines how our scientific understanding of the embryo has evolved from the earliest speculations of natural philosophers to today's biological engineering, with its many prospects for life-enhancing therapies. Jane Maienschein shows that research on embryos has always revealed possibilities that appear promising to some but deeply frightening to others, and she makes a persuasive case that public understanding must be informed by up-to-date scientific findings. Direct observation of embryos greatly expanded knowledge but also led to disagreements over what investigators were seeing. Biologists confirmed that embryos are living organisms undergoing rapid change and are not in any sense functioning persons. They do not feel pain or have any capacity to think until very late stages of fetal development. New information about DNA led to discoveries about embryonic regulation of genetic inheritance, as well as evolutionary relationships among species. Scientists have learned how to manipulate embryos in the lab, taking them apart, reconstructing them, and even synthesizing--practically from scratch--cells, body parts, and maybe someday entire embryos. Showing how we have learned what we now know about the biology of embryos, Maienschein changes our view of what it means to be alive.

Understand the menopause with all its changes and challenges and choose practices and treatments, brought to you by a team of experts, to make this next stage in your wellness journey healthy and positive. Find the right combination of resources for you - to stay physically, mentally, and spiritually well throughout the menopause. Your journey is unique. This insightful book will help you find the right combination of resources that work for you. It includes: - Specialist expert writers for each section of the book - HRT, Natural Remedies, Exercise, Nutrition and Mental Wellness - Practical strategies on how to manage menopause naturally and make it a more positive, empowering experience - Symptom Finder in the introductory pages to help direct you to the correct section in the book Coping with menopause can be tough, draining and sometimes utterly debilitating for women. For years it has been seen as an illness that needed to be cured. Natural Menopause takes a different approach. Throughout the pages of this calm, authoritative, beautiful reference book, you'll be able to learn about the natural process of menopause. Explore an extensive collection of natural menopause remedies and complements to hormone replacement therapy. Adopt yoga poses to reduce stress and help you sleep. Use essential oils to manage mood swings and soothe headaches. Discover detoxifying foods that aid weight management and regulate hormones. Find the best exercises to boost your mood and energy levels. Finally, use CBT and mindfulness to relieve anxiety and calm hot flushes. Embrace the Change Filled with a wealth of invaluable information, this book will help you stay physically, mentally, and spiritually well throughout your menopause journey. It's perfect for women over 40 who are already invested in natural wellness and want to apply the same principles to their menopause.

In the 1960s thousands of poor women of color on the (post)colonial French island of Reunion had their pregnancies forcefully terminated by white doctors; the doctors operated under the pretext of performing benign surgeries, for which they sought government compensation. When the scandal broke in 1970, the doctors claimed to have been encouraged to perform these abortions by French politicians who sought to curtail reproduction on the island, even though abortion was illegal in France. In The Wombs of Women-first published in French and appearing here in English for the first time-Francoise Verges traces the long history of colonial state intervention in black women's wombs during the slave trade and postslavery imperialism as well as in current birth control politics. She examines the women's liberation movement in France in the 1960s and 1970s, showing that by choosing to ignore the history of the racialization of women's wombs, French feminists inevitably ended up defending the rights of white women at the expense of women of color. Ultimately, Verges demonstrates how the forced abortions on Reunion were manifestations of the legacies of the racialized violence of slavery and colonialism.

This book explores the imagined and instrumental significance of motherhood, fertility and family in social and political life in contemporary Ireland. In the climate of change shaped in part by Ireland's economic and political place in Europe, values, norms and ideals are challenged and re-defined as people navigate new social terrain for many institutions, including the family. Infertility stories show us how the once seamless connection between marriage, motherhood, sex and procreation is contested. Through the stories of women and men facing infertility, the book brings to life the forces that shape the idea of motherhood in Ireland and the way many women see themselves, not as victims of circumstance, but as agents and beneficiaries of changing social values and expectations. The book also examines how religious, medical and state institutions employ the meanings of "nature" and science in procreative endeavours in an effort to be the dominant voice in a conversation about an ongoing pronatalist politics. The use of reproductive technologies is discussed in relation to the historical and contemporary debates about reproductive choice. The dilemmas people face when using assisted reproduction technologies also highlight the complexity and contingency of the local morality in which reproductive politics operates in Ireland. The book makes an important contribution to the story of change in Ireland as it represents the current cultural context in which people are making decisions about family building. It also contributes to the feminist literature on motherhood and reproductive choice in contemporary Ireland.

Developmental Juvenile Osteology was created as a core reference text to document the development of the entire human skeleton from early embryonic life to adulthood. In the period since its first publication there has been a resurgence of interest in the developing skeleton, and the second edition of Developmental Juvenile Osteology incorporates much of the key literature that has been published in the intervening time. The main core of the text persists by describing each individual component of the human skeleton from its embryological origin through to its final adult form. This systematic approach has been shown to assist the processes of both identification and age estimation and acts as a core source for the basic understanding of normal human skeletal development. In addition to this core, new sections have been added where there have been significant advances in the field.

The comprehensive and authoritative guide to clinical reproductive science The field of clinical reproductive science continues to evolve; this important resource offers the basics of reproductive biology as well as the most recent advance in clinical embryology. The author - a noted expert in the field - focuses on the discipline and covers all aspects of this field. The text explores causes of male and female infertility and includes information on patient consultation and assessment, gamete retrieval and preparation, embryo culture, embryo transfer and cryopreservation. Comprehensive in scope, the text contains an introduction to the field of clinical reproductive science and a review of assisted reproductive technology. The author includes information on a wide range of topics such as gonadal development, the regulation of meiotic cell cycle, the biology of sperm and spermatogenesis, in vitro culture, embryo transfer techniques, fundamentals of fertilisation, oocyte activation and much more. This important resource: Offers an accessible guide to the most current research and techniques to the science of clinical reproduction Covers the fundamental elements of reproductive science Includes information on male and the female reproductive basics - everything from sexual differentiation to foetal development and parturition Explores the long-term health of children conceived through IVF Contains the newest developments in assisted reproductive technology Clinical Reproductive Science is a valuable reference written for professionals in academia, research and clinical professionals working in the field of reproductive science, clinical embryology and reproductive medicine.

Effectively manage reproductive endocrinology issues with Reproductive Endocrinology, a new book derived from the highly acclaimed two-volume textbook, Endocrinology: Adult and Pediatric. Never before available as a stand-alone offering, this compilation of chapters will enable you to give your patients the benefit of today's best know-how from the leading resource in endocrinology. Stay abreast of the newest knowledge in reproductive endocrinology, including. endocrinology of sexual behavior and gender identity genetic pathways that control gonadal development and sex differentiation management of PCOS and hirsutism, male androgen deficiency, and gynecomastia and much more. Effectively review the causes and management of precocious or delayed puberty. Count on all the authority that has made Endocrinology, 6th Edition, edited by leading endocrinologists Drs. Jameson and De Groot, the go-to clinical medical reference for endocrinologists worldwide. Make the best clinical decisions in reproductive endocrinology with an enhanced emphasis on evidence-based practice in conjunction with expert opinion.

Child development refers to the biological and psychological changes that occurs in human beings between birth and the end of adolescence, as the individual progress from dependency to increasing autonomy. Developmental change may occur as a result of genetically-controlled process known as maturation, or as a result of environmental factors and learning, but most commonly it involves an interaction between the two. One of the most relevant aspects in the socio-economic progress in the developing countries is the development of children. Children are the future resource of a country and thus its supreme assets. The optimal development of children is considered vital to society and so it is important to understand their social, cognitive, emotional and educational development. The early development of cognitive skills, emotional well- being, social competence, and sound physical and mental health builds a strong foundation for success well in to the adult years. Beyond their short term importance for positive school achievement, theses abilities are critical prerequisites for economic productivity and responsible citizenship throughout life. All aspects of adult human capital, from workforce skills to co-operative and lawful behaviour are build capacities which are development during childhood beginning at birth. This book begins with an overview of child development. The focus of the book is to explore the idea of child development in terms of the various component of child development, namely nutrition, health, education etc., And to evaluate the progress of child development in the developing world.