This book investigates the various processes that are affected by the age of an organism. Several new tools for the analysis of biological aging have been introduced recently, and this volume provides methods and protocols for these new techniques in addition to its coverage of established procedures. Researchers seeking new technology and techniques will find this volume of tremendous benefit as they move towards new directions.

Kisspeptin has been shown to be both necessary and sufficient for activation of the reproductive axis, during puberty and later in adulthood. This makes kisspeptin a fundamental component of the reproductive axis. Kisspeptin has been deemed the single most potent stimulator of GnRH neurons yet known. The importance of kisspeptin has been documented in humans as well as non-human animal models, ranging from monkeys, sheep, and rodents to numerous fish species, thus signifying a highly conserved nature of its reproductive function. Importantly, kisspeptin neurons seem to mediate many of the regulatory effects of other signals, whether they are metabolic, circadian, hormonal, or stress. This places kisspeptin neurons in a unique position to be key nodal points and conduits for conveying numerous endogenous and exogenous signals to the reproductive axis.

"Tissue Morphogenesis: Methods and Protocols "highlights major techniques, both experimental and computational, for the study of tissue morphogenesis, divided into several sections, with specific focus on techniques to image, manipulate, model and analyze tissue morphogenesis. Chapters focus on imagining analysis of tissue morphogenesis, culture models of tissue morphogenesis, manipulating cells and tissues in vivo, novel model systems to investigate issue morphogenesis and computational models. Written in the highly successful "Methods in Molecular Biology "series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls.

Authoritative and practical," ""Tissue Morphogenesis: Methods and Protocols" serves as a primary resource for both fundamental and practical understanding of the techniques used to uncover the basis of tissue morphogenesis.

Different genetic diagnostic and treatment options are used worldwide to improve routine IVF procedures for the benefit of patients. This handbook updates the new genetic diagnostic technologies that have been translated to the clinic, aiming to improve outcomes in the clinic and result in a healthy baby in the home. Chapters cover the use of genetic technologies in a personalized manner to unravel the possible genetic risks for the couple wishing to conceive, in terms of sperm, the embryo, the endometrium, miscarriage, and finally the fetus. This expanded new edition covers the range of the latest genetic diagnostic technologies being translated into practice internationally to improve routine IVF procedures for the benefit of patients. Bringing together international experts to discuss their work, this text gives a context for the developments in this very fast-moving area of research and offers a comprehensive and rounded appraisal of hot topics.

This text provides a comprehensive summary of research and findings that have lead to the current understanding of the subventricular zones. It provides an overview of the roles of subventricular zones in normal development and in disease and a foundation from which current and future studies can be evaluated.

This book discusses the various antioxidants that are in use to overcome oxidative stress in an assisted reproduction setting. Antioxidant therapies may range from enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants, either alone or in combination. While no one antioxidant regime has been identified as effective in improving fertilization and pregnancy rates, antioxidant supplementation has been shown to defend sperm cells from lipid peroxidation and oxidative damage to DNA, and thus improve pregnancy rates. The prevention of oxidative stress and its consequent damage is imperative to ensure a successful outcome of the in vitro fertilization procedure and embryo transfer. Strategies that could be employed to minimize or prevent the detrimental effects of OS during assisted reproduction include supplementation with various types of antioxidants.

Women with chronic medical problems are at higher risk for complications during pregnancy and, therefore, they are especially in need of appropriate preconception and contraception care. Furthermore, many women with chronic medical problems do not obtain adequate preconception and contraception care. Despite published guidelines by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is a substantial gap in medical practice regarding the use of contraception in women with co-existing medical problems. Contraception for the Medically Challenging Patient fills the gap that currently exists in the knowledge of correct contraceptive prescribing practice and shows that inappropriate contraindications can easily become a barrier to effective contraception use among women. Chapters highlight obsolete views about appropriate candidates for contraception and address the complex contraceptive needs of today's medically challenging patients with HIV/AIDS, uterine fibroids, or cardiac, neurologic or thyroid disease. The book gives attention to recommendations on the use of contraception in women with medical problems such as diabetes, obesity, epilepsy, and lupus, among others, and provides comprehensive information regarding the effects that certain drugs may have on contraceptive hormone levels. While national guidelines do exist for contraceptive eligibility, this book discusses in more detail the evidence behind the guideline recommendations and the nuances that clinicians confront in daily practice.

Microsurgery for Fertility Specialists is an invaluable resource for physicians who specialize in the surgical treatment of male and female infertility. This practical text explains the basics of microsurgery and provides detailed operative descriptions of surgical procedures such as vasectomy reversal, sperm retrieval, tubal reanastomosis, and penile surgery. An exceptional cadre of reproductive specialists shares valuable knowledge of the current state of microsurgery, its role in infertility procedures, and the latest advances in the field --including some non-infertility microsurgical techniques. The book is an essential educational guide for those with a more advanced knowledge of microsurgical practice as it includes chapters that will help them mentor residents and fellows, and inspire future generations of reproductive surgeons.

This comprehensive volume focuses on recent trends and new technologies used in the management of reproduction in major farm animals, focusing on both males and females of bovine, equine, and porcine species. With chapters written by scientists who specialize in their respective topics, the volume presents a selection of different technologies that have been developed to assure reproductive success by improving reproductive efficiency, generating germplasm banks, and maintaining genetic diversity in cattle, horses, and pigs. In the last decade, reproductive technologies in veterinary medicine have progressed considerably, providing high profitability to livestock farms. This book provides basic and applied information on the most used reproductive technologies in bovine, equine, and porcine species for academics, scientists, and veterinarians. The volume discusses reproductive and postpartum management, reproductive ultrasound, sperm management, egg retrieval, artificial insemination, embryo transfer, nutrition, genetics, and certain clinical aspects, such as endocrinology and robustness of reproductive systems.

This volume covers data describing the role of free radicals and antioxidants that deal with clinical and pre-clinical trials, as well as basic research in the area of women's health. There is increasing evidence that oxidative stress is a causative, or at least a supporting factor in female pathology and infertility. During advancing gestational age, oxidative stress biomakers rise. Oxidative stress plays a regulatory role in transcription, signal transduction, gene expression and membrane trafficking. A search on Pub Med shows 449 papers have been published to date related to women's health disorders and use of antioxidants in a variety of disease that are prevalent in women, such as hypertension and cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, obesity and restless leg syndrome.

'The world is not neatly divided into two camps of women, those who wanted to reproduce and did, and those who didn't want to, and didn't. So many of us are caught here, in between, neither one thing nor the other, drifting towards a receding horizon, in our own camp . . .' When Miranda Ward and her husband decided to have a baby, they were optimistic. There was no reason not to be: they were both young, they were both healthy. But five years, three miscarriages and one ectopic pregnancy later, Ward finds herself still dealing with the ongoing aftermath of that decision: the waiting, the doubting, the despairing, the hoping. ADRIFT is a memoir about the unique place of almost-motherhood. Some people pass through it without even noticing; others languish there, held safe, held prisoner, by the walls of not-knowing - for as long as there is still a question mark, an open ending, there is a chance of escape. Inspired by her childhood on the California coast, Ward turns to the water, seeking solace in a landscape of a different kind - the swimming pool. Hoping to make sense of the uncertainty, she begins to ask questions of geography on the most intimate scale. How do we learn to feel at home in our own bodies, even when they disobey? How can we find our way, even when we feel adrift? What language do we have for the spaces in between? Charting a journey through territory at once deeply personal and widely shared, Ward offers a searing, lyrical and radically honest narrative of fertility and motherhood that is less often told.

Carl Edward Sagan's (1934-1996) one of the famous quotation was "Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people." From past to date, well-known molecules, enzymes, proteins, lipids and carbohydrates are studied in the pathogenesis of several diseases both as a diagnostic/prognostic biomarker and therapeutic agent. The underlying mechanism of unexplained diseases and failure of therapies are frequently studied with well-known biomarkers, but remain unclear in many cases. As Dr. Sagan said other keys are still waiting to be known in some forgotten corner of a body universe, we find strength to propose that one of them can be the growth factor with cytokine activity named "Midkine" This book summarizes the extensive up-to-date literature overeview with the lastest work of experts about midkine in a detailed format that conveys its role as both a pathologic factor and therapeutic agent.

This practical handbook provides detailed guidelines on prescribing drugs in all classes and for a wide variety of diseases and disorders during pregnancy, with numerous boxes and tables to assist understanding. CONTENTS: Introduction to Drugs in Pregnancy * Antimicrobials during Pregnancy: Bacterial, Viral, Fungal, and Parasitic Indications * Cardiovascular Drugs during Pregnancy * Endocrine Disorders, Contraception, and Hormone Therapy during Pregnancy: Embryotoxic versus Fetal Effects * Antiasthma Agents during Pregnancy * Anesthetic Agents and Surgery during Pregnancy * Antineoplastic Drugs during Pregnancy * Analgesics during Pregnancy * Anticonvulsant Drugs during Pregnancy * Psychotropic Use during Pregnancy * Antihistamines, Decongestants, and Expectorants during Pregnancy * Nutritional and Dietary Supplementation during Pregnancy * Use of Dermatologics during Pregnancy * Drug Overdoses during Pregnancy * Miscellaneous Drugs during Pregnancy: Tocolytics, Immunosuppressants, and Biologic Therapeutics * Substance Abuse during Pregnancy * Online Support Material

"Studies on Men s Health and Fertility "provides a comprehensive series of up-to-the-minute reviews addressing the role of oxidative stress in the aetiology of reproductive pathologies in the male. This volume represents by far the most detailed, authoritative review of the field that has been produced to date. The text encompasses the basic science of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production by mammalian spermatozoa, the way in which these highly reactive molecules are processed by the germ line and the physiological significance of this redox activity in the generation of a functional gamete. The factors responsible for perturbing the delicate balance between physiological redox signaling on the one hand and oxidative stress on the other are also extensively reviewed and some of the first clues concerning the underlying mechanisms (age, heat, infection, cryostorage, aberrant lipid metabolism), clearly identified. From a clinical perspective there are chapters setting out the methods we should be using to diagnose oxidative stress in the male germ line, a clinical perspective on the aetiology of this condition and detailed considerations of the most suitable means of ameliorating such stress from a therapeutic point of view.

"Studies on Men s Health and Fertility "is intended to provide clinicians and scientists with a snap shot of the current status of this exciting, rapidly moving field. The book will be of value to clinicians interested in strategies for the management of oxidative stress in their infertility patients and scientists wishing to understand the molecular mechanisms underpinning the generation of ROS by these cells and its pathophysiological significance. It was not so long ago that the ability of spermatozoa to generate ROS was a hotly disputed topic. With the publication of this book such doubts can finally be laid to rest. There is now no doubt that these cells actively generate ROS, that oxidative stress is a major contributor to defects in male reproductive health and that the successful clinical management of this condition depends on developing a deeper understanding of the underlying molecular mechanisms. In this quest, "Studies on Men s Health and Fertility "will be seen as a clear and important milestone. "

The most common abnormal growth of the female reproductive system, fibroids, are thought to affect the majority of women at some point during their reproductive years. This text from leading fibroid experts looks at the latest evidence on how the problem impinges on reproduction and the most up-to-date management and treatment options available to help patients with fibroids hoping to conceive. Print versions of this book also include access to the eBook version with links to procedural videos.

This addition to the Springer Brief in Stem Cells series focuses on aspects related to the specific mechanisms that ensure and control pluripotency and cell commitment in domestic animal species. This topic is generating rapidly-increasing interest due to the great potential for domestic animal species to be used as intermediate biomedical models, between the mouse and the human. The Brief addresses why we need large animal models for regenerative medicine. It also describes early embryo development with a careful and specific analysis of the regulatory mechanisms driving cleavage, polarization and genome activation in domestic species. How pluripotency is compartmentalized in domestic species as well as the different aspects that make the derivation of stem cells in domestic species very difficult are also addressed.

With attention to the ways in which new reproductive technologies facilitate the gradual disembodiment of reproduction, this book reveals the paradox of women's reproductive experience in patriarchal cultures as being both, and often simultaneously, empowering and disempowering. A rich exploration of birth appropriation in the West, New Reproductive Technologies and Disembodiment investigates the assimilation of women's embodied power into patriarchal systems of symbolism, culture and politics through the inversion of women's and men's reproductive roles. Contending that new reproductive technologies represent another world historical moment, both in their forging of novel social relations and material processes of reproduction, and their manner of disembodying women in unprecedented ways - a disembodiment evident in recent visual and literary, popular and academic texts - this volume locates the roots of this disembodiment in western political discourse. A call to feminist political theory to re-remember the material dimensions of bodies and their philosophical significance, New Reproductive Technologies and Disembodiment will appeal to scholars of sociology, gender studies, political and social theory and the study of science, technology and health.

This concise, truncated version of Nagy, Varghese and Agarwal's Practical Manual of In Vitro Fertilization is comprised of select clinical chapters for a portable, affordable and up-to-date resource. Clinical Embryology covers a variety of topics, including: - Sperm processing methods - Embryo culture methods - Insemination procedures - Embryo evaluation - Genetic testing of embryos - Cryopreservation - Embryo transfer Also included are two new chapters on predicting embryo developmental potential and viability using automated time-lapse analysis (Eeva) and predicting embryo implantation potential using Embryoscope. (TM) Practical for both clinicians and researchers alike, Clinical Embryology brings together all of the need-to-know information about these important topics in reproductive medicine.

How do rapid social and technological changes shape reproductive realms today? This book considers the complex choices, anxieties and challenges that come alongside postmodern reproduction for women and men in the West. Topics include surrogacy, fatherhood, sperm banking, egg donation, contraception, breastfeeding, and postpartum body image.

Infertility Counseling: A Comprehensive Handbook for Clinicians, 2nd edition, is a comprehensive, multidisciplinary textbook for all health professionals providing care for individuals facing reproductive health issues. It is the most thorough and extensive book currently available for clinicians in the field of infertility counseling, providing an exhaustive and comprehensive review of topics. It addresses both the medical and psychological aspects of infertility, reviewing assessment approaches, treatment strategies, counseling for medical conditions impacting fertility, third-party reproduction, alternative family building and post infertility counseling issues. Each chapter follows the same format: introduction, historical overview, literature review, theoretical framework, identification of clinical issues, suggestions for therapeutic interventions, and future implication. This edition also includes extensive appendixes of clinical tools useful to the clinician, including an Internet database of resources and an extensive glossary of terminology.

Sex matters! Are there differences between the sexes when it comes to brain function and the behaviours that result? This volume attempts to answer this fundamental question. If the answer is 'yes' then this should impact upon our approach to treating mental illness in humans, and to modelling it in animals, as we look for aetiological and pharmacological solutions.

With reproductive medical technologies becoming more accessible, assisted donor conception is raising new and important questions about family life. Using in-depth interviews, Petra Nordqvist and Carol Smart explore the lived reality of donor conception and offer insights into the complexities of these new family relationships.

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.

Compassionately written by an experienced team of professionals, this book offers parents and families essential information about the causes, diagnosis, and treatment of disorders of sex development, or DSD.

DSD refers to medical conditions, usually discovered at birth, in which there is disagreement between a person's genetic sex (i.e., chromosomes) and the appearance of the person's external or internal reproductive structures. After their child is diagnosed with DSD, parents need answers to a host of questions, including

- What is DSD, why does it occur, how is it identified, and how is it treated?- Did we do something to cause our child's DSD?- Is my baby a boy or a girl?- Will my child grow up to be normal and healthy?- Does my child need surgery?

This concise book answers parents' questions in a reassuring and forthright way, giving affected individuals, their families, and their health care providers a current and evidence-based picture of DSD. It offers clear explanations of how newborns with DSD are evaluated, diagnosed, and treated; describes the different kinds of DSD; and pays close attention to both psychosocial and medical aspects of DSD. This guide also includes information about the importance of support groups and education for affected individuals and their families.

In their daily work, the authors treat, support, and educate people with DSD and their families. This resource gives parents and families access to the authors' expertise so they can reach a meaningful understanding of their child's DSD and make informed decisions about their child's health.

This volume provides a brief resume of the history of testosterone research, from the early pioneers through to the most recent advances in the field. We discover how steroid hormones were first identified and how testosterone was shown to be essential for male development. Moving forward we explore how and where testosterone is produced, and how the body controls testosterone production. We then investigate the impact testosterone has on different body systems both during their development and function, and how perturbation of testosterone action is associated with disease. We complete our story with an exploration of the emerging roles of testosterone in clinical therapy, and the future potential for manipulation of the testosterone signaling system for human health benefit.