scholarly journals Age differences between distributions of genotypes among pregnant women: evidence of fertility selection

1989 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 207-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Gimelfarb ◽  
E. Bottini

SummaryThe number of children produced by a modern woman is usually below her total reproductive capacity and is determined by circumstances other than natural selection. It is, therefore, practically impossible to detect differences in natural fertilities associated with different types (e.g. phenotypes, genotypes) of women. This does not mean, however, that natural selection at the reproductive level cannot at all be detected today. If women of a particular type have high natural fertility, this usually means that they reproduce (become pregnant) at a higher rate than women of a type with lower natural fertility. Hence, when there is a limit on the number of children, women of the first type will reach the limit at an earlier age than women of the second type. As a result, types that have a higher natural fertility should be overrepresented among pregnant women of younger ages and, consequently, underrepresented among older ones, as compared to types with a lower natural fertility. Based on this notion, a model of age-related differences between distributions of types among pregnant women is suggested. The model is applied to data on MNSs-blood group and PGM1 (phosphoglucomutase) types in a sample of pregnant women and an evidence of natural selection at the reproduction level associated with these genetic markers is obtained.

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
He-Teng Zhang ◽  
Hao Wang ◽  
Hai-Sheng Wu ◽  
Jian Zeng ◽  
Yan Yang

Abstract Background Although some studies have investigated the bacterial community in vaginal tract of pregnant women, there are few reports about the viral community (virome) in this type of microenvironment. Methods To investigate the composition of virome in vaginal secretion samples, 40 vaginal secretion samples from pregnant women with vaginitis and 20 vaginal secretion samples from pregnant women without vaginitis, pooled into 4 and 2 sample pools, respectively, were subjected to viral metagenomic analysis. Results Results indicated virus sequences showing similarity to human papillomavirus (HPV), anellovirus, and norovirus were recovered from this cohort of pregnant women. Further analysis indicated that 15 different defined types and one unclassified type of HPV were detected from pregnant women with vaginitis while only 3 defined types of HPV were detected in pregnant women without vaginitis. Five different groups of viruses from the family Anelloviridae were present in pregnant women with but none of them were detected in pregnant women without vaginitis. Norovirus was detected in 3 out of the 4 sample pools from pregnant women with vaginitis but none in the pregnant women without vaginitis. Twelve complete genomes belonging to 10 different types of HPV, and 5 novel anllovirus genomes belonging 2 different genera in Anelloviridae were acquired from these libraries, based on which phylogenetical analysis and pairwise sequence comparison were performed. Phageome in these samples was also briefly characterized and compared between two groups. Conclusion Our data suggested that virome might play an important role in the progression of vaginitis in pregnant women.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ami R. Moore ◽  
David Williamson

This study examined the structural constraints to disclosure of children's positive serostatus among informal caregivers to family and nonfamily members in Togo. It drew on two data sources, one qualitative and the other quantitative. Qualitative data showed that caregivers cautiously disclosed child's positive serostatus for fear of being stigmatized and discriminated against as well as to protect the children from being stigmatized. Binary regression analyses revealed that different factors influenced reasons for disclosure of a child's serostatus. For instance, while caregivers' serostatus and number of children significantly influenced disclosure for financial support, disclosure of a child's serostatus for spiritual support was strongly affected by education and religion. These results shed light on factors and reasons for disclosure among caregivers. This knowledge is important because different types of programs and advice should be given to caregivers with specific reason(s) for disclosure instead of creating a “one-size-fits all” program for all caregivers.


2015 ◽  
Vol 282 (1806) ◽  
pp. 20150211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gert Stulp ◽  
Louise Barrett ◽  
Felix C. Tropf ◽  
Melinda Mills

The Dutch are the tallest people on earth. Over the last 200 years, they have grown 20 cm in height: a rapid rate of increase that points to environmental causes. This secular trend in height is echoed across all Western populations, but came to an end, or at least levelled off, much earlier than in The Netherlands. One possibility, then, is that natural selection acted congruently with these environmentally induced changes to further promote tall stature among the people of the lowlands. Using data from the LifeLines study, which follows a large sample of the population of the north of The Netherlands ( n = 94 516), we examined how height was related to measures of reproductive success (as a proxy for fitness). Across three decades (1935–1967), height was consistently related to reproductive output (number of children born and number of surviving children), favouring taller men and average height women. This was despite a later age at first birth for taller individuals. Furthermore, even in this low-mortality population, taller women experienced higher child survival, which contributed positively to their increased reproductive success. Thus, natural selection in addition to good environmental conditions may help explain why the Dutch are so tall.


2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kendra Leigh Seaman ◽  
Alexander P. Christensen ◽  
Katherine Senn ◽  
Jessica Cooper ◽  
Brittany Shane Cassidy

Trust is a key component of social interaction. Older adults, however, often exhibit excessive trust relative to younger adults. One explanation is that older adults may learn to trust differently than younger adults. Here, we examine how younger (N=33) and older adults (N=30) learn to trust over time. Participants completed a classic iterative trust game with three partners. Younger and older adults shared similar amounts but differed in how they shared money. Compared to younger adults, older adults invested more with untrustworthy partners and less with trustworthy partners. As a group, older adults displayed less learning than younger adults. However, computational modeling shows that this is because older adults are more likely to forget what they have learned over time. Model-based fMRI analyses revealed several age-related differences in neural processing. Younger adults showed prediction error signals in social processing areas while older adults showed over-recruitment of several cortical areas. Collectively, these findings suggest that older adults attend to and learn from social cues differently from younger adults.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 88 (3) ◽  
pp. 608-619
Author(s):  
Ellen C. Perrin ◽  
Aline G. Sayer ◽  
John B. Willett

Children's concepts about illness causality and bodily functioning change in a predictable way with advancing age. Differences in the understanding of these concepts in healthy children vs children with a chronic illness have not been clearly delineated. This study included 49 children with a seizure disorder, 47 children with an orthopaedic condition, and 96 healthy children, all with normal intelligence and ranging in age from 5 to 16 years. It demonstrates systematic differences in children's general reasoning skills and in their understanding of concepts about illness causality and bodily functioning, as a function of their age and experience of illness. At all ages, children who had a condition with orthopaedic involvement reported less sophisticated general reasoning and concepts about illness than did healthy children; children with a seizure disorder reported similar general reasoning skills to those of healthy children, but considerably less sophisticated concepts about illness. children's concepts about body functioning did not differ as a function of the presence of a chronic illness. When their different levels of general cognitive reasoning were statistically controlled, children with a chronic illness had somewhat more sophisticated concepts about bodily functioning than did healthy children. Differences in conceptual development among children with different types of illnesses lead to interesting speculations with regard to the effects of particular illness characteristics on children's cognitive development.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (02) ◽  
pp. 80-88
Author(s):  
Lilis Sumardiani

Introduction :antenatal care is an examination of pregnant women both physically and mentally as well as saving mothers and children in pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium, so that they post partum healthy and normal not only physically but also mentallyMethod : The study was conducted by distributing questionnaires to pregnant women with emesis gravidarum. Data analysis using univariants for frequency distribution. Result : The results showed an overview of knowledge of pregnant women with good knowledge of 13 people (65%), sufficient knowledge of 5 people (25%) and lack of knowledge of 1 person (5%) while lacking knowledge of pregnant women who did not comply did 1 pregnancy check up (5) %). overall obedient pregnant women undergo pregnancy examinations aged <20 years 7 people (35%), 20-30 years there are 7 people (35%) and there are 4 people> 35 years (20%). while those aged <20 years who are not compliant pregnant women do pregnancy examinations 2 people (10%). pregnant women about compliance with antenatal care namely, support from the husband is very good there are 12 people (60%), good 4 people (20%) and enough 4 people (40%). 20%), the middle economy there are 13 people (65%), and the low economy 4 people (20%), while the economy is lacking in pregnant women who do not comply with one pregnancy checkup (5%). parity, shows that the total number of pregnant women regarding compliance with antenatal care is, that has children who live 1 times 4 people (20%), the number of children who live 2-5 times 11 people (55%), and the number of children who live> 5 times 5 people (25%) while parity, in pregnant women who do not comply with pregnancy examination 1 person (5%) Duscussion:From this study it can be concluded that knowledge, age, husband support, economy and parity in pregnant women regarding compliance with antenatal care in the Klinik Pratama Santa Elisabeth Medan is said to be a minority who are disobedient and more who are obedient do ANC visits


2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 353-361 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gui-Yuan Xiao ◽  
Bin Peng ◽  
Ying Hu ◽  
Dou Qu ◽  
Min-Qing Lai ◽  
...  

With the objective of investigating the characteristics influencing high-risk sexual behaviours in elderly men (60–74 years of age) in Chongqing, China, a total of 1433 healthy elderly men with sexual intercourse frequencies of one to six times/month who were willing to participate in the questionnaires were studied at four hospitals. We measured serum testosterone levels and performed follow-ups every six months, with a total of 1128 elderly men followed up after two years. We also investigated socio-economic and demographic characteristics (age, education, income, location, marital status and number of marriages), types of sexual partners, age differences with fixed sexual partners, frequency of sexual intercourse, combined basic age-related diseases, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) education, elderly self-care ability and high-risk sexual behaviours (frequency of sexual intercourse and number of sexual partners) using questionnaires. We analysed the influencing factors of high-risk sexual behaviours in elderly men using a univariate analysis, multivariate logistic regression analysis, BP neural network prediction and cluster analysis. Finally, we found that serum total testosterone, age, types of sexual partners, age differences with fixed partners and frequency of sexual intercourse are five factors that influence high-risk sexual behaviours in elderly men.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sade J Abiodun ◽  
Galen McAllister ◽  
Gregory Russell Samanez-Larkin ◽  
Kendra Leigh Seaman

Facial expressions are powerful communicative social signals that motivate feelings and action in the observer. However, research on incentive motivation has overwhelmingly focused on money and points and the limited research on social incentives has been mostly focused on responses in young adulthood. Previous research on the age-related positivity effect and adult age differences in social motivation suggest that older adults might experience higher levels of positive arousal to socioemotional stimuli than younger adults. Affect ratings following dynamic emotional expressions (anger, happiness, sadness) varying in magnitude of expression showed that higher magnitude expressions elicited higher arousal and valence ratings. Older adults did not differ significantly in levels of arousal when compared to younger adults, however their ratings of emotional valence were significantly higher as the magnitude of expressions increased. The findings provide novel evidence that socioemotional incentives may be relatively more reinforcing as adults age. More generally, these dynamic socioemotional stimuli that vary in magnitude are ideal for future studies of more naturalistic affect elicitation, studies of social incentive processing, and use in incentive-driven choice tasks.


2021 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-35
Author(s):  
Hiba Raad Saeed ◽  
Besmah Mohamad Ali ◽  
Jawad K. AL-Diwan

Background: Domestic violence against women is a public health problem that affects more than one third of all women globally. It includes any physical, sexual or emotional abuse imposed upon women within family relationships. Several studies in Iraq demonstrated that domestic violence has been increasing over the past two decades. Objective: Determine the prevalence of domestic violence against pregnant women and factors associated with it. Patients and methods: A total of 345 pregnant women were included in a cross- sectional study conducted during the period from July - November 2018. They were selected through multistage random sampling from four Primary Health Care Centers in Baghdad. An Abuse Assessment Screen was used, with a known validity and reliability. Result: The overall prevalence of domestic violence was 37.1%. It was 9.0% during pregnancy. There were significant associations between domestic violence during pregnancy and the duration of marriage, husband’s age at marriage, husband’s consumption of alcohol and  the number of children. Conclusion: Pregnancy acts as a protective factor against domestic violence


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document