For Whom Does the Clock Tick?: Male Repro-Temporality in Fertility Campaigns, Scientific Literature, and Commercial Accounts

Sperm swimming in circles or a lone sperm cell with two heads: male reproductive aging is increasingly equated with poor sperm quality, the prevalence of offspring learning disabilities even schizophrenia. To discuss the construction of a male biological clock, this article asks: how does the biological clock intervene in men’s reproductive bodies. And secondly: how is male repro-temporality visually and rhetorically invoked in fertility campaigns, in medical scientific accounts and in the marketing material of one elective sperm-freezing company? Situated within an interdisciplinary theoretical framework, the article draws upon biomedicalization theory (e.g. Clarke et al. 2003), reproductive masculinity studies (e.g. Daniels 2006; Almeling and Waggoner 2013), and social scientific theorizing of time and temporality (e.g. Amir 2006; van de Wiel 2014a; 2014b) to discuss the emergence of male repro-temporality. This article contributes to the interdisciplinary scholarly agenda on time and temporality by theorizing the emergence of a male biological clock as a type of repro-temporality that, in its discursive and aesthetic framing, portrays male reproductive aging as involving loss and disability. The article concludes that while the biological clock derives its temporal force from the logic of decay, it simultaneously cements heteronormative ideals of the nuclear family, re-naturalizes the genetic unit, and situates men as proactive and modern in their anticipation of future infertility.

Utility of Next Generation Sequencing in Genetic Testing and Counseling of Disorders Involving the Musculoskeletal System–Trends Observed From a Single Genetic Unit

Background: Disorders involving the musculoskeletal system are often identified with short stature and a range of orthopedic problems. The clinical and genetic heterogeneity of these diseases, with several characteristic overlaps, makes specific diagnosis difficult for clinicians using conventional tests, hence molecular testing becomes essential for appropriate diagnosis and management. Methods: Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) based testing has become common in current day clinical practice. To do genetic counseling in cases with disorders in musculoskeletal system, classify and refer for appropriate genetic testing and to assess utility of NGS based testing for molecular diagnosis. Detailed pre and posttest genetic counseling, NGS based clinical exome testing, genotype-phenotype correlation, and segregation analysis. Results: This manuscript reports a molecular spectrum of variants in 34 orthopedic cases referred to a single genetic unit attached to a tertiary care hospital. The diagnostic yield of NGS based tests coupled with genetic counseling and segregation analysis was 79% which included 7 novel variants. Cases which benefited or will get a benefit in the near future were 53% (i.e. 18/34 cases), as eight underwent prenatal diagnosis, since they were either in their early gestation or had planned a pregnancy subsequent to molecular testing, while ten cases were premaritally/prenatally counseled for the families to take informed decisions as they were in the reproductive age. Conclusions: The report highlights the importance of NGS based tests even in a low resource setting as it helps patients, families and health care providers in reducing the economic, social and emotional burden of these disorders.

Plurality marking in Leko and Yendang groups (Adamawa, Niger-Congo) with some reference to noun classification

The article presents the available data about plurality marking in two groups (Leko and Yendang) of a hypothetical genetic unit known as Adamawa languages. It shows various strategies that languages of these two groups use in marking plurality. The main focus is made on Nyong and Maya (Bali) languages with which the author worked during field research in Adamawa state (Nigeria). The data of some other languages of these groups (Samba Leko, Kpasham (Sam), Kugama (Wam), Yendang and Waka) are also taken into consideration. This study offers a comparison of plurality strategies in these languages that helps in distinguishing conservative and innovative elements in plurality marking. It also shows some cases of possible plurality/noun class interaction.

Ethio-Semitic

Ethio-Semitic languages form a group within the Semitic family of the Afro-Asiatic language phylum. In all the surveys of languages and language families of the world this group of languages in Ethiopia and Eritrea is always present and is by default treated as a genetic unit within Semitic. Its traditional status is supported by a long history of population medley, language contacts, and interference within the framework of areal linguistics, comparative linguistics, and sociocultural, geographical, and ecological paradigms. The internal classification of Ethio-Semitic provokes many controversies on all levels, including the language ~ dialect level. This chapter describes and explains this problematic nature, taking into account morphological isoglosses such as prefix conjugation and suffix conjugation.

Adamawa

The so-called “Adamawa” languages are spoken in the sub-Saharan savannah belt, along the Upper Benue and its tributaries and in isolated pockets in southern Chad. Insufficient documentation and the marked linguistic diversity of the numerous language groups and isolates subsumed under “Adamawa” largely contributed to its contested status. So far, no convincing evidence was presented that “Adamawa” is indeed a distinct genetic unit, as proposed in earlier classifications. Within “Adamawa” only a minority of languages have preserved the heritage of a noun class system. Yet the remarkable morphological resemblances—supported by lexical correlates and typological analogies—found in class languages in two distinct “Adamawa” groups, as well as in various class languages of Central Gur, provide the strongest evidence contesting the validity of “Adamawa”. A larger Adamawa-Gur continuum which apparently occupied a contiguous area in the savannah belt before it became broken up appears to be more feasible.

Waja

Waja is spoken in Southern Gombe State, NE Nigeria. It is the largest language of the Tula-Waja group. Waja is one of the few “Adamawa” noun class languages and also one of the key languages validating the notion of an “Adamawa-Gur” genetic unit. In Waja, noun class markers are suffixed to the nouns, while the basic pattern of concord marking is bilateral affixation/cliticization. Verbs have three basic forms: two contrasting aspectual verb forms, “definite” and “indefinite”, and verbal nouns. Productive verb extensions are pluractional, altrilocal-ventive, passive/intransitive, applicative, directional, and benefactive. Basic motion and posture verbs form their own verb class, and they require copy pronouns. The basic word order in clauses is SVO; the head noun generally precedes modifiers. Notable phonological features of Waja are ATR vowel harmony with twelve phonetic and nine phonemic vowels, and prenasalized and labialized stops.

Ubangi

Since Greenberg (1963) the languages of the Adamawa-Ubangi family of Niger-Congo have been classified as forming a genetic unit. Before they were considered isolate languages or isolate dialect clusters. Greenberg’s classification has been a matter of debate from the beginning, since most of the languages concerned are not well known and the evidence does not hold. Boyd claims that the internal classification of Ubangi cannot be proved, nor its relation to Adamawa, and Dimmendaal (2011) classifies Ubangi as a phylum out of Niger-Congo. Blench considers the group a geographic unit, not a genetic one. At the same time many linguists see the Adamawa and the Gur languages on a continuum.

Does the widely distributed rodent Calomys tener (Cricetidae: Sigmodontinae) constitute a single evolutionary unit?

The nominal species Calomystener (Winge, 1887) ranges broadly in open lands of the Caatinga, Cerrado, Pantanal and Mata Atlântica of Brazil, and was recently reported from the Pampas of southern Brazil, and in the Selva Paranaense of eastern Paraguay and northeastern Argentina. This rodent can be infected with the pathogenic Araraquara hantavirus in Brazil. Given that most epidemiological studies have not taken into account updated taxonomic findings of their rodent hosts, in this study, we obtained sequence data of the Cyt-b and COI genes of specimens of C.tener from 22 different geographical localities from throughout the currently known distribution of the species (including individuals from Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, and Brazil) to test if it constitutes a single genetic unit or if it presents genetic discontinuities that may represent different evolutionary lineages. Phylogenetic analyses including several species of Calomys recovered several clades with strong support. Regarding C.tener, it is recovered as sister to the node that cluster C.laucha (Fischer, 1814) sensu lato, C.expulsus (Lund, 1841) and species in the C.callosus (Rengger, 1830) species complex. At the intraspecific level there are no genetic gaps among haplotypes of C.tener that could suggest more than one species. The recent captures in the Pampas of southern Brazil and in the Selva Paranaense suggest that the species may be colonizing new geographic areas.