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Evidence points to that the prevalence of teenage pregnancies is higher within refugee camps than elsewhere. Yet little research attention has been given the subject of teenage pregnancy within refugee situations where the numbers are steadily increasing, an area that therefore needs to be explored further. This thesis is based on a qualitative field study conducted within two Burundian refugee camps in Tanzania, Nduta and Kanembwa. Semi structured interviews were conducted with both teen mothers and Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Bloc leader with knowledge in the area in order to investigate the reasons for and implications of teenage pregnancy within a refugee setting. The research question is why the prevalence of teenage pregnancy is higher within a refugee context. And what can be done to empower young mothers with the knowledge and skills to protect themselves and to successfully claim their reproductive and sexual rights? The findings of the study points to that similar factors contributing to teenage pregnancy such as education, culture, poverty and unstable family relations are also applicable in a refugee situation. Conditions within refugee camps are however more extreme and the prevalence are therefore higher than in other settings. Taking a Liberal feminist standpoint based on the ideas of Amartyra Sen (1999) it is argued that the empowerment of women’s free agency and wellbeing is the key to a decline in fertility rate amongst teen mothers in refugee camps. Thus it follows that if women are to successfully claim their sexual and reproductive rights more efforts needs to be made in promoting the inclusion of women into educational and vocational activities.

Reproduction is among the most dynamic and rapidly evolving genetic systems across sexual taxa. However, the evolutionary mechanisms that drive reproductive traits during the early stages of species divergence are relatively unknown. Using a systems-level, comparative functional genomics approach, I investigate the role of selection, drift, and genomic architecture in promoting the rapid divergence of reproductive systems in Drosophila. I develop a new comparative genomics database, flyDIVaS (Divergence and Selection in Drosophila), an updateable database for identifying patterns and processes involved in species conservation and divergence. I show that tissue-specific genes play a disproportionate role in driving species level divergence and, in particular, that genes specific to male reproductive tissue are among the most rapidly evolving. Using two deeply sequenced populations of Drosophila melanogaster, I reveal that adaptation is widespread among male-specific genes and identify local signatures of selection that have evolved in less than 500 years on sperm motility. In Drosophila mercatorum, a fruit fly capable of facultative parthenogenesis, I find recent signatures of protein changes involved with centrosomal and meiotic functions, and identify early genomic signatures of male degeneration. Among laboratory strains of Drosophila melanogaster, I identify adaptive signatures on neurogenic genes that have recently been domesticated during the last century . Finally, I explore the role of genomic architecture in shaping such reproductive functional systems by developing a novel hypothesis that rapid changes in behavior, such as those found in diverse mating preferences, is a function of the size of the neurogenome. The results presented in this dissertation point toward the importance of selection, drift, and genomic architecture in driving rapid functional change which, together, promote the generation of species diversity via the formation of reproductive barriers in early species divergence. / Biology

Recent studies have shown that postmenopausal follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) levels may be predictive of future cardiovascular disease risk. However, little is known about postmenopausal FSH levels, including the level of variation between women and factors associated with this variation. We assessed the relationship of multiple reproductive factors with FSH levels among 588 postmenopausal women in the Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study. Participants were aged 53 to 73 years and not using hormone therapy at baseline (1998-2001). Reproductive factors were assessed at baseline, along with FSH levels. After adjustment for sex steroids, adiposity measures, plasma lipids, blood pressure, and behavioral factors, we observed that women with 3 or more births and an age at first birth of 25 or later had mean FSH levels that were significantly 7.6 IU/L lower than those of women with a 1 to 2 births and an age at first birth of 24 or less. Number of miscarriages was inversely correlated with FSH levels. Women reporting a 7 or more years of OC use and 4-6 or 7 or more years of HT use each had significantly higher mean FSH levels than women who had never used OCs or HT. In summary, multiple reproductive factors were associated with postmenopausal FSH levels, independent of estradiol, adiposity, and other factors. These findings warrant replication and further exploration of potential underlying mechanism.

This research focused on the reproductive incompatibility and genetic differences between the two strains of plum curculio, Conotrachelus nenuphar (Herbst). Two molecular markers served as the basis for the strain distribution analysis of plum curculio and Wolbachia symbiont. One marker is the partial mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase gene subunit I (mtCOI) of plum curculio. Another marker is the Wolbachia Surface Protein (wsp) gene of Wolbachia associated with plum curculio. First, the reproductive compatibility of cross-populations mating in plum curculio was studied during the summers of 2004 and 2006. The results confirmed the reproductive incompatibility among plum curculio geographic populations. A unidirectional incompatibility was revealed in an approximate north and south transect of the range of plum curculio (4 x 4 two factorial design: NY, VA, FL, and WV): there was a significant low fertility in WV males mated with NY (40%) and VA (29%) females. The Florida population showed a different pattern: FL males have a significantly lower fertility with VA (46%) and WV (37%) females while FL females were compatible with all males from the four populations. The results of experiment 2 indicated that within the northern geographic area populations (3 x 3 two factorial design: NY, MA, and NJ) were compatible with each other. An opposite unidirectional reproductive incompatibility was revealed in the combination of NJ males with FL females, which showed a significant low fertility (47%). A bi-directional incompatibility occurred between FL and WV reciprocal cross mating. FL males mated with WV females (26%) and WV males mated with FL females (21%) both have the significant low fertility compared to fertility of within their population matings. The genetic diversity among plum curculio populations from different geographic locations was investigated using the partial mtCOI gene. A total of 50 samples from 10 populations were sequenced. PCR products were 863 bp in length. A total of 23 unique sequence haplotypes were found in the 50 samples tested. Haplotype G (n = 5), L (n = 12) and T (n = 13) comprised 60% of 50 samples. The nucleotide distances between those haplotypes ranged from 0.12% to 4.87%. Genetic distances between northern and southern group plum curculios range from 4.17% to 4.87%. Two distinct major clades were found, using three different phylogenetic analyses: 1) neighbor joining (NJ), 2) maximum-parsimony (MP), and 3) maximum-likelihood (ML). 100% bootstraps support the northern clade and the southern clade was strongly supported (100/100/86, NJ/MP/ML) as well. The mid-southern subclade within the southern clade was also strongly supported (70/82/71, NJ/MP/ML) and the far-southern subclade was supported in NJ tree (81%) but was not resovled in MP and ML trees. The mid-southern subclade included haplotypes from two NJ, Washington, VA (Ra), Blacksburg, VA (BL) and 50% of WV populations and the far-southern subclade included haplotypes from FL, GA, Whitethorne, VA (Ke), Troutville, VA (Bo) and another 50% of WV populations. The results suggested that the northern and the southern clade could correspond with the northern and southern strains, respectively, of plum curculio. In this study, the mtCOI sequence was highly informative as a molecular marker in that it was useful to distinguish C. nenuphar from northern and from southern geographic locations in the eastern United States. However, the number of generations per year of several geographic populations within the southern clade still needs to be determined. The distribution of Wolbachia infection associated with plum curculio strains was investigated. 91 of 93 samples were infected by Wolbachia. Three unique Wolbachia strains were identified. The strains wCne1 and wCne2 (593 bp) were 97% identical, and their sequences were both 84% identical with wCne3 (590 bp). The wsp sequence of wCne1 was 99% identical to Wolbachia sequenced from the neotropical beetle, Chelymorpha alternans Boheman (Keller et al. 2004). The wCne2 sequence was 98.5% identical to the flower bug, Orius nagaii Yasunaga (Miura and Tagami, unpublished). The wCne3 sequence was 100% identical to Wolbachia sequenced from the tephritid fruit fly, Dacus destillatoria (Jamnongluk et al. 2000) and the ant, Formica exsecta (Reuter and Keller 2003). PCR - Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP) was used for superinfection detection. Of 93 samples, 15 (16.1%), 21 (22.6%), 19 (20.4%), 36 (38.7%) samples were infected by wCne1, wCne2, wCne1 plus wCne2, and wCne3, respectively. Only two (2.2%) samples had no infection. The wCne3 strain was always present as a single infection. Therefore, current results suggest that Wolbachia strains approximate the distribution of plum curculio strains: the northern strain is infected with wCne1 and wCne2 strains in supergroup B, the southern strain is infected with wCne3 strain in supergroup A and the mid-Atlantic region is the convergence area. Compared with the haplotype distribution of plum curculio mtCOI gene, there was a closer relation of the mid-southern PC clade to the far-southern clade than to the northern clade. However, Wolbachia symbionts in mid-southern PC are more closely related to those in northern PC than to those in far-southern PC. The relationship of Wolabchia infection with reproductive incompatibility between plum curculio populations is also discussed. / Ph. D.

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is a viral disease that has devastated the global swine industry since the mid 1980s. Although modified live vaccines (MLVs) are typically used for the prevention of clinical disease, they are not always fully effective. Additionally, acute PRRS outbreaks, characterized by more severe clinical signs, have appeared in herds that were previously vaccinated. In this dissertation, we further analyzed the pathogenesis of PRRSV through genetic characterization, assay development, and quasispecies evaluation using the PRRSV ORF5 gene while also attempting to develop an improved PRRS vaccine. To explore the possible mechanism for the emergence of acute PRRS, the open reading frame 5 (ORF5) gene encoding the major envelope protein (GP5) of acute PRRSV isolates was characterized. Sequence and phylogenetic analyses revealed that seven of the acute PRRS virus (PRRSV) isolates were related to other N. American PRRSV isolates while one isolate, 98-37120-2, was very closely related to and may have been derived from the MLV, RespPRRS. We also developed a heteroduplex mobility assay (HMA) for quickly identifying PRRSV field isolates with significant nucleotide sequence identities (â d98%) with the MLVs based on the amplification, denaturation, and reannealing of the ORF5 gene of the field isolates with those of MLV reference strains. All of the field isolates that were highly related to RespPRRS (â T2% nucleotide sequence divergence) were identified by the HMA to form homoduplexes with the reference RespPRRS MLV. We also developed a unique strategy for infecting pigs with PRRSV, known as in vivo transfection, by bypassing the traditional in vitro cell culture step required for in vivo studies. We demonstrated that inoculation of RNA transcripts of a PRRSV infectious cDNA clone directly into the lymph nodes and tonsils of pigs produces active PRRSV infection. Using this method, we also examined the quasispecies populations of PRRSV. Finally, we evaluated the ability of Salmonella choleraesuis to express the PRRSV GP5, and tested its immunogenicity in mice. Based on our data, there was no indication of Salmonella replication in the mice or any evidence of antibody production against S. choleraesuis or PRRSV GP5. / Ph. D.

Animals are ecological landscapes that host communities of microbes often referred to as microbiomes. These microbes can be transferred between individuals when they come into contact, such as during mating. Microbes that reside in or on any aspect of a host that becomes exposed to the reproductive tract or gametes comprise the reproductive microbiome. These microbes within the reproductive microbiome are important to overall host biology because they can influence host reproductive function, and thus play a role in shaping host ecology, evolution, and fitness. Though previous work has revealed much about the impact of beneficial and pathogenic microbes within the reproductive tract, much is left to be learned from describing the dynamic nature of the reproductive microbiome, and ultimately, how it affects host fitness. For my dissertation, I asked questions regarding how and why reproductive microbiome diversity varies among individuals. For instance, does reproductive microbiome diversity vary with respect to the number of mates or mating activity? Does reproductive microbiome diversity vary with host age or breeding stage? Are there fitness consequences associated with differences in reproductive microbiome diversity? To explore these questions, I studied tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor), a socially monogamous bird in which both females and males engage in extra-pair mating activity. I focused on the cloacal microbiome as it is the site of contact during mating, and thus where microbes can be sexually transferred between individuals. I found that social partners did not have more similar cloacal microbiome diversity compared to other individuals in the same population, and that cloacal microbiome diversity was similar between sexes (Chapter II). By combining an observational approach with a hormone implant manipulation, I found that neither the number of sires per brood nor the increased mating activity of females significantly influenced cloacal microbiome richness or community structure. However, female age and breeding stage did significantly correlate with cloacal microbiome richness and community structure (Chapter III). Based on these findings, I hypothesized that the effect of mating activity on variation in the cloacal microbiome may only be detectable over a female's lifetime, and not within a single breeding season. In addition, I found evidence for a relationship between lay date and cloacal microbiome structure, after controlling for age. And I found that older females lay earlier in the season compared to younger, first-time breeding females (Chapter IV). These results provide support for a relationship between lay date and the cloacal microbiome and highlight the importance of age to this relationship. Lastly, I discussed future steps that can be taken to extend the framework established by my dissertation research, and thereby gain further insight into the factors shaping the reproductive microbiome (Chapter V). / Doctor of Philosophy / Animals host communities of microbes often referred to as microbiomes, and these microbes can be transferred between individuals when they come into contact, such as during mating. Microbes that reside in or on any part of a host that becomes exposed to the reproductive tract make up the reproductive microbiome. These microbes within the reproductive microbiome are important to an animal's biology because they can influence reproductive function, such as fertilization and pregnancy success. Though previous work has revealed much about the impact of beneficial and pathogenic microbes within the reproductive tract, much is left to be learned from describing the dynamic nature of the reproductive microbiome as a whole and how it affects an animal's reproductive success. For my dissertation, I sought to understand how and why reproductive microbiome diversity varies among individuals, especially in relation to mating. To explore these questions, I studied tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor), a species of bird in which females and males will pair up to breed and rear young, yet both may mate with individuals other than their partner. I focused on the microbiome within the cloaca of birds as it is where contact is made during mating, and thus where microbes can be sexually transferred between individuals. I found that social partners did not have more similar cloacal microbiome diversity compared to other individuals in the same population, and that cloacal microbiome diversity was similar between females and males (Chapter II). Since tree swallows frequently mate with multiple partners and it is possible for bacteria to be acquired though each mating attempt, I proposed that it is important to consider the number of mates per individual when assessing the diversity of the cloacal microbiome. I then performed observational and experimental studies where I assessed the number of mates per female and manipulated female sexual activity with hormone implants. I found that neither the number of sires per brood nor the increased mating activity of females influenced cloacal microbiome diversity, however, female age and breeding stage were significantly associated with cloacal microbiome diversity (Chapter III). Based on these findings, I hypothesized that the effect of mating activity on variation in the cloacal microbiome may only be detectable over a female's lifetime, and not within a single breeding season. In addition, I found evidence for a relationship between lay date and cloacal microbiome structure, after controlling for age. And I found that older females lay earlier in the season compared to younger, first-time breeding females (Chapter IV). Taken together, these results provide support for a relationship between lay date and the cloacal microbiome and highlight the importance of age to this relationship. Lastly, I discussed future steps that can be taken to extend the framework established by my dissertation research and gain further insight into factors shaping the reproductive microbiome (Chapter V).

In this dissertation, I deconstruct the commonly held assumption that the intrauterine device (IUD) is an unsafe and/or obsolete contraceptive method that has been used mostly to impose population control on women in developing countries. Simultaneously, I explore the changing meaning of the device over the last 40 years in varying socio-historical contexts. Capitalizing on the analytical tradition of science and technology studies that regards technology as socially constructed, I analyze the IUD as a technology that transformed through a series of material and discursive negotiations. Negotiations over the IUD took place in multiple layers, most notably in the social and political domains that defined the meaning of the contraceptive technology, but also in the domain of science, in which claims about the device's technical features and its relationship with the biological body were made. This work is divided into the examination of four major domains – global population politics, American contraceptive market, American antiabortion politics, and scientific research – within which the IUD took shape both materially and discursively. The historical development of the scientific research and discourse of IUDs are juxtaposed with the prevailing socio-political background to illustrate the intricate relationship between scientific research of contraceptive technology and the politics of fertility control. The final chapter addresses the agency of IUD users, introducing the ways in which women in developing countries have manipulated the IUD to achieve reproductive self-determination. / Ph. D.

As environmental change continues and increases, understanding how species will respond to change and how these responses may affect populations will be important for conserving and managing species. Red-cockaded Woodpeckers (Picoides borealis) are well-studied and provide an ideal system in which to examine ecological and evolutionary questions related to life histories because monitoring them accurately is relatively easy, their behavior is well-described and structured. In this study, I examined the following questions using long-term data (1980-2013) from two study sites in North Carolina: 1) what traits contribute most to lifetime fitness, 2) how have traits changed over time and how is climate change influencing life history, and 3) to what extent are traits that contribute to fitness and that are changing over time heritable in this species. I found that a multitude of factors contribute to different aspects of fitness, including: parental age and hatch date affecting survival to year one and probability of attaining breeding status; and lay date, clutch size, age at first reproduction, and variance in clutch size affecting lifetime fitness. I also found that many traits were changing over time including lay date, clutch size, partial brood loss, and survival to year one. These traits were strongly influenced by local climate variables at each study site, but it is not clear that climate has changed over time at the study sites to account for all the observed changes in life history traits. Habitat improvement has also played a role as evidenced by increased fledgling production in terms of raw numbers (without accounting for covariates). I also found that lay date, clutch size, and partial brood loss had low heritabilities after accounting for other random and fixed effects. These results indicate that Red-cockaded Woodpeckers at these two study sites are shifting traits successfully in response to changing conditions, and that these changes are in the direction that increases aspects of fitness. These shifts indicate that individuals are plastic with respect to these traits, but most of the variance in traits was related to external habitat-associated factors rather than additive genetic variance or environmental × genotype interactions. / Ph. D.

Quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) are antimicrobial disinfectants commonly used in commercial and household settings. While these compounds have been used for decades, reproductive toxicity has not been thoroughly evaluated. Extensive use of QACs results in ubiquitous human exposure to potentially toxic compounds. Reproductive toxicity of two common QACs, alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride (ADBAC) and didecyl dimethyl ammonium chloride (DDAC), was investigated to determine gender-specific toxicity with an emphasis on male reproductive function. Breeding pairs of mice exposed for six months to ADBAC+DDAC exhibited decreases in fertility and fecundity, with fewer pregnancies and decreased numbers of pups over a six month period. Females proceeded through significantly fewer estrus cycles, and both ovulation and implantation rates were reduced. Males exhibited declines in both sperm concentration and motility. Male reproductive toxicity was further assessed in a series of in-vitro and in-vivo experiments. ADBAC+DDAC were cytotoxic to testicular Sertoli cells in culture at concentrations greater than or equal to 0.0005%. Changes in blood-testis-barrier integrity (BTB) were observed at 0.01% ADBAC+DDAC using a two-compartment culture system that measures transepithelial electrical resistance (TER). Sertoli cell cytotoxicity correlated with decreased TER at ADBAC+DDAC concentrations above 0.001%. In-vitro fertilization capacity of epididymal sperm was reduced in males given a 10-day rest period following ADBAC+DDAC exposure. Multigenerational changes in sperm parameters and in mRNA expression of enzymes involved with epigenetic modifications were evaluated across three generations. Sperm concentration and motility were reduced in F0 males exposed directly to ADBAC+DDAC. In F1 males, sperm concentration was increased and motility decreased, while there was no change in the F2 progeny. Genes involved in epigenetic modifications were altered in the exposed F0, with upregulation of two histone acetyltransferases (Hat1 and Kat2b) and downregulation of one lysine-specific demethylase (Kdm6b). F1 and F2 generations were not different from controls except for downregulation of the methyltransferase Dnmt1 in F1 progeny. The reproductive toxicity of ADBAC+DDAC identified in these studies, particularly to the male, compels further investigation into the potential effects that these compounds may have on human reproduction. / Ph. D.