The purpose of this study was to investigate the mechanism(s) of the preference of sexually mature male goldfish for sexually mature female goldfish. First, the effect of reproductive condition on the sexual behaviour of male goldfish was examined to determine the mechanism(s) of the behavioural preference of mature males for mature females. Second, the effect of reproductive condition of the male on the response of the olfactory bulb electroencephalogram (EEG) to biological olfactory stimuli was examined for the electrophysiological correlates of the behavioural mechanism(s). The sexual behaviour of male goldfish is affected by reproductive condition. Regressed male goldfish do not demonstrate sexual behaviour. The sexual behaviour of mature male goldfish appears to be regulated by two mechanisms. A general tendency of the mature male to chase female goldfish seems to be regulated by an all-or-none mechanism which is activated when spermiation (release of sperm into the sperm duct) occurs in the male. A second mechanism appears to regulate the preference of mature male goldfish for sexually mature female goldfish. The preference for mature females is not directly dependent on spermiation since mature (spermiated) males with gonadosomatic indices (GSI) below 3.5 do not chase mature females preferentially. Mature males with a GSI above 3.5 chase mature females significantly more than regressed females, and a marked peak in the preference for mature females is observed for males with GSIs of 3.5-4.0. An earlier behavioural study suggested that the preference of mature males is a response to a pheromone from the mature females. Therefore, it might be expected that the neural activity of the olfactory system of mature male goldfish would respond differentially to an olfactory stimulus derived from mature female goldfish. The electrophysiological studies of this thesis indicate that a selective response to the stimulus derived from mature females is not evident in the olfactory bulb EEG of mature males. However, the amplitudes of the spontaneous EEG and the responses of the EEG to olfactory stimuli are significantly greater in the olfactory bulb of mature male goldfish than in that of regressed male goldfish. The EEG amplitude is correlated with the maturation of the testes, and gonadal hormones and/or other hormones may affect the EEG. The significance of the increase in EEG amplitude with reproductive condition is discussed in relation to the mechanisms of sexual behaviour. / Science, Faculty of / Zoology, Department of / Graduate

The use of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) in Canada has increased rapidly over the past decade, with a 235% increase in reported ART cycle starts and a 190% increase in resultant clinical pregnancies from 2008-2018, outpacing our understanding of potential adverse perinatal outcomes. This dissertation project recognizes that the use of ART will continue to increase in both scale and scope, and that it will continue to be a valued means of overcoming infertility and involuntary childlessness. The balance of risks and benefits of these rapid technological innovations for human health is uncertain. Therefore, this project seeks to produce evidence about both the risks associated with ART as well as component treatment factors amenable to modification to make its use safer. While available evidence indicates that medically assisted pregnancies are at greater risk of placental complications, data are scarce, and estimates of specific effects are varied and not reported in the context of service provision for Canada. Linking data from the Canadian Assisted Reproductive Technologies Register to the Better Outcomes Registry & Network Ontario data, this project commenced with a foundational retrospective cohort study to assess the relationship between ART (in vitro fertilization (IVF) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)) and placental and placentally-mediated complications by comparing assisted conceptions from four years of ART cycle starts to non-assisted conceptions. Building on the findings from the foundational study, two additional studies were performed to investigate the contributions of two treatment factors, day or stage of embryo at transfer and cryopreservation, to the observed patterns of risk. Compared to non-assisted pregnancies, we find that assisted pregnancies are associated with an increased risk of placental and placentally-mediated complications. Within assisted pregnancies, risk profiles are best achieved by stratifying the analysis by both treatment type (IVF or ICSI) and embryo transfer type (fresh or frozen), in keeping with clinical practice. Although we did not find the day or stage of embryo at transfer to be a primary independent contributor to the observed increase in risk of these complication, patterns observed in the relationship between method of cryopreservation and these outcomes warrant further investigation. This thesis concludes by arguing for the pursuit of a hierarchy of risk approach to the use of ART, which is supported by the findings of this project, as it may be the most effective method to guide technological innovation and policy implementation to mitigate the risks associated with ART while not being overly restrictive of the options available to those seeking to build a family.

Reproductive physiology in production animals is a key economic component of longevity and profitability of animal farming. There are several components that can benefit or compromise adequate pregnancy periods. Sheep production is not only a very important economic activity for farmers around the United States, but sheep are also an important medical and surgical model to study human diseases. Our findings suggest that estradiol-17 beta could be involved in acute increased plasma volume early in gestation which can benefit overall gestation. We report that umbilical blood flow decreases upon nutrient restriction in adolescent ewes and does not recover upon realimentation. Finally, we suggest that a similar umbilical blood flow, placental development and plasma volume expansion in twins and singleton pregnancies could be enough to obtain similar birthweights in singletons and twins.

acase@tulane.edu / This dissertation is an ethnographic study of the corruption narratives surrounding the quest for and the delivery of reproductive health care in contemporary Romania. Using as case study two public health campaigns targeting cervical cancer through early detection (Papanicolaou testing) and prevention (Human Papilloma Virus vaccination), it explores the ways Romanian women imagine the newly liberalized state and define themselves as post-Socialist citizens. The recent reforms in the provision of medical care have highlighted once again reproduction as a site of contestation. In sharp contrast with the Socialist pro-natalist policies, we currently witness the state’s progressive withdrawal from regulating reproduction, paralleled with the privatization of significant segments of reproductive health care delivery and with the marketization of women’s health. The range of reproductive choices has multiplied, but the emergence of new standards of inclusion/exclusion has limited the access to adequate care for many Romanian women. My interlocutors’ multi-layered discourses of reproduction and corruption are intrinsically ideological, revealing a folded blaming: of the former Socialist state paternalism and of the present post-Socialist state failure. In this context of unprecedented socio-cultural transformation, personhood becomes situational, shifting back and forth from Romanian citizen (when blaming the state for failing to provide proper reproductive assistance), to private person (when resisting mandatory national reproductive care programs). If we aim to decipher women’s responses to the Pap testing and HPV vaccination campaigns, we need to go beyond the ethnographically documented understandings of ‘risk, ’prevention,’ and ‘early detection.’ In a place such as present-day Romania, where bribe-offering is the idiom through which patients and doctors communicate, reproductive health care constitutes a privileged locus for analyzing how corruption discursively tames unsettled medical landscapes. By gathering the corruption narratives surrounding reproductive health care delivery, this dissertation grasps the micro-political factors that shape women’s local interactions, but it also analyzes the impact of “small scale” findings at a national and transnational level. My anthropological account – of what appears in retrospect to be “the chronicle of a failure foretold” – would be a crucial tool for policy makers in their future attempts to implement successful reproductive health programs. / 1 / Cristina A. Pop

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