This MA Thesis explores the effect of the armed conflict on modern contraceptive utilisation in Colombia, using a departmental random-effects logistic regression model on novel cross-sectional data from the Uppsala Peace and Conflict Database Georeferenced Event Data and the Colombian Demographic and Health Surveys from 2000, 2005 and 2010. Reproductive health and rights has enormous consequences for women’s lives, but their relationship to conflict in Colombia has barely been analysed. Exploring how armed conflict as context shape individual life choices such as family planning, the results showed that women in departments where conflict had occurred recently had significantly higher odds of using modern contraception on average than women in non-conflict. Women are likely more careful to avoid unwanted pregnancy because of increased impoverishment, insecurity, and emotional and physical stress of armed conflict. Conflict may also have reduced or more firmly decided their demand for children. Adding an interaction term between conflict and type of place of residence revealed that rural women in conflict departments were driving this finding, possibly due to the lack of access to abortion and post-abortion care in rural areas in Colombia.

<p>Sexual conflict occurs when female and male fitness interests diverge. In a social system characterized by aggressive sexual coercion and the risk of infanticide, female chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) respond to this conflict by exhibiting an exaggerated sexual swelling that advertises sexual receptivity while concealing the exact timing of ovulation. Sexual swellings impose significant costs, yet can persist into pregnancy. Records from long-term studies of eastern chimpanzees (P. t. schweinfurthii) in Gombe National Park, TZ, and Kibale National Park, UG, provide data on postconception swellings, while data on group composition and behaviors such as mating, grooming, and aggression are drawn from the Gombe database only. Throughout, I use linear mixed models to simultaneously test multiple effects while controlling for repeated measures of individuals. In Chapter 1, I tested whether variation in females’ vulnerability to infanticide and aggression predicted the amount of swelling during pregnancy. In Chapter 2, I examined female-male relationships across reproductive states to ask whether females can better gain benefits and avoid costs by affiliating promiscuously with all males, or by investing in relationships with preferred males. Finally, I analyzed metabolites of reproductive hormones using urine samples from pregnant females in both populations to build a hormonal profile of postconception swellings. Swellings during pregnancy increase female-male association, and are caused by the same basic hormonal mechanism as preconception swellings, though they occur in a very different hormonal milieu. Females at greater risk of infanticide and intrasexual aggression swell more during pregnancy. Females mate promiscuously before conception, but during pregnancy and lactation, preferentially groom with males that are likely to protect them from aggression and infanticide. Based on these and other findings, I conclude that postconception swellings in chimpanzees are an adaptive response to sexual conflict.</p> / Dissertation

Reproductive health patterns in post-Soviet Central Asian countries Abstract This study aims to evaluate reproductive health patterns among post-Soviet Central Asian republics since their independence. The reproductive health indicators of individual countries were researched and compared. Furthermore, cluster country groups among selected post-Soviet, post-Socialist and capitalist countries were identified based on certain reproductive health indicators for the beginning and the end of the research period. The subsequent research was focused on 1999 Kazakhstan Demographic and Health Survey data. This thesis explores statistically significant factors influencing pregnancy outcomes in the country. According to the results, never married, urban women, women of Ukrainian, Russian, and other ethnicities, women living in the East and North regions were more likely to terminate a first pregnancy by an induced abortion rather than giving a live birth. Additionally, the same categories were proven to be statistically significant using the Poisson regression analysis, except the regions were shown to be the West and the North. Keywords: post-Soviet Central Asia, reproductive health, maternal mortality, pregnancy outcomes

Reproduction and milk production are considered to be the main factors influencing the whole economy of cattle breeding. We have been monitoring the worsening reproduction related to cattle breeding for a long time. The introduction of synchronization protocols into reproductive management is a posibility to improve reproduction. The aim of my work was to detect the success rate of insemination after rut synchronization on the basis of the data analysis and to evaluate reproductive indicators. The monitoring was performed from January 2017 to June 2018. There were monitored 310 breeding Holstein cows with the yield level of 10 335 kg of milk. The data were obtained from the zootechnical records and the Farmsoft Program. The breeding reproductive level was poor. Here are following values of reproductive indicators: insemination interval - 63 days, service period - 124 days, intervening time - 407 days, intersemination interval - 35 days, insemination index - 2,63 and pregnancy after the first insemination - 33,23%. That was only the insemination interval to achieve great results because breeding cows were involved into the synchronization protocol Presynch within 31 to 38 days after birth. It was detected that cows after the synchornization program Presynch got pregnant in 36,6% after the first insemination, whereas breeding cows being inseminated for the required rut became pregnant in 28% cases after the first insemination. The percentage of pregnancy in synchronizated cows after the first insemination is almost identical to the average in the Czech Republic (37,1%). Performing hormonal therapy within Presynch increased the reproductive costs in one cow by 211 Czech crowns.

Contraceptive non-use by women has been linked to negative reproductive health outcomes such as obstetric complications, abortions, and maternal morbidity and mortality. These poor outcomes mostly arise from unintended pregnancies. With focus on married women non-users, this study examined the factors influencing non-use of contraception in Nigeria. The research identified a number of important characteristics which could predispose married women in Nigeria to non-use of contraceptive. Data from the 2008 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) was utilized. The target population comprised all females aged 15-49 years who were interviewed and responded to questions on contraceptive use. The sample size was 23,954 which were made up of all married women in the country except for infecund, pregnant and sterilized women. The outcome variable was measured using current contraceptive use which was dichotomized: not using contraceptive coded as (1) and using contraceptive coded as (0). Logistic regression was used for the analysis. 20,983 married women (88% of the study population) reported that they are contraceptive non-users. Of these, the following characteristics of married women had higher odds of contraceptive non-use. Women who want more children within 2years, unsure of timing and undecided had higher odds (2.17) of contraceptive non-use, women who are 35 years and above (1.80), women who are from North West, North East and North Central (5.35, 2.95, 1.64, respectively), women who are Muslims (1.43) had higher odds of contraceptive non-use in Nigeria. The association remained statistically significant for women’s wealth index, number of living children, occupation, and place of residence, partner’s education and educational level of women. And all these were also observed to have effect on the non-use of contraceptive. Non-use of contraceptive among married women in Nigeria differs between women possibly because of region, religion, fertility intention, and age difference. These findings indicate areas that reproductive health policies and programmes should focus on in order to increase contraceptive uptake among married women in Nigeria. .

A research report submitted to the faculty of the Humanities at the University of Witwatersrand in partial fulfilment of the degree of Master of Arts in Demography and Population Studies, June 2017 / Background An estimated 2,000 women in Zambia suffer from obstetric fistula. Suggestions are that more women could be suffering from the same condition but do not report it due to fear of stigmatization. Incidences of obstetric fistula in Zambia may indicate that most pregnant women do not access the much-needed maternal health services, especially at the time of delivery. Therefore, understanding the factors that lead to obstetric fistula is vital for developing primary preventive interventions. This study estimated the prevalence and investigated the factors associated with obstetric fistula among women in Zambia. Methodology The study used data from the 2013-14 Zambia Demographic and Healthy Survey (ZDHS). A sample of 16,411 women aged 15-49 years old took part in the fistula module of the ZDHS. Descriptive and Complementary log-log regression model were conducted to assess the relationship between the covariates and obstetric fistula. Results The prevalence of obstetric fistula was estimated at 5.91 obstetric fistulas per 1000 women of reproductive ages. Age at first sex (AOR=0.86, CI: 0.77-0.97) and being in households of rich wealth status (AOR=0.36, CI: 0.14-0.79) were negatively associated with obstetric fistula. Conclusion Evidence suggest that in order to eradicate obstetric fistula in Zambia, there is need to implement interventions that will focus on improving the socioeconomic, health status, reproductive status, access to health care and use of healthcare resources of women. / XL2018

This thesis investigates the role of masculinities on men’s sexual and reproductive health in Botswana. Botswana is currently in the throes of a severe heterosexually driven HIV/AIDS epidemic that has eroded some of the developmental gains the country had achieved since independence. A unique feature of Botswana’s HIV epidemic is the rapid and phenomenal increase in infection and prevalence rates in the face of good levels of knowledge of HIV prevention and an early and comprehensive HIV prevention strategy that guaranteed access to free HIV prevention and treatment services, including ARV treatment. The lack of effectiveness of the country’s HIV efforts and subsequent increase in infection rates have been blamed on men’s risky sexual behavior and lack of support of their partners’ decisions to utilize these services. In fact, quantitative studies on men’s sexual behavior and HIV such as the Botswana AIDS Impact Surveys show that men are less likely to use VCT services and more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior that increases risk of HIV infection to themselves and their partners. While studies provide the evidence that implicates men in the rapid growth Botswana’s HIV epidemic, the studies provide little or no explanation of factors that motivate men’s behavior in reproductive health. This lack of insights on factors that motivate men’s behavior leads to stereotypes about male promiscuity and may contribute to the lack of effectiveness of HIV prevention strategies. The current HIV epidemic has thus thrust heterosexual masculinities at the centre of HIV prevention efforts and provides an opportunity for research to interrogate the role of heterosexual masculinities in reproductive health, especially HIV transmission and prevention. The thesis employs qualitative data to provide in-depth appreciation of the prevalent masculine norms and beliefs and to highlight contextual factors and processes that shape and give rise to various masculinities. It further uses quantitative data to provide measures of levels of men’s masculine and gender role beliefs that may influence HIV prevention and transmission and to test the association between masculinities and men’s sexual and reproductive health attitudes and practices. The results show that men’s sense of identity is socially constructed, and revolves around the notion of superiority to women, independence and having and being in control of the family. However, men face many challenges to the realization of this masculine ideal. Men’s perceived difficulty or failure to live up to socially constructed Men, Masculinities and Sexual and Reproductive Health in Botswana vii notions of masculinities affects their experience of sexual and reproductive health programs, especially women’s empowerment and HIV prevention programs. By their nature, these programs tend to challenge men’s dominance of women’s decision on sexuality, and are therefore experienced as a threat to some men’s sense of identity. Quantitative results indicate an association between masculinities and sexual and reproductive health. While men’s sense of masculinities is not the overriding factor determining their sexual and reproductive health attitudes and practices, the results show a strong association traditional masculine beliefs and negative sexual and reproductive health beliefs and practices. However, there is also strong evidence that men and masculinities are responding to contextual factors, such as the HIV epidemic, which has become a specific stress on the local construction of masculinities. In focus group discussions, many men challenged traditional masculine norms, beliefs and practices that increase their vulnerability to HIV infection and those that either encourage or condone violence within intimate relationships. Significantly high proportions of men had positive attitudes towards HIV prevention programs. It is evident that now more than ever (and thanks to the HIV/AIDS epidemic) many men are ready to question the predominant masculine norms, beliefs and practices that increase their vulnerability to infection and disease. These voices of change represent a window of opportunity for research and programs can meaningfully engage with men and masculinities on issues of sexuality, gender roles, sexual and reproductive health and HIV/AIDS prevention and transmission. There is need for future research and interventions to move away from focusing exclusively on individual models of preventive health behaviors to more multilevel, cultural and contextual explanations. Taking account of multilevel, cultural and contextual factors that shape masculinities and men’s sense of identity will ensure increased effectiveness of sexual and reproductive health programs, especially HIV/AIDS prevention programs. On the other hand, failure to account for cultural and contextual factors that shape individuals’ behavior will only ensure that the shortcomings of such intervention program will continue to be blamed on the individual.

From about 1605 to 1613, the Dutch printmaker and draftsman Hendrick Goudt produced seven prints after paintings by Adam Elsheimer, the celebrated German artist active in Rome. Goudt's prints are virtuosic works that introduced Elsheimer's famously-rare, much-admired paintings to a broader audience while showcasing Goudt's unique talents as a printmaker. Goudt also produced over three hundred drawings over the course of his career. Different from his prints, his sketches are often impulsive, unresolved works-in-progress that never supported final, or finished works of art in the conventional sense. While many are based on iconic examples, others suggest his spontaneous recording of scenes of everyday life. Since his own time, Goudt has mainly been discussed as a subordinate figure to the more famous Elsheimer. His prints are generally considered to be technically-accomplished but largely reproductive works, and his drawings understood as amateurish productions. This dissertation, in considering Goudt's life and artworks as interdependent areas of study for the first time in art historical scholarship, has three primary goals: to establish more concretely the facts of Goudt's life through a close reading of surviving archival documents; to provide a thorough understanding of his prints and drawings in terms of his technique and influences based on an analysis of his works in European and American collections; and to consider Goudt within his artistic and social context. This research draws on recent scholarly investigations of early modern print culture, integrating a more nuanced understanding of the reproductive print to elucidate Goudt's works as virtuosic performances of his self-identification as an artist, a cultivated gentleman and art lover (liefhebber). His persona was shaped by notions of ideal behavior and etiquette promulgated in writings from the sixteenth century onward. His sketches, which demonstrate his commitment to drawing as a pedagogical tool, also relate to the practice of draftsmanship as a noncommercial activity among gentlemen, and thus suggest an image of Goudt as a privileged aesthete. In this sense, Goudt's works not only reflect his particular sense of self, but also embody the social values and ideals of the environment in which he and his artworks circulated.

Embora os Squamata representem um grupo bastante diverso, pouco se conhece sobre sua biologia reprodutiva e caracterização química de secreções glandulares e cloacais, principalmente no que se diz respeito à fauna neotropical. A família Gymnophthalmidae reúne lagartos neotropicais, pequenos e com ampla diversidade morfológica e de habitats. Apesar de serem alvos de estudos moleculares recentes, o conhecimento acerca de sua biologia reprodutiva e composição química de feromônios é praticamente nulo em especial para as espécies serpentiformes. Calyptommatus leiolepis, Nothobachia ablephara e Procellosaurinus tetradactylus são gimnoftalmídeos simpátricos para os quais não há dados reprodutivos e químicos. Foram analisados 388 indivíduos de C. leiolepis, 180 de N. ablephara e 47 de P. tetradactylus do campo de dunas de Alagoado, Bahia. As três espécies apresentaram reprodução bastante prolongada, possivelmente contínua. Apenas machos de C. leiolepis apresentaram variação mensal no volume testicular com menores volumes entre agosto e dezembro, porém foi detectada produção de espermatozoides dentro deste período. Cópula e fertilização ocorrem simultaneamente. Todas as desovas apresentaram número fixo de 2 ovos e não há correlação entre número ou tamanho dos ovos com o CRC das fêmeas para as três espécies. Há evidências de múltiplas desovas apenas em C. leiolepis. O período de incubação das três espécies é relativamente curto e a maturação é precoce, ocorrendo provavelmente no primeiro ano de vida. As condições ambientais de temperatura e umidade relativa do ar não são restritivas ao ciclo reprodutivo, mas estão relacionadas com os picos reprodutivos das fêmeas de C. leiolepis e N. ablephara. Fêmeas são maiores do que os machos e não há dimorfismo sexual para a forma da cabeça. Entre os compostos químicos detectados em secreções de machos e fêmeas de C. leiolepis e N. ablephara há alcanos e derivados, ácidos graxos e derivados, um esteroide e diversos compostos não identificados. As principais diferenças intra e interespecíficas estão relacionadas com a porcentagem relativa dos compostos. Os ácidos graxos encontram-se em sua forma éster, típica de espécies de climas quentes e secos. / Squamata represents a very diverse group but little is known about their reproductive biology and chemical characterization of glandular and cloacal secretions, particularly concerning the Neotropical fauna. Gymnophthalmidae is a Neotropical family that comprises small to medium-sized lizards (microteiids) and shows a huge diversity of morphologies and habitats. Although targeted by recent molecular studies the knowledge of their reproductive biology and pheromone characterization is poorly known, especially for fossorial species. Calyptommatus leiolepis, Nothobachia ablephara and Procellosaurinus tetradactylus are sympatric and there are no data about their reproductive strategies and chemical composition of cloacal and glandular secretions. Gonads of 388 specimens of C. leiolepis, 180 specimens of N. ablephara and 47 specimens of P. tetradactylus from Alagoado sand dune, Bahia were analyzed. The three species showed a very extended reproduction, possibly continuous. Variation of testis volume was observed only in males of C. leiolepis with lower values between August and December but sperm production was detected within this period. Clutch size always comprised two eggs and there is no correlation between the number or size of the eggs with female SVL. Only female of C. leiolepis showed evidence of more than one clutch per year. The incubation period of the three species is relatively short and early maturation is likely occurring in the first year of life. The environmental conditions of temperature and relative humidity are not restrictive to reproductive activity, but are related to the reproductive peaks of females of C. leiolepis and N. ablephara. Females are larger than males and there is no sexual dimorphism in head shape. Among the chemical compounds detected in secretions of male and female of C. leiolepis and N. ablephara there are alkanes and derivatives, fatty acids and derivatives, a steroid and several unidentified compounds. The intra and interspecifics differences are mostly related to the relative percentages of the compounds. Fatty acids are found in its ester form, typical of species that lives in hot and dry climates.

Os Amphisbaenia (cobras de duas cabeças) têm sua biologia reprodutiva pouco conhecida, em parte devido à dificuldade de observações em campo e de coleta desses animais, que possuem hábitos fossórios. Leposternon microcephalum, da família Amphisbaenidae, é uma espécie amplamente distribuída no Brasil. Este trabalho teve como objetivo estudar aspectos da biologia reprodutiva de L. microcephalum do Sudeste do Brasil, tais como fecundidade, época de recrutamento, a ocorrência de oviposturas em formigueiros, tamanho de maturidade sexual, sintopia das gônadas, e dimorfismo sexual de comprimento e diâmetro do corpo, bem como analisar os ciclos folicular e espermatogênico e caracterizar a morfologia das gônadas e vias genitais. Para tanto, foram utilizados espécimes de coleção coletados em diferentes meses do ano para análise e medidas dos testículos, ductos deferentes, folículos ovarianos e ovidutos. Tais órgãos foram ainda analisados sob microscopia de luz, visando à descrição de sua estrutura e um estudo mais aprofundado do ciclo reprodutivo. Foram ainda escavados formigueiros para procura de ovos. Observou-se que o ciclo reprodutivo da fêmea dura pelo menos dois anos, sendo que o depósito mais substancial de vitelo é do tipo vernal (pré-nupcial), concentrado nos três meses que precedem a ovulação. Essa se dá provavelmente na mesma época da cópula, entre Novembro e Dezembro. A espermatogênese é do tipo misto, e o pico de produção de espermatozóides ocorre cerca de dois meses antes da cópula, havendo pequena fase de estocagem de esperma nos ductos deferentes. Nessa época, o epitélio desses ductos torna-se secretor. Após a fase espermatogênica, há uma acentuada involução dos testículos. O número de ovos produzido por fêmea provavelmente varia entre dois e seis. Os ovidutos dividem-se, segundo sua estrutura observada sob microscópio de luz, em vagina, útero, infundíbulo posterior e infundíbulo anterior. A maturidade sexual dos espécimes pode ser inferida com base na opacidade dos ductos genitais, e é atingida provavelmente aos três anos de idade. A gônada direita é normalmente mais cranial em relação à esquerda, e há uma região de sobreposição, na qual ambas se dispõem lado a lado. Não foi observado dimorfismo sexual, e a ovipostura em formigueiros não parece ser obrigatória. / The reproductive biology of the Amphisbaenia (worm lizards) is poorly known, in part because of their fossorial habits, which make difficult studies on the field and their capture. Leposternon microcephalum is a species widespread in Brazil, and accommodates in the family Amphisbaenidae. This work aimed to study features of the reproductive biology of L. microcephalum from Southeastern Brazil, such as fecundity, time of hatching, occurrence of oviposition in ant nests, size of sexual maturity, gonadal sintopy and sexual dimorphism on body length and width. It also aimed to analyze follicular and testicular cycles and to characterize the morphology of gonads and genital ducts. For that, museum specimens collected on different months of the year were used for analyses and measurements of testes, vas deferens, ovarian follicles and oviducts. Those organs were also analyzed histologically by light microscopy, to describe theirs structure and to better characterize the sexual cycle. Ant nests were excavated to look for eggs. The female reproductive cycle were estimated to take at least two years. The most part of yolk deposition occurs during the last three months before ovulation, and it is of the vernal type (pre-nuptial). Ovulation takes place approximately at the same time as mating, between November and December. Spermatogenesis is of the mixed type (type II B), and the peak of spermatozoa production occurs approximately two months before mating. There is a short phase of sperm storage in vas deferens. By that time, vas deferens epithelium becomes secretory. After the spermatogenesis, there is a great involution of testes. The number of eggs produced by each female probably varies between two and six. According to the structure seen under light microscope, the oviducts are divided in four regions: vagina, uterus, anterior infundibulum and posterior infundibulum. Sexual maturity can be inferred from the opacity of genital ducts, and it is probably attained in three years. The right gonad is usually anterior to the left one, and there is an overlapping region, in which the two gonads are arranged side by side. Sexual dimorphism was not observed, and oviposition in ant nests does not seem to be obligatory.