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Maternal Effects in Mammals

Author: Dario Maestripieri

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2009-08-01

Total Pages: 354

ISBN-13: 0226501221

Evolutionary maternal effects occur whenever a mother’s phenotypic traits directly affect her offspring’s phenotype, independent of the offspring’s genotype. Some of the phenotypic traits that result in maternal effects have a genetic basis, whereas others are environmentally determined. For example, the size of a litter produced by a mammalian mother—a trait with a strong genetic basis—can affect the growth rate of her offspring, while a mother’s dominance rank—an environmentally determined trait—can affect the dominance rank of her offspring. The first volume published on the subject in more than a decade, Maternal Effects in Mammals reflects advances in genomic, ecological, and behavioral research, as well new understandings of the evolutionary interplay between mothers and their offspring. Dario Maestripieri and Jill M. Mateo bring together a learned group of contributors to synthesize the vast literature on a range of species, highlight evolutionary processes that were previously overlooked, and propose new avenues of research. Maternal Effects in Mammals will serve as the most comprehensive compendium on and stimulus for interdisciplinary treatments of mammalian maternal effects.

Maternal Effects As Adaptations

Author: Timothy A. Mousseau

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 1998-06-18

Total Pages: 390

ISBN-13: 0195344405

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Mothers have the ability to profoundly affect the quality of their offspring--from the size and quality of their eggs to where, when, and how eggs and young are placed, and from providing for and protecting developing young to choosing a mate. In many instances, these maternal effects may be the single most important contributor to variation in offspring fitness. This book explores the wide variety of maternal effects that have evolved in plants and animals as mechanisms of adaptation to temporally and spatially heterogeneous environments. Topics range from the evolutionary implications of maternal effects to the assessment and measurement of maternal effects. Four detailed case studies are also included. This book represents the first synthesis of the current state of knowledge concerning the evolution of maternal effects and their adaptive significance.

Maternal Control of Development in Vertebrates

Author: Florence Louise Marlow

Publisher: Morgan & Claypool Publishers

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 221

ISBN-13: 161504051X

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Eggs of all animals contain mRNAs and proteins that are supplied to or deposited in the egg as it develops during oogenesis. These maternal gene products regulate all aspects of oocyte development, and an embryo fully relies on these maternal gene products for all aspects of its early development, including fertilization, transitions between meiotic and mitotic cell cycles, and activation of its own genome. Given the diverse processes required to produce a developmentally competent egg and embryo, it is not surprising that maternal gene products are not only essential for normal embryonic development but also for fertility. This review provides an overview of fundamental aspects of oocyte and early embryonic development and the interference and genetic approaches that have provided access to maternally regulated aspects of vertebrate development. Some of the pathways and molecules highlighted in this review, in particular, Bmps, Wnts, small GTPases, cytoskeletal components, and cell cycle regulators, are well known and are essential regulators of multiple aspects of animal development, including oogenesis, early embryogenesis, organogenesis, and reproductive fitness of the adult animal. Specific examples of developmental processes under maternal control and the essential proteins will be explored in each chapter, and where known conserved aspects or divergent roles for these maternal regulators of early vertebrate development will be discussed throughout this review. Table of Contents: Introduction / Oogenesis: From Germline Stem Cells to Germline Cysts / Oocyte Polarity and the Embryonic Axes: The Balbiani Body, an Ancient Oocyte Asymmetry / Preparing Developmentally Competent Eggs / Egg Activation / Blocking Polyspermy / Cleavage/ Mitosis: Going Multicellular / Maternal-Zygotic Transition / Reprogramming: Epigenetic Modifications and Zygotic Genome Activation / Dorsal-Ventral Axis Formation before Zygotic Genome Activation in Zebrafish and Frogs / Maternal TGF-β and the Dorsal-Ventral Embryonic Axis / Maternal Control After Zygotic Genome Activation / Compensation by Stable Maternal Proteins / Maternal Contributions to Germline Establishment or Maintenance / Perspective / Acknowledgments / References

Essays in Social Neuroscience

Author: John T. Cacioppo

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2004-07-16

Total Pages: 176

ISBN-13: 9780262250252

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Leaders in the field provide an introduction to the multidisciplinary collaborations of social neuroscience. This collection of essays by a group of distinguished social neuroscientists provides the reader with an engaging overview of this emerging multidisciplinary and collaborative field. In the twentieth century, the arbitrary barrier between neuroscience and social psychology was reinforced by the specialized knowledge required by each field and an emphasis on scientific work in isolation from other disciplines; the biological and social perspectives on mind and behavior developed for the most part independently of each other. Neuroscientists often considered social factors irrelevant or minimally important, while cognitive and social scientists tended to ignore biological constraints and mechanisms as leading to what they mistakenly thought of as reductionism. By the end of the twentieth century, however, as those working in both fields were spurred by the common goal of understanding how the mind works, systematic collaborations between neuroscientists and cognitive scientists had begun. These collaborative efforts have already helped unravel aspects of perception, imagery, attention, and memory. These essays—by leaders in the field—reflect the range of disciplines engaged and questions addressed today in social neuroscience. Topics include maternal effects and chromatin modeling; "Oxytocin and the prairie vole: a love story"; pheromones, social odors, and the unconscious; and memory.

Parental Care in Mammals

Author: David J. Gubernick

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-11-11

Total Pages: 471

ISBN-13: 1461331501

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The editors of this volume have honored me by their invitation to write its Fore word, an invitation extended because of my editing a book on the maternal behav ior of mammals in 1963. Much as I would like to think that I had opened a new area of study-and so played some part in the appearance of this fine new collec tion of chapters-the facts are quite otherwise. That in 1963 I could assemble the efforts of many distinguished investigators shows that the topic had already engaged their attention, and had for some years past. But even then, the topic had origins extending much farther into the past, to mention only Wiesner and Sheard's book Maternal Behavior in the Rat of 1933. Nevertheless, in 1963 it seemed to me that the study of maternal care in mammals had lagged behind the study of other kinds of social behavior. The present volume does much to establish parental care of the young as a topic central to an understanding of the relation between ontogeny and phylogeny, to the development of the young, to the social organization of the species, and to its preservation. It may now be seen not only as interesting but as a most signifi cant pattern of behavior among mammals.

Guidelines for the Care and Use of Mammals in Neuroscience and Behavioral Research

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2003-08-22

Total Pages: 223

ISBN-13: 030916785X

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Expanding on the National Research Council's Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, this book deals specifically with mammals in neuroscience and behavioral research laboratories. It offers flexible guidelines for the care of these animals, and guidance on adapting these guidelines to various situations without hindering the research process. Guidelines for the Care and Use of Mammals in Neuroscience and Behavioral Research offers a more in-depth treatment of concerns specific to these disciplines than any previous guide on animal care and use. It treats on such important subjects as: The important role that the researcher and veterinarian play in developing animal protocols. Methods for assessing and ensuring an animal's well-being. General animal-care elements as they apply to neuroscience and behavioral research, and common animal welfare challenges this research can pose. The use of professional judgment and careful interpretation of regulations and guidelines to develop performance standards ensuring animal well-being and high-quality research. Guidelines for the Care and Use of Mammals in Neuroscience and Behavioral Research treats the development and evaluation of animal-use protocols as a decision-making process, not just a decision. To this end, it presents the most current, in-depth information about the best practices for animal care and use, as they pertain to the intricacies of neuroscience and behavioral research.

The Neurobiology of Olfaction

Author: Anna Menini

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2009-11-24

Total Pages: 438

ISBN-13: 1420071998

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Comprehensive Overview of Advances in OlfactionThe common belief is that human smell perception is much reduced compared with other mammals, so that whatever abilities are uncovered and investigated in animal research would have little significance for humans. However, new evidence from a variety of sources indicates this traditional view is likely

Biometrical genetics

Author: Kenneth Mather

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2013-11-11

Total Pages: 394

ISBN-13: 1489934049

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The properties of continuous variation are basic to the theory of evolution and to the practice of plant and animal improvement. Yet the genetical study of continuous variation has lagged far behind that of discontinuous variation. The reason for this situation is basically methodological. Mendel gave us not merely his principles of heredity, but also a method of experiment by which these principles could be tested over a wider range of living species, and extended into the elaborate genetical theory of today. The power of this tool is well attested by the speed with which genetics has grown. In less than fifty years, it has not only developed a theoretical structure which is unique in the biological sciences, but has established a union with nuclear cytology so close that the two have become virtually a single science offering us a new approach to problems so diverse as those of evolution, development, disease, cellular chemistry and human welfare. Much of this progress would have been impossible and all would have been slower without the Mendelian method of recognizing and using unit differences in the genetic materials.

Oxytocin, Vasopressin and Related Peptides in the Regulation of Behavior

Author: Elena Choleris

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2013-04-11

Total Pages: 409

ISBN-13: 1107328055

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The mammalian neurohypophyseal peptide hormones oxytocin and vasopressin act to mediate human social behavior - they affect trust and social relationships and have an influence on avoidance responses. Describing the evolutionary roots of the effects that these neuropeptides have on behavior, this book examines remarkable parallel findings in both humans and non-human animals. The chapters are structured around three key issues: the molecular and neurohormonal mechanisms of peptides; phylogenetic considerations of their role in vertebrates; and their related effects on human behavior, social cognition and clinical applications involving psychiatric disorders such as autism. A final chapter summarizes current research perspectives and reflects on the outlook for future developments. Providing a comparative overview and featuring contributions from leading researchers, this is a valuable resource for graduate students, researchers and clinicians in this rapidly developing field.

Scientific and Medical Aspects of Human Reproductive Cloning

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2002-06-17

Total Pages: 295

ISBN-13: 0309076374

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Human reproductive cloning is an assisted reproductive technology that would be carried out with the goal of creating a newborn genetically identical to another human being. It is currently the subject of much debate around the world, involving a variety of ethical, religious, societal, scientific, and medical issues. Scientific and Medical Aspects of Human Reproductive Cloning considers the scientific and medical sides of this issue, plus ethical issues that pertain to human-subjects research. Based on experience with reproductive cloning in animals, the report concludes that human reproductive cloning would be dangerous for the woman, fetus, and newborn, and is likely to fail. The study panel did not address the issue of whether human reproductive cloning, even if it were found to be medically safe, would beâ€"or would not beâ€"acceptable to individuals or society.