Life-history theory states that reproductive events confer costs upon mothers. Many studies have shown that reproduction causes a decline in maternal condition, survival or success in subsequent reproductive events. However, little attention has been given to the prospect of reproductive costs being passed onto subsequent offspring, despite the fact that parental fitness is a function of the re...

The Subclass Octocorallia represents a geographically and morphologically diverse group of Cnidarians for which basic life history, including reproductive biology, is poorly known in most species. Current knowledge of reproduction in this group is derived from a few of taxonomic descriptions which include information on reproductive morphology (e.g. Kukenthal 1919), and a limited number of publ...

The trade-off between reproductive investment and lifespan is the single most important concept in life-history theory. A variety of sources of evidence support the existence of this trade-off, but the physiological costs of reproduction that underlie this relationship remain poorly understood. The Free Radical Theory of Ageing suggests that oxidative stress, which occurs when there is an imbal...

Background: Endometriosis as one of the most common health problems of women during their reproductive age, affects 2.5-3.3% of women. Endometriosis may be asymptomatic or associated with dysmenorrheal symptoms, dyspareunia, pelvic pain, abnormal uterine bleeding and infertility. The objective of present study was to determine the risk factors related to endometriosis among Iranian infertile wo...

We examined the multivariate life-history trajectories of age 0 and age 1 female Gambusia affinis to determine relative effects of age-based and environment-based cues on reproductive investment. Age 0 females decreased reproductive investment prior to the onset of fall and winter months, while age 1 females increased reproductive investment as the summer progressed. The reproductive restraint ...

Objective Trace metals are required in minute amounts for normal human growth and physiological function of the body and might play a vital role in the pregnancy and outcome. The study was conducted to assess the role of trace metals zinc (Zn) and copper (Cu) among women with history of spontaneous abortion (SAb Cases) with respect to women without such history (Controls). MaterialsAndMethods A...

Re-introduction programs rely on reproductively sound individuals and high offspring survival once captively bred species are released into their natural habitat. Some species involved in captive breeding programs reproduce poorly: one prominent example is the cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus). Here we use the cheetah as a case study to test predictions from all current hypotheses explaining this phen...