The nutritional status of females during pregnancy can play a critical role in the postnatal growth and development of the offspring, often leading to permanent changes ('fetal programming'). The Sertoli cells are a strong candidate for fetal programming of future performance because the number of Sertoli cells is highly correlated with adult testicular size and the maximum rate of sperm production. For Merino ewes, we imposed different levels of metabolizable energy (ME) intake (LowME: 70% of requirements for maintenance of ewe body mass and normal growth of conceptus (n = 13); HighME: 110% of those requirements (n = 12)) from Week 10 of pregnancy until parturition and then tested for effects on testicular histology in newborn males. Pregnant ewes were weighed weekly and lambs were weighed at birth and 2 days later. Blood was sampled at the same times. LowME ewes did not gain weight, whereas HighME ewes gained 17% over their pretreatment weight. Birthweights were higher in HighME lambs than in LowME lambs. Paired testes tended to be heavier in the HighME group than in the LowME group (P=0.08). The diameter of the testicular cords did not differ. The absolute volume of testicular cords (0.36 ± 0.02 v. 0.30 ± 0.02 mL for HighME v. LowME, respectively; P=0.03) and the number of Sertoli cells (43.0�±�2.5 v. 34.5 ± 2.0 × 108 for HighME v. LowME, respectively; P=0.018) per testis were both greater in the HighME than in the LowME group. Plasma follicle-stimulating hormone concentrations were not significantly affected at birth or 2 days later. We conclude that undernutrition during pregnancy can reduce testicular development in the newborn. Depending on the ability of the Sertoli cell population to recover between birth and puberty, this may limit the ultimate number of Sertoli cells and, hence, the future capacity for sperm production and fertility.

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Health benefits among the members of state-level societies may vary depending on sex, social privilege, and whether the individual resides in an urban or rural setting. Human skeletal remains are prone to express individual life experiences and, ultimately, well-being. This research elaborates on these correlates by contextualizing the physiological stresses among Classic Maya hinterland populations in comparison to their urban peers. Comparisons are made using the frequencies and expression of enamel hypoplasia, caries, porotic hyperostosis, infectious osteomyelitis/subperiosteal reaction and osteoporosis in 842 adult skeletons of both sexes from 63 peripheral and centric, inland, lowland settlements. The results suggest problematic inland weaning diets and higher infectious load among rural populations. While comparisons between urban and rural lifeways show inconsistent load differences, our results indicate repeated distinctions between the sexes. We cautiously interpret this pattern as an indication of a physically demanding regime of rural life compared to a more sedentary routine among urban peers and gendered lifestyles in general. We conclude that apart from these distinctions (and potential sample biases), the health costs versus benefits impacted rural lifestyles in a complex and non-uniform fashion during the first millennium a.d., rejecting clear-cut hierarchical conceptualizations while inviting more nuanced causal explorations.

Abstract. To test the hypothesis that seasonal variations in testicular morphology and function differ in Corriedale rams subject to different feeding levels, 24 spring-born Corriedale rams, aged 14-15 months at the beginning of the trial and raised under extensive grazing conditions in Uruguay, were allotted at random to two groups: Group H, that grazed on improved (sown) pastures, and Group L, the control, that grazed on natural pastures (range). Clinical data (live weight, scrotal circumference), semen, blood and tissue samples (testis, epididymis and seminal vesicle) were collected during each of four seasons (for one month/season) of the year. According to data measured, testicular form and function had its peak in autumn followed by a decline in winter and a subsequent recovery in spring and summer. Live weight loss during winter was significantly decreased in Group L but not in Group H. Scrotal circumference, seminiferous tubules diameter and seminal vesicle epithelial height decreased significantly during winter in both groups. Group H scrotal circumference returned earlier (spring) than Group L (summer) to autumn values. By summer, seminiferous tubules and seminal vesicle epithelial height had returned to autumn values in Group H, but not in Group L. Decrements of scrotal circumference in winter and spring were milder in Group H than in Group L animals. Group H testosterone values in autumn were higher than those from Group L in spring. In summary: 1) differences existed in seasonal variations in testicular morphology and function between Corriedale rams subjected to different feeding levels and, 2) the findings suggest that nutritional factors contributed, at least partly, to the differences in variations observed throughout the experiment. Key words: Rams, Testis, Seasonality, Nutrition, Morphology.(J. Reprod. Dev. 43: [171][172][173][174][175][176][177][178][179][180] 1997) ale sheep reproduction is seasonal. However, the degree of seasonality in male sheep factors. The most important cue for rams reproductive seasonal variations in cold-temperate regions is the annual cycle of increasing and decreasing photoperiod. The magnitude of the change in daylength among seasons varies widely depending on the latitude. Nutrition is another M reproduction varies, depending on a number of

We provide lab data from four different games that allow us to study whether people have accurate expectations regarding monetary sanctions (punishment/reward) and nonmonetary sanctions (disapproval/approval). Although the strength of the sanction is always predicted with some error (particularly in the case of monetary sanctions), we observe that (i) most subjects anticipate correctly the sign of the average sanction, (ii) expectations covary with sanctions, (iii) the average expectation is very often not significantly different than the average actual sanction, and (iv) the errors exhibit no systematic bias, except in those situations where rewards are frequent. In this line, we find some evidence that punishment is better anticipated than rewards.