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The establishment of pregnancy involves a fine‐tuned balance between protection and tolerance within the maternal immune system, as the female needs to accept a foreign antigen (the semi‐allogenic fetus) while still being able to combat pathogens from the uterus. In the horse, the first uterine exposure to paternal antigens is during mating when sperm is introduced to the tissue and draining lymphatics of the uterus. Additionally, it has been suggested that seminal plasma and its proteins within it play an essential role in preparing the female tract for a suitable immunologic environment but this has not been confirmed in the horse. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the endometrial transcriptome following insemination either with seminal plasma or with reduced seminal plasma. We hypothesised that reduced seminal plasma would alter the endometrial transcriptome and affect transcripts relating to immunotolerance, antigen presentation and embryo growth and development. To do so, six (n = 6) mares were inseminated in a randomised switch‐back design over the course of four oestrous cycles. Mares were rectally palpated and scanned via ultrasonography for the detection of a pre‐ovulatory follicle (>35 mm) alongside increasing uterine oedema and relaxed cervix, and then treated with one of four treatment groups including (1) 30 mL lactated Ringers solution (LRS; NegCon), (2) 500 × 106 spermatozoa in conjunction with 30 mL seminal plasma (SP+), (3) 30 mL lactated Ringers solution (LRS; wash out) and (4) 500 × 106 spermatozoa with seminal plasma reduced via gradient centrifugation and resuspended in 30 mL LRS (SP−). Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) was administered to standardise the time to ovulation and endometrial biopsies were collected 7 days after insemination. RNA was isolated utilising Trizol, and RNA‐Seq was performed by Novogene, with 97.79% total mapping and 40 million read depth. p value was set to <0.05. When comparing SP+ to SP−, 158 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified. Biological processes impacted included antigen processing and regulation, cholesterol synthesis, and immune/inflammatory response. Gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis using DAVID v6.8 revealed that many of these DEGs were involved in biological process such as antigen presentation (HLA‐DM beta chain, HLA‐DRB, HLA‐DQA and RASGRP1), immune cell signalling (CXCL9, CXCL1, DEFB1 and MIP‐2B), embryo growth and development (INHA, KLF2, RDH10, LAMA3 and SLC34A2) and embryo metabolism (ABCA1, ABCA2, APOA1, LDL, INSR, IGFBP2 and IGFBP3). Overall, reduction of seminal plasma from the insemination dose impacted the endometrial transcriptome at the time of early embryonic exposure to the uterine environment. Further work is justified to evaluate these alterations impact on embryo maturation, placental development, pregnancy outcome and development of offspring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) were adopted by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2015 for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG3) is 'Better health and well-being by 2030'. According to WHO, good health in the context of SDG3 is assessed with respect to the level and distribution of individuals' and communities' healthy life, conditions that affect health and well-being and risk factors whose presence would affect health and well-being. The overall aim is that each SDG target is achieved by 2030. In 2018 the WHO used statistical methods to assess the state of health in Africa in the context of SDG3. Their analysis revealed successes and shortfalls towards attaining SDG3. Backed by public health and other activities, statistics play an important role in improving the health and well-being of Africa. This paper explains how statistics can be used to help African countries to attain SDG3, in its role in modeling event histories, diagnosis, evidence-based medicine, determination of risk factors of exposures of morbidity and mortality, determination of risk factors of morbidity and mortality, the computation of the level and distribution of vital events, measuring disease frequency and progress, quantification of life expectancy and monitoring and evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stylolites are rough dissolution surfaces that form due to intergranular pressure-solution resulting from burial compaction or tectonic stress. Despite being ubiquitous in most carbonate rocks, their potential impact on structural diagenesis and fluid flow remains unclear. The Zechstein 2 Carbonate (Ca2) is a diagenetically complex reservoir in the Southern Permian Basin and represents one of the most prolific gas reservoirs in NW Germany. This investigation focuses on evaluating the relationship between stylolites, fractures/veins and their subsequent influence on the spatial variations in reservoir quality. We utilise drill core samples to carry out a combined analysis of cross-cutting relationships between different structures and diagenetic products. We therefore use a combination of petrography and statistical analyses on stylolite networks, focusing on their occurrence, morphology and sealing capacity. In the study area, the Ca2 carbonate mudstone was deposited in a slope environment and dolomitised under shallow burial conditions, followed by bedding-parallel stylolitisation during burial. Results indicate that calcium-rich fluids percolated from neighbouring evaporite units causing widespread calcitisation within the more distal environments of deposition. Some stylolites locally acted as barriers to affect the migration of the calcitising fluids, resulting in a macroscopic diagenetic stratification of relatively porous dolomite and areas of calcitised dolomite with lower porosity. However, pressure-solution continued during burial and bedding-parallel stylolites also appear postdating calcitisation. During inversion, horizontal stylolites were reopened to act as conduits to enable fluid migration that precipitated metal sulphides. This indicates that stylolites acted as both barriers and conduits for fluid flow depending on variations of the overburden pressure and regional stress regime. Stylolites present a range of sealing capacities between 63 and 89%, depending on their morphology, and can result in partial leakage and subsequent invasive calcitisation in their vicinity. This study highlights the importance of understanding the impact of stylolites on structural diagenesis and spatial variations in petrophysical rock properties that determine reservoir quality. • Complex cross-cutting relations among stylolites, fractures and diagenetic products. • Stylolites controlled diagenetic fluid pathways altering porosity and permeability. • Weak negative correlation between calcite veins and stylolite abundance. • Stylolites acted as both barriers and conduits for diagenetic fluid flow. • Chemical compaction started before calcitisation and continued during replacement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To assess the association between sociodemographic variables and smoking behavior patterns of African American women. Methods: Six years of data (N=14,903) from the National Health Interview Surveys were analyzed using multiple logistic regression. Results: African American women in the South were more likely to never smoke and to start smoking later than women in the Northeast. Positive smoking outcomes (never smoking, initiating smoking at later ages, and quitting) were associated with higher education, higher income, and being married. Conclusions: Variations among African American women suggest the need for targeting specific subgroups at greater risks to reduce disparities in smoking and smoking-related diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problem-based learning has been used as a teaching and learning strategy in many medical school curriculums for more than 25 years.Recent research of this strategy has demonstrated positive outcome in self-directed learning, improved decision-making skills, improved critical thinking, and retention of learned materials.At the New Mexico VA Health Care System, problem-based learning was implemented in ambulatory care to enhance critical thinking and decisionmaking skills.Both critical thinking and decision making are fundamental to providing quality, efficient, and costeffective care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most interesting issues in the study of overseas Indian populations is their rapid increase, in particular during the first half of the twentieth century. It has been established that the rapid increase of the Indian populations resulted from their extremely high fertility levels. The cohort fertility of Indian-Surinamese women aged 50 years or over exceeded the rate for Afro-Surinamese women. The higher rate for the Indian-Surinamese women resulted from a shorter birth interval associated with a quick resumption of sexual intercourse after childbirth. The short period of abstention from sexual intercourse in turn, is consistent with a centuries-old religious prescription in the Indian mythological epic "Ramayana," which encourages sexual intercourse during certain season in the year. Apart from the retention of some traditional Indian religious notions, socio-economic factors, including care in old age and assistance in farm work, may also explain the desire of Indian-Surinamese women for a large number of children.

A rapid decline in fertility took place in Suriname between 1962 and 1974, and then stopped. While this sudden stabilization is surprising, it is not unusual. Similar trends have occurred in some Caribbean and Latin-American countries. The 1962–74 fall in fertility in Suriname seems to have been due to a combination of socioeconomic factors and the activities of the Suriname Family Planning Association, founded in 1968. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]