Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “PATERNITY”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
PubMed2005

Multiple sperm storage organs facilitate female control of paternity.

It has been proposed that multiple sperm storage organs (spermathecae) could allow polyandrous females to control paternity. There is little conclusive evidence for this since insemination of individual spermathecae is generally not experimentally manipulable. Here, we examined sperm use patterns in the Australian redback spider (Latrodectus hasselti), which has paired, independent spermathecae. We assessed paternity when two rivals were forced to inseminate a single storage organ or opposite storage organs. When males inseminated a single spermatheca, mean paternity of the female's first mate was 79.8% (median 89.4%), and 38% of first mates achieved 100% paternity. In contrast, when males inseminated opposite organs, the mean paternity of the first mate was 49.3% (median 49.9%), only 10% of males achieved complete precedence, and paternity was normally distributed, suggesting sperm mixing. Males responded to this difference by avoiding previously inseminated female reproductive tracts. Complete sperm precedence can only be achieved if females permit males to copulate with both reproductive tracts. Females often cannibalize smaller males during their first copulation, thus limiting their paternity to 50%. These data show that multiple sperm storage organs can increase female control of paternity.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

'O father: where art thou?'--Paternity assessment in an open fission-fusion society of wild bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops sp.) in Shark Bay, Western Australia.

Sexually mature male bottlenose dolphins in Shark Bay cooperate by pursuing distinct alliance strategies to monopolize females in reproductive condition. We present the results of a comprehensive study in a wild cetacean population to test whether male alliance membership is a prerequisite for reproductive success. We compared two methods for inferring paternity: both calculate a likelihood ratio, called the paternity index, between two opposing hypotheses, but they differ in the way that significance is applied to the data. The first method, a Bayesian approach commonly used in human paternity testing, appeared to be overly conservative for our data set, but would be less susceptible to assumptions if a larger number of microsatellite loci had been used. Using the second approach, the computer program cervus 2.0, we successfully assigned 11 paternities to nine males, and 17 paternities to 14 out of 139 sexually mature males at 95% and 80% confidence levels, respectively. It appears that being a member of a bottlenose dolphin alliance is not a prerequisite for paternity: two paternities were obtained by juvenile males (one at the 95%, the other at the 80% confidence level), suggesting that young males without alliance partners pursue different mating tactics to adults. Likelihood analyses showed that these two juvenile males were significantly more likely to be the true father of the offspring than to be their half-sibling (P < 0.05). Using paternity data at an 80% confidence level, we could show that reproductive success was significantly skewed within at least some stable first-order alliances (P < 0.01). Interestingly, there is powerful evidence that one mating was incestuous, with one calf apparently fathered by its mother's father (P < 0.01). Our study suggests that the reproductive success of both allied males, and of nonallied juveniles, needs to be incorporated into an adaptive framework that seeks to explain alliance formation in male bottlenose dolphins.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

How do misassigned paternities affect the estimation of heritability in the wild?

Studies of birds have recently played an important role in the increasing success of quantitative genetics applied to natural populations. However, these studies mostly base their pedigree relationships on social information, despite the known widespread genetic polygamy in avian species. Here, we study the influence of misassigned paternities, combined with the effect of pedigree size and depth, on the estimation of heritability. First, we compute simulations of a polygenic trait for two levels of heritability (0.1 and 0.4), several extra-pair paternity rates (ranging from 5% to 40%), and varying sample sizes (20, 50 and 100 broods) or pedigree depth (2 or 4 generations). We compare heritability estimates from the social and the genetic pedigree, running a restricted maximum-likelihood 'animal model'. Social pedigree underestimates heritability by an average of 0-17% for 5-20% extra-pair paternities and by up to 18% for 40% extra-pair paternities and a heritability of 0.4. Second, we identifyied extra-pair offspring using microsatellite loci in two populations of blue tits (Parus caeruleus) showing high levels of extra-pair paternities (15% and 25% of extra-pair offspring). We compare heritabilities of tarsus length and body mass estimated with pedigrees of increasing accuracy. These analyses suggest that the bias induced by misassigned paternities on heritability estimation depends on the level of heritability and the rate of paternity error. Typical rates of extra-pair paternities in birds (around 20% of offspring) should result in an underestimation of heritability of less than 15% when estimated over a minimum of 100 broods.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Factors affecting incorrect paternity assignment in the Israeli Holstein population.

A total of 6040 Israeli Holstein cows from 181 Kibbutz herds listed as progeny of 11 sires were genotyped for 104 microsatellites. Seventeen markers were deleted due to a frequency of erroneous genotypes >1%, leaving 160,470 valid genotypes. Conflicts between the putative sire and daughter in at least 2 markers and for at least 10% of the markers genotyped per cow were required to reject paternity. Cows that did not meet the requirements for paternity confirmation or rejection were deleted from further analysis. The frequency of rejected paternity was 11.7%. The effects of recorded sire, birth year, geographical region, herd, and inseminator on the frequency of paternity rejection were analyzed with linear and nonlinear models. Only the effects of inseminator and recorded sire were significant in all models tested that included these effects. The main causes of incorrect paternity recording appear to be inseminator recording mistakes, and possibly mistakes with respect to semen labeling at the AI institutes. Incorrect paternity recording due to multiple inseminations by different sires could explain, at most, 20% of the paternity mistakes. Instituting a system of quality control, especially at the level of the inseminator, should reduce paternity errors to no more than 8%, and increase genetic progress by at least 1%.

Alleles↗
PubMed2000

Paternity and hormone levels after unilateral cryptorchidism: association with pretreatment testicular location.

PURPOSE: We determined differences in paternity and levels of the hormones inhibin B, follicle- stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, testosterone and free testosterone based on the preoperative location of the undescended testis in men with previous unilateral cryptorchidism. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Testicular location was determined by a review of the medical records and paternity or attempted paternity using a detailed questionnaire administered to 320 men with previous unilateral cryptorchidism. In 103 cases we performed semen analysis and measured the levels of the hormones inhibin B, luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, testosterone and free testosterone. Paternity, sperm count and hormonal parameters were compared with cryptorchid testicular location using analysis of variance and chi-square analysis. Logistic regression was done to analyze pretreatment testicular location as a risk factor for infertility. RESULTS: Paternity, duration of attempted conception in men who achieved paternity, sperm count and hormone levels did not differ based on pretreatment abdominal, internal ring, inguinal canal, external ring, upper scrotum or ectopic testicular location. The overall paternity rate was 90% with the lowest rate of 83.3% in the abdominal group. More than 12 months were required to achieve conception in 28.9% of the study group overall and in 39.4% of the abdominal group. Varicocele and a partner with fertility problems were risk factors for infertility, while abdominal testicular location caused borderline significant risk. CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative testicular location in men with previous unilateral cryptorchidism is not a major determinant of fertility according to paternity, sperm count or hormone levels.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Paternalism, patient autonomy, and moral deliberation in the physician-patient relationship. Attitudes among Norwegian physicians.

Sixteen statements on physician attitudes in the physician-patient relationship were presented to a representative sample of Norwegian physicians (N=990). Three moderately correlated theoretical dimensions were identified in a principal component analysis: paternalism, patient autonomy, and moral deliberation. The paternalism scores increased significantly with age, and psychiatrists scored significantly lower than physicians in somatic specialties. Psychiatrists had the highest scores on the patient autonomy dimension, whereas surgeons scored the lowest. Moral deliberation scores increased slightly with age. To explore the pattern of scores across the three dimensions, the scores were dichotomized and combined in eight different ways. The resulting typology included five different physician profiles: (1) classical paternalists (high scores on paternalism, low scores on both patient autonomy and moral deliberation), (2) modern paternalists (high scores on both paternalism and deliberation, low scores on patient autonomy), (3) autonomists ( high scores on patient autonomy, low scores on both paternalism and deliberation), (4) deliberationists (high scores on deliberation and patient autonomy, low scores on paternalism), and (5) ambivalents (high or low scores on all dimensions, or high or low scores on both paternalism and patient autonomy). The four groups of physicians with 'consistent' attitudes contained between 12 and 19% of the total sample, whereas 37% belonged to the 'ambivalent' group. Laboratory doctors and surgeons belonged significantly more often in the group of classical paternalists than did general practitioners, whereas male physicians were more often modern paternalists than were female physicians. Among the autonomists, women were more numerous than men, doctors in their 40s clearly more numerous than those in their 60s, and psychiatrists clearly more numerous than residents.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Paternity testing with genetic markers: are Y-linked genes more efficient than autosomal ones?

The average probability of exclusion for a Y-linked locus is computed and compared with that for an autosomal locus. It is shown that even if a Y-linked locus is only marginally polymorphic, it considerably enhances the chance of paternity exclusion in paternity dispute cases involving sons. For the positive identification of paternity, a Y-linked marker is not necessarily more ideal than an analogous autosomal marker since the discrimination of true fathers from random men not excluded from paternity (RMNEP) is still difficult on the basis of a paternity index. It is concluded that Y-linked markers are more efficient for paternity exclusions of male children, while for the positive identification of paternity their advantages over the autosomal markers are questionable.

Chromosome Mapping↗
PubMed1983

Paternal age and Down's syndrome diagnosed prenatally: no association in French data.

An investigation of a paternal age effect independent of maternal age was undertaken for 118 trisomy 21 cases diagnosed prenatally in 6656 amniocenteses. The mean of the difference delta in paternal age of Down's syndrome cases compared to those with normal genotypes after controlling for maternal age was +0.46 with a 95 per cent confidence interval of -0.84 to +1.76. This revealed no evidence for a paternal age effect. Multiple applications of the Mantel-Haenszel test revealed no statistically significant evidence for a paternal age effect independent of maternal age. These results are in agreement with those of Hook and Cross (1982b) but not with claims of Stene et al. (1981), of a strong paternal age effect detected in studies on prenatal diagnosis. The hypothesis suggested by Hook and Cross (1982a) that there is a rather weak paternal age effect independent of maternal age in most if not all populations cannot be excluded. If temporal or geographic factors account for the differences in studies on paternal age effect, extrapolation to other time periods or populations cannot be done.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Reexamination of paternal age effect in Down's syndrome.

The recent discovery that the extra chromosome in about 30% of cases of 47, trisomy 21 is of paternal origin has revived interest in the possibility of paternal age as a risk factor for a Down syndrome birth, independent of maternal age. Parental age distribution for 611 Down's syndrome 47, +21 cases was studied. The mean paternal age was 0.16 year greater than in the entire population of live births after controlling for maternal age. There was no evidence for a significant paternal age effect at the 0.05 level. For 242 of these Down's syndrome cases, control subjects were selected by rigidly matching in a systematic manner. Paternal age was the variable studied, with maternal age and time and place of birth controlled. There was no statistically significant association between paternal age and Down's syndrome. After adjustment for maternal age, these two studies were not consistent with an increase of paternal age in Down's syndrome.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Technological paternalism: on how medicine has reformed ethics and how technology can refine moral theory.

The objective of this article is to investigate ethical aspects of technology through the moral term "paternalism". The field of investigation is medicine. The reason for this is twofold. Firstly, "paternalism" has gained moral relevance through modern medicine, where physicians have been accused of behaving paternalistic and threatening patients' autonomy. Secondly, medicine is a brilliant area to scrutinise the evaluative aspects of technology. It is argued that paternalism is a morally relevant term for the ethics of technology, but that its traditional conception is not adequate to address the challenges of modern technology. A modification towards a "technological paternalism" is necessary. That is, "technological paternalism" is a fruitful term in the ethics of technology. Moreover, it is suited to point out the deficiencies of the traditional concept of paternalism and to reform and vitalise the conception of paternalism in ethics in order to handle the challenges of technology.

Biomedical Technology↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Laboratory evidence of unsuspected parental consanguinity among cases of disputed paternity.

A search was conducted to find evidence of possible incestuous unions between the biologic parents of children involved in 2500 paternity cases. Suspicion was raised when either (1) a mother and her child possessed identical HLA phenotypes, or (2) the child appeared to be possibly homozygous for one maternal haplotype (i.e., one of the child's HLA haplotypes was a blank). These mother-child HLA-haplotype dualisms (MHDs) occurred in 5% of all cases. Frequency of exclusion of the accused men in cases demonstrating MHD, was compared with the remaining paternity cases. No significant difference was found in overall exclusion rates between MHD cases and controls when exclusion produced by HLA and red cell antigen systems were observed. However, there was a greater rate of exclusion in MHD cases when comparing exclusions produced by red cell antigen systems regardless of whether HLA tests excluded paternity (p less than 0.025). MHD cases involving teenaged mothers differed from control cases in frequency of exclusion of paternity only on the basis of red cell antigen phenotyping (p less than 0.005). The HLA system's usefulness in paternity testing is diminished when there is MHD; multiple, independently-inherited systems are relatively more useful in these circumstances. The search method detects only half of potential incest cases; proof of incest requires more extensive testing for homozygosity among other polymorphisms. Since calculations of likelihood of paternity are inappropriate in cases involving close consanguinity, detection and follow up studies are important. Data suggest that one-fifth of MHD cases may involve first degree consanguinity and that the incest rate among paternity cases may be as high as 2%.

Alleles↗
PubMed2005

Dopamine agonist treatment before and after the birth reduces prolactin concentration but does not impair paternal responsiveness in Djungarian hamsters, Phodopus campbelli.

Male Djungarian hamsters, Phodopus campbelli, are highly parental and experience a late-afternoon prolactin surge before the birth that is not seen in a closely related species, P. sungorus, which lacks paternal care. At the same stage, female prolactin is needed for later maternal behavior. Male prolactin was suppressed in first-time fathers before the birth of the litter using two different dopamine agonists, bromocriptine mesylate and cabergoline. Plasma prolactin concentration confirmed the efficacy of each treatment. Paternal responsiveness was quantified using three variations on a pup-displacement paradigm. No adverse effects of either treatment were seen. Across four experiments, there was no decrease in paternal retrieval or in retrieval latency in response to male prolactin suppression. In addition, there was no decrease in litter growth or survival, nor was there an increase in maternal investment to compensate for a deficit in paternal care. As cabergoline suppression of prolactin persisted after the birth without behavioral deficits, prolactin after the birth was also not required for the expression of paternal behavior. In spite of an extensive literature supporting an association between prolactin and natural paternal behavior, we conclude that dopamine-mediated prolactin release into peripheral plasma is not essential for paternal responsiveness in P. campbelli.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Validation of short tandem repeat analysis for the investigation of cases of disputed paternity.

This study details validation of two separate multiplex STR systems for use in paternity investigations. These are the Second Generation Multiplex (SGM) developed by the UK Forensic Science Service and the PowerPlex 1 multiplex commercially available from Promega Inc. (Madison, WI, USA). These multiplexes contain 12 different STR systems (two are duplicated in the two systems). Population databases from Caucasian, Asian and Afro-Caribbean populations have been compiled for all loci. In all but two of the 36 STR/ethnic group combinations, no evidence was obtained to indicate inconsistency with Hardy-Weinberg (HW) proportions. Empirical and theoretical approaches have been taken to validate these systems for paternity testing. Samples from 121 cases of disputed paternity were analysed using established Single Locus Probe (SLP) tests currently in use, and also using the two multiplex STR systems. Results of all three test systems were compared and no non-conformities in the conclusions were observed, although four examples of apparent germ line mutations in the STR systems were identified. The data was analysed to give information on expected paternity indices and exclusion rates for these STR systems. The 12 systems combined comprise a highly discriminating test suitable for paternity testing. 99.96% of non-fathers are excluded from paternity on two or more STR systems. Where no exclusion is found, Paternity Index (PI) values of > 10,000 are expected in > 96% of cases.

Asian People↗
PubMed2004

Paternal and maternal age as risk factors for psychosis: findings from Denmark, Sweden and Australia.

BACKGROUND: While the association between increased maternal age and congenital disorders has long been recognized, the offspring of older fathers are also at increased risk of congenital disorders related to DNA errors during spermatogenesis. Recent studies have drawn attention to an association between increased paternal age and increased risk of schizophrenia. The aim of the current study was to examine both paternal and maternal age as risk factors for the broader category of psychosis. METHOD: We used data from three sources examining psychosis: a population-based cohort study (Denmark), and two case-control studies (Sweden and Australia). RESULTS: When controlling for the effect of maternal age, increased paternal age was significantly associated with increased risk of psychosis in the Danish and Swedish studies. The Australian study found no association between adjusted paternal age and risk of psychosis. When controlling for the effect of paternal age, younger maternal age was associated with an increased risk of psychoses in the Danish study alone. CONCLUSIONS: The offspring of older fathers are at increased risk of developing psychosis. The role of paternally derived mutations and/or psychosocial factors associated with older paternal age warrants further research.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Paternal effects on cell division in the human preimplantation embryo.

Cell divisions in the human preimplantation embryo can be compromised by deficiencies in sperm nuclear genome or sperm-derived developmentally relevant cytoplasmic factors, oocyte activating substance and centriole. Sperm nuclear deficiencies are usually not detected before the 8-cell stage of embryo development, when a major expression of sperm-derived genes has begun. Sperm cytoplasmic deficiencies can be detected as early as the 1-cell zygote and then throughout the preimplantation development. The terms 'late paternal effect' and 'early paternal effect' have been suggested to denote these two pathological conditions. The late paternal effect is associated with an increased incidence of sperm DNA fragmentation. No association with sperm DNA damage has been found for the early paternal effect. The diagnosis of the late paternal effect is thus based on the examination of sperm DNA integrity, which should be performed in cases of repeated assisted reproduction failure even if morphologically normal embryos result from fertilization with the patient's spermatozoa. The only element leading to the diagnosis of the early paternal effect is poor zygote and embryo morphology and low cleavage speed. The absence of increased sperm DNA damage does not exclude the presence of this pathology. ICSI with testicular spermatozoa has recently been shown to be an efficient treatment for the late paternal effect. The use of oral antioxidant treatment in this indication has also given promising results.

Blastocyst↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Paternity probabilities of biologic fathers and unexcluded, falsely accused men using blood group markers.

A frequent legal argument raised in defense of men accused of paternity, but not excluded by genetic tests, is that the probabilities of paternity of falsely accused men are similar to those of biologic fathers. This assertion was tested in a computer simulation experiment that used a database of 15,000 actual paternity cases to provide red cell and HLA phenotypes of mothers, children, and putative fathers. Tests had a combined probability of exclusion of 97.3 percent. Equal numbers of true and false fathers were generated from the data by computer to achieve a prior probability of paternity of 0.5. True fathers' phenotypes were those of unexcluded men from actual cases (Group A) or of mothers from actual cases (Group B) in which paternity was not excluded. The false father group was created by assigning the phenotypes of racially identical men who were selected at random from among cases other than their own. Probabilities of paternity were calculated for the men in each group and were classified into descriptive intervals. The frequency of men in each group was compared in each interval. The frequency distributions of probabilities of paternity for true fathers and unexcluded, falsely accused men (false fathers) were markedly dissimilar.

Computer Simulation↗
PubMed2006

Maternal age, paternal age and new-onset hypertension in late pregnancy.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between maternal age, paternal age, and new-onset hypertension in late pregnancy. METHODS: We carried out a retrospective cohort study of 9,302,675 pregnant women with live births in the United States between 1995 and 1998. Maternal and paternal ages were analyzed together using "couple age" in multivariate logistic regression models to reduce colinearity between maternal age and paternal age. The effect of paternal age was also analyzed with stratification of maternal age. RESULTS: Compared with couples with both a maternal and paternal age of 20 to 34 years, an older maternal age (above 35 years) was associated with an increased risk for new-onset hypertension, except for couples with a very young father (below 20 years). Younger maternal age (below 20 years) was associated with a decreased risk for new-onset hypertension, except for couples with a very old father (above 45 years). There was no significant association between paternal age and new-onset hypertension with stratification of maternal age. CONCLUSION: Increased risk for new-onset hypertension in late pregnancy is significantly associated with advancing maternal age, whereas there is no association between paternal age and new-onset hypertension in late pregnancy.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Testosterone promotes paternal behaviour in a monogamous mammal via conversion to oestrogen.

Although high testosterone (T) levels inhibit paternal behaviour in birds breeding in temperate zones many paternal mammals have a very different breeding biology, characterized by a post-partum oestrus. In species with post-partum oestrus, males may engage in T-dependent behaviours such as aggression and copulation simultaneously with paternal behaviour. We previously found that T promotes paternal behaviour in the California mouse, Peromyscus californicus. We examine whether this effect is mediated by the conversion of T to oestradiol (E(2)) by aromatase. In the first experiment, gonadectomized males treated with T or E(2) implants showed higher levels of huddling and pup grooming behaviour than gonadectomized males treated with dihydrotestosterone or empty implants. In the second experiment, we used an aromatase inhibitor (fadrozole) (FAD) to confirm these results. Gonadectomized males treated with T + vehicle or E(2) + FAD showed higher levels of huddling and pup grooming behaviour than gonadectomized males treated with T + FAD or empty implants. Although E(2) is known to promote the onset of maternal behaviour to our knowledge our results are the first to demonstrate that E(2) can promote paternal behaviour in a paternal mammal. These results may explain how mammals express paternal behaviour while T levels are elevated.

Animals↗