Rabbinic Reflections on Divine–Human Interactions

This article approaches the question of tolerance by focusing on the topic of miraculous births, shared by both Jews and Christians. An analysis of chapter 14 of Leviticus Rabbah, dated to the first half of the fifth century, reveals contacts between the rabbinic text and Origen’s homilies on Leviticus, which elaborate on the same biblical texts. Jews and Christians shared the idea of God’s unquestionable power to perform miracles, but whereas the Christian discourse on miraculous birth in general addressed the birth of Jesus, the rabbis diverted the discourse to all human births.

Quantifying the Impact of Medicalisation on the Distribution of Births over the Course of the Day

Very few historical studies have been able to demonstrate the times of day when humans give birth in a ‘natural’ setting—i.e. outside of any hospital context or potential intervention. Two villages in the southwestern Russian Empire present rare examples of nineteenth-century baptism registers where time of birth were recorded. The evidence supports the thesis that ‘natural’ human births disproportionately occur between midnight and early morning. Evidence from the registers also show a seasonal effect, likely driven by the relationship between luminosity and melatonin production. The study, then, contributes to the ongoing debate regarding the medicalisation of childbearing, the deterioration of female autonomy in the sphere of childbearing, as well as other negative health outcomes. Historical evidence can demonstrate how far the circumstances of contemporary society differ from the ‘natural’ mode in something as fundamental as the time of the day when we give birth.

Analysing the seasonality of births in mainland China

The seasonality of human births varies in different countries and regions. Explanations for this variation have been divided into biological and behavioural factors. This paper documents birth seasonality in mainland China using data for a large sample from Chinaʼs Fifth National Population Census (FNPC) conducted in 2000. The main method used was the decomposition of monthly time series birth data into annual, seasonal and random trends. The results show large seasonal birth fluctuations, with a salient peak of October births. The study hypothesis is that this seasonal birth pattern is partially due to a home-bound wave of movement of people after the annual Spring Festival. Subsequent analysis of the calculated de-trended monthly births provided supportive evidence for this hypothesis. Further in-depth analysis showed that the magnitude of births varied with location and family characteristics. This result should inform researchers in the field of economics, where seasonality of births has been previously regarded as exogenous.

In vivo severity ranking of Ras pathway mutations associated with developmental disorders

Germ-line mutations in components of the Ras/MAPK pathway result in developmental disorders called RASopathies, affecting about 1/1,000 human births. Rapid advances in genome sequencing make it possible to identify multiple disease-related mutations, but there is currently no systematic framework for translating this information into patient-specific predictions of disease progression. As a first step toward addressing this issue, we developed a quantitative, inexpensive, and rapid framework that relies on the early zebrafish embryo to assess mutational effects on a common scale. Using this assay, we assessed 16 mutations reported in MEK1, a MAPK kinase, and provide a robust ranking of these mutations. We find that mutations found in cancer are more severe than those found in both RASopathies and cancer, which, in turn, are generally more severe than those found only in RASopathies. Moreover, this rank is conserved in other zebrafish embryonic assays and Drosophila-specific embryonic and adult assays, suggesting that our ranking reflects the intrinsic property of the mutant molecule. Furthermore, this rank is predictive of the drug dose needed to correct the defects. This assay can be readily used to test the strengths of existing and newly found mutations in MEK1 and other pathway components, providing the first step in the development of rational guidelines for patient-specific diagnostics and treatment of RASopathies.

Structure Mechanical Function Relationships of the Fetal Membrane

A normal pregnancy requires physical integrity of the fetal membrane (FM) until term delivery. Timely rupture of the fetal membrane is a vital part of term labor [1]. Premature failure of the FM, prior to full gestation, accounts for one third of all premature human births and affects 3% of all pregnancies [2]. Membrane rupture is either due to the release of the amniotic fluid, frequently signaling the onset of labor, or under a pathological circumstance [3]. In order to develop a rational basis for treatment and prevention of premature FM failure, we need first to understand FM structural and mechanical behavior. This includes its constituent layers at near full term under normal physiological loading states. Once these properties are established, we can then better formulate how the tissue transitions to the ability to fail at full term.

ADDITIONAL CONFIRMATION FOR THE EFFECT OF ENVIRONMENTAL LIGHT INTENSITY ON THE SEASONALITY OF HUMAN CONCEPTIONS

Summary.Causality for the seasonality of human births, which affects populations wordwide, has been a profound mystery for nearly two centuries. Most explanations for seasonality fail because of inconsistent global application. In two previous studies, Cummings (2002, 2003) hypothesized that human reproduction has been responsive to changes in both seasonal environmental light intensity (surface luminosity) and photoperiod. Except at higher latitudes, photoperiod is of secondary importance to that of environmental light intensity. Because of a lack of data, the presence or lack of cloud cover is used as a general proxy for environmental light intensity. These studies show a positive correlation between conceptual seasonality and cloud cover on a worldwide basis, and propose that there is a delay between exposure to increased light and the onset of conceptions. This delay is three months at higher latitudes and one to two months for lower latitudes. Both studies suggest that an excellent means of hypothesis confirmation would be to provide one or more examples of how a seasonal change in cloud cover might alter the number of conceptions in subsequent months. The present study tests this hypothesis. The percentage of possible sunshine and averaged sunshine hours are used to investigate their influence on seasonality of births in Germany and the Netherlands. The evidence shows that a seasonal change in environmental light intensity preceded a change in the peak months for conceptions in Germany and the Netherlands. Although secondary influences are possible, the primary reason for this transition in peak conceptual months seems to be related to the seasonal changes in environmental light intensity for both countries. Although this transitional relationship was predicted in Cummings (2002, 2003), further research is required, especially with regard to more precise measurements of environmental light intensity and its physiological effect on the human endocrine system.

Tissue-engineered Rabbit Cranial Suture from Autologous Fibroblasts and BMP2

Craniosynostosis is a congenital disorder of premature ossification of cranial sutures, occurring in one of approximately every 2500 live human births. This work addressed a hypothesis that a cranial suture can be tissue-engineered from autologous cells. Dermal fibroblasts were isolated subcutaneously from growing rabbits, culture-expanded, and seeded in a gelatin scaffold. We fabricated a composite tissue construct by sandwiching the fibroblast-seeded gelatin scaffold between two collagen sponges loaded with recombinant human BMP2. Surgically created, full-thickness parietal defects were filled with the composite tissue construct in the same rabbits from which dermal fibroblasts had been obtained. After four-week in vivo implantation, there was de novo formation of tissue-engineered cranial suture, microscopically reminiscent of the adjacent natural cranial suture. The tissue-engineered cranial suture showed radiolucency on radiographic images, in contrast to radio-opacity of microscopically ossified calvarial defects filled with fibroblast-free, BMP2-loaded constructs. This approach may be refined for tissue engineering of cranial sutures for craniosynostosis patients.

Rangifer and man: An ancient relationship

A long-term relationship between Rangifer and humans is documented in three case studies: the Canadian Barrenlands (8000 years ago to Historic period), Ice-Age France (11 000-19 000 years ago) and Mesolithic Russia (7000¬10 000 years ago). Ancient human and herd migration occurred in all areas, based upon Rangifer remains and seasonal variations in tools along reconstructed migration routes, with few if any hunting camps outside the routes. An April peak of ancient human births is inferred from the historic record where we see births occurring nine months after peak nutritional states in herds and people. The origin of reindeer domestication and breeding in Eurasia is discussed.