Bulging disc, herniated disc, the type of disc, location of the discs, and nerve root compression diagnosis were significantly in excellent agreement (kappa>0.7, p-value<0.001) through intraobserver assessments, while interobserver assessments presented statistically significant with a fair agreement (kappa0.4-0.7 and p-value<0.05).

Remarkable intraobserver agreement was found between diagnoses of disc-related pathologies of the lumbar spine while interobserver assessments revealed only fair concordance.

Remarkable intraobserver agreement was found between diagnoses of disc-related pathologies of the lumbar spine while interobserver assessments revealed only fair concordance.Infertility treatments such as in-vitro fertilization (IVF) are stressful and challenging to mental health and well-being. The use of alternative therapies adjunct to IVF treatment, such as acupuncture, is common and women hope to improve their chance of pregnancy and live birth. While many women engage in acupuncture adjunct to IVF in Australia, few qualitative studies of women’s motivations and experiences have been conducted in this field. A qualitative study was nested within a randomized controlled trial of acupuncture during IVF treatment in order to explore women’s perceptions of acupuncture, its effects in the context of IVF treatment, and how acupuncture is perceived in relation to the outcome of IVF. Ipatasertib cell line Fifty women randomized into both acupuncture and sham acupuncture groups were interviewed using a semi-structured format. In-depth interviews were transcribed, coded and categorized in a theoretical thematic analysis. Two primary themes emerged ‘psychological benefit’ and ‘perceived influence of acupuncture on fertility/medical outcome’. Regardless of randomization, women in both groups described similar psychological effects suggesting that a placebo effect was present. They were not convinced that acupuncture could enhance their treatment outcome through biomedical pathways. Rather, they perceived that acupuncture or sham acupuncture gave them a psychological advantage through increased relaxation, reduced psychological stress, and enhanced well-being and self-efficacy. In conclusion, there are significant features associated with a placebo effect in acupuncture that might be exploited to provide psychological benefit for women undertaking IVF.This article explores the participation of non-US-resident patients/clients in the US reproductive market, garnering a picture of cross-border reproductive care (CBRC) into the USA by drawing on the existing literature, identifying the frequency of and motivations for such arrangements, the primary sending countries, and the reproductive services sought. I find that although the expense of US CBRC necessarily limits the patient/client pool, it is largely non-economic factors that drive CBRC into the USA. The US CBRC patient/client base, which is diverse in terms of national origin, race and sexual orientation, is recruited by the US fertility industry and drawn to the full range of assisted reproductive technology (ART) services, such as in-vitro fertilization, surrogacy, oocyte donation and preimplantation genetic screening/preimplantation genetic diagnosis, available in the US market which are often restricted or limited in their countries of origin. CBRC patients/clients enjoy the legal clarity for establishing parentage and citizenship for their children available in the USA, as well as what some view as a medically and ethically superior ART market.This article addresses the challenges and benefits derived from having to present social science research in another language than one’s usual working language. As objects of study are, in part, moulded by language, translation becomes an invaluable opportunity for critical reflection on our epistemic choices. The article thus proposes a brief inquiry into the words we use, in French and in English, to describe and discuss issues in assisted reproductive technology, or medically assisted procreation as one would say in French. The article first explores similarities and differences in the generic terms used in each language to refer to this area, and discusses the verbs used to describe different facets of the reproductive process. It then proposes a short discussion of two terms often used interchangeably in both languages, ‘reproduction’ and ‘procreation’, and introduces a third term, engendrement (‘engendering’) that has recently emerged in France as an alternative concept. The conclusion points to the impact that technology may have on the issues considered worthy of attention, and on the meaning of certain words, as reproductive acts are displaced from the body to the laboratory. It also urges greater attention to how language affects the way we conceptualize reproductive practices and issues, and to how we deal with these differences in international encounters.In the French context of prohibition of surrogacy by a legislative framework established in 1994, couples are using surrogacy abroad to create their family. Why does surrogacy not find room in the landscape of donor-conceived families in France? Based on a survey among French intended parents using surrogacy in the USA and Belgium, and a 2-year ethnography on medical practice in a fertility centre in Belgium, this study shows that surrogacy is, in fact, a particular type of gift the gift of gestational capacity. The preconceptional journey in Belgium or in the USA is a relational process that allows complementary places and statuses to be acquired. This process will transform applicants into intended parents (recipients), and candidates into surrogates (donors). The relationships created by the gift have the particularity of being woven around responsibility towards the fetus. It is the hierarchy of encompassing and encompassed responsibilities in relation to the fetus that organizes the relationships and actions of each protagonist parents, grandparents, surrogate, surrogate’s partner and children, etc. The article thus shows that surrogacy, because it is a gift of a particular type, has no place in the French bioethics model, which is, in fact, built entirely on the notion of ‘donation without a donor’ in a therapeutic and medicalized view of reproductive donations.