Oophorectomy

Oophorectomy is the surgical removal of the ovaries of a female animal. In the case of non-human animals, this is also called spaying. It is a form of sterilization.

The removal of the ovaries together with the Fallopian tubes is called salpingo-oophorectomy. Oophorectomy and salpingo-oophorectomy are not common forms of birth control in humans; more usual is tubal ligation, in which the Fallopian tubes are blocked but the ovaries remain intact.

In humans, oophorectomy is most usually performed together with a hysterectomy - the removal of the uterus. Its use in a hysterectomy when there are no other health problems is somewhat controversial.

In animals, spaying involves an invasive removal of the ovaries, but rarely has major complications; the superstition that it causes weight gain is not based on fact. Spaying is especially important for certain animals that require the ovum to be released at a certain interval (called estrus or "heat"), such as cats and dogs. If the cell is not released during these animal's heat, it can cause severe medical problems that can be averted by spaying or partnering the animal with a male.

Oophorectomy is sometimes referred to as castration, but that term is most often used to mean the removal of a male animal's testicles.

See also


Zhou Enlai

Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai
Order: 1st Premier
Term of Office: October, 1949 - January, 1976
Successor: Hua Guofeng
Date of Birth March 5, 1898
Place of Birth: Huaian, Jiangsu
Wife: Deng Yingchao
Political Party: Communist


Zhōu Ēnlái (Pinyin), (Traditional Chinese: 周恩來, Simplified Chinese: 周恩来, Wade-Giles: Chou En-lai) (March 5, 1898 - January 8, 1976), a prominent Chinese Communist leader, was Premier of the People's Republic of China from 1949 until his death.

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Early years and education

Born in Huai'an, Jiangsu Province, the adopted eldest son of a well-to-do Tianjin family, Zhou was educated in Nankai and Japan (1915-1918). On his return to Nankai he was briefly arrested for his radical associations. After his release in 1920 he studied in France, England and Germany. He had joined the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 1921 and Zhou returned to China in 1924 to work with Sun Yat-sen.

On August 8, 1925, he married Deng Yingchao, a student activist, in Tianjin. She later became a prominent member of the CPC. The couple remained childless, but adopted many orphaned children of "revolutionary martyrs"; one of the more famous was future Premier Li Peng.

Revolutionary career

Zhou first came to national prominence during the May Fourth Movement of 1919 when he led a raid on a local government office during the student protests against the humiliating Versailles Treaty. In 1920 Zhou moved to France where he was active among radical Chinese students. In 1921 he became a member of the French Communist Party and spent the next two years traveling in Europe.

Upon his return to China, he served as the chairman of the political department at the Whampoa Military Academy in Guangzhou when it was founded in 1926 (Whampoa's Comintern sponsors saw this posting as a way to balance Chiang Kai-shek's right-wing nationalism).

After the Northern Expedition began, he worked as a labour agitator. In 1926 he organized a general strike in Shanghai, opening the city to the Kuomintang. When the Kuomintang broke with the Communists Zhou was able to escape the white terror. Although it was said that he had been captured and released on the orders on Chiang Kai-Shek to repay a debt from an occasion when Zhou had saved Chiang from violent leftists in Guangzhou. Zhou eventually made his way to the Jiangxi base area and gradually began to shift his loyalty away from the more orthodox, urban-focused branch of the CPC to Mao's new brand of rural revolution, and became one of the prominent members of the CPC. This transition was completed early in the Long March, when in January 1935 Zhou threw his total support to Mao in his power struggle with the 28 Bolsheviks Faction .

In the Yenan years Zhou was active in promoting a united anti-Japanese front. As a result he played a major role in the Xian Incident, helped to secure Chiang Kai-shek's release, and negotiated the Second CPC-KMT United Front. Zhou spent the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) as CPC ambassador to Chiang's wartime government in Chongqing and took part in the failed negotiations following World War II.

Premiership

In 1949, with the establishment of the People's Republic of China, Zhou became Premier and Foreign Minister. Asked about the impact of the French Revolution of 1789 he replied "It is too soon to say." In June 1953, he made the five declarations for peace. He headed the communist Chinese delegation to the Geneva Conference and to the Bandung Conference (1955). In 1958 he passed the post of Foreign Minister to Chen Yi but remained Premier. A popular and practical administrator, Zhou maintained his position through the Great Leap Forward (1958) and the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) and pushed for the "four modernizations" to undo the damage caused.


Zhou was largely responsible for the re-establishment of contacts with the West in the early 1970s, he welcomed Richard Nixon to China in February 1972, and signed the Shanghai Communique. Discovering he had cancer he began to pass many of his responsibilities onto Deng Xiaoping. During the late stages of the Cultural Revolution, Zhou was the target of the Gang of Four's political campaigns. He was hospitalized in 1974 and died on January 8, 1976 merely months before Mao. In April 1976, the clamp-down on mourning for Zhou caused riots. This event is usually called the Tiananmen incident.

Further reading

See also: History of the People's Republic of China


Preceded By:
none
Premier of the People's Republic of China
1949 –1976
Succeeded By:
Hua Guofeng




Last updated: 02-08-2005 14:43:35