Author(s)

A.C. Roudot

Abstract

Much speculations and numerous hypotheses have been offered to explain the events that bring about the development of the ovarian follicle Significant works have been made but none has explored the possibility of a pure mechanical control during the first stages of development. In this research, a numerical growth and division model is made using two main factors: the connectivity of the different cells, and the evolution of the contact stresses between them during the follicle development. Cell growth and division is supposed to be closely tied to the local stress status of the tissue. Two types of models are used: the first is tridimensional, and the second only bidimensional. Comparisons between them and experiments made on rabbit follicles are made on different parameters, among them the shape o

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