scholarly journals The current state of reproductive biology research in Australia and New Zealand: core themes from the Society for Reproductive Biology Annual Meeting, 2016

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (10) ◽  
pp. 1883
Author(s):  
L. K. Akison ◽  
P. H. Andraweera ◽  
M. J. Bertoldo ◽  
H. M. Brown ◽  
J. S. M. Cuffe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Reproductive Biology ◽  
Cell Biology ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Embryo Implantation ◽  
Reproductive Potential ◽  
Reproductive Capacity ◽  
Future Health ◽  
Novel Technologies ◽  
Wide Range

Because reproduction is essential for all life, it is central to our understanding of all aspects of biology. The Society for Reproductive Biology (SRB) 2016 conference held on the Gold Coast (Qld, Australia) displayed the current breadth of reproductive research in Australia and New Zealand, with additional insights from world leaders in the field. This conference review provides a focused summary of the key questions, emerging ideas and novel technologies that were presented in the symposia. Presented research demonstrated key advances in how stem cell biology may allow us to better understand pluripotency, as well as how environmental and lifestyle factors, such as circadian disruption, smoking, alcohol and diet, affect gametogenesis, embryo implantation, placental function and reproductive capacity. Sessions also highlighted the role of reproductive biology in providing insight into the mechanisms and processes governing a wide range of biological science disciplines, including cancer research and therapies, oncofertility, conservation of native species and chronic non-communicable diseases. Recurring themes included the importance of male and female gamete quality for reproductive potential and the critical and varied roles of the placenta in the maintenance of a healthy pregnancy. Dysregulation of reproductive processes can contribute to a variety of pathological states that affect future health, fertility and fecundity. Research being conducted by the SRB has the potential to shape not only the fertility of the current generation, but also the health and reproductive viability of future generations.

scholarly journals Which is the best fertility-sparing treatment for uterine fibroids? Review of literature

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 84-90
Author(s):  
Massimo Bardi ◽  
G Pezzetti ◽  
A Chiesa ◽  
G Gangarossa ◽  
A Iliakis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Focused Ultrasound ◽  
Embryo Implantation ◽  
Uterine Fibroids ◽  
Epigallocatechin Gallate ◽  
High Intensity Focused Ultrasound ◽  
Reproductive Capacity ◽  
Benign Tumors ◽  
Hysteroscopic Myomectomy ◽  
Fertility Sparing ◽  
Wide Range

Uterine fibroids are benign tumors of the smooth muscle cells of the uterus that are the most common benign tumors in women during their reproductive years. The etiopathogenesis is multifactorial but we know that mainly estrogen and progesterone induce UF formation and growth. UF vary greatly in size, location, and symptoms: most tumors are largely asymptomatic, but they may also cause a wide range of severe and chronic symptoms that impact negatively with familiar and social relationships. UF might cause infertility. Their adverse effects on pregnancy because distort the endometrial cavity and thin the endometrium. In fact the negative action of fibroids on fertility is mainly due to produce numerous cytokines and growth factors that produce an endometrial inflammation that, with an altered local hormonal environment, may impede embryo-implantation. The type of treatment may depend on the location, size and number of UF and it should be related to understanding if the therapy improves the reproductive capacity of the woman. In this review of the literature we evaluate the various therapeutic possibilities that we have available if we decide to treat UF to improve the fertile capacity of the woman who wishes to have children. We will exclude medical therapy, which is predominantly birth control, although in recent years new substances are being studied, such as vitamin D and epigallocatechin gallate, which promise interesting therapeutic developments. A proper mention will be made of laparotomy, laparoscopic and hysteroscopic myomectomy, but particular importance will be given to the evaluation of new therapeutic trends such as high-intensity focused ultrasound, also guided by nuclear magnetic resonance, and thermal ablation with radio frequency and microwaves. The embolization of UF will also be addressed, but we know it is contraindicated for women who wish to become pregnant.

scholarly journals Chloris gayana (Rhodes grass).

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julissa Rojas-Sandoval
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Costa Rica ◽  
Drought Resistance ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Native Species ◽  
New Caledonia ◽  
Rhodes Grass ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Chloris Gayana

Abstract Chloris gayana is a robust, strongly stoloniferous grass native to Africa that has been extensively introduced as forage across tropical and subtropical regions. Traits such as its ability to grow in a wide range of environmental conditions, its drought-resistance and its ability to rapidly reproduce both by seeds and vegetatively have facilitated its escape from cultivation and subsequent naturalization. Once established, C. gayana often grows to form almost pure stands that smother native species. Currently, this species is regarded as an invasive in Australia, Spain, Argentina, Paraguay, Mexico, Costa Rica, Cuba, Anguilla, New Caledonia, New Zealand and Hawaii. It is also included in the Global Compendium of Weeds.

Recent and emerging reproductive biology research in Australia and New Zealand: highlights from the Society for Reproductive Biology Annual Meeting, 2017

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (8) ◽  
pp. 1049 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. Bertoldo ◽  
P. H. Andraweera ◽  
E. G. Bromfield ◽  
F. L. Cousins ◽  
L. A. Lindsay ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Reproductive Biology ◽  
Disease Risk ◽  
Reproductive Capacity ◽  
New Developments ◽  
Healthy Pregnancy ◽  
Present Generation ◽  
Reproductive Science ◽  
Biology Research

Research in reproductive science is essential to promote new developments in reproductive health and medicine, agriculture and conservation. The Society for Reproductive Biology (SRB) 2017 conference held in Perth (WA, Australia) provided a valuable update on current research programs in Australia and New Zealand. This conference review delivers a dedicated summary of significant questions, emerging concepts and innovative technologies presented in the symposia. This research demonstrates significant advances in the identification of precursors for a healthy pregnancy, birth and child, and discusses how these factors can influence disease risk. A key theme included preconception parental health and its effect on gametogenesis, embryo and fetal development and placental function. In addition, the perturbation of key developmental checkpoints was shown to contribute to a variety of pathological states that have the capacity to affect health and fertility. Importantly, the symposia discussed in this review emphasised the role of reproductive biology as a conduit for understanding the transmission of non-communicable diseases, such as metabolic disorders and cancers. The research presented at SRB 2017 has revealed key findings that have the prospect to change not only the fertility of the present generation, but also the health and reproductive capacity of future generations.

Natural enemies of bridal creeper Asparagus asparagoides in New Zealand

2008 ◽  
Vol 61 ◽  
pp. 362-367
Author(s):  
H.M. Harman ◽  
N.W. Waipara ◽  
C.J. Winks ◽  
L.A. Smith ◽  
P.G. Peterson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Natural Enemies ◽  
Invertebrate Fauna ◽  
Classical Biocontrol ◽  
Wide Range

Bridal creeper is a weed of natural and productive areas in the northern North Island of New Zealand A classical biocontrol programme was initiated in 20052007 with a survey of invertebrate fauna and pathogens associated with the weed in New Zealand Although bridal creeper was attacked by a wide range of generalist invertebrates their overall damage affected

scholarly journals COUP-TFII Regulates Human Endometrial Stromal Genes Involved in Inflammation

2013 ◽  
Vol 27 (12) ◽  
pp. 2041-2054 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xilong Li ◽  
Michael J. Large ◽  
Chad J. Creighton ◽  
Rainer B. Lanz ◽  
Jae-Wook Jeong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cell Fate ◽  
Cell Biology ◽  
Embryo Implantation ◽  
Orphan Nuclear Receptor ◽  
Loss Of Function ◽  
Mouse Uterus ◽  
Endometrial Stromal Cells ◽  
Endometrial Stroma ◽  
Stroma Cell

Chicken ovalbumin upstream promoter-transcription factor II (COUP-TFII; NR2F2) is an orphan nuclear receptor involved in cell-fate specification, organogenesis, angiogenesis, and metabolism. Ablation of COUP-TFII in the mouse uterus causes infertility due to defects in embryo attachment and impaired uterine stromal cell decidualization. Although the function of COUP-TFII in uterine decidualization has been described in mice, its role in the human uterus remains unknown. We observed that, as in mice, COUP-TFII is robustly expressed in the endometrial stroma of healthy women, and its expression is reduced in the ectopic lesions of women with endometriosis. To interrogate the role of COUP-TFII in human endometrial function, we used a small interfering RNA-mediated loss of function approach in primary human endometrial stromal cells. Attenuation of COUP-TFII expression did not completely block decidualization; rather it had a selective effect on gene expression. To better elucidate the role of COUP-TFII in endometrial stroma cell biology, the COUP-TFII transcriptome was defined by pairing microarray comparison with chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by deep sequencing. Gene ontology analysis demonstrates that COUP-TFII regulates a subset of genes in endometrial stroma cell decidualization such as those involved in cell adhesion, angiogenesis, and inflammation. Importantly this analysis shows that COUP-TFII plays a role in controlling the expression of inflammatory cytokines. The determination that COUP-TFII plays a role in inflammation may add insight into the role of COUP-TFII in embryo implantation and in endometrial diseases such as endometriosis.

scholarly journals Acceptance threshold theory can explain occurrence of homosexual behaviour

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 20140603 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katharina C. Engel ◽  
Lisa Männer ◽  
Manfred Ayasse ◽  
Sandra Steiger
Keyword(s):  
Animal Species ◽  
Reproductive Potential ◽  
Search Time ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Burying Beetles ◽  
Acceptance Threshold ◽  
Threshold Theory ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Perceived Costs

Same-sex sexual behaviour (SSB) has been documented in a wide range of animals, but its evolutionary causes are not well understood. Here, we investigated SSB in the light of Reeve's acceptance threshold theory. When recognition is not error-proof, the acceptance threshold used by males to recognize potential mating partners should be flexibly adjusted to maximize the fitness pay-off between the costs of erroneously accepting males and the benefits of accepting females. By manipulating male burying beetles' search time for females and their reproductive potential, we influenced their perceived costs of making an acceptance or rejection error. As predicted, when the costs of rejecting females increased, males exhibited more permissive discrimination decisions and showed high levels of SSB; when the costs of accepting males increased, males were more restrictive and showed low levels of SSB. Our results support the idea that in animal species, in which the recognition cues of females and males overlap to a certain degree, SSB is a consequence of an adaptive discrimination strategy to avoid the costs of making rejection errors.

The Australia and New Zealand v Japan Southern Bluefin Tuna (Jurisdiction and Admissibility) Award of the First Law of the Sea Convention Annex VII Arbitral Tribunal

2001 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 239-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Kwiatkowska
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Bluefin Tuna ◽  
Fundamental Principle ◽  
Law Of The Sea ◽  
Arbitral Tribunal ◽  
Compulsory Arbitration ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Future ◽  
Questions And Answers ◽  
Southern Bluefin Tuna

AbstractThe Southern Bluefin Tuna (Jurisdiction and Admissihilily) Award of 4 August 2000 marked the first instance of the application of compulsory arbitration under Part XV, Section 2 of the 1982 UN Law of the Sea Convention and of the exercise by the Annex VII Tribunal of la compétence de la compétence pursuant to Article 288(4) over the merits of the instant dispute. The 72-paragraph Award is a decision of pronounced procedural complexity and significant multifaceted impacts of which appreciation requires an in-depth acquaintance with procedural issues of peaceful settlement of disputes in general and the-law-of-the-sea-related disputes in particular. Therefore, the article surveys first the establishment of and the course of proceedings before the five-member Annex VII Arbitral Tribunal, presided over by the immediate former ICJ President, Judge Stephen M. Schwebel, and also comprising Judges Keith, Yamada. Feliciano and Tresselt. Subsequently, the wide range of specific paramount questions and answers of the Tribunal are scrutinised against the background of arguments advanced by the applicants (Australia and New Zealand) and the respondent (Japan) during both written and oral pleadings, including in reliance on the extensive ICJ jurisprudence and treaty practice concerned. On this basis, the article turns to an appraisal of the impacts of the Arbitral Tribunal's paramount holdings and its resultant dismissal of jurisdiction with the scrupulous regard for the fundamental principle of consensuality. Amongst such direct impacts as between the parties to the instant case, the inducements provided by the Award to reach a successful settlement in the future are of particular importance. The Award's indirect impacts concern exposition of the paramount doctrine of parallelism between the umbrella UN Convention and many compatible (fisheries, environmental and other) treaties, as well as of multifaceted, both substantial and procedural effects of that parallelism. All those contributions will importantly guide other courts and tribunals seised in the future under the Convention's Part XV, Section 2.

scholarly journals North American channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus: a neglected but potentially invasive freshwater fish species?

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 1563-1576 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phillip J. Haubrock ◽  
Gordon H. Copp ◽  
Iva Johović ◽  
Paride Balzani ◽  
Alberto F. Inghilesi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Ictalurus Punctatus ◽  
Channel Catfish ◽  
North American ◽  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Assessment Protocol ◽  
South Italy ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
North And South

AbstractThe North American channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus has been introduced to several locations in Europe but has received little or no scientific study despite its invasive attributes, including prolific reproduction, tolerance to a wide range of conditions, opportunistic feeding, at least partial ‘predator release’, and some evidence of environmental impacts (e.g. disease transmission). To assess the species’ potential invasiveness and the likely risks to native species and ecosystems in Europe, available literature from both North America and Europe was reviewed and used to carry out risk screenings of the species for the risk assessment areas, North and South Italy, using the Aquatic Invasiveness Screening Kit (AS-ISK), which was followed by a more detailed evaluation (for both North America and Europe) of the species’ potential impacts using the Environmental Impact Classification of Alien Taxa (EICAT) assessment protocol. The AS-ISK score indicated that channel catfish is likely to pose a high risk of being invasive in both North and South Italy, with EICAT scores indicating “Major” impacts for both North America and Europe, at high and medium confidence levels, respectively. The present results emphasise the urgent need to carry out in-depth studies on introduced populations of this species to understand better its invasive potential so as to inform management decisions on the appropriate control or eradication measures for invaded water bodies.

Ustilago hypodytes. [Descriptions of Fungi and Bacteria].

1984 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. E. M. Mordue
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
North America ◽  
South America ◽  
Root System ◽  
Geographical Distribution ◽  
Host Plants ◽  
Meristematic Tissue ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Vegetative Multiplication ◽  
Established Infection

Abstract A description is provided for Ustilago hypodytes. Information is included on the disease caused by the organism, its transmission, geographical distribution, and hosts. HOSTS: A wide range of grasses, including species of Agropyron (many), Ammophila, Brachypodium, Bromus, Calamagrostis, Diplachne, Distichlis, Elymus (many), Festuca, Glyceria, Hilaria, Hordeum, Haynaldia, Lygeum, Melica, Orysopsis, Panicum, Phalaris, Phleum, Poa (many), Puccinellia, Secale, Sitanion, Sporobolus, Stipa (many), and Trisetum. DISEASE: Stem smut of grasses. GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION: Chiefly a temperate species found in Europe (including Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, USSR, Yugoslavia) and North America (Canada, USA) and extending to central and South America (Argentina, Peru, Uruguay), N. Africa (Libya, Morocco, Tunisia), Japan, Australia and New Zealand. TRANSMISSION: Not fully understood, though inoculation experiments have demonstrated that infection occurs in mature vegetative plants (possibly through meristematic tissue), not seeds or flowers (22, 240; 24, 511). Once established, infection is systemic, probably overwintering in the root system and spreading by vegetative multiplication of host plants as well as from plant to plant (24, 511; 19, 720).

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