Reproduction

"Reproduction" is a mixed reality installation that investigates the flow of data between the material world and synthetic worlds, in particular realtime 3D environments, through the creation of a persistent realtime 3D environment populated with agent entities that evolve over the duration of the exhibition in response to the actions of the human visitors to the gallery.

Reproduction

"Reproduction" is a mixed reality installation that investigates the flow of data between the material world and synthetic worlds, in particular realtime 3D environments, through the creation of a realtime 3D environment populated with agent entities that evolve over the duration of the exhibition in response to the navigation through the environment of the human visitors.

Reproduction

Reproduction is a mixed reality installation that investigates relationships between the material and synthetic worlds through a realtime 3D environment that immerses the interior of the space in which human participants interact with colonies of synthetic entities.

Covariation in life-history traits : differential effects of diet on condition, hormones, behavior, and reproduction in genetic finch morphs

The relative contribution of genetic and environmental factors in determining variation in life-history traits is of central interest to evolutionary biologists, but the physiological mechanisms underlying these traits are still poorly understood. Here we experimentally demonstrate opposing effects of nutritional stress on immune function, endocrine physiology, parental care, and reproduction between red and black head-color morphs of the Gouldian finch (Erythrura gouldiae). Although the body condition of black morphs was largely unaffected by diet manipulation, red birds were highly sensitive to dietary changes, exhibiting considerable within-individual changes in condition and immune function. Consequently, nutritionally stressed red birds delayed breeding, produced smaller broods, and reared fewer and lower-quality foster offspring than black morphs. Differences in offspring quality were largely due to morph-specific differences in parental effort: red morphs reduced parental provisioning, whereas black morphs adaptively elevated their provisioning effort to meet the increased nutritional demands of their foster brood. Nutritionally stressed genetic morphs also exhibited divergent glucocorticoid responses. Black morphs showed reduced corticosterone-binding globulin (CBG) concentrations and increased levels of free corticosterone, whereas red morphs exhibited reduced free corticosterone levels and elevated CBG concentrations. These opposing glucocorticoid responses highlight intrinsic differences in endocrine sensitivities and plasticity between genetic morphs, which may underlie the morph-specific differences in condition, behavior, and reproduction and thus ultimately contribute to the evolution and maintenance of color polymorphism.

Expression of the male reproduction-related gene (Mar-Mrr) in the spermatic duct of the giant freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii

Phosphorylated sperm proteins are crucial for sperm maturation and capacitation as a priori to their fertilization with eggs. In the freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii, a male reproduction-related protein (Mar-Mrr) was known to be expressed only in the spermatic ducts as a protein with putative phosphorylation and may be involved in sperm capacitation in this species. We investigated further the temporal and spatial expression of the Mar-Mrr gene using RT-PCR and in situ hybridization and the characteristics and fate of the protein using immunblotting and immunocytochemistry. The Mar-Mrr gene was first expressed in 4-week-old post larvae and the protein was produced in epithelial cells lining the spermatic ducts, at the highest level in the proximal region and decreased in the middle and distal parts. The native protein had a MW of 17 kDa and a high degree of serine/threonine phosphorylation. It was transferred from the epithelial cells to become a major protein at the anterior region of the sperm. We suggest that it is involved in sperm capacitation and fertilization in this open thelycal species and this is being investigated.

Reproduction

"Reproduction" is a mixed reality installation that investigates the flow of data between the material world and synthetic worlds, in particular realtime 3D environments, through the creation of a persistent realtime 3D environment populated with agent entities that evolve over the duration of the exhibition in response to the actions of the human visitors to the 10 metre dome.

Screening applicants for assisted reproduction : complexities and issues

Different jurisdictions take different approaches to whether screening people before permitting access to assisted reproductive treatment (ART) is permissible, the criteria to be used, and whether such screening is provided for by law, guidelines or left to clinician discretion. This chapter examines the reasons for screening applicants for ART, the primary criteria used to screen applicants, and approaches to screening taken in the United States, the United Kingdom, and a number of states in Australia (as jurisdictions illustrative of where law, guidelines, or clinician discretion are practised). It examines whether screening is a useful tool that protects children.

Reproduction and ageing of Australian holocephalans and white-fin swell shark

The holocephalans are a slow growing, long lived group with a conservative life history strategy and require similarly conservative fishery management strategies to ensure their sustainable exploitation. White-fin swell shark are relatively short lived, highly fecund and likely to be more capable of withstanding intensive fishing.

The energetic and oxidative costs of reproduction in a free-ranging rodent

1. As understanding of the energetic costs of reproduction in birds and mammals continues to improve, oxidative stress is an increasingly cited example of a non-energetic cost of reproduction that may serve as a proximal physiological link underlying life-history trade-offs.

2. Here, we provide the first study to measure daily energy expenditure (DEE) and oxidative damage in a wild population. We measured both traits on eastern chipmunks (Tamias striatus) and assessed their relationships with age, reproductive status, litter size and environmental conditions.

3. We found that both physiological traits were correlated with environmental characteristics (e.g. temperature, seasons). DEE tended to increase with decreasing temperature, while oxidative damage was lower in spring, after a winter of torpor expression, than in autumn. We also found that DEE decreased with age, while oxidative damage was elevated in young individuals, reduced in animals of intermediate age and tended to increase at older age.

4. After controlling for age and environmental variables, we found that both female DEE and oxidative damage increased with litter size, although the latter increased weakly.

5. Our results corroborate findings from laboratory studies but highlight the importance of considering environmental conditions, age and reproductive status in broader analyses of the causes and consequences of physiological costs of reproduction in wild animals.

Reproduction game demo

An 8 screen stereoscopic 3D Multi-user environment set in a circular formation. Paticipants are tracked by 8 kinect sensors as they move around the 360 degree installation. Participants inherit a species upon entering. Artificial Life based entities cluster towards the human particpants of their species and their songs evolve according to the interactions.

Acceleration data reveal the energy management strategy of a marine ectotherm during reproduction

1. Maintaining a high and stable body temperature is often critical for female ectotherms during reproduction. Yet this strategy may be energetically costly, and therefore challenging, during this period of already high-energy demand. 2. Here, the 6-week deployment of tri-axial accelerometers (n = 6) on a marine ectotherm, the loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta), reproducing at the northern limit of the species’ breeding range (i.e. in a thermally dynamic environment) revealed the behavioural mechanisms underlying its energy management strategy during the breeding season. 3. The estimated activity levels of female loggerheads using overall dynamic body acceleration (ODBA) were high during the breeding season, suggesting that marine turtles may not be able to remain inactive for long periods in the same manner as terrestrial ectotherms, because of the thermally dynamic nature of their environment. 4. However, activity levels were not constant throughout the season, being impacted by both ambient water temperature and female reproductive status. In cold water at the beginning of the nesting season, high levels of activity suggested that females behaviourally thermoregulated by seeking out warm water patches along the shoreline. Interactions with male turtles (courtship and/or avoidance) may also explain this high level of activity. As sea temperatures warmed up and the amount of energy devoted to reproduction probably increased, the turtles spent more time resting during long sequential flat-bottomed dives, and reduced any unnecessary locomotory activity. 5. Turtles may therefore adjust their activity patterns in response to seasonal variations in abiotic (i.e. ambient temperature) and biotic (i.e. reproductive status) factors. This may help minimize activity-linked metabolic rate and maximize reproductive output over a season while breeding in thermally dynamic environments. 6. A mechanistic model gave support to these empirical results. The model revealed that actively maintaining high and stable body temperature is of clear benefit to female turtles at temperate breeding sites. While energetically costly, such active thermoregulatory behaviour may speed up egg maturation, allowing turtles to initiate nesting earlier in the season, and hence maximize reproductive output.