Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2004. / Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains xxiv, 271 p.; also includes graphics (some col.). Includes abstract and vita. Advisor: Ivy L. Pike, Dept. of Anthropology. Includes bibliographical references (p. 205-231).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 129-137).

This paper surveys the legal implications of religious doctrines at they relate to the universal acceptance of reproductive rights. While the use of human rights to advance reproductive health has gained momentum over the last several decades, the variance in arranging religion and state relations and the significant impact religious institutions have over the substantive rights to reproductive freedom in many parts of the world necessitates a break from considering reproductive rights as a strictly secular issue. Using Israel, Poland and Indonesia as examples, this paper will explain how an understanding of the doctrines underlying major world religions is a crucial step towards recognizing how reproductive rights and freedoms can be advanced in a world where laws and policies are informed by both the sacred and the secular.

This paper surveys the legal implications of religious doctrines at they relate to the universal acceptance of reproductive rights. While the use of human rights to advance reproductive health has gained momentum over the last several decades, the variance in arranging religion and state relations and the significant impact religious institutions have over the substantive rights to reproductive freedom in many parts of the world necessitates a break from considering reproductive rights as a strictly secular issue. Using Israel, Poland and Indonesia as examples, this paper will explain how an understanding of the doctrines underlying major world religions is a crucial step towards recognizing how reproductive rights and freedoms can be advanced in a world where laws and policies are informed by both the sacred and the secular.

Over the last 40 years fisheries science has atrophied within the straight-jacket of fisheries management dogma.  Management models, which insist in predicting future fish populations by using a single index, spawning stock biomass (SSB), have led to a lack of questioning on how the many aspects of flexible reproductive traits can affect reproductive potential.  In this thesis I produce and use an individual based modelling approach to link empirical relationships with flexible reproductive parameters to quantify and qualify the effects that individual female size, condition, egg quality, spawning site quality and mortality during spawning can have on stock reproductive potential (SRP) and the temporal distribution of reproductive output. Model construction and sensitivity analysis have highlighted the need for essential data on reproductive traits, such as the connection between female size, condition, batch number and subsequent egg quality.  The results of a strategic study, using a wide range of size-selectively harvested populations, indicate that even across populations with the same SSB, changes in age/size structure can reduce SRP up to 74%.  The truncation of size structure alone will lead to a shortening of the spawning season by 4 weeks and a 2 week shift in the data of peak spawning.  The effect of low condition of individuals can lead to almost total reproductive failure, whereas the effect of increased condition is very dependent upon population structure.  Fishing during the spawning season kills season kills serial spawning fish before and while they are still releasing eggs.  Model simulations suggest that not fishing or not targeting larger fish during spawning can lead up to a 53% increase in reproductive potential. The model has been parameterised for North Sea cod and haddock and run for the years 1963 to 1999 with an array of different levels of realism/complexity of input data.

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Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Reproductive physiology plays a vital role in population growth and vitality. Baseline data on reproductive physiology and a comprehensive knowledge of breeding biology are essential to conservation management. Great whales have been hunted from the 16th century to the present day. Although many populations are increasing there are populations with low or declining reproductive rates. In 2001 it was recommended to the International Whaling Commission that new techniques be developed to assess the internal physiology of great whales. This study, based on this recommendation, aims to develop analytical methods to assess reproductive hormones in cetacean blow samples and determine the feasibility of its use with free-swimming great whales. A method for the assessment of steroid hormone concentrations using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) was developed and validated. These methods were then used to determine testosterone and progesterone concentrations in saliva and blow of bottlenose dolphins. The stability of testosterone and progesterone was found to be a major issue. Without inhibitors, hormone concentrations increased by up to 65% over three hours at 21oC. Storing samples at low temperatures (-20oC or -80oC) slowed but did not cease the rate of change. The addition of inhibitors, manganese chloride and amoxycillin potassium/clavulanate, improved the stability of testosterone and progesterone. It is proposed that when using dolphin saliva and blow samples to measure reproductive hormones the samples are extracted as soon as possible after collection to prevent degradation. This study highlighted the need to address steroid hormone stability prior to any longterm biological program, to ensure that changes seen in hormone concentration are due to biological activity rather than storage. A technique to collect blow samples from free-swimming great whales was developed. This technique, in conjunction with the specially developed LC-MS methods allowed for the determination of testosterone and progesterone concentrations in humpback whale blow. The techniques developed in this study to determine reproductive hormones in cetacean saliva and blow have applications for both captive and wild population studies. In captive institutions, saliva and/or blow can be used to monitor reproductive cycling in both females and males. As it is noninvasive it can be used on a daily basis with minimal stress to the animals. The use of blow sampling has the capacity to improve our understanding of reproductive cycling in great whales as it can be used to sample animals in both the breeding and feeding areas. This technique may allow us to now examine whether reproductive dysfunction is playing a role in the slow recovery of critically endangered species such as the North Atlantic right whale.

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The biology of reproduction in two British pulrnonate slugs. The biology of reproduction has been studied in two British slugs, Deroceras reticulatum (Muller) and Anon hortensis (Frussac). The morphogenesis, histology and ultrastructure of the carrefour and anterior genital ducts have been described and discussed in relation to their function. The carrefour morphology of other slugs has been examined. The limacid carrefour is comparable to the basic stylommatophoran arrangement but in the Anionidae it is much simplified. It is concluded that the Arionidae could be an early offshoot from the main line of stylontmatophoran evolution. Evidence for the environmental control of reproduction in pulmonates has been reviewed. Experimental studies indicate that reproductive development and the onset of maturity are controlled by photoperiod. Short days retard and long days accelerate growth and reproductive development. Subsequent reproductive activity is unaffected by photoperiod. Temperature, humidity and food availability have an immediate effect on egg-laying. In general, conditions favourable to the survival of the embryos enhance egg-production. None of these factors induce courtship and copulation but, generally, adverse conditions are inhibitory. Under apparently constant conditions the animals displayed periods of reproductive activity suggesting an endogenous rhythm. This may contribute to the synchronization of breeding cycles in the field. The behavioural and functional changes during courtship, copulation and egg-laying have been described. During courtship the sperm's movement along the reproductive tract follows a consistent chronological pattern. At copulation the sperm packages are inserted directly into the entrance of the bursa copulatrix, but only sperm released before the package has completely entered the bursa travels up the reproductive tract. This sperm is not stored in the carrefour but passes through into the seminal vesicle where it mixes with the animal's own sperm. At egg-laying the oocytes accumulate in the carrefour although fertilization does not necessarily occur there. The incidence of self-fertilization in the pulmonates is discussed.