Background: In 2018 the Australian Government launched the world's first National Action Plan for Endometriosis (NAPE). Of its three priorities 'Priority 1' was 'Education and Awareness'. In response, the Pelvic Pain Foundation of Australia was funded to deliver their Periods, Pain and Endometriosis Program (PPEP) Talk to a proportion of Australian schools.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe eukaryote Tree of Life (eToL) depicts the relationships among all eukaryotic organisms; its root represents the Last Eukaryotic Common Ancestor (LECA) from which all extant complex lifeforms are descended. Locating this root is crucial for reconstructing the features of LECA, both as the endpoint of eukaryogenesis and the start point for the evolution of the myriad complex traits underpinning the diversification of living eukaryotes. However, the position of the root remains contentious due to pervasive phylogenetic artefacts stemming from inadequate evolutionary models, poor taxon sampling and limited phylogenetic signal.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Keratinised tissues, such as nails and claws, accumulate hormones over time; the claws' hormone concentrations are being explored as potential biomarkers. Timelines for hormone deposition can be established if claw growth rates are known. Hormone concentration within cat claws has been recently evaluated, yet the growth rates of cat claws remain unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAir pollution is an exogenous stressor known to have a detrimental impact on skin health through the induction of inflammation; however, the direct effect of topical pollution exposure is still being elucidated. Human skin equivalents (HSE) aim to reproduce in vitro the structure and function of the native skin tissue. However, HSEs typically lack skin-resident immune cells, which could play a key role in the inflammatory response induced by pollution exposure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAncyromonadida is a taxon of small heterotrophic flagellates occupying an unresolved but deep-branching position in the eukaryotic tree of life, thus suspected to be important to studies of early eukaryotic evolutionary relationships and the characteristics of the last eukaryotic common ancestor. Sampling and cultivation of the full diversity of ancyromonad species are therefore areas of considerable interest. Ancyromonas melba is a species originally described from hypersaline material for which no monoprotistan culture or molecular data have been available, but whose distinct morphology suggests it may represent a new major lineage within Ancyromonadida.
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