Male

A male (♂) organism is the physiological sex that produces sperm. Each spermatozoon can fuse with a larger female gamete, or ovum, in the process of fertilization. A male cannot reproduce sexually without access to at least one ovum from a female, but some organisms can reproduce both sexually and asexually. Most male mammals, including male humans, have a Y chromosome, which codes for the production of larger amounts of testosterone to develop male reproductive organs.

Not all species share a common sex-determination system. In most animals, including humans, sex is determined genetically, but in some species it can be determined due to social, environmental or other factors. For example, Cymothoa exigua changes sex depending on the number of females present in the vicinity.

Overview

The existence of two sexes seems to have been selected independently across different evolutionary lineages (see convergent evolution). The repeated pattern is sexual reproduction in isogamous species with two or more mating types with gametes of identical form and behavior (but different at the molecular level) to anisogamous species with gametes of male and female types to oogamous species in which the female gamete is very much larger than the male and has no ability to move. There is a good argument that this pattern was driven by the physical constraints on the mechanisms by which two gametes get together as required for sexual reproduction.

Maleč

Maleč is a village and municipality (obec) in Havlíčkův Brod District in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic.

The municipality covers an area of 12.09 square kilometres (4.67 sq mi), and has a population of 721 (as at 28 August 2006).

Maleč lies approximately 20 kilometres (12 mi) north of Havlíčkův Brod, 42 km (26 mi) north of Jihlava, and 97 km (60 mi) east of Prague.

References

Plant reproductive morphology

Plant reproductive morphology is concerned with the physical form and structure (the morphology) of those parts of plants directly or indirectly concerned with sexual reproduction.

Among all living organisms, flowers, which are the reproductive structures of angiosperms, are the most varied physically and show a correspondingly great diversity in methods of reproduction. Plants that are not flowering plants (green algae, mosses, liverworts, hornworts, ferns and gymnosperms such as conifers) also have complex interplays between morphological adaptation and environmental factors in their sexual reproduction. The breeding system, or how the sperm from one plant fertilizes the ovum of another, depends on the reproductive morphology, and is the single most important determinant of the genetic structure of nonclonal plant populations. Christian Konrad Sprengel (1793) studied the reproduction of flowering plants and for the first time it was understood that the pollination process involved both biotic and abiotic interactions. Charles Darwin's theories of natural selection utilized this work to build his theory of evolution, which includes analysis of the coevolution of flowers and their insect pollinators.

Veganism

Veganism is both the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products, particularly in diet, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A follower of veganism is known as a vegan.

Distinctions are sometimes made between several categories of veganism. Dietary vegans (or strict vegetarians) refrain from consuming animal products, not only meat but also eggs, dairy products and other animal-derived substances. The term ethical vegan is often applied to those who not only follow a vegan diet but extend the philosophy into other areas of their lives, and oppose the use of animal products for any purpose. Another term is environmental veganism, which refers to the avoidance of animal products on the premise that the harvesting or industrial farming of animals is environmentally damaging and unsustainable.

The term vegan was coined in 1944 by Donald Watson when he co-founded the Vegan Society in England, at first to mean "non-dairy vegetarian" and later "the doctrine that man should live without exploiting animals." Interest in veganism increased in the 2010s; vegan stores opened, and vegan options became available in more supermarkets and restaurants in many countries.

Vegetarianism and wine

Wine is sometimes finished with animal products. Specifically, finings used to remove organic impurities and improve clarity and flavour include several animal products, including casein, albumen, gelatin and isinglass.

Non-vegetarian/vegan additives

Wineries might use animal-derived products as finings. To remove proteins, yeast, and other organic particles which are in suspension during the making of the wine, a fining agent is added to the top of the vat. As it sinks down, the particles adhere to the agent, and are carried out of suspension. None of the fining agent remains in the finished product sold in the bottle, and not all wines are fined.

Examples of animal products used as finings are gelatin, isinglass, chitosan, casein and egg albumen. Bull's blood is also used in some Mediterranean countries but (as a legacy of BSE) is not allowed in the U.S. or the European Union. Kosher wines use isinglass derived from fish bladders, though not from the sturgeon, since the kosher status of this fish is in debate .

Trenton Doyle Hancock

Trenton Doyle Hancock is an American artist. He was born in 1974 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and grew up in Paris, Texas.

Hancock received a BFA from Texas A&M University-Commerce, and an MFA from the Tyler School of Art at Temple University, Philadelphia. Hancock makes prints, drawings, and collaged felt paintings.

The characters which populate his imaginary worlds include the Mounds, half-animal, half-plant creatures, which are preyed upon by evil beings called vegans.

Hancock was included in the American Folk Art Museum's "Dargerism" exhibit, showing the influence of Henry Darger on contemporary artists.

He is represented in New York by James Cohan Gallery and was featured in PBS' Art:21.

References

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