Isolation of an anthelmintic compound from Leucosidea sericea

The leaves of Leucosidea sericea (Rosaceae) are used medicinally by some indigenous South African people as a vermifuge and astringent. No information on the biological activity and phytochemistry of the plant could be found in the literature. Bioassay-guided fractionation was used to identify the active compound. Partial purification of the petroleum ether extract of the leaves and flowers was followed by fractionation using chromatographic methods. This process yielded the Phloroglucinol derivatives, aspidinol and desaspidinol, which were previously reported to be present in a Dryopteris species. Aspidinol was further isolated and structurally elucidated. This is the first report of the presence of these compounds in Leucosidea sericea. The disk diffusion method used in our study, indicated that the plant has antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis and Candida albicans

Infestation of Mangifera indica by the mango gall fly, Procontarinia matteiana, (Kieffer & Cecconi) (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae)

Mango gall fly (Procontarinia matteiana Kieffer&Cecconi, 1906) is an orchard pest that infests flush leaves of mango, forming wart-like structures on the leaves. Serious outbreaks may result in reduced fruit yield. A natural parasite (Chrysonotomyia pulcherimma Kerrich, 1970) of the gall fly lays its eggs inside the gall and the larvae feed on the gall fly. Mango cultivars present varying susceptibilities to gall fly infestation, with cultivars ranging from completely resistant, highly susceptible to intermediate stages where pseudo-galls are formed. The latter cultivars are ovipositioned by the gall fly, but secondary metabolites within the leaves possibly halt the development, thereby preventing the development of true galls. Microscopy was used to identify characteristic features of the gall fly and its parasite inside the gall, to study the development of the insects and to distinguish them. Evidence was obtained that the use of insecticides curbs the development of the larvae. Tissue development within true and pseudo-galls was studied to provide insights into the role of secondary plant metabolites in arresting true gall formation. This study will contribute to a more holistic approach to pest management of mango.http://www.journals.co.za/ej/ejour_ento.htmlam2013ab201

The MeerKAT Galaxy Cluster Legacy Survey: I. Survey overview and highlights

Please abstract in the article.The South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO), the National Research Foundation (NRF), the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, US National Science Foundation, the South African Research Chairs Initiative of the DSI/NRF, the SARAO HCD programme, the South African Research Chairs Initiative of the Department of Science and Innovation.http://www.aanda.orghj2022Physic

The SARAO MeerKAT 1.3 GHz Galactic Plane Survey

We present the SARAO MeerKAT Galactic Plane Survey (SMGPS), a 1.3 GHz continuum survey of almost half of the Galactic Plane (251○ ≤l ≤ 358○ and 2○ ≤l ≤ 61○ at |b| ≤ 1 5). SMGPS is the largest, most sensitive and highest angular resolution 1 GHz survey of the Plane yet carried out, with an angular resolution of 8″ and a broadband RMS sensitivity of ∼10–20 μJy beam−1. Here we describe the first publicly available data release from SMGPS which comprises data cubes of frequency-resolved images over 908–1656 MHz, power law fits to the images, and broadband zeroth moment integrated intensity images. A thorough assessment of the data quality and guidance for future usage of the data products are given. Finally, we discuss the tremendous potential of SMGPS by showcasing highlights of the Galactic and extragalactic science that it permits. These highlights include the discovery of a new population of non-thermal radio filaments; identification of new candidate supernova remnants, pulsar wind nebulae and planetary nebulae; improved radio/mid-IR classification of rare Luminous Blue Variables and discovery of associated extended radio nebulae; new radio stars identified by Bayesian cross-matching techniques; the realisation that many of the largest radio-quiet WISE H II region candidates are not true H II regions; and a large sample of previously undiscovered background H I galaxies in the Zone of Avoidance

Quantification of trace elements in raw cow’s milk by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS)

The levels of trace elements are an important component of safety and quality of milk. While certain elements such as chromium are essential at low levels, an excess can result in deleterious effects on human health. International quality control standards for milk are published by the Codex Alimentarious Commission and levels of heavy metals in milk intended for human consumption are routinely monitored. This paper describes a new method for demonstrating the levels of V, Cr, Mn, Sr, Cd and Pb in raw cow’s milk, using an ICP-MS. Samples (n = 24) of raw cow’s milk were collected from dairy farms close to mines in Gauteng and North West Provinces of South Africa. In order to destroy organic matrix, each freeze dried milk sample was mineralised by using a microwave assisted digestion procedure. Concentrations of trace elements in digested milk samples were measured by ICP-MS. A whole milk powder reference material (NIST SRM 8435) was used to evaluate the accuracy of the proposed method. It was found that the levels of V, Cr, Mn, Sr, Cd and Pb obtained using the new method showed concordance with certified values.National Research Fund (NRF) and Tshwane University of Technology (TUT

Experimental infection of giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) with SAT-1 and SAT-2 foot-and-mouth disease virus

The potential role of giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) in the epidemiology and spread of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) SAT types was investigated by experimental infection and detection of virus in excretions using virus isolation on primary pig kidney cell cultures. In two experiments separated by a period of 24 months, groups of four animals were needle infected with a SAT-1 or SAT-2 virus, respectively and two in-contact controls were kept with each group. Viraemia was detected 3–9 days post-infection and virus isolated from mouth washes and faeces only occasionally up to day 13. The SAT-1 virus was transmitted to only one in-contact control animal, probably via saliva that contained virus from vesicles in the mouth of a needle-infected animal. None of the animals infected with the SAT-2 virus had any vesicles in the mouth, and there was no evidence of transmission to the in-contact controls. No virus was detected in probang samples for the duration of the experiments (60 days post-infection), indicating that persistent infection probably did not establish with either of these isolates. Giraffe most likely do not play an important role in FMD dissemination. Transmission of infection would possibly occur only during close contact with other animals when mouth vesicles are evident

Accelerated diffusion operators for enhancing DW-MRI

High angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI) is a MRI imaging technique that is able to better capture the intra-voxel diffusion pattern compared to its simpler predecessor diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). However, HARDI in general produces very noisy diffusion patterns due to the low SNR from the scanners at high b-values. Furthermore, it still exhibits limitations in areas where the diffusion pattern is asymmetrical (bifurcations, splaying fibers, etc.). To overcome these limitations, enhancement and denoising of the data based on context information is a crucial step. In order to achieve it, convolutions are performed in the coupled spatial and angular domain. Therefore the kernels applied become also HARDI data. However, these approaches have high computational complexity of an already complex HARDI data processing. In this work, we present an accelerated framework for HARDI data regularizaton and enhancement. The convolution operators are optimized by: pre-calculating the kernels, analysing kernels shape and utilizing look-up-tables. We provide an increase of speed, compared to previous brute force approaches of simpler kernels. These methods can be used as a preprocessing for tractography and lead to new ways for investigation of brain white matter