Die bepaling van die ‘sentrum van hoofbelange’ by oorgrens insolvensies: Is die Parmalat-benadering voldoende om die behoeftes van moderne handel te bevredig?

Despite various viewpoints on the determination of the centre of main interest (COMI), the legal question in this investigation is whether, and to what extent, the approach in In re Eurofood IFSC Ltd (the Parmalat case) brings about an effective solution for the determination of the location of the COMI of individual companies, either unattached or as part of a group (in contrast with companies forming a so called economic unit). There exists a presumption that the COMI is situated there where the company’s registered office is. This is the physical factor in determining the COMI. There is also a mental or psychological factor. The COMI must correspond with the place which third parties (including foreigners) regard as the place where the debtor ordinarily manages its business and most prominent interests on a regular basis. If the registered office is situated at one place and the judgment of third parties with regard to the COMI is elsewhere, the presumption will not come into operation and the ordinary onus of proof will rest on the party concerned. If the subsidiary’s registered office and the opinion of third parties point to the same location (in order for the presumption to come into operation) the holding company should lead more substantial evidence so as to rebut the presumption. The presumption shall not be rebutted easily. An essential and delicate process of weighing up relevant factors should take place. The COMI must be identified with reference to criteria which are objectively foreseeable by all parties involved

In Search of an Alternative to Fire for Manipulating Bush Encroachment in the Arid Karoo Region of South Africa

Burning of natural rangeland in order to rejuvenate and increase palatability of grazing is a common practice in parts of South Africa. Concern about the long-term effects on biodiversity and the depletion of much-needed soil car-bon led to this investigation

Diminishing returns drive altruists to help extended family

Altruism between close relatives can be easily explained. However, paradoxes arise when organisms divert altruism towards more distantly related recipients. In some social insects, workers drift extensively between colonies and help raise less related foreign brood, seemingly reducing inclusive fitness. Since being highlighted by W. D. Hamilton, three hypotheses (bet hedging, indirect reciprocity and diminishing returns to cooperation) have been proposed for this surprising behaviour. Here, using inclusive fitness theory, we show that bet hedging and indirect reciprocity could only drive cooperative drifting under improbable conditions. However, diminishing returns to cooperation create a simple context in which sharing workers is adaptive. Using a longitudinal dataset comprising over a quarter of a million nest cell observations, we quantify cooperative payoffs in the Neotropical wasp Polistes canadensis, for which drifting occurs at high levels. As the worker-to-brood ratio rises in a worker’s home colony, the predicted marginal benefit of a worker for expected colony productivity diminishes. Helping related colonies can allow effort to be focused on related brood that are more in need of care. Finally, we use simulations to show that cooperative drifting evolves under diminishing returns when dispersal is local, allowing altruists to focus their efforts on related recipients. Our results indicate the power of nonlinear fitness effects to shape social organization, and suggest that models of eusocial evolution should be extended to include neglected social interactions within colony networks

Tooth replacement patterns in the Early Triassic epicynodont Galesaurus planiceps (Therapsida, Cynodontia)

Sixteen specimens of the Early Triassic cynodont Galesaurus planiceps (including eight that were scanned using micro-computed tomography) representing different ontogenetic stages were assembled to study the dental replacement in the species. The growth series shows that the incisors and postcanines continue to develop and replace, even in the largest (presumably oldest) specimen. In contrast, replacement of the canines ceased with the attainment of skeletal maturity, at a basal skull length of ~90 mm, suggesting that Galesaurus had a finite number of canine replacement cycles. Additionally, the functional canine root morphology of these larger specimens showed a tendency to be open-rooted, a condition not previously reported in Mesozoic theriodonts. An alternating pattern of tooth replacement was documented in the maxillary and mandibular postcanine series. Both postcanine series increased in tooth number as the skull lengthened, with the mandibular postcanine series containing more teeth than the maxillary series. In the maxilla, the first postcanine is consistently the smallest tooth, showing a proportional reduction in size as skull length increased. The longer retention of a tooth in this first locus is a key difference between Galesaurus and Thrinaxodon, in which the mesial-most postcanines are lost after replacement. This difference has contributed to the lengthening of the postcanine series in Galesaurus, as teeth continued to be added to the distal end of the tooth row through ontogeny. Overall, there are considerable differences between Galesaurus and Thrinaxodon relating to the replacement and development of their teeth.Fil: Norton, Luke A.. University of the Witwatersrand; SudáfricaFil: Abdala, Nestor Fernando. University of the Witwatersrand; Sudáfrica. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico - Tucumán. Unidad Ejecutora Lillo; ArgentinaFil: Rubidge, Bruce S.. University of the Witwatersrand; SudáfricaFil: Botha, Jennifer. Free State University; Sudáfrica. Karoo Palaeontology; Sudáfric

Photo-assisted bio-fabrication of silver nanoparticles using Annona muricata leaf extract: exploring the antioxidant, anti-diabetic, antimicrobial, and cytotoxic activities

Green synthesis of metal nanoparticles is reputed to have a robust range of biomedical applications. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) bio-fabricated using aqueous leaf extract of Annona muricata were characterized and evaluated for in-vitro antioxidant, lipid peroxidation inhibition, anti-diabetic and antimicrobial activities as well as cytotoxicity in human keratinocyte cells (HaCaT). The extract induced colour change of silver salt solution which absorbed at 420 nm and confirmed the formation of AgNPs. FTIR showed that free amide and hydroxyl groups were responsible for the synthesized nanoparticles. Both XRD and SAED confirmed the crystalline nature of the particles with face centered cubic (FCC) phase. The zeta potential revealed -27.2 mV potential and average distribution size of 35 nm. DLS indicated that the majority of the particles were 86.78 nm size and with a polydispersity index (PDI) of 0.329. AgNPs displayed strong activities against DPPH (IC50 = 51.80 μg/ml), ABTS (IC50 = 30.78 μg/ml), α-amylase (IC50 = 0.90 μg/ml) and α-glucosidase (IC50 = 3.32 μg/ml). The particles exhibited a dose-dependent inhibition of Fe2+-induced lipid peroxidation with effective antimicrobial activity against a battery of bacterial strains and cytotoxicity in HaCaT cell line. These findings revealed the potential biomedical applications of the particles and further work will be required to establish its molecular mechanism of action