Genetic diversity in four populations of Nguni (Zulu) sheep assessed by microsatellite analysis

Zulu sheep are found mainly in the rural KwaZulu-Natal province and the numbers are declining due to indiscriminate inbreeding. There is thus a need for phenotypic and genetic characterisation as a first phase for planning conservation strategies. Zulu sheep populations sampled were from Makhathini research station (MS) (n=33), University of Zululand (UZ) (n=21), a community at KwaMthethwa (KM) (n=32) and from Msinga (EM) (n=33). One European breed Appen - ninica (AP) was used as out group. Microsatellite analysis using 29 microsatellite loci was used in this study. Among the Zulu sheep, the mean number of alleles per locus was the lowest (3.86) in UZ and the highest (6.24) was realised in EM. The mean values of observed and expected heterozygosity were 0.57 and 0.61, respectively. Neighbour-joining tree showed two main Zulu sheep clusters: the UZ, KM and MS sheep populations clustered together and the second cluster included only representatives from the EM population. The STRUCTURE analysis showed that KM, AP and EM were founded in separate clusters, whereas UZ and MS clustered together. The study demonstrated that there was a common origin of the population from the research stations (MS and UZ populations). It also demonstrated that the EM had a different history for the other three populations. This work suggests that exchange of rams could be useful in reducing inbreeding when considering conservation breeding programmes

Communicating curriculum reform to students: Advice in hindsight.....

BACKGOUND: In view of the changing health care needs of communities, curriculum reform of traditional curricula is inevitable. In order to allay the apprehension that may accompany such change, curriculum development and implementation should be an inclusive process, with both staff and students being well informed of the planned reform. In 2001, the Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine implemented Year 1 of a problem-based learning curriculum. During the design phase, students and staff were invited to take part in the development and were kept abreast of developments through meetings and newsletters. METHOD: A survey of Years 1–5 students of the last intake into the traditional curriculum was undertaken a few months prior to the implementation of the new programme. RESULTS: Students were generally well informed about the impending change, having heard about it from fellow students and staff. The more senior the students, the less the perceived impact of the reform. Although most of what students had heard was correct, some, however, had misconceptions that were generally extreme views (e.g. all self-directed learning; no Anatomy) about the new programme. Others expressed valid concerns (e.g. underpreparedness of students from disadvantaged schools; overcrowding in hospitals). CONCLUSIONS: Advice offered to institutions considering curriculum reform include using various methods to inform internal and external affected parties, ensuring that the student representative body and staff is well informed, reiterating the need for the change, confirming that the new programme meets recognised standards and that the students most affected are reassured about their future studies

A hemilabile and cooperative N-donor functionalized 1,2,3-triazol- 5-ylidene ligand for selective and base-free rhodium(I) catalyzed alkyne hydrothiolation reactions

A series of novel cationic and neutral Rh-complexes with an N-donor functionalized 1,2,3-triazol-5-ylidene (TRZ) ligand (where pendant N-donor is NHBoc, NH2 or NMe2 respectively) is described. Their catalytic activity was evaluated towards the hydrothiolation of alkynes. Among the catalysts, a neutral dicarbonyl complex featuring the tethered-NBoc amido-TRZ ligand proved very selective for alkyne hydrothiolation with an aryl thiol. Remarkably, the reaction could be carried out in the absence of pyridine or base additive. In addition, during the reaction course, no evidence for oxidative addition of the thiol S-H was observed, strongly suggesting a reaction pathway whereby a bifunctional ligand is involved. Experimental and theoretical mechanistic investigations suggest a ligand-assisted deprotonation of substrate thiol, hemilabile dissociation of amine from metal and thiolate coordination, which is indicative of a different reaction mechanism to those previously reported for related alkyne hydrothiolation reaction.G. G.-B. thanks the MINECO for a postdoctoral grant (FPDI- 2013-16525) and Generalitat Valenciana (GV/2015/097) for financial support. E.P and I.F. gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Spanish MINECO-FEDER (CTQ2014-51999-P to E.P. and CTQ2013-44303-P and CTQ2014-51912-REDC to I.F.), UJI (P11B2014-02 to E.P.). D.I.B and I.S. gratefully acknowledge the National Research Foundation, South Africa (NRF 87890, 103698 and 92521), and Sasol Technology R&D Pty. Ltd., South Africa for financial support.http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1521-37652018-01-31hb2017Chemistr