Molecular and Biological Characterization of a Cryptosporidium molnari-Like Isolate from a Guppy (Poecilia reticulata)

Histological, morphological, genetic, and phylogenetic analyses of a Cryptosporidium molnari-like isolate from a guppy (Poecilia reticulata) identified stages consistent with those of C. molnari and revealed that C. molnari is genetically very distinct from all other species of Cryptosporidium. This study represents the first genetic characterization of C. molnari

Polymer Nanotechnology: the Quest for Motility

We ask the question "what will a realistic nanobot look like?". The answer is something like a bacterium (such as e. coli) or a sperm. Both of these have a propulsion mechanism (a flagellum), a capsule containing a chemical payload and a system of sensors to detect food or the target for the payload. It is be soft and wet, just like biology, and to exemplify this we have built a series of biomimetic devices. Our progress in the development of responsive polymer-based molecular devices is be discussed with examples of vesicles of controlled size, synthetic muscles & flagella, and microparticles fitted with a jetpack. When you are citing the document, use the following link http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/3501

IN THE MUSEUM

With the help of a generous donation from Miss Joan Law, the Museum of Classical Archaeology has recently acquired a small Roman bronze ithyphallic herm of Pan holding a pedum or shepherd’s crook (Figs. 1 & 2) from the 1st or 2nd century CE. 1 The bottom-most part of the base has broken off, but the object is otherwise in excellent condition with slight patination. The base is rectangular up to the waist. The buttocks are not sculpted but simply indicated by a single incised line. From the waist up the details, such as the musculature, face and hair, are very finely rendered. The figure arches his back and raises his right hand to his forehead while his left hand supports a pedum. He is bearded with short unkempt hair and visible horns

IN THE MUSEUM

The Museum of Classical Archaeology has on loan from Dr. David Spurrett four arrowheads of varying antiquity, ranging from the late Neolithic to the Hellenistic period. Although small, these artefacts are of significant pedagogical value to a museum whose primary function is teaching. In particular, the Classics Programme at the University of Natal allows senior students, in lieu of a research essay, to submit web projects based on the artefacts in the museum.1 Ancient weaponry and warfare has always been a popular topic for students and these items offer considerable scope for new projects

IN THE MUSEUM

Two Egyptian artefacts from the first millennium BC have recently been acquired by the Museum of Classical Archaeology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, courtesy of a kind donation by Miss Joan Law. At a time when academia in South Africa is placing considerable emphasis on African-oriented scholarship, it is appropriate that the museum has on display a large selection of small Egyptian artefacts dating from as early as the 4th millennium BC. These items are of particular interest for teaching as they reflect a variety of different aspects of Egyptian life

IN THE MUSEUM

The Museum of Classical Archaeology has recently acquired a number of new Roman artefacts. Of these, the most interesting is a small fragment of a bronze Flavian Roman military diploma (Durban 2007.52), the subject of this contribution. The fragment is from Table I of a diploma and measures 5.39cm x 2.88cm, is 1.2mm thick with letters averaging 4.5mm high. Typically a complete diploma would be around 21cm x 16 cm. Not only is this diploma a valuable piece of documentary evidence, but it is also the first example of Roman writing in our museum. The acquisition of this new addition to our collection is thanks largely to a generous donation by Ms Joan Law

IN THE MUSEUM

Thanks to a generous donation by Ms. Joan Law, the Museum of Classical Archaeology has been able to purchase five Roman coins. Each of the coins illustrates an interesting aspect of Imperial culture and may be used to illustrate various aspects of Roman history. Furthermore, although the extent to which the iconography on coinage was under direct imperial control is debatable, a comparison with current imperial iconography and sentiment can be illuminating in assessing the public image of the emperor

Effects of light treatment on fecal corticosterone levels in captive European Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris)

Incandescent light sources are increasing replaced by other forms of light, such as fluorescent and light-emitting diode (LED) lights, which have greater longevity and offer greater energy efficient. These sources of light differ in more than their cost and efficiency, and have many different physical properties, for instance, their degree of flickering. Low-frequency fluorescent lighting flickers below the critical flickering fusion frequency (CFF) of some birds and may be a source of stress, unlike a non-flickering light source, such as LED. Our study measured levels of glucocorticoid metabolites (GCM’s) in fecal samples of captive European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris ) both across treatments and over a period of days to demonstrate the effects of different forms of light on the stress levels of birds in a laboratory setting. Concentration of GCM’s were not significantly different either across light treatments (P =0.441) or over time (P= 0.209), suggesting flickering properties of low-frequency fluorescent light is not a major source of stress for captive birds over an alternative light source

DESIGN FOR THE EXPERIMENTER

Three research problems, for which there was no obvious textbook design available, are presented. Each of the three involve constructing incomplete block designs for factorial treatment arrangements. While the designs are not likely optimal by any of the classical criteria, they meet the objectives of the research projects. The constructions involved confounding, with incomplete blocks, those effects which were of least interest. However, effects of interest were also allowed to be slightly non-orthogonal to blocks in order to be able to examine a larger number of effects of interest

Recent experiments on a small-angle/wide-angle X-ray scattering beam line at the ESRF

Recent results using a new combined small-angle/wide-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS/WAXS) beam line at the European Synchrotron Radiation Source (ESRF) will be presented. This beam line is specifically designed to be able to handle complicated sample environments required to perform time-resolved experiments mimicking processing conditions used in material science. Besides the attention that has been given to the interfacing of these sample environments to the beam line data acquisition system also the developments in detector technology will be discussed. The influence that a high count rate and low noise WAXS detector can have on the accuracy of experimental results in polymer crystallisation will be shown. It is shown that it is feasible to detect crystalline volume fractions as low as 10(-3)-10(-4) in polymeric systems