Filariosis of domestic carnivores in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga provinces, South Africa, and Maputo province, Mozambique

Based on two surveys, the thesis focuses on the prevalence of filarial parasites of domestic carnivores in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga provinces in South Africa and Maputo province of Mozambique. This is complemented by diagnostic results of routine examinations for filarial infections of dogs and cats from South Africa obtained between 1994 and 2008. Blood samples were collected and initially screened by membrane filtration for microfilariae. Other techniques employed were acid phosphatase staining for the identification of microfilariae and a commercial enzymelinked immunosorbent assay for the detection of heartworm antigen. Combined with a critical literature review on filariosis of domestic carnivores in Africa, which is updated by diagnostic results obtained from animals in Africa between 1992 and 2008, the topic is addressed for the first time ever from a continental perspective. In the South African provinces and Maputo province of Mozambique 196 of 1 379 dogs (14.21 %) were found positive for microfilariae. The species identified were Dirofilaria immitis, Dirofilaria repens, Acanthocheilonema reconditum and Acanthocheilonema dracunculoides. The endemic status of D. immitis was confirmed in 2 out of 313 dogs from Maputo province but not in the South African provinces. Infection with D. repens was found in 70 dogs (5.08 %). The highest prevalence rate was recorded in KwaZulu-Natal with 12.47 % (52/417), followed by Maputo Province with 3.83 % (12/313) and Mpumalanga with 1.5 % (5/333). Routine examinations have also confirmed autochthonous infections with D. repens in Gauteng and North West provinces. Acanthocheilonema reconditum was the species with the highest overall prevalence of 8.85 % (122/1 379). The highest prevalence rate was recorded in Mpumalanga with 29.13 % (97/333) followed by Maputo province with 6.39 % (20/313) and KwaZulu-Natal with 1.2 % (5/417). Routine examinations have also confirmed autochthonous infections in Gauteng, North West and Western Cape provinces. Acanthocheilonema dracunculoides was the species with the lowest overall prevalence of 0.07 % (1/1 379) and was only recorded in 1 dog from Maputo Province. In KwaZulu-Natal 9 of 82 cats (10.98 %) were found positive for microfilariae, with D. repens as the only species involved.Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2009.Veterinary Tropical Diseasesunrestricte

Cryopreservation of sheathed third-stage larvae of Gaigeria pachyscelis (Sandveld hookworm)

A technique for the cryopreservation of third stage larvae of Gaigeria pachyscelis is described. It consists of incubating sheathed third-stage larvae in 80% (v/v) ethylene glycol as a cryoprotectant for 30 s at 0°C, prior to transfer into liquid nitrogen. The survival rate, as assessed by motility, was 37,6% after 30 d cryopreservation. A sheep infected percutaneously with 700 live cryopreserved third-stage larvae, harboured 41 adult worms (infectivity rate: 5,8%) when necropsied 78 d later.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. Adobe Acrobat XI Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format.mn201

Bile enhances the infectivity of third stage larvae of Dictyocaulus filaria

Incubating metacyclic larvae of Dictyocaulus filaria in ovine bile solution prior to per os infection significantly enhanced their infectivity to sheep.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. Adobe Acrobat XI Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format.mn201

The sensitivity of direct faecal examination, direct faecal flotation, modified centrifugal faecal flotation and centrifugal sedimentation/flotation in the diagnosis of canine spirocercosis

Several faecal examination techniques have shown variable sensitivity in demonstrating Spirocerca lupi (S. lupi) eggs. The objective of this study was to determine which faecal examination technique, including a novel modified centrifugal flotation technique, was most sensitive to diagnose spirocercosis. Ten coproscopic examinations were performed on faeces collected from 33 dogs confirmed endoscopically to have spirocercosis. The tests included a direct faecal examination, a faecal sedimentation/flotation test, 4 direct faecal flotations and 4 modified faecal centrifugal flotations. These latter 2 flotation tests utilised 4 different faecal flotation solutions:NaNO3 (SG 1.22),MgSO4 (SG 1.29),ZnSO4 (SG 1.30) and sugar (SG 1.27). The sensitivity of the tests ranged between 42 %and 67 %, with theNaNO3 solution showing the highest sensitivity in both the direct and modified-centrifugal flotations. The modified NaNO3 centrifugal method ranked 1st with the highest mean egg count (45.24±83), and was superior (i.e. higher egg count) and significantly different (P<0.05) compared with the routine saturated sugar,ZnSO4 andMgSO4 flotation methods. The routine NaNO3 flotation method was also superior and significantly different (P < 0.05) compared with the routine ZnSO4 andMgSO4 flotation methods. Fifteen per cent (n=5) of dogs had neoplastic oesophageal nodules and a further 18 % (n = 6) had both neoplastic and non-neoplastic nodules. S. lupi eggs were demonstrated in 40%of dogs with neoplastic nodules only and 72.9 % of the dogs with non-neoplastic nodules. The mean egg count in the non-neoplastic group (61) was statistically greater (P = 0.02) than that of the neoplastic group (1). The results show that faecal examination using a NaNO3 solution is the most sensitive in the diagnosis of spirocercosis. The modified centrifugal flotation faecal method using this solution has the highest egg count. The study also found that dogs with neoplastic nodules shed significantly fewer eggs than dogs with non-neoplastic nodules.The authors would like to thank the Onderstepoort Veterinary Academic Hospital and Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, for their support and financial assistance towards this project, and the South African Veterinary Foundation (SAVF) for financial assistance to the S. lupi project at Onderstepoort.http://www.journals.co.za/ej/ejour_savet.htm

Europa quo vadis? – Regierbarkeit, Demokratie und Friedensfähigkeit der EU. Diskussion mit Gesine Schwan und Volker Rittberger

Textdokumentation zur Veranstaltung der Osnabrücker Friedensgespräche am 22. Februar 200

Universitätsreform als Inszenierung von Mythen

Weingart P. Universitätsreform als Inszenierung von Mythen. In: Hünemann P, Ladenthin V, Schwan G, eds. Nachhaltige Bildung. Hochschule und Wissenschaft im Zeitalter der Ökonomisierung. Bielefeld: Bertelsmann; 2005: 61-97

Helminth composition and prevalence of indigenous and invasive synanthropic murid rodents in urban areas of Gauteng Province, South Africa

Although synanthropic rodents such as the indigenous species, Mastomys coucha, and the invasive species, Rattus norvegicus, R. rattus and R. tanezumi, are well-known to be hosts to various micro- and macroparasites, their helminth parasite fauna is poorly studied in South Africa. In an attempt to remedy the situation, the aim of the present study was to investigate the helminth fauna of these sympatric rodent species, which were obtained from the informal settlements of Alexandra, Tembisa, Diepsloot and residential suburbs of Pretoria and Hammanskraal, Gauteng Province, South Africa. Helminths were recovered from the urinary bladder, liver and gastrointestinal tract and were identified morphologically and molecularly. The recovered nematodes were all rodent-specific and included Aspiculuris tetraptera, Eucoleus sp., Heterakis spumosa, Mastophorus muris, Nippostrongylus brasiliensis, Protospirura sp., Strongyloides ratti, Syphacia obvelata, Syphacia muris, Trichuris sp. and Trichosomoides crassicauda. Syphacia obvelata, a commensal nematode of laboratory rodents, was recovered from indigenous M. coucha. Strobilar stages of cestodes recovered included Hymenolepis diminuta, Hymenolepis nana and Inermicapsifer madagascariensis. Recovered metacestodes were strobilocerci of Hydatigera taeniaeformis from all three invasive Rattus species and coenurostrobilocerci of Hydatigera parva from M. coucha. An acanthocephalan, Moniliformis moniliformis, was recovered from R. rattus only. All rodent species examined showed high helminth infection prevalence (≥70%) with equal or higher nematode than cestode prevalence. Mastomys coucha, however, showed significantly lower cestode prevalence than Rattus species where they co-occur. Interspecific transmission of helminths likely occurs between invasive and indigenous rodents, and these rodents harbour several helminths that have zoonotic implications.The National Research Foundation (NRF) DNA sequencing facility of the University of Pretoria (NRF RISP grant 2001/2012; UID: 78566) and the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence for Invasion Biology (CIB).http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=JHLhj2019Veterinary Tropical DiseasesZoology and Entomolog

Realizing Distributed Computational Laboratories

this paper we discuss a software infrastructure that enables the construction and operation of distributed laboratories. We organize this discussion using sample computational laboratories (see Section 2) and a catalog of services (see Section III) to be provided by the infrastructure. Section III-B describes our novel solutions concerning these services, focusing on middleware components that are systematically introduced to the environment to increase the quality of service provided to end users. Since our work in distributed laboratories is based in part on the experiences gained working with atmospheric scientists at Georgia Tech in coupling two disparate atmospheric models, we next describe the integration results obtained from a recent port of the combined atmospheric model from a single shared memory multiprocessor to a heterogeneous set of parallel/distributed cluster machines. We conclude by discussing our current directions in managing distributed laboratory infrastructures