Metal concentrations in seaweeds from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa - a first report

A survey of concentrations of selected metals in some common seaweeds from the KwaZulu-Natal coast was conducted. Samples of 40 seaweeds were collected from Palm Beach, Isipingo Beach and Mission Rocks and analysed for metals by X-ray fluorescence. High metal concentrations were found in a number of the seaweeds examined, Stypocaulon funiculare (Phaeophyta) and Osmundaria serrata (Rhodophyta) showed high levels of a wide range of metals and are recommended for further study as indicator species for metals in the marine environment of the KwaZulu-Natal coast

Suppression of the ferromagnetic state in LaCoO3 films by rhombohedral distortion

Epitaxially strained LaCoO3 (LCO) thin films were grown with different film thickness, t, on (001) oriented (LaAlO3)0.3(SrAl0.5Ta0.5O3)0.7 (LSAT) substrates. After initial pseudomorphic growth the films start to relieve their strain partly by the formation of periodic nano-twins with twin planes predominantly along the direction. Nano-twinning occurs already at the initial stage of growth, albeit in a more moderate way. Pseudomorphic grains, on the other hand, still grow up to a thickness of at least several tenths of nanometers. The twinning is attributed to the symmetry lowering of the epitaxially strained pseudo-tetragonal structure towards the relaxed rhombohedral structure of bulk LCO. However, the unit-cell volume of the pseudo-tetragonal structure is found to be nearly constant over a very large range of t. Only films with t > 130 nm show a significant relaxation of the lattice parameters towards values comparable to those of bulk LCO.Comment: 31 pages, 10 figure

Epidemologi Molekuler Genotipe Human Immunodeficiency Virus -1 (Hiv-l) Pada Orang Dengan Hiv/aids (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) Atau Odha Di Jawa Timur Dan DKI Jakarta

Human Immunodeficiency Virus is retrovirus that can decrease immune system in human body. There are two types of HIV which could be genetically specified as HIV-I and HIV-2. HIV-I consists of three groups: M, N, and 0. The 'M' group is further classified as nine subtypes i. e, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, and I subtypes. In certain condition, two viruses from different subtypes can mix and form a hybrid virus, called Circulating Recombinant Forms (CRFs). The aim of this research is to map the distribution of HIV subtypes in all of Indonesia's provinces. Sera from HIV patients from hospitals in DKI Jakarta and East Java were taken and examined for genetic analysis. As we may already aware that DKI Jakarta and East Java are provinces that have high prevalence of HIV. All of the specimens were tested and analyzed using RT-PCR technique followed by PCR Nested and sequences confirmation. In East Java Province, HIV-I AE subtypes was the most dominant with 74%followed by Band E subtypes, each of them I3%. In DKI Jakarta province, HIV-I E subtype was the most dominant 60%, AE and B subtypes were 35%, and 5% respectivel