The nature, frequency and causes of reproductive loss were investigated in populations of Glossina pallidipes Aust. in western and coastal localities in Kenya. Daily collections from biconical traps in which females were trapped for varying periods up to 30 h were followed by a series of hourly captures which gave less biased data. Ovarian abnormalities and insemination failure were rare, and abortion was the only major source of loss of fecundity. Total reproductive loss was within the range 1·60–1·97% (0·23% ovarian loss plus 1·37% abortions or 1·74% total empty uteri) in western Kenya (Lambwe Valley) and 0·99–1·71% from less comprehensive data at the coast. The incidence of empty uteri was higher in daily than in hourly collections, due mainly to premature parturitions brought about by the stressful effects of prolonged confinement in traps and handling. Abortions were significantly more frequent in females which had ovulated but were not yet parous than in older, parous flies. No relationship between the frequency of abortion and climate, tsetse density or pathogen or parasite infection could be demonstrated.

Using gel electrophoresis we demonstrate the attachment of short ssDNAs to a new type of water-soluble gold nanocluster that is encapsulated with ethylene oxide ligands. Initial experiments indicate that these DNA/nanocluster conjugates can subsequently be hybridized to a longer DNA template suggesting a pathway for nanofabrication of multi-cluster assemblies.

In an attempt to both prepare nanocrystalline bismuth and understand the fundamental chemistry behind the formation of this potentially interesting material, we have examined the reduction of BiCl3 in the presence of strongly coordinating solvents and ligands. These studies have resulted in the formation of bismuth powders with approximate average particle sizes of between 20 and 40 nm which exhibit large size distributions. The simultaneous reduction of both gold and bismuth precursors, done in an attempt to better control the final particle size, instead produces Au2Bi of comparable dimensions. There is no evidence that the ligands utilized in either of these systems remain bound to the final product. These nanocrystalline powders have been characterized through XRD and TEM, and full details of the synthesis are presented.

The deposition chemistry of hexanethiol-stabilized gold nanoclusters self-assembled on Au and SiO2 surfaces by reaction with a series of α,ω-alkanedithiols is studied using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and electrical measurements. Testing of micron-scale devices shows that high conductivity is achieved only for a narrow range of dithiols and with a sharp efficiency threshold. Nanoscale devices exhibit similar behavior though with much evidence of “granularity” in the deposition.

To explore the use of phthalocyanine materials as a solid-state component in an optical limiter, the issues of morphology, film processing and optical limiter activity/stability are investigated. Metal-free and lead phthalocyanine films with glassy morphologies are obtained by chemically functionalizing the ring periphery with an amine-epoxy substitution. Uniform films were obtained by a shearing technique. Comparative optical measurements are made on the amine-epoxy lead phthalocyanine compound as a concentrated solution and as a glassy thin film. Both the solution and film are reverse saturable absorbers at 590 nm. The concentrated solution is a very effective optical limiter. The glassy thin film is susceptible to damage (cavitation caused by the incident beam) and performs comparably only at low incident energies. A liquid matrix may have the benefit of self-healing such damage.

Pus obtained by needle aspiration of 91 peritonsillar abscesses was examined microbiologically. A positive culture was obtained in 55 patients (60 per cent). Sixty-four bacteriological isolates were grown. Forty patients had a pure growth of a single organism, of which 21 (53 per cent) were beta Haemolytic streptococci. Pure growths of Staphylococcus aureus were found in only three patients. Fifteen patients had mixed organisms, including anaerobes, in their pus and the resistance to penicillin was low. Only the bacteroides species were generally penicillin resistant. The vast majority of patients made a good recovery following needle drainage of the abscess and treatment with parenteral penicillin. The patients with a mixture of penicillin sensitive and penicillin resistant organisms also made a good clinical recovery following needle drainage and administration of parenteral penicillin. The relevance of these findings in the pathogenesis and management of peritonsillar sepsis is discussed.

It has been suggested that children undergoing tonsillectomy would benefit from an intravenous infusion, to counteract the period of pre-operativefasting combined with the blood loss at operation.

A prospective study of 50 children undergoing tonsillectomy was undertaken. The children were randomly allocated into two groups, one to receive an infusion and a control group.

There were no significant differences between the two groups, although the children with an infusion had a longer mean post-operative stay.

There would seem to be no role for routine intravenous fluid replacement in children undergoing uncomplicated tonsillectomy.

Permanent blindness, is a very rare, but devastating complication of simultaneous bilateral neck dissection. Most otolaryngologists/head and neck surgeons are unaware that amaurosis can result from this surgery, and this paper is meant as a poignant reminder of that end. A case report is presented, followed by a discussion of possible aetiology; a management protocol is proposed.

The sex-stimulant contact pheromone present in the cuticle of female tsetse Glossina pallidipes Austen has been extracted with hexane, separated by preparative gas chromatography and identified by mass spectrometry. The aphrodisiac, consisting of 13,17-dimethylpentatriacontane and 15,19-dimethylpentatriacontane, is present in cuticular extracts of 1-week-old females and, in lower amounts, in teneral females but it is almost absent in males of all ages. Full copulatory responses to hexane-washed dead males treated with the two dimethylpentatriacontane isomers were induced in 10–20-day-old adult male G. pallidipes. The practical uses to which this discovery can now be put—towards the mass-rearing and control of G. pallidipes— are discussed in detail.

The Charles Darwin Research Station in the Galapagos has as its most urgent duty the protection of the remaining giant tortoises, which, besides being one of the most interesting and spectacular elements in the unique fauna, and giving the islands their name, are at present in greater danger of extinction than any other native animals. Accurate knowledge of their present status is a prerequisite of conservation, and this is not easy to obtain in the extremely difficult terrain where most of the surviving tortoises live. This paper summarises very briefly the previously available information: its main purpose is to present the new information which has been obtained in the last year and a half (time of writing, August, 1964), to discuss the factors threatening their continued existence, and to outline the conservation measures which have already been taken and those that are planned for the future.

It is well known that certain results such as the Radon-Nikodym Theorem, which are valid in totally σ -finite measure spaces, do not extend to measure spaces in which μ is not totally σ -finite. (See §2 for notation.) Given an arbitrary measure space (X, S, μ) and a signed measure ν on (X, S), then if ν ≪ μ for X, ν ≪ μ when restricted to any e ∊ Sf and the classical finite Radon-Nikodym theorem produces a measurable function ge(x), vanishing outside e, with