Masters of disguise

Masters of Disguise: Antigenic Variation and the VSG Coat in Trypanosoma brucei

VSG stands for variant surface glycoprotein, the major surface component of the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma brucei while it exists in the blood and tissues of its mammalian host. Transmitted by the bite of the tsetse (Glossina spp.), T. brucei infects mammals in sub-Saharan Africa. Two subspecies, T. brucei gambiense and T. b. rhodesiense, infect humans, causing human African trypanosomiasis...

Marine Optics: Dark Disguise

Survival in the deep sea depends on seeing others without being seen yourself. A recent study examined two switchable camouflage strategies in cephalopods: transparency and dark pigmentation.

Dualism in Disguise

Voice disguise and automatic detection

This study focuses on the question of voice disguise and the problem of its detection. The voice disguise is considered as a deliberated action of the speaker who wants to falsify or to conceal his identity. Lots of possibilities are offered to a speaker to change his voice and to false a human ear or an automatic system. He could transform his voice by electronic scrambling or more simply by e...

Route masters

Many turtle species are endangered through a variety of human activities, from beach development, boating and shipping, and fishing. Awareness of the problems has mostly focused on protection of beaches used for breeding as individuals return to highly specific sites where they are particularly vulnerable. Apart from their breeding sites, much less is known about their long and complex movement...