We present both an empirical study and a behavioural game model exploring a predatoreprey game between white sharks, Carcharodon carcharias, and Cape fur seals, Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus, around a small island colony in South Africa. Behavioural tactics used by adult seals appear to account for the variance in risk from sharks, while shark tactics seem more influenced by the behaviour of ...

The growing number of fungal infections, coupled with emerging resistance to classical antifungal agents, has led to the development of new agents, among them voriconazole. Susceptibility to voriconazole was tested by two microdilution techniques: the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards reference method M38-A and a colorimetric method, Sensititre YeastOne. The study tested a to...

Yellow field pea (Pisum sativum L.) fractions that were mainly protein (50%), fibre (90%) or starch (85%) were obtained from a commercial pea mill and mixed with wheat kernels or wheat flour. Based on the mortality and the number of offspring produced, protein-rich pea flour was more toxic than fibre, which was more toxic than starch. For the protein-rich pea flour mixed with wheat kernels, the...

OBJECTIVES Mucormycosis is a rare but refractory mycosis with high mortality. Few therapeutic options are available and novel strategies are needed. Calcineurin inhibitors are known to have antifungal activity, including synergy with various antifungals. We examined the interaction of caspofungin with calcineurin inhibitors and sirolimus against Glomeromycetes. METHODS Twenty-six strains of G...

This work reports the production of an exo-polygalacturonase (exo-PG) by Rhizomucor pusillus A13.36 in submerged cultivation (SmC) in a shaker at 45°C for 96 h. A single pectinase was found and purified in order to analyze its thermal stability, by salt precipitation and hydrophobic interaction chromatography. The pectinase has an estimated Mw of approximately 43.5-47 kDa and optimum pH of 4.0 ...

The species of the subgenus Chthonius (Chthonius) C.L. Koch, 1843 displaying a sigmoid fixed chelal finger from the Eastern Alps and the Carpathians, assigned to the informal heterodactylus species-group, are revised and a key given for their identification. The following species are present in this area: Chthonius cavernarum Ellingsen, 1909 (Italy, Romania, Slovenia), C. heterodactylus Tömösvá...

The abundant documentation of small mammals in the Italian peninsula, collected over recent years, furnishes a detailed biochronological sequence mainly from the Late Pliocene onwards. An updated stratigraphic framework is here presented, based on the European small mammal biozonation. The Early Villanyian is characterized by Mimomys hassiacus, M. stehlini, and, later, poorly documented M. polo...

OBJECTIVES Zygomycosis is an uncommon but devastating disease with few therapeutic options. Calcineurin inhibitors and sirolimus (mTOR inhibitor), commonly used in transplant patients as immunosuppressives, have antifungal activity. They are known to demonstrate synergy with triazoles against certain fungi, though limited data exist about their activity against zygomycetes. Our aim was to study...

Brood parasitism by the Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) can substantially affect host species’ reproductive success. The “host-activity” hypothesis suggests that parasites eavesdrop on conspicuous behaviors to locate and parasitize hosts, and several studies of cowbird hosts support this hypothesis. In contrast, a recent study of the Least Bell’s Vireo (Vireo bellii pusillus) reported a n...