scholarly journals On the histology and function of certain secondary sexual organs in the cuttle fish Doratosepion confusa

In 1923 a novel case of sex-dimorphism was described (Massy and Robson (12), p. 435) in the South African cuttle fish, Doratosepion confusa , Smith. The male of this species was shown to possess a long streamer-like prolongation of the lateral fins (called for convenience the “tail”) which is entirely absent in the female. In the latter the fins terminate, as usual, close to the aboral extremity of the body. Another remarkable feature was revealed in the study of this animal. Two strips of tissue (called the “lateral organs”) were found, one on each side towards the extremity of the “tail,” which upon microscopical examination were found to consist largely of an enigmatical substance unlike any of the special tissues characteristic of Cephalopoda. Since the publication of the preliminary account of these structures, they have been histologically examined, and all the data that could be brought to bear upon their interpretation have been assembled.

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 1282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jyothi Kara ◽  
Angus H. H. Macdonald ◽  
Carol A. Simon

The nereidid Pseudonereis variegata (Grube, 1866) described from Chile includes 14 synonymised species from 10 type localities with a discontinuous distribution, but no taxonomic or molecular studies have investigated the status of this species outside Chile. Two synonymised species, Mastigonereis podocirra Schmarda, 1861 and Nereis (Nereilepas) stimpsonis Grube, 1866, were described from South Africa and investigated here using morphological examination. MtCOI species delimitation analyses and morphology were used to determine the status of P. variegata in South Africa. Morphological examination revealed that museum and freshly collected specimens from South Africa that conform to the general description of P. variegata are similar to M. podocirra and N. stimpsonis with respect to the consistent absence of homogomph spinigers in the inferior neuropodial fascicle, expanded notopodial ligules and the subterminal attachment of dorsal cirri in posterior parapodia. The synonymy of M. podocirra and N. stimpsonis as P. variegata are rejected and P. podocirra, comb. nov. is reinstated. Morphologically, Pseudonereis podocirra differed from specimens from Chile with regard to the numbers of paragnaths, the absence of homogomph spinigers and changes in parapodial morphology along the body. Independence of these species was further supported by genetic distances, automatic barcode gap discovery and multi-rate Poisson tree process species delimitation analyses of 77 mtCOI sequences. Haplotype network revealed no genetic structuring within the South African populations. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:F0B1A5AF-9CE9-4A43-ACCF-17117E1C2F21


Obiter ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynette Swart ◽  
Vivienne A Lawack-Davids

This article examines the regulatory framework pertaining to the South African financial markets. The authors explain selected terminology and provide an overview of regulators in order to create an understanding of the regulatory environment to enhance transparency and add to the body of knowledge in financial markets law.


Endocrinology ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 146 (11) ◽  
pp. 4851-4860 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham C. Boorse ◽  
Erica J. Crespi ◽  
Frank M. Dautzenberg ◽  
Robert J. Denver

Several corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) family genes have been identified in vertebrates. Mammals have four paralogous genes that encode CRF or the urocortins 1, 2, and 3. In teleost fishes, a CRF, urotensin I (a fish ortholog of mammalian urocortin 1) and urocortin 3 have been identified, suggesting that at least three of the four mammalian lineages arose in a common ancestor of modern bony fishes and tetrapods. Here we report the isolation of genes orthologous to mammalian urocortin 1 and urocortin 3 from the South African clawed frog, Xenopus laevis. We characterize the pharmacology of the frog peptides and show that X. laevis urocortin 1 binds to and activates the frog CRF1 and CRF2 receptors at picomolar concentrations. Similar to mammals, frog urocortin 3 is selective for the CRF2 receptor. Only frog urocortin 1 binds to the CRF-binding protein, although with significantly lower affinity than frog CRF. Both urocortin genes are expressed in brain, pituitary, heart, and kidney of juvenile frogs; urocortin 1 is also expressed in skin. We also identified novel urocortin sequences in the genomes of pufferfish, zebrafish, chicken, and dog. Phylogenetic analysis supports the view that four paralogous lineages of CRF-like peptides arose before the divergence of the actinopterygian and sarcopterygian fishes. Our findings show that the functional relationships among CRF ligands and binding proteins, and their anorexigenic actions mediated by the CRF2 receptor, arose early in vertebrate evolution.


1976 ◽  
Vol 73 ◽  
pp. 72-80
Author(s):  
W.R Fitches

A thick diorite-monzodiorite sheet over 2 km in length and up to 600 m in width (fig. 35) is exposed at 50°25'E and 63°55'N, about 7 km south of Qeqertaussaq by Kangerdluarssûngûp taserssua. Several diorite dykes, some over 10 m in thickness, tie parallel to the main body and up to 300 m from it. The north-east end of the body is covered by superficial deposits whilst the south-west part has not yet been mapped out. This is therefore a preliminary account, including petrography, fie1d relations and some geochemistry, and more information will become available during subsequent field seasons.


Author(s):  
Douglas Aghimien ◽  
Clinton Aigbavboa ◽  
Ayodeji Oke ◽  
Nteboheng Koloko

This study presents the result of an assessment of digitalisation within the South African construction industry from the construction professionals' perspective. The study adopted a quantitative approach through a questionnaire survey carried out among construction professionals in Gauteng Province, South Africa. Appropriate descriptive statistical tools were used in analysing the data gathered. The study revealed that the major stages of construction where digitalisation is evident are the design phase, and the feasibility phase. The major construction processes where it is mostly visible are, construction cost control, cost planning, preliminary cost estimate and building system analysis. In addition, the most significant benefits to be derived from digitalisation in the industry includes time-saving in construction projects delivery, increase productivity, increase speed of work, increase document quality, speeding up of response time, and simpler working methods. This study contributes to the body of knowledge as it reveals the happenings surrounding digitalisation within the South African construction industry; an aspect that seems to be lacking research attention.


2010 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rita Niemann ◽  
Zendré Swanepoel ◽  
Nalize Marais

Orientation: Invitational leadership (IL) is consistent with current leadership trends and, because South African schools are in need of sound leadership, it is necessary to have a framework that can guide principals to act in accordance with the expectations of their educators.Research purpose: This study challenges the internationally accepted ‘Four Corner Press’ of Purkey and Novak (1984) as a framework for IL in the South African school context.Motivation for the study: IL appears to be a comprehensive model for successful school leadership. This necessitated an investigation to determine whether the ‘Four Corner Press’ reflects the expectations of teachers and, if so, whether it could serve as a valuable leadership tool.Research design, approach and method: A questionnaire containing 31 Likert-scale items, underpinned by the principles of IL, was disseminated to 600 educators conveniently drawn from the population of 88 828 teachers in Free State and Eastern Cape schools.Main findings: The data obtained from the survey enabled the researchers to perform a factor analysis, which revealed that South African educators’ expectations of leadership aligned with the ‘Four Corner Press’.Managerial implications: The ‘Four Corner Press’ can be used as a plausible framework for IL in South African schools, which has implications for the development and training of principals.Contribution/value-add: The ‘Four Corner Press’ can be regarded as a reliable prototype of IL expectations within the South African context, which contributes to extending the body of knowledge of education leadership in South Africa.


2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 391-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phineas Mbango

Close relationships between cement manufacturers and their customers in business-to-business markets are becoming a necessity in today’s competitive markets. The literature search reveals that, three constructs of relationship marketing (trust, commitment and satisfaction) are the most studied and well known. This study contributes to the body of knowledge by adding two constructs (supplier competencies and communication) as vital causes to customer satisfaction and the outcome being customer loyalty and cooperation. The study produced a framework of dimensions of relationship marketing in the South African Cement Industry and its hoped will help marketing managers in the industry and related sectors in coming up with relationship marketing strategies that can go a long way in helping them retain, attract, satisfy, and achieve long-term profitable relationships for both the supplier and the customer. A judgemental sample of major cement customers (362) throughout South Africa’s nine provinces were contacted using face-to-face interview technique with self-administered questionnaires. The results support the conceptual model presented; supplier competencies, trust, commitment and communication have a positive association with satisfaction; and satisfaction, in turn, relates positively to all the two outcomes of cooperation and loyalty. It is recommended that a cement manufacturer must invest in strategies that enhance trust, communication, commitment and supplier competencies in order to satisfy its customers who will in turn contribute to customer cooperation and loyalty.


2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Joan Alkema

This dissertation was researched in two main parts. The first enquiry was to establish whether the Afrikaner women practised any form of craft during their time of interment in the Anglo-Boer War concentration camps, during 1899-1902. The second part explores the appropriation of craft within the Post-Modern context by five South African artists. During this research into the craft practises of Afrikaner women in the concentration camps, I discovered that this particular issue has not been satisfactorily documented. The reasons for this are directly connected to the patriarchal system of the Calvinist Afrikaner. The impact which this system had on the craft practices of Afrikaner women and the lack of documentation thereof, are discussed. The paucity of information on Afrikaner women‟s history led to primary research where I gained the information I needed from the descendents of interned women. The findings of this research includes various forms of needlecraft such as embroidery, quilting, crocheting, and dress and bonnet making. Amongst the artefacts found were two ceramic dogs made in the camp. Various forms of tin and wire artefacts were also found. The contribution to the impoverished Afrikaner women by Hobhouse, the South African Agricultural Association and the South African Women‟s Federation is explained in relation to this dissertation. The freedom that Post-Modern thought created amongst artists enabled them to explore exciting ways of executing their art. The five South African artists whose work I chose to explore are Billy Zangewa, Sue Pam-Grant, Gina Waldman, Antionette Murdoch and Nirmi Ziegler. Their art practices are varied but the common denominator is the incorporation of various forms of traditional feminine craft into their work. They subvert the patriarchal order, draw attention to land issues, explore women‟s fragility and raise awareness concerning the abuse of the environment. I conducted an interview with Ziegler and relied on written documentation for the research concerning the other artists. I also made use of my own analysis and instinct as a woman and mother to interpret some works. As an Afrikaner woman I execute my work by using traditional feminine craft and specific motives found during my research. I deliver commentary on the lack of vi documentation of all of Afrikaner women‟s history. I use myself as an example of an Afrikaner woman and document my own history within the greater Afrikaner history which is contained and embedded within the history of South Africa. My research into and documentation of the craft practises of Afrikaner women during and directly after the Anglo-Boer War adds to the body of knowledge concerning the history of Afrikaner women. The same applies to the work of the five artists I explored. The diversity of material, concept and execution of their work will add some knowledge to the existing body of knowledge about their work, but more so to the documentation of women's history.


2013 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 435-451 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yolanda Jordaan ◽  
Melanie Wiese ◽  
Karim Amade ◽  
Ermi De Clercq

The publication of academic research is important for its contribution to the body of knowledge. A periodic analysis of journal content leads to the identification of research practices; while it also identifies the challenges that researchers face. The South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences (SAJEMS) is considered to be one of the leading publications in the field of economic and managerial research in South Africa. The SAJEMS was selected as the unit of analysis; and a content analysis was conducted on 257 articles published during the seven-year period 2004 - 2010. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the input and output factors relating to published articles, including questions on authors and article content, such as the various methodological approaches. The findings revealed that there has been a decrease in co-authored articles during the period 2005-2008. Although the contribution by practitioners increased significantly in 2005 and 2008, the majority of the articles are still authored predominantly by academics. It is promising to see that international authors were involved in nearly 20 per cent of the articles contributed. When it came to the methodological approaches, the articles employed largely non-probability sampling designs. Furthermore, almost two-thirds of the articles published in SAJEMS were based on quantitative research designs. This content analysis reveals the current research practices published in the SAJEMS. It provides food for thought for academics. 


1846 ◽  
Vol 136 ◽  
pp. 465-471 ◽  

The last communication I had the honour to lay before the Royal Society, related to the organic remains of the colossal extinct Reptiles, which inhabited the dry land, during that remote period when the Wealden strata were deposited. The present notice embraces the consideration of the fossil relics of beings so minute as to be invisible to the unassisted eye, that swarmed in the cretaceous ocean, and of which numeious genera and species have descended through succeeding ages, and constitute a large proportion of the inhabitants of the present seas. In a microscopical examination of chalk and flint, undertaken for the purpose of testing the accuracy of the statement of M, Ehrenberg, that a considerable portion of the cretaceous strata is composed of minute organisms, I observed that the chambers of the shells of many Rotaliœ were filled with a substance, varying in appearance from a dark opaque brown, to a light transparent amber; and resembling in form, the soft bodies of existing species of Polythalamia. I was particularly struck with the similitude between some of the fossils, and the recent Nonionina when deprived of its shell by immersion in diluted hydrochloric acid; and having, by the courtesy of Mr. Williamson of Manchester, procured Rotaliæ from mud dredged up in the Levant, I found among them several that contained the body of the animal partially collapsed, and of a dark brown colour, which presented an analogous appearance. I was therefore led to infer, that the substance filling the cells of the flint Rotaliæ was the remains of the soft parts of the original animalcules, in the state of molluskite .


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