Michael Lockwood has recently concluded that it can be morally permissible to perform potentially damaging non-therapeutic experiments on live human (pre)embryos. The reasons he provides in support of this conclusion commit him inter alia to the following controversial theses: (i) an organism's potential for twinning bears critically on the identity conditions for that organism; and (ii) functi...

We present a way to measure the positions and instantaneous velocities of micrometer-scale colloidal spheres using a single holographic snapshot obtained through in-line holographic video microscopy. This method builds on previous quantitative analyses of colloidal holograms by accounting for blurring that occurs as a sphere moves during the camera's exposure time. The angular variance of a blu...

Cassava brown streak disease is caused by two devastating viruses, Cassava brown streak virus (CBSV) and Ugandan cassava brown streak virus (UCBSV) which are frequently found infecting cassava, one of sub-Saharan Africa's most important staple food crops. Each year these viruses cause losses of up to $100 million USD and can leave entire families without their primary food source, for an entire...

Cassava is a major staple food for about 800 million people in the tropics and sub-tropical regions of the world. Production of cassava is significantly hampered by cassava brown streak disease (CBSD), caused by Cassava brown streak virus (CBSV) and Ugandan cassava brown streak virus (UCBSV). The disease is suppressing cassava yields in eastern Africa at an alarming rate. Previous studies have ...

Despite its importance as the source of one of three major vascular systems in the mammalian conceptus, little is known about the murine allantois, which will become the umbilical cord of the chorio-allantoic placenta. During gastrulation, the allantois grows into the exocoelomic cavity as a mesodermal extension of the posterior primitive streak. On the basis of morphology, gene expression and/...

Forty-three additional members of a family described originally by Sorsby and Mason have been examined in order to typify pseudoinflammatory macular dystrophy more accurately. Six new affected members were identified by history alone and a further 7 were examined. Vision is lost from disciform macular degeneration generally during the 5th decade of life. Thereafter peripheral degeneration occur...

Introduction Pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE) is a rare heritable disorder of the connective tissue. Up to 1964, approximately 400 cases had been reported (Suerig and Siefert, 1964). The lesion involves mainly the skin, the eyes and the cardiovascular system, giving rise to diverse clinical manifestations. Most of the reports have highlighted the association of cutaneous changes with angioid stre...