Devil facial tumor disease (DFTD) is renowned for its successful evasion of the host immune system. Down regulation of the major histocompatabilty complex class I molecule (MHC-I) on the DFTD cells is a primary mechanism of immune escape. Immunization trials on captive Tasmanian devils have previously demonstrated that an immune response against DFTD can be induced, and that immune-mediated tum...

.............................................................................................................. 3 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 5 Chapter 1: Züllinger und seine Zucht and The New Race of Devils: Eugenics and artificial reproduction in the dystopias of the early twenties .........................

Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii) are at risk of extinction in the wild due to Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD), a rare contagious cancer. The prevalence of DFTD differs by age class: higher disease prevalence is seen in adults (2-3 years) versus younger devils (<2 years). Here we propose that immunological changes during puberty may play a role in susceptibility to DFTD. We show that t...

The Quranic concept of lapidating devils with meteors has received a variety of interpretations throughout Islamic history. In the past, it was interpreted to mean heavenly meteors thrown at devils in order to prevent them from giving ear to heavenly tidings. However, in the fourteenth century AH and as a result of modern scientific achievements, different non-literal interpretations were sugge...

[1] An intensive 3-day dust devil investigation was conducted near Eloy, Arizona, during June of 2001. The goal was to evaluate strategies for observing dust devils on Mars by studying the physics of terrestrial dust devils. As part of this campaign, an instrumented vehicle outfitted with wind, temperature, and pressure sensors was used to intercept and penetrate numerous dust devils. Defined a...

Australia's native marsupial fauna has just two primarily flesh-eating 'hypercarnivores', the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) and the spotted-tailed quoll (Dasyurus maculatus) which coexist only on the island of Tasmania. Devil populations are currently declining due to a fatal transmissible cancer. Our aim was to analyse the diet of both species across their range in Tasmania, as a basi...

Devil facial tumour disease (DFTD) is an infectious tumour disease and was hypothesised to be transmitted by allograft during biting based on two cytogenetic findings of DFTD tumours in 2006. It was then believed that DFTD tumours were originally from a female devil. In this study the devil sex-determining region Y (SRY) gene was PCR amplified and sequenced, and six pairs of devil SRY PCR prime...

Today, the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) is found only on the island of Tasmania, despite once being widespread across mainland Australia. While the devil is thought to have become extinct on the mainland approximately 3000 years ago, three specimens were collected in Victoria (south-eastern Australia) between 1912 and 1991, raising the possibility that a relict mainland population sur...

[1] Dust devils are significant meteorological phenomena on Mars: They are ubiquitous, continually gardening the Martian surface, and may be the primary atmospheric dustloading mechanism in nonstorm seasons. Further, dust grains in the swirling dust devils may become electrically charged via triboelectric effects. Electrical effects associated with terrestrial dust devils have been reported pre...

[1] Triboelectric charging of saltating and colliding sand and dust particles produces strong electric fields in terrestrial dust devils and dust storms. Acceleration of the charged particles, as well as microdischarges between them, generates wideband electromagnetic radiation. Similar phenomena are expected to be ubiquitous on Mars, because Martian dust devils and dust storms are larger, stro...