Determining the mechanism of action of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) is critical if they are to be developed into the clinical setting. In recent years high resolution techniques such as atomic force microscopy (AFM) have increasingly been utilised to determine AMP mechanism of action on planar lipid bilayers and live bacteria. Here we present the biophysical characterisation of a prototypical ...

IN this work I have undertaken the study of the different organs of scorpions from the point of view of comparative anatomy. The extensive literature on this subject contains a number of gaps (e. g. the male genital organs have not been investigated in sections), and besides in the majority of works the material is restricted to some species of the genera B u t h u s or E u s c o r p i u s. The...

During field surveys conducted in 2021 the Middle Magdalena River Valley, Colombia, we recorded a new dietary item for snake Epicrates maurus, consisting of rodent species Zygodontomys brevicauda. When photographed, regurgitated partially digested mouse, which was identified from its dental and cranial characters. The present record contributes to knowledge about spectrum E. maurus northern Sou...

CKevin M. Thomas, 2016. All rights reserved. Signature redacted tDepartm eprof Mechanicaf 'pgineering, MIT Sloan School of Management 14 Mar 2016 Certified by Signature redacted I_ Steven Spear, Thesis Supervisor Senior Lectur ,MIT Sloan School of Management, Engineering Services Division Signature redacted Steven B. Leeb, Thesis Supervisor Professor of EECS and Mechanical Engineering gnature r...

Designing an urban reconnaissance robot is highly challenging work given the nature of the terrain in which these robots are required to operate. In this work, we attempt to extend the locomotion capabilities of these robots beyond what is currently feasible. The design and unique features of our bio-inspired reconfigurable robot, called Scorpio, with rolling, crawling, and wall-climbing locomo...

Maurotoxin, a 34-amino acid toxin from Scorpio maurus scorpion venom, was examined for its ability to inhibit cloned human SK (SK1, SK2, and SK3), IK1, and Slo1 calcium-activated potassium (K(Ca)) channels. Maurotoxin was found to produce a potent inhibition of Ca(2+)-activated (86)Rb efflux (IC(50), 1.4 nM) and inwardly rectifying potassium currents (IC(50), 1 nM) in CHO cells stably expressin...