Subclinical Infection in Leprosy

Lymphocyte transformation has been used to study the immune response to Mycobacterium leprae among contacts and non-contacts of leprosy patients. Of 26 subjects living in a leprosy endemic area for less than two months none responded to M. leprae; 24% of subjects who had lived in an endemic area for more than a year gave a positive response to M. leprae; more than 50% of individuals with occupational contact of leprosy for more than a year responded; and about 50% of contacts of tuberculoid and treated lepromatous patients responded to M. leprae, while only 22% (4/18) of contacts of lepromatous patients treated for less than six months responded.It seems that leprosy is more highly infectious than is indicated by the prevalence of the disease and that a subclinical infection commonly follows exposure to M. leprae. The relatively low response found in contacts of active lepromatous patients suggests that in these contacts “superexposure” to M. leprae can bring about a decrease in host resistance.     

The only elements required by plants that are deficient in seawater are nitrogen,phosphorous and iron

It has been known for some time that mangroves grow in the intertidal areas of desert countries where fresh water flows into the sea, but this phenomenon has not been understood. In Eritrea we observed that mangroves grow where infrequent rains flow into the Red Sea. We theorized that the fresh water must bring elements needed for plant growth that are absent in seawater. We compared the composition of seawater to that of Zarrouk’s algae medium. All the elements in algae medium are in sufficient quantity in seawater except for nitrogen, phosphorous and iron. If we supply these elements we can grow any plant that can grow in seawater. We have also begun planting plants that can grow in sea water in the Sahara desert with sea water irrigation and fertilization with nitrogen, phosphorus and iron. We believe this will be major step in reducing hunger and poverty in the world.     

Diversity of lepidopteran stem borers on monocotyledonous plants in eastern Africa and the islands of Madagascar and Zanzibar revisited

Surveys were completed in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda and Zanzibar to assess the lepidopteran stem borer species diversity on wild host plants. A total of 24,674 larvae belonging to 135 species were collected from 75 species of wild host plants belonging to the Poaceae, Cyperaceae and Typhaceae. Amongst them were 44 noctuid species belonging to at least nine genera, 33 crambids, 15 pyralids, 16 Pyraloidea species not yet identified, 25 tortricids and three cossids. The noctuid larvae represented 73.6% of the total number of larvae collected, with 66.3, 3.5 and 3.8% found on Poaceae, Cyperaceae and Typhaceae, respectively. The Crambidae, Pyralidae, Tortricidae and Cossidae represented 19.8, 1.9, 2.5 and 0.1% of the total larvae collected, respectively, with 90.4% of the Crambidae and Pyralidae collected from Poaceae, and 99.7% of the Tortricidae collected from Cyperaceae. The lepidopteran stem borer species diversity in the wild host plants was far more diverse than previously reported.     

The manzanar project: Towards a solution to poverty, hunger, environmental pollution, and global warming through sea water aquaculture and silviculture in deserts

Summary Dr. Gordon Sato is a former Editor-in-Chief of In Vitro Cellular and Developmental Biology, President of the Tissue Culture Association (now Society for In Vitro Biology), and Director of the W. Alton Jones Cell Science Center (now Adirondack Biomedical Center). He began pilot experiments on the Manzanar Project at test sites in the Salton Sea while a Professor of Biology at the University of California, San Diego and continued the project in the laboratory at the Cell Center in Lake Placid, NY and at Eritrean test sites during their war of independence. Since 1994, he spends up to 10 mo. per yr in Eritrea where he directs the Manzanar Project and trains young Eritrean scientists in the field in the area of what he refers to as “low-tech biotech.” The name of the Manzanar Project was inspired by the camp in California where Dr. Sato and his family were interned during World War II.—The Editor