Don C. Ohadike: The Man, his Intellectual Legacy and African Historiography

It is difficult to completely understand the life history of an intellectual excluding an understanding of his family upbringing and formative years. Family upbringing and childhood environment, often the less known part of a life history, play crucial roles in shaping the ideas and values individuals espouse in their adult life. Notwithstanding, this paper is not concerned with Don C. Ohadike’s childhood. It rather focuses on the professional career of our able historian – that is the part of his life as revealed by his most outstanding published writings. Ohadike’s published works contain a wellspring of idioms that tell much about his values, quality of mind, and his mission as an African historian. Ohadike was a humanist, an African patriot, and a nationalist crusader. His entire philosophy centered on safeguarding his African identity in an emergent world of cultural imperialism. The funds for this research were provided by a NEH-funded fellowship at the Schomburg Center, New York in the Spring of 2007. I owe a lot of gratitude to Professor John McLeod and Dean Blaine Hudson for granting me the extra incentives to pursue my research in New York. While all errors and misinterpretations are mine, I wish to thank the editors and anonymous reviewers for Journal of Dialectical Anthropology for their perspective comments and suggestions on earlier drafts of this paper.     

The real objective of Mendel's paper: A response to Monaghan and Corcos

Mendel's work in hybridization is ipso facto a study in inheritance. He is explicit in his interest to formulate universal generalizations, and at least in the case of the independent segregation of traits, he formulated his conclusions in the form of a law. Mendel did not discern, however, the inheritance of traits from that of the potential for traits. Choosing to study discrete non-overlapping traits, this did not hamper his efforts.     

Habitat and population size of the coelacanth Latimeria chalumnae at Grand Comoro

Synopsis In 1987 and 1989 coelacanths were observed for the first time in their natural habitat with the help of submersibles. Coelacanths were found between 150–253 m depth, their preferential depth seems to be around 200 m; the water temperature ranged between 16.5–22.8° C. During the day coelacanths aggregate in small non-aggressive groups in sheltered lava-caves. Caves might be a limiting factor for distribution. At night they leave the caves for hunting by drifting singly along the steep lava slopes. They migrate between different caves located within a large home range covering more than 8 km coastline. Coelacanths are site-attached, some for a period of at least 2 years. Our own observations and earlier catch records show that only the west coast of Grand Comoro is a suitable coelacanth habitat with more structural complexity and prey fish abundance than other coastlines of the island. From our survey we estimated a total coelacanth population off Grand Comoro to be 150–210 individuals; a saturated population would be 370–510 individuals. This small relict population seems to be stable. International protection of coelacanths against commercial interests is needed     

Long-term survival of human rotavirus in raw and treated river water

This study was aimed at assessing the role of water as a vehicle for rotavirus spread by determining how well these viruses survive in the water environment. A cell culture adapted strain of human rotavirus subgroup 2, grown in MA-104 cells, was used as a model. Virus survival was tested in the following types of water samples, derived from the Ottawa River, at two different times of the year: (i) raw water (RW), (ii) muncipally treated tap water (TW), and (iii) raw water that had been filtered (FW) through a membrane (0.22 micron). The water samples, with approximately 5.0 X 10(4) plaque-forming units (PFU) of the virus, were held at either 4 or 20 degrees C and tested for infectious virus over a period of 64 days. The TW samples had a total and free chlorine content of 0.05 and less than 0.05 mg/L, respectively. The chlorine in these samples was not neutralized before virus contamination. Irrespective of the holding temperature, the virus titre in FW remained essentially unaltered throughout the test period. In TW held at 4 degrees C, there was no significant drop in the virus titre even after 64 days, whereas at 20 degrees C the titre in TW was reduced by about 2 log10 over the same period. Even though the loss of virus infectivity was most rapid in RW held at 20 degrees C, it took about 10 days for a 99.0% reduction in the plaque titre of the virus. These findings, therefore, indicate that rotaviruses can survive for several days in raw and treated river water thus making recreational and potable waters potential vehicles for the transmission of rotavirus infections.     

Foraminifers from the uppermost devonian and the dinantian of the rhenish massif (Federal Republic of Germany)

Foraminifers from typical Kulm environments are described from 4 localities at the eastern and northern border of the Rhenish Massif: aQuasiendothyra fauna of uppermost Devonian age (Famennian); a Chernyshinellinae fauna of the lower Dinantian Cf1 Zone (middle Tournaisian); upper Dinantian foraminifers from the Cf4δ to Cf6γ Zones (Middle and Upper Viséan). The foraminifer assemblages of the Cf6 Zone (V3b + c), in theGoniatites crenistria schmidtianus toNeoglyphioceras spirale Subzones, seem to be variegated in Germany and Belgium, but they are definitively poorer than contemporaneous faunes in the British Isles and the Russian Platform.     

The carotenoid pigments in the juice and flavedo of a mandarin hybrid (Citrus reticulata) cv michal during ripening

The carotenoid pigments ofthe mandarin hybrid (Citrus reticulata) cv Michal, in the juice and flavedo were characterized at three ripening stages, before, during and after colour break. During ripening the characteristic mandarin pattern was formed in the juice, which contained cryptoxanthin as the principal pigment. In the flavedo the chloroplast carotenoid pattern of the green fruit changed into the characteristic pattern of C. reticulata with a high level of citraurin which, together with cryptoxanthin, imparts an intensive reddish tint to the hybrid. The flavedo contained an unusual C₃₀ apocarotenoid, β-citraurinene (8′-apo-β-caroten-3-ol). The flavedo carotenoids of this accidental hybrid were compared with the carotenoids of the presumed parents Dancy tangerine and Clementine. The hybrid resembles more the second parent, from which it inherited the ability to biosynthesize a higher amount of citraurin as well as citraurinene. Citraurinene, considered a Citrus hybrid-specific pigment, was found for the first time in a Citrus variety. A possible biosynthetic pathway of the Citrus C₃₀ -apocarotenoids is proposed.     

Reproductive anatomy, manipulation of ovarian activity and non-surgical embryo recovery in suni (Neotragus moschatus zuluensis)

Marked disparity in the uterine horn dimensions and relative degrees of caruncle development in suni suggested that exclusive or predominant dextral implantation occurs in association with bilateral ovulatory activity. Daily urinary measurements of pregnanediol-3 alpha-glucuronide revealed an oestrous cycle of approximately 21 days in length. Ovarian activity was controlled for synchronization of oestrus by using progestagen-impregnated intravaginal sponges and multiple ovulations were induced by using exogenous gonadotrophin therapy. An effective transcervical uterine catheterization technique was developed for the non-surgical collection of embryos. The efficiency of embryo recovery performed 5 days after sponge removal was 50.0%.     

A new cyclodextrin-agar medium for surface cultivation of microbes on lipophilic substrates

Summary Inclusion of cyclodextrins into an agar gel enabled a homogenous incorporation of water-immiscible lipophilic organic liquids and solids as substrates for surface microbial growth or conversion. Surface cultivation ofCandida lipolytica andC. tropicalis was demonstrated in and-cyclodextrin/hexadecane-agar media.