Pollinators, Predators and Parasites by Clarke Scholtz, Hennie de Klerk, and Jenny Scholtz
Professor Clarke Scholtz amongst other authors has published a book titled Pollinators, Predators and Parasites. The book is significant to the University of Pretoria, specifically in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, because it can be used as a source when doing research on pollinators, predators and parasites.
Social Insects Research Group (SIRG) at the University of Pretoria
Professor Robin Crewe has started a Social Insects Research Group. The research group is under the direction of Professor Christian Pirk, and studies social insects. Prof. Crewe has done extensive research on social insects. His most recent research is based on chemical communication and social organisation in honey bees and ants, specifically in respect to worker reproductive regulation. More on his research can be found here: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4398-8250
Battle of the sexes? by Professor Robert Miller
Professor Robert Miller published a paper in a journal called Neuroendocrinology. In the paper, he discusses how male and female species have different outcomes when it comes to COVID-19. The research focuses on the role that sex hormones play on the severity of the virus. To read more on this research, use the link https://www.up.ac.za/research-matters/news/post_2968510-covid-19-are-men-the-weaker-sex-
Professor Bernard Slippers at the UP FABI
Professor Bernard Slipper’s book titled The Sirex Woodwasp and its Fungal Symbiont: Research and Management of a Worldwide Invasive Pest, recently made it to the FABI Website, which is one of the leading research websites for universities. The book looks at research on the Sirex Noctilio, which is one of the invasive alien insect pests of Southern Hemisphere plantations.
UP receives R6m worth of funding for ground-breaking Cancer research
The Faculty of Health Sciences researchers of the Centre of Neuroendocrinology at the University of Pretoria each received +-R3 million worth of funding from the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC). UP Research Matters revealed that Professor Robert Millar will use his funding towards furthering his research on prostate cancer and discover affordable and sustainable techniques to apply in the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer. On the other hand, UP Research Matters News revealed that the other researcher, Dr Iman van den Bout, aims to use his funding to “develop the first breast cancer organoid biobank” which is said to also enable the provision of affordable and advanced ways in the diagnosis of breast cancer for the South African healthcare system.
Unboxing Lightning by Prof. Ryan Blumenthal
University of Pretoria’s forensic pathologist, Professor Ryan Blumenthal, detailed how people or animals are struck by lightning.
Prof, Blumenthal’s recent research reveals that most lightning strike related injuries and casualties are due to various “lightning attachment mechanisms”, as laid out on the UP Research Matters website:
Touch potential is the indirect lightning strike that occurs when a person or an animal touches a conducting object (usually metallic) that has been struck by lightning prior.
Side flash happens when a tall object like a tree is struck by lightning and it “bounces off” to the person or animal near it.
Upward streamers occur when the electric field of the lightning moves downwards from the sky and then back up from the ground. When a person is stuck by this mechanism, the electric currents carry out the motion described in their body causing serious injury to internal organs or worse, death.
Lastly, Barotrauma, which is as a result of a person being very close to the lightning striking point and the shock waves from the lightning channel strike the victim, causing excessive damage to their limbs and organs. The study of lightning’s effects is known as keraunomedicine/keraunopathology.
UP contributes to the funding of a digital Science Magazine, Nature Africa
According to the UP website, Nature Africa is an online magazine that will report on scientific news and discoveries on the African continent. The University of Pretoria forms part of the South African universities consortium that made it possible for the online magazine to be published. The magazine is published in English and French and is accessible for free on the internet. The UP website further reveals Prof. Tawana Kupe’s motivations and excitement for the university to be a part of the funding contributors. Prof. Kupe highlights the importance of the access to scientific breakthroughs in Africa being accessible and easy-to-read by all Africans, giving an example of the discovery of “new potent chemical compounds that show potential as candidates for both the treatment and elimination of malaria”.
A study in honey by Prof. Robin Crewe
Professor Robin Crewe is an academically acclaimed researcher of bees and their habitats. He has authored over 140 articles in peer-reviewed journals, 15 papers in beekeeping journals, three book chapters, and one book, as well as numerous presentations at scientific conferences. His current research focuses on chemical communication and social structure in honeybees and ants, especially worker reproductive regulation. His interest lies in the way bees communicate and their livelihoods, which falls under the research branch of chemical communication systems in insects. In his researcher profile, he revealed that a person is more likely to be stung by a bee if they provoke it by swinging at it than they are if they were to ignore the bee.
Image: Madeeha Hazarvi
Political Science II
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I am a student and before I do anything I ask myself 'would an idiot do that' And if the answer is yes, I do not do that thing.