Antifungal versus antibacterial defence of insect wings.

Hypothesis: The ability exhibited by insect wings to resist microbial infestation is a unique feature developed over 400 million years of evolution in response to lifestyle and environmental pressures. The self-cleaning and antimicrobial properties of insect wings may be attributed to the unique combination of nanoscale structures found on the wing surface.

Experiments: In this study, we characterised the wetting characteristics of superhydrophobic damselfly Calopteryx haemorrhoidalis wings.

Biomedical studies on temporal bones of the first multi-channel cochlear implant patient at the University of Melbourne.

Objective: To analyse the temporal bones and implant of the first University of Melbourne's (UOM) patient (MC-1) to receive the multi-channel cochlear prosthesis.

Methods: The left cochlea was implanted with the prototype multi-channel cochlear prosthesis on 1 August 1978, and the Cochlear versions CI-22 and CI-24 on 22 June 1983 and 10 November 1998, respectively. MC-1 died in 2007.

Divalent cations stabilize the aggregation of sulfated in the adhesive nanofibers of the biofouling diatom Toxarium undulatum.

A species of marine diatom, Toxarium undulatum, has emerged as a problematic biofouler of contemporary environmentally benign marine coatings. Previous analyses by atomic force microscopy (AFM) showed the cell-substratum adhesive of this alga contained macromolecules with a modular protein backbone assembled into nanofibers in which the domains of the macromolecules folded and unfolded in a co-ordinated manner. In the present study, we investigated further the composition and properties of the adhesive.