ALBERT

Notes: An organism diversity index for use with mixed liquor or wastewater samples was developed to assess the species richness and diversity of activated sludge. The index was used in several studies and was found to be fast and simple to perform using basic laboratory equipment. Two bench-scale and two pilot-scale studies found that the resulting ‘organism diversity index’value was a good indicator of process performance and was not influenced by the total concentration of the mixed-liquor suspended solids but by their nature alone. The technique rapidly yielded pertinent information about the health of the sludge and could be used instead of genetic investigations to obtain population information quickly enough for wastewater-treatment plant process control.

Notes: This paper examines the relationship between the Chief Executive of a CO-operative retail society and his Board of Directors. It takes for its starting point three critical activities of the Chief Executive, i.e. the achievement of society objectives; the maintenance of the internal stability of the society and the adaptation of the society to the external environment.Two factors which influence the performance of these activities are the Chief Executive's orientation to society performance and his relationship with his Board.The Chief Executive will tend to be inward-outward in orientation. Factors affecting this will be his previous task experience and organisational experience of which two aspects are important (a) time—the length of service a t lower and middle management level and (b) structure—the degree of delegation. These will affect the Chief Executive Officer's ability to deal with uncertainty in the environment, A third influential factor will be the attitudes and expectations of his Board which will be structured by their perception of democratic control. Finally the nature of the environment will affect the Chief Executive's orientation and his flexibility.In dealing with the problems which face him the Chief Executive is influenced by his reference points, i.e. by the degree of internalisation of co-operative values, and by his beliefs about the rightness of previous decisions.His decision-making is influenced by the interaction of his beliefs and those of his Board and by the depth to which they are held. These beliefs may be seen in two parts, first, relating to the nature of co-operative enterprise and secondly, to the method by which the co-operative enterprise is controlled.Contributing to the depth of internalisation of co-operative beliefs would appear to be their social and political backgrounds. Additional factors for the Chief Executive Officer include length of service in the co-operative movement, non-co-operative experience and his commitment to :managerial values'.On the basis of the differing orientations of the persons concerned, it is possible to hypothesise the development of certain decision-making situations.

Notes: Broccoli is well recognized as a source of glucosinolates and their isothiocyanate breakdown products. Glucoraphanin is one of the most abundant glucosinolates present in broccoli and its cognate isothiocyanate is sulphoraphane, a potent inducer of mammalian detoxication (phase 2) enzyme activity and anti-cancer agent. This study was designed to measure: glucosinolate levels in broccoli florets from an array of genotypes grown in several environments; the elevation of a key phase 2 enzyme, quinone reductase, in mammalian cells exposed to floret extracts; and total broccoli head content. There were significant environmental and genotype-by-environment effects on levels of glucoraphanin and quinone reductase induction potential of broccoli heads; however, the effect of genotype was greater than that of environmental factors. The relative rankings among genotypes for glucoraphanin and quinone reductase induction potential changed, when expressed on a per head basis, rather than on a concentration basis. Correlations of trait means in one environment vs. means from a second were stronger for glucoraphanin and quinone reductase induction potential on a per head basis than on a fresh weight concentration basis. Results of this study indicate that development of a broccoli phenotype with a dense head and a high concentration of glucoraphanin to deliver maximum chemoprotective potential (high enzyme induction potential/glucoraphanin content) is a feasible goal.

Notes: Atrazine [2-chloro-4-(ethylaminol-6-(isopropyl-amino)-s-triazine] resistant biotypes of lamb's quarters (Chenopodium athum L) were reported in the maize growing areas of Ontario, where the herbicide had been used fur a number of years. Field samples from four locations proved tolerant to higber than recommended rates of atrazine in controlled environment screening trials. A resistant biotype was not killed with up to 40 kg/ha atrazine. Diuron at 5 x10-5 M inhibited the Hill reaction with isolated chloroplasts of resisiant and susceptible biotypes of lamb's-quarters. However, with 10-4 M atrazine, the photochemical activity was inhibited in chloroplasts isolated from the susceptible biotype but not in chloroplasts from the resisiant biotype. With maize chloroplasts, inhibition with 10-4 M atrazine was the same as with the susceptible biotype of lamb's-quarters. These studies suggested that a new mechanism of intraspecific resistance in lamb's quarters to atrazine was involved, other than differences in uptake, translocation and metabolism reported with interspecific comparisons involving the s-triazines and other herbicides, It was also concluded that atrazine and diuron did not have precisely the same mechanism of action as photosynthetic inhibitors with lamb's-quarters, and that external and or internal structure or function of chloroplasts in relation to atrazine inhibition can vary significantly even in biotypes of the same species.