ALBERT

Notes: Biological damage to plants is commonly found from the Devonian but occurs most commonly from the Cretaceous. Damage inflicted on plants whilst they were alive may trigger a pathological response involving the growth of abnormal tissues. Much of the damage is caused by arthropods, particularly insects. Whilst some damage is non-taxon specific, such as simple feeding traces, other damage, such as leaf mines, galls or bark boring, may reveal the co-evolution of host specific taxa and the timing of such interactions. Damaged plants, particularly from the Cretaceous and Tertiary are described and illustrated. The geological history of the evolution of insect-related plant damage is briefly reviewed. Increased variety in the pathological response of plants is seen from the Cretaceous with the evolution of the angiosperms and diversification of numerous insect groups.

Notes: The effect of aerobic mesophilic microfloral concentration on the isolation of Listeria monocytogenes LM82 was studied in 31 (18 cheeses and 7 noncheese) retail foods having standard plate counts of 101 to 108 colony forming units (CFU)/g. Foods were spiked with L. monocytogenes and enriched at 30°C for 24 h in a selective enrichment broth used in a U.S. Food and Drug Administration method. Inoculum levels for isolation on modified McBride agar ranged from 0.1 to 〉 5 × 103 with a geometric mean value of 5 inoculated CFU/g or 1.4 CFU/g. Pure Enterococcus (Streptococcus) faecalis (0 to 6 × 106 inoculated CFU/mL) in the absence of food matrix had no effect on the enrichment of L. monocytogenes. Ease of isolation of LM82 was independent of the food microflora concentration both generally and in the specific food type of 9 Brie cheeses. Competition, when it occurs, therefore, may be due to specific bacterial competitors rather than bacterial numbers.

Notes: The effect of five herbicide safeners on preventing maize (Zea mays L.) injury by acetochlor [N-(2-ethyl-6-methyl-phenyl)-N-(ethoxymethyl)-chloroacetamide], their influence on herbicide uptake and metabolism to a glutathione (GSH) conjugate as well as on GSH content and glutathione S-transferase activity (GST) in untreated and herbicide with/without safener-pre-treated 4-day-old seedlings were determined. The safeners studied were: AD-67 (N-di-chloroacetyl-1-oxa-4-azaspiro-4-5-decane), BAS-145138 [1-dichloroacetyl-hexahydro-3,3,8a-trimethyl-pyrrolo(l,2-a)pyrimidin-6(2H)-one], dichlormid (N, A,-diallyl-2,2-dichlo-roacetamide), DKA-24 (N, N2-diallyl-N2dichloroacetylglycineamide) and MG-191 (2-dichloromethyl-2-methyl-1,3-dioxolane). All safeners significantly increased [14C]acetochlor uptake and metabolism rate, maize GSH content and GST activity. Seedlings receiving BAS-145138 pre-treatment metabolized almost 70% of the absorbed [14C]acetochlor within 10 min.Safener-enhanced GST activity was always found to be higher when [14C]acetochlor was used as the substrate compared with CDNB (1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene). Although DKA-24 had a significantly lower influence on both herbicide metabolism and GST activity, it was nearly as effective a safener as BAS-145138, while the others provided no or poor protection to maize from acetochlor injury when they were not incorporated in the soil. Effets d'antidotes sur la toxicité, la pénétration et le métabolisme de I'acétochlore chez le mats etsur l'activité glutathion S-transférase Cinq antidotes d'herbicides diminuaient la toxicité de 1'acétochlore [N-(2-éthyl-6-méthyl-phényl)-N-(éthoxyméthyl)-chloroacétamide] à I'égard du maïs (Zea mays L.). Lew effet sur l'absorption de l'herbicide et sur son métabolisme en un conjugué avec le glutathion (GSH), de même que leur effet sur la teneur en GSH et 1'activité glutathion 5-transférase (GST) ont étéétudiés sur des maïs âgés de 4 jours. Les antidotes étaient: l'AD-67 (N-dichloroacétyl-1-oxa-4-azaspiro-4,5-décane), le BAS-145138 [1 -dichloroacétyl-hexahydro-3,3,8a-triméthyl-pyrrolo(l,2-a) pyrimidine-6(2H)-one], le di-chlormide (N, N-diallyl-2,2-dichloracétamide), le DKA-24 (N, N2-diallyl-N2-dichloracétylgly-cineamide] et le MG-191 (2-dichlorométhyl-2-méthyl-l,3-dioxolane). Tous les antidotes augmentaient de manière significative 1'absorption et le métabolisme de I'acétochlore 14C, ainsi que la teneur du maïs en GSH et son activité GST. Les jeunes plantes prétraitées avec le BAS-145138 métabolisaient en 10 min près de 70% de I'acétochlore 14C absorbé. L'activité GST stimulée par 1'antidote était toujours plus élevée avec I'acétochlore 14C comme substrat qu'avec le CDNB (1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzène).Le DKA-24 avait un effet significativement plus faible que le BAS-145138 sur le métabolisme de l'herbicide et sur l'activité GSH, mais son action antidote était presque aussi importante. Les autres produits n'apportaient au maïs qu'une protection faible ou nulle contre l'acétochlore quand ils n'étaient pas incorporés au sol. Wirkung von Safenern auf die Phytotoxizität, Aufnahme und Metabolismus von Acetochlor und die Glutathion-S-Transferase-Aktivität in Mais Die Wirkung von 5 Safenern (AD-67, BAS-145138, Dichlormid, DKA-24 und MG-191; chemische Bezeichnungen s.o.) auf die Phytotoxizität von Acetochlor für Mais (Zea mays L.) und ihr Einfluß auf die Aufnahme des Herbizids und Metabolismus zu einem Glutathion-(GSH-) Konjugat und auf die Glutathion-S-Transferase-(GST-)Aktivität wurde an 4 Tage alten Keimpflanzen untersucht. Durch die Vorbehandlung mit den Safenern wurden die [14C]-Acetochlor-Aufnahme- und -Metabolierungsrate, der GSH-Gehalt und die GST-Ak-tivität signifikant erhöht. Mit BAS-145138 vorbehandelte Keimpflanzen metabolisierten fast 70% des absorbierten [14C]-Acetochlor innerhalb von 10 min. Die durch die Safener erhöhte GST-Aktivität bei [14C]-Acetochlor als Substrat war im Vergleich zu Chlordinitroben-zen immer höher. Obwohl DKA-24 einen signifikant geringeren Einfluß sowohl auf den Herbizidmetabolismus als auch auf die GST-Aktivität hatte, war es fast so wirkungsvoll wie BAS-145138, während die anderen ohne Einarbeitung in den Boden für den Mais keinen oder geringen Schutz gegen Schäden durch Acetochlor boten.

Notes: Increasing restrictions on sewage sludge disposal routes and the tightening of treatment requirements have led to an escalation of sludge-disposal costs which are out of proportion to other sewage-treatment costs: consequently reducing sludge volume is becoming increasingly cost-effective. Consolidation of anaerobically digested sludge has traditionally been difficult and takes many weeks in secondary digesters or deep storage tanks. Pre-aeration of the sludge using the Aercon process can enable consolidation to take place in days instead of weeks.This paper reports the results of a pilot-scale plant designed to investigate further the mechanism by which aeration speeds up consolidation. It was concluded that the rate of consolidation depended on aeration intensity and cooling of the sludge. Inhibition of anaerobiosis was more important than gas stripping in enhancing consolidation.

Notes: The angular variation of the median destructive field (MDF) of magnetite particles has been determined by subjecting anisotropic samples carrying an isothermal remanent magnetization (IRM) to static AF demagnetization, with the AF at an angle to the IRM. The alignment was produced by dispersing the magnetite particles in resin in the presence of a magnetic field thus making the sample anisotropic. After tumble demagnetization, an IRM in 80 mT was given to each sample along the alignment axis. 11 different particle sizes were used covering the range 0.7–82 μm. The results for all the samples are remarkably similar in that the MDF is smallest when the AF is applied parallel to the alignment axis and greatest when the AF is perpendicular to the axis. The results are also very similar to those found experimentally for single-domain ‘tape’ particles and indicate that the reversal mechanism even in the smallest particles is not by coherent reversal as in the Stoner-Wohlfarth model. The angular variation of the MDF for all the particle sizes is described quite well by a function derived by Aharoni for single-domain particles. The MDF at θ= 0 is found to be inversely proportional to the square root of the particle size.

Notes: Abstract Two derivatives of plasmid pAT153 which arose spontaneously in phosphate-limited continuous cultures of Escherichia coli HB101[pAT153] have been characterised. The smaller plasmid, pLAB446, resulted from a deletion of 446 base pairs of DNA covering the translation start and codon sequence of the tetracycline resistance gene. The other plasmid, pLAB135, differed from pAT153 only by an A:T to G:C transition in the transcribed but untranslated leader region of the tet gene which decreased tet transcription by 84%, possibly due to the formation of a more stable stem-loop structure in the mRNA.

Notes: Abstract Substitution of measured permeabilities into mathematical models of the concentrating mechanism of the renal inner medulla yields less than the known urine osmolalities. To gain a better understanding of the mechanism we analyse a model in which a force of unspecified origin [expressed as fraction, ɛ, of entering descending thin limb (DTL) concentration] drives fluid from DTL to interstitial vascular space (CORE), thus concentrating the solution in DTL. When flow in the DTL reverses at the hairpin bend of the loop of Henle, the high solute permeability of ascending thin limb (ATL) permits solute to diffuse into the CORE thus permitting ɛ to be multiplied many-fold. Behavior of the model is described by two non-linear differential equations. In the limit for infinite salt permeability of ATL the two equations reduce to a single equation that is formally identical with that for the Hargitay and Kuhn multiplier, which assumes fluid transport directly from DTL to ATL (Z. Electrochem. Angew. Phys. Chem. 55, 539, 1951). Solutions of the equations describing the model with parameters taken from perfused thin limbs show that urine osmolalities of the order of 5000 mosm L−1 can be generated by forces of the order of 20 mosm L−1. It seems probable that mammals including desert rodents use some variant of this basic mechanism for inner medullary concentration.

Notes: Abstract We discuss an intriguing geometric algorithm which generates infinite spiral patterns of packed circles in the plane. Using Kleinian group and covering theory, we construct a complex parametrization of all such patterns and characterize those whose circles have mutually disjoint interiors. We prove that these ‘coherent’ spirals, along with the regular hexagonal packing, give all possible hexagonal circle packings in the plane. Several examples are illustrated.