Autogamy in Allogromia laticollaris (Foraminifera)

SYNOPSIS. The life cycles of 2 strains of Allogromia laticollaris (CSH and TPA) raised on experimentally restricted diets have been studied. Cloned cultures of the strains differed in nutritional requirements for continuous reproduction. The TPA strain was more fecund. Both strains have a basically apogamic (asexual) life cycle; only occasionally were gamonts (sexually reproducing individuals) produced. They were autogamous (self-fertilizing) and fusion of the gametes took place within the parental test.
We found in CSH clones a regular alternation of vesicularly nucleated and compactly multinucleated diploid generations. The details of the life cycle of either strain are not known well enough to be able to construct life cycle diagrams more meaningful than that of Arnold. The 2 strains studied differ in cytologic and nuclear detail from each other and from the strain studied by Arnold.     

Designs Made in the Free Brush Manner

In this article, the author examines the current arts education policies in the United States through the lens of Matthew Arnold's work and prose during his time as one of Her Majesty's School Inspectors in England and Wales in the nineteenth century. Arnold argued for government funding of public school systems, setting standards of quality for teacher education, and many other issues that still affect us today. His passion for a liberal education that included everyone, reinforced by his belief in the moral and humanistic goals that could be reached through an education in the arts, helped open the public schools to the humanities that we teach today. The author provides a valuable overview of what Arnold saw, not only in the English and Welsh schools but also in the French and German approach to education. Finally, the author leaves us with a concise list of what Arnold can teach us today about arts education.     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed in this article:
Restoration Ecology in Europe Krystyna M. Urbanska and Krystyna Grodzinskn, editors
Ecology and Management of Invasive Riverside Plants Louise C. de Wnal, Lois E. Child, P. Max Wnde, and Joint H. Brock, editors
Restoring Prairie Wetlands: An Ecological Approach Susan G. Galatowitsch and Arnold G. van der Valk     

A new species of Ocotea (Lauraceae) from French Guiana

A new species ofOcotea,O. diffusa van der Werff, is described and illustrated based on recent collections from French Guiana and adjacent Brazil.     

Charles Stacy French: A tribute

Charles Stacy French, one of the great men of photosynthesis research, died on 13 October 1995. He received his PhD at Harvard University where he associated with William Arnold, Caryl Haskins, later president of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, and Pei-Sung Tang. He did early work on the photosynthesis of photosynthetic bacteria with Robert Emerson and later with Otto Warburg. French worked for three years with James Franck in Chicago. His associates there included Hans Gaffron, Robert Livingston, Warren Butler and Roderick Clayton. After spending three years at the University of Minnesota he became the director of the Department of Plant Biology of the Carnegie Institution of Washington and remained there until he retired in 1973. French's research career at the Carnegie Institution was marked by the development of novel and ingenious pieces of equipment such as the French pressure cell used to prepare chloroplast particles to measure partial reactions of photosynthesis. He developed the first recording fluorescence spectrophotometer and demonstrated efficient energy transfer between certain photosynthetically-active pigments, a spectrophotometer that measured the first derivative of absorbance, as well as a novel analog computer to show that complex absorption curves in living plants are produced by a number of distinct forms of chlorophyll occurring in vivo. French used the Blinks rate-measuring oxygen electrode to measure action spectra of oxygen evolution by photosynthesis automatically. He and Jack Myers did some of the pioneering work on the Emerson effect showing the necessary cooperation of two photosystems in photosynthesis. French used the Carnegie Institution's fellowship program to bring large numbers of scientists from around the world to his laboratory. When Stacy French died in 1995, the field of photosynthesis lost one of its great and early pioneers.This is CIW/DPB publication No. 1314.     

About Bill Arnold, my father

This is a daughter's perspective on Bill Arnold. It is based on recollections of both my parents and is a brief story of Bill's life and his delight in being a scientist.     

On being an honorary member of Arny’s army: some musings about fungal fermentations,secondary metabolism,and scientific communities

This essay is an unabashed celebration of applied microbiology and secondary metabolism, and how one scientist—Arnold Demain—has been a spokesman for industrial microbiology and biotechnology. There are many reasons for Arny’s professional success. During his long and distinguished career, Arnold Demain has expanded and enriched our understanding of the importance secondary metabolism. He has studied topics that ranged from pickles, to pectinolytic enzymes, to penicillin. His experimental versatility was conducted under the unifying theme of fermentation microbiology. In addition, one of his most positive achievements was his ability to bring scientists from different disciplines and national backgrounds together and thereby nucleate new collaborations. I am one of many people who has benefited from Arny’s generous mentoring and speak from the heart when I say that industrial microbiology could not have a better representative. Arny has been the catalyst for much of that has gone right in my professional life and the lives of the many other applied microbiologists who have had the good fortune to know him.     

VARIABLE SELECTION ON THE TIMING OF GERMINATION IN COLLINSIA VERNA (SCROPHULARIACEAE)

Natural selection on the timing of seed germination was investigated in a natural population of the winter annual Collinsia verna (Scrophulariaceae) for two years. The goal was to quantify 1) the importance of the timing of seed germination to life history evolution in this population and 2) variation in selection in time and space. During fall germination, seedlings were assigned to cohorts on the basis of their dates of germination. Growth, survivorship, and reproduction were censused throughout both years. Selection on the timing of germination was quantified using linear and quadratic regressions during three ecologically important periods in the life cycle, using the techniques of Lande and Arnold (1983) and Arnold and Wade (1984a, 1984b). Comparisons were made between years and on two spatial scales within years. Overall, selection favored early-germinating plants in the first year. The primary determinant of the relationship of the timing of germination to fitness was fecundity selection, rather than viability selection on seedlings. Fecundity selection was respondible for from 54% to 80% of the change in the mean time of germination. Significant disruptive selection characterized the second field season, again mediated mainly through fecundity selection. There was also temporal and spatial heterogeneity in selection on this character. Transects and quadrats differed significantly in the direction and magnitude of natural selection. In addition, the direction of selection changed between episodes for the transects. The results illustrate the importance of the timing of germination to life-history evolution in this annual plant and the complex action of natural selection on this character.     

Caloplaca awasthii, a new lichen species from India

The warm, dry climate in central India provides suitable conditions for the growth of many crustose lichens, including Caloplaca species. A new species, Caloplaca awasthii Joshi, Y. & Upreti, is described from this region, where it is found growing in rocky areas of Madhya Pradesh (Bedinagar Hills and Bhimbetka) and Rajasthan (Mount Abu). The new taxon belongs to the section Gasparrinia and is characterized by the presence of blastidia, but lacks apothecia and pycnidia. It is a saxicolous species and is similar to C. decipiens (Arnold) Blomb. & Fross., but differs in having blastidia instead of soredia which are present in C. decipiens. Another closely related species, C. fuerteventurae van den Boom & Etayo, belonging to the C. flavescens complex, differs from the new taxon in having numerous apothecia and citriform spores.  © 2007 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 2007, 155 , 149–152.     

Human attitudes towards herpetofauna: The influence of folklore and negative values on the conservation of amphibians and reptiles in Portugal

Background

Human values and folklore of wildlife strongly influence the effectiveness of conservation efforts. These values and folklore may also vary with certain demographic characteristics such as gender, age, or education. Reptiles and amphibians are among the least appreciated of vertebrates and are victims of many negative values and wrong ideas resulting from the direct interpretation of folklore. We try to demonstrate how these values and folklore can affect the way people relate to them and also the possible conservation impacts on these animals.

Methods

A questionnaire survey distributed to 514 people in the district of Évora, Portugal, was used to obtain data regarding the hypothesis that the existence of wrong ideas and negative values contributes to the phenomenon of human-associated persecution of these animals. A structural equation model was specified in order to confirm the hypothesis about the possible relationships between the presence of perceptions and negative values about amphibians and reptiles and persecution and anti-conservation attitudes. Sociodemographic variables were also added.

Results

The results of the model suggest that the presence of folklore and negative values clearly predicts persecution and anti-conservation attitudes towards amphibians and reptiles. Also, the existence of folklore varies sociodemographically, but negative values concerning these animals are widespread in the population.

Conclusions

With the use of structural equation models, this work is a contribution to the study of how certain ideas and values can directly influence human attitudes towards herpetofauna and how they can be a serious conservation issue.     

Stories and photographs of William A. Arnold (1904–2001), a pioneer of photosynthesis and a wonderful friend

William A. Arnold discovered many phenomena in photosynthesis. In 1932, together with Robert Emerson, he provided the first experimental data that led to the concept of a large antenna and a few reaction centers (photosynthetic unit); in 1935, he obtained the minimum quantum requirement of 8–10 for the evolution of one O₂ molecule; in 1951, together with Bernard L. Strehler, he discovered delayed fluorescence (also known as delayed light emission) in photosynthetic systems; and in 1956, together with Helen Sherwood, he discovered thermoluminescence in plants. He is also known for providing a solid-state picture of photosynthesis. Much has been written about him and his research, including many articles in a special issue of Photosynthesis Research (Govindjee et al. (eds.) 1996); and a biography of Arnold, by Govindjee and Srivastava (William Archibald Arnold (1904–2001), 2014), in the Biographical Memoirs of the US National Academy of Sciences, (Washington, DC). Our article here offers a glimpse into the everyday life, through stories and photographs, of this remarkable scientist.     

On peasants and 'Primitive Peoples': Moments of rapprochement and distance between folklore studies and anthropology in the Netherlands

Fruitful exchanges of ideas existed between early 20th century anthropology (volkenkunde) and folklore studies (volkskunde) in the Netherlands. Folklorists proposed using the fieldwork methods and comparative approach of ethnography. Anthropologists thought folklore studies might be able to shed light on survivals of earlier stages in their own society. During the 1930s, however, anthropologists turned their backs on the evolutionist paradigm, while in the wake of National Socialism and its quest for a common Germanic race and culture folklorists limited their cross-cultural comparisons to Europe. Cultural politics in Germany and other European countries in the 1930s and early 1940s directed the concepts, methods and institutionalization of folklore studies, and consequently led to a distancing from the concepts and practice of cultural anthropology.     

Determining aphid taxonomic affinities and life cycles with molecular data: a case study of the tribe Cerataphidini (Hormaphididae:Aphidoidea: Hemiptera)

Aphid taxonomy is often frustrated by the host alternation and extensive polyphenism displayed by many species. Here we examine the utility of using molecular data to assist in life cycle and taxonomic determination. We found that a relatively small amount of DNA sequence data can greatly assist in these tasks. Molecular data have identified the synonymy of five species: Tuberaphis plicator (Noordam) is a junior synonym of T.takenouchii (Takahashi), T.taiwana (Takahashi) is a junior synonym of T.coreana Takahashi, Hamiltonaphis styraci (Matsumura) is transferred to Tuberaphis Takahashi, Astegopteryx roepkei Hille Ris Lambers is transferred to Ceratoglyphina van der Goot, and A.vandermeermohri Hille Ris Lambers is transferred to Cerataphis Lichtenstein. We have elucidated the complete life cycles of five species: A.basalis (van der Goot) alternates between Styrax benzoin and bamboos, Ceratoglyphina bambusae van der Goot alternates between S.benzoin and bamboos, Pseudoregma sundanica (van der Goot) alternates between S.paralleloneura and Zingiberaceae, T.coreana alternates between S.formosana and Loranthaceae, and T.takenouchii alternates between S.japonica and Loranthaceae. In all cases the molecular data agreed with available morphological data. This analysis demonstrates the utility of DNA sequence comparisons for elucidating complex life cycles and the taxonomy of difficult insect groups.     

Charles-Edouard Brown-Séquard: an eventful life and a significant contribution to the study of the nervous system

This is an account of the life of a 19th-century physiologist who was born in 1817 in Port-Louis (Mauritius Island, formerly 'Ile de France') and died in Paris in 1894. His mother tongue, education and medical training were French, but as the 'Ile de France' had become British a few years before his birth, he was a British citizen and therefore ineligible for a permanent position in a French institution. This explains, partly at least, his eventful life, during which he restlessly wandered during several decades between France, the United States, Great Britain and Mauritius, without ever finding a position that would satisfy him. This difficult period lasted until 1879 when, having finally acquired French nationality, he succeeded Claude Bernard in the chair of experimental medicine at the 'Collège de France'. Some of his contributions to the physiology of the nervous system are analysed: sensory pathways in the spinal cord, vasoconstrictor innervation, nervous inhibition and experimental epilepsy.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article: Australian Dreaming. 40.000 years of Aboriginal History . Edited by Jennifer Isaacs Radio Power. A History of 3ZZ Access Radio . By Joan Dugdale Department of Anthropology, University of Western Australia Introduction to Australian Society: A Sociological Perspective . By Donald Edgar The New South Wales Wheat Frontier. 1851 to 1911 . By M. E. Robinson Department of Anthropology, University of Sydney. Heroin in Australia . By David Hirst Department of Anthropology and Sociology, University of Queensland. The Quest for Gaia. A Book of Changes . By Kit Pedler Drinking Careers. Occupations, Drinking Habits, and Drinking Problems . By Martin A. Plant Northern Territory Department of Health, Darwin. Families in Former Times: Kinship, Household and Sexuality . By Jean-Louis Flandrin. Translated by Richard Southern Changing Images of the Family . Edited by Virginia Tufte and Barbara Myerhoff Department of Anthropology, Western Australian Museum. Give and Take. Exchange in Wola Society . By Paul Sillitoe Department of Prehistory and Anthropoloy, S.G.S. Caste: The Emergence of the South Asian Social System . By Morton Klass David Mearns Department of Anthropology, University of Adelaide. Anthropological Structures of Madness in Black Africa . By I. Sow. Translated by Joyce Diamenti Basic Problems of Ethnopsychiatry . By George Devereux Department of Anthropology, University of Otago. Who Should Know What? Social Science, Privacy and Ethics . By J. A. Barnes Department of Sociology, University of N.S.W. Arnold Van Gennep. The Creator of French Ethnography . By Nicole Belmont Department of Prehistory anrf Anthropology, Australian National University. Man, Mind, and Science. A History of Anthropology . By Murray J. Leaf Department of Sociology, University of N.S.W. The Conceptualisation and Explanation of Processes of Social Change . Edited by David Riches School of Behavioural Sciences, Macquarie University. Day of Shining Red. An Essay on Understanding Ritual . By Gilbert Lewis Department of Prehistory and Anthropology, Australian National University. Living Archaeology . By R. A. Gould. New Department of Prehistory and Archaeology, University of New England Experimental Determinatiou of Stone Tool Uses: A Microwear Analysis . By Lawrence H. Keeley Division of Prehistory, La Trobe University. Archaeological Constructs. An Aspect of Theoretical Archaeology . By Jean-Claude Gardin Division of Prehistory, La Trobe University. The Performing Arts. Music and Dance . Edited by John Blacking and Joann W. Kealiinohomoku Department of Sociology, University of New England.     

Evidence for long‐term change in length,mass and migration phenology of anadromous spawners in French Atlantic salmon Salmo salar

This study provides new data on Atlantic salmon Salmo salar life‐history traits across France. Using a long‐term recreational angling database (1987–2013) covering 34 rivers in three regions (genetic units), a decline in individual length, mass and a delayed adult return to French rivers was reported. Temporal similarities in trait variations between regions may be attributed to common change in environmental conditions at sea. The relative rate of change in phenotypic traits was more pronounced in early maturing fish [1 sea‐winter (1SW) fish] than in late maturing fish (2SW fish). Such contrasted response within populations highlights the need to account for the diversity in life histories when exploring mechanisms of phenotypic change in S. salar. Such detailed life‐history data on returning S. salar have not previously been reported from France. This study on French populations also contributes to reducing the gap in knowledge by providing further empirical evidence of a global pattern in S. salar across its distribution range. Results are consistent with the hypothesis that the observed changes in life‐history traits are primarily associated with environmental changes in the North Atlantic Ocean. They also emphasize the presence of less important, but still significant contrasts between region and life history.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
M ethods in M icrobiology Volume 18 (1985). Edited by G. Gottschalk.
C urrent T opics in I nfection S eries . G onococcal I nfection (1985). G. F. Brooks & E. A. Donegan. 239 pp. London: Edward Arnold. 30.00.
A dvances in B iotechnological P rocesses Volume 4 (1985). Edited by A. Mizrahi & A. L. van Wezel. 356 pp. New York: Alan R. Liss, Inc. 84.00.
G enetics and B iotechnology of B acilli (1985). Edited by A. T. Ganesan & J. A. Hoch. 421 pp. London: Academic Press, Inc.
I mmunology of the B acterial C ell E nvelope (1985). Edited by D. E. S. Stewart-Tull & M. Davies. 391 pp. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 40.00.     

Quantitative ethnobotany of medicinal plants uses in the Jhelum valley,Azad Kashmir,Pakistan

Indigenous knowledge provides information on phytotherapeutic potential of medicinal plants for basic health care mangements in local communinites. The present study was aimed to document folklore knowledge of ethnic communities, who are practicing the herbal medicines in the Jhelum valley (District Hattian), Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. The information regarding folklore use of plants was collected from local communities through informed consent semi- structured interviews from 152 key informants. The ethnobotanical data were quantitatively analyzed using indices of use value (UV), relative frequency citation (RFC) and Informant census factor (ICF). A total of 113 medicinal plant species belong to 52 families were documented in the local communites of Jhelum Valley. The Asteraceae and Polygonaceae were the dominant plant families. The plant species hold potential folklore uses against hepatitis, stomach and respiratory problems, tooth ache, skin ailments and tumor treatment. The whole plants (32.52%), leaves ((21.14%)) were highly consumed plant parts and decoction (22.99%), powder form (18.39%) and infusion (13.79%) was the commonly used method for herbal formulation. The species with maximum use value was Beberis lyceum (0.80) and Valeriana jatamansi (0.60). The highest ICF value was obtained for disease catergories that is ear pain (1.00) followed by heaptic disorder (0.94) and urinary system disorders (0.89). The lowest ICF value was recored for nervous system disorders (0.44). The present study disclosed that traditional knowledge of medicinal plants is still widespread in ethnic people, but gradually decline in youngers. Documentation of newly documented plant species with their folklore uses shall uphold further phytochemical and pharmacological studies.     

Magic,myth and medicine

Carrots, celery, caraway and cumin and their relatives in the Apiaceae (Umbelliferae) have a long history of human use dating from our earliest written records. A large body of folklore has accumulated on their magical and mythical curative properties. Many of the early uses have persisted as part of 20th century folklore, sometimes supplementary to modern medicine. Studies largely during the last half of this century have provided the chemical bases for some of the ancient cures.     

Should the WHO Growth Charts Be Used in France?

Background

Growth charts are an essential clinical tool for evaluating a child''s health and development. The current French reference curves, published in 1979, have recently been challenged by the 2006 World Health Organization (WHO) growth charts.

Objective

To evaluate and compare the growth of French children who were born between 1981 and 2007, with the WHO growth charts and the French reference curves currently used.

Design

Anthropometric measurements from French children, who participated in 12 studies, were analyzed: 82,151 measurements were available for 27,257 children in different age groups, from birth to 18 years. We calculated and graphically compared mean z-scores based on the WHO and French curves, for height, weight and Body Mass Index (BMI) according to age and sex. The prevalence of overweight using the WHO, the French and International Obesity Task Force definitions were compared.

Results

Our population of children was on average 0.5 standard deviations taller than the French reference population, from the first month of life until puberty age. Mean z-scores for height, weight and BMI were closer to zero based on the WHO growth charts than on the French references from infancy until late adolescence, except during the first six months. These differences not related to breastfeeding rates. As expected, the prevalence of overweight depended on the reference used, and differences varied according to age.

Conclusion

The WHO growth charts may be appropriate for monitoring growth of French children, as the growth patterns in our large population of French children were closer to the WHO growth charts than to the French reference curves, from 6 months onwards. However, there were some limitations in the use of these WHO growth charts, and further investigation is needed.