THE EFFECT OF WATER HARDNESS AND TEMPERATURE ON WATER STERILIZATION BY MIXTURES OF DETERGENTS AND QUATERNARY AMMONIUM COMPOUNDS

SUMMARY: Six QAC detergent mixtures and the QACs alone were tested for bactericidal efficiency in hard and distilled water, using E. coli as test organism, contact times of 1, 2 and 5 min and temperatures of 5, 10 and 17°.
The efficiencies of the unformulated QACs were dissimilar. With all, 200 p/m in hard water was less efficient than 50 p/m in distilled water. The efficiencies of the QAC detergent mixtures were not related to that of the pure QAC, the efficiency of a QAC being increased by one detergent formulation and decreased by another. All materials were least efficient at 5°.     

Effect of exogenous gibberellins on flowering in Pinus sylvestris grafts

Ethanolic sprays of gibberellins were applied to developing shoots of about 12-year-old Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) grafts during the shoot elongation period in two consecutive years. Both male and female flowering was increased by these treatments in both years. The effect was particularly distinct in male flowering. However, different clones showed varying responses to the treatment. This variation was associated with both the genotype and the environmentally determined year-to-year fluctuation in flowering. Differences among clones were analysed further by introducing a model earlier developed for comparisons of the growth rhythm in various woody and herbaceous species.     

A PRELIMINARY BACTERIOLOGICAL SCREENING TEST FOR QUATERNARY AMMONIUM COMPOUNDS AND FORMULATIONS

SUMMARY: The test is based on a colony count method to determine the survival of a given test organism, Bacterium coli , in the presence of sterile homogenized whole milk added with the bacterial suspension to the quaternary ammonium compound dilutions, for an exposure time of two min.
Attention is drawn to the special cleaning of the glassware used. The preparation and use of the Q.A.C. inhibitor, lecithin in 'Lissapol N', is described, with details of the testing procedure.
Inconsistencies in survivor counts occurring when Q.A.C. solutions were tested against saline suspensions of Bact. coli were reduced by carrying out the test in the presence of whole milk solids.
Examples quoted show how this test indicated a difference in bactericidal efficiency between (a) two different Q.A.C. solutions, and (b) the same Q.A.C. included in two powder formulations of differing pH value.     

Palaeoctopus pelagicus from the Turonian of Mexico reinterpreted as a coelacanth (Sarcopterygian) gular plate

Abstract: The supposed vestige of a cephalopod gladius from Turonian platy limestones at Vallecillo, north‐east Mexico, named Palaeoctopus pelagicus by Fuchs et al. in 2008, is reinterpreted and shown to be a gular plate of a coelacanth fish, possibly of the genus Megacoelacanthus. In addition to the gular plate, two extrascapulars and fin rays of all fins are preserved on one slab and its counterpart. This is the first record of a coelacanth from these lower Turonian strata at Vallecillo, which are rich in fish.     

DNA fingerprinting in horses using a simple (TG)n probe and its application to population comparisons

A synthetic polynucleotide (TG)_n was hybridized to equine DNA digested with HinfI and hypervariable hybridization patterns were obtained. Mendelian inheritance of these DNA fingerprinting patterns was confirmed by pedigree analysis. Estimates of the probabilities of identical band patterns in unrelated individuals of different breeds (Swedish Trotters, North Swedish Trotters, Thoroughbreds and Arabians) were in the range 1 times 10-⁴-7 times 10-⁶ The variability derived with the (TG)_n, probe in horses was higher than what we obtained with several other commmonly used probes for DNA fingerprinting. Individuals within breeds tended to be more similar to each other with regard to DNA fingerprint pattern than to individuals of other breeds. Moreover, a parsimony analysis made on the basis of the hybridization patterns gave clustering of individuals within breeds. The possibility of using hypervariable probes for the identification of breed-specific characters is discussed.     

Photoperiod affects compensating developmental rate across latitudes in the damselfly Lestes sponsa

1. Although there is a great deal of theoretical and empirical data about the life history responses of time constraints in organisms, little is known about the latitude‐compensating mechanism that enables northern populations' developmental rates to compensate for latitude. To investigate the importance of photoperiod on development, offspring of the obligatory univoltine damselfly Lestes sponsa from two populations at different latitudes (53°N and 63°N) were raised in a common laboratory environment at both northern and southern photoperiods that corresponded to the sites of collection. 2. Egg development time was shorter under northern photoperiod regimes for both populations. However, the northern latitude population showed a higher phenotypic plasticity response to photoperiod compared with the southern latitude population, suggesting a genetic difference in egg development time in response to photoperiod. 3. Larvae from both latitudes expressed shorter larval development time and faster growth rates under northern photoperiod regimes. There was no difference in phenotypic plastic response between northern and southern latitude populations with regard to development time. 4. Data on field collected adults showed that adult sizes decreased with an increase in latitude. This adult size difference was a genetically fixed trait, as the same size difference between populations was also found when larvae were reared in the laboratory. 5. The results suggest phenotypic plasticity responses in life history traits to photoperiod, but also genetic differences between north and south latitude populations in response to photoperiod, which indicates the presence of a latitudinal compensating mechanism that is triggered by a photoperiod.