An early Ordovician patelliform gastropod, Palaelophacmaea, reinterpreted as a coelenterate

Yochelson, Ellis L. & Stanley, George D., Jr. 1981 12 15: An early Ordovician patelliform gastropod, Palaelophacmaea , reinterpreted as a coelenterate. Lethaia , Vol. 15, pp. 323–330. Oslo. ISSN W24–1164.
The fossil Palaelophacmaea criola Donaldson, from the early Ordovician Stonehenge Formation of central Pennsylvania, was described as a patelliform gastropod. A reinterpretation of the type lot and study of a few additional specimens provide the basis for an alternative placement. Palaelophacmaea is here assigned to the Hydrozoa, as a possible chondrophore. It has an exceptionally thin shell or test and concentric but irregular corrugations. Cambrian univalve genera having a more or less circular outline that are currently assigned to the Gastropoda or Monoplacophora should be reexamined to see whether they have the features of fossil chondrophore coelenterates rather than those of molluscs. The late Cambrian Palaeoacmaea Hall & Whitfield is removed from the monoplacophoran Mollusca and left unassigned as to phylum. We judge that at least some early Cambrian species of Scenella are probably coelenterate remains. * Early Ordovician , Palaelophacmaea, Gastropoda, Monoplacophora, Hydrozoa .     

The California tumor registry

The California Tumor Registry, in which 71,215 cases have been entered, provides data for professional and public education which is specific to the state. It has suggested leads for epidemiological investigation of cancer. Participating agencies are assisted in maintaining adequate follow-up systems through annual listing of cases by the State Department of Public Health and removal from the list of cases in which death occurs. Among the first cases analyzed, the diagnosis was confirmed microscopically in 70.6 per cent. Only 36.2 per cent of patients had visited a physician within two months after onset of symptoms. Survival of patients with cancer is compared with their expectancy calculated from life-tables, thus taking account of deaths from causes other than cancer.     

Interspecific Pollen-Pistil Interaction in Eucalyptus L'Her. (Myrtaceae): The Effect of Taxonomic Distance

The pollen-pistil interaction was investigated in three intraspecific,57 interspecific and six intergeneric crosses using three speciesof Eucalyptus (Myrtaceae) subgenus Symphyomyrtus, section Bisectariaas female parents Interspecific prefertilization isolation occursin the pistil and manifests as a number of pollen-tube abnormalitiesin the style and ovary associated with a lowered probabilityof ovule penetration The major selection points in the pistilare the upper style and the ovary The seventy of abnormalitiesand the probability of pollen-tube arrest in the pistil wasproportional to the taxonomic distance between parent speciesOvule penetrations were seen mainly in crosses within the sectionBisectaria or between the sections Bisectaria and Adnataria Pollen storage, style length and mean maximum temperature duringthe flowering period of the male parent had no significant effecton pollen-tube growth in the crosses used Mechanisms of reproductiveisolation are discussed in relation to evolutionary relationshipsand the implications for taxonomic groupings Eucalyptus L'Hér, pollen-pistil interaction, incongruity, interspecific hybridization, pollen-tube growth, breeding system, taxonomy     

Evaluation of fungicides for the control of coffee berry disease in Kenya

Some sixty fungicides were tested in the laboratory for ability to ( a ) depress sporulation of Colletotrichum coffeanum on the maturing bark of coffee shoots and ( b ) inhibit spore germination. On the basis of these tests over twenty products were selected for testing in the field during 1968-70. Nine of these (50 % copper formulations, Ortho-Difolatan, Daconil, Benlate, Topsin, Top-sin M, Tecto 60, Delan and Du-Ter) could be recommended for control of coffee berry disease (CBD) in Kenya.
Field evaluation of fungicides is complicated by multiple flowering which creates a succession of overlapping crops, and by high variability in cropping potential which is often aggravated by normal pruning practices; in some circumstances other diseases and pests may also be a complicating factor. As a result, yield, which should be the most sensitive measure of CBD control, is at times even less satisfactory than disease estimates based on a small sample of the developing crop. Disease incidence in the ripe crop, which is easy to measure, is unfortunately not always well correlated with disease and crop loss earlier in the season. Consequently, critical assessment of fungicide performance requires estimates of both disease progress and crop loss.
Consideration of fungicide performance indicates that physical characteristics, particularly persistence and capacity for redistribution, are especially important for effective control of CBD.     

Germination of Stored Cassava Seed at Constant and Alternating Temperatures

Cassava seed is only capable of germinating over a restrictedrange of constant temperatures. During storage the optimum constanttemperature for germination decreases from about 35 to 30 °Cor possibly less. The rate at which the optimum temperaturechanges during dry storage increases with increase in storagetemperature over the range 0 to 40 °C. Some alternating-temperatureregimes (16 h at the lower temperature; 8 h at the higher temperature)can provide conditions as favourable for germination as theoptimum constant temperatures. Furthermore, it has been shownthat temperature alternation itself is stimulatory because whenthe range of the alternation does not include the optimum constanttemperature value, percentage germination is often higher thancould be obtained at any constant temperature within the range,though this stimulatory response declines during storage. Forthese reasons it is provisionally recommended that cassava seedshould be germinated at 25/35 °C which is as stimulatorya treatment as any which has so far been investigated and hasthe advantage of encompassing the range over which the optimumconstant temperature changes during storage. Manihot esculenta Crantz, cassava, germination, dormancy, seed viability, storage of seeds, after-ripening