A contribution to knowledge of the vegetation of forest clearings and paths in SE. Norway

The paper deals with three plant communities of forest clearings and forest paths in the neighbourhood of Aas, not studied hitherto in Norway, i.e.Carici leporinae-Agrostietum tenuis, Chamaenerion angustifolium-Calamagrostis purpurea comm. andRubo-Pteridietum aquilini.     

Small-scale spatial distribution of marine meiobenthos: the effects of decaying macrofauna

Summary To evaluate the effects of decaying animals on small-scale horizontal distribution of meiobenthos in muddy habitats, a laboratory experiment was performed at the Askö Laboratory in the northwestern Baltic Sea. A microcosm (35×55×28 cm) containing a ca. 7-cm thick layer of sieved (0.5 mm) sublittoral mud was established in June 1990. Three months later specimens of the bivalve Macoma balthica were collected and killed in boiling water. The sediment inside the microcosm was implanted with empty shell, empty shell and dead animal or left alone. At the end of the experiment (17 days) visual examination of the microcosm revealed black spots at the sediment surface where dead animals had been implanted. The densities of nematodes, the most abundant group (98%), were not significantly different between areas. However total non-nematode fauna was found in much lower numbers (P<0.01) in the black spot areas. A multivariate analysis (detrended correspondence ordination) of nematode species abundance data separated samples from the black spot areas from the others. Of the 25 nematode species recorded in the microcosm, there was a significant difference between areas for four species. The decaying animals clearly attracted Monhystera disjuncta which was almost 6 times as abundant in the black spot areas compared to control and shell areas. Both the overall dominant species, Leptolaimus elegans and Calomicrolaimus honestus were found in lower numbers in the areas of dead Macoma than in control and shell areas. Sabatieria pulchra was found in lower numbers in the control areas compared to shell and dead animal areas. The overall structure of the nematode assemblage indicated a shift to lower dominance in the dead animal areas and it is speculated that decomposing animal tissue may be of primary importance regarding spatial distribution of meiobenthos.     

Feeding ecology of migrating waders (Charadrii) at sodic-alkaline pans in the Carpathian Basin

Capsule Waders fed on the most abundant invertebrates: visual foragers preferred nektonic bugs, while tactile foragers had more diverse food preferences.     

Methods for direct determination of mitomycin C in aqueous solutions and in urine

Stripping voltammetry (SV) is used to quantitatively determine concentrations of the anti-neoplastic drug mitomycin C (MMC) alone and in mixtures with 5-fluorouracil and cisplatin, both of which are used in combined chemotherapy withMMC. If the accumulation is performed at the potentials of MMC reduction (−0.35Vvs. SCE), reduced MMC is strongly adsorbed at the electrode. It is possible to prepare a MMCmodified electrode, which, after a washing step, is transferred to the background electrolyte to determine MMC by voltammetry. This procedure, which is termed transfer stripping voltammetry (TSV), helps to eliminate interferences and can be applied for a direct determination ofMMCalone or in mixtures with other drugs in urine.     

Preparative scale enantioseparation of a chiral epoxide: Comparison of liquid chromatography and simulated moving bed adsorption technology

The feasibility of using simulated moving bed technology (SMB) for chiral separation on cellulose triacetate is demonstrated on the preparative scale: 1 kg of a chiral epoxide has been separated. On comparing SMB technology with conventional liquid chromatography it turns out that the main advantage of SMB lies in the significant reduction of mobile phase consumption. The process design for SMB is made theoretically and the predictions are confirmed by our pilot study. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.