Descriptive Physiology and Biochemistry of the Abnormally Ripening Tomato Fruit (Lycopersicon esculentum) cv. Snowball

Aspergillus tamarii Kita grew and sporulated best at 30°C. The best pH for growth and sporulation were 5.5 and 6.5, respectively. Among the carbon sources employed, glucose supported the highest growth and sporulation. Best growth was obtained with sodium nitrate as nitrogen source and best sporulation with ammonium tar-tarate. When glucose was used as carbon source, the carbohydrates found in the mycelium included myoinositol. dulcitol, fructose, arabinose and ribose.     

THE INFLUENCE OF CARBON DIOXIDE ON THE TOXICITY OF UN-IONIZED AMMONIA TO RAINBOW TROUT (SALMO GAIRDNERII RICHARDSON)

The toxicity of solutions of ammonia to fish in different dilution waters showed a variation which was not entirely related to the concentration of the un-ionized ammonia molecule. Evidence is presented which shows that this variation can be attributed to the increase in the concentration of free carbon dioxide at the gill surface, which causes a decrease in both the pH value and the concentration of unionized ammonia present; the extent of the decrease depends on the initial concentration of free carbon dioxide in the bulk of the solution. Quantitative measurements of the relation between the free carbon dioxide concentration of the water and the toxicity of un-ionized ammonia are correlated with a theoretical estimation of the pH value of the water at the gill surface.     

Demonstration of oestrogen receptor in symptomatic breast carcinoma, using fine needle aspiration cytology

Oestrogen receptor immunocytochemical assay (ER-ICA) was used to determine oestrogen receptor (ER) content of cells in fine needle aspirate (FNA) specimens from 88 breast carcinomas. In 49 of these the radioligand binding assay for oestradiol was available for comparison. The predictive value of ER-ICA staining for a positive radioligand binding assay (greater than 10 fmol/mg protein) was 95%. Although the predictive value of negative staining was only 66%, 34 out of 37 ER-ICA negative tumours had radioligand binding assays below 60 fmol/mg protein. ER-ICA staining showed a strong positive correlation with age of the patient, positivity being rare before the menopause. There was a weak inverse correlation with tumour grade but none with tumour size or lymph node status. The assessment of ER by immunocytochemistry using FNA cytology is a rapid technique, which may easily be repeated and provides a pre-operative assessment of ER status. It allows confirmation that tumour cells are present in the sample and an assessment of tumour heterogeneity.     

Consequences of climatic change for water temperature and brown trout populations in Alpine rivers and streams

Twenty‐five years of extensive water temperature data show regionally coherent warming to have occurred in Alpine rivers and streams at all altitudes, reflecting changes in regional air temperature. Much of this warming occurred abruptly in 1987/1988. For brown trout populations, the warming resulted in an upward shift in thermal habitat that was accelerated by an increase in the incidence of temperature‐dependent Proliferative Kidney Disease at the habitat's lower boundary. Because physical barriers restrict longitudinal migration in mountain regions, an upward habitat shift in effect implies habitat reduction, suggesting the likelihood of an overall population decrease. Extensive brown trout catch data documenting an altitudinally dependent decline indicate that such a climate‐related population decrease has in fact occurred. Our analysis employs a quantitatively defined reference optimum temperature range for brown trout, based on the sinusoidal regression of seasonally varying field data.