In plant tissue, massive doses of ionising radiation (0.5–3 kGy) induce an oxidative burst due to the overproduction of oxygen-centred free radicals. Changes in the protein metabolism of cherry tomato fruits were investigated in response to this peculiar stress. Although DNA damage definitively arrested cell division, the changes observed on a short-term basis were attributed to genetic regulation. Changes in protein metabolism were also maintained long term. Gamma-induced proteins (GIPs) were classified according to their induction kinetics. Group 1 proteins were induced immediately after the treatment and their synthesis was stopped within 24 h. During the same time period, global protein synthesis was restored and a new set of GIPs was induced. The function of these proteins is not yet known; but they may be involved in physiological disorders triggered by irradiation or in repair processes. Short-term typical changes involve the synthesis of ACC synthase – the ethylene pathway regulating enzyme - and most probably of some LMW-HSPs. A non-relevant response to irradiation has also been discovered, namely the long-term accumulation of chitinases. Irradiation induces both specific and non-specific responses which can be analysed by comparison with other types of oxidative stress and some GIPs seem to be specific to the treatment. The ability of irradiation to induce such different responses might be profitably applied for a better understanding of the oxidative mechanisms involved in signal transduction during environmental stress situations.

Birch has a long-established reputation as a soil-improver, a characteristic often presumed to result from some aspect of the nutrient cycle peculiar to this species. However, models for the cycles of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium and magnesium by age in slow-growing birch based on data from the literature for biomass development, nutrient levels and rates of decomposition suggest that nutrient cycling in birchwoods is comparable to that in forests of other species with similar rates and patterns of growth.

The frequent reports of 20 per cent, or more losses due to neoplastic diseases in poultry flocks indicate that this is one of the greatest troubles of the industry. Though certain of the avian tumours have been favourite subjects for experimental cancer research, little attention has been directed to the problem of the ætiology and control of avian cancer itself. Consequently, despite the urgency of the problem, there is little information available which can be used as a basis for prescribing any preventive measures. It is not even known whether the majority of the spontaneous tumours are induced by a virus. Not many attempts have been made to transplant and study these tumours, considering the wealth of material available; and only a small proportion of the attempts have succeeded. Though most of these successfully transplanted sarcomas were found to be associated with a causative virus, it is impossible to state whether this is the usual condition of spontaneous tumours, or whether the few successful transplants were aberrant forms whose associated virus altered the growth characteristics and thus enabled a successful transplant to be made more easily.

1. The phytoplankton in Kyle Scotnish and Sailean More, two parallel arms of Loch Sween, was studied and the seasonal variations described.

2. Artificial fertilizers were distributed in Kyle Scotnish and their effects on the phytoplankton were followed up. It was found that on some occasions the phytoplankton increased rapidly after the distribution of fertilizers, but that on other occasions there was no apparent response.

3. The zooplankton populations in Kyle Scotnish and Sailean More were studied and the seasonal variations described.

4. It was found that after fertilizers had been distributed the zooplankton in Kyle Scotnish became considerably richer than that in Sailean More, and its density remained higher until it was reduced in September 1945 by the feeding of young herring. Even so, the average density in Kyle Scotnish was twice that in Sailean More.

5. Experiments were done to determine the effect upon the phytoplankton of the grazing of the zooplankton. It appears that the zooplankton removed a large portion of the phytoplankton by grazing, and that the apparent lack of response of the phytoplankton to the distribution fertilizers was at least on some occasions due to the effects of grazing.

6. It was shown that the productivity of Kyle Scotnish, in terms of plankton, has been doubled by the distribution of fertilizers.

This paper was assisted in publication by a grant from the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland.

Our knowledge of the macrofungi of British sand dune systems is outlined and similarities and differences are discussed, based both on intensive studies and scattered observations, particularly in Scotland and Wales. Comparisons are made with European sand dune communities, and much wider observations from as far afield as N.E. Australia and North America are presented. Several records new to Britain are documented.

The International Biological Programme provided resources and enabled the work of a considerable number of researchers to be focused on physical, chemical and biological studies on Loch Leven, Kinross. In this paper the results are summarised with the help of an energy flow diagram and relationships between different trophic levels discussed. Major gaps in our knowledge, which have still to be worked on before all the relationships between different trophic levels can be well understood, have been highlighted. The causes of changes which have been recorded at Loch Leven and the unusual variability in the ecosystem are discussed and hypotheses presented. Profitable lines for future research are suggested, particularly in relation to the management of the loch as a National Nature Reserve and a brown trout fishery.

In the middle of the last century many people believed that the living resources of the sea were inexhaustible and that Man by his puny efforts could not influence them to any material extent. At that time fishing was ill-developed. Trawling was limited to the use of the beam trawl, but with the introduction of steam for propulsion of fishing vessels and the hauling of nets, as well as the otter trawl, the intensity of fishing increased to such an extent that many scientists began seriously to doubt the idea of the inexhaustibility of the seas.

A broad outline is presented of forest distribution in Turkey during the last 15,000 years, based upon palynological evidence. The history of some selected taxa is given in more detail and compared with present day distributions. Considerable differences in forest composition were found between the mountain ranges N of the Anatolian plateau, the ranges S and SW of the plateau and the area SE of the eastern (Cilician) Taurus. Pinus dominated the northern part during most of the Late Glacial and the Holocene. In southwestern Anatolia a strong increase of Pinus halted SE of the Konya plain and this taxon did not cross the eastern Taurus. Cedrus and Abies fluctuated in relative importance during the period under discussion, but no marked shifts in the distribution are suggested by the pollen record. After c. 9000 BP, oak started to move into the treeless interior, especially in the SE where this tree settled on higher elevations in the steppe area. On the edges of the Anatolian plateau, oak acted as a pioneer, to be replaced by pine in the course of the Holocene. Birch, nowadays restricted mainly to higher elevations in eastern Turkey, was common in the Konya area during the last phase of the Late Glacial and the early Holocene. Beech increased in numbers during the second half of the Holocene. After the Late Glacial, mixed deciduous forest, rich in tree species, developed in the mountains of NW Turkey. It is assumed that in the Pleniglacial most of these species were present along the Black Sea coast, at lower elevations.

Sitka spruce comprises the largest single forest type in Britain and provides a vast habitat for wildlife. However, many improvements are still possible. No species of bird or mammal occurs equally throughout a conifer rotation, their distribution being affected by both the temporal and spatial dynamics of plantations. We suggest a number of practical improvements, including the modifications to felling-coup size and the incorporation of other tree and shrub species, to increase the diversity and abundance of wildlife in Sitka spruce forests without seriously affecting the forest enterprise.

Until a few years ago the small size of the chromosomes limited the methods which could be used for their physical and chemical study. The discovery in 1933 that the salivary gland nuclei of Diptera contained giant multiple or polytene chromosomes threw the field open to the application of a variety of new techniques.

Recent fishery studies in the estuary and Firth of Forth stem from the late 1970s and have largely been carried out by the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, the Forth River Purification Board and Heriot-Watt University. This paper briefly reviews these studies, which may loosely be divided into work done at power stations, general demersal and pelagic studies of the estuarine fish populations, studies on particular species (lamprey, eelpout, whiting, cod and flatfish, especially the plaice), pollution- orientated studies (hydrocarbons in flatfish and mercury in eelpout) and more general work including ichthyoplankton surveys. Most work has been done on the ecology of flatfish, especially the plaice and it is examined in most detail.

A total of fifty species of fish have been recorded of which thirty-six occurred in the estuary and thirty-nine in the firth. Others are however known to occur. Of the twenty-eight species entrained into the intakes of local power stations, the sprat, herring, whiting and sand goby were most numerous, while other common species were sandeels, eelpout and pogge. Sand gobies, whiting, common dabs and sprats were the most numerous species taken by Agassiz trawling with herring, cod, eelpout, butterfish, pogge, flounders and plaice also commonly taken. Only herring, sprat, whiting, cod and fatherlasher were recorded using a midwater trawl and only the clupeoids occurred in all the catches. The catches of the 2 m beam trawl used in sandy bays in the firth were dominated by plaice, common dabs, sand gobies and sandeels. The ichthyoplankton surveys undertaken in 1986 have caught twenty-three species as eggs and twelve species as larvae. The majority of the eggs were those of the common dab, whiting, flounder, rock ling and sprat, while the majority of larvae were sandeels and clupeoids.

This paper brings together from all available sources records of marine mollusca indigenous to Orkney, together with notes on their local distribution. Besides incorporating the results of recent research it includes a brief account of work done in the islands by earlier conchologists. For convenience of reference the list of species follows the nomenclature and systematic arrangement used by the Conchological Society of Great Britain and Ireland in Winckworth's revised list of the British Marine Mollusca. The small section on local collecting grounds may prove useful to future workers. A commentary seeks to relate the molluscan fauna of the islands to a wider context of distribution and draws attention to the seemingly characteristic western influence present in Orkney waters. A brief note is added on the non-marine mollusca of the islands.

Since it is recognised that a female rodent will litter best if left alone, it is rare for breeders to see the placenta, which is usually devoured by the mother immediately after the birth of the young. Work upon the milk factor for mammary carcinoma in mice has necessitated frequent examination of mice about to litter in order to exchange litters as soon after birth as possible, and thus a number of placentas have been seen when the mouse was caught in the act of littering. Nevertheless these represent only a small proportion compared with the number of mice born during this work. It is of some interest that two cases of placental fusion have been noted among this small series, which suggests that this condition may be fairly common among mice. A rough estimate of the frequency in this series is about 1 per cent. No reports of similar cases have been found in the literature, though a note by Merton (1938) that two embryos had been “implanted in the same place” may refer to a similar case. Because of the implications of this finding in relation to sexual and genetical differentiation in the mouse, a description of this material seems justified.

Although we may consider the insular phosphate mining interest of John Murray as one of the initial efforts in exploiting ocean-related mineral resources, only in the past decade has a concerted effort been made to mine the sea floor. At this time, commercial recovery of copper, nickel and cobalt from deep-sea ferro-manganese nodules is rapidly approaching reality, and the mining of newly discovered noble and base metal placers and lodes beneath shallow coastal waters is already in early commercial development. While some entrepreneurs, and certain member states of the United Nations, have expressed overly optimistic views, the projected growth trend of the infant ocean minerals industry does point to truly large-scale undersea mining by the end of the 1980s. The chief constraints include lack of legal protection for deep-sea operators, a need for further research on the origin of shelf placer deposits, limited trained personnel for exploration and insufficient risk capital to sustain long-term exploration, particularly in unexplored coastal areas of politically unstable states.

In terms of meeting the exploratory and engineering needs of the next two decades, we must initiate extensive research on (1) high- and low-energy marine placers, (2) direct metal sensing systems,(3) new sampling tools for rapid economic evaluation of underwater prospects and on (4) the design and development of unmanned sea-floor mining and processing machines which are highly efficient and yet do not degrade the environment.

Legal, political and social problems must also be overcome by providing laws for (1) mining in international waters, (2) for conservation of resources, (3) for protection of the marine environment, including inland seas, and (4) by directing early attention to the related socio-economic problems of employment and labour.

Of timely concern is providing the highly specialised education required of marine minerals explorationists and mining engineers, and training for sea-going technologists. Specific recommendations for solving these several problems are presented and discussed, including interdisciplinary,multi-nation co-operation.

Based on recent studies, predictions for the expansion of ocean minerals extraction during the remainder of this century are presented. The periods 1970-80, 1980-90 and 1990-2000 are reviewed to show the projected early successes of copper, nickel and cobalt recovery from deep-sea nodules by 1975, the introduction of large-scale shelf mining of noble and base metal deposits by 1980, the use of unmanned sea-floor mining systems by 1990, and the major shift to marine base metal resources by the year 2000.

Based on contemporary studies at the University of Wisconsin, mineral prospects in waters off Canada, Norway, Alaska, USSR, Greenland and Malagasy are presented, as are prospective sites on the mid-ocean ridge and beneath the North American Great Lakes. These prospects relate to copper, rare earths, gold, platinum, uranium and base metal sulfides.

Opportunities for participation by emerging nations in ocean minerals are many, including encouragement of exploration in sovereign waters, participating in exchange student training programmes, and revising tax laws to allow broader economic incentives which will, in time, provide commerce, revenue and, most importantly, employment for nationals.

It has been argued, whether or not the Pasteur effect occurs in plant tissues as a response to long-term hypoxia. To study this question roots of wheat seedlings (Triticum aestivum L. cv. Alcedo) were analysed following acclimation to oxygen shortage by a prior 6-d-cultivation in a nitrogen-flushed nutrient solution. A Pasteur Quotient of approximately one suggested the absence of a significant Pasteur effect. This conclusion was supported by finding an accumulation of soluble carbohydrates.

A progressive adaptation of hypoxically pretreated wheat roots was indicated by measurements under low oxygen tension of 2 kPa, when half of the produced carbon dioxide was generated by fermentation (Gas exchange Quotient, GQ≈2.1) with no apparent increase in the glycolytic substrate flux. The remaining oxygen uptake was even higher in hypoxically grown roots than in the aerobically grown control specimens. When whole seedlings were placed in oxygen-free conditions for 2 h, roots of seedlings pretreated hypoxically suffered a 50% loss in the concentration of ATP, while 90% of the ATP was lost in roots transferred from an aerated solution directly into an anaerobic environment. This was interpreted as an improvement in hypoxia tolerance by minimising the fermentation rate (low PQ) but in particular the ATP requirements by metabolic arrest strategies.

While B. pendula can be distingushed from B. pubescens by its diploid number of chromosomes, 28 compared with 56, separation by morphology depends upon a blend of variable characteristics, including leaf hairiness, occurrence of warts on branches, roughness of bark, pendulous habit and, most consistently, leaf shape.

Individuals of B. pendula, like those of B. pubescens, are mostly self-incompatible. The dates of flowering of individuals within a population of trees may differ markedly. However, female flowers usually mature sooner than male flowers on the same tree. The pollen of Betula spp. can be wind-dispersed considerable distances. Seed production varies greatly from year to year. Within a seedlot, the onset of germination may differ by as much as 7 days.

When side by side at latitude 56°N, trees from seed collected at southerly sites (lat. 50°N) in the natural ranges of B. pendula and B. pubescens grew taller than those from northerly (lat. 69°N) locations. However, when compared at latitude 69°N, the more northerly collections were the more vigorous. The seasonal onset of growth of different B. pubescens seedlings depended upon their origins. Seedlings from latitude 56°N commenced growth when days were 14h long; those from 63° and 70°N started when days were 16 and 20 h long respectively. Whereas northerly collections ceased growth when daytime temperatures dropped below 9°C, southerly collections continued to grow. The stem extension of B. pubescens seedlings grown from seeds collected at different altitudes (in the range of 200–1000m) was inversely related to the altitude of collection when compared at the same low altitude.

Within a population, some B. pubescens seedlings grew significantly more than others when supplied with small amounts of nutrients, the differences disappearing when amounts of nutrients were increased. In Britain, B. pendula was usually more severely attacked by the rust fungus, Melampsoridium betulinum, than B. pubescens whereas in southern Sweden, B. pubescens has been reported as the more severely attacked. At both locations, there were conspicuous within-species differences. More fruitbodies of sheathing mycorrhizal fungi were produced in association with southerly, than with northerly, collections of both B. pubescens and B. pendula—384 compared with nil fruitbodies per tree, 4 years after planting.

Using germination of maize as a model, desiccation-induced free radical processes were studied with the object of understanding desiccation tolerance. Several significant elements of damage were observed in desiccated material associated with development of desiccation intolerance: increased lipid peroxidation, phospholipid de-esterification, build-up of a stable free radical, supression or repression of respiratory enzymes from complex I, II and IV. An EPR (electron paramagnetic resonance) response was also detected in isolated mitochondria following in vitro desiccation. The loss of desiccation tolerance appeared to be dependent on oxygen concentration. Two highly significant correlations were independently found between respiration rates and production of a stable free radical detected by EPR. These data suggest that respiration is an important factor in the loss of desiccation tolerance. We present a model suggesting that activated oxygen formation during desiccation originates in the disruption of the mitochondrial electron transport chain with increasing leakage to oxygen so generating irreversible and lethal peroxidative damage, leading to the development of desiccation intolerance.

The chapter describes the professional and regulatory landmarks which have influenced the development of the quality movement in health care in the UK and the USA. They reflect the similarities and differences in the approach to quality which have evolved within the National Health Service in Britain when compared with a free market system of health care such as that in North America.

A conceptual framework is used to approach the definition and assessment of quality of health care, noting in particular Donabedian's seminal triad of structure, process and outcome as well as the outcomes movement and other theoretical approaches to defining quality.

The characteristics of criteria, standards, guidelines and protocols are described and the terminological problems in this field are discussed. The use of standards for improving quality includes their application in clinical audit, for accreditation and re-accreditation, in contracting for health services and in regulation and inspection.

There is a new and unfolding relationship between clinical standard setting and management. Concepts such as continuous quality improvement and total quality management are challenging traditional assumptions about the need for a separation between professional, consumer and managerial approaches to improving quality. The National Health Service, following implementation of an internal market for public health care provision in Britain, is well placed to absorb and synthesise the many differing philosophies in the health care quality movement to the benefit of both patients and the health professions alike.