Sampling Strategies for Mapping Soil Phosphorus and Soil Potassium Distributions in Cool Temperate Grassland

Unlike the situation for arable soils, virtually nothing is known about the spatial dependencies of soil properties in cool temperate grassland or about what the optimal sampling strategies ought to be for mapping soil nutrient distributions in such situations. The aim of this study was to investigate the spatial variability in plant-available (soil) phosphorus and potassium in a grass silage field in Northern Ireland and devise optimal sampling strategies for mapping their distributions. Soil samples were collected from the field at 25 m intervals in a regular rectangular grid to provide a database of soil properties. Different data combinations were subsequently abstracted from this database for comparison purposes, and ordinary kriging used to produce interpolated soil maps. Soil potassium displayed greater spatial variability than soil phosphorus. In keeping with this observation, the results of three separate statistical procedures demonstrated that the optimal sample size for estimating the true population means was about twice as large for soil potassium as for soil phosphorus. Optimal sampling strategies, however, related not just to sample size but to sample combination and field shape as well.     

Phenoxyethanol: protein preservative for taxonomists

Pieces of chicken heart or skeletal muscle were placed in a dilute solution of the antimicrobial agent 2-phenoxyethanol and stored at room temperature. Under these conditions, the serum albumin, lactate dehydrogenase, and malate dehydrogenase in these tissues survived in easily detectable amounts for at least 2 weeks. The surviving proteins appeared to be identical with those of fresh tissues in physical, catalytic, and immunological properties. Phenoxyethanol also preserved heart and muscle proteins of representatives of other vertebrate classes. Tissue samples collected in the analysis by biochemical taxonomists.     

Acrylonitrile polymerization in a miniaturized high-pressure optical cell

A miniaturized high-pressure optical cell has been used to investigate the feasibility of carrying out high-pressure polymerization, wherein the process can be observed both spectroscopically and optically while the polymerization process is occurring. The method has been illustrated by a novel polymerization of acrylonitrile.     

Isolation of St. Louis encephalitis virus from overwintering Culex pipiens mosquitoes

Two strains of St. Louis encephalitis virus were isolated from overwintering mosquitoes collected in Maryland and Pennsylvania during January and February 1977. There isolations from Culex pipiens constitute evidence that a mosquito-borne flavivirus can persist in a vector mosquito in temperate climates during the winter season.     

Synthesis of Novel Thin-Film Materials by Pulsed Laser Deposition

Pulsed laser deposition (PLD) is a conceptually and experimentally simple yet highly versatile tool for thin-film and multilayer research. Its advantages for the film growth of oxides and other chemically complex materials include stoichiometric transfer, growth from an energetic beam, reactive deposition, and inherent simplicity for the growth of multilayered structures. With the use of PLD, artificially layered materials and metastable phases have been created and their properties varied by control of the layer thicknesses. In situ monitoring techniques have provided information about the role of energetic species in the formation of ultrahard phases and in the doping of semiconductors. Cluster-assembled nanocrystalline and composite films offer opportunities to control and produce new combinations of properties with PLD.     

Predatory Dinosaurs from the Sahara and Late Cretaceous Faunal Differentiation

Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) fossils discovered in the Kem Kem region of Morocco include large predatory dinosaurs that inhabited Africa as it drifted into geographic isolation. One, represented by a skull approximately 1.6 meters in length, is an advanced allosauroid referable to the African genus Carcharodontosaurus. Another, represented by a partial skeleton with slender proportions, is a new basal coelurosaur closely resembling the Egyptian genus Bahariasaurus. Comparisons with Cretaceous theropods from other continents reveal a previously unrecognized global radiation of carcharodontosaurid predators. Substantial geographic differentiation of dinosaurian faunas in response to continental drift appears to have arisen abruptly at the beginning of the Late Cretaceous.     

Comparison of two questionnaires to assess gastrointestinal toxicity in dogs and cats treated with chemotherapy*

Questionnaires completed by pet owners are widely used instruments to monitor adverse gastrointestinal (GI) effects in the owners' animals undergoing chemotherapy and for reporting toxicoses in clinical trials; however, no questionnaires have been formally evaluated. This study compares two questionnaire-based evaluations of adverse GI events: a basic, open-ended questionnaire and a detailed questionnaire modelled after the grading in the Veterinary Co-operative Oncology Group-Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (VCOG-CTCAE). Owners completed both questionnaires after their dog or cat received moderately emetogenic chemotherapy. Results were used to derive toxicity grades for anorexia, vomiting and diarrhoea. We evaluated 123 pairs of questionnaires. Disagreement in grade of anorexia, vomiting and diarrhoea was found in 24, 7 and 13% of paired questionnaires, respectively (κ = 0.63, 0.83 and 0.71, respectively). Although 'good' to 'very good' agreement was found, the potential for only 'fair' agreement between questionnaire methods is of concern and suggests a need to adopt a standardized form.