Observations on hypoglycaemia associated with a hepatoma in a cat

Disorientation, muscle fasciculations and weakness seen in a 12-year-old neutered female domestic shorthaired cat were attributed to hypoglycaemia associated with a large hepatoma. Glucagon tolerance tests on this cat and a healthy cat showed that their plasma glucose concentrations increased and decreased at about the same rate. Plasma insulin concentrations in the healthy cat increased and decreased in parallel with the plasma glucose concentration. In the affected cat, plasma insulin concentrations increased initially but decreased more rapidly. Reflecting these observations, the amended insulin to glucose ratios in the affected cat were much lower than those of the healthy cat, until the 4-hour sample. Serum somatostatin, somatomedin and gastrin concentrations were measured but no conclusions as to pathogenesis of the hypoglycaemia could be made. The alterations in insulin secretion in the affected cat suggested that altered hormonal control of glucose homeostasis may have occurred with this tumour.     

Dynamics ofRhizoctonia solani (black scurf) in successive potato crops

The position of plants withRhizoctonia solani sclerotia (black scurf) on progeny tubers was mapped for an experimental field at Haren where potatoes were grown continuously and in rotation with other crops for five successive years, and for another field at Borgercompagnie with a 12 frequency of potatoes during three potato crops. Initially, the distribution of plants with black scurf on both fields was rather dense and homogeneous. In the following years the distribution became heterogeneous and patchy. The local decline ofR. solani AG 3 (the common potato pathogen) in Haren was apparently caused by an unknown factor selectively suppressingR. solani AG 3, while simultaneouslyR. solani AG 5 increased in mass. This AG 5 type proved to be an inferior competitor of AG 3 on the potato plant in a laboratory experiment. The specificR. solani antagonistVerticillium biguttatum did not play a role. A similar factor could have reduced the formation of black scurf in the experimental field at Borgercompagnie, whereV. biguttatum was also too infrequent to account for the decline.R. solani AG 5 was not present here and could not indicate the presence of a selective factor against AG 3.     

Mechanisms of nitrogen retention in forest ecosystems: a field experiment

Intensive forest management led to elevated losses of nitrogen from a recently harvested loblolly pine plantation in North Carolina. Measurements of nitrogen-15 retention in the field demonstrated that microbial uptake of nitrogen during the decomposition of residual organic material was the most important process retaining nitrogen. Management practices that remove this material cause increased losses of nitrogen to aquatic ecosystems and the atmosphere.     

Large yearly production of phytoplankton in the Western bering strait

Production in the western Bering Strait is estimated at 324 grams of carbon per square meter per year over 2.12x 10(4) square kilometers. An ice-reduced growing season makes this large amount of primary production unexpected, but it is consistent with the area's large upper trophic level stocks. The productivity is fueled by a cross-shelf flow of nutrient-rich water from the Bering Sea continental slope. This phytoplankton production system from June through September is analogous to a laboratory continuous culture.