Endocrine changes in the fowl during infection with Eimeria maxima

Plasma concentrations of thyroxine (T4), triiodothyronine (T3), prolactin, growth hormone and corticosterone were measured in immature domestic fowl which were infected with Eimeria maxima, uninfected but given the same amount of food as those infected (pair-fed) or fed ad libitum. Infection with E maxima caused a decrease in plasma T4 concentration whereas pair feeding caused an increase when food intake was minimal. Plasma T3 concentrations were decreased similarly in both infected and pair-fed birds. Infection caused an increase in plasma prolactin concentration, whereas pair-feeding did not. The plasma concentration of growth hormone was not affected by any of the treatments. Plasma corticosterone concentration was markedly increased on days 5 and 6 in pair-fed birds but was not affected by infection with E maxima.     

Challenging the developmental state: Nature conservation in Singapore

Abstract: Nature conservation efforts are often reactive to encroaching development plans and systematic conservation planning that is integral with development is not only uncommon, but is often fraught with difficulties even where it is actually attempted. Such obstacles to conservation are especially apparent in developmental states where state legitimacy is largely derived from the state's ability to develop the country. Among other things, developmental states place a premium on physical and economic development. This paper critiques, through the standpoint of nature conservation, the inadequate conceptualisation of ‘development’ in the developmental state thesis. Specifically, this paper argues that the seemingly value‐free (but ultimately economically based) underpinnings of development goals pushed by the developmental state needs to be tempered with a broader concern for the ethics of development. To that end, I draw on two case studies of nature conservation tussles in Singapore to show how alternative extra‐economic visions of development have been articulated, notwithstanding the developmental state's monopoly on the discourse (and practice) of progress and development. The case studies, set in the heady economic growth of the early 1990s, will critique two related aspects of the developmental state: its ‘amoral’ economistic conception of development and its use of growth and materialism as legitimacy.     

Geographical ‘handicaps’ and small states: Some implications for the Pacific from a global perspective

Abstract: Research on the economic performance of small states has concentrated on the implications of small size and thin local markets. An interesting feature of many of the world's smallest states, of which the Pacific region has many, is that they face additional challenges than just small size. Many are remote from global markets for their products. In addition, a large number are also islands, many of which are also mountainous. Many of the smaller states are not just islands, but are also archipelagos. Hence in addition to small size, many of the world's small states also exhibit four other characteristics that may affect their economic performance: insularity, remoteness, being archipelagos and being highly mountainous entities. This paper examines the nature of the challenges posed by these four characteristics and seeks to produce empirical evidence of how difficult it has been to overcome these challenges. The paper draws on empirical evidence for 126 very small global states, dependent territories and highly autonomous regions. The paper then turns to the position of the Pacific small states and dependent territories.     

The nature and inheritance of sweetness and acidity in the cultivated apple

Summary A survey was made of the sweetness and sourness of the fruits of apple cultivars. Measurements of the concentration of sugars and malic acid in ripe fruits were made and the variation between samples of a cultivar, between cultivars, between years and between cultivars and their tetraploid and colour sports was studied and showed a wide range of variation between cultivars but fairly constant values within cultivars.The study of a number of progenies shows that sweetness and sourness are inherited independently. Sweetness shows a quantitative pattern of inheritance and the progeny mean approximates the mid-parent value. Sourness is controlled by a single gene, with medium and high acidity being dominant to very low, superimposed on a quantitative pattern.The mean sugar and acid concentrations of a progeny and the approximate range of variation can be predicted from the sugar and acid concentrations found in the parents.