Silvery-Thread Moss (Bryum argenteum Hedw.) is an undesirable invader of golf course putting greens across North America, establishing colonies and proliferating despite practices to suppress it. The goal was to grow genotypes of green (growing in putting greens) and native (growing in habitats outside of putting greens) B. argenteum in a common garden experiment, allowing an experimental test of life-history traits between genotypes from these two habitats. Seventeen collections of green and 17 collections of native B. argenteum were cloned to single genotypes and raised through a minimum of two asexual generations in the lab. A culture of each genotype was initiated using a single detached shoot apex and was allowed to grow for 6 mo under conditions of inorganic nutrients present and absent. Compared with genotypes from native habitats, genotypes of B. argenteum from putting greens exhibited earlier shoot regeneration and shoot induction, faster protonemal extension, longer (higher) shoots, lower production of gemmae and bulbils, and greater aerial rhizoid cover, and showed similar tendencies of chlorophyll fluorescence properties and chlorophyll content. Cultures receiving no inorganic nutrients produced less chlorophyll content, greatly reduced growth, and bleaching of shoots. Mosses from putting greens establish more quickly, grow faster, produce more abundant rhizoids, and yet do not produce as many specialized asexual propagules compared with mosses of the same species from native habitats. The highly managed putting green environment has either selected for a suite of traits that allow the moss to effectively compete with grasses, or genotypic diversity is very high in this species, allowing a set of specialized genotypes to colonize the putting green from native habitats. Successful golf course weeds have been able to adapt to this highly competitive environment by selection acting on traits or genotypes to produce plants more successful in competing with golf course grasses.

In the modern world, biotic diversity is typically higher in low-latitude tropical regions where there is abundant insolation (light and heat) and low thermal seasonality. Because these factors broadly covary with latitude, separating their possible effects on species diversity is difficult. The Eocene was a much more equable world, however, with low temperature seasonality extending into lower-insolation higher, cooler latitudes, allowing us to test these factors by comparing insect species diversity in (1) modern, temperate, low-insolation, highly seasonal Harvard Forest, Massachusetts, U.S.A., 42°29'N; (2) modern, tropical, high-insolation, low-seasonality La Selva, Costa Rica, 10°26'N, and; (3) Eocene, temperate, low-insolation, yet low-seasonality McAbee, British Columbia, Canada, above 50°N paleolatitude. We found insect diversity at McAbee to be more similar to La Selva than to Harvard Forest, with high species richness of most groups and decreased diversity of ichneumon wasps, indicating that seasonality is key to the latitudinal diversity gradient. Further, midlatitude Eocene woody dicot diversities at McAbee, Republic (Washington, U.S.A.), and Laguna del Hunco (Argentina) are also high, similar to modern tropical samples, higher than at the modern midlatitude Harvard Forest. Modern correlations between latitude, species diversity, and seasonal climates were established some time after the Eocene.

The gravity modes present in γ Doradus stars probe the deep stellar interiors and are thus of particular interest in asteroseismology. For the MUSICIAN programme at the University of Canterbury, we obtain extensive high-resolution echelle spectra of γ Dor stars from the Mt John University Observatory in New Zealand. We analyze these to obtain the pulsational frequencies and identify these with the multiple pulsational modes excited in the star. A summary of recent results from our spectroscopic mode-identification programme is given.

Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2011 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA, August 7–August 11, 2011.

In an inter-laboratory survey, the pour plate, surface spread, agar droplet and spiral plate methods were used in parallel with the surface drop method for enumeration of micro-organisms in foods. Good agreement was obtained between all surface methods of enumeration, but there was poor agreement between molten agar methods and the surface drop method.

A total of 1143 samples of food that were ready for consumption at the point of retail sale were examined. Eight types of food products were chosen: meat pasties, sausage rolls, real-cream slices, synthetic-cream slices, mayonnaise-based coleslaws, faggots, patés and continental sausages. The results of this survey suggest that the upper limit for an acceptable viable count should vary according to the food product. Salmonellae were not isolated on any occasion. Potentially harmful organisms were not isolated at levels expected to constitute a public health hazard.

Information concerning the nature of the product, the total viable count, the presence or absence of pathogenic, toxigenic or indicator organisms, the spectrum of the bacterial flora and the relative predominance of each organism must all be considered when assessing the microbiological acceptability of retail ‘ready to eat’ products.

The 4-aminoquinolines chloroquine (CQ) and amodiaquine (AM) were used to treat Gambian children with uncomplicated falciparum malaria in a randomized drug trial. Blood samples were taken immediately before treatment (day 0), and at day 7 and day 28 after treatment. Samples from those parasitologically positive at day 7 following treatment (‘early positives’) and those positive at day 28 but negative at day 7 (‘late positives’) have been studied by PCR followed by restriction enzyme digestion to determine the allelic status of the pfmdr 1 locus at the codon-86 position (asparagine or tyrosine), previously associated with resistance to CQ. A significantly higher prevalence of the tyr-86 allele was observed in samples taken immediately before treatment (day 0) in the early positives group when compared with the late positives group. This suggests the tyr-86 allele contributes to drug resistance in the early positives group. This association remained significant for both CQ and AM groups, implying a common genetic basis of resistance. Predominance of the allele at day 7 is consistent with a strong selection in the first week following treatment. In the late positives group, a significantly higher prevalence of the tyr-86 allele was observed in the samples at day 28 when compared with those at day 0, suggestive of selection during the period day 7 to day 28. Differences were observed in the extent of this selection in the CQ and AM groups. The samples were genotyped at 3 unlinked polymorphic loci. These analyses suggested that most parasites observed at day 7 were probably recrudescences whereas most of those at day 28 were reinfections.

Layered copper-oxide superconductors exhibit the highest critical transition temperatures of any materials. Yet all of the known double perovskites A′A″B′B″O6 containing copper have a random or rock salt distribution of the B cations with the exception of the unique layered arrangement found in La2CuSnO6. Only the layered arrangement contains the CuO22- planes which are necessary for high-temperature superconductivity. The occurrence of layered or two dimensional structures increases markedly when vacancies are introduced on the oxygen sublattice, as evidenced in Ln2AEmCu2TimO5+3m (Ln = lanthanide, Y: AE = Ba, Ca: 2 ≤ m ≤ 4). Similarities among oxygen-deficient structures, especially those with two-dimensional solid-state features, are discussed. Combined conductivity and thermopower analysis are presented to elucidate their unique internal chemistry, defect structure, and conduction parameters. In particular, data for La2-xSrxCuSnO6 are presented and related to the crystal chemistry of the copper-oxygen layer. These data are compared with La2Ba2Cu2Sn2O11 and La2Ba2Cu2Ti2O11 to illustrate the significance of oxygen vacancies on the properties of the copper oxygen planes. New layered cuprates are discussed including the mixed A-site stoichiometries Ln′Ln″AEmCu2TimO5+3m (Ln = lanthanide, Y: AE = Ba, Ca: 2 ≤ m ≤ 4) which contain the smaller lanthanide (Ln″) ordered between the closely spaced, facing sheets of Cu-O square pyramids.