Transmission studies on the potato pathogens Fusarium solani var. Coeruleum and Fusarium sulphureum

A new selective medium containing pentachloronitrobenzene and 2-ami nobutane - the PAB medium - was developed for use with the soi1-di1ution plate method for the enumeration of fungal propagules of F. solccni var. coeruleum and F. sulphureum in field soil. These fungi cause a dry rotting of potatoes in storage. The efficiency of the PAB medium in the measurement of levels of soil contamination was compared with that of other methods. Also described is the PM70 medium, suitable for the isolation of a number of pathogens, including P. exigua var. foveata from diseased tuber tissue.The incidence of dry rot after grading was related logarithmically to the number of F. solccni var. coeruleum propagules in progeny tubersphere soil. Highest levels of progeny tuber contamination with F. solccni var. coeruleum were associated with the planting of infected seed. Planting of contaminated seed sometimes gave high levels of transmission, possibly because dry rot developed after planting. Propagule production by infected seed varied between seasons and may be related to soil temperature. Tuber factors, eg variety and seed size, also influenced propagule production. Of the seed treatments tested, only thiabendazole reduced consistently the transmission of F. solccni var. coeruleum.Levels of soil contamination increased during the growing season but removal of the seed tuber prevented further increase. Highest numbers of propagules were in a 5 cm diam. zone of soil surrounding the seed and spread of propagules was mainly lateral and downwards forming a decreasing gradient of inoculum with increasing distance from the seed tuber. Propagule distribution on progeny tubers followed the same pattern but harvesting by elevator digger disturbed the soil inoculum, making all progeny tubers highly contaminatedF. solani var. coeruleum survived a 6 year rotation in field soil and this soil-borne inoculum is possibly important in the re-contamination of clean seed stocks.Most varieties, of those tested, were resistant to infection by F. solani var. coeruleum in November but susceptible by February. Tubers were more susceptible if incubated initially at 4°C rather than at 15°C.Transmission of F. solani var. coeruleum was compared with that of F. sulphureum. Propagules of F. solani var. coeruleum were produced in cavities in the tuber and in pustules on the tuber surface but F. sulphureum showed little surface sporulation. Thus thiabendazole, which inhibits surface sporulation was inconsistent in reducing transmission of F. sulphureum. Moreover, F. sulphureum sporulated on stems growing from infected seed tubers in the field.F. sulphureum infected seed usually produced less inoculum than did F. solani var. coeruleum but in one season the reverse was true and was possibly related to high soil temperatures. F. sulphureum does not appear to survive in field soil as well as F. solani var. coeruleum. Although F. sulphureum seems less well adapted than F. solani var. coeruleum for propagule transmission none of the varieties tested was resistant to infection by F. sulphureum

A Political History of the Establishment Clause

Now pending before the Supreme Court is the most important church-state issue of our time: whether publicly funded vouchers may be used at private, religious schools without violating the Establishment Clause. The last time the Court considered school aid, it overruled precedent and upheld a government program providing computers and other instructional materials to parochial schools. In a plurality opinion defending that result, Justice Thomas dismissed as irrelevant the fact that some aid recipients were pervasively sectarian. That label, said Thomas, had a shameful pedigree. He traced it to the Blaine Amendment, proposed in 1875, which would have altered the Constitution to ban aid to sectarian institutions. At the time, it was an open secret that \u27sectarian\u27 was code for \u27Catholic.\u27 Of course, said Thomas, the word could describe schools of other religions, but the Court eliminated this possibility of confusion by coining the phrase pervasively sectarian - a term applicable almost exelusively to Catholic parochial schools. The exclusion of pervasively sectarian schools from otherwise permissible aid to education was, Thomas concluded, not a neutral interpretation of constitutional command but a doctrine born of bigotry. Justice Thomas did not attack the ban against aid to pervasively sectarian schools merely as a misunderstanding of text or original intent. He charged, rather, that the hostility to pervasively sectarian institutions reflected political conflict and popular prejudice. This is not the usual stuff of Supreme Court debate. Perhaps for that reason, Justice Souter\u27s dissent did not so much answer the accusation as make fun of it, noting only that some pervasively sectarian schools are not Catholic and that some Catholics oppose school aid. Nevertheless, Thomas\u27s account is at least partly true. The constitutional disfavor of pervasively sectarian institutions is indeed a doctrine born, if not of bigotry, at least of a highly partisan understanding of laws respecting an establishment of religion. The first and narrowest ambition of this Article is to document that assertion

THE OXYGEN EQUILIBRIUM OF CYSTINE-TREATED HUMAN HEMOGLOBIN WITHOUT FREE SULFHYDRYL GROUPS.

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First to fight, second to none: An examination of the doctrinal and tactical approaches of the American Expeditionary Force in World War One

When the U.S. entered World War One it was faced with major dilemmas. The U.S. Military had no modern army, its doctrine was antiquated by European standards, and it was technologically behind their European counterparts. This thesis addressed the doctrinal and tactical approaches that the American Expeditionary Force took to combat the German Army in 1918. The focus of this study is on the 2d Division of the Regular Army which was comprised of both U.S. Army soldiers and U.S. Marines. Their service spanned from the opening days of hostility with Germany to occupation in the post-war period. The journey of this work is focused on how and when the American forces began to modernize for the industrial Western front which teemed with the most devastating weapons. Chapter 1 is focused on the training that the soldiers and marines of the 2d Division endured prior to their tour of combat in France from basic training to trenches in the Verdun Sector. Chapter 2 addresses the early battles including the engagements at Belleau Wood and Soissons. These early battles clearly show the major drawbacks in training and preparation directly affected by the adopted doctrine of the American Expeditionary Force. Chapter 3 examines the restructuring of the division after the disastrous early battles. Under the guidance of Major General John A. Lejeune, the division developed a synthesis of set-piece battle ideology and open-warfare. Chapter 4 concentrates on arguably the most underrated battle of the 2d Division’s history, Blanc Mont. The Battle of Blanc Mont provides an ideal case study of how the American Military evolved in warfighting in the twentieth century