Minutes of Wicklow Association pre-festival meeting, 20 June 1990

Typescript minutes of the meeting. [Some names redacted.

Minutes of Wicklow Association committee meeting, 5 March 1991

Typescript minutes of the meeting. [Name in point 5 redacted

Minutes of Wicklow Association committee meeting, 7 May 1991

Typescript minutes of the meeting, with a handwritten addendum. [NB names in point 3 redacted

Minutes of Wicklow Association committee meeting, 2 April 1991

Typescript minutes of the meeting. [Name in point 7 redacted

Aflatoxin in corn new perspectives

Preharvest contamination of com (Zea mays L.) with aflatoxin, a metabolite produced by the fungus Aspergillus flavus Link: Fr., is a recurrent problem in the southeastern United States, but occasional serious outbreaks also occur in the Midwest Com Belt (21). Aflatoxins are recognized as potent hepatotoxins and carcinogens, causing mortality or reducing the productivity of farm animals (89). Aflatoxin-contaminated foodstuffs also have been associated with increased incidence of liver cancer in humans (39). In com-producing regions, the economic impact from yield loss is not very large, but A. flavus contaminates the grain with aflatoxin. Fungal toxins reduce the value of grain as an animal feed and devalue it as an export commodity (74). Any strategy that reduces the extent of aflatoxin contamination of com will result in a safer and more valuable food supply for humans and animals. Plant pathologists and com breeders have thus far been unable to identify com genotypes with substantial resistance to aflatoxin contamination. On ears in the field, A. flavus grows saprophytically on the remains of kernels damaged by insects or birds. These damaged kernels can become contaminated with substantial quantities of aflatoxin (i.e., to as much as 300,000-600,000 ppb). Aflatoxin also accumulates (to as much as 4,000 ppb) in many of the adjacent intact kernels. It does not take a large quantity of these aflatoxin-contaminated kernels to contaminate bulk grain with \u3e20 ppb aflatoxin. At present, the only reliable method for preventing aflatoxin from entering the food chain has been the detection and segregation of aflatoxin-contaminated produce

Infection of Engelmann-Spruce Seed by Geniculodendron pyriforme in Western North America

Geniculodendron pyriforme Salt was identified and characterized by Salt (1974) as the fungus responsible for germination failure of Sitka spruce [Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr.] seed in Canadian and British forest nurseries. It was confirmed that the fungus isolated by Epners (1964) from seed of Pinus resinosa Ait., P. sylvestris L., P. strobus L., and Picea glauca (Moench.) Voss. in Canadian nurseries was the same (Salt, 1974). In addition, Salt (1970) demonstrated that the pathogen can infect seeds of western hemlock [Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.], lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Doug!. ex Loud.), Japanese larch [Larix leptolepis (Sieb. and Zucc.) Gord.] and Douglas-fir [Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco]

Post-Emergence Movements and Overwintering of Snapping Turtle, Chelydra serpentina, Hatchlings in New York and New Hampshire

Hatchling Common Snapping Turtles (Chelydra serpentina) were captured within, or as they emerged from, their nest cavities in Long Island, New York, and in southeastern New Hampshire. They were fitted with radiotransmitters and released at their nest sites. Their movements were monitored for as long as possible, which for some included tracking them to their overwintering sites and relocating them the following spring. On Long Island, all hatchlings initially moved to water. Later movements were both aquatic and terrestrial, and those that could be located while overwintering had left the water and hibernated in spring seeps, where they were recovered alive the following April. In New Hampshire, hatchlings moved directly to nearby aquatic habitats after emergence, where they spent the winter submerged in shallow water in root masses near banks

An Investigation of Sleep-Onset Cognitive Intrusions and Their Relationship to Objectively Measured Sleep: And Research Portfolio

Cognitive intrusions and pre-sleep hyperarousal have been hypothesised to be causal factors in sleep-onset insomnia and there is research evidence which indicates that insomniacs are highly aroused cognitively. This study investigates the content of intrusive pre-sleep cognitions, using live-recordings of spontaneous thoughts, and evaluates their relationship with objectively monitored sleep, using the wrist actigraph, over several nights. 21 subjects with sleep-onset disturbance were recruited through advertisements, and data were obtained for 63 subject nights. This study yields important results concerning the content and quantity of intrusive thoughts which may be associated with sleep-onset difficulties. Implications for cognitively-based treatments for insomnia are discussed

Fungal Colonists of Maize Grain Conditioned at Constant Temperatures and Humidities

Fungal colonization of shelled maize (Pioneer 3320) harvested from a field near Furman, South Carolina, in 1992 was determined after 348 and 751 days of continuous storage at each of seven temperatures (10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, or 40°C) and four constant relative humidities, giving equilibrium grain moisture contents ranging from 9.4% to 17.5% m.c. in 28 grain conditioning environments. Twenty fungal species infected surface sterilized seeds and were recorded from these conditioned grain treatments, including species commonly found in preharvest maize [e.g. Acremonium zeae, Aspergillus flavus, Fusarium moniliforme (syn. F. verticillioides), Penicillium pinophilum (syn. P. funiculosum), etc.]. Eupenicillium cinnamopurpureum and Monascus ruber were recorded only from conditioned grain treatments. Eurotium chevalieri colonized 50-96% of the kernels from grain conditioning treatments with the highest moisture content for each incubation temperature. Grain samples with \u3e33% E. chevalieri infection had a decreased occurrence of F. moniliforme and A. zeae, and no kernels from these samples germinated. No fungi colonized more than 50% of the kernels conditioned at 30-40°C and 9.4-14.2% m.c. The results of this study indicate that individual patterns of fungal colonization during grain conditioning were a function of the survival rates for preharvest fungal colonists and their potential replacement by E. chevalieri