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The nominal taxon Euploea tulliolus goodenoughi Carpenter, 1942, based on a unique crow butterfly collected on Goodenough Island in 1913, is shown to represent a small, aberrant female of the locally common Euploea leucostictos eustachius (Kirby, 1889). This new synonymy invalidates the only previous record of the Purple Crow, Euploea tulliolus (Fabricius, 1793), from the islands of Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea. However, two female Euploea tulliolus collected from islands in the Louisiade Archipelago during 2010 are reported here, constituting the first valid records of the Purple Crow from the Milne Bay islands.

We present the case of a 66-year-old man under surveillance for oropharyngeal malignancy. The presentation was that of recent onset recurrent syncopal attacks associated with neck pain. Both bradycardia and hypotension were seen during the syncopal events. Although recurrence of malignancy had not been proven at the time of presentation, this was subsequently confirmed. In this case syncope was successfully managed with Midodrine, and permanent pacemaker implantation was avoided. A review of the literature identified similar cases, where the presumptive mechanism for syncope is mediated via the glossopharyngeal nerve. Such cases follow a similar clinical course, with an unpredictable response to standard therapies, including pacemaker implantation. Clinicians should be aware that syncope associated with head and neck cancer may herald recurrence of malignancy.

Disease resistance gene candidates (RGCs) belonging to the nucleotide-binding site (NBS) superfamily have been cloned from numerous crop plants using highly conserved DNA sequence motifs. The aims of this research were to (i) isolate genomic DNA clones for RGCs in cultivated sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) and (ii) map RGC markers and Pl1, a gene for resistance to downy mildew (Plasmopara halstedii (Farl.) Berl. & de Toni) race 1. Degenerate oligonucleotide primers targeted to conserved NBS DNA sequence motifs were used to amplify RGC fragments from sunflower genomic DNA. PCR products were cloned, sequenced, and assigned to 11 groups. RFLP analyses mapped six RGC loci to three linkage groups. One of the RGCs (Ha-4W2) was linked to Pl1, a downy mildew resistance gene. A cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence (CAPS) marker was developed for Ha-4W2 using gene-specific oligonucleotide primers. Downy mildew susceptible lines (HA89 and HA372) lacked a 276-bp Tsp509I restriction fragment that was present in downy mildew resistant lines (HA370, 335, 336, 337, 338, and 339). HA370 × HA372 F2progeny were genotyped for the Ha-4W2 CAPS marker and phenotyped for resistance to downy mildew race 1. The CAPS marker was linked to but did not completely cosegregate with Pl1 on linkage group 8. Ha-4W2 was found to comprise a gene family with at least five members. Although genetic markers for Ha-4W2 have utility for marker-assisted selection, the RGC detected by the CAPS marker has been ruled out as a candidate gene for Pl1. Three of the RGC probes were monomorphic between HA370 and HA372 and still need to be mapped and screened for linkage to disease resistance loci.Key words: Helianthus, sunflower, downy mildew, Plasmopara, nucleotide-binding site.

A single polypeptide of leucyl-tRNA synthetase (LRS) has been purified from budding bakers' yeast by a modification of the procedure published earlier. On denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis LRS was one band corresponding to molecular weight of 120,000 +/- 5,000 daltons. Variable amounts of LRS with a similar molecular weight but which dissociated into equal subunits of 58,000 were also isolated. The affinities (KM) for substrates for this form of the enzyme were similar to those previously reported for the dimeric form of the enzyme.

PARKER (1943) fed graded amounts of thyroactive iodocasein to five lots of Rhode Island Red chicks during a period of 12 weeks. At the optimum level a slightly greater rate of growth was observed in comparison to the controls and a rather marked stimulation of feather growth. Irwin, Reineke and Turner (1943) confirmed these results using White Plymouth Rock chicks. The effect of thyroactive iodocasein, hereafter referred to as protamone ** on certain gland and organ weights was also reported. In this experiment it was noted that the carcass of the protamone-fed chicks at 12 weeks contained decidedly less fat than the control chicks, indicating that the growth process was being stimulated at the expense of fat deposition. Further, the feeding of protamone had caused a marked suppression of the thyroid gland weight and probably its function. It seemed of interest to determine the effects on body weight, fattening, and gland . . .

MANY investigators during the past three decades have reported on the various effects of feeding fresh or desiccated thyroid to chickens. Results have been variable, dependent upon dosage level and potency of the material. Most of the work reported has concerned adult stock, and the data relative to chicks and young growing stock appears to be meager. Crew and Huxley (1923) fed dried thyroid to 12 chicks and found no significant difference in weight between the control and experimental group. It is known that thyroid given in excessive amount will retard the rate of growth or even cause a loss of body weight. However, some investigators have reported acceleration of the growth rate in dogs, rats, and mice when thyroid was fed in optimum amounts. Recently Koger and associates (1942 (1943) reported improvement of growth and appetite in mice receiving subcutaneous injections of crystalline thyroxine and the feeding of thyroactive . . .

The numbers of motoneurons in the brachial lateral motor columns were determined from the 6th embryonic day through the 5th week posthatching in age-matched dystrophic and normal chickens. The overall magnitude of cell loss was not significantly different between the dystrophic and normal strains. However there was a trend toward more motoneurons in the brachial lateral motor columns of dystrophic embryos and posthatch chickens which was found to be statistically significant at the 8th and 9th days of embryonic life. These observations are taken to suggest that, in addition to strain differences unrelated to the dystrophic gene, there may exist a temporal delay in developmental neuron cell death in dystrophic chick embryos that may be secondary to the primary defect within the dystrophic muscle.

In an investigation at this station on the weights of organs in White Rocks at 12–14 weeks of age, an individual female chick was found with one kidney. † Kaupp (1918) describes the urinary system of the bird as consisting of two kidneys, from each of which a ureter extends and empties into the cloaca. The kidneys are made up of three irregular lobes; the anterior lobe is usually the largest and the middle lobe the smallest. The body weight of the bird was 1,340 grams and the kidney weight was 7.5 grams. Five normal females from the same lot had an average body weight of 1,324 grams and an average weight of 9.2 grams for the two normal kidneys. Thus the single kidney weighed 81.5 percent of the normal weight of two kidneys. This enlarged single kidney indicates that compensatory hypertrophy had taken place. The presence of the normal . . .