SUMMARYWhen one or two leaves were removed out of the three or sometimes four present on each tiller of five genotypes of perennial ryegrass grown in nutrient solution, it was found that the relative growth rate (RGR) was not much less than that of untreated plants. The removal of lower leaves had no effect on RGR. Removal of all leaf blades depressed RGR. It is suggested that the results obtained indicate that the plant has the capacity to compensate for loss of leaf tissue by increased activity in the remaining leaves. Leaf appearance rate and tiller production were found to be the attributes most sensitive to the defoliation treatments imposed, and the degree to which leaf appearance rates were affected by defoliation was found to be a good indicator of the regrowth capacity of the different genotypes. Evidence was obtained linking high regrowth potential with high relative increases in the proportion of plant material allocated to new shoot growth.

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Loads and imperfections are introduced as control parameters in the potential energy, in Chapter 3. Limit points, asymmetric and symmetric bifurcation points are discussed, leading to an introduction, of expressions for the seven "elementary" catastrophes which much of the book centers on. Four of these expressions relate to a single critical mode, and the remaining three relate to two simultaneous modes. Chapter 4 treats single-mode buckling phenomena at distinct critical points. Simple rigid bar-spring models are used to illustrate the "fold catastrophe," which corresponds to snap-buckling at a limit point or to an asymmetric bifurcation point. The "cusp catastrophe" corresponds to symmetric postbifurcation behavior. Furthermore, the two higher-order unimodal singularities, the "swallowtail

Laryngeal chemoreflex (LCR) responses elicited by fluid irrigation of the larynx have been described repeatedly in animals, whereas evidence for a similar reflex in human infants is extremely limited. Using nasopharyngeal catheters to instill small volumes of warm saline or water into the pharynx, we examined the incidence and characteristics of such a reflex in nine premature infants. Saline and water elicited the same pattern of responses, which frequently included swallows, central apnea, and airway obstruction and less commonly featured coughs, prolonged apnea, and arousal. With the exception of arousal, the incidence of these responses was significantly greater after delivery of water stimuli than after saline bolus administration. We therefore deduce chemoreceptor involvement in generation of these reflex responses and propose a laryngeal site for this sensory system, as in animals. Since greater potency of water compared with saline was demonstrable in all the infants studied, we further conclude that most preterm infants possess an upper airway chemoreflex.

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