The effect of drought stress on the growth of nine accessions of lentil, ILL 5845, ILL 6451, ILL 6788, ILL 6793, ILL 6796, ILL 6439, ILL 6778, Local Masoor and Masoor 18-10 was assessed in a pot experiment, using control and drought cycles.Accessions ILL 6439 and ILL 6451 produced significantly greater biomass, had highest osmotic adjustment, a high wax content, a high leaf resistance, a high relative water-content and high leaf elasticity (A"'w/AR= gradient of water potential/gradient of relative water content) compared with the other accessions.From this study, it is established that the drought tolerance of the lentil accessions examined here is highly related to their capacity for osmotic adjustment. Thus osmotic adjustment could be a selection criterion for breeding for drought resistance in lentil. The detection of variation in the response to drought stress in a very small sample of lentil accessions examined here suggests that the advancement of drought tolerance through selection and breeding methods is possible.

The stem and leaf anatomy of the ten species of Jasione L. (Campanulaceae) in the Iberian Peninsula were investigated; their infra-specific taxa were also studied. The species differ from each other anatomically and can be identified by their anatomical characters. The anatomical evidence supports the taxonomic treatment that will be published in the forthcoming Flora iberica Volume 14. The possible relations between the anatomy and the ecology of these plants are discussed. Specialized small multicellular structures (trichoids) present on the leaf surface, whose interest has not previously been recognized, are described and their possible function discussed.

Nine species of Cyrtandra (Gesneriaceae) are recognized in Peninsular Malaysia. Three (C. cupulata, C. pendula and C. wallichii) are common and occur more or less throughout the area; C. pendula is also recorded from Singapore. Four (C. dispar, C. gimlettei, C. patula and C. suffruticosa) have more restricted distributions, and two (C. lanceolata and C. stonei) are local endemics. Three species and one variety originally described by Ridley are here reduced to synonymy: C. barbata (=C. cupulata), C. falcata (=C. suffruticosa) and C. rotundifolia (=C. pendula), and C. cupulata var. minor (=C. cupulata). Keys for fieldwork and herbarium use are presented and general information is provided. The appendix by M.H. Bokhari contains descriptions of leaf anatomy for eight of the nine species recognized and a key based on anatomical characters.

The extent to which web sites in Malaysian and Australian universities comply with usability guidelines of the U.S Department of Health and Human Services was analysed. In order to discover the reasons some websites comply with more guidelines on certain features than others, cultural dimensions in relation to usability of each country were also analysed. Content analysis was employed to measure the usability compliance. Twenty-nine guidelines were selected and twenty university web sites from each country were randomly selected. The findings showed that the trend of standardization was emerging for language and organization category. However, there was also a clear evidence of the need for website designers to consider the impact of local culture as some cultural reflections in terms of high/low context orientation were noted. In terms of culture, unexpectedly, Australian university websites depicted a higher uncertainty avoidance index. This study will be an addition to web design literature and facilitate universities and individuals to develop effective strategies to elevate the image of universities in the global context. Future studies should examine other cultural dimensions such as collectivism versus individualism and power distance. Future studies may also use interview method to gain an in-depth analysis of factors which influence the cultural projection in university websites.

No abstract