Oestrogen regulates the growth of human breast cancer cell lines ZR-75–1, T-47-D and MCF-7 (KO and McGrath). Basal cell growth can be reduced (T-47-D) or eliminated (ZR-75–1) by prior growth in the absence of steroid and phenol red for three weeks, demonstrating that oestrogens can have long-lasting effects on cells in culture (termed “steroid memory”). Effects of oestradiol on different cell biological parameters are described and interaction with other steroids and serum growth factors is discussed. Antioestrogen action in these cell lines is affected by at least five parameters: (1) presence of phenol red, (2) time in culture, (3) cell density, (4) antioestrogen concentration, (5) steroid memory.

An in vitro model for loss of oestrogen sensitivity in breast cancer is presented. Both dependent (ZR-75–1) and responsive (T-47-D) cells lose oestrogen sensitivity when deprived of steroid in the long term but show a gradual increase in growth. For ZR-75–1 cells, the effects appear to be clonal but occur at a high frequency (about 1 in 1,000 cells). Parallel alterations in sensitivity to other steroids, antioestrogens and serum growth factors are shown. Molecular markers of this action are described and the results compared with the well-established model for loss of androgen/glucocorticoid sensitivity in SI 15 cells.

Blood transfusion services, in almost all parts of the developed world, are subject to the same rigours of quality standards as those applied to the rest of the pharmaceutical industry. These standards are established and monitored by governments but are greatly enhanced by staff involvement and commitment. More recent developments, which in some respects are unique to blood transfusion services, have been the commitment of many blood transfusion services to engage in an audit process which seeks to define better the most appropriate uses of blood and blood products.

The aims, methods and techniques of the macrobenthic monitoring programme in Sullom Voe and Orka Voe are described together with an analysis of the data obtained from surveys that began in 1978 and continue to the present. The distribution of the benthic macrofauna is discussed in relation to the sedimentological and hydrocarbon data obtained and compared with data from other Shetland waters. The macrofauna is considered to be typical of five of the six Facies used to describe the communities of the voes around Shetland. The possible effects of the terminal operations on the macrofauna are assessed and it is concluded that the disturbance noted to the macrofauna in Garths Voe, close to the diffuser at Calback Ness and in Orka Voe, essentially follows the same pattern seen in modifications to Shetland macrofauna that occurs where naturally occurring organic carbon enrichment exists.

Coppiced willow supports a much higher density of breeding birds than unmanaged more mature willow. This appears to be because it retains richer vegetation cover, especially in the herb layer, and so provides more breeding and feeding sites for both marsh and woodland birds.

Most radiology departments have had comprehensive quality assurance programmes up and running for many years. There are several tangible measures of the output of a radiological department in the form of workload, staffing, film quality, film retrieval, accuracy of reports, availability of reports, etc. There are also many less tangible aspects. In this paper, which attempts to cover most of the practical aspects of quality assurance in radiology, the programme is followed through from the initiation of the request for a radiological investigation right up to its possible influence on the outcome of the patient. The educational aspects are also addressed in this rapidly evolving field.

A brief description is given of the accident to the tanker Esso Bernicia that resulted in the release of 1174 tonnes of heavy fuel oil into the harbour at Sullom Voe. The measures taken to deal with the spill and the resulting oil pollution are described and their effectiveness assessed. Aspects of the environmental effects are considered with particular reference to birds, otters and sheep. Wide-ranging inquiries were made into the cause of the incident, the adequacy of the response, and the effects of the pollution. The actions that resulted are described. Finally the significance of the event is considered in relation to the subsequent development of oil spill contingency planning at Sullom Voe, and in the wider context of Shetland.

The modifications that occur to breast tissue as a consequence of different physiological states of the female are considered with particular respect to oestrogen. Various tissue responses can be noted and the implications of modulation in cell proliferation, as a consequence of menstrual cycles, pregnancy, oophorectomy and oral contraceptive use, are considered. Assessment of oestrogen receptor by immuno-cytochemistry confirms the involvement of the steroid as a cell stimulant. Evidence from a variety of sources indicates the role in normal breast epithelium is more permissive than deterministic.

Sands are sorted by the actions of air and water. A mathematical–physical model for the ensuing spatial and temporal variations in the size distributions of the sand grains is outlined. A crucial element in aeolian sorting and transport of sand is the process that takes place when a saltating grain impinges on the sand surface. This raises the problem of describing the texture of sand surfaces. Some initial empirical and mathematical findings concerning this problem are discussed. A closely connected question is that of how the grains in a sand deposit are packed and how this relates to the size distribution. Voronoi tesselations in combination with random point processes seem to offer one useful approach to the question.

The Shetland Islands lie between latitudes of approximately 60° and 61° North, over 100 miles north of the Scottish mainland. They are influenced by the North Atlantic Drift so that the climatic conditions are much less severe than for other land masses, for example in Southern Greenland where the mean temperature for five months of the year is below freezing. The environment in all its considerable heterogeneity is well described in The Natural Environment of Shetland (Goodier 1974) and in The Natural History of Shetland (Berry & Johnston 1980). Briefly the islands lie on the western oceanic fringe of Europe, have approximately 1450 kilometres of coastline and an area of 1468 square kilometres. The geology is varied and geomorphologically the islands constitute a drowned range of glaciated hills situated on the continental shelf. The coast consists of extensive areas of cliffs and voes with relatively few beaches. In general, the ‘outer’ coasts, especially on the west, are exposed high energy environments. In contrast, the inner coasts, often voes, are deep sheltered inlets. The land itself tends to be hilly and, where it has not been stripped for agricultural use, is blanketed with peat, with the main vegetation heather (Calluna vulgaris) and cotton sedge (Eriophorum angustifolium). Approximately 10% of the land is covered by rushy vegetation and there is very little relict scrub though there are one or two planted woodland plots. The original scrub was largely eradicated by man who arrived in Shetland from Iberia about 3500 BC. Colonisers from Scandinavia arrived in the eighth century and have had a lasting influence on the culture of the islands. In 1971 the human population was about 17327 and in 1989 was 23 214 (SIC 1992).

Determinations of dissolved oxygen and nutrients in the water overlying the sediments, of sedimentation rates, and of redox values, acidity, dissolved sulphide, carbon, nitrogen and cellulose values at different levels in the sediments themselves have been carried out in various parts of Sullom Voe. The effects of oxygen depletion following intermittent stagnation of the bottom water in the inner basin on carbon cycling in the sediments are discussed and contrasted with the chemistry of oxygen-rich sediments elsewhere in the voe.

The Clyde Estuary receives a relatively high pollutant load derived from the domestic and industrial wastes of half of Scotland's population. In order to monitor contaminant concentrations throughout the area, the Clyde River Purification Board (CRPB) initiated in 1980 an extensive ‘mussel-watch’ programme, having selected the common mussel as the most suitable indicator organism.

This 1980 survey served not only to identify shores with elevated trace metal concentrations and those which were relatively unpolluted, but also to assess changes in overall contamination of the area in comparison with previous surveys.

Following the success of the 1980 survey it has been gradually extended over the years, both in the number and geographical spread of sites visited, and in the substrates and determinands measured, as the CRPB's monitoring requirements have changed.

The 1984 CRPB ‘mussel-watch’ survey involved the collection of over 1200 mussels at twenty-four sites throughout the Firth of Clyde (Fig. 1), with subsequent determination of concentrations of the trace metals Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn, and of other toxic, persistent substances such as organochlorine pesticides and PCB residues.

Attention is focussed here on trace metal body burdens for Clyde mussels collected during the 1984survey.

A provisional species list for the insects galling willow in Britain is presented. Aspects of willow biology which may be important in gall-insect species diversity are briefly discussed and the process of gall formation is reviewed for one species of willow-galling sawfly. An experiment investigating willow defences against galling, by measuring phenolic levels in plant and gall tissue, is also described.

A correlation has been firmly established, in a wide range of plants, between environmental stress, the onset of senescence, loss of viability in seeds and the development and accumulation of a stable organic free radical. On the basis of the EPR response obtained at 95 GHz (W-band) and ENDOR spectra, and comparisons with quinone radical anions, we present evidence from contrasted plant species, plant tissues and sub-cellular fractions that this stable radical originates from one or more quinones possibly, though perhaps not exclusively, associated with stressed or age-impaired photosynthetic and respiratory electron transport chains. The radical appears to be ubiquitously associated with sub-lethal stress-induced damage and with senescence and arises during the sub-cellular structural and biochemical processes associated with the final phases of metabolism prior to death. As the free radical persists for some considerable time after death, it may have value in long-term studies of seed viability and in broader areas of plant pathology and stress physiology.

An unusual form of Asplenium adiantum-nigrum from Scottish and European serpentine sites has been grown for several years under uniform conditions of culture alongside A. adiantum-nigrum of nonserpentine origin, and has been found to retain its characteristic features. The morphological distinctiveness of both types, apparent in juvenile as well as adult plants, has been maintained through successive generations.

Transplant experiments were carried out in order to determine whether serpentine and non-serpentine plants differed also in their physiological response to soil factors. The results suggest that serpentine soils are unfavourable to the growth of non-serpentine A. adiantum-nigrum, particularly at germination and during the early development of the sporophyte. Soil analysis data are presented and briefly discussed.

The experimental evidence presented here, combined with the constancy of the diagnostic differences leading to ease of recognition of the serpentine forms at all ages, suggests that evolution leading to the establishment of ecologically adapted divergent strains is actively in progress.

Isolates of the tropical fungus Crinipellis perniciosa obtained from cocoa and lianas in Ecuador were grown on media ranging from −0.45 MPa to −9.0 MPa water potential and their responses compared to those of other agarics and Xylaria species isolated from cocoa. Antagonism between mycelia of C. perniciosa and these isolates was also assessed over the same range of water potentials. It is hypothesised that C. perniciosa and other canopy inhabiting fungi of tropical forests are adapted to water stress, but are not competitive with fungi which colonise later, following litterfall, from lower litter and soil horizons, where water availability is higher. Xylaria spp. proved to be aggressive antagonists of C. perniciosa over a range of water potentials.

The vegetation of the peatland of Lewis is described. Several different types of mire are distinguished according to their morphological features. The gradual transition from minerotrophic conditions within valley mires to fully ombrotrophic conditions in the blanket mires of watersheds is demonstrated. Whilst most of the blanket mire of Lewis is affected by severe peat erosion, examples were chosen to demonstrate the nature of the flora and vegetation within those mire systems at present unaffected by erosion, as well as the more characteristic eroded peatland.

The definition of the name “kylite” is reviewed and it is suggested that its usage should be discontinued. What is now emphasised as the criterion of most importance in distinguishing “kylites” from crinanites and teschenites is the development of a strongly zoned purplish pink augite in advance of feldspar. Basic alkaline doleritic rocks in which the augite develops in this manner could be referred to simply as kylitic. Specimens were systematically collected from the picritic sill near Dalmellington which is kylitic in type. Rocks from different levels in this sill have been chemically analysed, and also unzoned olivine (Mg74.4) and zoned augite. A vein (and the augite from it) in the kylitic sill near Troon, known as the Hillhouse Quarry Sill, have also been chemically analysed. The chemical compositions of all these analysed rocks and of the analysed augites are compared with appropriate data from, in particular, the sills of the Shiant Isles and Lugar, and the Black Jack Sill in New South Wales. Some relationships of kylitic rocks with the differentiation trends in these sills are briefly discussed with the aid of variation diagrams. On the basis of the available evidence it is inferred that in the olivine-rich Dalmellington Sill, olivine has accumulated prior to intrusion and that subsequent “flowage differentiation” has apparently been inoperative.

In the Sanquhar district a bsain of relatively light Upper Carboniferous rocks (relative density 2·54) overlies a denser basement of Ordovician greywackes (relative density 2·72). A gravity survey over the area with coverage of approximately one station per square kilometre, increasing to a station spacing of 100 yards along certain traverses in critical localities, shows a close relation between the Bouguer anomalies and the known geology. A local gravity low over the Carboniferous outcrop is superimposed on a steep regional gradient decreasing south-eastwards. The trend of this gradient is parallel to the strike of the Ordovician rocks, but its exact relationship to the basement structure is not clear. The residual Bouguer anomalies reflect the structure of the Carboniferous rocks; in the south-eastern part of the basin they agree closely with the calculated effect produced by the known thicknesses, structure, and density contrast. Westwards from Kirkconnel, however, there is an increasing discrepancy between the observed and the theoretical anomalies, a discrepancy which indicates the presence of an additional mass of light rock concealed under the known Coal Measures. It is inferred that this material consists of older Carboniferous strata, thickest under the present-day valley of the Nith but concealed by overstep of the overlying Coal Measures against the flanks of the basin. These hidden rocks thin gradually to the south-east across a shallow monocline with north-east trend and south-east of Kirkconnel are truncated by a large fault trending east-north-east. Both the monocline and the fault appear to affect the Westphalian strata to a lesser degree than the base of the Carboniferous rocks.

The stratigraphical significance of the concealed strata is that they evince the existence of a pre-Westphalian basin, trending north-west-south-east, which antecedes the later Hercynian fold, and also suggest that pre-Hercynian movements took place along a fault, near Kirkconnel which, trends north-east-south-west across the basin.

A historical review of the physical and chemical data collected from the Suez Canal waters in the first 40 years (1867–1906) during and after its filling shows that it was the focus of interest of many explorers and scientists. From 27 successive observations (table) the waters were completely analysed seven times. The salinity (density) was measured along the canal on eight occasions, of which four were not previously known. The first observations along the Canal were made in May 1870 by the Admiralty Ship Blue Cross. Her results, together with the second set of observations (February 1872), were found in a small booklet printed in Alexandria (Tissot 1872). The data of two sections (Durand-Claye 1875a; Anonymous 1907) were found by the author as unpublished manuscripts and are revealed here for the first time.

A comment on the determination of salinity of sea water by evaporation to dryness was found in a handwritten manuscript by Durand-Claye (1873). This comment was eliminated in the published text (Durand-Claye 1874), and is reproduced here for its interest to the history of chemical oceanography.

The difficulties in making a comparative study of these old data are explored. It is suggested to start some sort of ‘practical historical oceanography’ by studying old hydrometers, thermometers and other oceanographic apparatus using modern equipments in order to reassess the data of old expeditions.