Perception of flavor intensity from a series of model foods was recorded during normal mastication by 8 subjects. Samples varied in gelatin concentration (5–25%) and in the sweetener added (sucrose or aspartame) and represented a range of physical and mechanical properties. All contained the same level of a commercial flavor (banana). Mastication patterns were recorded using electromyography simultaneously with sensory assessment. Increasing the mechanical strength and melting point of the samples resulted in longer chewing times and lower intensity and more prolonged flavor perception. The temporal pattern of flavor perception was closely linked with mastication patterns for each subject but exhibited large individual differences. Flavor perception was influenced by the habitual oral breakdown patterns for individuals.

A. Gray. Can. J. Plant Sci. 87: 615-638. The freshwater aquatic plant Cabomba caroliniana, or fanwort, was recently reported in a lake northeast of Peterborough, Ontario, where it has successfully established and survived winter conditions since at least 1991. This is the first documented occurrence of fanwort becoming naturalized in Canada. Fanwort is a popular aquarium plant that is native to South America and possibly the southeastern United States and has been introduced in several Asian, Pacific and European countries through the discarding or deliberate planting of aquarium plants in natural waterways. It is particularly invasive in China, Japan and Australia, and in parts of the United States, where its range is spreading. Fanwort grows rapidly and forms dense stands that clog waterways, impeding flow, obstructing navigation, altering fish habitat and excluding other vegetation. It does not produce mature seed in the northern parts of its North American range, but can multiply clonally and spread quickly by stem fragmentation. It produces turion-like stems at the end of the growing season, which assist in over-wintering under adverse conditions. Fanwort is difficult to control with herbicides and is resistant to mechanical management techniques as populations can quickly re-establish from plant fragments. Populations near the Trent-Severn Waterway in Canada are extensively established and management tools are not available to attempt eradication. An integrated management plan that focuses on early detection and rapid response in surrounding water bodies may succeed in mitigating the economic and environmental impacts and limiting the spread of fanwort. s'avère particulièrement envahissante en Chine, au Japon et en Australie ainsi que dans les parties des États-Unis qui prolongent son aire naturelle. Le cabomba de Caroline pousse rapidement pour former des peuplements denses qui obstruent les cours d'eau, réduisent le débit, nuisent à la navigation, modifient l'habitat des poissons et supplantent d'autres espèces végétales. Ses semences ne parviennent pas à maturité dans les parties septentrionales de son aire nord-américaine, mais la plante se multiplie par clonage et se propage rapidement par fragmentation de la tige. À la fin de la période végétative, ses tiges ressemblent à des turions, ce qui l'aide à traverser l'hiver quand les conditions sont difficiles. Le désherbage chimique du cabomba de Caroline manque d'efficacité et la plante résiste aux techniques de désherbage mécanique, les peuplements se rétablissant rapidement à partir des fragments végétaux. Les populations près de la voie navigable de Trent-Severn, au Canada, sont très bien établis et on ne possède pas les outils de gestion qui permettraient de les éradiquer. Un programme de lutte intégrée misant sur un dépistage précoce et une intervention rapide dans les plans d'eau voisins pourrait concourir à atténuer les conséquences économiques et environnementales du cabomba de Caroline tout en freinant sa propagation.

The Australian Weed Risk Assessment system has been tested in a number of countries and geographical areas since its introduction in 1997, and is widely considered to be an accurate method of predicting the risk of invasiveness of new plant introductions. We evaluated the system against 152 plant species with at least a 50-year introduction history in Canada, including major and minor weeds and species which have not naturalized. Four questions that referred explicitly to Australian conditions were replaced with appropriate equivalent questions for Canada. The weediness of each species was independently rated by a panel of Canadian agricultural, botanical, and conservation experts. Using the standard cut-off scores, the system correctly rejected all major and 86% of minor weeds. However, it also incorrectly rejected 44% of non-weedy species. The diagnostic power of the system, as measured by the receiver operating characteristic curve, was similar to but somewhat lower than that found in other regions where the system has been evaluated. Answers to 23 of the 49 questions were not significantly associated with experts' weediness ratings, indicating that a simplified system could give equally reliable results for Canada. Experts' ratings were strongly related to cold-hardiness, suggesting that the system could be improved by making better use of data on climatic tolerances. We suggest that performance would also be improved by combining likelihood-and consequence-related scores in a multiplicative rather than additive way.

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Inclusion of the more conservative terms for parameters required for DDI evaluation may eliminate promising chemical space, encourages poor practice and hampers innovation. Breakthroughs have originated from understanding of 'outliers' from such analyses where CYP enzyme-transporter interplay may be involved. The role of key transporters in drug disposition is firmly established as the chemistry required to address new targets deviates from traditional 'drug-like' space. Attempts to model more complex interactions for substrates of both CYP enzymes and drug transporters are still in their infancy and will benefit from dynamic modelling.