A job satisfaction survey was posted on the Internet and administered to office workers in Texas and the Midwest. The survey included questions regarding job satisfaction, physical work environments, the presence or absence of live interior plants and windows, environmental preferences of the office workers, and demographic information. Approximately 450 completed responses were included in the final sample. Data were analyzed to compare levels of job satisfaction of employees who worked in office spaces with live interior plants or window views of exterior green spaces and employees who worked in office environments without live plants or windows. Statistically significant differences (P < 0.05) were found regarding perceptions of overall life quality, overall perceptions of job satisfaction, and in the job satisfaction subcategories of “nature of work,” “supervision,” and “coworkers” among employees who worked in office spaces with live interior plants or window views and those employees who worked in office environments without live plants or windows. Findings indicated that individuals who worked in offices with plants and windows reported that they felt better about their job and the work they performed. This study also provided evidence that those employees who worked in offices that had plants or windows reported higher overall quality-of-life scores. Multivariate analysis of variance comparisons indicated that there were no statistically significant differences among the categories of “age,” “ethnicity,” “salary,” “education levels,” and “position” among employees who worked in offices with or without plants or window views. However, there were gender differences in comparisons of males in that male participants in offices with plants rated job satisfaction statements higher when compared with males working in offices with no plants. No differences were found in comparisons of female respondents.

A survey based on the Life Satisfaction Inventory A (LSIA) was used to investigate gardeners' and nongardeners' perceptions of life satisfaction. The LSIA was developed in 1961 by Neugarten and measures five components of quality of life including zest for life, resolution and fortitude, congruence between desired and achieved goals, high physical, psychological and social self-concept, and a happy optimistic mood tone. The survey was posted for four months on one of the largest online resources for Texas Master Gardeners within the Aggie Horticulture network, the Texas Master Gardener Web page (http:aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/mastergd/mg.html). During the 4 months, 402 responses were gathered. Additionally, identical `paper/pencil' format surveys were distributed to garden, church, social and community groups with about 400 responses received. In each group of participants, respondents differentiated themselves as gardeners or nongardeners by responding positively or negatively to the survey question, Do you garden? Results indicated statistically significant differences in comparisons of the overall life satisfaction scores with gardeners receiving higher mean scores indicating more positive results on the LSIA. When responses to individual statements were analyzed, results indicated statistically significant differences on 20% of the statements. Differences were detected on statements relating to energy levels, optimism, zest for life, and physical self-concept with gardeners answering more positively on all statements when compared to nongardeners' responses. Additionally, gardeners rated their overall health and their physical activity levels higher than did nongardeners.

Al~trlct. Red oaks (Quercus rubra L.) were regenerated via direct and indirect asexual embryogenesis from immature zygotic embryo tissues. Late heart and early cotyledonary explants cultured in light on modified MS medium proved to be most embryogenic. Embryoids arose from explants cultured on various combinations of 2,4-D and BA. However, the highest percentages of normal polar embryoids were produced by. explants cultured on growth-regulator-free media. Epicotyl dormancy of embryoids was overcome by desiccation (air drying and use of an osmoticum) and rehydration treatments. Asexual plantlet development paralleled developmental changes associated with seed germination. White oak (Quercus alba L.) embryoids were also regenerated, but failed to germinate.

cerning the differential cryoprotection by glucose, sucrose, and raffimose afforded to thylakoids during freezing and thawing (13) or heat stress (12) were interpreted as evidence supportive of a noncolligative-type mechanism. Here, we present data concerning the anomalous behavior of these sugars during freezing which have necessitated a reinterpretation of this earlier hypothesis concerning the mechanism of cryoprotection by neutral sugars.MATERIALS AND METHODS Chloroplast Isolation. Washed, deveined spinach leaves (Spinacia oleracea L. "Winter Bloomsdale") were ground in a Waring Blendor in a medium containing 20 mm Tricine, 250 mm NaCi, 20 mm sodium ascorbate, and 0.1% BSA (pH 7.8). Leaves were sprayed with Foamkill antifoam spray (Nutritional Biochemicals) prior to grinding. Following filtration through two layers of Miracloth, the homogenate was centrifuged for 1 min at 3,000g. The pellet was resuspended in 10 ml of 10 mm NaCl and homogenized by sucessive passages through a 10-ml volumetric pipet. The suspension was diluted to 40 ml with 10 mm NaCl and centrifuged for 7 min at 20,000g. Thylakoids were washed a second time in 10 mM NaCl and diluted to a Chl concentration of 1.0 mg/ml with 10 mM NaCl. Chl was determined by a modification of the Arnon method (18). Initial isolation was carried out at 4 C, and all washing operations were performed at 0 C.Freezing and Thawing of Thylakoid Suspensions. Thylakoid suspensions containing 500 jig Chl/ml, 5 mm NaCl, and 0-100 mm glucose, sucrose, or raffinose were frozen to -18 C in a stirred methanol bath freezing unit programmed to cool at 2.8 C/h. Samples were held at -18 C for 3 h and thawed in the same bath at 10 C/h. Biochemical assays were performed immediately after thawing.Cyclic Photophosphorylation. The reaction mixture (0.5 ml) for cyclic photophosphorylation consisted of the following compounds at the stated final concentrations: 5 ,ug Chl equivalents; 3 mM KH2PO4, 1 mm sodium ascorbate, 50 pm phenazine methosulfate, 3 mm ADP (pH 8.2). Carrier-free 32Pi was added at a dilution of 1 ,uCi/ml. Illumination was provided by two 300-w flood lamps at a distance of 4 cm from the reaction vessels, and the temperature was maintained at 16 C. The reaction was stopped by adding 0.5 ml of a solution containing 1.5 g ammonium molybdate, 2.75 ml concentrated HCI, 0.5 ml triethylamine, and 0.5 ml saturated bromine water/50 ml of solution (14). The suspensions were allowed to settle 10 min at room temperature and then were centrifuged at 12,000g for 10 min. A 0.5-ml aliquot of the supernatant was transferred to a planchet, dried, and counted on a Nuclear-Chicago gas flow counter operated at 1,300 v with a quenching gas flow of 50 ml/min.

Retail sales of container gardens have increased dramatically in recent years, rising 8% from 2004 to 2005, to $1.3 billion. The objective of this study was to determine consumer preferences for three attributes of container gardens; color harmony, price, and amount of care information provided with the purchase. A hierarchical set of levels for each attribute was used in a 3 × 3 × 3 factorial conjoint analysis. A Web-based survey was conducted on 18 Oct. 2006 with 985 respondents. Survey participants were asked to complete a series of questions on a 7-point Likert scale. Survey participants also answered questions about past experiences with and future purchase intentions of container gardens as well as demographics. The three attributes accounted for 99.8% of the variance in container garden preference. Relative importance decreased from price (71%) to amount of care information (23%) to color harmony (6%). Survey participants preferred a container garden with a price point of $24.99, extensive care information, and complementary color harmony. A large portion (76%) of participants in this study indicated that they would be more likely to purchase a container garden if extensive care information was included with the purchase and 85% of participants said they would be willing to visit an Internet Web site that would provide more information on how to care for and maintain a container garden. Results of this study show that there is a potential to increase the value of a container garden through providing educational material with the purchase.