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The article presents a discussion on the progress in biology, and reflects on how these developments can become a cause of confusion and apprehension by affecting established equilibria, destroying certain prejudices, and confronting human conscience with unexpected and difficult problems. The discussion focuses on the inevitable consequences of the natural evolution of biology. These developments in biology include the prolongation of life, voluntary determination of sex, and the virginal procreation.

This article investigates some psychological correlates of death anxiety subjective life expectancy (SLE) and general anxiety. It focuses upon the relationship between death anxiety and the Ss' expressed expectations of one's own life spans, that is SLE, which is viewed as a highly critical indicator of a complex attitude toward an emotionally charged topic and not as a composite based upon demographic variables. Discussion centered upon the possibility that SLE does not have equal import for both men and women and evidence was reported which indicated that male Ss are relatively more defensive about death than are female Ss.

The article discusses the notion that persons endowed with exceptional talents do not live long. Upon superficial observation this belief appears to have some foundation as several famous musicians, poets, actors and writers did not live as long on an average as the general population. A study of the literature on longevity reveals that there are several propositions which have received considerable attention. Among the leading theories found, the following are probably the most outstanding. Longevity depends to some extent upon; family traits or inheritance; the occupation a person follows; the century in which a person lived; the standard of living within which an individual spends his life. As a preliminary experiment to test the validity of the hypothesis the writers computed the mean longevity of several hundred musicians and found little to support it. This did not, of course, produce conclusive results, since other averages were needed for further comparisons. For this purpose, a tabulation was made of the lengths of life of several hundred philosophers and they were found to have slightly greater average longevity than musicians. The difference between the means, however, could not be judged as significant without a more extensive investigation.

The article presents information on the Larvae of Pisione remote. The small-sized, slender members of this family inhabit sandy areas in shallow waters. Some of the known species live in the intertidal zone. The members of the Pisionidae have a highly specialized type of reproduction including a copulation process. In the receptaculum seminis of the female they are spherical with a circlet of 5-8 stiff processes. The copulation organ consists partly of the modified ventral cirrus of the parapodium, partly of an elongated protrusible organ, which is a differentiation around the efferent duct of the sperm sack.

The article presents information on a survey that examined the life expectancy of mentally subnormal people under community and hospital care. One major problem in undertaking this survey was the decision, which had to be made in certain cases as to whether a given patient was classified as a community or as a hospital case. In the survey, younger patients who had spent over 90 per cent of their life span and older patients who had spent over 95 per cent of their life span under community care and who, according to the records, were admitted to hospital very shortly before their deaths were counted as community cases.

The article offers information on the effect of day length on seed coat, index of water permeability to the occurrence of desert annual ononis sicula guss (Papilionaceae). The plant occurs annually in the Negev desert of Israel. Ononis sicula guss is a quantitative long-day plant. The plant's seeds germinate mostly in September to October at the beginning of the rainy season. Development of the seed is fast, in accordance to the rate of the rainy season, after flowering and seed maturation, the plants die as the soil starts to dry out at the beginning of dry season.

The article presents a mapping study to obtain data on the rate of population turnover and individual longevity in Anthoxanthum odoratum L., sweet vernal grass, on a zinc mine site between August 1964 and September 1970 in Flintshire, Wales. According to the author, the total number of plants recorded on the transects showed both seasonal and long-term fluctuations and there were marked shifts in the age distribution of the plants during the study period. The author adds that individual longevity indicated that only a small fraction of the individuals lived for more than a few years.

The article presents information about several books on biology and social life. The book "The Biology of Death," by Raymond Pearl has many things in this book of interest to the social worker and the sociologist. There is the demonstration that the maximum span of life is no greater today than in the ancient world. the book also reveals that though modern medicine and sanitation have greatly increased the expectation of life for all ages under sixty or sixty-five, they have reduced it for all higher ages. The book "Introduction to Medical Biometry and Statistics," by Raymond Pearl is exactly what its title indicates — an introduction to the statistical methods which can and should be employed in strictly scientific work relating to medical and biological investigations. The book covers the statistical methods of tabulation, graphic representation, rates and ratios, life tables, death rates, the elementary principles of probability and probable error, variation, correlation, and simple curve fitting.

The article focuses on the longevity of Americans from the point of view of life insurance actuaries. A key element in setting gross premium rates is the cost of the prime raw material, the mortality. Examples are provided to illustrate several failed life insurance policies. The author examines the experience of the past, the variation in longevity by sex, occupation and nationality. He also looks into the influence of race and environment on mortality rates and the effect of occupation and marital status on longevity. In conclusion, the author comments on the country's mores and customs as they affect longevity.

Numbers of Potamothrix hammoniensis (michaelsen) varied between 10,000 and 25,000/m² over six years (1954-1960) in the profundal of the eutrophic lake Esrom, Denmark. Dry weight equivalents of preserved specimens varied between 0.75 and 1.80 g/m². Cocoons, deposited from late May to July, hatched in August. Growth was most rapid in autumn and spring and no weight increase occurred during summer stagnation. Reproductive individuals were, in some cases, three years old, but most were four. Total life span was at least five years. Reproduction of P. hammoniensis was related to numbers of Chironomus anthracinus Zett. When the Chironomus population was large the reproduction of P. hammoniensis was lowered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. A method is described by which the age, in days, of a grasshopper can be accurately determined. The method, which is experimentally validated, makes use of a direct age index consisting of daily pairs of growth layers in the solid cuticle of the exoskeleton. It presents insect ecologists with a new and precise technique for the study of age composition of field populations. 2. The method is applicable to both nymphs and adults, and is rapid; the age of a grasshopper can be found in less than one minute by hand-sectioning a tibia and counting the growth layers between crossed polaroids. 3. A preliminary field study of a population of Decticus verrucivorus, shows that the expected time of emergence of adult population peaks can probably be predicted. 4. The technique is not confined to grasshoppers: similar growth layers have already been found in cockroaches, earwigs, froghoppers and dragonflies. 5. Some possibilities for application to field work with economically important locusts are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Dinophilus species in question shows an extremely peculiar biological phenomenon. as it remains in an encysted condition for quite half its life time (see synopsis on p. 22). Encystment is an obligatory phase within the life cycle. Encysted animals are quite immobile and histologically greatly changed. The metabolism is obviously very low. During the encystation the following four periods may be distinguished: 1) a period of "destruction", 2) the obligatory part of the resting period, 3) the arbitrary part of the resting period and 4) the restitution period. A considerable number of experiments were made to clarify the phenomenon of encystment and the dependence upon temperature of the periods mentioned. The encysted animals do not possess the faculty of restitution of tissues as long as they are kept in a temperature similar to that which is found during the summer in the biotope. Constantly kept at such a temperature the animals remain encysted for the rest of their lives. The span of life of encysted animals in so high a temperature is, however, considerably greater than under natural conditions; while the animals in the biotope (except for the "sluggards", see below) do not reach more than one year, the ones kept at "room temperature" can reach almost three years, under favourable conditions probably even more. The range of temperature in which restitution is possible extends for most of the animals from a few degrees minus up to close on 14°C. The limits are, of course, variable. In 16° and more no animal would seem to have the power of restitution. The optimum lies about 6°, that is to say at that temperature the process of restitution proceeds most quickly: usually after 2-3 months in such a temperature the animals leave the cyst (provided that they have accomplished the obligatory part of the resting period at the time when the low temperature sets in). The period of "destruction" is lengthened by the same low temperature `which evokes restitution. Low temperature cannot, however, at least as a rule, hinder encystment. The temperature during the obligatory part of the resting period has no influence on the length of life in the cyst. During the arbitrary part of the resting period following, the animals are ready to start restitution of the tissues at any time if they are exposed to low temperatures. The process of restitution can only happen at such an active temperature. Animals which have been kept for so long in an "active" temperature that they begin to move in their cysts, which means that the process of restitution has reached a very advanced stage, become again destructed if transferred to higher temperature (often already at 14-14.5°). The process so to speak reverts to the starting point. Normal changes with regard to other environmental factors seem to have no decisive influence on the length and character of encystment. A slight number of animals show considerable divergencies with regard to the life cycle. Thus certain individuals do not possess the faculty of restitution during their first winter. The excysting of these "sluggards" in the biotope presumably takes place at the earliest a whole year later than that of the majority.—Other specimens differ in that they become sexually mature during the early summer of the same year in which they are hatched. In such cases they fail to encyst, at least as a rule, and the animals die after a few weeks. From the knowledge we have now acquired about the dependence on temperature of the phenomenon of encystment we may conclude that the species—if it exhibits throughout the whole region of its distribution the same "temperature physiology" as on the Swedish west coast—is not impeded in its distribution by low temperatures during the summer, but rather by high ones during the winter. It can thus not be found in regions where the water temperature does not fall below about 14° during ca. 3 months of the year. Is this perhaps an indication that the original home of the species must be sought in northern rather than in southern regions? However, that may be, it is of course of great interest that animals from other parts of its distribution area should be made the object of closer investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on old people's appraisal of adjustment over life span. In one of his studies, researcher C.M. Morgan asked old people to indicate what part of the life span had been the happiest. Half of Morgan's respondents reported "young adulthood" as the happiest period of life. A third of respondents placed the happiest period earlier, either in "youth" or in "childhood." The ranking of periods of the life span undoubtedly reflects the mingling of experiences and of stereotypes. In a previous study, the method developed by Morgan and subsequently used by researcher J.T. Landis was extended to get estimates for some 21 aspects of life adjustment from the viewpoint of a much younger group. The schedule of these aspects included, in addition to Happiness, the aspects of Freedom from Worry, Financial Security, In the Swing of Things, Freedom, Health, Interest in Religion, Living a Full Life, Authority and Prestige, Needed by Others, Meaningfulness of Life, Job Satisfaction, Salary, Activity in Family Affairs, Taking Part in Active Sports, Friends, Clubs and Organizations, Hobbies, Ambition, Ability to Learn; and Interest in Politics. Graduate students, averaging in age about 31 years, had a negative view of the older years.

The article presents an analysis of several experiments addressing the issues on the influence of nutrition and physical exercise on growth, maturation and life span. The first experiment concentrates on the diet of experimented animals, the second was designed to determine if spontaneous exercise enhances growth and last is carried out to examine the influence of exercise on the bone's chemical composition. It concludes that high-protein-high-fat diet promotes weight gain and skeletal growth while physical exercise favors leanness and development of muscles but does not enhance bone calcification.

(1) Analysis of data from samples of chub taken at monthly intervals from two tributaries of the Herefordshire Wye revealed an annual cycle of scale growth with the formation of a check during May or June. The frequency distributions of ages determined from scale checks and the length-frequency distributions showed close similarities. It was concluded that age determinations based on an examination of the scales were valid, provided care was taken in the identification of the first scale cheek. The maximum age observed was 15 years. (2) Examination of the population structure revealed an overall sex ratio close to unity but there was a significant increase in the proportion of females in the 11+ and older age groups. Dominant year-classes were observed. The strongest was 1959, which was attributed to exceptionally warm, dry, sunny weather during the period May–September. (3) Female chub grew more rapidly and attained greater ultimate size than the males. Changes in the pattern of growth during the life-span were attributed to the attainment of sexual maturity, especially in the females. The length-weight relationships of the sexes differed slightly but were almost identical for the same sex in the two rivers studied. Seasonal variations in the growth-rate were followed. Most rapid growth occurred after check formation in May or June and continued until September. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses an approach to teaching facts and attitudes in the junior high school about the human life span. The community's perceptions and attitudes towards the subject matter should be well understood in order to attain a good teaching approach. It is better to interact to with the parents' idea and decisions over the school's teaching facts and attitudes on human life span to create a clearer understanding by the children. By meticulously selecting certain facts and passing it on the students, it will definitely create a sufficient knowledge suited to their preferences and inquiries.