The Trondheim radiocarbon (14C) laboratory has evolved from a traditional radiocarbon decay counting laboratory to an accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) facility primarily measuring 14C. This evolution required adjustments in sample preparation and data handling to match the capacity of the AMS system and reduction in sample sizes to about 1 mgC. We summarize here the steps involved in dating a sample at the National Laboratory for Age Determination in Trondheim, Norway. These include the structure of our sample database for information handling, sample cleaning procedures for different sample types, our reduction systems, both an automated EA-based system for regular use and a manual system for more challenging samples, and data evaluation. We will also briefly summarize the capabilities of our isotope-ratio mass spectrometer.

Woody plant herbicide screening techniques were evaluated to expedite the screening process and decrease amounts of herbicide active ingredient required. Rapid greenhouse screening of woody plant seedlings was performed in less than 6 months, and rapid seed screening was performed in less than 20 days. A traditional field screen, requiring 10 months from application to final evaluation, was performed for comparison and regression modeling purposes. Imazapyr and triclopyr were used as test chemicals and linear regressions were generated to predict traditional field screen results from rapid screens. Significant regressions were produced that predicted field responses of loblolly pine, sweetgum, and yellow-poplar with the use of both herbicides and either rapid screening technique. This indicated that rapid screening techniques could determine herbicide efficacy and/or species spectrum in much less time with significantly less herbicide. Rapid greenhouse screens of triclopyr produced more statistically significant regressions than those using imazapyr. Rapid seed screens could estimate species spectrum within 5 days after treatment. These results indicate that rapid greenhouse screen and rapid seed screen techniques can provide woody plant herbicide developers initial efficacy and spectrum of control data in a cost- and-time effective manner.

Peaceful resolution of the international conflict over Namibia has been a significant preoccupation of the United States and its four partners in the western contact group since April 1977, but neither the efforts led by the Administration of Jimmy Carter nor the very different approach taken by Ronald Reagan has succeeded. To the contrary, prospects for peaceful change in Namibia are ebbing. The present stalemate in negotiations is unlikely to be resolved before the end of Reagan's first term in January 1985. In the meantime, the territory's political, economic, and social circumstances will continue to stagnate, and the low-level and intermittent fighting in the northern operational areas will probably expand in scope and costs.

The purpose of this article is to explore the pattern of South African responses to external pressures. My study grows out of a concern with the regional conflict situation in Southern Africa, whose dimensions have become relatively clear only since the coup in Portugal in April 1974. Whatever the specific details of the policies and actions of the rest of the world; these should not rest on a misperception of the basic motivation and dynamics of South African decision-making vis-à-vis external pressures.

The Nixon Adminsitration’s decision to sign an executive agreement covering U.S. access to Azores military facilities reflects the moral and practical bankruptcy of this Administration’s policy toward the white-governed territories of southern Africa. If there is to be any improvement in the social and political situation of nonwhites in Angola and Mozambique as a quid pro quo for our commitment of development funds and symbolic support, no signs of it appear in the news reports of the agreement. Whether or not any of the development projects are to be in those territories, U.S. support will contribute in a major way to the stabilization of Portuguese political control there.