As the need grows for conceptualization, formalization, and abstraction in biology,so too does math- ematics’relevance to the field (Fagerström et al. 1996).Math- ematics is particularly important for analyzing and characterizing random variation of, for example,size and weight of individuals in populations,their sensitivity to chemicals, and time-to-event cases, such as the amount of time an individ- ual needs to recover from illness.The frequency distribution of such data is a major factor determining the type of statistical analysis that can be validly carried out on any data set. Many widely used statistical methods,such as ANOVA (analysis of variance) and regression analysis,require that the data be normally distributed, but only rarely is the frequency distribution of data tested when these techniques are used. <...>

The concept of longwall mining in the United States dates back to the late 19th century when wide faces were used for coal extraction in the Pittsburgh seam. But modern, fully mechanized longwall mining employing plows and frame supports was first introduced from West Germany in the early 1950s in southern West Virginia. It was used mainly for thin seam mining. During the 1950s and 1960s, the practice did not expand. In fact, due to its poor performance, only a few mines in southern West Virginia employed this technique.

The present study of Lower Kimmeridgian biostratigraL ^ H phy in Poland is based on the following ammonites: Ataxioceras, Ne114 brodites, Katroliceras, Glochiceras, Streblites, Taramelliceras, Idoceras, Sutneria, Orthosphinctes, Lithacoceras, Aspidoceras, Amoeboceras, Ringsteadia, Rasenia, Pictonia, and Zonovia. The analysis of this fauna confirms that the Lower Kimmeridgian sediments in Poland, also in its northern parts, have rightly been subdivided into the following three zones: the lower one — Sutneria platynota, the middle one — Ataxioceras hypselocyclum, and the upper one — Katroliceras divisum (partly).

The role played by plume-generated crustal magmatic complexes in the segmentation of volcanic margins is highlighted by a preliminary study of magma flow directions in shallow intrusives from the East Greenland volcanic margin. We investigate the magmatic texture using anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility for eight dykes of tholeitic affinity belonging to a dyke swarm associated with the Tertiary opening of the North Atlantic Ocean. The thickness of the sampled dykes ranges from 3 to 37 m. The dykes are of doleritic texture and contain up to 12% of opaque minerals and 35% of plagioclase laths. Dykes showing a magnetic foliation plane within the dyke plane, i.e. a magnetic fabric usually attributed to magmatic processes, represent 40% of the samples from the studied swarm. These dykes have a low degree of anisotropy and their ellipsoid of magnetic susceptibility is strongly oblate. Inverse magnetic fabrics, where the maximum principal susceptibility axis lies near the pole to the dyke account for 60% of the data. We interpret these inverse fabrics either as alteration minerals with highly prolate ellipsoids of magnetic susceptibility or primary titanomagnetites with oblate ellipsoid of low anisotropy. The flow direction is inferred for normal fabric dykes using the mirror imbrication of magnetic lineation. Analysis of thin sections shows a good agreement between magnetic fabric directions and phenocryst preferred orientations. The inferred flow directions are predominantly horizontal, throwing a new light on volcanic margin development.