Showing papers by "University of Haifa published in 1995"
TL;DR: This paper elaborates the self-teaching hypothesis, reviews relevant evidence, and notes that current models of word recognition fail to address the quintessential problem of reading acquisition-independent generation of target pronunciations for novel orthographic strings.
2,139 citations
TL;DR: This article showed that if there is some control over genre then there will be a close correspondence between the vocabulary size of intermediate learners as reflected in their writing and a more direct measure of vocabulary size.
Abstract: This article shows that if there is some control over genre then there will be a close correspondence between the vocabulary size of intermediate learners as reflected in their writing and a more direct measure of vocabulary size The study proposes a new measure of lexical richness, the Lexical Frequency Profile, which looks at the proportion of high frequency general service and academic words in learners' writing The study shows that it is possible to obtain a reliable measure of lexical richness which is stable across two pieces of writing by the same learners It also discriminates between learners of different proficiency levels For learners of English as a second language, the Lexical Frequency Profile is seen as being a measure of how vocabulary size is reflected in use In this study, it was found that the Lexical Frequency Profile correlates well with an independent measure of vocabulary size This reliable and valid measure of lexical richness in writing will be useful for determining the factors that affect judgements of quality in writing and will be useful for examining how vocabulary growth is related to vocabulary use. © 1995 Oxford University Press.
1,043 citations
TL;DR: Present results suggest that ‘Evolution Canyon’ provides a fertile local testing model of evolutionary predictions, and microclimatic aridity diversifying selection seems here a major evolutionary force that drives adaptive molecular and organismal evolution.
Abstract: Biodiversity differentiation and the relative importance of forces and causes driving evolution at the molecular and organismal levels require more critical testing. The opposite slopes of Lower Nahal Oren, Mount Carmel, Israel, designated ‘Evolution Canyon’, display dramatic biotic contrasts. Higher solar radiation on the south-facing slope (S-slope) makes it spatiotemporally more heterogeneous, warmer, drier and fluctuating than the north-facing slope (N-slope). Consequently, local biodiversity differentiation across several hundred metres displays globally divergent patterns. In different groups of organisms (i. e. across phylogeny) the ‘tropical Asian-African’ S-slope harbours African and Asian xeric tropical biota. The S-slope is richer on average in terrestrial species, displaying higher genetic diversity than the ‘temperate European’ N-slope, which is richer in aquatic-dependent taxa. Adaptive differences in different organisms are demonstrated within and between the slopes. Microclimatic aridity diversifying selection seems here a major evolutionary force that drives adaptive molecular and organismal evolution. Present results suggest that ‘Evolution Canyon’ provides a fertile local testing model of evolutionary predictions.
205 citations
TL;DR: It is found that ensuring that parents do not learn about homosexuality while finding out that their child is gay potentially eases parents' adjustment to the discovery and thus may also improve the emotional dynamics within the family.
Abstract: This study explores and integrates parents', gay men's, and lesbians' perceptions of the "coming out" process. The research employed a sample of thirty-two gay and lesbian young adults and twenty-seven parents. It investigated how family dynamics prior to the discovery of homosexuality could be related to post-discovery experiences on parts of both children and parents. In-depth interviews were conducted with all participants. Two bodies of literature enriched the theoretical framework for this study: self-disclosure literature and the literature pertaining to homosexual identity formation. Findings of this study call for educating parents about homosexuality prior to the actual act of disclosure. Ensuring that parents do not learn about homosexuality while finding out that their child is gay potentially eases parents' adjustment to the discovery and thus may also improve the emotional dynamics within the family.
203 citations
TL;DR: It is shown that the resolution power of the QTL mapping model can be elevated if correlation between QTs is taken into account, and the method allows us to test numerous biologically important hypotheses concerning manifold effects of genomic segments on the defined trait complex.
Abstract: An approach to increase the resolution power of interval mapping of quantitative trait (QT) loci is proposed, based on analysis of correlated trait complexes. For a given set of QTs, the broad sense heritability attributed to a QT locus (QTL) (say, A/a) is an increasing function of the number of traits. Thus, for some traits x and y, H(xy)2(A/a) > or = H(x)2(A/a). The last inequality holds even if y does not depend on A/a at all, but x and y are correlated within the groups AA, Aa and aa due to nongenetic factors and segregation of genes from other chromosomes. A simple relationship connects H2 (both in single trait and two-trait analysis) with the expected LOD value, ELOD = -1/2N log(1-H2). Thus, situations could exist that from the inequality H(xy)2(A/a) > or = H(x)2(A/a) a higher resolution is provided by the two-trait analysis as compared to the single-trait analysis, in spite of the increased number of parameters. Employing LOD-score procedure to simulated backcross data, we showed that the resolution power of the QTL mapping model can be elevated if correlation between QTs is taken into account. The method allows us to test numerous biologically important hypotheses concerning manifold effects of genomic segments on the defined trait complex (means, variances and correlations).
173 citations
TL;DR: This paper replicated Fischer's (1982) study of northern Californians' networks in the Haifa, Israel, region and found that, in many respects, the networks did not differ much.
136 citations
Book•
27 Oct 1995TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyzed the interactions among opinion, politics and policy in the period between 1962 and 1994, and found that the public divided during those years into militant hardliners and more conciliatory security positions and power either shifted between, or was shared by, the Likud and Labour parties.
Abstract: Public opinion has played a crucial role in the transitions from war to peace in Israel since the 1967 Six Day war. Security Threatened is the first major analysis of the interactions among opinion, politics and policy in that period, based on opinion surveys of thousands of adult Jews conducted between 1962 and 1994. The public divided during those years into militant hardliners and more conciliatory security positions, and power either shifted between, or was shared by, the Likud and Labour parties. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, with the onset of the intifada, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the American victory in the Gulf War, all segments of the Israeli public became more conciliatory. Policy initiatives reflected shifts in political power which in turn magnified changes in public opinion. Leaders were constrained by public opinion and by perceptions of threat, but they could also alter policy if they had the will because opinion was rather equally divided; since most people had their minds made up, the opposition could not block their policy.
128 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the Hopes and Fears Questionnaire measuring the content and temporal extension of goals, and the Exploration and Commitment Inventory was used to study the role of developmental tasks, role transitions, and institutional tracks in the development of adolescent future orientation, explorations, and commitments.
Abstract: It has been suggested that age-related normative demands and institutional tracks play an important role in the development of adolescent future orientation, identity explorations, and Commitments. In order to study this, 71 Australian boys and 49 girls, 23 Israeli boys and 23 girls, and 36 Finnish boys and 66 girls aged between 16 and 17 were investigated. They filled in the Hopes and Fears Questionnaire measuring the content and temporal extension of goals, and the Exploration and Commitment Inventory. The results showed that developmental tasks, role transitions, and institutional tracks play an important role in the development of adolescent future orientation, explorations, and commitments. Due to earlier school transitions, Australian adolescents expected that their hopes related to education and work, and education-related concerns, would be realized earlier than Finnish and Israeli youths. In turn, because of military service commitments of several years, Israeli youths expected that both...
127 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors re-evaluated the problem of measuring the a priori relative voting power of a voter in an assembly and proposed several new intuitively compelling postualtes that any reasonable index of voting power ought to satisfy.
Abstract: This paper re-evaluates the problem of measuring thea priori relative voting power of a voter in an assembly. We propose several new intuitively compelling postualtes that any reasonable index of voting power ought to satisfy. At the same time we argue that most of the paradoxes of voting power discussed in the literature are paradoxical only in a weak sense, if at all. This leaves three crippling paradoxes — the well-known paradox ofweighted voting, and two new ones presented here: thebloc anddonation paradoxes. We evaluate the four main relative power indices discussed in the literature with respect to these three severe paradoxes. The Shapley-Shubik index is seen to be immune to all three paradoxes, while the Deegan-Packel index is vulnerable to all three. The Banzhaf and the Johnston indices are demonstrably immune to the paradox of weighted voting. However, they are shown to suffer from both the bloc and the donation paradoxes. We argue that this seriously undermines these indices in a hitherto unsuspected way. Several other theoretical issues relating to voting power are discussed.
115 citations
01 Jan 1995
TL;DR: For more than half a century now, psychologists have explored the avenues linking human intelligence to a wide array of personality traits as discussed by the authors and have longed to unravel the theoretical and practical interface between personality and intelligence, hoping to shed light on how these two key constructs affect one another (and other variables) in the course of development, day-to-day behavior, and adaptive functioning.
Abstract: For more than half a century now, psychologists have explored the avenues linking human intelligence to a wide array of personality traits. Psychologists have longed to unravel the theoretical and practical interface between personality and intelligence, hoping to shed light on how these two key constructs affect one another (and other variables) in the course of development, day-to-day behavior, and adaptive functioning. Indeed, personality and intelligence are linked by virtue of being key sources of individual differences in behavior, and would seem to share many parameters in common and various conceptual links between these concepts do appear in the literature, as discussed in Chapter 1 of this handbook (see also H. J. Eysenck & Eysenck, 1985). Although some of the most influential figures in the field of intelligence and personality allude repeatedly to the inextricable web or nexus of interrelations among these two constructs (see Chapter 13), researchers have traditionally treated them as relatively independent factors in their analyses.
111 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a stochastic inventory model where the quantity ordered sometimes may not be available due to strikes, etc. is considered, and the problem is to determine the reorder point, the order quantity when the system is found in ON state, and how long to wait before the next order if system is in OFF state.
TL;DR: The negative association between the predator and Culiseta is attributed to local prey extinctions caused by Notonecta in individual pools, which is apparently more prone to predation than the vegetation‐dwelling Culex and Anopheles.
Abstract: .
1
We assessed experimentally the effects of the predatory backswimmer, Notonecta maculata, on naturally colonizing mosquito populations in artificial outdoor pools in the Negev Desert, Israel. A single Notonecta adult per pool (8–15 litres water) had a very large negative impact on populations of Culiseta longiareolata, the most common species found in natural local pools. Notonecta caused large reductions of Culiseta egg rafts and early-instar larvae (instars I and II) and virtually 100% reductions of late-instar Culiseta larvae (instars III and IV) and pupae.
2
Notonecta also caused a trophic cascade in the experimental pools; by preying on periphyton-feeding Culiseta larvae, Notonecta indirectly caused significantly higher densities of diatoms, the major component of the periphyton.
3
Surveys of nearby natural pools taken between March and May supported the experimental results: a strong negative association between Notonecta and Culiseta among pools occurred as Notonecta increased in numbers and became more widely distributed. Anopheles (occurring only in May) and Culex mosquito immatures were not negatively associated with Notonecta. Culiseta was not associated with surface vegetation whereas both Culex and Anopheles showed strong positive associations with surface vegetation both among and within pools. We attribute the negative association between the predator and Culiseta to local prey extinctions caused by Notonecta in individual pools. Culiseta, being an open water species, is apparently more prone to predation by Notonecta than the vegetation-dwelling Culex and Anopheles.
TL;DR: It is suggested that the fruit-bat increases asynchronous germination and therefore enhances plant fitness by spreading the risks encountered during germination, especially in eastern Mediterranean habitats where the pattern of rainfall is unpredictable.
Abstract: The fruit-bat Rousettus aegyptiacus (Pteropodidae) in Israel consumes a variety of cultivated and wild fruits. The aim of this study was to explore some of its qualities as a dispersal agent for six fruit-bearing plant species. The feeding roosts of the fruit-bat are located an average of 30 m from its feeding trees and thus the bats disperse the seeds away from the shade of the parent canopy. The bat spits out large seeds but may pass some (2%) of the small seeds (<4 mg) through its digestive tract. However, neither the deposited seeds nor the ejected seeds (except in one case) had a significantly higher percentage germinating than intact seeds. Although the fruit-bat did not increase the percentage germinating, seeds of three plant species subject to different feeding behaviors (deposited in feces or spat out as ejecta) had a different temporal pattern of germination from the intact seeds. The combined seed germination distribution generated by these different treatments is more even over time than for each treatment alone. It is sugested that this increases asynchronous germination and therefore enhances plant fitness by spreading the risks encountered during germination, especially in eastern Mediterranean habitats where the pattern of rainfall is unpredictable.
TL;DR: The effect of the gel on disease development in P. digitatum-inoculated grapefruit was expressed by both a delay in lesion development and a significant reduction in the incidence of infection following dipping in a concentration of plant gel of 103 μl l−1.
TL;DR: The authors examined the relationship between reading ability, phonological, semantic, orthographic, and syntactic skills in Arabic children, and found that poor readers showed a significant lag in the development of these skills, the problems being most significant at phonological and semantic levels and less so at the visual levels.
Abstract: While many studies point to a positive relationship between phonological skills and reading in English, little is known about these relationships for children learning to read in Arabic. Arabic orthography is considered deep if it is not vowelized but shallow if it is vowelized. The aim of this study was to examine the relationships among reading ability, phonological, semantic, orthographic and syntactic skills in Arabic. The participants were 143 Arab children, aged 8‐11, in Arab villages of central Israel. They were administered working memory, visual, oral close, phonological, word recognition, spelling, orthographic, and word attack tests. The results showed that word recognition test was highly correlated with phonological skills, semantic processing, syntactic knowledge and short‐term memory. Poor readers showed a significant lag in the development of these skills, the problems being most significant at phonological and semantic levels and less so at the visual levels. The similarities and...
TL;DR: The Ohalo II H2 specimen, dated to ca.
Abstract: The discovery of well-preserved human remains at the site of Ohalo II in the northern Jordan Valley substantially augments the meager fossil record of the Levantine late Upper Pleistocene. The Ohalo II H2 specimen, dated to ca. 19,000 B.P., is the most complete early Epipaleolithic hominid discovered in Israel and promises to contribute to the clarification of a number of problematic issues in the local evolution of anatomically modern humans. In addition to a description of the burial and its Kebaran context, a detailed anatomical description of the skeleton is offered and morphometric comparisons are made to other Upper Paleolithic hominids. Ohalo II H2 is shown to demonstrate affinities in the craniofacial skeleton to fossils from the early Upper Paleolithic and late Epi-Paleolithic of the Levant.
TL;DR: Climatic selection in Turkey appears to be a major architect of karyotype and genetic diversity and divergence in mole rat evolution, in both speciation and adaptation, and support the niche-width genetic variation hypothesis in space and time.
Abstract: Karyotype (2n) and allozyme diversity at 37 gene loci were determined in 69 subterranean mole rats in Turkey belonging to the two superspecies: the ancestor Spalax leucodon (n = 55; 20 populations) and the descendant S. ehrenbergi (n = 14: four populations. We identified remarkable variation of diploid chromosome numbers in the S. leucodon superspecies: 2n = 38, 40, 50, 54, 60 and 62; and in the S. ehrenbergi superspecies: 2n = 52, 56 and 58. Genetic diversity indices were low on average in both S. leucodon and S. ehrenbergi superspecies: Allele diversity, A = 1.081 and 1.074; polymorphism, P-50 0 = 0.077 and 0.068; heterozygosity, H = 0.038 and 0.027; and gene diversity, H = 0.038 and 0.034, respectively. H ranged from 0 in mesic or semimesic regions to 0.088 in arid Anatolia. We consider the populations with different diploid chromosome numbers, 2n, as good biological species. Karyotypic diversity may mark extensive ecological speciation. Nee's genetic distances, D average 0.174, range 0.002 0.422) and ecogeographical criteria suggest that almost each population may represent a different biological species, but critical future testing is necessary to support this claim. Karyotypes and allozymes are nonrandomly distributed across Turkey, displaying remarkable correlations with climatic and biotic factors. Both 2n and H are significantly correlated with aridity stress (2n/rainfall. r = −0.74; P < 0.001), and in our region also with climatic unpredictability. These results support the niche-width genetic variation hypothesis in space and time. Climatic selection in Turkey appears to be a major architect of karyotype and genetic (allozyme) diversity and divergence in mole rat evolution, in both speciation and adaptation.
TL;DR: The findings are consistent with the hypothesis of lower efficiency of pollination of S flowers by short-tongued insects, resulting in the exclusion of this morph from the hills, and variation in a set of continuous flower traits related to pollination biology was examined.
Abstract: summary
Narcissus tazetta shows a genetically-based discrete polymorphism for style length similar to that well known in heterostylous plants. Plants are either short- (S) or long-styled (1). In Israel, marsh populations are dominated by S plants and hill populations by L plants. Populations differ in size, flowering time and duration, flower orientation, inflorescence display, vegetative reproduction, and pollinators. The main visitors to flowers in marshes are hawkmoths, whereas in the hills they are visited by short-tongued insects: solitary bees and hoverflies. The pollination efficiency of these insects was investigated by studying foraging behaviour, visit rate, and pollen deposition on stigmas. Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis of lower efficiency of pollination of S flowers by short-tongued insects, resulting in the exclusion of this morph from the hills. Additionally, we considered the possibility that there might be pollination ecotypes corresponding to the two habitats (marsh and hill) and examined variation in a set of continuous flower traits related to pollination biology. Flower tube length was the only trait showing a distinct difference between the two habitat types. Although the concentration of nectar was not different between habitats, L flowers presented more concentrated nectar than S flowers. Such a difference in nectar concentration may he of adaptive value for the pollination of the L flowers by short-tongued pollinators in the hills.
TL;DR: The inhibitory effectiveness of phosphate salts makes them useful ‘biocompatible’ fungicides and ideal foliar fertilizers for field application for disease control.
TL;DR: Phosphate was more effective than the systemic fungicide pyrifenox and reduced established powdery mildew infection up to 11 days after application, but the converse was true when assessments were made after 15 days.
Abstract: Powdery mildew, caused by Sphaerotheca fuliginea, was significantly controlled by a single spray of aqueous solutions (25 mm) containing various phosphates and potassium salts. Phosphates were suppressive when applied alone; however, treatments in combination with Tween-20 were more effective in causing the disappearance of powdery mildew pustules from diseased foliage. Efficiency of control, as expressed by the disappearance of 99% of pustules, was recorded 1 or 2 days after application of single sprays of phosphate and potassium salt solutions. Treatment was effective for up to 12 or 15 days, respectively, following application to small or large greenhouse-grown plants with established mildew infection. Treatments also markedly reduced (> 99%) the production of eonidia from colonies. A further application of these salts to the same plants resulted in the elimination of about 50% of mildew colonies present prior to the application. Further spray application inhibited disease development compared with water-sprayed plants, but did not reduce the number of existing lesions. Phosphate was more effective than the systemic fungicide pyrifenox and reduced established powdery mildew infection up to 11 days after application, but the converse was true when assessments were made after 15 days. These properties of phosphates and potassium salts make them appropriate for use as foliar fertilizers with a potential beneficial influence on disease control.
TL;DR: Methods for analysing masked data from a Bayesian perspective on a system unit of a particular type of IBM PS/2 computer are developed.
Abstract: Estimating component and system reliabilities frequently requires using data from the system level. Because of cost and time constraints, however, the exact cause of system failure may be unknown. Instead, it may only be ascertained that the cause of system failure is due to a component in a subset of components. This paper develops methods for analysing such masked data from a Bayesian perspective. This work was motivated by a data set on a system unit of a particular type of IBM PS/2 computer. This data set is discussed and our methods are applied to it
TL;DR: In this paper, a survey of post-fire management regimes and their influence on the recovery of the forest was carried out in Mt. Carmel, Israel, and the results revealed that cutting or removing the burned trees had less influence on species composition and cover than the natural process of recovery.
TL;DR: Koehler et al. as discussed by the authors report three experiments attempting to distinguish between desirability bias and illusion of control and establish their generality, concluding that the tendency to overpredict desirable outcomes is uncorrelated with control.
Abstract: Desirability bias is the tendency to overpredict desirable outcomes and under-predict unwanted results. The illusion of control is the tendency to believe that, or act as if, one can skillfully influence and control outcomes of chance events. These two related phenomena cause people to paint a ‘rosy picture’ of current reality or the future (McKenna, 1993). The circumstances under which the two biases operate and the nature of the relationship between them have been the subject of speculation in a few recent papers (Koehler et al., 1994; Friedland, 1992; McKenna, 1993). We report three experiments attempting to distinguish between the two biases and establish their generality. The first experiment demonstrates that, when predicting and judging unique events, the two response tendencies are influenced by different factors. The second and third experiments confirm that the tendency to overpredict desirable outcomes is uncorrelated with control, and that the illusion of control vanishes when multiple predictions are involved (Koehler et al., 1994). We conclude that desirability bias and illusion of control are two distinct response biases. Only under very special circumstances are they affected by the same factors.
TL;DR: This article investigated the role of evaluative anxiety and coping processes as predictors of affective and cognitive adaptational outcomes in a sample of 241 college students preparing for midterm examinations and found that coping resurces and emotion-focused coping had a substantial direct effect on students' state anxiety in an evalUative situation.
Abstract: This prospective study investigated the role of evaluative anxiety and coping processes as predictors of affective and cognitive adaptational outcomes in a sample of 241 college students preparing for midterm examinations. Data were collected on students' test anxiety and coping resources, conceptualized as antecedent predictor variables, during the semester period. Data on situation-specific coping strategies and state anxiety, serving respectively as mediating and outcomes variables, were collected prior to an important semester exam. Data on students' overall achievement on semester exams, serving as outcome variable, was obtained towards the end of the examination period. A path analysis showed that when controlling for the effects of other variables in the model, coping resurces and emotionfocused coping had a substantial direct effect on students' state anxiety in an evaluative situation. Furthermore, both the Worry and Emotionality components of test anxiety, as a situation-specific trait,...
TL;DR: The global adaptive convergence of subterranean mammals currently involves rodents, insectivores and marsupials as mentioned in this paper, including 11 families, 50 genera, and several hundreds of species.
Abstract: The global adaptive convergence of subterranean mammals currently involves 3 orders: rodents, insectivores and marsupials. These include 11 families, 50 genera, and several hundreds of species. This global evolutionary process followed the stepwise climatic cooling and drought followed by biotic extinction in yhe transition from the middle Eocene to the early Oligocene, a period of 10 milion years (35-45 Ma = milion years ago) of profound change in earth geology, climate and biota. The earth changed from the Mesozoic "hot house" to the Neogene (Miocene to Present) "cold house", ie from a warm, equable, mostly subtropical world that persisted from the Mesozoic to the beginning of the present glaciated world.
TL;DR: Fundamental t-norm-based fuzzy logics are shown to provide a gradual transition between min-max and Łukasiewicz logics.
TL;DR: It is proved that the optimal ordering policy is a function of the sum of the stock on hand and the stock ordered but not yet delivered, which means that when this sum decays below a critical level s, an order to level S is placed.
Abstract: We consider a continuous-time inventory system with fixed delivery lag, subject to a demand modelled as a diffusion process with drift. Excess demand is backlogged. We prove that the optimal ordering policy is a function of the sum of the stock on hand and the stock ordered but not yet delivered. Moreover, we state a relation linking the value function when orders are pending with the value function when no order is pending. As a consequence, the a priori infinite dimensional Quasi-Variational inequality QVI satisfied by the value function reduces to a finite dimensional one. The one-product inventory problem is then solved explicitly in the case of linear holding and shortage costs with fixed and proportional ordering cost. The optimal policy is determined; it is an s, S policy applied to the sum of stock on hand and orders pending, which means that when this sum decays below a critical level s, an order to level S is placed.
TL;DR: In this paper, coal samples from the Early Epipalaeolithic submerged fisher-hunter-gatherers site of Ohalo II have been dated by three laboratories and the results show that the dates range between 17,500-21,050 bp and average c. 19,400 bp.
TL;DR: Gender differences in loneliness and depression were examined among university students seeking counselling as discussed by the authors, and the greater loneliness of male counselling-seekers than that of females was discussed, as well as the possibility of a response set.
Abstract: Gender differences in loneliness and depression were examined among university students seeking counselling. The short-form UCLA Loneliness Scale (ULS-8) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) were completed by 325 counselling seekers (107 males and 218 females) in Israel. Males were significantly higher in loneliness than females, while females were significantly higher in depression than males. The greater loneliness of male counselling-seekers than that of females is discussed, as well as the possibility of a response set. Implications for assessment and counselling are suggested.
TL;DR: Results indicate that phosphates can be used as foliar fertilizers for disease control in the field and that peroxidase might be involved in the defense process.
Abstract: Seven foliar applications of 0.025M K 2 HPO 4 and KH 2 PO 4 (both plus Tween 20) and the commercial systemic fungicides, Dorado (Pyrifenox) 480 EC, Penconazole EC and Benomyl, were applied at 14-day intervals starting at 10-cm shoot lenght on field-grown Chardonnay winegrapes. Both phosphates and systemic fungicides inhibited development of powdery mildew fungus (Uncinula necator, Schw., Burr.) on fruit clusters, as compared with untreated control vines. Disease severity on clusters of plants treated with K 2 HPO 4 and fungicides was 0.3 and 0.2, respectively, as compared with 1.3 on control clusters (on a 0-4 scale), for the first rating, conducted 10 days after the fifth application of fungicides and phosphates. Five days after the last application, disease severity was 3.5 on non-treated control clusters and 0.3 and 0.8 on clusters treated with Dorado and K 2 HPO 4 , respectively. Powdery mildew infection remarkably reduced the weight of non-treated control clusters as compared with Dorado and phosphate treated clusters. Phosphate treatment caused an increase (3-fold) of peroxidase activity in the soluble fraction of non-infected control berries. A remarkable peroxidase enhancement was detected in the soluble (8-fold) and ionically bound (2-fold) fractions from the phosphate-treated and infected berries. Results indicate that phosphates can be used as foliar fertilizers for disease control in the field and that peroxidase might be involved in the defense process