The use of quantitative characters in determination of frequently misdiagnosed species within Lepidium L. Sect. Dileptium (Brassicaceae)

A morphometric study of the three species of Lepidium L. sect. Dileptium DC. is presented. Multivariate methods (cluster analysis and canonical discriminant analysis) were employed to investigate phenetic relations between examined individuals. As a result a set of quantitative characters useful in species determination was proposed and discussed

Writing with Discipline: A Call for Avoiding APA Style Guide Errors in Manuscript Preparation

The education community in the United States—as in many countries—is extremely large and diverse. Indeed, as documented by Mosteller, Nave, and Miech (2004), The United States has more than 3.6 million teachers in elementary and secondary education, more than 100,000 principals, and about 15,000 school districts, each with its own set of district administrators, school board members, and concerned citizens. The parents and family members of the 60 million students in elementary and secondary education represent another constituency, as do the policymakers and legislators in the 50 states (along with the District of Columbia) and at the federal level. Postsecondary education represents another 1 million faculty members, along with an enrollment of 15 million undergraduates and 1.8 million graduate students. (p. 29) Indeed, with the number of individuals involved in the educational system, educational research has the potential to play a pivotal role in improving the quality of education—from Kindergarten through primary, through secondary, through tertiary education. Yet, for educational research to play such a role, its findings must be disseminated to individuals (e.g., educators, administrators, stakeholders, policymakers) and groups (e.g., teacher associations) who can most effectively use them (Mosteller et al., 2004; Onwuegbuzie, Leech, & Whitmore, 2008). Unfortunately, research findings do not disseminate themselves, regardless of how statistically, practically, clinically, or economically significant they are for the field of education. Rather, it is educational researchers in general and practitioner-researchers in particular who must convey these findings

Differentiation of bee pollen samples according to their intact-glucosinolate content using canonical discriminant analysis

Producción CientíficaA study is presented of the real possibilities of glucosinolate content and chemometrics (canonical discriminant analysis) to differentiate bee pollen samples from four different apiaries (Fuentelahiguera, Monte, Pistacho, Tío Natalio) located in the same geographical area. Fifteen intact-glucosinolates were quantified by means of ultraperformance liquid chromatography coupled to a quadrupole time-of-flight mass detector in forty-nine bee pollen samples. Glucosinolate residues were detected in most of the samples, and these differed in number and concentration. It was possible to directly differentiate one of the apiaries (Fuentelahiguera) from the other three (Monte, Pistacho y Tío Natalio) by comparing glucosinolate content. These three apiaries were differentiated by means of the first two canonical variables obtained from a canonical discriminant analysis. Following this analysis, more than 88% of the samples could be assigned correctly to the Pistacho and Monte apiaries, and 100% to the Tío Natalio apiary.Este trabajo forma parte de los proyectos de investigación financiados por el Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad e INIA-FEDER (RTA2015-00013-C03-01 y 03)

The Differentiation Of Sheep Breed Based On The Body Measurements

This research was carried out to make a difference and to predict genetic distance some sheep thatare genetically related to each other based on the body size measurements. Nineteen bodies size of 323sheeps of five sheep breeds; namely Barbados Black Belly Cross (BC), Garut Local (GL), GarutComposite (GC), Sumatra Composite (SC) and St. Croix Cross (SCC) were measured. Analysis ofvariance and canonical discriminant analysis, Mahalanobis distance, plotting canonical and dendogramwere performed using PROC GLM, PROC CANDISC, PROC CLUSTER and PROC TREE of SASsoftware ver. 9.0. Index Length, Width Slope, Depth Slope, Balance and Cumulative Index of GC sheepwere significantly higher than the four other breeds. Canonical discriminant analysis successfully coulddifferentiate among the five sheep breeds. All five breed were divided into two groups: the first groupconsisted of SCC, SC and BC; and the second group consisted of the GL and GC. The results of geneticdistance estimation showed that the SCC had a value of sheep genetic distance closest to SC (10.83) andBC (27.98), while GL had the closest distance to GC (66.60). The tail width, horn base circumference,horn length (canonical 1) and variable length of the tail and body length (canonical 2) were the breeddifferentiation variable in this study

Spatial variation in biodiversity, soil degradation and productivity in agricultural landscapes in the highlands of Tigray, northern Ethiopia

There is a growing concern about food security and sustainability of agricultural production in developing countries. However, there are limited attempts to quantify agro-biodiversity losses and relate these losses to soil degradation and crop productivity, particularly in Tigray, Ethiopia. In this study, spatial variation in agro-biodiversity and soil degradation was assessed in 2000 and 2005 at 151 farms in relation to farm, productivity, wealth, social, developmental and topographic characteristics in Tigray, northern Ethiopia. A significant decrease in agro-biodiversity was documented between 2000 and 2005, mainly associated with inorganic fertilizer use, number of credit sources and proximity to towns and major roads. Agro-biodiversity was higher at farms with higher soil fertility (available P and total N) and higher productivity (total caloric crop yield). Low soil organic matter, few crop selection criteria and steep slopes contributed to soil erosion. Sparsely and intensively cultivated land use types, as determined from satellite images, were associated with high and low agro-biodiversity classes, respectively, as determined during on-farm surveys in 2005. This study gives insight into the recent changes in and current status of agro-biodiversity and soil degradation at different spatial scales, which can help to improve food security through the maintenance of agro-biodiversity resource

Trust in Biotechnology Risk Managers: Insights from the United Kingdom, 1996-2002

The mid to late 1990s saw a series of negative media events in the United Kingdom (UK) related to biotechnology. According to the trust asymmetry hypothesis, such events ought to cause public trust in risk managers of biotechnology to fall quickly but rise slowly. We present evidence from the Eurobarometer surveys that from 1996 to 1999 public trust in the UK declined, but it increased sharply between 1999 and 2002. We seek to explain this apparent contradiction to the asymmetry hypothesis. We use canonical discriminant analysis of public trust to show that whether people trust or distrust risk managers of biotechnology depends significantly on the amount of knowledge people have about science. We speculate that knowledge of science moderates the trust asymmetry effect.Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Biplot and Singular Value Decomposition Macros for Excel©

The biplot display is a graph of row and column markers obtained from data that forms a two-way table. The markers are calculated from the singular value decomposition of the data matrix. The biplot display may be used with many multivariate methods to display relationships between variables and objects. It is commonly used in ecological applications to plot relationships between species and sites. This paper describes a set of Excelé macros that may be used to draw a biplot display based on results from principal components analysis, correspondence analysis, canonical discriminant analysis, metric multidimensional scaling, redundancy analysis, canonical correlation analysis or canonical correspondence analysis. The macros allow for a variety of transformations of the data prior to the singular value decomposition and scaling of the markers following the decomposition.

Multivariate analysis of the blood pressure variability in Bedouin tribes of South Sinai

Objective: to study intertribal and age-related variability of blood pressure values relative to the body mass index (hereinafter – BMI) in Bedouin tribes of the South Sinai using variance analysis and canonical discriminant analysis. Materials and methods. The samples based on physiological parameters (systolic and diastolic pressure, pulse pressure, and grip strength of the right and left hands) included 304 male and 68 female adults of Gebeliya, Muzeina, and Hamada tribes, and a combined group of representatives of various small tribes referred to as “Others”. Body length, body weight, grip strength of the right and the left hands of 482 adult males and 96 adult females were studied.Results. The studied Bedouin group, with its reduced weight and height values, stands out against the homogenous Middle East background. The performed variance analysis for the male sample revealed significant (p<0.05) intertribal differences in such parameters as grip strength of the right and the left hands, diastolic pressure, pulse pressure, and BMI. The increased hypertension rate was found in the age cohort of 19–29, probably due to their increased exposure to the stress associated with the ongoing social changes. According to the canonical discriminant analysis of the male sample, the Wilks’ lambda value was 0.72, and the intergroup variability was comparable to the intragroup variability.Conclusions. The problem of obesity is non-existent in the Bedouins residing in the South of Sinai. In the South Sinai Bedouin group, no significant correlation was revealed between the blood pressure and body mass index values. This fact is accounted for by the emaciation of the population. The authors tend to explain the low pulse pressure value in men (39.2 mm Hg) by the increased peripheral vascular resistance. With the significant degree of transgression in the tribal population, the canonical discriminant analysis showed a minor incongruity in the first canonical variable. The result of the multivariate study of physiological parameters is consistent with our primary hypothesis on the ambiguity of intertribal differences in the groups living under similar environmental conditions. While not denying the existence of some individual mosaic distinctions in the Bedouin tribes, the results of the performed multivariate analysis prove the intertribal differences in the current set of physiological parameters to be insignificant

Phylogenetics, divergence and morphology of New Zealand Eleotridae (Gobiomorphus Gill) : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Ecology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

The genus Gobiomorphus Gill (1863) is the only representative freshwater Eleotridae in New Zealand and is comprised of seven species, of which four are diadromous. The species are endemic to New Zealand and are widespread around lowland streams and coasts (with non-diadromous species penetrating further inland). The only other Gobiomorphus species are G. coxii and G. australis, which are endemic to Australia. Eleotridae are stocky fishes of small size (up to 150 mm in length) (McDowall, 1990) and are characterised by two dorsal fins, large pectoral fins, separate thoracic pelvic fins (fused in gobies) and the absence of a lateral line (McDowall. 1990; Allen et al., 2002). Gobiomorphus has had a particularly turbulent taxonomic history in the literature, spanning approximately 150 years from Gill (1863) to the present, where many species have been synonymised with one another (particularly, most Gobiomorphus species were synonymised with G. gobioides) due the plasticity of many morphological characters. Additionally, similar morphologies have led to identification difficulties. Phenotypic plasticity can also make cladistic approaches difficult (e.g. Vrijenhoek, 1998; Orti et al., 1994), for example there has been a lot of controversy surrounding G. alpinus and its species status. Furthermore, studies of evolution using morphological characters often lack an accurate perspective on relationships and origins of fish species, in particular, little information exists on the evolutionary origins of the Gobiomorphus genus. Genetic studies have contributed to resolving problems with taxonomically difficult groups by detecting diversity between morphologically similar species (where DNA variation is often not expressed phenotypically), and examining geographical divergence within species (e.g. Vrijenhoek, 1998; Kocher et al., 1989). Thus, this thesis employed two regions of mitochondrial DNA (cytochrome b and control region) to resolve issues surrounding species identification, morphological variation, phylogenetic relationships (including divergence), origins and the evolution of diadromy within the Gobiomorphus group. Mitochondrial DNA sequences were obtained from all seven Gobiomorphus species in New Zealand, as well as from both Australian Gobiomorphus. The morphology of both G. basalis and G. breviceps in the lower North Island was also examined. The results suggested that the Australasian Gobiomorphus are a polyphyletic group, although with the exclusion of G. australis the rest of the species formed a monophyletic group. The Australian group formed a polyphyletic group basal to the New Zealand monophyletic group. Gobiomorphus hubbsi, a diadromous species was found to be a sister group to the New Zealand Gobiomorphus. Clock calibrations indicated that the New Zealand and Australian groups have been isolated for about 6-37 Myr, suggesting that the New Zealand species dispersed here (in a single event) from Australia post-Gondwana break-up. These results are discussed in terms of New Zealand's geological history. Once in New Zealand there was a series of radiations; the most recent radiation produced the non-diadromous species (G. breviceps, and a G. basalis, G. cotidianus (although not all populations are diadromous) and G. alpinus species complex). Furthermore, G. huttoni and G. gobioides (both diadromous) formed a monophyletic group that is part of the first radiation, indicating that diadromy is a primitive feature of Gobiomorphus. Mitochondrial DNA accurately distinguished between G. breviceps and G. basalis (suggesting a genetic basis to morphological variation), and coupled with morphological data, identified pectoral fin ray counts as the best quantitative character for differentiating the species. However, within species high morphological variation was observed that did not fit expected patterns of geographical divergence. Limited time periods may have obscured subtle morphological divergence between catchments. Mitochondrial DNA revealed some unique haplotypes within both catchments, whereas some catchments shared identical haplotypes. The lack of divergence between catchments may have been due in part to connections during the Pleistocene, whereas populations with unique haplotypes may have been isolated for a greater length of time. Collectively, these studies highlighted the usefulness of mitochondrial DNA for exploring; phylogenetic relationships (including divergence) and solving problems with taxonomically difficult groups, and origins of fish species. Furthermore, the use of molecular data coupled with morphological data can be used to aid in the improvement of identification of morphologically similar species