Recommendable block sizes: a case study on Finnish official variety trials of barley cultivars

Well-established results in the current statistical literature imply that plant breeders should use incomplete block designs wherever spatial variability exists and the number of treatments is large. But the theoretical position does not indicate the recommendable number of cultivars in an incomplete block. In this study we used data from 28 official variety trials conducted in Finland during the period 2001-2005 to study theffect of block size on the efficiency of testing pairwise yield differences of barley cultivars and cultivar rankings. In previous trials some 6-7 cultivars have usually been included in one block. Our results imply that the efficiency of testing procedures could be improved by using a block size as small as 4-5. The results further imply that if an experiment with an incomplete block design is well planned to mitigate the effects of within-block heterogeneity, the spatial mixed model techniques and the conventional analysis of variance techniques have approximately the same efficiency in testing pairwise yield differences. Thus, if appropriate blocking strategies are used in planning the trials, there is usually no need to change the conventional practice followed in statistical analysis

Vertailussa rehuviljan lajikekohtainen typpilannoitus

Ohralajikkeiden typpimäärää arvioitaessa tulee ottaa huomioon lähinnä lajikkeiden korrenlujuus. Pohjanmaan oloissa lujakortinen, mutta myöhäinen Salo-kaura ei hyödy kovin voimakkaasta typpilannoituksesta. Sen sijaan aikaiselle Aarre-lajikkeelle keskimääräistä runsaampi typpilannoitus näyttää sopivan hyvin.vo

Creating better superconductors by periodic nanopatterning

The quest to create superconductors with higher transition temperatures is as old as superconductivity itself. One strategy, popular after the realization that (conventional) superconductivity is mediated by phonons, is to chemically combine different elements within the crystalline unit cell to maximize the electron-phonon coupling. This led to the discovery of NbTi and Nb3Sn, to name just the most technologically relevant examples. Here, we propose a radically different approach to transform a `pristine' material into a better (meta-) superconductor by making use of modern fabrication techniques: designing and engineering the electronic properties of thin films via periodic patterning on the nanoscale. We present a model calculation to explore the key effects of different supercells that could be fabricated using nanofabrication or deliberate lattice mismatch, and demonstrate that specific pattern will enhance the coupling and the transition temperature. We also discuss how numerical methods could predict the correct design parameters to improve superconductivity in materials including Al, NbTi, and MgB

Cultural entrepreneurship

Cultural entrepreneurship is a new character in the cultural sector. This paper characterizes the cultural entrepreneur paying homage to the hermeneutic approach of Don Lavoie and others. The challenge is to render the "cultural" meaningful. An invention is the highlighting of the rhetorical qualities of entrepreneurship. A cultural entrepreneur is the character who is entrepreneurial in the realization of cultural values, so is the conclusion

The Role of Toxicants in Forest Management

Although the emphasis of the Olympia Field Station is on the development of non-lethal methods to control pest species, sometimes lethal methods are necessary. Toxicants can be an effective means of quickly reducing high populations of some problem animals or maintaining acceptable population densities. Depending on their mode of action, toxicants are classified into three categories: fumigants, acute toxicants and chronic toxicants

Tuttujen ruokaperunalajikkeiden suosio jatkuu

Viime vuonna neljä suosituinta ruokaperunalajiketta, Van Gogh, Nicola, Timo ja Asterix, kattoivat yhdessä lähes 60 % ruoka- ja varhaisperunan viljelypinta-alasta. Ruokateollisuuden tarpeisiin viljeltävistä lajikkeista Fambo ja Asterix kattoivat kolmanneksen ruokateollisuuslajikkeiden kokonaispinta-alasta. Lajikelistalle tuli kolme uutta ruokaperunalajiketta: Maatalouskeskon edustamat Appell ja Fontane sekä Siemenperunakeskukselta sinivioletti Blue Congo.vo

Joka vuosi uusi mallasohra

Mallasohraa viljellään panimoteollisuuden tarpeisiin. Uudeksi lajikkeeksi entsyymimaltaiden valmistukseen ehdotetaan Polartop-mallasohraa. Viime vuosina valikoimaan ovat tulleet myös korkean uutesaannon omaavat Prestige ja Braemar sekä satoisa Annabell.vo

Lajikeluettelon lajike on varma valinta

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Kauravalikoima lisääntyy

Kauppaan lasketaan tänä vuonna kaksi uutta kauralajiketta: Keskon Svala ja Plantanovan Revisor. Svala menestyy vielä neljännelläkin viljelyvyöhykkeellä. Revisor on myöhäisin kauramme.vo