Germination of two native wheatgrass (Agropyron) species under different temperature and water potential regimes

Non-Peer ReviewedNative wheatgrass species are important for land reclamation or rangeland re-seeding. The objective of this study was to evaluate seed germination of slender wheatgrass (Agropyron trachycaulum Link Malte) and northern wheatgrass (Agropyron asystachyum (Hook.) Scribn.) under different temperatures and water potentials. Over a 10 d period, germination was studied in four growth chambers with constant temperatures of 5, 10, 20 and 25°C and water potentials of –1.0, –0.8, –0.6, –0.4, –0.2 and 0.0 Mpa at each temperature. Two wheatgrass species showed a good germination at or higher than –0.4 Mpa water potentials when temperature was 20-25°C, but the percentage was reduced at or lower than –0.6 Mpa. Compared to northern wheatgrass, higher percent of seed germinated for slender wheatgrass at lower water potential, but slender wheatgrass required higher germination temperature

Relationship of morphological traits and seed yield of plain rough fescue grass (Festuca hallii (Vasey) Piper) with different origins

Non-Peer ReviewedSeed production in plains rough fescue (Festuca hallii (Vasey) Piper) is infrequent and unpredictable. The objective of this study was to compare seed yield of plain rough fescue collections and to determine correlation between phenotypic characteristics and seed yield. In 2006, a field nursery was established from 11 collections of plain rough fescue grass at the Semiarid Prairie Agricultural Research Centre near Swift Current (50°25' N, 107°44' W), Canada. Plot design was a randomized complete block design with three replications. Six phenotypic variables were measured in summer 2010. Seed yield varied among collection sites. Plant vigour rating (r=0.29, P<0.01) and number of reproductive tiller (r=0.47, P<0.01) were positively correlated to individual plant seed yield, while reproductive tiller height (r=-0.47, P<0.01) and crown width (r=0.62, P<0.01) were negatively correlated to seed yield. Individual plant biomass didn’t have any correlation with seed yield. Selecting vigorous individual plant with higher number of reproductive tillers may improve seed yield of rough fescue grass

Succession in AMF communities from early to late season in grassland national park

Non-Peer ReviewedChange of AMF (arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi) community between two seasons in Grassland National Park had been studied in this article. We used FAMEs analysis and PCR-DGGE analysis tested soil samples collected from 3 different ecosystems at two sampling seasons. Based on our study, we found that AMF activity was significantly higher in early (wet) than late (dry) seasons, and in early season, the amount of AMF also showed significant positive linear relationship with amount of P and N in plant tissue. During late season we didn’t find significant result among these variables, which may suggest that seasonal changes could change the activity of AMF and affect relationship between AMF and their host plant nutrient metabolism. Also, AMF species composition differed in early and late season. Most AMF taxa found in the dry season in our study were unknown to the scientific community. This suggests that AMF biodiversity had difference between seasons and these uncommon AMF taxa are adapted to dry conditions. Besides, crested wheatgrass, the dominant species in the park, although didn’t show significantly directly relationship with AMF activity, it may improve soil organic carbon, soil soluble P, and increase the amount of soil bacteria, which are also three important factors that could further affect AMF activity. However, the absence of activity of crested wheatgrass combined with the low biodiversity in the stand and low association with AMF in the dry season, suggests that a prolonged drought period detrimental to crested wheatgrass would leave a prairie of crested wheatgrass vulnerable and depleted

Promising native forage options for semi-arid prairies of western Canada

Non-Peer ReviewedThere is growing interest in native plant species for their use as forage, pasture, energy crop, and as land reclamation and revegetation materials. This article reports the results of population improvement work on northern wheatgrass (NWG), purple prairie clover (PPC), white prairie clover (WPC) and plains rough fescue (PRF) carried out at Swift Current Research and Development Centre - Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Substantial selection differential were achieved in all species in terms of growth vigour, plant health, biomass and seed yield in all species. This suggests ample scope for selection gain for the desirable traits. Seed shattering is one of the challenges facing the domestication and commercialization of these native plant species

Access to Artemisinin-Based Anti-Malarial Treatment and its Related Factors in Rural Tanzania.

Artemisinin-based combination treatment (ACT) has been widely adopted as one of the main malaria control strategies. However, its promise to save thousands of lives in sub-Saharan Africa depends on how effective the use of ACT is within the routine health system. The INESS platform evaluated effective coverage of ACT in several African countries. Timely access within 24 hours to an authorized ACT outlet is one of the determinants of effective coverage and was assessed for artemether-lumefantrine (Alu), in two district health systems in rural Tanzania. From October 2009 to June 2011we conducted continuous rolling household surveys in the Kilombero-Ulanga and the Rufiji Health and Demographic Surveillance Sites (HDSS). Surveys were linked to the routine HDSS update rounds. Members of randomly pre-selected households that had experienced a fever episode in the previous two weeks were eligible for a structured interview. Data on individual treatment seeking, access to treatment, timing, source of treatment and household costs per episode were collected. Data are presented on timely access from a total of 2,112 interviews in relation to demographics, seasonality, and socio economic status. In Kilombero-Ulanga, 41.8% (CI: 36.6-45.1) and in Rufiji 36.8% (33.7-40.1) of fever cases had access to an authorized ACT provider within 24 hours of fever onset. In neither of the HDSS site was age, sex, socio-economic status or seasonality of malaria found to be significantly correlated with timely access. Timely access to authorized ACT providers is below 50% despite interventions intended to improve access such as social marketing and accreditation of private dispensing outlets. To improve prompt diagnosis and treatment, access remains a major bottle neck and new more innovative interventions are needed to raise effective coverage of malaria treatment in Tanzania

Vitamin A supplementation in Tanzania: the impact of a change in programmatic delivery strategy on coverage.

BACKGROUND\ud \ud Efficient delivery strategies for health interventions are essential for high and sustainable coverage. We report impact of a change in programmatic delivery strategy from routine delivery through the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI+) approach to twice-yearly mass distribution campaigns on coverage of vitamin A supplementation in Tanzania\ud \ud METHODS\ud \ud We investigated disparities in age, sex, socio-economic status, nutritional status and maternal education within vitamin A coverage in children between 1 and 2 years of age from two independent household level child health surveys conducted (1) during a continuous universal targeting scheme based on routine EPI contacts for children aged 9, 15 and 21 months (1999); and (2) three years later after the introduction of twice-yearly vitamin A supplementation campaigns for children aged 6 months to 5 years, a 6-monthly universal targeting scheme (2002). A representative cluster sample of approximately 2,400 rural households was obtained from Rufiji, Morogoro Rural, Kilombero and Ulanga districts. A modular questionnaire about the health of all children under the age of five was administered to consenting heads of households and caretakers of children. Information on the use of child health interventions including vitamin A was asked.\ud \ud RESULTS\ud \ud Coverage of vitamin A supplementation among 1-2 year old children increased from 13% [95% CI 10-18%] in 1999 to 76% [95%CI 72-81%] in 2002. In 2002 knowledge of two or more child health danger signs was negatively associated with vitamin A supplementation coverage (80% versus 70%) (p = 0.04). Nevertheless, we did not find any disparities in coverage of vitamin A by district, gender, socio-economic status and DPT vaccinations.\ud \ud CONCLUSION\ud \ud Change in programmatic delivery of vitamin A supplementation was associated with a major improvement in coverage in Tanzania that was been sustained by repeated campaigns for at least three years. There is a need to monitor the effect of such campaigns on the routine health system and on equity of coverage. Documentation of vitamin A supplementation campaign contacts on routine maternal and child health cards would be a simple step to facilitate this monitoring

Forecasting the quality of AMF communities

Non-Peer Reviewe

Measuring children’s harmonic knowledge with implicit and explicit tests

We uses implicit and explicit tasks to measure knowledge of Western harmony in musically trained and untrained Canadian children. Younger children were 6-7 years of age; older children were 10-11. On each trial, participants heard a sequence of five piano chords. The first four chords established a major-key context. The final chord was the standard, expected tonic of the context or one of two deviant endings: the highly unexpected flat supertonic or the moderately unexpected subdominant. In the implicit task, children identified the timbre of the final chord (guitar or piano) as quickly as possible. Response times were faster for the tonic ending than for either deviant ending, but the magnitude of the priming effect was similar for the two deviants, and the effect did not vary as a function of age or music training. In the explicit task, children rated how good each chord sequence sounded. Ratings were highest for sequences with the tonic ending, intermediate for the subdominant, and lowest for the flat supertonic. Moreover, the difference between the tonic and deviant sequences was larger for older children with music training. Thus, the explicit task provided a more nuanced picture of musical knowledge than did the implicit task.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio