SEQUENTIAL STOCHASTIC PRODUCTION DECISIONS FOR A PERENNIAL CROP: THE YIELD/QUALITY TRADEOFF FOR ALFALFA HAY

The "optimal cutting schedule" for alfalfa hay is described as a function of the trade-off between rising yield and falling quality of alfalfa over time and the local market prices being offered for different qualities of hay during the harvest season. Field test results quantify the yield/quality tradeoff for a California case study. A general decision rule is then derived to assist growers in making cutting decisions during a season. Finally, the optimal cutting schedule is shown to be the sum of sequential decisions for cuttings throughout the harvest season, with no schedule being best a priori.Crop Production/Industries,

Water advance model and sensor system can reduce tail runoff in irrigated alfalfa fields

Surface irrigation, such as flood or furrow, is the predominant form of irrigation in California for agronomic crops. Compared to other irrigation methods, however, it is inefficient in terms of water use; large quantities of water, instead of being used for crop production, are lost to excess deep percolation and tail runoff. In surface-irrigated fields, irrigators commonly cut off the inflow of water when the water advance reaches a familiar or convenient location downfield, but this experience-based strategy has not been very successful in reducing the tail runoff water. Our study compared conventional cutoff practices to a retroactively applied model-based cutoff method in four commercially producing alfalfa fields in Northern California, and evaluated the model using a simple sensor system for practical application in typical alfalfa fields. These field tests illustrated that the model can be used to reduce tail runoff in typical surface-irrigated fields, and using it with a wireless sensor system saves time and labor as well as water

The amphioxus genome and the evolution of the chordate karyotype

Lancelets ('amphioxus') are the modern survivors of an ancient chordate lineage, with a fossil record dating back to the Cambrian period. Here we describe the structure and gene content of the highly polymorphic approx520-megabase genome of the Florida lancelet Branchiostoma floridae, and analyse it in the context of chordate evolution. Whole-genome comparisons illuminate the murky relationships among the three chordate groups (tunicates, lancelets and vertebrates), and allow not only reconstruction of the gene complement of the last common chordate ancestor but also partial reconstruction of its genomic organization, as well as a description of two genome-wide duplications and subsequent reorganizations in the vertebrate lineage. These genome-scale events shaped the vertebrate genome and provided additional genetic variation for exploitation during vertebrate evolution

Deeply conserved synteny resolves early events in vertebrate evolution

Although it is widely believed that early vertebrate evolution was shaped by ancient whole-genome duplications, the number, timing and mechanism of these events remain elusive. Here, we infer the history of vertebrates through genomic comparisons with a new chromosome-scale sequence of the invertebrate chordate amphioxus. We show how the karyotypes of amphioxus and diverse vertebrates are derived from 17 ancestral chordate linkage groups (and 19 ancestral bilaterian groups) by fusion, rearrangement and duplication. We resolve two distinct ancient duplications based on patterns of chromosomal conserved synteny. All extant vertebrates share the first duplication, which occurred in the mid/late Cambrian by autotetraploidization (that is, direct genome doubling). In contrast, the second duplication is found only in jawed vertebrates and occurred in the mid-late Ordovician by allotetraploidization (that is, genome duplication following interspecific hybridization) from two now-extinct progenitors. This complex genomic history parallels the diversification of vertebrate lineages in the fossil record

What happens if you single out? An experiment

We present an experiment investigating the effects of singling out an individual on trust and trustworthiness. We find that (a) trustworthiness falls if there is a singled out subject; (b) non-singled out subjects discriminate against the singled out subject when they are not responsible of the distinct status of this person; (c) under a negative frame, the singled out subject returns significantly less; (d) under a positive frame, the singled out subject behaves bimodally, either selecting very low or very high return rates. Overall, singling out induces a negligible effect on trust but is potentially disruptive for trustworthiness

‘Dominant ethnicity’ and the ‘ethnic-civic’ dichotomy in the work of A. D. Smith

This article considers the way in which the work of Anthony Smith has helped to structure debates surrounding the role of ethnicity in present-day nations. Two major lines of enquiry are evident here. First, the contemporary role of dominant ethnic groups within 'their' nations and second, the interplay between ethnic and civic elements in nationalist argument. The two processes are related, but maintain elements of distinctiveness. Smith's major contribution to the dominant ethnicity debate has been to disembed ethnicity from the ideologically-charged and/or anglo-centric discourse of ethnic relations and to place it in historical context, thereby opening up space for dominant group ethnicity to be considered as a distinct phenomenon. This said, Smith's work does not adequately account for the vicissitudes of dominant ethnicity in the contemporary West. Building on the classical works of Hans Kohn and Friedrich Meinecke, Anthony Smith has also made a seminal contribution to the debate on civic and ethnic forms of national identity and nationalist ideology. As well as freeing this debate from the strong normative overtones which it has often carried, he has continued to insist that the terms civic and ethnic should be treated as an ideal-typical distinction rather than a scheme of classification