Quality Protein Maize Response to Nitrogen Rate and Plant Density in the Guinea Savanna Zone of Ghana

Field experiments were conducted in the Guinea savanna ecology of Ghana to evaluate yield response of quality protein maize (Zea mays L.) hybrid to plant density and nitrogen (N) fertilizer. The experiments were conducted at four locations on 16 farmers’ fields in 2002 and 2003. Three N rates (0, 90 and 135 kg/ha) were combined with three plant densities (50 000, 62 500 and 71 400 plants/ha) to constitute nine treatments which were tested in a randomized complete block design. Optimal N rate was not affected by plant density. There was no yield response to plant density. However, grain yield had a linear and quadratic response to N at all sites. Grain yield increases as a result of 90 kg N/ha applied over the farmers’ practice (0 kg N/ha) at Tumu, Jirapa, Kpongu and Wa were 39%, 85%, 101% and 303% in 2002, respectively. Grain yield increases for the same rate and sites in 2003 were 31%, 83%, 63% and 51%, respectively. Marginal rate of return (MMR) to 90 kg N/ha combined with 62 600 plants/ha was the highest (5564%). Increasing N rate beyond 90 kg/ha did not result in corresponding increase in yield nor net benefit to merit the extra cost that may be incurred. From the study, application of 90 kg N/ha to hybrid maize would give economic yield response and acceptable returns at low risk to farmers, regardless of plant density

The Impact of Physical Working Condition on Operational Employees’ Job Performance in Large Garment Factory in Galle District, Sri Lanka

Area of the Study This study discusses the impact of physical working condition on job performance of operational employees in large scale garment factories in Galle district. Problem of the Study There is an empirical and knowledge gap in the Sri Lankan context on the relationship between physical working conditions and job performance of operational employees. The research problem of this study: Is there an impact of physical working condition on employee job performance of large scale garment factory in Galle district? Method of the study The data were collected from a random sample of 100 operational employees in a garment factory in Galle district and used a structural questionnaire, which indicate the statement of physical working condition and job performance with 5 points Likert scale. The data were analyzed using univariate and bivariate analyses with the SPSS computer package (Version 16). Findings of the Study The major finding of the study is that physical working condition is positively correlated with employees’ job performance. Moreover, four main dimensions of physical working condition namely workplace noise, temperature, air quality and lighting condition identified for the study. It was found that those are positively correlated with employees’ job performance. Conclusion of the Study Final result of the study reveals that workplace noise, temperature, air quality and lighting condition are positively impact on operational employees’ job performance. In conclusion, physical working condition of organization positively impact on their employees’ job performance. Keywords: Physical Working Condition, Job Performance, Operational Employees, Garment Industr

Quantitative trait loci for bone traits segregating independently of those for growth in an F-2 broiler X layer cross

An F broiler-layer cross was phenotyped for 18 skeletal traits at 6, 7 and 9 weeks of age and genotyped with 120 microsatellite markers. Interval mapping identified 61 suggestive and significant QTL on 16 of the 25 linkage groups for 16 traits. Thirty-six additional QTL were identified when the assumption that QTL were fixed in the grandparent lines was relaxed. QTL with large effects on the lengths of the tarsometatarsus, tibia and femur, and the weights of the tibia and femur were identified on GGA4 between 217 and 249 cM. Six QTL for skeletal traits were identified that did not co-locate with genome wide significant QTL for body weight and two body weight QTL did not coincide with skeletal trait QTL. Significant evidence of imprinting was found in ten of the QTL and QTL x sex interactions were identified for 22 traits. Six alleles from the broiler line for weight- and size-related skeletal QTL were positive. Negative alleles for bone quality traits such as tibial dyschondroplasia, leg bowing and tibia twisting generally originated from the layer line suggesting that the allele inherited from the broiler is more protective than the allele originating from the layer

Cubic exact solutions for the estimation of pairwise haplotype frequencies: implications for linkage disequilibrium analyses and a web tool 'CubeX'

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The frequency of a haplotype comprising one allele at each of two loci can be expressed as a cubic equation (the 'Hill equation'), the solution of which gives that frequency. Most haplotype and linkage disequilibrium analysis programs use iteration-based algorithms which substitute an estimate of haplotype frequency into the equation, producing a new estimate which is repeatedly fed back into the equation until the values converge to a maximum likelihood estimate (expectation-maximisation).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We present a program, "CubeX", which calculates the biologically possible exact solution(s) and provides estimated haplotype frequencies, D', r²and <it>χ</it>²values for each. CubeX provides a "complete" analysis of haplotype frequencies and linkage disequilibrium for a pair of biallelic markers under situations where sampling variation and genotyping errors distort sample Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, potentially causing more than one biologically possible solution. We also present an analysis of simulations and real data using the algebraically exact solution, which indicates that under perfect sample Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium there is only one biologically possible solution, but that under other conditions there may be more.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our analyses demonstrate that lower allele frequencies, lower sample numbers, population stratification and a possible |D'| value of 1 are particularly susceptible to distortion of sample Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, which has significant implications for calculation of linkage disequilibrium in small sample sizes (eg HapMap) and rarer alleles (eg paucimorphisms, q < 0.05) that may have particular disease relevance and require improved approaches for meaningful evaluation.</p

Organic Farming Improves Pollination Success in Strawberries

Pollination of insect pollinated crops has been found to be correlated to pollinator abundance and diversity. Since organic farming has the potential to mitigate negative effects of agricultural intensification on biodiversity, it may also benefit crop pollination, but direct evidence of this is scant. We evaluated the effect of organic farming on pollination of strawberry plants focusing on (1) if pollination success was higher on organic farms compared to conventional farms, and (2) if there was a time lag from conversion to organic farming until an effect was manifested. We found that pollination success and the proportion of fully pollinated berries were higher on organic compared to conventional farms and this difference was already evident 2–4 years after conversion to organic farming. Our results suggest that conversion to organic farming may rapidly increase pollination success and hence benefit the ecosystem service of crop pollination regarding both yield quantity and quality

Safeguarding pollinators and their values to human well-being

Wild and managed pollinators provide a wide range of benefits to society in terms of contributions to food security, farmer and beekeeper livelihoods, social and cultural values, as well as the maintenance of wider biodiversity and ecosystem stability. Pollinators face numerous threats, including changes in land-use and management intensity, climate change, pesticides and genetically modified crops, pollinator management and pathogens, and invasive alien species. There are well-documented declines in some wild and managed pollinators in several regions of the world. However, many effective policy and management responses can be implemented to safeguard pollinators and sustain pollination services

Detection and characterization of small insertion and deletion genetic variants in modern layer chicken genomes

Background: Small insertions and deletions (InDels) constitute the second most abundant class of genetic variants and have been found to be associated with many traits and diseases. The present study reports on the detection and characterisation of about 883 K high quality InDels from the whole-genome analysis of several modern layer chicken lines from diverse breeds. Results: To reduce the error rates seen in InDel detection, this study used the consensus set from two InDel-calling packages: SAMtools and Dindel, as well as stringent post-filtering criteria. By analysing sequence data from 163 chickens from 11 commercial and 5 experimental layer lines, this study detected about 883 K high quality consensus InDels with 93 % validation rate and an average density of 0.78 InDels/kb over the genome. Certain chromosomes, viz, GGAZ, 16, 22 and 25 showed very low densities of InDels whereas the highest rate was observed on GGA6. In spite of the higher recombination rates on microchromosomes, the InDel density on these chromosomes was generally lower relative to macrochromosomes possibly due to their higher gene density. About 43-87 % of the InDels were found to be fixed within each line. The majority of detected InDels (86 %) were 1-5 bases and about 63 % were non-repetitive in nature while the rest were tandem repeats of various motif types. Functional annotation identified 613 frameshift, 465 non-frameshift and 10 stop-gain/loss InDels. Apart from the frameshift and stopgain/loss InDels that are expected to affect the translation of protein sequences and their biological activity, 33 % of the non-frameshift were predicted as evolutionary intolerant with potential impact on protein functions. Moreover, about 2.5 % of the InDels coincided with the most-conserved elements previously mapped on the chicken genome and are likely to define functional elements. InDels potentially affecting protein function were found to be enriched for certain gene-classes e.g. those associated with cell proliferation, chromosome and Golgi organization, spermatogenesis, and muscle contraction. Conclusions: The large catalogue of InDels presented in this study along with their associated information such as functional annotation, estimated allele frequency, etc. are expected to serve as a rich resource for application in future research and breeding in the chicken