Irrigation and Bradyrhizobium Japonicum Inoculation Effects on Performance of Soybean Production in Tropical Guinea Savanna Zone of Ghana

A field experiment was conducted to assess the effect of irrigation regimes and Bradyrhizobium japonicum strains on the performance of soybean cultivar TGX1440-IE. The study was carried out for two consecutive years during the dry season (February-May) at Tono Irrigation Project site in a Guinea Savannah zone of Ghana. Three irrigation regimes based on soybean crop water requirements (full or normal (W0), half (W1) and one and a half (W2) crop water requirements) and two strains of B. japonicum (LS-50 and TAL-120) along with one uninoculated treatments with three replications were laid out in a split-plot randomized complete block design. The LS-50 strain inoculated soybean (I2) had the highest value in the number of nodulation, growth, yield and WUE, followed by the uninoculated (I0) and the TAL-120 (I1) had the least. The LS-50 strain significantly (P<0.01) increased the number of nodulation, growth, yield and WUE by 15 %, 14 %, 10 % and 12 % respectively over the uninoculated soybean. The one and a half irrigation regime (W2) also had the highest values for all crop parameters determined except WUE followed by the full irrigation regime (W0) and the half irrigation (W1) had the least. W1 however, had the highest WUE, followed by W0 and then W2. The one and a half irrigation regime significantly (P<0.01) increased the number of nodulation, growth and yield by 23%,  28% and 10 % respectively but decreased WUE by 65%, over the full irrigation regime.  However, the half irrigation increased the WUE by 36 % over the full irrigation regime. The interaction of LS 50 strain and the one and a half irrigation regime (W2I2) had significant (P<0.05) increase in the growth by 45 % , decrease in WUE by 27 % and insignificant increase in  yield over the interaction of uninoculated and full irrigation regime (W0I0). However the interaction of LS 50 strain and half irrigation regime (W1I2) increased the WUE by 95 % over the interaction of uninoculated and full irrigation regime (W0I0). Keywords: Soybean cultivar, Tono Irrigation Project, Crop water, LS-50 strain, TAL-120 strain

Stimulus of nitrogen fertilizers and soil characteristics on maize yield and nitrous oxide emission from Ferric Luvisol in the Guinea Savanna agro-ecological zone of Ghana

Farmers in Ghana rely on different forms of fertilizers to increase crop yields. The quantity of applied mineral N fertilizer is lost through nitrification and denitrification in the form of the powerful greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O) has not been determined in the field until now. This study was conducted on a Ferric Luvisol in the Tolon District in Northern Ghana to determine the influence of nitrogen fertilizers, soil moisture and soil temperature on N2O emissions and grain yield. Three different nitrogenous fertilizers, i.e. ammonia sulfate (AS), urea (U) and NPK 60–40–40, were applied at either 60 or 120 kg N ha−1 yr−1 to maize, termed AS 60, AS 120, U 60, U 120 and NPK 60–40–40 thereafter. A control was left without N application. The results showed that N fertilizer type and quantities applied affected N2O emissions significantly. Plots of NPK 60–40–40, AS 60 and U 60 emitted 1.22, 1.45 and 1.79 kg N2ON ha−1, respectively, throughout the sampling period and were not considerably higher than N2O emissions from the control plots, which amounted to 0.32 kg N2ON ha−1. In contrast, the N2O emissions of U 120 and AS 120 were significantly higher than the controls, with values of 4.29 and 3.49 kg N2ON ha−1, respectively. When N2O flux was related to grain yield, 1.24 and 1.04 g N2O kg−1 grain was emitted from AS 120 and U 120, respectively. Plots treated with NPK 60–40–40, AS 60 and U 60 produced 0.39, 0.47 and 0.55 g N2O kg−1 grain, respectively, whereas plots without fertilization emitted 0.53 g N2O kg−1 grain. Average N-induced N2O emission factors ranged between 0.10% and 0.22%, with an overall emission factor of 0.15%

The rubber hand illusion reveals proprioceptive and sensorimotor differences in autism spectrum disorders

Autism spectrum disorder is characterised by differences in unimodal and multimodal sensory and proprioceptive processing, with complex biases towards local over global processing. Many of these elements are implicated in versions of the rubber hand illusion, which were therefore studied in high-functioning individuals with ASD and a typically developing control group. Both groups experienced the illusion. A number of differences were found, related to proprioception and sensorimotor processes. The ASD group showed reduced sensitivity to visuotactile-proprioceptive discrepancy but more accurate proprioception. This group also differed on acceleration in subsequent reach trials. Results are discussed in terms of weak top-down integration and precision-accuracy trade-offs. The RHI appears to be a useful tool for investigating multisensory processing in AS