Pre-breeding of architectural traits related to direct harvesting in dry bean.

Master of Science in Plant Breeding. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2017.Dry bean (Phaseolus Vulgaris L.) is an important crop for direct human consumption worldwide. In South Africa, it is a major source of plant proteins and income among growers. The crop is mainly grown by commercial producers for the market in Mpumalanga, Gauteng, Northwest, Free State, Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape provinces. Dry bean is known to be one of the most labour intensive field crops, especially the harvesting operation. In order to maximise profits, commercial producers prefer using the direct harvesting system that has the advantages of labour efficiency and saving time, compared to the pull/cut and window followed by threshing harvesting system. However, the success of the direct harvesting system requires a cultivar with a suitable upright architecture. The upright bean architecture suitable for direct harvesting is a complex trait that may only be improved through indirect selection for sub-component morphological traits associated with the trait. It is therefore important to evaluate diverse genotypes for morphological traits associated with the upright bean architecture to improve the trait. This study was aimed at (1) evaluating architectural traits related to direct harvesting and establishing relationships amongst traits on selected genotypes from the Andean gene pool, (2) estimating the phenotypic and genotypic variation, heritability, and genetic gain of traits related to direct harvesting on selected genotypes from the Andean gene pool, and (3) evaluating the architectural traits related to direct harvesting and establish the relationships amongst traits in local South African genotypes. The evaluation of architectural traits related to direct harvesting and establishing relationships amongst traits, was carried out on 30 Type I genotypes from the Andean gene pool. The trial was evaluated under field conditions in a 10 × 3 alpha lattice design at two sites. The traits collected were the days to physiological maturity, upright plant score, lodging, stem diameter, plant height, shattering, number of branches per plant, number of pods per plant, seed weight and seed yield. The analysis of variance showed highly significant differences (p ≤ 0.001) on genotypes across all traits, except for the number of branches, which was moderately significant (p ≤ 0.05). Superior genotypes were identified in each trait based on the grand mean. The stem diameter was identified to be important for multiple selections, because of its correlations with the upright plant architecture score, lodging, the days to physiological maturity and seed yield. Three principal components were extracted, accounting for 78.55% of total variation. Selection for the seed yield, stem diameter and plant height would be essential for improving the suitability to direct harvesting. The genotypes ADP 35, ADP 166, ADP 211, ADP 36, ADP 395, ADP 436, ADP 455, ADP 458, ADP 661, Mbomvu and Ukulinga were found to have thicker stem diameters and non-shattering, and therefore, they may be useful in improving both seed yield and the upright architecture suitable for direct harvesting. The estimation of the phenotypic and genotypic variation, heritability and genetic gain of traits related to direct harvesting was also carried out on 30 Type I genotypes from the Andean gene pool. The trial was evaluated in a 10 × 3 alpha lattice design at two sites. The traits collected were the days to physiological maturity, upright plant score, lodging, stem diameter, plant height, shattering, number of branches per plant, number of pods per plant, seed weight and seed yield. The analysis of variance showed highly significant differences among genotypes on all traits except the number of branches per plant, which showed moderately significant differences. The highly significant differences indicate the presence of genetic variability in the data set. A significant interaction of genotype with the site was observed on days to physiological maturity, lodging, plant height and seed weight. The phenotypic coefficient of variation was slightly higher than the genotypic coefficient of variation for all traits, showing little environmental influence on the expression of traits. Generally, a high variability was observed in the population. Broad sense heritability estimates ranged from moderate to high, except for the number of branches per plant, which recorded a low heritability value of 29%. The moderate to high heritability and expected genetic gains observed in the population could be exploited through selection and hybridisation during the improvement of the upright bean architecture suitable for direct harvesting. The evaluation of architectural traits related to direct harvesting, and establishing relationships amongst traits on local South African genotypes, was carried out on twenty four genotypes. The trial was laid out in a 6×4 alpha lattice design at Ukulinga Research Farm. The traits collected were, the days to 50% flowering, days to physiological maturity, upright plant score, lodging, stem diameter, plant height, shattering, number of branches per plant, number of pods per plant, seed weight and seed yield. The analysis of variance showed highly significant differences for the number of days to physiological maturity, days to 50% flowering, lodging, number of branches per plant, plant height, number of pods per plant, seed weight and the upright plant score, while it was very significant for the first pod insertion height and moderate for stem diameter, shattering and seed yield. Superior genotypes were identified using the grand means of the different traits and these genotypes may be used in a breeding programme to improve the suitability to combine harvesting. The correlation analysis showed that plant height would be useful in selection. However, an optimum height, to reduce lodging and improve the upright architecture should be selected for. The factor analysis revealed that seed yield, upright plant score, first pod insertion height, plant height and lodging had more influence on the variation in the data set and as such may be considered during selection. The cluster analysis grouped genotypes in two groups, while two genotypes were stand alone and the four principal components accounted for 78.55% of variation

First year learner nurses' perceptions of learning motivation in self-directed learning in a simulated skills laboratory at a higher education institution

Employing self-directed learning (SDL) methodologies, that are associated with improvement in the affective and psychomotor domains, could be advantageous to learner nurses. Despite the efforts to expose students to SDL in a school of nursing in the Western Cape, South Africa, the challenge remains the students’ lack of self-motivation to SDL during clinical activities in the simulated skills laboratory. This article focuses on first year learner nurses’ perceptions of learning motivation (as part of a larger study) in SDL activities in a skills laboratory. An exploratory descriptive quantitative design was used. A sample of 168 respondents was selected through simple random sampling. A self-administered 5-point Likert scale questionnaire was developed. The data was gathered and then analysed by using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 21 software. Descriptive statistics were used to present the findings. It was found that learner nurses were self-motivated to learn with some challenges during the implementation of SDL.Web of Scienc

First year learner nurses‘ perceptions on self-directed learning during clinical activities in the skills laboratory

Magister Curationis - MCurSelf-directed learning (SDL) has become a focus in the past years due to the increase in the complexity and changes in the nursing profession development. Employing SDL methodologies has been advantageous to the learner nurses, since these methodologies are associated with moderate improvement in the knowledge and effective improvement in the affective and psychomotor domains. Despite the efforts to expose students to SDL, the challenge remains the lack of students‘ commitment to SDL during clinical activities in the skills laboratory. This lack of commitment may result from students‘ perceptions of SDL. Therefore, this study seeks to explore and describe the perceptions of first year learner nurses about self-directed learning activities in a skills laboratory at a school of nursing in the Western Cape. An exploratory descriptive quantitative design was used to answer the research question. All the first year learner nurses (N=336) pursuing a 4-year Bachelor Nursing Degree served as the target population and a sample of 168 respondents was selected by simple random sampling. A self-administered 5-point Likert scale questionnaire with an additional four open-ended questions was used to collect data for the study. Data was analysed by using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 21 software. Descriptive statistics were used to present frequencies, mean values, standard deviations, and the results were illustrated by means of tables. The Spearman correlation coefficient indicated the correlations between the 4 The findings revealed that most of the respondents positively perceived self-directed learning in the skills laboratory. However, it was also found that learners had challenges in relation to time management during the implementation of self-directed learning

Population seroprevalence of a selection of long- and short-term malaria antigens.

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Number of individuals enrolled and treated in the CoRE study by arm.

Number of individuals enrolled and treated in the CoRE study by arm.</p

Individuals recruited to the post-only endline survey for serology by age and gender.

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Study participant flow.

Sixteen clusters were selected from all eligible health facility catchment areas in Southern Province, Zambia.</p

Day 1 individuals recruited for RCD follow-ups on days 30 and 90 by age and gender.

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Seropositivity by trial arm and age for any of AMA-1, GLURP-R2, or MSP1-19 antigens in a post-only simple random sample.

Data are fitted using a loess smoother function and 95% confidence intervals. RFTAT control (orange) and RFDA intervention (blue) arms are shown accordingly. Plots for individual catchments are shown in S3 Fig.</p

Median confirmed population malaria incidence for the entire HFCA (total) or just those identified at the health facility (HF).

RFDA (blue) and RFTAT (orange) arms are shown.</p