Correlation and path-cofficient analysis of seed yield and yield related trait in Iranian confectionery sunflower populations

This study was undertaken in order to determine the association among yield components and their direct and indirect effects on the seed yield of confectionery sunflower. 36 confectionery sunflower populations originated from different regions of Northwest Iran were characterized using 11 agromorphological traits including: Days to 50% flowering, plant height, stem diameter, head diameter, number of leaves, leaf length, leaf width, petiole length, number of seeds per head, 100-seed weight and seed yield. Phenotypic correlations results show that seed yield per plant was positively and significantly associated with 100-seed weight, head diameter, number of seeds per head, stem diameter and plant height. Path coefficient analysis revealed that number of seed per head, 100-seed weight, and head diameter has positive direct effect on seed yield. Therefore, selection based on these characters would be more effective to improving seed yield in confectionery sunflower in breeding programs.Key words: Helianthus annuus L., direct effect, phenotypic correlation, indirect selection

Collection, evaluation and classification of Iranian confectionary sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) populations using multivaraite statistical techniques

Characterization of confectionary sunflower germplasm resources is critical to their efficient collection and management as well as for breeding programs. Thirty six (36) confectionary sunflower populations originating from different regions of Northwest Iran were characterized using 15 agro-morphological traits. Among the studied traits, high coefficients of variation were observed for harvest index (48.36), seed yield (42.07) and petiole length (41.63). Cluster analysis using Ward's method classified the 36 populations into four groups. A large number of genotypes was placed in cluster III (16 genotypes) followed by cluster I (13), cluster IV (4) and cluster II (3). Clusters I, III and VI include genotypes from different sources indicating no association between clustering pattern and eco-geographical distribution of genotypes. The maximum inter-cluster distance of 9.03 was observed between clusters II and VI indicating the possibility of high heterosis if individuals from these two clusters are cross-bred. Principal component analysis resulted in the first four components with Eigen value greater than one accounting for 78% of the total variation. The results of PCA were closely in line with those of cluster analysis. These results can now be used by breeders to develop high yielding sunflower hybrids.Key words: Cluster analysis, confectionary sunflower, genetic variability, principal component analysis

Fatty liver index vs waist circumference for predicting non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

AIM: To determine the discriminatory performance of fatty liver index (FLI) for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). METHODS: The data of 5052 subjects aged over 18 years were analyzed. FLI was calculated from body mass index, waist circumference (WC), triglyceride, and gamma glutamyl transferase data. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to determine the association between FLI and NAFLD. The discriminatory performance of FLI in the diagnosis of NAFLD was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic analysis. Area under the curves (AUCs) and related confidence intervals were estimated. Optimal cutoff points of FLI in the diagnosis of NAFLD were determined based on the maximum values of Youden's index. RESULTS: The mean age of men and women in the study population were 44.8 ± 16.8 and 43.78 ± 15.43, respectively (P = 0.0216). The prevalence of NAFLD was 40.1 in men and 44.2 in women (P < 0.0017). FLI was strongly associated with NAFLD, so that even a one unit increase in FLI increased the chance of developing NAFLD by 5.8 (OR = 1.058, 95CI: 1.054-1.063, P < 0.0001). Although FLI showed good performance in the diagnosis of NAFLD (AUC = 0.8656 (95CI: 0.8548-0.8764), there was no significant difference with regards to WC (AUC = 0.8533, 95CI: 0.8419-0.8646). The performance of FLI was not significantly different between men (AUC = 0.8648, 95CI: 0.8505-0.8791) and women (AUC = 0.8682, 95CI: 0.8513-0.8851). The highest performance with regards to age was related to the 18-39 age group (AUC = 0.8930, 95CI: 0.8766-0.9093). The optimal cutoff points of FLI were 46.9 in men (sensitivity = 0.8242, specificity = 0.7687, Youden's index = 0.5929) and 53.8 in women (sensitivity = 0.8233, specificity = 0.7655, Youden's index = 0.5888). CONCLUSION: Although FLI had acceptable discriminatory power in the diagnosis of NAFLD, WC was a simpler and more accessible index with a similar performance. © 2016 Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved

STOCK EXCHANGE INDEX PREDICTION USING HYBRID MODELS

ABSTRACT Prediction of stock price index and the direction of its movement are regarded as one of the most challenging applications of time series. In this study, Tehran Stock Exchange index is predicted for 5next periods, using data from gold price, Europe Brent oil price index, New York Stock Exchange and the exchange rate, using single, hybrid and combination model, in which they are used, the multi-layer neural network and time series models

Evaluación de la reacción de líneas puras de girasol y sus híbridos F1 a las condiciones de sequía mediante diversos índices de tolerancia al estrés

In this study, 21 genotypes of sunflower (&nbsp;Helianthus annuus L.) derived from a half diallel cross between six inbred lines were evaluated in both water-stressed and well-watered environments. In each environment, the genotypes were evaluated using a randomized complete block design with three replications. From the grain yield data, drought tolerance indices comprising of stability tolerance index (STI), mean productivity (MP), geometric mean productivity (GMP), harmonic mean (HM), stress susceptibility index (SSI), tolerance index (TOL), yield index (YI) and yield stability index (YSI) were calculated for every genotype. The resulting data were analyzed as obtained from a randomized complete block design. Significant differences among genotypes were observed for all drought tolerance indices except for SSI and YSI. High yield value in non-stress and stress environments was exhibited by genotypes &lsquo;LR4 &times; LR25&rsquo; (14.02 g) and &lsquo;LR25 &times; C100&rsquo; (3.84 g) respectively. The maximum value of STI (0.93), MP (8.72), GMP (6.91) and HM (5.48) indices was by genotype &lsquo;LR4 &times; LR25&rsquo;. Correlation coefficients revealed that TOL, MP, GMP, STI, HM, and YI indices could effectively be used for screening of drought tolerant genotypes. Using MP, GMP, HM, TOL, YI and STI indices, genotypes UPGMA classification was done and three clusters were established that paralleled the biplot analysis results. According to results in this study, &lsquo;LR4 &times; LR25&rsquo; is the most drought tolerant genotype which was clustered as group A. We suggest that tolerance indices including MP, GMP and HM are suitable for sunflower drought tolerant genotypes selection.En este estudio, 21 genotipos de girasol (&nbsp;Helianthus annuus L.) derivados de un cruce medio dial&eacute;lico entre seis l&iacute;neas puras se evaluaron con y sin estr&eacute;s h&iacute;drico. Para cada ambiente, los genotipos se evaluaron usando un dise&ntilde;o de bloques completos al azar con tres repeticiones. De los datos de rendimiento de grano se calcularon los &iacute;ndices de tolerancia a la sequ&iacute;a para cada genotipo: &iacute;ndice de estabilidad de la tolerancia sexual (ITS), productividad media (MP), productividad media geom&eacute;trica (GMP), media arm&oacute;nica (HM), &iacute;ndice de susceptibilidad al estr&eacute;s (SSI), &iacute;ndice de tolerancia (TOL), &iacute;ndice de rendimiento (YI) e &iacute;ndice de estabilidad del rendimiento (YSI). Los datos resultantes se analizaron como obtenidos a partir de un dise&ntilde;o de bloques completos al azar. Se observaron diferencias significativas entre los genotipos en todos los &iacute;ndices de tolerancia a la sequ&iacute;a a excepci&oacute;n de SSI y YSI. Los genotipos &lsquo;LR4 &times; LR25&rsquo; y &lsquo;LR25 &times; C100&rsquo; exhibieron un alto rendimiento en ambos ambientes (14,02 y 3,84 g, respectivamente); &lsquo;LR4 &times; LR25&rsquo; present&oacute; el valor m&aacute;ximo de los &iacute;ndices STI (0,93), MP (8,72), GMP (6,91) y HM (5,48). Los coeficientes de correlaci&oacute;n revelaron que los &iacute;ndices TOL, MP, GMP, STI, HM y YI podr&iacute;an ser utilizados para la selecci&oacute;n de genotipos tolerantes a la sequ&iacute;a. Utilizando los &iacute;ndices MP, GMP, HM, TOL, YI y STI, se hizo una&nbsp; clasificaci&oacute;n UPGMA de los genotipos y se establecieron tres grupos an&aacute;logos a los resultados del an&aacute;lisis biplot. De acuerdo a los resultados de este estudio, &lsquo;LR4 &times; LR25&rsquo;, del grupo A, es el genotipo m&aacute;s tolerante a la sequ&iacute;a. Se concluye que los &iacute;ndices de tolerancia MP, GMP y HM son adecuados para la selecci&oacute;n de genotipos tolerantes a la sequ&iacute;a en girasol

Effect of Fe and Zn Micro Nutrients on Yield and Yield Components of Pimpinella anisum L.

The higher levels of essential elements in soil may be caused in optimum yields and crop quality. So it seems to be necessary to examine different levels of nutrients like Fe and Zn on plants and their productivity. To evaluate effects of iron and zinc application on yield and yield components of Pimpinella anisum an experiment was conducted at the research farm of Urmia University in 2009. Treatments, iron application (0, 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6%) and zinc (0, 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6%), were arranged as factorial based on randomized complete block design with 3 replications. Results showed the significant effect of interaction between iron and zinc on the number of seed in per plant,1000 seed weight, biomass yield, seed yield and harvest index (HI). The maximum value of the 1000 seed weight (2.22 g) was obtained from 0% of Fe and 0.2% of Zn, whereas the minimum value of the 1000 seed weight (1.92 g) belonged to 2% of iron and 0% of zinc. The highest number of seed per plant (762), maximum value of biomass yield (2652 kg/ha) and highest of seed yield (1372 kg/ha) were obtained from 0.6 and 0.4 percent of Fe and Zn and the lowest number of seed per plant (272), maximum value of biomass yield (716 kg/ha) and highest of seed yield (470 kg/ha) were obtained from 0 and 0.6 percent of Fe and Zn, respectively. The highest HI (66.18) was obtained at control treatment and the lowest one (46.67) at both 0.4 percent of Fe and Zn. The essential oil percent increase in average values of Fe and Zn spraying. But accumulation of Fe and Zn were the maximum in higher levels of spraying

Effect of Different Nitrogen Levels on Current Rate of Photosynthesis and Dry Matter Remobilization inTwo Cultivars of Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.)

To study the effect of different amounts of nitrogen fertilizer on dry matter remobilization in two cultivars of rapeseed a factorial experiment was conducted in complete randomized block design with three replications in the 2010-2012 years in Rasht, Iran. The experimental factors were two cultivars of rapeseed (Sarigol and Hayola308) and nitrogen fertilizer rate (from urea source) at five levels of 0, 50, 100, 150 and 200 kg ha-1 of N as 1/3 at planting 1/3 at stem elongation 1/3 before flowering. The results indicated that in the second year a higher dry matter remobilization (400 g m-2), current photosynthesis (1750 g m-2) and grain and oil yield (2149.8 and 927.2 kg ha-1 respectively) was achieved. Between nitrogen rates, application of 200 kg N ha-1 led to the highest current photosynthesis, dry matter remobilization, grain and oil yield. Hayola308 cultivar with 150 and 200 kg ha-1 of N indicated the highest oil yield (1518 and 1333 kg ha-1, respectively) and dry matter remobilization (531.5 and 492.4 g m-2 respectively). According to the results of the present experiment, it seems that cultivar Hayola308 with application of 150 kg N ha-1 can increase the current rate of photosynthesis, dry matter remobilization and oil yield of rapeseed, due to increase in the photosynthetic surfaces

Fodder value and physiological aspects of rainfed smooth vetch affected by biofertilizers and supplementary irrigation in an agri-silviculture system

In an agri-silviculture of the plum (Prunus domestica L. Cv. Opal), the forage quality of smooth vetch (Vicia dasycarpa L.) was evaluated. For this purpose, a two-year (2016 and 2017) factorial experiment was conducted based on randomized complete block design with three replications at Urmia University, Iran. The treatments included the combined and individual application of biofertilizers {Azotobacter chroococcum (Az), Thiobacillus spp. (Th)., Rhizophagus intraradices (AMF) and control} under rainfed and once supplementary irrigation. The results showed that irrigated plants contained higher P than rainfed plants. Dual inoculation with “AMF + Az” had higher Ash, K, CP and WSC than plants with fungal or bacterial inoculation alone. In comparison with control, biofertilizers improved the forage and protein yield by 32 and 45.50% under rainfed conditions and by 47 and 60.04% under supplementary irrigation, respectively. The amount of CAT, GR, APX, and SOD were reduced in rainfed plants, but the co-inoculation of mycorrhizal plants with Az and/or Th enhanced enzymatic antioxidants. In conclusion, the combined use of AMF and Az improved smooth vetch forage quantity and quality in irrigated plants as much as rainfed did, and hence it can be desirable for sustainable agriculture

Correction to: Fodder value and physiological aspects of rainfed smooth vetch affected by biofertilizers and supplementary irrigation in an agri-silviculture system (Agroforestry Systems, (2021), 10.1007/s10457-021-00695-7)

In the original publication of the article, Table 3 was incorrectly published. This has been corrected with this Correction. The original article has been corrected