Genetic Diversity of Selected Upland Rice Genotypes (Oryza sativa L.) for Grain Yield and Related Traits

Seventy-seven upland rice genotypes including popular cultivars in Nigeria and introduced varieties selected from across rice-growing regions of the world were evaluated under optimal upland ecology. These genotypes were characterised for 10 traits and the quantitative data subjected to Pearson correlation matrix, Principal Component Analysis and cluster analysis to determine the level of diversity and degree of association existing between grain yield and its related component traits. Yield and most related component traits exhibited higher PCV compared to growth parameters. Yield had the highest PCV (41.72%) while all other parameters had low to moderate GCV. Genetic Advance (GA) ranged from 9.88% for plant height at maturity to 41.08% for yield. High heritability estimates were recorded for 1000 grain weight (88.71%), days to 50% flowering (86.67%) and days to 85% maturity (71.98%). Furthermore, grain yield showed significant positive correlation with days to 50% flowering and number of panicles m-2. Three cluster groups were obtained based on the UPGMA and the first three principal components explained about 64.55% of the total variation among the 10 characters. The PCA results suggests that characters such as grain yield, days to flowering, leaf area and plant height at maturity were the principal discriminatory traits for this rice germplasm indicating that selection in favour of these traits might be effective in this population and environment

The Effect of Kelvin Effect on the Equilibrium Effective Radii and Hygroscopic Growth of Atmospheric Aerosols

In this paper we extracted microphysical properties of six types of atmospheric aerosols from Optical Properties of Aerosols and Clouds (OPAC) and numerically analyzed the analytical expressions for the changes in the equilibrium relative humidity (RH), effective radius, effective hygroscopic growth, the magnitudes and fractional changes in the effective radii  and the effective hygroscopic growth on the effects of surface tension (the Kelvin effect) on ambient atmospheric aerosols. The expressions were applied to two - one parameter models. We discovered from the analysis of the data extracted that, to the lowest order error, the change in the equilibrium RH, effective radii and effective hygroscopic growth depend on the compositions of the aerosols. From the two models used, we also discovered that the fractional changes in the ambient RH, effective radii and effective hygrosocopic growth, also depend on the aerosols compositions. Finally, we discovered that the magnitude of the Kelvin effect and its consequences on the atmospheric aerosols depend on the hygroscopicity of the aerosols. Keywords: Kelvin effect, effective radius, effective hygroscopic growth, atmospheric aerosols, ambient Relative Humidity

Avaliação do rendimento forrageiro de milheto (Pennisetun glaucum) em plantio consorciado com capim Piatã (Brachiaria brizantha) e capim Massai (Panicum maximum).

Objetivou-se com este trabalho avaliar o rendimento forrageiro do plantio consorciado de Milheto (Pennisetum glaucum) com os capins Piatã (Brachiaria brizantha) e Massai (Panicum maximum). Foi utilizado um delineamento em blocos casualizados com dois tratamentos e dezesseis repetições. Os tratamentos consistiram do plantio consorciados de Milheto cv. Piatã e Milheto cv. BRS 1501 com campim Massai. Foram avaliados o número de plantas, a altura e a produção de matéria seca de forragem em dois cortes. Os dados foram submetidos à análise de variância seguindo o DBC e as médias comparadas pelo teste e Tukey a 5% de probabilidade. O plantio consorciado de Milheto com os capins Massai e Piatã apresentou grande produção de forragem (4.250 kg ha-1 de matéria seca) e mostrou ser uma tecnologia viável para a implantação e reforma de pastagens perenes. Sugere-se a realização de novos estudos visando avaliar a densidade de plantas de Milheto que integre a alta produção de forragem com o melhor desenvolvimento do capim

Rendimento forrageiro de milheto, capim Piatã e capim Massai em plantios consorciados e solteiros.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o rendimento forrageiro do Milheto BR 1501 (Pennisetum glaucum). Piatã (Brachiaria brizantha) e Massai (Panicum maximum) em plantios consorciados e solteiros. Os tratamentos consistiram de: T1-Milheto + Piatã (7 kg ha-1 + 10 kg ha-1 de sementes, respectivamente); T2-Milheto + Massai (7 kg ha-1 + 12 kg ha-1 de sementes, respectivamente); T3-Milheto solteiro (7 kg ha-1 de sementes); T4 Piatã (10kg ha-1 de sementes); T5-Massai (12 kgha-1 de sementes). Foram realizados dois cortes em cada parcela, aos 44 e 69 dias após o plantio. Em cada corte foi avaliado o estande, altura de plantas e a produção da matéria seca da fitomassa de forragem. O delineamento experimental foi o de blocos ao acaso com cinco tratamentos e quatro repetições. Os dados foram submetidos à análise de variância e médias comparadas pelo teste Tukey a 5%. Não observou-se diferença para o número de plantas, altura e produtividade nos tratamentos com Milheto solteiro e consorciado com capim Massai e Piatã. Entre as consorciações, embora não apresente diferença significativ há uma tendência de maiores valores para as variáveis avaliadas quando da consorciação do Milheto com capim Piatã. Uma maior produção foi observada para os capins quando em plantio solteiro. A produção total de matéria seca foi superior quando da consorciação do Milheto com ambos capins

Preliminary Phytochemical Screening and Proximate Analyses of Leaf Extracts of Newbouldia laevis (Boundary Tree)

This work is designed to enrich the available scientific data on the phytochemistry and nutrient content of N. laevis leaves. The method of cold maceration was used in the extraction by serial exhaustive extraction method. The phytochemical screening of Newbouldia laevis was using through controlled experiment. Qualitative phytochemical screening and proximate analyses of Newbouldia laevis was studied using extracts of n-hexane, ethyl acetate, acetone and methanol which were obtained extract from powdered plant part. The extracts were subjected to qualitative phytochemical screening using standard procedure and the results shows that all the phytochemicals screened for were revealed in various leaf extracts. Alkaloids and flavonoids are present in all the extracts except ethyl acetate that did not show the presence of alkaloids. Only phlobatannins and tannins were absent in all the extract, steroid is present only in acetone. The proximate analysis revealed the nutritional composition of Newbouldia laevis to be 6.03% of moisture, 7.96% of ash, 9.81% of crude protein, 16.50% of fat, 33.40%. The diversity of phytochemical present suggested that N. laevis could serve as a source of drugs. Keywords: Newbouldia laevis, phytochemistry, Nutrient

Magnetic properties of X-Pt (X=Fe,Co,Ni) alloy systems

We have studied the electronic and magnetic properties of Fe-Pt, Co-Pt and Ni-Pt alloy systems in ordered and disordered phases. The influence of various exchange-correlation functionals on values of equilibrium lattice parameters and magnetic moments in ordered Fe-Pt, Co-Pt and Ni-Pt alloys have been studied using linearized muffin-tin orbital method. The electronic structure calculations for the disordered alloys have been carried out using augmented space recursion technique in the framework of tight binding linearized muffin-tin orbital method. The effect of short range order has also been studied in the disordered phase of these systems. The results show good agreements with available experimental values.Comment: 21 pages, 4 eps figures, accepted for publication in Journal of Physics Condensed Matte

Ab-initio calculation of Kerr spectra for semi-infinite systems including multiple reflections and optical interferences

Based on Luttinger's formulation the complex optical conductivity tensor is calculated within the framework of the spin-polarized relativistic screened Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker method for layered systems by means of a contour integration technique. For polar geometry and normal incidence ab-initio Kerr spectra of multilayer systems are then obtained by including via a 2x2 matrix technique all multiple reflections between layers and optical interferences in the layers. Applications to Co|Pt5 and Pt3|Co|Pt5 on the top of a semi-infinite fcc-Pt(111) bulk substrate show good qualitative agreement with the experimental spectra, but differ from those obtained by applying the commonly used two-media approach.Comment: 32 pages (LaTeX), 5 figures (Encapsulated PostScript), submitted to Phys. Rev.

An Ill Wind? Climate Change, Migration, and Health

Background: Climate change is projected to cause substantial increases in population movement in coming decades. Previous research has considered the likely causal influences and magnitude of such movements and the risks to national and international security. There has been little research on the consequences of climate-related migration and the health of people who move

Congenital anomalies in low- and middle-income countries: the unborn child of global surgery.

Surgically correctable congenital anomalies cause a substantial burden of global morbidity and mortality. These anomalies disproportionately affect children in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) due to sociocultural, economic, and structural factors that limit the accessibility and quality of pediatric surgery. While data from LMICs are sparse, available evidence suggests that the true human and financial cost of congenital anomalies is grossly underestimated and that pediatric surgery is a cost-effective intervention with the potential to avert significant premature mortality and lifelong disability