Using Future Value Analysis to Select an Optimal Portfolio of Force Protection Initiatives

With the recent increase in terrorist activity, force protection has become a key issue for the Department of Defense, Leading the research for new ideas and concepts in force protection for the US Air Force is the Air Force Force Protection Battlelab (FPB). The FPB is charged with searching out force protection ideas and selecting those most worthy for future consideration. In 2002, a Value-Focused Thinking (VFT) hierarchy was created to help the FPB select those ideas that provided the most value to the Air Force and its force protection goals. This research effort uses the Future Value Analysis (FVA) approach, a decision-making methodology, to provide a more accurate project selection tool to the FPB. FVA incorporates the ideals of multi-attribute utility theory, specifically using the VFT process, as well as linear programming optimization techniques, to provide an optimal portfolio of initiatives for the FPB to pursue. FVA provides a solution that optimizes the value of initiatives selected, while remaining within the organizational constraints of the FPB. This research provides a proof of implementation for the FVA process in the force protection environment

An HST Survey of the mid-UV Morphology of Nearby Galaxies

(Abbreviated) We present an imaging survey of 37 nearby galaxies observed with HST/WFPC2 in the mid-UV F300W filter and in F814W. 11 galaxies were also imaged in F255W. These galaxies were selected to be detectable with WFPC2 in one orbit, and cover a wide range of Hubble types and inclinations. The mid-UV spans the gap between our groundbased optical/NIR images and far-UV images available from the Astro/UIT missions. Our first qualitative results are: (1) Early-type galaxies show a significant decrease in surface brightness going from the red to the mid-UV, and in some cases the presence of dust lanes. Some galaxies would be classified different when viewed in the mid-UV, some become dominated by a blue nuclear feature or point source. (2) Half of the mid-type spiral and star-forming galaxies appear as a later morphological type in the mid-UV, as Astro/UIT also found in the far-UV. Some- times these differences are dramatic. The mid-UV images show a considerable range in the scale and surface brightness of individual star-forming regions. Almost all mid-type spirals have their small bulges bi-sected by a dust-lane. (3) Most of the heterogeneous subset of late-type, irregular, peculiar, and merging galaxies display F300W morphologies that are similar to those seen in F814W, but with differences due to recognizable dust features absorbing the bluer light, and due to UV-bright hot stars, star-clusters, and star-forming ridges. In the rest-frame mid-UV, early- to mid-type galaxies are more likely to be misclassified as later types than vice versa. This morphological K-correction explains only part of the excess faint blue galaxies seen in deep HST fields.Comment: 30 pages, LateX (AASTeX5.0), 2 figures and 3 tables included, mid-UV atlas and pan-chromatic atlas provided as 63 JPG figures. Full resolution PS version (~100Mb) available upon request. Accepted for publication in ApJ

Genetic Improvement Trends in Agronomic Performances and End-Use Quality Characteristics Among Hard Red Winter Wheat Cultivars in Nebraska

Evaluation of wheat cultivars from different eras allows breeders to determine changes in agronomic and end-use quality characteristics associated with grain yield and end-use quality improvement over time. The objective of this research was to examine the trends in agronomic and end-use quality characteristics of hard red winter wheat cultivars grown in Nebraska. Thirty historically important and popular hard red winter wheat cultivars introduced or released between 1874 and 2000 were evaluated at Lincoln, Mead, and North Platte, Nebraska in 2002 and 2003. An alpha lattice design with 15 incomplete blocks of two plots and three replications was used at all locations. Agronomic (days to flowering, plant height, spike length, culm length, grain yield and yield components, and grain volume weight) and end-use quality (flour yield, SDS-sedimentation value, flour protein content, and mixograph time and tolerance) traits were measured in each environment. Highly significant differences were observed among environments, genotypes and their interactions for most agronomic and end-use quality characteristics. Unlike modern cultivars, older cultivars were low yielding, and less responsive to favorable environments for grain yield and yield components. Semidwarf cultivars were more stable for plant height than traditional medium to tall cultivars. All cultivars had high grain volume weight since it is part of the grading system and highly selected for in cultivar release. Modern cultivars were less stable than older cultivars for SDS-sedimentation and mixing tolerance. However, the stability of older cultivars was attributed to their having weak mixing tolerance and reduced SDS-sedimentation values. The reduced protein content of modern cultivars was offset by increased functionality, as measured by mixograph and SDS sedimentation. In conclusion, breeders have tailored agronomic and end-use quality traits essential for hard red winter wheat production and marketing in Nebraska

Genetic and Environmental Effects on Dough Mixing Characteristics and Agronomic Performance of Diverse Hard Red Winter Wheat Genotypes

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) genotypes with short mixing times usually have low mixing tolerance values, which make them more ,sensitive to over mixing in commercial bread production. In this study, we evaluated the genotypic and environmental effects on agronomic performance and end-use quality of 27 experimental genotypes (hereafter referred to as mixing tolerant genotypes) which were identified in an initial screen as having short mixing times and good mixing tolerances to 1) determine whether genotypes identified in a preliminary end-use quality screen as lines with usually long tolerances but short mixing times were due to their genotype (G), the environment (E), or G X E; and as these results were unusual, 2) determine whether or not our initial screen predicts end-use quality, and 3) determine the stability of both agronomic and end-use quality traits. The 27 genotypes and five check cultivar, were grown in a randomized complete block design with two replicates in nine environments in 1997 and 1998. All plots were harvested for grain yield. The harvested grain from the first replicate and random genotypes from the second replicate were micromilled to produce flour samples for evaluation of flour yield, protein content and mixograph mixing time and mixing tolerance values. Seed diameter, thousand kernel weight, and kernel hardness were also measured in three environments. Environment, G, and G X E interaction effects (mainly changes in magnitude) were significant for most agronomic and end-use quality parameters Our initial screen, which had identified 27 genotypes, was partially effective in identifying genotypes that have shorter mixing time value, compared with their mixing tolerance values. We identified four genotypes (15%) from the mixing tolerant genotypes that had a good mixing tolerance value and relatively shorter mixing time, as did the released cultivars \u27Agate\u27 and \u27Scout 66\u27. However, mixing characteristics values of all genotypes fell within the acceptable limits, indicating our screen effectively identified genotypes with acceptable quality. Mixing tolerant genotypes, which had been identified as having short mixing time scores and long mixing tolerance scores, were considered stable across environments

Outstanding in their field: The phenotype of the 21st century plant breeder

Plant breeding is a highly interdisciplinary science that requires the skills and teamwork of many scientists to be successful. In the 21st century, plant breeding will reap the benefits of the rapid advances in genomics research and understanding, as well as, advances in information and mechanical technology. The skill and success of plant breeders will be determined by their ability to use their resources efficiently, retaining those proven methodologies and augmenting them with novel approaches to meet their breeding objectives. Once the objective is determined, the plant breeder must: 1. identify and incorporate the needed genetic variability, 2. inbreed and select the useful variant, and 3. evaluate the successful variants to determine those with commercial potential. It has long been understood that plant breeders need to be ruthless with their germplasm so as to avoid wasting time and resources on lines that will never have the opportunity to be released or become useful parents. It may be that with the plethora of new tools, efficient plant breeders will have to be equally ruthless with their access to and use of technology. Though the outcomes of plant breeding are new cultivars, the importance of plant breeding remaining an experimental science will be highlighted, especially for those with the responsibility of educating the next generation of plant breeders in an increasingly privatised world. Finally, some of the great challenges facing wheat improvement that can be addressed by genetics will be discussed as we look to the future

Establishment Stand Thresholds for Switchgrass Grown as a Bioenergy Crop

Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) is a warm-season (C4) perennial grass and a potential bioenergy crop. On-farm switchgrass field scale trials, which were initiated to obtain economic production information for switchgrass grown as a bioenergy crop in the northern Plains, provided information on establishment year stands and post-establishment year yields and stands both within and across fields and were used to determine if a stand threshold exists for switchgrass grown as a biomass energy crop. Switchgrass was seeded in 10 cropland fields, ranging in size from 3 to 9.5 ha, in Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota in 2000 and 2001. The fields were selected to be representative of their region and eligible for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). Twelve sites within each field were geo-referenced, and switchgrass stand frequency was measured at each sample site. Biomass yields were estimated in late summer at the same within field sites using a clipped quadrant. Fields with low initial switchgrass stand frequencies showed a linear relationship between initial switchgrass stands and second year stands and biomass yields. Results from the 10 field, three-state study indicated that establishment year stand frequency level of 40% or greater, determined by a frequency grid, can be considered an establishment year stand threshold for establishment success and subsequent post-planting year biomass yields for switchgrass. An establishment year stand frequency of 25% would be adequate for a switchgrass conservation planting in which no harvests would be planned for several years

Turfgrass Performance of Diploid Buffalograss [Buchloe dactyloides (Nutt.) Engelm.] Half-sib Populations

Hybridization and selection has been one of the methods used to generate turfgrass cultivars in buffalograss improvement. Three half-sib populations were developed by crossing three buffalograss female genotypes, NE 3296, NE 2768, and NE 2769, with NE 2871, a male genotype, to 1) investigate the pattern of genetic variability generated for turfgrass characteristics through hybridization; 2) assess the effect of parental change on the level of genetic variability generated in a buffalograss diploid population; and 3) predict the performance of a progeny generated from two heterozygous parents for turfgrass performance. The four parents and 20 random F-1 progeny selected from each population were established in 2006 at the John Seaton Anderson Turfgrass Research Facility located near Mead, NE. A randomized complete block design (RCBD) was used with the progeny nested in the crosses. A visual rating scale of 1-9 was used to evaluate the population. Mean population lateral spread, genetic color, density, and turfgrass quality from early summer to fall ranged from 3.5 to 4.5, 7.1 to 7.9, 6.9 to 8.1, and 5.2 and 6.8, respectively. There were significant differences among the crosses and the parents for all the traits studied except quality in June and August. The progeny nested within crosses differed for turfgrass genetic color and quality. Best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP) indicated a high improvement potential for turfgrass lateral spread and spring density in NE 2768 x NE 2871 and for turfgrass genetic color in NE 3296 x NE 2871. From these findings, it can be concluded that hybridization breeding is a worthwhile approach for generating and identifying transgressive segregants for specific buffalograss traits

Turfgrass Performance of Diploid Buffalograss [Buchloe dactyloides (Nutt.) Engelm.] Half-sib Populations

Hybridization and selection has been one of the methods used to generate turfgrass cultivars in buffalograss improvement. Three half-sib populations were developed by crossing three buffalograss female genotypes, NE 3296, NE 2768, and NE 2769, with NE 2871, a male genotype, to 1) investigate the pattern of genetic variability generated for turfgrass characteristics through hybridization; 2) assess the effect of parental change on the level of genetic variability generated in a buffalograss diploid population; and 3) predict the performance of a progeny generated from two heterozygous parents for turfgrass performance. The four parents and 20 random F-1 progeny selected from each population were established in 2006 at the John Seaton Anderson Turfgrass Research Facility located near Mead, NE. A randomized complete block design (RCBD) was used with the progeny nested in the crosses. A visual rating scale of 1-9 was used to evaluate the population. Mean population lateral spread, genetic color, density, and turfgrass quality from early summer to fall ranged from 3.5 to 4.5, 7.1 to 7.9, 6.9 to 8.1, and 5.2 and 6.8, respectively. There were significant differences among the crosses and the parents for all the traits studied except quality in June and August. The progeny nested within crosses differed for turfgrass genetic color and quality. Best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP) indicated a high improvement potential for turfgrass lateral spread and spring density in NE 2768 x NE 2871 and for turfgrass genetic color in NE 3296 x NE 2871. From these findings, it can be concluded that hybridization breeding is a worthwhile approach for generating and identifying transgressive segregants for specific buffalograss traits

Crossover Interactions for Grain Yield in Multienvironmental Trials of Winter Wheat

Crossover interactions (COIs) are changes in ranks among cultivars across environments. Breeders are concerned about COIs because their frequency affects how well rankings from one environment predict rankings in another environment. This research was undertaken to determine the frequency and distribution of COIs for grain yield within years in two regional trials of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). The trials were in Nebraska and in the south-central USA (SCUS). Each trial had four environments per year, and results from 1998, 1999, and 2000 were considered. Significance of COI for each pair of lines in each pair of environments within years was determined by a t test with an interaction-wise Type 1 error rate. Grain yield varied significantly across environments in both trials in all years, and in the within-year analyses the line X environment interaction was always highly significant. In the Nebraska trial, the frequency of COIs was less than expected by chance only in one pair of environments in 1 yr. Nonetheless, because estimates suggested the line X environment X year variance was substantially greater than the line X environment variance, this significant occurrence of COIs did not support breeding for local adaptation. In the SCUS trial, a lower frequency of COIs occurred than in the Nebraska trial. In both trials, frequency of COIs in a pair of environments was not closely related to the difference in mean yield between those environments, which raised the usefulness of categorizing environments as low-stress or as high-stress for the purpose of selection