Enhancement of performance in traits of economic importance by use of heterosis (hybrid vigor) is routine in poultry breeding. There is, however, no reliable method to predict the level of heterosis that will occur from the mating of individuals from two populations. DNA fingerprints (DFP) were used as a measure of genetic distance between mating pairs of chickens where each individual of a pai...

Page Introduction.._ 1 The breeding program 3 Selection in back-pollinated lines 4 Greenhouse selection 5 Experiments on back pollinating and recrossing 7 Growing seed for the experiments 8 Methods ©(comparing yields 9 Experiments on back pollinating and recrossing—Continued. Experimental data --. 10 Discussion 17 Relation to the theory oí hybrid vigor... 18 Relation to corn breeding19 Summary ...

Effectof exopolysaccharides (EPS) produced by a consortium of cyanobacteria on germination of three crops wheat, maize and rice was studied at different salt concentrations. Production of EPS was found to be stimulated by salts, which in turn had a significant Na+ removal capability from aqueous solution. Seed germination, vigor index and mobilization efficiency in all the three crops remarkabl...

The purpose of this study was to assess the myceliation rate, mycelial vigor and “estimated biomass” of Lentinula edodes (Berk.) Pegler, grown on a sugarcane bagasse substrate enriched with rice bran and sugarcane molasses for spawn production. The proportions of rice bran used were 0, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 and 40% (dry weight/dry weight of bagasse) and the sugarcane molasses concentrations tested...

Many forest ecosystems with a large pine component in the western United States have experienced environmental stress associated with climate change and increased competition with forest densification in the absence of fire. Information on how changes in climate and competition affect carbon allocation to tree growth and defense is needed to anticipate changes to tree vigor and, ultimately, sta...

Seed germination and innate immunity both have significant effects on plant life spans because they control the plant's entry into the ecosystem and provide defenses against various external stresses, respectively. Much ecological evidence has shown that seeds with high vigor are generally more tolerant of various environmental stimuli in the field than those with low vigor. However, there is l...

Hierarchical abstractions, also known as options – a type of temporally extended action (Sutton et al., 1999) that enables a reinforcement learning agent to plan at a higher level, abstracting away from the lower-level details. In this work, we learn reusable options whose parameters can vary, encouraging different behaviors, based on the current situation. In principle, these behaviors can inc...

Welsh onion (Allium fistulosum L.) is one of the important vegetable crops in China. However, the seeds of this crop are short-lived and their vitality tends to be easily lost in the course of storage. The present study was conducted to elucidate the effects of welsh onion seed priming with potassium nitrate (KNO3) on seed vigor and on other such related mechanisms during twelve months of stora...

[Purpose] Although some studies suggest the importance of getting adequate sleep for enhancing mood, there is not yet sufficient evidence on the relationship between sleep and mood states in athletes, especially for athletes with physical disability. The purpose of this study is to reveal relationships between sleep and psychological mood states in female wheelchair basketball players. [Subject...