Rapid and uniform seed germination is a crucial prerequisite for crop establishment and high yield levels in crop production. A disclosure of genetic factors contributing to adequate seed vigor would help to further increase yield potential and stability. Here we carried out a genome-wide association study in order to define genomic regions influencing seed germination and early seedling growth...

background : the aim of this study was to demonstrate similarities and differences between mothers and daughters regarding dietary and non-dietary risk factors for bone fractures and osteoporosis. methods : the study was carried out in 2007-2010 on 712 mothers (29-59 years) and daughters (12-21 years) family pairs. in the sub-sample (170 family pairs) bone mineral density (bmd) was measured for...

The thermal field of the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) is analyzed from a comprehensive temperature-depth database of about 8500 Bottom Hole Temperatures and Reservoir Temperatures. Our stochastic analysis reveals a widespread, systematic sharp thermal gradient increase between 2500 and 4000 m. The analysis of the pressure regime indicates a systematic correlation between the pressure and temperature fi...

This paper explores the response of the tropical hydrologic cycle to surface warming through the lens of large-domain cloud-system-resolving model experiments run in a radiative–convective equilibrium framework. Simulations are run for 55 days and are driven with fixed insolation and constant sea surface temparatures (SSTs) of 298 K, 300 K, and 302 K. In each experiment, convection organizes in...

A prairie site at Pipestone National Monument in southwestern Minnesota was burned each spring from 1983-1987. During the past century of use, much of the site had been invaded by various, non-native, cool-season grasses and broadleaf weeds. Also, various woody species have invaded parts of the site. Annual bums generally induced positive changes in native remnants, primarily with big bluestem ...

Yellow sweet clover is a widely spread legume species that has potential to be used as a forage crop in Western China. However, limited information is available on the genetic variation for herbage yield, key morphological traits, and coumarin content. In this study, 40 half sib (HS) families of M. officinalis were evaluated for genotypic variation and phenotypic and genotypic correlation for t...