Joint Variance Research Articles

Screening and Site Adaptability Evaluation of Qi-Nan Clones (Aquilaria sinensis) in Southern China

In recent years, plantations of Aquilaria sinensis in China have been dominated by Qi-nan, yet there remains limited research on the growth evaluation and breeding of these clones. In this study, a multi-point joint variance analysis, an additive main effect and multiplicative interaction (AMMI) model, a weighted average of absolute scores (WAASB) stability index, and a genotype main effect plus a genotype-by-environment interaction (GGE) biplot were used to comprehensively analyze the yield, stability, and suitable environment of 25 3-year-old Qi-Nan clones from five sites in southern China. The results showed that all the growth traits exhibited significant differences in the clones, test sites, and interactions between the clones and test sites. The phenotypic variation coefficient (PCV) and genetic variation coefficient (GCV) of the clones’ growth traits at the different sites ranged from 16.56% to 32.09% and 5.24% to 27.06%, respectively, showing moderate variation. The medium–high repeatability (R) of tree height and ground diameter ranged from 0.50 to 0.96 and 0.69 to 0.98, respectively. Among the clones, Clones G04, G05, G10, G11 and G13 showed good growth performance and could be good candidates for breeding. Environmental effects were found to be the primary source of variation, with temperature and light primarily affecting growth, while rainfall influenced survival and preservation rates. Yangjiang (YJ) was found to be the most suitable experimental site for screening high-yield and stable clones across the different sites, whereas the tree height and ground diameter at the Chengmai (CM) site were significantly higher than at the other sites, and the Pingxiang (PX) and Zhangzhou (ZZ) sites showed poor growth performance. The findings suggest that Qi-nan clones are suitable for planting in southern China. There were also abundant genetic variations in germplasm resources for the Qi-nan clones. The five selected clones could be suitable for extensive planting. Therefore, large-scale testing is necessary for determining genetic improvements in Qi-nan clones, which will be conducive to the precise localization of their promotion areas.

Individual and school correlates of body mass index and cardiorespiratory fitness in primary school children from the REACT project: A multivariate multilevel analysis.

This paper examines the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) using a multivariate multilevel approach and investigates the links between individual and school-related correlates with children's BMI and CRF. This cross-sectional sample included 1014 children (6-10 years) from 25 Portuguese primary schools. BMI was calculated, and CRF was assessed with the PACER test. Fundamental movement skills (FMS) included five object control tasks. Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), sleep, and sedentary time were assessed with the ActiGraph wGT3X-BT accelerometer. Socioeconomic status (SES) and school variables were also obtained. A multivariate multilevel model was used, and alpha was set at 5%. BMI and CRF systematically increased with age. Most of the joint variance (94.4%) was explained at the child level, and BMI and CRF were correlated at this level (ρ = -.37). More active children demonstrated higher CRF levels and had lower BMI levels; sedentary and sleep time were not significantly associated with BMI or CRF. FMS were positively associated with CRF but were not significantly associated with BMI. Children at higher SES were more fit and had lower BMI than their peers of lower SES. Finally, school-level variables were not significantly related to BMI and CRF. BMI and CRF had a low but statistically significant negative correlation in this sample of children. Most of the variation in BMI and CRF was explained by child-level characteristics.

Adaptabilidade e estabilidade da produtividade de grãos e de caracteres de pendão de milho

ABSTRACT: Due to the economic importance of maize, it is essential to evaluate the performance of genotypes under environmental variations (years, locations, and seasons). Consequently, researchers have scrutinized genotype-environment (G×E) interactions to ensure reliability in genotype recommendations. Furthermore, when a G×E interaction exists, adaptability and stability analysis can be performed. This analysis enables one to identify genotypes with predictable responses and adaptability to environmental variability. Hence, this study sought to determine if there is a G×E interaction and evaluate the response of 16 maize genotypes across seven environments through adaptability and stability analyses. Seven experiments were conducted with 16 maize genotypes using a randomized complete block design with three replications. Tassel length (TL), tassel branch number (TBN), tassel dry matter (TDM), and grain yield (GY) were evaluated. Individual and joint variance analyses were performed, along with the F-test at a 5% significance level. The complex parts of the interaction between genotypes and pairs of environments were estimated, followed by adaptability and stability analyses using the Eberhart and Russell method. A genotype-environment interaction was found for TL, TBN, TDM, and GY, indicating that genotypes respond differently in various environments. However, considering all four traits, there is no indication of the ideal genotype.

The role of Macrosocial Structures, Political Institutions, and Elites in the Process of Autocratization in the 21st Century

Objective: To explore the causal factors of democratic decline in Ecuador during the period 1996-2019, with a focus from 2007 onwards, paying attention to the levels of social reality: structures, institutions, and political actors. Methods: Based on the political sociology approach, the multivariate techniques of Co-inertia and Statis were applied, using three tables with sets of variables from each level of social reality. Their joint variance was analyzed. The observation units were each year of democratic regime governance, aggregated into the country-year unit. Results: Both Co-inertia and Statis give greater explanatory weight to the variables of political actors in the process of democratic decline, distinguishing three sets of variables that explain three different government periods of the decline. Discussion: The electoral variety of democracy contradicts the egalitarian variety in the Ecuadorian case. Statis has a greater capacity to represent the variance of the variable tables. Conclusions: Statis and Co-inertia highlight the influence of actors. There is a critical juncture in 2007-2008 related to electoral democratic decline and an increase in egalitarian variety. Radical parliamentary elites and most of the president's party influence the decline, while the radicalism of parliamentary elites is related to an increase in equality and the Human Development Index, especially in 2009-2012.

Differences in anxiety sensitivity and experiential avoidance between subtypes of social anxiety disorder.

Both anxiety sensitivity (AS) and experiential avoidance (EA) have been linked to social anxiety disorder (SAD). However, previous studies did not consider their joint variance and the heterogeneity of SAD. In this mixed methods cross-sectional survey, we examined 121 online participants (age range: 16-70 years) who self-reported as socially anxious. We compared AS and EA levels in individuals with a primary fear of noticeable anxiety symptoms vs. behaving ineptly. AS and EA were highly prevalent across the sample. Surprisingly, the noticeable symptoms subtype showed slightly lower AS and EA levels than the inept behavior subtype. The noticeable symptoms subtype scored notably lower on social anxiety measures (mean = 69.8) than the inept behavior subtype (mean = 89.3). EA was uniquely associated with social anxiety in both subtypes, while AS was uniquely associated with social anxiety only in the inept behavior subtype. The joint variance explained substantially more of the noticeable symptoms subtype's social anxiety (32.5%) compared to the inept behavior subtype's (9.4%). Qualitative themes aligned with these findings, indicating a self-reinforcing dynamic between high AS, high EA, and social anxiety symptoms. Potential clinical implications are discussed. Future research should examine causality in the AS-EA-SAD dynamic, considering the heterogeneity of SAD.

Adaptability and phenotypic stability of soybean genotypes regarding epicotyl length using artificial neural network and non-parametric test

Genetic improvement together with statistics has contributed to the growth of the importance of soybean in Brazil. One of the contributions has been the launching of new cultivars in the national market, which requires, in its legal procedures for registration and protection, the verification of several tests, one of them being the distinguishability test. Several studies have reported that some phenotypic characters are potential in this distinction, one of them is the length of the epicotyl. In this work, the objective was to identify soybean genotypes that present low or high average, highly stable throughout the analyzed environments and that present adaptability to different environments. Two groups of experiments were conducted in a greenhouse to measure the epicotyl length of soybean plants submitted to different environments (planting season). The data obtained were analyzed using the analysis of individual variance, analysis of joint variance, Scott-Knott test and adaptability and stability through the Artificial Neural Network and non-parametric test. It can be concluded that the genotypes that showed low average for epicotyl length, wide adaptability or poor responsiveness to environmental improvements and stable over the seasons were TMG 1175 RR (in V2), BMX Tornado RR (in V2), BG 4272 (in V2), BRS283 (in V2 and V3) and FT-Cristalina (in V2 and V3). BRSMG 752 S (in V2 and V3), TMG 4185 (in V3) and BRSGO 7560 (in V3) behaved as high medium, high stability and wide adaptability. The genotypes BRS 8381, TMG 4185, MG/BR46_Conquista, BRSMG 850 GRR, BRS Valiosa RR and BG 4277 were stable and recommended for favorable environments.

Reflective functioning and emotion socialization behaviors in caregivers of preschoolers

AbstractObjectiveThe present study assessed the associations between caregivers' adverse experiences with childhood caregivers, adult and parental reflective functioning (RF), and emotion socialization strategies with their preschoolers in an effort to illuminate the unique and joint contribution of adult and parental RF in caregiving.BackgroundParental RF is defined as parents' ability to reflect on their child's state of mind, whereas adult RF involves parents' capacity to reflect on their own experiences with childhood caregivers. Most research on adult and parental RF has examined these constructs separately, making it unclear whether adult and parental RF play similar or different roles in caregiving.MethodParticipants were 64 preschooler–caregiver dyads from Head Start programs (Mchildage = 4; 81% Black). A multimethod approach was used, including self‐report, interview, and observational measures. Hierarchical linear regression analyses were employed to evaluate whether adult and parental RF accounted for unique or joint variance in caregivers' emotion socialization behaviors after accounting for caregivers' adverse experiences with childhood caregivers. Adult RF also was tested as a moderator of the relation between caregivers' adverse experiences with childhood caregivers and emotion socialization strategies.ResultsAdult and parental RF each demonstrated unique associations with particular emotion socialization strategies. Adult RF also moderated the association between caregivers' exposure to maladaptive parenting in childhood and emotion socialization behaviors.Conclusion and implicationsFindings suggest that both types of RF are important for caregivers' ability to validate children's emotions and that reflecting on caregiving received in childhood can act as a protective mechanism and help promote effective caregiving behaviors.

Attentional focus effects on joint covariation in a reaching task

Adopting an external focus of attention (EF) has been found beneficial over internal focus (IF) for performing motor skills. Previous studies primarily examined focus of attention (FOA) effects on performance outcomes (such as error and accuracy), with relatively less emphasis on movement coordination. Given that human movements are kinematically and kinetically abundant (Gefland & Latash, 1998), FOA instructions may change how motor abundance is utilized by the CNS. This study applied the uncontrolled manifold analysis (UCM) to address this question in a reaching task. Healthy young adults (N = 38; 22 ± 1 yr; 7 men, 31 women) performed planar reaching movements to a target using either the dominant or nondominant arm under two different FOA instructions: EF and IF. Reaching was performed without online visual feedback and at a preferred pace. Joint angles of the clavicle-scapula, shoulder, elbow, and wrist were recorded, and their covariation for controlling dowel endpoint position was analyzed via UCM. As expected, IF led to a higher mean radial error than EF, driven by increases in aiming bias and variability. Consistent with this result, the UCM analysis showed that IF led to higher goal-relevant variance among the joints (VORT) compared to EF starting from the first 20% of the reach to the end. However, the goal-irrelevant variance (VUCM)—index of joint variance that does not affect the end-effector position—did not show FOA effects. The index of stability of joint coordination with respect to endpoint position (ΔV) was also not different between the EF and IF. Consistent with the constrained action hypothesis, these results provide evidence that IF disrupted goal-relevant joint covariation starting in the early phases of the reach without affecting goal-irrelevant coordination.

Resistance to multiple leaf diseases in popcorn lines with potential for baby corn production

The cultivation of special corns, such as baby corn, has had a positive influence on the economy of the country. Despite its importance, there is still a need for studies aimed at increasing production and planting areas of the crop. Phytosanitary studies are of particular interest, as the cultivation of such crops is susceptible to a series of pathogens, such as Bipolaris maydis, Exserohilum turcicum, and Puccinia polysora. The use of resistant cultivars is the most effective way to prevent the occurrence of these diseases. Thus, the present study aimed to identify popcorn lines that have the potential for baby corn production and are resistant to the main leaf diseases that affect the crop. The experiment was conducted in randomized blocks with four replications of 30 lines in each area, during two planting seasons. The area was located at the Federal Institute of Espírito Santo (IFES) Campus of Alegre, situated in Rive district, Espírito Santo State, Brazil. Using the obtained data, the area under the disease progress curve was obtained. Subsequently, analysis of the joint variance of the data was conducted, and when a significant effect was found, a grouping of means test was conducted. The Mahalanobis distance for each pair of lines was also calculated, and the genetic distance matrix was used to construct a dendrogram using the UPGMA method. Considering the averages obtained for the three diseases (Southern corn leaf blight, Northern corn leaf blight, and Southern rust), lines L61, L63, L65, L683, L684, L685, L691, L694, and L695 were identified as possible donors of resistance alleles for multiple diseases. Multivariate analysis efficiently grouped the lines L61, L63, L684, L685, and L691, which are described as most resistant in the univariate analysis.

Discrimination of secondary hypsarrhythmias to Zika virus congenital syndrome and west syndrome based on joint moments and entropy measurements.

Hypsarrhythmia is a specific chaotic morphology, present in the interictal period of the electroencephalogram (EEG) signal in patients with West Syndrome (WS), a severe form of childhood epilepsy and that, recently, was also identified in the examinations of patients with Zika Virus Congenital Syndrome (ZVCS). This innovative work proposes the development of a computational methodology for analysis and differentiation, based on the time-frequency domain, between the chaotic pattern of WS and ZVCS hypsarrhythmia. The EEG signal time-frequency analysis is carried out from the Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT). Four joint moments—joint mean—mu _{(t,f)}, joint variance—sigma _{(t,f)}^2, joint skewness—lambda _{(t,f)}, and joint kurtosis—kappa _{(t,f)}—and four entropy measurements—Shannon, Log Energy, Norm, and Sure—are obtained from the CWT to compose the representative feature vector of the EEG hypsarrhythmic signals under analysis. The performance of eight classical types of machine learning algorithms are verified in classification using the k-fold cross validation and leave-one-patient-out cross validation methods. Discrimination results provided 78.08% accuracy, 85.55% sensitivity, 73.21% specificity, and AUC = 0.89 for the ANN classifier.

Variance Analysis: New Insights from Health Care Applications

ABSTRACTWe use a health care application to illustrate how variance analysis can be used to benchmark costs across similar service delivery sites. Variances for personnel costs, typically the largest cost component in service organizations, are calculated for price, quantity, and skill mix components. Skill mix is important since employees with different compensation often work together to produce service outputs. We find that the joint variance, which arises when both prices and quantities differ, has more managerial implications when assigned to the quantity variance, rather than its traditional allocation to the price variance. Using time-driven activity-based costing also leads to a new variance that reflects the impact of personnel capacity differences between sites. Finally, we introduce two new visualization tools to display the variances. Educators can teach students how variance analysis reveals opportunities to reduce personnel costs by identifying and transferring best practices across sites.

Quantitative Investigation of Hand Grasp Functionality: Hand Joint Motion Correlation, Independence, and Grasping Behavior.

Modeling and understanding human grasp functionality are fundamental in prosthetics, robotics, medicine, and rehabilitation, since they contribute to exploring motor control mechanism, evaluating grasp function, and designing and controlling prosthetic hands or exoskeletons. However, there are still limitations in providing a comprehensive and quantitative understanding of hand grasp functionality. After simultaneously considering three significant and essential influence factors in daily grasping contained relative position, object shape, and size, this paper presents the tolerance grasping to provide a more comprehensive understanding of human grasp functionality. The results of joint angle distribution and variance explained by PCs supported that tolerance grasping can represent hand grasp functionality more comprehensively. Four synergies are found and account for 93% ± 1.5% of the overall variance. The ANOVA confirmed that there was no significant individual difference in the first four postural synergies. The common patterns of grasping behavior were found and characterized by the mean value of postural synergy across 10 subjects. The independence analysis demonstrates that the tolerance grasping results highly correlate with unstructured natural grasping and more accurately correspond to cortical representation size of finger movement. The potential for exploring the neuromuscular control mechanism of human grasping is discussed. The analysis of hand grasp characteristics that contained joint angle distribution, correlation, independence, and postural synergies, presented here, should be more representative to provide a more comprehensive understanding of hand grasp functionality.

Fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-based textural features for prediction of event prone carotid atherosclerotic plaques

BackgroundTexture analysis has been increasingly used in the field of positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) imaging with Fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG), aiming at assessing tumor heterogeneity. The purpose of the present study is to examine the feasibility of performing texture analysis in carotid arteries, investigate the value of textural features as predictors of potential plaque vulnerability using as reference standards histological and immunohistochemical data and compare their performance with conventional uptake measurements. Methods67 different 18F-FDG PET-based textural features were extracted from carotid images of 21 patients with high-grade carotid stenosis undergoing endarterectomy. To identify the more reliable predictors, univariate logistic regression analysis was performed. The accuracy was satisfactory in case of an Area Under the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) ≥ 0.80. ResultsFirst measure of information correlation (AUC = 0.87, P < 0.001), large zone low gray level emphasis (AUC = 0.87, P < 0.001), and normalized run length non-uniformity (AUC = 0.84, P < 0.001) were the most optimal textural features for identifying characteristics of plaque vulnerability based on histological analysis. Addition of textural features to target-to-background ratio (TBR) (AUC = 0.74, P = 0.031) resulted in an AUC = 0.92 (P < 0.001), however, this did not reach statistical significance (Pdiff = 0.09). Intensity histogram standard deviation (AUC = 0.87, P < 0.001) and joint variance (AUC = 0.81, P = 0.001) were the most efficient features for signal differential in relation to immunohistochemical findings and provided incremental value compared to TBR (Pdiff = 0.02). ConclusionTexture analysis can be applied in 18F-FDG PET carotid imaging providing valuable information for plaque characterization.

Yield performance of oat cultivars in response to sowing dates and densities

Adjustment of seeding density oriented by genotype and conditions of the growing environment may favor growth, development and yield performance of the oat crop. This study aimed to evaluate the growth, lodging, yield components, and grain yield of oat cultivars grown at different sowing dates and densities. Two independent experiments were conducted at two sowing dates (May 5 and June 24) in Londrina-PR under a randomized block design in a 4 × 2 factorial scheme, with four replications. Treatments consisted of four sowing densities (180, 240, 300, and 360 viable seeds m−2) and two cultivars (IPR Afrodite and IPR Artemis). Plant height, number of panicles.m−2, number of spikelets per panicle, number of grains per spikelet, number of grains per panicle, thousand-grain weight, plant lodging, and grain yield were evaluated. The data were submitted to the analysis of joint variance for sowing dates, separately for the cultivars. The averages of sowing dates were compared by the F test and densities submitted to polynomial regression analysis up to 2nd degree, at 5% probability. The first sowing date favors most yield components and grain yield of the cultivars IPR Afrodite and IPR Artemis. In contrast, the number of panicles m−2 was reduced during this growing season for both cultivars. The late sowing date for the IPR Artemis cultivar resulted in a high percentage of lodging at all evaluated densities. However, this phenomenon is more intense at higher sowing densities during the first sowing date. Yield components and grain yield varied according to sowing dates and densities and the cultivar. The highest grain yield of the cultivar IPR Afrodite at the first sowing date was achieved with a lower sowing density than in the later date. However, the highest grain yield of the IPR Artemis cultivar was achieved at density of 280 viable seeds m−2, regardless of the growing season.

Validating the Fisher approach for stage IV spectroscopic surveys

In recent years, forecasting activities have become an important tool in designing and optimising large-scale structure surveys. To predict the performance of such surveys, the Fisher matrix formalism is frequently used as a fast and easy way to compute constraints on cosmological parameters. Among them lies the study of the properties of dark energy which is one of the main goals in modern cosmology. As so, a metric for the power of a survey to constrain dark energy is provided by the figure of merit (FoM). This is defined as the inverse of the surface contour given by the joint variance of the dark energy equation of state parameters {w0, wa} in the Chevallier-Polarski-Linder parameterization, which can be evaluated from the covariance matrix of the parameters. This covariance matrix is obtained as the inverse of the Fisher matrix. The inversion of an ill-conditioned matrix can result in large errors on the covariance coefficients if the elements of the Fisher matrix are estimated with insufficient precision. The conditioning number is a metric providing a mathematical lower limit to the required precision for a reliable inversion, but it is often too stringent in practice for Fisher matrices with sizes greater than 2 × 2. In this paper, we propose a general numerical method to guarantee a certain precision on the inferred constraints, such as the FoM. It consists of randomly vibrating (perturbing) the Fisher matrix elements with Gaussian perturbations of a given amplitude and then evaluating the maximum amplitude that keeps the FoM within the chosen precision. The steps used in the numerical derivatives and integrals involved in the calculation of the Fisher matrix elements can then be chosen accordingly in order to keep the precision of the Fisher matrix elements below this maximum amplitude. We illustrate our approach by forecasting stage IV spectroscopic surveys cosmological constraints from the galaxy power spectrum. We infer the range of steps for which the Fisher matrix approach is numerically reliable. We explicitly check that using steps that are larger by a factor of two produce an inaccurate estimation of the constraints. We further validate our approach by comparing the Fisher matrix contours to those obtained with a Monte Carlo Markov chain (MCMC) approach – in the case where the MCMC posterior distribution is close to a Gaussian – and finding excellent agreement between the two approaches.

Uncontrolled manifold analysis of the effects of a perturbation-based training on the organization of leg joint variance in cerebellar ataxia.

Walking patterns of persons affected by cerebellar ataxia (CA) are characterized by wide stride-to-stride variability ascribable to: the background pathology-related sensory-motor noise; the motor redundancy, i.e., an excess of elemental degrees of freedom that overcomes the number of variables underlying a specific task performance. In this study, we first tested the hypothesis that healthy and, especially, CA subjects can effectively exploit solutions in the domain of segmental angles to stabilize the position of either the foot or the pelvis (task performance) across heel strikes, in accordance with the uncontrolled manifold (UCM) theory. Next, we verified whether a specific perturbation-based training allows CA subjects to further take advantage of this coordination mechanism to better cope with their inherent pathology-related variability. Results always rejected the hypothesis of pelvis stabilization whereas supported the idea that the foot position is stabilized across heel strikes by a synergic covariation of elevation and azimuth angles of lower limb segments in CA subjects only. In addition, it was observed that the perturbation-based training involves a decreasing trend in the variance component orthogonal to the UCM in both groups, reflecting an improved accuracy of the foot control. Concluding, CA subjects can effectively structure the wide amount of pathology-related sensory-motor noise to stabilize specific task performance, such as the foot position across heel strikes. Moreover, the promising effects of the proposed perturbation-based training paradigm are expected to improve the coordinative strategy underlying the stabilization of the foot position across strides, thus ameliorating balance control during treadmill locomotion.

The effect of the self-questioning strategy on developing contemplative thinking skills in Islamic education for female second Grade Secondary Students in Aqaba Governorate Jordan: أثر استراتيجية التساؤل الذاتي في تنمية مهارات التفكير التأملي في مادة التربية الإسلامية لدى طالبات الصف الثاني الثانوي بمحافظة العقبة بالأردن

The current study aimed to identify the effect of the self-questioning strategy on developing contemplative thinking skills in Islamic education for female second Grade Secondary Students in Jordan. The study adopted the quasi-experimental approach, and the tool was a (contemplative thinking skills test), prepared by the researcher, which was applied to a random sample of two divisions from second Grade Secondary Student in the comprehensive secondary school for girls, affiliated to the Directorate of Education in the Aqaba Governorate during the academic year 2019/2020 Division C, as an experimental group, consisted of (30) students, and Division B as a control group, consisting of ( 30) students. The results of the joint variance analysis (ANCOVA) showed that there were statistically significant differences between the average of the students ’scores on the achievement test attributed to the variable of the teaching method, where the control group obtained a total average (12.03of 25) in exchange for the experimental group obtaining a total average (17.25of 25), and in favor of the group Experimental, and in light of the results of the study, the researcher recommended training the teachers on the self-questioning strategy in teaching Islamic education for its effectiveness in teaching and conducting studies dealing with the introduction of other teaching methods.

Do Changes in Mental Energy and Fatigue Impact Functional Assessments Associated with Fall Risks? An Exploratory Study Using Machine Learning

Using a crossover-design, we assessed changes in 30-second chair stand test (30 s-CST), Timed Up-and-Go (TUG) and Berg Balance Scale (BBS) and energy and fatigue in older adults (N = 11) after performance of mental tasks. A Wilcoxon Sign Rank Test and a Friedman’s rank test were used to assess changes in 30 s-CST, TUG, BBS and energy and fatigue respectively. A linear mixed model was used to assess joint variance and random forest classifier and support vector machine (SVM) algorithms were used to verify results. Statistically significant declines in feelings of energy (p=.003), specifically mental energy (p=.015), and BBS (p<.001), specifically during the “standing with eyes closed” (SEC), was noted for participants on days when they completed mental tasks compared to days they did not. The random-forest and SVM algorithms predicted with 79% and 80% accuracy respectively whether the SEC item of the BBS was performed after a decline a mental energy.

ESTIMATES OF GENETIC PARAMETERS FOR SELECTION OF COLORED COTTON FIBER1

ABSTRACT Naturally-colored cotton fiber has received attention from breeding programs in the semiarid region of northeastern Brazil due to an increased interest in its fibers. Therefore, this study aimed to select genotypes of colored cotton fiber for agronomic and technological fiber characteristics for the Brazilian semi-arid conditions. The experiment was carried out in two environments (Patos-PB and Apodi-RN) in Brazil during the 2016 growing season. The experimental design was in randomized blocks with four replications. Treatments consisted of eleven colored fiber genotypes and three controls (BRS Topázio, BRS Rubi, and BRS Verde). The following traits were assessed: seed cotton yield (SCY, kg ha-1), lint percentage (LP, %), lint length (LEN, mm), lint strength (STR, gf tex-1), and lint micronaire (MIC, µg in-1). The data were submitted to individual and joint variance analyses, and means were grouped by the Scott and Knott (1974) test at 0.05 probability. Genotypes showed variability in all traits, which allows genetic gains in subsequent cycles of selection. The genotypes BRS Topázio, CNPA 2002 10245, and CNPA 2002 10327 presented the best estimates for the assessed traits, thus they can be selected for future studies in cotton breeding programs in the semiarid region.

Kinematics associated with treadmill walking in Rett syndrome

Background and purpose Individuals with Rett syndrome suffer from severely impaired cognitive and motor performance. Current movement-related therapeutic programs often include traditional physical therapy activities and assisted treadmill walking routines for those individuals who are ambulatory. However, there are no quantitative reports of kinematic gait parameters obtained during treadmill walking. The purpose of this research was to characterize the kinematic patterns of the lower limbs during treadmill walking as speed was slowly increased. Methods Seventeen independently ambulatory females diagnosed with a methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 gene mutation walked on a motorized treadmill while joint kinematics were obtained by a camera-based motion capture system and analysis software. Results Stride times progressively decreased as treadmill speeds increased. There were significant main effects of speed on sagittal knee and hip ranges of motion and hip velocity. There were large joint asymmetries and variance values relative to other ambulatory patient populations, although variance values decreased as walking speed increased. Conclusions The results indicate that individuals with Rett syndrome can adapt their kinematic gait patterns in response to increasing treadmill speed, but only within a narrow range of speeds. We suggest that treadmill training for ambulatory individuals with Rett syndrome may promote improved walking kinematics and possibly provide overall health benefits. Implications for rehabilitation Walking is an activity that can counter the negative impacts of the sedentary lifestyle of many individuals with disabilities, including those individuals with Rett syndrome. Documentation of the lower limb kinematic patterns displayed during walking by ambulatory females with Rett syndrome can be used by clinicians to evaluate their patients’ gait performance in response to therapeutic and pharmacological interventions designed to promote walking. The ability to adapt to increases in treadmill speed suggests that a training program of treadmill walking may be effective in promoting improved gait performance in individuals with Rett syndrome.