Heading Uniformity: A New Comprehensive Indicator of Rice Population Quality

Productive tiller percentage (PTP) is the only available comprehensive indicator of rice population quality. However, productive panicle number (PN) has a great effect on its characterization accuracy. Panicle exsertion is an important but difficult to describe morphological index; therefore, it cannot be easily determined. The aims of this study were to develop heading uniformity (HU), which describes the difference in the degree of rice panicle exsertion, as a new comprehensive indicator by designing a representative sampling and calculation method and exploring the relationship between HU and yield components. HU first decreased then increased after initial heading, exhibiting a single-valley curve. Adequate HU was obtained by panicle sampling on day two or three (panicle N fertilizer proportion ≤40 or >40%) after initial heading. The explanatory power of PTP for grain yield variance was markedly insufficient in low- and high-PN rice populations. Compared with the percent contribution of PTP to grain yield variance (12.32–41.26%), that of HU (49.02–61.93%) was greater and more stable across rice populations of different PNs. Moreover, HU showed fewer interannual variations, despite large interannual differences in weather and soil conditions. Hence, HU may have applications as a comprehensive indicator of rice population quality.

Cultural agenda in formation of population quality in Russia

The article is devoted to the analysis of the cultural component in the formation of the population quality in Russia. In this paper, on the basis of the data of sociological polls, an attempt is made to assess the modern cultural policy of Russia from the point of view of the formation of the human potential quality. Sociological polls show that the population of Russia as a whole is interested in getting to know cultural values, but only half of the respondents have a real opportunity to consume cultural goods. Among the main reasons explaining the impossibility of contact with the arts and culture, the respondents indicate the lack of money, time, and information. The article focuses on the negative consequences of cultural policy implementation in the context of institutional transformations in the field of culture associated with unification, optimization, commercialization, and culture measurement in the framework of the budgetary sector reform. Within the framework of performance-based budgeting, cultural institutions are financed not by the fact of their existence on the basis of the cost estimate, but according to the volume and quality of services provided according to a state (municipal) assignment. Instead of realizing a cultural mission, cultural institutions now fulfill the tasks facing the founder. As a result of unification, optimization, commercialization, and cultural measurement, the performance of cultural institutions is assessed in accordance with a business approach, meaning on the basis of quantitatively measurable indicators (number of events, number of consumers, amount of earned income). As a result, the specificity of cultural activities and the high social significance of cultural institutions are not taken into account. The paper pays attention to the problems of financial support of the cultural sphere at the expense of budgetary funds and also shows significant regional disparities in the financing of the cultural sphere in the regions of Russia. In addition, the article examines the consumption of cultural goods through the prism of household consumption expenditures

Digital image processing technology under backpropagation neural network and K-Means Clustering algorithm on nitrogen utilization rate of Chinese cabbages

The purposes are to monitor the nitrogen utilization efficiency of crops and intelligently evaluate the absorption of nutrients by crops during the production process. The research object is Chinese cabbage. The Chinese cabbage population with different agricultural parameters is constructed through different densities and nitrogen fertilizer application rates based on digital image processing technology, and an estimation NC (Nitrogen Content) model is established. The population is classified through the K-Means Clustering algorithm using the feature extraction method, and the Chinese cabbage population quality BPNN (Backpropagation Neural Network) model is constructed. The nonlinear mapping relationship between different agricultural parameters and population quality, and the contribution rate of each indicator, are studied. The nitrogen utilization of Chinese cabbage is monitored effectively. Results demonstrate that the proposed NC estimation model has correlation coefficients above 0.70 in different growth stages. This model can accurately estimate the NC of the Chinese cabbage population. The results of the Chinese cabbage population quality BPNN model show that the population planting density based on the seedling number is reasonable. The constructed population quality evaluation model has a high R2 value and a comparatively low RMSE (Root Mean Square Error) value for the quality evaluation of Chinese cabbage in different periods, showing that it applies to evaluate the population quality of Chinese cabbage in different growth stages. The constructed nitrogen utilization model and quality evaluation model can monitor the nutrient utilization of crops in different growth stages, ascertain the agricultural characteristics of other yield groups in different growth stages, and clarify the performance of agricultural parameters in different growth stages. The above results can provide some ideas for crop growth intelligent detection.

Expansion dynamics and marginal climates drive adaptation across geographic ranges

Every species experiences limits to its geographic distribution. Some evolutionary models predict that populations at range edges are less well-adapted to their local environments due to drift, expansion load, or swamping gene flow from the range interior. Alternatively, populations near range edges might be uniquely adapted to marginal environments. In this study, we use a database of transplant studies that quantify performance at broad geographic scales to test how local adaptation, site quality, and population quality change from spatial and climatic range centers towards edges. We find that populations from poleward edges perform relatively poorly, both on average across all sites (15% lower population quality) and when compared to other populations at home (31% relative fitness disadvantage), consistent with these populations harboring high genetic load. Populations from equatorial edges also perform poorly on average (18% lower population quality) but, in contrast, outperform foreign populations (16% relative fitness advantage), suggesting that populations from equatorial edges are specialized to unique environments. Finally, we find that populations from sites that are thermally extreme relative to the species’ niche demonstrate strong local adaptation, regardless of their geographic position. Our findings indicate that both nonadaptive processes and adaptive evolution contribute to variation in adaptation across species’ ranges.