Numerical approaches towards life cycle interpretation five examples

The ISO-standard for LCA distinguishes four phases, of which the last one, the interpretation, is the least elaborated. It can be regarded as containing procedural steps (like a completeness check) as well as numerical steps (like a sensitivity check). This paper provides five examples of techniques that can be used for the numerical steps. These are the contribution analysis, the perturbation analysis, the uncertainty analysis, the comparative analysis, and the discernibility analysis. All five techniques are described at a non-technical level with respect to basic concept, possibilities, tabular and graphical representation, restriction and warnings, and all are illustrated with a simple example.     

影响水稻光合日变化的酶和相关因素的分析

水稻叶片的最大光合速率出现在上午１０：００时,Ｒｕｂｉｓｃｏ初始活力也在此时达到最大,然后逐渐降低,下午１４：００时略上升后又下降．Ｒｕｂｉｓｃｏ初始活力与光合速率之间极显著相关,相关系数为 ０．９４７４．运用相关性分析、回归分析、通径分析,对晴（有时有云）天气水稻叶片的光合速度、光合关键酶及有关因素的日变化进行综合评估,结果发现中午光合下降主要来自气孔限制,同时Ｒｕｂｉｓｃｏ活性也下降;Ｒｕｂｉｓｃｏ活性是影响光合日变化的又一重要生化因子．体内Ｒｕｂｉｓｃｏ活性受Ｒｕｂｉｓｃｏ活化酶的调节．     

Discrimination of higher plant calluses based on embryogenic capacity and taxonomic classification by pyrolysis mass spectrometry

Pyrolysis mass spectrometry (PyMS) is a rapid, simple, high-resolution analytical method based on thermal degradation of complex material in a vacuum, and has been widely applied to the discrimination of closely related microbial strains. Minimally prepared samples of embryogenic and non-embryogenic calluses derived from various higher plants (sweet potato, morning glory, Korean ginseng, Siberian ginseng, and balloon flower) were subjected to PyMS for spectral fingerprinting. A dendrogram based on the unweighted pair group method, with arithmetic mean of pyrolysis mass spectra, divided the calluses into Siberian ginseng embryogenic callus and the others, which were subsequently divided into embryogenic and non-embryogenic callus groups, regardless of plant species from which the calluses were derived. In the non-embryogenic callus group, the dendrogram was in agreement with the known taxonomy of the plants. These results indicate that PyMS analysis could be applied for discriminating plant calluses based on embryogenic capacity and taxonomic classification.     

Intraspecific variation in Licuala glabra Griff. (Palmae) in Peninsular Malaysia– a morphometric analysis

We studied vegetative and reproductive characters of 74 herbarium specimens of Licuala glabra Griff. (Palmae) collected from 22 localities throughout Peninsular Malaysia. To test the null hypothesis that there are no distinct groups within the species, cluster analysis (nearest neighbour), principal coordinates and principal components analyses were performed on the set of 43 qualitative and quantitative characters. The results obtained suggested that: (1) there are three infraspeciflc groups within the species, viz., the two published varieties glabra and selangorensis as well as a possible third novel taxon; (2) there is clustering of individuals corresponding to their geographic localities; (3) clusters generated using only reproductive characters indicate a biogeographic distribution of populations correlated with the mountain ranges in the peninsula.     

Fish ecoregions of Kansas: stream fish assemblage patterns and associated environmental correlates

Synopsis Principal components analysis was performed on fish presence/absence data for 39 common fish species from 410 stream sites in Kansas. The analysis confirmed ten ecologically meaningful fish assemblages, based on species associations. Factor scores based on these assemblages were then clustered into six geographic areas or fish ecoregions. Canonical discriminant analysis identified environmental variables that distinguished the derived fish ecoregions. Mean annual runoff, mean annual growing season, and discharge appear most important. Mean width, mean depth, chloride concentration, water temperature, substrate type, gradient, and percent of pool habitat were less important. Correspondence exists between these fish ecoregions and the patterns of physiographic regions, river basins, geology, soil, and potential natural vegetation in Kansas. The multivariate statistical approach used to classify fish ecoregions should have considerable potential value for fish assessment and management purposes in areas other than the state of Kansas.     

Some remarks about the analysis of active control studies

In an active-controlled trial, the experimental treatment can be declared to be non-inferior to the control if the confidence interval for the difference excludes a fixed pre-specified margin. Recently, some articles have discussed an alternative method where the data from the current study and placebo-controlled studies for the active control are combined together into a single test statistic to test whether a fixed fraction of the effect of the active control is preserved. It has been shown that, conditional on nuisance parameters from the active-controlled study, a fixed margin can be defined that will be operationally equivalent to this latter method. In this article, we will discuss statistical properties associated with these approaches. Specifically, the interim monitoring boundaries and level of evidence will be considered.     

Phenotypic evaluation of genetic variability and selection of yield contributing traits in chickpea recombinant inbred line population under high temperature stress

Heat is a major abiotic stress that drastically reduces chickpea yield. This study aimed to identify heat-responsive traits to sustain crop productivity by screening a recombinant inbred line (RILs) population at two locations in India (Ludhiana and Faridkot). The RIL population was derived from an inter-specific cross between heat-tolerant genotype GPF 2 (C. arietinum L.) and heat sensitive accession ILWC 292 (C. reticulatum). The pooled analysis of variance showed highly significant differences for all the traits in RILs and most of the traits were significantly affected by heat stress at both locations. High values of genotypic coefficient of variation (19.52–38.53%), phenotypic coefficient of variation (20.29–39.85%), heritability (92.50–93.90%), and genetic advance as a percentage of mean (38.68–76.74%) have been observed for plant height, number of pods per plant, biomass, yield, and hundred seed weight across the heat stress environments. Association studies and principal component analysis showed a significant positive correlation of plant height, number of pods per plant, biomass, hundred seed weight, harvest index, relative leaf water content, and pollen viability with yield under both timely-sown and late-sown conditions. Path analysis revealed that biomass followed by harvest index was the major contributor to yield among the environments. Both step-wise and multiple regression analyses concluded that number of pods per plant, biomass and harvest index consistently showed high level of contribution to the total variation in yield under both timely-sown and late-sown conditions. Thus, the holistic approach of these analyses illustrated that the promising traits provide a framework for developing heat-tolerant cultivars in chickpea.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12298-021-00977-5.     

Normal Approximations of Exact Tests in Configural Frequency Analysis

The most common tests for types and antitypes in configural frequency analysis are normal approximations of exact tests. In the paper such statistics under the complete independence model and under the fixed margins model are discussed. It turns out that these test statistics are not acceptable when the number of simultaneously performed tests is large or when the expected frequencies are small. In these cases, the use of exact tests is advocated and some existing computer programs for such tests are indicated. A normal approximation based on the strong version of the De Moivre-Laplace limit theorem is also discussed. Empirical examples are given from longitudinal data describing psychological development of boys.     

分子水平的遗传多样性及其测量方法

遗传多样性水平是一项很重要的数据。目前从分子水平量化遗传多样性的方法以等位酶分析、ＲＦＬＰ分析和ＲＡＰＤ分析为代表。遗传变异在基因组中并非随机分布,所以取样方式对分析结果的影响不容忽视。本文叙述了遗传变异的产生和分布,并以此为基础比较了上述３种分析方法的理论与实践。     

凡纳滨对虾各月龄性状的主成分与判别分析

为了研究凡纳滨对虾各性状增长规律和判定最佳生长季节凡纳滨对虾的体格与月龄的关系,选择1～6月龄凡纳滨对虾各1000只,选择全长、体长、第一腹节背高、第三腹节背高、第一腹节背宽、头胸甲长和体重共7个性状,进行主成分与判别分析.结果表明:各月龄凡纳滨对虾性状之间均呈现显著的正相关(P<0.01), 其中以全长与体长的相关性最为明显,1月龄凡纳滨对虾体重与形态性状的相关系数较小.各月龄凡纳滨对虾的主成分有所不同,1～2月龄凡纳滨对虾的第一主成分为长度因子,第二主成分为宽度因子,第三主成分为高度因子;3月龄凡纳滨对虾的第一主成分与1～2月龄凡纳滨对虾一致,但第二主成分为高度因子,第三主成分为体重因子;4～6月龄凡纳滨对虾的第一主成分为体重因子,第二主成分为高度因子,第三主成分为宽度因子.1～3月龄凡纳滨对虾形态性状的增长优先于体重, 4～6月龄凡纳滨对虾体重优先于形态性状的增长.错过最佳生长季节的凡纳滨对虾的与体格大小相符的月龄可通过建立的判别式来判断,总的判别准确率为98.98%,其中2～4月龄凡纳滨对虾的判别准确率为100%.