Genetic Variations and Gene Effect Controlling Grain Yield and Some of Its Components in Maize

Diallel cross analysis among seven diverse pure lines of maize, （IK8, IK58, ZP-707, OH40, UN44052, DKI7 and HS） with their nonreciprocal 21 crosses, were carried out for estimating the nature and magnitude of gene effects through component and graphic analysis for characters： number of days to tasseling, number of days to silking, plant height, ear height, number of rows per ear, number of grains per row, 300 grain weight and grain yield per plant. The results showed highly significant mean square of genotypes for all studied characters. Additive and dominance variances were found to be significant from zero for all the eight characters except number of days to tasseling and silking for which additive genetic variance was no significant. Dominance variance estimation was relatively higher than the additive variance for all characters. The graphic analysis suggested the presence of epistatic gene effects （non-allelic interaction） for number of days to tasseling, number of days to silking, plant height, number of grains per row and grain yield per plant. The estimates of narrow sense heritability varied from 1.85% for 300 grain weight to 49.88% for ear height, it was moderate in case of ear height and low for the remainder characters.

Influence of decision makers＇ characteristics on risk analysis in strategic investment decisions

This study empirically examines the influence of decision makers＇ （DMs） characteristics on risk analysis in strategic investment decisions （SIDs） of companies operating automotive industry in India. This study has developed and tested a structural model that linking select demographics, risk propensity and risk analysis in SIDs. The primary data were collected from Senior Finance Professionals （CFOs, GMs, VPs and so on） representing 36 listed automotive companies operating in India. Based on the responses collected from a single cross-sectional mailed survey, this study finds that risk propensity has a significant positive influence on the extent of usage of risk analysis in SIDs.

Dynamic plastic response of clamped stiffened plates with large deflection

Study on the dynamic response, and especially the nonlinear dynamic response of stiffened plates is complicated by their discontinuity and inhomogeneity. The finite element method (FEM) and the finite strip method are usually adopted in their analysis. Although many useful conclusions have been obtained, the computational cost is enormous. Based on some assumptions, the dynamic plastic response of clamped stiffened plates with large deflections was theoretically investigated herein by a singly symmetric beam model. Firstly, the deflection conditions that a plastic string must satisfy were obtained by the linearized moment-axial force interaction curve for singly symmetric cross sections and the associated plastic flow rule. Secondly, the possible motion mechanisms of the beam under different load intensity were analysed in detail. For structures with plastic deformations, a simplified method was then given that the arbitrary impact load can be replaced equivalently by a rectangular pulse. Finally, to confirm the validity of the proposed method, the dynamic plastic response of a one-way stiffened plate with four fully clamped edges was calculated. The theoretical results were in good agreement with those of FEM. It indicates that the present calculation model is easy and feasible, and the equivalent substitution of load almost has no influence on the final deflection.