Adaptability and Stability Analysis of Soybean Genotypes Using Toler and Centroid Methods

Soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) adaptation to new environments has been hard to predict based on maturity group. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of 14 soybean genotypes, from the Soybean Breeding Program of the Federal University of Uberlandia, in their adaptive capacity and seed yield stability at 3 locations and 2 growing seasons. For the adaptability and stability analysis the Toler and Centroid methods were used;5 genotypic groups were identified in the first whereas 4 groups were identified in the latter. By the Toler method group A was composed by 4 genotypes, UFU-001, UFU-003, UFU-0010, and UFU-001. They showed a convex pattern of adaptability and stability. In contrast, the genotypes UFU-008 and UFU-0013 were classified in Group E with a concave pattern of adaptability and stability. Regarding results from the Centroid method, the Genotype UFU-002, with higher seed yield than average, was the only genotype in Ideotype VI with moderate adaptability to favorable environments. In contrast, 10 genotypes were included in the Ideotype V, of medium general adaptability. The genotypes UFU-001, UFU-002, UFU-006, UFU-0010, and UFU-0011 were recommended for use in the Brazilian Cerrado growing region. These genotypes had high seed yield potential in high quality environments.

Instantly Investigating the Adsorption of Polymeric Corrosion Inhibitors on Magnesium Alloys by Surface Analysis under Ambient Conditions

Surface engineering of magnesium alloys requires adequate strategies, processes and materials permitting corrosion protection. Liquid formulations containing corrosion inhibitors often are to be optimized according to the demands of the respective substrate and following the service conditions during its application. As an interdisciplinary approach, a combination of several techniques for instantly monitoring or elaborately analyzing the surface state of magnesium was accomplished in order to characterize the performance of new adsorbing sustainable amphiphilic polymers which recently were developed to facilitate a multi-metal corrosion protection approach. The application of established techniques like Contact Angle measurements and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy investigations was supplemented by introducing related and yet faster online-capable and larger-scale techniques like Aerosol Wetting Test and Optically Stimulated Electron Emission. Moreover, an inexpensive setup was configured for scaling the inset and the extent of degradation processes which occur at local electrochemical circuits and lead to hydrogen bubble formation. Using these analytical tools, changes of the surface state of emeried AM50 samples were investigated. Even in contact with water, being a moderate corrosive medium, the online techniques facilitated detecting surface degradation of the unprotected magnesium alloy within some seconds. In contrast, following contact with a 1 weight% formulation of a polymeric corrosion inhibitor, surface monitoring indicated a delay of the onset of degradation processes by approximately two orders of magnitude in time. Mainly based on the spectroscopic investigations, the corrosion inhibiting effects of the investigated polymer are attributed to the adsorption of a primary polymer layer with a thickness of a few nanometers which occurs within some seconds. Immersion of magnesium for several hours brings up a protective film with around ten nanometers thickness.

A Subspace Version of the Powell–Yuan Trust-Region Algorithm for Equality Constrained Optimization

This paper studied subspace properties of the Celis–Dennis–Tapia(CDT)subproblem that arises in some trust-region algorithms for equality constrained optimization.The analysis is an extension of that presented by Wang and Yuan(Numer.Math.104:241–269,2006)for the standard trust-region subproblem.Under suitable conditions,it is shown that the trial step obtained from the CDT subproblem is in the subspace spanned by all the gradient vectors of the objective function and of the constraints computed until the current iteration.Based on this observation,a subspace version of the Powell–Yuan trust-region algorithm is proposed for equality constrained optimization problems where the number of constraints is much lower than the number of variables. The convergence analysis is given and numerical results arealso reported.