Pollination methods, stigma receptivity and pollen tube growth in Eucalyptus argophloia

Eucalyptus argophloia Blakely (Western white gum) has shown potential as a commercial forestry timber species in marginal environments of north-eastern Australia. We measured early pollination success in Eucalyptus argophloia to compare pollination methods, determine the timing of stigma receptivity and compare fresh and stored pollen. Early pollination success was measured by counting pollen tubes in the style of E. argophloia 12 days after pollination. We compared the early pollination success of 1) Artificially Induced Protogyny (AIP), one-stop and three-stop methods of pollination; 2) flowers pollinated at 2 day intervals between 2 days before and 6 days after anthesis and 3) fresh pollen and pollen that had been stored for 9 months. Our results show significantly more pollen tubes from unpollinated AIP and AIP treatments than either the one-stop pollination or three-stop pollination treatments. This indicates that self-pollination occurs in the unpollinated AIP treatment. There was very little pollen tube growth in the one-stop method indicating that the three-stop method is the most suitable for this species. Stigma receptivity in E. argophloia commenced six days after anthesis and no pollen tube growth was observed prior to this. Fresh pollen resulted in pollen tube growth in the style whereas the stored pollen resulted in a total absence of pollen tube growth. We recommend that breeding programs incorporating E. argophloia as a female parent use the three-stop pollination method, and controlled pollination be carried out at least six days after anthesis using fresh pollen.

Receptivity To Free-Stream Disturbance Waves For Hypersonic Flow Over A Blunt Cone

A high-order shock-fitting finite difference scheme is studied and used to do direction numerical simulation (DNS) of hypersonic unsteady flow over a blunt cone with fast acoustic waves in the free stream, and the receptivity problem in the blunt cone hypersonic boundary layers is studied. The results show that the acoustic waves are the strongest disturbance in the blunt cone hypersonic boundary layers. The wave modes of disturbance in the blunt cone boundary layers are first, second, and third modes which are generated and propagated downstream along the wall. The results also show that as the frequency decreases, the amplitudes of wave modes of disturbance increase, but there is a critical value. When frequency is over the critial value, the amplitudes decrease. Because of the discontinuity of curvature along the blunt cone body, the maximum amplitudes as a function of frequencies are not monotone.

Receptivity to free-stream disturbance waves for blunt cone axial symmetry hypersonic boundary layer

Based on high-order compact upwind scheme, a high-order shock-fitting finite difference scheme is studied to simulate the generation of boundary layer disturbance waves due to free-stream waves. Both steady and unsteady flow solutions of the receptivity problem are obtained by resolving the full Navier-Stokes equations. The interactions of bow-shock and free-stream disturbance are researched. Direct numerical simulation (DNS) of receptivity to free-stream disturbances for blunt cone hypersonic boundary layers is performed.

Receptivity to Self-Service Technology (SST): A Research Overview and the Way Forward

In a digital era characterised by the need for efficiency and value, self-service technology rises as a delivery interface offered by public and private sector service providers. With the assumption of a win-win situation for both the provider and customers who can ‘do it themselves’ online/offsite and offline/onsite, stereotypes arise concerning antecedents for positive receptivity and impediments in adopting SSTs. The present paper offers a literature-based discussion of some of the existing and emerging perspectives in this domain; it delivers a contextual review of studies conducted, highlights controversial viewpoints that need to be reconsidered, and suggests future research themes that can make use of the emergent digital sources in data collection and analysis. The purpose is to spark future research on the extent to which SST is a champion for different service types, and to systematically study the customer profile to be targeted for its optimal use in value co-creation.

A Social Institutionalist Perspective on HR Diffusion: Histrorical and Cultural Receptivity to HRM in a Post-Comminist Context

This research considers cross-national diffusion of international human resource management (IHRM) ideas and practices by applying an emergent frame of sociological conceptualisation – ‘social institutionalism’ (SI). We look at cultural filters to patterns of diffusion, assimilation and adoption of IHRM, using Romania as a case study. The paper considers the former Communist system of employment relations, suggesting that through institutionalisation former ways of thinking continued to influence definitions and practice of people management in post-Communist Eastern Europe. The paper provides a new perspective on HRM by discussing the value of SI as a general model for understanding cross-cultural receptivity to HR ideas, sensitising the HR practitioner and academic to institutionalised culture as a historical legacy influencing receptivity to international management ideas.

Investigation of Novel Circuits Involved in Virgin Female Receptivity of Drosophila melanogaster

Courtship is a behavior that allows the display of fitness of one sex to the other and gates possible subsequent mating. This behavior is crucial for reproduction and has strong innate components in all animals. Courtship in Drosophila melanogaster consists of a series of highly stereotyped actions that the male performs towards the female. He sings with vibrations of the wings, touches and licks her abdomen, while she evaluates the information presented to her.(...)

Receptivity to social research by the CGIAR

This paper analyses the way the CGIAR system has incorporated social research in its agenda. Since 1995, the social science staff capacity in the CGIAR has decreased by 24%, and the overall balance of social science research is still significantly tilted away from the core germplasm enhancement, production systems/natural resources management, and technology adoption work - the 'bread and butter' of technology generation and development effort - toward ex-ante and ex-post activities, Further, the bulk of the social science research has low social research content despite the significant expansion of the CGIAR initial goal of increasing the proverbial pile of rice' to poverty alleviation and sustainable food security. The paper concludes that a concerted effort is now required to mainstream social research in the CGIAR system, and this cannot occur without the full support of the CGIAR donors, the CGIAR senior managers, and the centre boards and executive staff.

Mating effort and female receptivity : how do male guppies decide when to invest in sex?

Males vary in the degree to which they invest in mating. Several factors can explain this variation, including differences in males’ individual condition and the fact that males allocate their energy depending on the context they face in each mating attempt. Particularly, female quality affects male reproductive success. Here, we studied whether male guppies (Poecilia reticulata) strategically allocated more mating effort, in terms of mating behaviour and male–male competition, when they were matched with a receptive (R) female than a non-receptive one. In accordance with our prediction, we found that males increased their mating behaviour when they were with a receptive female. Even though male guppies can inseminate non-receptive females, we only found high levels of courtship between males that were with a receptive female rather than a non-receptive one. Although there was little affect of female receptivity on male–male competition, we found that males chased and interrupted courtships more with receptive females than with non-receptive females regardless of odour. Finally, we also studied whether the sexual pheromone produced by receptive female guppies is a cue that males use in order to increase their mating effort. We found that males were more attracted to a female when they perceived the sexual pheromone, but only increased their mating and aggressive behaviours when females showed receptive behaviour. This strategic increase in mating effort could result in higher male reproductive success because mating attempts towards receptive females are likely to be less costly and males could have a greater probability of fertilisation.

Re-testing the link between youth receptivity to tobacco promotion and their susceptibility to smoke

The Index of Receptivity to Tobacco Industry Promotion (IRTIP) is a model that is used by hundreds of articles. The causal claim based on findings from this model is even more pervasive, and has resulted in much of the modern post 1998 tobacco legislation that is still enforced. This thesis tested the link between adolescent receptivity to tobacco industry promotion and susceptibility to smoking. Pierce et al. (1998) reported that they had found a positive and causal association between receptivity and susceptibility by using IRTIP. They claimed that receptivity to tobacco industry promotion was the only significant causal factor affecting adolescent susceptibility to smoking. Exposure to peer and parental smoking was not found to be a significant effect. A review of the literature found that many sections of IRTIP differ from accepted marketing theory on how cigarette advertising and promotions affect adolescent adoption of cigarette smoking. The proxy measures used in IRTIP were shown to diverge from those previously used for measuring the constructs of Attention, Intention, Desire and Action (AIDA) in marketing communications. IRTIP also differs from previous theory by including measures that attempt to quantify the effect of tobacco premiums into a model that was designed to measure the effects of advertising.