Implications of direct and indirect range restriction for meta-analysis methods and findings.

Range restriction in most data sets is indirect, but the meta-analysis methods used to date have applied the correction for direct range restriction to data in which range restriction is indirect. The authors show that this results in substantial undercorrections for the effects of range restriction, and they present meta-analysis methods for making accurate corrections when range restriction is indirect. Applying these methods to a well-known large-sample empirical database, the authors estimate that previous meta-analyses have underestimated the correlation between general mental ability and job performance by about 25%, indicating that this is potentially an important methodological issue in meta-analysis in general.

Aspergillus Colonization and Aflatoxin Contamination in Peanut Genotypes with Reduced Linoleic Acid Composition.

Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus can contaminate several agricultural crops with the toxic fungal metabolite aflatoxin. Previous research has indicated that resistance may be conferred by altering the fatty acid composition of these crops. Recently, peanut breeding lines with reduced linoleic acid content have been developed. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of reduced linoleic acid composition on preharvest aflatoxin contamination of peanut. Seven breeding lines with relatively low linoleic acid and two check genotypes were grown in a randomized complete block design with 10 replicates for 4 years in Georgia and for 3 years in Arizona. The plots were inoculated with a mixture of A. flavus and A. parasiticus about 60 days after planting and subjected to drought and heat stress for the 40 days immediately preceding harvest. Differences were observed in only one environment. Low linoleic acid composition had no measurable effect on preharvest aflatoxin contamination in peanut when data were combined across years and locations. Products of the lipoxygenase pathway that have been shown to affect aflatoxin biosynthesis in vitro may not be present in sufficient quantities in peanut.