Search results for "WIN"
showing 10 items of 4669 documents
Predation risk and food: opposite effects on overwintering survival and onset of breeding in a boreal rodent
2012
1. In seasonal environments, optimal onset of breeding and survival plays major roles in individual fitness. Many physiological and behavioural factors related to breeding increase the risk of predation; thus, breeding decisions should be based on current risks and benefits. According to life-history theory, if current predation risk is high and breeding itself increases the risk, it may be beneficial to postpone breeding. 2. During winter in northern hemispheres, food availability is limited and is at its lowest just prior to the onset of breeding in spring. Food constraint may lead to poor condition and reduced ability to start breeding. 3. We studied the effects of food and predation ris…
Novel simple templates for reproducible positioning of skin applicators in brachytherapy.
2016
Purpose : Esteya and Valencia surface applicators are designed to treat skin tumors using brachytherapy. In clinical practice, in order to avoid errors that may affect the treatment outcome, there are two issues that need to be carefully addressed. First, the selected applicator for the treatment should provide adequate margin for the target, and second, the applicator has to be precisely positioned before each treatment fraction. In this work, we describe the development and use of a new acrylic templates named Template La Fe-ITIC. They have been designed specifically to help the clinical user in the selection of the correct applicator, and to assist the medical staff in reproducing the po…
Species specificity of trail pheromones of fungus-growing termites from northern Vietnam
2001
Trail-following pheromones were studied in four fungus-growing termites from northern Vietnam: Macrotermes annandalei, M. barneyi, Odontotermes hainanensis and O. maesodensis. From bioassays, we suggest that trail pheromones of these species are composed of a common or anony-mous signal, as well as species-specific signals. The anonymous signal has been identified by GC-MS as (Z)-dodec-3-en-1-ol for each species from extracts of sternal glands and from solid phase microextraction of the surface of their sternal gland. This compound is secreted in much higher quantities (up to 1.4 ng/worker) than dodecatrienol, another anonymous signal of trail-following in termites. (Z)-dodec-3-en-1-ol is a…
Genetic and phenotypic variation of the malaria vector Anopheles atroparvus in southern Europe
2011
Abstract Background There is a growing concern that global climate change will affect the potential for pathogen transmission by insect species that are vectors of human diseases. One of these species is the former European malaria vector, Anopheles atroparvus. Levels of population differentiation of An. atroparvus from southern Europe were characterized as a first attempt to elucidate patterns of population structure of this former malaria vector. Results are discussed in light of a hypothetical situation of re-establishment of malaria transmission. Methods Genetic and phenotypic variation was analysed in nine mosquito samples collected from five European countries, using eight microsatell…
Unexpected high production of biohydrogen from the endogenous fermentation of grape must deposits
2020
International audience; The aim of this work was to assess the performances of wine byproduct biomass for hydrogen production by dark fermentation. Grape must deposits from two grape varieties (Pinot Gris and Chardonnay) were considered, either with external microbial inoculum or without. We show that grape must residues contain endogenous microflora, well adapted to their environment, which can degrade sugars (initially contained in the biomass) to hydrogen without any nutrient addition. Indeed, hydrogen production during endogenous fermentation is as efficient as with an external heat-treated inoculum (2.5 ± 0.4 LH2.L-1reactor and 1.61 ± 0.41 molH2.mol-1consumed hexose, respectively) with…
Habitat- and species-mediated short- and long-term distributional changes in waterbird abundance linked to variation in European winter weather
2019
Aim: Many species are showing distribution shifts in response to environmental change. We explored (a) the effects of inter-annual variation in winter weather conditions on non-breeding distributional abundance of waterbirds exploiting different habitats (deep-water, shallow water, farmland) and (b) the long-term shift in the population centroid of these species and investigate its link to changes in weather conditions. Location: Europe. Methods: We fitted generalized additive mixed Models to a large-scale, 24-year dataset (1990–2013) describing the winter distributional abundance of 25 waterbird species. We calculated the annual and long-term (3-year periods) population centroid of each sp…
Factors affecting population dynamics of Eurasian woodcocks wintering in France: assessing the efficiency of a hunting-free reserve
2005
International audience; The Eurasian woodcock Scolopax rusticola is a migratory bird of major importance for hunting, which is susceptible to habitat loss and the stochastic effects of severe winter weather. Conservation issues mostly concerned regulation of hunting, but the efficiency of hunting-free reserves has never been investigated. We studied causes of mortality and survival probabilities of 98 radio-tagged woodcocks in a reserve with no hunting and in an adjoining hunting area in Brittany (France). Predation, mostly by mammalian predators on fields at night, was similar among adults and yearlings, while hunting mortality was more important in yearlings. Overall winter survival proba…
Ecological Determinants of Distribution Decline and Risk of Extinction in Moths
2006
For successful conservation of species it is important to identify traits that predispose species to the risk of extinction. By identifying such traits conservation efforts can be directed toward species that are most at risk of becoming threatened. We used data derived from the literature to determine ecological traits that affect distribution, distribution change, and the risk of extinction in Finnish noctuid moths (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae). The ecological traits we examined included body size, larval specificity, length of the flight period, and overwintering stage. In addition, in monophagous species we examined the effects of resource distribution. Larval specificity, length of the flig…
Trail-following pheromones in basal termites, with special reference to Mastotermes darwiniensis
2007
0098-0331 (Print) Journal Article; In the framework of an evolutionary study, trail pheromones have been studied in the most basal extant termite, Mastotermes darwiniensis (Mastotermitidae), and two other basal termites, the Termopsidae Porotermes adamsoni (Porotermitinae) and Stolotermes victoriensis (Stolotermitinae). Although workers of M. darwiniensis do not walk in single file while exploring a new environment under experimental conditions and are unable to follow artificial trails in 'open field' experiments, they do secrete a trail-following pheromone from their sternal glands. This unique behavior might reflect a primitive function of communication of the sternal gland. The major co…
Water Status and Yield Response to Deficit Irrigation and Fertilization of Three Olive Oil Cultivars under the Semi-Arid Conditions of Tunisia
2019
Sustainability of olive production is possible by adopting the modern techniques of irrigation and fertilization. In Tunisia, olive trees are usually cultivated in poor soils, under semi-arid conditions characterized by water scarcity. This study investigated the effects of different water supply and fertilization on leaf water status and crop yield of three different olive oil varieties cultivated in central Tunisia, during four experimental seasons (2014&ndash