Does shade improve light interception efficiency? A comparison among seedlings from shade-tolerant and -intolerant temperate deciduous tree species

• Here, we tested two hypotheses: shading increases light interception efficiency (LIE) of broadleaved tree seedlings, and shade-tolerant species exhibit larger LIEs than do shade-intolerant ones. The impact of seedling size was taken into account to detect potential size-independent effects on LIE. LIE was defined as the ratio of mean light intercepted by leaves to light intercepted by a horizontal surface of equal area. • Seedlings from five species differing in shade tolerance (Acer saccharum, Betula alleghaniensis, A. pseudoplatanus, B. pendula, Fagus sylvatica) were grown under neutral shading nets providing 36, 16 and 4% of external irradiance. Seedlings (1- and 2-year-old) were three-dimensionally digitized, allowing calculation of LIE. • Shading induced dramatic reduction in total leaf area, which was lowest in shade-tolerant species in all irradiance regimes. Irradiance reduced LIE through increasing leaf overlap with increasing leaf area. There was very little evidence of significant size-independent plasticity of LIE. • No relationship was found between the known shade tolerance of species and LIE at equivalent size and irradiance

Effect of triticale based diet on the production performance and carcass characteristics of broiler

A feeding trial was conducted for a period of 5 weeks with 264 day-old Starbro broiler chicks and were allocated into six dietary treatments containing 21.5% CP and 2930 Kcal ME/kg DM. At 5 weeks of age, 2 broilers from each block (8 from each treatment) was randomly selected considering average body weight and slaughtered to analyze the meat yield traits. There were no significant differences (p>0.05) in feed and water intake, initial and final weight, total gain and gain/day, feed conversion efficiency and mortality of broilers among the dietary treatments. Liveweight at slaughter and dressing percent did not differ significantly (p>0.05) among the dietary treatments but dressing percent (p0.05) the length of shank and wing of broiler among the dietary treatments. There was clear advantage of using triticale over wheat because no significant difference (p>0.05) among the dietary treatments were observed

Increasing Awareness and Use of Mobile Health Technology Among Individuals With Hypertension in a Rural Community of Bangladesh: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Hypertension remains one of the foremost noncommunicable diseases that most often lead to cardiovascular diseases and its different complications. The prevalence of hypertension in Bangladesh has been increasing. However, there are very limited studies that have evaluated the impact of health education and awareness development in mitigating the burden of hypertension and its complications in Bangladesh. Objective: This study aims to increase awareness, enhance knowledge, and change lifestyle behaviors through health education and the use of mobile health (mHealth) technology among individuals with hypertension living in a rural community of Bangladesh. Methods: A randomized controlled trial is underway in a Mirzapur subdistrict of Bangladesh. This trial compares two groups of individuals with hypertension: The comparison arm receives health education and the intervention arm receives health education and a periodic mobile phone-based text message intervention. The trial duration is 5 months. The primary end point is participants actual behavior changes brought about by increased awareness and knowledge. Results: Enrollment of participants started in August 2018, and collection of follow-up data was completed at the end of July 2019. A total of 420 participants volunteered to participate, and among them, 209 and 211 were randomly allocated to the intervention group and the control group, respectively. Among them, the ratio of males/females was 12.0/88.0 in the intervention group and 16.1/83.9 in the control group. Data cleaning and analyses have been completed and the results have been submitted for publication. Conclusions: Periodic short education using mHealth technology in addition to face-to-face health education may be an effective method for increasing awareness and knowledge about behavioral changes and maintaining healthy lifestyle behaviors.Funding Agencies|KAKENHI, JapanMinistry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan (MEXT)Japan Society for the Promotion of ScienceGrants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI) [18H03113]</p

French ichthyological records for 2018

International audienceUncommon records of fishes may evidence local or global changes in fish composition resulting from environmental change or anthropogenic activities. Significant records of uncommon marine fishes, including migrant, non-native, cryptic, rare and threatened species, collected in French waters or by French vessels in European waters, observed by scuba divers or beachgoers, are reported for the year 2018. They include first, new, rare and unusual records for the following 52 species: Hexanchus griseus, Squatina squatina, Gymnura altavela, Acipenser sturio, A. gueldenstaedtii, Dalophis imberbis, Nemichthys curvirostris, Eurypharynx pelecanoides, Maulisia mauli, M. microlepis, Sagamichthys schnakenbecki, Melanostomias bartonbeani, Astronesthes niger*, Leptostomias gladiator*, Chlorophthalmus agassizi, Magnisudis atlantica, Evermannella balbo, Regalecus glesne, Luvarus imperialis, Raniceps raninus, Fistularia cf. petimba*, Trigla lyra, Lepidotrigla dieuzeidei, Micrenophrys lilljeborgii, Howella atlantica*, Pomatomus saltatrix, Serranus cabrilla, Caranx crysos, Seriola rivoliana, Trachinotus ovatus, Lobotes surinamensis, Sarpa salpa, Chelon ramada, Pseudoscopelus altipinnis*, Trachinus draco, Parablennius pilicornis, P. ruber, Buenia affinis, B. jeffreysii, Chromogobius zebratus, Didogobius splechtnai, Gammogobius steinitzi, Gobius couchi, G. kolombatovici, Lebetus sp., Speleogobius trigloides, Thorogobius macrolepis, Vanneaugobius dollfusi, Siganus rivulatus*, Lepidocybium flavobrunneum, Hyperoglyphe sp. et Pegusa cf. nasuta, among which six, marked with an asterisk (*), represent additions to the Checklist of the marine fishes from metropolitan France and one, N. curvirostris, is a first record for the Mediterranean