Dynamics of mangrove forests in the Mangoky River delta, Madagascar, under the influence of natural and human factors

Mangroves in Madagascar cover 327 000 ha to 340 300 ha. Several authors have studied these mangroves, but we do not yet have a complete knowledge of these ecosystems. The present study is an attempt to respond to this concern by analyzing dynamics and changes in the extent of the mangrove forest in the Mangoky delta (SW Madagascar) between 1951 and 2000. The comparison between base maps and Landsat TM images shows that the mangrove area remained relatively stable, even increasing slightly (+189 ha) between 1951 and 1979. From 1979 to 1994, its area decreased from 21 426 ha to 11 706 ha (−9720 ha). It then increased again (+84 ha) between 1994 and 2000. The balance was a decrease of 41.74% between 1951 and 2000. These figures may be compared with national (−15% in 56 years) and world (−35% for the last 20 years) statistics. Three main reasons are given to explain these changes: (1) the hydrological and sedimentological behavior of the Mangoky River; (2) the mechanism of plant succession, which depends on tides and on the characteristics of the substratum and (3) human activities and logging, which have increased since the 1980s in the Mangoky delta

Yield performance of four cauliflower (Brassica oleraceae L.) varieties under open field conditions in Seychelles

A field experiment was used, from March to September 2005 and 2006, to evaluate the yield performance of three cauliflower (Brassica oleraceae L.) varieties, ‘Amazing’, ‘Clima’ and ‘Rami’, against the commonly grown variety ‘Tropical Extra Early’ under open field conditions at the Vegetable Evaluation and Research Station Farm at Anse Boileau, Seychelles. The experiment consisted of four treatments laid out in a randomized complete block design with five replications. The results showed that while ‘Tropical Extra Early’ was the earliest to mature, the highest curd length and curd width were produced by ‘Rami’. Similarly, ‘Rami’ produced the largest curd circumference, largest curd weight, and best yield. ‘Rami’ significantly improved yield at P = 0.05 by 32.2 and 30.0 per cent in 2005 and 2006 respectively, compared to that recorded for the regular variety ‘Tropical Extra Early’. ‘Rami’ could, therefore, be considered as a potential replacement for the common variety ‘Tropical Extra Early’

De l’expérience informelle à la formalisation d’une discipline :

Quand on apprend une langue, plus on la pratique dans la vie courante, plus l’acquisition est réussie. Cet article montre comment des classes de théâtre en anglais ont pu formaliser ce qui était informel, le théâtre, tout en améliorant l’anglais oral des étudiants acteurs.In a language learning, the more the life of the native speaker is lived, the more one successfully learns his/her language. This article shows how DRAMA classes could “formalise” what was “non formal”, while improving the spoken English of the students actors

Yield Performance of Four Onion (Allium Cepa L.) Varieties Compared with the Local Variety under Open Field Conditions at Anse Boileau, Seychelles

A field experiment was conducted from April to September, 2005 and 2006 planting seasons at the Vegetable Evaluation and Research Station Farm located at Anse Boileau, Seychelles to evaluate the yield performance of four onion varieties, ‘Onion Orient\', ‘Lucy 15205\', ‘CAL 606\', and ‘Red Creole-2\' against the commonly grown variety ‘Red Creole-1\' under field conditions. The experiment consisted of five treatments laid out in a randomized complete block design with four replications. The results obtained showed that while variety ‘Onion Orient\' was the earliest to maturity, variety ‘CAL 606\' recorded the highest number of leaves, bulb size, biological bulb weight, economic bulb weight, dry bulb weight and best yield which were significantly (P≤0.05) increased by 34.6 %, 23.9 %, 16.8 %, 28.6 %, 35.0 % and 33.9 % respectively in 2005 and 40.0 %, 25.1 %, 10.9 %, 23.6 %, 30.0 % and 28.9 % respectively in 2006 compared to those obtained from the regular variety ‘Red Creole-1\'. Similarly, the yield produced from varieties ‘Onion Orient\', ‘Lucy 15205\' and ‘Red Creole-2\' was significantly (P≤0.05) increased by 9.8 %, 15.1 % and 28.8 % respectively in 2005 and 5.36 %, 6.19 % and 25.6 % respectively in 2006 compared to that obtained from ‘Red Creole-1\'. The yield of ‘CAL 606\' was the greatest, followed by ‘Red Creole-2\', ‘Lucy 15205\', ‘Onion Orient\' and ‘Red Creole-1\' respectively. The implication of this study, showed that variety ‘CAL 606\' performed best and could therefore be recommended as a potential replacement for the popular variety ‘Red Creole-1\' in Seychelles. Keywords: onion varieties, yield Journal of Science & Technology (Ghana) Vol. 28 (3) 2008: pp. 28-3

De l’expérience informelle à la formalisation d’une discipline :

Quand on apprend une langue, plus on la pratique dans la vie courante, plus l’acquisition est réussie. Cet article montre comment des classes de théâtre en anglais ont pu formaliser ce qui était informel, le théâtre, tout en améliorant l’anglais oral des étudiants acteurs.In a language learning, the more the life of the native speaker is lived, the more one successfully learns his/her language. This article shows how DRAMA classes could “formalise” what was “non formal”, while improving the spoken English of the students actors

Interculturalité, interdisciplinarité et théâtre

L’apprentissage d’une langue est encore plus efficace s’il se situe dans une situation d’interculturalité sous-tendue par une interdisciplinarité motivante dans laquelle chaque apprenant apporte volontairement son pré-acquis en langue cible pour le développer dans une atmosphère d’échanges culturelles grandissantes : le clivage de groupe est aboli ou évité par l’acceptation et le respect des différences culturelles.Language learning is more efficient if it is done in an inter-cultural situation facilitated by some motivating interdisciplinarity, in which every learner can willingly develop his/her previously acquired language. Such an environment belongs to an increasing cultural exchange : any tendency to group spliting is either abolished or avoided, thanks to the acceptance and the respect of cultural differences

Poor Prognosis Factors of Severe Malaria in Antananarivo, Madagascar

INTRODUCTION & AIM: Malaria is a major health problem in our country. Our aim is to determine the poor prognosis factors of this pathology.MATERIALS AND METHOD: A retrospective descriptive, analytical study was conducted in the intensive care unit of University Hospital Center of Joseph Raseta Befelatanana, during 24 months (June 2015 to May 2017). The severity was defined according to the recommendations for clinical practice (2007). We compared surviving and non-surviving patients.RESULTS: Fifty-six (56) cases were studied. The average age was 30 ± 11 years with a sex ratio of 6. Six cases had pulmonary disease. Neurological failure was present in 29 cases. Forty-seven cases were treated with quinine and 07 cases received norepinephrine. The length of stay was 3.55 ± 2.06 days. Eighteen subjects (32%) died. In multivariate analysis, neurological failure (p = 0.0001), jaundice (p = 0.0016), renal insufficiency (p <0.0001) and use of catecholamine (p = 0.0139) were associated with poor prognosis.CONCLUSION: The mortality of malaria was high. Neurological failure, jaundice, renal insufficiency and use of catecholamine were poor prognostic factors

State of the climate in 2013

In 2013, the vast majority of the monitored climate variables reported here maintained trends established in recent decades. ENSO was in a neutral state during the entire year, remaining mostly on the cool side of neutral with modest impacts on regional weather patterns around the world. This follows several years dominated by the effects of either La Niña or El Niño events. According to several independent analyses, 2013 was again among the 10 warmest years on record at the global scale, both at the Earths surface and through the troposphere. Some regions in the Southern Hemisphere had record or near-record high temperatures for the year. Australia observed its hottest year on record, while Argentina and New Zealand reported their second and third hottest years, respectively. In Antarctica, Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station reported its highest annual temperature since records began in 1957. At the opposite pole, the Arctic observed its seventh warmest year since records began in the early 20th century. At 20-m depth, record high temperatures were measured at some permafrost stations on the North Slope of Alaska and in the Brooks Range. In the Northern Hemisphere extratropics, anomalous meridional atmospheric circulation occurred throughout much of the year, leading to marked regional extremes of both temperature and precipitation. Cold temperature anomalies during winter across Eurasia were followed by warm spring temperature anomalies, which were linked to a new record low Eurasian snow cover extent in May. Minimum sea ice extent in the Arctic was the sixth lowest since satellite observations began in 1979. Including 2013, all seven lowest extents on record have occurred in the past seven years. Antarctica, on the other hand, had above-average sea ice extent throughout 2013, with 116 days of new daily high extent records, including a new daily maximum sea ice area of 19.57 million km2 reached on 1 October. ENSO-neutral conditions in the eastern central Pacific Ocean and a negative Pacific decadal oscillation pattern in the North Pacific had the largest impacts on the global sea surface temperature in 2013. The North Pacific reached a historic high temperature in 2013 and on balance the globally-averaged sea surface temperature was among the 10 highest on record. Overall, the salt content in nearsurface ocean waters increased while in intermediate waters it decreased. Global mean sea level continued to rise during 2013, on pace with a trend of 3.2 mm yr-1 over the past two decades. A portion of this trend (0.5 mm yr-1) has been attributed to natural variability associated with the Pacific decadal oscillation as well as to ongoing contributions from the melting of glaciers and ice sheets and ocean warming. Global tropical cyclone frequency during 2013 was slightly above average with a total of 94 storms, although the North Atlantic Basin had its quietest hurricane season since 1994. In the Western North Pacific Basin, Super Typhoon Haiyan, the deadliest tropical cyclone of 2013, had 1-minute sustained winds estimated to be 170 kt (87.5 m s-1) on 7 November, the highest wind speed ever assigned to a tropical cyclone. High storm surge was also associated with Haiyan as it made landfall over the central Philippines, an area where sea level is currently at historic highs, increasing by 200 mm since 1970. In the atmosphere, carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide all continued to increase in 2013. As in previous years, each of these major greenhouse gases once again reached historic high concentrations. In the Arctic, carbon dioxide and methane increased at the same rate as the global increase. These increases are likely due to export from lower latitudes rather than a consequence of increases in Arctic sources, such as thawing permafrost. At Mauna Loa, Hawaii, for the first time since measurements began in 1958, the daily average mixing ratio of carbon dioxide exceeded 400 ppm on 9 May. The state of these variables, along with dozens of others, and the 2013 climate conditions of regions around the world are discussed in further detail in this 24th edition of the State of the Climate series. © 2014, American Meteorological Society. All rights reserved