Day-time feeding ecology of Eulemur cinereiceps in the Agnalazaha Forest, Mahabo-Mananivo, Madagascar

The Agnalazaha Forest, a degraded fragment of littoral forest in southeast Madagascar, contains a small population of the endangered Eulemur cinereiceps. To better conserve this species its feeding ecology was described by habituating two groups and recording their activities, the food types and species exploited, and the location of food trees by focal animal sampling. The lemurs’ environment was also described by measuring forest structure, and monitoring climate and phenology. In total, the groups were observed for 498 hours over 11 months. Monthly time spent feeding averaged 9.6% of total observation time. The species was highly frugivorous (93% of total time spent feeding). 55 different plant species were exploited for food. Time spent feeding and diet were not simply related to rainfall and temperature nor to food type availability. The two groups’ home ranges were 54.9 ha and 58.4 ha and showed a 40% overlap. The overlap occurred in the swamp forest, which is rich in food plants. To improve the conservation of E. cinereiceps at the Agnalazaha Forest, it is recommended that: The swamp forest be included within the zone of strict conservation; important lemur food plants used for restoration; and alternative sources of timber and fuel wood provided for the local population, thereby allowing greater forest regeneration.RÉSUMÉ La forêt d’Agnalazaha est un bloc de forêt littorale dégradée d’une superficie de 1,500 ha dans le sud est de Madagascar qui abrite une petite population de l’espèce en danger Eulemur cinereiceps. L’écologie de ce lémurien n’a jamais été étudiée dans les forêts littorales et pour améliorer la protection de cette espèce prestigieuse, l’écologie de son régime alimentaire a été étudiée en habituant deux groupes et en relevant la nature des activités, le type de nourriture consommé, les espèces consommées et la localisation des arbres source de nourriture par focal animal sampling. L’environnement d’ E.cinereiceps a également été décrit avec des informations portant sur le climat, d’une part, et d’autres portant sur la structure de la forêt, sa composition et la phénologie en utilisant deux parcelles de 1 ha de forêt dans lesquelles tous les arbres dont le tronc avait un diamètre au moins égal à 10 cm ont été relevés, identifiés et suivis quant à leur fructification et floraison mensumensuelles. La structure et la composition de la forêt d’Agnalazaha se sont révélées typiques des forêts littorales malgaches. Au total, les groupes de lémuriens ont été observés pendant 498 heures au cours d’une période de 11 mois. La durée mensuelle moyenne consacrée à l’alimentation était de 9,6% de la durée totale des observations. L’espèce s’est montrée nettement frugivore (93% de la durée totale consacrée à l’alimentation) mais elle consommait également des feuilles, des inflorescences, des fleurs, du nectar, des insectes et des champignons. Les feuilles et les nectars ont pu être des composants importants du régime alimentaire à certaines périodes. Un total de 55 espèces de plante ont été consommées, parmi lesquelles Noronhia emarginata, Pandanus microcephalus, Garcinia verrucosa et Uapaca louvelii étaient les plus courantes. Le temps consacré à l’alimentation et celui alloué à la consommation des divers aliments n’étaient liés ni au climat ni à la disponibilité de la nourriture. Les superficies des territoires occupés par les deux groupes étaient de 54,9 ha et de 58,4 ha et présentaient un chevauchement de 40% au niveau de la forêt marécageuse où les plantes consommées à titre de nourriture étaient abondantes. Pour protéger E. cinereiceps dans la forêt d’Agnalazaha, nous recommandons que la forêt marécageuse soit incluse dans une zone de conservation stricte ; que les plantes importantes faisant partie du régime alimentaire de ces lémuriens soient considérées dans les activités de restauration de la forêt ; et que des sources alternatives pour l’obtention de bois d’oeuvre ou de chauffe soient proposées à la communauté villageoise locale pour permettre à la forêt de se régénérer

Estampillage et Journalisation P2P pour XWiki

Dans NOTERE 2008International audienceLes systèmes pair-à-pair sont de plus en plus utilisés pour développer des applications distribuées au sein des entreprises. Les réseaux pair-à-pair permettent de construire des applications fiables, performantes, disponibles et passant à l'échelle en répliquant les données sur plusieurs pairs du réseau. Dans cet article nous nous intéressons à la réplication des données de l'application XWiki dans un réseau pair-à-pair. Pour ce faire, nous proposons un nouveau mécanisme de réplication optimiste combinant un algorithme de réconciliation de données basé sur une approche de transformées opérationnelles et une extension du service KTS qui intègre un mécanisme d'estampillage fiable et réparti fonctionnant sur un modèle de réseau à base de DHT pour gérer la fraîcheur des répliques. Le travail présenté est en partie financé par l'Agence Nationale de la Recherche dans le cadre du projet RNTL XWiki Concerto (2007-2009), projet de wiki P2P supportant la mobilité

The Changing Landscape for Stroke\ua0Prevention in AF: Findings From the GLORIA-AF Registry Phase 2

Background GLORIA-AF (Global Registry on Long-Term Oral Antithrombotic Treatment in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation) is a prospective, global registry program describing antithrombotic treatment patterns in patients with newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation at risk of stroke. Phase 2 began when dabigatran, the first non\u2013vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant (NOAC), became available. Objectives This study sought to describe phase 2 baseline data and compare these with the pre-NOAC era collected during phase 1. Methods During phase 2, 15,641 consenting patients were enrolled (November 2011 to December 2014); 15,092 were eligible. This pre-specified cross-sectional analysis describes eligible patients\u2019 baseline characteristics. Atrial fibrillation disease characteristics, medical outcomes, and concomitant diseases and medications were collected. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results Of the total patients, 45.5% were female; median age was 71 (interquartile range: 64, 78) years. Patients were from Europe (47.1%), North America (22.5%), Asia (20.3%), Latin America (6.0%), and the Middle East/Africa (4.0%). Most had high stroke risk (CHA2DS2-VASc [Congestive heart failure, Hypertension, Age  6575 years, Diabetes mellitus, previous Stroke, Vascular disease, Age 65 to 74 years, Sex category] score  652; 86.1%); 13.9% had moderate risk (CHA2DS2-VASc = 1). Overall, 79.9% received oral anticoagulants, of whom 47.6% received NOAC and 32.3% vitamin K antagonists (VKA); 12.1% received antiplatelet agents; 7.8% received no antithrombotic treatment. For comparison, the proportion of phase 1 patients (of N = 1,063 all eligible) prescribed VKA was 32.8%, acetylsalicylic acid 41.7%, and no therapy 20.2%. In Europe in phase 2, treatment with NOAC was more common than VKA (52.3% and 37.8%, respectively); 6.0% of patients received antiplatelet treatment; and 3.8% received no antithrombotic treatment. In North America, 52.1%, 26.2%, and 14.0% of patients received NOAC, VKA, and antiplatelet drugs, respectively; 7.5% received no antithrombotic treatment. NOAC use was less common in Asia (27.7%), where 27.5% of patients received VKA, 25.0% antiplatelet drugs, and 19.8% no antithrombotic treatment. Conclusions The baseline data from GLORIA-AF phase 2 demonstrate that in newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation patients, NOAC have been highly adopted into practice, becoming more frequently prescribed than VKA in Europe and North America. Worldwide, however, a large proportion of patients remain undertreated, particularly in Asia and North America. (Global Registry on Long-Term Oral Antithrombotic Treatment in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation [GLORIA-AF]; NCT01468701

Early diagnosis and better rhythm management to improve outcomes in patients with atrial fibrillation: the 8th AFNET/EHRA consensus conference

Aims Despite marked progress in the management of atrial fibrillation (AF), detecting AF remains difficult and AF-related complications cause unacceptable morbidity and mortality even on optimal current therapy.Methods and results This document summarizes the key outcomes of the 8th AFNET/EHRA Consensus Conference of the Atrial Fibrillation NETwork (AFNET) and the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA). Eighty-three international experts met in Hamburg for 2 days in October 2021. Results of the interdisciplinary, hybrid discussions in breakout groups and the plenary based on recently published and unpublished observations are summarized in this consensus paper to support improved care for patients with AF by guiding prevention, individualized management, and research strategies. The main outcomes are (i) new evidence supports a simple, scalable, and pragmatic population-based AF screening pathway; (ii) rhythm management is evolving from therapy aimed at improving symptoms to an integrated domain in the prevention of AF-related outcomes, especially in patients with recently diagnosed AF; (iii) improved characterization of atrial cardiomyopathy may help to identify patients in need for therapy; (iv) standardized assessment of cognitive function in patients with AF could lead to improvement in patient outcomes; and (v) artificial intelligence (AI) can support all of the above aims, but requires advanced interdisciplinary knowledge and collaboration as well as a better medico-legal framework.Conclusions Implementation of new evidence-based approaches to AF screening and rhythm management can improve outcomes in patients with AF. Additional benefits are possible with further efforts to identify and target atrial cardiomyopathy and cognitive impairment, which can be facilitated by AI.</p

Estampillage et Journalisation P2P pour Xwiki, in &quot;Conférence Internationale sur les NOuvelles TEchnologies de la REpartition

Les systèmes pair-à-pair sont de plus en plus utilisés pour développer des applications distribuées au sein des entreprises. Les réseaux pair-à-pair permettent de construire des applications fiables, performantes, disponibles et passant à l’échelle en répliquant les données sur plusieurs pairs du réseau. Dans cet article nous nous intéressons à la réplication des données de l’application XWiki dans un réseau pair-à-pair. Pour ce faire, nous proposons un nouveau mécanisme de réplication optimiste combinant un algorithme de réconciliation de données basé sur une approche de transformées opérationnelles et une extension du service KTS qui intègre un mécanisme d’estampillage fiable et réparti fonctionnant sur un modèle de réseau à base de DHT pour gérer la fraîcheur des répliques. Le travail présenté est en partie financé par l’Agence Nationale de la Recherche dans le cadre du projet RNTL XWiki Concerto (2007-2009), projet de wiki P2P supportant la mobilité

Tropical cyclones and island area shape species abundance distributions of local tree communities

Species abundance distributions (SADs) characterise the distribution of individuals among species. SADs have rarely been explored on islands and the ecological processes shaping SADs are still not fully understood. Notably, the relative importance of disturbance regime in shaping plant SADs remains poorly known. We investigate the relative importance of disturbance regime and island geography on the shape of SADs. We computed SADs for local tree communities in 1‐ha forest plots on 20 tropical islands in the Indo‐Pacific region. We used generalized linear models to analyse how the shape parameter of the gambin SAD model was related to the number of trees and the number of species. Regression analyses were also used to investigate how the shape of SADs, the number of trees, and the number of species were related to cyclone disturbance (power dissipation index) and geography (island area and isolation), with direct and indirect (i.e., through the number of trees and species) effects assessed using variance partitioning. Cyclone disturbance was the best predictor of the shape of SADs, with higher power dissipation index producing more lognormal‐like distributions. This effect was mostly due to cyclones increasing the number of trees and decreasing the number of species. Island area affected the shape of SADs through its effect on the number of species, and larger islands were associated with higher species richness and more logseries‐like distributions. The effect of cyclones was stronger on smaller islands. Our results illustrate that disturbances can affect SADs in complex ways; directly and indirectly by impacting the number of species and individuals in communities, and these effects may be moderated by island‐specific characteristics, such as island area or isolation. Our results therefore suggest that multiple, interacting processes shape SADs and that studying SADs has the potential to contribute important new insights to the field of island biogeography

Regional forcing explains local species diversity and turnover on tropical islands

Aim: To determine the role of regional forcing on plot-level species diversity and composition, and to quantify the relative importance of biogeographical and climatic factors in explaining woody plant diversity and composition at the local-, island- and archipelago-scale. Location: Forty-one tropical islands of the Indo-Pacific region from Madagascar to Hawai'i Island. Methods: We analysed the diversity and composition of tropical woody plant communities located across 113 plots, 41 islands and 19 archipelagos. We used generalized linear mixed-effects models and generalized dissimilarity models to determine the role of regional forcing at the island and archipelago scale and to assess the relative importance of biogeographical (area and isolation of islands or archipelagos, geographical distance between plots) and climatic factors in explaining differences in local diversity and composition (species turnover). Analyses were conducted at different geographical scales (local, island and archipelago) and taxonomic levels (species, genus and family). Results: Variation in local (plot-level) diversity (as species density, the number of species per 100 woody plants) was primarily explained by island and archipelago identity. Maximum species density was positively correlated with the area of an island (or archipelago) and negatively correlated with the isolation of an archipelago. Local climatic variability was also a significant predictor of species density, but less important than regional forcing. Climate variables explained < 20% of the variation in species turnover across all plots. The importance of geographical distance between plots relative to climate in driving species turnover decreased from the species to family level, and from the regional to island level. Main conclusions: Regional forcing was the key driver of local diversity and composition on islands. Island area and archipelago isolation are likely driving local diversity through their effects on the pool of island species. Geographical distance between plots is the main factor explaining species turnover, while at higher taxonomic levels, climatic factors and niche conservatism are the main drivers

Convergent genomic signatures of domestication in sheep and goats

International audienceThe evolutionary basis of domestication has been a longstanding question and its genetic architecture is becoming more tractable as more domestic species become genome-enabled. Before becoming established worldwide, sheep and goats were domesticated in the fertile crescent 10,500 years before present (YBP) where their wild relatives remain. Here we sequence the genomes of wild Asiatic mouflon and Bezoar ibex in the sheep and goat domestication center and compare their genomes with that of domestics from local, traditional, and improved breeds. Among the genomic regions carrying selective sweeps differentiating domestic breeds from wild populations, which are associated among others to genes involved in nervous system, immunity and productivity traits, 20 are common to Capra and Ovis. The patterns of selection vary between species, suggesting that while common targets of selection related to domestication and improvement exist, different solutions have arisen to achieve similar phenotypic end-points within these closely related livestock species

Use of provisioning ecosystem services drives loss of functional traits across land use intensification gradients in tropical forests in Madagascar

Ecosystems services are threatened by the rapid degradation of tropical rainforests. In light of these threats, questions remain about how societies on the forest fringe who depend on provisioning services affect plant functional traits. This study assessed the relationship between plant functional traits, forest-dependent societies and provisioning ecosystem services along a forest–agriculture matrix gradient in tropical humid forests of Madagascar. Data were collected for six functional traits and six provisioning services. We evaluated functional diversity (FD) and utilitarian diversity (FD of provisioning services) along disturbance gradients. We also determined the traits most susceptible to loss along the gradient as well as the relationship between functional traits and provisioning services. The results showed that FD, utilitarian diversity and species richness decreased significantly across all modified habitats. There was a distinct suite of traits absent from intensely used habitats and those same traits were associated with the two most important provisioning services in the region (firewood and construction). The activities of people living on the forest fringe seem to be a strong selective force on trait loss in plant communities, which in turn will influence future species assembly and trait diversity and distribution. Moreover, this study suggests that it is possible to predict trait loss from plant communities in forests where degradation is mediated primarily through subsistence agriculture and resource extraction. Conservation efforts should recognize that forest degradation and deforestation are contextually specific, determined mostly by people’s efforts to maintain their basic livelihood, and therefore necessitate local-scale interventions that feed into landscape-scale policy initiatives