Non-Visual Effects of Light on Melatonin, Alertness and Cognitive Performance: Can Blue-Enriched Light Keep Us Alert?

Light exposure can cascade numerous effects on the human circadian process via the non-imaging forming system, whose spectral relevance is highest in the short-wavelength range. Here we investigated if commercially available compact fluorescent lamps with different colour temperatures can impact on alertness and cognitive performance

Systematic Conservation Planning in the Face of Climate Change: Bet-Hedging on the Columbia Plateau

Systematic conservation planning efforts typically focus on protecting current patterns of biodiversity. Climate change is poised to shift species distributions, reshuffle communities, and alter ecosystem functioning. In such a dynamic environment, lands selected to protect today's biodiversity may fail to do so in the future. One proposed approach to designing reserve networks that are robust to climate change involves protecting the diversity of abiotic conditions that in part determine species distributions and ecological processes. A set of abiotically diverse areas will likely support a diversity of ecological systems both today and into the future, although those two sets of systems might be dramatically different. Here, we demonstrate a conservation planning approach based on representing unique combinations of abiotic factors. We prioritize sites that represent the diversity of soils, topographies, and current climates of the Columbia Plateau. We then compare these sites to sites prioritized to protect current biodiversity. This comparison highlights places that are important for protecting both today's biodiversity and the diversity of abiotic factors that will likely determine biodiversity patterns in the future. It also highlights places where a reserve network designed solely to protect today's biodiversity would fail to capture the diversity of abiotic conditions and where such a network could be augmented to be more robust to climate-change impacts

The immunopathology of canine vector-borne diseases

The canine vector-borne infectious diseases (CVBDs) are an emerging problem in veterinary medicine and the zoonotic potential of many of these agents is a significant consideration for human health. The successful diagnosis, treatment and prevention of these infections is dependent upon firm understanding of the underlying immunopathology of the diseases in which there are unique tripartite interactions between the microorganism, the vector and the host immune system. Although significant advances have been made in the areas of molecular speciation and the epidemiology of these infections and their vectors, basic knowledge of the pathology and immunology of the diseases has lagged behind. This review summarizes recent studies of the pathology and host immune response in the major CVBDs (leishmaniosis, babesiosis, ehrlichiosis, hepatozoonosis, anaplasmosis, bartonellosis and borreliosis). The ultimate application of such immunological investigation is the development of effective vaccines. The current commercially available vaccines for canine leishmaniosis, babesiosis and borreliosis are reviewed

Fertilization of a mixed forage crop with fresh and composted chicken manure and NPK fertilizer: Effects on dry matter yield and soil and tissue N, P and K

An experiment was conducted for 3 yr to compare the effects of fertilization of mixed forage with fresh and composted chicken manure and inorganic NPK. Fertility amendments were applied each year at three N levels and an unfertilized treatment was included. The experiment was conducted in two hay fields near Truro, Nova Scotia. Dry matter yield and forage N, P and K contents are reported for the 1992 and 1993 seasons. The nutrient content of the amendments as well as the efficiency of P and K use are discussed. Soil Mehlich 3-extractable P and K and KCl-extractable N were measured at two depths in September 1993. By the final year of the experiment, compost amendments produced yields as high as the recommended rate of NPK fertilization at both sites on both harvest dates. Medium rates of compost application also resulted in tissue N levels as high as or higher than the equivalent NPK treatments. The medium rate of manure application was equivalent in yield and tissue N to the compost treatments at the Acadia site, but had slightly lower yields and tissue N content at the Pugwash site. Compost P and K were relatively inefficiently used by the forage; this resulted in increased levels of Mehlich 3-extractable P and K in the 0- to 15-cm layer of the compost-amended plots. It was concluded that fertilization with compost or inorganic NPK, supplying equal amounts of N, can result in comparable yields and quality of forage. Key words: Chicken manure, compost, extractable NPK, forage, forage NPK, plant protein </jats:p

Fertilization of a mixed forage crop with fresh and composted chicken manure and NPK fertilizer: Effects on soil and tissue Ca, Mg, S, B, Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn

A 3-yr experiment compared the effects of the fertilization of mixed forages with fresh and composted chicken manure and NPK fertilizer. Amendments were applied at three N levels, and an unfertilized treatment was included. The experiment was conducted in two hay fields: a sandy loam and a silty clay loam, near Truro, Nova Scotia. Mehlich 3- extractable Ca, Mg, S and micronutrients were reported for two depths of soil sampled in September 1993. In most cases, the Ca, Mg, S and micronutrient levels in the chicken manure compost and fresh manure were higher than the literature values. The Cu and Zn in both the fresh chicken manure and the compost exceeded the maximum concentrations for Category A (unrestricted use) compost. Compost treatments resulted in higher Ca in the upper horizon at both sites, but few differences among treatments were noted for soil Mg or S. Extractable soil Cu was not higher in the compost and manure plots in spite of the relatively high levels of Cu in the amendments. Compost-treated plots were numerically highest in soil Zn at the silty clay site, while the NPK plots had the highest Mehlich 3-extractable Fe at the same site. Fewer differences in soil levels of micronutrients were detected among treatments at the sandy loam site. Forage tissue Ca, Mg, S and micronutrients were reported for the 1993 season. The high rates of applications, especially for compost treatments, did not always result in higher nutrient levels in the forages; other factors that may have affected nutrient availability are suggested. It is concluded that higher rates of compost and manure could have been used in this experiment without risks of phyto- or ruminant toxicity. Key words: Chicken manure, compost, forage, Mehlich 3-extractable nutrients, micronutrients </jats:p