AIM The evidence needed for tropical countries to take informed decisions on influenza vaccination is scarce. This article reviews policy, availability, use and effectiveness of seasonal influenza vaccine in tropical and subtropical countries. METHOD Global health databases were searched in three thematic areas - policy, availability and protective benefits in the context of human seasonal in...

Amazon forests represent nearly half of all tropical vegetation biomass and, through photosynthesis and respiration, annually process more than twice the amount of estimated carbon (CO2) from fossil fuel emissions. Yet the seasonality of Amazon canopy cover, and the extent to which seasonal fluctuations in water availability and photosynthetically available radiation influence these processes, ...

*Plant seasonal cycles alter carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) availability for soil microbes, which may affect microbial community composition and thus feed back on microbial decomposition of soil organic material and plant N availability. The temporal dynamics of these plant-soil interactions are, however, unclear. *Here, we experimentally manipulated the C and N availability in a beech forest thro...

The possible influence of seasonal variations in rainfall, resource availability, and morbidity on immune function and nutritional status was examined in a longitudinal study of 54 nomadic Turkana children, 6 months to 10 years of age. The highly seasonal nature of rainfall in the arid semidesert environment of the Turkana District, northwestern Kenya, was associated with varying levels of anim...

– The Myanmar long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis aurea) are distributed to coastal regions in Myanmar, ranging from 10 ̊ to 21 ̊N. Reproductive pattern was studied on a troop of long-tailed macaque inhabiting the steep limestone-rock Bayin Nyi Naung Mountain (16 ̊ 58.2' N), in Southern part of Myanmar, where the climate is seasonal. Bayin Nyi Naung Mountain troop shows the reproductive seas...

The daily energy requirements of animals are determined by a combination of physical and physiological factors, but food availability may challenge the capacity to meet nutritional needs. Western gorillas (Gorilla gorilla) are an interesting model for investigating this topic because they are folivore-frugivores that adjust their diet and activities to seasonal variation in fruit availability. ...

two snail species belonging to genus lymnaea, l.auricularia and l.gedrosiana, were collected from 6 different districts of shadegan area of khoozestan. eight percent of the total collections of the snails revealed the occurrence of larva in them. the prevalence of larva within the snails varied in different districts may be due to different geoclimatic conditions and availability of fresh water...

CONTEXT Aggregate blood lead testing data for Wisconsin children younger than age 6 exhibit seasonal trends in both average blood lead levels and in the percent of those tested and found to have blood lead levels in excess of the 10 mcg/dL threshold for poisoning. Blood lead levels and poisoning rates typically peak during the late summer and early fall months, and are at their minimum during t...