Experiments with broiler breeder hens were undertaken to determine effect of feeding time and environmental temperature on various production variables, body weight, and feed consumption. Two temperature treatments were used: low cyclic temperature (10 to 25 C), and high cyclic temperature (21 to 39 C). The three feeding treatments were: fed one daily meal either at 0700 h (Treatment 1) or 1800...

In reptiles, habitat selection is the process whereby suitable habitat is selected that optimizes physiological functions and behavioral performance. Here, we used the brown forest skink (Sphenomorphus indicus) as a model animal and examined whether the frequency of active individuals, environmental temperature, illumination of activity area, and habitat type vary with different age classes. We...

The parasitic nematode Strongyloides ratti has a complex life cycle. The progeny of the parasitic females can develop into three distinct morphs, namely directly developing infective third-stage larvae (iL3s), free-living adult males and free-living adult females. We have analysed of the effect of host immune status (an intra-host factor), environmental temperature (an extra-host factor) and th...

Removal of sludges from Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTP) represents a serious worldwide environmental problem for which alternatives other than their simple incineration are investigated. In this work the treatment of raw sludge from urban WWTP by means of a minimization process through spray-drying is analyzed as well as some proposals for revaluating the resulting dry product. Analysis is s...

The recently emerged chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans currently causes amphibian population declines. We hypothesized that temperature dictates infection dynamics of B. salamandrivorans, and that therefore heat treatment may be applied to clear animals from infection. We examined the impact of environmental temperature on B. salamandrivorans infection and disease dynamics in fir...

In the bivoltine strain of the silkworm, Bombyx mori, embryonic diapause is induced transgenerationally as a maternal effect. Progeny diapause is determined by the environmental temperature during embryonic development of the mother; however, its molecular mechanisms are largely unknown. Here, we show that the Bombyx TRPA1 ortholog (BmTrpA1) acts as a thermosensitive transient receptor potentia...

Parasites vary widely in the diversity of hosts they infect: some parasite species are specialists-infecting just a single host species, while others are generalists, capable of infecting many. Understanding the factors that drive parasite host-generalism is of basic biological interest, but also directly relevant to predicting disease emergence in new host species, identifying parasites that a...

The efficacy of a Gamgee-lined hat in reducing the rate of fall in rectal temperature of infants during the first 30 minutes of life was studied. The trial, which included 211 infants, was randomised, prospective, and controlled. One hundred and seven infants were exposed to overhead radiantheaters. Of these, only 30 had normal deliveries, so the analysis was confined to the infants who were no...

Dive duration in air-breathing vertebrates is thought to be constrained by the volume of oxygen stored in the body and the rate at which it is consumed (i.e., "oxygen store/usage hypothesis"). The body mass-dependence of dive duration among endothermic vertebrates is largely supportive of this model, but previous analyses of ectothermic vertebrates show no such body mass-dependence. Here we sho...