Nutritional value of freshwater mesozooplankton, fatty acid (FA) and amino acid (AA) compositions were determined in the middle of each season for a one-year period from May 2009 to February 2010 in Hanna Dam Lake, Isfahan, Iran. FA and AA composition significantly (P < 0.05) varied in relation to the seasonal changes of water quality, phytoplankton and zooplankton community. The content of sat...

The amount of immunocytochemically detectable vasopressin in the brain of the European hamster (Cricetus cricetus) shows a seasonal variation; i.e., dense vasopressin immunoreactivity is present in the lateral septum during summer but is absent in autumn and winter [Buijs, R. M., Pévet, P., Masson-Pévet, M., Pool, C. W., De Vries, G. J., Canguilhem, B. & Vivien-Roels, B. (1986) Brain Res. 371, ...

Body composition is a direct measure of body condition and as such integrates seasonal variation in foraging success and energy expenditure. In phocids, body condition is a critical determinant of both reproductive effort and ability to survive periods of poor foraging success. We determined body composition in 29 crabeater seals, Lobodon carcinophaga, during austral autumn (April–May 2002) and...

This study aimed to analyze seasonal variations in the antioxidant defence systems of the seminal plasma and fluids of the cauda epididymis and vesicular glands of the boar. The analyzed antioxidants included superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and total L-glutathione (GSH+GSSG). Seasonal changes in total protein content and total antioxidant status (TAS) of...

The present work aimed to improve rose flowering during Winter where most flowers are disappeared and marketing is very profitable. Pruning experiments were carried out on the essential oil yielding hybrid tea rose cultivar (Eiffel tower) at the Floriculture Experimental Farm of Agriculture Faculty, Sohag University, Egypt during two successive years of 2007/2008 and 2008/2009. Four pruning typ...

Many recent studies reveal that sea ice concentration (SIC) in the eastern Arctic and snow cover extent (SCE) over central Eurasia in late autumn are potential predictors of the winter North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). We used maximum covariance analysis (MCA) to investigate the links between autumn SIC in the Barents-Kara Seas (BK) and SCE over Eurasia (EUR) with winter (DJF) sea level pressur...

Adult passerines renew their flight feathers at least once every year. This complete moult occurs either in the breeding areas, just after breeding (summer moult), or, in some long-distance migratory species, at the non-breeding areas, after arrival to the southern wintering area at the end of autumn migration (winter moult). The aim of this study was to relate moult strategies with the DMD, th...

Seasonal reconstructions of the Southern Hemisphere annular mode (SAM) index are derived to extend the record before the reanalysis period, using station sea level pressure (SLP) data as predictors. Two reconstructions using different predictands are obtained: one [Jones and Widmann (JW)] based on the first principal component (PC) of extratropical SLP and the other (Fogt) on the index of Marsh...

Hydrodistilled oils of the fresh aerial parts of Mentha suaveolens Ehrh. cultivated in Egypt were prepared from samples collected along the four seasons. The percentage yields of these essential oils were 0.50%, 0.52%, 0.60%, and 0.47% of the dry weight for winter, spring, summer, and autumn samples. GC/MS analyses of all samples revealed a qualitative and quantitative variability in the oil co...

Age and growth of Loligo vulgaris and L. forbesi were studied by the examination of growth increments in 96 and 135 selected (white zone 510%) statoliths, respectively. Squid were obtained by monthly sampling from the catches of commercial trawling and hand-jigs in Galician waters (north-west Spain) between February 1991 and October 1993. Mantle length (ML) of L. vulgaris ranged from 70 to 480m...