Leaf-age and petiole biomass play significant roles in leaf scaling theory.

Foliage leaves are essential for plant survival and growth, and how plants allocate biomass to their leaves reveals their economic and ecological strategies. Prior studies have shown that leaf-age significantly influences leaf biomass allocation patterns. However, unravelling the effects of ontogeny on partitioning biomass remains a challenge because it is confounded by the effects of environmental factors.

A simple way to calculate the volume and surface area of avian eggs.

Egg geometry can be described using Preston's equation, which has seldom been used to calculate egg volume (V) and surface area (S) to explore S versus V scaling relationships. Herein, we provide an explicit re-expression of Preston's equation (designated as EPE) to calculate V and S, assuming that an egg is a solid of revolution. The side (longitudinal) profiles of 2221 eggs of six avian species were digitized, and the EPE was used to describe each egg profile.

Diminishing returns: A comparison between fresh mass vs. area and dry mass vs. area in deciduous species.

"Diminishing returns" in leaf economics occurs when increases in lamina mass (), which can either be represented by lamina dry mass (DM) or fresh mass (FM), fail to produce proportional increases in leaf surface area (), such that the scaling exponent (α) for the vs. scaling relationship exceeds unity (i.e.

A nondestructive method of calculating the wing area of insects.

Most insects engage in winged flight. Wing loading, that is, the ratio of body mass to total wing area, has been demonstrated to reflect flight maneuverability. High maneuverability is an important survival trait, allowing insects to escape natural enemies and to compete for mates.

"Diminishing returns" for leaves of five age-groups of Phyllostachys edulis culms.

Premise: Leaf mass (M) and lamina surface area (A) are important functional traits reported to obey a scaling relationship called "diminishing returns" (i.e., M ∝ A ).

Goose Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7), myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88) and antiviral molecules involved in anti-H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza virus response.

In mammals, Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) is an important membrane-bound receptor triggered by antiviral compounds and single-stranded RNA. It is implicated in the immune response to viruses such as influenza virus. It was not known whether geese, a natural host for avian influenza viruses, possess a homologue of mammalian TLR7 for recognizing avian influenza virus.