Sublittoral sand dollar (Echinodiscus bisperforatus) communities in two bays on the South African south coast

Macrofaunal community assemblages associated with Echinodiscus bisperforatus beds were investigated at three relatively sheltered, sandy subtidal areas in Plettenberg Bay and St. Francis Bay on the South African south coast. Macrofauna, meiofauna and sediment parameters together with sand dollar abundance and distribution were recorded along transects with stations at 2 m depth intervals from 4 m to 12 m. A wave-induced, depth-related turbulence gradient was evident with both mean particle size and sediment sorting decreasing with depth, whereas macrofauna diversity and biomass increased. Macrofaunal species assemblages corresponded to those of subtidal transition zones of more exposed beaches along the southern Cape coast. No single abiotic variable could be identified as the dominant influence on community structure. Distribution of sand dollars within these sites was found to be extremely patchy with densities ranging from 1–10 m -2 over a depth range of 4–10 m

On the misidentification of a common sandy beach crab belonging to the genus Ovalipes Rathbun, 1898

The three-spot swimming crab, a common intertidal resident of sandy beaches in southern Africa, has previously been misidentified as Ovalipes punctatus (De Haan, 1833). Inspection of local specimens indicates that the valid name for this species is O. trimaculatus (De Haan, 1833)

Organochlorines in common dolphins caught in shark nets during the Natal ‘sardine run’

The concentrations of organochlorines were determined in blubber and liver samples from common dolphins inhabiting the coastal waters of the south-east coast of southern Africa. Liver levels of PCBs and DDTs are far lower and do not appear directly associated with those in blubber. In males, blubber residue concentrations increased with age but in females a marked rapid decline in concentrations of PCBs and t-DDT was evident between the eighth and eleventh growth layer groups, approximately the age of sexual maturity and subsequent to their first or second ovulation. Lower levels in females are explained through transfer to the new-born calf during lactation and the consequences of this for the newborn calf are discussed

ANTARES: the first undersea neutrino telescope

The ANTARES Neutrino Telescope was completed in May 2008 and is the first operational Neutrino Telescope in the Mediterranean Sea. The main purpose of the detector is to perform neutrino astronomy and the apparatus also offers facilities for marine and Earth sciences. This paper describes the design, the construction and the installation of the telescope in the deep sea, offshore from Toulon in France. An illustration of the detector performance is given

Global Retinoblastoma Presentation and Analysis by National Income Level

Importance: Early diagnosis of retinoblastoma, the most common intraocular cancer, can save both a child's life and vision. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that many children across the world are diagnosed late. To our knowledge, the clinical presentation of retinoblastoma has never been assessed on a global scale. Objectives: To report the retinoblastoma stage at diagnosis in patients across the world during a single year, to investigate associations between clinical variables and national income level, and to investigate risk factors for advanced disease at diagnosis. Design, Setting, and Participants: A total of 278 retinoblastoma treatment centers were recruited from June 2017 through December 2018 to participate in a cross-sectional analysis of treatment-naive patients with retinoblastoma who were diagnosed in 2017. Main Outcomes and Measures: Age at presentation, proportion of familial history of retinoblastoma, and tumor stage and metastasis. Results: The cohort included 4351 new patients from 153 countries; the median age at diagnosis was 30.5 (interquartile range, 18.3-45.9) months, and 1976 patients (45.4) were female. Most patients (n = 3685 84.7%) were from low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). Globally, the most common indication for referral was leukocoria (n = 2638 62.8%), followed by strabismus (n = 429 10.2%) and proptosis (n = 309 7.4%). Patients from high-income countries (HICs) were diagnosed at a median age of 14.1 months, with 656 of 666 (98.5%) patients having intraocular retinoblastoma and 2 (0.3%) having metastasis. Patients from low-income countries were diagnosed at a median age of 30.5 months, with 256 of 521 (49.1%) having extraocular retinoblastoma and 94 of 498 (18.9%) having metastasis. Lower national income level was associated with older presentation age, higher proportion of locally advanced disease and distant metastasis, and smaller proportion of familial history of retinoblastoma. Advanced disease at diagnosis was more common in LMICs even after adjusting for age (odds ratio for low-income countries vs upper-middle-income countries and HICs, 17.92 95% CI, 12.94-24.80, and for lower-middle-income countries vs upper-middle-income countries and HICs, 5.74 95% CI, 4.30-7.68). Conclusions and Relevance: This study is estimated to have included more than half of all new retinoblastoma cases worldwide in 2017. Children from LMICs, where the main global retinoblastoma burden lies, presented at an older age with more advanced disease and demonstrated a smaller proportion of familial history of retinoblastoma, likely because many do not reach a childbearing age. Given that retinoblastoma is curable, these data are concerning and mandate intervention at national and international levels. Further studies are needed to investigate factors, other than age at presentation, that may be associated with advanced disease in LMICs. © 2020 American Medical Association. All rights reserved

How can science contribute to an ecosystem approach to pelagic, demersal and rock lobster fisheries in South Africa ?

South Africa is committed to moving towards an Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries (EAF) and has laid the foundations for this using a three-pronged approach: through a project (EAF Feasibility Study) under the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem Programme; through a dedicated scientific working group established by the Marine and Coastal Management branch of South Africa's Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism; and through collaborative scientific and modelling studies within the joint French-South African 'Upwelling Ecosystems' Programme. This contribution provides an overview of the progress made towards developing an EAF in South Africa, both on the scientific front in terms of improved understanding of the functioning of the Benguela ecosystem and the ways in which its ecosystem components interact, and regarding the practical ways being explored to enable scientific advice to feed in to South African fisheries management while taking into account broad stakeholder concerns. The paper focusses particularly on the role played by scientific contributions (research and monitoring) to address these ecosystem issues in three important South African fisheries - pelagic, demersal and rock lobster - so that the appropriate management measures can be put into place. Socio-economic concerns are included for the rock lobster fishery

Immunohistochemical Characterisation of GLUT1, MMP3 and NRF2 in Osteosarcoma

Osteosarcoma (OSA) is an aggressive bone malignancy. Unlike many other malignancies, OSA outcomes have not improved in recent decades. One challenge to the development of better diagnostic and therapeutic methods for OSA has been the lack of well characterized experimental model systems. Spontaneous OSA in dogs provides a good model for the disease seen in people and also remains an important veterinary clinical challenge. We recently used RNA sequencing and qRT-PCR to provide a detailed molecular characterization of OSA relative to non-malignant bone in dogs. We identified differential mRNA expression of the solute carrier family 2 member 1 (SLC2A1/GLUT1), matrix metallopeptidase 3 (MMP3) and nuclear factor erythroid 2–related factor 2 (NFE2L2/NRF2) genes in canine OSA tissue in comparison to paired non-tumor tissue. Our present work characterizes protein expression of GLUT1, MMP3 and NRF2 using immunohistochemistry. As these proteins affect key processes such as Wnt activation, heme biosynthesis, glucose transport, understanding their expression and the enriched pathways and gene ontologies enables us to further understand the potential molecular pathways and mechanisms involved in OSA. This study further supports spontaneous OSA in dogs as a model system to inform the development of new methods to diagnose and treat OSA in both dogs and people

The structure of rat ADP-ribosylation factor-1 (ARF-1) complexed to GDP determined from two different crystal forms

The ARFs are a family of 21,000 Mr proteins with biological roles in constitutive secretion and activation of phospholipase D. The structure of ARF-1 complexed to GDP determined from two crystal forms reveals a topology that is similar to that of the protein p21 ras with two differences: an additional amino-terminal helix and an extra β-strand. The Mg2+ ion in ARF-1 displays a five-coordination sphere; this feature is not seen in p21 ras, due to a shift in the relative position of the DXXG motif between the two proteins. The occurrence of a dimer in one crystal form suggests that ARF-1 may dimerize during its biological function. The dimer interface involves a region of the ARF-1 molecule that is analogous to the effector domain in p21 ras and may mediate interactions with its effector