Elastography of multicellular aggregates submitted to osmo-mechanical stress

International audienceTumors are subjected to mechanical stress generated by their own growth in a confined environment, and by their surrounding tissues. Recent works have focused on the study of the growth of spherical aggregates of cells, spheroids, under controlled confinement or stress. In this study we demonstrate the measurement of spatially and temporally resolved deformation maps inside spheroids while applying an osmo-mechanical stress. We use full field optical coherence tomography, a high resolution imaging technique well suited for real-time measurements of deformation in living tissues under stress. Using the spherical symmetry of the experiment, we compare our data to a mechanical modeling of the spheroid as a continuous medium. We estimate the viscoelastic parameters of spheroids and discuss the apparent tissue anisotropy after the osmo-mechanical stress

Malnutrition in rural Solomon Islands: An analysis of the problem and its drivers

2020 The Authors. Maternal & Child Nutrition published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Solomon Islands, like many Pacific Island nations, suffer from the burden of malnutrition. External drivers including population growth, declining agriculture and fisheries productivity and global food trade have contributed to the transition to greater reliance on imported foods. Globally, diets are recognized as both a cause of and solution to the burden of malnutrition. Using a mixed-method approach this study assessed nutritional status and key determinants of malnutrition among women and young children in rural Solomon Island communities. Quantitative 24-hour recall surveys identified diets of women and young children in these communities to be very limited in diversity. Typical daily diets comprised of fish, sweet potato (and/or rice) and slippery cabbage (a leafy green) usually boiled in coconut milk or baked. Participatory research using problem tree and biocultural approaches identified basic determinants of poor diets and opportunities to address these challenges. We highlight three domains of opportunity to improve diets across multiple scales; 1) improve nutrition-sensitive agriculture and fisheries to produce and distribute diverse, productive and nutrient rich foods; 2) nutrition education and empowerment, focusing on the first 1000 days of life, to influence and inform choices regarding food consumption; and 3) reducing the consumption of imported, energy-rich nutrient poor foods through national and regional policies. These multi-scale domains highlight that food system approaches that strengthen integrated policy and empower people are essential for healthy and sustainable diets in Solomon Islands and more broadly in the Pacific region

Flupirtine Derivatives as Potential Treatment for the Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinoses

OBJECTIVE: Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinoses (NCL) are fatal inherited neurodegenerative diseases with established neuronal cell death and increased ceramide levels in brain, hence, a need for disease-modifying drug candidates, with potential to enhance growth, reduce apoptosis and lower ceramide in neuronal precursor PC12 cells and human NCL cell lines using enhanced flupirtine aromatic carbamate derivatives in vitro. METHODS: Aromatic carbamate derivatives were tested by establishing growth curves under pro-apoptotic conditions and activity evaluated by trypan blue and JC-1 staining, as well as a drop in pro-apoptotic ceramide in neuronal precursor PC12 cells following siRNA knockdown of the RESULTS: Retigabine, the benzyl-derivatized carbamate and an allyl carbamate derivative were neuroprotective in CLN3-defective PC12 cells and rescued CLN1-/CLN2-/CLN3-/CLN6-/CLN8 patient-derived lymphoblasts from diminished growth and accelerated apoptosis. All drugs decreased ceramide in CLN1-/CLN2-/CLN3-/CLN6-/CLN8 patient-derived lymphoblasts. Increased INTERPRETATION: These findings establish that compounds analogous to flupirtine demonstrate anti-apoptotic activity with potential for treatment of NCL disease and use of ceramide as a marker for these diseases

Pacific food systems The role of fish and other aquatic foods for nutrition and health

This report is intended for actors, policymakers and funders concerned with improving food and nutrition security with fisheries as an entry point. It is equally valuable for food system, agricultural, health and nutrition actors who are seeking to protect and enhance the benefits that fish and other aquatic foods provide to a diversity of nutrition goals. This report has been developed from an extensive review of published scientific articles and technical reports, as well as interviews and consultations with 17 experts. It also draws upon insights from the Pacific Food System regional dialogues, which were held in the lead-up to the United Nations Food Systems Summit 2021

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Community-based marine resource management in Solomon Islands: a facilitators guide

This guide was developed to document the process and activities that WorldFish staff have used and adapted as facilitators working with communities interested in marine resource management in Solomon Islands. It draws on the experiences from work conducted with FSPI and MFMR through ACIAR funded projects, with communities that had a primary interest in the management of coral reef fisheries. Since 2011 the process has been trialed and adapted further with communities interested in mangrove ecosystem management (through the MESCAL project). This guide is based on lessons about the process of a community developing, writing and implementing a management plan. This guide does not cover lessons about the outcomes of that management. While some guidance is provided on assessing and monitoring outcomes and adapting management, a more detailed account based on outcomes and lessons from community experiences of adaptive management will be published in a separate document in 2014

The role of fish and fisheries in recovering from natural hazards: lessons learned from Vanuatu

Coastal fisheries provide staple food and sources of livelihood in Pacific Island countries, and securing a sustainable supply is recognised as a critical priority for nutrition security. This study sought to better understand the role of fish for Pacific Island communities during disasters and in disaster recovery. To evaluate community impacts and responses after natural disasters, focus group discussions were held with men and women groups at ten sites across Shefa, Tafea, Malampa and Sanma provinces in Vanuatu. The combined impacts of category 5 Tropical Cyclone Pam (TC-Pam) in March 2015 and prolonged El-Niño induced drought have had a profound impact across much of Vanuatu. Terrestrial systems had been disproportionately impacted with substantial shortages in drinking water, garden crops, cash crops and damage to infrastructure. Localized impacts were noted on marine environments from TC-Pam and the drought, along with an earthquake that uplifted reef and destroyed fishing grounds in Malampa province. Communities in Malampa and Shefa provinces also noted a crown-of-thorns outbreak that caused coral mortality. The significant reduction in terrestrial-based food and income generation capacity generally led to increased reliance on marine resources to cope and a shift in diets from local garden food to rice. However, limited market access, lack of fishing skills and technology in many sectors of the community reduced the capacity for marine resources to support recovery. A flexible management approach allowed protected areas and species to be utilized as reservoirs of food and income when temporarily opened to assist recovery. These findings illustrate that fish and fisheries management is at the center of disaster preparedness and relief strategies in remote Pacific Island communities. High physical capital (e.g. infrastructure, water tanks and strong dwellings) is key for disaster preparedness, but supporting community social capital for the purpose of natural resource management and human capital for diverse adaptation skills can also improve community resilience. Recognizing the humanitarian value that well managed fisheries resources and skilled fishers can play to disaster relief adds another dimension to the imperative of improving management of coastal fisheries and aligning policies across sectors

Reaping the reef: Provisioning services from coral reefs in Solomon Islands

The marine biodiversity in the Coral Triangle sustains the livelihoods of roughly 100 million coastal people, yet this region is under threat from numerous local and global stressors. Regional actions underway to address coastal and marine degradation and an improve understanding of the social-ecological links between people and their environment. Economic assessments of coral reef provisioning services afforded to rural communities in Solomon Islands identified a diverse range of fisheries-based (fish, seaweed, clam, trochus, crayfish and shells) and coral-based (sand, rubble, stone, and corals for lime, aquarium and curio trades) products. Fisheries products (in particular reef fish) were important for both village subsistence and cash economies, providing the equivalent of US $5173 (±515) annually per respondent. In contrast, coral products contributed the equivalent of US$2213 (±396) annually per respondent, primarily to cash economies, particularly in study villages located in close proximity to national markets. Extractive coral activities have the potential to reduce reef resilience, diminish the viability of fisheries and so compromise the livelihoods of dependent communities. Improved management, legislative review and livelihood diversification strategies are likely to be required to manage coral reefs and the ecosystem services they provide across the Coral Triangle region

Proportion of fishing time and methods spent across fishing sites within the Roviana lagoon study area in 1995.

<p>Size of pie chart symbol denotes the the anmount of time spent at fishing locations throughout the Roviana lagoon during the 1995 record period. The amount of time spent for each method is shown by pie chart sections.</p