MIHARI: Networking coastal communities to manage Madagascar’s small-scale fisheries sustainably

The past decade has seen a groundswell of interest in community based marine conservation in Madagascar, with locally managed marine areas (LMMAs) being championed at the highest levels of government, and now covering over 12% of Madagascar’s seabed. Given Madagascar’s weak infrastructure, most of the country’s LMMA are located in remote areas, thereby presenting practical barriers to exchange and communication to discuss common challenges. The MIHARI network was created as a means of linking up isolated coastal communities to allow community leaders to share ideas and successful models through peer-to-peer learning, as well as to represent the interests of small-scale fishers at a national level; in particular fisheries policy development. Network members include all LMMA communities and the non-governmental organizations that support them. Government authorities are regularly consulted in the network’s activities. While the network is still only three years old, and in the early stages of development, much progress has already made. For instance, annual learning exchanges between LMMA communities have taken place, culminating in the third national MIHARI forum in October 2015. The past year has also seen the launch of regional forums, of which one was organized in 2014 and four organized in 2015. Priorities going forward are to reinforce the structure and independence of the network, ensure the active participation of communities, and secure sustainable sources of funding for the network over the longterm.Au cours de la dernière décennie, Madagascar a développé un intérêt croissant pour la conservation communautaire des ressources marines. Les Aires Marines Gérées Localement (AMGLs) sont, notamment, soutenues au plus haut niveau par le gouvernement, et couvrent désormais plus de 12% des fonds marins de Madagascar. Compte tenu de la faiblesse des infrastructures du pays, la plupart des AMGLs sont situées dans des régions isolées, rendant ainsi difficile les échanges et la communication relatifs aux défis communs qu’elles rencontrent. Le réseau MIHARI a été créé comme un moyen de connecter les communautés côtières isolées pour permettre à leur dirigeants de partager des idées et des modèles de réussite par l’apprentissage entre pairs, ainsi que pour représenter les intérêts des pêcheurs traditionnels au niveau national ; en particulier dans le cadre du développement de la politique des pêches. Les membres du réseau comprennent toutes les communautés AMGLs et les organisations non gouvernementales qui les soutiennent. Aussi, les autorités gouvernementales sont régulièrement consultées au sujet des activités du réseau. Des progrès significatifs ont déjà été réalisés, alors que le réseau ne date que de trois ans et qu’il n’est qu’aux premières étapes de son développement. Par exemple, des réunions d’échanges annuels d’apprentissage entre les communautés AMGLs ont eu lieu avec, en octobre 2015, le troisième fórum national MIHARI. Au cours des dernières années, des forums régionaux ont également vu le jour, dont l’un organisé en 2014 et quatre en 2015. Les futures priorités sont de renforcer la structure et l’indépendance du réseau, d’assurer la participation active des communautés et d’assurer des sources de financement durables pour le réseau.We would like to thank the MacArthur Foundation who funded the MIHARI Network for the year 2015

Gamma Hydroxybutyric Acid (GHB) for the Treatment of Alcohol Dependence: A Review

Gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) is a short-chain fatty acid structurally similar to the inhibitory neurotransmitter γ-aminobutyric acid. Clinical trials have demonstrated that 50–100 mg/kg of GHB fractioned into three or six daily doses is able to suppress alcohol withdrawal symptoms and facilitates the maintenance of abstinence from alcohol. These studies have also shown that GHB craving episodes are a very limited phenomenon (about 10–15%). Thus, physicians with access should consider the clinical efficacy of GHB as a valid pharmacological tool for the treatment of alcohol addiction

Expression Profiling of a Genetic Animal Model of Depression Reveals Novel Molecular Pathways Underlying Depressive-Like Behaviours

The Flinders model is a validated genetic rat model of depression that exhibits a number of behavioural, neurochemical and pharmacological features consistent with those observed in human depression.In this study we have used genome-wide microarray expression profiling of the hippocampus and prefrontal/frontal cortex of Flinders Depression Sensitive (FSL) and control Flinders Depression Resistant (FRL) lines to understand molecular basis for the differences between the two lines. We profiled two independent cohorts of Flinders animals derived from the same colony six months apart, each cohort statistically powered to allow independent as well as combined analysis. Using this approach, we were able to validate using real-time-PCR a core set of gene expression differences that showed statistical significance in each of the temporally distinct cohorts, representing consistently maintained features of the model. Small but statistically significant increases were confirmed for cholinergic (chrm2, chrna7) and serotonergic receptors (Htr1a, Htr2a) in FSL rats consistent with known neurochemical changes in the model. Much larger gene changes were validated in a number of novel genes as exemplified by TMEM176A, which showed 35-fold enrichment in the cortex and 30-fold enrichment in hippocampus of FRL animals relative to FSL.These data provide significant insights into the molecular differences underlying the Flinders model, and have potential relevance to broader depression research

A critical evaluation of the gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) model of absence seizures

Typical absence seizures (ASs) are nonconvulsive epileptic events which are commonly observed in pediatric and juvenile epilepsies and may be present in adults suffering from other idiopathic generalized epilepsies. Our understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms of ASs has been greatly advanced by the availability of genetic and pharmacological models, in particular the γ-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) model which, in recent years, has been extensively used in studies in transgenic mice. GHB is an endogenous brain molecule that upon administration to various species, including humans, induces not only ASs but also a state of sedation/hypnosis. Analysis of the available data clearly indicates that only in the rat does there exist a set of GHB-elicited behavioral and EEG events that can be confidently classified as ASs. Other GHB activities, particularly in mice, appear to be mostly of a sedative/hypnotic nature: thus, their relevance to ASs requires further investigation. At the molecular level, GHB acts as a weak GABA-B agonist, while the existence of a GHB receptor remains elusive. The pre- and postsynaptic actions underlying GHB-elicited ASs have been thoroughly elucidated in thalamus, but little is known about the cellular/network effects of GHB in neocortex, the other brain regions involved in the generation of ASs.peer-reviewe

Mecanismes de synthese de novo de choline par methylations sequentielles de l'ethanolamine et de ses composes, dans le tissu nerveux

SIGLEINIST T 72000 / INIST-CNRS - Institut de l'Information Scientifique et TechniqueFRFranc