Spatial and temporal distribution of cetaceans in the mid-Atlantic waters around the Azores

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2013. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Taylor & Francis for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Marine Biology Research 10 (2014): 123-137, doi:10.1080/17451000.2013.793814.Cetaceans living in offshore waters are under increasing pressure from anthropogenic activities. Yet, due to the lack of survey effort, relatively little is known about the demography or ecology of these populations. Spatial and temporal distribution of cetaceans in mid-Atlantic waters were investigated using a long term dataset collected from boat surveys and land-based observations around the Azores. From 1999 to 2009, 7307 cetacean schools were sighted during 271717 km of survey effort. In 4944 h of land-based observations, 2968 cetacean groups were detected. Twenty-four species were recorded: seven baleen whales, six beaked whales, eight dolphin species, Physeter macrocephalus, Kogia breviceps and K. sima. Overall, Delphinus delphis was the most frequently sighted species but its encounter rate decreased in June- November, coinciding with presence of Stenella frontalis in the region. Tursiops truncatus, P. macrocephalus and Grampus griseus were frequently encountered yearround, whereas large baleen whales showed a distinct peak in encounter rates in March-May. Mesoplodonts were fairly common and appear to be present throughout the year. These findings fill-in a significant gap in the knowledge of cetaceans occurring in a poorly studied region of the North Atlantic, providing much needed data to inform management initiatives.This work was supported by FEDER funds, through the Competitiveness Factors Operational Programme – COMPETE, by national funds, through FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology, under projects CETAMARH (POCTI/BSE/38991/01) and TRACE (PTDC/MAR/74071/2006), and by regional funds, through DRCT/SRCTE, under project MAPCET (M2.1.2/F/012/2011). We thank the Azorean Regional Government for funding POPA, the Shipowners Proprietors and the Association of the Tuna Canning Industries for their support to the programme. MAS was supported by an FCT postdoctoral grant (SFRH/BPD/29841/2006), and IC and RP were supported by doctoral grants SFRH/BD/41192/2007 and SFRH/BD/32520/2006. IMAR-DOP/UAç is the R&D Unit #531 and part of the Associated Laboratory #9 (ISR) funded through the pluri-annual and programmatic funding schemes of FCT-MCTES and DRCTAzores

Macro- and micro-geographic variation of short-beaked common dolphin’s whistles in the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 20113. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Taylor & Francis for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Ethology Ecology & Evolution 26 (2014): 392-404, doi:10.1080/03949370.2013.851122.Genetic studies have shown that there are small but significant differences between the short-beaked common dolphin populations in the Atlantic Ocean and those in the Mediterranean Sea. The short-beaked common dolphin is a highly vocal species with a wide sound production repertoire including whistles. Whistles are continuous, narrowband, frequency-modulated signals that can show geographic variation in dolphin species. This study tests whether the differences, highlighted by genetic studies, are recognisable in the acoustic features of short-beaked common dolphin’s whistles in the two adjacent areas of the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. From a selected sample of good quality whistles (514 recorded in the Atlantic and 193 in the Mediterranean) 10 parameters of duration, frequency and frequency modulation were measured. Comparing data among basins, differences were found for duration and all frequency parameters except for minimum frequency. Modulation parameters showed the highest coefficient of variation. Through discriminant analysis we correctly assigned 75.7% of sounds to their basins. Furthermore, micro-geographic analysis revealed similarity between the sounds recorded around the Azores and the Canary archipelagos and between the Bay of Biscay and the Mediterranean Sea. Results are in agreement with the hypothesis proposed by previous genetic studies that two distinct populations are present, still supposing a gene flow between the basins. This study is the first to compare shortbeaked common dolphin’s whistles of the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean areas.Data collection and processing in the Azores was conducted under projects POCTI/BSE/38991/01, PTDC/MAR/74071/2006 and M2.1.2/F/012/2011, supported by FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia) and DRCTC/SRCTE (Secretaria Regional de Ciência, Tecnologia e Equipamentos), FEDER funds, the Competitiveness Factors Operational (COMPETE), QREN European Social Fund and Proconvergencia Açores Program. We acknowledge funds provided by FCT to LARSyS Associated Laboratory & IMAR-University of the Azores/ the Thematic Area E of the Strategic Project (OE & Compete) and by the DRCTC – Government of the Azores pluriannual funding. M.A. Silva was supported by an FCT postdoctoral grant (SFRH/ BPD/29841/2006). I. Cascão and R. Prieto were supported by FCT doctoral grants (SFRH/BD/ 41192/2007 and SFRH/BD/32520/2006, respectively) and R. Prieto by a research grant from the Azores Regional Fund for Science and Technology (M3.1.5/F/115/2012). Data collection by SECAC (Society for the Study of Cetaceans in the Canary Archipelago) was funded by the U.E. LIFE programme – project LIFE INDEMARES (LIFE 07/NAT/E/000732)- and the Fundación Biodiversidad, under the Spanish Ministry of Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs (project ZEC-TURSIOPS).2014-11-0

Identification of a cytokine network sustaining neutrophil and Th17 activation in untreated early rheumatoid arthritis

© 2010 Cascão et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Introduction: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease characterized by sustained synovitis. Recently, several studies have proposed neutrophils and Th17 cells as key players in the onset and perpetuation of this disease. The main goal of this work was to determine whether cytokines driving neutrophil and Th17 activation are dysregulated in very early rheumatoid arthritis patients with less than 6 weeks of disease duration and before treatment (VERA). Methods: Cytokines related to neutrophil and Th17 activation were quantified in the serum of VERA and established RA patients and compared with other very early arthritis (VEA) and healthy controls. Synovial fluid (SF) from RA and osteoarthritis (OA) patients was also analyzed. Results: VERA patients had increased serum levels of cytokines promoting Th17 polarization (IL-1b and IL-6), as well as IL-8 and Th17-derived cytokines (IL-17A and IL-22) known to induce neutrophil-mediated inflammation. In established RA this pattern is more evident within the SF. Early treatment with methotrexate or corticosteroids led to clinical improvement but without an impact on the cytokine pattern. Conclusions: VERA patients already display increased levels of cytokines related with Th17 polarization and neutrophil recruitment and activation, a dysregulation also found in SF of established RA. 0 Thus, our data suggest that a cytokine-milieu favoring Th17 and neutrophil activity is an early event in RA pathogenesis.This work was supported by a grant from Sociedade Portuguesa de Reumatologia/Schering-Plough 2005. RAM and RC were funded by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) SFRH/BD/30247/2006 and SFRH/BD/40513/2007, respectively. MMS-C was funded by Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship PERG-2008-239422 and a EULAR Young Investigator Award

Nile Basin Focal Project. Synthesis report

The Nile basin experiences wide spread poverty, lack of food and land and water degradation. Because poverty is linked to access to water for crop, fish and livestock based livelihoods, improving access to water and increasing agricultural water productivity can potentially contribute substantially to poverty reduction. The major goal of the Nile Basin Focal project is to identify high potential investments that reduce poverty yet reverse trends in land and water degradation. This is done through the implementation of six interlinked work packages allowing us to examine water availability, access, use, productivity, institutions and their linkages to poverty. Important in the Nile BFP is knowledge management and the uptake of results for ultimate impact

Saposin C Coupled Lipid Nanovesicles Specifically Target Arthritic Mouse Joints for Optical Imaging of Disease Severity

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disease affecting approximately 1% of the population and is characterized by cartilage and bone destruction ultimately leading to loss of joint function. Early detection and intervention of disease provides the best hope for successful treatment and preservation of joint mobility and function. Reliable and non-invasive techniques that accurately measure arthritic disease onset and progression are lacking. We recently developed a novel agent, SapC-DOPS, which is composed of the membrane-associated lysosomal protein saposin C (SapC) incorporated into 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phospho-L-serine (DOPS) lipid nanovesicles. SapC-DOPS has a high fusogenic affinity for phosphatidylserine-enriched microdomains on surfaces of target cell membranes. Incorporation of a far-red fluorophore, CellVue Maroon (CVM), into the nanovesicles allows for in vivo non-invasive visualization of the agent in targeted tissue. Given that phosphatidylserine is present only on the inner leaflet of healthy plasma membranes but is “flipped” to the outer leaflet upon cell damage, we hypothesized that SapC-DOPS would target tissue damage associated with inflammatory arthritis due to local surface-exposure of phosphatidylserine. Optical imaging with SapC-DOPS-CVM in two distinct models of arthritis, serum-transfer arthritis (e.g., K/BxN) and collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) revealed robust SapC-DOPS-CVM specific localization to arthritic paws and joints in live animals. Importantly, intensity of localized fluorescent signal correlated with macroscopic arthritic disease severity and increased with disease progression. Flow cytometry of cells extracted from arthritic joints demonstrated that SapC-DOPS-CVM localized to an average of 7–8% of total joint cells and primarily to CD11b+Gr-1+ cells. Results from the current studies strongly support the application of SapC-DOPS-CVM for advanced clinical and research applications including: detecting early arthritis onset, assessing disease progression real-time in live subjects, and providing novel information regarding cell types that may mediate arthritis progression within joints

Oral tolerance inhibits pulmonary eosinophilia in a cockroach allergen induced model of asthma: a randomized laboratory study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Antigen desensitization through oral tolerance is becoming an increasingly attractive treatment option for allergic diseases. However, the mechanism(s) by which tolerization is achieved remain poorly defined. In this study we endeavored to induce oral tolerance to cockroach allergen (CRA: a complex mixture of insect components) in order to ameliorate asthma-like, allergic pulmonary inflammation.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We compared the pulmonary inflammation of mice which had received four CRA feedings prior to intratracheal allergen sensitization and challenge to mice fed PBS on the same time course. Respiratory parameters were assessed by whole body unrestrained plethysmography and mechanical ventilation with forced oscillation. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BAL) and lung homogenate (LH) were assessed for cytokines and chemokines by ELISA. BAL inflammatory cells were also collected and examined by light microscopy.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>CRA feeding prior to allergen sensitization and challenge led to a significant improvement in respiratory health. Airways hyperreactivity measured indirectly via enhanced pause (Penh) was meaningfully reduced in the CRA-fed mice compared to the PBS fed mice (2.3 ± 0.4 vs 3.9 ± 0.6; p = 0.03). Directly measured airways resistance confirmed this trend when comparing the CRA-fed to the PBS-fed animals (2.97 ± 0.98 vs 4.95 ± 1.41). This effect was not due to reduced traditional inflammatory cell chemotactic factors, Th2 or other cytokines and chemokines. The mechanism of improved respiratory health in the tolerized mice was due to significantly reduced eosinophil numbers in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (43300 ± 11445 vs 158786 ± 38908; p = 0.007) and eosinophil specific peroxidase activity in the lung homogenate (0.59 ± 0.13 vs 1.19 ± 0.19; p = 0.017). The decreased eosinophilia was likely the result of increased IL-10 in the lung homogenate of the tolerized mice (6320 ± 354 ng/mL vs 5190 ± 404 ng/mL, p = 0.02).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results show that oral tolerization to CRA can improve the respiratory health of experimental mice in a CRA-induced model of asthma-like pulmonary inflammation by reducing pulmonary eosinophilia.</p

Mer receptor tyrosine kinase mediates both tethering and phagocytosis of apoptotic cells

Billions of inflammatory leukocytes die and are phagocytically cleared each day. This regular renewal facilitates the normal termination of inflammatory responses, suppressing pro-inflammatory mediators and inducing their anti-inflammatory counterparts. Here we investigate the role of the receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) Mer and its ligands Protein S and Gas6 in the initial recognition and capture of apoptotic cells (ACs) by macrophages. We demonstrate extremely rapid binding kinetics of both ligands to phosphatidylserine (PtdSer)-displaying ACs, and show that ACs can be co-opsonized with multiple PtdSer opsonins. We further show that macrophage phagocytosis of ACs opsonized with Mer ligands can occur independently of a requirement for αV integrins. Finally, we demonstrate a novel role for Mer in the tethering of ACs to the macrophage surface, and show that Mer-mediated tethering and subsequent AC engulfment can be distinguished by their requirement for Mer kinase activity. Our results identify Mer as a receptor uniquely capable of both tethering ACs to the macrophage surface and driving their subsequent internalization

Why do dolphins form mixed-species associations in the Azores ?

Mixed-species associations are temporary associations between individuals of different species that are often observed in birds, primates and cetaceans. They have been interpreted as a strategy to reduce predation risk, enhance foraging success and/or provide a social advantage. In the archipelago of the Azores, four species of dolphins are commonly involved in mixed-species associations: the common dolphin, Delphinus delphis, the bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops truncatus, the striped dolphin, Stenella coeruleoalba, and the spotted dolphin, Stenella frontalis. In order to understand the reasons why dolphins associate, we analysed field data collected since 1999 by research scientists and trained observers placed onboard fishing vessels. In total, 113 mixed-species groups were observed out of 5720 sightings. The temporal distribution, habitat (water depth, distance to the coast), behaviour (i.e. feeding, travelling, socializing), size and composition of mixed-species groups were compared with those of single-species groups. Results did not support the predation avoidance hypothesis and gave little support to the social advantage hypothesis. The foraging advantage hypothesis was the most convincing. However, the benefits of mixed-species associations appeared to depend on the species. Associations were likely to be opportunistic in the larger bottlenose dolphin, while there seemed to be some evolutionary constraints favouring associations in the rarer striped dolphin. Comparison with previous studies suggests that the formation of mixed-species groups depends on several environmental factors, and therefore may constitute an adaptive response