Growth and reproduction of <i>Xyrichthys novacula</i> (Pisces: Labridae) in the Mediterranean Sea

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Observations on the reproductive cycle, age and growth of the salema, <em>Sarpa salpa</em> (Osteichthyes: Sparidae) along the western central coast of Italy

La maduración sexual y crecimiento de Sarpa salpa (Linnaeus, 1758) en las costas del Mediterráneo italiano (Italia central) fueron estudiadas a partir de la recolecta de ejemplares muertos accidentalmente (n = 105) como consecuencia de las explosiones submarinas acaecidas durante la construcción del puerto de Civitavecchia en 1999, así como de ejemplares recolectados mediante redes de arrastre (n = 339). Esta especie se caracteriza por un hermafroditismo protándrico, ocurriendo el proceso de cambio sexual entre los 24 y 31 cm TL, los cuales corresponden a un amplio rango de edades (3-7 años). La talla de maduración (L50) fue de 19,5 cm, siendo la casi la totalidad de los individuos eran de sexo masculino. Se observaron dos períodos diferentes de reproducción: uno en primavera, de marzo a mayo y otro en otoño, de finales de septiembre a noviembre. Se observó, durante el primer año, un crecimiento compensatorio ocurrido entre los individuos nacidos en los dos períodos. Se identificó en los otolitos un modelo anual y regular de deposición de anillos. Se observó el depósito de un anillo translúcido durante los meses invernales, mientras que otro opaco se formó durante los meses de verano. Las composición por edades y tallas retrocalculadas se utilizaron para estimar los parámetros de la ecuación de crecimiento de Von Bertalanffy, es decir: L∞ = 37,27 cm, K = 0,27 año-1 y t0 = -0,53 año. S. salpa demostró un crecimiento isométrico (b = 3,04; P = 0,84; t = 0,19)

Can Positive Framing Reduce Nocebo Side Effects? Current Evidence and Recommendation for Future Research

Although critical for informed consent, side effect warnings can contribute directly to poorer patient outcomes because they often induce negative expectations that trigger nocebo side effects. Communication strategies that reduce the development of nocebo side effects whilst maintaining informed consent are therefore of considerable interest. We reviewed theoretical and empirical evidence for the use of framing strategies to achieve this. Framing refers to the way in which information about the likelihood or significance of side effects is presented (e.g., negative frame: 30% will experience headache vs. positive frame: 70% will not experience headache), with the rationale that positively framing such information could diminish nocebo side effects. Relatively few empirical studies (k = 6) have tested whether framing strategies can reduce nocebo side effects. Of these, four used attribute framing and two message framing. All but one of the studies found a significant framing effect on at least one aspect of side effects (e.g., experience, attribution, threat), suggesting that framing is a promising strategy for reducing nocebo effects. However, our review also revealed some important open questions regarding these types of framing effects, including, the best method of communicating side effects (written, oral, pictorial), optimal statistical presentation (e.g., frequencies vs. percentages), whether framing affects perceived absolute risk of side effects, and what psychological mechanisms underlie framing effects. Future research that addresses these open questions will be vital for understanding the circumstances in which framing are most likely to be effective

Strain-dependent and distinctive T-cell responses to HIV antigens following immunisation of mice with differing chimpanzee adenovirus vaccine vectors

In vivo vaccination studies are conventionally conducted in a single mouse strain with results, only reflecting responses to a single immunogenetic background. We decided to examine the immune response to an HIV transgene (gag, pol and nef fusion protein) in 3 strains of mice (CBA, C57BL/6 and BALB/c) to determine the spectrum of responses and in addition to determine whether the serotype of the adenoviral vector used (ChAd3 and ChAd63) impacted the outcome of response. Our results demonstrated that all three strains of mice responded to the transgene and that the magnitude of responses were different between the strains. The C57BL/6 strain showed the lowest range of responses compared to the other strains and, very few responses were seen to the same peptide pool in all three strains of mice. In CBA and BALB/c mice there were significant differences in IFNγ production dependent on the adenoviral vector used. Our results suggest that employing a single strain of mouse may underestimate the efficacy and efficiency of vaccine products

Patients’ attitudes about the use of placebo treatments: telephone survey

Objective To examine the attitudes of US patients about the use of placebo treatments in medical care. Design: One time telephone surveys. Setting: Northern California. Participants 853 members of Kaiser Permanente Northern California, aged 18-75, who had been seen by a primary care provider for a chronic health problem at least once in the prior six months. Results The response rate was 53.4% (853/1598) of all members who were eligible to participate, and 73.2% (853/1165) of all who could be reached by telephone. Most respondents (50-84%) judged it acceptable for doctors to recommend placebo treatments under conditions that varied according to doctors’ level of certainty about the benefits and safety of the treatment, the purpose of the treatment, and the transparency with which the treatment was described to patients. Only 21.9% of respondents judged that it was never acceptable for doctors to recommend placebo treatments. Respondents valued honesty by physicians regarding the use of placebos and believed that non-transparent use could undermine the relationship between patients and physicians. Conclusions: Most patients in this survey seemed favorable to the idea of placebo treatments and valued honesty and transparency in this context, suggesting that physicians should consider engaging with patients to discuss their values and attitudes about the appropriateness of using treatments aimed at promoting placebo responses in the context of clinical decision making

Interactive effects of fishing effort reduction and climate change in a central Mediterranean fishing area: Insights from bio-economic indices derived from a dynamic food-web model

Disentangling the effects of mixed fisheries and climate change across entire food-webs requires a description of ecosystems using tools that can quantify interactive effects as well as bio-economic aspects. A calibrated dynamic model for the Sicily Channel food web, made up of 72 functional groups and including 13 fleet segments, was developed. A temporal simulation until 2050 was conducted to evaluate the bio-economic interactive effects of the reduction of bottom trawling fishing effort by exploring different scenarios that combine fishery and climate change. Our results indicate that direct and indirect effects produce a net increase in biomass of many functional groups with immediate decline of trawlers’ catches and economic incomes, followed by a long term increase mainly due to biomass rebuilding of commercial species which lasts 5-10 years after fishing reduction. Synergistic and antagonistic effects caused by changes in the fishing effort and in climate characterize a specific functional group’s response in biomass which, in turn, modulate also the catch and income of the other fleets, and especially of those sharing target resources. However, trawler’s intra-fleet competition is higher than the others fleet effects. In the medium term, the effects of fishing effort reduction are higher than those of climate change and seem to make exploitation of marine resources more sustainable over time and fishery processes more efficient by improving ecosystem health

Distribution characteristics of pandalid shrimps (Decapoda: Caridea: Pandalidae) along the Central Mediterranean Sea

The genus Plesionika is represented in the Mediterranean Sea by eight species, six of which,Plesionikaacanthonotus, P. antigai, P. edwardsii, P. gigliolii, P. heterocarpus and P. martia, are very common on muddy bottoms of the continental slope. During nine experimental trawl surveys a total of 29,038 individuals of these six pandalid species, was collected off the central western coasts of Italy (central Mediterranean) in order to study population structure and spatial distribution. P . antigaiinhabits the shelf break and upper slope; P. heterocarpus shows a wide bathymetric distribution, from the shelf-break to the upper slope; P. edwardsii and P. gigliolii occur in the upper slope. P. acanthonotus and P. martia occur in the deepest depths investigated. Segregation by size is revealed for the species that inhabit the same bottoms. The non-homogenous spatial distribution of Plesionikaspecies in the study area was probably related to the spatial differences in the magnitude of primary production in the area

How is artificial lighting affecting the catches in deep water rose shrimp trawl fishery of the Central Mediterranean Sea?

The effect of artificial lights mounted on the headrope trawl net on the catch of deep water rose shrimp (Parapenaeus longirostris), European hake (Merluccius merluccius), and Atlantic horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus) was tested in a survey carried out on-board a commercial trawler off the SW Sicilian coast. A total of 18 repeated nocturnal hauls, alternating without (control) and with (test) LED lights (10 green and 10 white) according to the fishers’ setup, were conducted. Overall, the test net catch rates were not significantly higher than those of the control net (Kruskal-Wallis test, p &gt; 0.05), except for P. longirostris (p &lt; 0.05). Conversely, the two-tailed Kolmogorov–Smirnov test revealed statistical differences in the size structure of P. longirostris, M. merluccius, and T. trachurus between the test and control nets (p &lt; 0.05). Using generalised linear mixed models, the test net was found to yield higher catches of undersized individuals of the three species and adults of P. longirostris than the control net. Our study results are discussed in the context of the exploitation and management of Mediterranean trawl fisheries

Mirroring everyday clinical practice in clinical trial design: a new concept to improve the external validity of randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trials in the pharmacological treatment of major depression

Background: Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials constitute the gold standard in clinical research when testing the efficacy of new psychopharmacological interventions in the treatment of major depression. However, the blinded use of placebo has been found to influence clinical trial outcomes and may bias patient selection. Discussion: To improve clinical trial design in major depression so as to reflect clinical practice more closely we propose to present patients with a balanced view of the benefits of study participation irrespective of their assignment to placebo or active treatment. In addition every participant should be given the option to finally receive the active medication. A research agenda is outlined to evaluate the impact of the proposed changes on the efficacy of the drug to be evaluated and on the demographic and clinical characteristics of the enrollment fraction with regard to its representativeness of the eligible population. Summary: We propose a list of measures to be taken to improve the external validity of double-blind, placebocontrolled trials in major depression. The recommended changes to clinical trial design may also be relevant for other psychiatric as well as medical disorders in which expectations regarding treatment outcome may affect the outcome itself

Site-specific integration mediated by a hybrid adenovirus/adeno-associated virus vector

Adenovirus (Ad) and adeno-associated virus(AAV) have attractive and complementary properties that canbe exploited for gene transfer purposes. Ad vectors are probablythe most efficient vehicles to deliver foreign genes both invitro and in vivo. AAV exhibits the unique ability to establishlatency by efficiently integrating at a specific locus of humanchromosome 19 (AAVS1). Two viral elements are necessaryfor the integration at AAVS1: Rep68y78 and the invertedterminal repeats (AAV-ITRs). In this study, we report thedevelopment of two helper-dependent adenoviral (HD) vectors,one carrying the Rep78 gene, the other an AAV-ITRflankedtransgene. Although Rep proteins have been demonstratedto interfere with Ad replication, HD Rep78 vector wassuccessfully amplified on serial passages in 293CRE4 cellswith a yield of 50–100 transducing units per cell. DNAintegration at the AAVS1 site also was demonstrated inhepatoma cells coinfected with the HD-expressing Rep78 andwith the second HD vector carrying a transgene flanked byAAV-ITRs. The high transduction efficiency, large cloningcapacity, and high titer of the HD, combined with the sitespecificintegration machinery provided by AAV-derived components,make the AdyAAV hybrid viruses a promising vehiclefor gene therap