All is fish that comes to the net: metabarcoding for rapid fisheries catch assessment

Monitoring marine resource exploitation is a key activity in fisheries science and biodiversity conservation. Since research surveys are time‐consuming and costly, fishery‐dependent data (i.e. derived directly from fishing vessels) are increasingly credited with a key role in expanding the reach of ocean monitoring. Fishing vessels may be seen as widely ranging data‐collecting platforms, which could act as a fleet of sentinels for monitoring marine life, in particular exploited stocks. Here, we investigate the possibility of assessing catch composition of single hauls carried out by trawlers by applying DNA metabarcoding to the dense water draining from fishing nets just after the end of hauling operations (hereafter ‘slush’). We assess the performance of this approach in portraying β‐diversity and examining the quantitative relationship between species abundances in the catch and DNA amount in the slush (read counts generated by amplicon sequencing). We demonstrate that the assemblages identified using DNA in the slush satisfactorily mirror those returned by visual inspection of net content (about 71% of species and 86% of families of fish) and detect a strong relationship between read counts and species abundances in the catch. We therefore argue that this approach could be upscaled to serve as a powerful source of information on the structure of demersal assemblages and the impact of fisheries

Single nucleotide polymorphisms of ABCC5 and ABCG1 transporter genes correlate to irinotecan-associated gastrointestinal toxicity in colorectal cancer patients: a DMET microarray profiling study.

Abstract Recent findings have disclosed the role of UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) 1A1*28 on the haematological toxicity induced by irinotecan (CPT-11), a drug commonly used in the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). We investigated the pharmacogenomic profile of irinotecan-induced gastrointestinal (GI) toxicity by the novel drug-metabolizing enzyme and transporter (DMET) microarray genotyping platform. Twenty-six mCRC patients who had undergone to irinotecan-based chemotherapy were enrolled in a case (patients experiencing > grade 3 gastrointestinal, (GI) toxicity) - control (matched patients without GI toxicity) study. A statistically significant difference of SNP genotype distribution was found in the case versus control group. The homozygous genotype C/C in the (rs562) ABCC5 gene occurred in 6/9 patients with GI toxicity versus 1/17 patients without GI toxicity (P=0.0022). The homozygous genotype G/G in the (rs425215) ABCG1 was found in 7/9 patients with GI toxicity versus 4/17 patients without GI toxicity (P=0.0135). The heterozygous genotype G/A in the 388G>A (rs2306283) OATP1B1/SLCO1B1 was found in 3/9 patients with grade > 3 GI toxicity versus 14/17 patients without GI toxicity (P=0.0277). DNA extracted from peripheral blood cells was genotyped by DMET Plus chip on Affymetrix array system. Genotype association was calculated by Fisher's exact test (two tailed) and relevant SNPs were further analyzed by direct sequencing. We have identified 3 SNPs mapping in ABCG1, ABCC5 and OATP1B1/SLCO1B1 transporter genes associated with GI toxicity induced by irinotecan in mCRC patients expanding the available knowledge of irinogenomics. The DMET microarray platform is an emerging technology for easy identification of new genetic variants for personalized medicine

EXTRAFISCALIDADE E ENERGIA SOLAR FOTOVOLTAICA: O USO DA TRIBUTAÇÃO AMBIENTAL NA PROMOÇÃO DA SUSTENTABILIDADE

A extrafiscalidade aplicada ao setor de energia solar fotovoltaica tem o intuito de fomentar a produção energética sustentável no país. O Estado tem o dever de estimular o mercado interno sempre aliado ao desenvolvimento sustentável, estimulando a criação e o fortalecimento de empresas inovadoras, seja para fins de extensão da qualidade de vida da humanidade ou para finalidades comerciais e industriais. Assim, buscou-se analisar se a tributação ambiental é um aliado do direito na busca por sustentabilidade e, portanto, se os tributos ambientais aplicados à energia solar fotovoltaica podem auxiliar a encontrar o equilíbrio entre a proteção e a preservação ambiental. O presente trabalho utilizou-se do método de pesquisas bibliográficas, consultando a doutrina especializada, a legislação vigente e as normativas técnicas da área, caracterizando uma pesquisa qualitativa e descritiva. Deste modo, considera-se que o caminho a percorrer ainda é longo no que tange a concessão de extrafiscalidade que possa estimular políticas públicas efetivas com intuito de incentivar a produção de energia limpa e renovável no país.