Success Stories in Asian Aquaculture

The stories presented in this book reflect the unique nature of Asian aquaculture, providing first-time insight into how and why it has become so successful. Overall, the book demonstrates how the resiliency, adaptability, and innovation of small-scale aquaculture farmers have been crucial to this success. It also places aquaculture development in Asia into a wider global context, and describes its relationship to natural systems, social conditions, and economics. The book is unique in its in-depth presentation of primary research on Asian aquaculture, and in demonstrating how aquaculture can have a lasting positive impact on livelihoods, food security, and sustainable development

Slaveries and new slaveries: Which role for human dignity?

This paper aims at reflecting on the role of the notion of "human dignity" with respect to slavery and new slaveries. First of all, a very brief reflection is carried out on the different legal meanings of the notion at stake in general terms (para. 2). On this basis, some remarks are developed with specific regard to the role played by dignity concerning new slaveries in the case law of international tribunals (European and Inter-American Courts of Human Rights, International Criminal Court, International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia: paras 3 and 4), particularly in the very recent case law of the European Court (para. 5) Such a role is far from being insignificant: the idea is submitted that the notion of dignity clearly plays the role of a general principle of human rights law, being also provided with the cor-responding legal status (para. 6

Searches Incident to Arrest and the Aftermath of Arizona v. Gant – A Circuit Split as to Gant’s Applicability to Non-Vehicular Searches

The nation’s struggle to balance individual rights of privacy and legitimate law enforcement efforts continues without any clear resolution in sight. The Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution guarantees citizens the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, stating that search warrants shall be issued only with a showing of probable cause, a description of the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. Complementing the warrant requirement is the principal that searches done without a warrant are per se unreasonable. The Supreme Court, however, has recognized exceptions to the warrant requirement under certain situations, based on various legal theories and factual scenarios. This article will discuss only one of these exceptions, searches incident to arrest. The evolving standards and rules for these searches, their significance, how and when they apply, and recent changes in the scope of these searches will be the main focus of this article. In addition, a circuit split regarding this issue will be discussed and analyzed

Organochlorine Pesticides in the Pantanal: A Qualitative and Semi-Quantitative Water Analysis

As the largest freshwater wetland in the world, the Pantanal possesses a wealth of floral and faunal biodiversity. It serves its ecosystems through various functions and the wetland\u27s hydrology is vital to the greater region of South America. However, the Pantanal faces numerous threats from the expansion of industrial soybean agriculture into Mato Grosso, Brazil, the largest of which may be pesticide pollution. Yet, few studies have been conducted to assess pesticide contamination of this wetland. In this study, a qualitative and semi-quantitative organochlorine pesticide analysis was conducted. Water samples were collected June - July 2012 from three different rivers in the Northern Pantanal: Rio Cuiabá, Rio Perigara/São Lourenço, and Rio Piquiri. Each sample point was visited three times producing a total of 188 water samples. These samples were then analyzed with Solid-Phase Microextraction (SPME) and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). A land cover analysis based on the GlobCover 2009 spatial data set was also conducted to determine forest, agriculture, shrub/grass, urban, and water extents in 2km, 5km, 10km, and 25km buffers. Ten samples were found to contain organochlorine pesticide contamination. The three pesticides identified were endosulfan sulfate, p,p\u27-DDD and m,p\u27-DDD, at concentrations of 3ppb, 0.5 – 2ppb, and 0.7 – 3 ppb, respectively. The land cover analysis exhibited no notable differences in land use among the three rivers. With this study it was determined that organochlorine pesticides are present in the rivers of the Northern Pantanal which can have significant effects on the fauna and flora of the wetland. Organochlorine pesticides are exceptionally potent to organisms and biomagnify in food webs. As soy industrial plantations encroach further on the wetland\u27s borders, these pesticide levels are most likely to increase and, therefore, the health of the wetland and its inhabitants could potentially be severely impacted

Imeväisiän epilepsiaa sairastavien imeväisten katsekäyttäytyminen ja sen yhteys myöhempään neurokognitiiviseen kehitykseen

Katsekäyttäytymisen analysointia käytetään nykypäivänä yleisesti auttamaan erilaisten neurologisten sairauksien diagnosoinnissa ja poissulkemisessa sekä auttamaan tutkijoita ymmärtämään paremmin kognitiota aikaisissa elämänvaiheissa. Sen käyttöä imeväisiän epilepsiaa sairastavien lapsien kehityksen arvioinnissa ja seurannassa ei kuitenkaan ole vielä tutkittu perusteellisesti. Siksi tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli tutkia imeväisiän epilepsiaa sairastavien imeväisten katsekäyttäytymisen yhteyttä heidän myöhemmin toteutuneeseen hermoston kehitykseen. Yhteyden ja sen ennustekyvyn tutkimiseksi luotiin kolme mallia. Kuusikymmentäkolme lasta, joiden epileptiset kohtaukset alkoivat ennen 12 kuukauden ikää, osallistuivat tutkimukseen vanhempien vapaaehtoisella suostumuksella. Imeväisten katsekäyttäyminen nauhoitettiin Tobii-Pro-X3-120:lla kahdessa mittauspisteessä. Tulokset osoittivat, että imeväisten alkuperäinen kyky kiinnittää katse, muutokset katseen siirtämisen todennäköisyydessä ensimmäisen 12 elinkuukauden aikana sekä rakenteellinen etiologia olivat merkittävästi yhteydessä imeväisten kehitystulokseen 24 kuukauden iässä. Siinä missä rakenteellinen etiologia liittyi merkitsevästi huonompaan kehitystulokseen, hyvä alkuperäinen katseenkiinnittämiskyky ja katseen siirron todennäköisyyden paraneminen ensimmäisen elinvuoden aikana olivat yhteydessä merkittävästi positiivisempaan tulokseen. Nämä havainnot viittaavat siihen, että katsekäyttäytyminen varhaisessa iässä on olennaista myöhemmän kehityksen kannalta imeväisille, jotka sairastavat imeväisiän epilepsiaa. Näin ollen katseenseuranta voisi tarjota keinoja arvioida imeväisiän epilepsiaa sairastavien imeväisten myöhemmin toteutuvia neurokognitiivisia tuloksia jo varhaisessa iässä.The analysis of gaze behaviour is nowadays commonly employed to help with the diagnosis and exclusion of differential neurological conditions as well as to help researchers better understand cognition in the early stages of life. However, its application in the developmental evaluation and follow-up of children with early-onset epilepsy has not been profoundly studied yet. Therefore, the current study aimed to investigate the association between the gaze behaviour of infants with early-onset epilepsy and their future neurodevelopmental outcome. To study the association and its predictive ability, three models were created. Sixty-three infants with epileptic seizure onset before 12 months of age participated in the study with the voluntary consent of their parents. Infants’ gaze behaviour was recorded with Tobii Pro-X3-120 at two measure points. The results showed infants’ initial ability to fixate their gaze, changes in their gaze shift probability in the first 12 months of life, and structural aetiology to be significantly associated with the infants' developmental outcome at 24 months of age. Where the structural aetiology was significantly associated with poorer developmental outcome, good initial fixation ability and improvements in the infants’ gaze shift probability during their first year of life were significantly associated with more positive outcome. These findings suggest that gaze behaviour at an early age is an essential predictor of later development in infants with early-onset epilepsy. Hence, eye-tracking could provide means to evaluate the later neurocognitive outcome of infants with early-onset epilepsy at an early age

Efficient Synthesis of Room Acoustics via Scattering Delay Networks

An acoustic reverberator consisting of a network of delay lines connected via scattering junctions is proposed. All parameters of the reverberator are derived from physical properties of the enclosure it simulates. It allows for simulation of unequal and frequency-dependent wall absorption, as well as directional sources and microphones. The reverberator renders the first-order reflections exactly, while making progressively coarser approximations of higher-order reflections. The rate of energy decay is close to that obtained with the image method (IM) and consistent with the predictions of Sabine and Eyring equations. The time evolution of the normalized echo density, which was previously shown to be correlated with the perceived texture of reverberation, is also close to that of IM. However, its computational complexity is one to two orders of magnitude lower, comparable to the computational complexity of a feedback delay network (FDN), and its memory requirements are negligible

Backing tracks/play-along materials: origins of several currently popular platforms and strategies for their use.

The objective of this research is to discuss if the use of backing tracks/play-along materials can be an effective method for musical development. For this end, I interviewed six influential musicians who answered particular questions in order to have a better understanding about the real-world scenario of the use of backing track materials. Based on their answers, I found that the learning engagement and/or musical development happen when specific strategies while using such materials are made

Ataxias espinocerebelares tipo 2 e tipo 3 : uma perspectiva evolutiva

As Ataxias Espinocerebelares tipo 2 (SCA2) e tipo 3 ou doença de Machado Joseph (SCA3/DMJ) fazem parte de um grupo de doenças autossômicas dominantes neurodegenerativas conhecidas como poliglutaminopatias, causadas por expansões de sequências repetitivas traduzidas do trinucleotídeo CAG (CAGexp) que por sua vez codificam tratos expandidos e neurotóxicos de glutamina nas proteínas associadas. Na SCA2 e SCA3/DMJ, as CAGexp estão localizadas respectivamente nos genes ATXN2 e ATXN3 e apresentam instabilidades em sua transmissão, tendendo a aumentar de tamanho a cada geração. A idade de início dos sintomas, essencialmente motores, apresenta uma correlação inversa com a CAGexp. Dessa forma, há uma tendência dos sintomas começarem mais cedo na prole do que no genitor afetado, fenômeno conhecido como antecipação. O objetivo deste trabalho foi ajudar a compreender como doenças neurodegenerativas autossômicas dominantes, que tendem a se manifestar mais cedo a cada geração, não são eliminadas pela seleção natural, através do estudo da dinâmica dos seus alelos expandidos. Inicialmente, realizamos duas revisões sistemáticas - uma para SCA3 e outra para SCA2 - nas quais consolidamos as evidências até hoje obtidas sobre antecipação, instabilidade, fitness e segregação de alelos. Quando possível, metanalizamos as forças evolutivas que pudessem influenciar a frequência alélica dos CAGexp no ATXN3 e no ATXN2. Na sequência, propusemos um modelo matemático baseado em uma equação clássica da genética de populações, mas voltado à previsão da dinâmica de alelos dominantes CAGexp. Alimentamos este modelo com os dados obtidos das revisões sistemáticas e metanálises sobre o ATXN3 e o ATXN2 e realizamos simulações computacionais para prever em quantas gerações os alelos expandidos se manteriam em mil linhagens por gene, e em simulações que durassem até 650 gerações. Os resultados das simulações apontaram que o ATXN3 e o ATXN2 expandidos apresentam dinâmicas distintas. Várias linhagens com o alelo expandido no ATXN3 se mantiveram por 650 gerações, denotando que a combinação do fitness elevado e da distorção da segregação favorecendo o alelo mutante na SCA3/DMJ - dados observacionais metanalizados - parecem compensar a seleção negativa produzida pela antecipação. Nossos resultados convergem com os resultados descritos na literatura, que apontam que a SCA3/DMJ apresenta poucas origens ancestrais antigas, sem descrição de mutações de novo. Em contraste, as simulações realizadas para o ATXN2 resultaram em extinção das linhagens em uma mediana (variação) de 10 (1 a 149) gerações. Se os dados observacionais até hoje obtidos - e usados nas nossas simulações - para fitness, distorção da segregação e antecipação da SCA2 estão corretos, a dinâmica que o nosso modelo descreveu para o ATXN2 expandido obriga-nos a prever que mutações de novo sejam um fator que explique a manutenção da SCA2 nas populações. Para sustentar essa hipótese, seria necessário se demonstrar que as famílias SCA2 tenham origens ancestrais distintas. Estudos sobre haplótipos ancestrais são escassos na literatura. Os mais robustos genotiparam o rs695871 e apontaram para a existência de um haplótipo comum às famílias estudadas. Para responder a essa questão, realizamos então o estudo de 47 famílias SCA2 do Brasil, do Peru e do Uruguai, nas quais determinamos haplótipos intragênicos construídos com os marcadores rs9300319, rs695871, rs593226, D12S1333 e D12S1672 ligados ao CAGexp no ATXN2. Encontramos seis haplótipos ancestrais nas famílias SCA2. Os haplótipos rs9300319-rs695871-rs593226 mais comuns foram o T-C-G e o C-C-G; digna de nota foi também a descrição de três haplótipos contendo o alelo G no SNP rs695871: C-G-A, T-G-A e T-G-G. Nossos achados aumentaram sobremaneira a variedade de origens da SCA2 e vieram ao encontro das inferências do nosso modelo matemático, que previam a necessidade de haver múltiplas origens para sustentar a presença da SCA2 nas populações. Assim, concluímos que o modelo sobre a dinâmica dos CAGexp pareceu ter previsto eventos confirmados pela observação do que acontece com a SCA2 e a SCA3/MJD. Embora esse modelo ainda precise ser testado para outras poliglutaminopatias, nós propomos que ele deverá dar conta de muitos fenômenos que ajudam a explicar a existência dessas doenças nas populações.Spinocerebellar ataxias type 2 (SCA2) and type 3 or Machado Joseph's disease (SCA3/MJD) belong to a group of autosomal dominant neurodegenerative diseases known as polyglutaminopathies (polyQ diseases). PolyQ diseases are caused by expansions of translated repetitive sequences of the CAG trinucleotide (CAGexp) that in turn encode expanded and neurotoxic polyglutamine tracts in associated proteins. CAGexp are located in the ATXN2 and ATXN3 genes in SCA2 and SCA3/DMJ, respectively, and are unstable upon transmission, tending to increase in size with each generation. The age of onset of symptoms, mainly motor, has an inverse correlation with CAGexp. There is a tendency for symptoms to start earlier in the offspring than in the affected parent, a phenomenon known as anticipation. The aim of the present thesis was to help understand how autosomal dominant neurodegenerative diseases, which tend to manifest earlier in each generation, are not eliminated by natural selection, through the study of the dynamics of their expanded alleles. Initially, we carried out two systematic reviews - one for SCA3/MJD and one for SCA2 - in which we consolidated the evidence obtained so far on anticipation, instability, fitness and allele segregation. When possible, we meta-analyzed the evolutionary forces that could influence the allele frequency of CAGexp in ATXN3 and ATXN2. Next, we proposed a mathematical model based on a classical equation from population genetics, but aimed at predicting the dynamics of dominant CAGexp alleles. We fed this model with data obtained from systematic reviews and meta-analyses on ATXN3 and ATXN2 and performed computer simulations to predict in how many generations the expanded alleles would remain at 1,000 lineages per gene, and in simulations lasting up to 650 generations. The simulation results showed that the expanded ATXN3 and ATXN2 present different dynamics. Several lineages carrying the expanded ATXN3 allele were maintained for 650 generations, indicating that the combination of high fitness and segregation distortion favoring the mutant allele in SCA3/DMJ – meta-analyzed observational data - seems to compensate for the negative selection produced by anticipation. Our results converge with the results described in the literature, which indicate that SCA3/DMJ has few ancient ancestral origins, with no description of de novo mutations. In contrast, the simulations performed for the expanded ATXN2 resulted in extinction of all lineages in a median (range) of 10 (1 to 149) generations. If the observational data obtained so far - and used in our simulations - for fitness, segregation distortion and anticipation of SCA2 are correct, the dynamics that our model described for the expanded ATXN2 forces us to predict that de novo mutations are obligatory to maintain SCA2 in populations. To support this hypothesis, it would be necessary to demonstrate that SCA2 families have distinct ancestral origins. Studies on ancestral haplotypes are scarce in the literature. The most robust of them have genotyped rs695871 and pointed to the existence of one ancestral haplotype, common to the families studied. To answer this question, we carried out a study of 47 SCA2 families from Brazil, Peru and Uruguay, in which we determined intragenic haplotypes constructed with the markers rs9300319, rs695871, rs593226, D12S1333 and D12S1672 linked to CAGexp in ATXN2. We found six ancestral haplotypes in the SCA2 families. The most common rs9300319-rs695871-rs593226 haplotypes were T-C-G and C-C-G; noteworthy was also the description of three haplotypes containing the G allele in SNP rs695871: C-G-A, T-G-A and T-G-G. Our findings greatly increased the variety of SCA2 origins and met the inferences of our mathematical model, which predicted the need for multiple origins to support the presence of SCA2 in populations. Thus, we conclude that the model on the dynamics of CAGexp seemed to have predicted events confirmed by the observation of what happens with SCA2 and SCA3/MJD. Although this model still needs to be tested for other polyQ diseases, we propose that it should account for the majority of phenomena that explain the existence of these diseases in populations