Benthic community structure and sea urchin distribution : the bay of Diego-Suarez / Mrowicki, R.J., & Fanning, E. (eds)

The Bay of Diego-Suarez, considered to be one of the finest and largest natural harbours in the world, is located towards the northernmost tip of Madagascar in the Antsiranana province. Despite its historical and current use as a port, much of its convoluted perimeter is still somewhat untouched, harbouring pristine shorelines and subtidal coral reefs. The position of the bay between other regions in which high marine biodiversity has already been revealed suggests that it may also harbour high biodiversity. However, the relatively long coastline and limited connectivity of the bay with the Indian Ocean, in combination with existing anthropogenic activities, potentially make its marine environments susceptible to a range of environmental impacts including sedimentation, nutrification and pollution. The Frontier-Madagascar Marine Research Programme (FMMRP) became involved in conducting marine ecological survey work in the Bay of Diego-Suarez, north Madagascar, in April 2005, having relocated from its previous base at Anakao in southwest Madagascar. The rationale for the survey programme stemmed from the affiliation of the FMMRP with the Malagasy organisations Association Nationale pour la Gestion des Aires Protégées (ANGAP) and Service d’Appui a la Gestion de l’Environnement (SAGE), who were interested in identifying areas of the bay with particularly healthy coral reef systems. Additional environmental interest in the bay has arisen as a result of its proximity to surrounding terrestrial protected areas such as the newly managed Ramena complex, incorporating Orangea and Montagne des Français, and also Montagne d’Ambre. Since its relocation to the Diego-Suarez area, the FMMRP has compiled over two years’ worth of marine ecological data relating to benthic community composition, fish species abundance and population size structure, frequency of algae and invertebrate indicator species, and physical environmental parameters. Thus there exists an extensive dataset for the Bay of Diego-Suarez, from which details of the current condition of its marine habitats can be investigated and a baseline for temporal monitoring can be established. The primary purpose of this report is to signify the initial detailed dissection of the dataset and demonstrate the conclusions that can be made regarding the ecological status of coral reef systems within the bay. This has mostly involved the examination of benthic data, focusing upon variations in percentage cover of substrata and coral community characteristics as useful structural indicators of reef condition. Additionally, the report includes an assessment of the abundance and distribution of sea urchins and their relation to benthic community patterns, as a demonstration of the ability to interrelate different aspect of the FMMRP dataset to enhance the conclusions that can be drawn. Benthic community data were obtained from 380 line intercept transects conducted in different sectors of the Bay of Diego-Suarez between October 2005 and December 2007, representing a combined distance of 7,600 m. Sediment occupied the greatest overall proportion of the benthos (around 38%), especially in the western areas of the bay. Overall mean hard coral cover was around 15%, and tended to co-vary with other ‘hard’ substrata such as rock and rubble. In total, 38 scleractinian coral genera were recorded during survey work, in addition to a number of unidentified genera. The coral communities of the bay were dominated by Acropora and Porites spp., which comprised around 33% and 20% of total recorded hard coral cover, respectively. Hard coral cover and generic diversity appeared to be positively related. These indicators were greatest in the northeast area opposite the mouth of the bay, reaching mean values of around 37% and 6.8 genera, respectively. Here, the hard coral community was dominated by Acropora spp. and comprised a relatively high proportional cover of Galaxea spp. In the northwest of the bay, coral cover was approximately half as great and consisted primarily of species belonging to the genera Porites and Millepora. Habitats in this area were highly similar in terms of their overall coral community composition. Hard coral cover and diversity were generally lower in the southern portion of the bay, especially in more immediate proximity to the population centre of Diego-Suarez (around 2% and 1.5- 5.5 genera, respectively). Coral community composition was considerably more variable than in the northern portion of the bay. v After sediment and ‘hard’ substrata, seagrass formed the next major interplaying component of the benthic environment (around 10% overall proportional cover). The easternmost areas adjacent to the mouth of the bay were characterised by high seagrass cover, whic h reached around 48%. Little or no seagrass was encountered elsewhere, except at one locality in the northwest (around 13% cover). Macroalgae cover was low and less variable, reaching a maximum value of around 10% adjacent to Diego-Suarez. There were no differences between island and mainland sites in terms of overall benthic substratum characteristics, yet soft coral cover was significantly greater amongst island sectors. Sea urchin abundance data were obtained from 498 belt transects conducted between April 2006 and December 2007, representing a total area of 49,800 m2. A total of 6 species were recorded, of which Diadema setosum comprised by far the greatest relative abundance (96%) and observation frequency (55%). The greatest population densities of this species were encountered in the more exposed areas in the west and northwest, reaching around 1.5 m-2, and very few individuals were recorded in the eastern reaches. Data suggest a possible seasonal increase in D. setosum densities, corresponding with an increase in water temperature towards the end of the year. No significant correlation existed between D. setosum population density and coral cover, although these seemed to be inversely related in the central northern area of the bay. There was also no significant correlation with macroalgae cover. However, D. setosum density was positively and negatively associated with rubble and seagrass cover, respectively. There was a lack of a clear pattern amongst sectors with respect to overall benthic community characteristics, let alone between the density of D. setosum and benthic substratum composition. In conclusion, a relatively detailed map of benthic community composition has been produced for the Bay of Diego-Suarez, which shall be useful in elucidating the primary factors determining the condition of marine environments within the bay and developing effective sustainable management strategies. Further analysis, incorporating additional components of the FMMRP dataset, is required in order to further clarify our understanding of the key issues surrounding the current status of these coral reef systems. It is hoped that continued survey work will enable important long-term ecological monitoring of the marine environment of the bay and assessment of the effectiveness of any management initiatives that may be implemented

The B Street Residence Biophilic Design and the Colorado Home

The main focus of this Capstone has been exploratory—self-educational. After having learned, during the course of my studies in interior design, about the methodology of biophilic design (literally, “life-loving”)—which deals with the human psychological affinity for the natural world and attempting to reconcile that with the built environment, in order to create spaces that protect both body and mind—I wanted to experiment within that philosophy, to build my own biophilic design skills. This matched well with my long-running passion for sustainable design—the two methodologies are distinct but closely related, and when used in concert they represent a progressive vision for responsible, ecologically-sensitive design. From those starting parameters, I searched for an appropriate design context, a framework that would be simple enough to allow for creativity and generative experimentation, but substantial enough to yield a final product with designerly merit. The field of residential design strikes a good balance between these criteria, and a single-family home is small enough in scope that designing an entire building envelope and the interior would not be too great a challenge for a single person. But in order to complicate the framework slightly, I chose a particularly challenging site located in the downtown area of Pueblo, Colorado—a small city, not known for its urban life. In this way, the project includes an element of urban revitalization as well, a subtle argument for a new way of thinking about the home in relation its geographic context. The concept of a mixed-use single-family home is largely untested, and although the full urban-planning implications are not within the scope of this project or my abilities, they provided another pie into which this project could stick its fingers. A significant factor in both biophilic and sustainable design is the importance of place—designs that operate under these methodologies should respond to the local climate, culture, and existing vernacular architecture of a place in order to avoid the facelessness that characterizes much of postmodern design. The specific site then became of importance for the development of the cultural situating of the design—the existing 19th century architecture of downtown, the regional Southwestern vernacular, and the architectural encounters from a particularly interesting trip to Istanbul might make for strange design bedfellows on paper, but part of the challenge for all designers is controlling the numerous contextual threads of any design, weaving them into a cohesive whole while preventing them from tangling. This project, ultimately, represents an exploration and development of my own abilities to reconcile the existing cultural implications of a place, the aesthetic inspiration I have found in my travels abroad, the methodologies of biophilic design and the strategies of sustainable design, and an imagining of what home can truly be. The final product is a building designed from the ground up, and from the inside out, with all of these considerations in mind—and, most importantly, the consideration for the health and happiness of the people who might someday occupy it

Observations on Animal and Human Health During the Outbreak of \u3ci\u3eMycobacterium bovis \u3c/i\u3ein Game Farm Wapiti in Alberta

This report describes and discusses the history, clinical, pathologic, epidemiologic, and human health aspects of an outbreak of Mycobacterium bovis infection in domestic wapiti in Alberta between 1990 and 1993, shortly after legislative changes allowing game farming. The extent and seriousness of the outbreak of M. bovis in wapiti in Alberta was not fully known at its onset. The clinical findings in the first recognized infected wapiti are presented and the postmortem records for the herd in which the animal resided are summarized. Epidemiologic findings from the subsequent field investigation are reviewed, the results of recognition and investigation of human exposure are updated, and recommendations for reduction of human exposure are presented

Elucidation of the RamA Regulon in Klebsiella pneumoniae Reveals a Role in LPS Regulation

Klebsiella pneumoniae is a significant human pathogen, in part due to high rates of multidrug resistance. RamA is an intrinsic regulator in K. pneumoniae established to be important for the bacterial response to antimicrobial challenge; however, little is known about its possible wider regulatory role in this organism during infection. In this work, we demonstrate that RamA is a global transcriptional regulator that significantly perturbs the transcriptional landscape of K. pneumoniae, resulting in altered microbe-drug or microbe-host response. This is largely due to the direct regulation of 68 genes associated with a myriad of cellular functions. Importantly, RamA directly binds and activates the lpxC, lpxL-2 and lpxO genes associated with lipid A biosynthesis, thus resulting in modifications within the lipid A moiety of the lipopolysaccharide. RamA-mediated alterations decrease susceptibility to colistin E, polymyxin B and human cationic antimicrobial peptide LL-37. Increased RamA levels reduce K. pneumoniae adhesion and uptake into macrophages, which is supported by in vivo infection studies, that demonstrate increased systemic dissemination of ramA overexpressing K. pneumoniae. These data establish that RamA-mediated regulation directly perturbs microbial surface properties, including lipid A biosynthesis, which facilitate evasion from the innate host response. This highlights RamA as a global regulator that confers pathoadaptive phenotypes with implications for our understanding of the pathogenesis of Enterobacter, Salmonella and Citrobacter spp. that express orthologous RamA proteins

Biofilm formation on enteral feeding tubes by Cronobacter sakazakii, Salmonella serovars and other Enterobacteriaceae

WHO (2007) recommended that to reduce microbial risks, powdered infant formula should be reconstituted with water at temperatures >70 °C, and that such feeds should be used within 2 h of preparation. However, this recommendation does not consider the use of enteral feeding tubes which can be in place for more than 48 h and can be loci for bacterial attachment. This study determined the extent to which 29 strains of Cronobacter sakazakii, Salmonella serovars, other Enterobacteriaceae and Acinetobacter spp. can adhere and grow on enteral feeding tubes composed of polyvinyl chloride and polyurethane. The study also included silver-impregnated tubing which was expected to have antibacterial activity. Bacterial biofilm formation by members of the Enterobacteriaceae was ca. 105-106 cfu/cm after 24 h. Negligible biofilm was detected for Acinetobacter gensp. 13; ca. 10 cfu/cm, whereas Cr. sakazakii strain ATCC 12868 had the highest biofilm cell density of 107 cfu/cm. Biofilm formation did not correlate with capsule production, and was not inhibited on silver-impregnated tubing. Bacteria grew in the tube lumen to cell densities of 107 cfu/ml within 8 h, and 109 cfu/ml within 24 h. It is plausible that in vivo the biofilm will both inoculate subsequent routine feeds and as the biofilm ages, clumps of cells will be shed which may survive passage through the neonate's stomach. Therefore biofilm formation on enteral feeding tubes constitutes a risk factor for susceptible neonates

Myosin-X functions in polarized epithelial cells

Myosin-X, an unconventional myosin that has been studied primarily in fibroblast-like cells, has been shown to have important functions in polarized epithelial cell junction formation, regulation of paracellular permeability, and epithelial morphogenesis.Myosin-X (Myo10) is an unconventional myosin that localizes to the tips of filopodia and has critical functions in filopodia. Although Myo10 has been studied primarily in nonpolarized, fibroblast-like cells, Myo10 is expressed in vivo in many epithelia-rich tissues, such as kidney. In this study, we investigate the localization and functions of Myo10 in polarized epithelial cells, using Madin-Darby canine kidney II cells as a model system. Calcium-switch experiments demonstrate that, during junction assembly, green fluorescent protein–Myo10 localizes to lateral membrane cell–cell contacts and to filopodia-like structures imaged by total internal reflection fluorescence on the basal surface. Knockdown of Myo10 leads to delayed recruitment of E-cadherin and ZO-1 to junctions, as well as a delay in tight junction barrier formation, as indicated by a delay in the development of peak transepithelial electrical resistance (TER). Although Myo10 knockdown cells eventually mature into monolayers with normal TER, these monolayers do exhibit increased paracellular permeability to fluorescent dextrans. Importantly, knockdown of Myo10 leads to mitotic spindle misorientation, and in three-dimensional culture, Myo10 knockdown cysts exhibit defects in lumen formation. Together these results reveal that Myo10 functions in polarized epithelial cells in junction formation, regulation of paracellular permeability, and epithelial morphogenesis