One Fish, Two Fish, Few Fish, No Fish: Regional Fisheries Management Organisations, IUU Fishing and High Seas Fisheries Management

The World's fisheries are in a desperate state, they have been utilised to a point where a majority of the fisheries resources are fully exploited. In addition to overfishing, the responsibility of the sad state of affairs of the world's High Seas' fish stocks can be put down to inefficient management. The high seas fisheries regime is dominated by two powerful, tried, tested and consented to norms: the principle of freedom of fishing on the high seas and the principle of exclusive flag state jurisdiction over flagged vessels on the high seas. These Grotius norms (unintentionally) obstruct effective and meaningful high seas fisheries management, and have enabled unscrupulous states and actors to take advantage of the lacunae created by the UNCLOS High Seas fisheries framework and engage in IUU fishing which has resulted in a tragedy of the high seas commons. Furthermore these norms have a 'hobbling' effect on RFMOS and coastal states alike, and leave them almost powerless to ensure flag-state compliance with their sustainable fishing measures without the consent of the flag state, and totally unable to enforce its measures directly on that flagged vessel. Thus in the absence of an express reference to the superiority of coastal state rights over those of high seas fishing states, freedom of high seas fishing prevails. However the international community armed with weaker UNCLOS obligations of conservation and co-operation and have fought the good fight, and in lightening speed have constructed a normative framework that is additional to but consistent and complimentary with the UNCLOS regime. With the use of port state measures, voluntary instruments that codify responsible fisheries practice, surveillance and the denial of the right to land IUU fish – the fight is gradually beginning to turn in favour of the international community

One Fish, Two Fish, Few Fish, No Fish: Regional Fisheries Management Organisations, IUU Fishing and High Seas Fisheries Management

The World's fisheries are in a desperate state, they have been utilised to a point where a majority of the fisheries resources are fully exploited. In addition to overfishing, the responsibility of the sad state of affairs of the world's High Seas' fish stocks can be put down to inefficient management. The high seas fisheries regime is dominated by two powerful, tried, tested and consented to norms: the principle of freedom of fishing on the high seas and the principle of exclusive flag state jurisdiction over flagged vessels on the high seas. These Grotius norms (unintentionally) obstruct effective and meaningful high seas fisheries management, and have enabled unscrupulous states and actors to take advantage of the lacunae created by the UNCLOS High Seas fisheries framework and engage in IUU fishing which has resulted in a tragedy of the high seas commons. Furthermore these norms have a 'hobbling' effect on RFMOS and coastal states alike, and leave them almost powerless to ensure flag-state compliance with their sustainable fishing measures without the consent of the flag state, and totally unable to enforce its measures directly on that flagged vessel. Thus in the absence of an express reference to the superiority of coastal state rights over those of high seas fishing states, freedom of high seas fishing prevails. However the international community armed with weaker UNCLOS obligations of conservation and co-operation and have fought the good fight, and in lightening speed have constructed a normative framework that is additional to but consistent and complimentary with the UNCLOS regime. With the use of port state measures, voluntary instruments that codify responsible fisheries practice, surveillance and the denial of the right to land IUU fish – the fight is gradually beginning to turn in favour of the international community

Economic Impacts of Planned Transportation Investments in New Jersey

This report demonstrates that New Jersey's plans to invest in transportation infrastructure over the next decade will result in nearly 27,000 full-time jobs per year. It also shows that the state's transportation investments will generate economic impacts in the form of employment, income, gross domestic product, and state and local tax revenues. The report is the result of a joint study conducted by the Heldrich Center and the Center for Urban Policy Research at Rutgers University's Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy

Antiviral effects of interferon-stimulated genes in bats

The interferon pathway is the first line of defense in viral infection in all mammals, and its induction stimulates broad expression of interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs). In mice and also humans, the antiviral function of ISGs has been extensively studied. As an important viral reservoir in nature, bats can coexist with a variety of pathogenic viruses without overt signs of disease, yet only limited data are available for the role of ISGs in bats. There are multiple species of bats and work has begun deciphering the differences and similarities between ISG function of human/mouse and different bat species. This review summarizes the current knowledge of conserved and bat-specific-ISGs and their known antiviral effector functions

Massively-multiplexed epitope mapping techniques for viral antigen discovery

Following viral infection, viral antigens bind specifically to receptors on the surface of lymphocytes thereby activating adaptive immunity in the host. An epitope, the smallest structural and functional unit of an antigen, binds specifically to an antibody or antigen receptor, to serve as key sites for the activation of adaptive immunity. The complexity and diverse range of epitopes are essential to study and map for the diagnosis of disease, the design of vaccines and for immunotherapy. Mapping the location of these specific epitopes has become a hot topic in immunology and immune therapy. Recently, epitope mapping techniques have evolved to become multiplexed, with the advent of high-throughput sequencing and techniques such as bacteriophage-display libraries and deep mutational scanning. Here, we briefly introduce the principles, advantages, and disadvantages of the latest epitope mapping techniques with examples for viral antigen discovery

Latest advances in innate antiviral defence

Recent identification of key components in the pattern recognition receptor pathway of retinoic acid-inducible gene-1-like receptors, coupled with the characterisation of a new cytoplasmic DNA-sensing molecule, has led to a greater understanding of the role that viral nucleic acids play in activating innate immunity. This activation of type-I interferon is essential for both limiting viral infection and stimulating activation of the adaptive immune response

Assessing Barriers to Community Pediatric Dental Needs

Introduction: Oral health is an often overlooked aspect of healthcare with many effects on an individual’s well-being. Dental caries is the most common chronic disease in children, and most dental problems are preventable. Barriers to accessing dental care for low income children include: oral health beliefs of parents, transportation issues, and difficulty locating providers who accept Medicaid. Investigation of the pediatrician’s role showed an increase in dental visits among children who were recommended for care by their primary care providers. Recent data indicates that 67.1% of Vermont Medicaid enrolled children received dental care within one calendar year. While indicating a gap in services, this is the highest rate in the U.S. A comprehensive national survey found that 85% of Vermont children received preventive care in the past year, while recent state data shows that 18% of Vermont children on Medicaid and 16% of children overall have untreated dental decay. In 2009, The Ronald McDonald House Charities, along with the Health Center of Plainfield, implemented the Vermont Ronald McDonald Care Mobile (RMCM), a traveling dental clinic providing dental care for Vermont’s underserved children. In one year, the RMCM visited 15 Vermont schools and treated 214 children, only 9% of the 2400 children projected. The RMCM currently serves sites in three Counties: Grand Isle, Orange, and Lamoille. The objective of our study was to investigate barriers to access to Dental care among Vermont children, with particular regard to the RMCM. The underutilization of the RMCM was assessed by researching current data on Vermont oral health and by surveying overall attitudes toward both the RMCM and Towns the RMCM visited in the past year pediatric dental care in Vermont.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/comphp_gallery/1060/thumbnail.jp

Effects of real versus phantom stock option plans on shareholder wealth

Helicobacter pylori causes chronic gastritis and avoids elimination by the immune system of the infected host. The commensal bacterium Lactobacillus acidophilus has been suggested to exert beneficial effects as a supplement during H. pylori eradication therapy. In the present study, we applied whole-genome microarray analysis to compare the immune responses induced in murine bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) stimulated with L. acidophilus, H. pylori, or both bacteria in combination. While L. acidophilus induced a Th1-polarizing response characterized by high expression of interferon beta (IFN-β) and interleukin 12 (IL-12), H. pylori strongly induced the innate cytokines IL-1β and IL-1α. In BMDMs prestimulated with L. acidophilus, H. pylori blocked the expression of L. acidophilus-induced IFN-β and IL-12 and suppressed the expression of key regulators of the Rho, Rac, and Cdc42 GTPases. The inhibition of L. acidophilus-induced IFN-β was independent of H. pylori viability and the virulence factor CagPAI; however, a vacuolating cytotoxin (vacA) mutant was unable to block IFN-β. Confocal microscopy demonstrated that the addition of H. pylori to L. acidophilus-stimulated BMDMs redirects intracellular processing, leading to an accumulation of L. acidophilus in the endosomal and lysosomal compartments. Thus, our findings indicate that H. pylori inhibits the development of a strong Th1-polarizing response in BMDMs stimulated with L. acidophilus by blocking the production of IFN-β in a VacA-dependent manner. We suggest that this abrogation is caused by a redirection of the endocytotic pathway in the processing of L. acidophilus. IMPORTANCE Approximately half of the world's population is infected with Helicobacter pylori. The factors that allow this pathogen to persist in the stomach and cause chronic infections have not yet been fully elucidated. In particular, how H. pylori avoids killing by macrophages, one of the main types of immune cell underlying the epithelium, remains elusive. Here we have shown that the H. pylori virulence factor VacA plays a key role by blocking the activation of innate cytokines induced by the probiotic Lactobacillus acidophilus in macrophages and suppresses the expression of key regulators required for the organization and dynamics of the intracellular cytoskeleton. Our results identify potential targets for the treatment of H. pylori infection and vaccination, since specific inhibition of the toxin VacA possibly allows the activation of an efficient immune response and thereby eradication of H. pylori in the host