Validation of Annual Growth-Zone Formation in Gray Triggerfish Balistes capriscus Dorsal Spines, Fin Rays, and Vertebrae

The goal of this study was to validate annual growth-zone formation in the gray triggerfish Balistes capriscus dorsal spines, fin rays, and vertebrae. Adult gray triggerfish (n = 4) were chemically marked by injecting with 50 mg of oxytetracycline (OTC) per kilogram body mass and reared in a 2,300-liter aquaculture tank. Fish were exposed to ambient light and water temperature mimicked bottom temperatures observed at an approximately 30-m depth in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Fish died after 262 d and their first dorsal spines, pectoral fin rays, and vertebrae were extracted and sectioned. One translucent zone formed distal to the OTC mark in all hardpart types during the study period. Additional fin rays and vertebrae with corresponding dorsal spines were sampled from fish (n = 27 and 59, respectively) during fishery-independent surveys to compare translucent zone counts between hardparts. There was a significant difference between translucent zone counts between fin ray and dorsal spine sections (tdf = 1,25 = 23.15, P = 0.004). Fin ray counts on average were one zone greater than dorsal spine counts. Translucent zone counts in vertebrae were similar to those counted in dorsal spines with no significant difference between structures (tdf = 1,57 = 1.90, P = 0.062). The percentage of dorsal spines with translucent margins increased in winter months, peaking in February, and dropped to the lowest values in summer. The combined results of this study validate annual translucent zone formation in gray triggerfish hardparts, with dorsal spines being the preferred ageing structure for production ageing

Civil society and financial markets : what is not happening and why

Why have commercial financial flows – as a major force in contemporary society with a number of significant problematic consequences – attracted relatively little effective public-interest response from civil society? Change-oriented NGOs, labour unions, faith-based organisations and other social movements have mostly remained in the shadows vis-à-vis private financial markets. Impacts from these citizen associations have not gone beyond promoting modest rises in public awareness, certain limited policy shifts, and minor institutional reforms of a few public governance agencies. The reasons for these scant achievements are partly related to capacities and practices in civil society groups, relevant governance agencies, and financial firms. Also important in constraining civil society impacts to reform and transform contemporary financial markets are deeper structural circumstances such as embedded social hierarchies (among countries, classes, etc.), the pivotal role of finance capital in accumulation processes today, and the entrenchment of prevailing neoliberal policy discourses

World scientists’ warnings into action, local to global

‘We have kicked the can down the road once again – but we are running out of road.’ – Rachel Kyte, Dean of Fletcher School at Tufts University. We, in our capacities as scientists, economists, governance and policy specialists, are shifting from warnings to guidance for action before there is no more ‘road.’ The science is clear and irrefutable; humanity is in advanced ecological overshoot. Our overexploitation of resources exceeds ecosystems’ capacity to provide them or to absorb our waste. Society has failed to meet clearly stated goals of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Civilization faces an epochal crossroads, but with potentially much better, wiser outcomes if we act now. What are the concrete and transformative actions by which we can turn away from the abyss? In this paper we forcefully recommend priority actions and resource allocation to avert the worst of the climate and nature emergencies, two of the most pressing symptoms of overshoot, and lead society into a future of greater wellbeing and wisdom. Humanity has begun the social, economic, political and technological initiatives needed for this transformation. Now, massive upscaling and acceleration of these actions and collaborations are essential before irreversible tipping points are crossed in the coming decade. We still can overcome significant societal, political and economic barriers of our own making. Previously, we identified six core areas for urgent global action – energy, pollutants, nature, food systems, population stabilization and economic goals. Here we identify an indicative, systemic and time-limited framework for priority actions for policy, planning and management at multiple scales from household to global. We broadly follow the ‘Reduce-Remove-Repair’ approach to rapid action. To guide decision makers, planners, managers, and budgeters, we cite some of the many experiments, mechanisms and resources in order to facilitate rapid global adoption of effective solutions. Our biggest challenges are not technical, but social, economic, political and behavioral. To have hope of success, we must accelerate collaborative actions across scales, in different cultures and governance systems, while maintaining adequate social, economic and political stability. Effective and timely actions are still achievable on many, though not all fronts. Such change will mean the difference for billions of children and adults, hundreds of thousands of species, health of many ecosystems, and will determine our common future

World scientists' warnings into action, local to global

‘We have kicked the can down the road once again – but we are running out of road.’ – Rachel Kyte, Dean of Fletcher School at Tufts University. We, in our capacities as scientists, economists, governance and policy specialists, are shifting from warnings to guidance for action before there is no more ‘road.’ The science is clear and irrefutable; humanity is in advanced ecological overshoot. Our over exploitation of resources exceeds ecosystems’capacity to provide them or to absorb our waste. Society has failed to meet clearly stated goals of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Civilization faces an epochal crossroads, but with potentially much better, wiser outcomes if we act now. What are the concrete and transformative actions by which we can turn away from the abyss? In this paper we forcefully recommend priority actions and resource allocation to avert the worst of the climate and nature emergencies, two of the most pressing symptoms of overshoot, and lead society into a future of greater wellbeing and wisdom. Humanity has begun the social, economic, political and technological initiatives needed for this transformation. Now, massive upscaling and acceleration of these actions and collaborations are essential before irreversible tipping points are crossed in the coming decade. We still can overcome significant societal, political and economic barriers of our own making. Previously, we identified six core areas for urgent global action – energy, pollutants, nature, food systems, population stabilization and economic goals. Here we identify an indicative, systemic and time-limited framework for priority actions for policy, planning and management at multiple scales from household to global. We broadly follow the ‘Reduce-Remove-Repair’ approach to rapid action. To guide decision makers, planners, managers, and budgeters, we cite some of the many experiments, mechanisms and resources in order to facilitate rapid global adoption of effective solutions. Our biggest challenges are not technical, but social, economic, political and behavioral. To have hope of success, we must accelerate collaborative actions across scales, in different cultures and governance systems, while maintaining adequate social, economic and political stability. Effective and timely actions are still achievable on many, though not all fronts. Such change will mean the difference for billions of children and adults, hundreds of thousands of species, health of many ecosystems, and will determine our common future

Stabbing News: Articulating Crime Statistics in the Newsroom

There is a comprehensive body of scholarly work regarding the way media represent crime and how it is constructed in the media narrative as a news item. These works have often suggested that in many cases public anxieties in relation to crime levels are not justified by actual data. However, few works have examined the gathering and dissemination of crime statistics by non-specialist journalists and the way crime statistics are gathered and used in the newsroom. This article seeks to explore in a comparative manner how journalists in newsrooms access and interpret quantitative data when producing stories related to crime. In so doing, the article highlights the problems and limitations of journalists in dealing with crime statistics as a news source, while assessing statistics-related methodologies and skills used in the newsrooms across the United Kingdom when producing stories related to urban crime

Sensing the fuels: glucose and lipid signaling in the CNS controlling energy homeostasis

The central nervous system (CNS) is capable of gathering information on the body’s nutritional state and it implements appropriate behavioral and metabolic responses to changes in fuel availability. This feedback signaling of peripheral tissues ensures the maintenance of energy homeostasis. The hypothalamus is a primary site of convergence and integration for these nutrient-related feedback signals, which include central and peripheral neuronal inputs as well as hormonal signals. Increasing evidence indicates that glucose and lipids are detected by specialized fuel-sensing neurons that are integrated in these hypothalamic neuronal circuits. The purpose of this review is to outline the current understanding of fuel-sensing mechanisms in the hypothalamus, to integrate the recent findings in this field, and to address the potential role of dysregulation in these pathways in the development of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus