Calcified Algae for Tissue Engineering.

This book presents the latest advances in marine structures and related biomaterials for applications in both soft- and hard-tissue engineering, as well as controlled drug delivery

Drugs, crime and methadone.

This paper seeks to examine the evidence of causal links between drug -misuse, particularly heroin, and criminal behaviour. While it is generally accepted that such a link*exists, the question is asked whether the treatment of drug misuse has an effect on levels of drug misuse and on criminal activity. The value of methadone treatment as one of several treatment modalities, is examined in this context. The author does not wish to advocate one form of treatment over another but merely to investigate what can be gained from a study of the literature

Genetic structure of the high dispersal Atlanto-Mediterreanean sea star Astropecten aranciacus revealed by mitochondrial DNA sequences and microsatellite loci

To investigate the impact of potential marine barriers on gene-flow in high dispersal marine invertebrates, we assessed the population genetic structure of the sea star Astropecten aranciacus. Samples were obtained from nine locations within the Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea including populations east of the Siculo-Tunisian Strait. We obtained both DNA sequence data of the mitochondrial control region and genotype data at four microsatellite loci. Both markers were highly polymorphic and showed a great level of genetic diversity. Genetic differentiation between populations (F (ST)) was in general low, particularly for nuclear data, as is often the case in high dispersal marine invertebrates. Nevertheless, both marker sets indicated a significant genetic differentiation of the population from the island of Madeira to most other populations. Our results also demonstrate a clear pattern of isolation-by-distance supported by both mitochondrial and nuclear markers. Therefore, we conclude that larval dispersal of A. aranciacus is somewhat limited even within the basins of the Atlantic, the west Mediterranean and the east Mediterranean. Microsatellite loci further revealed genetic differentiation between the three basins; however, it is not clear whether this is truly caused by marine barriers. Genetic differentiation between basins might also be a result of isolation-by-distance allowing for any grouping to be significant as long as geographical neighbors are clustered together. Although levels of genetic differentiation were less pronounced in mirosatellite data, both datasets were coherent and revealed similar patterns of genetic structure in A. aranciacus

Neutral locus heterozygosity, inbreeding, and survival in Darwin's ground finches (Geospiza fortis and G. scandens)

Comprehensive long-term studies of isolated populations provide valuable comparative data that may be used to evaluate different methods for quantifying the relationship between genetic diversity and fitness. Here, we report on data collected from large and well-characterized cohorts of the two numerically dominant species of Darwin’s finches on Isla Daphne Major, Gala´pagos, Ecuador – Geospiza fortis and G. scandens. Multilocus microsatellite (SSR) genetic diversity estimates (heterozygosity and d2) and pedigreebased estimates of the inbreeding coefficient (f) were compared to each other and to two fitness components: lifespan and recruitment. In the larger sample of G. fortis, heterozygosity (H)was correlated with both fitness components, but no relationship was detected in the smaller sample of G. scandens. Analyses of the inbreeding coefficient detected highly significant relationships between f and recruitment, but no relationship between f and overall lifespan. The d2 statistic showed no relationship to either fitness component. When the two SSR-based estimators were compared to f, d2 was correlated with f in G. fortis in the predicted direction, while in G. scandens the relationship was positive. Multilocus heterozygosity was correlated with f in G. fortis but not in the G. scandens sample. A pedigree simulation demonstrated that the variation in true autozygosity can be large among individuals with the same level of inbreeding. This observation may supplement the interpretation of patterns relevant to the local (locus-specific) and general (genome-wide) effects hypotheses, which have been proposed to explain the mechanism responsible for associations between genetic diversity and fitness