Status of the gill net fishery for the small pelagic fish species in western, south-western and southern coastal waters of Sri Lanka during 1995-1997

Small pelagic fish species are mainly caught by gill nets operated by fibre reinforced plastic boats fitted with 8-25hp out board engines, traditional crafts fitted with 8-1hp out board engines and non mechanised traditional crafts. Around 28 to 55% of the small pelagic catch in the study area consisted of trenched sardine Amblygaster sirm during 1995-1997 period. Another 26-36% of the catch composed of other Sardinella species such as Sardinella gibbosa, S. albella, S. sindensis and S. longiceps. Engraulids such as Encrasicholina heteroloba, Stolephorus insularis and Stolephorus indicus and Thryssa spp formed around 3-5% of the catch. The major component of this fishery consisted of Clupeids and Engrauhds and over 65 species ranged between smaller Engraulids to incidental rock fish, sail fish, seer fish, sharks, skates and rays. Around 1.4 to 1.9% of the catch consisted of Chirocentrus dorab, Sphyraenaspp, Scomberomorus spp, Lepturcanthus sp and Megalaspis cordyla. Around 1-11% of the catch consisted of incidentally catches of sharks, rays, skates and sail fish. Another 1.6 to 6% of the catch consisted of Selar crumenophthalamus and Rastrelliger kanagurta. The best fishing season appeared to be from June to October in the west coast and August to December in the south coast. The major components of Amblygaster sirm, Sardinella albella and Sardinella gibbosa were caught within the size ranges of 10.0-22.5 cm, 11.0-13.0 cm and 11.0-15.0 cm respectively. However, smaller sized fish of above species of sizes between 6.9 cm to 9.7 cm total length were incidentally caught in the gill nets operated for small Engraulids with a stretched mesh size of 1.6cm. The overall catch rate for the major fish landing centre at Negombo indicated an increase from 38.5 kg/boat trip during 1984-1990 period to 49.5 kg/boat trip during 1995-1997 period. The catch rate for the dominant species Amblygaster sirm has decreased from 28.17 kg/boat trip during 1983-1990 period to 17.47 kg/boat trip during 1995-1997 period at Negombo. The paper also discusses the changing overall catch rates, change in species abundance and possible management consequences that should be considered

Deterministic lead/lag compensator and iterative learning controller design for high precision servo mechanisms

Master'sMASTER OF ENGINEERIN

COMPARISON OF LONG·TERM. TRANSPLRAnON OF DIFFERENT TREE SPECIES IN SEPARATE CANOPY LAYERS IN A KANDVAN FOREST GARDEN

Kandyan Forest Gardens (KFG s) are a specific vegetation type covering a considerableland area of the Central Province of Sri Lanka. Therefore, water use by KFG s form animportant component of the catchment water balance of this area. KFG s consist of amixture of tree species whose canopies are arranged in different vertical layers.The study was conducted in a typical Kandyan Forest Garden located at Pilapitiya,Pilimathalawa within the agroecological region ~IJ.·hA vegetation survey was carried outin this garden and it showed 201 trees belonging to 24 different species. Out of these, twotree species were selected to represent upper and middle canopy layers. They were jak(Artocarpus heterophyllus) and toona (Cedrella laona). Transpiration of these trees wasmeasured as the sapflow in their trunk using thermal dissipation probes. Measurements ofthe weather parameters were also taken. The incident solar radiation was measured usingthe tube solari meters. Relative humidity in the open and inside the KFG was measured bytwo solid state sensors. The soil moisture content al five soil depths (i.e. 20, 40, 60, 80 and100 em) was measured by gravimetric sampling. All the data except soil moisture weretaken at 30 second time intervals integrated over five minutes and stored in the data logger.Tile measurements that were taken during the period from 25.12.2001 to 20.02.2002 wereanalyzed.Both species showed a similar pattern of daily variation of sapflow. However, the sapflowwas substantially greater in jak than in toona. The total water use of jak for theexperimental period was 3881.25 kg/tree. The corresponding value of toona was 462.83kg/tree. The upper canopy jak received a greater irradiance than middle canopy toona.There was a linear relationship between the radiation incident on jak and toona canopies.Daily water use of the upper canopy jak showed a clear linear relationship with dailyirradiance on its canopy. However, the water use of toona did not show such a relationshipIn both species, there were significant negative linear relationships between daily sapflowand daily mean relative humidity. However, air temperature did not have a significanteffect on sapflow of both jak and toona trees. The canopy leaf area of jak remained more orless constant during the experimental period. But in toona, the canopy leaf area increasedduring the latter parr of the experimental period. Water use of both jak and toona did notshow a significant relationship with the variation of soil moisture content of the top l m ofthe soil profile. This indicated that the trees were extracting water from the deeper layers ofthe soil profile. It can be concluded from results of the present study that water use of aKFG is dominated by large upper canopy trees and that it is largely determined by theincident solar radiation. This study also showed that large trees in this ecosystem maintaintheir high levels of water use even during dry periods of the year by extracting water fromdeeper layers of the soil profile. 

Quality of life effects of androgen deprivation therapy in a prostate cancer cohort in New Zealand: Can we minimize effects using a stratification based on the aldo-keto reductase family 1, member C3 rs12529 gene polymorphism?

Background: Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is an effective palliation treatment in men with advanced prostate cancer (PC). However, ADT has well documented side effects that could alter the patient’s health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The current study aims to test whether a genetic stratification could provide better knowledge for optimising ADT options to minimize HRQoL effects. Methods: A cohort of 206 PC survivors (75 treated with and 131 without ADT) was recruited with written consent to collect patient characteristics, clinical data and HRQoL data related to PC management. The primary outcomes were the percentage scores under each HRQoL subscale assessed using the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life questionnaires (QLQ-C30 and PR25) and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales developed by the University of Melbourne, Australia. Genotyping of these men was carried out for the aldo-keto reductase family 1, member C3 (AKR1C3) rs12529 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP). Analysis of HRQoL scores were carried out against ADT duration and in association with the AKR1C3 rs12529 SNP using the generalised linear model. P-values <0 · 05 were considered significant, and were further tested for restriction with Bonferroni correction. Results: Increase in hormone treatment-related effects were recorded with long-term ADT compared to no ADT. The C and G allele frequencies of the AKR1C3rs12529 SNP were 53·4 % and 46·6 % respectively. Hormone treatmentrelated symptoms showed an increase with ADT when associated with the AKR1C3 rs12529 G allele. Meanwhile, decreasing trends on cancer-specific symptoms and increased sexual interest were recorded with no ADT when associated with the AKR1C3 rs12529 G allele and reverse trends with the C allele. As higher incidence of cancerspecific symptoms relate to cancer retention it is possible that associated with the C allele there could be higher incidence of unresolved cancers under no ADT options

Prostate Cancer: Is It a Battle Lost to Age?

Age is often considered an important non-modifiable risk factor for a number of diseases, including prostate cancer. Some prominent risk factors of prostate cancer include familial history, ethnicity and age. In this review, various genetic and physiological characteristics affected due to advancing age will be analysed and correlated with their direct effect on prostate cancer

Effect of ageing and single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with the risk of aggressive prostate cancer in a New Zealand population

Prostate cancer is one of the most significant male health concerns worldwide, and various researchers carrying out molecular diagnostics have indicated that genetic interactions with biological and behavioral factors play an important role in the overall risk and prognosis of this disease. Single nucleotide polymorphisms are increasingly becoming strong biomarker candidates to identify the susceptibility of individuals to prostate cancer. We carried out risk association of different stages of prostate cancer to a number of single nucleotide polymorphisms to identify the susceptible alleles in a New Zealand population and checked the interaction with environmental factors as well. We identified a number of single nucleotide polymorphisms to have associations specifically to the risk of prostate cancer and aggressiveness of the disease, and also certain single nucleotide polymorphisms to be vulnerable to the reported behavioral factors. We have addressed “special” environmental conditions prevalent in New Zealand, which can be used as a model for a bigger worldwide study

Environmental factors and risk of aggressive prostate cancer among a population of New Zealand men - a genotypic approach

Prostate cancer is one of the most significant health concerns for men worldwide. Numerous researchers carrying out molecular diagnostics have indicated that genetic interactions with biological and behavioral factors play an important role in the overall risk and prognosis of this disease. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are increasingly becoming strong biomarker candidates to identify susceptibility to prostate cancer. We carried out a gene × environment interaction analysis linked to aggressive and non-aggressive prostate cancer (PCa) with a number of SNPs. By using this method, we identified the susceptible alleles in a New Zealand population, and examined the interaction with environmental factors. We have identified a number of SNPs that have risk associations both with and without environmental interaction. The results indicate that certain SNPs are associated with disease vulnerability based on behavioral factors. The list of genes with SNPs identified as being associated with the risk of PCa in a New Zealand population is provided in the graphical abstrac

Effect of Androgen Deprivation Therapy on Bone Mineral Density in a Prostate Cancer Cohort in New Zealand: A Pilot Study

Introduction: Reduction in bone mineral density (BMD) is a common side effect of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). We aimed to examine the cross-sectional and longitudinal variation in BMD and associated bone markers in patients with nonmetastatic prostate cancer (PCa) managed with and without ADT. Methods: Bone mineral density of the total body, lumbar spine, femoral neck, ultradistal forearm, and one-third distal radius was measured in 88 patients with PCa without bone metastases at baseline and at 6 months. Patients were categorized into 4 groups: (1) acute ADT (≤6 months), (2) chronic ADT ( > 6 months), (3) former ADT, and (4) no ADT (controls). Serum levels of bone metabolism markers, procollagen type I N-terminal propeptide (PINP) and C-terminal cross-linking telopeptide of type I collagen (CTX), were also measured. Results: In the cross-sectional analysis, men receiving chronic ADT had significantly lower total body BMD as compared with former ADT users and men with no ADT. In longitudinal analysis, a significant reduction in ultradistal forearm BMD was observed in both acute and chronic ADT users after 6 months (4.08% and 2.7%, P =.012 and.026, respectively). A significant reduction in total body BMD was observed in acute ADT users (2.99%, P =.032). Former ADT users had a significant increase in both lumbar spine and femoral neck BMD (2.84% and 1.59%, P =.008 and.002, respectively). The changes in BMD were not significantly different between acute and chronic ADT users. In the cross-sectional analysis, higher levels of PINP and CTX were observed in acute and chronic ADT users than former ADT users or PCa controls. In longitudinal analysis, the level of serum PINP and CTX did not change significantly from baseline to 6 months in acute, chronic, and former ADT users, or PCa controls, and the percentage change did not differ among the 4 groups. Conclusions: Men on acute ADT had a similar rate of bone loss to men on chronic ADT. Reversibility in ADT-induced bone loss was observed in those who discontinued ADT. Serum levels of PINP and CTX were higher in acute and chronic ADT users and levels returned to the range of PCa controls when treatment was withdrawn

Serum levels of selenium and smoking habits at age 50 influence long term prostate cancer risk; a 34 year ULSAM follow-up

Background: Serum selenium level (s-Se) has been associated with prostate cancer (PrCa) risk. We investigated the relation between s-Se, smoking and non-screening detected PrCa and explored if polymorphisms in two DNA repair genes: OGG1 and MnSOD, influenced any effect of s-Se. Methods: ULSAM, a population based Swedish male cohort (n = 2322) investigated at age 50 for s-Se and s-Se influencing factors: serum cholesterol, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and smoking habits. At age 71 a subcohort, (n = 1005) was genotyped for OGG1 and MnSOD polymorphisms. Results: In a 34-year-follow-up, national registries identified 208 PrCa cases further confirmed in medical records. Participants with s-Se in the upper tertile had a non-significantly lower risk of PrCa. Smokers with s-Se in the two lower tertiles (&lt;= 80 mu g/L) experienced a higher cumulative incidence of PrCa than smokers in the high selenium tertile (Hazard Ratio 2.39; 95% CI: 1.09-5.25). A high tertile selenium level in combination with non-wt rs125701 of the OGG1 gene in combination with smoking status or rs4880 related variation of MnSOD gene appeared to protect from PrCa. Conclusions: S-Se levels and smoking habits influence long-term risk of PrCa. Smoking as a risk factor for PrCa in men with low s-Se is relevant to explore further. Exploratory analyses of variations in OGG1 and MnSOD genes indicate that hypotheses about patterns of exposure to selenium and smoking combined with data on genetic variation in genes involved in DNA repair can be valuable to pursue