21st century fisheries management: a spatio-temporally explicit tariff-based approach combining multiple drivers and incentivising responsible fishing

Abstract Kraak, S. B. M., Reid, D. G., Gerritsen, H. D., Kelly, C. J., Fitzpatrick, M., Codling, E. A., and Rogan, E. 2012. 21st century fisheries management: a spatio-temporally explicit tariff-based approach combining multiple drivers and incentivising responsible fishing. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 69: 590–601. Traditionally fisheries management has focused on biomass and mortality, expressed annually and across large management units. However, because fish abundance varies at much smaller spatio-temporal scales, fishing mortality can potentially be controlled more effectively if managed at finer scale. The ecosystem approach requires more indicators at finer scales as well. Incorporating ecosystem targets would need additional management tools with potentially conflicting results. We present a simple, integrated, management approach that provides incentives for “good behaviour”. Fishers would be given a number of fishing-impact credits, called real-time incentives (RTIs), to spend according to spatio-temporally varying tariffs per fishing day. RTI quotas and tariffs could be based on commercial stocks and ecosystem targets. Fishers could choose how to spend their RTIs, e.g. by limited fishing in high-catch or sensitive areas or by fishing longer in lower-catch or less sensitive areas. The RTI system does not prescribe and forbid, but instead allows fishers to fish wherever and whenever they want; ecosystem costs are internalized and fishers have to take them into account in their business decisions. We envisage no need for traditional landings or catch quotas for the fleets while operating under the scheme. The approach could facilitate further devolution of responsibility to industry.</jats:p

6-Deoxyhexoses froml-Rhamnose in the Search for Inducers of the Rhamnose Operon: Synergy of Chemistry and Biotechnology

In the search for alternative non‐metabolizable inducers in the l ‐rhamnose promoter system, the synthesis of fifteen 6‐deoxyhexoses from l ‐rhamnose demonstrates the value of synergy between biotechnology and chemistry. The readily available 2,3‐acetonide of rhamnonolactone allows inversion of configuration at C4 and/or C5 of rhamnose to give 6‐deoxy‐d ‐allose, 6‐deoxy‐d ‐gulose and 6‐deoxy‐l ‐talose. Highly crystalline 3,5‐benzylidene rhamnonolactone gives easy access to l ‐quinovose (6‐deoxy‐l ‐glucose), l ‐olivose and rhamnose analogue with C2 azido, amino and acetamido substituents. Electrophilic fluorination of rhamnal gives a mixture of 2‐deoxy‐2‐fluoro‐l ‐rhamnose and 2‐deoxy‐2‐fluoro‐l ‐quinovose. Biotechnology provides access to 6‐deoxy‐l ‐altrose and 1‐deoxy‐l ‐fructose

Influence of Chaperone-Like Activity of Caseinomacropeptide on the Gelation Behaviour of Whey Proteins at pH 6.4 and 7.2

The effect of caseinomacropeptide (CMP) on the heat-induced denaturation and gelation of whey proteins (2.5–10%, w/v) at pH 6.4 and 7.2, at a whey protein:CMP ratio of 1:0.9 (w/w), was investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), oscillatory rheology (90 °C for 20 min) and confocal microscopy. Greater frequency-dependence in the presence of CMP suggested that the repulsive interactions between CMP and the whey proteins affected the network generated by the non-heated whey protein samples. At pH 6.4 or 7.2, CMP increased the temperature of denaturation of β-lactoglobulin by up to 3 °C and increased the gelation temperature by up to 7 °C. The inclusion of CMP strongly affected the structure of the heat-induced whey protein gels, resulting in a finer stranded structure at pH 6.4 and 7.2. The presence of CMP combined with a lower heating rate (2 °C/min) prevented the formation of a solid gel of whey proteins after heating for 20 min at 90 °C and at pH 7.2. These results show the potential of CMP for control of whey protein denaturation and gelation

Self-starting cumulative sum harvest control rule (SS-CUSUM-HCR) for status-quo management of data-limited fisheries

We demonstrate a harvest control rule based on the self-starting cumulative sum (SS-CUSUM) control chart that can maintain a fish stock at its starting (status-quo) level. The SS-CUSUM is an indicator monitoring tool commonly used in quality control engineering and does not require a long time series or predefined reference point for detecting temporal trends. The reference points in SS-CUSUM are calibrated in the form of running means that are updated on an ongoing basis when new observations become available. The SS-CUSUM can be initiated with as few as two observations in the time series and can be applied long before many other methods, soon after initial data become available. A wide range of stock indicators can be monitored, but in this study, we demonstrate the method using an equally weighted sum of two indicators: a recruitment indicator and a large fish indicator from a simulated fishery. We assume that no life history data are available other than 2 years of both indicator data and current harvest levels when the SS-CUSUM initiates. The signals generated from SS-CUSUM trigger a harvest control rule (SS-CUSUM-HCR), where the shift that occurs in the indicator time series is computed and is used as an adjustment factor for updating the total allowable catch. Our study shows that the SS-CUSUM-HCR can maintain the fish stock at its starting status-quo level (even for overfished initial states) but has limited scope if the fishery is already in an undesirable state such as a stock collapse. We discuss how the SS-CUSUM approach could be adapted to move beyond a status-quo management strategy, if additional information on the desirable state of the fishery is available. </jats:p

A qualitative examination of apathy and physical activity in Huntington's and Parkinson's disease

Aim: In Huntington's disease (HD) and Parkinson's disease (PD), apathy is a frequently cited barrier to participation in physical activity. Current diagnostic criteria emphasize dissociable variants of apathy that differentially affect goal-directed behavior. How these dimensions present and affect physical activity in HD and PD is unknown. Methods: Using a qualitative approach, we examined the experience of apathy and its impact on physical activity in 20 people with early-manifest HD or idiopathic PD. Results: Two major themes emerged: the multidimensionality of apathy, including initiation or goal-identification difficulties, and the interplay of apathy and fatigue; and facilitators of physical activity, including routines, safe environments and education. Conclusion: Physical activity interventions tailored to apathy phenotypes may maximize participant engagement

Synthetic Chemical Inducers and Genetic Decoupling Enable Orthogonal Control of the rhaBAD Promoter

External control of gene expression is crucial in synthetic biology and biotechnology research and applications, and is commonly achieved using inducible promoter systems. The E. coli rhamnose-inducible rhaBAD promoter has properties superior to more commonly used inducible expression systems, but is marred by transient expression caused by degradation of the native inducer, l-rhamnose. To address this problem, 35 analogues of l-rhamnose were screened for induction of the rhaBAD promoter, but no strong inducers were identified. In the native configuration, an inducer must bind and activate two transcriptional activators, RhaR and RhaS. Therefore, the expression system was reconfigured to decouple the rhaBAD promoter from the native rhaSR regulatory cascade so that candidate inducers need only activate the terminal transcription factor RhaS. Rescreening the 35 compounds using the modified rhaBAD expression system revealed several promising inducers. These were characterized further to determine the strength, kinetics, and concentration-dependence of induction; whether the inducer was used as a carbon source by E. coli; and the modality (distribution) of induction among populations of cells. l-Mannose was found to be the most useful orthogonal inducer, providing an even greater range of induction than the native inducer l-rhamnose, and crucially, allowing sustained induction instead of transient induction. These findings address the key limitation of the rhaBAD expression system and suggest it may now be the most suitable system for many applications

Wearable wireless inertial measurement for sports applications

The advent of MEMS inertial sensors has reduced the size, cost and power requirements of 6 Degrees-of-Freedom inertial measurement systems to a level where their use can be considered for wearable wireless monitoring devices. Many applications for such Wearable Wireless Inertial Measurement Units exist in the area of sports and sports science. Such a system would be critical in providing data for the analysis of the kinematic motion data of an athlete - to characterise a player’s technique or track progress and provide accurate, quantitative feedback to player and coach in near real time. A small, lightweight and low power device with the ability to sense the full range of human motion at a high sampling rate is required for such applications. It must also be robust, well sealed and comfortable to wear. Further development and miniaturisation of such devices coupled with progress in energy scavenging may lead to their use in other areas and their near ubiquity, with the potential to be embedded within clothes, buildings, materials, objects and people for health monitoring, location tracking and other purpose

Hanessian-Hullar reaction in the synthesis of highly substituted trans-3,4-dihydroxypyrrolidines: Rhamnulose iminosugar mimics inhibit α-glucosidase

The key step in the syntheses of highly substituted trans-3,4-dihydroxypyrrolidines is introduction of bromide by stereospecific and regiospecific Hanessian-Hullar reactions; benzylidene lactones of l-rhamnonolactone and 6-deoxy-l-gulonolactone allow introduction of N at C2 with inversion or retention of configuration. Initially a protecting group, the benzylidene acetal then provides a bromide at C5 to allow formation of the pyrrolidine ring. With silyl protecting groups, bromide was introduced at C5 with inversion of configuration whereas benzoyl protection gave a mixture of retention and inversion, indicative of neighbouring group participation in a Hanessian-Hullar reaction. Four stereoisomeric pyrrolidines - iminosugar mimics of α- and β-l-rhamnulose and α- and β-6-deoxy-d-sorbose were prepared. Only the α-l-rhamnulose mimic showed moderate inhibition of rhamnosidase but some were good inhibitors of α-glucosidases; none inhibited rhamnose isomerase and they had a small effect as synthetic inducers of the rhamnose catabolic operon in E. coli

Myth or Memory? Recollections of Penal Times in Irish Folklore

Stories of priests being hunted down and murdered at Mass Rocks by priest catchers and soldiers during the Penal era in Ireland persist to the present day. Using Ó Ciosáin’s (2004) tripartite taxonomy of memory this paper explores the reasons why these images continue to dominate and reflect persecuted nature of Catholicism

WSES guidelines for management of Clostridium difficile infection in surgical patients

In the last two decades there have been dramatic changes in the epidemiology of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI), with increases in incidence and severity of disease in many countries worldwide. The incidence of CDI has also increased in surgical patients. Optimization of management of C difficile, has therefore become increasingly urgent. An international multidisciplinary panel of experts prepared evidenced-based World Society of Emergency Surgery (WSES) guidelines for management of CDI in surgical patients.Peer reviewe