Diversity of fishing métier use can affect incomes and costs in small-scale fisheries

The implementation of an ecosystem based approach to fisheries management (EBFM) in multispecies fleets has the potential to increase fleet diversification strategies, which can reduce pressure on overexploited stocks. However, diversification may reduce the economic performance of individual vessels and lead to unforeseen outcomes. We studied the economic performance of different fleet segments and their fishing métiers in Wales (UK) to understand how the number of the métiers employed affects fishing income, operating costs and profit. For the small-scale segment more specialized fishers are more profitable and the diversity of métiers is limiting both the maximum expected income and profit but also on the operating costs. This last result may explain the propensity of fishers to increase the number of métiers for at least part of the studied fleet. Therefore, while for some vessels increasing the diversity of fishing métiers may be perceived to limit economic risk associated with the interannual variability of catches and prices and/or to reduce their operating costs, it can ultimately result in a less profitable activity than more specialised vessels.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author

Defining thresholds of sustainable impact on benthic communities in relation to fishing disturbance

AbstractWhile the direct physical impact on seabed biota is well understood, no studies have defined thresholds to inform an ecosystem-based approach to managing fishing impacts. We addressed this knowledge gap using a large-scale experiment that created a controlled gradient of fishing intensity and assessed the immediate impacts and short-term recovery. We observed a mosaic of taxon-specific responses at various thresholds. The lowest threshold of significant lasting impact occurred between 1 and 3 times fished and elicited a decrease in abundance of 39 to 70% for some sessile epifaunal organisms (cnidarians, bryozoans). This contrasted with significant increases in abundance and/or biomass of scavenging species (epifaunal echinoderms, infaunal crustaceans) by two to four-fold in areas fished twice and more. In spite of these significant specific responses, the benthic community structure, biomass and abundance at the population level appeared resilient to fishing. Overall, natural temporal variation in community metrics exceeded the effects of fishing in this highly dynamic study site, suggesting that an acute level of disturbance (fished over six times) would match the level of natural variation. We discuss the implications of our findings for natural resources management with respect to context-specific human disturbance and provide guidance for best fishing practices.</jats:p

Using bio-physical modelling and population genetics for conservation and management of an exploited species, Pecten maximus L.

This is the final version. Available on open access from Wiley via the DOI in this recordData availability statement: The microsatellite data along with the site location data that support the findings of this study are openly available in FigShare at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.12907430Connectivity between populations is important when considering conservation or the management of exploitation of vulnerable species. We investigated how populations of a broadcast-spawning marine species (scallop, Pecten maximus) that occur in discrete geographic locations were connected to each other. Population genetic insights were related to the outputs from a three-dimensional hydrodynamic model implemented with scallop larval behaviour to understand the extent to which these areas were linked by oceanographic processes and how this was altered by season and two contrasting years that had strongly different average temperature records (warm vs cold) to provide contrasting oceanographic conditions. Our results span from regional to shelf scale. Connectivity was high at a regional level (e.g. northern Irish Sea), but lower at scales >100 km between sites. Some localities were possibly isolated thus dependent on self-recruitment to sustain local populations. Seasonal timing of spawning and inter-annual fluctuations in seawater temperature influenced connectivity patterns, and hence will affect spatial recruitment. Summer rather than spring spawning increased connectivity among some populations, due to the seasonal strengthening of temperature-driven currents. Furthermore, the warm year resulted in higher levels of modelled connectivity than the cold year. The combination of genetic and oceanographic approaches provided valuable insights into the structure and connectivity at a continental shelf scale. This insight provides a powerful basis for defining conservation management units and the appropriate scale for spatial management. Temporal fluctuations in temperature impact upon variability in connectivity, suggesting that future work should account for ocean warming when investigating population resilience.Isle of Man GovernmentEuropean Fisheries FundEuropean Union Regional Development Fun

Myocardial Alternative RNA Splicing and Gene Expression Profiling in Early Stage Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome

Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS) is a congenital defect characterized by underdevelopment of the left ventricle and pathological compensation of the right ventricle. If untreated, HLHS is invariably lethal due to the extensive increase in right ventricular workload and eventual failure. Despite the clinical significance, little is known about the molecular pathobiological state of HLHS. Splicing of mRNA transcripts is an important regulatory mechanism of gene expression. Tissue specific alterations of this process have been associated with several cardiac diseases, however, transcriptional signature profiles related to HLHS are unknown. In this study, we performed genome-wide exon array analysis to determine differentially expressed genes and alternatively spliced transcripts in the right ventricle (RV) of six neonates with HLHS, compared to the RV and left ventricle (LV) from non-diseased control subjects. In HLHS, over 180 genes were differentially expressed and 1800 were differentially spliced, leading to changes in a variety of biological processes involving cell metabolism, cytoskeleton, and cell adherence. Additional hierarchical clustering analysis revealed that differential gene expression and mRNA splicing patterns identified in HLHS are unique compared to non-diseased tissue. Our findings suggest that gene expression and mRNA splicing are broadly dysregulated in the RV myocardium of HLHS neonates. In addition, our analysis identified transcriptome profiles representative of molecular biomarkers of HLHS that could be used in the future for diagnostic and prognostic stratification to improve patient outcome

The Iowa Homemaker vol.23, no.14

Winter in Iowa, page 2 Keeping Up With Today, Mary Elizabeth Lush, page 2 Presenting Martha Duncan, D. Jean Merrill, page 3 Students Create Furniture, Marjorie Lund, page 4 Describe Food in South Pacific, Gertrud Ortgies, page 5 Vicky Previews a New Year, Josephine Ahern, page 6 Teaches Homemaking in India, Mrs. Edgar Vestal, page 7 What’s New in Home Economics, Marilyn Mitchell, page 8 Thoughtful Reading, Jo Ann Reeves, page 10 Across Alumnae Desks, Harriet Keen, page 12 Alum Chooses Food Publicity, Rowena Lincoln, page 14 Betty Heileman Feeds Trainees, Ann Turner, page 1

Summary of cognitive, affective and behavioural outcomes of consuming prestigious sports events

In this paper, the authors explore the range of cognitive, affective, and behavioural outcomes of consuming prestigious sports event experiences. The authors obtained means-end chains from 19 individuals from across a range of ages and both genders. A total of 39 examples of events were discussed by participants encompassing 25 unique events and 11 different sports. Outcomes were multi-dimensional. At the cognitive level, consumers developed outer- and inner-directed outcomes. At the affective level, prestigious sports events made consumers feel positive emotions, while at the same time energising them to attend in order to avoid negative emotional states. At the behavioural level, four types of outcomes served as a consequence of attending prestigious events: patronage, financial, communication and experiential. By recognising the multiple outcomes associated with the consumption of prestigious sports event experiences, managers will be better equipped to design experiences that satisfy consumer requirements

31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival