Ex-ante evaluation of Seasonal, Real Time and Move-on Closures

The Ministry of EL&I asked IMARES to do an ex ante evaluation of temporal / spatial closures based on effort and cod catches by the Dutch demersal, TR1

Long-Term Trends in Calcifying Plankton and pH in the North Sea

Relationships between six calcifying plankton groups and pH are explored in a highly biologically productive and data-rich area of the central North Sea using time-series datasets. The long-term trends show that abundances of foraminiferans, coccolithophores, and echinoderm larvae have risen over the last few decades while the abundances of bivalves and pteropods have declined. Despite good coverage of pH data for the study area there is uncertainty over the quality of this historical dataset; pH appears to have been declining since the mid 1990s but there was no statistical connection between the abundance of the calcifying plankton and the pH trends. If there are any effects of pH on calcifying plankton in the North Sea they appear to be masked by the combined effects of other climatic (e.g. temperature), chemical (nutrient concentrations) and biotic (predation) drivers. Certain calcified plankton have proliferated in the central North Sea, and are tolerant of changes in pH that have occurred since the 1950s but bivalve larvae and pteropods have declined. An improved monitoring programme is required as ocean acidification may be occurring at a rate that will exceed the environmental niches of numerous planktonic taxa, testing their capacities for acclimation and genetic adaptation

Reducing discards in Shrimp fisheries with the Letterbox

Two gear adjustments for reducing discards in brown shrimp fisheries were compared; the sievenet and the letterbox. Sievenets are already used in the Netherlands since 2002 and are cone-shaped nets inserted into standard trawls, which direct unwanted by-catch to an escape hole in the body of the trawl. The letterbox is a new gear adjustment that consists of a release hole transversely over the net. The idea is that the shrimps go over the hole in the net, while flatfish can escape through the release hole. In this research paired comparisons were made between the letterbox and the sievenet to see if the letterbox is at least equally effective as a sievenet in reducing discards juvenile flatfish in shrimp fisheries. As flatfish are not the only bycatch in shrimp fisheries also information on other bycatch was collected to see how the letterbox performs compared to the sievenet with regard to by-catch of (round)fish and benthos. A total of 6 research trips were conducted in 2 different periods in 2010 (May/June and September/October). The letterbox seemed to perform well in the first period of the research, especially with regard to plaice the bycatches were significantly less in the letterbox as compared with the sievenet. However there was also a relative large loss of marketable shrimp, which needed to be solved. A small gear adjustment seemed successful: in the second period comparable amounts of marketable shrimps were caught with both nets. In the end we could conclude that the letterbox is at least equally effective as a sievenet in reducing discards of juvenile plaice. Also we have reasons to believe that the letterbox performs better than the sievenet in reducing discards of juvenile flatfish. However the effects of net modification and period are confounded, which made comparison of results between period 1 and 2 rather difficult. Therefore it is recommended to conduct another experiment in spring 2011 when high abundances of juvenile plaice are present, using the newest net design. For the other by-catch species the results were variable; the letterbox was for some species at least equally effective as a sievenet in reducing several other discards, but for other species the letterbox was not as effective in reducing all discards. The letterbox can be a good alternative for the sievenet, especially in spring, when there is high abundance of juvenile plaice in the Wadden Sea. It should be taken into account, however, that the adjustment is not as effective as the sievenet for all species

Toezicht op minimum maaswijdte

De vangst en sterfte van vis wordt hoofdzakelijk bepaald door de maaswijdte (of maasopening) in de kuil van het gebruikte visnet. Meting van maaswijdte is niet eenvoudig en de huidige regelgeving is aan kritiek onderhevig. Dit heeft geleid tot de ontwikkeling van een nieuw meetprotocol en meetinstrument. De visserij op tong met 80 mm en een minimummaat van 24 cm is gevoelig voor een juiste vaststelling van de maaswijdte van de kuil. Dit rapport behandelt statistische en juridische aspecten van de huidige regelgeving en de eventuele invoering van de nieuwe OMEGA-maaswijdtemeter

Experimental investigation of hydration of ternary blended cement paste

In this paper, ternary and binary blended cement pastes as well as pure Portland cement paste were prepared by Portland cement, ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBFS), limestone powder and water, which were then hydrated from 1 to 91 days at 20 °C in a sealed environment. At each curing age, the hydration kinetics of cement and slag was determined by XRD/Rietveld and selective dissolution method (EDTA), respectively. The content of CaCO3 (limestone) was quantified by Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) technique. The degree of hydration of cement clinker was distinctly accelerated by the single addition of slag or limestone within 91 days of hydration. The coexistence of slag and limestone in ternary blended cement accelerated the hydration of cement clinker within the first 14 days of hydration, but lowered the degree of hydration of cement clinker after 91 days of hydration compared with other pastes. The degree of reaction of slag in blended cement pastes was about 8% and 35% after 1 and 91 days of hydration, respectively, which was almost not influenced by the addition of limestone powder. A small amount of limestone, i.e. around 2% of the total solid raw materials, was reacted in pastes, and mainly occurred at the early age. Based on the experimental investigation, the results show that the hydration of calcium silicate phases of cement in pastes was enhanced by the presence of limestone, but hampered by slag. The hydration of calcium alumina phases of cement was greatly accelerated by the addition of slag, and also enhanced by the presence of limestone powder in binary blended limestone cement paste at early age. However, the coexistence of limestone with slag in ternary blended cement paste restrained the hydration of calcium alumina phases of cement

Study protocol for THINK : a multinational open-label phase I study to assess the safety and clinical activity of multiple administrations of NKR-2 in patients with different metastatic tumour types

Introduction: NKR-2 are autologous T cells genetically modified to express a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) comprising a fusion of the natural killer group 2D (NKG2D) receptor with the CD3 zeta signalling domain, which associates with the adaptor molecule DNAX-activating protein of 10 kDa (DAP10) to provide co-stimulatory signal upon ligand binding. NKG2D binds eight different ligands expressed on the cell surface of many tumour cells and which are normally absent on non-neoplastic cells. In preclinical studies, NKR-2 demonstrated long-term antitumour activity towards a breadth of tumour indications, with maximum efficacy observed after multiple NKR-2 administrations. Importantly, NKR-2 targeted tumour cells and tumour neovasculature and the local tumour immunosuppressive microenvironment and this mechanism of action of NKR-2 was established in the absence of preconditioning. Methods and analysis: This open-label phase I study will assess the safety and clinical activity of NKR-2 treatment administered three times, with a 2-week interval between each administration in different tumour types. The study will contain two consecutive segments: a dose escalation phase followed by an expansion phase. The dose escalation study involves two arms, one in solid tumours (five specific indications) and one in haematological tumours (two specific indications) and will include three dose levels in each arm: 3x10(8), 1x10(9) and 3x10(9) NKR-2 per injection. On the identification of the recommended dose in the first segment, based on dose-limiting toxicity occurrences, the study will expand to seven different cohorts examining the seven different tumour types separately. Clinical responses will be determined according to standard Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors (RECIST) criteria for solid tumours or international working group response criteria in haematological tumours. Ethics approval and dissemination: Ethical approval has been obtained at all sites. Written informed consent will be taken from all participants. The results of this study will be disseminated through presentation at international scientific conferences and reported in peer-reviewed scientific journals