30 research outputs found

    Evaluation of frameworks of analysis employed in studies of exclusion zones

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    The purpose of this Work Package is to examine the various approaches to analysing fishery exclusion zones (FEZs) and to identify the circumstances in which one approach might be preferred to another. Our concern here is not so much with answering questions about exclusion zones - these being dealt with in later Work Packages - as with articulating the questions themselves and in understanding how in principle they could be addressed. An important theme is the precision with which questions need to be answered, since this will determine the type of information collected and how such information is analysed. The question ' is an exclusion zone likely to improve the condition of this fishery ?' is less precise and less demanding of data than the question ' by how much will an exclusion zone improve this fishery ?' since it could in principle be answered by expert judgement rather than quantitative analysis. In practice fisheries managers may be confronted with situations where decisions have to be made quickly, and qualitative answers may be the only thing possible in circumstances where data cannot be obtained in the available time. The Work Package will look at FEZs from a number of different perspectives, but its dominant concern is with the information – principally in the form of socio-economic and biological indicators - needed by fisheries managers in order to evaluate the effectiveness of FEZs. To contextualise the discussion we start by outlining a paradigm for understanding the linkages between human activities and the environment, showing how it can be applied to fisheries and marine resources. The Work Package then considers the substantive information requirements of fisheries managers, commencing with socio-economic assessment and moving on to a review of biological assessment and the progress which has been made in the development of mathematical models of FEZs. Bio-economic modelling, which is essentially a specialised type of socio-economic assessment in which explicit account is taken of the interaction between the biological and economic components of the fishing system, is dealt with in the final section

    Fisheries Exclusion Zones: Value and its sensitivity to data uncertainty

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    This paper focuses on the findings of the project that pertain particularly to the determination of the value of fisheries exclusion zones and the sensitivity of value estimation to data uncertainty. It necessarily draws on both the lite rature review and the case studies and in terms of its content extracts, presents and su mmarises the pertinent material therein covered. By collating this material a more directed consid eration of the topic of value is facilitated and the findings of the study as a whole more clear ly highlighted, and through consideration of uncertainty, also qualified

    An Investigation into the Potential of Targeting Escherichia coli rne mRNA with Locked Nucleic Acid (LNA) Gapmers as an Antibacterial Strategy

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    The increase in antibacterial resistance is a serious challenge for both the health and defence sectors and there is a need for both novel antibacterial targets and antibacterial strategies. RNA degradation and ribonucleases, such as the essential endoribonuclease RNase E, encoded by the rne gene, are emerging as potential antibacterial targets while antisense oligonucleotides may provide alternative antibacterial strategies. As rne mRNA has not been previously targeted using an antisense approach, we decided to explore using antisense oligonucleotides to target the translation initiation region of the Escherichia coli rne mRNA. Antisense oligonucleotides were rationally designed and were synthesised as locked nucleic acid (LNA) gapmers to enable inhibition of rne mRNA translation through two mechanisms. Either LNA gapmer binding could sterically block translation and/or LNA gapmer binding could facilitate RNase H-mediated cleavage of the rne mRNA. This may prove to be an advantage over the majority of previous antibacterial antisense oligonucleotide approaches which used oligonucleotide chemistries that restrict the mode-of-action of the antisense oligonucleotide to steric blocking of translation. Using an electrophoretic mobility shift assay, we demonstrate that the LNA gapmers bind to the translation initiation region of E. coli rne mRNA. We then use a cell-free transcription translation reporter assay to show that this binding is capable of inhibiting translation. Finally, in an in vitro RNase H cleavage assay, the LNA gapmers facilitate RNase H-mediated mRNA cleavage. Although the challenges of antisense oligonucleotide delivery remain to be addressed, overall, this work lays the foundations for the development of a novel antibacterial strategy targeting rne mRNA with antisense oligonucleotides

    The Open University From Within, John Ferguson

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