30 research outputs found
Evaluation of frameworks of analysis employed in studies of exclusion zones
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
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
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