Characterization and optimization study of Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (P(NIPAM)) and β-cyclodextrin (βCD) system for Controlled Release Drug Delivery Systems with NMR and MRI techniques

This project is a direct continuation from my bachelor project that was based off Wisniewska,M (2017), where she investigated the changes in Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) P(NIPAM) at the Volume Phase Transition (VPT) . The goal of the project was to expand the portfolio and characterization of P(NIPAM), particularly on how β-cyclodextrin (βCD) reacts as it goes through VPT both inside the hydrogel and outside the hydrogel. By using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), it allows us to monitor the changes of P(NIPAM) as it goes through the Lower Critical Solution Temperature (LCST), the Volume Phase Transition Temperature (VPTT), and 40 °C. Multi-Slice Multi-Echo (MSME) imaging was used to monitor the physical changes of the hydrogel with increasing temperature for comparison to spectral data using Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS). Combining MRI with MRS allows for us to combine the macroscopic and microscopic picture of the βCD activity inside and outside the hydrogel. The changes of βCD in the polymer interior and exterior was monitored using STimulated Echo Acquisition Mode (STEAM), and the diffusion of βCD and water inside the hydrogel was recorded using MEshcher-GArwood Point RESolved Spectroscopy (MEGA-PRESS). The release of the βCD inside the hydrogel network was minimal until reaching VPTT, where the change in concentration sharply decreased due to the phase transition. As for the βCD change outside the hydrogel, the change was adherent to the shrinkage kinetics of P(NIPAM), showing delays in release due to restricted diffusion caused by the shrinkage of the P(NIPAM) after VPTT. For the self-diffusion data of the βCD, it was found that the βCD signals were loss using MEGA-PRESS after VPTT as a result of diffusion. The water self-diffusion values were also found to be decreasing consistently after a delay from 40°C.Master's Thesis in ChemistryKJEM399MAMN-KJE

Responses of European lobster (Homarus gammarus) and lobster fishers to protective management

Master's thesis Aquatic Ecology BIO500 - University of Agder 2017Marine protected areas (MPAs) are valued for their conservation benefits to harvested species. However, potential benefits of MPAs to neighboring fisheries are less well-understood. This study quantifies how the European lobster (Homarus gammarus) and the fishery for this valued catch respond to the establishment of a relatively small (5.2 km2) MPA on the Norwegian Skagerrak coast. A series of yearly standardized trap surveys was conducted to estimate lobster abundance and catch weights both inside and outside the MPA before (2010- 2011) and after the MPA was established (2012-2016). Lobster abundance and catch weights were determined as number of catch per unit effort (CPUEN) and weight of catch per unit effort (CPUEw), respectively. Using a similar before-after study design, the lobster fishery was described from fishery diaries and by counting all lobster traps in the study area. After 4 years of protection, gradients for abundance and catch weights across the MPA boundaries have developed, but the export of benefits to neighboring fishing areas are limited. Inside the MPA, CPUEN values increased from 0.748 lobsters/trap/day before protection to 1.93 lobsters/trap/day after protection. Catch weights have also increased from 1.29 kg/trap/day to 1.54 kg/trap/day in the same period. Slight increases in CPUEw were observed in the fished areas near the boundary, but not for CPUEN. At fished areas 2-3 km away from the boundaries, CPUEN values were stable, and catch weights have increased. This suggests that fishers around the MPA are catching larger, but not more lobsters around the MPA. Increased catch weights in the fished areas are attributed to the protection of berried female lobsters from fishing mortality. Fishing pressure, mostly from recreational fishers, is increasing the most outside MPA boundaries, resulting in lowered CPUEN and catch weight values. Results from the study indicate that determining conservation and fishery benefits of an MPA should always be considered in context of existing and changing fishing pressure in order to effectively utilize MPAs as a fishery management tool. Keywords: European lobster, Homarus gammarus, MPA benefits to fisheries, lobster CPUE, recreational fisherie

Fishing pressure impacts the abundance gradient of European lobsters across the borders of a newly established marine protected area

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are considered viable fisheries management tools due to their potential benefits of adult spillover and recruitment subsidy to nearby fisheries. However, before–after control–impact studies that explore the biological and fishery effects of MPAs to surrounding fisheries are scarce. We present results from a fine-scale spatial gradient study conducted before and after the implementation of a 5 km2 lobster MPA in southern Norway. A significant nonlinear response in lobster abundance, estimated as catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) from experimental fishing, was detected within 2 years of protection. After 4 years, CPUE values inside the MPA had increased by a magnitude of 2.6 compared to before-protection values. CPUE showed a significant nonlinear decline from the centre of the MPA, with a depression immediately outside the border and a plateau in fished areas. Overall fishing pressure almost doubled over the course of the study. The highest increase in fishing pressure (by a magnitude of 3) was recorded within 1 km of the MPA border, providing a plausible cause for the depression in CPUE. Taken together, these results demonstrate the need to regulate fishing pressure in surrounding areas when MPAs are implemented as fishery management tools.publishedVersio

Geographic Information System and tools of spatial analysis in a pneumococcal vaccine trial

Background: The goal of this Geographic Information System (GIS) study was to obtain accurate information on the locations of study subjects, road network and services for research purposes so that the clinical outcomes of interest (e.g., vaccine efficacy, burden of disease, nasopharyngeal colonization and its reduction) could be linked and analyzed at a distance from health centers, hospitals, doctors and other important services. The information on locations can be used to investigate more accurate crowdedness, herd immunity and/or transmission patterns. Method. A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial of an 11-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (11PCV) was conducted in Bohol Province in central Philippines, from July 2000 to December 2004. We collected the information on the geographic location of the households (N = 13,208) of study subjects. We also collected a total of 1982 locations of health and other services in the six municipalities and a comprehensive GIS data over the road network in the area. Results: We calculated the numbers of other study subjects (vaccine and placebo recipients, respectively) within the neighborhood of each study subject. We calculated distances to different services and identified the subjects sharing the same services (calculated by distance). This article shows how to collect a complete GIS data set for human to human transmitted vaccine study in developing country settings in an efficient and economical way. Conclusions: The collection of geographic locations in intervention trials should become a routine task. The results of public health research may highly depend on spatial relationships among the study subjects and between the study subjects and the environment, both natural and infrastructural.Peer reviewe

Aktiv forvaltning av marine ressurser – lokalt tilpasset forvaltning: LINDESNES - Effekter på hummer i Klippeskjær bevaringsområde

Havforskningsinstituttet har siden 2011 gjennomført prøvefiske etter hummer i Klippeskjær bevaringsområde for å undersøke effekter av hummerfredningen som ble innført i 2013. I perioden frem til 2015 har fangsten av hummer i bevaringsområde vært på nivå med kontrollområder i andre deler av Lindesnes, men har etter økt. Fangstene er nå tydelig høyere i bevaringsområdet. Gjennomsnittslengden på hummer i bevaringsområdet har økt i forhold til kontrollområdene. Med bakgrunn i økning i tetthet av hummer og økning i størrelsen på hummeren antar vi at eggproduksjonene pr areal nå er 2.5 til 3 ganger så høy i bevaringsområdet som i kontrollområdene, der den tidligere lå på samme nivå. Vi har beregnet område fra 100m inne i bevaringsområdet til 100m utenfor sørgrensen til å være et utviklingsområde eller «spill-over» område. Det vil si at hummeren som lever inne i denne delen av bevaringsområde kan bevege seg ut og bli fisket, samtidig som hummer som lever utenfor vil kunne oppleve noe beskyttelse gjennom at de i sin normale aktivitet er delvis inne i bevaringsområde. Vi har estimert vekst hos merket hummer og anslår at hannhummere i denne undersøkelsen skifter skall 0.89 ganger årlig med en vekst på 25.4 mm. Hunnhummerne skifter skall 0.65 ganger årlig og vokser 21.5 mm årlig. Med bakgrunn i observasjoner fra Klippeskjær bevaringsområde vil vi anta at en videre fredning kan føre til fortsatt positiv utvikling i hummerbestanden på Klippeskjær som etter hvert vil kunne bidra positivt til hummerbestanden i øvrige områder i Lindesnes kommune.publishedVersio

The lobster fishery 2017 and 2018: Effort and catches

I 2017 ble det innført obligatorisk påmelding til hummerfisket for både fritidsfiskere og yrkesfiskere. Dette har lagt grunnlaget for muligheten til å beregne total innsats og fangst av hummer i Norge. Etter hummersesongen 2017 ble det gjennomført en etterundersøkelse av et tilfeldig utvalg av de påmeldte som en pilotstudie for datainnsamling. I 2018 ble et tilfeldig utvalg påmeldte fiskere kontaktet ved starten av hummerfisket og bedt om å rapportere alle sine fisketurer gjennom sesong. Resultatene fra 2017 og 2018 er ikke direkte sammenlignbare da det er benyttet to ulike metoder. I 2017 var det påmeldt 36 393 fiskere, mens det var totalt påmeldt 29 681 fiskere i 2018. En nedgang på 18 %. Årsaken til denne nedgangen er ikke kjent. I 2017 landet hver påmeldt fritidsfisker som deltok i hummerfisket i snitt 12 (95% CI=2,3) hummer med små regionale forskjeller. I 2018 ble det landet 10,9 (CI=1,5) hummer per påmeldte fritidsfiskersom deltok i fisket. Yrkesfiskerne landet i snitt 75 (95% CI=15) hummer hver i 2017 og 66 (95% CI=8) i 2018. Totalt for 2017 er det beregnet at fritidsfiskerne landet 321 000 hummer (95% CI; 260 000 - 381 000) og yrkesfiskerne landet 133 000 hummer (95% CI; 107 500 - 158 700). Totalt ble det da landet rundt 454 000 hummer i 2017. For 2018 er det beregnet at fritidsfiskerne landet totalt 227 000 (95% CI; 194 000 – 260 000), mens yrkesfiskerne landet 95 000 (95% CI; 61 000 – 128 000) hummer. Totalt ble det da landet rundt 322 000 hummer i 2018. I 2017 utgjorde fritidsfiskerne 71 % av landingene og i 2018 70 %. Fritidsfisket dominerer uttaket i alle tre regioner (Skagerrak, Vestlandet og Nord-Vestlandet).publishedVersio

Restoration of Abundance and Dynamics of Coastal Fish and Lobster Within Northern Marine Protected Areas Across Two Decades

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Strandkrabber Carcinus maenas og strandkrabbefiskeri

I Norge er strandkrabber, Carcinus maenas, kjent og for mange, kjær naturlig del av dyrelivet. De opptrer på grunne strender, blir ivrig fanget av barn, men er egentlig undervurdert som produkt. Dette er en art som kanskje er for lite utnyttet i Norge. Den kan være aktuell som en ny havressurs. Kraften av strandkrabbe er fantastisk i sjømatsupper, og den glødende rødfargen kokte krabber får, er flott garnityr på et sjømatbord. Det er en ettertraktet art fra fiskerier fra Storbritannia og sørover i Europa. Innen bioprospektering har den et godt potensial, rik som den er på mineraler, enzymer og kanskje mer. I sjøen har den en viktig miljørolle der den jakter på smådyr og, ikke minst, rydder opp avfall og rester av døde organismer langs strendene.publishedVersio