The Benefish consortium reports on the influence of system water refreshment rates on realized feed load, weight development, fish physiology and behaviour in turbot

Farmers with recirculation aquaculture systems (RAS) have a greater necessity and capacity to control the culture conditions of their farms than farmers with other aquaculture systems. Water quality is one of the factors that is closely monitored and managed in order to maintain the optimal levels of oxygen, ammonia, temperature, pH, and CO2. Effects of these parameters on growth and health are well studied and almost immediately noticeable. In RAS it often occurs that, although water quality conditions seem to be optimal, the feed intake of the fish might suddenly diminishes, thus reflecting a situation of sub optimal welfare of the animals. This phenomenon is particular relevant in marine RAS where these situations of reduced feed intake occur even though the normally monitored water quality parameters and husbandry conditions appear to be optimal. Similar phenomena also occur in other aquaculture culture systems, such as flow through systems, where feed intake fluctuates whilst the reasons are not always known, although there is typically less control and monitoring compared with RAS. It is therefore necessary to actively monitor deviation of expected feed intake, in combination with the monitoring of culture conditions and farm management on pilot-scale level. Only through this intermediate level experimental work and farm observations for the assumed relationship between deviation of expected feed intake and fish welfare can be validated. It is furthermore necessary to provide refinements to causative relationships expected to be found on commercial farms, where it is often claimed that e.g. lower system water refreshment rates or more closed RAS are leading to growth retardation and lower feed intake in fish and thus lower production. The present study is, therefore, intending to prove the hypothesis that changes in feed intake can be associated with changed fish welfare status, using turbot as model species. It is furthermore hypothesized that this changed fish welfare status is caused by different system water refreshment rates and fish and system management. As a final result, feed intake should relate by same efficiency to lower fish growth in closed RAS compared to flow through systems. The objectives are therefore to validate the relationships between deviation from expected feed intake and fish welfare, and their causative factors on the commercial farms interpreting data on feed intake, behavior, endocrinology and immune patterns as welfare indicators

Eindrapport LNV bestek Duurzame viskweek

In Nederland wordt vis vooral in recirculatiesystemen (RAS) gekweekt , hetgeen als één van de meest duurzame manieren van viskweek wordt beschouwd. Of deze systemen echter optimaal zijn voor het welzijn en de gezondheid van de vis is nog de vraag. Een verminderde groei in recirculatiesystemen ten opzichte van doorstroomsystemen wordt gemeld voor zeebaars in de literatuur en voor een aantal andere soorten vanuit de praktijk. Dit geeft aan dat de kweekomstandigheden in RAS niet altijd optimaal zijn. Het belangrijkste verschil tussen recirculatiesystemen en doorstroomsystemen is de mate waarin het kweekwater wordt vervangen door vers water. Als gevolg van hergebruik van kweekwater treedt accumulatie op van opgeloste en gesuspendeerde stoffen die in het kweeksysteem geïntroduceerd zijn of geproduceerd worden. De mate waarin accumulatie optreedt wordt bepaald door de mate van verversing van het kweekwater. De onderzoeksvragen waren daarom: wat is het effect van de mate van recirculatie van kweekwater op (1) het gedrag van vis, (2) de fysiologie van vis en (3) de groei van vis; (4) is groeiremming in RAS soortspecifiek en welk inzicht in groeiremming levert dit op en (5) wat is het effect van sorteren van vissen op niet gesorteerde vissen binnen hetzelfde RAS

Cracking down on bribery

Do crackdowns on bribery impact corrupt behavior in the long run? In this paper we observe the long-run impact of a short-term punishment institution (i.e., a crackdown) on bribery behavior in a lab setting. We conduct lab experiments in two countries with cultures that differ in corruption norms, and which experience very different levels of bribery: the US and Pakistan. Bribery is implemented in the laboratory as a repeated three-player sequential game, consisting of a firm, a government official and a citizen. The design contains three phases: pre-crackdown, crackdown, and post-crackdown. Results show that post-crackdown behavior is not significantly different from pre-crackdown behavior in either country. We conclude that short-term crackdowns may impact behavior in the short run, depending on the strength of the existing corruption norms in the country. More importantly, in our setting crackdowns are completely ineffective in the long run, as corrupt behavior rebounds to pre-crackdown levels

Sabotage in Contests: A Survey

A contest is a situation in which individuals expend irretrievable resources to win valuable prize(s). ‘Sabotage’ is a deliberate and costly act of damaging a rival’s' likelihood of winning the contest. Sabotage can be observed in, e.g., sports, war, promotion tournaments, political or marketing campaigns. In this article, we provide a model and various perspectives on such sabotage activities and review the economics literature analyzing the act of sabotage in contests. We discuss the theories and evidence highlighting the means of sabotage, why sabotage occurs, and the effects of sabotage on individual players and on overall welfare, along with possible mechanisms to reduce sabotage. We note that most sabotage activities are aimed at the ablest player, the possibility of sabotage reduces productive effort exerted by the players, and sabotage may lessen the effectiveness of public policies, such as affirmative action, or information revelation in contests. We discuss various policies that a designer may employ to counteract sabotage activities. We conclude by pointing out some areas of future research

A model of communication-enabled traffic interactions

A major challenge for autonomous vehicles is handling interactive scenarios, such as highway merging, with human-driven vehicles. A better understanding of human interactive behaviour could help address this challenge. Such understanding could be obtained through modelling human behaviour. However, existing modelling approaches predominantly neglect communication between drivers and assume that some drivers in the interaction only respond to others, but do not actively influence them. Here we argue that addressing these two limitations is crucial for accurate modelling of interactions. We propose a new computational framework addressing these limitations. Similar to game-theoretic approaches, we model the interaction in an integral way rather than modelling an isolated driver who only responds to their environment. Contrary to game theory, our framework explicitly incorporates communication and bounded rationality. We demonstrate the model in a simplified merging scenario, illustrating that it generates plausible interactive behaviour (e.g., aggressive and conservative merging). Furthermore, human-like gap-keeping behaviour emerged in a car-following scenario directly from risk perception without the explicit implementation of time or distance gaps in the model's decision-making. These results suggest that our framework is a promising approach to interaction modelling that can support the development of interaction-aware autonomous vehicles

Cytolytic DNA vaccine encoding lytic perforin augments the maturation of- and antigen presentation by- dendritic cells in a time-dependent manner

The use of cost-effective vaccines capable of inducing robust CD8+ T cell immunity will contribute significantly towards the elimination of persistent viral infections and cancers worldwide. We have previously reported that a cytolytic DNA vaccine encoding an immunogen and a truncated mouse perforin (PRF) protein significantly augments anti-viral T cell (including CD8+ T cell) immunity. Thus, the current study investigated whether this vaccine enhances activation of dendritic cells (DCs) resulting in greater priming of CD8+ T cell immunity. In vitro data showed that transfection of HEK293T cells with the cytolytic DNA resulted in the release of lactate dehydrogenase, indicative of necrotic/lytic cell death. In vitro exposure of this lytic cell debris to purified DCs from naïve C57BL/6 mice resulted in maturation of DCs as determined by up-regulation of CD80/CD86. Using activation/proliferation of adoptively transferred OT-I CD8+ T cells to measure antigen presentation by DCs in vivo, it was determined that cytolytic DNA immunisation resulted in a time-dependent increase in the proliferation of OT-I CD8+ T cells compared to canonical DNA immunisation. Overall, the data suggest that the cytolytic DNA vaccine increases the activity of DCs which has important implications for the design of DNA vaccines to improve their translational prospects.Danushka K. Wijesundara, Wenbo Yu, Ben J. C. Quah, Preethi Eldi, John D. Hayball, Kerrilyn R. Diener, Ilia Voskoboinik, Eric J. Gowans, and Branka Grubor-Bau

Motives and comprehension in a public goods game with induced emotions

This study analyses the sensitivity of public goods contributions through the lens of psychological motives. We report the results of a public goods experiment in which subjects were induced with the motives of care and anger through autobiographical recall. Subjects' preferences, beliefs, and perceptions under each motive are compared with those of subjects experiencing a neutral autobiographical recall control condition. We find, but only for those subjects with the highest comprehension of the game, that care elicits significantly higher contributions than anger, with the control treatment in between. This positive influence of the care motive on unconditional giving is accounted for partly by preferences for giving and partly by the beliefs concerning greater contributions by others. Anger also affects attention to own and other's payoffs (using mouse tracking) and perceptions of the game's incentive structure (cooperative or competitive)

Phase 2b program with sonlicromanol in patients with mitochondrial disease due to m.3243A>G mutation

\ua9 The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Guarantors of Brain. Mitochondrial disease incorporates a group of rare conditions with no approved treatment to date, except for Leber hereditary optic neuropathy. Therapeutic options to alleviate the symptoms of mitochondrial disease are urgently needed. Sonlicromanol is a promising candidate, as it positively alters the key metabolic and inflammatory pathways associated with mitochondrial disease. Sonlicromanol is a reductive and oxidative distress modulator, selectively inhibiting microsomal prostaglandin E1 synthase activity. This phase 2b program, aimed at evaluating sonlicromanol in adults with m.3243A>G mutation and primary mitochondrial disease, consisted of a randomized controlled (RCT) study (dose-selection) followed by a 52-week open-label extension study (EXT, long-term tolerability, safety and efficacy of sonlicromanol). Patients were randomized (1:1:1) to receive 100 or 50 mg sonlicromanol or placebo twice daily (bid) for 28 days with a ≥2-week wash-out period between treatments. Patients who completed the RCT study entered the EXT study, wherein they received 100 mg sonlicromanol bid. Overall, 27 patients were randomized (24 RCT patients completed all periods). Fifteen patients entered the EXT, and 12 patients were included in the EXT analysis set. All patients reported good tolerability and favourable safety, with pharmacokinetic results comparable to the earlier phase 2a study. The RCT primary end point [change from placebo in the attentional domain of the cognition score (visual identification; Cogstate IDN)] did not reach statistical significance. Using a categorization of the subject\u27s period baseline a treatment effect over placebo was observed if their baseline was more affected (P = 0.0338). Using this approach, there were signals of improvements over placebo in at least one dose in the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI, P = 0.0143), Cognitive Failure Questionnaire (P = 0.0113) and the depression subscale of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (P = 0.0256). Statistically and/or clinically meaningful improvements were observed in the patient- and clinician-reported outcome measures at the end of the EXT study [Test of Attentional Performance (TAP) with alarm, P = 0.0102; TAP without alarm, P = 0.0047; BDI somatic, P = 0.0261; BDI total, P = 0.0563; SF12 physical component score, P = 0.0008]. Seven of nine domains of RAND-Short Form-36-like SF-36 pain improved (P = 0.0105). Other promising results were observed in the Neuro-Quality of Life Short Form-Fatigue Scale (P = 0.0036), mini-Balance Evaluation Systems test (P = 0.0009), McGill Pain Questionnaire (P = 0.0105), EuroQol EQ-5D-5L-Visual Analog Scale (P = 0.0213) and EQ-5D-5L-Index (P = 0.0173). Most patients showed improvement in the Five Times Sit-To-Stand Test. Sonlicromanol was well-tolerated and demonstrated a favourable benefit/risk ratio for up to 1 year. Sonlicromanol was efficacious in patients when affected at baseline, as seen across a variety of clinically relevant domains. Long-term treatment showed more pronounced changes from baseline

Immunity status of adults and children against poliomyelitis virus type 1 strains CHAT and Sabin (LSc-2ab) in Germany

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In October 2007, the working group CEN/TC 216 of the European Committee for standardisation suggested that the Sabin oral poliovirus vaccine type 1 strain (LSc-2ab) presently used for virucidal tests should be replaced by another attenuated vaccine poliovirus type 1 strain, CHAT. Both strains were historically used as oral vaccines, but the Sabin type 1 strain was acknowledged to be more attenuated. In Germany, vaccination against poliomyelitis was introduced in 1962 using the oral polio vaccine (OPV) containing Sabin strain LSc-2ab. The vaccination schedule was changed from OPV to an inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) containing wild polio virus type 1 strain Mahoney in 1998. In the present study, we assessed potential differences in neutralising antibody titres to Sabin and CHAT in persons with a history of either OPV, IPV, or OPV with IPV booster.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Neutralisation poliovirus antibodies against CHAT and Sabin 1 were measured in sera of 41 adults vaccinated with OPV. Additionally, sera from 28 children less than 10 years of age and immunised with IPV only were analysed. The neutralisation assay against poliovirus was performed according to WHO guidelines.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The neutralisation activity against CHAT in adults with OPV vaccination history was significantly lower than against Sabin poliovirus type 1 strains (Wilcoxon signed-rank test P < 0.025). In eight sera, the antibody titres measured against CHAT were less than 8, although the titre against Sabin 1 varied between 8 and 64. Following IPV booster, anti-CHAT antibodies increased rapidly in sera of CHAT-negative adults with OPV history. Sera from children with IPV history neutralised CHAT and Sabin 1 strains equally.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The lack of neutralising antibodies against the CHAT strain in persons vaccinated with OPV might be associated with an increased risk of reinfection with the CHAT polio virus type 1, and this implies a putative risk of transmission of the virus to polio-free communities. We strongly suggest that laboratory workers who were immunised with OPV receive a booster vaccination with IPV before handling CHAT in the laboratory.</p

Side-Payments and the Costs of Conflict

Conflict and competition often impose costs on both winners and losers, and conflicting parties may prefer to resolve the dispute before it occurs. The equilibrium of a conflict game with side-payments predicts that with binding offers, proposers make and responders accept side-payments, generating settlements that strongly favor proposers. When side-payments are non-binding, proposers offer nothing and conflicts always arise. Laboratory experiments confirm that binding side-payments reduce conflicts. However, 30 % of responders reject binding offers, and offers are more egalitarian than predicted. Surprisingly, non-binding side-payments also improve efficiency, although less than binding. With binding side-payments, 87 % of efficiency gains come from avoided conflicts. However, with non-binding side-payments, only 39 % of gains come from avoided conflicts and 61 % from reduced conflict expenditures