Pilot evaluation of the efficacy of electronic monitoring on a demersal gillnet vessel as an alternative to human observers

A large number of documents exist in peer reviewed and ‘grey’ scientific literature that describe ‘how to’ establish a generic observer program for bycatch. Rather than repeat the many reviews of establishing observer programs, this component of WAMSI project 4.4.1 undertook a pilot trial to test the efficacy of using Electronic Monitoring (EM) in place of on-board human observers to record and identify the catch composition of a commercial demersal gillnet vessel. Approximately 80% of all catch (including target, by-product and bycatch species), including interactions with threatened, endangered and protected species (TEPS) could be identified to the same taxon as reported by commercial fishers in logsheets. With additional tuning and regular maintenance of the EM equipment (particularly the camera), it is likely that the identification of all catch to the appropriate taxonomic level could approach 100%. The outcomes of the initial small-scale pilot trial of EM provide a basis for future evaluation of EM systems in West Australian fisheries

Status of nearshore finfish stocks in south-western Western Australia: Part 1: Australian herring

The status of the popular nearshore finfish resource in the West Coast Bioregion (WCB) of Western Australia (WA) was largely unknown prior to this study. Previously, declining catches of several nearshore species had highlighted the risk to their sustainability and the need for greater certainty about their status. Recently, the risk further increased due to management changes in the WCB aimed at reducing the catch of demersal scalefish, which are likely to result in a shift in targeting towards nearshore species. This increase in fishing pressure on nearshore species will be on top of any increase due to the continuing human population growth in the WCB

Status of nearshore finfish stocks in south-western Western Australia: Part 2: Tailor

The status of the nearshore finfish resource in the West Coast Bioregion (WCB) of Western Australia (WA) was largely unknown prior to this study. Previously, declining catches of several species had highlighted the risk to their sustainability and the need for greater certainty about the status of this popular resource. Recently, the risk substantially increased due to recent changes to the management of demersal scalefish, which are likely to result in a shift in targeting towards nearshore species. This increase in fishing pressure will be on top of any increase due to the continuing human population growth in the WCB

Common dysregulation network in the human prefrontal cortex underlies two neurodegenerative diseases.

Using expression profiles from postmortem prefrontal cortex samples of 624 dementia patients and non-demented controls, we investigated global disruptions in the co-regulation of genes in two neurodegenerative diseases, late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Huntington's disease (HD). We identified networks of differentially co-expressed (DC) gene pairs that either gained or lost correlation in disease cases relative to the control group, with the former dominant for both AD and HD and both patterns replicating in independent human cohorts of AD and aging. When aligning networks of DC patterns and physical interactions, we identified a 242-gene subnetwork enriched for independent AD/HD signatures. This subnetwork revealed a surprising dichotomy of gained/lost correlations among two inter-connected processes, chromatin organization and neural differentiation, and included DNA methyltransferases, DNMT1 and DNMT3A, of which we predicted the former but not latter as a key regulator. To validate the inter-connection of these two processes and our key regulator prediction, we generated two brain-specific knockout (KO) mice and show that Dnmt1 KO signature significantly overlaps with the subnetwork (P = 3.1 × 10(-12)), while Dnmt3a KO signature does not (P = 0.017)

Measurement of the binding energy of ultracold 87Rb133Cs molecules using an offset-free optical frequency comb

We report the binding energy of Rb87Cs133 molecules in their rovibrational ground state measured using an offset-free optical frequency comb based on difference frequency generation technology. We create molecules in the absolute ground state using stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP) with a transfer efficiency of 88%. By measuring the absolute frequencies of our STIRAP lasers, we find the energy-level difference from an initial weakly bound Feshbach state to the rovibrational ground state with a resolution of ∼5 kHz over an energy-level difference of more than 114THz; this lets us discern the hyperfine splitting of the ground state. Combined with theoretical models of the Feshbach-state binding energies and ground-state hyperfine structure, we determine a zero-field binding energy of h×114268135.24(4)(3)MHz. To our knowledge, this is the most accurate determination to date of the dissociation energy of a molecule

The effect of Staphylococcus aureus carriage in late pregnancy on antibody levels to staphylococcal toxins in cord blood and breast milk.

We investigated the effect of carriage of Staphylococcus aureus in the later stages of pregnancy on levels of antibody specific to the S. aureus toxins, staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB), staphylococcal enterotoxin C (SEC) and toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 (TSST-1), in cord blood and breast milk and also explored the relationship between levels of antibody in antenatal serum and cord blood. Nasopharyngeal swabs and stool samples were collected on two occasions, from 96 women, during the last 6 weeks of pregnancy. Samples were cultured and S. aureus isolates were identified. Antenatal and cord blood samples from the same women and their infants were analysed for IgG antibody to SEB, SEC and TSST-1 by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Breast milk samples were analysed for IgA antibody to the same toxins. We found that S. aureus carriage in pregnancy is common and exposure to a toxin-producing isolate boosts immunity. Over 89% of women and infants have some protective antibody to the toxins, and antitoxin IgG levels are higher in cord blood samples compared with antenatal samples. Levels of cord blood IgG and breast milk IgA specific for the staphylococcal toxins vary. Some infants lack protection and could be at risk of toxin-induced disease

Management implications of climate change effect on fisheries in Western Australia Part 2: Case studies FRDC Project No. 2010/535

The Western Rock Lobster Panulirus cygnus (George) is taken by commercial and recreational fishers throughout its geographic range along the lower west coast of Western Australia. It is fished by three managed fisheries; West Coast Rock Lobster Managed Fishery (WCRLMF), Augusta–Windy Harbour Managed Fishery and the South Coast Crustacean Fisheries. The WCRLMF is the largest fishery encompassing most of the Western Rock Lobster’s (WRL) geographic range (Figure 1.1.1), including the most productive regions and is Australia’s largest single-species fishery worth $200–400 million annually

Mapping the genetic architecture of gene expression in human liver

Genetic variants that are associated with common human diseases do not lead directly to disease, but instead act on intermediate, molecular phenotypes that in turn induce changes in higher-order disease traits. Therefore, identifying the molecular phenotypes that vary in response to changes in DNA and that also associate with changes in disease traits has the potential to provide the functional information required to not only identify and validate the susceptibility genes that are directly affected by changes in DNA, but also to understand the molecular networks in which such genes operate and how changes in these networks lead to changes in disease traits. Toward that end, we profiled more than 39,000 transcripts and we genotyped 782,476 unique single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in more than 400 human liver samples to characterize the genetic architecture of gene expression in the human liver, a metabolically active tissue that is important in a number of common human diseases, including obesity, diabetes, and atherosclerosis. This genome-wide association study of gene expression resulted in the detection of more than 6,000 associations between SNP genotypes and liver gene expression traits, where many of the corresponding genes identified have already been implicated in a number of human diseases. The utility of these data for elucidating the causes of common human diseases is demonstrated by integrating them with genotypic and expression data from other human and mouse populations. This provides much-needed functional support for the candidate susceptibility genes being identified at a growing number of genetic loci that have been identified as key drivers of disease from genome-wide association studies of disease. By using an integrative genomics approach, we highlight how the gene RPS26 and not ERBB3 is supported by our data as the most likely susceptibility gene for a novel type 1 diabetes locus recently identified in a large-scale, genome-wide association study. We also identify SORT1 and CELSR2 as candidate susceptibility genes for a locus recently associated with coronary artery disease and plasma low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels in the process. © 2008 Schadt et al

Trace elements in end-stage renal disease – unfamiliar territory to be revealed

Although associated with unfavorable outcomes in the general population, abnormal blood levels of various trace elements have not been consistently studied in the end-stage renal disease population (with the notable exception of aluminum). This is surprising, as the uremic patient treated by chronic dialysis loses one major route of trace element excretion and is exposed systematically to a foreign environment (the dialysis fluid) possibly contaminated with significant amounts of potential deleterious trace elements. Moreover, some biological important trace elements may be lost through the dialysis membrane. Most studies to date demonstrated significantly altered blood levels of trace elements in ESRD patients compared to healthy controls. However, the biological impact of these abnormalities in renal disease is largely unknown and should be clarified by future studies. A further step would be the design of well-controlled randomized interventional studies, examining the potential therapeutic benefit of supplementing one or more trace elements in ESRD patients, a population characterized by an impressive mortality due to cardiovascular, infectious and neoplasic disease