Does operational oceanography address the needs of fisheries and applied environmental scientists?

Although many oceanographic data products are now considered operational, continued dialogue between data producers and their user communities is still needed. The fisheries and environmental science communities have often been criticized for their lack of multidisciplinarity, and it is not clear whether recent developments in operational oceanographic products are addressing these needs. The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) Working Group on Operational Oceanographic products for Fisheries and Environment (WGOOFE) identified a potential mismatch between user requirements and the perception of requirements by the providers. Through a questionnaire (98 respondents), WGOOFE identified some of these issues. Although products of physical variables were in higher demand, several biological parameters scored in the top 10 rankings. Users placed specific focus on historic time series products with monthly or annual resolution and updating on similar time scales. A significant percentage requested access to numerical data rather than graphical output. While the outcomes of this survey challenge our views of operational oceanography, several initiatives are already attempting to close the gap between user requirements and products available

DRIFT PATTERNS OF ANCHOVY ENGRAULIS CAPENSIS LARVAE IN THE SOUTHERN BENGUELA, AND THEIR POSSIBLE IMPORTANCE FOR RECRUITMENT

In the southern Benguela, successful recruitment of Cape anchovy Engraulis capensis is highly variable and seems to be dependent on the spawning biomass only to a small extent. This paper investigates how the variations in the drift patterns of larvae from the spawning areas on the Agulhas Bank to the upwelling-dominated regions on the west and south-west coasts of South Africa can explain these observed variations. Through the coupling of a three-dimensional circulation model, a Lagrangian particle-tracking model and spawning data, the number of particles ending up in different areas are used to investigate observed variability in recruitment. The model was able to explain 95&#37 of the observed variability in recruitment for the period 1987–1993 (excluding 1989) using a simple linear regression formula. The model also suggests that, of the interannual variability in currents and egg distribution, the latter is the most important cause of the changes observed in the recruitment of anchovy.Afr. J. mar. Sci. 25: 37–4

Development and analytical performance of an automated screening method for cannabinoids on the Dimension clinical chemistry system

A fully automated, random access method for the determination of cannabinoids (UTHC) was developed for the Dimension AR and XL clinical chemistry systems. The method utilizes Abuscreen ONLINE reagents and a multianalyte liquid calibrator containing 11-nor-Δ9-THC-9-carboxylic acid. Within-run and total reproducibility, determined using NCCLS protocol EP5- T2, was less than 0.6% and 1.6% CV, respectively, at all concentrations. Calibration stability was retained for at least 30 days. An extensive evaluation of non-structurally related drugs and various physiological substances indicated lack of interference in the method. No sample carry-over was observed following a specimen containing 1886 ng/ml 11-nor-Δ9-THC-9-carboxylic acid. A 99.1% agreement (N = 445 samples) was found between an EMIT based method on the aca discrete clinical analyser and the Dimension UTHC method

A prominent lack of IgG1-Fc fucosylation of platelet alloantibodies in pregnancy.

To access publisher's full text version of this article, please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field or click on the hyperlink at the top of the page marked Files. This article is open access.Immunoglobulin G (IgG) formed during pregnancy against human platelet antigens (HPAs) of the fetus mediates fetal or neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (FNAIT). Because antibody titer or isotype does not strictly correlate with disease severity, we investigated by mass spectrometry variations in the glycosylation at Asn297 in the IgG Fc because the composition of this glycan can be highly variable, affecting binding to phagocyte IgG-Fc receptors (FcγR). We found markedly decreased levels of core fucosylation of anti-HPA-1a-specific IgG1 from FNAIT patients (n = 48), but not in total serum IgG1. Antibodies with a low amount of fucose displayed higher binding affinity to FcγRIIIa and FcγRIIIb, but not to FcγRIIa, compared with antibodies with a high amount of Fc fucose. Consequently, these antibodies with a low amount of Fc fucose showed enhanced phagocytosis of platelets using FcγRIIIb(+) polymorphonuclear cells or FcγRIIIa(+) monocytes as effector cells, but not with FcγRIIIa(-) monocytes. In addition, the degree of anti-HPA-1a fucosylation correlated positively with the neonatal platelet counts in FNAIT, and negatively to the clinical disease severity. In contrast to the FNAIT patients, no changes in core fucosylation were observed for anti-HLA antibodies in refractory thrombocytopenia (post platelet transfusion), indicating that the level of fucosylation may be antigen dependent and/or related to the immune milieu defined by pregnancy.Sanquin/PPOC-09- 025 Landsteiner Foundation for Blood Transfusion/0721 info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/FP7/27853

A standard protocol for describing the evaluation of ecological models

Numerical models of ecological systems are increasingly used to address complex environmental and resource management questions. One challenge for scientists, managers, and stakeholders is to appraise how well suited these models are to answer questions of scientific or societal relevance, that is, to perform, communicate, or access transparent evaluations of ecological models. While there have been substantial developments to support standardised descriptions of ecological models, less has been done to standardise and to report model evaluation practices. We present here a general protocol designed to guide the reporting of model evaluation. The protocol is organised in three major parts: the objective(s) of the modelling application, the ecological patterns of relevance and the evaluation methodology proper, and is termed the OPE (objectives, patterns, evaluation) protocol. We present the 25 questions of the OPE protocol which address the many aspects of the evaluation process and then apply them to six case studies based on a diversity of ecological models. In addition to standardising and increasing the transparency of the model evaluation process, we find that going through the OPE protocol helps modellers to think more deeply about the evaluation of their models. From this last point, we suggest that it would be highly beneficial for modellers to consider the OPE early in the modelling process, in addition to using it as a reporting tool and as a reviewing tool.publishedVersio

Advancing bioenergetics-based modeling to improve climate change projections of marine ecosystems

Climate change has rapidly altered marine ecosystems and is expected to continue to push systems and species beyond historical baselines into novel conditions. Projecting responses of organisms and populations to these novel environmental conditions often requires extrapolations beyond observed conditions, challenging the predictive limits of statistical modeling capabilities. Bioenergetics modeling provides the mechanistic basis for projecting climate change effects on marine living resources in novel conditions, has a long history of development, and has been applied widely to fish and other taxa. We provide our perspective on 4 opportunities that will advance the ability of bioenergetics-based models to depict changes in the productivity and distribution of fishes and other marine organisms, leading to more robust projections of climate impacts. These are (1) improved depiction of bioenergetics processes to derive realistic individual-level response(s) to complex changes in environmental conditions, (2) innovations in scaling individual-level bioenergetics to project responses at the population and food web levels, (3) more realistic coupling between spatial dynamics and bioenergetics to better represent the local- to regional-scale differences in the effects of climate change on the spatial distributions of organisms, and (4) innovations in model validation to ensure that the next generation of bioenergetics-based models can be used with known and sufficient confidence. Our focus on specific opportunities will enable critical advancements in bioenergetics modeling and position the modeling community to make more accurate and robust projections of the effects of climate change on individuals, populations, food webs, and ecosystems

Variability and coherence of the Agulhas Undercurrent in a High-resolution Ocean General Circulation Model

The Agulhas Current system has been analyzed in a nested high-resolution ocean model and compared to observations. The model shows good performance in the western boundary current structure and the transports off the South African coast. This includes the simulation of the northward-flowing Agulhas Undercurrent. It is demonstrated that fluctuations of the Agulhas Current and Undercurrent around 50–70 days are due to Natal pulses and Mozambique eddies propagating downstream. A sensitivity experiment that excludes those upstream perturbations significantly reduces the variability as well as the mean transport of the undercurrent. Although the model simulates undercurrents in the Mozambique Channel and east of Madagascar, there is no direct connection between those and the Agulhas Undercurrent. Virtual float releases demonstrate that topography is effectively blocking the flow toward the north

Simultaneous Activation of Complement and Coagulation by MBL-Associated Serine Protease 2

The complement system is an important immune mechanism mediating both recognition and elimination of foreign bodies. The lectin pathway is one pathway of three by which the complement system is activated. The characteristic protease of this pathway is Mannan-binding lectin (MBL)-associated serine protease 2 (MASP2), which cleaves complement proteins C2 and C4. We present a novel and alternative role of MASP2 in the innate immune system. We have shown that MASP2 is capable of promoting fibrinogen turnover by cleavage of prothrombin, generating thrombin. By using a truncated active form of MASP2 as well as full-length MASP2 in complex with MBL, we have shown that the thrombin generated is active and can cleave both factor XIII and fibrinogen, forming cross-linked fibrin. To explore the biological significance of these findings we showed that fibrin was covalently bound on a bacterial surface to which MBL/MASP2 complexes were bound. These findings suggest that, as has been proposed for invertebrates, limited clotting may contribute to the innate immune response