Nursing technique and growth environment of Rabbit fish (Siganus guttatus) in the area of Tam Giang lagoon, Thua Thien Hue

Summary In the area to the east of Hue city, in Vietnam, lays Tam Giang lagoon, one of Asia's largest lagoons, with an area of 22,000 hectares. This lagoon is suitable for aquaculture. One reason for this is because the salinity differs from sweet to salty in different parts of the lagoon. The Vietnamese Government advocates an increase in environmentally-friendly aquaculture and the fish Siganus guttatus (Rabbit fish) is a candidate for this. This fish eats mainly algae and can be cultivated in a polyculture. The purpose of this master thesis was to investigate how the fish S. guttatus are cultivated in nurseries. Focus was set on a farm located near the town of Tuan An, which cultivated the fish in cement tanks. What would be examined was growth in length and weight and various parameters of water quality where the fish were held. These results would then be compared to farms where fish were reared in earthen ponds on the shores of the Tam Giang lagoon. Only water quality and interviews with the farmers were made on the farms rearing S. guttatus in earthen ponds. Also an economic evaluation would be performed for the different farms. One nursery (farm 1) rearing S. guttatus in cements tanks was visited during an 8 week period. During these 8 weeks the fish grew 3.1 cm and 1.7 g. The mean water parameters were: temperature: 28.4 ° C, salinity: 20.6 ‰, alkalinity: 140 ppm, pH: 7.7, DO 4.5 mg / L, TAN: 0.4 ppm. Three other farms (farm 2, 3 and 4) were visited for interviewing the farmer cultivating Rabbit fish in earthen ponds. At 2 of those farms (farm 2 and 3) also the water quality was analysed according to the same parameters as farm 1. The results from farm 2; temperature: 30 °C, salinity: 13 ‰, alkalinity: 60 ppm, pH: 8, DO: 3 mg/L, TAN: 0.2 ppm. The results from farm 3; temperature: 32 °C, salinity: 16 ‰, alkalinity: 120 ppm, pH: 7.5, DO: 4 mg/L, TAN: 0.2 ppm. The management on the farms differed on some points. Farm 1 produced its own concentrate feed during the first month, consisting of fish meal, rice bran, cassava root meal, vitamins and probiotic (Bacillus subtilis). After the first month the fish got fed the same as on the other farms; industrially produced pelleted concentrate feed. In Addition, the fish were fed seaweed from the family of Gracilaria. None of the farms added chemicals to the ponds during cultivation of the Rabbit fish. One farm added saponins to the water between different cultivation batches. This to eradicate the fish that had swam in to the pond when the pond was refilled with new water. Two of the farms changed the pond water regularly, while a third added water from the lagoon to the pond after heavy rain. The fourth farm changed nothing in the pond during the rearing period. Profits did not differ significantly between the farms that were reared in earthen ponds. However, the farm with cement tanks produced much higher profits per square meter. It was difficult to draw conclusions about differences between the different farming methods because of too few data.Sammanfattning I området öster om staden Hue i Viet Nam ligger lagunen Tam Giang lagoon, vilken är en av Asiens största laguner med en area på 22 000 ha. Denna lagun lämpar sig väl för vattenbruk då salthalten skiljer sig från söt till salt beroende på var i den man befinner sig. Den Vietnamesiska regeringen förespråkar en ökning av miljövänligt vattenbruk och fisken Siganus guttatus är en kandidat för detta. Denna fisk äter främst alger och gynnas av att födas upp polykultur. Syftet med detta arbete var att undersöka hur denna fisk odlas, från fångst i det vilda vid 1 månads ålder och upp till ca 4 månaders ålder. Fokuseringen kom att ligga 2 speciellt på en gård (gård 1) som odlade fisken i cement tankar och var belägen nära staden Tuan An. Det som skulle undersökas var tillväxt i längd och vikt samt olika parametrar på vattenkvaliteten i de cement tankar där fisken hölls. Detta hållningssätt skulle sedan jämföras med 3 gårdar där fiskar föddes upp i grävda jord-dammar invid stranden till Tam Giang lagoon. Där undersöktes vattenkvalitet (gård 2 och 3) samt skötsel (alla 3 gårdar). Även en ekonomisk beräkning skulle utföras för de 4 olika gårdarna. Gård 1 besöktes under 8 veckor och tillväxten i längd och vikt på fiskarna var som följer; 3.1 cm samt 1.7 g. Medelvärdet för vatten parametrarna var; temperatur: 28.4 °C, salinitet: 20.6 ‰, alkalinitet: 140 ppm, pH: 7.7, löst syre (DO): 4.5 mg/L, totala ammoniak kvävet (TAN): 0.4 ppm. Resultat från mätning av vattenkvaliteten på gård 2; temperatur: 30 °C, salthalt: 13 ‰, alkalinitet: 60 ppm, pH: 8, DO: 3 mg/L, TAN: 0.2 ppm. Resultat från mätning av vattenkvaliteten på gård 3; temperatur: 32 °C, salthalt: 16 ‰, alkalinitet: 120 ppm, pH: 7.5, DO: 4 mg/L, TAN: 0.2 ppm. Skötseln mellan gårdarna skiljde sig på några punkter. Gård 1 tillverkade sitt eget koncentrat-foder innehållande fiskmjöl, riskli, cassavarots-mjöl, vitaminer och probiotika under den första månaden. Därefter utfodrades fiskarna likadant som på de andra gårdarna; med industriellt producerat, pelleterat, koncentrat-foder. Utöver detta utfodrades fiskarna med vattenväxter från familjen Gracilaria. Under odlingsperioden tillsatte inga av gårdarna några kemikalier till vattnet. En av gårdarna tillsatte däremot saponiner mellan fiskodlings- omgångarna. Två av gårdarna bytte vatten regelbundet, medan en tredje tillsatte vatten från lagunen efter kraftiga regn. Den 4:e gården förändrade ingenting i dammen under uppfödningsperioden. Ekonomin skiljde sig inte mycket mellan de gårdar som hade uppfödning i dammar. Däremot hade gården med uppfödning i cement tankar en mycket högre vinst per kvadrat meter vid jämförelse med de andra gårdarna. Det var dock svårt att dra slutsatser om skillnader mellan de olika uppfödningssätten på grund av för få data

Identification of genetic variants associated with Huntington's disease progression: a genome-wide association study

Background Huntington's disease is caused by a CAG repeat expansion in the huntingtin gene, HTT. Age at onset has been used as a quantitative phenotype in genetic analysis looking for Huntington's disease modifiers, but is hard to define and not always available. Therefore, we aimed to generate a novel measure of disease progression and to identify genetic markers associated with this progression measure. Methods We generated a progression score on the basis of principal component analysis of prospectively acquired longitudinal changes in motor, cognitive, and imaging measures in the 218 indivduals in the TRACK-HD cohort of Huntington's disease gene mutation carriers (data collected 2008–11). We generated a parallel progression score using data from 1773 previously genotyped participants from the European Huntington's Disease Network REGISTRY study of Huntington's disease mutation carriers (data collected 2003–13). We did a genome-wide association analyses in terms of progression for 216 TRACK-HD participants and 1773 REGISTRY participants, then a meta-analysis of these results was undertaken. Findings Longitudinal motor, cognitive, and imaging scores were correlated with each other in TRACK-HD participants, justifying use of a single, cross-domain measure of disease progression in both studies. The TRACK-HD and REGISTRY progression measures were correlated with each other (r=0·674), and with age at onset (TRACK-HD, r=0·315; REGISTRY, r=0·234). The meta-analysis of progression in TRACK-HD and REGISTRY gave a genome-wide significant signal (p=1·12 × 10−10) on chromosome 5 spanning three genes: MSH3, DHFR, and MTRNR2L2. The genes in this locus were associated with progression in TRACK-HD (MSH3 p=2·94 × 10−8 DHFR p=8·37 × 10−7 MTRNR2L2 p=2·15 × 10−9) and to a lesser extent in REGISTRY (MSH3 p=9·36 × 10−4 DHFR p=8·45 × 10−4 MTRNR2L2 p=1·20 × 10−3). The lead single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in TRACK-HD (rs557874766) was genome-wide significant in the meta-analysis (p=1·58 × 10−8), and encodes an aminoacid change (Pro67Ala) in MSH3. In TRACK-HD, each copy of the minor allele at this SNP was associated with a 0·4 units per year (95% CI 0·16–0·66) reduction in the rate of change of the Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale (UHDRS) Total Motor Score, and a reduction of 0·12 units per year (95% CI 0·06–0·18) in the rate of change of UHDRS Total Functional Capacity score. These associations remained significant after adjusting for age of onset. Interpretation The multidomain progression measure in TRACK-HD was associated with a functional variant that was genome-wide significant in our meta-analysis. The association in only 216 participants implies that the progression measure is a sensitive reflection of disease burden, that the effect size at this locus is large, or both. Knockout of Msh3 reduces somatic expansion in Huntington's disease mouse models, suggesting this mechanism as an area for future therapeutic investigation

Characteristics and Consequences of Having a Political Reputation in Class

The study examined the individual characteristics and consequences of psychological group processes that may lead some students to gain a reputation for being politically knowledgeable and verbal in class (a political reputation). Two normal samples of Swedish students were used, 13-year- olds (N = 835) and 16-year-olds (N = 795). Longitudinal data over one year were analyzed and showed that youths’ political reputation in class is established very early. Cross-sectional predictions showed that political interest predicted political reputation in class positively, and social fear predicted political reputation negatively in both cohorts. In addition, having a political reputation predicted increased political interest and political efficacy over one year. Further, mediation analyses showed that youths’ political predispositions, their political interest and political efficacy at T1, significantly operated on interest and efficacy at T2 via the political reputation. This suggests that political reputation partly functions as a booster of youths’ initial political predispositions over time. Future research is needed into the long-term consequences of having a political reputation

Prostate Cancer Radiation Therapy and Risk of Thromboembolic Events

Purpose To investigate the risk of thromboembolic disease (TED) after radiation therapy (RT) with curative intent for prostate cancer (PCa). Patients and Methods We identified all men who received RT as curative treatment (n=9410) and grouped according to external beam RT (EBRT) or brachytherapy (BT). By comparing with an age- and county-matched comparison cohort of PCa-free men (n=46,826), we investigated risk of TED after RT using Cox proportional hazard regression models. The model was adjusted for tumor characteristics, demographics, comorbidities, PCa treatments, and known risk factors of TED, such as recent surgery and disease progression. Results Between 2006 and 2013, 6232 men with PCa received EBRT, and 3178 underwent BT. A statistically significant association was found between EBRT and BT and risk of pulmonary embolism in the crude analysis. However, upon adjusting for known TED risk factors these associations disappeared. No significant associations were found between BT or EBRT and deep venous thrombosis. Conclusion Curative RT for prostate cancer using contemporary methodologies was not associated with an increased risk of TED

Anti-androgen monotherapy versus gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists in men with advanced, non-metastatic prostate cancer : a register-based, observational study

Background: In randomised controlled trials, men with advanced, non-metastatic prostate cancer (PCa) treated with anti-androgen monotherapy (AA) had similar all-cause mortality as men treated with gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists. Using real-world evidence (i.e., observational data), we aimed to further assess the difference in mortality between these two drug categories. Material and Methods: We emulated a trial using data from Prostate Cancer data Base Sweden 3.0. We specifically focused on men diagnosed in 2006-2012 with high-risk PCa who had no distant metastasis. They either received primary hormonal therapy with AA (n=2078) or GnRH agonists (n=4878) who were followed for a median time of 5 years. Risk of death from PCa and other causes was assessed using competing risk analyses and Cox proportional hazards regression analyses, including propensity score matching. Results: The cumulative 5-year PCa mortality was lower for men treated with AA (16% [95% confidence interval, CI, 15-18%]) than men treated with GnRH agonists (22% [95% CI 21-24%]). The 5-year other cause mortality was also lower for men on AA (17% [95% CI 15-19%] compared to men on GnRH agonists (27% [95% CI 25-28%]). In regression analyses, the risk of PCa death was similar, GnRH agonists versus AA (reference), hazard ratio (HR) 1.08 (95% CI 0.95-1.23), but the risk of death from all causes was higher for men on GnRH agonists, HR 1.23 (95% CI 1.13-1.34). Consistent results were seen in the propensity score-matched cohort. Conclusion: Our results indicate that the use of AA as primary hormonal therapy in men with high-risk non-metastatic PCa does not increase PCa-specific mortality compared to GnRH. Using AA instead of GnRH agonists may result in shorter time on/exposure to GnRH-treatment, which may reduce the risk of adverse events associated with this treatment

The Global Cardiovascular Risk Transition Associations of Four Metabolic Risk Factors with National Income, Urbanization, and Western Diet in 1980 and 2008

Background-It is commonly assumed that cardiovascular disease risk factors are associated with affluence and Westernization. We investigated the associations of body mass index (BMI), fasting plasma glucose, systolic blood pressure, and serum total cholesterol with national income, Western diet, and, for BMI, urbanization in 1980 and 2008