Fishery and biology of the crab Portunus sanguinolentus (Herbst) along the South Kanara coast

The fishery of the crab Portunus sanguinolenttis along the South Kanara coast extends generally from, December to May. The catches of the species at Mangalore during 1979-80, 1980-81 and 1981-82 are estimated respectively at 102.3 t, 100.2 t and 57.0 t. The catches at Malpe during 1980-81 and 1981-82 are at 65.9 t and 44.1 t, respectively. The carapace-width-body-weight relationship does not differ between sexes. Spawning takes place throughout the season, with peaks in February and April-May. Males are in excess of females, differing though not significantly from the expected 1 : 1 ratio. Fecundity is estimated to be ranging between 0.03 million (in a specimen of 83-mm carapace width) and 0.07 million (in a specimen of 113-mm carapace width), suggesting a positive relationship between size and fecundity. The L^, and e"'' values are found respectively at 173 mm and 0.7 in males and 163 mm and 0.75 in females

Trawl fishery of South Kanara with special reference to prawns and by-catches

An appraisal of the trawl fishery based on the data collected from Mangalore and Malpe during the fishing seasons 1980-81 and 1981-82 were attempted.The prawns alone contributed around 70-75% of the total value realised,although it formed only 13% of the annual average trawl catch. The landings of the important groups like Prawns, Fishes, Stomatopods, Crabs, Cephalopods by trawl nets at Mangalore and Malpe were compared. Among different species of prawns,P.stiilifera and M.dobsoni were the dominant species contributing around 80-85% of the annual prawn catch. Landings were generally high during September and January- May at both the centres.By-catches in trawls includes fishes,cephalopods,crabs and stomatopods.The main species according to its availability and importance landings were studied and explained.In fish species species, Silver bellies, are dominant ,contributing to 31.2% and 24.5% at Mangalore and Malpe respectively. The average auctioning rates of different category of prawns at Mangalore were also discussed

Radical Surgery in the Treatment of Localized Carcinoma of the Prostate

New methods of early detection combined with recent advances in surgical techniques have resulted in more patients undergoing radical surgery for treatment of localized carcinoma of the prostate. Over 350 radical prostatectomies have been performed by our group since January 1987. We review the role of radical prostatectomy in the treatment of prostate cancer and our experience with 100 patients undergoing radical retropubic prostatectomy since the advent of nerve-sparing techniques to preserve potency

Exploiting Social Commitments in Programming Agent Interaction

Abstract. Modeling and regulating interactions among agents is a crit-ical step in the development of Multiagent Systems (MASs). Some re-cent works assume a normative view, and suggest to model interaction protocols in terms of obligations. In this paper we propose to model in-teraction protocols in terms of goals and commitments, and show how such a formalization promotes a deliberative process inside the agents. The proposal is implemented via JaCaMo+, an extension of JaCaMo, in which Jason agents can interact, while preserving their deliberative ca-pabilities, by exploiting commitment-based protocols, reified by special CArtAgO artifacts

Structure-Based Development of Small Molecule PFKFB3 Inhibitors: A Framework for Potential Cancer Therapeutic Agents Targeting the Warburg Effect

Cancer cells adopt glycolysis as the major source of metabolic energy production for fast cell growth. The HIF-1-induced PFKFB3 plays a key role in this adaptation by elevating the concentration of Fru-2,6-BP, the most potent glycolysis stimulator. As this metabolic conversion has been suggested to be a hallmark of cancer, PFKFB3 has emerged as a novel target for cancer chemotherapy. Here, we report that a small molecular inhibitor, N4A, was identified as an initial lead compound for PFKFB3 inhibitor with therapeutic potential. In an attempt to improve its potency, we determined the crystal structure of the PFKFB3•N4A complex to 2.4 Å resolution and, exploiting the resulting molecular information, attained the more potent YN1. When tested on cultured cancer cells, both N4A and YN1 inhibited PFKFB3, suppressing the Fru-2,6-BP level, which in turn suppressed glycolysis and, ultimately, led to cell death. This study validates PFKFB3 as a target for new cancer therapies and provides a framework for future development efforts

Sulforaphane Causes Epigenetic Repression of hTERT Expression in Human Breast Cancer Cell Lines

Sulforaphane (SFN), an isothiocyanate found in cruciferous vegetables, is a common dietary component that has histone deacetylase inhibition activity and exciting potential in cancer prevention. The mechanisms by which SFN imparts its chemopreventive properties are of considerable interest and little is known of its preventive potential for breast cancer. expression facilitated the induction of cellular apoptosis in human breast cancer cells.Collectively, our results provide novel insights into SFN-mediated epigenetic down-regulation of telomerase in breast cancer prevention and may open new avenues for approaches to SFN-mediated cancer prevention

Anti-angiogenic effect of high doses of ascorbic acid

Pharmaceutical doses of ascorbic acid (AA, vitamin C, or its salts) have been reported to exert anticancer activity in vitro and in vivo. One proposed mechanism involves direct cytotoxicity mediated by accumulation of ascorbic acid radicals and hydrogen peroxide in the extracellular environment of tumor cells. However, therapeutic effects have been reported at concentrations insufficient to induce direct tumor cell death. We hypothesized that AA may exert anti-angiogenic effects. To test this, we expanded endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) from peripheral blood and assessed, whether or not high dose AA would inhibit EPC ability to migrate, change energy metabolism, and tube formation ability. We also evaluated the effects of high dose AA on angiogenic activities of HUVECs (human umbilical vein endothelial cells) and HUAECs (human umbilical arterial endothelial cells). According to our data, concentrations of AA higher than 100 mg/dl suppressed capillary-like tube formation on Matrigel for all cells tested and the effect was more pronounced for progenitor cells in comparison with mature cells. Co-culture of differentiated endothelial cells with progenitor cells showed that there was incorporation of EPCs in vessels formed by HUVECs and HUAECs. Cell migration was assessed using an in vitro wound healing model. The results of these experiments showed an inverse correlation between AA concentrations relative to both cell migration and gap filling capacity. Suppression of NO (nitric oxide) generation appeared to be one of the mechanisms by which AA mediated angiostatic effects. This study supports further investigation into non-cytotoxic antitumor activities of AA

Clotrimazole Preferentially Inhibits Human Breast Cancer Cell Proliferation, Viability and Glycolysis

BACKGROUND: Clotrimazole is an azole derivative with promising anti-cancer effects. This drug interferes with the activity of glycolytic enzymes altering their cellular distribution and inhibiting their activities. The aim of the present study was to analyze the effects of clotrimazole on the growth pattern of breast cancer cells correlating with their metabolic profiles. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Three cell lines derived from human breast tissue (MCF10A, MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231) that present increasingly aggressive profiles were used. Clotrimazole induces a dose-dependent decrease in glucose uptake in all three cell lines, with K(i) values of 114.3±11.7, 77.1±7.8 and 37.8±4.2 µM for MCF10A, MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231, respectively. Furthermore, the drug also decreases intracellular ATP content and inhibits the major glycolytic enzymes, hexokinase, phosphofructokinase-1 and pyruvate kinase, especially in the highly metastatic cell line, MDA-MB-231. In this last cell lineage, clotrimazole attenuates the robust migratory response, an effect that is progressively attenuated in MCF-7 and MCF10A, respectively. Moreover, clotrimazole reduces the viability of breast cancer cells, which is more pronounced on MDA-MB-231. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Clotrimazole presents deleterious effects on two human breast cancer cell lines metabolism, growth and migration, where the most aggressive cell line is more affected by the drug. Moreover, clotrimazole presents little or no effect on a non-tumor human breast cell line. These results suggest, at least for these three cell lines studied, that the more aggressive the cell is the more effective clotrimazole is