Fisher profiles and perceptions of sea turtle-fishery interactions: case study of East Coast Peninsular Malaysia

The paper focuses on coastal fisheries, particularly examining sea turtle-fishery interactions and determining the socioeconomic profile and perception of local fishers about sea turtle issues along the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia.Turtle fisheries, Nature conservation, Coastal fisheries, Man-induced effects, ISEW, Malaysia, Malaya, Pahang, Malaysia, Malaya, Kelantan, Malaysia, Malaya, Terengganu,

Spherical Tin Oxide, SnO2 Particles Fabricated via Facile Hydrothermal Method for Detection of Mercury (II) Ions.

Smooth-surface spherical tin oxide particles were fabricated via hydrothermal processing route. X-ray diffraction (XRD) revealed that the particles consisted of the rutile phase of SnO2 with tetragonal structure. The spherical morphology was realized with the aid of ammonia. The aggregation of SnO2 particles could be avoided by adjusting the concentration of tin (II) chloride. Bare glassy carbon electrode (GCE) was modified with the hydrothermally prepared SnO2 particles to detect the presence of mercury (II) ions (Hg2+), in the presence of potassium chloride (KCl) as a supporting electrolyte. GCE modified with the spherical SnO2 particles that possessed small crystallite size and smooth surface exhibited significantly enhanced oxidative and reductive current of Hg2+ during cyclic voltammetry compared with its bare counterpart. The reductive current was observed to increase by two fold and the detection limit of 75 nM for Hg 2+ was achieved. This suggests that SnO2 particles are a promising chemical sensor for the detection of Hg2+ in natural waters

Aquatic resources valuation and policies for poverty elimination in the lower Mekong basin: final report volume 1 project implementation and outcomes

This report presents the final outputs of the project on "Aquatic resources valuation and policies for poverty elimination in the Lower Mekong Basin". Volume 1 summarizes the implementation process, outcomes and key lessons of the project. The project was implemented in partnership with the Dept of Fisheries, Cambodia. It was developed to improve understanding of the economic and social values of aquatic resources, as a step towards improving institutional and policy processes in the Lower Mekong Basin so that resource management decisions better reflect the interests of the rural poor.Resource management, Aquatic environment, Living resources, Cambodia, Southeast, Southeast Asia, Mekong R.,

Endothelial and Inflammation Biomarker Profiles at Diagnosis Reflecting Clinical Heterogeneity and Serving as a Prognostic Tool For Treatment Response in Two Independent Cohorts of Patients With Juvenile Dermatomyositis

Objective: Juvenile dermatomyositis (DM) is a heterogeneous systemic immune-mediated vasculopathy. This study was undertaken to 1) identify inflammation/endothelial dysfunction–related biomarker profiles reflecting disease severity at diagnosis, and 2) establish whether such biomarker profiles could be used for predicting the response to treatment in patients with juvenile DM. Methods: In total, 39 biomarkers related to activation of endothelial

Using Malaise traps to assess aculeate Hymenoptera associated with farmland linear habitats across a range of farming intensities

The intensification of farming practices, along with the loss and fragmentation of semi-natural habitats within agricultural areas, has contributed significantly to insect decline worldwide including flower-visiting aculeate Hymenoptera. In this study aculeate Hymenoptera were collected using bi-directional Malaise traps placed along farmland linear habitats across a range of farming intensities. The aim was to further our understanding of the value of farmland linear habitats to this insect group and in particular the Vespinae, an understudied subfamily. Overall, significantly greater aculeate Hymenoptera species richness was found on extensive than on intermediate and intensive farms. Significantly more species and specimens were collected on the side of the traps adjacent to the linear habitats compared to the side which opened onto the fields. Aculeate Hymenoptera species richness was also significantly greater in dense hedgerows than in open hedgerows. Furthermore, two out of six Vespinae species, Vespula rufa and Vespula vulgaris, had significantly more individuals on extensive than intensive farms. This study highlights that low-intensity farming practices and farmland linear habitats, especially dense hedgerows, may enhance aculeate Hymenoptera occurrence in agricultural areas. It also demonstrates that Malaise traps set up along linear habitats across a range of farming intensities can make a significant contribution to knowledge regarding the biodiversity value of such areas. Given that selected Vespinae species follow similar trends to aculeate Hymenoptera, the possibility of using them as simple biodiversity indicators is worthy of further exploration.© 2019 The Royal Entomological Societ

Risk profiles and one-year outcomes of patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation in India: Insights from the GARFIELD-AF Registry.

BACKGROUND: The Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF) is an ongoing prospective noninterventional registry, which is providing important information on the baseline characteristics, treatment patterns, and 1-year outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). This report describes data from Indian patients recruited in this registry. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 52,014 patients with newly diagnosed AF were enrolled globally; of these, 1388 patients were recruited from 26 sites within India (2012-2016). In India, the mean age was 65.8 years at diagnosis of NVAF. Hypertension was the most prevalent risk factor for AF, present in 68.5% of patients from India and in 76.3% of patients globally (P < 0.001). Diabetes and coronary artery disease (CAD) were prevalent in 36.2% and 28.1% of patients as compared with global prevalence of 22.2% and 21.6%, respectively (P < 0.001 for both). Antiplatelet therapy was the most common antithrombotic treatment in India. With increasing stroke risk, however, patients were more likely to receive oral anticoagulant therapy [mainly vitamin K antagonist (VKA)], but average international normalized ratio (INR) was lower among Indian patients [median INR value 1.6 (interquartile range {IQR}: 1.3-2.3) versus 2.3 (IQR 1.8-2.8) (P < 0.001)]. Compared with other countries, patients from India had markedly higher rates of all-cause mortality [7.68 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval 6.32-9.35) vs 4.34 (4.16-4.53), P < 0.0001], while rates of stroke/systemic embolism and major bleeding were lower after 1 year of follow-up. CONCLUSION: Compared to previously published registries from India, the GARFIELD-AF registry describes clinical profiles and outcomes in Indian patients with AF of a different etiology. The registry data show that compared to the rest of the world, Indian AF patients are younger in age and have more diabetes and CAD. Patients with a higher stroke risk are more likely to receive anticoagulation therapy with VKA but are underdosed compared with the global average in the GARFIELD-AF. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION-URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01090362

The Coupling of Alternative Splicing and Nonsense-Mediated mRNA Decay

Most human genes exhibit alternative splicing, but not all alternatively spliced transcripts produce functional proteins. Computational and experimental results indicate that a substantial fraction of alternative splicing events in humans result in mRNA isoforms that harbor a premature termination codon (PTC). These transcripts are predicted to be degraded by the nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) pathway. One explanation for the abundance of PTC-containing isoforms is that they represent splicing errors that are identified and degraded by the NMD pathway. Another potential explanation for this startling observation is that cells may link alternative splicing and NMD to regulate the abundance of mRNA transcripts. This mechanism, which we call "Regulated Unproductive Splicing and Translation" (RUST), has been experimentally shown to regulate expression of a wide variety of genes in many organisms from yeast to human. It is frequently employed for autoregulation of proteins that affect the splicing process itself. Thus, alternative splicing and NMD act together to play an important role in regulating gene expression

Measurements of the production cross-section for a Z boson in association with b- or c-jets in proton–proton collisions at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents a measurement of the production cross-section of a Z boson in association with bor c-jets, in proton–proton collisions at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb−1. Inclusive and differential cross-sections are measured for events containing a Z boson decaying into electrons or muons and produced in association with at least one b-jet, at least one c-jet, or at least two b-jets with transverse momentum pT > 20 GeV and rapidity |y| < 2.5. Predictions from several Monte Carlo generators based on next-to-leading-order matrix elements interfaced with a parton-shower simulation, with different choices of flavour schemes for initial-state partons, are compared with the measured cross-sections. The results are also compared with novel predictions, based on infrared and collinear safe jet flavour dressing algorithms. Selected Z+ ≥ 1 c-jet observables, optimized for sensitivity to intrinsic-charm, are compared with benchmark models with different intrinsic-charm fractions

Search for non-resonant Higgs boson pair production in final states with leptons, taus, and photons in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search is presented for non-resonant Higgs boson pair production, targeting the bbZZ, 4V (V = W or Z), V V τ τ , 4τ , γγV V and γγτ τ decay channels. Events are categorised based on the multiplicity of light charged leptons (electrons or muons), hadronically decaying tau leptons, and photons. The search is based on a data sample of proton-proton collisions at √s = 13 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector during Run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb−1. No evidence of the signal is found and the observed (expected) upper limit on the cross-section for non-resonant Higgs boson pair production is determined to be 17 (11) times the Standard Model predicted cross-section at 95% confidence level under the background-only hypothesis. The observed (expected) constraints on the HHH coupling modifier, κλ, are determined to be −6.2 < κλ < 11.6 (−4.5 < κλ < 9.6) at 95% confidence level, assuming the Standard Model for the expected limits and that new physics would only affect κλ

Measurement of vector boson production cross sections and their ratios using pp collisions at √s = 13.6 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Abstract available from publisher's website