Assessing sustainability of aquaculture development

Aquaculture, as an aquatic based economic activity, has risen from relative obscurity to a position of global recognition in just over two decades, and is forecast to become increasingly important in the next century. This growth, however, has been accompanied by increasing concerns over the environmental and social costs associated with the exploitation of the natural resource base on which it depends. This occurs in the broader context of increasing awareness of the finite capacity of the global system, and the need for development of more sustainable resource management regimes. The objective of the study is to examine if and how 'sustainability' can be brought into assessment for aquaculture development. The main concepts of sustainability are discussed, and key issues for assessment identified. The range of impacts associated with aquaculture development is reviewed, and broad categories of sectoral sustainability indicators proposed. Specific issues and assessment approaches are examined in three case studies, focusing on environment interactions, resource use assessment, and the rural development context, respectively. There follows a structured analysis of applicability of selected generic appraisal methods, concluding that while all may contribute, none is sufficiently broad to account for all sustainability perspectives. A more comprehensive framework for the assessment is therefore proposed, by which sustainability features of any system can be described, potential indicators and methods of assessment identified, and results communicated to the decision making process. This does not offer a definitive judgement on sustainability, but presents an holistic view, allowing explicit recognition of trade-offs involved between conflicting sustainability objectives. It is concluded that sufficient information is available for this approach to be developed and applied on a wider basis. Constraints to more sustainable development relate more to the social, political and economic environment than to problems of uncertainty in forecasting biological and physical systems

Molecular studies on intraspecific diversity and phylogenetic position of Coniothyrium minitans

Simple sequence repeat (SSR)±PCR amplification using a microsatellite primer (GACA)% and ribosomal RNA gene sequencing were used to examine the intraspecific diversity in the mycoparasite Coniothyrium minitans based on 48 strains, representing eight colony types, from 17 countries world-wide. Coniothyrium cerealis, C. fuckelii and C. sporulosum were used for interspecific comparison. The SSR±PCR technique revealed a relatively low level of polymorphism within C. minitans but did allow some differentiation between strains. While there was no relationship between SSR±PCR profiles and colony type, there was some limited correlation between these profiles and country of origin. Sequences of the ITS 1 and ITS 2 regions and the 5±8S gene of rRNA genes were identical in all twenty-four strains of C. minitans examined irrespective of colony type and origin. These results indicate that C. minitans is genetically not very variable despite phenotypic differences. ITS and 5±8S rRNA gene sequence analyses showed that C. minitans had similarities of 94% with C. fuckelii and C. sporulosum (which were identical to each other) and only 64% with C. cerealis. Database searches failed to show any similarity with the ITS 1 sequence for C. minitans although the 5±8S rRNA gene and ITS 2 sequences revealed an 87% similarity with Aporospora terricola. The ITS sequence including the 5±8S rRNA gene sequence of Coniothyrium cerealis showed 91% similarity to Phaeosphaeria microscopica. Phylogenetic analyses using database information suggest that C. minitans, C. sporulosum, C. fuckelii and A. terricola cluster in one clade, grouping with Helminthosporium species and 'Leptosphaeria' bicolor. Coniothyrium cerealis grouped with Ampelomyces quisqualis and formed a major cluster with members of the Phaeosphaeriacae and Phaeosphaeria microscopica

HOT : Hadal Zones of our Overseas Territories

HOT: Hadal zones of our Overseas Territories is a multi-disciplinary program that will deliver a step-change in our understanding of the fundamental ecological and geological processes in the South Sandwich Trench (SST). The SST reaches water depths of 8266 m ±13m at a location known as Meteor Deep, named after the German research vessel who first sounded it in 1926, and uniquely is the only sub-zero hadal environment on Earth. This Darwin Plus (Round 7) funded project will improve understanding of marine biodiversity and geodiversity to fill an identified knowledge gap supporting the existing Marine Protected Area and obligations under the Convention of Biological Diversity. The South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Marine Protected Area (MPA) is one of the largest MPAs on Earth covering >1 million km2 and includes the SST. Predicting trench habitats and their fauna cannot be extrapolated from shallower systems as they exhibit stark ecotones and abrupt changes in geology, making MPA management at depths >6000m at best difficult. The MPA is designed to ensure the protection and conservation of the region’s rich and diverse marine life, whilst allowing sustainable and carefully regulated fisheries. Key outcomes of the 5-year review of the MPA (November 2017) included: a need to enhance bathymetric knowledge around the region; recognition there is a lack of data on the abyssal and hadal ecosystems; that more information is needed on assemblages versus biodiversity, ecosystem processes and function; and general information on how to record long-term change to factors such as climate change. This project will make use of high-resolution bathymetric maps of the South Sandwich Trench acquired using the latest generation full-ocean-depth EM124 by the Five Deeps Expedition (www.fivedeeps.com). These data form a primary dataset for geological and geomorphological analysis and provide the context for research into the biological communities of these deeps. With the newly collected invertebrate samples from the SST, this project will utilise specimens of scavenging amphipods including: new species from the genus Hirondellea, and Bathycallisoma schellenbergi. These species are model species for understanding the historical and present connectivity of the hadal zone and its effects on speciation. The remoteness and uniqueness of the low temperatures and high pressures of the South Sandwich Trench makes these recent findings highly important in resolving ultra-deep sea speciation on a large geographical scale. Geological and geomorphological interpretation and map production was funded by a grant awarded through the Darwin Initiative funded by the UK Government: Hadal Zones of our Overseas Territories (DPLUS093). STEWART, H, JAMIESON, A. 2019. HOT: Hadal zones of our overseas territories. [Poster] In: SAGES ’19 Global Challenges for a Blue Economy: scientific evidence; its relevance; societal solutions, Edinburgh, UK, 27-28th November 2019 (p 74 of abstract booklet). (doc) Poster presentation by H Stewart. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.10374.6048

Habitat heterogeneity of hadal trenches: considerations and implications for future studies

The hadal zone largely comprises a series of subduction trenches that do not form part of the continental shelf-slope rise to abyssal plain continuum. Instead they form geographically isolated clusters of deep-sea (6000-11000 m water depth) environments. There is a growing realization in hadal science that ecological patterns and processes are not driven solely by responses to hydrostatic pressure, with comparable levels of habitat heterogeneity as observed in other marine biozones. Furthermore, this heterogeneity can be expressed at multiple scales from inter-trench levels (degrees of geographical isolation, and biochemical province), to intra-trench levels (variation between trench flanks and axis), topographical features within the trench interior (sedimentary basins, ridges, escarpments, ‘deeps’, seamounts) to the substrate of the trench floor (seabed-sediment composition, mass movement deposits, bedrock outcrop). Using best available bathymetry data combined with the largest lander-derived imaging dataset that spans the full depth range of three hadal trenches (including adjacent slopes); the Mariana, Kermadec and New Hebrides trenches, the topographic variability, fine-scale habitat heterogeneity and distribution of seabed sediments of these three trenches have been assessed for the first time. As well as serving as the first descriptive study of habitat heterogeneity at hadal depths, this study also provides guidance for future hadal sampling campaigns taking into account geographic isolation, total trench particulate organic matter flux, maximum water depth and area

Establishment, spread, and impact of an invasive planthopper on its invasive host plant: Prokelisia marginata (Homoptera: Delphacidae) exploiting Spartina anglica (Poales: Poaceae) in Britain

1. Since its recent arrival in Britain, the planthopper Prokelisia marginata has spread widely around saltmarshes on the east and south coast of England and south Wales, feeding on Common Cordgrass, Spartina anglica , itself an invasive non‐native species. 2. Results suggest that P . marginata populations in Britain benefit from a degree of natural enemy release. No evidence of parasitism was found in over 71 000 eggs, nymphs, and adults inspected. The only potential natural enemy control was suggested by a positive correlation between the densities of planthoppers and generalist spiders. 3. Experimental exposure under both glasshouse and field conditions to typical field densities of planthoppers resulted in significant negative effects on a number of host plant performance metrics. 4. Spartina anglica is important for stabilising estuarine sediments and has been deliberately planted for this purpose in the past. Its weakening as a result of heavy planthopper herbivory could have serious consequences for the long‐term stability of Britain's vulnerable saltmarsh habitats

The reduced Co2+-binding ability of ischaemia-modified albumin is unlikely to be because of oxidative modification of the N-terminus

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NASA Ames Institutional Scientific Collection (ISC)

NASA's current human space flight research is directed towards enabling human space exploration beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO). The Space Flight Payload Projects; Rodent Research, Cell Science, and Microbial Labs, flown on the International Space Station (ISS), benefit both the global life sciences and commercial space communities. Verified data sets, science results, peer-reviewed publications, and returned biospecimens, collected and analyzed for flight and ground investigations, are all part of the knowledge base within NASAs Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorates Space Life and Physical Sciences Research and Applications (SLPSRA) Division, specifically the Human Research and Space Biology Programs. These data and biospecimens are made available through the public LSDA website. The Ames Institutional Scientific Collection (ISC), or ARC Biobank, stores flight and ground biospecimens from Space Shuttle and ISS programs. These specimens are curated and managed by the Ames Life Sciences Data Archive (ALSDA), an internal node of NASA's Life Sciences Data Archive (LSDA). The ARC Biolbank stores over 15,000 specimens from experiments dating from 1984 to present. Currently available specimens include tissues from the circulatory, digestive, endocrine, excretory, integumentary, muscular, neurosensory, reproductive, respiratory and skeletal systems. The most recent contributions include RNA, DNA and protein extracts from Rodent Research 1 and tissues from Rodent Research 4. NASA's biospecimen collection represents a unique and limited resource. The use of these biospecimens maximizes utilization and scientific return from these unique spaceflight payload and ground control research subjects. These biospecimens are harvested following complex, costly NASA research activities to meet primary scientific objectives. Once the primary scientific objectives have been met, the remaining specimens are made available to provide secondary opportunities for complementary studies or new investigations to broaden research without large expenditures of time or resources. Innovative ways of sharing this information ultimately advances the frontiers of human space exploration as well as scientific understanding of the effects of gravity on life on earth

Coagulatory defects in type-1 and type-2 diabetes

This research was funded by British Heart Foundation, grant numbers PG/15/9/31270 and FS/15/42/31556.Diabetes (both type-1 and type-2) affects millions of individuals worldwide. A major cause of death for individuals with diabetes is cardiovascular diseases, in part since both types of diabetes lead to physiological changes that affect haemostasis. Those changes include altered concentrations of coagulatory proteins, hyper-activation of platelets, changes in metal ion homeostasis, alterations in lipid metabolism (leading to lipotoxicity in the heart and atherosclerosis), the presence of pro-coagulatory microparticles and endothelial dysfunction. In this review, we explore the different mechanisms by which diabetes leads to an increased risk of developing coagulatory disorders and how this differs between type-1 and type-2 diabetes.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Colour vision in the glow-worm Lampyris noctiluca (L.) (Coleoptera: Lampyridae): evidence for a green-blue chromatic mechanism

Male glow-worms Lampyris noctiluca find their bioluminescent mates at night by phototaxis. There is good evidence that location of mates by lampyrid beetles is achieved by a single spectral class of photoreceptor, whose spectral sensitivity is tuned to the bioluminescent spectrum emitted by conspecifics, and is achromatic. We ask whether glow-worm phototaxis involves interactions between two spectral classes of photoreceptor. Binary choice experiments were conducted in which males were presented with artificial light stimuli that differ in spectral composition. The normal preference for a green stimulus (λmax=555 nm), corresponding to the bioluminescence wavelength produced by signalling females, was significantly reduced by adding a blue (λmax=485 nm) component to the signal. This implies an antagonistic interaction between long- and short-wavelength sensitive photoreceptors, suggesting colour vision based on chromatic opponency. Cryosections showed a band of yellow filter pigment in the fronto-dorsal region of the male compound eye, which could severely constrain colour vision in the dim conditions in which the insects signal. This apparent paradox is discussed in the context of the distribution of the pigment within the eye and the photic niche of the species

Response to Qian and Colvin : zinc-mediated regulation of the cardiac ryanodine receptor occurs via multiple binding sites

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