Assessment of a data-limited, multi-species shark fishery in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and south-east Queensland

The status of five species of commercially exploited sharks within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP) and south-east Queensland was assessed using a data-limited approach. Annual harvest rate, U, estimated empirically from tagging between 2011 and 2013, was compared with an analytically-derived proxy for optimal equilibrium harvest rate, UMSY Lim. Median estimates of U for three principal retained species, Australian blacktip shark, Carcharhinus tilstoni, spot-tail shark, Carcharhinus sorrah, and spinner shark, Carcharhinus brevipinna, were 0.10, 0.06 and 0.07 year-1, respectively. Median U for two retained, non-target species, pigeye shark, Carcharhinus amboinensis and Australian sharpnose shark, Rhizoprionodon taylori, were 0.27 and 0.01 year-1, respectively. For all species except the Australian blacktip the median ratio of U/UMSY Lim was <1. The high vulnerability of this species to fishing combined with life history characteristics meant UMSY Lim was low (0.04-0.07 year-1) and that U/UMSY Lim was likely to be > 1. Harvest of the Australian blacktip shark above UMSY could place this species at a greater risk of localised depletion in parts of the GBRMP. Results of the study indicated that much higher catches, and presumably higher U, during the early 2000s were likely unsustainable. The unexpectedly high level of U on the pigeye shark indicated that output-based management controls may not have been effective in reducing harvest levels on all species, particularly those caught incidentally by other fishing sectors including the recreational sector. © 2016 Elsevier B.V.

Herbicides cross resistance of a multiple resistant short-awn foxtail ( Alopecurus aequalis Sobol.) population in wheat field

Alopecurus aequalis Sobol. is a common grass weed, which has become increasingly troublesome to control in China wheat fields. One A. aequalis population, collected from Anhui Province China, was suspected to be resistant to fenoxaprop-P-ethyl and mesosulfuron-methyl. This study aimed to establish the cross-resistance pattern using the purified subpopulation and explore the potential targetsite and non-target-site based resistance mechanisms. Sequencing results showed that a single nucleotide change of ATT to AAT was present in acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACCase) gene of the resistant (R) plants, resulting in an Ile2041Asn amino acid substitution. Besides, another single nucleotide change of CCC to CGC was present in acetolactate synthase (ALS) gene of the R plants, resulting in a Pro197Arg amino acid substitution. The homozygous resistant plants were isolated and the seeds were used in whole-plant herbicide bioassays. Compared with the susceptible (S) population, R population displayed high level resistance to fenoxaprop-P-ethyl and mesosulfuronmethyl. Cross resistance patterns showed that the R population was highly resistant to clodinafop-propargyl, moderately resistant to pyroxsulam and flucarbazoncsodium, lowly resistant to pinoxaden, and susceptible to tralkoxydim, sethoxydim, and isoproturon. The pretreatment of piperonyl butoxide reduced the 50% growth reduction (GR50) value of fenoxaprop-P-ethyl, suggesting that target-site resistance and non-target-site resistance mechanisms were both present in fenoxaprop- P-ethyl-resistance of A. aequalis. This is the first report of ACCase Ile2041Asn and ALS Pro197Arg mutation in A. aequalis.

Paraquat-loaded alginate/chitosan nanoparticles: Preparation, characterization and soil sorption studies

Agrochemicals are amongst the contaminants most widely encountered in surface and subterranean hydrological systems. They comprise a variety of molecules, with properties that confer differing degrees of persistence and mobility in the environment, as well as different toxic, carcinogenic, mutagenic and teratogenic potentials, which can affect non-target organisms including man. In this work, alginate/chitosan nanoparticles were prepared as a carrier system for the herbicide paraquat. The preparation and physicochemical characterization of the nanoparticles was followed by evaluation of zeta potential, pH, size and polydispersion. The techniques employed included transmission electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The formulation presented a size distribution of 635 +/- 12 nm, polydispersion of 0.518, zeta potential of -22.8 +/- 2.3 mV and association efficiency of 74.2%. There were significant differences between the release profiles of free paraquat and the herbicide associated with the alginate/chitosan nanoparticles. Tests showed that soil sorption of paraquat, either free or associated with the nanoparticles. was dependent on the quantity of organic matter present. The results presented in this work show that association of paraquat with alginate/chitosan nanoparticles alters the release profile of the herbicide, as well as its interaction with the soil, indicating that this system could be an effective means of reducing negative impacts caused by paraquat. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The influence of environmental distraction on cognitive abilities in ADL performance after frontal brain injured.

Background: Previous studies have reported errors in Activities of Daily Living (ADL) under the presence of distracting objects in dementia and brain injury patients. However, little is known about which distractor-target objects relation might be more harmful for performance. Method: We compared the ADL execution in frontal brain injured patients and control participants under two conditions: One in which target objects were mixed with distractor objects that constituted an alternative semantically related but non-required task (contextual condition) and another in which target objects were mixed with related but isolated distractors that did not constituted a coherent task (non-contextual condition). We separately analyzed ADL commission errors (repetitions, substitutions, objects manipulations, failures in sequence, extra actions) and omissions. In addition, the participants were evaluated with a neuropsychological protocol including a very specific executive functions task (Selective attention, Stimulus-Stimulus and Stimulus-Response conflict). Results: We found that frontal patients produced more commission errors compared to control participants, but only under the contextual condition. No between groups significant differences were found in omissions in both conditions or commission errors in non-contextual conditions. Scores in the Stimulus-Response conflict was significantly correlated with commission errors in the contextual condition. Conclusion: The presence of different non-target objects in ADL performance could require different cognitive process. Contextual ADL conditions required a higher level of executive functions, especially at the level of response (Stimulus-Response conflict). Application to Practice: Occupational therapists should control the presence of objects related to the target task according to the intervention objectives with the patients.

Assessing the safety of Pseudomonas putida introduction in the environment: an overview of ecotoxicological tests.

Risk assessment guidelines for the environmental release of microbial agents are performed in a tiered sequence which includes evaluation of exposure effects on non target organisms. However, it becomes important to verify whether environmental risk assessment from temperate studies is applicable to tropical countries, as Brazil. Pseudomonas putida is a bacteria showing potential to be used for environmental applications as bioremediation and plant disease control. This study investigates the effects of this bacteria exposure on rodents and aquatic organisms (Daphnia similes) that are recommended to be used as non-target organism in environmental risk assessments. Also, the microbial activity in three different soils under P. putida exposure was evaluated. Rats did not show clinical alterations, although the agent was recovered 16 h after the exposure in lung homogenates. The bacteria did not reduce significantly the reproduction and survival of D. similis. The soil enzymatic activities presented fluctuating values after inoculation with bacteria. The measurement of perturbations in soil biochemical characteristics is presented as an alternative way of monitoring the overall effects of the microbial agent to be introduced even in first stage (Tier I) of the risk assessment in tropical ecosystems.

Avaliação ecotoxicológica de fármacos psicotrópicos e suas possíveis interações com nanomateriais usando embriões de peixe-zebra

Dissertação (mestrado)—Universidade de Brasília, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Animal, 2016.

Alternative codends to reduce bycatch in Chilean crustacean trawl fisheries

This study was conducted to determine the reduction in bycatch and the loss of target catch in trawl hauls for three commercial crustacean species (yellow squat lobster, Cervimunida johni, nylon shrimp, Heterocarpus reedi, and red squat lobster, Pleuroncodes monodon) in central Chile. Two experiments were carried out using the covered codend method; the first used different mesh sizes (56 and 70 mm, knot-centre to knot-centre) and shapes (diamond and square), and the second tested different reduction devices (escape panel and sorting grid). We analysed the escape proportions of the species caught and the size frequency distributions of the target species and Chilean hake (Merluccius gayi), the main commercial bycatch species. The results demonstrate that it is feasible to significantly reduce bycatch while keeping losses within acceptable ranges. In particular, the best option for yellow squat lobster was the combination of a 70-mm diamond mesh with an escape panel that reduced non-target and target catches by 48% and 7%, respectively. For nylon shrimp, the best option was the use of a 56-mm diamond mesh with a sorting grid that reduced non-target and target catches by 41% and 11%, respectively. Although the results for red squat lobster were not as promising, they will help to guide future research.

'Reserve effect' within a temperate marine protected area in the north-eastern Atlantic (Arrabida Marine Park, Portugal)

Benefits of marine protected areas depend on local ecological and socio-cultural aspects which are critical to the success of the protection measures. In particular, before-after comparisons are indispensable to disentangle the effects of protection from those of different physical and ecological characteristics among areas. Using underwater visual surveys, we assessed whether biomass and abundance of temperate reef fish assemblages and target invertebrates increased inside a no-take area in the Arrabida Marine Park (Portugal) 3 to 4 yr after its establishment. Data were compared to a previous study, conducted 10 yr before protection was effective. Control-effect comparisons after reserve establishment showed a positive response of legal-size demersal fish and below legal-size target invertebrates. The first evidence of protection was found in biomass but not in numbers. Non-target groups and below legal-size demersal fish had a significant interaction among reserve and habitat complexity indices for either density or biomass, suggesting a lack of a reserve effect. Before-after comparisons revealed non-significant patterns of increase in numbers of target species compared to non-target ones. The most important commercial species showed the largest increase in density after protection was established. Significantly higher abundances and proportionally heavier individuals of these species were also found inside the reserve in the control-effect comparisons. These findings are reinforced by an increasing trend in landings which are consistent with the early detection of a reserve effect.

Risk assessment of the herbicide clomazone in the aquatic life.

Clomazone (2-(2-chlorophenyl)methyl-4.4-dimethyl-3-isoxazolidinone) is a post emergence herbicide widely used in rice fields in Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil) with high activity against Gramineae at the recommended application rate(AR).of 700g/ha. The herbicide input into the aquatic ecosystem may occur by aerial application or water drainage. The presence of this chemical in the water may affect non-target organisms leading to impairments in the aquatic food chain. Studies were conducted in this work to evaluate the risk of Clomazone using the estimated mean affective concentration (EC50) for the microalgae Selenastrum capricornutum(96h), the duckweed Lemna valdiviana(96h) and the crustacean Daphnia similis(48h). The EC50 values were 11.2; 31.7 and 13.8 mg/l, respectively. According to the obtained data, and considering a direct input of the herbicide in a 10cm column water, the estimated maximum application rate that doesn't cause acute effects is 5.3 AR for S. capricornutum, 6.5 AR for D. similis and 15.0 AR for L. valdiviana. The estimated maximum application rate that doesn't cause chronic effects is 2.0 AR for D. similis, 1.6 AR for S. capricornutum and 4.5 AR for L. valviana.

Numeric model to estimate pesticide deposition and losses from aerial spraying.

Pesticides applications have been described by many researches as a very inefficient process. In some cases, there are reports that only 0.02% of the applied products are used for the effective control of the problem. The main factor that influences pesticides applications is the droplet size formed on spraying nozzles. Many parameters affects the dynamic of the droplets, like wind, temperature, relative humidity, and others. Small droplets are biologically more active, but they are affected by evaporation and drift. On the other hand, the great droplets do not promote a good distribution of the product on the target. In this sense, associated with the risk of non target areas contamination and with the high costs involved in applications, the knowledge of the droplet size is of fundamental importance in the application technology. When sophisticated technology for droplets analysis is unavailable, is common the use of artificial targets like water-sensitive paper to sample droplets. On field sampling, water-sensitive papers are placed on the trials where product will be applied. When droplets impinging on it, the yellow surface of this paper will be stained dark blue, making easy their recognition. Collected droplets on this papers have different kinds of sizes. In this sense, the determination of the droplet size distribution gives a mass distribution of the material and so, the efficience of the application of the product. The stains produced by droplets shows a spread factor proportional to their respectives initial sizes. One of methodologies to analyse the droplets is a counting and measure of the droplets made in microscope. The Porton N-G12 graticule, that shows equaly spaces class intervals on geometric progression of square 2, are coulpled to the lens of the microscope. The droplet size parameters frequently used are the Volumetric Median Diameter (VMD) and the Numeric Median Diameter. On VMD value, a representative droplets sample is divided in two equal parts of volume, in such away one part contains droplets of sizes smaller than VMD and the other part contains droplets of sizes greater that VMD. The same process is done to obtaining the NMD, which divide the sample in two equal parts in relation to the droplets size. The ratio between VMD and NMD allows the droplets uniformity evaluation. After that, the graphics of accumulated probability of the volume and size droplets are plotted on log scale paper (accumulated probability versus median diameter of each size class). The graphics provides the NMD on the x-axes point corresponding to the value of 50% founded on the y-axes. All this process is very slow and subjected to operator error. So, in order to decrease the difficulty envolved with droplets measuring it was developed a numeric model, implemented on easy and accessfull computational language, which allows approximate VMD and NMD values, with good precision. The inputs to this model are the frequences of the droplets sizes colected on the water-sensitive paper, observed on the Porton N-G12 graticule fitted on microscope. With these data, the accumulated distribution of the droplet medium volumes and sizes are evaluated. The graphics obtained by plotting this distributions allow to obtain the VMD and NMD using linear interpolation, seen that on the middle of the distributions the shape of the curves are linear. These values are essential to evaluate the uniformity of droplets and to estimate the volume deposited on the observed paper by the density (droplets/cm2). This methodology to estimate the droplets volume was developed by 11.0.94.224 Project of the CNPMA/EMBRAPA. Observed data of herbicides aerial spraying samples, realized by Project on Pelotas/RS county, were used to compare values obtained manual graphic method and with those obtained by model has shown, with great precision, the values of VMD and NMD on each sampled collector, allowing to estimate a quantities of deposited product and, by consequence, the quantities losses by drifty. The graphics of variability of VMD and NMD showed that the quantity of droplets that reachs the collectors had a short dispersion, while the deposited volume shows a great interval of variation, probably because the strong action of air turbulence on the droplets distribution, enfasizing the necessity of a deeper study to verify this influences on drift.

Prediction of a low-risk concentration of diflubenzuron to aquatic organisms and evaluation of clay and gravel in reducing the toxicity.

Resumo: Predição da concentração de baixo risco de diflubenzuron para organismos aquáticos e avaliação da argila e brita na redução da toxicidade. O diflubenzuron é um inseticida que além de ser usado agricultura, tem sido amplamente empregado na piscicultura, apesar do seu uso ser proibido nesta atividade. Este composto não consta na lista da legislação brasileira que estabelece limites máximos permissíveis em corpos de água para a proteção das comunidades aquáticas. No presente trabalho, a partir da toxicidade do diflubenzuron em organismos não-alvo, foi calculada a concentração de risco para somente 5% das espécies (HC5). O valor deste parâmetro foi estimado em aproximadamente 7 x 10-6 mg L-1 . Este baixo valor é devido à extremamente alta toxicidade do diflubenzuron para dafnídeos e à grande variação de sensibilidade entre as espécies testadas. Dois matérias de relativamente baixo custo se mostraram eficientes na remoção da toxicidade do diflubenzuron de soluções contendo este composto. Dentre esses materiais, a argila expandida promoveu a redução em aproximadamente 50% da toxicidade de uma solução contendo diflubenzuron. Os resultados podem contribuir para políticas públicas no Brasil relacionadas ao estabelecimento de limites máximos permissíveis de xenobióticos no compartimento aquático. Também, para a pesquisa de matérias inertes e de baixo custo com potencial de remoção de xenobióticos presentes em efluentes da aquicultura ou da agricultura. Abstract: Diflubenzuron is an insecticide that, besides being used in the agriculture, has been widely used in fish farming. However, its use is prohibited in this activity. Diflubenzuron is not in the list of Brazilian legislation establishing maximum permissible limits in water bodies for the protection of aquatic communities. In this paper, according toxicity data of diflubenzuron in non-target organisms, it was calculated an hazardous concentration for only 5% of the species (HC5) of the aquatic community. This parameter value was estimated to be about 7 x 10 -6 mg L -1 . The low value is due to the extreme high toxicity of diflubenzuron to daphnids and to the large variation in sensitivity among the species tested. Two relatively low cost and inert materials were efficient in removing the diflubenzuron from solutions containing this compound. Among these materials, expanded clay shown to promote reduction of approximately 50% of the toxicity of a solution containing diflubenzuron. The results may contribute to the establishment of public policies in Brazil associated to the definition of maximum permissible limits of xenobiotics in the aquatic compartment. This study is also relevant to the search of low cost and inert materials for xenobiotics removal from aquaculture or agricultural effluents.

Multidisciplinary approach to manage the striped venus clam (Chamelea gallina) fisheries

To responsively manage the striped venus clam (Chamelea gallina) fisheries, a multidisciplinary approach has been adopted through the investigation of new and updated biological aspects (e.g. age, growth, reproduction, size at first maturity, fecundity) and the interaction gear- target or non-target species (e.g. reburial ability, survival potential and exerted damage). The striped venus clam is an important socio-economic species in the Italian fishery context, highly regulated by national and international laws aiming at guaranteeing both social and ecological sustainability. Studies on growth and reproduction revealed that the size at first maturity is reached within the first year of life, whereas the present Minimum Conservation Reference Size of 22 mm is reached at two year of age. The annual reproductive cycle, which is driven by rises in seawater temperature and chlorophyll-a concentration, spans during the warmer months (late spring-summer) with multiple spawning events of different intensity occurring over the spawning period, and the number of potentially emitted gametes is positively related to shell size. Reburial tests conducted on undamaged specimens highlighted the ability of clams to rebury in the sediment once discarded, independently from the size. On the other hand, survival experiments in the laboratory and at sea, on both damaged and undamaged individuals, served to demonstrate that the species has a high survival rate, thus supporting the claim that discarded individuals can contribute to restock the natural populations. Moreover, the evaluation and quantification of damage induced by dredging on the discarded macro-benthic fauna living associated with C. gallina highlighted that soft-shelled or soft-bodied species are the most affected by the fishing process and subjected to a higher mortality. All these findings are of pivotal importance to rationally support the management measures to be adopted in the striped venus clam fishery.

Advancing of risk assessment of pesticides on insect pollinators: beyond honey bees (Apis mellifera L.)

The western honey bee, Apis mellifera L., is currently the model specie for pesticide risk assessment on pollinators with the assumption that the worst-case scenarios for this species are sufficiently conservative to protect other insect pollinators. However, recent studies have showed that wild species may be more sensitive to plant protection products, due to differences in biology and life cycles. Therefore, there is the need to extend the risk assessment within a more ecological approach, in order to ensure that there are no irreversible effects on non-target organisms and in the environment. My dissertation aims to expand the risk assessment to other insect pollinators (including wild and managed pollinators), in order to cover some of the gaps of the current schemes. In this thesis, it is presented three experiments that cover the early stages of a solitary bee (chapter 1), the development of molecular tools for early detection of sub-lethal effects (chapter 2) and the development of protocols to access lethal and sub-lethal effects on other pollinator taxa (Diptera; chapter 3).

A role for mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway in non alcoholic steatohepatitis related-cirrhosis

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) encompasses the whole spectrum of steatosis, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), and NASH-related cirrhosis (NASH/Cir). Although molecular advances have been made in this field, the pathogenesis of NAFLD is not completely understood. The gene expression profiling associated to NASH/Cir was assessed, in an attempt to better characterize the pathways involved in its etiopathogenesis. Methods: In the first step, we used cDNA microarray to evaluate the gene expression profiles in normal liver (n=3) and NASH/Cir samples (n=3) by GeneSifter (TM) analysis to identify differentially expressed genes and biological pathways. Second, tissue microarray was used to determine immunohistochemical expression of phosphorylated mTOR and 4E-BP1 in 11 normal liver samples, 10 NASH/Cir samples and in 37 samples of cirrhosis of other etiologies to further explore the involvement of the mTOR pathway evidenced by the gene expression analysis. Results: 138 and 106 genes were, respectively, up and down regulated in NASH/Cir in comparison to normal liver. Among the 9 pathways identified as significantly modulated in NASH/Cir, the participation of the mTOR pathway was confirmed, since expression of cytoplasmic and membrane phospho-mTOR were higher in NASH/Cir in comparison to cirrhosis of other etiologies and to normal liver. Conclusions: Recent findings have suggested a role for the cellular ""nutrient sensor"" mTOR in NAFLD and the present study corroborates the participation of this pathway in NASH/Cir. Phospho-mTOR evaluation might be of clinical utility as a potential marker for identification of NASH/Cir in cases mistakenly considered as cryptogenic cirrhosis owing to paucity of clinical data.

Gene expression profile analysis of primary glioblastomas and non-neoplastic brain tissue: identification of potential target genes by oligonucleotide microarray and real-time quantitative PCR

The prognosis of glioblastomas is still extremely poor and the discovery of novel molecular therapeutic targets can be important to optimize treatment strategies. Gene expression analyses comparing normal and neoplastic tissues have been used to identify genes associated with tumorigenesis and potential therapeutic targets. We have used this approach to identify differentially expressed genes between primary glioblastomas and non-neoplastic brain tissues. We selected 20 overexpressed genes related to cell cycle, cellular movement and growth, proliferation and cell-to-cell signaling and analyzed their expression levels by real time quantitative PCR in cDNA obtained from microdissected fresh tumor tissue from 20 patients with primary glioblastomas and from 10 samples of non-neoplastic white matter tissue. The gene expression levels were significantly higher in glioblastomas than in non-neoplastic white matter in 18 out of 20 genes analyzed: P < 0.00001 for CDKN2C, CKS2, EEF1A1, EMP3, PDPN, BNIP2, CA12, CD34, CDC42EP4, PPIE, SNAI2, GDF15 and MMP23b; and NFIA (P: 0.0001), GPS1 (P: 0.0003), LAMA1 (P: 0.002), STIM1 (P: 0.006), and TASP1 (P: 0.01). Five of these genes are located in contiguous loci at 1p31-36 and 2 at 17q24-25 and 8 of them encode surface membrane proteins. PDPN and CD34 protein expression were evaluated by immunohistochemistry and they showed concordance with the PCR results. The present results indicate the presence of 18 overexpressed genes in human primary glioblastomas that may play a significant role in the pathogenesis of these tumors and that deserve further functional investigation as attractive candidates for new therapeutic targets.