Report of the workshop on ecosystem characterisation of Indian coastal waters, Dona Paula, Goa, India, 20-22 October, 2014

The goals of the workshop were to: conduct an interactive workshop for characterizing Indian coastal ecosystems; verification of the ecosystem characterisation report for the East coast of India; and development of ecosystem characterisation for the west coast of India based on ecological/biophysical systems.

Report of the workshop on assessing governance in the Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem, Bangkok, Thailand, 28-30 October, 2014

The objective of the workshop was to begin a structured discussion on regional governance in the BOBLME, drawing on lessons from a region with similar issues, the Carribean. Conclusions were made about principles, regional governance arrangements, national-regional interface and national science-policy interfaces. Future work was also planned.

Assessing, demonstrating and capturing the economic value of marine & coastal ecosystem services in the Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem

The objective of the study was to assess the economic value of ecosystem services in the Bay of Bengal.The manin aim was to support the development of a Strategic Action Plan (SAP). Findings included: economic consequences of ecosystem change; potential economic instruments to strengthen sustainable management; and recommendations on next steps in using economic valuation.

Changes of tissue endothelin-1 and nitric oxide synthase in a sheep model of large intestinal obstruction

Large intestinal obstruction (LIO) in farm animals can cause a ischaemic necrosis of intestinal tissue, eventually leading to death. The roles of endothelin-1 (ET-1) and nitric oxide (NO) are not well understood in the process of LIO, but evidence suggests that endothelial-derived mediators may participate. In the present study, ET-1 concentration and total nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity were measured in heart, liver, pancreas, lung and kidney in a model of LIO in sheep. Our data demonstrated that ET-1 concentration and NOS activity were altered, with significant increases of ET-1 in heart, lung and kidney and of NOS activity in pancreas and kidney, but a marked decline of NOS activity in liver (p<0.05). It is postulated that these alterations in NOS activity and ET-1 concentration may contribute to the progressive loss of organ function, and finally lead to death in LIO in sheep.

Report of the SocMon capacity development workshop for the Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem countries in South Asia, St Martin's Island, Bangladesh, 2-11 January, 2015

Socio-economic Monitoring (SocMon) is an approach and set of tools for conducting socio-economic monitoring of changes in coastal communities. Planned outputs of the workshop included: training of local staff i SocMon methodologies; draft a SocMon report for St. Martin's Island; a workplan for implementing the SocMon; a communication strategy; and key inputs to a regional SocMon strategy

Report of the SocMon capacity development workshop for the Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem countries in South Asia, Vidathaltivu, Northern Province, Sri Lanka, 3-11 March, 2015

This Socioeconomic Monitoring (SocMon) training workshop was coordinated by the Small Fisher Federation of Lanka (SFFL). Planned outputs included: participants from Mannar trained in SocMon methodologies; draft SocMon reports fro Vidathaltivu; a workplan for Mannar; a communication strategy for Vidathaltivu/ Mannar; and key inputs to a regional SocMon strategy

Key considerations for a regional SocMon strategy for the Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem countries in South Asia

Socio-economic Monitoring (SocMon) is an approach and set of tools for conducting socio-economic monitoring of changes in coastal communities. Key considerations included: importance of local partnerships; government and civil society partnerships; emphasis of adapting SocMon to local needs and priorities; capacity building; engaging with local stakeholders; inter and intra-regional collaboration; importance of language; and importance of language.

Workshop on assessing governance in the Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem, Bangkok, Thailand, October 28-30, 2014: workshop summary and messages for Bay of Bengal marine resource policy-makers and other stakeholders

This brochure suggests casting a wider net when dealing with governance assessment to include other players.

Fish Fauna Status in the Lugu Lake with PreliminaryAnalysis on Cause and Effect of Human Impacts

泸沽湖是位于滇西北的一个断陷湖泊，为滇川两省共有。文献记录泸沽湖原始的鱼类区系由4种鱼 类组成，隶属于裂腹鱼属和泥鳅属。于2001，2002和2004年3次考察泸沽湖，进行标本采集和鱼类区系现状调 查。查看了采自泸沽湖的鱼类标本518号，结合历史上的采集记录和大量相关文献，确定泸沽湖记录有鱼类12 种，隶属于3目4科10属；过度捕捞和毁林造成的泥石流是泸沽湖鱼类区系变化的主要原因。

Effects of human activities on migratory waterbirds at Lashihai Lake, China

Surveys on migratory waterbirds and their habitats at Lashihai Lake, China, were conducted from October 1999 to April 2000. Five fixed points, representing different degrees of habitat disturbance and quality, were selected around the lake. We used counts (n = 30) to compare diversity and abundance of waterbirds at each point and evaluate the effects of habitat disturbance. The distribution of waterbirds was affected by disturbance, with snore than one-third of the total species and nearly half of the total individuals occurring at the least disturbed point. Species richness was weakly and abundance was strongly correlated to habitat disturbance, but not to habitat quality. Habitat destruction and use of canoes were prominent at the lake. Naxi ethnic fishermen (n = 37) were interviewed. They caught 570 waterbirds between October 1999 and March 2000 in fishing nets. An estimation of the total number of waterbirds been trapped on the lake is 6164. Diving species were most susceptible. Conservation measures that should implement immediately include the cessation of habitat destruction, better plan for the development of tourism, a reduction in the number of canoes and zoning of the non-fishing area. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

The brave new era of human genetic testing

The commercialization of 'big science' is in full swing, leading to situations in which the ethical principles of academia are beginning to be compromised. This is exemplified by the profitable business of genetic ancestry testing. The goals of this sort

Identification and characterization of a new class of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 recombinants comprised of two circulating recombinant forms, CRF07_BC and CRF08_BC, in China

We identified a new class of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) recombinants (00CN-HH069 and 00CN-HH086) in which further recombination occurred between two established circulating recombinant forms (CRFs). These two isolates were found among 57 HIV-1 samples from a cohort of injecting drug users in eastern Yunnan Province of China. Informative-site analysis in conjunction with bootscanning plots and exploratory tree analysis revealed that these two strains were closely related mosaics comprised of CRF07_BC and CRF08_BC, which are found in China. The genotype screening based on gag-reverse transcriptase sequences if 57 samples from eastern Yunnan identified 47 CRF08_BC specimens (82.5%), 5 CRF07_BC specimens (8.8%), and 3 additional specimens with the novel recombinant structure. These new "second-generation" recombinants thus constitute a substantial proportion (5 of 57; 8.8%) of HIV-1 strains in this population and may belong to a new but yet-undefined class of CRF. This might be the first example of CRFs recombining with each other, leading to the evolution of second-generation inter-CRF recombinants.

Stable RNA hairpins in 88 coding regions of human mRNA

RNA hairpins containing UNCG, GNRA, CUUG (N = A, U, C or G, R = G or A) loops are unusually thermodynamic stable and conserved structures. The structural features of these hairpin loops are very special, and they play very important roles in vivo. They are prevalent in rRNA, catalytic RNA and non-coding mRNA. However, the 5' C(UUCG)G 3' hairpin is not found in the folding structure of 88 human mRNA coding regions. It is also different from rRNA in that there is no preference for certain sequences among tetraloops in these 88 mRNA folding structures.

Characterize dynamic conformational space of human CCR5 extracellular domain by molecular modeling and molecular dynamics simulation

The chemokine receptor CCR5 is the receptor for several chemokines and major coreceptor for R5 human immunodeficiency virus type-1 strains entry into cell. Three-dimensional models of CCR5 were built by using homology modeling approach and 1 ns molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, because studies of site-directed mutagenesis and chimeric receptors have indicated that the N-terminus (Nt) and extracellular loops (ECLs) of CCR5 are important for ligands binding and viral fusion and entry, special attention was focused on disulfide bond function, conformational flexibility, hydrogen bonding, electrostatic interactions, and solvent-accessible surface area of Nt and ECLs of this protein part. We found that the extracellular segments of CCR5 formed a well-packet globular domain with complex interactions occurred between them in a majority of time of MID simulation, but Nt region could protrude from this domain sometimes. The disulfide bond Cys20-Cys269 is essential in controlling specific orientation of Nt region and maintaining conformational integrity of extracellular domain. RMS comparison analysis between conformers revealed the ECL1 of CCR5 stays relative rigid, whereas the ECL2 and Nt are rather flexible. Solvent-accessible surface area calculations indicated that the charged residues within Nt and ECL2 are often exposed to solvent. Integrating these results with available experimental data, a two-step gp120-CCR5 binding mechanism was proposed. The dynamic interaction of CCR5 extracellular domain with gp120 was emphasized. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Interfacial recognition of human prostate-specific antigen by immobilized monoclonal antibody: effects of solution conditions and surface chemistry.

The specific recognition between monoclonal antibody (anti-human prostate-specific antigen, anti-hPSA) and its antigen (human prostate-specific antigen, hPSA) has promising applications in prostate cancer diagnostics and other biosensor applications. However, because of steric constraints associated with interfacial packing and molecular orientations, the binding efficiency is often very low. In this study, spectroscopic ellipsometry and neutron reflection have been used to investigate how solution pH, salt concentration and surface chemistry affect antibody adsorption and subsequent antigen binding. The adsorbed amount of antibody was found to vary with pH and the maximum adsorption occurred between pH 5 and 6, close to the isoelectric point of the antibody. By contrast, the highest antigen binding efficiency occurred close to the neutral pH. Increasing the ionic strength reduced antibody adsorbed amount at the silica-water interface but had little effect on antigen binding. Further studies of antibody adsorption on hydrophobic C8 (octyltrimethoxysilane) surface and chemical attachment of antibody on (3-mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane/4-maleimidobutyric acid N-hydroxysuccinimide ester-modified surface have also been undertaken. It was found that on all surfaces studied, the antibody predominantly adopted the 'flat on' orientation, and antigen-binding capabilities were comparable. The results indicate that antibody immobilization via appropriate physical adsorption can replace elaborate interfacial molecular engineering involving complex covalent attachments.