Discovering marine biodiversity in the 21st century

We review the current knowledge of the biodiversity of the ocean as well as the levels of decline and threat for species and habitats. The lack of understanding of the distribution of life in the ocean is identified as a significant barrier to restoring its biodiversity and health. We explore why the science of taxonomy has failed to deliver knowledge of what species are present in the ocean, how they are distributed and how they are responding to global and regional to local anthropogenic pressures. This failure prevents nations from meeting their international commitments to conserve marine biodiversity with the results that investment in taxonomy has declined in many countries. We explore a range of new technologies and approaches for discovery of marine species and their detection and monitoring. These include: imaging methods, molecular approaches, active and passive acoustics, the use of interconnected databases and citizen science. Whilst no one method is suitable for discovering or detecting all groups of organisms many are complementary and have been combined to give a more complete picture of biodiversity in marine ecosystems. We conclude that integrated approaches represent the best way forwards for accelerating species discovery, description and biodiversity assessment. Examples of integrated taxonomic approaches are identified from terrestrial ecosystems. Such integrated taxonomic approaches require the adoption of cybertaxonomy approaches and will be boosted by new autonomous sampling platforms and development of machine-speed exchange of digital information between databases.

WTO must ban harmful fisheries subsidies

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The MPA Guide: A framework to achieve global goals for the ocean

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How early childhood services address health inequalities and child wellbeing in France

Key messages

Thanks to its ecological and intersectoral approach, this project will highlight how early childhood services may contribute to tackle health inequalities and to improve child WB. Addressing the complexity of the interactions between public policies, professionals and families will lead to a better understanding of the current challenges crossing the field of early childhood.

European Union's public fishing access agreements in developing countries

The imperative to increase seafood supply while dealing with its overfished local stocks has pushed the European Union (EU) and its Member States to fish in the Exclusive Economic Zones of other countries through various types of fishing agreements for decades. Although European public fishing agreements are commented on regularly and considered to be transparent, this is the first global and historical study on the fee regime that governs them. We find that the EU has subsidized these agreements at an average of 75% of their cost (financial contribution agreed upon in the agreements), while private European business interests paid the equivalent of 1.5% of the value of the fish that was eventually landed. This raises questions of fisheries benefit-sharing and resource-use equity that the EU has the potential to address during the nearly completed reform of its Common Fisheries Policy.

The use of a predictive habitat model and a fuzzy logic approach for marine management and planning

Bottom trawl survey data are commonly used as a sampling technique to assess the spatial distribution of commercial species. However, this sampling technique does not always correctly detect a species even when it is present, and this can create significant limitations when fitting species distribution models. In this study, we aim to test the relevance of a mixed methodological approach that combines presence-only and presence-absence distribution models. We illustrate this approach using bottom trawl survey data to model the spatial distributions of 27 commercially targeted marine species. We use an environmentally- and geographically-weighted method to simulate pseudo-absence data. The species distributions are modelled using regression kriging, a technique that explicitly incorporates spatial dependence into predictions. Model outputs are then used to identify areas that met the conservation targets for the deployment of artificial anti-trawling reefs. To achieve this, we propose the use of a fuzzy logic framework that accounts for the uncertainty associated with different model predictions. For each species, the predictive accuracy of the model is classified as 'high'. A better result is observed when a large number of occurrences are used to develop the model. The map resulting from the fuzzy overlay shows that three main areas have a high level of agreement with the conservation criteria. These results align with expert opinion, confirming the relevance of the proposed methodology in this study.

Glutaraldehyde-treated homologous vein graft as a vein substitute: experimental study in rabbits

AIM

Vein reconstruction using grafts may prevent sequelae of venous interruption or lesion. Autologous vein is sometimes unsuitable or absent for a vascular restoration. The aim of this study was to study glutaraldehyde-treated homologous vein graft as vein substitute and compare it with autologous vein as a substitute for a vena cava segment in rabbits.

METHODS

Sixty rabbits were allocated into two groups: autologous vein graft (AG), and glutaraldehyde-treated homologous vein graft (HG). Each group was subdivided into three subgroups (N.=10) to be studied at: 24 hours, 14 days, and 28 days. The veins were treated in 0.19% glutaraldehyde, pH=7.4, for 1 hour and kept at 4 degrees C in saline with added gentamicin and amphotericin B. The animals received benzanthine penicillin on the day of graft implantation and heparin only during surgery. The grafts were implanted into the vena cava. Anastomosis was performed with interrupted sutures. Cavography was performed, after surgery, and at the time the animals were killed. Evaluation of the veins was made macroscopically and by light and scanning electron microscopy.

RESULTS

Fibrosis was seen around the grafts at 14 and 28 days, with no difference in intensity between the groups. Cavography performed before euthanasia of the animals showed 4 partial thrombi in AG (2 at 24 hours and 2 at 14 days), 3 in HG (2 at 24 hours and 1 on day 14), and 4 occlusive thombi in HG (3 at 14 days and 1 at 28 days). Macroscopic examination did not show any thrombus in AG. In HG, two partial thrombi were confirmed at 24 hours and three occlusive thrombi at 14 days. There was no statistical difference in relation to patency between the two groups. At 14 and 28 days, the histological sections showed intimal hyperplasia of similar intensity and variable distribution in both groups. Evaluation by electron microscopy showed at 24 hours lesion areas characterized by absence of the endothelium on the graft surface, presence of inflammatory cells, and, at some sites, presence of mural thrombi in AG and HG. Both groups at 14 and 28 days showed endothelial cells covering the lesion area on the graft surface, this covering being larger in AG than in HG.

CONCLUSIONS

In the studied model, both grafts behaved similarly in relation to patency and morphological characteristics. This suggests that the glutaraldehyde-treated graft can be a promising alternative for vein reconstruction, justifying further animal studies with the aim of using it in human surgery.

Toward Ecosystems Oceanography

Marine Ecosystems and Climate Variation . Nils Chr. Stenseth, Geir Ottersen, James W. Hurrell, and Andrea Belgrano, Eds. . Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2004. 266 pp. $124.50, £68. ISBN 0-19-850748-8.

Using a series of case studies on the relations among top predators, fish populations, and climate change, the contributors present conceptual approaches to the study of environmental effects on marine populations.

Aortic atresia with aortopulmonary window and interrupted aortic arch, simulating common arterial trunk: a case report

The authors describe the cross-sectional echocardiographic and angiographic features besides the postmortem findings of a newborn with aortic atresia associated with the aortopulmonary window and an interrupted aortic arch, as the third known similar case reported in the literature. Anatomical and clinical similarities with common arterial trunk are emphasized and a more correct management is established to avoid risks, in which Norwood-type techniques would be preferable.