Simulating trawl herding in flatfish: the role of fish length in behaviour and swimming characteristics

Abstract Theoretical modeling indicates that the herding efficiency of flatfish by bottom-trawl sweeps is highly sensitive to subtle changes in fish behaviour. Yet the degree of variation in herding behaviour within a species, population, or individual remains poorly understood because of the difficulty observing and measuring fish behaviour in this region of the gear. The purpose of this study was to simulate herding under laboratory conditions in order to examine the behaviour and swimming characteristics of flatfish. Using a large flume equipped with a moving floor, we examined the effect of fish length on gait use, behaviour, and swimming kinematics in American plaice (Hippoglossoides platessoides). While swimming at a speed comparable to the herding speed of trawl sweeps (0.3 m s−1), smaller plaice (<30 cm) spent a large percentage of time using the kick-swim gait, while larger fish (≥30 cm) preferred cruising. In total, 65% of plaice exhibited settling behaviour, analogous to the swim-and-settle behaviour observed in response to trawl sweeps. The frequency of this behaviour and the distance swum between settles were independent of fish length. Only the frequency of gliding changed with the duration of swimming. Like other teleost species, tailbeat frequency decreased with increasing fish length. The results from this study indicate that fish length affects gait use and swimming kinematics in flatfish, but not the frequency of gliding and settling behaviours. These observations support the hypothesis of size-selective herding and provide further insight into the herding efficiency of trawl sweeps.

Download Full-text

ADAMTS9 and ADAMTS20 are differentially affected by loss of B3GLCT in mouse model of Peters plus syndrome

Human Molecular Genetics ◽

10.1093/hmg/ddz225 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 28 (24) ◽

pp. 4053-4066 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Bernadette C Holdener ◽

Christopher J Percival ◽

Richard C Grady ◽

Daniel C Cameron ◽

Steven J Berardinelli ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Compelling Evidence ◽

Partial Reduction ◽

Mouse Development ◽

Developmental Defects ◽

Highly Sensitive ◽

Modified Proteins ◽

Thrombospondin Type 1 Repeats ◽

Insight Into

Abstract Peters plus syndrome (MIM #261540 PTRPLS), characterized by defects in eye development, prominent forehead, hypertelorism, short stature and brachydactyly, is caused by mutations in the β3-glucosyltransferase (B3GLCT) gene. Protein O-fucosyltransferase 2 (POFUT2) and B3GLCT work sequentially to add an O-linked glucose β1-3fucose disaccharide to properly folded thrombospondin type 1 repeats (TSRs). Forty-nine proteins are predicted to be modified by POFUT2, and nearly half are members of the ADAMTS superfamily. Previous studies suggested that O-linked fucose is essential for folding and secretion of POFUT2-modified proteins and that B3GLCT-mediated extension to the disaccharide is essential for only a subset of targets. To test this hypothesis and gain insight into the origin of PTRPLS developmental defects, we developed and characterized two mouse B3glct knockout alleles. Using these models, we tested the role of B3GLCT in enabling function of ADAMTS9 and ADAMTS20, two highly conserved targets whose functions are well characterized in mouse development. The mouse B3glct mutants developed craniofacial and skeletal abnormalities comparable to PTRPLS. In addition, we observed highly penetrant hydrocephalus, white spotting and soft tissue syndactyly. We provide strong genetic and biochemical evidence that hydrocephalus and white spotting in B3glct mutants resulted from loss of ADAMTS20, eye abnormalities from partial reduction of ADAMTS9 and cleft palate from loss of ADAMTS20 and partially reduced ADAMTS9 function. Combined, these results provide compelling evidence that ADAMTS9 and ADAMTS20 were differentially sensitive to B3GLCT inactivation and suggest that the developmental defects in PTRPLS result from disruption of a subset of highly sensitive POFUT2/B3GLCT targets such as ADAMTS20.

Download Full-text

Unique role of jellyfish in the plankton ecosystem revealed using a global ocean biogeochemical model

10.5194/bg-2020-136 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Rebecca Mary Wright ◽

Corinne Le Quéré ◽

Erik Buitenhuis ◽

Sophie Pitois ◽

Mark Gibbons

Keyword(s):

Marine Ecosystem ◽

Zooplankton Community ◽

Plankton Community ◽

Global Ocean ◽

Biogeochemical Model ◽

Unique Role ◽

Highly Sensitive ◽

Ocean Biogeochemical Model ◽

Insight Into

Abstract. Jellyfish are increasingly recognised as important components of the marine ecosystem, yet their specific role is poorly defined compared to that of other zooplankton groups. This paper presents the first global ocean biogeochemical model that includes an explicit representation of jellyfish, and uses the model to gain insight into the influence of jellyfish on the plankton community. The PlankTOM11 model groups organisms into Plankton Functional Types (PFT). The jellyfish PFT is parameterised here based on our synthesis of observations on jellyfish growth, grazing, respiration and mortality rates as functions of temperature and on jellyfish biomass. The distribution of jellyfish is unique compared to that of other PFTs in the model. The jellyfish global biomass of 0.13 PgC is within the observational range, and comparable to the biomass of other zooplankton and phytoplankton PFTs. The introduction of jellyfish in the model has a large direct influence on the crustacean macrozooplankton PFT, and influences indirectly the rest of the plankton ecosystem through trophic cascades. The zooplankton community in PlankTOM11 is highly sensitive to the jellyfish mortality rate, with jellyfish increasingly dominating the zooplankton community as its mortality diminishes. Overall the results suggest that jellyfish play an important and unique role in regulating marine plankton ecosystems, which has been neglected so far.

Download Full-text

Role of Rhizobium in chickpea (Cicer arietinum) production - A review

Agricultural Reviews ◽

10.18805/ag.r-1699 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 38 (01) ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Zorawar Singh ◽

Guriqbal Singh ◽

S. N. Saravaiya

Keyword(s):

Normal Growth ◽

Vegetable Crops ◽

Subsistence Farming ◽

Weather Factors ◽

Membrane Selectivity ◽

Genetic Potential ◽

Highly Sensitive ◽

Insight Into

Vegetables are nutritionally rich, high-valued crops and remunerative enough to replace subsistence farming. However, vegetables are highly sensitive to climatic vagaries and sudden irregularities in weather factors at any phase of crop growth can affect the normal growth, flowering, fruit development and subsequently the yield. Grafting in vegetable has emerged as a promising surgical alternative over relatively slow conventional breeding methods aimed at increasing tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses. It provides an opportunity to transfer some genetic variations of specific traits of rootstocks to influence the phenotype of scion. Thus, genetic potential of various rootstocks in vegetable crops has proven to be a better alternative to chemical sterilants against many soil-borne diseases. The higher physiological activities like antioxidant content, lipoxygenase activity, osmotic adjustment, membrane selectivity, development of adventitious root and aerenchymatous tissue in plants grafted onto potential rootstocks provide broad insight into stress response mechanisms and thus, grafting is proposed to mitigate the adverse impact of climate change on productivity and quality of vegetables crops.

Download Full-text

The role of ligands in electron transport in nanocrystal solids

Nanoscale ◽

10.1039/d0nr06892f ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (45) ◽

pp. 23028-23035

Author(s):

Artem R. Khabibullin ◽

Alexander L. Efros ◽

Steven C. Erwin

Keyword(s):

Electron Transport ◽

Theoretical Modeling

Theoretical modeling of wavefunction overlap in nanocrystal solids elucidates the important role played by ligands in electron transport.

Download Full-text

Plasminogen Activation In Vivo upon Intravenous Infusion of DDAVP

Thrombosis and Haemostasis ◽

10.1055/s-0038-1648390 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 67 (01) ◽

pp. 111-116 ◽

Cited By ~ 64

Author(s):

Marcel Levi ◽

Jan Paul de Boer ◽

Dorina Roem ◽

Jan Wouter ten Cate ◽

C Erik Hack

Keyword(s):

Monoclonal Antibodies ◽

Plasminogen Activator ◽

Plasma Levels ◽

Fold Increase ◽

Fibrinolytic System ◽

Plasminogen Activation ◽

Plasminogen Activator Activity ◽

Insight Into

SummaryInfusion of desamino-d-arginine vasopressin (DDAVP) results in an increase in plasma plasminogen activator activity. Whether this increase results in the generation of plasmin in vivo has never been established.A novel sensitive radioimmunoassay (RIA) for the measurement of the complex between plasmin and its main inhibitor α2 antiplasmin (PAP complex) was developed using monoclonal antibodies preferentially reacting with complexed and inactivated α2-antiplasmin and monoclonal antibodies against plasmin. The assay was validated in healthy volunteers and in patients with an activated fibrinolytic system.Infusion of DDAVP in a randomized placebo controlled crossover study resulted in all volunteers in a 6.6-fold increase in PAP complex, which was maximal between 15 and 30 min after the start of the infusion. Hereafter, plasma levels of PAP complex decreased with an apparent half-life of disappearance of about 120 min. Infusion of DDAVP did not induce generation of thrombin, as measured by plasma levels of prothrombin fragment F1+2 and thrombin-antithrombin III (TAT) complex.We conclude that the increase in plasminogen activator activity upon the infusion of DDAVP results in the in vivo generation of plasmin, in the absence of coagulation activation. Studying the DDAVP induced increase in PAP complex of patients with thromboembolic disease and a defective plasminogen activator response upon DDAVP may provide more insight into the role of the fibrinolytic system in the pathogenesis of thrombosis.

Download Full-text

On Metaphysics and the Political: A Polemics of Reading Baudelaire in the 1930s

Nottingham French Studies ◽

10.3366/nfs.2019.0252 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 58 (2) ◽

pp. 249-259

Author(s):

Joseph Acquisto

Keyword(s):

Twentieth Century ◽

Political Crisis ◽

The Political ◽

Modern Poetry ◽

Progressive Politics ◽

The World ◽

Relationship Of ◽

The Relationship ◽

Insight Into

This essay examines a polemic between two Baudelaire critics of the 1930s, Jean Cassou and Benjamin Fondane, which centered on the relationship of poetry to progressive politics and metaphysics. I argue that a return to Baudelaire's poetry can yield insight into what seems like an impasse in Cassou and Fondane. Baudelaire provides the possibility of realigning metaphysics and politics so that poetry has the potential to become the space in which we can begin to think the two of them together, as opposed to seeing them in unresolvable tension. Or rather, the tension that Baudelaire animates between the two allows us a new way of thinking about the role of esthetics in moments of political crisis. We can in some ways see Baudelaire as responding, avant la lettre, to two of his early twentieth-century readers who correctly perceived his work as the space that breathes a new urgency into the questions of how modern poetry relates to the world from which it springs and in which it intervenes.

Download Full-text

Highly sensitive adolescent benefits in positive school transitions: Evidence for vantage sensitivity in Japanese high-schoolers

10.31234/osf.io/kmxqs ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Shuhei Iimura

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

Statistical Power ◽

Environmental Influences ◽

Differential Susceptibility ◽

School Transition ◽

Well Being ◽

Crossover Point ◽

Japanese Adolescents ◽

Highly Sensitive

Some researchers indicate that the transition to high school deflects adolescent developmental trajectories. Others assert it provides a new possibility for the promotion of adolescents’ socioemotional well-being. One critical view missing in such claims is that individual variabilities interact with environmental influences. We employed the framework of Differential Susceptibility Theory, which postulates that individual susceptibilities moderate external influences for better and for worse. In order to clarify the mechanism of adolescents’ differential adjustments, this paper investigated the role of sensory-processing sensitivity using the Japanese version of Highly Sensitive Child Scale for Adolescence (J-HSCS), and tested whether the diathesis-stress model or the differential susceptibility model best describes students’ socioemotional adjustment across their high school transition. The current paper used the two-wave data collected from Japanese adolescents aged from 14 to 15 years (n = 412, 50% girls). In Study 1, we investigated the replicability of psychometric properties of J-HSCS. The results supported previous findings, indicating its validity for the bifactor model. In Study 2, we utilized confirmatory competitive model testing, which maximizes statistical power by parameterizing the crossover point to allow a direct comparison of alternative models. The results indicated that neither the diathesis-stress nor the differential susceptibility models fitted the data. Rather, a strong vantage sensitivity model was revealed, suggesting that highly susceptible adolescents disproportionately benefitted from a positive school transition over their counterparts. This finding signified the role of adolescents’ sensitivity to environmental influences and the importance of considering its moderation under person x environment interactions.

Download Full-text

Dažu vācu muzikālo tradīciju pārnese latviešu kultūrtelpā 18. gadsimta II pusē

Letonica ◽

10.35539/ltnc.2020.0041.m.g.0003 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Māra Grudule

Keyword(s):

18Th Century ◽

Musical Instrument ◽

German Society ◽

Original Form ◽

Musical Life ◽

Popular Songs ◽

Death Of Jesus ◽

Musical Traditions ◽

Insight Into

The article gives insight into a specific component of the work of Baltic enlightener Gotthard Friedrich Stender (1714–1796) that has heretofore been almost unexplored — the transfer of German musical traditions to the Latvian cultural space. Even though there are no sources that claim that Stender was a composer himself, and none of his books contain musical notation, the texts that had been translated by Stender and published in the collections “Jaunas ziņģes” (New popular songs, 1774) and “Ziņģu lustes” (The Joy of singing, 1785, 1789) were meant for singing and, possibly, also for solo-singing with the accompaniment of some musical instrument. This is suggested, first, by how the form of the translation corresponds to the original’s form; second, by the directions, oftentimes attached to the text, that indicate the melody; and third, by the genres of the German originals cantata and song. Stender translated several compositions into Latvian including the text of the religious cantata “Der Tod Jesu” (The Death of Jesus, 1755) by composer Karl Heinrich Graun (1754–1759); songs by various composers that were widely known in German society; as well as a collection of songs by the composer Johann Gottlieb Naumann (1741–1801) that, in its original form, was published together with notation and was intended for solo-singing (female vocals) with the accompaniment of a piano. This article reveals the context of German musical life in the second half of the 18th century and explains the role of music as an instrument of education in Baltic-German and Latvian societies.

Download Full-text

The Role of Industry-Academia Collaborative Research in Mineral Exploration

The Canadian Mineralogist ◽

10.3749/canmin.1900086 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

James Marlatt

Keyword(s):

Collaborative Research ◽

New Technologies ◽

Mineral Exploration ◽

Board Members ◽

Technological Innovations ◽

Development Programs ◽

The University ◽

Insight Into ◽

Economic Mineral

ABSTRACT Many people may not be aware of the extent of Kurt Kyser's collaboration with mineral exploration companies through applied research and the development of innovative exploration technologies, starting at the University of Saskatchewan and continuing through the Queen's Facility for Isotope Research. Applied collaborative, geoscientific, industry-academia research and development programs can yield technological innovations that can improve the mineral exploration discovery rates of economic mineral deposits. Alliances between exploration geoscientists and geoscientific researchers can benefit both parties, contributing to the pure and applied geoscientific knowledge base and the development of innovations in mineral exploration technology. Through a collaboration that spanned over three decades, we gained insight into the potential for economic uranium deposits around the world in Canada, Australia, USA, Finland, Russia, Gabon, Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, and Guyana. Kurt, his research team, postdoctoral fellows, and students developed technological innovations related to holistic basin analysis for economic mineral potential, isotopes in mineral exploration, and biogeochemical exploration, among others. In this paper, the business of mineral exploration is briefly described, and some examples of industry-academic collaboration innovations brought forward through Kurt's research are identified. Kurt was a masterful and capable knowledge broker, which is a key criterion for bringing new technologies to application—a grand, curious, credible, patient, and attentive communicator—whether talking about science, business, or life and with first ministers, senior technocrats, peers, board members, first nation peoples, exploration geologists, investors, students, citizens, or friends.

Download Full-text

Gender Differences in Empathy During Adolescence: Does Emotional Self-Awareness Matter?

Psychological Reports ◽

10.1177/0033294120976631 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 003329412097663

Author(s):

Cristina Trentini ◽

Renata Tambelli ◽

Silvia Maiorani ◽

Marco Lauriola

Keyword(s):

Gender Differences ◽

Reactivity Index ◽

Self Awareness ◽

Emotional States ◽

Personal Distress ◽

Full Knowledge ◽

Emotional Concern ◽

Insight Into ◽

Tas 20

Empathy refers to the capacity to experience emotions similar to those observed or imagined in another person, with the full knowledge that the other person is the source of these emotions. Awareness of one's own emotional states is a prerequisite for self-other differentiation to develop. This study investigated gender differences in empathy during adolescence and tested whether emotional self-awareness explained these differences. Two-hundred-eleven adolescents (108 girls and 103 boys) between 14 and 19 years completed the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) to assess empathy and emotional self-awareness, respectively. Overall, girls obtained higher scores than boys on IRI subscales like emotional concern, personal distress, and fantasy. Regarding emotional self-awareness, we found gender differences in TAS-20 scores, with girls reporting greater difficulty identifying feelings and less externally oriented thinking than boys. Difficulty identifying feelings explained the greatest personal distress experienced by girls. Lower externally oriented thinking accounted for girls’ greater emotional concern and fantasy. These findings offer an insight into the role of emotional self-awareness–which is essential for self-other differentiation–as an account for gender differences in empathic abilities during adolescence. In girls, difficulty identifying feelings can impair the ability to differentiate between ones’ and others’ emotions, leading them to experience self-focused and aversive responses when confronted with others’ suffering. Conversely, in boys, externally oriented thinking can mitigate personal distress when faced with others’ discomfort.

Download Full-text