scholarly journals A Review of Biofouling of Ships’ Internal Seawater Systems

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Davidson ◽  
Patrick Cahill ◽  
Arne Hinz ◽  
Daniel Kluza ◽  
Chris Scianni ◽  
...  

Internal seawater systems (ISS) are critical to the proper functioning of maritime vessels. Sea water is pumped on board ships for a broad array of uses, primarily for temperature control (e.g., engine and electrical systems), cooling capacity (e.g., air conditioners and refrigeration), and water provision (e.g., drinking, firefighting, steam, and ballast). Although sea water may spend only a brief period within ISS of a vessel, it can carry microorganisms and larval stages of macroorganisms throughout the system leading to biofouling accumulation that can impair system function or integrity. ISS can also act as a sub-vector of species translocations, potentially facilitating biological invasions. This review describes ships’ ISS with a focus on operational impacts of biofouling and current drivers and barriers associated with ISS biofouling management. As ISS internal components are difficult to access, reports and studies of ISS biofouling are uncommon and much of the dedicated literature is decades old. The impact of biofouling on ISS and vessel operations is based on increased surface roughness of pipework and equipment, restricted water flow, corrosion and subsequent component impingement, reduced surface functional efficiency, and potential contamination by pathogens that can affect human and aquatic animal health. Biofouling management is primarily achieved using antifouling coatings and marine growth prevention systems, but independent and accessible data on their efficacy in ISS remain limited. Further research is required to resolve the extent to which biofouling occurs in ISS of the modern commercial fleet and the efficacy of preventive systems. Such information can ultimately inform decisions to improve operational efficiency for vessel operators and ensure any biosecurity risks are appropriately managed.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah G. Sturgeon ◽  
Jeremy P. Kitchen ◽  
Lara I. Dahora ◽  
Sara E. Sweeten ◽  
Christopher K. Thompson

AbstractMining, whether current or inactive, generally increases salt concentrations in catchment watersheds due to precipitation on and through exposed rock surfaces. Practices like mountaintop removal mining have exacerbated this issue, with measurements of salt concentrations in nearby catchment systems well above normal levels. Nevertheless, the impact of the ionic composition of mining effluent on aquatic animal health is not well understood. This is a particularly important issue in Appalachia because it is home to an enormous diversity of organisms, including a huge array of amphibians that live in streams that receive mining effluent from operating and abandoned mines. To investigate this issue, we examined the effects of reconstituted mining effluent on the development of wild-caught wood frog (Lithobates sylvaticus) tadpoles. We collected day-old fertilized eggs from a creek near Blacksburg, VA in early March, 2018 and raised them to hatch. Tadpoles were then assigned to either sulfate or chloride-based reconstituted mining effluent diluted to six different conductivities (100 μS/cm - 2,400 μS/cm). After 7 or 14 days of treatment, tadpoles were euthanized and fixed in paraformaldehyde. We imaged the heads and bodies of tadpoles for morphometric analysis before dissecting out brains and immunostaining them for phospho-histone H3, which labels dividing progenitor cells in the brain. We found that sulfate-based reconstituted mining effluent significantly lowered progenitor cell division at 1200 μS/cm at Day 7 and at 600 μS/cm at Day 14 relative to control. Chloride-based reconstituted mining effluent was less impactful, with no significant differences observed at Day 7 and significantly lowered progenitor cell division at 2400 μS/cm at Day 14. In addition, both treatments slowed growth of some head morphological features, including head size and interocular distance. Chloride treatment slowed growth of body length at Day 14 at 600 μS/cm, whereas sulfate-based reconstituted mining effluent had no effect on body length. These data show that sulfate-based mining effluent has a substantial impact on aspects of neural development, whereas chloride-based reconstituted mining effluent had less effect. In contrast, chloride-based reconstituted mining effluent had a much greater impact than sulfate on body morphology and growth. These experiments demonstrate that the chemical composition of salts in mining effluent can have divergent effects on the development of amphibians.


2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 20140449 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca L. Cramp ◽  
Stefanie Reid ◽  
Frank Seebacher ◽  
Craig E. Franklin

Levels of UVB radiation (UVB) and mean temperatures have increased substantially over recent decades in many regions of the world. Both stressors independently can compromise immune function, disease resistance and fitness in fish. The impact of UVB can also be exacerbated by interactions with environmental temperatures. In this paper, we test the hypothesis that UVB and temperature act synergistically to influence patterns of energy consumption and susceptibility to disease. We exposed mosquitofish, Gambusia holbrooki , to a factorial design of low and high UVB levels and low (18°C) and high (25°C) temperatures. The combination of high UVB and high temperature interacted synergistically to suppress metabolism and exacerbate infection intensity by the fish pathogen whitespot ( Ichtyhophthirius multifiliis ). Given the rapid changes in the thermal environment globally, the interaction between UVB and temperatures on energy use and disease resistance could pose significant problems for aquatic animal health in the context of both pre-existing and emerging diseases.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Jones

Abstract In Australasia, bonamiosis (the disease caused by haplosporidian parasites of the genus Bonamia) was first reported from the New Zealand dredge fishery in the 1980s, and was subsequently reported from oyster farms in both Australia and New Zealand.In New Zealand, Foveaux Strait separates Stewart Island from the South Island. The strait was famous for the quality of the dredge oyster beds that had been fished continuously since the 1860s and were believed to have been carefully managed through a limited effort fishery and a quota.In 1985, fishers reported the occurrence of large numbers of freshly dead oysters on the western central beds. Subsequent examination by aquatic animal health specialists from the Research Division of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (now the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, Ltd.) revealed that affected oysters were infected with a species of the haplosporidian parasite, Bonamia exitiosus. Monitoring of the beds in the strait over the next 8 years documented the decline in catch and eventually, in 1993, the fishery was closed. Because of the shortage of oysters and the high prices that were anticipated, a number of aquaculture ventures began in New Zealand during the 1990s, mostly using suspended tray culture. However, attempts failed due to the disease. Also in the 1990s there were attempts to farm Ostrea angasi in Australia. Outbreaks of bonamiosis occurred in oyster farms in Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia. The ongoing mortalities have made farming this type of oyster uneconomic in Western Australia. However, some farming of O. angasi is undertaken in New South Wales where bonamiosis has not been reported. This is one of the few examples of a non-introduced disease agent destroying a wild fishery and aquaculture. Recent research has suggested that the impact of the fishery may have triggered the epizootic in Foveaux Strait as well as causing outbreaks in cultivated oysters. This has lessons for fisheries managers.


This article presents the results of studying the impact of housing and feeding conditions on broiler chickens of Hubbard RedBro cross, as well as the quality of products obtained when using floor and cage content, in a farm. It established that when receiving a mixed feed of own production using feed raw materials grown on a farm without the use of pesticides, a statistically significant decrease in potentially dangerous substances for animal health is recorded. Compared with factory feed, it has reduced the content of pesticides by 14 times, and mercury and arsenic by 24 times, cadmium by five times, and lead by ten times. The results of the study of economic indicators of growing Hubbard RedBro cross broiler chickens, as well as the chemical composition and quality of carcasses, indicated that there was no significant difference between the floor and cell conditions of keeping. Still, the use of a diet based on eco-feeds contributed to a statistically significant decrease in the concentration of toxic metals in the muscles of the poultry of the experimental groups. As a result, it found that the use of the studied compound feed in the diets of broiler chickens increased the indicators of Biosafety and ensured the production of environmentally safe ("organic") poultry meat products.


2019 ◽  
Vol 97 (9) ◽  
pp. 3741-3757 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nirosh D Aluthge ◽  
Dana M Van Sambeek ◽  
Erin E Carney-Hinkle ◽  
Yanshuo S Li ◽  
Samodha C Fernando ◽  
...  

Abstract A variety of microorganisms inhabit the gastrointestinal tract of animals including bacteria, archaea, fungi, protozoa, and viruses. Pioneers in gut microbiology have stressed the critical importance of diet:microbe interactions and how these interactions may contribute to health status. As scientists have overcome the limitations of culture-based microbiology, the importance of these interactions has become more clear even to the extent that the gut microbiota has emerged as an important immunologic and metabolic organ. Recent advances in metagenomics and metabolomics have helped scientists to demonstrate that interactions among the diet, the gut microbiota, and the host to have profound effects on animal health and disease. However, although scientists have now accumulated a great deal of data with respect to what organisms comprise the gastrointestinal landscape, there is a need to look more closely at causative effects of the microbiome. The objective of this review is intended to provide: 1) a review of what is currently known with respect to the dynamics of microbial colonization of the porcine gastrointestinal tract; 2) a review of the impact of nutrient:microbe effects on growth and health; 3) examples of the therapeutic potential of prebiotics, probiotics, and synbiotics; and 4) a discussion about what the future holds with respect to microbiome research opportunities and challenges. Taken together, by considering what is currently known in the four aforementioned areas, our overarching goal is to set the stage for narrowing the path towards discovering how the porcine gut microbiota (individually and collectively) may affect specific host phenotypes.


Metals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 250
Author(s):  
Jiří Hájek ◽  
Zaneta Dlouha ◽  
Vojtěch Průcha

This article is a response to the state of the art in monitoring the cooling capacity of quenching oils in industrial practice. Very often, a hardening shop requires a report with data on the cooling process for a particular quenching oil. However, the interpretation of the data can be rather difficult. The main goal of our work was to compare various criteria used for evaluating quenching oils. Those of which prove essential for operation in tempering plants would then be introduced into practice. Furthermore, the article describes monitoring the changes in the properties of a quenching oil used in a hardening shop, the effects of quenching oil temperature on its cooling capacity and the impact of the water content on certain cooling parameters of selected oils. Cooling curves were measured (including cooling rates and the time to reach relevant temperatures) according to ISO 9950. The hardening power of the oil and the area below the cooling rate curve as a function of temperature (amount of heat removed in the nose region of the Continuous cooling transformation - CCT curve) were calculated. V-values based on the work of Tamura, reflecting the steel type and its CCT curve, were calculated as well. All the data were compared against the hardness and microstructure on a section through a cylinder made of EN C35 steel cooled in the particular oil. Based on the results, criteria are recommended for assessing the suitability of a quenching oil for a specific steel grade and product size. The quenching oils used in the experiment were Houghto Quench C120, Paramo TK 22, Paramo TK 46, CS Noro MO 46 and Durixol W72.


Author(s):  
Fatemeh Alizadeh ◽  
Navid Kharghani ◽  
Carlos Guedes Soares

Glass/Vinylester composite laminates are comprehensively characterised to assess its impact response behaviour under moisture exposure in marine structures. An instrumented drop weight impact machine is utilised to determine the impact responses of dry and immersed specimens in normal, salted and sea water. The specimens, which had three different thicknesses, were subjected to water exposure for a very long period of over 20 months before tested in a low-velocity impact experiment. Water uptake was measured primarily to study the degradation profiles of GRP laminates after being permeated by water. Matrix dissolution and interfacial damage observed on the laminates after prolonged moisture exposure while the absorption behaviour was found typically non-Fickian. The weight of the composite plates firstly increased because of water diffusion up to month 15 and then decreased due to matrix degradation. The specimens with 3, 6 and 9 mm thickness exhibited maximum water absorption corresponding to 2.6%, 0.7% and 0.5% weight gain, respectively. In general, the results indicated that water uptake and impact properties were affected by thickness and less by water type. Impact properties of prolonged immersed specimens reduced remarkably, and intense failure modes detected almost in all cases. The least sensitive to impact damage were wet specimens with 9 mm thickness as they indicated similar maximum load and absorbed energy for different impact energies.


Livestock ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 176-179
Author(s):  
Chris Lloyd

The Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture Alliance (RUMA) was established to promote the highest standards of food safety, animal health and animal welfare in the British livestock industry. It has a current focus to deliver on the Government objective of identifying sector-specific targets for the reduction, refinement or replacement of antibiotics in animal agriculture. The creation and roll out of sector specific targets in 2017 through the RUMA Targets Task Force, has helped focus activity across the UK livestock sectors to achieve a 50% reduction in antibiotic use since 2014. This has been realised principally through voluntary multi-sector collaboration, cross sector initiatives, codes of practice, industry body support and farm assurance schemes. This article provides an overview of RUMA's work to date providing insight into the methods used to create the targets, why they are so important, the impact they are having and how ongoing support and robust data are vital components in achieving the latest set of targets.


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