Planning and licensing for marine aquaculture.

Marine aquaculture has the potential to increase its contribution to the global food system and provide valuable ecosystem services, but appropriate planning, licensing and regulation systems must be in place to enable sustainable development. At present, approaches vary considerably throughout the world, and several national and regional investigations have highlighted the need for reforms if marine aquaculture is to fulfil its potential. This article aims to map and evaluate the challenges of planning and licensing for growth of sustainable marine aquaculture.

Dying for change: A roadmap to refine the fish acute toxicity test after 40 years of applying a lethal endpoint.

The fish acute toxicity test (TG203; OECD, 2019) is frequently used and highly embedded in hazard and risk assessment globally. The test estimates the concentration of a chemical that kills 50% of the fish (LC) over a 96 h exposure and is considered one of the most severe scientific procedures undertaken. Over the years, discussions at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have resulted in changes to the test which reduce the number of fish used, as well as the development of a (potential) replacement test (TG236, OECD, 2013).

Clarification of early end-points for refinement of animal experiments, with specific reference to fish.

Appropriate end-points are integral to the refinement of laboratory animal experiments. Our recent experience has highlighted that ambiguity around end-points is hampering their adoption in experiments that cause severe suffering to fish. In toxicology, the term endpoint (single word) refers to the response variable to the treatment that is measured and analysed.

Growth Mechanisms of Nano-to Micro-Sized Lead Sulfate Particles.

PbSO is a key component in the charging and discharging of lead acid batteries-such as the cycling of automotive batteries. PbSO is a poor conductor that forms on the positive and negative electrodes during discharging and dissolves during charging of a lead acid battery. Over time, buildup of PbSO occurs on the electrodes, ultimately reducing the efficiency of the battery.

Immunoassays are not immune to errors: Examples from two studies of steroid output from freshwater trout farms.

A "reproducibility crisis" is widespread across scientific disciplines, where results and conclusions of studies are not supported by subsequent investigation. Here we provide a steroid immunoassay example where human errors generated unreproducible results and conclusions. Our study was triggered by a scientific report citing abnormally high concentrations (means of 4-79 ng L) of three natural sex steroids [11-ketotestosterone (11-KT), testosterone (T) and oestradiol (E2)] in water samples collected from two UK rivers over 4 years (2002-6).

Using novel methodologies to examine the impact of artificial light at night on the cortisol stress response in dispersing Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) fry.

Artificial light at night (ALAN) is gaining recognition as having an important anthropogenic impact on the environment, yet the behavioural and physiological impacts of this stressor are largely unknown. This dearth of information is particularly true for freshwater ecosystems, which are already heavily impacted by anthropogenic pressures. Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.

Computer Aided Detection and measurement of peripheral artery disease.

Computer-Aided Tomography Angiography (CTA) images are the standard for assessing Peripheral artery disease (PAD). This paper presents a Computer Aided Detection (CAD) and Computer Aided Measurement (CAM) system for PAD. The CAD stage detects the arterial network using a 3D region growing method and a fast 3D morphology operation.

Identification of cortisol metabolites in the bile of Atlantic cod Gadus morhua L.

Interpretation of plasma cortisol levels in wild-caught fish is confounded by the stress of capture. Measurement of cortisol metabolites in fish bile could provide a method for assessing the stress level of wild fish because the time-lag for metabolism, conjugation and excretion into bile avoids the effects of sampling stress. To determine which biliary metabolite(s) to target, four Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua L.

Electrical capacitance as a rapid and non-invasive indicator of root length.

Measurement of tree root systems by conventional methods is a Herculean task. The electrical capacitance method offers a rapid and non-destructive alternative, but it has largely been restricted to herbaceous species. The Dalton Model has been the main concept for understanding equivalent root circuitry; it proposed that roots were cylindrical capacitors with epidermis and xylem being the external and internal electrodes.

Cortisol and finfish welfare.

Previous reviews of stress, and the stress hormone cortisol, in fish have focussed on physiology, due to interest in impacts on aquaculture production. Here, we discuss cortisol in relation to fish welfare. Cortisol is a readily measured component of the primary (neuroendocrine) stress response and is relevant to fish welfare as it affects physiological and brain functions and modifies behaviour.

Mortality and fish welfare.

Mortality has received insufficient attention as a fish welfare topic. Here, we aim to prompt fish farming stakeholders to discuss fish mortalities in relation to welfare. Mortality in farmed fish populations is due to a variety of biotic and abiotic causes, although it is often difficult to differentiate between underlying and immediate causes of mortality.

A review of sediment and nutrient concentration data from Australia for use in catchment water quality models.

Land use (and land management) change is seen as the primary factor responsible for changes in sediment and nutrient delivery to water bodies. Understanding how sediment and nutrient (or constituent) concentrations vary with land use is critical to understanding the current and future impact of land use change on aquatic ecosystems. Access to appropriate land-use based water quality data is also important for calculating reliable load estimates using water quality models.

Intestinal barrier function of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) post smolts is reduced by common sea cage environments and suggested as a possible physiological welfare indicator.

Background: Fish farmed under high intensity aquaculture conditions are subjected to unnatural environments that may cause stress. Therefore awareness of how to maintain good health and welfare of farmed fish is important. For Atlantic salmon held in sea cages, water flow, dissolved oxygen (DO) levels and temperature will fluctuate over time and the fish can at times be exposed to detrimentally low DO levels and high temperatures.

Label-free detection of biomolecular interactions using BioLayer interferometry for kinetic characterization.

The analysis of biomolecular interactions is key in the drug development process. Label-free biosensor methods provide information on binding, kinetics, concentration, and the affinity of an interaction. These techniques provide real-time monitoring of interactions between an immobilized ligand (such as a receptor) to an analyte in solution without the use of labels.

Time delay and causality in biological systems using whitened cross-correlation analysis.

In the study of biological systems, it is often desirable to study the relationship between two simultaneously recorded signals and investigate whether one signal is causing the other. Correlation between signals can be revealed by spectral analysis techniques such as coherence. While coherence reveals the interaction strength between two signals, it does not provide directional information about the direction of causality of the signals, if any.

Calculation of the mean pressure with less delay for real-time clinical monitoring.

The mean of cardiovascular pressure signals is an important metric in patient monitoring applications for many types of diseases and injuries. It is typically calculated with a moving average of 3-8 s of the pulsatile signal. This method of calculating the mean introduces a delay of 1.

Pulse morphology visualization and analysis with applications in cardiovascular pressure signals.

We present a new analysis and visualization method for studying the functional relationship between the pulse morphology of pressure signals and time or signal metrics such as heart rate, pulse pressure, and means of pressure signals, such as arterial blood pressure and central venous pressure. The pulse morphology is known to contain potentially useful clinical information, but it is difficult to study in the time domain without the aid of a tool such as the method we present here. The primary components of the method are established signal processing techniques, nonparametric regression, and an automatic beat detection algorithm.

Residual pulse morphology visualization and analysis in pressure signals.

We describe a new method to determine whether there is additional information contained in the intracranial pulse morphology that cannot be explained by covariation with the mean intracranial pressure (ICP) alone. Our procedure calculates and displays the difference between the actual pulse morphology and the expected morphology given a predictor variable, such as the mean ICP. The display is intuitive and permits easy recognition of changes in morphology unaccounted for by the given predictor variable.

Measurement of fish steroids in water--a review.

Measurement of fish steroids in water provides a non-invasive alternative to measurement in blood samples, offering the following advantages: zero or minimal intervention (i.e. no anaesthetic, bleeding or handling stress); results not being biased by sampling stress; repeat measurements on the same fish; the possibility of making non-lethal measurements on small and/or rare fish; integrating the response of many (or of single) fish; and allowing concurrent monitoring of behaviour or physiology.

Atmospheric nitrogen deposition promotes carbon loss from peat bogs.

Peat bogs have historically represented exceptional carbon (C) sinks because of their extremely low decomposition rates and consequent accumulation of plant remnants as peat. Among the factors favoring that peat accumulation, a major role is played by the chemical quality of plant litter itself, which is poor in nutrients and characterized by polyphenols with a strong inhibitory effect on microbial breakdown. Because bogs receive their nutrient supply solely from atmospheric deposition, the global increase of atmospheric nitrogen (N) inputs as a consequence of human activities could potentially alter the litter chemistry with important, but still unknown, effects on their C balance.

Vascular response of the bulbar conjunctiva to diabetes and elevated blood pressure.

Objective: Retinovascular changes associated with diabetes have been clearly documented; changes in vessels of the conjunctiva are less well described. We examined changes in conjunctival vessel morphologic features in participants with and without diabetes.

Design: Case-control study.