Towards vibrant fish populations and sustainable fisheries that benefit all: learning from the last 30 years to inform the next 30 years.

A common goal among fisheries science professionals, stakeholders, and rights holders is to ensure the persistence and resilience of vibrant fish populations and sustainable, equitable fisheries in diverse aquatic ecosystems, from small headwater streams to offshore pelagic waters. Achieving this goal requires a complex intersection of science and management, and a recognition of the interconnections among people, place, and fish that govern these tightly coupled socioecological and sociotechnical systems. The World Fisheries Congress (WFC) convenes every four years and provides a unique global forum to debate and discuss threats, issues, and opportunities facing fish populations and fisheries. The 2021 WFC meeting, hosted remotely in Adelaide, Australia, marked the 30th year since the first meeting was held in Athens, Greece, and provided an opportunity to reflect on progress made in the past 30 years and provide guidance for the future. We assembled a diverse team of individuals involved with the Adelaide WFC and reflected on the major challenges that faced fish and fisheries over the past 30 years, discussed progress toward overcoming those challenges, and then used themes that emerged during the Congress to identify issues and opportunities to improve sustainability in the world's fisheries for the next 30 years. Key future needs and opportunities identified include: rethinking fisheries management systems and modelling approaches, modernizing and integrating assessment and information systems, being responsive and flexible in addressing persistent and emerging threats to fish and fisheries, mainstreaming the human dimension of fisheries, rethinking governance, policy and compliance, and achieving equity and inclusion in fisheries. We also identified a number of cross-cutting themes including better understanding the role of fish as nutrition in a hungry world, adapting to climate change, embracing transdisciplinarity, respecting Indigenous knowledge systems, thinking ahead with foresight science, and working together across scales. By reflecting on the past and thinking about the future, we aim to provide guidance for achieving our mutual goal of sustaining vibrant fish populations and sustainable fisheries that benefit all. We hope that this prospective thinking can serve as a guide to (i) assess progress towards achieving this lofty goal and (ii) refine our path with input from new and emerging voices and approaches in fisheries science, management, and stewardship.

Knockout of NRF2 triggers prostate cancer cells death through ROS modulation and sensitizes to cisplatin.

Prostate cancer (PCa) represents the second most common cancer in men and affects millions worldwide. Chemotherapy is a common treatment for PCa but the development of resistance is often a problem during therapy. NRF2 (nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2) is one of the major transcription factors regulating antioxidant enzymes and is also involved with drug efflux and detoxification. Cancer cells submitted to chemotherapy often promote NRF2 activation to benefit themselves with the cytoprotective response. Here, we found that DU145 and PC3 PCa cell lines have different responses regarding NRF2 activation, when subjected to arsenite-induced stress, even in the presence of MG132, a proteasome inhibitor. We also observed that only in PC3 cells treated with arsenite, NRF2 was able to translocate to the nucleus. To better understand the role of NRF2 in promoting chemoresistance, we performed CRISPR knockout of NRF2 (NKO) in DU145 and PC3 cells. The effectiveness of the knockout was confirmed through the downregulation of NRF2 targets (p < 0.0001). PC3 NKO cells exhibited higher levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) compared to wild-type cells (p < 0.0001), while this alteration was not observed in DU145 NKO cells. Despite no modulation in ROS content, a lower IC50 value (p < 0.05) for cisplatin was observed in DU145 NKO cells, suggesting that the knockout sensitized the cells to the treatment. Besides, the treatment of DU145 NKO with cisplatin led cells to apoptosis as observed by the increased levels of PARP1 cleavage (p < 0.05), possibly triggered by increased DNA damage. Reduced levels of KU70 and phospho-CHK2 (p < 0.05) were also detected. The data presented here support that NRF2 is a mediator of oncogenesis and could be a potential target to sensitize PCa cells to chemotherapy, reinforcing the importance of knowing the specific genetic and biochemical characteristics of the cancer cells for a more effective approach against cancer.

Effect of individual or combined physical and chemical factors on the anaerobic biodegradation of linear alkylbenzene sulphonate.

The effect of six important factors on the anaerobic biodegradation of linear alkylbenzene sulphonate (LAS) was evaluated using a response surface methodology. The factors were: (i) co-substrate concentration (CC), (ii) contact time between LAS and microorganisms, (iii) temperature, (iv) hardness, (v) pH, and (vi) LAS source. The results showed that individually or combined, CC with chemical oxygen demand (COD) ≤50 mg L-1 was the factor that mostly favoured LAS biodegradation; whereas at COD >50 mg L-1, adsorption to sludge and solubilisation in the aqueous medium were favoured. Two-factor interactions promoted the highest percentages of biodegradation (45-52%), adsorption (43-45%), and solubilisation (18-25%). The three-factor interactions resulted in small percentage increases of up to 11%, 5%, and 13% for biodegradation, adsorption, and solubilisation, respectively, compared to those of two-factor interactions. The interactions of four, five, and six factors resulted in a non-significant effect on LAS biodegradation, adsorption, and solubilisation, with percentages close to those quantified for the two- and three-factor interactions. Concentrations of up to 30 mg LAS L-1 did not significantly affect the COD removal efficiency (74-88%) from the medium. These values are commonly obtained in full-scale anaerobic systems used to treat domestic sewage.

Survival estimates across five life stages of redfin (Perca fluviatilis) exposed to simulated pumped-storage hydropower stressors.

The global prevalence of pumped-storage hydropower (PSH) is expected to grow exponentially as countries transition to renewable energy sources. Compared to conventional hydropower, little is currently known regarding PSH impacts on aquatic biota. This study estimated the survival of five life stages (egg, two larval stages, juvenile and adult) of redfin (European) perch (Perca fluviatilis) following passage through a PSH facility during the pumping phase. This was achieved by simulating the individual stressors expected to occur during passage through a 2000-MW PSH facility using laboratory-simulated (shear strain and extreme compression) and modelling (blade strike, BS) approaches. Our results indicate that redfin could survive the shear, pressure and BS stressors expected within the PSH facility, but impacts varied among life stages. Juvenile survival was >70% across all shear strain rates, while the survival of eggs and larvae declined markedly as strain rate increased. All life stages had high survival when exposed to rapid compression and BS. The high survival of redfin to the stressors tested suggests the PSH facility could facilitate the passage of redfin during the pumping phase from the lower to the higher elevation reservoir. This outcome would be welcomed in situations where the species is native, but could have adverse implications for the conservation of native biota where the species is considered a pest.

Biodiversity responses to restoration across the Brazilian Atlantic Forest.

The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration is focussing attention and resources on restoration globally. Nowhere is this more crucial than in tropical forests that harbor immense biodiversity, but have also undergone widespread deforestation over the past few decades. We performed a meta-analysis to investigate how biodiversity features respond to forest restoration across the Brazilian Atlantic Forest (BAF), one of the most threatened biodiversity hotspots in the world. We assembled biodiversity in different metrics of structure and diversity features of three taxonomic groups (vascular plants, soil microorganisms, and invertebrates), generating a dataset with 2370 observations from 76 primary studies. We quantified the incomplete recovery of biodiversity (i.e., the rate of recovery to a pre-disturbance state) occurring during the restoration process, which we called the 'recovery gap'. Our results revealed that forests undergoing restoration in the BAF show a recovery gap of 34% for structure features and 22% for diversity features in comparison to reference reforests, considering all taxonomic groups investigated. For vascular plants, soil microorganisms, and invertebrates the recovery gap ranged between 46 and 47%, 16-26%, and 4-7%, respectively. Overall, the recovery gap was influenced by the interaction of restoration actions (i.e., the past land use, restoration age and restoration approach - active and passive restoration), however, structure features responded more sensitively to the time elapsed since restoration started, while the recovery gap for diversity features depended more on the past land-use. Our study can help guide the prioritization of the aforenamed taxonomic groups in restoration, the regulation of potential biodiversity offsetting policies in the BAF, and understanding how coupled biodiversity features respond to the interaction of environmental conditions and restoration actions in a high fragmented tropical landscape.

Resilience of terrestrial and aquatic fauna to historical and future wildfire regimes in western North America.

Wildfires in many western North American forests are becoming more frequent, larger, and severe, with changed seasonal patterns. In response, coniferous forest ecosystems will transition toward dominance by fire-adapted hardwoods, shrubs, meadows, and grasslands, which may benefit some faunal communities, but not others. We describe factors that limit and promote faunal resilience to shifting wildfire regimes for terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. We highlight the potential value of interspersed nonforest patches to terrestrial wildlife. Similarly, we review watershed thresholds and factors that control the resilience of aquatic ecosystems to wildfire, mediated by thermal changes and chemical, debris, and sediment loadings. We present a 2-dimensional life history framework to describe temporal and spatial life history traits that species use to resist wildfire effects or to recover after wildfire disturbance at a metapopulation scale. The role of fire refuge is explored for metapopulations of species. In aquatic systems, recovery of assemblages postfire may be faster for smaller fires where unburned tributary basins or instream structures provide refuge from debris and sediment flows. We envision that more-frequent, lower-severity fires will favor opportunistic species and that less-frequent high-severity fires will favor better competitors. Along the spatial dimension, we hypothesize that fire regimes that are predictable and generate burned patches in close proximity to refuge will favor species that move to refuges and later recolonize, whereas fire regimes that tend to generate less-severely burned patches may favor species that shelter in place. Looking beyond the trees to forest fauna, we consider mitigation options to enhance resilience and buy time for species facing a no-analog future.

Restarting Elective Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery Under a Security Protocol During the COVID-19 Pandemic-a Prospective Observational Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: During the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, in order to protect the patient and to save hospital beds, cancelation of elective surgeries has become a great challenge. Considering that obesity is a chronic disease and the possible effect imposed by quarantine on weight gain with worsening rates of obesity and metabolic comorbidities, the creation of a protocol for a safe return to bariatric surgery became essential. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to identify the incidence of new-onset severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) symptoms in patients who underwent bariatric procedures during the declining curve period. SETTING: Private practice METHODS: A prospective observational cohort study was conducted and included patients with indications for bariatric surgery during the decreasing curve period of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic who underwent surgery under a hospital security protocol. Patients were asked to answer a questionnaire and had a swab PCR test for SARS-CoV-2 detection. The primary outcome measure was the presence of 14-day and 30-day postoperative symptoms associated with COVID-19. Mortality was also analyzed. RESULTS: Three hundred patients with negative RT-PCR were operated on from May to June 2020. Seventeen patients had their surgery postponed because of a positive RT-PCR test or close contact. None of the patients developed new-onset SARS-CoV-2 symptomatic infection after 30 days of observation. No deaths were reported. Eleven had complications not related to SARS-CoV-2. CONCLUSIONS: Even though this population may have a poorer outcome when infected with SARS-CoV-2, this security protocol has shown that the procedure can be safely performed during the outbreak.

Mortality events resulting from Australia's catastrophic fires threaten aquatic biota.

The consequences of the 2019-2020 bushfires in Australia were also devastating for the aquatic biota. Following abnormal rainfall events in burnt areas, widespread mortality events including fish and invertebrates were recorded in estuarine and freshwater systems. Such negative impacts on aquatic resources highlight the need to include these ecosystems in bushfire recovery plans. Management should prioritise catchments at higher risks of further negative impacts and research must be conducted to understand the efficacy of actions post-fire.

Simultaneous extraction and separation of bioactive compounds from apple pomace using pressurized liquids coupled on-line with solid-phase extraction.

The objective of this work was the development of an on-line extraction/fractionation method based on the coupling of pressurized liquid extraction and solid-phase extraction for the separation of phenolic compounds from apple pomace. Several variables of the process were evaluated, including the amount of water of the first stage (0-120 mL), temperature (60-80 °C), solid-phase extraction adsorbent (Sepra, Isolute, Strata X and Oasis) and activation/elution solvent (methanol and ethanol). The best results were observed with the adsorbent Sepra. The temperature had a small effect on recovery, but significant differences were observed for phlorizin and a quercetin derivative. Results indicate that ethanol can be used to replace methanol as an activation, extraction/elution solvent. While using mostly green solvents (water, ethanol, and a small amount of methanol that could be reused), the developed method produced higher or similar yields of acids (2.85 ± 0.19 mg/g) and flavonoids (0.97 ± 0.11 mg/g) than conventional methods.

Flexible and non-invasive passive integrated transponder (PIT) tagging protocols for tropical freshwater fish species.

Passive integrated transponder (PIT) tagging has proven to be an effective mark-recapture technique for many temperate freshwater and marine fish species, but its adaptability to tropical freshwater species remains largely unknown. Nevertheless, many tropical river systems, such as the Mekong in South East Asia, are currently being developed at an unprecedented rate for their relatively abundant water resources. Consequently, there is an urgent need for efficient mark-recapture technologies to understand and assess the impacts of human developments on the movement ecology of tropical freshwater fish species. This paper discusses the development of an optimal protocol for PIT tagging tropical freshwater fishes, using two Mekong River species - Striped catfish (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus) and Goldfin tinfoil barb (Hypsibarbus malcolmi) - as model species. •The PIT tagging protocol is flexible in that it allows the transponders to be placed in a variety of body locations.•The protocol has high tag retention rates (>90%) and is non-invasive, since it does not affect fish growth or mortality rates.•The application of PIT tags can be used to evaluate the success of fishways and other remedial works for supporting crucial life-cycle processes potentially requiring fish passage, such as spawning.

Excitatory amino acid receptors in the dorsomedial hypothalamic area contribute to the chemoreflex tachypneic response.

This study evaluated the effect of blockade of the excitatory amino acid (EAA) receptors in the dorsomedial hypothalamic (DMH) area on the ventilatory and cardiovascular responses of the chemoreflex activation in conscious rats. Bilateral microinjection of kynurenic acid (2.7 nmol, n = 6) into the DMH area reduced the tachypneic (+ 264 ± 13 versus + 204 ± 14 cpm, P < 0.05) and pressor (+ 52 ± 5 versus + 31 ± 6 mmHg, P < 0.05) components of chemoreflex but had no effect on the bradycardic component (-214 ± 7 versus -244 ± 17 bpm) of the chemoreflex. The magnitudes of the reduction in pressor and tachypneic chemoreflex responses were not significantly correlated (r = 0.308, P = 0.330). These data indicate that neurons located in the DMH area are activated by chemoreflex; that this activation is mediated via EAA receptors; and that it is essential for the full expression of the respiratory component of the chemoreflex.

Fatores de risco para neomortalidade precoce na cidade de Juiz de Fora - Minas Gerais / risk factors to early neonatal mortality in the city of Juiz de Fora - Minas Gerais

Objetivo: Foram avaliados fatores de risco para neomortalidade precoce no município de Juiz de Fora, no período de julho de 1998 a junho de 1999. Material e Método: Foram estudados todos os casos de neomortos precoces, tendo sido computados 109 prontuários de um total de 8.489 nascimentos, através de estudo do tipo caso-controle. Para cada caso incluíram-se dois controles, selecionados consecutivamente ao aludido óbito, na mesma maternidade, independente da condição clínica. A seguir, procederam-se as análises bivariada e multivariável.Resultados: Os fatores materno-obstétricos que compuseram os resultados finais foram: idade gestacional menor que 37 semanas (OR=3,99; IC= 1,45-10,96); malformação congênita (OR=24,12; IC=4,14-140,81);infecção urinária (OR=2,75; IC= 1,08-7,03); hemorragia de 3º trimestre (OR=5,07; IC= 1,33-19,28); síndrome hipertensiva(OR=2,64; IC=1,02-6,85); peso ao nascer abaixo de 2.500g (OR=6,17; IC= 2,20-17,31), e pré-natal abaixo de 6 consultas (OR=4,00; IC= 1,87-8,54). Os fatores relacionados à assistência neonatal foram: Apgar no 5º minuto abaixo de 7 (OR=56,94; IC=21,81-148,64), síndrome de membrana hialina (OR=37,18; IC=10,76-128,42), aspiração de mecônio (OR=30,45; IC=2,81-329,38), pneumonia congênita (OR=28,36; IC=2,48-323,92) e infecção neonatal(OR=9,82; IC=1,63-59,18). Conclusão: Conclui-se que a Neomortalidade Precoce no município de Juiz de Fora é elevada, sendo que muitos dos fatores de risco são passíveis de prevenção por um melhor atendimento no pré-natal, parto e na assistência ao recém-nascido na sala de parto. Espera-se que a identificação destes fatores de risco possa contribuir para a melhoria da saúde materno-neonatal em Juiz de Fora.

Objective: Risk factors for early neonatal mortality were evaluated in the city of Juiz de For a over the periodfrom July 1998 to June 1999.Material and Methods: All of the cases of early neonatal deaths were studied madeup of 109 cases out of a total of 8489 births, through a case-controlled study. For each case, two controles wereincluded, chosen consecutively to the given fatality, in the same maternity unit, independent of the clinical condition. Bivariable and multivarialble analyses followed. Results: Maternal obstetrical factors which made up thefinal results were the following: gestational age less than 37 weeks (OR = 3.99; CI = 1.45 - 10.96); congenital malformation: OR = 24.12; CI = 4.14 - 140.81); urinary tract infection (OR = 2.75; CI = 1.08 - 7.03); third trimesterhemorrhape (OR = 5.07; CI = 1.33 - 19.28); hypertensive syndrome (OR = 2.64; CI = 1.02 - 6.85); birth weightless than 2.500 grams (OR = 6.17; CI = 2.20 -17.31); and fewer than six prenatal appointments (OR 4.00; CI1.87 - 8.54). Factors related to neonatal care were: APGAR at 5 minutes less than 7 (OR = 56.94; CI = 21.81 - 148.64); hyaline membrane syndrome (OR = 37.18; CI = 10.76 - 128.42); meconium aspiration (OR = 30.45; CI 2.81 - 329.38); congenital pneumonia (OR = 28.36; CI = 2.48 - 323.92) and neonatal infection (OR = 9.82; CI = 1.63 - 59.18).Conclusion: Early neonatal mortality in the city of Juiz de Fora is high particularly because many of the risk factors are amenable to prevention through better care during the prenatal period, during delivery and through better care of the newborn in the delivery room. It is hoped that the identification of these risk factors canmake a contribution toward the improvement of maternal and neonatal health care in Juiz de Fora.

Antibacterial activity of eight Brazilian annonaceae plants.

Sixteen extracts, obtained from eight Brazilian plants of Annonaceae family, were screened for their antibacterial activity: Xylopia frutescens, X. aromatica, X. amazonica, X. benthamii, Annona ambotay, A. crassiflora, A. muricata and A. cherimolia. Amongst the investigated extracts, six showed antibacterial activity against at least one of the tested organisms at the concentration of 100 microg/mL. The most active extracts were those prepared from X. frutescens, X. amazonica, and A. ambotay. A phytochemical screening showed the presence of anonaceus acetogenins in some active extracts. Eleven diterpenoids were also tested for comparison purposes. Six were natural products, previously isolated from Xylopia sp. (kaurenoic, frutoic, xylopic, 15beta-hydroxy-kaurenoic and trachylobanic acids plus kaurenol) and five were derivatives of such compounds, obtained by esterification or reduction reactions. Trachylobanic acid showed antibacterial activity against B. subtilis and S. aureus.