Social acceptability of a marine protected area: The case of Reunion Island

This paper examines variations in social acceptability of a Marine Protected Area (MPA) prior to implementation. The influence of a number of factors, including socio-economic characteristics, perception of coral resources state of health and attitudes towards non-compliance with regulations are analysed. During May 2006, 640 questionnaires were distributed to school children around Reunion Island, Western Indian Ocean, for completion by their parents, following an informal educational activity made in school. From a 73% (n = 469) response rate, results showed that 78% of participants were in favour of the MPA. Analysis further identified that those supportive of the MPA were generally from higher socio-professional categories, had a negative perception of the coral reef ecosystem's health and were not originally from Reunion. In contrast, locals (born in Reunion) from lower socio-professional categories or with no employment activity and having a positive perception of the health status of coral reefs offered no opinion on the MPA. Attitudes towards enforcement and compliance highlighted that SCUBA divers, fishers and jet skiers attributed a higher value to the protection of the coral reef environment through enforcement of MPA regulations than to their own use of the coral reef resource. When asked about the use of penalties to deter non-compliance, swimmers were awarded the lowest fines, followed by SCUBA divers, fishers then jet skiers being awarded the highest fines. Thus, the more severe the act of non-compliance by a resource user group was perceived to be, the more these users themselves disapproved of non-compliant behaviour and supported use of high penalties. The survey design through focusing on school children's parents, demonstrated a simple and cost-effective method for data collection while providing environmental education, which could be employed in similar case studies elsewhere

Design Specifications and Requirements of Paper for Flexographic Printing

Flexographic printing is a direct printing from the plate to the paper. This process has been growing during the last few years, especially in the newspaper area. One of the problems in the industry today, however, is the lack of good paper specifications for the flexographic printing process. The objective of this project was to gather samples of good flexographic newsprint, and to test them for paper properties in order to determine a set of paper specifications for flexographic newsprint. Also, lithographic (the predominant printing process in the newspaper industry) newsprint samples were gathered in order to compare between the flexographic specifications and a set of lithographic specifications. These papers were tested and specifications were designed from the data, and comparisons were made between the two types of newsprints. The paper properties which seemed to differ the most between the lithographic newsprint and the flexographic newsprint, and appear to be the best judge of a good flexographic paper are: smoothness, brightness, opacity, and strength properties. Further work should be done in this area with more time and more equipment

In-Flight Performance of the Terminator Tape End-of-Life Deorbit Module

The Terminator Tape™ is a passive deorbit module that utilizes both electrodynamic and aerodynamic drag effects to reduce spacecraft deorbit time. To date, three satellites have deployed Terminator Tapes, accumulating a total flight time of approximately thirty months. The first two deployments, on the NPSAT-1 and PROX-1 satellites, are starting multi-year deorbit profiles that will characterize Terminator Tape performance over a full solar cycle as they descend from altitudes above 700km. Additionally, the DRAGRACER mission recently demonstrated performance at lower altitudes, where aerodynamic drag becomes the dominant effect and has given insight into late-stage performance of the tape. Analysis of the impact of the drag tape solution on the overall probability of collision with active satellites indicates the Terminator Tape can significantly reduce collision risks relative to an unaided passive decay approach

The Role of ETS2 in Macrophage Inflammation

Autoimmune and inflammatory diseases are rising globally yet widely effective therapies remain elusive. Most treatments have limited efficacy, significant potential side effects, or eventually lose response, underscoring the urgent need for new therapeutic approaches. We recently discovered that ETS2, a transcription factor, functions as a master regulator of macrophage-driven inflammation—and is causally linked to the pathogenesis of multiple inflammatory diseases via human genetics. The pleotropic inflammatory effects of ETS2 included upregulation of many cytokines that are individually targeted by current disease therapies, including TNFα, IL-23, IL1β, and TNF-like ligand 1A signaling. With the move toward combination treatment—to maximize efficacy—targeting ETS2 presents a unique opportunity to potentially induce a broad therapeutic effect. However, there will be multiple challenges to overcome since direct ETS2 inhibition is unlikely to be feasible. Here, we discuss these challenges and other unanswered questions about the central role that ETS2 plays in macrophage inflammation

Translating non-coding genetic associations into a better understanding of immune-mediated disease

Genome-wide association studies have identified hundreds of genetic loci that are associated with immune-mediated diseases. Most disease-associated variants are non-coding, and a large proportion of these variants lie within enhancers. As a result, there is a pressing need to understand how common genetic variation might affect enhancer function and thereby contribute to immune-mediated (and other) diseases. In this Review, we first describe statistical and experimental methods to identify causal genetic variants that modulate gene expression, including statistical fine-mapping and massively parallel reporter assays. We then discuss approaches to characterise the mechanisms by which these variants modulate immune function, such as clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-based screens. We highlight examples of studies that, by elucidating the effects of disease variants within enhancers, have provided important insights into immune function and uncovered key pathways of disease

A new HPLC method for simultaneously measuring chloride, sugars, organic acids and alcohols in food samples

This paper introduces an original, rapid, efficient and reliable HPLC method for the accurate and simultaneous quantification (g/L) of chloride in samples containing sugars, organic acids and alcohols. Separation was achieved using a HI-Plex H column at 35oC, with H2SO4 (0.005 N) as the mobile phase at a flow rate of 0.4 mL/min. The column effluent was monitored by a Refractive Index (RI) detector. A linear response was achieved over NaCl concentrations of 0.25 – 2.5 g/L and 5 – 40 g/L. The analytical method inter- and intra-run accuracy and precision were better than ±10.0%. Investigating the mechanism of detection using different chloride and sodium s reviled that this method can be used for determining the total concentration of chloride salts when in suspension. This method was successfully applied to 15 samples of commercial food products and the salt content obtained from this method was compared with 3 other methods for salt determination. The (HI-Plex H) column was designed for determining the concentrations of sugars, organic acids and alcohols when in solution. Hence, application of our new methodology would allow the determination of sugars, alcohols and organic acids in samples derived from seawater-based fermentation media as well as samples from salty food and dairy products