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This paper describes the Santos Basin Underwater Soundscape Monitoring Project (PMPAS-BS), a Brazilian ocean soundscape monitoring initiative. The main objective of the project is to quantify and assess hydroacoustic noise of anthropogenic origin in a large sedimentary basin extending from 23° S to 28° S on the southeastern Brazilian continental margin of the South Atlantic Ocean. Noise associated with oil and gas (O&G) exploration and production activities is the primary target, but this oceanic region also has busy shipping lanes for commercial, military, and fishing vessels. The two main hubs of Brazil’s export and import of goods by sea are located in this region: Santos and Rio de Janeiro ports. The project has three measurement components: mobile monitoring based on gliders and drifting acoustic profilers, fixed shallow-water monitoring based on acoustic measurements at coastal stations near shipping lanes associated with exploration and production activities in the Santos Basin, and fixed oceanic monitoring based on deep-water mooring lines equipped with passive autonomous acoustic recorders near production units, shipping lanes, and areas with lower intensity of O&G activities (pristine or reference sites). Numerical modeling of anthropogenic underwater acoustic noise has also been included as a fourth project component. The PMPAS-BS covers an area of more than 251,000 km² and uses several instruments with different methods and sensors for acoustic measurements. Its results provide current sound levels over a very large region of the western South Atlantic, both in areas more and less affected by anthropogenic activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A correction is presented to the article "The Brazilian Santos basin underwater soundscape monitoring project (PMPAS-BS)" published in a previous issue of the periodical.

IntroductionAntimicrobial resistance is a challenge to be faced by all livestock sectors; within beef farming, antibiotic use patterns vary by country and management practices. Argentina is a country with high beef production & consumption but limited information surrounding antibiotic use. The aims of this project was to understand how antibiotics are being used across the beef industry in Argentina and exploring drivers of usage.MethodsQuantitative and qualitative data was collected by: A survey of breeding and feedlot farms including antibiotic use (from purchase data); a detailed analysis of two feedlot farms’ therapeutic antibiotic use records; a survey of vets’ views on certain antibiotic practices; and a focus group of farmers and vets focusing on wider influences affecting decision making. Antibiotic use data was calculated using mg/population corrected unit (PCU) (ESVAC) and thematic analysis was used to identify drivers of antibiotic use among participants.ResultsThe median use across 17 farms that supplied purchase data was 76.52 mg/kg PCU (ESVAC; IQR = 36.81 mg/kg PCU [ESVAC]). The detailed farm records showed that the largest reason for treatment was group treatments (72.92% of treatments) followed by treatment for respiratory disease (12.75% of treatments). Macrolides accounted for 76.37% of treatments. Nearly half of farms used routine prophylactic treatment for arriving animals (n = 7/18). The use of quarantine and ‘sick pens’ were seen as important by surveyed vets with antibiotic prophylaxis and in-feed antibiotics seen as contributors to antibiotic resistance. The focus group highlighted the influence of the economic and political landscape on husbandry practices and the responsibility the farming sector had towards antibiotic stewardship.DiscussionOverall, Argentine beef feedlots resemble North American beef feedlots in terms of antibiotic practices but with considerably lower usage, with in-feed monensin representing a large proportion of total ABU. The adaptation period presents a challenge to animal health; antibiotics are administered a prophylaxis, metaphylactic and individual treatments depending on farm management practices. Further research into internationally comparable measures of ABU and detailed cost-benefit analysis of practical, on-farm interventions are needed to aid improved antimicrobial stewardship in livestock systems globally.

Since previous studies, mostly performed in healthy adults, show that sleep restriction around time of vaccination impairs antibody response and shift work affects sleep, aim of the study was to test the hypothesis that the antibody response to vaccination is impaired in shift workers, when compared to non-shift workers.Employees (n = 445; mean age 44 ± 11 years; 35 % men) of the Centro Cardiologico Monzino, IRCCS (Milan, Italy) were vaccinated against SARS-CoV2 in February 2021 with an mRNA-based vaccine. Antibody titers were assayed 1 and 7 months later. Differences between groups were assessed using ANOVA, after log-transformation of variables with right-skewed distribution.We report that the antibody titer was significantly higher in shift workers (33 % of employees) compared to non-shift workers at first assay [median (IQR): 2495 (1700; 4665) vs 2060 (1619; 2970) BAU/mL, p = 0.0123], as well as at the second one, and that this difference was abolished after adjustment for previous development of symptomatic COVID-19. Results were not affected by age or sex at birth.These results show that shift workers were able to mount an unimpaired antibody response to vaccination. Since vaccinations were performed during the pandemic urgency, our retrospective study has several limitations, nevertheless it underlines the need for large prospective, controlled studies on the effects of acute and chronic sleep restriction on response to vaccination in the general population and on the impact of shift work on immune response.

This paper describes the Santos Basin Underwater Soundscape Monitoring Project (PMPAS-BS), a Brazilian ocean soundscape monitoring initiative. The main objective of the project is to quantify and assess hydroacoustic noise of anthropogenic origin in a large sedimentary basin extending from 23° S to 28° S on the southeastern Brazilian continental margin of the South Atlantic Ocean. Noise associated with oil and gas (O&G) exploration and production activities is the primary target, but this oceanic region also has busy shipping lanes for commercial, military, and fishing vessels. The two main hubs of Brazil’s export and import of goods by sea are located in this region: Santos and Rio de Janeiro ports. The project has three measurement components: mobile monitoring based on gliders and drifting acoustic profilers, fixed shallow-water monitoring based on acoustic measurements at coastal stations near shipping lanes associated with exploration and production activities in the Santos Basin, and fixed oceanic monitoring based on deep-water mooring lines equipped with passive autonomous acoustic recorders near production units, shipping lanes, and areas with lower intensity of O&G activities (pristine or reference sites). Numerical modeling of anthropogenic underwater acoustic noise has also been included as a fourth project component. The PMPAS-BS covers an area of more than 251,000 km2 and uses several instruments with different methods and sensors for acoustic measurements. Its results provide current sound levels over a very large region of the western South Atlantic, both in areas more and less affected by anthropogenic activities.

Sexual development and reproduction are largely linked to epigenetic changes in many fish species. However, understanding of epigenetic regulation in scombrid species, such as tunas and mackerels, is limited. This study investigates DNA methylation’s impact on cyp19a expression, crucial for estrogen synthesis, focusing on chub mackerel. Given the commercial significance of scombrids and susceptibility of marine fish to environmental changes, elucidating epigenetic mechanisms, particularly in the context of global warming, becomes imperative. We aimed to generalize observations from chub mackerel to other scombrids. Additionally, we studied DNA methylation patterns across fish with different sexual systems to understand aromatase regulation’s phenotypic plasticity. Our in silico analysis revealed highly conserved promoter sequences within scombrids, sharing TFBS like Foxl2, FOS::JUN, ESRR, and Sox3, while CpG content varies. This indicates a conserved regulatory network controlling gene expression. We found sexual dimorphism in DNA methylation, with males hypermethylated and aromatase expression downregulated. Despite similar dnmt1 expression, tet1, tet2, and tet3 were higher expressed in females, suggesting that the observed DNA methylation patterns are maintained through active demethylation rather than differential methylation. Gonochoristic Japanese anchovy and protogynous bamboo leaf wrasse displayed similar trends, but species-specific methylation patterns highlight DNA methylation’s complex role in gonadal changes. In vitro assays confirmed methylation’s regulatory role and identified an SF-1 binding site relevant for promoter activation in chub mackerel. Another studied SF-1 site, present in both chub mackerel and bamboo leaf wrasse, showed regulatory effects, indicating potential similar regulatory mechanisms for cyp19a expression. Overall, our findings suggest that while global methylation affects cyp19a transcription, the variation in CpG density and location could be introducing nuances in its epigenetic regulation. This study contributes to our understanding of the cyp19a regulation in fish gonad maturation.

In the biomedical field, nanocrystalline hydroxyapatite is still one of the most attractive candidates as a bone substitute material due to its analogies with native bone mineral features regarding chemical composition, bioactivity and osteoconductivity. Ion substitution and low crystallinity are also fundamental characteristics of bone apatite, making it metastable, bioresorbable and reactive. In the present work, biomimetic apatite and apatite/chitosan composites were produced by dissolution–precipitation synthesis, using mussel shells as a calcium biogenic source. With an eye on possible bone reconstruction and drug delivery applications, apatite/chitosan composites were loaded with strontium ranelate, an antiosteoporotic drug. Due to the metastability and temperature sensitivity of the produced composites, sintering could be carried out by conventional methods, and therefore, cold sintering was selected for the densification of the materials. The composites were consolidated up to ~90% relative density by applying a uniaxial pressure up to 1.5 GPa at room temperature for 10 min. Both the synthesised powders and cold-sintered samples were characterised from a physical and chemical point of view to demonstrate the effective production of biomimetic apatite/chitosan composites from mussel shells and exclude possible structural changes after sintering. Preliminary in vitro tests were also performed, which revealed a sustained release of strontium ranelate for about 19 days and no cytotoxicity towards human osteoblastic-like cells (MG63) exposed up to 72 h to the drug-containing composite extract.