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To have a better understanding of the impact of the PETRONAS oil and gas platform on commercial fisheries activities, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) examined two approaches which are data collection from satellite and data collection from fishermen and anglers. By profiling the anglers who utilize reefed oil and gas structures for fishing, it can determine if the design and location of the reef platforms will benefit or negatively impacts those anglers and fisherman. Furthermore, this assessment will be contributing to the knowledge regarding the value of offshore oil and gas platforms as fisheries resources. Collectively, the apparent fishing activity data included, combined with the findings in the reefing viability index will help to inform PETRONAS’s future decommissioning decisions and may help determine if the design and proposed locations for future rigs-to-reefs candidates would benefit commercial fishing groups, further qualifying them as appropriate artificial reef candidates. The method applied in this study is approaching by using a data satellite known as Google’s Global Fishing Watch technology, which is one of the applications to measure commercial fishing efforts around the globe. The apparent commercial fishing effort around the selected twelve PETRONAS platforms was analyzed from January 2012 to December 2018. Using the data collection from fishermen which is the total estimation of commercial fish value cost (in Malaysia ringgit, MYR [RM]) in Peninsular Malaysia Asset, Sabah Asset, and Sarawak Operation region. The data were extracted every month from 2016 to 2018 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration database. Most of the selected platforms that show a high frequency of vessels around the year are platform KP-A, platform BG-A and platform PL-B. The estimated values of commercial fishes varied between platforms, with ranged from RM 10,209.92 to RM 89,023.78. Thus, platforms with high commercial fish value are selected for reefing in-situ and will serve multi-purposes and benefit the locals as well as the country. The current study has successfully assessed the potential reefing area of the Malaysian offshore environment with greater representativeness and this paper focused on its potential as a new fishing ground.

Summary: Terpios hoshinota is an aggressive, space‐competing sponge that kills various stony corals. Outbreaks of this species have led to intense damage to coral reefs in many locations. Here, the first large‐scale 16S rRNA gene survey across three oceans revealed that bacteria related to the taxa Prochloron, Endozoicomonas, SAR116, Ruegeria, and unclassified Proteobacteria were prevalent in T. hoshinota. A Prochloron‐related bacterium was the most dominant and prevalent cyanobacterium in T. hoshinota. The complete genome of this uncultivated cyanobacterium and pigment analysis demonstrated that it has phycobiliproteins and lacks chlorophyll b, which is inconsistent with the definition of Prochloron. Furthermore, the cyanobacterium was phylogenetically distinct from Prochloron, strongly suggesting that it should be a sister taxon to Prochloron. Therefore, we proposed this symbiotic cyanobacterium as a novel species under the new genus Candidatus Paraprochloron terpiosi. Comparative genomic analyses revealed that 'Paraprochloron' and Prochloron exhibit distinct genomic features and DNA replication machinery. We also characterized the metabolic potentials of 'Paraprochloron terpiosi' in carbon and nitrogen cycling and propose a model for interactions between it and T. hoshinota. This study builds a foundation for the study of the T. hoshinota microbiome and paves the way for better understanding of ecosystems involving this coral‐killing sponge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate how the central metalloligand geometry influences distant or vicinal metal-to-metal charge-transfer (MMCT) properties of polynuclear complexes, c is- and trans-isomeric heterotrimetallic complexes, and their one- and two-electron oxidation products, cis/ trans- [Cp(dppe)FeIINCRuII(phen)2CN-FeII(dppe)Cp][PF6]2 ( cis/ trans- 1[PF6]2), cis/ trans-[Cp(dppe)FeIINCRuII(phen)2CNFeIII-(dppe)Cp][PF6]3 ( cis/ trans- 1[PF6]3) and cis/ trans-[Cp(dppe)FeIIINCRuII(phen)2CN-FeIII(dppe)Cp][PF6]4 ( cis/ trans- 1[PF6]4) have been synthesized and characterized. Electrochemical measurements show the presence of electronic interactions between the two external FeII atoms of the cis- and trans-isomeric complexes cis/ trans- 1[PF6]2. The electronic properties of all these complexes were studied and compared by spectroscopic techniques and TDDFT//DFT calculations. As expected, both mixed valence complexes cis/ trans- 1[PF6]3 exhibited different strong absorption signals in the NIR region, which should mainly be attributed to a transition from an MO that is delocalized over the RuII-CN-FeII subunit to a FeIII d orbital with some contributions from the co-ligands. Moreover, the NIR transition energy in trans- 1[PF6]3 is lower than that in cis- 1[PF6]3, which is related to the symmetry of their molecular orbitals on the basis of the molecular orbital analysis. Also, the electronic spectra of the two-electron oxidized complexes show that trans- 1[PF6]4 possesses lower vicinal RuII→FeIII MMCT transition energy than cis- 1[PF6]4. Moreover, the assignment of MMCT transition of the oxidized products and the differences of the electronic properties between the cis and trans complexes can be well rationalized using TDDFT//DFT calculations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decommissioning of the offshore platform as an artificial reef, known as Rigs-to-Reefs (R2R), has become a sustainable approach for oil companies. The platform was reused to serve the underwater ecosystem as an artificial reef for a new marine ecosystem which helps to tackle food security issue. This paper presents the findings of the formulation of the reefing viability index to recognize an offshore region that can be used for R2R projects within the South China Sea. The combined effects of spatial data, numerical modelling, and geographic system (GIS) are proposed to study the relationship of spawning ground coral reefs, diversity, and planula larvae in the process of colonization to establish a map of the reef potential environment. Coral connectivity and spawning behaviour were studied to determine the possible source of coral seedling released during the spawning season, twice a year. A geographic reef viability index was established consisting of seven parameters which are coral larval density, pelagic larval length, sea currents, temperature, chlorophyll-a, depth, and substrate availability. The ocean hydrodynamic model was designed to resemble the pattern of larval scattering. By using the simulations and rankings, there were 95 (21%) sites which could probably be used for in situ reefing, whereas 358 (79%) sites were likely ideal for ex situ reefing. Validation of the viability index was carried out using media footage assessment of remotely operated vehicle (ROV)., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2020 Mohd Hairil Mohd et al.)

To investigate how the central metalloligand geometry influences distant or vicinal metal-to-metal charge-transfer (MMCT) properties of polynuclear complexes, cis- and trans-isomeric heterotrimetallic complexes, and their one- and two-electron oxidation products, cis/trans-[Cp(dppe)Fe(II)NCRu(II)(phen)2CN-Fe(II)(dppe)Cp][PF6]2 (cis/trans-1[PF6]2), cis/trans-[Cp(dppe)Fe(II)NCRu(II)(phen)2CNFe(III)-(dppe)Cp][PF6]3 (cis/trans-1[PF6]3) and cis/trans-[Cp(dppe)Fe(III)NCRu(II)(phen)2CN-Fe(III)(dppe)Cp][PF6]4 (cis/trans-1[PF6]4) have been synthesized and characterized. Electrochemical measurements show the presence of electronic interactions between the two external Fe(II) atoms of the cis- and trans-isomeric complexes cis/trans-1[PF6]2. The electronic properties of all these complexes were studied and compared by spectroscopic techniques and TDDFT//DFT calculations. As expected, both mixed valence complexes cis/trans-1[PF6]3 exhibited different strong absorption signals in the NIR region, which should mainly be attributed to a transition from an MO that is delocalized over the Ru(II)-CN-Fe(II) subunit to a Fe(III) d orbital with some contributions from the co-ligands. Moreover, the NIR transition energy in trans-1[PF6]3 is lower than that in cis-1[PF6]3, which is related to the symmetry of their molecular orbitals on the basis of the molecular orbital analysis. Also, the electronic spectra of the two-electron oxidized complexes show that trans-1[PF6]4 possesses lower vicinal Ru(II) → Fe(III) MMCT transition energy than cis-1[PF6]4. Moreover, the assignment of MMCT transition of the oxidized products and the differences of the electronic properties between the cis and trans complexes can be well rationalized using TDDFT//DFT calculations., (© 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)