Aagesen, Andrea, Ann Arbor, MI; Abraham, Mathew John, Philadelphia, PA; Adams, Carlo

E, Little Rock, AR; Aguilera, Richard Garcia, Fairview, OH; Ahn, Sangmin, Seattle, WA; Ailinani, Hary Ramana, Great Neck, NY; Albanese, Lisa Nicole, Eugene, OR; Alexander, Ashli P, Albany, GA; Allen, John Damon, Carrolltown, VA; Alsharif, Kais, Huntington Beach, CA; Alvarez, Gemayaret, Charlotte, NC; Alvarez-Perez, Melissa M, Port Clinton, OH; Anders, D’andrea Michelle, Houston, TX; Anderson, Trevor, Eagan, MN; Andrews, Sheryce Marie, Tampa, FL; Arias Garau, Jessica, Toa baja, PR; Au, Scott, Sherman Oaks, CA; Axtman, Matthew, Brownsburg, IN. Baber, John, Erie, PA; Baeza Dager, selleck screening library Junney Maria, Miami, FL; Bagares, Frederick, Chicago, IL; Baird, Sara Myers, Greer, SC; Balotti, Richard F, New York, NY; Barlow, Raiel D, Burlington, VT; Barreto Riollano, Jose Emilio, Isabela, PR; Barroso, Tania A, Atlanta, GA; Beck, Elizabeth, Charlestown, MA; Beck, Jeffrey Allen, Mankato, MN; Beecher, Russell O, Price, UT; Ben-Meir, Ron Simon, Hoboken, NJ; Ben-Ozer, Elite, Encino, CA; Benjamin, Cheryl Beth, Chicago, IL; Benson, John Edward, Seattle, WA; Bentley, Katherine Saltstein, West Orange, NJ; Berry, Kevin, Roseburg, OR; Bhandary, Avi Krishna, Iowa city, IA; Bluto, Marsha Jan, Mill Valley, CA; Boiano, Maria, Centereach, NY; Bomberger, Chloe Anne, Charlotte,

NC; Borodkina, Marina, Baltimore, MD; Brand, Erik S, Cambridge, MA; Brar, Baljinder, Arlington, VA; Brooks, see more Joseph Earl, Davenport, IA; Bruso, Jessica, Santa Rosa, CA; Buckner, Carlos, Casper, WY; Burton, Justin, Chicago, IL; Butler, Sean Patrick, Doylestown, PA. Campos, Jose Santiago, Jersey City, NJ; Carter, Jennifer Patrice, Carnegie, PA; Casthely, Dionne Docile, Pinecrest, FL; Castillo, Camilo Mario, Midlothian, VA; Chai, Gerald, Atlanta, GA; Chamberlain, Casey, Orem, UT; Chandran, Sheila, Lexington, KY; Chandran,

Srikrishna, Rochester Hills, MI; Chang, Wanda Shok Yin, Irvine, CA; Charles, Jeremy Yves, Jamaica Estates, NY; Chay, Wesley, Philadelphia, PA; Chen, Reuben Kuan-Chun, Redondo Beach, CA; Chen, Yin-ting, Kensington, MD; Cheng, David Shengwen, New York, NY; Chernev, Ivan A, Beckley, WV; Chowdhary, Neha, Baton Rouge, LA; Chowdhry, Mariam, Richmond Heights, MO; Chu, David, Jersey City, NJ; Chung, Tae Hwan, Baltimore, MD; Claflin, Edward S, Seattle, WA; Cole, Dustin Michael, Cortez, CO; Colonno, tuclazepam Daniel Vincent, Seattle, WA; Comeaux, Jeremy Allen, Baton Rouge, LA; Cooper, David, Houston, TX; Cox, Deitrick L, Atlanta, GA; Cronsell, Christopher Allen, Milwaukee, WI. Danesh, Houman, New York, NY; David, Giovanni Paolo Goseco, Salisbury, MD; Davidescu, Anda Bogdana, Forest Hills, NY; Davidescu, Bogdan Ionut, Forest Hills, NY; Delisser, Kemesha, South San Francisco, CA; Deogun, Harvinder Singh, Mesa, AZ; Derbigny, Erin Wheeler, Geismar, LA; Derr, Michael James, Jacksonville, FL; Dhingsa, Komal, Carmichael, CA; Diaz, Monique, Wheaton, IL; Do, Kim Dan, Dallas, TX; Dunn, Bernadette, Camillus, NY.

This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31271799), and the National “Key Sci-Tech” program, China (2013ZX08002-001-004), and the China–Czech Government Science and Technology Cooperation Project (40–3 and LH12196). Editing assistance from Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) and from M. Blair is gratefully acknowledged. “
“The filamentous ascomycete fungus Selleck Sirolimus Magnaporthe oryzae is the causal agent of a wide range of diseases including rice blast. It is destructive in several crops and is under intensive study worldwide [1]. The classical method of fungal DNA preparation is multi-step and includes growing the fungus in liquid or solid medium, lyophilizing

mycelia, disrupting cell walls, removing proteins with phenol and chloroform, and precipitating DNA with ethanol or isopropanol. This method is time-consuming and labor-intensive, and results in pollution from the phenol and chloroform compounds. Other procedures for extraction and purification of fungal DNA were modified from the CTAB method originally Epigenetic animal study developed for plant tissue extraction [2] using organic solvents [3]. The CTAB

method was considered superior for removing carbohydrates. Although these techniques are available for extraction of fungal DNA, DNA isolation from some fungal mycelia and spores remains difficult. A rapid and simple method for polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based identification of fungal genotypes increases efficiency and enables the amplification of large numbers of samples in a relatively short time. Such a method would also be useful for screening for known genes and for studying the genetic identity of exotic pathogens under quarantine. Other rapid DNA extraction methods of M. oryzae for different purposes have been reported [4], [5], [6], [7] and [8]. However, PCR amplification of M. oryzae from desiccated filter papers has not. The

objective IKBKE of this study was to develop a simple and fast method of direct amplification of a known gene in M. oryzae stored desiccated on filter paper for a relatively long time. Direct amplification of a gene of interest using PCR would save time and cost incurred by growing the fungus and then extracting DNA. A total of 28 field isolates of blast fungus purified from a 2012–2013 Arkansas field collection were grown on Wattman filter paper as described by Jia [9]. Specifically, an oatmeal agar piece (0.1 cm in diameter) containing the fungal structures was inoculated onto sterilized filter paper spread on an oatmeal plate [10]. The fungus was allowed to grow for 1–2 weeks under continuous black and white fluorescent light at room temperature between 21 and 24 °C. Filter papers with fungal structures (mycelia and spores) were then dried in a desiccator. The filter papers were then cut aseptically into pieces of 0.5–1.

These nodules proved JQ1 price useful in registering the images, but are otherwise not relevant to this study. Six phantoms were implanted under US guidance using a standard technique for TRUS-based implants. The number of needles implanted in each phantom varied from

10 to 18. In each phantom, the prostate was visualized on TRUS (Flex Focus; B&K Medical Systems, Peabody, MA) at a midgland position, and the needles were implanted using a standard implant template. The needles were first advanced to the midgland position under TRUS guidance in the transverse mode. After all needles had been advanced to this position, the longitudinal transducer was selected and the needles were advanced one at a time to the base of the prostate. The positions of the needle tips in the cranial–caudal direction were tracked in the live image during this process, and their final positions were determined during this step. This last step is always carried out from anterior to posterior so that the needles do not fall into the shadow of more posterior needles

check details as they are advanced. The needles used in this study (Varian Medical Systems) were plastic with a diameter of 2 mm. After the completion of the implant, 3D US images of the phantoms were acquired using the Vitesse (Varian) software program. This software makes two modes available for 3D reconstruction. In Twister (Varian Medical Systems) mode, the probe is rotated about its long axis as images are acquired using the longitudinal transducer. The rotational position of the probe is determined by an encoder incorporated into the TRUS probe holder (CIVCO EXII; Civco Medical Solutions, Kalona, IA). A 3D image

is then reconstructed from the multiple longitudinal images. A more conventional transverse mode is also available, in which the probe is translated in the cranial/caudal direction as images are acquired using the transverse transducer. In this case, the linear position of the probe is determined by a second encoder on the probe holder. Although image Etomidate sets were acquired using both of these modes, this work focuses on the results obtained using the conventional linear acquisition. The 3D images acquired suffer from a number of limitations inherent in US imaging, namely poor delineation of the needles, spatial inaccuracies, and shadowing. To deal with these limitations, special tools incorporated into the Vitesse (Varian) software program are used to reconstruct the needle paths. This is of special relevance because these tools define exactly how the individual needles are placed with respect to the images. The Vitesse (Varian) software is designed to facilitate tracking the bright flashes in the TRUS image. This tool works well even when tracking curved needles. When a needle has been tracked properly, the display will show a straight line in the needle path images, labeled “Path Image 1” and “Path Image 2” as shown in the two bottom right panes of Fig. 2.

The Ishikawa strain has a PTEN-null background [22], which Apitolisib facilitates the analysis on the effects of exogenous mutants. We performed the comet assay to test whether PTEN mutations could affect cell ability to repair DNA damage. As a result, the nonsense mutation conferred significantly higher extent of DNA damage when compared to the missense mutation (Figure 3, A and B), thereby confirmed the findings in patients with GBM. Furthermore, we validated the effects of PTEN mutations on p53 and Gata3 protein levels in Ishikawa cells using Western blot

analysis. As expected, the nonsense mutation of PTEN completely lost the wild-type ability to increase p53 and Gata3 levels, but the missense mutation still retained residue activity ( Figure 3C , full gel images in Figure W1). These results suggest stronger loss-of- function (LOF) effect displayed by nonsense mutations when com- pared to missense mutations. Gata3 has been shown to antagonize cancer progression in PTEN-deficient tumors, and this may also help to explain the stronger adverse effect of nonsense mutations on DFS. To provide experimental evidence for the different effects of PTEN

mutations in vivo, we established mouse xenograft models by im- planting stable Ishikawa lines that express either nonsense (R130*) or missense (R173H) PTEN mutations to nude mice (experimental pro- cedures illustrated in Figure 3D). As expected, xenograft tumor tissues bearing the nonsense PTEN mutation learn more Pictilisib concentration displayed lower levels of p53 and Gata3 proteins ( Figure 3E). Because γ-H2AX is a molecular marker for tumor genomic instability [23], we detected the level of H2A histone family, member X (γ-H2AX) in different xenograft tissues to validate the findings in patients with GBM. As shown in Figure 3E, tumors bearing the nonsense PTEN mutation expressed higher level of γ-H2AX, indicating greater genomic instability in these tumors. In addition,

the presence of nonsense PTEN mutation also resulted in larger xenograft tumor size ( Figure 3, F and G ) and shorter survival time ( Figure 3H). Taken together, these results suggest that PTEN nonsense mutations contribute to tumor aggressiveness by increasing genomic instability and confirmed the findings in patients with GBM. To test whether PTEN nonsense mutations affect pharmacological responses, we analyzed CCLE that includes the sensitivity profiles of 59 human brain tumor cell lines to 131 anticancer drugs [18]. The sensitivity to each drug (IC50) was compared between cell lines carrying PTEN nonsense mutations or other mutations using Mann-Whitney test.

The authors declare that they have no other competing interests. B.O. contributed

with the majority of the writing of this manuscript. Remaining authors N.O., J.S., G.F., M.L., and T.R. contributed with additional writing and editing of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. “
“Esophageal cancer (EC) is the eighth most common cancer worldwide and the sixth leading cause of death from cancer [1]. Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) comprises about 80% of all ECs worldwide [2]. In China, SCC is the most common pathologic type of ECs, in contrast to the predominance of adenocarcinoma in the Western countries [3] and [4]. There are important biologic differences between China and Western countries regarding ECs; therefore, a prognostic study that takes into account SCC in China is necessary. Recently, systemic inflammatory Selleckchem GDC0199 response plays an important role in the progression of cancer [5] and [6]. Previous studies have shown that serum C-reactive protein (CRP) influenced the prognosis in patients with gastrointestinal cancers [7]. Moreover, the Glasgow prognostic score (GPS) combines serum CRP and hypoalbuminemia and has been demonstrated to be a predictive factor in various cancers, including ECs [8], [9] and [10]. In addition, there is an increasing evidence that platelet count and neutrophil lymphocyte ratio (NLR) can be used

for prognostication in several cancers [11] and [12]. Recently, Ishizuka et al. [13] evaluated a PFT�� mw novel inflammation-based prognostic system, termed as the combination of platelet count and NLR (COP-NLR). They demonstrated that COP-NLR is a useful predictor of postoperative survival in patients with colorectal cancer [13]. However, to the best

of our knowledge, no studies regarding COP-NLR in patients with EC are available. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate and compare the Non-specific serine/threonine protein kinase prognostic values of COP-NLR and GPS in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). From January 2006 to December 2008, a retrospective analysis was conducted in 375 patients with ESCC who underwent curative esophagectomy at Zhejiang Cancer Hospital. All of the patients included in the analysis fit the following criteria: 1) ESCC confirmed by histopathology, 2) surgery with curative esophagectomy, 3) at least six lymph nodes were examined for pathologic diagnosis, and 4) surgery was neither preceded nor followed by adjuvant chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. On the basis of the medical records, the following data were collected for each patient: age, gender, laboratory examination, differentiation, tumor length and location, depth of invasion, nodal metastasis, and other miscellaneous characteristics. Ethical approval was obtained from the Ethical Committees of Zhejiang Cancer Hospital.

5), 1.0 mM EDTA, 0.2 mM (NADPH), and 0.5 mM glutathione disulfide. The enzyme extract (0.1 ml) was added to start the reaction, and was allowed to run for 5 min at 25 °C. (APX; EC 1.11.1.11) activity as estimated by Nakano and Asada [13] was measured via monitoring the decrease in absorbance at 290 nm within 1 min. The reaction mixture contained 50 mM

phosphate buffer (pH7.5), 0.5 mM click here ascorbate, 0.1 mM H2O2, 0.1 mM EDTA, and 0.1 ml enzyme extract. The activities of each enzyme were expressed in enzyme units per milligram protein per minute. The protein content in enzymatic extracts was determined following the Bradford assay [14] using bovine serum albumin as a standard. To confirm the regeneration Trichostatin A supplier of multiple shoot buds from the hypocotyl explants, histological examination of explants was performed after 15 days. Tissues were fixed in formalin:glacial acetic acid:ethanol 4:6:90 (v/v) solution. Fixed tissues were dehydrated through an ethanol/xylol series and embedded in paraffin wax (60 °C). Serial sections 10 μM thickness were cut using a Spencer 820 microtome (American Optical Corp., Buffalo, NY, USA) and the resulting paraffin ribbons were passed through a series of deparaffinising solutions and stained in safranin and fast green solutions. The sections were examined under an optical microscope (CH20i, Olympus, Tokyo, Japan).

All the experiments were conducted with a minimum of 10 replicates per treatment and repeated three times. The data was analyzed statistically using SPSS version 10 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, USA). The significances of differences among means was carried out using Duncan’s multiple range test at P = 0.05. The results are expressed as a means ± SE of three repeated experiments. Cardiospermum hypocotyls explant keeps a hold of an adequate amount of cellular plasticity to achieve plantlet regeneration as observed from experimentation. Adventitious shoot formation was observed for all TDZ and BA concentrations tested. A positive

correlation was noted between TDZ concentration and percent shoot formation with the optimum regeneration medium supplemented with PGR. TDZ proved to be the best plant growth regulator for inducing maximum rates of shoot multiplication than BA. TDZ at a very low concentration of 0.7 μM found extremely Dipeptidyl peptidase competent in activating the maximum rate of shoot bud differentiation from hypocotyl explants upto many folds forming 18.20 ± 0.98 numbers of shoots with 2.56 ± 0.23 cm shoot length in 94% cultures after 4 weeks ( Table 1; Fig. 1A and B). The histological sections revealed direct differentiations of multiple shoot buds form the hypocotyl explants ( Fig 1E). Lower levels of this potent cytokinin have been recommended by Huetteman and Preece [15] for obtaining maximum shoot proliferation results which also corroborates with my results. A similar domino effect was achieved on the shoot forming capacity of Crotalaria verrucosa [16].

None. This work was supported by Group Research and Development of British American Tobacco (Investments) Ltd. as part of its research programme focusing on reducing the health impact of tobacco use. C. Garcia-Canton,

E. Minet and C. Meredith are employees of British American Tobacco. A. Anadón is employee of the University Complutense of Madrid and has not received any funding for this research. The authors thank Mr. A. Baxter, Mr. N. Newland for their technical support during the enzyme activity assays, Dr. K. Luettich Talazoparib ic50 for her assistance with the gene expression data analysis and Dr. D Breheny for proof reading this manuscript. “
“Tobacco smoke contains more than 5000 chemical constituents (Rodgman and Perfetti, 2009), some of which are genotoxic and can cause chemical modifications to DNA which may lead to genetic mutations that predispose individuals to smoking-related cancers (Hecht, 1999 and Hecht, 2008). The comet assay is able this website to detect a wide range of DNA damage and can therefore be used to determine potentially important mechanistic steps in DNA damage formation and repair (Faux et al., 2009, Burlakova et al., 2010, Deng et al., 2009,

Gackowski et al., 2003, Gao et al., 2003, Paz-Elizur et al., 2003, Taioli, 2008 and Moktar et al., 2009). A recent publication reported that the majority of in vitro assays used to assess the genotoxic potential of cigarette smoke do not use whole smoke (WS) ( Johnson et al., 2009) or even aerosol exposure. Instead, the particulate phase and the gas phase of WS are collected and tested separately or cigarette smoke condensate is used, which does not take into account the dynamic nature of fresh WS aerosol ( Fukano et al., 2006 and Scian et al., 2009). In addition, the particulate phase alone and the gas phase alone may not contain all of the constituents that contribute to the toxic effects of cigarette smoke ( Johnson et al., 2009 and Borgerding buy RG7420 and Klus, 2005), as some compounds may be formed by chemical reactions between individual smoke components ( Liu et al., 2010 and Rickert et al., 2007).

This limits the interpretation of previous genotoxicity evaluations of smoke and does not necessarily reflect the true genotoxic potential of WS. Most of the assays evaluated by Johnson et al. (2009) utilize rodent cells from non-respiratory tract organs submerged in medium prior to smoke exposure (Carnevali et al., 2003 and Muller and Gebel, 1998). This does not reflect the direct exposure of respiratory tract cells to smoke as in the in vivo situation and may add further complexity and uncertainty when extrapolating to the human situation. A recent model, the air–liquid interface (ALI) culture, enables the evaluation of toxicity in a setting that better represents the human smoking situation (Aufderheide et al., 2002, Fukano et al., 2004, Fukano et al., 2006, Komori et al., 2008, Okuwa et al., 2010 and Wolz et al., 2002).

The need for standards in scientific communication has grown even more pressing as values of physical properties, i.e. data, are now being incorporated in large-scale Selleckchem AZD6244 efforts such as the Brenda ( Schomburg et al., 2000) and Sabio-RK ( Wittig et al., 2012) databases. Additionally, the entries in these databases are often used for calculations of other properties and for further applications which impact progress in science,

health, and the economy. Thus, standards are needed in essentially all areas of science. The most useful and definitive source of information on nomenclature for quantities, symbols, and units pertinent to physical chemistry is Quantities, Units and Symbols in Physical Chemistry ( Cohen et al., 2007). This publication, which was prepared under the auspices of the Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC),

traces its origin to the Manual of Symbols and Terminology for Physicochemical Quantities and Units, which was prepared in 1970. There have been several editions published between the 1970 Manual ( McGlashan, 1970) and the most recent edition of Quantities, Units and Symbols in Physical Chemistry ( Cohen et al., 2007). Since all of these editions have been published with a green cover, the publication is often referred to as the Green Book. The current edition of the Green Book ( Cohen et al., 2007) is broad Src inhibitor in scope and covers a wide variety

of topics such as mechanics (classical and quantum), electricity and magnetism, spectroscopy, electromagnetic radiation, general chemistry, thermodynamics, kinetics, and transport properties. Of fundamental clonidine importance to science and to the system of units are the concept of measurement and the use of quantity calculus. The system of SI units is based on seven base quantities: length, mass, time, electric current, thermodynamic temperature, amount of substance, and luminous intensity. All other physical quantities are derived from these base quantities. Physical quantities are represented as the product of a number and a unit and they follow the rules of mathematics. Thus, if the concentration of a solute is c=0.0010 mol dm−3, one can write c/(mol dm−3)=0.0010 or 103c/(mol dm−3)=1.0. In the last two representations, the right side of the equation is a number. This emphasizes the fact that the result of an experiment is a ratio of the measured quantity to the value of some standard quantity, which, in this case is 1.0 mol dm−3. In some usage, one sees c (mol dm−3)=0.001. However, it is formally incorrect. While there is little chance of confusion in this case, confusion arises often in regards to powers of 10 in table headings. For example, using the previously used value of c, if one were to write 10−3c=1.0, one formally has c=1000 mol dm−3.

LiRecDT1-GFP binding was evaluated as described above, except that B16-F10 cells (0.5 × 103 cells) were incubated

with 10 μg/mL of the recombinant fluorescent toxin (5 h, 37 °C). Non-specific binding of GFP alone to the cells was evaluated as a negative control. For binding competition assays, the fluorescence protocol was the same as described above, except that B16-F10 cells were previously incubated with an excess of LiRecDT1 (100 μg/mL) for 1 h at 37 °C Compound C and then with 10 μg/mL LiRecDT1-GFP. The samples were observed using a Zeiss Axio Observer.Z1 inverted microscope (Carl Zeiss, Germany). Single images were obtained using a 63× oil lens for differential interface contrast (DIC) microscopy and a monochromatic camera (AxioCam HRm, Carl Zeiss) to examine fluorescence intensity. Finally, AxioVision LE software was used for image processing and morphometric measurements in the Zeiss image format PLX4032 nmr (ZVI). B16-F10 cells (1 × 108 cells/mL) were prepared in Ringer’s Solution (122.5 mM NaCl, 5.4 mM KCl, 0.8 mM MgCl2, 10 mM HEPES, 11 mM glucose, 1 mM NaH2PO4, pH 7.4) containing 5 mM CaCl2 and treated according to Kaestner et al. (2006) and Haase et al. (2009). B16-F10 cells were loaded with Fluo-4 AM (10 μM) in buffer with Pluronic F-127 (0.01%) for 30 min at 37 °C. This indicator exhibits high-affinity binding to Ca2+ (Kd = 345 nM)

and shows a large increase in fluorescence intensity in response to Ca2+ binding (>100 fold). Subsequently, the cells were washed OSBPL9 twice with Ringer’s Solution and equilibrated for de-esterification for 30 min at room temperature. Then, the cells were incubated with 25 μg/mL recombinant phospholipase-D (LiRecDT1) for 5, 15, 30, 45, 60 or 90 min.

Cells incubated under the same laboratory conditions but in the absence of phospholipase-D for 90 min were used as a control. Following this reaction, the cells were transferred to Black 96-well plates at a density of 1 × 106 cells/well in a total volume of 200 μL, and the resulting fluorescence was recorded on a Tecan Infinite M200 spectrofluorometer (Tecan) using an excitation wavelength of 485 nm and measuring emission at 535 nm. Additionally, Fluo-4 dye-loaded B16-F10 cells were allowed to settle onto coverslips, and images of calcium-dependent fluorescence were obtained using an Axio Observer.Z1 inverted microscope Zeiss (Carl Zeiss, Germany). Fluo-4 AM was excited at 488 nm, with emission detected using an LP 505 nm filter (green channel). Single images were obtained using a 63× oil lens for differential interface contrast (DIC) microscopy and a monochromatic camera (AxioCam HRm, Zeiss, Carl Zeiss, Germany) to measure the fluorescence intensity. Finally, AxioVision LE software was used for image processing and to perform morphometric measurements in the Zeiss image format (ZVI).

With no gear restrictions or catch limits, sharks have been systematically harvested since the 1980s from Raja Ampat, Kaimana and other parts of the BHS mainly for their high-valued fins, often without licenses and mostly by outsiders from Buton, Seram, Suluwesi and Halmahera (Varkey et al., 2010). The price of shark fins has increased more than ten-fold between 2002 and 2012 from USD$5–8/kg to USD $82–118/kg (McKenna et al., 2002; J. Fudge, Ixazomib personal communication), providing a strong incentive for overharvesting. Underwater visual

census (UVC) data from the last 2 to 3 years in 6 MPAs in Raja Ampat showed there are very few reef sharks present in the regency. For example, only 6 sharks in Kofiau and Boo Islands MPA were recorded during 26 days of UVC surveys in 2011 (TNC, unpublished data). While these numbers are very low compared to other tropical reefs, there are signs of recovery with an increased number of black-tip sharks (Carcharhinus melanopterus) sighted by communities patrolling no-take zones in Kawe and Southeast Misool MPAs and recorded in UVC surveys (CI and TNC, unpublished data). The Raja Ampat government is preparing a local law that will ban shark harvesting in its regency waters, which if passed, will be the http://www.selleckchem.com/products/PLX-4720.html first large-scale shark ban for Indonesia. Despite the widespread

depletion of reef sharks, the BHS still maintains healthy populations of several shark species that are not targeted for their fins, including tasseled wobbegongs (Eucrossorhinus dasypogon) and the three species of epaulette or “walking” sharks (Hemiscyllium freycineti, Hemiscyllium galei, and Hemiscyllium henryi) considered endemic to the BHS ( Allen and Erdmann, 2008). There are also consistent sightings of whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) in Cendrawasih Bay and Kaimana, often associated with lift net (‘bagan’) fisheries that target anchovy aggregations. While whale sharks are RANTES sighted year round in Cendrawasih Bay, it is not known if these represent a resident or migratory population. In 2011, up to 26 whale sharks (ca. 8–10 m in length)

at a time were sighted in Nabire regency in Cendrawasih (C. Hitipeuw, personal observations), and 16 individuals were observed in the Iris Strait in Kaimana (D. Pada, personal observations). The observed annual increase in the number of lift net fishers operating in the BHS may impact upon these whale shark populations through over-harvesting of their anchovy prey. Although there are few published studies of cetaceans in the BHS, short term surveys and long term incidental observations indicate that this region is a cetacean ‘hotspot’ and supports diverse and healthy populations for numerous species on the IUCN Red List. Of the 31 cetacean species recorded in Indonesian waters (Tomascik et al., 1997 and Rudolf et al.