6 and 7) As showed in Table 2, the immunizer and potential donor

6 and 7). As showed in Table 2, the immunizer and potential donors share the same beta subunit in the HLA DQ molecule (DQB1*03:01), however combined to different alpha subunits. Such beta subunit presents an

only potentially immunogenic eplet: 45EV. Nevertheless, as the MFI value of the HLA heterodimer DQA1*02:01–DQB1*03:01 of the potential donors is 921, the immunological risk is low for class II HLA. Contrariwise, we were able to detect a strong reactivity against A*68:02, representing a high immunological risk for antibody-mediated rejection. As there is no agreement upon current CDC assay with the flow cytometry crossmatch and SPA results, we believe that the recipient has a mixture of antibodies with a prevalence of non-fixing complement isotypes, Trichostatin A or the titles of the fixing complement antibodies present in the current serum were not enough to activate the classic pathway of the complement system. Thus, the potential donors’ allele A*68:02 is considered one of the unacceptable mismatches for this recipient. As the calculated PRA was 91%, this case exemplifies the importance of using the Acceptable Mismatch approach. The implementation of the EpHLA program this website will allow a simple and automated analysis

of antibody data using the HLAMatchmaker algorithm and prevent the many laborious manual steps used in the current analyses. Based on the HLA types of the recipient/donor pair and the SPA result, it is possible to generate reports automatically which will support the transplantation team to define the risk of developing antibody-mediated rejection. The automated analysis is important to increase the efficiency in generating results with at least the same degree of accuracy [19]. Automation will certainly decrease the incidence of administrative errors and facilitate the information management within the organization [20]. In conclusion, the EpHLA program integrates SPA results and the HLAMatchmaker algorithm in

selleck inhibitor an automated histocompatibility analysis. The program will certainly benefit the donor selection and risk assessment for HLA sensitized recipients. The work was supported by the Immunogenetics and Molecular Biology Laboratory from UFPI. Thanks to CNPq for the scholarship granted to Herton Luiz Alves Sales Filho. The authors also acknowledge João Batista de Oliveira Silva Jr. for his corrections of the English version in preparation of the manuscript. “
“Since the introduction of potent immunosuppressants such as calcineurin inhibitors and improved immunological matching, the risk of acute transplant rejection has been reduced considerably. However, despite a wide range of immunosuppressive agents, severe episodes of rejection still occur and chronic allograft rejection still poses a significant problem [1] and [2].

These latter successes by the British Government are not, however

These latter successes by the British Government are not, however, matched at home and throughout the claimed 710,000 km2 of seabed and along the 20,000 km-long coastline of the United Kingdom, there are but three, tiny, statutory marine nature reserves, all designated under the Wildlife

and Countryside Act of 1981. These are the little islands of Lundy and Skomer in England and Wales respectively, and Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland. Of these, however, only Lundy is highly protected through a byelaw introduced by the local Sea Fisheries Committee. Moreover, as I reported upon Lumacaftor datasheet recently, the present UK Government has abandoned plans proposed by its predecessor to create a ‘Right to Roam’ Bill along the reasonably accessible elements of the entire coastline of England and Wales, as is already

the case in Scotland (Morton, 2011). Notwithstanding, as reported in The Guardian newspaper on 8 September 2011, the UK Government has recently, proposed a list of 127 sea areas that could be designated as Marine Conservation Zones. The zones range from a ‘giant’ 5800 km2 patch of water – the South West Deeps – on the edge of British territorial waters in the western English Channel to a minute speck of rock off the coast of Dorset. The total area that is expected to be identified as marine conservation zones is 37,000 km2 or, using the Vorinostat in vitro national time-honoured benchmark, ‘twice the size of Wales’. Of these 127

areas, however, only 20 are due to be designated as highly protected ‘reference’ sites – the others are expected to allow some access in some areas, for example, by the oil, gas, wind and dredging industries. The voices of concern are being raised already. As The Sunday Times article reported, the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations claimed that ‘the current plans will displace hundreds of fleets and lead to overfishing in some areas and overcrowding of stock GNA12 of others’. Maybe I am missing something here, but has not overfishing by industrial-scale factory ships already resulted in the decline of traditional fleets and one of the objects of the plans is to protect stocks so that they ‘leak out’ sustainably and locally? Among the sites chosen for designation is the tiny site of Pagham, in West Sussex, the county where I now live. This site was chosen for the scheme in order to protect a colony of the (exceptionally) rare Defolin’s lagoon snail (Caecum armoricum), which, at but 2 mm long, is protected under Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act. In the United Kingdom, colonies of the snail have only been found in Fleet (Hampshire), the Lydd Ranges (Kent) and in Pagham Harbour. Outside England, there is one site for the species on the coast of North Africa in the South Gibraltar Strait. It lives between small pebbles high on the beach where seawater seeps through the shingle to form lagoons.

Such associations between the color of the grains and levels of p

Such associations between the color of the grains and levels of phenolic compounds may suffer variations as already noted by other authors (Barampama & Simard, 1993). When comparing the preparation methods within the same genotype (Table 1) it was found that the raw grains (R) had the highest content of total phenolics. This result can be explained by the high solubility of these compounds in water, as in soaking water as in broth after the cooking process. Which agrees with Jiratanan and Liu (2004) who analyzed peas, the cooking provided a significant decrease in the phenolic content in

this grain (p < 0.05). Another study ( Ranilla et al., 2009) also corroborates with

these results concluding that different cooking methods do not differ among themselves (p < 0.05) CX-4945 ic50 as to the loss of phenolic compounds, independently of the used genotype. The high values Enzalutamide clinical trial of the phenolic compounds obtained between genotypes in different preparation methods (2.0–5.0) may be explained by the form of preparation of the samples, because in this case the seed coat was not separated from its cotyledon, in which the whole seed was used ( Ranilla et al., 2009). Tannins were detected only on raw grain samples (R) due to its high solubility in water (Stanley, 1992) after the soaking or cooking process. Even though there were no significant differences between genotypes, there was a tendency of higher values in genotypes with black color of the seed (Uirapuru and BAF 55) (Table 1). This facilitated loss of phenolic compounds may be associated with higher antioxidant capacity of dark samples cooked with and without soaking water. The genotypes did not differ regarding to the phytate content (Table 1), specially within each bean preparation methods. But when the genotype was compared with the four distinct

Nintedanib (BIBF 1120) preparation forms the IAPAR-81 and Uirapuru showed losses of up to 34.1% and 39.5% of phytate, respectively, in cooked beans without soaking water (COSW) compared to raw beans (R). The results agree with Nergiz and Gökgöz (2007), who found phytate reductions up to 58.4% when bean samples were soaked and cooked. Another research noted a 28% decrease in phytate of the black soaking beans (Kataria, Chauhan, & Gandhi, 1988), Barampama and Simard (1994) also detected a decrease of 47.2% of phytate in soaked and cooked beans compared to raw beans. The decrease of the phytate content occurs because during the soaking there are changes in the membrane permeability of the grains increasing the water absorption, therefore the intrinsic phosphatase is activated causing hydrolysis and the increase of phytate release to the environment (Khokhar & Chauhan, 1986).

The AAP recommends that pediatricians in general should avoid dis

The AAP recommends that pediatricians in general should avoid discharging patients from their practices solely because parents refuse to vaccinate [28]. Despite that, more and more pediatricians decide to discharge such patients [29]. A study from Connecticut shows that more than 30% of pediatricians responding to a survey have dismissed families because of their refusal to immunize. Suburban physicians

caring for wealthier, better educated families experience more vaccine concerns and/or refusals and are more likely to dismiss families for vaccine refusal [27]. The doctors and other health providers

Trametinib order remain the most important source of reliable information about vaccines. This is why communication with concerned parents to deliver the information is so important [30]. Poland and Jacobson [31] believe that vaccine proponents learn more must (1) continue to fund and publish high-quality studies to investigate concerns about vaccine safety, (2) maintain, if not improve, monitoring programs, such as VAERS, making compensation available to anyone, who is legitimately injured by a vaccine, (3) teach health care professionals, parents and patients how to counter antivaccinationists’ false and injurious claims, (4) enhance public education and public persuasion. It has to be emphasized, however, that due to lack of trust among many “hard-core

anti-vaccination activists” providing more “education” will not be effective. They are simply not persuadable. Postmodern society questions the legitimacy of science and Coproporphyrinogen III oxidase authority so the vaccine controversy is unlikely to be solved in the near future. Vaccinations are one of the most important successes in public health in the USA in the twentieth century. Vaccination coverage is high and the incidence rates of vaccine preventable disease (VPDs) in the U.S. have declined to an all time low. Despite that, VPD are back in the USA and children are dying from them. Vaccines have become a victim of their own success. The fear about vaccines fueled by an anti-vaccination movement, using Internet and other media, causes more and more parents to refuse to immunize their children. Between 30–40% of pediatricians and family physicians are now discharging patients whose parents don’t want to vaccinate them.

Targets of HIV/AIDS vaccine candidates

Targets of HIV/AIDS vaccine candidates this website Current vaccine candidates are aimed at inducing multiple types of immune effectors with a single vaccine. These effectors include CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell lymphocytes of increased potency and breadth, and broad neutralising and perhaps non-neutralising antibody, to handle the many circulating HIV strains. The 2009 ‘Thai vaccine trial’ suggested a need to examine the role of non-neutralising antibody and the possibility

of preventing HIV acquisition, not just progressive immunodeficiency. A better understanding of the multiple subsets of CD4+ lymphocytes in HIV infection and the role of DCs as initial targets for infection are at the forefront

of these new efforts. New hybrid viral vectors, synthetic antigens (developed with the aid of three-dimensional modelling), novel adjuvants that manipulate the immune system to induce desirable responses and more useful animal models are also being developed and tested. Development of vaccines that induce broad neutralising antibodies to highly variable viruses, such as HIV and influenza, has proved to be extremely difficult. However, screening HIV-infected individuals for such antibodies has allowed the identification of previously undiscovered viral epitopes which can be incorporated into structure-based vaccine design. Infections of group A streptococcal serotypes (ie Streptococcus pyogenes)

account for approximately 85% of cases of uncomplicated bacterial pharyngitis MAPK Inhibitor Library solubility dmso and streptococcal invasive infections in North America. The M protein of group A streptococci is a major virulence determinant of these organisms and also functions as a major target for protective antibodies. One of several strategies for vaccine prevention of these infections is based on type-specific M protein epitopes. However, group A streptococcal vaccine development faces many obstacles: i) the widespread diversity of circulating M protein types; ii) immunological cross-reactivity between epitopes in the M protein and several human tissues introducing an autoimmune risk; and iii) animal models are of limited 3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase value because humans are the only hosts for group A streptococci. In an attempt to partially overcome some of these obstacles, a design strategy akin to that of the pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccines has been employed to generate a group A streptococci multivalent M protein-based vaccine containing type-specific determinants from 26 different M serotypes. This multivalent vaccine is currently in clinical development. The term ‘prime boost’ (or heterologous boosting) describes an approach to vaccination where one type of vaccine, such as a live-vector vaccine, is administered followed by a second type of vaccine, such as a recombinant subunit vaccine.

2000) Both the present study and that of Yunker et al (1996) id

2000). Both the present study and that of Yunker et al. (1996) identified BKF as a dominant PAH in Barents Sea sediment deposits (Table 3). This compound is not produced commercially on an industrial scale (Lide (ed.) 1991) but enters the environment as a by-product of the incomplete combustion of organic material. PHE, the predominant PAH at the northern stations (III and VIII), is also a combustion by-product. Hence, the PAH composition at all stations exhibits an anthropogenic signature consistent with known industrial activities in the region. In contrast, see more Boitsov et al. (2009b) reported a predominance of alkylated PAHs in sediments collected from the western Barents Sea: an indication of petrogenic PAHs.

However, we are unable to compare their results with ours because in the present investigation we did not measure alkylated compounds. To assess the origin of PAH contamination of sediments, we use individual component ratios as a diagnostic tool (Budzinski et al. 1997, Qiao et al. 2006). Since we BTK inhibitor were not able to measure lighter alkylated PAHs, only FLT/PYR, PHE/ANT and CHR/BAA indices are presented. Compound ratios of FLT/PYR > 1, PHE/ANT < 10 and CHR/BAA < 1 are characteristic of pyrolytic sources of PAH, while FLT/PYR < 1, PHE/ANT

> 15 and CHR/BAA > 1 indicate PAHs of petrogenic origin (Dahle et al. 2003). At the four stations investigated, FLT/PYR > 1 and PHE/ANT < 10 (Figure 3) are consistent with the conclusion that PAHs are of pyrogenic origin, e.g. coal combustion. At station VIII, the PHE/ANT

ratio (9–15) was relatively high compared to the other stations (3–10). This feature is explained as resulting from mixed pyrogenic and petrogenic origins, a finding that is consistent with the sediment mixing reported earlier. Boitsov et al. (2009b) report PHE/ANT ratios (from 9.4 to 113) for 69 stations in the western Barents Sea. As previously mentioned, these authors detected petrogenic PAHs with only minimal influence from anthropogenic sources. The difference between our conclusion and that of Boitsov et al. (2009b) regarding the origin of PAHs is most likely due to local differences in mixing regimes. The sediments collected buy Paclitaxel for this study were mostly mixed in the surface intervals; hence, modern sediments were contaminated by the signatures laid down in previous decades. There is a general pattern of increasing PHE/ANT ratios with sediment depth/deposition time (Figure 3). This pattern reflects the down-core transition from anthropogenic to natural hydrocarbon sources over time from the present day to the pre-industrial period. Polychlorinated biphenyls were detected in sediments down to 4 cm depth. Concentrations of ∑7 PCB within this depth interval ranged from 0.7 ± 0.3 ng g−1 to 3.5 ± 1.4 ng g−1 (Table 2), with the highest concentration detected at station III and the lowest one at station I. 7 PCB inventories in the uppermost sections of the cores (0–4 cm) were lower (1.0 ± 0.4 ng cm−2–1.2 ± 0.

In studies involving Mstn−/− and Bmp3−/− mice, age-matched wild t

In studies involving Mstn−/− and Bmp3−/− mice, age-matched wild type (WT) littermates were used as controls. Daily subcutaneous injections of 100 μg/kg parathyroid hormone (PTH) (Calbiochem, EMD Chemicals Inc., Gibbston NY, USA), a known bone anabolic agent, were administered to WT mice for 4 weeks to compare the effects with the two myostatin inhibitors. Body weight was monitored weekly and the dosages/kg were adjusted for changes in body weight. In all of the above studies, fluorochrome bone labels were administered to all animals 10 and 2 days before

the end of the study to quantify bone formation. After 4 weeks of treatment, mice were euthanized by CO2 asphyxiation and blood was collected by cardiac puncture. Serum samples were initially stored for 30 min at 4 °C, then centrifuged for 10 min at 10 K rpm and stored at − 20 °C. Gastrocnemius AZD9291 cost and quadricep muscles were isolated from both limbs and the weights recorded. The L4 and L5 lumbar vertebrae and both left and right femora were also harvested. The residual muscle, ligament and tendon tissues were removed. The L5 vertebrae and left femora were stored in 70% ethanol and were used for histological evaluation. The L4 vertebrae and right femora were wrapped

in PBS soaked-gauze, frozen at − 20 °C and were used for biomechanical testing. L5 vertebrae and distal femora were imaged using a Scanco MCT40 (Scanco Medical AG, Brassersdorg, pentoxifylline Switzerland) at a

12 μm isotropic voxel size. Transverse slices were acquired for the entire length of the L5 vertebral body. Vertebral selleck screening library trabecular bone was assessed in the region immediately distal to the cranial growth plate and immediately proximal to the caudal growth plate resulting in an evaluated region of ~ 2000 μm. Transverse slices were obtained starting at the midpoint of the distal growth plate and extending proximally for 3000 μm. For the distal femora, trabecular bone was assessed over a 1500 μm region immediately proximal to the distal growth plate. Trabecular bone for both the L5 vertebrae and distal femur was defined by automated contouring to the endosteal surface using an inner value of 8 and outer value of 388. Automated contours were defined every 120 mm and remaining contours were created using an adaptive–iterative algorithm [41]. Bone volume fraction (BV/TV), trabecular thickness (Tb.Th) and trabecular number (Tb.N) were calculated based on automated analyses. For cortical thickness analyses, a 120 μm region of the distal femur was evaluated 2500 μm proximal to the growth plate. The L5 vertebral bodies and left femur were cut transversely along the midline with a band saw equipped with a diamond blade. The specimens were fixed in 70% ethanol, dehydrated in graded concentrations of ethanol, defatted in acetone, and embedded without decalcification in methyl methacrylate. 8.0 μm and 10.

The data here comply with this knowledge somewhat, suggesting tha

The data here comply with this knowledge somewhat, suggesting that nifurtimox appears to be a substrate of functional OATP systems, but OATs and MRP1 appear not

to be involved. This was demonstrated by use of the broad spectrum MRP, OAT and OATP inhibitor, probenecid; the MRP1 inhibitor, indomethacin, the OATP competitive inhibitor; TCA and the OAT competitive inhibitor, PAH. OATPs are bidirectional drug transporters ( Nozawa et al., 2005) and the increases in accumulation with the addition of TCA could provide some evidence for their role in nifurtimox transport. However, although indomethacin is commonly used as a MRP1 inhibitor, it has also been shown to be a substrate of OATPs and OATs, albeit at different concentration ranges than used here ( Parepally et al., 2006). Notably the changes in [3H]nifurtimox Transferase inhibitor accumulation were much smaller than those seen with the BCRP specific drugs and accumulation following ATP depletion, suggesting only minor roles for OATPs in comparison to the role played by BCRP. It is also important to point out that

some groups have found that probenecid is a BCRP substrate in vitro, and this is also a possible explanation for the increase in [3H]nifurtimox accumulation using this drug ( Merino et al., 2006). However, other groups have found no such evidence of BCRP/probenecid interaction ( Pan et al., 2007). It has also been see more reported that neither TCA ( Suzuki et al., 2003) nor indomethacin ( Elahian et al., 2010) interacts with BCRP. The concentrations of drugs used in this study were carefully chosen to follow those used in previous in vivo studies by our group, to be in line with the clinically relevant doses used in the field (with the anti-HAT Verteporfin concentration drugs) and to be in line with those reported in publications such as Matsson et al. 2009. These data and findings by other groups highlight that drugs

affecting transport activity must be used at specific concentrations to affect the targeted transport proteins. With combination therapy becoming the most promising method of clinical S2 HAT treatment, we also investigated whether other unlabelled anti-HAT drugs could modulate the accumulation of [3H]nifurtimox in human brain endothelium. In line with previous work by our group, an increase in [3H]nifurtimox accumulation was seen with the addition of 10 μM pentamidine. Pentamidine, a S1 acting drug, has been previously shown by our group to be a substrate for P-gp and is also transported by other transport proteins including MRP. This present study with P-gp inhibitors suggests that perhaps nifurtimox also interacts with other membrane transporters. BCRP and members of the OATPs could be candidates as indicated by their interactions with PhA, ko143, probenecid and PAH.

Die deutlichsten Hinweise auf ein hohes Krebsrisiko ergaben sich

Die deutlichsten Hinweise auf ein hohes Krebsrisiko ergaben sich jedoch für sulfidisches Nickel im Staub von Nickelraffinerien [42]. Im Gegensatz dazu gab es laut ICNCM-Bericht bei Arbeitern im Nickelbergbau keine statistischen Belege für einen Zusammenhang zwischen Lungenkrebs und Nickel. Eine Erklärung dafür ist,

dass das vorherrschende Mineral in sulfidischen Nickelerzen Pentlandit [(Ni,Fe]9S8] ist, das sich stark von den sulfidischen Nickelspezies unterscheidet, die bei der Raffination eine Rolle spielen (NiS, NiS2 und Ni2S3). Bei Tierversuchen hat sich Pentlandit nicht als karzinogen gezeigt [45]. Die Tatsache, dass inhalierte, weniger lösliche sulfidische und oxidische Spezies stärker karzinogen wirken als lösliche Nickelspezies, lässt sich durch zelluläre Aufnahme und molekulare selleck chemicals llc Mechanismen erklären. Lösliche Nickelpartikel lösen sich im Schleim und die Nickelionen werden durch ciliären Transport rasch entfernt. Im Gegensatz dazu gelangen weniger lösliche Nickelpartikel durch Phagozytose [46] in die Epithelzellen der Lunge, wo sie sich langsam auflösen und eine kontinuierliche Quelle für Nickelionen darstellen [47]. Die molekularen Ursachen der nickelbedingten Karzinogenese Natural Product Library sind noch nicht vollständig aufgeklärt, es wird jedoch angenommen, dass eine Reihe von Mechanismen für die Krebsentstehung

verantwortlich ist. Die tatsächliche karzinogene Spezies ist vermutlich ionisches Nickel (Ni2+), da dieses an zelluläre Komponenten wie z. B. nukleäre Proteine und DNA binden kann [48]. Zwar ist die Bindung von Nickelionen an die DNA schwach, jedoch binden sie an nukleäre Proteine (Chromatinproteine) wie Histone und Protamine mit

hoher Affinität [49], [50] and [51]. Nickelkomplexe mit Oxymatrine Heterochromatin führen zu vielfältigen Veränderungen wie Kondensation, DNA-Hypermethylierung und Gen-Silencing, die die Genexpression stören [49], [50] and [51]. Darüber hinaus gibt es Hinweise darauf, dass Nickelionen Enzyme inhibieren, die für die DNA-Reparatur erforderlich sind und so die genotoxischen Effekte von UV- und Röntgenstrahlen verstärken [52]. Bei längerem, weniger dagegen bei kürzerem Hautkontakt, können metallisches Nickel und Nickelsalze durch Schweiß gelöst werden. Dies kann zur Bildung von Nickelionen und anschließend zu deren Resorption über die Haut führen. Dieser Prozess wird im Wesentlichen durch die Diffusionsrate des Nickels durch die Hornschicht der Epidermis bestimmt, die durch viele Faktoren wie z. B. Schweiß, Lösungsmittel und Detergenzien gesteigert werden kann [53], [54] and [55]. Außerdem können Nickelionen die Haut bei Schweißdrüsen und Haarfollikeln leichter durchdringen, doch deren Fläche ist klein. In frühen Experimenten mit radioaktivem Nickelsulfat wurde innerhalb von 24 h eine 55-77%ige Resorption des Nickels durch die Haut beobachtet. Die Resorption erfolgte bei normalen und nickelsensibilisierten Personen ähnlich [56].

These best formulas and the procedure are still characterized by

These best formulas and the procedure are still characterized by small but significant systematic errors (MNB) of the order of 10%, and, most importantly, by relatively high statistical errors (NRMSE) of the order of at least 50%. As a result, their applicability is limited to only rough estimates of particulate characteristics and they should be treated with caution. Our empirical material documented a high variation of the absolute values of both measures of particle concentration (e.g.

30-fold to 50-fold ranges in SPM, POM, and POC, and a 190-fold range in Chl a) and inherent optical properties (IOPs) (e.g. an almost 50-fold range in the absorption coefficient of Erastin order particles

at 440 nm, a more than 40-fold range in the scattering coefficient at 555 nm and an almost 70-fold range in the backscattering coefficient at 420 nm). Although most of the particle populations encountered were composed primarily of organic matter (av. POM/SPM = 0.795), the different particle concentration ratios suggest that the particle composition varied significantly (the respective coefficients of variation (CVs) of POM/SPM, POC/SPM and Chl a/SPM, were 22%, 41% and 81%). The variability in the relationships between IOPs and the different measures of suspended particle concentration were also documented. We focused primarily on examining the variability of different constituent-specific IOPs (see Tables 2 and 4), and also on the determination of simple statistical best-fit Selleck MK2206 relations

between any given IOP value versus any constituent concentration parameter (see Tables 3 and 5). As a result we found that for southern Baltic samples an easy yet precise quantification of particle IOPs in terms of concentration of only one of the following – SPM, POM, POC or Chl a – is not achievable. Even if we consider the optical coefficients (at certain spectral bands), which show the highest possible correlation with the concentration of any constituent, we still find a large variability in see more such empirical relationships. For example, the mass-specific (SPM-specific) absorption coefficient at 440 nm ap*(440) varies significantly (CV = 71%). In the case of the chlorophyll-specific absorption coefficient of phytoplankton at 675 nm ap*(Chl a) (675), CV = 29%. In another example, the mass-specific scattering coefficient at 650 nm bp*(650) and the mass-specific backscattering coefficient at 420 nm bbp*(420) have respective CVs of 46% and 62%. These examples confirm that for the southern Baltic Sea one cannot find a set of ‘precise values’ of constituent-specific IOPs that could be used as simple and accurate conversion factors between biogeochemical and optical parameters for marine modelling and study purposes.