The past decade has seen increased international recognition of the importance of the services provided by natural ecosystems. It is unclear however whether such international awareness will lead to improved environmental management in many regions. We explore this issue by examining the specific case of fish migration and dams on the Mekong river. We determine that dams on the Mekong mainstem and major tributaries will have a major impact on the basin's fisheries and the people who depend upon them for food and income. We find no evidence that current moves towards dam construction will stop, and consider two scenarios for the future of the fisheries and other ecosystems of the basin. We conclude that major investment is required in innovative technology to reduce the loss of ecosystem services, and alternative livelihood strategies to cope with the losses that do occur.

Many traumatic brain injury (TBI) survivors sustain neurological disability and cognitive impairments due to the lack of defined therapies to reduce TBI-induced blood-brain barrier (BBB) breakdown. Exogenous basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) has been shown to have neuroprotective function in brain injury. The present study therefore investigates the beneficial effects of bFGF on the BBB after TBI and the underlying mechanisms. In this study, we demonstrate that bFGF reduces neurofunctional deficits and preserves BBB integrity in a mouse model of TBI. bFGF suppresses RhoA and upregulates tight junction proteins, thereby mitigating BBB breakdown. In vitro, bFGF exerts a protective effect on BBB by upregulating tight junction proteins claudin-5, occludin, zonula occludens-1, p120-catenin, and β-catenin under oxygen glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD) in human brain microvascular endothelial cells (HBMECs). Both the in vivo and in vitro effects are related to the activation of the downstream signaling pathway, PI3K/Akt/Rac-1. Inhibition of the PI3K/Akt or Rac-1 by specific inhibitors LY294002 or si-Rac-1, respectively, partially reduces the protective effect of bFGF on BBB integrity. Overall, our results indicate that the protective role of bFGF on BBB involves the regulation of tight junction proteins and RhoA in the TBI model and OGD-induced HBMECs injury, and that activation of the PI3K/Akt/Rac-1 signaling pathway underlies these effects.

The four domestic Chinese carps, i.e. grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella), black carp (Mylopharyngodon piceus), silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) and bighead carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis), cast their drifting eggs in the running water of the Yangtze River.

The Yangtze is the largest river in China and the third largest river in the world. Being pregnant with plentiful fish resources, it is not only the representative of the areas with biological diversity, but also a cradle of freshwater fisheries in China. In the Yangtze, at present, the fishery resources are seriously depleted; the fishery yield by fishing is significantly reduced; significant changes have occurred on the structure of fish community, with decrease in migratory fish species, reduction in the quantity of the populations of rare, peculiar and economically important fish species and increase in the number of exotic fish species, and severe trend in fish stunting. Habitat fragmentation and shrinkage, resources overexploitation, water pollution and invasion of exotic species are the main causes for threatening fish stocks in the Yangtze River. Since 1950's, a lot of scientific researches have been conducted on biology of fishes from the Yangtze River and its fisheries to provide scientific basis for their protection. In recent years, measures such as closed spring, fish reserves, artificial enhancement & release, ecological rehabilitation, fishery management and international cooperation have played important roles. Nevertheless, researches on fishes from the Yangtze cannot adequately meet the demand for their protection. Especially, those in the aspects of population ecology of Yangtze fishes, species endangerment mechanism, ecological effects of large hydraulic projects and protection strategy are not deep enough. It is recommended that scientific researches should be conducted in comprehensive survey of Yangtze fish resources, fish endangerment mechanism, techniques in artificial enhancement and release of key species, risk assessment of exotic species, ecological rehabilitation of major fisheries functional zones, etc.

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