That is, using ζ=0ζ=0, setting k   and m   according to the grid spacing and holding M2,f,νhM2,f,νh, and νvνv constant, the growth rates can be plotted purely as a function of N2N2. Furthermore, beginning with an initial state where Ri=0.25Ri=0.25, it is known a priori   that N2N2 must increase by a factor of 4 to reach the stable state of Ri=1Ri=1. Then the growth rates can be calculated for a discrete set of values of N2N2 between N02 and

4N02 to predict the SI-stable value of N2N2 that will be reached, and by extension the stable value of Ri  . Note that (23) and (24) require both M2M2 and N2N2 to be constant in space and time and click here the perturbations to be small in amplitude, and are approximations to the instantaneous growth rate found by holding N2N2 fixed at each instant in time. The grid spacing ΔxΔx is varied from simulation to simulation to test the hypothesis that the amount of restratification depends on how well the SI modes are resolved. The pseudo-spectral numerical solver uses a find protocol Two-Thirds Rule de-aliasing (Orszag, 1971) to prevent aliasing of high-wavenumber modes, making the shortest resolved wavelength in the model λ=3Δxλ=3Δx. The higher-resolution

simulations (subscripts 1 through 5) are meant to demonstrate that the restratification can be limited by the stratification and viscosity, not necessarily the model resolution. The lowest-resolution simulations do not resolve the most-restratifying mode, and demonstrate restratification that is limited (subscript 6) and completely negated (subscript 7) due to the model resolution. The dimensional width of the domain varies according to the choice of ΔxΔx for each individual simulation, but the depth of the mixed layer is set to be 300 m in all cases. A uniform grid of size (Ny,Nz)=(128,80)(Ny,Nz)=(128,80) points is used, with the vertical grid spacing set to a constant Δz=5Δz=5 m. Using this number of points in the horizontal ensures that the domain is wide

enough to resolve Fossariinae multiple SI overturning cells in all cases, and that the largest SI modes will not be excluded even in the finest-resolution runs. The vertical diffusivity κv=1×10-6κv=1×10-6 m2 s−1 was set to be very small to prevent highly stratified fluid from diffusing up from the thermocline, and for simplicity in the stability analysis (Appendix A) the vertical viscosity was set to match this value. At higher values (i.e. κv⩾1×10-4κv⩾1×10-4 m2 s−1), diffusion caused the lowest parts of the mixed layer to become stabilized to SI before the instability became nonlinear. This effectively reduced the lengthscale of the gravest vertical mode and reduced the amount of restratification that could occur.

The following are the supplementary data related to this article. Table S1.   Primers for cloning WRKY genes with complete open reading frames. This program was financially supported in part by the National Science Foundation of China (31171590), the Specialized

Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China (20090097110010), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province, China (BK2010065), and a project funded by the Priority Academic Program Development EPZ015666 molecular weight of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions. “
“Rice is a staple food for more than half of the world’s population, and rice cultivation is the largest single food-producing use of land, covering 9% of the Earth’s arable land [1]. Growing annual rice on steep hillsides causes soil erosion, reducing farm productivity and damaging resources downhill. Breeding perennial rice varieties with rhizomes is an effective way to solve this problem. Annual soil disturbances associated with tillage would be avoided through the use of a Wnt inhibitor perennial cultivar, and rhizomes would trap soil, preventing erosion. Among the two cultivated and 22 wild rice species studied, Oryza longistaminata is a wild, perennial species from Africa that is characterized by the presence of rhizomatous stems [2] and [3]. Rhizomes enable O. longistaminata to overwinter, producing new plants in the following growing season. O. longistaminata

Methane monooxygenase is the only perennial rice species with the AA genome, allowing it to be used as a donor in breeding programs for perennial upland rice [4] and [5]. However, partial-sterility barriers have impeded the development of perennial rice by conventional breeding [6]. Genetic studies show that the rhizomatous trait in rice is quantitatively controlled by many genes. In our previous study, an F2 and two backcross populations from O. longistaminata and RD23 were used for genetic mapping of the rhizomatous trait. The results revealed two dominant complementary genes that

controlled rhizome expression: Rhz2 and Rhz3, which mapped to rice chromosomes 3 and 4, respectively [7]. A comparative gene expression analysis between aerial shoots (ASs) and rhizomes was performed to identify organ-specific gene expression, and the results indicated that 2566 genes, including transcription factors, were differentially expressed in ASs and rhizomes. A few of these genes were found colocalized in the rhizome-related QTL intervals [8]. Further profiling revealed that primary metabolites and hormones had distinct organ distribution patterns. Metabolites accumulated in stem bases and a higher indole-3-acetic acid-to-zeatin riboside ratio is probably associated with the regulatory metabolism of rhizome formation [9]. These data suggest that rhizome development in O. longistaminata is controlled by a complex molecular genetic network.

Os valores utilizados neste Selleck ABT888 trabalho foram retirados de 4 estudos, conforme descrito na tabela 1. Nos casos em que, para um mesmo estado de saúde, estavam disponíveis várias estimativas, assumiu-se a média dos valores reportados. O facto de o ponderador de qualidade de vida no estádio CD ser inferior ao considerado para o estádio CHC, embora pouco intuitivo, está de acordo com os resultados publicados na literatura19 and 20. O preço do medicamento TDF (11,4 € por comprimido) foi obtido diretamente

a partir do respetivo Relatório de Avaliação Prévia36. O preço do medicamento ETV (15 € por comprimido) foi obtido por inquérito a 3 hospitais uma vez que não estava publicamente disponível. A posologia recomendada em ambos os casos

é de um comprimido diário. O custo em segunda linha consiste na soma dos 2 (11,4 € + 15 €) uma vez que, no modelo, a terapêutica adotada é sempre TDF+ETV. A estimativa dos recursos anualmente utilizados no tratamento das consequências da HBC foi alcançada com recurso ao método de painel de Delphi modificado37. No inquérito realizado recolheram-se click here dados sobre consultas, testes laboratoriais, exames complementares de diagnóstico e procedimentos terapêuticos, medicamentos (excluindo os antivirais para tratamento de HBC) e dias de hospitalização para diversos estádios da doença. Carnitine dehydrogenase Os custos unitários das consultas médicas foram recolhidos através da contabilidade analítica dos hospitais do SNS38, ajustados para 2009 utilizando os

índices de inflação39. Os custos dos restantes recursos foram obtidos a partir dos valores referenciados na Portaria n.° 132/200940, que correspondem aos valores pagos pelo Estado aos prestadores para o tratamento dos utentes abrangidos pelos subsistemas públicos. Os custos dos medicamentos hospitalares foram retirados do Catálogo de Aprovisionamento Público da Saúde (CAPS)41 e, sempre que indisponíveis no mesmo, do Prontuário Terapêutico42. Os custos anuais estimados, por estádio da doença, encontram-se resumidos na tabela 2c. Neste estudo, para além dos custos acima referidos, foi também contabilizado o diferencial de custos na opção TDF, face à opção ETV, resultante da maior frequência de monitorização da função renal recomendada para doentes em tratamento com TDF43. A monitorização adicional associada ao TDF origina um custo de 749 €, no primeiro ano, e de 187 € por semestre, nos anos subsequentes. Estes custos de monitorização assumem-se também no caso de TDF estar incluído num regime de associação. De acordo com as recomendações da EASL relativas ao seguimento de doentes com seroconversão foi assumido um custo anual idêntico ao dos doentes com HBC, no primeiro ano, passando a 268 € após esse período.

, 2001 and Wang et al., 1997). Deficiency of this vitamin is associated AZD2281 cell line with impaired function of this cell type, including the reduction of its antimicrobial activity (Goldschmidt, 1991) and decreased spontaneous apoptosis (Vissers and Wilkie, 2007). Because both antioxidants are present in specific microenvironment in cells compartments, we believe that a combination of astaxanthin with vitamin C can improve the antioxidant effect of both. The purpose of the present study was to find out whether co-treatment of human neutrophils with high glucose (20 mM) and MGO can

alter the biochemical parameters of these immune cells. High glucose was used as a physiological intracellular source of MGO as previously described (Dhar et al., 2008). We also examined if astaxanthin associated with vitamin C can improve those biochemical

parameters. In addition, we evaluated the mechanism underlying this modulation. Methylglyoxal, D-glucose, astaxanthin, dihydroethidium, vitamin C, propidium iodide and most of the other chemicals were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich Chemical Company (St. Louis, MO, USA), click here except RPMI-1640 culture medium, lucigenin and pluronic acid, and acetoxymethylester (Fura-2AM), which came from Invitrogen (CA, USA). Common reagents for buffers (e.g. PBS) and regular laboratory solutions were obtained from Labsynth (Diadema, SP, Brazil). The Ethical Committee of the Universidade Cruzeiro do Sul approved the experimental procedure of this study. Around 30 healthy adult women and men (mean age 21.0 ± 4.0) were included in the present study. The subjects recruited did not present any systemic or topical therapeutic regimen, a smoking history, alcohol habits, obesity or any other systemic diseases at Dehydratase least for the last 2 months (based on an anamnesis protocol). Neutrophils were obtained through the collection of human

peripheral blood by venipuncture procedure in vacuum/siliconized tubes containing 0.1 mM EDTA. Peripheral blood neutrophils were isolated under sterile conditions by using a density gradient present in the reagent Histopaque 1077 (Sigma–Aldrich), according to the manufacturer’s instruction. After obtained, neutrophils were counted in a Neubauer chamber using Trypan blue (1%). Neutrophils (1 × 106/mL) from each volunteer were cultured in 1 mL of RPMI-1640 medium supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum, 20 mM Hepes, 2 mM glutamine, and antibiotics (streptomycin 100 units/mL and penicillin 200 units/mL) or ressuspended in Tyrode’s solution (137 mM NaCl, 2.68 mM KCl, 0.49 mM MgCl2, 12 mM NaHCO3, 0.36 mM NaH2PO4, 5.6 mM d-glucose, and 5 mM acid HEPES, pH 7.4) for acute assays. Before starting our experiments we evaluated the toxicity of increasing concentrations of MGO on neutrophils. For this purpose, cells (2.5 × 105) were treated for 18 h with MGO in concentrations ranging from 1 to 500 μM.

A number of 40 adult specimens of P. lineatus (500–800 g) were obtained from a commercial fish farm (Paulo Lopes City, Santa Catarina State, Brazil; http://www.pisciculturapanama.com.br) and

maintained collectively in 3.000 l water tank with dechlorinated tap water for a period of 3–4 weeks before hepatocytes isolation. Constant aeration was performed by submerged pumps and food was supplied through commercial pelleted fish food (Supra Acqua Line®, 28% of protein) twice a week. Fishes were anesthetized with benzocaine (200 ppm in water), injected CYC202 with 0.5 ml of heparin (5000 U l−1) through the caudal vein and maintained during 5 min in dechlorinated water; then, fishes were anesthetized again and killed by spinal cord section for liver removal. The liver was kept in phosphate buffered saline (PBS, pH 7.6, 4 °C) supplemented with amphotericin-B (25 μg l−1), streptomycin (100 μg ml−1) and penicillin

(100 U ml−1) during 10 min for antibiotic shock and perfused through the portal vein and arterial system with ice-cold PBS-EDTA solution (2 mM EDTA, 1.0 g l−1d-glucose in phosphate buffered saline – PBS, pH 7.6) for blood removal. After perfusion, the liver was aseptically minced with stainless steel blades in PBS containing dispase (1.0 U l−1) and 1.0 g l−1d-glucose, and incubated for 3 h (30 °C) for the hepatocytes dissociation. The cell suspension was forced through a stainless-steel mesh (60–60 mesh) for additional mechanical NVP-LDE225 in vitro disruption. Cells were collected, centrifuged at low speed (100–120 g,

3–5 min), washed four times with PBS for debris removal and suspended to a density of 1.0 × 106 cells per ml in RPMI 1640 medium (2.0 g l−1d-glucose, pH 7.6) supplemented Sitaxentan with NaHCO3 (25 mM), human insulin (0.1 U ml−1), gentamycin (40 mg l−1), streptomycin (10 μg ml-1), penicillin (10 U ml−1), amphotericin-B (2.5 μg l−1) and fetal bovine serum (5% v.v−1). Finally, 2.0 × 105 and 1.0 × 106 cells (viability ⩾97%) were, respectively, seeded onto 96- and 24-well microplates (TTP® or Biofil®) and kept at 24 °C in a CO2 incubator (1.7% of pCO2). For each cell culture, a pool of cells from three fishes was utilized. Before establishing this protocol, non-enzymatic dissociation and several enzymatic digestions were tested: EDTA (2 mM in PBS), trypsin–EDTA (0.05% tripsin, 2 mM EDTA in PBS), pancreatin (0.25% in PBS, 30 min, room temperature), collagenase IV (0.25 U ml−1 in PBS, 30 min, 30 °C), collagenase IV (0.15 U ml−1 in PBS) associated with dispase (0.5 U ml−1 in PBS, 30 min, 30 °C), and dispase (1 U l−1 in PBS, 30 min, 30 °C).

Já na menopausa, que é um marco dentro desse processo contínuo de envelhecimento, a presença de sinais e sintomas poderá se apresentar de forma mais intensa. 1 and 2 Sabe‐se que, ao longo dos anos, ocorrem

alterações fisiológicas na composição corporal, com aumento de quantidade de tecido adiposo e/ou redução de massa magra e redução da massa Screening Library research buy óssea, especialmente entre as mulheres que têm a composição corporal diretamente afetada pelas alterações hormonais observadas na menopausa.3 No decorrer das últimas décadas, pudemos observar o surgimento de diversas e diferentes epidemias, tais como a deficiência de vitamina D, a obesidade e o DM2. Todas essas, muito prevalentes nas mulheres pós‐menopausa e que, talvez, possam estar correlacionadas ou intrínsecas umas às outras, compartilham bases fisiopatológicas. Com o aumento da expectativa de vida, torna‐se enfática a necessidade de se oferecer melhores condições de saúde e qualidade de vida a essas mulheres. As evidências acumuladas em estudos transversais e longitudinais sugerem uma potencial participação da vitamina D na fisiopatologia do DM2. Reporta‐se uma associação inversa entre o status de vitamina

D e a prevalência de hiperglicemia, DM2 ou intolerância à glicose. 4, 5 and 6 Apesar de a abordagem terapêutica do DM2 ter avançado nas últimas décadas, por meio

da melhor compreensão Navitoclax chemical structure de sua fisiopatologia e do desenvolvimento de fármacos que atuam nas diversas etapas dessa doença, o aumento de novos casos suscita a necessidade do conhecimento de outros alvos terapêuticos e de intervenções clínicas para a prevenção e o tratamento dessa doença. O presente artigo destina‐se a fazer uma revisão dessas duas epidemias no contexto de vida da mulher pós‐menopausa e das possíveis ações da vitamina D na fisiopatologia do DM2. O DM2 tem se tornado um problema mundial de saúde pública. Não obstante, tem seu diagnóstico e tratamento negligenciados Liothyronine Sodium na prática clínica. A estimativa mundial de sua prevalência foi de 171 milhões em 2000 e de 366 milhões em 2030. Essa alteração metabólica, que consiste de uma redução da secreção de insulina pancreática associada ou não à resistência insulínica (RI), tem sérias complicações que levam ao aumento da mortalidade.4 Aproximadamente, um bilhão de pessoas têm deficiência de vitamina D, a qual pode ser resultante de limitada exposição solar, uso de protetores solares e vestimentas com pouca exposição, envelhecimento e síndromes de má absorção, assim como baixa ingestão de produtos que contenham vitamina D.5 Reporta‐se uma associação inversa entre o status de vitamina D e a prevalência de hiperglicemia, DM2 ou intolerância à glicose.

This effectively means that the likelihood of an extreme high sea-level rise (the upper tail of the distribution function of the sea-level rise uncertainty) is poorly known. The allowance depends Quizartinib on the Gumbel distribution, which only describes extreme events. Eq. (5) therefore only applies to the range of z  P that encompasses the high sea-level extremes. The allowance is therefore valid in cases where the uncertainty distribution of sea-level rise, P(z′)P(z′), spans only the portion of N((μ−zP+Δz+z′−a)/λ)N((μ−zP+Δz+z′−a)/λ) (Eq. (3)) that fits a Gumbel distribution. This is generally

satisfied if P(z′)P(z′) has thin tails (e.g. it is normal or raised-cosine). For the A1FI emission scenario and the period 1990–2100, the 5- to 95-percentile range spans 0.54 m, which is typically five times the scale parameter, λλ, a range which the Gumbel distribution will generally cover satisfactorily. However, if P(z′)P(z′) had a fat upper tail, the distributions used here (normal and raised-cosine)

would underestimate the allowance by not including the contribution from the tail in the integral in Eq. (3). This problem may be examined Selleck MK0683 in terms of both likelihood  , NN, and risk  . In general, risk may be treated in the same way as likelihood, so that the analogue of Eq. (2) is equation(7) R=Rμ−zPλand the analogue of Eq. (3) is equation(8) Rov=∫−∞∞P(z′)Rμ−zP+Δz+z′−aλdz′where R   is the risk and RR is some general dimensionless function. If the consequence of each flooding Low-density-lipoprotein receptor kinase event is a constant, c  , then R=cNR=cN and Rov=cNovRov=cNov. In this case, any allowance that preserves the overall likelihood  , NovNov, also preserves the overall risk  , RovRov. There is one situation where fat-tailed P(z′)P(z′)may not significantly influence the overall likelihood, and another where it may not significantly influence the overall risk. Firstly, N((μ−zp+Δz+z′−a)/λ)N((μ−zp+Δz+z′−a)/λ) may be less than the value given by a Gumbel distribution at large values of (μ−zp+Δz+z′−a)/λ(μ−zp+Δz+z′−a)/λ,

thereby reducing the effect of a fat upper tail in P(z′)P(z′) on the overall likelihood, NovNov (Eq. (3)). A trivial (and extreme) example of this is where the fat upper tail spans the range in which the asset lies between mean sea level and the minimum high water level (e.g. mean high water neaps). Within this range, NN is approximately constant at about one or two flooding events per day (for diurnal and semidiurnal tides, respectively); i.e. in this range the flooding likelihood, NN does not increase with z′z′, and the contribution of the fat upper tail to the overall likelihood NovNov may be small or negligible. Secondly, even if the overall likelihood, NovNov, increases significantly due to a fat upper tail in P(z′)P(z′), it is quite possible that the consequence of each flooding event decreases under these conditions, so that the overall risk  , RovRov, is not dominated by the fat tail.

The results are intuitive: lower targets depict fewer areas as being of high importance compared to high targets,

and medium clump size solutions shows smaller areas highlighted than those with large clump size (Fig. 5 and Fig. 6). Despite having different target ranges, the expert-set and Project Team-set target ranges (medium, high) show similar patterns and areas as being important for conservation. Targets were met 95% of the time or better. The expert recommended targets ranged up to 100%, and features targeted at this level were underrepresented more often than others. Data richness layers for the six categories of human uses show that all, except for shipping and transport, are closely linked to the shoreline and continental shelf (Fig. 7). As expected, the Marxan results closely mirror the data richness

layers, with IWR 1 areas of higher data richness selected more frequently in Marxan. The human RG7204 ic50 use sectors had concerns about the limitations of the input data (see discussion), and did not want the results published; hence the maps are not included. Overlapping the footprint of one example solution of an ecological Marxan scenario with the footprint of each of the six human use sectors showed that all sectors utilise areas that appear in the Marxan solution as areas of high conservation value. The percentage of the Marxan solution that overlapped the sector use footprints ranged from 92% (i.e., 92% of planning units selected by Marxan also contain commercial fisheries) ifenprodil to 3%. Conversely, the area of each

sector footprint that overlapped with the example Marxan solution ranged from 18% to 23% (Table 1). The BCMCA project’s multi-year effort to collate existing data, augment existing datasets by making additional and new data available, and provide examples of Marxan analyses, has made available an impressive resource for marine planners and stakeholders in British Columbia and elsewhere. The project attempted to follow best practices for data analysis [22] for not only ecological conservation scenarios, but also for involving stakeholder groups and integrating human use data into analyses [23] and [24]. These data and supporting Marxan analyses may also have utility for habitat mangers, marine ecologists, oil spill response teams, coarse scale environmental assessments and marine protected area design—all applications beyond the project’s intent to support MSP efforts. It provides a successful example of a collaborative effort to move ahead with preparatory work for marine planning without requiring the mandate to carry out the planning, a situation that likely applies to many other regions where marine planning has not been initiated. While data collation is time-intensive, although relatively straightforward, the experience of the BCMCA project with Marxan analyses highlights several lessons that may be of interest to similar endeavours elsewhere.

Of the different selection methods described in the introduction, space-based attention has been the focus of the vast majority of neuroimaging studies directed at the control network to date. This line of research has been facilitated by a clear understanding of spatial representations within higher-order cortex [5]. Importantly, there is a great amount of overlap between the attention-related activations in frontoparietal cortex RAD001 mw and the topographically organized frontal and parietal areas (see Figure 1 and Box 1), which permits the systematic study of attentional control systems in individual subjects. This approach holds the promise to yield a more complete understanding

of the neural underpinnings of cognitive control processes

related to selective attention. Topographic representations are ubiquitous in the brain and reflect the spatial layout of the sensory receptors; in the case of the visual system, retinal locations are PF-02341066 cost organized in multiple retinotopic maps (Figure 1a,b). The advent of neuroimaging mapping techniques used to define these topographic representations in individual subjects has greatly facilitated the study of functional specialization of visual areas. This approach has been successfully extended in recent years to higher-order cortex. Using a cognitive mapping approach that utilizes periodic memory-guided saccade or spatial attention tasks, topographic organization has been found in a number of areas in parietal and frontal cortex. To date, seven topographically organized areas have been described in bilateral posterior parietal cortex (PPC): six of these areas form

a contiguous band along the intraparietal sulcus (IPS0-IPS5), and one area extends medially into superior parietal lobule (SPL1) (Figure 1c,d; 5, 45 and 46]). Each of these Edoxaban topographic areas contains a continuous representation of the contralateral visual field and is delineated from neighboring areas according to alternating representations of the upper and lower vertical meridian (Figure 1a,b). Topographic maps have also been identified in frontal cortex 47 and 48]. One such map is located in the superior branch of precentral cortex (PreCC), in the approximate location of the human frontal eye field (FEF), and a second one in the inferior branch of PreCC (Figure 1c,d). Utilizing such advanced mapping techniques, a recent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study (see Figure 2a for an illustration of the task) found attention signals (see Figure 2b) in topographic frontal and parietal areas to be spatially specific: response magnitude was significantly greater when attention was directed to objects in the contralateral, relative to the ipsilateral, visual field [6••]. With the exception of an area in the left superior parietal lobule, known as SPL1, each topographic area in frontal and parietal cortex individually generated this contralateral spatial bias that was on average balanced between the two hemispheres (Figure 2c).

The Pew Environment Group is a founding member of the Chagos Environment Network, a collaboration of nine conservation and scientific organisations seeking to protect the rich biodiversity of the Chagos Islands and its surrounding waters. CEN members are: The Chagos Conservation Trust; The Linnean Society of London; The Marine Conservation Society; The Pew Environment Group; The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; The Royal Society; The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds; The Zoological Society of London; and Professor Charles Sheppard of the University of Warwick (on behalf of many of the visiting scientists). “
“In Greek mythology, Triton was the son of Poseidon and Amphitrite and, although he

is thanked for calming seas and assisting sailors, he was actually quite a coxcomb, preferring to dance and play with the 50 Nereids and making beautiful sounds by blowing into seashells. Triton’s name is given to a group of seashells belonging to the Ranellidae, LDK378 concentration which are a family of poorly understood marine gastropod predators and amongst which is the pan-tropical ‘triton’s’. Last year

(2011), I was invited Veliparib to participate in a research workshop based in a village, Mosteiros, on the island of São Miguel in the Açores. The Açores workshop was convened at the Casa do Pescador dos Mosteiros (the Mosteiros Fishermen’s Club) and where, on the shelves of the little museum and in the village Café/Restaurant Ilhéu, were 52 shells of the triton Charonia lampas Cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase of various sizes. Actually, I had seen and collected this species in the Açores before, in 1965, as a participant in the undergraduate Chelsea College Açores Expedition, where five individuals of C. lampas were collected from off the village of Urzelinha on São Jorge. These specimens are now lodged in the collections of the Natural History

Museum (NHM), London. For such a predator, the Açores sample of C. lampas is large and a study of them has revealed, amongst other things, that individuals with a shell height of 265 mm probably lived for at least 13 years. In the NHM collections is a specimen from Malta that is 390 mm tall: so how old was that? By any standards this is a big animal. Observations on C. lampas in 1965 and 2011 also demonstrated that in the Açores it is a predator of the starfish Ophidiaster ophidianus. Elsewhere, it also feeds on O. ophidianus and other echinoderms. The largest species of Charonia, and perhaps the most well known, is the Indo-West Pacific Charonia tritonis and which, on the Great Barrier Reef in eastern Australia, eats the crown-of-thorns starfish, Acanthaster planci. In reviewing the crown-of-thorns problem on the reef, it has been suggested that depletion of its natural predator, C. tritonis, by shell collectors might be one factor involved in the starfish outbreaks and thus their destruction of reef corals. Whether this is true or not, C. tritonis is now fully protected on the Great Barrier Reef. And so, ostensibly, is C.