Impacts of New Regulations on North Carolina Fishermen: A Classificatory Analysis

Based on Work Conducted in Accordance with the Proposal Entitled Identifying and Defining Fishers and Gear in North Carolina to Develop Licensing as an Effective Management Tool. ICMR Tech Report 96-06. Research Assistance By: Fiona Abarno, John Brown, Brian Ellis, Douglas Hobbs, Vernon Kelley, and Patrick Stanforth; Special Contributions from: J. Stephen Thomas, Cecelia Formichella, and Mark Moberg; University of South Alabama, Mobile, AlabamaThe findings presented here derive from eight months of research designed to address the following objectives: 1. To develop a classification system that identifies and defines North Carolina fishers in terms of dependence on the resource, gear type, effort, motivation for fishing, and core and secondary species they target; 2. To determine how different groups of fishers will be impacted by different regulatory scenarios; 3. To evaluate North Carolina’s licensing system in terms of its ability to monitor numbers, characteristics, and behaviors of commercial and recreational fishers; 4, To assess the experiences of other states in developing and administering licensing programs. Accomplishing these objectives involved several phases of field research and analysis, all of which were oriented toward gaining a view of North Carolina fishing—commercial and recreational—from a variety of perspectives. Because of the highly politicized environment of the past two years, it was necessary to triangulate our data sources to reduce respondent bias. Thus, we used a variety of methods to cross-check, assess, and validate information received from different sources representing different political and economic interests in the fisheries. Our respondents included: a) recreational anglers whom we located through sportfishing lists, DMF data, and an intercept methodology; b) charter boat captains and pier owners; c) commercial fishermen and their families all along the coast and throughout the Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine System c) seafood processors and seafood processing workers; and d) fishermen and marine regulatory personnel in North Carolina and in 12 other states. Our methods of observation and data collection included: visits to fishing centers around the state (cultural mapping); surveying individuals in other states regarding their licensing programs and experiences, including government officials and fishermen; surveying recreational fishermen, charter boat captains, and pier owners; conducting in-depth interviews with commercial fishers; and eliciting feedback from members of fishing families concerning regulatory and other social problems in the context of focus groups.The North Carolina Fisheries Moratorium Committe

The status of traditional horse racing in the Eastern Cape

From introduction: The Eastern Cape Gambling and Betting Board advertised a tender for research assessing and auditing the status of traditional horse racing in the Eastern Cape. The term ‘traditional horse racing’ (THR) is used for convenience but covers a range of horse racing events, not all of which are ‘traditional’. The term, within the research and this report, is used to denote all horse racing in the Eastern Cape which lies outside of the formal gambling horse racing industry which is localised to Port Elizabeth

Moran Eigenvector Filtering of Multi-year Yield Data with Application to Zone Development

A time‐series of yield monitor data may be used to identify field areas of consistently low or high yield to serve as productivity zones for site‐specific crop management. However, transient factors that affect yield in 1 yr, but not every year, detract from this approach. The objective of this study was to illustrate Moran eigenvector spatial filtering (MESF) with results from analysis of multi‐year crop yield data from two farm fields in the United States. The MESF method accounts for temporal autocorrelation within a common factor map representing the correlation across years and partitions stochastic geographic variation into spatially structured and unstructured components. Crop rotation data were utilized from a dryland field in east‐central South Dakota and an irrigated field in southwestern Georgia. A random effects (RE) model was estimated that utilized eigenfunctions of a geographic connectivity matrix to account for spatially structured random effects (SSRE) and unstructured random effects (SURE) in standardized z scores of multi‐year crop yield. The MESF method was evaluated with conventional averaging of unfiltered yield data as a reference for comparison. In South Dakota, the SSRE accounted for 26% of the yield variance shared across years. Distinct patterns appeared to be related to changes in soil type and landscape position. The Georgia field yielded similar results. The MESF is effective for revealing structured variation in a time series of yield monitor data and may be useful for defining productivity zones within fields

Judicial Review, Irrationality, and the Legitimacy of Merits-Review

The definition of the irrationality ground of judicial review recognises the constitutional principle of the separation of powers, in allowing for judicial control of the executive only very rarely. The author in a previous article in this study found that the courts, on occasions, had intervened in circumstances where administrative decisions arguably were not irrational. To this end, the purpose of this article is to assess the constitutionality of these seemingly low standards of irrationality. The author does so by reference either to the manner of review employed—the use of the proportionality principle, for example—or the context of the administrative decision under scrutiny, such as the infringement of the applicant’s fundamental rights. The author finds that the cases from the previous article where low standards of irrationality were arguably adopted were, in fact, legitimate according to these chosen methods of evaluation. However, this is an interim conclusion because, for reasons of word length, the author is unable to complete a full assessment here. It is therefore proposed that a subsequent article will continue to examine the constitutionality of these cases. Furthermore, the author will also try and establish a zone of executive decision-making, for reasons of democracy, where the courts are excluded from irrationality review. If the author is unsuccessful in this regard, the final conclusion of this study will inevitably be that low standards of judicial intervention exist without limit—a clear assault on the constitutional principle stated above

Fracture Toughness of Composite and Unfilled Restorative Resins

Fracture toughness, critical strain energy release rate, and critical stress intensity factor were determined for experimental and commercial restorative resins. A composite resin had lower resistance to arack initiation than an unfilled acrylic resin. The data were consistent with surface failure observed in single-pass wear studies of these resins.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66920/2/10.1177_00220345770560070801.pd

Imaging Findings in Non-Neoplastic Sinonasal Disease: Review of Imaging Features With Endoscopic Correlates

Non-neoplastic sinonasal disease is common and imaging often plays an important role in establishing the proper diagnosis, guiding clinical management, and evaluating for complications. Both computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging are commonly employed in the imaging evaluation and it is important to understand the imaging characteristics of the unique types of pathology affecting the sinonasal cavities. This article reviews a variety of infectious, inflammatory, and other non-neoplastic sinonasal pathologies, highlighting imaging features that aid in their differentiation

Case Study of Resilient Baton Rouge: Applying Depression Collaborative Care and Community Planning to Disaster Recovery.

BackgroundAddressing behavioral health impacts of major disasters is a priority of increasing national attention, but there are limited examples of implementation strategies to guide new disaster responses. We provide a case study of an effort being applied in response to the 2016 Great Flood in Baton Rouge.MethodsResilient Baton Rouge was designed to support recovery after major flooding by building local capacity to implement an expanded model of depression collaborative care for adults, coupled with identifying and responding to local priorities and assets for recovery. For a descriptive, initial evaluation, we coupled analysis of documents and process notes with descriptive surveys of participants in initial training and orientation, including preliminary comparisons among licensed and non-licensed participants to identify training priorities.ResultsWe expanded local behavioral health service delivery capacity through subgrants to four agencies, provision of training tailored to licensed and non-licensed providers and development of advisory councils and partnerships with grassroots and government agencies. We also undertook initial efforts to enhance national collaboration around post-disaster resilience.ConclusionOur partnered processes and lessons learned may be applicable to other communities that aim to promote resilience, as well as planning for and responding to post-disaster behavioral health needs

Iron and Erythropoietin to Heal and Recover after Intensive Care (ITHRIVE):A pilot RCT

AbstractObjectiveTo determine the feasibility of a pivotal randomised clinical trial of intravenous (IV) iron and erythropoietin in adult survivors of critical illness with anaemia requiring treatment in the intensive care unit.DesignAn investigator-initiated, parallel group, placebo-controlled, randomised, feasibility trial.SettingA tertiary intensive care unit (ICU) in Perth, Western Australia. ParticipantsAdults with anaemia (haemoglobin <100g/L), requiring ICU-level care for more than 48 hours and likely to be ready for ICU discharge within 24 hours.InterventionsA single dose of IV ferric carboxymaltose and Epoetin alfa (active group), or an equal volume of 0.9% saline (placebo group).Main outcome measuresStudy feasibility was considered met if the pilot achieved a recruitment rate of ≥2 participants per site per month, ≥ 90% of participants received their allocated study treatment, and≥ 90% of participants were followed up for the proposed pivotal trial primary outcome - days alive and at home to Day 90 (DAH90).ResultsThe 40-participant planned sample size included twenty in each group and were enrolled between 1/9/2021 and 2/3/2022. Participants spent a median of 3.4 days (interquartile range 2.8-5.1) in ICU prior to enrolment and had a mean baseline haemoglobin of 83.7g/L (standard deviation 6.7). The recruitment rate was 6.7 participants per month [95% confidence interval (CI) 4.8-9.0], DAH90 follow up was 100% (95% CI 91.2%-100%), and 39 (97.5%, 95% CI 86.8%-99.9%) participants received the allocated study intervention. No serious adverse events were reported. ConclusionThe ITHRIVE pilot demonstrated feasibility based on predefined participant recruitment, study drug administration and follow up thresholds