Effects of the trawling ban on the diversity of demersal crustaceans (orders: decapoda and stomatopoda) in the marine environment of Hong Kong, South China

Oral PresentationFisheries & Marine Resources ManagementBottom trawling has been demonstrated to be one of the most destructive fishing methods to marine benthic communities. Since the 1970s, marine fishery resources in Hong Kong, especially large predatory species, have been overexploited by non-selective fishing gears including bottom and pelagic trawlers. This fishing down the trophic level has resulted in a benthic ecosystem primarily dominated by small herbivorous and omnivorous fishes and crustaceans. To mitigate such impacts, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has implemented a territory-wide trawling ban in local waters since 31 December 2012. This study aims to investigate whether crustacean resources, in particular of the orders Decapoda and ...postprin

Spatial and seasonal variations in trophic dynamics of benthic communities of marine molluscs in Hong Kong’s Coastal Waters before and after the Trawling Ban

Poster presentation: P-54Fisheries & Marine Resources ManagementTo rectify the detrimental impact of overfishing and destruction of benthic ecosystems, a territory-wide trawling ban has been imposed in Hong Kong’s coastal marine waters since 31 December 2012. It is anticipated that the local benthic marine ecosystem will gradually recover after the trawl-ban. Using stable isotope analysis (SIA), this study aims to compare trophic dynamics of benthic molluscan communities of eastern, southern and western waters of Hong Kong before and after the trawling ban. The results of this study will also serve as a baseline for studying long-term ecosystem recovery. Trawling ...postprin

Comparison of Cross-Sectional and Daily Reports in Studying the Relationship Between Depression and Use of Alcohol in Response to Stress in College Students

Alcohol use in response to stress in college students may be affected by the presence of symptoms of depression. However, this is a challenging issue to study due to the various methodologies used as well as the possible effect of depressed mood on the accuracy of self-report. This study focused on methodological issues as possible sources of equivocal findings regarding the relationship between depressed mood and alcohol use in response to stress in a college student population. Findings may differ when these variables are examined cross-sectionally versus longitudinally. Methods : Depressed mood and alcohol coping were assessed both cross-sectionally and repeatedly over time in 125 college students. Participants were assessed at baseline using a diagnostic self-report measure of depression as well as a measure of typical coping style. In addition, daily measures of stress, symptoms of depression, and coping were completed for 45 consecutive days. Results : Different relationships between depressed mood and alcohol coping were found when depressed individuals were analyzed separately from those who were not depressed. Although a significant correlation between daily use of alcohol coping and daily depressed mood was found, there were no differences between depressed and nondepressed participants (as assessed at baseline) on daily alcohol coping. Conclusions : These findings have implications for research design as well as clinical assessment regarding the relationships between mood and use of alcohol for coping; the findings suggest that cross-sectional measures of mood and alcohol use may obscure differences as assessed repeatedly over time. In addition, these findings support the utility of frequent assessment of depressive symptoms when implementing or evaluating programs that target coping skills in college students.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/65757/1/j.1530-0277.2000.tb04552.x.pd

Elucidating the food web structure of demersal crustaceans in Hong Kong's coastal water using stable isotope analysis

Fisheries & Marine Resources ManagementPoster presentation: P-47Bottom trawling has been demonstrated to be one of the most destructive fishing methods to marine benthic communities. Since the 1970s, marine fishery resources in Hong Kong, especially large predatory species, have been overexploited by nonselective fishing gears including bottom and pelagic trawlers. This fishing down the trophic level has resulted in a benthic ecosystem primarily dominated by small herbivorous and omnivorous fishes and crustaceans. To mitigate such impacts, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has implemented a territory-wide trawling ban in local waters since 31 December 2012. This study aims to investigate whether crustacean resources, in ...postprin

Population dynamics of the Mantis Shrimp Oratosquilla oratoria before and after the Trawling Ban in Hong Kong's Coastal Waters

Poster presentation: P-53Fisheries & Marine Resources ManagementThrough studying population dynamics of marine benthic species, we can reveal the changes of their population size and structure in relation to environmental changes due to management intervention such as prohibition of trawling based fisheries. The results of population dynamics studies can also provide baseline information for stock assessment and sustainable management of the species. Due to the overexploitation of fishery resources, a territory-wide trawling ban has been implemented in Hong Kong waters ...postprin

Spatial variation in trophic structure of Demersal Fish Communities in the marine environment of Hong Kong, South China

Poster presentation: P-55Fisheries & Marine Resources ManagementHong Kong’s western coastal waters (WW) situated at the Pearl River Estuary are heavily influenced by freshwater and sediment discharges from the Pearl River, while its eastern waters (EW) are mainly affected by oceanic and tidal currents. The southern waters (SW) are positioned along this estuarine-oceanic salinity gradient. Such variations in hydrography and salinity drive differences in trophic structure in local marine ecosystems. This study aimed to investigate the spatial variation in trophic structure of six demersal fish communities in WW (inner and outer estuary), EW (inner and outer Tolo Channel) and SW (waters in southeast and around Lamma). Stable isotopic ratios of δ13C and δ15N of all benthic fishes caught in trawl surveys during July-September and ...postprin

Effects of the trawling ban on demersal fish communities in the marine environment of Hong Kong, South China

Oral PresentationFisheries & Marine Resources ManagementFishery resources in Hong Kong have been over-exploited since the 1970s. In 2010, there were still around 400 trawlers operating in local waters. These trawlers nonselectively catch marine organisms of all sizes, while exerting severe physical damage to the benthic ecosystem. To mitigate the associated impacts of overfishing and trawling, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has imposed a territory-wide trawling ban across local marine waters since 31 December 2012. This study aims to investigate if the trawl-ban policy is effective to facilitate recovery of demersal fish resources, in terms of species diversity, abundance and biomass, in Hong Kong. Under an approved scientific permit, trawl surveys were conducted using a commercial shrimp trawler in eastern (EW), western (WW) and southern waters (SW) of Hong Kong from ...postprin

The Indiana University Cognitive Health Outcomes Investigation of the Comparative Effectiveness of dementia screening (CHOICE) study: Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Background: Dementia affects over 4 million people in the US and is frequently unrecognized and underdiagnosed in primary care. Routine dementia screening in primary care is not recommended by the US Preventive Services Task Force due to lack of empirical data on the benefits and harms of screening. This trial seeks to fill this gap and contribute information about the benefits, harms, and costs of routine screening for dementia in primary care.Methods/Design: Single-blinded, parallel, randomized controlled clinical trial with 1:1 allocation. A total of 4,000 individuals aged ≥65 years without a diagnosis of dementia, cognitive impairment, or serious mental illness receiving care at primary care practices within two cities in Indiana. Subjects will be randomized to either i) screening for dementia using the Memory Impairment Screen Telephone version or ii) no screening for dementia. Subjects who screen positive for dementia will be referred to the local Aging Brain Care program that delivers an evidence-based collaborative care model for dementia and depression. Research assistants will administer the 15-item Health Utility Index, Patient Health Questionnaire, Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale, and Medical Outcomes Study at baseline, 1, 6, and 12 months. Information about advanced care planning will be collected at baseline and 12 months. All enrollees' medical records will be reviewed to collect data on health care utilization and costs.Discussion: We have two primary hypotheses; first, in comparison to non-screened subjects, those who are screened and referred to a dementia collaborative care program will have a higher health-related quality of life as measured by the Health Utility Index at 12 months post-screening. Second, in comparison to non-screened subjects, those who are screened and referred to a dementia collaborative care program will not have higher depression or anxiety at one month post-screening as measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire and Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale scales. Our secondary hypothesis is that screened subjects will have an Incremental Cost-Effectiveness Ratio below the maximum acceptable threshold of $60,000 per quality adjusted life year saved at 12 months.Trial registration: Ongoing; registered on September 19, 2012. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: 2012 NCT01699503. © 2014 Fowler et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

Potential health impacts of heavy metals on HIV-infected population in USA.

Noninfectious comorbidities such as cardiovascular diseases have become increasingly prevalent and occur earlier in life in persons with HIV infection. Despite the emerging body of literature linking environmental exposures to chronic disease outcomes in the general population, the impacts of environmental exposures have received little attention in HIV-infected population. The aim of this study is to investigate whether individuals living with HIV have elevated prevalence of heavy metals compared to non-HIV infected individuals in United States. We used the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003-2010 to compare exposures to heavy metals including cadmium, lead, and total mercury in HIV infected and non-HIV infected subjects. In this cross-sectional study, we found that HIV-infected individuals had higher concentrations of all heavy metals than the non-HIV infected group. In a multivariate linear regression model, HIV status was significantly associated with increased blood cadmium (p=0.03) after adjusting for age, sex, race, education, poverty income ratio, and smoking. However, HIV status was not statistically associated with lead or mercury levels after adjusting for the same covariates. Our findings suggest that HIV-infected patients might be significantly more exposed to cadmium compared to non-HIV infected individuals which could contribute to higher prevalence of chronic diseases among HIV-infected subjects. Further research is warranted to identify sources of exposure and to understand more about specific health outcomes