Reconciliation of data from the lobster fisheries on Inaccessible, Nightingale and Gough Islands

For the years between 1997 and the present, a number of different data sources exist for the Tristan lobster (Jasus tristani) fisheries on the islands surrounding Tristan da Cunha . In an accompanying document (MARAM/Tristan/07/Dec/05), the sources of fisheries related data for Inaccessible, Nightingale and Gough, and the limitations of that data are described in detail. Catch and effort values from these sources had been shown previously to exhibit major differences. Here we relate progress made on reconciling these differences

A 6 mW, 5,000-Word Real-Time Speech Recognizer Using WFST Models

We describe an IC that provides a local speech recognition capability for a variety of electronic devices. We start with a generic speech decoder architecture that is programmable with industry-standard WFST and GMM speech models. Algorithm and architectural enhancements are incorporated in order to achieve real-time performance amid system-level constraints on internal memory size and external memory bandwidth. A 2.5 × 2.5 mm test chip implementing this architecture was fabricated using a 65 nm process. The chip performs a 5,000 word recognition task in real-time with 13.0% word error rate, 6.0 mW core power consumption, and a search efficiency of approximately 16 nJ per hypothesis.Quanta Computer (Firm)Irwin Mark Jacobs and Joan Klein Jacobs Presidential Fellowshi

Identification of stomach contents from a Shepherd's beaked whale Tasmacetus shepherdi stranded on Tristan da Cunha, South Atlantic

Shepherd’s beaked whale Tasmacetus shepherdi is one of the most poorly known cetaceans, whose diet has created some speculation given that its dentition differs greatly from that of most other beaked whales that are primarily teuthophagous. The few stomachs examined previously have given seemingly conflicting dietary information. In this paper the stomach contents of a freshly stranded adult female on Tristan da Cunha have been examined through identification of trace elements and genetic analysis of soft parts. At least 13 cephalopod and 8 fish species were identified from beaks and otoliths respectively, but only undigested fish remains were present in the stomach and identified genetically as Beryx splendens. Reconstituted masses totaled 8809 g for cephalopods and 17,554 g for fish, with four species (Histioteuthis atlantica, Taningia danae, Ommastrephes bartrami and Pholidoteuthis ‘A’) comprising 78.6% of the cephalopods and one species (B. splendens) comprising 87.4% of the fish eaten. It is concluded that Tasmacetus may alternately exploit fish and cephalopods, depending on the time of day and access to seamount or continental slope areas.P.B.B. and M.J.S. acknowledge support from the National Research Foundation, South Africa, and S.v.d.H. thanks the Stellenbosch University Discretionary Fund for financial assistance.http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=mbi2015-09-30am201

A Social Model for Health Promotion for an Aging Population: Initial Evidence on the Experience Corps Model

This report evaluates whether a program for older volunteers, designed for both generativity and health promotion, leads to short-term improvements in multiple behavioral risk factors and positive effects on intermediary risk factors for disability and other morbidities. The Experience Corps® places older volunteers in public elementary schools in roles designed to meet schools\u27 needs and increase the social, physical, and cognitive activity of the volunteers. This article reports on a pilot randomized trial in Baltimore, Maryland. The 128 volunteers were 60-86 years old; 95% were African American. At follow-up of 4-8 months, physical activity, strength, people one could turn to for help, and cognitive activity increased significantly, and walking speed decreased significantly less, in participants compared to controls. In this pilot trial, physical, cognitive, and social activity increased, suggesting the potential for the Experience Corps to improve health for an aging population and simultaneously improve educational outcomes for children

Semi-submersible rigs: a vector transporting entire marine communities around the world

A virtually intact subtropical reef community (14 phyla, 40 families and 62 non-native taxa) was associated with a rig under tow from Brazil that became stranded on the remote island of Tristan da Cunha. This exposes rigs as a significant vector spreading alien marine organisms, and includes the first records of free-swimming marine finfish populations becoming established after unintentional movement. With relatively trivial effort, a pre-tow clean would have obviated the need to salvage and dispose of the rig (undertaken largely to address concerns about invasive species), at a cost of *US$20 million. Our findings show that towing biofouled structures across biogeographic boundaries present unexcelled opportunities for invasion to a wide diversity of marine species. Better control and management of this vector is required urgently. Simultaneous, unintentional introductions of viable populations of multiple marine organisms are rare events, and we develop a basic framework for rapid assessment of invasion risks

Low-dose TNF augments fracture healing in normal and osteoporotic bone by up-regulating the innate immune response

The mechanism by which trauma initiates healing remains unclear. Precise understanding of these events may define interventions for accelerating healing that could be translated to the clinical arena. We previously reported that addition of low-dose recombinant human TNF (rhTNF) at the fracture site augmented fracture repair in a murine tibial fracture model. Here, we show that local rhTNF treatment is only effective when administered within 24h of injury, when neutrophils are the major inflammatory cell infiltrate. Systemic administration of anti-TNF impaired fracture healing. Addition of rhTNF enhanced neutrophil recruitment and promoted recruitment of monocytes through CCL2 production. Conversely, depletion of neutrophils or inhibition of the chemokine receptor CCR2 resulted in significantly impaired fracture healing. Fragility, or osteoporotic, fractures represent a major medical problem as they are associated with permanent disability and premature death. Using a murine model of fragility fractures, we found that local rhTNF treatment improved fracture healing during the early phase of repair. If translated clinically, this promotion of fracture healing would reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with delayed patient mobilization

Changing gender roles and attitudes and their implications for well-being around the new millennium

<b>Purpose</b><p></p> Given evidence that gender role attitudes (GRAs) and actual gender roles impact on well-being, we examine associations between GRAs, three roles (marital status, household chore division, couple employment) and psychological distress in working-age men and women. We investigate time-trends reflecting broader social and economic changes, by focusing on three age groups at two dates.<p></p> <b>Methods</b><p></p> We used British Household Panel Survey data from 20- to 64-year-olds in heterosexual couple households in 1991 (N = 5,302) and 2007 (N = 6,621). We examined: levels of traditional GRAs according to gender, age, date, household and employment roles; associations which GRAs and roles had with psychological distress (measured via the GHQ-12); whether psychological distress increased when GRAs conflicted with actual roles; and whether any of these associations differed according to gender, age or date.<p></p> <b>Results</b><p></p> Gender traditionalism was lower among women, younger people, those participating in 2007 and in ‘less traditional’ relationships and households. Psychological distress was higher among those with more traditional GRAs and, particularly among men, for those not employed, and there was some evidence of different patterns of association according to age-group. There was limited evidence, among women only, of increased psychological distress when GRAs and actual roles conflicted and/or reductions when GRAs and roles agreed, particularly in respect of household chores and paid employment.<p></p> <b>Conclusions</b><p></p> Although some aspects of gender roles and attitudes (traditionalism and paid employment) are associated with well-being, others (marital status and household chores), and attitude-role consistency, may have little impact on the well-being of contemporary UK adults.<p></p&gt

Influence of Contact Definitions in Assessment of the Relative Importance of Social Settings in Disease Transmission Risk

BACKGROUND: Realistic models of disease transmission incorporating complex population heterogeneities require input from quantitative population mixing studies. We use contact diaries to assess the relative importance of social settings in respiratory pathogen spread using three measures of person contact hours (PCH) as proxies for transmission risk with an aim to inform bipartite network models of respiratory pathogen transmission. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Our survey examines the contact behaviour for a convenience sample of 65 adults, with each encounter classified as occurring in a work, retail, home, social, travel or "other" setting. The diary design allows for extraction of PCH-interaction (cumulative time in face-face conversational or touch interaction with contacts)--analogous to the contact measure used in several existing surveys--as well as PCH-setting (product of time spent in setting and number of people present) and PCH-reach (product of time spent in setting and number of people in close proximity). Heterogeneities in day-dependent distribution of risk across settings are analysed using partitioning and cluster analyses and compared between days and contact measures. Although home is typically the highest-risk setting when PCH measures isolate two-way interactions, its relative importance compared to social and work settings may reduce when adopting a more inclusive contact measure that considers the number and duration of potential exposure events. CONCLUSIONS: Heterogeneities in location-dependent contact behaviour as measured by contact diary studies depend on the adopted contact definition. We find that contact measures isolating face-face conversational or touch interactions suggest that contact in the home dominates, whereas more inclusive contact measures indicate that home and work settings may be of higher importance. In the absence of definitive knowledge of the contact required to facilitate transmission of various respiratory pathogens, it is important for surveys to consider alternative contact measures