Hydroacoustics as a tool to examine the effects of Marine Protected Areas and habitat type on marine fish communities

Abstract Hydroacoustic technologies are widely used in fisheries research but few studies have used them to examine the effects of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). We evaluate the efficacy of hydroacoustics to examine the effects of closure to fishing and habitat type on fish populations in the Cabo Pulmo National Park (CPNP), Mexico, and compare these methods to Underwater Visual Censuses (UVC). Fish density, biomass and size were all significantly higher inside the CPNP (299%, 144% and 52% respectively) than outside in non-MPA control areas. These values were much higher when only accounting for the reefs within the CPNP (4715%, 6970% and 97% respectively) highlighting the importance of both habitat complexity and protection from fishing for fish populations. Acoustic estimates of fish biomass over reef-specific sites did not differ significantly from those estimated using UVC data, although acoustic densities were less due to higher numbers of small fish recorded by UVC. There is thus considerable merit in nesting UVC surveys, also providing species information, within hydroacoustic surveys. This study is a valuable starting point in demonstrating the utility of hydroacoustics to assess the effects of coastal MPAs on fish populations, something that has been underutilised in MPA design, formation and management

A model for the future: Ecosystem services provided by the aquaculture activities of Veta la Palma, Southern Spain

© 2015 Elsevier B.V. The lack of space and opportunity for development has been identified as key reasons behind the stagnation of the European aquaculture industry. With the historical loss and degradation of current European wetlands there is an opportunity for harnessing the commercial investment of the aquaculture industry in construction of dual purpose wetlands that incorporate both conservation and extensive aquaculture activities. These wetlands can be used to expand the area available to suitable aquaculture into ecologically sensitive areas, such as Natura 2000 sites. Veta la Palma (VLP) situated in the Doñana Natural Park (and a Natura 2000 site) is an example of such an aquaculture development and a possible model for future opportunities. In the current study some of the important ecosystem services that are provided by VLP are assessed. The provisioning services of VLP were the economic rationale for the investment and more than 820tonnesyr-1 of fish and shrimp is produced, through a mixture of semi-extensive and extensive aquaculture. The regulating services include nutrient absorption, and the flow of river water through VLP and high primary production results in the absorption of 377tonnes of dissolved inorganic nitrogen yr-1, and 516tonnes of Cyr-1. Supporting services include the provision of habitat for more than 94 bird and 21 fish species. The primary production that supports the birds, extensive and semi-extensive aquaculture production was also estimated to be 167,000tonnes, 50,000tonnes and 133,000tonnesyr-1, respectively. The losses to birds are substantial and these estimates indicate that almost half of the primary production supports the wetland birds which directly consume 249tonnes of fish and 2578tonnes of invertebrates per annum. However it is the ecological credentials of the farm that enable premium prices and hence ensure the economic viability of the farm. The study demonstrates the possibility of using aquaculture to mitigate the historical loss of wetlands, provide significant ecosystem services and contribute to achievement of the European environmental legislative goals, and furthers the opportunity for the expansion of aquaculture into sensitive but impacted habitats.Peer Reviewe

Block sequential adriamycin CMF – optimal non-myeloablative chemotherapy for high risk adjuvant breast cancer?

After the publication of the 10-year survival data from Milan on the adjuvant use of the block sequential regimen consisting of four cycles of adriamycin followed by eight cycles of intravenous CMF, many centres adopted this as standard of care for high risk, multiple node-positive breast cancer. For this reason it was identified as the standard arm for the Anglo-Celtic adjuvant high-dose chemotherapy trial. This study reports on the experience of this regimen in 329 women with early breast cancer involving at least four axillary nodes, who were treated outside any adjuvant chemotherapy trial. At a median follow-up of 3 years, the overall 5-year disease-free survival is 61%, and the overall survival is 70%. These data confirm the efficacy of this regimen in non-trial patients, and, for the same high risk subgroup, indicate that this approach offers an outcome at least as good as that seen in the CALGB 9344 AC-Taxol arm, and the NCIC days 1 and 8 CEF

Examining current best-practices for the use of wild post-larvae capture, culture, and release for fisheries enhancement

Demand for marine fisheries is rising despite global impacts on the productive capacity of wild fish stocks due to overfishing, habitat loss, and global warming. Fisheries enhancement programs—aimed at augmenting stocks by releasing juveniles into the wild—are expected to play an increasingly important auxiliary role in addressing capture-based fishery limitations into the future. However, concerns exist over the impacts and efficacy of aquaculture-based enhancement (ABE), releasing captive-bred fish into wild populations. An alternative but understudied approach for fisheries enhancement is wild post-larvae capture, culture, and release (PCCR). Here, we provide an overview of the PCCR process, from initial planning to measuring success, providing an overview of its implementation in a viable finfish fishery, the white seabream Diplodus sargus in the Mediterranean. We discuss management application of PCCR-based enhancement and its limitations, highlighting existing knowledge gaps and future research required to realize the full potential of this alternative approach. Notwithstanding some limitations–including limited uptake for full evaluation, some species restrictions, density-dependent mortality, and the remaining open challenge for stock enhancement generally of tracking released fish through to reproduction–PCCR offers potential as a credible auxiliary management tool for fisheries restoration

Nitrogen oxides and PAN in plumes from boreal fires during ARCTAS-B and their impact on ozone: an integrated analysis of aircraft and satellite observations

We determine enhancement ratios for NO<sub>x</sub>, PAN, and other NO<sub>y</sub> species from boreal biomass burning using aircraft data obtained during the ARCTAS-B campaign and examine the impact of these emissions on tropospheric ozone in the Arctic. We find an initial emission factor for NO<sub>x</sub> of 1.06 g NO per kg dry matter (DM) burned, much lower than previous observations of boreal plumes, and also one third the value recommended for extratropical fires. Our analysis provides the first observational confirmation of rapid PAN formation in a boreal smoke plume, with 40% of the initial NO<sub>x</sub> emissions being converted to PAN in the first few hours after emission. We find little clear evidence for ozone formation in the boreal smoke plumes during ARCTAS-B in either aircraft or satellite observations, or in model simulations. Only a third of the smoke plumes observed by the NASA DC8 showed a correlation between ozone and CO, and ozone was depleted in the plumes as often as it was enhanced. Special observations from the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) also show little evidence for enhanced ozone in boreal smoke plumes between 15 June and 15 July 2008. Of the 22 plumes observed by TES, only 4 showed ozone increasing within the smoke plumes, and even in those cases it was unclear that the increase was caused by fire emissions. Using the GEOS-Chem atmospheric chemistry model, we show that boreal fires during ARCTAS-B had little impact on the median ozone profile measured over Canada, and had little impact on ozone within the smoke plumes observed by TES

Solid foundations? Towards a historical sociology of prison building programmes in England and Wales, 1959–2015

Between 1959 and 2015 the UK government embarked upon five major phases of prison building in England and Wales. Drawing upon detailed archival research, this article offers a historical sociology of prison building programmes. It traces the evolution of prison building as a public policy concern and documents how this key site of penal policymaking was interpreted, and contested, by policy actors who were themselves embedded within deep institutional structures of power and meaning. It argues that prison building has moved from the margins to the mainstream of penal policy, shaped by strongly-held convictions about the liberal-democratic state, the competition for control of finite resources and the complex ?geography of administration? that underpins the British machinery of government

Homosexual Women Have Less Grey Matter in Perirhinal Cortex than Heterosexual Women

Is sexual orientation associated with structural differences in the brain? To address this question, 80 homosexual and heterosexual men and women (16 homosexual men and 15 homosexual women) underwent structural MRI. We used voxel-based morphometry to test for differences in grey matter concentration associated with gender and sexual orientation. Compared with heterosexual women, homosexual women displayed less grey matter bilaterally in the temporo-basal cortex, ventral cerebellum, and left ventral premotor cortex. The relative decrease in grey matter was most prominent in the left perirhinal cortex. The left perirhinal area also showed less grey matter in heterosexual men than in heterosexual women. Thus, in homosexual women, the perirhinal cortex grey matter displayed a more male-like structural pattern. This is in accordance with previous research that revealed signs of sex-atypical prenatal androgenization in homosexual women, but not in homosexual men. The relevance of the perirhinal area for high order multimodal (olfactory and visual) object, social, and sexual processing is discussed

Use of oral glucocorticoids and risk of skin cancer and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: a population-based case–control study

In North Jutland County, Denmark, we investigated whether use of oral glucocorticoids was associated with an increased risk of developing basal cell carcinoma (BCC), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), malignant melanoma (MM), and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). From the Danish Cancer Registry we identified 5422 BCC, 935 SCC, 983 MM, and 481 NHL cases during 1989–2003. Using risk-set sampling we selected four age- and gender-matched population controls for each case from the Civil Registration System. Prescriptions for oral glucocorticoids before diagnosis were obtained from the Prescription Database of North Jutland County on the basis of National Health Service data. We used conditional logistic regression to estimate incidence rate ratios (IRRs), adjusting for chronic medical diseases (information about these were obtained from the National Patient Registry) and use of other immunosuppressants. We found slightly elevated risk estimates for BCC (IRR, 1.15 (95% CI: 1.07–1.25)), SCC (IRR, 1.14 (95% CI: 0.94–1.39)), MM (IRR, 1.15 (95% CI: 0.94–1.41), and NHL (IRR, 1.11 (95% CI: 0.85–1.46)) among users of oral glucocorticoids. Our study supports an overall association between glucocorticoid use and risk of BCC that cannot be explained by the presence of chronic diseases or concomitant use of other immunosuppressants