Revised protocols for baseline port surveys for introduced marine species - Survey design, sampling protocols and specimen handling

A prerequisite for any attempt to control the introduction and spread by shipping of non-indigenous marine pest species in Australian waters is knowledge of the current distribution and abundance of introduced species in Australian ports. This information base is lacking for a majority of Australian ports. The Australian Ballast Water Management Advisory Council (ABWMAC), the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Resource Management (SCARM), and the Australia and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council (ANZECC) State of the Environment (SoE) Reporting Task Force, have all recognised the need for baseline studies to determine the extent to which introduced species have established in Australian waters. In response to these needs, the CSIRO Centre for Research on Introduced Marine Species (CRIMP) and various state agencies have commenced a national port survey program designed to define the occurrence of non-indigenous species in Australian ports. Given the number of agencies and research organisations that will potentially participate in a national port survey program, a high priority was given to developing a standardised set of survey methods that would provide a consistent basis on which to assess the introduced species status of individual ports. Surveys designed to identify all non-indigenous species in a port will inevitably be subject to scientific, logistic and cost constraints that will limit both their taxonomic and spatial scope. Recognition of these constraints led CRIMP to adopt a targeted approach that concentrates on a known group of species and provides a cost-effective collection of baseline data for all ports. While these surveys specifically target designated pest species, they are also designed to determine the distribution and abundance of other introduced species in a port. The surveys will also identify species of uncertain status (cryptogenic, that is not known if they are endemic or introduced) that are abundant in a port and/or are likely to become major pest species. This report reviews the general protocols developed by CRIMP for introduced species port surveys in 1996, and updates and provides evidence to support the recommended methodologies. The survey design and sampling protocols are outlined to encourage the adoption of a broad and consistent approach to the problem. Triggers for post survey monitoring regimes and factors influencing the frequency of resurveying are also discussed

Striding out with Parkinson disease: evidence-based physical therapy for gait disorders

Although Parkinson disease (PD) is common throughout the world, the evidence for physical therapy interventions that enable long-term improvement in walking is still emerging. This article critiques the major physical therapy approaches related to gait rehabilitation in people with PD: compensatory strategies, motor skill learning, management of secondary sequelae, and education to optimize physical activity and reduce falls. The emphasis of this review is on gait specifically, although balance and falls are of direct importance to gait and are addressed in that context. Although the researchers who have provided the evidence for these approaches grounded their studies on different theoretical paradigms, each approach is argued to have a valid place in the comprehensive management of PD generally and of gait in particular. The optimal mix of interventions for each individual varies according to the stage of disease progression and the patient's preferred form of exercise, capacity for learning, and age

Neighborhood disadvantage across the transition from adolescence to adulthood and risk of metabolic syndrome

This study investigates the association between neighborhood disadvantage from adolescence to young adulthood and metabolic syndrome using a life course epidemiology framework. Data from the United States-based National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (n = 9500)and a structural equation modeling approach were used to test neighborhood disadvantage across adolescence, emerging adulthood, and young adulthood in relation to metabolic syndrome. Adolescent neighborhood disadvantage was directly associated with metabolic syndrome in young adulthood. Evidence supporting an indirect association between adolescent neighborhood disadvantage and adult metabolic syndrome was not supported. Efforts to improve cardiometabolic health may benefit from strategies earlier in life

Association Between Immigration History and Inflammatory Marker Profiles Among Older Adult Mexican Americans

Foreign-born Hispanics have better cardiometabolic health upon arrival in the US than their US-born counterparts, yet this advantage diminishes as duration of residence in the US increases. Underlying mechanisms explaining this paradox have been understudied. Using data from the Sacramento Area Latino Study on Aging (SALSA), this study examined immigration history (immigrant generation and duration of US residence) in relation to biomarkers of inflammation (interleukin-6 (IL-6), soluble forms of type 1 and 2 receptors of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (sTNF-R1 and sTNF-R2), C-reactive protein (CRP), leptin, adiponectin) in a sample of 1,290 predominantly Mexican-origin immigrants. Second and ≥3rd generation immigrants had higher IL-6 and leptin levels than 1st generation immigrants living in the US for less than 15 years (2nd generation percent difference = 45.9; 95% CI: 24.7, 70.7 and 3rd generation percent difference = 41.8; 95% CI: 17.7, 70.4). CRP and sTNF-R1 levels were higher among ≥3rd generation immigrants than 1st generation immigrants with less than 15 years of US residency. Worse inflammatory profiles were observed among Mexican-origin immigrants with longer US immigration histories, independent of health, and behavioral factors. Additional research is warranted to understand the factors that shape trajectories of biological risk across generations of Hispanics

Examining Urdu: A study of 16+ examinations in the U.K.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate some aspects of Urdu examinations in Britain. The changeover from GCE to GCSE has required Urdu teachers and students to develop a broader range of skills. The goals of the Urdu-using community do not necessarily accord with the demands of the GCSE, which requires Urdu to be examined according to criteria determined for French. Chapter 1 discusses factors which affect the examination and distinguish Urdu from French: the students' bilingual background, teachers and teaching provision, the implications of the change in the examination system, the introduction of the National Curriculum and the notion of parity of status with 'Modern Languages'. Chapter 2 analyses the GCSE criteria and the Urdu syllabuses derived from them. Certain aspects of the GCSE are given special consideration, including writing standards, the oral examination, discrete-skill testing and the use of dual language papers. In view of the social priority accorded to writing by the Urdu-using community it was thought appropriate to investigate examination candidates' written performance. Chapter 3 discusses the rationale for the collection and analysis of the corpus analysed. Chapter 4 demonstrates the types and range of verbs and verb forms used by the candidates and relates them to the GCSE vocabulary and structure lists. Chapter 5 analyses errors with particular reference to the influence of Panjabi and the relationship between phonemes and graphemes and considers them from the standpoint of the GCSE assessment criteria. Chapter 6 contains an analysis of English words used in the Urdu compositions and of those included in the GCSE vocabularies. The final chapter summarises the findings of the research and suggests areas worthy of further investigation. Alternative examination formats are also suggested which may be more appropriate for Urdu than those prescribed. These include graded assessment, the introduction of national attainment targets and the development of a new post 16+ examination

Photo--assisted current and shot noise in the fractional quantum Hall effect

The effect of an AC perturbation on the shot noise of a fractional quantum Hall fluid is studied both in the weak and the strong backscattering regimes. It is known that the zero-frequency current is linear in the bias voltage, while the noise derivative exhibits steps as a function of bias. In contrast, at Laughlin fractions, the backscattering current and the backscattering noise both exhibit evenly spaced singularities, which are reminiscent of the tunneling density of states singularities for quasiparticles. The spacing is determined by the quasiparticle charge $\nu e$ and the ratio of the DC bias with respect to the drive frequency. Photo--assisted transport can thus be considered as a probe for effective charges at such filling factors, and could be used in the study of more complicated fractions of the Hall effect. A non-perturbative method for studying photo--assisted transport at $\nu=1/2$ is developed, using a refermionization procedure.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figure

What matters most - what parents model or what parents eat?

however, researchers struggle to identify which food parenting practices to recommend. This study examined the influence of parents modeling of healthy eating (“parent role modeling”) and parents’ actual food intake (“parent dietary intake”) on child diet quality, and explored whether these practices work together to influence children's diets. Methods: Baseline data from a larger intervention trial were used for this analysis. The sample included parents of preschool-age children from households with at least one overweight parent. The Comprehensive Feeding Practices Questionnaire was used to assess parent modeling of healthy eating (“healthy modeling”). Three days of dietary recalls were used to collect parents’ report of their own intake and their children's intake (excluding food at child care). Associations between parent healthy modeling and parent intake of healthy and unhealthy foods were explored using Pearson correlations. Associations between parent healthy modeling and parent Healthy Eating Index (HEI) score on child HEI score were examined with linear regression. Additionally, the interaction between parent healthy modeling and HEI score on child HEI score was tested. Results: Parent healthy modeling was significantly correlated with parent intake of healthy foodsLinear regression showed a significant association between parent modeling and child HEI score, even after controlling for parent diet (β = 3.08, SE = 0.87, p < 0.001). Children whose parents had high parent healthy modeling scores had higher HEI scores (mean = 61.5 ± 10.4) regardless of parent HEI score. We did not find evidence that parent healthy modeling and diet quality interact to influence child diet quality. Conclusions: Parents’ healthy modeling is an important practice in influencing children's diet quality, possibly more so than the quality of parents’ diets.Purpose: Parents have a strong influence on their children's eating habit

How identifying circumgalactic gas by line-of-sight velocity instead of the location in 3D space affects O VI measurements

Galaxie

The perseveration of checking thoughts and mood–as–input hypothesis

This paper describes two experiments designed to investigate how a current model of task perseveration, the mood-as-input hypothesis, might be applied to activities relevant to compulsive checking. The mood-as-input hypothesis predicts that perseveration at an open-ended task will be determined by a combination of the “stop rules” adopted for the task, and the valency of the mood state in which the task is conducted. Experiment 1 required participants to generate items that should be checked for safety/security if they were leaving their home unattended. Experiment 2 used an analogue recall task, in which participants were asked to recall items from a comprehensive list of items that should be checked if they were to leave their home safe/secure. Both experiments found that perseveration at the tasks was determined by particular configurations of mood and stop rules for the task. Of most relevance to compulsive checking was the fact that facilitated perseveration occurred when participants were asked to undertake the tasks in a negative mood using “as many as can” stop rules. Implications for the factors that develop and maintain compulsive checking are discussed