Mitigating slipping-related mortality from purse seine fisheries for small pelagic fish: case studies from European Atlantic waters

The release of unwanted catches (UWC) from purse seines, while the catch is still in the water, is known as “slipping”. Once thought to be a benign process, compared to discarding UWC overboard from the fishing vessel, it is now recognised that “slipping” can lead to significant mortality in the released fish if done inappropriately. In this chapter, we examine purse seining and slipping operations, and discuss what drives slipping and potential mitigation measures to reduce slipping mortality. We use three examples of purse seine fisheries for small pelagic species in the North-east Atlantic; from Norway, Portugal and Spain. The ideal solution (identifying and avoiding UWC before the net is set) requires the development of tools to enable fishers to better characterise target schools in terms of key selection criteria, e.g., with respect to species, individual size and catch biomass. Such tools are being developed, based primarily on hydro-acoustic technology. However, some UWC in purse seine catches are inevitable, and operational improvements in slipping practices have been shown to significantly reduce stress and mortality in the released UWC. We conclude with a discussion on the challenges currently facing the implementation of the European Union (EU) Landing Obligation with regards to minimising slipping related mortality.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The assessment of information technology maturity in emergency response organizations

[EN] In emergency response organizations, information technologies are not adequately explored. Sometimes, the mere adoption of new information technologies is not productive, as their efficient use depends on other interrelated technologies and the environment where they are installed. This work describes a model to help organizations understand their capability in respect to the adoption of these technologies. The model also helps the performing of the evaluation from different perspectives, making it suitable to collaborative evaluation. Using the proposed model, an organization can measure its maturity level in different aspects of the evaluation and guide the investment on its capabilities. Part of the model has been developed for emergency response organizations and the information technology dimension of the model has been applied to two fire department installations.Marcos R. S. Borges was partially supported by grants No. 560223/2010-2 and 480461/2009-0 from CNPq (Brazil). Work of José H. Canós is partially funded by the Spanish Ministerio. de Educación y Ciencia (MEC) under grant TIPEX (TIN2010–19859-C03-03). The cooperation between the Brazilian and the Spanish research groups was partially sponsored by the CAPES/MECD Cooperation Program, Project #169/ PHB2007-0064-PC.Santos, RS.; Borges, MRS.; Canos Cerda, JH.; Gomes, JO. (2011). The assessment of information technology maturity in emergency response organizations. Group Decision and Negotiation. 20(5):593-613. doi:10.1007/s10726-011-9232-zS593613205Bigley G, Roberts KH (2001) The incident command system: high reliability organizing for complex and volatile task environments. Acad Manag J 44(6): 1281–1299Chinowsky P, Molenaar K, Realph A (2007) Learning organizations in construction. J Manag Eng 23(1): 27–34Diniz VB, Borges MRS, Gomes JO, Canós JH (2008) Decision making support in emergency response. In: Encyclopedia of decision making, Information Science Reference (an imprint of IGI Global), New York, pp 184–191Dörner R, Grimm P, Seiler C (2001) ETOILE—an environment for team, organizational and individual learning. CG Top 13(3): 5–6Dykstra E (2003) Concept paper: toward an international system model in emergency management. In: Proceedings of toward an international system model in emergency management, Public Entity Risk InstituteFederal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) (1998) Emergency management guide for business and industry: a step-by-step approach to emergency planning, response and recovery for companies of all sizesGu Q, Mendonça D (2005) Patterns of group information seeking in a simulated emergency response environment. In: Proceedings of the 2nd international ISCRAM conference, Brussels, BelgiumHale J (1997) A layered communication architecture for the support of crisis response. J Manag Inf Syst 14(1): 235–255King W, Teo T (1997) Integration between business planning and information systems planning: validating a stage hypothesis. Decis Sci 28(2): 279–307Lachner J, Hellwagner H (2008) Information and communication systems for mobile emergency response. Lecture notes in business information processing, vol 5. pp 213–224Lavoie D, Culbert A (1978) Stages in organization and development. Human Relat 31(5): 417–438Lindel MK, Prater C, Perry RW (2007) Emergency management. Wiley, New YorkLlavador M, Letelier P, Penadés MC, Borges MRS, Solís C (2006) Precise yet flexible specification of emergency resolution procedures. In: Proceedings of the information systems for crisis response and management (ISCRAM), pp 110–120Meissner A, Wang Z, Putz W, Grimmer J (2006) MIKoBOS: a mobile information and communication system for emergency response. In: Proceedings of the 3rd international ISCRAM conference, Newark, New JerseyNonaka I, Takeuchi H (1995) The knowledge creating company: how Japanese companies create the dynamics of innovation. Oxford University Press, OxfordOchoa S, Neyem A, Pino JA, Borges MRS (2007) Supporting group decision making and coordination in urban disasters relief efforts. J Decis Syst 16(2): 143–172Paton D, Flin R (1999) Disaster stress: an emergency management perspective. Disaster Prev Manag 8(4): 261–267Paulk MC, Weber C, Curtis B, Chrissis M (1995) The capability maturity model: guidelines for improving the software process. Addison-Wesley, ReadingQuarantelli EL (1997) Problematical aspects of the information/communication revolution for disaster planning and research: ten non-technical issues and questions. Disaster Prev Manag 6(2): 94–106Santos RS, Borges MRS, Gomes JO, Canós JH (2008) Maturity levels of information technologies in emergency response organizations. In: Proceedings of the international workshop on groupware, Omaha, Nebraska, USA. Groupware: design, implementation and use. Lecture notes in computer science, vol 5411. Springer, Berlin, pp 135–150Schoenharl T, Szabo G, Madey G, Barabasi AL (2006) WIPER: a multi-agent system for emergency response. In: Proceedings of the 3rd international ISCRAM conference, Newark, New JerseyTuroff M (2002) Past and future emergency response information systems. Commun ACM 45(4): 29–33Turoff M, Chumer M, Hiltz R, Clasher R, Alles M, Vasarhelyi M, Kogan A (2004a) Assuring homeland security: continuous monitoring, control and assurance of emergency preparedness. J Inf Technol Theor Appl (JITTA) 6(3): 1–24Turoff M, Chumer M, Vande Walle B, Yao X (2004b) The design of a dynamic emergency response management information system (DERMIS). J Inf Technol Theor Appl (JITTA) 5(4): 1–35Van der Lee MDE, Van Vugt M (2004) IMI—An information system for effective multidisciplinary incident management. In: Proceedings of the 1st international ISCRAM conference, Brussels, BelgiumYuan Y, Deltor B (2005) Intelligent mobile crisis response systems. Commun ACM 28(2): 95–98Zimmerman R, Restrepo CE (2006) Information technology (IT) and critical infrastructure interdependencies for emergency response. In: Proceedings of the 3rd international ISCRAM conference, Newark, New Jerse

Digestion of Raw and Roasted Almonds in Simulated Gastric Environment

Knowledge of digestion kinetics of solid foods in human stomach, as affected by food processing methods, is critical in establishing processing conditions at the manufacturing stage to achieve desirable release of nutrients in the gastrointestinal tract. The objective of this study was to investigate how roasting affected disintegration and solid release properties of almond in simulated gastric environment. In vitro trials were performed for raw and roasted almonds by using static soaking method and a model stomach system. The changes in sample weight, dry mass, and moisture during the trials were determined. Both compression and penetration tests were used to investigate the texture of almonds with a focus on the influence of absorption of gastric juice. Light microscopy and transmission electronic microscopy were used to study the change in microstructure of the raw and roasted almonds after simulated digestion. The results suggested that the slow disintegration rate and the high amount of swelling of the almonds in the stomach may contribute to their high satiety property. Roasting significantly improved the disintegration rates of almonds and increased loss of solids during simulated digestion, which is well correlated with the decrease in the rigidity of almond samples after absorbing gastric juice. Microstructure of digested almonds showed breakage and breach of cell walls due to acid hydrolysis. Intercellular and intracellular channels formed in almonds during roasting are important for penetration of gastric juice that may facilitate an effective digestion

Cross-National Analysis of the Associations among Mental Disorders and Suicidal Behavior: Findings from the WHO World Mental Health Surveys

Using data from over 100,000 individuals in 21 countries participating in the WHO World Mental Health Surveys, Matthew Nock and colleagues investigate which mental health disorders increase the odds of experiencing suicidal thoughts and actual suicide attempts, and how these relationships differ across developed and developing countries

Cross-National Analysis of the Associations between Traumatic Events and Suicidal Behavior: Findings from the WHO World Mental Health Surveys

Background Community and clinical data have suggested there is an association between trauma exposure and suicidal behavior (i.e., suicide ideation, plans and attempts). However, few studies have assessed which traumas are uniquely predictive of: the first onset of suicidal behavior, the progression from suicide ideation to plans and attempts, or the persistence of each form of suicidal behavior over time. Moreover, few data are available on such associations in developing countries. The current study addresses each of these issues.Methodology/Principal Findings Data on trauma exposure and subsequent first onset of suicidal behavior were collected via structured interviews conducted in the households of 102,245 (age 18+) respondents from 21 countries participating in the WHO World Mental Health Surveys. Bivariate and multivariate survival models tested the relationship between the type and number of traumatic events and subsequent suicidal behavior. A range of traumatic events are associated with suicidal behavior, with sexual and interpersonal violence consistently showing the strongest effects. There is a dose-response relationship between the number of traumatic events and suicide ideation/attempt; however, there is decay in the strength of the association with more events. Although a range of traumatic events are associated with the onset of suicide ideation, fewer events predict which people with suicide ideation progress to suicide plan and attempt, or the persistence of suicidal behavior over time. Associations generally are consistent across high-, middle-, and low-income countries.Conclusions/Significance This study provides more detailed information than previously available on the relationship between traumatic events and suicidal behavior and indicates that this association is fairly consistent across developed and developing countries. These data reinforce the importance of psychological trauma as a major public health problem, and highlight the significance of screening for the presence and accumulation of traumatic exposures as a risk factor for suicide ideation and attempt.African and African American StudiesPsycholog

A cross-sectional survey of prevalence and correlates of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among prisoners in New South Wales, Australia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>We aimed to estimate the prevalence of suicidal ideation and suicide attempt among prisoners in New South Wales, Australia; and, among prisoners reporting suicidal ideation, to identify factors associated with suicide attempt.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross-sectional design was used. Participants were a random, stratified sample of 996 inmates who completed a telephone survey. The estimated population prevalence of suicidal ideation and suicide attempt were calculated and differences by sex and Aboriginality were tested using <it>χ</it>2 tests. Correlates of suicidal ideation and suicide attempt were tested using logistic regression.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>One-third of inmates reported lifetime suicidal ideation and one-fifth had attempted suicide. Women and Aboriginal participants were significantly more likely than men and non-Aboriginal participants, respectively, to report attempting suicide. Correlates of suicidal ideation included violent offending, traumatic brain injury, depression, self-harm, and psychiatric hospitalisation. Univariate correlates of suicide attempt among ideators were childhood out-of-home care, parental incarceration and psychiatric hospitalization; however, none of these remained significant in a multivariate model.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Suicidal ideation and attempts are highly prevalent among prisoners compared to the general community. Assessment of suicide risk is a critical task for mental health clinicians in prisons. Attention should be given to ensuring assessments are gender- and culturally sensitive. Indicators of mental illness may not be accurate predictors of suicide attempt. Indicators of childhood trauma appear to be particularly relevant to risk of suicide attempt among prisoners and should be given attention as part of risk assessments.</p

IgE allergy diagnostics and other relevant tests in allergy, a World Allergy Organization position paper

Currently, testing for immunoglobulin E (IgE) sensitization is the cornerstone of diagnostic evaluation in suspected allergic conditions. This review provides a thorough and updated critical appraisal of the most frequently used diagnostic tests, both in vivo and in vitro. It discusses skin tests, challenges, and serological and cellular in vitro tests, and provides an overview of indications, advantages and disadvantages of each in conditions such as respiratory, food, venom, drug, and occupational allergy. Skin prick testing remains the first line approach in most instances; the added value of serum specific IgE to whole allergen extracts or components, as well as the role of basophil activation tests, is evaluated. Unproven, non-validated, diagnostic tests are also discussed. Throughout the review, the reader must bear in mind the relevance of differentiating between sensitization and allergy; the latter entails not only allergic sensitization, but also clinically relevant symptoms triggered by the culprit allergen.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio