Dive tourism in Luganville, Vanuatu: shocks, stressors and vulnerability to climate change

Luganville is a developing dive tourism destination region (DTDR) in Vanuatu, which relies on tourism. This article reports on the shocks and stressors faced by Luganville’s dive tourism sector and climate change’s exacerbation of these. The study’s methodology was based on rapid rural appraisal and case study principles, involving methods of semistructured interviews, group discussions, and personal observations. Data were analyzed using a thematic analysis approach. Key shocks identified include cyclones, earthquakes, effect on demand due to media footage, and changes to international flights. Main stressors were starfish outbreaks and environmental degradation. Unlike the indigenous communities, expatriates show little concern for the potential impact of climate change, presenting response challenges that must incorporate different perspectives to develop effective adaptation options. Special Issue : scuba diving touris

Copepod carcasses in the subtropical convergence zone of the Sargasso Sea: implications for microbial community composition, system respiration and carbon flux

We showed that copepod carcasses were prevalent in the dynamic subtropical convergence zone where the water column stratification pattern can change considerably across the front as warm and cold water masses converge. The proportional numerical abundances of copepod carcasses increased with depth, reaching up to 91% at 300–400 m. On average 14–19% of the copepods in the upper 200 m were carcasses. Combining field and experimental data, we estimated that decomposing copepod carcasses were a negligible oxygen sink in the STCZ, but sinking carcasses represent an overlooked source of the passive carbon sinking flux in the area

Ungdomstræneren som kulturel leder : Et multicase pilotstudie af tre træneres praksis

Formålet var at analysere, hvad der kendetegner tre ungdomstræneres praksis som kulturel ledelse, og at afprøve organisationspsykologen Edgar Scheins begrebsapparat som ramme. Data blev genereret gennem observationer og formelle interviews med trænerne. Cross-case analysen (Stake, 2006) viste bl.a., at trænerne skabte og opretholdt gruppekulturer gennem anerkendelse af bestemt adfærd og ved at fremhæve rollemodeller i gruppen. Opfattelsen af deres primære opgave og funktion som træner prægede også gruppekulturen. Scheins begrebsapparat var delvist brugbart til at analysere trænere som kulturelle ledere, men der er behov for at udvikle og kontekstualisere en undersøgelsesramme til studier af kulturel ledelse i unges idrætsmiljøer

Horses in Denmark Are a Reservoir of Diverse Clones of Methicillin-Resistant and -Susceptible Staphylococcus aureus

Denmark is a country with high prevalence of livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) clonal complex (CC) 398 in pigs. Even though pig farming is regarded as the main source of human infection or colonization with MRSA CC398, 10–15% of the human cases appear not to be linked to pigs. Following the recent reports of MRSA CC398 in horses in other European countries and the lack of knowledge on S. aureus carriage in this animal species, we carried out a study to investigate whether horses constitute a reservoir of MRSA CC398 in Denmark, and to gain knowledge on the frequency and genetic diversity of S. aureus in horses, including both methicillin-resistant and -susceptible S. aureus (MSSA). Nasal swabs were collected from 401 horses originating from 74 farms, either at their farms or prior to admission to veterinary clinics. Following culture on selective media, species identification by MALDI-TOF MS and MRSA confirmation by standard PCR-based methods, S. aureus and MRSA were detected in 54 (13%) and 17 (4%) horses originating from 30 (40%) and 7 (9%) farms, respectively. Based on spa typing, MSSA differed genetically from MRSA isolates. The spa type prevalent among MSSA isolates was t127 (CC1), which was detected in 12 horses from 11 farms and represents the most common S. aureus clone isolated from human bacteremia cases in Denmark. Among the 17 MRSA carriers, 10 horses from three farms carried CC398 t011 harboring the immune evasion cluster (IEC), four horses from two farms carried IEC-negative CC398 t034, and three horses from two farms carried a mecC-positive MRSA lineage previously associated with wildlife and domestic ruminants (CC130 t528). Based on whole-genome phylogenetic analysis of the 14 MRSA CC398, t011 isolates belonged to the recently identified horse-adapted clone in Europe and were closely related to human t011 isolates from three Danish equine veterinarians, whereas t034 isolates belonged to pig-adapted clones. Our study confirms that horses carry an equine-specific clone of MRSA CC398 that can be transmitted to veterinary personnel, and reveals that these animals are exposed to MRSA and MSSA clones that are likely to originate from livestock and humans, respectively