Quantifying the escape mortality of trawl caught Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba)

<div><p>Antarctic krill (<i>Euphausia superba</i>) is an abundant fishery resource, the harvest levels of which are expected to increase. However, many of the length classes of krill can escape through commonly used commercial trawl mesh sizes. A vital component of the overall management of a fishery is to estimate the total fishing mortality and quantify the mortality rate of individuals that escape from fishing gear. The methods for determining fishing mortality in krill are still poorly developed. We used a covered codend sampling technique followed by onboard observations made in holding tanks to monitor mortality rates of escaped krill. Haul duration, hydrological conditions, maximum fishing depth and catch composition all had no significant effect on mortality of krill escaping 16 mm mesh size nets, nor was any further mortality associated with the holding tank conditions. A non- parametric Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to model the relationship between mortality rates of escapees and time. There was a weak tendency, though not significant, for smaller individuals to suffer higher mortality than larger individuals. The mortality of krill escaping the trawl nets in our study was 4.4 ± 4.4%, suggesting that krill are fairly tolerant of the capture-and-escape process in trawls.</p></div

Number of addictive substances used related to increased risk of unnatural death: A combined medico-legal and case-record study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Substance use disorders have repeatedly been found to lead to premature death, i.e. drug-related death by disease, fatal intoxications, or trauma (accidents, suicide, undetermined suicide, and homicide). The present study examined the relationship between multi-drug substance use and natural and unnatural death.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>All consecutive, autopsied patients who had been in contact with the Addiction Centre in Malmö University Hospital from 1993 to 1997 inclusive were investigated. Drug abuse was investigated blindly in the case records and related to the cause of death in 387 subjects.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Every substance apart from alcohol used previously in life added to the risk of unnatural death in a linear way. There were independent increased risks of fatal heroin overdoses or undetermined suicide. Death by suicide and violent death were unrelated to additional abuse.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The number of drugs used was related to an increased risk of unnatural death by undetermined suicide (mainly fatal intoxications) and heroin overdose.</p

Survey of advances and challenges in intelligent autonomy for distributed cyber-physical systems

With the evolution of the Internet of things and smart cities, a new trend of the Internet of simulation has emerged to utilise the technologies of cloud, edge, fog computing, and high-performance computing for design and analysis of complex cyber-physical systems using simulation. These technologies although being applied to the domains of big data and deep learning are not adequate to cope with the scale and complexity of emerging connected, smart, and autonomous systems. This study explores the existing state-of-the-art in automating, augmenting, and integrating systems across the domains of smart cities, autonomous vehicles, energy efficiency, smart manufacturing in Industry 4.0, and healthcare. This is expanded to look at existing computational infrastructure and how it can be used to support these applications. A detailed review is presented of advances in approaches providing and supporting intelligence as a service. Finally, some of the remaining challenges due to the explosion of data streams; issues of safety and security; and others related to big data, a model of reality, augmentation of systems, and computation are examined

Size Selection of Antarctic Krill (Euphausia superba) in Trawls

Trawlers involved in the Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) fishery use different trawl designs, and very little is known about the size selectivity of the various gears. Size selectivity quantifies a given trawl’s ability to catch different sizes of a harvested entity, and this information is crucial for the management of a sustainable fishery. We established a morphological description of krill and used it in a mathematical model (FISHSELECT) to predict the selective potential of diamond meshes measuring 5–40 mm with mesh opening angles (oa) ranging from 10 to 90u. We expected the majority of krill to encounter the trawl netting in random orientations due to high towing speeds and the assumed swimming capabilities of krill. However, our results indicated that size selectivity of krill is a well-defined process in which individuals encounter meshes at an optimal orientation for escapement. The simulation-based results were supported by data from experimental trawl hauls and underwater video images of the mesh geometry during fishing. Herein we present predictions for the size selectivity of a range of netting configurations relevant to the krill fishery. The methods developed and results described are important tools for selecting optimal trawl designs for krill fishing

Service Level Guarantee Framework for IoT environments

International audienceNowadays, providing IoT environments with service level guarantee is a challenging task. We propose a framework for IoT service level guarantee thanks to several specific Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for IoT environments. We specify different SLAs for each entity contributing in our IoT architecture in order to conclude a global SLA called IoT-SLA (iSLA). These different SLAs enable IoT service provision with Quality of Service (QoS) guarantee. Achieving this guarantee requires several communications and interactions between the components of the proposed IoT architecture. These interactions allow an IoT Service Provider (IoT-SP) to conclude the iSLA with an IoT Client (IoT-C). We specify these interactions and communications between the different parties thanks to a specific Finite State Machine (FSM) and a Message Sequence Charts (MSC)

Alcohol and premature death in Estonian men: a study of forensic autopsies using novel biomarkers and proxy informants.

BACKGROUND: Alcohol makes an important contribution to premature mortality in many countries in Eastern Europe, including Estonia. However, the full extent of its impact, and the mechanisms underlying it, are challenging issues to research. We describe the design and initial findings of a study aimed at investigating the association of alcohol with mortality in a large series of forensic autopsies of working-age men in Estonia. METHODS: 1299 male deaths aged 25-54 years were subject to forensic autopsy in 2008-2009. The routine autopsy protocol was augmented by a more systematic inspection of organs, drug testing, assay of liver enzymes and novel biomarkers of alcohol consumption (EtG, EtS and PEth), together with proxy interviews with next of kin for deaths among men who lived in or close to a major town. RESULTS: 595 augmented autopsies were performed. Of these, 66% were from external causes (26% suicide, 25% poisoning). 17% were attributed to circulatory system diseases and 7% to alcoholic liver disease. Blood alcohol concentrations (BAC) of ≥ 0.2 mg/g were found for 55% of deaths. Interviews were conducted with proxy informants for 61% of the subjects who had resided in towns. Of these, 28% were reported in the previous year to have been daily or almost daily drinkers and 10% had drunk non-beverage alcohols. Blood ethanol and the liver enzyme GGT were only associated with daily drinking. However, the novel biomarkers showed a more graded response with recent consumption. In contrast, the liver enzymes AST and ALT were largely uninformative because of post-mortem changes. The presence of extremely high PEth concentrations in some samples also suggested post-mortem formation. CONCLUSION: We have shown the feasibility of deploying an extended research protocol within the setting of routine forensic autopsies that offer scope to deepen our understanding of the alcohol-related burden of premature mortality. The most unique feature of the study is the information on a wide range of informative alcohol biomarkers, several of which have not been used previously in this sort of post-mortem research study. We have demonstrated, for the first time, the epidemiological value and validity of these novel alcohol biomarkers in post-mortem samples