The importance of habitat quality for marine reserve fishery linkages

We model marine reserve - fishery linkages to evaluate the potential contribution of habitat-quality improvements inside a marine reserve to fish productivity and fishery catches. Data from Mombasa Marine National Park, Kenya, and the adjacent fishery are used. Marine reserves increase total fish biomass directly by providing refuge from exploitation and indirectly by improving fish habitat in the reserve. As natural mortality of the fish stock decreases in response to habitat enhancement in the reserve, catches increase by up to 2.6 tonnes (t).km(-2).year(-1) and total fish biomass by up to 36 t.km(-2). However, if habitat-quality improvement reduces the propensity of fish to move out of the reserve, catches may fall by up to 0.9 t.km(-2).year(-1). Our results indicate that habitat protection in reserves can underpin fish productivity and, depending on its effects on fish movements, augment catches

Which work characteristics predict employee outcomes for the public-sector employee? An examination of generic and occupation-specific characteristics

The wide-ranging changes that have occurred in the public sector over recent years have placed increasing demands on public-sector employees. A survey of employees within a relatively commercially-oriented public-sector organization in Australia was used to test a demand-oriented generic model of employee well-being and a variety of situation-specific variables. The presence of support at work and the amount of control an employee had over their job were found to be key predictors of employee-level outcomes. Perceptions of pay and the perception of a lack of human resources (HR) were also found to predict employee outcome variables. The results emphasize the impact that middle managers and HR managers can have in terms of reducing the detrimental employee effects that can be caused by the introduction of new public management (NPM) and the potential for a positive impact on employees. In particular, public-sector managers can use the design of jobs and the development of social support mechanisms, such as employee assistance programmes, to maintain, if not improve, the quality of working life experienced by their employees. More broadly, this study has found that the job strain model is a useful tool in a public-sector environment and is likely to be of increasing utility with the continuing introduction or consolidation of NPM over time. Managing these issues in the new public sector could be a key means of protecting the key resource of the Australian public sector - the employees.<br /

Phase II study of docetaxel in combination with epirubicin and protracted venous infusion 5-fluorouracil (ETF) in patients with recurrent or metastatic breast cancer. A Yorkshire breast cancer research group study

This study was originally designed as a phase I/II study, with a dose escalation of docetaxel in combination with epirubicin 50 mg m⁻² and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) 200 mg m⁻² day⁻¹. However, as dose escalation was not possible, the study is reported as a phase II study of the combination to assess response and toxicity. A total of 51 patients with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer were treated on this phase II study, with doses of docetaxel 50 mg m⁻², epirubicin 50 mg m⁻² and infusional 5-FU 200 mg m⁻² day⁻¹ for 21 days. The main toxicity of this combination was neutropenia with 89% of patients having grade 3 and 4 neutropenia, and 39% of patients experiencing febrile neutropenia. Nonhaematological toxicity was mild. The overall response rate in the assessable patients was 64%, with median progression-free survival of 38 weeks, and median survival of 70 weeks. The ETF regimen was found to be toxic, and it was not possible to escalate the dose of docetaxel above the first dose level. This regimen has therefore not been taken any further, but as a development of this a new study is ongoing, combining 3-weekly epirubicin, weekly docetaxel and capecitabine, days 1-14

The vertical cloud structure of the West African monsoon: a 4 year climatology using CloudSat and CALIPSO

The West African summer monsoon (WAM) is an important driver of the global climate and locally provides most of the annual rainfall. A solid climatological knowledge of the complex vertical cloud structure is invaluable to forecasters and modelers to improve the understanding of the WAM. In this paper, 4 years of data from the CloudSat profiling radar and CALIPSO are used to create a composite zonal mean vertical cloud and precipitation structure for the WAM. For the first time, the near-coincident vertical radar and lidar profiles allow for the identification of individual cloud types from optically thin cirrus and shallow cumulus to congestus and deep convection. A clear diurnal signal in zonal mean cloud structure is observed for the WAM, with deep convective activity enhanced at night producing extensive anvil and cirrus, while daytime observations show more shallow cloud and congestus. A layer of altocumulus is frequently observed over the Sahara at night and day, extending southward to the coastline, and the majority of this cloud is shown to contain supercooled liquid in the top. The occurrence of deep convective systems and congestus in relation to the position of the African easterly jet is studied, but only the daytime cumulonimbus distribution indicates some influence of the jet position

Decadal variation of the North Atlantic meridional heat transport and its relation to atmospheric processes

The effects of the meridional heat transport in the North Atlantic Ocean (HTR) on the north hemispheric climate are studied using the results of the coupled model ECHAM5/MPI-OM. Significant correlations exist between HTR and atmospheric processes over the Nordic Seas and the Eurasian continent only for low (periods longer than 40 years) and intermediate frequency variations (periods between 25 and 40 years). A positive HTR anomaly at 30°N is highly correlated with turbulent heat fluxes around 50°N. The transport through 70°N is directly related to the fluxes over the Nordic seas. From the correlation pattern with the atmospheric surface temperature and pressure one can conclude that the heat anomalies propagate along the cyclone tracks towards northeast over the Eurasian continent. The HRT anomalies are negatively correlated with the pressure over the Nordic seas and with the winter time anticyclone intensity over Siberia

Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 Surveillance in Marginalized Populations, Tijuana, Mexico

To detect early cases of pandemic (H1N1) 2009 infection, in 2009 we surveyed 303 persons from marginalized populations of drug users, sex workers, and homeless persons in Tijuana, Mexico. Six confirmed cases of pandemic (H1N1) 2009 were detected, and the use of rapid, mobile influenza testing was demonstrated

The role of potential vorticity anomalies in the Somali Jet on Indian summer monsoon intraseasonal variability

The climate of the Indian subcontinent is dominated by rainfall arising from the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) during the summer season (June to September). Intraseasonal variability during the monsoon is characterized by periods of heavy rainfall interspersed by drier periods, known as active and break events respectively. Understanding and predicting such events is of vital importance for forecasting human impacts such as water resources. The Somali Jet is a key regional feature of this circulation. In the present study, we find that the spatial structure of Somali Jet potential vorticity (PV) anomalies varies considerably during active and break periods. Analysis of these anomalies shows a mechanism whereby sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies propagate north/northwestwards through the Arabian Sea, caused by a positive feedback loop joining anomalies in SST, convection, modification of PV by diabatic heating and mixing in the atmospheric boundary layer, wind stress curl, and upwelling processes. The feedback mechanism is consistent with observed coupled ocean-atmosphere system variability timescales of approximately 20 days. This research suggests that better understanding and prediction of monsoon subseasonal variability in the South Asian monsoon may be gained by analysis of the day-to-day dynamical evolution of PV in the Somali Jet

Robust test method for time-course microarray experiments

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In a time-course microarray experiment, the expression level for each gene is observed across a number of time-points in order to characterize the temporal trajectories of the gene-expression profiles. For many of these experiments, the scientific aim is the identification of genes for which the trajectories depend on an experimental or phenotypic factor. There is an extensive recent body of literature on statistical methodology for addressing this analytical problem. Most of the existing methods are based on estimating the time-course trajectories using parametric or non-parametric mean regression methods. The sensitivity of these regression methods to outliers, an issue that is well documented in the statistical literature, should be of concern when analyzing microarray data.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this paper, we propose a robust testing method for identifying genes whose expression time profiles depend on a factor. Furthermore, we propose a multiple testing procedure to adjust for multiplicity.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Through an extensive simulation study, we will illustrate the performance of our method. Finally, we will report the results from applying our method to a case study and discussing potential extensions.</p