Reproductive biology of blue marlin (Makaira nigricans) in the western Pacific Ocean

The reproductive biology of blue marlin (Makaira nigricans) was assessed from 1001 fish (ranging from 121 to 275 cm in eye-to-fork length; EFL) caught by Taiwanese offshore longliners in the western Pacific Ocean from September 2000 to December 2001 and from 843 gonad samples from these fish, The overall sex ratio of the catch was approximately 1:1 dur ing the sampling period, but blue marlin are sexually dimorphic; females are larger than males. Reproductive activity (assessed by histology), a gonadosomatic index, and the distribution of oocyte diameters, indicated that spawning occurred predominantly from May to September. The estimated sizes-at-maturity (EFL50) were 179.76 ±1.01 cm (mean ±standard error) for females and 130 ±1 cm EFL for males. Blue marlin are multiple spawners and oocytes develop asynchronously. The proportion of mature females with ovaries containing postovulatory follicles (0.41) and hydrated oocytes (0.34) indicated that the blue marlin spawned once every 2–3 days on average. Batch fecundity (BF) for 26 females with the most advanced oocytes (≥1000 μm), but without postovulatory follicles, ranged from 2.11 to 13.50 million eggs (6.94 ± 0.54 million eggs). The relationships between batch fecundity (BF, in millions of eggs) and EFL and round weight (RW, kg) were BF = 3.29 × 10 –12 EFL5.31 (r2 = 0.70) and BF = 1.59 × 10–3 RW 1.73 (r2= 0.67), respectively. The parameters estimated in this study are key information for stock assessments of blue marlin in the western Pacific Ocean and will contribute to the conservation and sustainable yield o

An innovative vehicle-mounted GPR technique for fast and efficient monitoring of tunnel lining structural conditions

AbstractThe health status of a railway tunnel should be regularly inspected during its service period to ensure safe operation. Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) has been used as a key technique for tunnel detection; however, so far, the measurements of GPR are only obtainable in contact mode. Such methods cannot meet the requirements of the operational tunnel disease census and regular inspections. Therefore, a new method—vehicle-mounted GPR with long-range detection—has been developed. It consists of six channels. The distance from its air-launched antenna to the tunnel lining is approximately 0.93 m–2.25 m. The scanning rate of each channel is 976 1/s. When the sampling point interval is 5 cm, the maximum speed can reach up to 175 km/h. With its speed and air-launched antenna, this system has a significant advantage over existing methods. That is, for an electrified railway, there is no need for power outages. Indeed, the proposed system will not interrupt normal railway operation. Running tests were carried out on the Baoji–Zhongwei and Xiangfan–Chongqing railway lines, and very good results were obtained

Age and growth of sailfish (Istiophorus platypterus) in waters off eastern Taiwan

Age and growth of sailfish (Istiophorus platypterus) in waters off eastern Taiwan were examined from counts of growth rings on cross sections of the fourth spine of the first dorsal fin. Length and weight data and the dorsal fin spines were collected monthly at the fishing port of Shinkang (southeast of Taiwan) from July 1998 to August 1999. In total, 1166 dorsal fins were collected, of which 1135 (97%) (699 males and 436 females) were aged successfully. Trends in the monthly mean marginal increment ratio indicated that growth rings are formed once a year. Two methods were used to back-calculate the length of presumed ages, and growth was described by using the standard von Bertalanffy growth function and the Richards function. The most reasonable and conservative description of growth assumes that length-at-age follows the Richards function and that the relationship between spine radius and lower jaw fork length (LJFL) follows a power function. Growth differed significantly between the sexes; females grew faster and reached larger sizes than did males. The maximum sizes in our sample were 232 cm LJFL for female and 221 cm LJFL for male

Age and growth of the swordfish (Xiphias gladius L.) in the waters around Taiwan determined from anal-fin rays

Age and growth of the swordfish (Xiphias gladius) in Taiwan waters was studied from counts of growth bands on cross sections of the second ray of the first anal fin. Data on lower jaw fork length and weight, and samples of the anal fin of male and female swordfish were collected from three offshore and coastal tuna longline fishing ports on a monthly basis between September 1997 and March 1999. In total, 685 anal fins were collected and 627 of them (293 males and 334 females) were aged successfully. The lower jaw fork lengths of the aged individuals ranged from 83.4 to 246.6 cm for the females and from 83.3 to 206 cm for the males. The radii of the fin rays and growth bands on the cross sections were measured under a dissecting microscope equipped with an image analysis system. Trends in the monthly marginal increment ratio indicated that growth bands formed once a year. Thus, the age of each fish was deter-mined from the number of visible growth bands. Two methods were used to estimate and compare the standard and the generalized von Bertalanffy growth parameters for both males and females. The nonlinear least square estimates of the generalized von Bertalanffy growth parameters in method II, in which a power function was used to describe the relationship between ray radius and LJFL, were recommended as most acceptable. There were significant differences in growth parameters between males and females. The growth parameters estimated for females were the following: asymptotic length (L∞) = 300.66 cm, growth coefficient (K) = 0.040/yr, age at zero length (t0) = –0.75 yr, and the fitted fourth parameter (m) = –0.785. The growth parameters estimated for males were the following: asymptotic length (L∞) = 213.05 cm, growth coefficient (K) = 0.086/yr, age at zero length (t0) = –0.626 yr, and the fitted fourth parameter (m) = –0.768

The positive impact of informal spousal caregiving on the physical activity of older adults

IntroductionAlthough physical activity (PA) is crucial for health, the literature is mixed about how individuals' PA decisions are affected by their spouses. To fill this gap, we examined the extent to which providing care for one spouse affects the PA of the other spouse among those aged 50 or older in the United States.MethodsWe analyzed 9,173 older adults living with their spouses or partners from the 2004 to 2016 waves of the Health and Retirement Study. To identify the causal effect of spousal caregiving on the PA of older adults, we estimated individual-fixed effects models using a two-stage least squared instrumental variable approach with spousal falls as our instrument. We also estimated the models by splitting the sample by gender and race/ethnicity to identify heterogeneous impacts of spousal caregiving on PA decisions among subgroups.ResultsWe found that a one percentage point increase in the probability of providing care to spouses led to an increase in the probability of initiating moderate or vigorous PA (MVPA) by 0.34–0.52 percentage points. This effect was salient, especially among female and non-Hispanic white older adults.DiscussionCaregiving experience might provide opportunities to learn about caregiving burdens and trigger an emotional response about the salience of an event (i.e., they need care in the future). Older caregivers might start MVPA in an effort to improve or maintain their health and avoid burdening their families for caregiving in the future. This study demonstrated spousal influence on PA. Instead of delivering PA-promotion information (e.g., the harm of sedentary lifestyle and benefits of regular PA) to individuals, risk communication and education efforts on PA promotion might be more effective considering the family context. Family events such as health shocks or the emergence of caregiving needs from family members provide windows of opportunities for intervening. Subgroup differences should also be considered in targeted interventions

Perceived Barriers to Regular Class Attendance of BCommH Students in University of Community Health, Magway

Education is essential not only for every citizen to survive in dignity but also for nation building. In any education settings, students’ regular class attendance plays a vital role for obtaining good academic achievements. A cross-sectional analytic study was conducted among BCommH students (n=410) of University of Community Health, Magway from October to December 2017 using a mixed method with objectives of exploring their perceived barriers of regular class attendance and possible solutions. Data collected by pretested semi-structured questionnaires were entered into computers and analysed by SPSS software version 18.0 with a significant level of 0.05. Qualitative data were assessed by content analysis. Significant findings related to irregular class attendance were level of previous class [OR = 3.08 (95% CI: 1.6 – 5.91) (p < 0.005)], monthly financial aid from family of MMK 100,000 or more [OR = 2.24 (95% CI: 1.29 – 3.86) (p = 0.003)], travelling pattern to and from campus by other means [OR = 7.76 (95% CI: 2.13 – 28.21) (p < 0.005)] and lunch taking pattern in week days [OR = 1.91 (95% CI: 1.13 – 3.23) (p < 0.025)]. Among the perceived barriers most of students (82.2%) stated illness as a barrier followed by being busy with preparation for examinations (46.4%), getting up late from bed in the morning (41.1%) and lecture room with high indoor temperature (40.5%). In in-depth interviews, students mentioned the reasons of missing classes as weakness in teaching system, their socio-behavioral factors and poor class room conditions. In conclusion the present study unearthed the various perceived barriers and these barriers should be removed by appropriate means including intensive oversight of faculty and staff on the students, reinforced with introduction of time management concepts into curriculum and making teaching learning environment more friendly to and happy for students, leading to more regular attendance among the students finally to achieve their high academic grades

Uncovering and Quantifying Social Biases in Code Generation

With the popularity of automatic code generation tools, such as Copilot, the study of the potential hazards of these tools is gaining importance. In this work, we explore the social bias problem in pre-trained code generation models. We propose a new paradigm to construct code prompts and successfully uncover social biases in code generation models. To quantify the severity of social biases in generated code, we develop a dataset along with three metrics to evaluate the overall social bias and fine-grained unfairness across different demographics. Experimental results on three pre-trained code generation models (Codex, InCoder, and CodeGen) with varying sizes, reveal severe social biases. Moreover, we conduct analysis to provide useful insights for further choice of code generation models with low social bias. (This work contains examples that potentially implicate stereotypes, associations, and other harms that could be offensive to individuals in certain social groups.

An image cryptography method by highly error-prone DNA storage channel

Introduction: Rapid development in synthetic technologies has boosted DNA as a potential medium for large-scale data storage. Meanwhile, how to implement data security in the DNA storage system is still an unsolved problem.Methods: In this article, we propose an image encryption method based on the modulation-based storage architecture. The key idea is to take advantage of the unpredictable modulation signals to encrypt images in highly error-prone DNA storage channels.Results and Discussion: Numerical results have demonstrated that our image encryption method is feasible and effective with excellent security against various attacks (statistical, differential, noise, and data loss). When compared with other methods such as the hybridization reactions of DNA molecules, the proposed method is more reliable and feasible for large-scale applications

Outcomes of Microendoscopic Discectomy and Percutaneous Transforaminal Endoscopic Discectomy for the Treatment of Lumbar Disc Herniation: A Comparative Retrospective Study

Study DesignRetrospective, case control evaluation of 86 patients who underwent microendoscopic discectomy (MED) and percutaneous transforaminal endoscopic discectomy (PTED) for the treatment of lumbar disc herniation (LDH).PurposeTo evaluate the safety and the outcomes of MED and PTED for the treatment of LDH.Overview of LiteratureMED and PTED are minimally invasive surgical techniques for lower back pain. Studies to date have shown that MED and PTED are safe and effective treatment modalities for LDH.MethodsA retrospective study was performed in patients with LDH treated with MED (n=50) and transforaminal endoscopic discectomy (PTED; n=36) in our hospital. All patients were followed-up with self-evaluation questionnaires, Oswestry disability index (ODI), medical outcomes study 36-item short form health survey and MacNab criteria. All the patients in both groups were followed up to 12 months after the operation.ResultsODI questionnaire responses were not statistically different between the MED and PTED groups (53.00 vs. 48.72) before treatment. Average scores and minimal disability after 5 days to 12 months of follow-up were 4.96 in the MED group and 3.61 in the PTED group. According to MacNab criteria, 92.0% of the MED group and 94.4% of the PTED group had excellent or good results with no significant difference.ConclusionsThere was no significant difference between MED and PTED outcomes. Further large-scale, randomized studies with long-term follow-up are needed