A report on the sea otter, Enhydra lutris L., in California

This report discusses in detail findings and observations of 5 years of research on the sea otter population and its relationship to the nearshore marine environment in California. Initial efforts were directed at providing some relief to the commercial abalone fishery in the Cambria - Point Estero area north of Morro Bay. This fishery has subsequently collapsed along with other commercial and sport abalone and sport crab fisheries throughout the sea otter's range due to continued sea otter foraging. Capturing, tagging and translocation studies, censusing studies, examination of sea otter remains, habitat surveys, food habits observations and studies on otters in captivity provide a broad base of information on the expanding sea otter population in California and its effects on resources utilized by man. Recommendations for sea otter management consistent with esthetic, recreational, and commercial uses of marine resources are included in this report. (95pp.

Dungeness crab research program

In 1974, the California State Legislature, recognizing the problem of low yields from the Dungeness crab resource of central California, directed the Department of Fish and Game to conduct an investigation into the causes of the decline. The Operations Research Branch of the Department has conducted preliminary studies and field operations necessary to formulate the Dungeness Crab Research Program. The objectives, research design, and work plans are presented for a 4-year program from July 1, 1975 through August 31, 1979. (38pp.

Dungeness crab research program: Report for the Year 1976

All larval stages of the 1976 year class, with the exception of the 5th zoeal stage, were found in Gu1f waters January through March. The first post-larval stage was collected in San Pablo Bay in May. Fifty percent of 1976 year class crabs entered the Bay complex as compared to nearly 80% in 1975. The 1976 year class appears relatively weak. No electrophoretic polymorphism was found in Cancer magister to be of value in Dungeness crab population determinations. Multi-variate correlations comparing crab landings with an array of oceanographic parameters and the crab density dependent factor were computer-run for both northern and central California. The most significant correlating factors at the time late stage larvae prevail were sea level and atmospheric pressure for central California and, for northern California, the density dependent factor and sea surface temperature. Female crabs held at controlled temperatures indicated gonad maturation and spawning may be induced by increased temperature. Analyses of crab tissues revealed burdens of petroleum hydrocarbons, silver, selenium, cadmium, and PCB's higher in central California crabs, while DDE was found in higher amounts in northern California crab tissue. Thru-flow culture systems were developed which should yield about 163 megalopae of Dungeness crabs in 63 days from 1,200 laboratory hatched zoeae.(46pp.

Experimental studies on a combined pyrolysis/staged condensation/hydrotreatment approach to obtain biofuels and biobased chemicals

Fast pyrolysis is an efficient technology to convert lignocellulosic biomass to a liquid product. However, the high contents of oxygenated compounds and water hinder the direct utilization of pyrolysis oils. Here, we report an upgrading concept to obtain liquid products with improved product properties and enriched in valuable low molecular weight chemicals and particularly alkylphenols. It entails two steps, viz. i) pyrolysis with in-situ staged condensation at multiple kg scale followed by ii) a catalytic hydrotreatment of selected fractions using a Ru/C catalyst. Of all pyrolysis oil fractions after staged condensation, the product collected in a condenser equipped with an electrostatic precipitator (ESP) at 120 °C was identified as the most attractive for hydrotreatment when considering product yields and composition. The best hydrotreatment results (Ru/C, 350 °C, 100 bar H2, 4 h) were achieved using beechwood and walnut shells as feedstock, resulting in a high oil yield (about 64 wt% based on pyrolysis oil fraction intake) with a higher heating value of about 37 MJ/kg and enriched in alkylphenols (about 16 wt%). Overall, it was shown that the type of biomass (beech sawdust, walnut granulates, and pine/spruce sawdust) has a limited impact on liquid and alkylphenols yields which implies feedstock flexibility of this integrated concept

Use of personalised risk-based screening schedules to optimise workload and sojourn time in screening programmes for diabetic retinopathy:A retrospective cohort study

Background: National guidelines in most countries set screening intervals for diabetic retinopathy (DR) that are insufficiently informed by contemporary incidence rates. This has unspecified implications for interval disease risks (IDs) of referable DR, disparities in ID between groups or individuals, time spent in referable state before screening (sojourn time), and workload. We explored the effect of various screening schedules on these outcomes and developed an open-access interactive policy tool informed by contemporary DR incidence rates. Methods and findings: Scottish Diabetic Retinopathy Screening Programme data from 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2016 were linked to diabetes registry data. This yielded 128,606 screening examinations in people with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and 1,384,360 examinations in people with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Among those with T1D, 47% of those without and 44% of those with referable DR were female, mean diabetes duration was 21 and 23 years, respectively, and mean age was 26 and 24 years, respectively. Among those with T2D, 44% of those without and 42% of those with referable DR were female, mean diabetes duration was 9 and 14 years, respectively, and mean age was 58 and 52 years, respectively. Individual probability of developing referable DR was estimated using a generalised linear model and was used to calculate the intervals needed to achieve various IDs across prior grade strata, or at the individual level, and the resultant workload and sojourn time. The current policy in Scotland—screening people with no or mild disease annually and moderate disease every 6 months—yielded large differences in ID by prior grade (13.2%, 3.6%, and 0.6% annually for moderate, mild, and no prior DR strata, respectively, in T1D) and diabetes type (2.4% in T1D and 0.6% in T2D overall). Maintaining these overall risks but equalising risk across prior grade strata would require extremely short intervals in those with moderate DR (1–2 months) and very long intervals in those with no prior DR (35–47 months), with little change in workload or average sojourn time. Changing to intervals of 12, 9, and 3 months in T1D and to 24, 9, and 3 months in T2D for no, mild, and moderate DR strata, respectively, would substantially reduce disparity in ID across strata and between diabetes types whilst reducing workload by 26% and increasing sojourn time by 2.3 months. Including clinical risk factor data gave a small but significant increment in prediction of referable DR beyond grade (increase in C-statistic of 0.013 in T1D and 0.016 in T2D, both p < 0.001). However, using this model to derive personalised intervals did not have substantial workload or sojourn time benefits over stratum-specific intervals. The main limitation is that the results are pertinent only to countries that share broadly similar rates of retinal disease and risk factor distributions to Scotland. Conclusions: Changing current policies could reduce disparities in ID and achieve substantial reductions in workload within the range of IDs likely to be deemed acceptable. Our tool s

Accelerating Bayesian hierarchical clustering of time series data with a randomised algorithm

We live in an era of abundant data. This has necessitated the development of new and innovative statistical algorithms to get the most from experimental data. For example, faster algorithms make practical the analysis of larger genomic data sets, allowing us to extend the utility of cutting-edge statistical methods. We present a randomised algorithm that accelerates the clustering of time series data using the Bayesian Hierarchical Clustering (BHC) statistical method. BHC is a general method for clustering any discretely sampled time series data. In this paper we focus on a particular application to microarray gene expression data. We define and analyse the randomised algorithm, before presenting results on both synthetic and real biological data sets. We show that the randomised algorithm leads to substantial gains in speed with minimal loss in clustering quality. The randomised time series BHC algorithm is available as part of the R package BHC, which is available for download from Bioconductor (version 2.10 and above) via http://bioconductor.org/packages/2.10/bioc/html/BHC.html. We have also made available a set of R scripts which can be used to reproduce the analyses carried out in this paper. These are available from the following URL. https://sites.google.com/site/randomisedbhc/

Enculturation and alcohol use problems among Aboriginal university students

Objective: To examine associations between Aboriginal enculturation, Canadian acculturation, and alcohol problems among Aboriginal university students living in an urban area in Canada. Methods: Data for this mixed methods study were collected through in-person surveys with a convenience sample of Aboriginal university students (n = 60) in 2008/2009. Results: Students evidenced high levels of Aboriginal enculturation and Canadian acculturation. Aboriginal enculturation was significantly associated with reduced alcohol problems for Aboriginal university students. There was no association between Canadian acculturation and alcohol problems. Qualitative findings suggest Aboriginal cultural practices helped students cope with problems in their daily lives and provided them with both personal and social rewards. Conclusions: This study found Aboriginal enculturation was significantly associated with reduced alcohol problems among Aboriginal university students. Results support the growth of programs and services that encourage Aboriginal students to maintain their cultural identity within the university setting. Can J Psychiatry. 2011;56(12):Ye

Marked improvements in glycaemic outcomes following insulin pump therapy initiation in people with type 1 diabetes:a nationwide observational study in Scotland

This study was supported by funding from Diabetes UK (17/0005627) and the Chief Scientist Office (ref. ETM/47).Aims/hypothesis Our aim was to assess the use of continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) in people with type 1 diabetes in Scotland and its association with glycaemic control, as measured by HbA1c levels, frequency of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) and severe hospitalised hypoglycaemia (SHH), overall and stratified by baseline HbA1c. Methods We included 4684 individuals with type 1 diabetes from the national Scottish register, who commenced CSII between 2004 and 2019. We presented crude within-person differences from baseline HbA1c over time since initiation, crude DKA and SHH event-rates pre-/post-CSII exposure. We then used mixed models to assess the significance of CSII exposure, taking into account: (1) the diffuse nature of the intervention (i.e. structured education often precedes initiation); (2) repeated within-person measurements; and (3) background time-trends occurring pre-intervention. Results HbA1c decreased after CSII initiation, with a median within-person change of −5.5 mmol/mol (IQR −12.0, 0.0) (−0.5% [IQR −1.1, 0.0]). Within-person changes were most substantial in those with the highest baseline HbA1c, with median −21.0 mmol/mol (−30.0, −11.0) (−1.9% [−2.7, −1.0]) change in those with a baseline >84 mmol/mol (9.8%) within a year of exposure, that was sustained: −19.0 mmol/mol (−27.6, −6.5) (−1.7% [−2.5, −0.6]) at ≥5 years. Statistical significance and magnitude of change were supported by the mixed models results. The crude DKA event-rate was significantly lower in post-CSII person-time compared with pre-CSII person-time: 49.6 events (95% CI 46.3, 53.1) per 1000 person-years vs 67.9 (64.1, 71.9); rate ratio from Bayesian mixed models adjusting for pre-exposure trend: 0.61 (95% credible interval [CrI] 0.47, 0.77; posterior probability of reduction pp = 1.00). The crude overall SHH event-rate in post-CSII vs pre-CSII person-time was also lower: 17.8 events (95% CI 15.8, 19.9) per 1000 person-years post-exposure vs 25.8 (23.5, 28.3) pre-exposure; rate ratio from Bayesian mixed models adjusting for pre-exposure trend: 0.67 (95% CrI 0.45, 1.01; pp = 0.97). Conclusions/interpretation CSII therapy was associated with marked falls in HbA1c especially in those with high baseline HbA1c. CSII was independently associated with reduced DKA and SHH rates. CSII appears to be an effective option for intensive insulin therapy in people with diabetes for improving suboptimal glycaemic control.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe