91 research outputs found

    Public conservation connection and support between ocean and terrestrial systems in the United States.

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    Terrestrial and ocean ecosystems are increasingly under threat from an array of anthropogenic pressures. And while threats mount, how people view and value nature is changing. In the United States (U.S.) in particular, there is a shift away from viewing nature as something to dominate, as evidenced in the decline in hunting. However, it is unclear if or how opinions around environmental issues and conservation need might differ when comparing ocean versus terrestrial ecosystems, especially given the prevalence and continued importance of wild capture fishing in the U.S. We employed two national parallel surveys, one focused on oceans, the other land, receiving responses from nearly every state in the U.S. (N = 1,973). While we found only slight, but statistically significant more concern for ocean habitats and animals over terrestrial ecosystems, this did not translate to increased willingness to monetarily support more ocean conservation actions. Using Random Forest models, we also found the best predictor of conservation need was feeling most impacted by environmental issues personally (self and/or community), regardless of ecosystem type. In fact, land versus sea (survey) had the lowest rank in the models, underscoring the importance of general nature-based interactions. Instead, the number of outdoor recreational activities was a highly ranked variable explaining the level of reported impact to self/community, with people who participate in 2 or more activities scoring higher levels of impact, on average. Notably, people who hunt and fish, versus only do one or the other, reported higher levels of impact and participated in more activities overall, providing a more nuanced finding regarding the nature dominance hypothesis. Voting, not political affiliation, was also important in explaining responses, and governmental mechanisms to fund conservation were favored over voluntary. Overall, our results add to the strong existing literature that access and connection to nature is key, but uniquely broad connection may float all boats, especially when diversified

    ISBS 2018 AUCKLAND CONFERENCE SPORTS TECHNOLOGY SHOWCASE PROGRAMME

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    The coordinators Amber Taylor (AUT Ventures), Rosanne Ellis (AUT Research and Innovation Office), and Ryan Archibald (ATEED) have selected companies with new products to be explored by biomechanists. We hope you gain ideas for your research and learn how to commercialise your products at this showcase. ISBS 2018 Auckland Conference Industry Partner Tekscan are supporting the lunch during the showcase. Dr Jono Neville, Shelley Diewald, and Farhan Tinwala will be showcasing AUT Strain Gauge. AUT Strain gauge allows for a valid and reliable assessment of the strength of an entire class or team in a relatively short amount of time. Steve Leftly and Farshid Sarmast will be showcasing Myovolt which is a breakthrough muscle massage system that you wear. It delivers vibration therapy to any part of the body, it\u27s easy to use, lightweight and has benefits backed by clinical research. Parn Jones, Eric Helms and Wilson Huang will be showcasing Avice which is a wearable device that gives you real-time actionable feedback during weight training. It measures changes in muscle performance to inform you how close to muscular failure you are. Xiaoyou Lin and Bandt Li are showcasing Pressure Mat which is a new resistive-sensing contact mat for detecting the pseudo force, of sports activities such as running, jumping, stepping. Holly Sutich and Bradley Phagan will be showcasing Beta-Energy which is a healthier natural energy drink. It provides sustainable energy so you don’t get the crash that you do from a normal energy drink. Arien Hielkema and Yasir Al-Hilali will showcase MyBio Motion which is a smart wearable knee sleeve. It provides support for rehabilitation from post-operative or knee trauma, and prevention from a knee injury. Daniel Thomson and Emily Coates will showcase Circuband which has successfully paired Virtual Reality with Resistance Training to make fitness more engaging and stimulating for both athletes and the public. Colin Anderson will demonstrate Physio Wear

    Effective fisheries management instrumental in improving fish stock status

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    Marine fish stocks are an important part of the world food system and are particularly important for many of the poorest people of the world. Most existing analyses suggest overfishing is increasing, and there is widespread concern that fish stocks are decreasing throughout most of the world. We assembled trends in abundance and harvest rate of stocks that are scientifically assessed, constituting half of the reported globalmarine fish catch. For these stocks, on average, abundance is increasing and is at proposed target levels. Compared with regions that are intensively managed, regions with less-developed fisheries management have, on average, 3-fold greater harvest rates and half the abundance as assessed stocks. Available evidence suggests that the regions without assessments of abundance have little fisheries management, and stocks are in poor shape. Increased application of area-appropriate fisheries science recommendations and management tools are still needed for sustaining fisheries in places where they are lacking.Fil: Hilborn, Ray. University of Washington; Estados UnidosFil: Amoroso, Ricardo Oscar. University of Washington; Estados UnidosFil: Anderson, Christopher M.. University of Washington; Estados UnidosFil: Baum, Julia K.. University of Victoria; CanadáFil: Branch, Trevor A.. University of Washington; Estados UnidosFil: Costello, Christopher. University of California at Santa Barbara; Estados UnidosFil: de Moor, Carryn L.. University of Cape Town; SudáfricaFil: Faraj, Abdelmalek. Einstitut National de Recherche Halieutique; MarruecosFil: Hively, Daniel. University of Washington; Estados UnidosFil: Jensen, Olaf P.. Rutgers University; Estados UnidosFil: Kurota, Hiroyuki. Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency; JapónFil: Little, L. Richard. Csiro Oceans and Atmosphere; AustraliaFil: Mace, Pamela. Ministry for Primary Industries; Nueva ZelandaFil: McClanahan, Tim. Wildlife Conservation Society; Estados UnidosFil: Melnychuk, Michael C.. University of Washington; Estados UnidosFil: Minto, Cóilín. Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology; IrlandaFil: Osio, Giacomo Chato. Joint Research Centre (JRC); Italia. DG Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, European Commission; BélgicaFil: Pons, Maite. University of Washington; Estados UnidosFil: Parma, Ana María. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Centro para el Estudio de Sistemas Marinos; ArgentinaFil: Segurado, Susana. Sustainable Fisheries Partnership; Estados UnidosFil: Szuwalski, Cody S.. University of California at Santa Barbara; Estados UnidosFil: Wilson, Jono R.. University of California at Santa Barbara; Estados Unidos. The Nature Conservancy; Estados UnidosFil: Ye, Yimin. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; Itali

    ISBS 2018 AUCKLAND CONFERENCE SPRINZ-HPSNZ-AUT MILLENNIUM APPLIED PROGRAMME

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    An interactive afternoon of sessions delivered by High Performance Sport New Zealand (HPSNZ) and AUT SPRINZ Biomechanists, Performance Analysts and other biomechanics relevant sport facing practitioners. The 11 sessions are at AUT Millennium (AUTM), which is a satellite site of AUT University and the Auckland training hub for many HPSNZ supported sports such as athletics, sailing, and swimming. These sports and others (cycling, rowing, snow sports etc.) will be represented in the line-up. The applied sessions involve practical demonstrations of aspects of analysis and/or tools used to deliver in the field to directly positively impact athletes performances on the world stage. Following these engaging sessions there will be tasting of New Zealand wine, allowing for further discussion and networking. Sir Graeme Avery will be acknowledged for his contribution to sport science. Mike Stanley is AUT Millennium Chief Executive & NZ Olympic Committee President will explain the partners in the facility. AUT Millennium is a charitable trust established to help New Zealanders live longer and healthier lives, and to enjoy and excel in sport through the provision of world-class facilities, services, research and education. Founded in 2002 as Millennium Institute of Sport and Health (MISH) by Sir Stephen Tindall and Sir Graeme Avery as a premium health and fitness facility for both athletes and the public alike. Partnered with AUT University in 2009, forming AUT Millennium, to expand research and education in the sporting sector. Professor Barry Wilson is an Adjunct Professor with SPRINZ at Auckland University of Technology and will be outlining the research and student opportunities. Martin Dowson is the General Manager Athlete Performance Support at High Performance Sport New Zealand and has overall responsibility for the programme. Simon Briscoe, AUT Millennium Applied Session Coordinator, is the head of the Performance and Technique Analysis discipline within HPSNZ. Simon is coordinating the applied sessions along with technical support from Dr Allan Carman, Research Fellow, AUT SPRINZ. Jodi Cossor and Matt Ingram will provide a demonstration of a multidisciplinary approach driven by biomechanical analysis for Paralympic swimmers. Justin Evans and Sarah-Kate Millar will provide a practical session assessing the athletes rowing stroke to assist the coach on technical changes. This session will demonstrate various rowing traits and how the biomechanist and coach can work together to optimise boat speed. Mike Schofield and Kim Hébert-Losier will provide a session looking at shotput and the evidence based approach to coaching. Dr Craig Harrison and Professor John Cronin will provide examples from the AUTM Athlete Development programme. Kim Simperingham and Jamie Douglas who work with high performance rugby athletes will outline sprinting mechanics in practice. Dr Bruce Hamilton, Fiona Mather, Justin Ralph and Rone Thompson will demonstrate the approach of HPSNZ and Cycling NZ performance health teams in the use of some specific tools for prevention of injury and optimisation of performance. Kelly Sheerin, Denny Wells and Associate Professor Thor Besier will provide examples of using IMU and motion capture methods for running and basketball biomechanics research, education and service. Dr Rodrigo Bini and Associate Professor Andrew Kilding will show how linking of biomechanics and physiology improves injury prevention and performance enhancement. Robert Tang, Andre de Jong and Farhan Tinwala discuss select projects developed by Goldmine, HPSNZ’s in-house engineering team, and how these innovations have enabled unprecedented levels of biomechanics feedback. Cameron Ross and Paul McAlpine demonstrate the technology being used at the Snow Sports NZ training centre in Cadrona to enhance load monitoring of athletes. This application allows greater insight into training performances and biomechanical loads than has been previously possible in the training environment. AUT Millennium tour guides are coordinated by Josh McGeown and include Enora Le Flao, Dustin Oranchuk, Erika Ikeda, Jono Neville, Aaron Uthoff, Andrew Pichardo, Farhan Tinwala, Shelley Diewald, Renata Bastos Gottgtroy, Jessica Yeoman, Casey Watkins, Eric Harbour, Anja Zoellner, Alyssa Joy Spence, Victor Lopez Jr, and Albert Chang

    Dissection of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Transcriptome Using Genome-Wide cDNA Microarrays

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    BACKGROUND: The differential pathophysiologic mechanisms that trigger and maintain the two forms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), Crohn disease (CD), and ulcerative colitis (UC) are only partially understood. cDNA microarrays can be used to decipher gene regulation events at a genome-wide level and to identify novel unknown genes that might be involved in perpetuating inflammatory disease progression. METHODS AND FINDINGS: High-density cDNA microarrays representing 33,792 UniGene clusters were prepared. Biopsies were taken from the sigmoid colon of normal controls (n = 11), CD patients (n = 10) and UC patients (n = 10). (33)P-radiolabeled cDNA from purified poly(A)(+) RNA extracted from biopsies (unpooled) was hybridized to the arrays. We identified 500 and 272 transcripts differentially regulated in CD and UC, respectively. Interesting hits were independently verified by real-time PCR in a second sample of 100 individuals, and immunohistochemistry was used for exemplary localization. The main findings point to novel molecules important in abnormal immune regulation and the highly disturbed cell biology of colonic epithelial cells in IBD pathogenesis, e.g., CYLD (cylindromatosis, turban tumor syndrome) and CDH11 (cadherin 11, type 2). By the nature of the array setup, many of the genes identified were to our knowledge previously uncharacterized, and prediction of the putative function of a subsection of these genes indicate that some could be involved in early events in disease pathophysiology. CONCLUSION: A comprehensive set of candidate genes not previously associated with IBD was revealed, which underlines the polygenic and complex nature of the disease. It points out substantial differences in pathophysiology between CD and UC. The multiple unknown genes identified may stimulate new research in the fields of barrier mechanisms and cell signalling in the context of IBD, and ultimately new therapeutic approaches

    Vascular calcifications, vertebral fractures and mortality in haemodialysis patients

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    Background. Vascular calcifications and the bone fractures caused by abnormal bone fragility, also called osteoporotic fractures, are frequent complications associated with chronic kidney diseases (CKD). The aim of this study was to investigate the association between vascular calcifications, osteoporotic bone fractures and survival in haemodialysis (HD) patients

    Utilizing Spatial Demographic and Life History Variation to Optimize Sustainable Yield of a Temperate Sex-Changing Fish

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    Fish populations vary geographically in demography and life history due to environmental and ecological processes and in response to exploitation. However, population dynamic models and stock assessments, used to manage fisheries, rarely explicitly incorporate spatial variation to inform management decisions. Here, we describe extensive geographic variation in several demographic and life history characteristics (e.g., size structure, growth, survivorship, maturation, and sex change) of California sheephead (Semicossyphus pulcher), a temperate rocky reef fish targeted by recreational and commercial fisheries. Fish were sampled from nine locations throughout southern California in 2007–2008. We developed a dynamic size and age-structured model, parameterized separately for each location, to assess the potential cost or benefit in terms of fisheries yield and conservation objectives of changing minimum size limits and/or fishing mortality rates (compared to the status quo). Results indicate that managing populations individually, with location-specific regulations, could increase yield by over 26% while maintaining conservative levels of spawning biomass. While this local management approach would be challenging to implement in practice, we found statistically similar increases in yield could be achieved by dividing southern California into two separate management regions, reflecting geographic similarities in demography. To maximize yield, size limits should be increased by 90 mm in the northern region and held at current levels in the south. We also found that managing the fishery as one single stock (the status quo), but with a size limit 50 mm greater than the current regulations, could increase overall fishery yield by 15%. Increases in size limits are predicted to enhance fishery yield and may also have important ecological consequences for the predatory role of sheephead in kelp forests. This framework for incorporating demographic variation into fisheries models can be exported generally to other species and may aid in identifying the appropriate spatial scales for fisheries management

    A review of communication-oriented optical wireless systems

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    Rockfish Resources of the South Central California Coast: Analysis of the Resource From Partyboat Data, 1980-2005

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    Rockfishes (Sebastes spp.) have historically comprised a large proportion of catches in the nearshore recreational fishery in California, but declining populations of some species have led to increasingly restrictive management of the resource. This report summarizes new and existing data on rockfishes of the south central coast of California. In 2003, the California State Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo placed observers on commercial passenger fishing vessels (partyboats) from the region. By the end of 2005, we had observed catches from 258 trips (8,839 fisher hours). We appended these data to partyboat catch statistics collected by the California Department of Fish and Game from 1988 to 1998 and calculated annual catch per unit effort (CPUE) and mean sizes by species and year. The CPUE data by species fluctuate annually but rarely show consistent trends. The overall CPUE for 2004 and 2005 ranks in the top five of the twenty sampled years. Mean sizes have been consistent by species, generally just above the size of 50% maturity. Comparing these sizes to historical data shows decreases in some species but not in others. A review of NOAA/NMFS triennial trawl data for the Point Conception area in the southern part of the study region suggests that the deeper shelf and slope species, with a few exceptions, show little evidence of long-term declines. In general, the south central coast rockfish resources, with the exception of bocaccio (S. paucispinis), have not shown strong evidence of a declining trend over the past 25 years
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