Influence of prey availability on the distribution of Dusky Kob argyrosomus japonicus (sciaenidae) in the Great Fish River Estuary, with notes on the diet of early juveniles from three other estuarine systems

The stomach contents of 391 juvenile dusky kob Argyrosomus japonicus (23–805 mm total length, TL) from the Great Fish River estuary were analysed. Early juveniles (400 mm TLfed on several teleost species, including early juvenile conspecifics, but their most important prey item was G. aestuaria. Based on the distribution patterns of A. japonicus and their predators and prey in the Great FishRiver estuary, it is concluded that predator avoidance and prey availability determine the spatial distribution of early juveniles in estuaries, and that the distribution patterns of larger juveniles (>400 mm TL) depend onthose of their principal prey. Important prey items of early juvenile from three other estuarine systems included calanoid copepods, mysids, insects, amphipods and swimming prawns. The impact of reducedfreshwater inflow on the abundance of the principal prey items of A. japonicus, and on the nursery potential of estuaries, is discussed

Life history of white stumpnose Rhabdosargus globiceps (Pisces: Sparidae) off South Africa

Fishery-dependent and fishery-independent distribution analyses together reveal four discrete areas of white stumpnose Rhabdosargus globiceps abundance between Port Nolloth and the Kei River off the Cape Province of South Africa: the Western Cape (Saldanha Bay), the South-Western Cape, the Southern Cape and the South-Eastern Cape. On the basis of migratory patterns determined from tagging and catch data, and on differences in growth rate and size-at-maturity, it is concluded that these areas of abundance represent four separate stocks. Each stock apparently disperses offshore in winter (to c. 130 m depth) and concentrates inshore

Narratives of urban female adolescents in South Africa: dietary and physical activity practices in an obesogenic environment

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to investigate the narratives pertaining to dietary and physical activity practices by female adolescents in Soweto.Design: This was exploratory qualitative research, using duo interviews (pairs of best friends) (n = 29) from adolescent females.Setting: The setting was three urban high schools in the township of Soweto, South Africa.Subjects: Subjects were twenty-nine pairs of Grade 12 female adolescents predominantly, with a mean age of 18 years (15.3-21.6, standard deviation 1.1).Outcome measures: The outcome measure was body mass index, interpreted in relation to eating practices and exercise participation.Results: Locally prepared convenience foods were reported to replace home-prepared breakfast. The majority of participants did not prioritise eating breakfast at home, but purchased deep-fried dough balls (“fat” cakes) from vendors before school. Lunch boxes were also not commonly used as participants preferred to use spending money to purchase food from the school tuck shop. Kotas, “fat” cakes and snacks were popular lunch choices because of their affordability, convenience, peer influence and popularity. Respondents engaged in minimal active recreationalactivities. A lack of facilities and concerns about safety were barriers to activity.Conclusion: This study highlights the importance of investigating the immediate social context as a potential intervention point to improve the lifestyle of adolescents, to enable them to make the affordable and convenient choice, the healthier choice. Keywords: adolescent, eating, consumption, nutrition, physical activity, obesity, urban, South Afric

A machine learning classification model for monitoring the daily physical behaviour of lower-limb amputees

There are currently limited data on how prosthetic devices are used to support lower-limb prosthesis users in their free-living environment. Possessing the ability to monitor a patient’s physical behaviour while using these devices would enhance our understanding of the impact of different prosthetic products. The current approaches for monitoring human physical behaviour use a single thigh or wrist-worn accelerometer, but in a lower-limb amputee population, we have the unique opportunity to embed a device within the prosthesis, eliminating compliance issues. This study aimed to develop a model capable of accurately classifying postures (sitting, standing, stepping, and lying) by using data from a single shank-worn accelerometer. Free-living posture data were collected from 14 anatomically intact participants and one amputee over three days. A thigh worn activity monitor collected labelled posture data, while a shank worn accelerometer collected 3-axis acceleration data. Postures and the corresponding shank accelerations were extracted in window lengths of 5–180 s and used to train several machine learning classifiers which were assessed by using stratified cross-validation. A random forest classifier with a 15 s window length provided the highest classification accuracy of 93% weighted average F-score and between 88 and 98% classification accuracy across all four posture classes, which is the best performance achieved to date with a shank-worn device. The results of this study show that data from a single shank-worn accelerometer with a machine learning classification model can be used to accurately identify postures that make up an individual’s daily physical behaviour. This opens up the possibility of embedding an accelerometer-based activity monitor into the shank component of a prosthesis to capture physical behaviour information in both above and below-knee amputees. The models and software used in this study have been made open source in order to overcome the current restrictions of applying activity monitoring methods to lower-limb prosthesis users

Clay fine fissuring monitoring using miniature geo-electrical resistivity arrays

Abstract This article describes a miniaturised electrical imaging (resistivity tomography) technique to map the cracking pattern of a clay model. The clay used was taken from a scaled flood embankment built to study the fine fissuring due to desiccation and breaching process in flooding conditions. The potential of using a miniature array of electrodes to follow the evolution of the vertical cracks and number them during the drying process was explored. The imaging technique generated two-dimensional contoured plots of the resistivity distribution within the model before and at different stages of the desiccation process. The change in resistivity associated with the widening of the cracks were monitored as a function of time. Experiments were also carried out using a selected conductive gel to slow down the transport process into the cracks to improve the scanning capabilities of the equipment. The main vertical clay fissuring network was obtained after inversion of the experimental resistivity measurements and validated by direct observations

Measuring foot abduction brace wear time using a single 3-axis accelerometer

The recommended treatment for idiopathic congenital clubfoot deformity involves a series of weekly castings, surgery, and a period of bracing using a foot abduction brace (FAB). Depending on the age of the child, the orthotic should be worn for periods that reduce in duration as the child develops. Compliance is vital to achieve optimal functional outcomes and reduce the likelihood of reoccurrence, deformity, or the need for future surgery. However, compliance is typically monitored by self-reporting, which is time-consuming to implement and lacks accuracy. This study presents a novel method for objectively monitoring FAB wear using a single 3-axis accelerometer. Eleven families mounted an accelerometer on their infant’s FAB for up to seven days. Parents were also given a physical diary that was used to record the daily application and removal of the orthotic in line with their treatment. Both methods produced very similar measurements of wear that visually aligned with the movement measured by the accelerometer. Bland Altman plots showed a −0.55-h bias in the diary measurements and the limits of agreement ranging from −2.96 h to 1.96 h. Furthermore, the Cohens Kappa coefficient for the entire dataset was 0.88, showing a very high level of agreement. The method provides an advantage over existing objective monitoring solutions as it can be easily applied to existing FABs, preventing the need for bespoke monitoring devices. The novel method can facilitate increased research into FAB compliance and help enable FAB monitoring in clinical practice

Spectral Grouping of Electrically Encoded Sound Predicts Speech-in-Noise Performance in Cochlear Implantees

\ua9 2023, The Author(s). Objectives: Cochlear implant (CI) users exhibit large variability in understanding speech in noise. Past work in CI users found that spectral and temporal resolution correlates with speech-in-noise ability, but a large portion of variance remains unexplained. Recent work on normal-hearing listeners showed that the ability to group temporally and spectrally coherent tones in a complex auditory scene predicts speech-in-noise ability independently of the audiogram, highlighting a central mechanism for auditory scene analysis that contributes to speech-in-noise. The current study examined whether the auditory grouping ability also contributes to speech-in-noise understanding in CI users. Design: Forty-seven post-lingually deafened CI users were tested with psychophysical measures of spectral and temporal resolution, a stochastic figure-ground task that depends on the detection of a figure by grouping multiple fixed frequency elements against a random background, and a sentence-in-noise measure. Multiple linear regression was used to predict sentence-in-noise performance from the other tasks. Results: No co-linearity was found between any predictor variables. All three predictors (spectral and temporal resolution plus the figure-ground task) exhibited significant contribution in the multiple linear regression model, indicating that the auditory grouping ability in a complex auditory scene explains a further proportion of variance in CI users’ speech-in-noise performance that was not explained by spectral and temporal resolution. Conclusion: Measures of cross-frequency grouping reflect an auditory cognitive mechanism that determines speech-in-noise understanding independently of cochlear function. Such measures are easily implemented clinically as predictors of CI success and suggest potential strategies for rehabilitation based on training with non-speech stimuli

A Systematic Review of Online Sex Addiction and Clinical Treatments Using CONSORT Evaluation

Researchers have suggested that the advances of the Internet over the past two decades have gradually eliminated traditional offline methods of obtaining sexual material. Additionally, research on cybersex and/or online sex addictions has increased alongside the development of online technology. The present study extended the findings from Griffiths’ (2012) systematic empirical review of online sex addiction by additionally investigating empirical studies that implemented and/or documented clinical treatments for online sex addiction in adults. A total of nine studies were identified and then each underwent a CONSORT evaluation. The main findings of the present review provide some evidence to suggest that some treatments (both psychological and/or pharmacological) provide positive outcomes among those experiencing difficulties with online sex addiction. Similar to Griffiths’ original review, this study recommends that further research is warranted to establish the efficacy of empirically driven treatments for online sex addiction

Defining continuous walking events in free-living environments : mind the gap

In free-living environments, continuous walking can be challenging to achieve without encountering interruptions, making it difficult to define a continuous walking event. While limited research has been conducted to define a continuous walking event that accounts for interruptions, no method has considered the intensity change caused by these interruptions, which is crucial for achieving the associated health outcomes. A sample of 24 staff members at the University of Salford were recruited. The participants wore an accelerometer-based device (activPAL™) for seven days continuously and completed an activity diary, to explore a novel methodological approach of combining short interruptions of time between walking events based on an average walking cadence. The definition of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) used was a minimum walking cadence of either 76, 100, or 109 steps/min. The average daily time spent in MVPA increased from 75.2 ± 32.6 min to 86.5 ± 37.4 min using the 76 steps/min, 48.3 ± 29.5 min to 53.0 ± 33.3 min using the 100 steps/min threshold, and 31.4 ± 20.5 min to 33.9 ± 22.6 min using the 109 steps/min threshold; the difference before grouping and after grouping was statistically significant (p < 0.001). This novel method will enable future analyses of the associations between continuous walking and health-related outcomes

Migrant workers, migrants, internally displaced persons, asylum seekers and refugees - the silent sufferers of the COVID-19 pandemic: a brief review of media reports

Like other vulnerable groups, the pandemic has severely and negatively impacted marginalized groups, including migrant laborers, documented and undocumented migrants, internally displaced persons (IDPs), refugees, and asylum seekers. The present study briefly reviewed cases of attempted and completed suicide while also examining their causality among national and international migrant workers, migrants, IDPs, refugees, and asylum seekers during the ongoing pandemic. This study utilized retrospective extraction of suicide-related information from earlier published press reports. With regards to COVID-19-related suicides, this method has had widespread acceptability and has previously been extensively used in countries of SouthEast Asia for reporting suicides in academic journals. The authors located 26 relatively complete details of migrant worker suicides and suicide attempts from India and Singapore and 46 cases of migrant suicides from Malaysia with partially complete details. Lockdown-related health, job, and financial uncertainties coupled with pandemic-related emotional as well as mental stressors were some of the reported reasons for the alleged Citation