Efficiency, costs and trade-offs in marine reserve system design

With marine biodiversity conservation the primary goal for reserve planning initiatives, a site's conservation potential is typically evaluated on the basis of the biological and physical features it contains. By comparison, socio-economic information is seldom a formal consideration of the reserve system design problem and generally limited to an assessment of threats, vulnerability or compatibility with surrounding uses. This is perhaps surprising given broad recognition that the success of reserve establishment is highly dependent on widespread stakeholder and community support. Using information on the spatial distribution and intensity of commercial rock lobster catch in South Australia, we demonstrate the capacity of mathematical reserve selection procedures to integrate socio-economic and biophysical information for marine reserve system design. Analyses of trade-offs highlight the opportunities to design representative, efficient and practical marine reserve systems that minimise potential loss to commercial users. We found that the objective of minimising the areal extent of the reserve system was barely compromised by incorporating economic design constraints. With a small increase in area (< 3%) and boundary length (< 10%), the economic impact of marine reserves on the commercial rock lobster fishery was reduced by more than a third. We considered also how a reserve planner might prioritise conservation areas using information on a planning units selection frequency. We found that selection frequencies alone were not a reliable guide for the selection of marine reserve systems, but could be used with approaches such as summed irreplaceability to direct conservation effort for efficient marine reserve design.

Dizziness and unsteadiness following whiplash injury: Characteristic features and relationship with cervical joint position error

Dizziness and/or unsteadiness are common symptoms of chronic whiplash-associated disorders. This study aimed to report the characteristics of these symptoms and determine whether there was any relationship to cervical joint position error. Joint position error, the accuracy to return to the natural head posture following extension and rotation, was measured in 102 subjects with persistent whiplash-associated disorder and 44 control subjects. Whiplash subjects completed a neck pain index and answered questions about the characteristics of dizziness. The results indicated that subjects with whiplash-associated disorders had significantly greater joint position errors than control subjects. Within the whiplash group, those with dizziness had greater joint position errors than those without dizziness following rotation (rotation (R) 4.5degrees (0.3) vs 2.9degrees (0.4); rotation (L) 3.9degrees (0.3) vs 2.8degrees (0.4) respectively) and a higher neck pain index (55.3% (1.4) vs 43.1% (1.8)). Characteristics of the dizziness were consistent for those reported for a cervical cause but no characteristics could predict the magnitude of joint position error. Cervical mechanoreceptor dysfunction is a likely cause of dizziness in whiplash-associated disorder.

Macrocyclic systems containing 2,6,9-trioxabicyclo[3.3.1]-nona-3,7-dienes as chiral spacer groups: Synthesis, stereochemical features and preliminary complexation properties

Novel 2:2-macrocycles bearing bridged concave 2,6,9-trioxabicyclo[3.3.1]nona-3,7-dienes as chiral spacer units were obtained by cyclocondensation reaction of the chiral bisacid chloride and the corresponding diols, while use of methylene diamines instead of diols afforded 1:1 macrocycles only. Applying the same, but now template-assisted, experimental procedure to the reaction of the bisacid chloride with triethylene glycol brought about a significant increase in yield as well as a suitable simplification of the work-up during preparation and separation of the corresponding 1:1 as well as 2:2 macrocycles, when compared to results reported previously. HPLC separation on chiral columns revealed the presence of diastereoisomers [RR(S,S)- and RS-(meso)-forms] for all 2:2 macrocycles, which was further evidenced by the CD spectrum of one of those species as an example. Preliminary ESI-MS experiments indicated strong complexation abilities of the sulphur-containing ligand towards Ag(I), Cu(II) and Au(III) ions.

The rellationship between specific features of aphasia-friendly written material and comprehension of written material for people with aphasia: An exploratory study

Background: Written material is often inaccessible fro people with aphasia. The format of written material needs to be adapted to enable people with aphasia to read with understanding. Aims: This study aimed to further explore some issues raised in Rose, Worrall, and MacKenna (2003) concerning the effects of aphasia-friendly formats on the reading comprehension of people with aphasia. It was hypothesised that people with aphasia would comprehend significantly more paragraphs that were formatted in an aphasia-friendly manner than control paragraphs. This study also aimed to investigate if each single aspect of aphasia-friendly formatting (i.e., simplified vocabulary and syntax, large print, increased white spacem and pictures) used in isolation would result in increased comprehension compared to control paragraphs. Other aims were to compare the effect of aphasia-friendly fromatting with the effects of each single adaptation, and to investigate if the effects of aphasia-friendly formates were related to aphasia severity. Methods & Procedures: Participants with mild to moderately severe aphasia (N = 9) read a battery of 90 paragraphs and selected the best word of phrase from a choice of four to complete each paragraph. A linear mixed model (p < .05) was used to analyse the differences in reading comprehension with each paragraph fromat across three reading grade levels. Outcomes & Results: People with aphasia comprehended significantly more aphasia-friendly paragraphs than control paragraphs. They also comprehended significantly more paragraphs with each of the following single adaptations: simplified vocabulary and syntax, large ptint, and increased white spaces. Although people with aphasia tended to comprehend more paragraphs with pictures added than control paragraphs, this difference was not significant. No significant correlation between aphasia severity and the effect of aphasia-friendly formatting was found. Conclusion: This study supports the idea that aphasia-friendly formats increase the reading comprehension of people with aphasia. It suggests that adding pictures, particularly Clip Art pictures, may not significantly improve the reading the reading comprehension of people with aphasia. These findings have implications for all written communication with people with aphasia, both in the clinical setting and in the wider community. Applying these findings may enable people with aphasia to have equal access to written information and to participate in society.

Features of nitrogen adsorption on nonporous carbon and silica surfaces in the framework of classical density functional theory

Equilibrium adsorption data of nitrogen on a series of nongraphitized carbon blacks and nonporous silica at 77 K were analyzed by means of classical density functional theory to determine the solid-fluid potential. The behavior of this potential profile at large distance is particularly considered. The analysis of nitrogen adsorption isotherms seems to indicate that the adsorption in the first molecular layer is localized and controlled mainly by short-range forces due to the surface roughness, crystalline defects, and functional groups. At distances larger than approximately 1.3-1.5 molecular diameters, the adsorption is nonlocalized and appears as a thickening of the adsorbed film with increasing bulk pressure in a relatively weak adsorption potential field. It has been found that the asymptotic decay of the potential obeys the power law with the exponent being -3 for carbon blacks and -4 for silica surface, which signifies that in the latter case the adsorption potential is mainly exerted by surface oxygen atoms. In all cases, the absolute value of the solid-fluid potential is much smaller than that predicted by the Lennard-Jones pair potential with commonly used solid-fluid molecular parameters. The effect of surface heterogeneity on the heat of adsorption is also discussed.

Physical activity and the occupations of children: Perspectives of parents and children

There is concern that children’s health is being compromised by a decline in physical activity occurring as a result of the changing nature of the occupations of childhood. This article reports the findings of in-depth interviews conducted with six children and their parents when the children were between 7 and 8 years and then again when they were between 9 and 10 years. This longitudinal perspective highlighted features associated with children remaining engaged in physical occupations. Factors found to contribute to continued involvement in exercise and sports were: the initial introduction to the activity being pleasurable; same-sex parents or older siblings being directly involved; and the skills required by the occupations being commensurate with children’s developmental level. These findings help inform occupational scientists about the nature of recreational and leisure occupations, and how they are introduced and framed within the context of children’s occupational roles.

NMR of conotoxins: structural features and an analysis of chemical shifts of post-translationally modified amino acids

Conotoxins are small conformationally constrained peptides found in the venom of marine snails of the genus Conus. They are usually cysteine rich and frequently contain a high degree of post-translational modifications such as C-terminal amidation, hydroxylation, carboxylation, bromination, epimerisation and glycosylation. Here we review the role of NMR in determining the three-dimensional structures of conotoxins and also provide a compilation and analysis of H-1 and C-13 chemical shifts of post-translationally modified amino acids and compare them with data from common amino acids. This analysis provides a reference source for chemical shifts of post-translationally modified amino acids. Copyright (C) 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Website physical activity interventions: preferences of potential users

Information and communication technologies (particularly websites and e-mail) have the potential to deliver health behavior change programs to large numbers of adults at low cost. Controlled trials using these new media to promote physical activity have produced mixed results. User-centered development methods can assist in understanding the preferences of potential participants for website functions and content, and may lead to more effective programs. Eight focus group discussions were conducted with 40 adults after they had accessed a previously trialed physical activity website. The discussions were audio taped, transcribed and interpreted using a themed analysis method. Four key themes emerged: structure, interactivity, environmental context and content. Preferences were expressed for websites that include simple interactive features, together with information on local community activity opportunities. Particular suggestions included online community notice boards, personalized progress charts, e-mail access to expert advice and access to information on specific local physical activity facilities and services. Website physical activity interventions could usefully include personally relevant interactive and environmentally focused features and services identified through a user-centered development process.