A 3D in vitro model reflecting the androgen deprivation state in prostate cancer bone metastasis

In castrate-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), the prevailing organ for metastasis is bone, where the survival of cancer cells is regulated by the permissive metastatic niche offered by the bone marrow. The tumour microenvironment and cellular interactions with the matrix and bone cells enable metastasis and lead to cancer cells becoming androgen resistant. Hence, 3D models that mimic CRPC in terms of an androgen deprivation state (ADS) are needed to identify the mechanisms for CPRC growth in bone and further develop therapeutic strategies.

Water quality: Indicators, human impact and environmental health

This book provides an overview of state of the art assessments of water quality; with an understanding how water quality is affected, and improving water quality for irrigation, drinking and recreation activities.

Trust and Safe Choices: Coping with health-related risks in food consumption in St. Petersburg

This dissertation considers the problem of trust in the context of food consumption. The research perspectives refer to institutional conditions for consumer trust, personal practices of food consumption, and strategies consumers employ for controlling the safety of their food. The main concern of the study is to investigate consumer trust as an adequate response to food risks, i.e. a strategy helping the consumer to make safe choices in an uncertain food situation. "Risky" perspective serves as a frame of reference for understanding and explaining trust relations. The original aim of the study was to reveal the meanings applied to the concepts of trust, safety and risks in the perspective of market choices, the assessments of food risks and the ways of handling them. Supplementary research tasks presumed descriptions of institutional conditions for consumer trust, including descriptions of the food market, and the presentation of food consumption patterns in St. Petersburg. The main empirical material is based on qualitative interviews with consumers and interviews and group discussions with professional experts (market actors, representatives of inspection bodies and consumer organizations). Secondary material is used for describing institutional conditions for consumer trust and the market situation. The results suggest that the idea of consumer trust is associated with the reputation of suppliers, stable quality and taste of their products, and reliable food information. Being a subjectively constructed state connected to the act of acceptance, consumer trust results in positive buying decisions and stable preferences in the food market. The consumers' strategies that aim at safe food choices refer to repetitive interactions with reliable market actors that free them from constant consideration in the marketplace. Trust in food is highly mediated by trust in institutions involved in the food system. The analysis reveals a clear pattern of disbelief in the efficiency of institutional food control. The study analyses this as a reflection of "total distrust" that appears to be a dominant mood in many contexts of modern Russia. However, the interviewees emphasize the state's decisive role in suppressing risks in the food market. Also, the findings are discussed with reference to the consumers' possibilities of personal control over food risks. Three main responses to a risky food situation are identified: the reflexive approach, the traditional approach, and the fatalistic approach.

Oligarchs, political regime changes, and firm valuation

This paper examines the impact of a regime shift on the valuation of politically powerful oligarch firms. Focusing on the Yeltsin-Putin regime shift in Russia, we find that the valuations of outside shareholders claims are significantly higher under the Putin regime than under the Yeltsin regime after controlling for industry and time effects. The findings suggest that the increasing cost of extracting private benefits outweigh the reduction in the value of political connections following the political regime change. The results are also consistent with changes in the risk of state expropriation. Our results show that effects driven by the political regime change complement the traditional view stating that increased ownership concentration improved the performance of Russian oligarch firms.

On the charging state of atmospheric aerosols and ion-induced nucleation

Floating in the air that surrounds us is a number of small particles, invisible to the human eye. The mixture of air and particles, liquid or solid, is called an aerosol. Aerosols have significant effects on air quality, visibility and health, and on the Earth's climate. Their effect on the Earth's climate is the least understood of climatically relevant effects. They can scatter the incoming radiation from the Sun, or they can act as seeds onto which cloud droplets are formed. Aerosol particles are created directly, by human activity or natural reasons such as breaking ocean waves or sandstorms. They can also be created indirectly as vapors or very small particles are emitted into the atmosphere and they combine to form small particles that later grow to reach climatically or health relevant sizes. The mechanisms through which those particles are formed is still under scientific discussion, even though this knowledge is crucial to make air quality or climate predictions, or to understand how aerosols will influence and will be influenced by the climate's feedback loops. One of the proposed mechanisms responsible for new particle formation is ion-induced nucleation. This mechanism is based on the idea that newly formed particles were ultimately formed around an electric charge. The amount of available charges in the atmosphere varies depending on radon concentrations in the soil and in the air, as well as incoming ionizing radiation from outer space. In this thesis, ion-induced nucleation is investigated through long-term measurements in two different environments: in the background site of Hyytiälä and in the urban site that is Helsinki. The main conclusion of this thesis is that ion-induced nucleation generally plays a minor role in new particle formation. The fraction of particles formed varies from day to day and from place to place. The relative importance of ion-induced nucleation, i.e. the fraction of particles formed through ion-induced nucleation, is bigger in cleaner areas where the absolute number of particles formed is smaller. Moreover, ion-induced nucleation contributes to a bigger fraction of particles on warmer days, when the sulfuric acid and water vapor saturation ratios are lower. This analysis will help to understand the feedbacks associated with climate change.

Perinatal mortality and maternal health in rural China

Background and context Since the economic reforms of 1978, China has been acclaimed as a remarkable economy, achieving 9% annual growth per head for more than 25 years. However, China's health sector has not fared well. The population health gains slowed down and health disparities increased. In the field of health and health care, significant progress in maternal care has been achieved. However, there still remain important disparities between the urban and rural areas and among the rural areas in terms of economic development. The excess female infant deaths and the rapidly increasing sex ratio at birth in the last decade aroused serious concerns among policy makers and scholars. Decentralization of the government administration and health sector reform impacts maternal care. Many studies using census data have been conducted to explore the determinants of a high sex ratio at birth, but no agreement has been so far reached on the possible contributing factors. No study using family planning system data has been conducted to explore perinatal mortality and sex ratio at birth and only few studies have examined the impact of the decentralization of government and health sector reforms on the provision and organization of maternal care in rural China. Objectives The general objective of this study was to investigate the state of perinatal health and maternal care and their determinants in rural China under the historic context of major socioeconomic reforms and the one child family planning policy. The specific objectives of the study included: 1) to study pregnancy outcomes and perinatal health and their correlates in a rural Chinese county; 2) to examine the issue of sex ratio at birth and its determinants in a rural Chinese county; 3) to explore the patterns of provision, utilization, and content of maternal care in a rural Chinese county; 4) to investigate the changes in the use of maternal care in China from 1991 to 2003. Materials and Methods This study is based on a project for evaluating the prenatal care programme in Dingyuan county in 1999-2003, Anhui province, China and a nationwide household health survey to describe the changes in maternal care utilization. The approaches used included a retrospective cohort study, cross sectional interview surveys, informant interviews, observations and the use of statistical data. The data sources included the following: 1) A cohort of pregnant women followed from pregnancy up to 7 days after birth in 20 townships in the study county, collecting information on pregnancy outcomes using family planning records; 2) A questionnaire interview survey given to women who gave birth between 2001 and 2003; 3) Various statistical and informant surveys data collected from the study county; 4) Three national household health interview survey data sets (1993-2003) were utilized, and reanalyzed to described the changes in maternity care utilization. Relative risks (RR) and their confidence intervals (CI) were calculated for comparison between parity, approval status, infant sex and township groups. The chi-square test was used to analyse the disparity of use of maternal care between and within urban and rural areas and its trend across the years in China. Logistic regression was used to analyse the factors associated with hospital delivery in rural areas. Results There were 3697 pregnancies in the study cohort, resulting in 3092 live births in a total population of 299463 in the 20 study townships during 1999-2000. The average age at pregnancy in the cohort was 25.9 years. Of the women, 61% were childless, 38% already had one child and 0.3% had two children before the current pregnancy. About 90% of approved pregnancies ended in a live birth while 73% of the unapproved ones were aborted. The perinatal mortality rate was 69 per thousand births. If the 30 induced abortions in which the gestational age was more than 28 weeks had been counted as perinatal deaths, the perinatal mortality rate would have been as high as 78 per thousand. The perinatal mortality rate was negatively associated with the wealth of the township. Approximately two thirds of the perinatal deaths occurred in the early neonatal period. Both the still birth rate and the early neonatal death rate increased with parity. The risk of a stillbirth in a second pregnancy was almost four times that for a first pregnancy, while the risk of early neonatal deaths doubled. The early neonatal mortality rate was twice as high for female as for male infants. The sex difference in the early neonatal mortality rate was mainly attributable to mortality in second births. The male early neonatal mortality rate was not affected by parity, while the female early neonatal mortality rate increased dramatically with parity: it was about six times higher for second births than for first births. About 82% early neonatal deaths happened within 24 hours after birth, and during that time, girls were almost three times more likely to die than boys. The death rate of females on the day of birth increased much more sharply with parity than that of males. The total sex ratio at birth of 3697 registered pregnancies was 152 males to 100 females, with 118 and 287 in first and second pregnancies, respectively. Among unapproved pregnancies, there were almost 5 live-born boys for each girl. Most prenatal and delivery care was to be taken care of in township hospitals. At the village level, there were small private clinics. There was no limitation period for the provision of prenatal and postnatal care by private practitioners. They were not permitted to provide delivery care by the county health bureau, but as some 12% of all births occurred either at home or at private clinics; some village health workers might have been involved. The county level hospitals served as the referral centers for the township hospitals in the county. However, there was no formal regulation or guideline on how the referral system should work. Whether or not a woman was referred to a higher level hospital depended on the individual midwife's professional judgment and on the clients' compliance. The county health bureau had little power over township hospitals, because township hospitals had in the decentralization process become directly accountable to the township government. In the township and county hospitals only 10-20% of the recurrent costs were funded by local government (the township hospital was funded by the township government and the county hospital was funded by the county government) and the hospitals collected user fees to balance their budgets. Also the staff salaries depended on fee incomes by the hospital. The hospitals could define the user charges themselves. Prenatal care consultations were however free in most township hospitals. None of the midwives made postnatal home visits, because of low profit of these services. The three national household health survey data showed that the proportion of women receiving their first prenatal visit within 12 weeks increased greatly from the early to middle 1990s in all areas except for large cities. The increase was much larger in the rural areas, reducing the urban-rural difference from more than 4 times to about 1.4 times. The proportion of women that received antenatal care visits meeting the Ministry of Health s standard (at least 5 times) in the rural areas increased sharply from 12% in 1991-1993 to 36% in 2001-2003. In rural areas, the proportion increase was much faster in less developed areas than in developed areas. The hospital delivery rate increased slightly from 90% to 94% in urban areas while the proportion increased from 27% to 69% in rural areas. The fastest change was found to be in type 4 rural areas, where the utilization even quadrupled. The overall difference between rural and urban areas was substantially narrowed over the period. Multiple logistic regression analysis shows that time periods, residency in rural or urban areas, income levels, age group, education levels, delivery history, occupation, health insurance and distance from the nearest health care facilities were significantly associated with hospital delivery rates. Conclusions 1. Perinatal mortality in this study was much higher than that for urban areas as well as any reported rate from specific studies in rural areas of China. Previous studies in which calculations of infant mortality were not based on epidemiological surveys have been shown to underestimate the rates by more than 50%. 2. Routine statistics collected by the Chinese family planning system proved to be a reliable data source for studying perinatal health, including still births, neonatal deaths, sex ratio at birth and among newborns. National Household Health Survey data proved to be a useful and reliable data source for studying population health and health services. Prior to this research there were few studies in these areas available to international audiences. 3.Though perinatal mortality rate was negatively associated with the level of township economic development, the excess female early neonatal mortality rate contributed much more to high perinatal mortality rate than economic factors. This was likely a result of the role of the family planning policy and the traditional preferences for sons, which leads to lethal neglect of female newborns and high perinatal mortality. 4. The selective abortions of female foetuses were likely to contribute most to the high sex ratio at birth. The underreporting of female births seemed to have played a secondary role. The higher early neonatal mortality rate in second-born as compared to first-born children, particularly in females, may indicate that neglect or poorer care of female newborn infants also contributes to the high sex ratio at birth or among newborns. Existing family planning policy proved not to effectively control the steadily increased birth sex ratio. 5. The rural-urban gap in service utilization was on average significantly narrowed in terms of maternal healthcare in China from 1991 to 2003. This demonstrates that significant achievements in reducing inequities can be made through a combination of socio-economic development and targeted investments in improving health services, including infrastructure, staff capacities, and subsidies to reduce the costs of service utilization for the poorest. However, the huge gap which persisted among cities of different size and within different types of rural areas indicated the need for further efforts to support the poorest areas. 6. Hospital delivery care in the study county was better accepted by women because most of women think delivery care was very important while prenatal and postnatal care were not. Hospital delivery care was more systematically provided and promoted than prenatal and postnatal care by township hospital in the study area. The reliance of hospital staff income on user fees gave the hospitals an incentive to put more emphasis on revenue generating activities such as delivery care instead of prenatal and postnatal care, since delivery care generated much profits than prenatal and postnatal care . Recommendations 1. It is essential for the central government to re-assess and modify existing family planning policies. In order to keep national sex balance, the existing practice of one couple one child in urban areas and at-least-one-son a couple in rural areas should be gradually changed to a two-children-a-couple policy throughout the country. The government should establish a favourable social security policy for couples, especially for rural couples who have only daughters, with particular emphasis on their pension and medical care insurance, combined with an educational campaign for equal rights for boys and girls in society. 2. There is currently no routine vital-statistics registration system in rural China. Using the findings of this study, the central government could set up a routine vital-statistics registration system using family planning routine work records, which could be used by policy makers and researchers. 3. It is possible for the central and provincial government to invest more in the less developed and poor rural areas to increase the access of pregnant women in these areas to maternal care services. Central government together with local government should gradually provide free maternal care including prenatal and postnatal as well as delivery care to the women in poor and less developed rural areas. 4. Future research could be done to explore if county and the township level health care sector and the family planning system could be merged to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of maternal and child care. 5. Future research could be done to explore the relative contribution of maternal care, economic development and family planning policy on perinatal and child health using prospective cohort studies and community based randomized trials. Key words: perinatal health, perinatal mortality, stillbirth, neonatal death, sex selective abortion, sex ratio at birth, family planning, son preference, maternal care, prenatal care, postnatal care, equity, China

Lower Gastrointestinal Microbiota in Health and Irritable Bowel Syndrome : Characterisation and Effect of Probiotic Intervention

The human gastrointestinal (GI) microbiota is a complex ecosystem that lives in symbiosis with its host. The growing awareness of the importance of the microbiota to the host as well as the development of culture-free laboratory techniques and computational methods has enormously expanded our knowledge of this microbial community. Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common functional bowel disorder affecting up to a fifth of the Western population. To date, IBS diagnosis has been based on GI symptoms and the exclusion of organic diseases. The GI microbiota has been found to be altered in this syndrome and probiotics can alleviate the symptoms, although clear links between the symptoms and the microbiota have not been demonstrated. The aim of the present work was to characterise IBS related alterations in the intestinal microbiota, their relation to IBS symptoms and their responsiveness to probiotic theraphy. In this thesis research, the healthy human microbiota was characterised by cloning and sequencing 16S rRNA genes from a faecal microbial community DNA pool that was first profiled and fractionated according to its guanine and cytosine content (%G+C). The most noticeable finding was that the high G+C Gram-positive bacteria (the phylum Actinobacteria) were more abundant compared to a corresponding library constructed from the unfractionated DNA pool sample. Previous molecular analyses of the gut microbiota have also shown comparatively low amounts of high G+C bacteria. Furthermore, the %G+C profiling approach was applied to a sample constructed of faecal DNA from diarrhea-predominant IBS (IBS-D) subjects. The phylogenetic microbial community comparison performed for healthy and IBS-D sequence libraries revealed that the IBS-D sample was rich in representatives of the phyla Firmicutes and Proteobacteria whereas Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes were abundant in the healthy subjects. The family Lachnospiraceae within the Firmicutes was especially prevalent in the IBS-D sample. Moreover, associations of the GI microbiota with intestinal symptoms and the quality of life (QOL) were investigated, as well as the effect of probiotics on these factors. The microbial targets that were analysed with the quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) in this study were phylotypes (species definition according to 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity) previously associated with either health or IBS. With a set of samples, the presence or abundance of a phylotype that had 94% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity to Ruminococcus torques (R. torques 94%) was shown to be associated with the severity of IBS symptoms. The qPCR analyses for selected phylotypes were also applied to samples from a six-month probiotic intervention with a mixture of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, L. rhamnosus Lc705, Propionibacterium freudenreichii ssp. shermanii JS and Bifidobacterium breve Bb99. The intervention had been previously reported to alleviate IBS symptoms, but no associations with the analysed microbiota representatives were shown. However, with the phylotype-specific assays applied here, the abundance of the R. torques 94% -phylotype was shown to be lowered in the probiotic-receiving group during the probiotic supplementation, whereas a Clostridium thermosuccinogenes 85% phylotype, previously associated with a healthy microbiota, was found to be increased compared to the placebo group. To conclude, with the combination of methods applied, higher abundance of Actinobacteria was detected in the healthy gut than found in previous studies, and significant phylum-level microbiota alterations could be shown in IBS-D. Thus, the results of this study provide a detailed overview of the human GI microbiota in healthy subjects and in subjects with IBS. Furthermore, the IBS symptoms were linked to a particular clostridial phylotype, and probiotic supplementation was demonstrated to alter the GI microbiota towards a healthier state with regard to this and an additional bacterial phylotype. For the first time, distinct phylotype-level alterations in the microbiota were linked to IBS symptoms and shown to respond to probiotic therapy.

Whither solid state physics

The physics of the solid state has grown into that of condensed matter and is now expanding into the study of a bewildering variety of complex systems. After a brief survey of this progression, I enquire into the health of solid state physics; many signs of vitality and growth are found. The Indian scene in this field is briefly sketched, and some suggestions are offered on how to make it more lively,

Modeling Ultrasonic NDE and Guided Wave based Structural Health Monitoring

Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) systems require integration of non-destructive technologies into structural design and operational processes. Modeling and simulation of complex NDE inspection processes are important aspects in the development and deployment of SHM technologies. Ray tracing techniques are vital simulation tools to visualize the wave path inside a material. These techniques also help in optimizing the location of transducers and their orientation with respect to the zone of interrogation. It helps in increasing the chances of detection and identification of a flaw in that zone. While current state-of-the-art techniques such as ray tracing based on geometric principle help in such visualization, other information such as signal losses due to spherical or cylindrical shape of wave front are rarely taken into consideration. The problem becomes a little more complicated in the case of dispersive guided wave propagation and near-field defect scattering. We review the existing models and tools to perform ultrasonic NDE simulation in structural components. As an initial step, we develop a ray-tracing approach, where phase and spectral information are preserved. This enables one to study wave scattering beyond simple time of flight calculation of rays. Challenges in terms of theory and modelling of defects of various kinds are discussed. Various additional considerations such as signal decay and physics of scattering are reviewed and challenges involved in realistic computational implementation are discussed. Potential application of this approach to SHM system design is highlighted and by applying this to complex structural components such as airframe structures, SHM is demonstrated to provide additional value in terms of lighter weight and/or longevity enhancement resulting from an extension of the damage tolerance design principle not compromising safety and reliability.

Landscape valuation through discrete choice experiments: Current practice and future research reflections

This work has been presented in: V Conference AERNA, Faro (Portugal), 30 May 2012-1 June 2012 and IV Workshop on Valuation Methods in Agro-food and Environmental Economics, Castelldefels (Barcelona, Spain), 12 July 2012-13 July 2012.

An environmental assessment of the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park and the Key Largo Coral Reef Marine Sanctuary (Unpublished 1983 Report)

The Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park was established in 1960 and the Key Largo National Marine Sanctuary in 1975. Field studies, funded by NOAA, were conducted in 1980 - 1981 to determine the state of the coral reefs and surrounding areas in relation to changing environmental conditions and resource management that had occurred over the intervening years. Ten reef sites within the Sanctuary and seven shallow grass and hardbottom sites within the Park were chosen for qualitative and quantitative studies. At each site, three parallel transects not less than 400 m long were run perpendicular to the reef or shore, each 300 m apart. Observations, data collecting and sampling were done by two teams of divers. Approximately 75 percent of the bottom within the 18-m isobath was covered by marine grasses, predominantly turtle grass. The general health of the seagrasses appeared good but a few areas showed signs of stress. The inner hardbottom of the Park was studied at the two entrances to Largo Sound. Though at the time of the study the North Channel hardbottom was subjected to only moderate boat traffic, marked changes had taken place over the past years, the most obvious of which was the loss of the extensive beds of Sargassum weed, one of the most extensive beds of this alga in the Keys. Only at this site was the green alga Enteromorpha encountered. This alga, often considered a pollution indicator, may denote the effects of shore run off. The hardbottom at South Channel and the surrounding grass beds showed signs of stress. This area bears the heaviest boat traffic within the Park waters causing continuous turbidity from boat wakes with resulting siltation. The offshore hardbottom and rubble areas in the Sanctuary appeared to be in good health and showed no visible indications of deterioration. Damage by boat groundings and anchors was negligible in the areas surveyed. The outer reefs in general appear to be healthy. Corals have a surprising resiliency to detrimental factors and, when conditions again become favorable, recover quickly from even severe damage. It is, therefore, a cause for concern that Grecian Rocks, which sits somewhat inshore of the outer reef line, has yet to recover from die-off in 1978. The slow recovery, if occurring, may be due to the lower quality of the inshore waters. The patch reefs, more adapted to inshore waters, do not show obvious stress signs, at least those surveyed in this study. It is apparent that water quality was changing in the keys. Water clarity over much of the reef tract was observed to be much reduced from former years and undoubtedly plays an important part in the stresses seen today over the Sanctuary and Park. (PDF contains 119 pages)

Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States: a state of knowledge report from the U.S. Global Change Research Program

Executive Summary: Observations show that warming of the climate is unequivocal. The global warming observed over the past 50 years is due primarily to human-induced emissions of heat-trapping gases. These emissions come mainly from the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil, and gas), with important contributions from the clearing of forests, agricultural practices, and other activities. Warming over this century is projected to be considerably greater than over the last century. The global average temperature since 1900 has risen by about 1.5ºF. By 2100, it is projected to rise another 2 to 11.5ºF. The U.S. average temperature has risen by a comparable amount and is very likely to rise more than the global average over this century, with some variation from place to place. Several factors will determine future temperature increases. Increases at the lower end of this range are more likely if global heat-trapping gas emissions are cut substantially. If emissions continue to rise at or near current rates, temperature increases are more likely to be near the upper end of the range. Volcanic eruptions or other natural variations could temporarily counteract some of the human-induced warming, slowing the rise in global temperature, but these effects would only last a few years. Reducing emissions of carbon dioxide would lessen warming over this century and beyond. Sizable early cuts in emissions would significantly reduce the pace and the overall amount of climate change. Earlier cuts in emissions would have a greater effect in reducing climate change than comparable reductions made later. In addition, reducing emissions of some shorter-lived heat-trapping gases, such as methane, and some types of particles, such as soot, would begin to reduce warming within weeks to decades. Climate-related changes have already been observed globally and in the United States. These include increases in air and water temperatures, reduced frost days, increased frequency and intensity of heavy downpours, a rise in sea level, and reduced snow cover, glaciers, permafrost, and sea ice. A longer ice-free period on lakes and rivers, lengthening of the growing season, and increased water vapor in the atmosphere have also been observed. Over the past 30 years, temperatures have risen faster in winter than in any other season, with average winter temperatures in the Midwest and northern Great Plains increasing more than 7ºF. Some of the changes have been faster than previous assessments had suggested. These climate-related changes are expected to continue while new ones develop. Likely future changes for the United States and surrounding coastal waters include more intense hurricanes with related increases in wind, rain, and storm surges (but not necessarily an increase in the number of these storms that make landfall), as well as drier conditions in the Southwest and Caribbean. These changes will affect human health, water supply, agriculture, coastal areas, and many other aspects of society and the natural environment. This report synthesizes information from a wide variety of scientific assessments (see page 7) and recently published research to summarize what is known about the observed and projected consequences of climate change on the United States. It combines analysis of impacts on various sectors such as energy, water, and transportation at the national level with an assessment of key impacts on specific regions of the United States. For example, sea-level rise will increase risks of erosion, storm surge damage, and flooding for coastal communities, especially in the Southeast and parts of Alaska. Reduced snowpack and earlier snow melt will alter the timing and amount of water supplies, posing significant challenges for water resource management in the West. (PDF contains 196 pages)

Recreational anglers' valuation of near-shore marine fisheries in Florida

This report describes and summarizes the results from a state-wide survey of Florida resident saltwater anglers. The survey was designed to provide estimates of the economic value anglers place on marginal changes in management of selected near-shore marine species. The Contingent valuation method was used to elicit angler willingness to pay for changes in management for redfish, seatrout , mullet, sheepshead, pompano. and king mackerel. Contingent valuation is a process in which respondents are presented with a detailed scenario that describes an opportunity to express their willingness to pay for a proposed change in current conditions. The process consists of three parts. First. the change in current conditions, or the "good" to be valued is described. Second, the payment method is described. The payment method is usually closely related to typical methods of buying goods similar to the one to be valued. Finally. the respondent is asked how much they would pay for the good described in the scenario. A special saltwater fishing license stamp that would allow the holder to take advantage of the described management change was used as a payment mechanism. (PDF contains 147 pages.)

Re-emphasizing the importance of Lake Chad fisheries in Nigerian economy: Borno State experience

Nigeria with an estimated population of about 120 million people requires about 2.3 million metric tonnes of fish and fisheries product for good health at the recommended 19 kg/caput/year by FAO. Lake Chad fisheries resource of Borno State is a blessing in disguise to the Nigerian economy. It has potential to produce over 300,000 metric tonnes of fish protein annually, representing about 12.2% of the total fish demand of Nigerians. In spite of this laudable potential Lake Chad fisheries resources of Borno State declined in the past two decades due, largely, to lack of/or inadequate attention by the government, private and commercial organization, lack of social economics and infra-structural facilities for rational exploitations and management of its resources. This paper re-emphasizes the importance of Lake Chad Fisheries of Borno State in the Nigerian economy. The fisheries resources, the environment, the exploitation, the potential marketing, the role of law enforcement and foreign agencies, the constraints and potentials are discussed. Nigeria can derive a substantial proportion of its fish demand from Lake Chad fisheries of Borno State alone just with the adoption of some proffered strategies including combined efforts of the private and public sectors in the rational management of the fisheries resource of Lake Chad

The impact of economic crises on social inequalities in health: what do we know so far?

Since 2008, Western countries are going through a deep economic crisis whose health impacts seem to be fundamentally counter-cyclical: when economic conditions worsen, so does health, and mortality tends to rise. While a growing number of studies have presented evidence on the effect of crises on the average population health, a largely neglected aspect of research is the impact of crises and the related political responses on social inequalities in health, even if the negative consequences of the crises are primarily borne by the most disadvantaged populations. This commentary will reflect on the results of the studies that have analyzed the effect of economic crises on social inequalities in health up to 2013. With some exceptions, the studies show an increase in health inequalities during crises, especially during the Southeast Asian and Japanese crises and the Soviet Union crisis, although it is not always evident for both sexes or all health or socioeconomic variables. In the Nordic countries during the nineties, a clear worsening of health equity did not occur. Results about the impacts of the current economic recession on health equity are still inconsistent. Some of the factors that could explain this variability in results are the role of welfare state policies, the diversity of time periods used in the analyses, the heterogeneity of socioeconomic and health variables considered, the changes in the socioeconomic profile of the groups under comparison in times of crises, and the type of measures used to analyze the magnitude of social inequalities in health. Social epidemiology should further collaborate with other disciplines to help produce more accurate and useful evidence about the relationship between crises and health equity.