Distribution of Atlantic menhaden, Brevoortia tyrannus, purse-seine sets and catches from southern New England to North Carolina, 1985-96

Sets and catches of Atlantic menhaden, Brevoortia tyrannus, made in 1985-96 by purse-seine vessels from Virginia and North Carolina were studied by digitizing and analyzing Captain's Daily Fishing Reports (CDFR's), daily logs of fishing activities completed by captains of menhaden vessels. 33,674 CDFR's were processed, representing 125,858 purse-seine sets. On average, the fleet made 10,488 sets annually. Virginia vessels made at least one purse-seine set on 67%-83% of available fishing days between May and December. In most years, five was the median number of sets attempted each fishing day. Mean set duration ranged from 34 to 43 minutes, and median catch per set ranged from 15 to 30 metric tons (t). Spotter aircraft assisted in over 83% of sets overall. Average annual catch in Chesapeake Bay (149,500 t) surpassed all other fishing areas, and accounted for 52% of the fleet's catch. Annual catch from North Carolina waters (49,100 t) ranked a distant second. Fishing activity in ocean waters clustered off the Mid-Atlantic states in June-September, and off North Carolina in November-January. Delaware Bay and the New Jersey coast were important alternate fishing grounds during summer. Across all ocean fishing areas, most sets and catch occurred within 3 mi. of shore, but in Chesapeake Bay about half of all fishing activity occurred farther offshore. In Virginia, areas adjacent to fish factories tended to be heavily fished. Recent regulatory initiatives in various coastal states threaten the Atlantic menhaden fleet's access to traditional nearshore fishing grounds. (PDF file contains 26 pages.)

Initiatives for the improvement of continuous management training

[EN] Purpose. This work aims to present, from the company viewpoint, a structured account of management proposals and practices directed toward improving the intensity and effectiveness of continuous management training (CMT). Design/methodology/approach. The article takes as its main theoretical referents the Theory of Human Capital, the Resource-Based Vision and the contributions made via the new institutional economy with regard to the problems of information asymmetry between companies, employees and training providers and completes the proposals that derive from this theoretical approach. To do this, experience-based contributions are collected from a selection of company training and HR managers from twelve Basque companies characterised by their strong investment in management training. The methodology used was qualitative and obtained by different qualitative techniques: Focus Groups, Nominal Groups and the Delphi Method, which make up the so-called Hybrid Delphi. Findings and implications. The proposals are aimed at the main agents in training activity: training providers, associations and public agents engaged in management training and, particularly, companies themselves. The initiatives seek above all to increase training market transparency, to improve mutual commitments between companies and managers, and to link training and development with culture and strategic management, so that firms make optimal investment in management training. Originality/value. The methodology used is original, and the contributions are consistent with the theory, have a proven practical utility, and are presented in a hierarchy, which facilitates decision making.

A biogeographic asssessment of seabirds, deep sea corals and ocean habitats of the New York Bight: science to support offshore spatial planning

This report provides a compilation of new maps and spatial assessments for seabirds, bathymetry, surficial sediments, deep sea corals, and oceanographic habitats in support of offshore spatial planning led by the New York Department of State Ocean and Great Lakes Program. These diverse ecological themes represent priority information gaps left by past assessments and were requested by New York to better understand and balance ocean uses and environmental conservation in the Atlantic. The main goal of this report is to translate raw ecological, geomorphological and oceanographic data into maps and assessments that can be easily used and understood by coastal managers involved in offshore spatial planning. New York plans to integrate information in this report with other ecological, geophysical and human use data to obtain a broad perspective on the ocean environment, human uses and their interactions. New York will then use this information in an ecosystem-based framework to coordinate and support decisions balancing competing demands in their offshore environment, and ultimately develop a series of amendments to New York’s federally approved Coastal Management Program. The targeted users of this report and the compiled spatial information are New York coastal managers, but other State and federal decision-makers, offshore renewable energy development interests and environmental advocates will also find the information useful. In addition, the data and approaches will be useful to regional spatial planning initiatives set up by the Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean (MARCO) and federal regional planning bodies for coastal and marine spatial planning.

Analysis of educational materials and destruction/opt-out initiatives for storage and use of residual newborn screening samples.

In recent years, the storage and use of residual newborn screening (NBS) samples has gained attention. To inform ongoing policy discussions, this article provides an update of previous work on new policies, educational materials, and parental options regarding the storage and use of residual NBS samples. A review of state NBS Web sites was conducted for information related to the storage and use of residual NBS samples in January 2010. In addition, a review of current statutes and bills introduced between 2005 and 2009 regarding storage and/or use of residual NBS samples was conducted. Fourteen states currently provide information about the storage and/or use of residual NBS samples. Nine states provide parents the option to request destruction of the residual NBS sample after the required storage period or the option to exclude the sample for research uses. In the coming years, it is anticipated that more states will consider policies to address parental concerns about the storage and use of residual NBS samples. Development of new policies regarding storage and use of residual NBS samples will require careful consideration of impact on NBS programs, parent and provider educational materials, and respect for parents among other issues.

Institutional designs of customary fisheries management arrangements in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Mexico

There are considerable efforts by governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and academia to integrate marine conservation initiatives and customary practices, such as taboos that limit resource use. However, these efforts are often pursued without a fundamental understanding of customary institutions. This paper examines the operational rules in use and the presence of institutional design principles in long-enduring and dynamic customary fisheries management institutions in Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, and Mexico. Rather than a "blue print" for devising long-enduring institutions, this study relies on the design principles as a starting point to organize an inquiry into the institutional diversity found in customary governance regimes. Three important trends emerged from this comparative analysis: (1) despite it being notoriously difficult to define boundaries around marine resources, almost 3/4 of the cases in this study had clearly defined boundaries and membership; (2) all of the customary institutions were able to make and change rules, indicating a critical degree of flexibility and autonomy that may be necessary for adaptive management; (3) the customary institutions examined generally lacked key interactions with organizations operating at larger scales, suggesting that they may lack the institutional embeddedness required to confront some common pool resources (CPR) challenges from the broader socioeconomic, institutional and political settings in which they are embedded. Future research will be necessary to better understand how specific institutional designs are related to social and ecological outcomes in commons property institutions. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.

The food multimix concept: new innovative approach to meeting nutritional challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa

Food insecurity, chronic hunger, starvation and malnutrition continue to affect millions of individuals throughout the developing world, especially Sub-Saharan Africa. Various initiatives by African governments and International Agencies such as the UN, the industrial nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World Trade Organisation to boost economic development, have failed to provide the much-needed solution to these challenges. The impact of these economic shifts and the failures of structural adjustment programmes on the nutritional well-being and health of the most vulnerable members of poor communities cannot be over-emphasised. The use of ad hoc measures as an adjunct to community-based rural integrated projects have provided little success and will be unsustainable unless they are linked to harnessing available local resources. The present paper therefore focuses on exploring alternative ways of harnessing the scant agricultural resources by employing a scientific approach to food-related problem-solving. The food multimix (FMM) concept offers a scientific contribution alongside other attempts currently in use by the World Food Programme, WHO and FAO to meet the food insecurity challenges that confront most of the developing world in the twenty-first century. It is an innovative approach that makes better use of traditional food sources as a tool for meeting community nutritional needs. The FMM concept employs a food-based approach using traditional methods of food preparation and locally-available, cheap and affordable staples (fruits, pulses, vegetables and legumes) in the formulation of nutrient-enriched multimixes. Developed recipes can provide >= 40% of the daily nutritional requirements of vulnerable groups, including patients with HIV/AIDS and children undergoing nutrition rehabilitation. The FMM approach can also be used as a medium- to long-term adjunct to community-based rural integration projects aimed at health improvement and economic empowerment in Sub-Saharan Africa.

A new 14+: vocational diplomas and the future of schools, colleges and universities. An educational and campaigning pamphlet

Written in an accessible and campaigning style, this pamphlet affords a valuable context to the introduction of the first group of specialist diplomas for 14 year olds in September 2008. The diplomas are the latest in a line of failed initiatives that have sought to provide vocational ‘alternatives’ for those young people staying in full-time education and not considered ‘academic’. Rather than developing any useful employment skills, Allen and Ainley argue that their introduction reflects the changing significance of education in the division and social control of learners that now extends from school to college and on to university. Those who are opposed to the current post-14 agenda, must not only put forward radical alternatives to the current curriculum offer but also, the authors argue, address issues of democracy and accountability. To do this, teacher trade unionists must make new types of alliances with local communities and also with their students.

China’s New Approach to CSR in Congo: Is the leverage turning to China?

China has been the world’s fastest growing economy in the past 30 years with its enterprises rapidly emerging and becoming leading players globally. In particular, the progressive integration into the international system has been spurred by China’s entry into the global trading regime of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001. The 'go global' policy has been facilitating the rapidly growing engagement on the African continent of Chinese multinational companies (MNCs). As a promising tri-polar global economic entity, its growth of relations with Africa has been both unprecedented and impressive. As the Sino-Africa economic and business partnership surges forward, the matter of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is increasingly becoming an imperative ingredient for any successful business. It is noteworthy that responsible corporate citizens should take account of the impact of their investment on both economic and social arenas. However, it still remains uncertain what role Chinese MNCs have been playing in the continent’s sustainable development.
A Sino-Congo deal seems a positive way forward, accelerating the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (hereinafter referred to as Congo) regional economy, depressed due to years of war. Meanwhile, the escalating investment into Congo has raised controversies for its no-attachment policy, with increasing pressure imposed on China’s MNCs to take CSR more seriously. Particular concerns are focused on the multinationals’ inadequate environmental and human rights protection. The recent massive infrastructure investment is arguably perceived as a different interpretation of CSR, which has aroused a hot debate about whether China is heading for status as a responsible stakeholder in the international community. It is conducive to clarifying the paradoxical issue by addressing whether China’s recent approaches have the potential to facilitate CSR initiatives or hinder them in the long run.

What now for the contact hypothesis? Towards a new research agenda

This article begins with a review of recent research on the Contact Hypothesis. It will be shown that the literature in this area has become essentially closed and self-referential where the core political and theoretical premises that underpin the Hypothesis have been taken for granted and the debates have therefore become restricted simply to how best to measure the influence of inter-group contact. One of the key reasons for this is the lack of critical engagement with the Contact Hypothesis from those of a more structuralist and/or ‘radical’ perspective. This may be because the individualistic focus of the Hypothesis is seen from such a perspective as largely irrelevant to addressing racial and ethnic divisions and/or because it may be felt that to engage with the concept is to give it undue legitimacy. It will be argued in this article, however, that the wholesale dismissal of the Contact Hypothesis is a little premature. Just as recent research on racial and ethnic divisions has drawn attention to the way in which such divisions exist at a number of layers within the social formation – from the structural, political and ideological through to the sub-cultural, interactional and biographical – so must any initiatives aimed at addressing these divisions be similarly ‘multi-layered’ in their approach. However, it will be argued that for research to help inform specific strategies at the interactional level, there needs to be a significant change in the way that inter-group contact, and the Contact Hypothesis more generally, is studied. The article will ‘model out’ one potentially fruitful way in which such research can develop through the use of an ethnographic case study involving a cross-community scheme arranged for Protestant and Catholic children in Northern Ireland.

Trades Unions and the Transition away from 'actually existing unsustainability':From economic crisis to a new political economy beyond growth

Traditionally trades unions have accepted and promoted orthodox economic growth as a policy imperative. In recent years there has been a noticeable ‘greening’ of trade unions in relation to initiatives such as the ‘Green new deal’ and the creation of ‘green collar’ employment and the focus on a ‘just transition’ to a low carbon economy. Yet given the growing evidence of the negative impacts of economic growth in terms of environmental, resource and pollution impacts as well as the inability of economic growth to tackle (as opposed to managed) socio-economic inequality, it is timely to review the case for trades unions to fundamentally rethink the commitment to orthodox economic growth. That is, for trades unions to consider going beyond their current ‘green/sustainability’ strategies to consider more radical ‘post-growth’ policy positions. This chapter will explore some of the dimensions of a ‘post-growth’ trade union agenda by considering the evidence for going beyond growth from within the trade union movement (specifically looking at the International Labor Organization’s 2004 report on Economic Security, to internal union discussions around trades unionism and climate change) and external evidence ranging from Wilkinson and Pickett’s The Spirit Level (which suggests amongst other things that in the developed world what is needed is not economic growth but greater redistribution and lowering inequality – issues also of traditional interest to the Trades Union movement) to Tim Jackson’s Prosperity without Growth (which suggests that economic growth is ecologically unsustainable as well having passed a threshold beyond which it is contributing to human well-being in the developed world). As well as discussing the relationship between trades unionism and what may be called ‘green political economy’ (such as the ‘degrowth’ and ‘limits to growth’ perspectives) this chapter will also discuss the practical/policy implications of this ‘post-growth’ perspective in relation to trades unionism’s analysis of capitalism and its transformation in the context of a climate changed, carbon constrained world, including implications for ideas such as basic income, a shorter working week and what a trades unionism focused on how to achieve high quality of life within a low carbon context might look like.

Prevalence of human papillomavirus in women attending cervical screening in the UK and Ireland:New data from northern Ireland and a systematic review and meta-analysis

There is substantial international variation in human papillomavirus (HPV) prevalence; this study details the first report from Northern Ireland and additionally provides a systematic review and meta-analysis pooling the prevalence of high-risk (HR-HPV) subtypes among women with normal cytology in the UK and Ireland. Between February and December 2009, routine liquid based cytology (LBC) samples were collected for HPV detection (Roche Cobas® 4800 [PCR]) among unselected women attending for cervical cytology testing. Four electronic databases, including MEDLINE, were then searched from their inception till April 2011. A random effects meta-analysis was used to calculate a pooled HR-HPV prevalence and associated 95% confidence intervals (CI). 5,712 women, mean age 39 years (±SD 11.9 years; range 20-64 years), were included in the analysis, of which 5,068 (88.7%), 417 (7.3%) and 72 (1.3%) had normal, low, and high-grade cytological findings, respectively. Crude HR-HPV prevalence was 13.2% (95% CI, 12.7-13.7) among women with normal cytology and increased with cytological grade. In meta-analysis the pooled HR-HPV prevalence among those with normal cytology was 0.12 (95% CIs, 0.10-0.14; 21 studies) with the highest prevalence in younger women. HPV 16 and HPV 18 specific estimates were 0.03 (95% CI, 0.02-0.05) and 0.01 (95% CI, 0.01-0.02), respectively. The findings of this Northern Ireland study and meta-analysis verify the prevalent nature of HPV infection among younger women. Reporting of the type-specific prevalence of HPV infection is relevant for evaluating the impact of future HPV immunization initiatives, particularly against HR-HPV types other than HPV 16 and 18. J. Med. Virol. 85:295-308, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

New technology and new workplaces: call centre careers – a growing reality?

Research to date suggests that career advancement in call centres (CCs) is relatively uncommon with employees often viewing such employment as a stopgap measure before moving on to something better. This study set out to determine whether such scenarios have changed over time since CCs have become more established in their work organisation, information and communication technology (ICT) and management processes. This study particularly focused on training and development initiatives, how employees access training and development, and whether CCs support career development. Using both qualitative and quantitative methods, these issues are examined within 10 Australian CCs of varying size from various sectors. Two-thirds of respondents stated that they intended to develop a career in the industry and 7 in 10 reported that they believed there were promotional opportunities emerging in their current organisation. Despite these findings, the evidence also suggests that more needs to be done both to create coherent career paths and to establish structured, accredited training programmes for CC employees.

National Policies for Local Urban Sustainability: A New Governance Approach?

Cities have become a focal point for efforts to transition towards a more sustainable, low-carbon society, with many municipal agencies championing ‘eco city’ initiatives of one kind or another. And yet, national policy initiatives frequently play an important – if sometimes overlooked – role, too. This chapters provides comparative perspectives on four recent national sustainable city programmes from France, India, Japan, and the United Kingdom. The analysis reveals two key insights: first, national policy is found to exercise a strong shaping role in what sustainable development for future cities is understood to be, which helps explain the considerable differences in priorities and approaches across countries. Second, beyond articulating strategic priorities, national policy may exercise a ‘soft’ governance function by incentivising and facilitating wider, voluntary governance networks in the effort to implement sustainable city projects locally. This innovative role, however, depends on the ability of national policy to produce resonance among societal actors and on its effective interaction with formal planning processes.

The Lausanne Institutional Biobank: a new resource to catalyse research in personalised medicine and pharmaceutical sciences.

Breakthrough technologies which now enable the sequencing of individual genomes will irreversibly modify the way diseases are diagnosed, predicted, prevented and treated. For these technologies to reach their full potential requires, upstream, access to high-quality biomedical data and samples from large number of properly informed and consenting individuals and, downstream, the possibility to transform the emerging knowledge into a clinical utility. The Lausanne Institutional Biobank was designed as an integrated, highly versatile infrastructure to harness the power of these emerging technologies and catalyse the discovery and development of innovative therapeutics and biomarkers, and advance the field of personalised medicine. Described here are its rationale, design and governance, as well as parallel initiatives which have been launched locally to address the societal, ethical and technological issues associated with this new bio-resource. Since January 2013, inpatients admitted at Lausanne CHUV University Hospital have been systematically invited to provide a general consent for the use of their biomedical data and samples for research, to complete a standardised questionnaire, to donate a 10-ml sample of blood for future DNA extraction and to be re-contacted for future clinical trials. Over the first 18 months of operation, 14,459 patients were contacted, and 11,051 accepted to participate in the study. This initial 18-month experience illustrates that a systematic hospital-based biobank is feasible; it shows a strong engagement in research from the patient population in this University Hospital setting, and the need for a broad, integrated approach for the future of medicine to reach its full potential.

Teachers' processes of negotiating meaning of new curriculum

This qualitative study addresses the question of how teachers negotiate meaning of new curriculum to better understand how curriculum is transformed from a theoretical construct to a practical one. Through interviews with 5 teachers, their experiences were examined as they negotiated the process of implementing new curriculum. Three theoretical constructs provided the entry point into the study: epistemology, teacher knowledge, and teacher learning. Using inductive analysis, 4 points or attributes of negotiation emerged: reference, growth, autonomy, and reconciliation. These attributes provided a theoretical framework from which a constructivist conceptualization of teacher learning and teacher knowledge could serve to understand the process of how teachers negotiate meaning of curriculum. Studied and theorized in this way, teacher knowledge and teacher learning are seen to be inextricably linked in a relationship that is dynamically changed by forces of stability and instability. Theorizing the negotiation of meaning from a constructivist epistemology also strengthened the assertion that negotiating meaning is a unique structural process, and that knowledge construction is therefore unique to each knower and subject to experience in a particular time and place. The implications for such a theory are, first, that it questions the legitimacy of privatized teacher practice and, second, that it calls for a renewed conceptualization of collegial network and relationship to strengthen the capacity for negotiating meaning of curricular initiatives. Understanding the relationship of curricular theory and negotiating meaning also has implications for curriculum development. In particular, the study highlights the necessity of professional discretion and the generative process of negotiating meaning.