Risk factors for mortality during the 2002 landslides in Chuuk, Federated States of Micronesia

This study examines health effects resulting from landslides in Chuuk during Tropical Storm Chata'an in July 2002, and suggests strategies to prevent future mortality. In August 2002, we conducted a cross-sectional survey to identify risk factors for mortality during landslides, which included 52 survivors and 40 surrogates for 43 decedents to identify risk factors for death. Findings suggest that 1) females had a higher mortality rate from this event than males, and 2) children aged 5–14 years had a 10-fold increase in mortality when compared with annual mortality rates from all causes. Awareness of landslides occurring elsewhere and knowledge of natural warning signs were significantly associated with lower risks of death; being outside during landslides was not associated with reduced mortality. In Chuuk, improving communication systems during tropical storms and increasing knowledge of natural warnings can reduce the risk for mortality during landslides.     

Genetic Variability in Swayne's Hartebeest, an Endangered Antelope of Ethiopia

Abstract: Swayne's hartebeest ( Alcelaphus buselaphus swaynei ) is an endangered antelope that survives in four or five relict populations in Ethiopia. We examined the two main populations (Senkele and Nechisar) for mitochondrial (D-loop) and nuclear (microsatellite) variability in order to measure levels of genetic variation within the subspecies and degree of differentiation between populations. For comparison, we examined samples from a large population of red hartebeest ( Alcelaphus buselaphus caama ). Both swaynei and caama exhibited high levels of variation. There was significant differentiation between the populations of swaynei at Senkele and Nechisar, and gene diversity in Nechisar, the smaller of the two populations, was significantly lower than that in Senkele. Many mitochondrial haplotypes and microsatellite alleles present at high frequencies among the Senkele individuals were missing in Nechisar, suggesting that the translocation of animals from Senkele undertaken in 1974 did not contribute notably to the gene pool in Nechisar. Subsamples taken from Senkele in 1988 and 1995 showed a significant change in allele frequencies, a change that probably can be attributed to a massive population decline during this period. We recommend that both populations be protected in situ to maintain as much as possible of the diversity that exists within the taxon and that a breeding program be established. In spite of the earlier unsuccessful attempt, we argue that translocation of animals for enhancement of population size as well as genetic variation in Nechisar should be considered.     

Landowner motivations for watershed restoration: lessons from five watersheds

Collaborative watershed management initiatives have increased tremendously over the past decade. One of the critical questions for these initiatives is how to influence private land management practices to improve watershed health. This article researches landowner motivations and preferences for watershed restoration efforts in five watersheds in Western Oregon. Based on a survey of 446 landowners and 80 personal interviews, the research revealed that landowner perspectives vary by socio-economic, cultural, and land use characteristics. They are strongly motivated by a concern for future generations and interpersonal influence is particularly important. Finances, time, and unfamiliarity were all significant barriers to the adoption of conservation practices. The findings also revealed considerable variation among landowners as to their trusted sources of information and preferred outreach methods. Beyond the findings in Oregon, the research suggests that watershed initiatives need to understand landowner characteristics and motivating factors to better promote watershed restoration and target outreach efforts.     

Changes in Forest Area Along Stream Networks in an Agricultural Catchment of the Great Barrier Reef Lagoon

Scenes from the series of multispectral sensors on the Landsat satellites were used to map recent changes (between 1972 and 2004) in forest cover within and adjacent to stream networks of an intensively farmed region of the southern Great Barrier Reef catchment (Australia). Unsupervised ISODATA classifications of Tasseled-Cap transformed data (at 57 m ground resolution) mapped forest and cleared areas within 150 m of Pisoneer catchment waterways with 72.2% overall accuracy (K(hat) = 0.469), when adjusted for the size of each class. Although the user's accuracy was higher for the forest class (82.1 +/- 8.4% at alpha = 0.05), large errors of commission (34.2 +/- 8.3%) substantially affected map accuracy for the cleared class. The main reasons for misclassification include: (1) failure to discriminate narrowly vegetated riparian strips; (2) misregistration of scenes; and (3) spectral similarity of ground cover. Error matrix probabilities were used to adjust the mapped area of classes, resulting in a decline of forest cover by 12.3% and increase of clearing by 18.5% (22.4 km(2) change; 95% confidence interval: 14.3-29.6 km(2)) between 1972 and 2004. Despite the mapping errors, Landsat data were able to identify broad patterns of land cover change that were verified from aerial photography. Most of the forest losses occurred in open forest to woodland habitat dominated by Eucalyptus, Corymbia, and Lophostemon species, which were largely replaced by sugarcane cropping. Melaleuca communities were similarly affected, though they have a much smaller distribution in the catchment.     

Maternal environment and the expression of murine neural tube defects

The role that genetic and environmental factors play in triggering neural tube defects in the mouse mutant curly-tail (ct) were investigated by transplanting curly-tail blastocysts into the uterus of either curly-tail females or females of an unrelated A strain with a low natural incidence of abnormalities of the neural tube. The percentages of fetuses with neural tube defects were found to be similar in both groups. These results show that in curly-tail mice exencephaly and spina bifida are manifested independently of the maternal environment.     

Exposure to the sobriety "Checkpoint Strikeforce" campaign in Maryland: impact on driver perceptions of vulnerability and behavior

OBJECTIVES: To compare drivers who were: (1) exposed to Maryland's sobriety "Checkpoint Strikeforce" campaign; (2) not exposed but were aware of it; and (3) neither exposed nor aware of it. This six-month campaign involved periodic road-side sobriety checkpoints, in which police attempted to detect and arrest drunk drivers and a series of radio Public Service Announcements (PSAs) that promoted public awareness. METHODS: A statewide sample of 1725 drivers were interviewed by telephone to determine their exposure to and awareness of this campaign, as well as their beliefs and behaviors concerning drunk driving and seat belt usage. RESULTS: Relatively few people (9.6%) were exposed in any way to the campaign; however almost 30% were aware of it. Significant increases in perceived vulnerability to arrest for drinking and driving were found among those who were exposed. There were no differences in reported drinking and driving, but seat belt usage in the last 30 days was higher among those who were exposed. There were no differences among those people who had been directly exposed to the campaign (i.e., personally gone through a sobriety checkpoint) and those who were indirectly exposed (i.e., knew a family member or someone else who went through a checkpoint). CONCLUSIONS: Exposure to a sobriety checkpoint was associated with increased perceptions of drink-driving risk (i.e., likelihood of getting caught by the police), which was not dependent upon having personally experienced it. Awareness without exposure appears to be insufficient to change perceived risk. The need to increase the reach and frequency of the sobriety "Checkpoint Strikeforce" campaign is indicated.     

Birds as predators in tropical agroforestry systems

Insectivorous birds reduce arthropod abundances and their damage to plants in some, but not all, studies where predation by birds has been assessed. The variation in bird effects may be due to characteristics such as plant productivity or quality, habitat complexity, and/or species diversity of predator and prey assemblages. Since agroforestry systems vary in such characteristics, these systems provide a good starting point for understanding when and where we can expect predation by birds to be important. We analyze data from bird exclosure studies in forests and agroforestry systems to ask whether birds consistently reduce their arthropod prey base and whether bird predation differs between forests and agroforestry systems. Further, we focus on agroforestry systems to ask whether the magnitude of bird predation (1) differs between canopy trees and understory plants, (2) differs when migratory birds are present or absent, and (3) correlates with bird abundance and diversity. We found that, across all studies, birds reduce all arthropods, herbivores, carnivores, and plant damage. We observed no difference in the magnitude of bird effects between agroforestry systems and forests despite simplified habitat structure and plant diversity in agroforests. Within agroforestry systems, bird reduction of arthropods was greater in the canopy than the crop layer. Top-down effects of bird predation were especially strong during censuses when migratory birds were present in agroforestry systems. Importantly, the diversity of the predator assemblage correlated with the magnitude of predator effects; where the diversity of birds, especially migratory birds, was greater, birds reduced arthropod densities to a greater extent. We outline potential mechanisms for relationships between bird predator, insect prey, and habitat characteristics, and we suggest future studies using tropical agroforests as a model system to further test these areas of ecological theory.     

Efficient and equitable design of marine protected areas in Fiji through inclusion of stakeholder‐specific objectives in conservation planning

The efficacy of protected areas varies, partly because socioeconomic factors are not sufficiently considered in planning and management. Although integrating socioeconomic factors into systematic conservation planning is increasingly advocated, research is needed to progress from recognition of these factors to incorporating them effectively in spatial prioritization of protected areas. We evaluated 2 key aspects of incorporating socioeconomic factors into spatial prioritization: treatment of socioeconomic factors as costs or objectives and treatment of stakeholders as a single group or multiple groups. Using as a case study the design of a system of no‐take marine protected areas (MPAs) in Kubulau, Fiji, we assessed how these aspects affected the configuration of no‐take MPAs in terms of trade‐offs between biodiversity objectives, fisheries objectives, and equity in catch losses among fisher stakeholder groups. The achievement of fisheries objectives and equity tended to trade‐off concavely with increasing biodiversity objectives, indicating that it is possible to achieve low to mid‐range biodiversity objectives with relatively small losses to fisheries and equity. Importantly, the extent of trade‐offs depended on the method used to incorporate socioeconomic data and was least severe when objectives were set for each fisher stakeholder group explicitly. We found that using different methods to incorporate socioeconomic factors that require similar data and expertise can result in plans with very different impacts on local stakeholders.     

Measures of health,fitness, and functional movement among firefighter recruits

Aim. The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between various health and fitness measures and Functional Movement Screen? (FMS?) scores among 78 firefighter recruits. Methods. Relationships between FMS? scores and age, body mass index (BMI), sit and reach (S&R) distance, estimated maximal aerobic capacity (V˙_O2max), estimated one-repetition maximum squat (1RM-Squat_max), and plank endurance (%Plank_max) were examined. Results. Total FMS? scores were significantly correlated with BMI (r?=??0.231, p?=?0.042), estimated 1RM-Squat_max (r?=?0.302, p?=?0.007), and %Plank_max (r?=?0.320, p?=?0.004). Multiple regression analyses indicated that this combination of predictors significantly predicted (F(3, 74)?=?5.043, p?=?0.003) Total FMS? score outcomes and accounted for 17% of the total variance (R²?=?0.170). In addition, logistic regression analyses indicated that estimated 1RM-Squat_max also significantly predicted (χ²?=?6.662, df?=?1, p?=?0.010) FMS? group membership (≤14 or ≥15). Conclusion. These results suggest that the health and fitness measures of obesity (BMI), bilateral lower extremity strength (estimated 1RM-Squat_max), and core muscular endurance (%Plank_max) are significantly associated with functional movement patterns among firefighter recruits. Consequently, injury prevention programs implemented among firefighter recruits should target these aspects of health and fitness.