Contemporary and emerging fisheries in The Bahamas—Conservation and management challenges,achievements and future directions

The harvest of marine resources has long‐standing cultural and economic importance to The Bahamas and other small island developing states. Tourists and residents place a demand on local marine resources, particularly Caribbean spiny lobster, Panulirus argus (Latreille), queen conch, Lobatus gigas (Linnaeus) and Nassau grouper, Epinephelus striatus (Bloch), and many fishery products are also sold on the global market. Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing coupled with inadequate regulations and enforcement are the main factors contributing to the decline of Bahamian fisheries along with other anthropogenic impacts. This article reviews the status of fisheries management in The Bahamas using economically and ecologically important species as case studies to highlight conservation successes, knowledge gaps and deficiencies in existing management approaches. The review concludes with an examination of how emerging fisheries and improved conservation management strategies have the potential to improve economic and food security throughout the archipelago.     

Discomforting comfort foods: stirring the pot on Kraft Dinner<Superscript>®</Superscript> and social inequality in Canada

This paper contrasts the perceptions of Canadians who are food-secure with the perceptions of Canadians who are food-insecure through the different meanings that they ascribe to a popular food product known as Kraft Dinner^®. Data sources included individual interviews, focus group interviews, and newspaper articles. Our thematic analysis shows that food-secure Canadians tend to associate Kraft Dinner^® with comfort, while food-insecure Canadians tend to associate Kraft Dinner^® with discomfort. These differences in perspective partly stem from the fact that Kraft Dinner^® consumption by food-secure Canadians is voluntary whereas Kraft Dinner^® consumption by food-insecure Canadians frequently is obligatory. These differences are magnified by the fact that food-insecure individuals are frequently obliged to consume Kraft Dinner^® that has been prepared without milk, a fact that is outside the experience of, and unappreciated by, people who are food-secure. The food-secure perspective influences responses to food insecurity, as Kraft Dinner^® is commonly donated by food-secure people to food banks and other food relief projects. Ignorance among food-secure people of what it is like to be food-insecure, we conclude, partly accounts for the perpetuation of local food charity as the dominant response to food insecurity in Canada.     

Pharmacokinetics of phenobarbital in horses after single and repeated oral administration of the drug.

Six healthy mature horses were orally administered a single dose of phenobarbital (26 mg/kg of body weight), then multiple doses (13 mg/kg) orally for 42 consecutive days. Seventeen venous blood samples were collected from each horse after the single dose study and again after the last dose on day 42. Plasma phenobarbital concentration was determined by use of a fluorescence assay validated for horses. Additional blood samples (n = 11) were collected on days 8 and 25 to determine peak and trough concentrations, as well as total body clearance. Phenobarbital disposition followed a one-compartment model. Mean kinetic variables after single and repeated orally administered doses (42 days) were: elimination half-life = 24.2 +/- 4.7 and 11.2 +/- 2.3 hours, volume of distribution = 0.960 +/- 0.060 and 0.914 +/- 0.119 L/kg, and clearance = 28.2 +/- 5.1 and 57.3 +/- 9.6 ml/h/kg, respectively. Results indicated that significant (P less than 0.05) difference in half-life and oral clearance existed between single and repeated dosing. The significant decrease in half-life after repeated dosing with phenobarbital may be indicative of enzyme induction. Significant difference was not observed between baseline serum enzyme concentration and concentration measured on day 42, except for gamma-glutamyltransferase activity, which was significantly increased on day 42 in 3 of the 6 horses. On the basis of increases in oral clearance observed over 42 days, dose adjustments may be required.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Rupture pressure of elastic and muscular aortic segments from hypertensive and hypotensive turkeys

Blood pressures and heart rates were recorded from two groups of turkeys in two trials. In trial one 20 turkeys, 36 weeks of age and in trial two 24 turkeys, 14 weeks of age, were used. Immediately after blood pressures and heart rates had been determined, the turkeys were killed and vascular tissues were excised. Equal numbers from hypertensive and hypotensive lines of turkeys were used in each trial to determine the rupture pressure of both the elastic and muscular segments of the aorta. When values for the two trials were combined, mean hydrostatic pressures of 1478, 1804, and 794 mm Hg respectively were required to rupture the most caudal abdominal aortic segment, the adjacent cranial abdominal segment, and the thoracic aortic segment. There was a significant difference between the two lines for blood pressure in both trials and for heart rate in trial 2. There were no statistically significant correlations between blood pressure, atherosclerotic plaque score and rupture pressure. Birds fed on a diet containing added fat and cholesterol had significantly lower blood pressures than the birds fed on the other two diets. Birds receiving added dietary cholesterol and fat had lower heart rates than birds fed on the diet with added fat only. Lower plaques scores were evident in the caudal abdominal aorta of the birds fed on the control diet compared to birds fed on the other two diets.     

Chronic diaphragmatic hernia in 34 dogs and 16 cats

Medical records of 34 dogs and 16 cats undergoing surgical repair of diaphragmatic hernia of >2 weeks' duration were reviewed, and long-term follow-up information was obtained. The most common clinical signs were dyspnea and vomiting; however, many of the animals were presented for nonspecific signs such as anorexia, lethargy, and weight loss. Thoracic radiographs revealed evidence of diaphragmatic hernia in only 66% of the animals, and additional imaging tests were often needed to confirm the diagnosis. Thirty-six hernias were repaired through a midline laparotomy; 14 required a median sternotomy combined with a laparotomy. In 14 animals, division of mature adhesions of the lungs or diaphragm to the herniated organs was necessary to permit reduction of the hernia. Fourteen animals required resection of portions of the lungs, liver, or intestine. All hernias were sutured primarily without the use of tissue flaps or mesh implants. Twenty-one of the animals developed transient complications in the postoperative period; the most common of these was pneumothorax. The mortality rate was 14%. Thirty-four (79%) of the animals that were discharged from the hospital had complete resolution of clinical signs, and none developed evidence of recurrent diaphragmatic hernia during the follow-up period. Nine were lost to follow-up.     

Androgen insensitivity syndrome in a thoroughbred mare (64, XY--testicular feminization)

A Thoroughbred mare was presented for stallion-like behavior. Reproductive and ultrasonographic evaluation, testosterone assays, and karyotyping confirmed a diagnosis of androgen insensitivity syndrome (64, XY--testicular feminization). Surgery to remove abdominal testicles was successful in alleviating the behavioral abnormality. This condition is discussed with reference to the current literature.     

Cardiopulmonary effects associated with head-down position in halothane-anesthetized ponies with or without capnoperitoneum

Objective To compare the cardiopulmonary effects of the head‐down position, with or without capnoperitoneum, in halothane‐anesthetized horses. Study design Prospective randomized study. Animals Five ponies (four mares, one stallion; bodyweight 302 ± 38.4 kg [mean ± SD]) were used. Methods The ponies were anesthetized with xylazine, guiafenesin, ketamine, and maintained with halothane/oxygen and lungs were ventilated to 40 ± 2 mm Hg (5.3 ± 0.3 kPa) end‐tidal CO₂ tension. After baseline cardiopulmonary measurements, ponies were kept in horizontal position for 30 minutes, then tilted head‐down 30° to the horizontal position for 60 minutes, and then returned to a horizontal position for final measurements. Capnoperitoneum (intra‐abdominal pressure: 12 mm Hg [1.6 kPa]) was introduced after baseline cardiopulmonary measurements, until 5 minutes before the final measurements (treatment INS). Ponies in the control treatment (CON) did not receive capnoperitoneum. Cardiopulmonary data were collected every 10 minutes following the baseline measurements until recovery. Results In the head‐down position, in both treatments, significant decreases were observed in PaO₂, and significant increases were observed in PaCO₂, right atrial blood pressure, arterial to end‐tidal CO₂ gradient, calculated V_d/V_t and ratios. During the head‐down position, in CON there was decreased cardiac index, and in INS, there were decreases in arterial plasma pH and increases in mean systemic arterial and airway pressures. Treatment INS developed ventilation–perfusion mismatch earlier in the study, and had longer recovery times compared to CON. Conclusion Cardiac index and systemic blood pressure appeared to be preserved in INS during the head‐down position, but ventilation–perfusion mismatch appeared earlier with head‐down position and capnoperitoneum. Clinical relevance Healthy ponies tolerate capnoperitoneum at 12 mm Hg (1.6 kPa) intra‐abdominal pressure when tilted head down 30° to the horizontal position.     

Baseline hematologic, endocrine, and clinical chemistry values in ducks and roosters

Venous blood samples were collected at 3-day intervals for a total of six samples from each of five adult male pekin ducks and five adult Ross roosters. Twenty biochemical, six hematologic, and three endocrine determinations were performed on each blood or serum sample collected. The data obtained provide reference values for future studies of avian species and illustrate the utility of an automated clinical chemistry analyzer in assessing multiple serum biochemistry values in small sample volumes obtained from birds.     

“In”-sights about food banks from a critical interpretive synthesis of the academic literature

The persistence, and international expansion, of food banks as a non-governmental response to households experiencing food insecurity has been decried as an indicator of unacceptable levels of poverty in the countries in which they operate. In 1998, Poppendieck published a book, Sweet charity: emergency food and the end of entitlement, which has endured as an influential critique of food banks. Sweet charity‘s food bank critique is succinctly synthesized as encompassing seven deadly “ins” (1) inaccessibility, (2) inadequacy, (3) inappropriateness, (4) indignity, (5) inefficiency, (6) insufficiency, and (7) instability. The purpose of this paper is to examine if and how the contemporary food bank critique differs from Sweet charity’s “ins” as a strategy for the formulation of synthesizing arguments for policy advocacy. We used critical interpretive synthesis methodology to identify relationships within and/or between existing critiques in the peer-reviewed literature as a means to create “‘synthetic constructs’ (new constructs generated through synthesis)” of circulating critiques. We analyzed 33 articles on food banks published since Sweet charity, with the “ins” as a starting point for coding. We found that the list of original “ins” related primarily to food bank operations has been consolidated over time. We found additional “ins” that extend the food bank critique beyond operations (ineffectiveness, inequality, institutionalization, invalidation of entitlements, invisibility). No synthetic construct emerged linking the critique of operational challenges facing food banks with one that suggests that food banks may be perpetuating inequity, posing a challenge for mutually supportive policy advocacy.