Incorporating climate and ocean change into extinction risk assessments for 82 coral species.

Many marine invertebrate species facing potential extinction have uncertain taxonomies and poorly known demographic and ecological traits. Uncertainties are compounded when potential extinction drivers are climate and ocean changes whose effects on even widespread and abundant species are only partially understood. The U.S. Endangered Species Act mandates conservation management decisions founded on the extinction risk to species based on the best available science at the time of consideration-requiring prompt action rather than awaiting better information. We developed an expert-opinion threat-based approach that entails a structured voting system to assess extinction risk from climate and ocean changes and other threats to 82 coral species for which population status and threat response information was limited. Such methods are urgently needed because constrained budgets and manpower will continue to hinder the availability of desired data for many potentially vulnerable marine species. Significant species-specific information gaps and uncertainties precluded quantitative assessments of habitat loss or population declines and necessitated increased reliance on demographic characteristics and threat vulnerabilities at genus or family levels. Adapting some methods (e.g., a structured voting system) used during other assessments and developing some new approaches (e.g., integrated assessment of threats and demographic characteristics), we rated the importance of threats contributing to coral extinction risk and assessed those threats against population status and trend information to evaluate each species' extinction risk over the 21st century. This qualitative assessment resulted in a ranking with an uncertainty range for each species according to their estimated likelihood of extinction. We offer guidance on approaches for future biological extinction risk assessments, especially in cases of data-limited species likely to be affected by global-scale threats. Incorporación del Cambio Climático y Oceánico en Estudios de Riesgo de Extinción para 82 Especies de Coral.

The impact of hepatitis B knowledge and stigma on screening in Canadian Chinese persons.

BACKGROUND: Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection is endemic in East Asia, and those who emigrate to North America have higher rates of CHB infection when compared with the general population. To date, Chinese persons residing in Canada have not been mandated to be screened for CHB infection. OBJECTIVE: To understand factors that influence hepatitis B screening behaviour among the Chinese community in Toronto, Ontario, and to determine whether stigma acts as a barrier to screening. METHODS: Self-identified Chinese individuals at a family physician's office and at English as a second language (ESL) classes in Toronto completed a questionnaire with demographic questions, a hepatitis B virus (HBV) stigma scale and an HBV knowledge scale. Pearson product moment correlation and multiple regression techniques were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: The study group included 343 individuals. Their mean (± SD) age was 48.76 ± 17.49 years and the majority were born in China (n=229 [68%]). The mean score on the HBV knowledge scale was 10.13 ± 1.76 (range 0 to 15), with higher scores indicating greater HBV knowledge. The mean score on the stigma scale was 54.60 ± 14.18 (range 20 to 100), with higher scores indicating more stigma. Being an immigrant, having a family physician and having greater knowledge of HBV were associated with increased rates of screening for this infection. In contrast, greater levels of HBV stigma were associated with decreased likelihood of screening for HBV infection. CONCLUSIONS: HBV stigma is associated with reduced rates of screening for this infection.

Being homeless at the "End" of homelessness navigating the symbolic and social boundaries of housing first.

Housing First (HF) has emerged as the dominant paradigm in homelessness policy and has been praised for bringing an "end" to the homelessness crisis. Others claim, however, that HF facilitates further sociospatial exclusion of people experiencing homelessness (PEH). To advance this debate and understand HF within its larger sociological context, this article examines how HF policies translate to the lived experiences of those who remain in shelters and on the streets. Through interviews with 22 PEH, we demonstrate how HF confronts PEH with a set of strategic dilemmas that we frame using the concept of "boundary-work." First, PEH must negotiate the symbolic boundaries that HF establishes between "worthy" and "unworthy" for the purposes of distributing housing. Second, once housed, PEH face challenges in navigating the social boundaries that separate the private space of the dwelling, the transitional spaces of homelessness (e.g., streets, shelters), and the increasingly gentrified public spaces of the city. We end by discussing the implications of these findings for evaluating HF programs and demonstrating the value of a boundary-work perspective on homelessness.

Le Logement d'abord (HF) s'est imposé comme le paradigme dominant de la politique de lutte contre l'absence de chez-soi et a été loué pour avoir mis un terme à la crise de l'absence de chez-soi. D'autres prétendent, cependant, que le HF facilite une plus grande exclusion sociospatiale des personnes sans-abri (PEH). Pour faire avancer ce débat et comprendre l'HF dans son contexte sociologique plus large, cet article examine comment les politiques d'HF se traduisent dans les expériences vécues de ceux qui restent dans les refuges et dans les rues. Par le biais d'entretiens avec 22 personnes vivant dans la rue, nous démontrons comment le HF confronte les personnes vivant dans la rue à une série de dilemmes stratégiques que nous encadrons à l'aide du concept de "travail de frontière". Premièrement, les personnes vivant dans la rue doivent négocier les frontières symboliques que HF établit entre les personnes " dignes " et " indignes " dans le but de distribuer des logements. Deuxièmement, une fois logés, les PEH doivent relever le défi de naviguer entre les frontières sociales qui séparent l'espace privé du logement, les espaces transitoires de l'absence de chez-soi (par exemple, les rues, les abris) et les espaces publics de plus en plus gentrifiés de la ville. Nous terminons en discutant des implications de ces résultats pour l'évaluation des programmes HF et en démontrant la valeur d'une perspective de travail de frontière sur le sans-abrisme.

Comparable walking gait performance during executive and non-executive cognitive dual-tasks in chronic stroke: A pilot study.

BACKGROUND: Falls are a serious problem among stroke survivors due to subsequent injuries, recovery setbacks, dependence, and mortality. A growing body of dual-task (DT) studies suggests a role of executive functions in gait control and falls, particularly in subacute stroke. However, few studies have compared distinct executive and non-executive tasks, nor their effects on chronic stroke gait. RESEARCH QUESTION: The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to compare the effects of distinct working memory (2-back) and inhibition (Stroop) tasks on walking gait performance in chronic stroke survivors. METHODS: A pilot sample of chronic stroke survivors (n = 11, 8 males, mean age = 70.91, 6-12months post-stroke event) and age-matched healthy controls (n = 13, 4 male; mean age = 68.46) were tested. Gait performance (speed, stride time, stride time variability, stride length and stride length variability) was measured using 2 wireless inertial measurement sensors under 4 walking conditions: 1) preferred walking (single-task: ST), 2) walking with a 2-back DT, 3) walking with a Stroop DT, and 4) walking with a non-executive motor response DT. The secondary tasks were also carried out in both ST (seated) and DT conditions, to examine bidirectional effects. RESULTS: While the stroke survivor sample had a slower gait speed across conditions and tasks, there were no significant differences between the groups [F(1, 22) = 1.13, p =.299, η2p = .049] on the spatial or temporal gait characteristics recorded: gait performance was maintained during executive and non-executive DTs. In addition, we did not find a significant effect of group on cognitive task performance (all p > .052). However, we observed a cost in accuracy on the 2-back DT for both groups, suggesting resource overlap and greater cognitive load (all t > 19.72, all p < .001). SIGNIFICANCE: Our gait data contradict previous studies evidencing impaired gait post-stroke, suggesting functional recovery in this chronic stroke sample.

Lower limb kinematics and dynamic postural stability in anterior cruciate ligament-reconstructed female athletes.

CONTEXT: Deficits in lower limb kinematics and postural stability are predisposing factors to the development of knee ligamentous injury. The extent to which these deficits are present after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction is still largely unknown. The primary hypothesis of the present study was that female athletes who have undergone ACL reconstruction and who have returned to sport participation would exhibit deficits in dynamic postural stability as well as deficiencies in hip- and knee-joint kinematics when compared with an age-, activity-, and sex-matched uninjured control group. OBJECTIVE: To investigate dynamic postural stability as quantified by the Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT) and simultaneous hip- and knee-joint kinematic profiles in female athletes who have undergone ACL reconstruction. DESIGN: Descriptive laboratory study. SETTING: University motion-analysis laboratory. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS: Fourteen female athletes who had previously undergone ACL reconstruction (ACL-R) and 17 age- and sex-matched uninjured controls. INTERVENTION(S): Each participant performed 3 trials of the anterior, posterior-medial, and posterior-lateral directional components of the SEBT. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Reach distances for each directional component were quantified and expressed as a percentage of leg length. Simultaneous hip- and knee-joint kinematic profiles were recorded using a motion-analysis system. RESULTS: The ACL-R group had decreased reach distances on the posterior-medial (P < .01) and posterior-lateral (P < .01) directional components of the SEBT. During performance of the directional components of the SEBT, ACL-R participants demonstrated altered hip-joint frontal-, sagittal-, and transverse-plane kinematic profiles (P < .05), as well as altered knee-joint sagittal-plane kinematic profiles (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Deficits in dynamic postural stability and concomitant altered hip- and knee-joint kinematics are present after ACL reconstruction and return to competitive activity. The extent to which these deficits influence potential future injury is worthy of investigation.

Lower limb kinematic alterations during drop vertical jumps in female athletes who have undergone anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.

The aim of this study was to determine if anterior cruciate ligament reconstructed (ACL-R) female athletes exhibit altered lower limb kinematic profiles during jump landing when compared to a non-injured age, sex, and activity matched control group. Fourteen ACL-R and 14 non-injured control subjects performed 3 vertical drop jump (DVJ) trials. Lower limb kinematics were recorded at 200 Hz. Peak and time-averaged angular displacements were quantified and utilized for between-group analysis. The ACL-R group displayed altered hip joint frontal and transverse plane kinematic alterations, and knee joint frontal and sagittal plane kinematic alterations. Specifically the ACL-R group displayed an increased adducted (p < 0.05) and internally rotated (p < 0.05) hip joint position, both peak and time-averaged, following landing. The ACL-R group also displayed a decreased adducted (p < 0.05) and flexed (p < 0.05) position of the knee joint following landing. The observed aberrant lower limb kinematics could pre-dispose ACL-R athletes to potential future knee joint injuries. Further studies are required to determine in a prospective manner whether such deficits increase the incidence of recurrent ACL injury, and whether specific sensorimotor protocols following ACL reconstruction can minimize these kinematic deficits.

Hip and knee joint kinematics during a diagonal jump landing in anterior cruciate ligament reconstructed females.

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury is a common injury encountered by sport medicine clinicians. Surgical reconstruction is the recommended treatment of choice for those athletes wishing to return to full-contact sports participation and for sports requiring multi-directional movement patterns. The aim of ACL reconstruction is to restore knee joint mechanical stability such that the athlete can return to sporting participation. However, knowledge regarding the extent to which lower limb kinematic profiles are restored following ACL reconstruction is limited. In the present study the hip and knee joint kinematic profiles of 13 ACL reconstructed (ACL-R) and 16 non-injured control subjects were investigated during the performance of a diagonal jump landing task. The ACL-R group exhibited significantly less peak knee joint flexion (P=0.01). Significant between group differences were noted for time averaged hip joint sagittal plane (P<0.05) and transverse plane (P<0.05) kinematic profiles, as well as knee joint frontal plane (P<0.05) and sagittal plane (P<0.05) kinematic profiles. These results suggest that aberrant hip and knee joint kinematic profiles are present following ACL reconstruction, which could influence future injury risk.

Using a shoe mounted tri-axial accelerometer to detect kinematic changes during stiff ankle walking.

Ubiquitous analysis of gait is a rapidly emerging field in which research and commercial development has been focused mainly on determining spatio-temporal parameters. In this preliminary research we have developed an algorithm to determine gait metrics from a shoe mounted accelerometer and compared them with concurrent kinematic data. Subjects were tested at different walking speeds as well as an artificially induced stiff ankle condition, to determine what metrics estimate kinematic changes that are related to speed and those that are related to real kinematic changes. These preliminary findings suggest that accelerometer outputs from the foot combined with contextual knowledge of the general walking speed of the subject can be used to estimate ankle plantar flexion angular velocity in terminal stance.

Using a tri-axial accelerometer to detect technique breakdown due to fatigue in distance runners: a preliminary perspective.

Accelerometer technology is becoming increasingly smaller and cheaper to develop. As a direct result, such devices can potentially be easily integrated into footwear to capture data that provides information about the quality of a person's running technique in the later stages of a fatiguing run. The purpose of this study is to determine if it is possible to detect technique breakdown due to fatigue in a distance runner using shoe mounted accelerometers. We present an algorithm that uses computationally light data from tri-axial foot mounted accelerometers and compares outputs from them to kinematic changes in the runner as the runner fatigues. These preliminary findings show that kinematic changes due to fatigue can be reasonably estimated using outputs from a shoe mounted tri-axial accelerometer.