scholarly journals A review of impacts of marine dredging activities on marine mammals

2014 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
pp. 328-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria L. G. Todd ◽  
Ian B. Todd ◽  
Jane C. Gardiner ◽  
Erica C. N. Morrin ◽  
Nicola A. MacPherson ◽  
...  

Abstract Marine dredging is an excavation activity carried out worldwide by many industries. Concern about the impact dredging has on marine life, including marine mammals (cetaceans, pinnipeds, and sirenians) exists, but effects are largely unknown. Through consulting available literature, this review aims to expand on existing knowledge of the direct and indirect, negative and positive impacts on marine mammals. In terms of direct effects, collisions are possible, but unlikely, given the slow speed of dredgers. Noise emitted is broadband, with most energy below 1 kHz and unlikely to cause damage to marine mammal auditory systems, but masking and behavioural changes are possible. Sediment plumes are generally localized, and marine mammals reside often in turbid waters, so significant impacts from turbidity are improbable. Entrainment, habitat degradation, noise, contaminant remobilization, suspended sediments, and sedimentation can affect benthic, epibenthic, and infaunal communities, which may impact marine mammals indirectly through changes to prey. Eggs and larvae are at highest risk from entrainment, so dredging in spawning areas can be detrimental, but effects are minimized through the use of environmental windows. Sensitive environments such as seagrass beds are at risk from smothering, removal, or damage, but careful planning can reduce degradation. Assessing impacts of contaminant remobilization is difficult, but as long as contaminated sediments are disposed of correctly, remobilization is limited in space and time. Effects of suspended sediments and sedimentation are species-specific, but invertebrates, eggs, and larvae are most vulnerable. Positive effects, including an increase in food, result from greater nutrient loads, but are often short term. Dredging has the potential to impact marine mammals, but effects are species and location-specific, varying also with dredging equipment type. In general, evidence suggests that if management procedures are implemented, effects are most likely to be masking and short-term behavioural alterations and changes to prey availability.

Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1019
Author(s):  
Barbara Frączek ◽  
Aleksandra Pięta ◽  
Adrian Burda ◽  
Paulina Mazur-Kurach ◽  
Florentyna Tyrała

The aim of this meta-analysis was to review the impact of a Paleolithic diet (PD) on selected health indicators (body composition, lipid profile, blood pressure, and carbohydrate metabolism) in the short and long term of nutrition intervention in healthy and unhealthy adults. A systematic review of randomized controlled trials of 21 full-text original human studies was conducted. Both the PD and a variety of healthy diets (control diets (CDs)) caused reduction in anthropometric parameters, both in the short and long term. For many indicators, such as weight (body mass (BM)), body mass index (BMI), and waist circumference (WC), impact was stronger and especially found in the short term. All diets caused a decrease in total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and triglycerides (TG), albeit the impact of PD was stronger. Among long-term studies, only PD cased a decline in TC and LDL-C. Impact on blood pressure was observed mainly in the short term. PD caused a decrease in fasting plasma (fP) glucose, fP insulin, and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) in the short run, contrary to CD. In the long term, only PD caused a decrease in fP glucose and fP insulin. Lower positive impact of PD on performance was observed in the group without exercise. Positive effects of the PD on health and the lack of experiments among professional athletes require longer-term interventions to determine the effect of the Paleo diet on athletic performance.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Elaine Elizabeth Bolitho

<p>New Zealand Baptist and Methodist Churches' growth and decline between 1948 and 1988 was caused by the manner of their involvement in this world, in their roles of experiencing and telling about God in word and action. These roles link with the three factors - secularisation, evangelical theology and practice and the Charismatic movement. The roles and factors are encompassed within the context of change and discontinuity. 1. The impact of secularisation showed in declining religious profession and membership, yet also in greater involvement in this world through experiencing God immanent within it. 2. Commitment to evangelical theology and practice led to short term Baptist success, but in the long term triggered membership losses. Methodists without this emphasis showed even greater membership decline. 3. The Charismatic movement which was initially divisive holds within it potential for experiencing God in this world, and for dynamic continuity to make sense of the changing world scene. The relationship of the context of change to the three major factors was that the greater the degree of responding to discontinuity with creative dynamic continuity, the greater the growth of the churches. Increasing the degree of static continuity induced decline. The absence of any form of continuity resulted in even greater decline. The Baptist Churches successfully increased membership through relating well to the post-war generation. Through social service and outreach ministries they became more involved in this world. Evangelism, through a variety of methods, provided continuity in sharing the God news. The Charismatic movement as catalyst for church change in times of societal change brought the potential, through emphases of servant theology, to channel God experience into relational outreach. This led to its meshing with the positive effects of secularisation and evangelism. Methodist church growth was restricted by suspicion of the Charismatic movement, loss of evangelical focuses and recruitment programmes. Social action continued to be the Methodist way of being involved in this world. Profiles completed by 200 Baptist and 168 Methodist churches demonstrated the interplay of these factors. These were complemented by surveys completed by 106 resigned ministers, over 170 interviews, 6 case studies, 46 church visits and extensive reading. Analysis of profiles and membership statistics showed that Baptist churches did not do better because of short term ministries, Pastoral terms, membership and evangelical theology. But without evangelical theology and practice Methodist membership declined more. For every 12 members welcomed Baptists would lose 8 and Methodists 15. This indicated that churches not retaining members and clergy needed a balance of evangelism and whole-of-life theology with longer term focuses to provide dynamic continuity in the discontinuity of life.</p>


Sports ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadja Walter ◽  
Lucie Nikoleizig ◽  
Dorothee Alfermann

(1) Background: Self-talk (ST) is used to influence athletes’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Samples of squad and competitive athletes are underrepresented, although research has proven the positive effects of ST in the context of sports. Thus, the present study focused on the impact of ST on psychological and performance outcomes of junior sub-elite athletes. (2) Methods: N = 117 athletes (55 females, 62 males; M = 16.0 years) were randomly assigned to either one of two experimental groups or to a control group (n = 30). The experimental groups received an ST intervention for either one week (n = 36) or eight weeks (n = 38), and the control group received no ST training. The dependent variables (competitive anxiety, volitional skills, self-efficacy, and coaches’ performance ratings) were assessed three times before and after the intervention. It was expected that (a) an ST intervention would reduce the competitive anxiety and increase volitional skills, self-efficacy, and performance; and, (b) long-term training would lead to higher effects than short-term training. (3) Results: As expected, ST training led to (less) somatic state anxiety and (higher) state self-confidence, self-optimization, self-efficacy, and performance. Additionally, long-term training was more effective than short-term training. (4) Conclusions: Targeted ST interventions may help to improve junior athletes’ psychological states and performance.


2012 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen A. Walker ◽  
Andrew W. Trites ◽  
Martin Haulena ◽  
Daniel M. Weary

Wildlife research often requires marking and tagging animals to collect data on survival, reproduction, movement, behaviour and physiology. Identification of individual marine mammals can be carried out using tags, brands, paint, dye, photogrammetry, telemetry and other techniques. An analysis of peer-reviewed articles published from January 1980 to April 2011 addressing the effects of marking revealed a preponderance of studies focussed on short-term effects such as injuries and behavioural changes. Some marking techniques were reported to cause pain and to change swimming and haul-out behaviour, maternal attendance, and duration of foraging trips. However, marking has typically not been found to affect survival. No published research has addressed other possible long-term effects of marking related to injuries or pain responses. Studies of the more immediate effects of marking (mostly related to externally attached devices such as radio-transmitters) have shown a variety of different types and magnitudes of responses. It is important to note that studies failing to find treament differences are less likely to be published, meaning that the present and any other reviews based on published literature may be a biased sample of all research conducted on the topic. Publishing results that found no or low impacts (i.e. best practices) as well as those that found significant impacts on animals should both be encouraged. Future research under more controlled conditions is required to document acute effects of marking, including injury and pain, and to better understand longer-term effects on health, reproduction and survival. We recommend that studies using marked animals standardise their reports, with added detail on methodology, monitoring and sampling design, and address practices used to minimise the impact of marking on marine mammals.


Author(s):  
Daniela SIMTION ◽  
Roxana LUCA

Romania’s accession to the European Union produced a number of effects on local economy, both positive and negative. Market specialists say that the positive effects of the accession are felt by improved services, improved healthcare and improved education or by creating efficient markets. The first areas that have felt the impact of the EU accession are: leasing, SMEs, telephony, internet, hardware industry, software industry etc. In contrast, there are areas that feel the effects after a longer period, and here enters the capital market, banking industry, tourism or HR industry (hotels and restaurants) and agriculture. While top areas in terms of performance, feel the positive effects of accession in the short term, certain sectors of the economy disappear or restrict their activity. Tourism and transport are areas that benefit from the accession, the main advantages, which Romania counts as attractive, in competition with other traditional destinations of the world, are: geographical position in Europe, accessibility by air links with most capitals and cultural tourism so fascinating for foreigners. The accession also brings an increase of professionalism of the services offered by hotel operators. In particular, the effects of our country's integration into the European Union touch many aspects of which are noted:increased competition, resulting in improved tourism offer; access to international financing; rebuilding infrastructure; increase of tourism traffic to and from our country.


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-142

This review provides an overview of the literature regarding digital technology use and adolescent well-being. Overall, findings imply that the general effects are on the negative end of the spectrum but very small. Effects differ depending on the type of use: whereas procrastination and passive use are related to more negative effects, social and active use are related to more positive effects. Digital technology use has stronger effects on short-term markers of hedonic well-being (eg, negative affect) than long-term measures of eudaimonic well-being (eg, life satisfaction). Although adolescents are more vulnerable, effects are comparable for both adolescents and adults. It appears that both low and excessive use are related to decreased well-being, whereas moderate use is related to increased well-being. The current research still has many limitations: High-quality studies with large-scale samples, objective measures of digital technology use, and experience sampling of well-being are missing.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 150-158
Author(s):  
Polona Obrč ◽  
◽  
Boštjan Kerbler ◽  
◽  

Airbnb has become a fixture in the development of global cities. It especially impacts cities’ residential characteristics. The company works with the concept of the sharing economy, the essence of which is the exchange of services or goods between individuals who set the rules of operation without generating profits, but together generate more revenue. It insists that it does not represent a form of direct competition with other urban accommodation services and that it merely seeks to expand the tourism market. Nonetheless, this article proceeds from the assumption that Airbnb is influencing and transforming the housing market of the cities it operates in. It focuses on Ljubljana, which until 2019 had a record number of international arrivals and overnight stays. The findings confirm that short-term Airbnb rentals have affected the long-term rental market in Ljubljana. They also show that a very large share of rentals through Airbnb take place in the grey economy. However, the analysis of cases from selected European cities showed that, in addition to the drawbacks described, Airbnb also has positive effects on the development of cities. It is therefore necessary to accept and adapt appropriately to this global phenomenon through specific measures, such as those proposed in the conclusion for Ljubljana.


2021 ◽  
pp. 0192513X2110544
Author(s):  
Gerardo Meil ◽  
Jesús Rogero-García ◽  
Pedro Romero-Balsas ◽  
Vicente Díaz-Gandasegui

Paternity leave has been introduced in many countries as a way to foster father´s co-responsibility in family obligations. This study aims \to analyse, for the Spanish case, if (1) the positive effects of the paternity leave are not only limited to the short term, but are maintained at medium and long term; (2) if a similar effect applies in the case of unemployment periods. Based on a subsample of 3388 cases derived from the Spanish Fertility Survey 2018, we perform OLS regression analysis of father´s involvement in childcare and housework. Our analysis shows that longer leaves are related to a greater involvement in care and housework activities, although only in the former, the effect is maintained in the long term. Regarding unemployed fathers, these individuals show more involvement in childcare during the first year, but the effect vanishes later and there is no significant relationship with housework.


SIMULATION ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 003754972110039
Author(s):  
Tengfei Wang ◽  
Hao Li ◽  
Baorong Xiao ◽  
Di Wei

This paper aims to explore the impact of government subsidy policies on strengthening the shared-bikes industry in China by simulating the operation mode of Mobike using system dynamics methodology. First, we introduce four subsidy policies: equalization subsidy, stage subsidy, growth subsidy, and back-slope subsidy, and establish a system dynamics model to characterize the bike-sharing operation dynamics system considering these four government subsidies. Subsequently, we analyze the impact of the four subsidy policies on enterprise-operating activities. The simulation results indicate that different subsidy policies have different incentive objectives and characteristics. The back-slope subsidy has more positive effects on enterprise operations in the short term but requires higher cost. The influence of growth subsidy and stage subsidy on enterprises can last longer, which requires the government to timely adjust the subsidy amount. The impact of equalization subsidy on enterprises is more stable, reducing government subsidy while ensuring enterprises’ regular operation.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Elaine Elizabeth Bolitho

<p>New Zealand Baptist and Methodist Churches' growth and decline between 1948 and 1988 was caused by the manner of their involvement in this world, in their roles of experiencing and telling about God in word and action. These roles link with the three factors - secularisation, evangelical theology and practice and the Charismatic movement. The roles and factors are encompassed within the context of change and discontinuity. 1. The impact of secularisation showed in declining religious profession and membership, yet also in greater involvement in this world through experiencing God immanent within it. 2. Commitment to evangelical theology and practice led to short term Baptist success, but in the long term triggered membership losses. Methodists without this emphasis showed even greater membership decline. 3. The Charismatic movement which was initially divisive holds within it potential for experiencing God in this world, and for dynamic continuity to make sense of the changing world scene. The relationship of the context of change to the three major factors was that the greater the degree of responding to discontinuity with creative dynamic continuity, the greater the growth of the churches. Increasing the degree of static continuity induced decline. The absence of any form of continuity resulted in even greater decline. The Baptist Churches successfully increased membership through relating well to the post-war generation. Through social service and outreach ministries they became more involved in this world. Evangelism, through a variety of methods, provided continuity in sharing the God news. The Charismatic movement as catalyst for church change in times of societal change brought the potential, through emphases of servant theology, to channel God experience into relational outreach. This led to its meshing with the positive effects of secularisation and evangelism. Methodist church growth was restricted by suspicion of the Charismatic movement, loss of evangelical focuses and recruitment programmes. Social action continued to be the Methodist way of being involved in this world. Profiles completed by 200 Baptist and 168 Methodist churches demonstrated the interplay of these factors. These were complemented by surveys completed by 106 resigned ministers, over 170 interviews, 6 case studies, 46 church visits and extensive reading. Analysis of profiles and membership statistics showed that Baptist churches did not do better because of short term ministries, Pastoral terms, membership and evangelical theology. But without evangelical theology and practice Methodist membership declined more. For every 12 members welcomed Baptists would lose 8 and Methodists 15. This indicated that churches not retaining members and clergy needed a balance of evangelism and whole-of-life theology with longer term focuses to provide dynamic continuity in the discontinuity of life.</p>


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