Biology and fishery of Florida's commercial sponges

This fact sheet gives information on the biology and commercial value of sponges found in Florida. Five species in Florida are harvested commercially. Three of these, sheepswool sponge, yellow sponge, and the grass sponge are the primary marketed sponges. (2pp.

A tackle box guide to: common saltwater fishes of southwest Florida

There are well over 150 species of fish caught by hook and line in local waters. The 86 species included in this book were selected by the author and editors because they are the most frequently encountered. For eachspecies, important informationabout distinguishing features, biology/habitat, and fishing methods is provided. The often confusing common nicknames applied to each fish are noted, as well as the fish's preferred common name. (56pp.

Reporting issues in group sequential randomised controlled trials: a systematic review protocol of published journal reports

Background: Adaptive designs are somewhat underused, despite prominence given to methodology in the statistical literature. Some concerns relates to robustness of adaptive designs in decision making, acceptability of trial findings to change practice, anxiety about early stopping of trials and worry about wrong decision making. These issues could be linked to inadequate reporting of the conduct of such clinical trials. We assess the reporting of group sequential randomised controlled trials (RCTs), which are one of the most well-understood adaptive designs in the confirmatory setting. Methods: We undertake a systematic review searching Ovid MEDLINE from 1st January 2001 to 23rd September 2014 and including parallel group confirmatory group sequential RCTs that were prospectively designed using the Frequentist approach. Eligible trials are screened for completeness in reporting against the CONSORT 2010 checklist with some proposed modifications to capture issues such as statistical bias correction following early stopping. Descriptive statistics aided with forest plots on CONSORT compliance are presented. Discussion: Reporting of the conduct of adaptive designs is an area which has not been fully explored. Hence, the findings from this study can enlighten us on the adequacy in reporting of well-understood group sequential RCTs as a class of adaptive designs and on ways to address some of the cited concerns. Most importantly, the study can inform policy makers on the adequacy of the current CONSORT statements in enhancing reporting of such adaptive designs

An investigation of the shortcomings of the CONSORT 2010 statement for the reporting of group sequential randomised controlled trials: a methodological systematic review

Background It can be argued that adaptive designs are underused in clinical research. We have explored concerns related to inadequate reporting of such trials, which may influence their uptake. Through a careful examination of the literature, we evaluated the standards of reporting of group sequential (GS) randomised controlled trials, one form of a confirmatory adaptive design. Methods We undertook a systematic review, by searching Ovid MEDLINE from the 1st January 2001 to 23rd September 2014, supplemented with trials from an audit study. We included parallel group, confirmatory, GS trials that were prospectively designed using a Frequentist approach. Eligible trials were examined for compliance in their reporting against the CONSORT 2010 checklist. In addition, as part of our evaluation, we developed a supplementary checklist to explicitly capture group sequential specific reporting aspects, and investigated how these are currently being reported. Results Of the 284 screened trials, 68(24%) were eligible. Most trials were published in “high impact” peer-reviewed journals. Examination of trials established that 46(68%) were stopped early, predominantly either for futility or efficacy. Suboptimal reporting compliance was found in general items relating to: access to full trials protocols; methods to generate randomisation list(s); details of randomisation concealment, and its implementation. Benchmarking against the supplementary checklist, GS aspects were largely inadequately reported. Only 3(7%) trials which stopped early reported use of statistical bias correction. Moreover, 52(76%) trials failed to disclose methods used to minimise the risk of operational bias, due to the knowledge or leakage of interim results. Occurrence of changes to trial methods and outcomes could not be determined in most trials, due to inaccessible protocols and amendments. Discussion and Conclusions There are issues with the reporting of GS trials, particularly those specific to the conduct of interim analyses. Suboptimal reporting of bias correction methods could potentially imply most GS trials stopping early are giving biased results of treatment effects. As a result, research consumers may question credibility of findings to change practice when trials are stopped early. These issues could be alleviated through a CONSORT extension. Assurance of scientific rigour through transparent adequate reporting is paramount to the credibility of findings from adaptive trials. Our systematic literature search was restricted to one database due to resource constraints

Exposure to revised drinking guidelines and 'COM-B' determinants of behaviour change: descriptive analysis of a monthly cross-sectional survey in England

BACKGROUND: January 2016 saw the publication of proposed revisions to the UK's lower risk drinking guidelines but no sustained promotional activity. This paper aims to explore the impact of publishing guidelines without sustained promotional activity on reported guideline exposure and determinants of behaviour (capability, opportunity and motivation) proposed by the COM-B model. METHODS: Data were collected by a monthly repeat cross-sectional survey of adults (18+) resident in England over 15 months between November 2015 and January 2017 from a total of 16,779 drinkers, as part of the Alcohol Toolkit Study. Trends and associated 95% confidence intervals were described in the proportion of reported exposure to guidelines in the past month and measures of the capability, opportunity and motivation to consume alcohol within drinking guidelines. RESULTS: There was a rise in reported exposure to drinking guidelines in January 2016 (57.6-80.6%) which did not reoccur in January 2017. Following the increase in January 2016, reported exposure reduced slowly but remained significantly higher than in December 2015. In February 2016, there was an increase in measures of capability (31.1% reported tracking units of alcohol consumption and 87.8% considered it easier to drink safely) and opportunity (84.0% perceived their lifestyle as conducive to drinking within guidelines). This change was not maintained in subsequent months. Other measures showed marginal changes between January and February 2016 with no evidence of change in subsequent months. CONCLUSIONS: Following the publication of revised drinking guideline in January 2016, there was a transient increase in exposure to guidelines, and capability and opportunity to drink within the guidelines that diminished over time. The transience and size of the changes indicate that behaviour change is unlikely. Well-designed, theory-based promotional campaigns may be required for drinking guidelines to be an effective public health intervention

Combinations of drinking occasion characteristics associated with units of alcohol consumed among British adults: an event‐level decision tree modeling study

Background Alcohol consumption is influenced by the characteristics of drinking occasions, for example, location, timing, or the composition of the drinking group. However, the relative importance of occasion characteristics is not yet well understood. This study aims to identify which characteristics, and combinations of characteristics, are associated with units consumed within drinking occasions. It also tests whether accounting for occasion characteristics improves the prediction of consumption compared to using demographic information only. Methods The data come from a cross‐sectional, nationally representative, online market research survey. Our sample includes 18,409 British drinkers aged 18 + who recorded the characteristics of 46,072 drinking occasions using 7‐day retrospective drinking diaries in 2018. We used decision tree modeling and nested linear regression to predict units consumed in occasions using information on drinking location/venue, occasion timing, company, occasion type (e.g., a quiet night in), occasion motivation, drink type and packaging, food eaten and entertainment/ other activities during the occasion. We estimated models separately for 6 age‐sex groups and controlled for usual drinking frequency, and social grade in nested linear regression models. Open Science Framework preregistration: https://osf.io/42epd. Results Our 6 final models accounted for between 55% and 71% of the variance in drinking occasion alcohol consumption. Beyond demographic characteristics (1 to 9%) and occasion duration (24 to 60%), further occasion characteristics and combinations of characteristics accounted for 31 to 70% of the total explained variance. The characteristics most strongly associated with heavy alcohol consumption were long occasion duration, drinking spirits as doubles, and drinking wine. Spirits were also consumed in light occasions, but as singles. This suggests that the serving size is an important differentiator of light and heavy occasions. Conclusions Combinations of occasion duration and drink type are strongly predictive of alcohol consumption in adults’ drinking occasions. Accounting for characteristics of drinking occasions, both individually and in combination, substantially improves the prediction of alcohol consumption

Cutting consumption without diluting the experience: Preferences for different tactics for reducing alcohol consumption among increasing-and-higher-risk drinkers based on drinking context

Contexts in which people drink vary. Certain drinking contexts may be more amenable to change than others and the effectiveness of alcohol reduction tactics may differ across contexts. This study aimed to explore how helpful context-specific tactics for alcohol reduction were perceived as being amongst increasing-and-higher-risk drinkers. Using the Behaviour Change Technique Taxonomy, context-specific tactics to reduce alcohol consumption were developed by the research team and revised following consultation with experts in behaviour change. In four focus groups (two online, two in-person), N = 20 adult increasing-and-higher-risk drinkers in the UK discussed how helpful tactics developed for four drinking contexts would be: drinking at home alone (19 tactics), drinking at home with partner or family (21 tactics), in the pub with friends (23 tactics), and a meal out of the home (20 tactics). Transcripts were analysed using constant comparison methods. Participants endorsed four broad approaches to reducing alcohol consumption which encompassed all the individual tactics developed by the research team: Diluting and substituting drinks for those containing less alcohol (e.g. switching to soft drinks or no- or low-alcohol drinks); Reducing external pressure to drink (e.g. setting expectations in advance); Creating barriers to drinking (e.g. not buying alcohol to keep at home or storing it in less visible places), and Setting new habits (e.g. breaking old patterns and taking up new hobbies). Three cross-cutting themes influenced how applicable these approaches were to different drinking contexts. These were: Situational pressure, Drinking motives, and Financial motivation. Diluting and substituting drinks which enabled covert reduction and Reducing external pressure to drink were favoured in social drinking contexts. Diluting and substituting drinks which enabled participants to feel that they were having ‘a treat’ or which facilitated relaxation and Creating barriers to drinking were preferred at home. Interventions to reduce alcohol consumption should offer tactics tailored to individuals’ drinking contexts and which account for context-specific individual and situational pressure to drink

Effects on alcohol consumption of announcing and implementing revised UK low-risk drinking guidelines: findings from an interrupted time series analysis

Background: In January 2016, the UK announced and began implementing revised guidelines for low-risk drinking of 14 units (112 g) per week for men and women. This was a reduction from the previous guidelines for men of 3–4 units (24–32 g) per day. There was no large-scale promotion of the revised guidelines beyond the initial media announcement. This paper evaluates the effect of announcing the revised guidelines on alcohol consumption among adults in England. / Methods: Data come from a monthly repeat cross-sectional survey of approximately 1700 adults living in private households in England collected between March 2014 and October 2017. The primary outcomes are change in level and time trend of participants’ Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test—Consumption (AUDIT-C) scores. / Results: In December 2015, the modelled average AUDIT-C score was 2.719 out of 12 and was decreasing by 0.003 each month. After January 2016, AUDIT-C scores increased immediately but non-significantly to 2.720 (β=0.001, CI −0.079 to 0.099) and the trend changed significantly such that scores subsequently increased by 0.005 each month (β=0.008, CI 0.001 to 0.015), equivalent to 0.5% of the population increasing their AUDIT-C score by 1 point each month. Secondary analyses indicated the change in trend began 7 months before the guideline announcement and that AUDIT-C scores reduced significantly but temporarily for 4 months after the announcement (β=−0.087, CI −0.167 to 0.007). / Conclusions: Announcing new UK drinking guidelines did not lead to a substantial or sustained reduction in drinking or a downturn in the long-term trend in alcohol consumption, but there was evidence of a temporary reduction in consumption