The World Health Organization (WHO) has a global initiative to eliminate industrially produced trans fatty acids (iTFAs) from the food supply (1). Formed via the partial hydrogenation of vegetable oils to create hardened vegetable fat, iTFAs can be found in processed foods including fried foods and baked goods. Even small amounts of iTFAs can increase the risk of coronary heart disease. These can be successfully eliminated from the food supply with the WHO recommending a ban on partially hydrogenated oils or to limit iTFA in food to a maximum of 2% of total fat (1). As of June 2024, over 50 countries had one of these regulatory measures in place. The trans-Tasman Food Regulation System is considering policy options to ensure iTFAs are eliminated or reduced as much as possible from the food supply in Australia and New Zealand. Up to date data on the presence of iTFAs in the New Zealand food supply is needed to inform this work as this was last measured in New Zealand in 2007/09 for packaged food and 2013 for fast food. The aim of this survey was to determine the presence and levels of iTFAs in the New Zealand food supply. Since it is not possible to analytically quantify iTFA separately from trans-fats that occur naturally in food products of ruminant origin, such as dairy, beef and lamb products, the sampling plan was designed to target products likely to contain predominately iTFA and adapted from the WHO global protocol for measuring trans fatty acid profiles of foods(2) to the New Zealand context. The survey analysed the trans-fat content of 627 products across national supermarkets (275 products), international supermarkets specialising in imported foods (149 products) and ready-to-eat food outlets (203 products from three regions). One hundred and six products (16.9%) contained trans-fat that exceeded 2% of total fat. Twenty-five (4%) of these products were likely to contain predominately iTFA. The 25 products predominately containing iTFA included eight products from national supermarkets (mostly bakery products), nine products from international supermarkets (mostly curry pastes and biscuits) and eight products from ready-to-eat food outlets (all fried foods). The median trans-fat content of these 25 products was 3.2% of total fat (assumed to be all iTFA). Over a third of these products contained more than double the recommended WHO limit, with five products containing over four times the limit and one product containing more than 16 times the WHO limit. The remaining 81 products may contain some iTFA, but we were unable to quantify the amount. The results from this survey will be used by New Zealand Food Safety to inform the consideration of regulatory options for reducing iTFAs in foods in New Zealand.

The objective of the food safety system is to provide safe and suitable food in New Zealand(1). This is of particular importance for our youngest members– infants and young children. During the first 2000 days of life, food and nutrition have crucial roles. Nutrient requirements are high, and children often have an increased vulnerability to hazards associated with chemical and microbiological contamination. Foods targeted to this age group typically have strict regulations, as the quality and safety of foods for infants and young children is of great concern to caregivers, public health authorities and regulatory bodies worldwide. The recent First Foods New Zealand Study (FFNZ) and Young Foods New Zealand (YFNZ) Study have provided important data into what, and how, we feed our infants and young children under four years of age(2). Insights from the dietary intakes and health of 925 infants and young children from these studies are being used by NZFS to inform its work on food monitoring surveillance and food policy. Currently New Zealand Food Safety (NZFS) is conducting the 2024 New Zealand Total Diet Study (NZTDS) (Infants and Toddlers)(3). The NZTDS is a food monitoring and surveillance programme which aims to evaluate the risk to New Zealanders from exposure to certain chemicals such as agricultural chemicals, contaminants (including from food packaging), and nutrients. The 2024 NZTDS will, for the first time, focus exclusively on infants and young children. The FFNZ and YFNZ studies informed the selection of 117 foods to be tested from four New Zealand regions throughout 2024/2025. The dietary intake data will then be used to estimate the dietary exposure to each of the 362 chemicals analysed. This monitoring programme informs policy decision-making and food standard setting and provides assurance on the safety of our food supply. Concerns around the nutrient quality and labelling of some commercial products for infants and young children have been identified in Australia and New Zealand. Within the joint food regulatory system, consultation is underway to consider regulatory and non-regulatory options for improving commercial foods for infants and young children(4). This presentation will discuss NZFS’s role in monitoring foods and diets of infants and young children in Aotearoa New Zealand, the importance of, and application of evidence to inform policy, food safety, and potential regulatory and non-regulatory options to ensure that the food safety system continues to deliver safe and suitable food in New Zealand.

We study monitoring and enforcement for environmental compliance in the context of a transitional economy. We estimate the factors correlated with inspections carried out by the Chilean Superintendence of Environment, the imposition of fines to detected violators and the compliance behaviour of regulated facilities. The analysis considers 6,670 facilities from different economic sectors between 2013 and 2019. We find evidence of targeted monitoring and enforcement actions based on past facilities’ behaviour and individual specific characteristics. The size of the implemented fines on detected violators correlates positively with the severity and recurrence of the violation and larger fines are imposed on facilities in the energy and mining sector. We also find that the imposition of fines is transmitted as a spillover effect on the compliance behaviour of facilities sharing the same firm owner. We discuss the policy implications for improving monitoring and enforcement strategies under budget constraints.

Automatic Identification System (AIS) provides estimated position time along with reception time and a time stamp at the receiving station; however, the exact position estimation time remains unidentified. Therefore, this study examines the extent of positional error when using current AIS reception time. As a result, a maximum positional error of 116.9 m was observed between AIS and RTK-GPS (Real-Time Kinematic GPS). Subsequent time correction reduced this error to less than 10 m, with the product of ship speed and correction time nearly matching the error pre-correction. Consequently, it was concluded that transmitting position estimation time is essential for maintaining the reliability of Position Accuracy transmitted by AIS or VHF Data Exchange System (VDES). Furthermore, VDES may possess the communication capacity to transmit and receive vessel attitude data. Therefore, to assess the required transmission frequency, the data transmission period of roll and pitch attitude data was analysed through the mutual correlation of acceleration and angular velocity. The results indicated that the correlation coefficient for each axis exceeded 0.65 at frequencies of 0.5 Hz or higher.

The distribution pattern of species and habitats protected by the Habitat Directive is one of the main parameters used to assess their conservation status. According to the European guidelines, the assessment must be carried out at a biogeographical scale by implementing monitoring activities. The results of a national monitoring programme conducted on five invertebrates during the last reporting cycle (2018–2024) are presented and discussed. Monitoring activities on Patella ferruginea, Pinna nobilis, and Lithophaga lithophaga were performed using on a spatial design based on Italian administrative regions, whereas Scyllarides latus and Centrostephanus longispinus were surveyed within six marine protected areas (MPAs) representing the different Italian marine subregions.

The most critical situations, due to different reasons, were observed in the distribution pattern of P. ferruginea and P. nobilis, which were confined to few areas with very small populations. Data on the distribution of L. lithophaga, collected by assessing the quality of the habitat for the species, indicate the persistence of illegal fishing activities, at least in some of the areas investigated. The use of ‘opportunistic’ methodologies, typical of citizen science, to collect semi-quantitative data on the distribution of C. longispinus and S. latus in the six MPAs, chosen to conduct this type of monitoring, confirmed the effectiveness of this approach. Some differences in the number of individuals recorded emerged among MPAs for both species, likely due to an uneven sampling effort. Overall, our results revealed significant interspecific differences linked to intrinsic and extrinsic factors, providing valuable insights into the vulnerability of the investigated species.

Clinical trials have provided evidence for determining treatment effectiveness. However, clinical trial participants have been underrepresented by diverse and special population groups (e.g., younger and older adults, different races/ethnicities), contributing to disparities in our understanding of diseases and treatments in all those affected. Addressing these disparities in clinical trial participation would be critical to achieving health equity in the USA and beyond. To assess enrollment inclusivity in clinical research at a large academic medical center in the southeast, we used administrative information to develop a snapshot of clinical research participation by age, sex, race, ethnicity, and rurality that was accessible to the public. We compared research enrollment statistics with relevant geographic benchmarks (county, state, and national) from the 2020 US Census. Comparisons revealed 1) over-participation by females relative to county, state, and national benchmarks; 2) under-representation of Black/African Americans relative to county, but higher relative to state and national, levels; and 3) underrepresentation of Hispanic/Latino and Asian groups. The ISP Snapshot has promoted accountability and transparency in this institution’s efforts toward health equity. The process has highlighted the need to update and standardize use of outdated categories (e.g., binary gender, rural status) that limit accurate reporting.

Several experimental studies have shown that the crowding-out effect of monitoring may outweigh its disciplining effect through intrinsic motivation destruction, thereby reducing effort. However, most of these experiments use numeric effort tasks that subjects may not be intrinsically motivated to complete. This paper aims to analyze the incentive effects of monitoring using a real-effort task for which intrinsic motivation is more likely to exist. We conducted two similar experiments, in the lab in Montreal and in the field in Ouagadougou. In contrast to the lab, subjects in the field are unaware they are taking part in an experiment.

The following results are observed both in the lab and in the field. Relative to the baseline treatment, we find that our two monitoring treatments significantly increase effort, in line with agency theory. However, effort levels are not significantly different between the monitoring treatments. Finally, increasing the subjects’ wage is found to have no effect on effort.

The global population and status of Snowy Owls Bubo scandiacus are particularly challenging to assess because individuals are irruptive and nomadic, and the breeding range is restricted to the remote circumpolar Arctic tundra. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) uplisted the Snowy Owl to “Vulnerable” in 2017 because the suggested population estimates appeared considerably lower than historical estimates, and it recommended actions to clarify the population size, structure, and trends. Here we present a broad review and status assessment, an effort led by the International Snowy Owl Working Group (ISOWG) and researchers from around the world, to estimate population trends and the current global status of the Snowy Owl. We use long-term breeding data, genetic studies, satellite-GPS tracking, and survival estimates to assess current population trends at several monitoring sites in the Arctic and we review the ecology and threats throughout the Snowy Owl range. An assessment of the available data suggests that current estimates of a worldwide population of 14,000–28,000 breeding adults are plausible. Our assessment of population trends at five long-term monitoring sites suggests that breeding populations of Snowy Owls in the Arctic have decreased by more than 30% over the past three generations and the species should continue to be categorised as Vulnerable under the IUCN Red List Criterion A2. We offer research recommendations to improve our understanding of Snowy Owl biology and future population assessments in a changing world.

English as a second language (L2) has become the medium of instruction in numerous contexts even though many people may have difficulties to read and study in L2. According to the self-regulated framework, metacognitive strategies are essential to achieve successful learning, but they are resource-consuming and their use might be compromised in demanding contexts such as learning in L2. In Experiment 1, nonbalanced bilinguals read high- and low-cohesion texts in L1 and L2 and self-rated their learning using a judgment of learning (JOL). Then, they answered open-ended questions and responded a customized questionnaire regarding their strategies. In Experiment 2, we introduced two bilingual groups varying in L2 proficiency. Overall, participants could adjust their JOLs and detect the difficulty of the texts correctly in L1 and L2. However, results evidenced some nuances in learning strategies related to L2 proficiency. We discuss these findings within the context of the self-regulated learning.

The Atlantic Forest is one of the most threatened biomes globally. Data from monitoring programs are necessary to evaluate the conservation status of species, prioritise conservation actions and to evaluate the effectiveness of these actions. Birds are particularly well represented in citizen-collected datasets that are used worldwide in ecological and conservation studies. Here, we analyse presence-only data from three online citizen science datasets of Atlantic Forest endemic bird species to evaluate whether the representation of these species was correlated with their global threat status, range and estimated abundance. We conclude that even though species are over- and under-represented with regard to their presumed abundance, data collected by citizen scientists can be used to infer species distribution and, to a lesser degree, species abundance. This pattern holds true for species across global threat status.

Warfarin is used as anticoagulation for children for a wide range of cardiac indications but carries the disadvantage of requiring international normalised ratio monitoring and dose adjustment. Management of warfarin therapy is challenging due to its narrow therapeutic window and is further complicated in children by dietary changes, frequent illnesses, and developing systems of metabolism and haemostasis.

A retrospective review was performed of patients’ medical records to assess the indication for warfarin use, percentage of international normalised ratio values in target range (%ITR), and frequency of phlebotomy.

Twenty-six patients were identified. The most common indication for warfarin use was in patients post-total cavo-pulmonary connection (n = 19, 73%). We demonstrated a variability in duration of warfarin therapy following total cavo-pulmonary connection (median of 11.1 months). Nineteen (73%) patients had used the CoaguChek machine for home measurement of international normalised ratio. The median frequency of phlebotomy for all indications was once every 10 days, and the median %ITR was 55.4 % (29.7–86.4%). Of note, the percentage under target range in the patients with mechanical mitral (n = 2) and aortic valves (n = 1) was found to be 23% and 33%, respectively.

These data demonstrate a high frequency of international normalised ratio values outside of the target range as seen in previous studies of warfarin in children. This necessitates frequent phlebotomy and dose changes, which can have a significant effect on the quality of life of these patients and their families highlighting the need to focus on quality improvement in the area of anticoagulation in paediatric cardiac patients.

Harbour seals were extensively hunted in Denmark, but have only been driven to local extinction in one larger area, the South Funen Archipelago and Little Belt, where the species has been absent throughout the 20th century. Despite high growth rates of the Danish harbour seal populations after protection from hunting in 1976, seals have only been observed sporadically in the South Funen Archipelago and Little Belt until recent years, where recolonisation now causes conflicts with fisheries. Here, we review historical sources documenting the local extinction of harbour seals in the area during the 19th century and report the results of aerial surveys of haul-out sites during moulting seasons of 2021–2023 and pupping seasons of 2022 and 2023. Historical sources reveal that seal hunting was a common practice in southern Denmark, but catches dwindled to rarities during the 19th century. During recent surveys, seals were detected at six of the identified potential haul-out sites. Around Aarø Island, an average of 141 (range: 92–186) harbour seals were recorded over four moulting season surveys, constituting the majority (90%) of the total counts of the surveyed area. During the pupping seasons, a total of five pups was encountered at two different haulouts. As none of the haulouts are protected during the pupping and breeding seasons, protective measures may support this recolonisation of the historic harbour seal breeding range.