Widespread consumption of canned tuna fish since the 1950s may explain some of the increase in breast cancer prevalence in the United States and Europe. Although canned tuna is the primary source of human exposure to methylmercury, its role as an estrogen activating metalloestrogen has been overlooked in the etiology and incidence of breast cancer. Carcinogenic theory asserts that increased exposure to estrogen elevates the risk of breast cancer. The purpose of this population-based, case control study was to examine the association between canned tuna consumption, total blood mercury, and breast cancer in the NHANES 2003-2006 surveys. A multivariable logistic regression model representing 138,747,398 U.S. adult females, controlling for covariates, was applied to investigate whether canned tuna consumption or blood mercury level had a relationship to breast cancer. According to study results, women who reported eating canned tuna at one level of increased frequency out of 11 had a 6.8% increased odds of being diagnosed with breast cancer (p =0. 000 OR 1.068 and 95% CI 1.067-1.069). Women with only a 0.01 Ug/L increase in total blood mercury level were found to have a 0.2% increased odds of being diagnosed with breast cancer (p =. 000 OR 1.002 and 95% CI 1.002-1.003). Additional research individuating the canned tuna fish variable in nutrition, fish, mercury, and breast cancer studies is recommended. This research contributes to positive social change by providing evidence to improve understanding and specification of canned tuna fish in future research and better identification of methylmercury levels in canned tuna fish for public knowledge.

La tuna universitaria es una expresión cultural muy popular en España, la cual ha sido adoptada hace más de medio siglo por nuestro entorno universitario, llegando a ser, en la actualidad, no solo parte importante de las actividades culturales del mismo, sino, también, a convertirse en agentes difusores de música de la región a la que pertenecen, obteniendo el reconocimiento de las mismas. El presente trabajo es un estudio, a partir de cinco importantes tunas, que muestra el proceso de apropiación del modelo de tuna español en nuestro país y como dichos grupos han logrado convertirse en parte de las tradiciones de su entorno universitario y regional. Se procedió a realizar una recopilación histórica de cada grupo en base a bibliografía y entrevistas a algunos de sus miembros, además del análisis y recopilación discográfica la cual nos servirá para enfocarnos en sus composiciones dentro del género más popular de las tunas, el pasacalle. Por último, espero que este trabajo aporte al entendimiento de la tradición de la tuna, y a su vez, brinde información acerca de la representatividad e importancia de estas como expresión cultural tradicional en gran parte de nuestro territorio.

The consumption of seafood in the United States has increased rapidly in recent years due to high quality protein and health benefits of seafood. Seafood can be a carrier for bacteria normally distributed in the marine environment and, in some cases, can be contaminated by human pathogens. Therefore, there is a potential health risk if seafood is consumed raw or undercooked. However, information regarding prevalence of foodborne pathogens in retail seafood products and the ability of pathogens to survive in the products during refrigerated and frozen storage is limited. The objective of this study was to generate such information for a better understanding of distribution of foodborne pathogens in seafood products and provide data which might be used for risk assessment of foodborne infection associated with seafood consumption. A total of 45 seafood products were collected from local retail stores and analyzed for aerobic plate counts (APC) and psychrotrophic bacterial counts (PBC) as well as presence of foodborne pathogens, including Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, and Vibrio vulnificus according to procedures described in the U.S. Food and Drug and Administration Bacteriological Analytical Manual (BAM). Presumptive isolates for each foodborne pathogen were further characterized by biochemical reactions using commercial identification kits and confirmed with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. The samples had bacterial populations ranging from 1.90 to 6.11 CFU/g for APC and from 2.00 to 6.78 CFU/g for PBC. According to the microbiological criteria of International Commission on Microbiological Specifications for Foods (ICMSF), all 45 samples were considered acceptable quality (APC < 10⁷ CFU/g, E. coli < 3 MPN/g) with most samples (93.3%) being good quality (APC < 5 × 10⁵ CFU/g, E. coli < 3 MPN/g). No E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella, S. aureus, V. parahaemolyticus, and V. vulnificus was detected in any samples. Two previously frozen shrimp products (4.4%) were confirmed to carry L. monocytogenes. Studies of growth and survival of L. monocytogenes (3 strains), S. aureus (2 strains), and Salmonella (2 serovars) in raw yellowfin tuna meat stored at 5 - 7 °C for 14 days revealed that L. monocytogenes had the ability to multiply in the tuna meat during refrigerated storage while populations of S. aureus and Salmonella were reduced by 1 to 2 log CFU/g after 14 days at 5 - 7 °C. Studies of holding raw yellowfin tuna meat contaminated with L. monocytogenes, S. aureus, and Salmonella at -18 ± 2 °C for 12 weeks observed that all three pathogens, except Salmonella Newport, in tuna samples survived the frozen storage with less than 2- log of reductions in the populations over 12 weeks of storage. No viable cell of Salmonella Newport was detected in samples after 42 days storage at -18 °C. Raw seafood can be a carrier of foodborne pathogens, particularly L. monocytogenes, and many foodborne pathogens can survive in frozen products for several months. Consumption of raw or undercooked seafood products may lead to human infection if the products are contaminated with pathogens. Therefore, sanitation standard operating procedure (SSOP), good manufacturing practice (GMP) and hazards analysis and critical control points (HACCPs) programs shall all be implemented in the seafood industry to prevent seafood products from being contaminated with foodborne pathogens during handling and processing. Moreover, proper storage of raw seafood products and avoiding cross-contamination during handling at the retail levels also helps to minimize risk of human infection associated with ready-to-eat products. / Graduation date: 2013

La modélisation de la dynamique des populations de thons et grands pélagiques pour l'évaluation des stocks est confrontée à deux enjeux majeurs. (1) L'hypothèse forte de proportionnalité entre Captures Par Unité d'Effort de pêche (CPUE) et l'abondance des stocks. Les CPUE des pêcheries commerciales sont en effet les seules mesures relatives de biomasse utilisées pour l'évaluations des stocks de thons et grands pélagiques, malgré leur manque de représentativité de l'abondance de ces populations. (2) Le manque de données informatives pour modéliser la relation Stock-Recrutement (SR) ce qui conduit à utiliser des contraintes sur la "steepness" de cette fonction. Nous examinons comment l'introduction d'informations indépendantes des pêcheries commerciales dans les modèles pour l'évaluation des stocks thoniers permet de lever l'hypothèse de capturabilité constante et de mieux justifier le choix de la steepness de la relation SR. Le cadre statistique bayésien autorise la prise en compte d'informations supplémentaires via des distributions a priori informatives (priors). Cette thèse examine donc les possibilités d'élicitation de priors informatifs pour des paramètres démographiques et des paramètres liés à la capturabilité des engins de pêche, ainsi que l'utilisation de ces priors dans un modèle global. Les cas d'études sont les stocks de thon rouge (Thunnus thynnus) et d'albacore (Thunnus albacares) de l'Atlantique. La grande variabilité naturelle des taux de mortalités pré-recrutement pose des limites à l'utilisation des seuls traits d'histoire de vie pour l'élicitation de priors pour des paramètres démographiques. Par ailleurs, la relation SR pour les thonidés est remise en question par une valeur de steepness proche de 1. Il apparait que des priors informatifs sur la capturabilité dans un modèle hiérarchique global permettent de réduire les incertitudes dans le diagnostic sur l'état d'un stock thonier. Nous montrons ainsi que le diagnostic sur le stock Atlantique d'albacore est plus pessimiste qu'attendu la tendance à la hausse des capturabilités des principaux engins de pêche est prise en compte. L'élicitation de priors présente donc un fort intérêt pour utiliser des informations supplémentaires et extérieures aux CPUE et améliorer la perception de l'état des stock thoniers. / Modelisation of the population dynamics of tunas and tuna like species for stock assessment is facing two issues. (1) The hypothesis of proportionality between Catch Per Unit Effort (CPUE) and abundance (constant catchability). CPUEs from commercial fisheries appear to be the only relative measure of abundance in spite of their lack of representativity of the abundances of the populations. (2) The lack of informative data for the modelisation of the Stock-Recruit (SR) relationship, which leads to constraint this function on its steepness. The introduction of fisheries-independent sources of information is investigated in order to relax the assumption of constant catchability and to provide better justification of steepness choice for the SR relationship. The Bayesian statistical framework allows the consideration of additional information a priori via informative distributions (priors). This work investigate the elicitation of informative priors for demographic parameters and parameters related to the catchability of fishing gear, as well as the use of these priors into a surplus production model. The cases of the Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) and of the yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares}) were taken as examples. The large natural variability of pre-recruits mortality rates limits the use of life history traits for eliciting priors for demographic parameters. In addition, the SR relationship for tuna is challenged by a steepness value close to 1. It appears that informative priors on catchability parameters, in a hierarchical surplus production model, reduce uncertainties in the diagnosis on the status of tuna stocks. We show that the status of the Atlantic yellowfin tuna stock is more critical taking into account upward trends in the main fishing gears catchabilities. We conclude that prior elicitation is a reliable tool to take into account additionnal information and to improve tunas stock assessment.

Understanding the life history of a species is essential for fully understanding its role within an ecosystem. However, many of the fish species of high ecological value have not been studied due to their less prominent roles in local recreational and commercial fisheries in comparison to other targeted species. This study describes the age and growth patterns of three small tuna species inhabiting South Florida waters: blackfin tuna Thunnus atlanticus, little tunny Euthynnus alletteratus, and skipjack tuna Katsuwonus pelamis. Tuna specimens were collected via donations obtained from various fishing tournaments and charter captains in the areas of the Florida Straits as well as hook-and-line by the Nova Southeastern University Oceanographic Center. Age was described via sagittal otolith deposition patterns. They were removed, dried, sectioned, and rings were counted as well as measured. Validation of the timing of ring deposits was done by marginal increment analysis. Growth parameters were determined by comparison of fish fork length to count measurements. This comparison via the Von Bertalanffy growth equation produced a growth rate for each species: blackfin, L∞ = 95.34 cm, K = 0.28, and t0 = -1.53; little tunny, L∞ = 77.93 cm, K = 0.69, and t0 = -0.69; and skipjack, L∞ = 112.76 cm, K = 0.24, and t0 = -1.70. The curves indicate an average size of an individual of a given species at a certain age. They also give an estimation of a maximum length (L∞) of each species, in addition to specific growth rate, which is indicated by the slope. Parameters of each resulting Von Bertalanffy equation were compared among species. Results were also compared with growth rates currently used in stock assessments by fisheries management organizations, such as the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT).

This paper is about an Iron Age cemetery at Tuna in Badelunda parish, Västmanland. Tuna is a complex burial ground that contains a total of 66 graves that consists of 68 individuals. The grave field was used during a period of roughly 700 years from around the year 300 AD until the year 1050 AD. Three types of grave constructions are identified in Tuna, 53 cremation graves, eight boat graves and five chamber graves. This paper will investigate the placements of the grave constructions on the cemetery to study if they are divided by sex, age and grave type. The paper will also analyse and discuss the sex/gender assessments of individuals from Tuna, both the osteological assessments of sex and/or gender assessments are based on? The usual presumptions from earlier research about Tuna are that it was a cemetery mainly for females, but the report about Tuna in Badelunda indicates a diffrent conclusion.

Assignment (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Many species of tilapia such as Oreochromis mossambicus are euryhaline, able to adapt to different salinity waters. Their ability to withstand high salinity levels has given rise to the possibility of using tilapia as baitfish for tuna line fishery. The purpose of the study was to determine the survival rate of tilapia O. mossambicus during direct transfer from freshwater to the salinity levels of 0, 15, 20, 22.5, 25, 27.5, 30, 32.5, and 35 ppt. The data was analysed through means of univariate ANOVAand regression analysis. O. mossambicus showed no mortality to all salinity regimes up to 25 ppt. Mortality was observed at 27.5 ppt, with 100% mortality at 35 ppt. LC 50 and LC 90 were found to be 30.5 and 34.2 ppt, respectively. The results indicate that tilapia (0. mossambicus) will survive a direct transfer to salinities up to 25 ppt. acclimation will be required in the event of transfer to salinity levels above 25 ppt, in order to prevent significant levels of mortalities. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Meeste van die tilapia spesies soos Oreochremis mossambicus het die vermoë om by water van verskillende soutgehaltes aantepas. Dit is hierdie vermoë om hoë sout vlakke te weerstaan wat die moontlikheid vir gebruik as lewende aas in die tuna langlyn visvangbedryf moontlik maak. Die doel van hierdie studie was om die oorlewingsvlak van tilapia, O. mossambicus te bepaal by die oorplasing van varswater direk na soutwater by vlakke van 0, 15, 20, 22.5, 25, 27.5, 30, 32.5, en 35 dele per duisend. Die data is verwerk deur gebruik te maak van eenvariant ANOVAen regressie analises. O. mossambicus het geen mortaliteite tot gevolg gehad by al die oorplasings van vlakke tot en met 25 dele per duisend sout nie. Mortaliteite is wel gevind vanaf 27.5 dele per duisend, met 100 % mortaliteite by 35 dele per duisend. LC 50 en LC90 was gewees 30.5 en 34.2 dele per duisend onderskeidelik. Die resultate toon aan dat tilapia (0. mossambicus) sal oorleef by direkte oorplasing na soutwater by vlakke van tot en met 25 dele per duisend. Tilapia wat na hoër vlakke as 25 dele per duisend oorgeplaas wil word, sal eers geleidelik moet akklimatiseer om mortaliteite te beperk.

An understanding of the spatio-temporal dynamics of marine predator populations is essential for the sustainable management of marine resources. Tagging studies are providing ever more information about the movements and migrations of marine predators and much has been learned about where these predators spend their time. However little is known about their underlying motivations, making it difficult to make predictions about how apex predators will respond to changing environments. While much progress has been made in behavioural ecology through the use of optimality models, in the marine environment the necessary costs and benefits are difficult to quantify making this approach less successful than with terrestrial studies. One aspect of foraging behaviour that has proved tractable however is the optimisation of random searches. Work by statistical physicists has shown that a specialised movement, known as Lévy flight, can optimise the rate of new prey patch encounters when new prey patches are beyond sensory range. The resulting Lévy flight foraging (LFF) hypothesis makes testable predictions about marine predator search behaviour that can be addressed with the theoretical and empirical studies that form the basis of this thesis. Results presented here resolve the controversy surrounding the hypothesis, demonstrating the optimality of Lévy searches under a broader set of conditions than previously considered, including whether observed Lévy patterns are innate or emergent. Empirical studies provide robust evidence for the prevalence of Lévy search patterns in the movements of diverse marine pelagic predators such as sharks, tunas and billfish as well as in the foraging patterns of albatrosses, overturning a previous study. Predictions from the LFF hypothesis concerning fast moving prey are confirmed leading to simulation studies of ambush predator’s activity patterns. Movement analysis is then applied to the assessment of by-catch mitigation efforts involving VMS data from long-liners and simulated sharks.

The Atlantic Bluefin Tuna (Thunnus thynnus) is perhaps the most magnificent and most marvelous nomadic wild animal living in the world. It lives in the deep blue waters of the Atlantic Ocean and is one of the largest of the world’s fin fish and the largest of the 48 other species of tuna (Kuhn, 1996). It is a species that seems to have been designed and sculpted by an artist—sleek, smooth, and beautiful—instead of having been a product of an evolutionary process. Today, the existence and future of the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna is in question because of the constant overexploitation of the stocks for its flesh. The insanely high prices being paid for its flesh have resulted in a modern day gold rush for almost any person who has the ability and equipment to catch it. The movements of the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna take it through multiple jurisdictional, national, and international boundaries, spending part of its life in areas of the world’s commons, also known as the high seas. In each, the species is managed through complex, often cloudy and poorly enforced state, regional, and national laws and international treaties. For decades the terms overfished, under pressure, listing, and extinction have become synonymous with the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna because the scientific facts have, and continue to, indicate that it is in great peril and nearing the tipping point of no return in terms of viability as a species, all because of short-term economics and politics. This dissertation is rooted in complexity theory and public choice theory. The research design for this dissertation is based on the 5-component structure, interactive model, prescribed by Joseph A. Maxwell, Ph.D. (2004), and current policies were evaluated through the policy framework prescribed by Frank Fischer, Ph.D. (1995). Ten public policy steps are suggested to save the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna from collapse.

My background in clay has emphasized the development of technical considerations in functional ceramics as well as the search for personal images. The past two years have seen an emphasis on the exploration of technical areas chosen to lead to the development of a familiarity with techniques and a solidification of statement. The process has nurtured in me the realization that the objects I produce do not represent an attempt to attain an axiom of art but are personal statements developed through an empirical use of forms and images.