Fish use of Beaufort Sea coastal waters was examined during summer and winter periods 1977–80. Arctic cod (Boreogadus saida) were abundant but their occurrence was highly variable. They accounted for 8–78% of all fish caught in Simpson Lagoon during two summers, and 0.4–100% of catches at various coastal sites in winter. Arctic cod increased in abundance in the lagoon during late summer and some association was noted between their numbers and higher salinities but not temperature or turbidity. Some cod remained in shallow waters in early winter but deeper areas were used through the winter, and the highest catch rate was recorded 175 km offshore. Principal foods of the cod in nearshore waters were mysids (Mysis litoralis, M. relicta), amphipods (Onisimus glacialis), and copepods. The cod caught were generally small (60–170 mm) and young (ages 1–3). Most males matured at ages 2–3 and females at age 3. These size, age, and maturity characteristics indicate a life history strategy (r-selection) unlike that typified by many other arctic fish populations, particularly the freshwater and anadromous species which tend to be slow growing, late maturing and long-lived (K-selection).Key words: Arctic cod, Boreogadus saida; Beaufort Sea, distribution, life history strategy

A relative weight approach was used to test the hypothesis that the condition of broad whitefish Coregonus nasus in the Prudhoe Bay region of Alaska increases during the summer feeding season in conjunction with their increasing lipid and protein contents and decreases during winter as fish consume these energy reserves. The conditions of individual fish collected across 12 summer dissection periods from 1988 to 1993 were indexed in terms of their residual values relative to a single whole‐population, least‐squares regression of loge(weight) against loge(length). Proximate body analyses of lipid and protein contents collected from individual fish across six dissection periods from 1991 to 1993 were also examined. Data pooled for individual year‐classes were used to test for increasing mean residual value, mean lipid content, and mean protein content during summer and for decreasing values of each during winter. Of the 68 cases examined (14 year‐classes over 6 years), mean residual value changed in the expected direction in 56 instances (P < 3.0 E–7). Of 24 cases in which seasonal changes in lipid and protein contents were available, lipid content changed in the expected direction in 23 instances (P < 3.0 E–6), and protein content changed in the expected direction in all 24 instances (P < 3.0 E–7). Mean residual value changed as expected in all 24 cases. The merits of relative condition‐relative weight in the study of fish ecology are discussed.

Introduction Hand hygiene is one of the cornerstones of the prevention of health care-associated infection, but health care worker (HCW) compliance with good practices remains low. Alcohol-based handrub is the new standard for hand hygiene action worldwide and usually requires a system change for its successful introduction in routine care. Product acceptability by HCWs is a crucial step in this process.

This protocol permits a fast-track comparison of HCWs' skin tolerance for different alcohol-based hand rub formulations that are used in healthcare settings. The emollient in formulation C may account for its inferior performance.

No abstract

We describe trends in growth and condition of Arctic cisco Coregonus autumnalis and broad whitefish C. nasus in the Prudhoe Bay region of northern Alaska for the period 1985–1989 to evaluate sublethal effects of changes in hydrography induced by building a causeway into the Beaufort Sea. Growth (increase in length) of age‐1 and age‐2 fish of both species was positively correlated with temperature, which explained 77–92% of the sample variance, Condition (whole wet body weight at a given length) was less correlated with temperature than was growth. However, small broad whitefish, which do not venture far from river mouths, showed a positive association between condition and salinity. Conversely, large broad whitefish, which range away from the rivers, exhibited a negative association with salinity. The foraging range of large broad whitefish may be restricted by high‐salinity water masses that, however, may deliver higher‐than‐normal levels of prey to the habitats near river deltas used by small fish. Arctic ciscoes appeared able to exploit a wide range of temperature or salinity conditions equally well, as indicated by their relatively constant condition over the 5‐year period. Growth of age‐1 and age‐2 Arctic ciscoes and broad whitefish was estimated to have been reduced by an average of 4–6% by causeway‐related temperature changes over the 5‐year study period (range of annual values was 0–10%). This magnitude of change is not believed to be important to the ecology of the two species.

The recruitment of age 0+ Arctic cisco (Coregonus autumnalis) from Canada into the Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, area for the period 1981–88 was compared with summer wind data collected at Barter Island, Alaska. Four years of poor recruitment (1981, 1982, 1984, and 1988) were characterized by winds with net easterly components [Formula: see text] for the period 1 July—15 August. Four years in which moderate to strong recruitment occurred (1983, 1985, 1986, and 1987) were characterized by winds with net easterly components [Formula: see text]. Results suggest that the recruitment of young-of-the-year Arctic cisco from Canada to central Alaska is strongly influenced by wind-driven currents along the Beaufort Sea coast. Recruitment may be impaired by the absence of "strong" east winds without the actual presence of prevailing west winds.

Hydrography data from 1985 to 1993 in the vicinity of the Endicott Causeway near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, were analyzed to determine if the trend in yearly post-causeway construction temperature and salinity was toward colder and more saline conditions. No significant (p ≤ 0.05) relationship was found for temperature; however, salinity levels significantly decreased with time following construction. Intra-year variations in hydrographic conditions appeared to be due to coast-wide meteorological and oceanographic events rather than causeway-induced. We analyzed abundance indices, as log e transformed catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE), of four marine species (arctic cod, Boreogadus saida; fourhorn sculpin, Myoxocephalus quadricornis; arctic flounder, Pleuronectes glacialis; saffron cod, Eleginus gracilis); two freshwater species (round whitefish, Prosopium cylindraceum; arctic grayling, Thymallus arcticus); and the anadromous rainbow smelt, Osmerus mordax, to determine whether there were increases in the abundances of marine species and declines in anadromous and freshwater species. We developed the "best-fit" regression models, based on the criterion of maximized regression F-ratio (i.e., minimized regression p-values), using year, temperature, salinity, and all possible interactions. Results suggested that all species exhibited changes in abundance levels over the period of record. In particular, arctic flounder and rainbow smelt both showed sharp increases in abundance five years after construction. For all species, the observed changes in abundance levels appeared to be due to naturally occurring events in the species' life histories or changes in coast-wide meteorological conditions rather than to causeway-induced alterations in local hydrographic conditions.