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Background Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is accompanied by growth retardation especially in severe cases. While the use of biologics has shown efficacy in restoring growth impairment, data from Asia are limited. We aim to investigate the growth of JIA patients and identify those who can benefit from the use of biologics in Taiwan.Methods JIA patients who received regular follow-up and treatment at a tertiary medical center in Taiwan between January 2011 and June 2023 were retrospectively reviewed. General demographics and growth parameters, including body height, body weight, and body mass index (BMI), were collected at the time of biologics initiation, then at 6 and 12 months into treatment and they were transformed into z-scores for further analysis.Results A total of 104 JIA patients, including 52 biologics-free controls, were enrolled. Enthesitis-related arthritis (ERA) accounted for 51% all cases. The initial z-scores for body height, body weight and BMI were −0.33, −0.35, −0.45, respectively. A significantly higher proportion of biologics-treated patients achieved catch-up growth, defined as a continuous increase in height z-scores 1 year following biologics treatment, compared to the biologics-free controls (38% vs. 12%; p = 0.002) 12 months into treatment. In subgroup analysis, JIA patients with lower initial z-scores for height (p = 0.021), a shorter period between symptom onset and diagnosis (p = 0.026), younger ages at the time of biologics initiation (p 

In the Barents Sea commercial snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) fishery, an increase in catch efficiency of the conical pots is important for the profitability of the industry. Light emitting diodes (LEDs) have previously been tested for increasing catch efficiency of the snow crab pots. These earlier experiments have shown varying results ranging from large increase in snow crab catches to no significant effect. These experiments have used different pot soaking times; however, the soaking time might affect the impact of LEDs on catch efficiency. In commercial snow crab fishery, the pot soak time is varying which has not been considered in earlier experiments testing the effect of LEDs. Therefore, this study examined whether pot soaking time can explain the observed differences in relative catch efficiency of snow crab pots with and without LEDs with soak times ranging from 2 to 14 days in the Barents Sea snow crab fishery. For target sizes of snow crab (≥95 mm carapace width), results indicated an increase in catch efficiency between 10 and 30% for pots with LEDs with exception of one experiment using six days soak time. However, experimental results were subjected to large uncertainties and, except from one experiment with five days soak time, the estimated increases were nonsignificant. Furthermore, the pot soak time was not found to impact the effect of white LEDs on capture efficiency.

Gillnets are one of the most commonly used fishing gears in both marine and inland waters. Different colour filament nettings are often used in gillnets. However, the effect of gillnet colour on catch efficiency is unclear for most fisheries. Therefore, in this study we investigated the effect of gillnet colour on the catch efficiency in pearlspot (Etroplus suratensis) fishery in Vembanad lake, India. Gillnet colours tested were transparent, green and blue. Results showed that in this fishery, the catch efficiency of gillnets of the three colours tested differed significantly. The highest catch efficiency of pearlspot was shown by green gillnets compared to transparent or blue netting. Specifically, green gillnets on average were estimated to be 74% more efficient compared to transparent gillnets. For the green compared to the blue gillnets, the catch efficiency was estimated to be higher by 81%. These results demonstrate that gillnet colour can be an important factor significantly affecting the catch efficiency of this fishing gear.

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