Hong Kong Metropolitan University

Fruit and vegetables (F&V) consumption is critical to preventing non-communicable diseases such as overweight and obesity. However, many people, including firefighters, focus on physical exercise to strengthen their physical fitness but ignore healthy eating, especially F&V consumption. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between a stage-matched health promotion program delivered through WhatsApp and the stage of change for F&V intake and its influence on anthropometric measurements.

Forty-eight firefighters were randomly assigned to either an intervention (health promotion pamphlet and stage-matched teaching materials through WhatsApp) or active control (health promotion pamphlet) group. Twenty-three were assigned to the intervention group and 25 to the active control group.

Significant differences (P < 0.05) were found within the group comparison at the stage of change. More than 60 and 44 percent of firefighters in intervention and active control groups, repectively, were promoted to the "Action" and "Maintenance" stages 6 months after the completion of the intervention. The mixed-effects model results indicated a significant interaction between the two groups across the three time points with regard to the number of fruits consumed (P = 0.0022). This observation suggests that the intervention had a varying effect on the number of fruits ingested over time compared to the control group. Significant differences in body weight, body mass indexes, and waist circumference were observed within both groups (P < 0.05).

Stage-matched interventions based on the transtheoretical model delivered through WhatsApp successfully promoted F&V consumption and improved anthropometric measurements among firefighters.

Harmful algae are often associated with bacteria but whether their toxicity is affected by bacteria is unclear. This study elucidated roles of bacteria associated with Karenia mikimotoi (KMHK) in modulating its ichthyotoxicity. Results revealed KMHK ichthyotoxicity increased in the order of xenic (with algal-associated bacteria) < axenic (free from associated bacteria) < "re-xenic" cultures (with bacterial consortium re-inoculated back to axenic KMHK), indicating the modulation of ichthyotoxicity depended on bacterial composition and types. Ichthyotoxicity of "re-xenic" KMHK culture with white or yellow pigmented isolate was higher than the red one, and white isolate "re-xenic" culture also exhibited higher haemolytic effect than the red isolate and xenic culture. However, "re-xenic" NIES2411, a very toxic strain isolated from Japan, with white bacterial isolate had lower ichthyotoxicity than the respective xenic culture, while the non-toxic strain (CAWD133) from New Zealand was unaffected by associated bacteria, implying bacterial modulation of ichthyotoxicity was algal strain-specific.

Shoreline armouring in coastal cities can cause habitat degradation and biodiversity loss, often exacerbated by common anthropogenic stressors. Boulders are used as riprap to create revetments walls; but the homogenous surface and absence of shelter reduces intertidal biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Eco-engineering can mitigate habitat loss through the addition of water retention and other microhabitats. We deployed four eco-engineered designs in a degraded harbour riprap for 18 months. Two units with site-specific designs combined multiple microhabitat types, attracting the highest species diversity. All four designs generally increased within-site β diversity and fish diversity compared to nearby unmanipulated ripraps. Suspension-feeding species and more species within key functional groups colonised eco-engineered units at patch and site scale. Tailored, site-specific eco-engineering shows great potential to rehabilitate degraded ripraps into functional, novel ecosystems. Combining eco-engineering with anthropogenic stress reduction to enable recovery can enhance biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in coastal cities.