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The present study compared the performance of a multidimensional patient satisfaction questionnaire according to the timing of questionnaire administration. Comparisons were made in terms of: (a) the completeness and representativeness of the data set (number of missing questionnaires, number missing item responses, respondents' representativeness to the target population); (b) the questionnaire acceptability to respondents (time and difficulty to complete); (c) the questionnaire reliability; and (d) variability of scores. One hundred and ten consecutive breast cancer patients hospitalised for surgery were randomised between being sent the comprehensive assessment of satisfaction with care (CASC) at 2 weeks (T(2W)) or at 3 months (T(3M)) after hospital discharge. The time to complete the CASC was shorter at T(3M) than at T(2W) and the mean percentage of item omission was lower at T(3M) (1.68) than at T(2W) (3.82). However, the response rate was much higher at T(2W) (87%) than at T(3M) (66%), making item omission non-significant. At both times of questionnaire administration samples were equally biased towards patients having undergone a less invasive surgery. Moreover, the multi-item scales of the CASC demonstrated adequate internal consistency coefficients, except the general satisfaction scale at T(3M), and fairly symmetrical distribution of scores. Response rate should be considered in priority. This criteria favoured an administration of the CASC shortly after discharge. Besides in a cancer patient population care experience and perception may vary in a 6 weeks time lapse. The timing of assessment needs to be clearly specified in cancer patients satisfaction survey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fish stocking to enhance freshwater fisheries or to improve the conservation status of endangered fish species is a common practice in many countries. Little is known, however, of the effectiveness of these practices in spite of the high efforts and investments required. The movement of subadult/adult hatchery-released brown trout Salmo trutta L. was studied by passive telemetry in a small tributary of Lake Lugano ( i.e ., Laveggio Creek, Canton Ticino, Switzerland). Hatchery fish, together with some resident wild individuals sampled during electrofishing surveys, were tagged with Passive Integrated Transponders (PIT) tags. Hatchery fish were released upstream and downstream a submersible monitoring antenna, which was anchored to the streambed in a pass-over orientation. The number of hatchery fish detected daily by the antenna (divided between fish released upstream and downstream the antenna) was analyzed in relation to the daily water discharge, to search for similar patterns in their fluctuation over time. Only the movement of fish released upstream the antenna displayed a significant relationship with water discharge, with the highest number of fish detected during periods of high-water flow, occurring after heavy rains. High-water discharge events had a significant role in hatchery trout downstream movement in our study site, likely acting as a driver for the downstream migration to Lake Lugano. Such events contributed to the poor effectiveness of stocking actions in this small tributary, providing further evidence against stocking strategies based on subadult/adult fish., Competing Interests: Armando Piccinini and Richard A. Carmichael are employed by Biomark LLC, Boise, USA., (© 2022 Brignone et al.)

In European lakes, anthropogenic pressures have increased significantly since the 1950s, facilitating colonisation by non-native species and increasing the potential for further invasions. Here, we determined the effects of anthropogenic pressures (i.e., habitat alterations and introduction of non-native species) on the fish communities of Italian sub-alpine lakes. We hypothesised that established non-native species would have more competitive traits against anthropogenic stressors, such as habitat alteration, than native species. Thus, we expected that non-native species would dominate lake communities and reduce native species occurrence and abundance depending on the degree of anthropogenic alterations. Overall, we predicted that the increase in anthropogenic pressures after the 1950s had led to homogenisation of the fish communities of the lakes in the region. We tested these hypotheses using data on 15 sub-alpine lakes, covering a broad geographical and morphological gradient, and compared the 2007-2014 fish community composition (sampled according to the CEN protocol plus point-abundance electrofishing) with variables of lake habitat and anthropogenic pressures (based on the Lake Habitat Survey, a method to evaluate the hydromorphological conditions of lakes according to the European Water Framework Directive) and fish communities before 1950, the latter based on bibliographic information. Following our hypothesis, non-native species showed higher prevalence of traits that increase their competitiveness against anthropogenic alterations (e.g., tolerance to pollution). In addition to lake morphology, the community composition of non-native fish determined as abundance (NPUE) and biomass (BPUE) was positively related to anthropogenic pressures. Since the 1950s, 19 non-native species have colonised the Italian sub-alpine lakes, and the occurrence of native species has decreased by ~27%. However, contrary to our expectation, these changes have increased the β-diversity of the fish communities in the lakes., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)