Towards intelligent aquaculture. Development of an early Biological Warning System to monitor exposure to contaminants and fish welfare: from artificial vision to systems modelling

161 p.Etorkizun hurbilera begira gizakion kopurua ez ezik (Gerland et al., 2014; United Nations, 2014), itsas elikagaien ekoizpenaren eta kontsumoaren hazkundea espero da. Azken honen hazkundeak, batipat, akuikulturak bideratuko du (German Advisory Council on Global Change - WBGU, 2013). Akuikultura, ekoizpena handiagotzeko helburuagaz, itsas organismoen hazkunde kontrolatua da. Bertatik lortzen diren produktuak era askotakoak izan daitezke: arrainak, moluskuak, krustazeoak, algak eta itsas landareak dira ezagunenak. Baina kokodriloak, dortokak eta beste motatako zenbait animalia urlehortarrak ere ekoizten dira. Era berean, akuikultura instalazioek kokapen desberdinak euki ditzakete: itsas kostaldean zein itsasadarretan baina lur barnean zein ibai edo lakuen ondoan ere aurkitu daitezke.Beste edozein ekoizpen prozesu bezala, sortzen diren produktuen kalitatea erronka garrantzitsuenetariko bat da. Eta kalitatea, kontuan izanda sortzen diren produktuak gizakion kontsumorako direla, ekoiztutako animalien osasungarritasunarekin bat doa. Kezkarik garrantzitsuenetarikoa itsas elikagaien ekoizpenean ur ingurugiroan dauden kutsatzatzaileek ekoiztutako produktuetan duten efektua da. Kutsatzaileak gero eta kantitate haundiagoetan azaltzen dira eta gainera, gero eta kutsatzaile berri gehiago agertzen dira (Bevan et al., 2012; Roose et al., 2011). Kutsatzaileak ez dira bakarrik uretara izurtzen, animaliei emoten zaien elikagaiak ere kutsatuta egon daitezke (Dahle et al., 2010; Dobson et al., 2008; Sharma and Paradakar, 2010). Hoierariko kutsatzaile askok ere, animalien ongizatean efektu negatiboak izaten dituzte eta galera ekonomiko haundiak sortarazten dituzte. Gaur egun, kutsatzaileak antzemateko metodo ez-inbasiboen galera dago. Hare eta gehiago, kutsatzaile berriak detektatzeko metodorik ez dago, antzemate metodoak kutsatzaile bakoitzeko ezpezifikoki diseinatsen direlako eta gero eta kutsatzaile berri gehiago detektatzen direlako, adibidez gizakion kontsumorako uran (Dahle et al., 2010; Roose et al., 2011).Tesi honek, monitorizazio metodologia ez inbasibo bat garatzen du non arrainak Alerta Sistema Biologikoa (Biological Warning System - BWS) giza erabiltzen dira. Arrainak, euren igeriketa jokabidea aztertuz, sensore bat balira kontzideratzen dira. Metodologia honen abantailarik esanguratsugarrienak dira: i) teknologia eskuragarria bideratzea, ii) monitorizazio on-line-a uzten duela eta iii) mota ezberdinetako kutsatzaileekin, ezagun ala ezezagun, lan egiteko ahalmena izango duela.Azkenik, proposatutako Alerta Sistema Biologikoa beste hierarkia handiagoko sistemekin egon beharko luke harremanetan eta sistema guzti hauen emaitzak ekoiztutako produktuen trazabilitate agiriekin batera joan beharko lukete azken produktuak merkatuara heltzerakoan. Hierarkia handiagoko sistema hauek Arrizku Analisis eta Punto Kritikoen Kontrol (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point - HACCP) eta Arrain Ongizate Segurtasun Sistemak (Fish Welfare Assurance System - FWAS) dira hain zuzen ere (van de Vis et al., 2012).HipotesiaTesi hau ondoko hipotesian oinarrituta dago:Arrain multzo batek sentsore biologiko bat izango balitz bezala jokatuko du; arrainen jokabidea, arrainen erantzun biologiko eta fisiologikoak batzen dituena, kanpo estimuluen aurrean modu ez inbasiboan neurtu daitekelako. Honek, arrain-sistemaren jokabidearen aldaketa on-line monitorizaziorako tresna gisa erabiltzea bideratzen du.Helburuak eta ekarpenakTesi honen helburu garrantzitsuena arrainak sentsore giza erabiliz, arrainen ongizatea on-line monitorizatzeko eta akuikultura industrian aplikatzeko tresna baten disenua eta eraikuntza da. Honetarako, jakintza alor anitzak jorratzen dira, hala nola biologia, etologia, ingurugiroaren ikuskaketa, arrainen ongizatea, elikagain kalitatearen fidagarritasuna, sistemen ingenieritza edota seinaleen prozesamendu ez-lineala.Lupia (Dicentrarchus labrax) izan da Tesi hau garatzeko aukeratutako arrain mota bi arrazoi nagusirengatik. Batetik, mediterraneo itsasoko herrialdeetako akuikultura produkzioan oso hedatuta dagoelako eta, aurrekoarekin loturik, lupiaren produkzioan arrainen ongizatearen eta azken produktuaren kalitatea oso garrantzitsua delako, gehienbat gizakion kontsumora bideraturiko produktua delako hain zuzen.Bigarren mailako helburuak, proposatutako tresnaren ebaluazioarekin lotuta egoteaz gain, diseinatutako sistemak aldagai ezberdinen menpean duen portaera aztertzen dute, hala nola:Arrain-sistemaren erantzuna arrain kopurua aldatuz.Arrain-sistemaren erantzuna arrainen dietari selenioa gehitzerakoan.Arrain-sistemaren erantzuna urari kutsatzaile neurotoxikoa den metilmekurioa gehitzerakoan.Hirugarren eta azken helburua, aurreko bi helburuen bitartez garatutako informazioa, ezagutza-eredu batetan isladatzearekin dator bat.Helburu hauekin loturik, Tesi honek ondoko ekarpenak ditu:Sistemen ingenieritzan oinarritutako lan metodologia berri bat garatu da.Ez-inbasiboa, moldakorra, merkea eta Alerta Sistema Biologiko sistema batetan egokitzeko gai den irudi analisian oinarritutako tresna bat garatu da.Perturbazio bati erantzunez arrain multzoaren mugimendu ereduan oinarrituriko sentsore bat garatu da.Arrainen multzoaren igeriketa ereduari aplikatu ahal zaizkion zenbait seinale prozesaketa metodo ez-lineala garatu dira.Arrainen erantzuna kanpotiko perturbazio baten aurrean modelatzen duen eredu matematikoa garatu da.Garatutako metodologia eta monitorizazio tresna zenbait kasu experimentaletan aztertu da.Ikerketa MetodologiaIkerketa metodologiaren aldetik, Glass-ek (1995) proposatutako pausu berdinak jarraitu dira. Honela, Tesia lau faseetan banaturik dago: jakinarazte fasea, fase proposizionala, fase analitikoa eta ebaluaketa fasea. Era berean, erabilitako metodologia zati zientifiko eta zati enpiriko baten batura da. Ikerketa metodologia honek erdiesten dituen onurak ondokoak dira:Erabilitako ikerketa metodologia arrainen multzoak eta bere ingurugiroak osatzen duten sistemaren dinamika ulertzeko ezin bestekoa izan da.Tesian garatuta tresna zenbait kasu partikularretan aztertu da. Honela, tresnaren onurak ez ezik bere mugak ere aztertu ahal izan dira.Garatutako tresna benetako akuikultura instalazio batetan inplementatzeko bideragarritasuna aztertu da Norbegiako ¿Centre for Autonomous Marine Operations and Systems (AMOS)¿ Ikerketa Zentruan hiru hilabeteko ikerketa egonaldiari esker. Egonaldia Europa Batasuneko ikerlari mugikortasun beka batekin finantziatu da ¿European Economic Area (EEA) Researcher Mobility and Co-operation Grant, NILS Science and Sustainability Programme.Publikatutako lanen maila, kalitatea eta irismena handiagotu da.Etorkizunean, ikerketa proiektu eta gertaeretan parte hartzeko ahalmenaren handiagotzea, ikerlariaren kontaktu sarearen handiagotzearekin batera.Azkenik, Tesiaren zati experimentalak Yin-en (1993) kasu-ikerketaren oinarriak jarraitzen ditu. Kasu-ikerketa metodoa ezagutza induktiboa sortzeko erabiltzen da eta eguneroko gertakari erreal eta komplexuei aplikatzerakoan baliagarritasun handia erakusten du.Lanaren GarapenaTesi honen lehenengo zatian, irudi analisian oinarritutako metodologia ez-inbasibo bat garatzen da. Metedologia hau, video grabaketa, irudi prozesaketa eta seinale ez-linealen analisi eta prozesaketan datza. Arrain multzoaren erantzuna gertaera estokastiko edo aleatorio baten aurrean aztertzen eta neurtzen da. Irudietan agertzen diren objetuen antzematea, fluxu optikoko algoritmo baten bitartez burutzen da. Honela arrainak detektatu ez ezik, irudien atzealdea eta bestelako efektu ez desiratuak ezabatzen dira. Azkenik, arrain multzoaren zentruak jarraitzen duen ibilbidea, Shannon (Shannon, 1951, 1948) eta permutazio entropia (Bandt and Pompe, 2002) batetik; eta Higuchi (1988), Katz (1988) eta Castiglioni-k (2010) proposatutako Katz algoritmoaren aldaketaren bitartezko dimentsio fraktal algoritmoez aztertzen da.Garatutako monitorizazio tresna hiru kasu partikularretan aztertu zen. Lehenengoan, hiru lupia multzo aztertu ziren. Horietariko bi antzekoak ziren (kontrolak eta elastomero batekin markatutakoak), eta hirugarrena aldiz, 9 egunez metilmerkuriodun (4 µg MeHg/L) uretan murgildutako arrainez osoturik zegoen. Shannon-en entropia eta Katz-Castiglioni-ren algoritmoek izan ziren emaitza onenak erakutzi zutenak. Esan daiteke biek, arrainen erantzunak modu ez inbasibo batean kuantifikatzeko garaian, ahalmen nahikoa erakutsi zutela. Hala ere, Katz-Castiglioni-ren algoritmoak Shannon-en entropia baino askoz ere pisu konputazional handiagoa erakutsi zuen.Hasiera baten, arrain multzoa osotzen zuten animalien kopurua inolako eraginik euki zitzakela animalia sistema osoaren jokabidean garatutako aztertze metodologiari dagokionez, ez zen uste. Honetan sakontzeko, bigarren kasu partikular bat diseinatu zen, non sistemako aldagai bakarra arrain kopurua zen. Bigarren kasu partikular honen helbururik garrantzitsuena sistemarentzako Lan Puntuaren zehazpena zen, hau da, arrainek inolako perturbazio barik daudeneko egoera dinamikoa. Monitorizazio tresna doitzeko eta perturbazioak egoera ¿normaletik¿ bereiztu ahal izateko, Lan Puntuaren zehazpena ezin bestekoa da. Honetarako bi experimentu disenatu ziren:Arrain kopuruaren murrizketa. Arrain kopurua 50etik 1era pasatu zen 4 asteren buruan (50, 25, 13 eta arrain 1 aste bakoitzeko).Arrain kopururaren hazkuntza. Sistema osotzen duten arrainen kopurua 1etik 5era hazi zen egunero arrain berri bat sartuz (1, 2, 3, 4 eta 5 arrain egun bakoitzeko).Hirugarren kasu partikularrean, aldiz, arrainen urari bi sustantzia ezberdin gehitu zitzaizkion. Batetik, sodio selenitoa (Na2SeO3, 10 µg/L) gehitu zitzaion 7 egunen zehar eta bestetik metilmerkurioa (4 µg MeHg/L) 14 egunen zehar.Tesiaren azken atalean, aurreko kasuetan garatutako jakituriarekin ezagutza eredu bat eraiki da. Eredua, 3 azpi-ereduez osatuta dago, zeintzuk sistemaren eguneroko erantzuna eta Shannon-en entropiaren emaitzak, egoera basalean, gertaera aleatorio bateri erantzunez eta azken bien arteko erlazioari begira, integratzen dituzte.OndorioakOndoren Tesiaren ondoriorik esanguratsuenak adierazten dira:Arrainen monitorizaziorako tresna garatu da. Tresnaren oinarrian irudi eskuraketa eta prozesaketa egoteaz gain, arrain multzoak osatzen duen zentruaren ibilbidearen analizi ez-lineala ere badago.Arrainen sistemaren dinamika aztertzeko garaian Shannon-en entropia parametrorik onena izan da.1 eta 5 arrainen artean, lubia arrain sistemaren Shannon-en entropia eta sistema osotzen duten arrain kopuruaren erlazioa oso estua da.Lubia arrain sistemaren eta Shannon-en entropiaren arteko erlazioa exponentziala da.Garatutako tresna kasu partikularrei aplikatzerakoan era egokian lan egin du. Honek, ikerketa lanaren hasierako Tesia berretsi du.Espero zen bezala eta garatutako tresnak konfirmatuta, urari gehitutako sodio selenito kontsentrazioak ez du inolako efekturik izan lubia sistemaren Shannon-en entropian.Era berean, garatutako tresnak konfirmatu du urari gehituriko metilmerkurioak efektu ezezkorra izan duela lubia sistemaren Shannon-en entropian.Tresnaren aplikazioak kasu partikularretan lubia sistemaren Shannon-en entropiaren eguneroko balioa ez ezik bere egunean-eguneko bilakaera kontutan hartu behar dela erakutsi du.Garatutako ezagutza eredua lubia arrain sistemaren jokabide erantsunaren eguneroko bilakaeran oinarrituriko 3 azpi-ereduz osoturik dago: Azpi-eredu basala, gertaera aleatorioaren erantzuneko azpi eredua eta aurreko biak erlazionatzen dituen azpi-eredua.Garatutako tresna, zenbait hobekuntzekin, on-line monitorizazio arkitektura batetan inplementatzeko gaitasuna duela esan daiteke. Eta beraz, era basatian nahiz akuikulturan, arrain multzoak monitorizatzeko edo/eta ur kutsadura antzemateko ingurumen-programetan tresna baliagarria izan daiteke.Beraz, ikerketa lan honen Tesia arrainak sentsore biologiko moduan erabil daitezkela da; kanpo perturbazioen eraginez euren portaeran agertzen diren aldaketak modu ez-inbasiboan neurtu daitezkelako.Gerorako LanaGaur egun Errezirkulazio Akuikultura Sistemek (Recirculating Aquaculture Systems - RAS) gero eta aplikazio handiagoa dute munduan zehar. Tesi honetan oinarrituriko teknologia baten garapenak zekulako erabilgarritasuna eukiko luke mota honetako sistemetan, batez ere, produkzio unitate osoa monitorizatu daitekelako. Era berean, ur kutsadura antzemateko ingurumen-programetan tresna baliagarria izan daiteke. Azken honetarako, teknologia honetan oinarrituriko ikusketa guneak garatu beharko lirateke.Urpean lan egiteak desabantail ugari ditu. Hau ekiditeko datu eskuraketa teknika ezberdinak aztertu beharko lirateke, hala nola izpi-infragorriak, sonar teknologia edota irudi hiperespektralak zenbait esatearren.Azkenik, teknologia honetatik lortutako datuak bestelako tekniken bidez lorturiko datuekin bat egin beharko lirateke. Honela, arrainen datu biokimiko, histologiko eta fisiologikoez gain, teknika ez-inbasiboen bidez neurtutako igeriketa jokabideak ere kontutan hartu beharreko parametroa izan beharko luke.Research Center for Experimental Marine Biology and Biotechnology - Plentzia Marine Station (PiE

Non-Linear Analyses of Fish Behaviours in Response to Aquatic Environmental Pollutants—A Review

Analysis of fish behaviour is an effective way to indirectly identify the presence of environmental pollutants that negatively affect fish life, its production and quality. Monitoring individual and collective behaviours produces large amounts of non-linear data that require tailor-suited computational methods to interpret and manage the information. Fractal dimension (FD) and entropy are two groups of such non-linear analysing methods that serve as indicators of the complexity (FD) and predictability (entropy) of the behaviours. Since behavioural complexity and predictability may be modulated by contaminants, the changes in its FD and entropy values have a clear potential to be embedded in a biological early warning system (BEWS), which may be particularly useful in Precision Fish Farming settings and to monitor wild populations. This work presents a review of the effects of a wide range of environmental contaminants, including toxic compounds, cleaning and disinfecting agents, stimulant (caffeine), anaesthetics and antibiotics, heavy metals (lead, cupper, and mercury), selenium, pesticides and persistent environmental pollutants, on the FD and entropy values of collective and individual behavioural responses of different fish species. All the revised studies demonstrate the usefulness of both FD and entropy to indicate the presence of pollutants and underline the need to consider early changes in the trend of the evolution of their values prior to them becoming significantly different from the control values, i.e., while it is still possible to identify the contaminant and preserve the health and integrity of the fish.The work was supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad MINECO (Grant RTC-2014–2837-2 “SELATUN: Minimización de la problemática del mercurio del atún y valorización del atún como alimento saludable, Programa Retos-Colaboración 2014”. The funding source had no involvement in the preparation of this manuscript. I. Martinez is supported by IKERBASQUE (Basque Foundation for Science)

Entropy and Fractal Techniques for Monitoring Fish Behaviour and Welfare in Aquacultural Precision Fish Farming—A Review

In a non-linear system, such as a biological system, the change of the output (e.g., behaviour) is not proportional to the change of the input (e.g., exposure to stressors). In addition, biological systems also change over time, i.e., they are dynamic. Non-linear dynamical analyses of biological systems have revealed hidden structures and patterns of behaviour that are not discernible by classical methods. Entropy analyses can quantify their degree of predictability and the directionality of individual interactions, while fractal dimension (FD) analyses can expose patterns of behaviour within apparently random ones. The incorporation of these techniques into the architecture of precision fish farming (PFF) and intelligent aquaculture (IA) is becoming increasingly necessary to understand and predict the evolution of the status of farmed fish. This review summarizes recent works on the application of entropy and FD techniques to selected individual and collective fish behaviours influenced by the number of fish, tagging, pain, preying/feed search, fear/anxiety (and its modulation) and positive emotional contagion (the social contagion of positive emotions). Furthermore, it presents an investigation of collective and individual interactions in shoals, an exposure of the dynamics of inter-individual relationships and hierarchies, and the identification of individuals in groups. While most of the works have been carried out using model species, we believe that they have clear applications in PFF. The review ends by describing some of the major challenges in the field, two of which are, unsurprisingly, the acquisition of high-quality, reliable raw data and the construction of large, reliable databases of non-linear behavioural data for different species and farming conditions.The work was supported by the Spanish MINECO (Grant RTC-2014–2837-2- “SELATUN: Minimización de la problemática del mercurio del atún y valorización del atún como alimento saludable, Programa Retos-Colaboración 2014”. The funding source had no involvement in the preparation of this manuscript

Shannon Entropy in a European Seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) System during the Initial Recovery Period after a Short-Term Exposure to Methylmercury

Methylmercury (MeHg) is an environmental contaminant of increasing relevance as a seafood safety hazard that affects the health and welfare of fish. Non-invasive, on-line methodologies to monitor and evaluate the behavior of a fish system in aquaculture may make the identification of altered systems feasible-for example, due to the presence of agents that compromise their welfare and wholesomeness-and find a place in the implementation of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points and Fish Welfare Assurance Systems. The Shannon entropy (SE) of a European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) system has been shown to differentiate MeHg-treated from non-treated fish, the former displaying a lower SE value than the latter. However, little is known about the initial evolution of the system after removal of the toxicant. To help to cover this gap, the present work aims at providing information about the evolution of the SE of a European seabass system during a recuperation period of 11 days following a two-week treatment with 4 mu g center dot MeHg/L. The results indicate that the SE of the system did not show a recovery trend during the examined period, displaying erratic responses with daily fluctuations and lacking a tendency to reach the initial SE values.We wish to thank Grupo Tinamenor (Cantabria, Spain) for providing the European sea bass, Urtzi Izagirre for his contribution to the design of the experimental treatments, and Xabier Lekube and Gregor Bwye for technical assistance. The work received financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness Project number: CTM2012-40203-C02-01, Towards science-based standard biomarker methods, suitable to diagnose and monitor pollution biological effects in the Bay of Biscay for the purpose of implementing the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive-BMW and Project number: RTC-2014-2837-2, Minimizacion de la problematica del mercurio del atun y valorizacion del atun como alimento saludable-SELATUN

The Shannon Entropy Trend of a Fish System Estimated by a Machine Vision Approach Seems to Reflect the Molar Se:Hg Ratio of Its Feed

The present study investigates the suitability of a machine vision-based method to detect deviations in the Shannon entropy (SE) of a European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) biological system fed with different selenium: mercury (Se:Hg) molar ratios. Four groups of fish were fed during 14 days with commercial feed (control) and with the same feed spiked with 0.5, 5 and 10 mg of MeHg per kg, giving Se: Hg molar ratios of 29.5 (control-C-1); 6.6, 0.8 and 0.4 (C-2, C-3 and C-4). The basal SE of C-1 and C-2 (Se:Hg > 1) tended to increase during the experimental period, while that of C-3 and C-4 (Se:Hg < 1) tended to decrease. In addition, the differences in the SE of the four systems in response to a stochastic event minus that of the respective basal states were less pronounced in the systems fed with Se: Hg molar ratios lower than one (C-3 and C-4). These results indicate that the SE may be a suitable indicator for the prediction of seafood safety and fish health (i.e., the Se: Hg molar ratio and not the Hg concentration alone) prior to the displaying of pathological symptoms. We hope that this work can serve as a first step for further investigations to confirm and validate the present results prior to their potential implementation in practical settings.We wish to thank Grupo Tinamenor (Cantabria, Spain) for providing the European seabass. Jose Antonio Carrero, of the Department of Analytical Chemistry of the University of the Basque Country, UPV-EHU, measured the concentrations of Hg and Se in the feeds by ICP-MS. The work was supported by grants from the Spanish MINECO (RTC-2014-2837-2-"SELATUN: Minimizacion de la problematica del mercurio del atun y valorizacion del atun como alimento saludable, Programa Retos-Colaboracion 2014" and CTM2012-40203-C02-01-"BMW: Biomarcadores estandar de base cientifica en mejillon para diagnosticar y monitorizar los efectos biologicos de la polucion en el Golfo de Bizkaia: implementacion de la DEME"), Euskampus Fundazioa-Campus of International Excellence (307615SAA2) and from the Basque Government Elkartek Grant KK-2016/00057-"MAROMEGA: Nuevas alternativas para la produccion de omega-3 a partir derecursos marinos". The funding sources had no involvement in the preparation of this manuscript. We would like to express our gratitude to the three anonymous reviewers for their useful comments in order to improve this manuscript

Técnicas no-lineales para el análisis no invasivo de comportamientos animales

El presente estudio realiza análisis y evaluación de modelos no-invasivos mediante técnicas no-lineales que permitan la clasificación de comportamientos animales. Los datos se obtienen de sensores de presión piezoeléctricos, los mismos que son adecuados para la medición de curvas o pulsaciones de presión altamente dinámicas y cuasi-estáticas. La información extraída serviría para implementaciones futuras de la Ingeniería Biomédica, para el tratamiento de enfermedades. Se comienza con el pre-procesamiento de los datos en base a la frecuencia–temporal, que permite obtener parámetros lineales y no-lineales mediante la Densidad del Espectro de Potencia (PSD). Dichas características permite el aprendizaje del modelo clasificación realizada en la herramienta WEKA [23]. Las técnicas no-lineales como: Entropía Espectral de Shannon (EES), que permite entender la información y su validez, la Dimensión Fractal (DF) en base a los algoritmos de Higuchi [14] y Katz [16], mejoran el modelado del algoritmo para clasificar. Los parámetros se los obtiene por medio del software Matlab R2015a [12]. Para la experimentación sobre el aprendizaje del modelo de clasificación de comportamientos animales, se lo realiza mediante los algoritmos basados en: Análisis del Discriminante Lineal de Fisher (FLDA), Redes Neuronales Artificiales (Convulutional Neural Networks, CNN y Perceptron Multicapa, MLP) y árboles de decisiones (J48). Finalmente se analiza los algoritmos de clasificación por medio de sus tasas de acierto y la correlación entre variables (características). El análisis se centró en el aprendizaje del conocimiento para el clasificador automático basado en Redes Neuronales Artificiales, que con ayuda de los demás algoritmos permiten contrastar que técnica más representativa de la Minería de Datos (Data Mining), aporta mejores resultados

Precision fish farming: a new framework to improve production in aquaculture

Aquaculture production of finfish has seen rapid growth in production volume and economic yield over the last decades, and is today a key provider of seafood. As the scale of production increases, so does the likelihood that the industry will face emerging biological, economic and social challenges that may influence the ability to maintain ethically sound, productive and environmentally friendly production of fish. It is therefore important that the industry aspires to monitor and control the effects of these challenges to avoid also upscaling potential problems when upscaling production. We introduce the Precision Fish Farming (PFF) concept whose aim is to apply control-engineering principles to fish production, thereby improving the farmer's ability to monitor, control and document biological processes in fish farms. By adapting several core principles from Precision Livestock Farming (PLF), and accounting for the boundary conditions and possibilities that are particular to farming operations in the aquatic environment, PFF will contribute to moving commercial aquaculture from the traditional experience-based to a knowledge-based production regime. This can only be achieved through increased use of emerging technologies and automated systems. We have also reviewed existing technological solutions that could represent important components in future PFF applications. To illustrate the potential of such applications, we have defined four case studies aimed at solving specific challenges related to biomass monitoring, control of feed delivery, parasite monitoring and management of crowding operations

A remote sensing approach to the quantification of local to global scale social-ecological impacts of anthropogenic landscape changes

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor in Information Management, specialization in Geographic Information SystemsLanduse and Landcover (LULC) is the common aspect that influences several ecological issues, environmental degradations, changes in Land Surface Temperature (LST), hydrological changes and ecosystem function at regional to global level. Research on the drivers and progressions of LULC change has been key to developing models that can project and predict future LULC extent, level and patterns under different assumptions of socioeconomic, ecological and environmental situations. Rapid and extensive urbanization and Urban Sprawl (US), propelled by rapid population growth leads to the shrinkage of productive agricultural lands, boosting mining, decrease in surface permeability and the emergence of Urban Heat Islands (UHI), and in turn, adversely affects the provision of ecosystem services. Mining for resources extraction may lead to geological and associated environmental changes due to ground movements, collision with mining cavities, and deformation of aquifers. Geological changes may continue in a reclaimed mine area, and the deformed aquifers may entail a breakdown of substrates and an increase in ground water tables, which may cause surface area inundation. Consequently, a reclaimed mine area may experience surface area collapse, i.e., subsidence, and degradation of vegetation productivity. The greater changes in LULC, US, LST and vegetation dynamics due to increasing human population not only affects inland forest and wetland, it also directly influences coastal forest lands such as mangroves, peat swamps and riparian forest and threats to ecosystem services. Mangroves provide valuable provisioning (e.g. aquaculture, fisheries, fuel, medicine, textiles), regulation (e.g. shoreline protection, erosion control, climate regulation), supporting (nutrient cycling, nursery habitat), and cultural (recreation and tourism) ecosystem services with an important impact on human well-being. However, the mangrove forest is highly threatened due to climate changes, and human activities which ignore the ecological and economic value of these habitats, contributing to its degradation. There is an increasing number of studies about mangrove distribution, changes and re-establishment activities, denoting a growing attentiveness on the value of these coastal wetland ecosystems. Most of these studies address mangrove degradation drivers at regional or local levels. However, there has not been yet enough assessment on the drivers of mangrove degradation at global level. Thus, complexity of inland and coastal landscape degradation should be addressed using multidisciplinary methodology and conditions. Therefore, this dissertation aimed to assess the impact of LULC associated with vegetation, temperature and wetland changes. To understand the relation among three different types of landscape changes associated with anthropogenic activities: Urbanization, Geological changes and Forest degradation at local to global level, we have selected thirty-three global regions. In chapter 2, We employed the Random Forest (RF) classification on Landsat imageries from 1991, 2003, and 2016, and computed six landscape metrics to delineate the extent of urban areas within a 10km suburban buffer of Chennai city, Tamilnadu, India. The level of US was then quantified using Renyi’s entropy. A land change model was subsequently used to project land cover for 2027. A 70.35% expansion in urban areas was observed mainly towards the suburban periphery of Chennai between 1991 and 2016. The Renyi’s entropy value for year 2016 was 0.9, exhibiting a two-fold level of US when compared to 1991. The spatial metrics values indicate that the existing urban areas became denser and the suburban agricultural, forests and particularly barren lands were transformed into fragmented urban settlements. The forecasted land cover for 2027 indicates a conversion of 13,670.33 ha (16.57% of the total landscape) of existing forests and agricultural lands into urban areas with an associated increase in the entropy value to 1.7, indicating a tremendous level of US. Our study provides useful metrics for urban planning authorities to address the social-ecological consequences of US and to protect ecosystem services. In chapter 3, We studied landscape dynamics in Kirchheller Heide, Germany, which experienced extensive soil movement due to longwall mining without stowing, using Landsat imageries between 2013 and 2016. A Random Forest image classification technique was applied to analyse landuse and landcover dynamics, and the growth of wetland areas was assessed using a Spectral Mixture Analysis (SMA). We also analyzed the changes in vegetation productivity using a Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). We observed a 19.9% growth of wetland area within four years, with 87.2% growth in the coverage of two major waterbodies in the reclaimed mine area. NDVI values indicate that the productivity of 66.5% of vegetation of the Kirchheller Heide was degraded due to changes in ground water tables and surface flooding. Our results inform environmental management and mining reclamation authorities about the subsidence spots and priority mitigation areas from land surface and vegetation degradation in Kirchheller Heide. In chapter 4, We demonstrated the advantage of fusing imageries from multiple sensors for LULC change assessments as well as for assessing surface permeability and temperature and UHI emergence in a fast-growing city, i.e. Tirunelveli, Tamilnadu, India. IRS-LISSIII and Landsat-7 ETM+ imageries were fused for 2007 and 2017, and classified using a Rotation Forest (RF) algorithm. Surface permeability and temperature were then quantified using Soil-Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI) and Land Surface Temperature (LST) index, respectively. Finally, we assessed the relationship between SAVI and LST for entire Tirunelveli as well as for each LULC zone, and also detected UHI emergence hot spots using a SAVI-LST combined metric. Our fused images exhibited higher classification accuracies, i.e. overall kappa coefficient values, than non-fused images. We observed an overall increase in the coverage of urban (dry, real estate plots and built-up) areas, while a decrease for vegetated (cropland and forest) areas in Tirunelveli between 2007 and 2017. The SAVI values indicated an extensive decrease in surface permeability for Tirunelveli overall and also for almost all LULC zones. The LST values showed an overall increase of surface temperature in Tirunelveli with the highest increase for urban built-up areas between 2007 and 2017. LST also exhibited a strong negative association with SAVI. South-eastern built-up areas in Tirunelveli were depicted as a potential UHI hotspot, with a caution for the Western riparian zone for UHI emergence in 2017. Our results provide important metrics for surface permeability, temperature and UHI monitoring, and inform urban and zonal planning authorities about the advantages of satellite image fusion. In chapter 5, We identified mangrove degradation drivers at regional and global levels resulted from decades of research data (from 1981 to present) of climate variations (seal-level rising, storms, precipitation, extremely high water events and temperature), and human activities (pollution, wood extraction, aquaculture, agriculture and urban expansion). This information can be useful for future research on mangroves, and to help delineating global planning strategies which consider the correct ecological and economic value of mangroves protecting them from further loss.O uso e a cobertura da Terra (UCT) são o aspeto comum que influencia várias questões ecológicas, degradações ambientais, mudanças na temperatura da superfície terrestre, mudanças hidrológicas, e de funções dos ecossistemas a nível regional e global. A investigação sobre os determinantes e progressão da mudança de UCT tem sido fundamental para o desenvolvimento de modelos que podem projetar e prever a extensão, o nível e os padrões futuros de UCT sob diferentes hipóteses de situações socioeconómicas, ecológicas e ambientais. A rápida e extensa urbanização e expansão urbana impulsionada pelo rápido crescimento populacional, levou ao encolhimento de terras agrícolas produtivas, impulsionando a mineração, a diminuição da permeabilidade da superfície e o surgimento de ilhas urbanas. Por outro lado, tem afetado negativamente a produção de serviços de ecossistemas. A mineração para extração de recursos pode levar a mudanças geológicas e ambientais devido a movimentos do solo, colisão com cavidades de mineração e deformação de aquíferos. As mudanças geológicas podem continuar numa área de mina recuperada, e os aquíferos deformados podem acarretar uma quebra de substratos e um aumento nos lençóis freáticos, causando a inundação na superfície. Consequentemente, uma área de mina recuperada pode sofrer um colapso à superfície, provocando o afundamento e a degradação da produtividade da vegetação. As mudanças na UCT, no crescimento urbano rápido, na temperatura da superfície terrestre e na dinâmica da vegetação devido ao aumento da população humana não afetam apenas a floresta interior e as zonas húmidas. Estas também influenciam diretamente as terras florestais costeiras, tais como mangais, pântanos e florestas ribeirinhas, ameaçando os serviços de ecossistemas. Os mangais proporcionam um aprovisionamento valioso (por exemplo, aquacultura, pesca, combustível, medicamentos, têxteis), a regulação (por exemplo, proteção da linha de costa, controlo da erosão, regulação do clima), os serviços de ecossistema de apoio (ciclo de nutrientes, habitats) e culturais (recreação e turismo) com um impacto importante no bem-estar humano. No entanto, a floresta de mangal é altamente ameaçada devido às mudanças climáticas e às atividades humanas que ignoram o valor ecológico e económico desses habitats, contribuindo para a sua degradação. Há um número crescente de estudos sobre distribuição, mudança e atividades de restabelecimento de mangais, denotando uma crescente atenção sobre o valor desses ecossistemas costeiros de zonas húmidas. A maioria desses estudos aborda os fatores de degradação dos mangais a nível regional ou local. No entanto, ainda não há avaliação suficiente sobre os determinantes da degradação dos mangais a nível global. Assim, a complexidade da degradação da paisagem interior e costeira deve ser abordada usando uma metodologia multidisciplinar. Portanto, esta dissertação teve, também, como objetivo avaliar o impacto do UCT associado à vegetação, temperatura e mudanças de zonas húmidas. Para compreender a relação entre a dinâmica da paisagem associada às atividades antrópicas a nível local e global, selecionámos quatro áreas de estudo, duas da Ásia, uma da Europa e outro estudo a nível global. No capítulo 2, empregamos a classificação Random Forest (RF) nas imagens Landsat de 1991, 2003 e 2016, e computamos seis métricas de paisagem para delinear a extensão das áreas urbanas numa área de influência suburbana de 10 km da cidade de Chennai, Tamil Nadu, Índia. O nível de crescimento urbano rápido foi quantificado usando a entropia de Renyi. Um modelo de UCT foi posteriormente usado para projetar a cobertura de terra para 2027. Uma expansão de 70,35% nas áreas urbanas foi observada principalmente para a periferia suburbana de Chennai entre 1991 e 2016. O valor de entropia do Renyi para 2016 foi de 0,9, exibindo uma duplicação do nível de crescimento urbano rápido quando comparado com 1991. Os valores das métricas espaciais indicam que as áreas urbanas existentes se tornaram mais densas e as terras agrícolas, florestas e terras particularmente áridas foram transformadas em assentamentos urbanos fragmentados. A previsão de cobertura da Terra para 2027 indica uma conversão de 13.670,33 ha (16,57% da paisagem total) de florestas e terras agrícolas existentes em áreas urbanas, com um aumento associado no valor de entropia para 1,7, indicando um tremendo nível de crescimento urbano rápido. O nosso estudo fornece métricas úteis para as autoridades de planeamento urbano para lidarem com as consequências socio-ecológicas do crescimento urbano rápido e para proteger os serviços de ecossistemas. No capítulo 3, estudamos a dinâmica da paisagem em Kirchheller Heide, Alemanha, que experimentou um movimento extensivo do solo devido à mineração, usando imagens Landsat entre 2013 e 2016. Uma técnica de classificação de imagem Random Forest foi aplicada para analisar dinâmicas de UCT e o crescimento das áreas de zonas húmidas foi avaliado usando uma Análise de Mistura Espectral. Também analisámos as mudanças na produtividade da vegetação usando um Índice de Vegetação por Diferença Normalizada (NDVI). Observámos um crescimento de 19,9% da área húmida em quatro anos, com um crescimento de 87,2% de dois principais corpos de água na área de mina recuperada. Valores de NDVI indicam que a produtividade de 66,5% da vegetação de Kirchheller Heide foi degradada devido a mudanças nos lençóis freáticos e inundações superficiais. Os resultados informam as autoridades de gestão ambiental e recuperação de mineração sobre os pontos de subsidência e áreas de mitigação prioritárias da degradação da superfície e da vegetação da terra em Kirchheller Heide. No capítulo 4, demonstramos a vantagem de fusionar imagens de múltiplos sensores para avaliações de mudanças de UCT, bem como para avaliar a permeabilidade, temperatura da superfície e a emergência do ilhas de calor numa cidade em rápido crescimento, Tirunelveli, Tamilnadu, Índia. As imagens IRS-LISSIII e Landsat-7 ETM + foram fusionadas para 2007 e 2017, e classificadas usando um algoritmo de Random Forest (RF). A permeabilidade de superfície e a temperatura foram então quantificadas usando-se o Índice de Vegetação Ajustada pelo Solo (SAVI) e o Índice de Temperatura da Superfície Terrestre (LST), respectivamente. Finalmente, avaliamos a relação entre SAVI e LST para Tirunelveli, bem como para cada zona de UCT, e também detetamos a emergência de pontos quentes de emergência usando uma métrica combinada de SAVI-LST. As nossas imagens fusionadas exibiram precisões de classificação mais altas, ou seja, valores globais do coeficiente kappa, do que as imagens não fusionadas. Observámos um aumento geral na cobertura de áreas urbanas (áreas de terrenos secos e construídas), e uma diminuição de áreas com vegetação (plantações e florestas) em Tirunelveli entre 2007 e 2017. Os valores de SAVI indicaram uma extensa diminuição na superfície de permeabilidade para Tirunelveli e também para quase todas as classes de UCT. Os valores de LST mostraram um aumento global da temperatura da superfície em Tirunelveli, sendo o maior aumento para as áreas urbanas entre 2007 e 2017. O LST também apresentou uma forte associação negativa com o SAVI. As áreas urbanas do Sudeste de Tirunelveli foram representadas como um potencial ponto quente, com uma chamada de atenção para a zona ribeirinha ocidental onde foi verificada a emergência de uma ilha de calor em 2017. Os nossos resultados fornecem métricas importantes sobre a permeabilidade da superfície, temperatura e monitoramento de ilhas de calor e informam as autoridades de planeamento sobre as vantagens da fusão de imagens de satélite. No capítulo 5, identificamos os fatores de degradação dos mangais a nível regional e global resultantes de décadas de dados de investigação (de 1981 até o presente) de variações climáticas (aumento do nível das águas do mar, tempestades, precipitação, eventos extremos de água e temperatura) e atividades humanas (poluição, extração de madeira, aquacultura, agricultura e expansão urbana). Estas informações podem ser úteis para investigações futuras sobre mangais e para ajudar a delinear estratégias de planeamento global que considerem o valor ecológico e económico dos mangais, protegendo-os de novas perdas

Etude expérimentale des dynamiques temporelles du comportement normal et pathologique chez le rat et la souris

155 p.Modern neuroscience highlights the need for designing sophisticated behavioral readout of internal cognitive states. From a thorough analysis of classical behavioral test, my results supports the hypothesis that sensory ypersensitivity might be the cause of other behavioural deficits, and confirm the potassium channel BKCa as a potentially relevant molecular target for the development of drug medication against Fragile X Syndrome/Autism Spectrum Disorders. I have also used an innovative device, based on pressure sensors that can non-invasively detect the slightest animal movement with unprecedented sensitivity and time resolution, during spontaneous behaviour. Analysing this signal with sophisticated computational tools, I could demonstrate the outstanding potential of this methodology for behavioural phenotyping in general, and more specifically for the investigation of pain, fear or locomotion in normal mice and models of neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders

Predicting and auralizing acoustics in classrooms

Although classrooms have fairly simple geometries, this type of room is known to cause problems when trying to predict their acoustics using room acoustics computer modeling. Some typical features from a room acoustics point of view are: Parallel walls, low ceilings (the rooms are flat), uneven distribution of absorption, and most of the floor being covered with furniture which at long distances act as scattering elements, and at short distance provide strong specular components. The importance of diffraction and scattering is illustrated in numbers and by means of auralization, using ODEON 8 Beta