Experiential-Informed Data Reconstruction for Fishery Sustainability and Policies in the Azores

Fishery analysis is critical in maintaining the long-term sustainability of species and the livelihoods of millions of people who depend on fishing for food and income. The fishing gear, or metier, is a key factor significantly impacting marine habitats, selectively targeting species and fish sizes. Analysis of commercial catches or landings by metier in fishery stock assessment and management is crucial, providing robust estimates of fishing efforts and their impact on marine ecosystems. In this paper, we focus on a unique data set from the Azores' fishing data collection programs between 2010 and 2017, where little information on metiers is available and sparse throughout our timeline. Our main objective is to tackle the task of data set reconstruction, leveraging domain knowledge and machine learning methods to retrieve or associate metier-related information to each fish landing. We empirically validate the feasibility of this task using a diverse set of modeling approaches and demonstrate how it provides new insights into different fisheries' behavior and the impact of metiers over time, which are essential for future fish population assessments, management, and conservation efforts

New Metropolitan Perspectives

​This open access book presents the outcomes of the symposium “NEW METROPOLITAN PERSPECTIVES,” held at Mediterranea University, Reggio Calabria, Italy on May 26–28, 2020. Addressing the challenge of Knowledge Dynamics and Innovation-driven Policies Towards Urban and Regional Transition, the book presents a multi-disciplinary debate on the new frontiers of strategic and spatial planning, economic programs and decision support tools in connection with urban–rural area networks and metropolitan centers. The respective papers focus on six major tracks: Innovation dynamics, smart cities and ICT; Urban regeneration, community-led practices and PPP; Local development, inland and urban areas in territorial cohesion strategies; Mobility, accessibility and infrastructures; Heritage, landscape and identity;and Risk management,environment and energy. The book also includes a Special Section on Rhegion United Nations 2020-2030. Given its scope, the book will benefit all researchers, practitioners and policymakers interested in issues concerning metropolitan and marginal areas

An investigation into the potential use of computer-assisted learning for the Saudi Arabia Coast Guard

In this paper the potential of computer programs is discussed and the capability of Computer Assisted Learning, (CAL), in helping the students and teachers in school for the learning process is evaluated. At the beginning of this paper an introduction to Saudi Arabia Coast Guard (SACG), training in SACG and the role of the Naval Training Division in the headquarters of SACG is provided. An introduction to basic knowledge of computers follows. Technology in education is discussed and the computer as a medium used in education in general is investigated. The classification of computers in education and different modes of CAL is explained. After that the paper investigates the possible use of computers in Maritime Education and Training, (MET), its advantages and limitations. Software evaluation, selection and legality are also discussed. Moreover, the educational software in MET is investigated. In conclusion, the paper clearly states that CAL is suitable for use in MET institutions and that educational software can play a significant role in MET too

Ranking Policy Decisions

Policies trained via Reinforcement Learning (RL) are often needlessly complex, making them difficult to analyse and interpret. In a run with $n$ time steps, a policy will make $n$ decisions on actions to take; we conjecture that only a small subset of these decisions delivers value over selecting a simple default action. Given a trained policy, we propose a novel black-box method based on statistical fault localisation that ranks the states of the environment according to the importance of decisions made in those states. We argue that among other things, the ranked list of states can help explain and understand the policy. As the ranking method is statistical, a direct evaluation of its quality is hard. As a proxy for quality, we use the ranking to create new, simpler policies from the original ones by pruning decisions identified as unimportant (that is, replacing them by default actions) and measuring the impact on performance. Our experiments on a diverse set of standard benchmarks demonstrate that pruned policies can perform on a level comparable to the original policies. Conversely, we show that naive approaches for ranking policy decisions, e.g., ranking based on the frequency of visiting a state, do not result in high-performing pruned policies

The European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet): Visions and roles of the gateway to marine data in Europe

Marine data are needed for many purposes: for acquiring a better scientific understanding of the marine environment, but also, increasingly, as marine knowledge for decision making as well as developing products and services supporting economic growth. Data must be of sufficient quality to meet the specific users' needs. It must also be accessible in a timely manner. And yet, despite being critical, this timely access to known-quality data proves challenging. Europe's marine data have traditionally been collected by a myriad of entities with the result that much of our data are scattered throughout unconnected databases and repositories. Even when data are available, they are often not compatible, making the sharing of the information and data aggregation particularly challenging. In this paper, we present how the European Marine Observation and Data network (EMODnet) has developed over the last decade to tackle these issues. Today, EMODnet is comprised of more than 150 organizations which gather marine data, metadata, and data products and make them more easily accessible for a wider range of users. EMODnet currently consists of seven sub-portals: bathymetry, geology, physics, chemistry, biology, seabed habitats, and human activities. In addition, Sea-basin Checkpoints have been established to assess the observation capacity in the North Sea, Mediterranean, Atlantic, Baltic, Artic, and Black Sea. The Checkpoints identify whether the observation infrastructure in Europe meets the needs of users by undertaking a number of challenges. To complement this, a Data Ingestion Service has been set up to tackle the problem of the wealth of marine data that remain unavailable, by reaching out to data holders, explaining the benefits of sharing their data and offering a support service to assist them in releasing their data and making them available through EMODnet. The EMODnet Central Portal (www.emodnet.eu) provides a single point of access to these services, which are free to access and use. The strategic vision of EMODnet in the next decade is also presented, together with key focal areas toward a more user-oriented service, including EMODnet for business, internationalization for global users, and stakeholder engagement to connect the diverse communities across the marine knowledge value chain

New Metropolitan Perspectives

​This open access book presents the outcomes of the symposium “NEW METROPOLITAN PERSPECTIVES,” held at Mediterranea University, Reggio Calabria, Italy on May 26–28, 2020. Addressing the challenge of Knowledge Dynamics and Innovation-driven Policies Towards Urban and Regional Transition, the book presents a multi-disciplinary debate on the new frontiers of strategic and spatial planning, economic programs and decision support tools in connection with urban–rural area networks and metropolitan centers. The respective papers focus on six major tracks: Innovation dynamics, smart cities and ICT; Urban regeneration, community-led practices and PPP; Local development, inland and urban areas in territorial cohesion strategies; Mobility, accessibility and infrastructures; Heritage, landscape and identity;and Risk management,environment and energy. The book also includes a Special Section on Rhegion United Nations 2020-2030. Given its scope, the book will benefit all researchers, practitioners and policymakers interested in issues concerning metropolitan and marginal areas

General Catalog 1998-2000

Contains course descriptions, University college calendar, and college administration.https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/universitycatalogs/1121/thumbnail.jp

URI Undergraduate and Graduate Course Catalog 2021-2022

This is a downloadable PDF version of the University of Rhode Island course catalog.https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/course-catalogs/1073/thumbnail.jp

Academic Catalog Volume 17: 2002-03 to 2004-05

https://digitalcommons.esf.edu/acadcat/1017/thumbnail.jp

Environmental Evaluation and Global Development Institutions

Evaluation is increasingly important for finding sustainable solutions for the people and the planet, based on a systematic analysis of what works, for whom, and under what circumstances, and to contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, as they pertain to the environment. This book explores why the Global Environment Facility (GEF) invests in evaluation for accountability and learning to inform its decision-making on programming priorities, and how this leads to wiser funding decisions and better program performance on the ground. The book is based on real-life experiences of how to make evaluation count for international environmental action. Drawing upon comprehensive evaluations of the GEF, it provides unique insights from authors responsible for designing, implementing, and disseminating the findings of the evaluations. No other multilateral development or environment agency places evaluation fully at the center of their decision-making. The book outlines the trends in the global environment and the changing landscape of international environmental finance. It defines the role of the GEF and explains its institutional framework and the unique partnership that involves donor and recipient countries, multilateral development banks, UN agencies, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and national agencies in the developing countries. Further, it provides useful pointers to other organizations wishing to enhance evidence-based decision-making for improving their relevance, performance, and impact. The book will be most suitable for graduate-level, specialized study in a variety of disciplines such as environmental and development economics, political science, international relations, geography, sociology, and social anthropology