Virginia Seafood Sustainability

Virginia’s commercial fisheries operate sustainability under a suite of management tools based upon information received from marine scientists and fishery managers who regularly conduct biological sampling of fish while tracking commercial landings and other gathering of required information. Analyses of fishing effort and overall stock conditions, as well as formulas designed to calculate threshold limits for maintaining sustainable stocks are regularly performed. Restrictions on seasons, size, days at sea, and gear are imposed as needed to achieve management supporting long-term biological sustainability

A Summary of Collaborative Discussions on Existing Management within the Channeled Whelk

In 2014 during the 16th International Conference on Shellfish Restoration, representatives from states along the U.S. Atlantic coast from Massachusetts to Georgia discussed various strategies for management of the channeled whelk fishery. The purpose of that meeting was to initiate a collaborative effort among industry, academia, and regulatory agencies to address concerns related to the channeled whelk resource and to provide guidelines for the development of a sustainable whelk fishery along the U.S. Atlantic coast (Fisher 2015a). This was the first documented attempt to bring state managers together to address inconsistencies involved with what is known about channeled whelk biology and how the fishery is currently being managed. The session provided an extensive review on what biological information needs to be collected to properly assess current management regulations in whelk-producing states. However, by the end of 2020, many of the issues that were identified during the 2014 conference were still unresolved. (....) This document is a compilation of biological, economic, and management information to provide support for whelk resource managers responsible for the whelk resource in each jurisdiction or individual state. The agreed upon goal of working group participants is to protect this valuable fishery from over-exploitation and the economic boom and bust cycles observed in other whelk fisheries. This report serves as a medium for documenting and facilitating conversations among scientists, state agencies, and industry members; and as such should be considered a living document

Spatially uniform calibration of a liquid xenon detector at low energies using 83m-Kr

A difficult task with many particle detectors focusing on interactions below ~100 keV is to perform a calibration in the appropriate energy range that adequately probes all regions of the detector. Because detector response can vary greatly in various locations within the device, a spatially uniform calibration is important. We present a new method for calibration of liquid xenon (LXe) detectors, using the short-lived 83m-Kr. This source has transitions at 9.4 and 32.1 keV, and as a noble gas like Xe, it disperses uniformly in all regions of the detector. Even for low source activities, the existence of the two transitions provides a method of identifying the decays that is free of background. We find that at decreasing energies, the LXe light yield increases, while the amount of electric field quenching is diminished. Additionally, we show that if any long-lived radioactive backgrounds are introduced by this method, they will present less than 67E-6 events/kg/day in the next generation of LXe dark matter direct detection searchesComment: 9 pages, 9 figures. Accepted to Review of Scientific Instrument

Analisis Daya Saing USAhatani Tebu di Propinsi Jawa Timur

In the aspect of sugarcane farming system, increasing productivity and sucrose content ofsugar cane (rendemen) are exactly needed to increase the productivity of sugar and farmerincomes. The objective of the research is to analyze competitiveness of farmer's sugarcanefarming system, which is measured by Policy Analysis Matrix (PAM). The research was held onsugar factories in East Java (Pesantren Baru in Kediri, Krebet Baru in Malang, Semboro inJember, and Pagotan in Madiun). The data are collected by interviewing farmers, 20 farmers ineach sugar factory. The results show that farmer's sugarcane farming systems are financiallyprofitable with average advantage about 2.5-8 million per hectare. Farmer's advantage in Madiunand Kediri districts are lower than it is in Malang and Jember districts. Although financiallysugarcane farming system is profitable, economically it is contrary. Farmer's financial loss infrom 2.0 to 4.0 million per hectare. Sugarcane farming system in Madiun dan Kediri districts arenot having comparative advantage (DRCR<1), different from they are in Malang, Jemberdistricts. Sugarcane farming system in Madiun and Kediri districts will have comparativeadvantage if the productivity is increased by 20 percent or the International sugar price isincreased to 220 US$/ton

Scribal culture in Ben Sira (Sir 38:1-15; 41:1-15; 43:11-19; 44-50)

The Book of Ben Sira, written at some point between 198 and 175 BCE, is a Second Temple Jewish wisdom text which regularly echoes or quotes the Hebrew Bible. A recent area of study in biblical scholarship has been that of scribal culture, written sources and physical remains left behind by societies with manuscripts and a scribal profession. While scholarship on Ben Sira has centred on his use of texts and on his sociocultural background, these issues might be better understood by examining Ben Sira through the lens of scribal culture as understood in biblical scholarship. This thesis proposes first to study the primary data of Ben Sira closely in order to discern characteristics of Ben Sira’s individual scribalism—or personal compositional style. This can then be compared to other evidence of ancient scribal culture. The central argument of the thesis is that the lens of scribal culture tells us more about the complexity of this ancient composition. Chapter One introduces the thesis and covers scholarship on Ben Sira and on scribal culture. Chapter Two examines the portrayals of Noah (Sir 44:17-18) and Phineas (Sir 45:23-26), exploring how Ben Sira uses one major biblical source in each. Looking at the portrayals of Hezekiah-Isaiah (Sir 48:17-25) and Josiah (Sir 49:1-3), Chapter Three highlights the harmonization of multiple sources. Chapter Four examines Ben Sira’s lines on weather (Sir 43:11-19) in order to evaluate the relationship between quotation and literary model. Chapter Five approaches the sociocultural and textual spheres on the subjects of death and the body (Sir 41:1-15). Chapter Six investigates Ben Sira’s perspectives on physicians (Sir 38:1-15) in the light of ancient medicine. Each of the selected passages shed a slightly different light on the scribalism of Ben Sira

Gator: a low-background counting facility at the Gran Sasso Underground Laboratory

A low-background germanium spectrometer has been installed and is being operated in an ultra-low background shield (the Gator facility) at the Gran Sasso underground laboratory in Italy (LNGS). With an integrated rate of ~0.16 events/min in the energy range between 100-2700 keV, the background is comparable to those of the world's most sensitive germanium detectors. After a detailed description of the facility, its background sources as well as the calibration and efficiency measurements are introduced. Two independent analysis methods are described and compared using examples from selected sample measurements. The Gator facility is used to screen materials for XENON, GERDA, and in the context of next-generation astroparticle physics facilities such as DARWIN.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures, published versio

Population Genetic Structure in Channeled Whelk Busycotypus canaliculatus along the U.S. Atlantic Coast

Globally, commercial fisheries for whelk (family Buccinidae) generally exhibit a boom-and-bust cycle that fuels overexploitation of resources. Channeled whelk Busycotypus canaliculatus is a commercially important species that supports a valuable fishery along the Atlantic coast of the United States. The fishery is managed at the state level, with minimum landing size varying by state. Biological studies of channeled whelk in New England and the mid-Atlantic region have indicated that females have a low probability of maturity upon entering their respective fisheries. The life history characteristics of channeled whelk, including slow growth, late maturation, and direct development paired with unsuitable minimum landing size, make this species vulnerable to overexploitation. Currently, the population genetic structure of channeled whelk is unknown, impeding the ability to appropriately inform management. This study used 2,570 single nucleotide polymorphisms to elucidate the population genetic structure of channeled whelk sampled from 10 locations ranging from Massachusetts to South Carolina. The data indicated seven genetically distinct populations across the sampled region of the U.S. Atlantic coast. Estimates of genetic divergence among populations spanned an order of magnitude (FST = 0.017–0.582), with higher levels of divergence observed when comparing populations separated by biogeographic barriers. Based on the magnitude of observed genetic differences, five regional management units are suggested. The results of this study will aid discussions among fisheries managers in Atlantic states aimed at the development of appropriate management plans. The complex population genetic structure revealed by this study underscores the need for more comprehensive sampling, including between fishing locations sampled in this study and among offshore locations, to better understand the population genetic structure of channeled whelk

Beras Dan Jebakan Kepentingan Jangka Pendek

Kebijakan tentang perberasan sangat sarat dengan berbagai kepentingan, sehingga banyak keputusan yang diambil oleh pemerintah cenderung mengarah pada kepentingan jangka pendek, seperti masalah harga pembelian pemerintah, impor dan kebijakan jangka pendek lainnya. Kalau diperhatikan secara seksama ada empat persoalan mendasar dalam masalah perberasan, yaitu : (1) lemahnya akurasi data; (2) miskinnya petani padi; (3) besarnya ketergantungan terhadap beras; dan (4) masalah harga serta distribusi beras. Agar persoalan ini dapat diselesaikan dengan baik, diperlukan adanya pemetaan persoalan secara tepat dalam berbagai perspektif waktu, dan kemudian merumuskan berbagai langkah operasional yang sistematis dan komprehensif. Hal yang utama diperlukan adalah kejelasan target akhir yang ingin dicapai, yang didasarkan pada proyeksi terhadap kebutuhan beras dan ketersediaan lahan dalam jangka panjang. Upaya ini diharapkan dapat mencegah terjadinya pengulangan program yang sama dari waktu ke waktu, tanpa kejelasan sasaran akhir yang ingin dicapai. Proses akumulasi serta sinergi yang saling memperkuat antar semua pemangku kepentingan terkait, merupakan kata kunci keberhasilan dalam menuntaskan masalah ini