Impact of the commercial fishery on the population of bait shrimp (Penaeus spp.) in Biscayne Bay, 1986

Monthly population size of bait shrimp in the Bay was estimated from December 1984 to July 1985. Growth rates for male and female P. duorarum showed that pink shrimp exhibit a mean residence time in the nursery area (Biscayne Bay) of approximately 21 weeks. Monthly mortality rates were determined for each sex of pink shrimp. It was estimated that 23% and 26% of the male and female monthly population size, respectively, was absorbed by both the fishery and ecosystem monthly. Monthly proportion of the standing stock expected to die exclusively through fishing was 6.5% and 6.0% for males and females respectively. Estimates of emigration rates showed that approximately 4.0% of the population was lost from the Bay system each month. This surplus production was about 50% of the average monthly catch by the fleet. Fishing mortality represents only 8 - 9% of the losses to the shrimp population. The biggest source of loss is emigration, suggesting that most shrimp beyond the size at recruitment (to the fishery) are not utilized for food while in the Bay. Thus, it appears that the direct impact of the fishery on the bait shrimp population is relatively small. (PDF contains 46 pages

Towards a formal description of foraminiferal assemblage formation in shallow-water environments: Qualitative and quantitative concepts

© 2014 Elsevier B.V. The use of foraminifera in palaeoenvironmental reconstructions (e.g. sea level) may be complicated by processes such as infaunal test production, taphonomic degradation and bioturbation which act to modify contemporary analogue (surface) assemblages during and subsequent to burial. Understanding the palaeoenvironmental significance of these processes is limited by the absence of a clear theoretical description of the mechanics of foraminiferal assemblage formation. A conceptual framework is proposed which describes assemblage formation in terms of the balance of test inputs and losses within a volume of sediment undergoing burial through the upper sedimentary zones of test production, taphonomic processes and bioturbation. A corresponding mathematical model is described and shown to explain empirical dead test distributions in terms of empirically-defined standing crops, sedimentation and mixing rates, together with model estimates of standing crop turnover and/or taphonomic decay rates. This approach provides a quantitative basis for understanding assemblage formation and for comparing assemblage forming processes between species, environments and study sites. Rates of standing crop turnover and taphonomic loss are identified as the primary unknowns in the study of foraminiferal assemblage formation. These multiple unknowns make interpretations of cored data ambiguous, emphasising the need for a detailed and coherent framework of theory and assumptions for understanding the mechanics assemblage formation if interpretations are to be clear and conclusive

The relationship between maternal phenotype and offspring quality: Do older mothers really produce the best offspring?

Maternal effects are increasingly recognized as important drivers of population dynamics and determinants of evolutionary trajectories. Recently, there has been a proliferation of studies finding or citing a positive relationship between maternal size/age and offspring size or offspring quality. The relationship between maternal phenotype and offspring size is intriguing in that it is unclear why young mothers should produce offspring of inferior quality or fitness. Here we evaluate the underlying evolutionary pressures that may lead to a maternal size/age-offspring size correlation and consider the likelihood that such a correlation results in a positive relationship between the age or size of mothers and the fitness of their offspring. We find that, while there are a number of reasons why selection may favor the production of larger offspring by larger mothers, this change in size is more likely due to associated changes in the maternal phenotype that affect the offspring size-performance relationship. We did not find evidence that the offspring of older females should have intrinsically higher fitness. When we explored this issue theoretically, the only instance in which smaller mothers produce suboptimal offspring sizes is when a (largely unsupported) constraint on maximum offspring size is introduced into the model. It is clear that larger offspring fare better than smaller offspring when reared in the same environment, but this misses a critical point: different environments elicit selection for different optimal sizes of young. We suggest that caution should be exercised when interpreting the outcome of offspring-size experiments when offspring from different mothers are reared in a common environment, because this approach may remove the source of selection (e.g., reproducing in different context) that induced a shift in offspring size in the first place. It has been suggested that fish stocks should be managed to preserve these older age classes because larger mothers produce offspring with a greater chance of survival and subsequent recruitment. Overall, we suggest that, while there are clear and compelling reasons for preserving older females in exploited populations, there is little theoretical justification or evidence that older mothers produce offspring with higher per capita fitness than do younger mothers

Relativistic MHD with Adaptive Mesh Refinement

This paper presents a new computer code to solve the general relativistic magnetohydrodynamics (GRMHD) equations using distributed parallel adaptive mesh refinement (AMR). The fluid equations are solved using a finite difference Convex ENO method (CENO) in 3+1 dimensions, and the AMR is Berger-Oliger. Hyperbolic divergence cleaning is used to control the $\nabla\cdot {\bf B}=0$ constraint. We present results from three flat space tests, and examine the accretion of a fluid onto a Schwarzschild black hole, reproducing the Michel solution. The AMR simulations substantially improve performance while reproducing the resolution equivalent unigrid simulation results. Finally, we discuss strong scaling results for parallel unigrid and AMR runs.Comment: 24 pages, 14 figures, 3 table

Miura-type transformations for lattice equations and Lie group actions associated with Darboux-Lax representations

Miura-type transformations (MTs) are an essential tool in the theory of integrable nonlinear partial differential and difference equations. We present a geometric method to construct MTs for differential-difference (lattice) equations from Darboux–Lax representations (DLRs) of such equations. The method is applicable to parameter-dependent DLRs satisfying certain conditions. We construct MTs and modified lattice equations from invariants of some Lie group actions on manifolds associated with such DLRs. Using this construction, from a given suitable DLR one can obtain many MTs of different orders. The main idea behind this method is closely related to the results of Drinfeld and Sokolov on MTs for the partial differential KdV equation. Considered examples include the Volterra, Narita–Itoh–Bogoyavlensky, Toda, and Adler–Postnikov lattices. Some of the constructed MTs and modified lattice equations seem to be new

Where constructionism and critical realism converge: interrogating the domain of epistemological relativism

The paper interrogates the status, nature and significance of epistemological relativism as a key element of constructionism and critical realism. It finds that epistemological relativism is espoused by authorities in critical realism and marginalized or displaced in the field of management and organization studies, resulting in forms of analysis that are empirically, but not fully critically, realist. This evaluation prompts reflection on the question of whether, how and with what implications epistemological relativism might be recast at the heart of critical realist studies of management and organization

High-temperature ferromagnetism of spsp electrons in narrow impurity bands: Application to CaB6_6

Ferromagnetism with high Curie temperature $T_c$, well above room temperature, and very small saturation moment has been reported in various carbon and boron systems. It is argued that the magnetization must be very inhomogeneous with only a small fraction of the sample ferromagnetically ordered. It is shown that a possible source of high $T_c$ within the ferromagnetic regions is itinerant electrons occupying a narrow impurity band. Correlation effects do not reduce the effective interaction which enters the Stoner criterion in the same way as in a bulk band. It is also shown how, in the impurity band case, spin wave excitations may not be effective in lowering $T_c$ below its value given by Stoner theory. These ideas are applied to CaB$_6$ and a thorough review of the experimental situation in this material is given. It is suggested that the intrinsic magnetism of the B$_2$ and O$_2$ dimers might be exploited in suitable structures containing these elements.Comment: 26 pages, 2 figure

CONCEPTUAL DESIGN OF ILC DAMPING RING WIGGLER STRAIGHT VACUUM SYSTEM*

Abstract The positron and electron damping rings for the International Linear Collider will contain long straight sections consisting of twenty wiggler/quadrupole pairs. The wigglers will be based upon the CESR superconducting design. There are a number of challenges associated with the design of the wiggler straight vacuum system, in particular, the absorption of photon power generated by the wigglers. This paper will present the overall conceptual design of the wiggler straight vacuum system developed for the ILC Reference Design Report. Particular emphasis will be placed on photon power load calculations and the absorber design