Virtual Population Units: A New Institutional Approach to Fisheries Management

This paper describes an alternative, rights-based approach to the economic problems of fisheries management and governance. The approach is based on the concept of a Virtual Population (VP), which provides an alternative way to define use rights in a fishery management system. Included is a comparison of harvest rates under the VP regime, “sole-owner,†and open-access regimes. In comparison, a VP solution is more efficient than open access and can approach that of a sole owner. More importantly, in our opinion, the approach contains a higher degree of local control over issues such as concentration of ownership and, unlike some community-based systems, provides an explicit, decentralized incentive for conservation. It also contains a built-in incentive mechanism for end-of-year conservation that is absent from individual transferable quotas (ITQs).Virtual populations, virtual population units, ITQs, marginal valuation, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Q220, Q590, C720, D830,

Direct spatial-temporal discrimination of modes in a photonic lightwave circuit using photon scanning tunnelling microscopy

Multi-mode photonic lightwave circuits (PLCs) provide new avenues for extending the performance of single mode systems. As an example, they can potentially provide increased bandwidth by multiplexing information into different waveguide modes[1]. For practical applications of multi-mode PLCs to be developed, a measurement technique is required to investigate detailed mode profiles and propagation constants in complex circuits. Photon scanning tunnelling microscopy (PSTM) provides a means of experimentally tracking the femtosecond inter-modal delays observed in PLCs with the ability to discriminate modes by their spatial profiles inside the waveguide

External cavity diode laser based upon an FBG in an integrated optical fiber platform

An external cavity diode laser is demonstrated using a Bragg grating written into a novel integrated optical fiber platform as the external cavity. The cavity is fabricated using flame-hydrolysis deposition to bond a photosensitive fiber to a silica-on-silicon wafer, and a grating written using direct UV-writing. The laser operates on a single mode at the acetylene P13 line (1532.83 nm) with 9 mW output power. The noise properties of the laser are characterized demonstrating low linewidth operation (< 14 kHz) and superior relative intensity noise characteristics when compared to a commercial tunable external cavity diode laser

Integrating Storm Surge and Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Assessments and Criticality Analyses into Asset Management at MaineDOT

This report presents the results of a Climate Resilience Pilot Project conducted by the Maine Department of Transportation and sponsored in part by the Federal Highway Administration. The project developed and implemented tools to prioritize vulnerable transportation assets in the face of rising sea levels and increasing frequency and intensity of coastal storm surge events. State-owned roads, bridges, and culverts were selected and ranked according to criticality and sensitivity metrics developed in reference to agency maintenance records, flooding histories, and the prioritization efforts of agencies in other states. For the highest priority assets in the towns of Scarborough, Bath, and Bowdoinham, alternative engineering designs were created that would be expected to be resilient to 3.3\u2019 and 6\u2019 of sea level rise. Depth damage functions were created for these designs and for the existing structures. The T-COAST software was then used to evaluate relative cost-efficiency of the designs in each location under a range of sea level rise and storm surge scenarios, and compare it to replacing each asset in-kind. Cost efficiency inputs included initial construction costs and cumulative expected repair costs over time given agency maintenance records, the depth damage functions created, and the sea level rise curves and storm surge scenarios selected. Results show which candidate designs would be the most cost efficient in each location and demonstrate there is no one correct design for the 3.3\u2019 or 6\u2019 sea level rise scenarios, even for similar asset types in adjacent towns. Local hydrology, topography, and tidal and storm surge regimes demand a site-specific approach to benefit-cost analysis of alternative engineering structures, at the conceptual design phase. Results also help identify relative contributions of risk from sea level rise and storm surge for each candidate design in each location, and provide insights about how to evaluate agency planning, budgeting, scheduling, and design procedures in an era of both rising sea levels and changing storm surge intensities and probabilities

Village Water Ozonation System

The Village Water Ozonation System (VWOS) team’s core mission is to provide economically sustainable and culturally sensitive drinking water solutions for communities, to empower them with the ability to properly maintain their drinking water supply, and to transform people’s lives by decreasing the occurrences of waterborne diseases. Currently, the VWOS team is partnering with Friends in Action to implement two drinking water treatment systems this summer for the community living on Rama Cay, an island in Nicaragua. The wells on the island have a high salt content and are contaminated with bacteria which makes the water unsafe to drink; therefore, these two systems consist of a Reverse Osmosis unit, a UV light and other filters to ensure clean water. VWOS is also partnering with Forward Edge International to serve Mama Beth\u27s Children\u27s Home in Kijabe, Kenya. Mama Beth\u27s serves approximately 250 children every day but their water source is heavily contaminated with bacteria. VWOS is designing a chlorination system that will provide safe water for the students with plans to implement it in the summer of 2023. Funding for this work provided by The Collaboratory for Strategic Partnerships and Applied Research.https://mosaic.messiah.edu/engr2022/1021/thumbnail.jp

Analysis of Neptune's 2017 Bright Equatorial Storm

We report the discovery of a large ($\sim$8500 km diameter) infrared-bright storm at Neptune's equator in June 2017. We tracked the storm over a period of 7 months with high-cadence infrared snapshot imaging, carried out on 14 nights at the 10 meter Keck II telescope and 17 nights at the Shane 120 inch reflector at Lick Observatory. The cloud feature was larger and more persistent than any equatorial clouds seen before on Neptune, remaining intermittently active from at least 10 June to 31 December 2017. Our Keck and Lick observations were augmented by very high-cadence images from the amateur community, which permitted the determination of accurate drift rates for the cloud feature. Its zonal drift speed was variable from 10 June to at least 25 July, but remained a constant $237.4 \pm 0.2$ m s$^{-1}$ from 30 September until at least 15 November. The pressure of the cloud top was determined from radiative transfer calculations to be 0.3-0.6 bar; this value remained constant over the course of the observations. Multiple cloud break-up events, in which a bright cloud band wrapped around Neptune's equator, were observed over the course of our observations. No "dark spot" vortices were seen near the equator in HST imaging on 6 and 7 October. The size and pressure of the storm are consistent with moist convection or a planetary-scale wave as the energy source of convective upwelling, but more modeling is required to determine the driver of this equatorial disturbance as well as the triggers for and dynamics of the observed cloud break-up events.Comment: 42 pages, 14 figures, 6 tables; Accepted to Icaru

Non-Pharmacologic Interventions for Older Adults with Subjective Cognitive Decline: Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis, and Preliminary Recommendations

In subjective cognitive decline (SCD), older adults present with concerns about self-perceived cognitive decline but are found to have clinically normal function. However, a significant proportion of those adults are subsequently found to develop mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s dementia or other neurocognitive disorder. In other cases, SCD may be associated with mood, personality, and physical health concerns. Regardless of etiology, adults with SCD may benefit from interventions that could enhance current function or slow incipient cognitive decline. The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis, conducted in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines, is to examine the benefits of non-pharmacologic intervention (NPI) in persons with SCD. Inclusion criteria were studies of adults aged 55 + with SCD defined using published criteria, receiving NPI or any control condition, with cognitive, behavioural, or psychological outcomes in controlled trails. Published empirical studies were obtained through a standardized search of CINAHL Complete, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE with Full Text, PsycINFO, and PsycARTICLES, supplemented by a manual retrieval of relevant articles. Study quality and bias was determined using PEDro. Nine studies were included in the review and meta-analysis. A wide range of study quality was observed. Overall, a small effect size was found on cognitive outcomes, greater for cognitive versus other intervention types. The available evidence suggests that NPI may benefit current cognitive function in persons with SCD. Recommendations are provided to improve future trials of NPI in SCD