Current issues relating to artificial reefs in European seas

European artificial reef research has now been active for about three decades. For much of that time research has been conducted within national programmes, focussing on national or local issues, and has taken place predominately in the Mediterranean Sea. Over the past ten years or so interest in artificial reef technology and science has spread into the NE Atlantic and Baltic Sea with an associated variation in aims and ideas. Reef scientists working in European seas have run projects to assess artificial reefs as tools to protect habitat from destruction from trawling (Spain, Italy and France), promote nature conservation (Monaco, Italy and France), aid fisheries (Italy, Spain, Portugal and France), assess novel materials for reef construction (Italy and UK), investigate habitat use for lobsters (UK, Italy and Israel), for aquaculture (Italy), as experimental sites where habitat parameters are known (UK, Holland and Italy) and as biofiltration structures (Finland, Russia, Poland and Romania). This variety of investigation is one of the strengths of artificial reef research in Europe, the community is diverse and there is great scientific value in establishing collaboration and dialogue with colleagues. The majority of artificial reef investigations have been, and still are, experimental with Italy dominating the research effort and Spain currently leading the way in the tonnage of reef material deployed, primarily for seagrass habitat protection. Problems associated with old descriptive, qualitative research have led to developments in quantification and comparative studies which have allowed a scientific perspective to be put on artificial reef deployments across Europe. Currently, as part of the EARRN (European Artificial Reef Research Network) initiative, there is an acceptance of the need to standardise some of the ecological methods used. If this is not practicable in some cases then at least the reporting of results will be done in such a way to allow comparison with data gathered elsewhere

Seasonal effects to metallothionein responses to metal exposure in a naturalised population of Ruditapes philippinarum in a semi-enclosed estuarine environment

The Manila clam (Ruditapes philippinarum), an invasive species in Northern Europe, can be used as a bioindicator of metal pollution. Seasonal effects on metallothionein (MT) production have not been considered in this species at the northernmost extent of its European distribution. This study assesses the annual seasonal effects on MT and metal concentrations in R. philippinarum from Poole Harbour, UK. R. philippinarum were collected in winter, spring, summer, and autumn throughout 2015, and MT and metal concentrations, as well as biotic and abiotic variables, were quantified. During winter, linear regression analysis showed significant positive relationships between tissue metal and MT concentrations. However, during spring and summer, these relationships were mostly insignificant. MT concentrations during spring had significant positive relationships with tissue and whole weight. Significant positive relationships were also observed between MT and condition index, during summer. During spring and summer, biotic factors seem to override the role of MT as a detoxification mechanism for metal exposure in this species. This is probably due to an increase in MT concentration in spring caused by gametogenesis, associated with increased tissue weight as the gonads expand. A depletion of energy resources, or physical stressors such as heat, may be attributed to the reduced MT production in clams of poor body condition in summer. The evidence from this study suggests that MT may only be a useful biomarker of metal pollution during winter in R. philippinarum in the UK. This verifies the natural variability of MT in this species at high latitudes, and highlights the potential and limits to a widely available bioindicator of metal pollution

A systematic review of approaches for continuous quality improvement capacity-building

Context: Continuous quality improvement (CQI) has become prominent in public health settings; yet, little consolidated guidance exists for building CQI capacity of community-based organizations. Objective: To synthesize relevant literature to identify guiding principles and core components critical to building the capacity of organizations to adopt and use CQI. Design: We employed a systematic review approach to assess guiding principles and core components for CQI capacity-building as outlined in the literature. Eligibility Criteria: Studies meeting the following criteria were eligible for review: (1) empirical, peer-reviewed journal article, evaluation study, review, or systematic review; (2) published in 2010 or later; and (3) capacity-building activities were described in enough detail to be replicable. Studies not including human subjects, published in a language other than English, or for which full text was not available were excluded. Study Selection: The initial return of records included 6557 articles, of which 1455 were duplicates. The research team single-screened titles and abstracts of 5102 studies, resulting in the exclusion of 4842 studies. Two hundred sixty-two studies were double-screened during full-text review, yielding a final sample of 61 studies from which data were extracted. Main Outcome Measures: Outcome measures of interest were operationalized descriptions of guiding principles and core components of the CQI capacity-building approach. Results: Results yielded articles from medical education, health care, and public health settings. Findings included guiding principles and core components of CQI capacity-building identified in current practice, as well as infrastructural and contextual elements needed to build CQI capacity. Conclusions: This consolidation of guiding principles and core components for CQI capacity-building is valuable for public health and related workforces. Despite the uneven distribution of articles from health care, medical education, and public health settings, our findings can be used to guide public health organizations in building CQI capacity in a well-informed, systematic manner

Oppvekst i nordiske kortfilmer : En representasjonsanalyse av 20 kortfilmer i læringsportalen Norden i skolen

Masteroppgave samfunnskommunikasjon KOM500 - Universitetet i Agder 2018Denne studien undersøker fremstillinger av barn og ungdoms oppvekst i 20 nordiske kortfilmer. Filmene som undersøkes er tilgjengelig for nordiske lærere og elever gjennom læringsportalen Norden i skolen. Analysen skjer gjennom en hermeneutisk tilnærming og ved hjelp av Theo van Leeuwens sosialsemiotiske teori om representasjon, diskurs og sosial praksis. Kortfilmene analyseres ut i fra måten karakterer, temaer og miljøer er fremstilt i filmene, og gjennom å peke på sider ved den virkelige nordiske oppveksten som er ekskludert fra filmene i filmtilbudet. Studien har følgende hovedproblemstilling: Hvordan fremstiller filmene i filmtilbudet oppvekst i Norden, og hvordan kan filmtilbudet forstås som en pedagogisk ressurs? Filmtilbudet er i nordisk sammenheng et unikt tilbud, med potensielt stor pedagogisk betydning. Analysen finner at barndommen og ungdomstiden fremstilles som styrt av et frihetsideal, der barna og ungdommene er frie til å gjøre hva de vil uten voksne som bestemmer. Sentrale sider ved oppveksten til nordiske barn og ungdom i dag, slik som for eksempel bruk av teknologi og det at det nordiske samfunnet i dag er flerkulturelt, fremstilles i liten grad gjennom de kortfilmene studien analyserer. Filmene synes heller å skildre bilder fra filmskapernes oppvekster. På denne måten gir kortfilmene i utvalget en nostalgisk fremstilling av den nordiske oppveksten, og ikke et helt realistisk bilde av dagens Norden. Studien peker på utfordringer når kortfilmene som er undersøkt skal brukes sompedagogiske ressurser. Dette gjelder særlig når elevene skal undervises i hvordan Norden er i dag. For å fullt utnytte potensialet i filmtilbudet, og for å få til god læring, er man avhengig av en lærer med filmpedagogisk kompetanse. Dersom filmene settes inn i en historisk og en skolefaglig sammenheng, kan filmtilbudet på en unik måte, potensielt bygge bro mellom elevenes virkelighet og den versjonen av virkeligheten som representeres gjennom filmtilbude

Helioseismic Holography of an Artificial Submerged Sound Speed Perturbation and Implications for the Detection of Pre-Emergence Signatures of Active Regions

We use a publicly available numerical wave-propagation simulation of Hartlep et al. 2011 to test the ability of helioseismic holography to detect signatures of a compact, fully submerged, 5% sound-speed perturbation placed at a depth of 50 Mm within a solar model. We find that helioseismic holography as employed in a nominal "lateral-vantage" or "deep-focus" geometry employing quadrants of an annular pupil is capable of detecting and characterizing the perturbation. A number of tests of the methodology, including the use of a plane-parallel approximation, the definition of travel-time shifts, the use of different phase-speed filters, and changes to the pupils, are also performed. It is found that travel-time shifts made using Gabor-wavelet fitting are essentially identical to those derived from the phase of the Fourier transform of the cross-covariance functions. The errors in travel-time shifts caused by the plane-parallel approximation can be minimized to less than a second for the depths and fields of view considered here. Based on the measured strength of the mean travel-time signal of the perturbation, no substantial improvement in sensitivity is produced by varying the analysis procedure from the nominal methodology in conformance with expectations. The measured travel-time shifts are essentially unchanged by varying the profile of the phase-speed filter or omitting the filter entirely. The method remains maximally sensitive when applied with pupils that are wide quadrants, as opposed to narrower quadrants or with pupils composed of smaller arcs. We discuss the significance of these results for the recent controversy regarding suspected pre-emergence signatures of active regions

Evaluation of frameworks of analysis employed in studies of exclusion zones

The purpose of this Work Package is to examine the various approaches to analysing fishery exclusion zones (FEZs) and to identify the circumstances in which one approach might be preferred to another. Our concern here is not so much with answering questions about exclusion zones - these being dealt with in later Work Packages - as with articulating the questions themselves and in understanding how in principle they could be addressed. An important theme is the precision with which questions need to be answered, since this will determine the type of information collected and how such information is analysed. The question ' is an exclusion zone likely to improve the condition of this fishery ?' is less precise and less demanding of data than the question ' by how much will an exclusion zone improve this fishery ?' since it could in principle be answered by expert judgement rather than quantitative analysis. In practice fisheries managers may be confronted with situations where decisions have to be made quickly, and qualitative answers may be the only thing possible in circumstances where data cannot be obtained in the available time. The Work Package will look at FEZs from a number of different perspectives, but its dominant concern is with the information – principally in the form of socio-economic and biological indicators - needed by fisheries managers in order to evaluate the effectiveness of FEZs. To contextualise the discussion we start by outlining a paradigm for understanding the linkages between human activities and the environment, showing how it can be applied to fisheries and marine resources. The Work Package then considers the substantive information requirements of fisheries managers, commencing with socio-economic assessment and moving on to a review of biological assessment and the progress which has been made in the development of mathematical models of FEZs. Bio-economic modelling, which is essentially a specialised type of socio-economic assessment in which explicit account is taken of the interaction between the biological and economic components of the fishing system, is dealt with in the final section