Marine Protected Areas in Canada with a Particular Emphasis on Newfoundland: Science, Policy and Implementation at Multiple Institutional Levels

The primary goal of Marine Protected Areas is to conserve and protect part or all of a marine environment through legal or other effective means. MPAs are a global phenomenon that has become part of national level ocean policy and practice in such nations as Australia, Canada, and the US. Marine protected areas depend, for their success, on the development of an informal network of local policy and practice, which varies among communities. They succeed in circumstances where national policy or legal precedent does not dissolve local policy and practice, and where national policy facilitates and can accommodate local arrangements. The collapse of fisheries in the late 20th century in Canada provided the political impetus and policy framework that increased the capacity of the federal government to accommodate local arrangements in marine waters through Canada’s Oceans Act 1996. Two Marine Protected Areas, at Eastport and Gilbert Bay, were designated in Newfoundland and Labrador in 2005 under the Oceans Act, and a third, at Leading Tickles, is in the development stage. Eastport has a research program on lobsters in place, Gilbert Bay has a program on ‘golden cod’, but no research program existed at Leading Tickles. DFO Oceans began to collect data and worked closely with community members to develop research priorities, carry out research projects and develop management programs for each MPA. The provincial government was involved as members of the MPA steering committees, and local representatives provided input. Based on the political momentum for Marine Protected Areas, the second objective of this project was to identify internationally significant science questions for research within Newfoundland and Labrador. Recent research conducted by Memorial University at the Gilbert Bay and Eastport MPAs and the Leading Tickles Area of Interest (AOI) has been a mixture of descriptive and causal science directed at local issues arising within each of the three locations (two MPAs and one AOI). Past research helped to define the scope of some of the science problems in an informal way. This report takes the next step, which is to identify questions significant to both local issues and the understanding of coastal ecosystems by the national and international science community. Sound scientific evidence is needed to identify whether the intended effects are being achieved and to document accompanying effects. The emerging practice is initial science input followed by devolution of monitoring activities to local communities, with guidance from academic scientists. The effectiveness of these scientists would be increased by national initiatives to develop the capacity to guide locally based monitoring efforts. One potential model for science guidance is that used for environmental impact assessment, where monitoring activities are designed as tests of hypotheses concerning effects stated in an impact assessment

Using a fuzzy inference system to control a pumped storage hydro plant

The paper discusses the development of a fuzzy inference system (FIS) based governor control for a pumped storage hydroelectric plant. The First Hydro Company's plant at Dinorwig in North Wales is the largest of its kind in Europe and is mainly used for frequency control of the UK electrical grid. In previous investigations, a detailed model of the plant was developed using MATLAB(R)/SIMULINK(R) and this is now being used to compare FIS governor operation with the proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller currently used. The paper describes the development of an FIS governor, and shows that its response to a step increase in load is superior to the PID under certain conditions of load. The paper proceeds to discuss the implications of these results in view of the possible practical application of an FIS governor at the Dinorwig plant

Gas flows in elliptical galaxies

In preparation for the next generation of x ray telescopes, researchers have begun a program investigating the evolving x ray properties of elliptical galaxies. Their galaxy models consist of a modified King profile for the luminous portion of the galaxy and can include an isothermal dark halo comprising 90 percent of the total mass. The stellar population is assumed to form at a rate which decreases exponentially on a dynamical time scale with a Salpeter initial mass function. Stellar mass loss occurs instantaneously as stars evolve off the main sequence. All stars more massive than 8 solar mass produce type II supernovae, while less massive stars loss mass through a planetary nebulae. The evolving rate of type I supernovae is normalized to a fraction, gamma sub sn I, of Tammann's (1974) value. All of this information is then incorporated into a one-dimensional hydrodynamics code to determine the evolving dynamical state of the interstellar medium

Adjustable mount for electro-optic transducers in an evacuated cryogenic system

The invention is an adjustable mount for positioning an electro-optic transducer in an evacuated cryogenic environment. Electro-optic transducers are used in this manner as high sensitivity detectors of gas emission lines of spectroscopic analysis. The mount is made up of an adjusting mechanism and a transducer mount. The adjusting mechanism provided five degrees of freedom, linear adjustments and angular adjustments. The mount allows the use of an internal lens to focus energy on the transducer element thereby improving the efficiency of the detection device. Further, the transducer mount, although attached to the adjusting mechanism, is isolated thermally such that a cryogenic environment can be maintained at the transducer while the adjusting mechanism remains at room temperature. Radiation shields also are incorporated to further reduce heat flow to the transducer location

NANOMECHANICAL CHARACTERIZATIONS OF HIGH TEMPERATURE POLYMER MATRIX COMPOSITE RESIN: PMR-15 POLYIMIDE

High Temperature Polymer Matrix Composites (HTPMCs) are widely used by the aerospace industry today because of their high specific strengths, light weight, and the ability to custom tailor their mechanical properties to individual applications. Because of the harsh environmental conditions these materials experience during service use, these composite structures are susceptible to a high rate of thermo-oxidative degradation that ultimately causes premature failure in service. The current knowledge base is lacking in the fundamental spatial variability of the constituent materials upon aging, which precludes composite developers from predicting lifetime mechanical properties of the composites in use. The current study summarizes state of the art techniques in characterizing the thermally oxidized matrix resin system (PMR-15 polyimide), and develops novel techniques in direct mechanical measurement of the spatial variability of mechanical properties. Works to date and future advances in the field with respect to in situ testing are presented

Providing True Opportunity for Opportunity Youth: Promising Practices and Principles for Helping Youth Facing Barriers to Employment

Many "opportunity youth" -- youth who are not working or in school -- would benefit substantially from gaining work experience but need help overcoming barriers to employment and accessing the labor market.Those opportunity youth facing the most significant challenges, such as extreme poverty, homelessness, and justice system involvement, often need even more intensive assistance in entering and keeping employment, and are at risk of being left behind even by employment programs that are specifically designed to serve opportunity youth.This paper builds on the research literature with extensive interviews with employment program providers who have had success in helping the most vulnerable opportunity youth succeed in the workforce. Six principles for effectively serving these youth are identified

Binary Central Stars of Planetary Nebulae Discovered Through Photometric Variability III: The Central Star of Abell 65

A growing number of close binary stars are being discovered among central stars of planetary nebulae. Recent and ongoing surveys are finding new systems and contributing to our knowledge of the evolution of close binary systems. The push to find more systems was largely based on early discoveries which suggested that 10 to 15% of all central stars are close binaries. One goal of this series of papers is confirmation and classification of these systems as close binaries and determination of binary system parameters. Here we provide time-resolved multi-wavelength photometry of the central star of Abell 65 as well as further analysis of the nebula and discussion of possible binary--nebula connections. Our results for Abell 65 confirm recent work showing that it has a close, cool binary companion, though several of our model parameters disagree with the recently published values. With our longer time baseline of photometric observations from 1989--2009 we also provide a more precise orbital period of 1.0037577 days.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journa