The Feasibility of Integrating the Noble Scallop Mimachlamys nobilis with Existing Fish Monoculture Farms in the South China Sea: A Bioeconomic Assessment from Hong Kong

The environmental implications of integrated multitrophic aquaculture have been well studied in China, but few investigations have empirically explored potential economic benefits. This study investigated the technical and economic feasibility of physically integrating the noble scallop Mimachlamys nobilis (Reeve, 1852) with existing fish monoculture farms in Hong Kong. Scallops were grown for 201 days from June to December in lantern nets hung directly from fish farm platforms at treatment depths of 1, 3.5, and 6 m. Only the 1-m treatment attained the target mean height-at-harvest of 80 mm. Fitted von Bertalanffy growth functions showed significant differences in growth performance between depths. The von Bertalanffy growth function projected that the 3.5- and 6-m treatments would require an additional 26 and 59 days of culture to reach 80 mm. Mortality was significantly lower at 1 m (53% ± 12.5%) compared with those at 3.5 m (70% ± 9.0%) and 6 m (83% ± 4.5%). The slower growth and higher mortality at 3.5 and 6mwere probably due to periodically low oxygen which dropped to 4.96, 3.08, and 1.73 mg L-1 at 1, 3.5, and 6 m, respectively, in midsummer. A bioeconomic assessments of two typical farm sizes was conducted; small (45 m2) and large (315 m2). The initial investment, discounted payback time, and 10-y net present value of the projects was US$5,485.51, 3 y, and US$20,211.33, respectively, for the small farm and US$27,659.03, 2 y, and US$227,406.49, respectively, for the large farm. Sensitivity analysis revealed that the profitability of operations was sensitive to changes in mortality and sales price. This study has confirmed that physically integrating M. nobilis at existing fish farms is technically and economically feasible

The impacts of suspended mariculture on coastal zones in China and the scope for Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture

Introduction: China is responsible for more than 60\% of global aquaculture production. As the frontiers of food production have expanded, the cultivation of marine organisms in coastal zones and the open ocean has grown rapidly. The dominant mariculture industry in China is suspended mariculture, which uses net cages, ropes, or other structures suspended in the water column to cultivate aquatic organisms. This systematic, quantitative review provides a clear and comprehensive account of research that has investigated the adverse impacts of suspended mariculture in China and reviews research that has applied Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) systems for mitigating impacts. This work builds on 218 peer reviewed papers that have been published in English-language journals. Outcomes: Eighteen impacts were identified, including chemical, ecological, physical, and socioeconomic impacts. Eighteen measures for improving suspended mariculture were recommended consisting of government department, farm management, and ecological engineering measures. IMTA was the most frequently recommended measure. The capabilities of IMTA for bioremediation and increased farm production were the most frequently studied advantages. Seven other benefits have been explored but remain understudied. The current challenges facing the expansion of commercial IMTA include limited use of new technology, limited skills development, decreasing production of low trophic-level species, biogeographic and temporal barriers, and negative system feedbacks. Conclusion: Despite challenges, implementing commercial IMTA is a promising measure for reducing the impacts of suspended mariculture because it presents a range of secondary benefits that can improve the overall sustainability of aquaculture in the coastal zone

Relativistic Contributions to Deuteron Photodisintegration in the Bethe-Salpeter Formalism

In plane wave one-body approximation the reaction of deuteron photodisintegration is considered in the framework of the Bethe-Salpeter formalism for two-nucleon system. Results are obtained for deuteron vertex function, which is the solution of the homogeneous Bethe-Salpeter equation with a multi-rank separable interaction kernel, with a given analytical form. A comparison is presented with predictions of non-relativistic, quasipotential approaches and the equal time approximation. It is shown that important contributions come from the boost in the arguments of the initial state vertex function and the boost on the relative energy in the one-particle propagator due to recoil.Comment: 29 pages, 6 figure

Void morphology in polyethylene/carbon black composites

A combination of small angle neutron scattering (SANS) and contrast matching techniques is used to determine the size and quantity of voids incorporated during fabrication of polyethylene/carbon black composites. The analysis used to extract void morphology from SANS data is based on the three-phase model of microcrack determination via small angle x-rayscattering (SAXS) developed by W.Wu{sup 12} and applied to particulate reinforced composites

Sub-Sets of Cancer Stem Cells Differ Intrinsically in Their Patterns of Oxygen Metabolism

PMCID: PMC3640080This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Measurements of 12C(→γ,pp) photon asymmetries for Eγ= 200–450 MeV

The 12C (→γ ,pp) reaction has been studied in the photon energy range 200-450 MeV at the Mainz microtron MAMI-C, where linearly polarised photons were energy-tagged using the Glasgow-Mainz Tagged Photon Spectrometer and protons were detected in the Crystal Ball detector. The photon asymmetry Σ has been measured over a wider Eγ range than previous measurements. The strongest asymmetries were found at low missing energies where direct emission of nucleon pairs is expected. Cuts on the difference in azimuthal angles of the two ejected protons increased the magnitude of the observed asymmetries. At low missing energies the Σ data exhibit a strong angular dependence, similar to deuteron photodisintegration

Some considerations for the communication of results of air pollution health effects tracking

Communicating effectively and efficiently on air quality and its health impacts is an important but difficult and complex task. It requires careful consideration of the audience one wants to reach, the messages one is trying to present, the venue through which the message will be delivered. The audience, context, technique, and content factors may affect how well it is heard and how appropriately it is interpreted. In this short paper, I describe many of these concerns and provide some suggestions for how best to address them. However, since every audience differs in goals, characteristics, and nature, what is most important is implementing an effective communications program. This program should include frequent two-way communication, repeated and on-going evaluation of how well the audience understands the messages, and consideration of how to improve the delivery

Beyond 'Trimming the fat': the sub-editing stage of newswriting

Thus far, professional editing has not been researched extensively in writing research. This article zooms in on sub-editing in newswriting as a form of professional editing, addressing three research questions: (a) What are the ways in which a news article's text is altered?, (b) Are some types of news article altered more significantly than others?, and (c) Are certain news article sections more prone to alterations? Merging the contextualized insights of fieldwork with a corpus-based discourse analytic research perspective, we trace the differences (viz. additions, deletions, translocations, replacements) between the initial (right before sub-editing) and final (published) version of six different types of news article, (frontpage, headline, long, medium, short, and news wire article) in a corpus sample of 30 broadsheet articles. Our findings are first thatcontrary to popular belief that sub-editors mainly hack away at news stories, or merely trim the fatadditions prevail. Second, we found that most interventions occur in high-stakes articles. Third, we discovered the largest number of interventions in the entry points of an article, that is, whereaccording to eye-tracking researchreaders stop scanning and start reading. We discuss our findings in the light of training for professional newswriters