Does masking matter? Shipping noise and fish vocalizations

Shipping creates large near-field background noises at levels similar to or higher than fish vocalizations and in the same critical bandwidths. This noise has the potential to "mask" biologically important signals and prevent fish from hearing them; any interference with the detection and recognition of sounds may impact fish survival. The Lombard effect, whereby vocalizations are altered to reduce or exclude masking effects, is an adaptation that has been observed in mammals and birds. Research is needed to establish whether the Lombard effect occurs in fish to gain a better understanding of the implications of noise pollution on fish populations

Marine noise pollution and its impacts on fish: priorities, models, and methods for mitigation

The effects of noise on aquatic life is a topic of growing international concern. Underwater noise can impact both the physiology and behaviour of fish species on a wide-ranging scale, from minor changes and adaptations to major injury and death. Future mitigation of anthropogenic noise in the ocean is dependent on greater awareness of the effects of noise, the amount of risk, and degree of harm, likely to affect fish populations. Currently, there is a lack of incentive formitigation measures to be put in place. Knowledge and evidence of the impacts of anthropogenic noise on fish is rapidly increasing (Figure 1.2) but with over 32,000 species of fish of differing conservation and commercial importance, it is extremely difficult to decide where to focus research for maximum benefit (Hawkins et al., 2015). Predictions and assumptions aboutpotential impacts lack accuracy as variations in experimental equipment and techniques, lack ofagreed standards, different algorithms for analysis, ambiguous and interchangeable terminology,and different quantities, units and metrics, all lead to incongruities (ISVR Consulting, 2004;Barlow et al., 2014; Rogers et al., 2016). Often it is not possible to compare studies or makegeneralisations (OSPAR, 2009; Wilcock et al., 2014). Here the aim is to aid the mitigation process by directing research priorities toward the most vulnerable fish species, and developing models and tools that allow for informed and cost-effective mitigation methods in a bid to reduce the effects of anthropogenic noise from marine traffic

Modeling vessel noise emissions through the accumulation and propagation of Automatic Identification System data

Recent research has demonstrated the importance of soundscape characterization, modeling, and mapping with regard to their potential to highlight noise levels that can adversely affect fish behavior. Models and noise maps are seen as valuable tools for generating comprehensive information at relatively low costs; a model-based approach presents a powerful and cost-effective way to evaluate noise levels. This research aims to develop a vessel noise modeling method using Automatic Identification System (AIS) and online data. The vessel noise map is produced using estimated source levels of individual ships at each AIS transmission point along a vessel transit line. The accumulation and propagation of these transit line emissions, in 1 km grid squares, produces an ocean shipping noise map showing average received levels over the desired time period. The results show temporal and spatial differences in vessel noise emissions, with summer months nosier than winter months, and coastal areas and known shipping channels much nosier than the open ocean. Unlike many previous models, this approach uses individual vessel source emissions, and is very computationally efficient even for large datasets

Smart-Grids and Climate Change - Consumer Adoption of Smart Energy Behaviour: A System Dynamics Approach to Evaluate the Mitigation Potential

We build a system dynamics model to evaluate the potential dynamics of consumer adoption of Smart Energy Behaviour. Within this term we include different levels of: i) shift in electricity consumption towards less costly-less polluting and congestioning hours; ii) the reduction of mainly wasteful electricity consumption, that maintains similar levels of comfort; iii) the enrolment in demand response programs; iv) electricity generation via residential micro-photovoltaic (PV) systems. These behavioural changes are triggered by the installation of advanced metering systems and a tariff policy that prices electricity according to time-of-use. The context analysed is that of Italy, where the largest diffusion of smart meters has taken place. We perform a set of 2500 simulations of our model with stochastic parameters to take into account the uncertainty in their estimation, to find that on average consumer involvement may induce on aggregate a shift in residential electricity consumption of 13.0% by 2020 and of 29.6% by 2030; and reduction in residential electricity consumption (just by reducing wasteful consumption) of 2.5% by 2020 and 9.2% by 2030. These consumption changes may have strong impacts on the system operating costs (in the order of 380 M€/y by 2020, 1203 M€/y by 2030), on the CO2 emissions (in the order of 1.56 MtonCO2/y by 2020, 5.01 Mton CO2/y by 2030), confirming the value of consumer participation

The Socratic Method in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy: A Narrative Review

The Socratic Method has been described as an important component of CBT interventions yet an empirical case for its use has not been made. The objective of this paper is to review the role of the Socratic Method in CBT in four stages. First, a review of the literature describes how the Socratic Method is applied and defined within CBT, with assumptions regarding its proposed benefits identified. Second, a review of empirical literature demonstrates that multiple challenges to the evaluation of the Socratic Method exist and that no direct evidence supports the premise that it is beneficial in CBT. Evidence is examined which may suggest why the Socratic Method could be beneficial in therapy. Finally, the hypothesised function of the Socratic Method within therapy is discussed in reference to the Interacting Cognitive Subsystems framework. A number of avenues for future research are proposed in order to determine whether this potentially valuable therapeutic component contributes to the efficacy of CBT