Coral Reefs, Fisheries, and Food Security: Integrated Approaches to Addressing Multiple Challenges in the Coral Triangle

The Coral Triangle is the most biologically and economically valuable marine ecosystem on the planet. Covering just three percent of the globe, the region represents more than half of the world's reefs and boasts 76 percent of its known coral species. Sustaining more than 130 million people who rely directly on the marine ecosystems for their livelihoods and food, the marine habitats of the Coral Triangle contribute billions of dollars each year toward the economies of the region.Although the environmental imperative for preserving this area of incredible value and biodiversity is obvious, the growing pressures and threats from widespread poverty, rapid development, and global demands continue to place enormous strain on the natural marine resources of the Coral Triangle

On the importance of sublimation to an alpine snow mass balance in the Canadian Rocky Mountains

A modelling study was undertaken to evaluate the contribution of sublimation to an alpine snow mass balance in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Snow redistribution and sublimation by wind, snowpack sublimation and snowmelt were simulated for two winters over an alpine ridge transect located in the Canada Rocky Mountains. The resulting snowcover regimes were compared to those from manual snow surveys. Simulations were performed using physically based blowing snow (PBSM) and snowpack ablation (SNOBAL) models. A hydrological response unit (HRU)-based spatial discretization was used rather than a more computationally expensive fully-distributed one. The HRUs were set up to follow an aerodynamic sequence, whereby eroded snow was transported from windswept, upwind HRUs to drift accumulating, downwind HRUs. That snow redistribution by wind can be adequately simulated in computationally efficient HRUs over this ridge has important implications for representing snow transport in large-scale hydrology models and land surface schemes. Alpine snow sublimation losses, in particular blowing snow sublimation losses, were significant. Snow mass losses to sublimation as a percentage of cumulative snowfall were estimated to be 20–32% with the blowing snow sublimation loss amounting to 17–19% of cumulative snowfall. This estimate is considered to be a conservative estimate of the blowing snow sublimation loss in the Canadian Rocky Mountains because the study transect is located in the low alpine zone where the topography is more moderate than the high alpine zone and windflow separation was not observed. An examination of the suitability of PBSM's sublimation estimates in this environment and of the importance of estimating blowing snow sublimation on the simulated snow accumulation regime was conducted by omitting sublimation calculations. Snow accumulation in HRUs was overestimated by 30% when neglecting blowing snow sublimation calculations

Spatial databases: Generating new insights on office design and human behaviours in the workplace

Space Syntax research has shown how human behaviours in the workplace are shaped by spatial configuration; in turn, evidence-based design practices have highlighted ways in which this data can be used to inform tailor-made solutions in office design. Yet, existing research focuses on either single case studies or comparisons of a few cases on a small scale. Also, each study uses its own methods and metrics which makes it difficult to establish wider patterns beyond single datasets. This paper presents a larger than usual data set on workplaces, which has been collected by Spacelab, a design and consultancy practice based in London. This dataset includes spatial and space usage information such as syntactic analysis and desk occupancy on client companies. It resides in a spatial relational database, allowing for systematic combination of the collected data, useful for doing either deeper analysis, or generating benchmarks and baselines. These insights are not only highly relevant to clients but also give rise to opportunities to generate new insights on office design and human behaviours in the workplace from a research perspective Two main research questions relating to the size of samples are discussed: Firstly, whether large samples are necessary to fully understand phenomena, and secondly, whether behavioural patterns vary across cases. Observation data and syntactic analysis are combined to understand in which areas of an office different activities take place. Observation data is also brought together with the functional allocations of space in order to ask whether activities follow the programme introduced by functions such as meeting rooms, kitchens, workspaces, etc. It is shown that observation data only becomes robust and reliable with longer periods of observations than previously recommended. Three to four full days seems to produce reasonably stable results for desk occupancy, while five full days seemed required for percentages of people walking and interacting. Some surprising findings were revealed regarding the distribution of activities in space, for instance dispelling the myth that interactions happen in corridors and highlighting that interactions tend to occur in rather segregated spaces. While it is argued that predictive power of the analysis varies, first steps towards establishing generic patterns have clearly been taken

Assessing the importance of a self-generated detachment process in river biofilm models

1. Epilithic biofilm biomass was measured for 14 months in two sites, located up- and downstream of the city of Toulouse in the Garonne River (south-west France). Periodical sampling provided a biomass data set to compare with simulations from the model of Uehlinger, Bürher and Reichert (1996: Freshwater Biology, 36, 249–263.), in order to evaluate the impact of hydraulic disturbance. 2. Despite differences in application conditions (e.g. river size, discharge, frequency of disturbance), the base equation satisfactorily predicted biomass between low and high water periods of the year, suggesting that the flood disturbance regime may be considered a universal mechanism controlling periphyton biomass. 3. However modelling gave no agreement with biomass dynamics during the 7-month long low water period that the river experienced. The influence of other biomass-regulating factors (temperature, light and soluble reactive phosphorus) on temporal biomass dynamics was weak. 4. Implementing a supplementary mechanism corresponding to a temperature-dependent self-generated loss because of heterotrophic processes allowed us to accurately reproduce the observed pattern: a succession of two peaks. This case study suggests that during typical summer low water periods (flow stability and favourable temperature) river biofilm modelling requires self-generated detachment to be considered

Evaluating suitability of saliva to measure steroid concentrations in grey seal pups

Measurement of steroids in wild pinnipeds can facilitate assessment of breeding, nutritional and stress status, and is useful in understanding behavioral responses. Even in young animals, sex steroids may be important in behavioral interactions and immune modulation. Use of saliva can avoid the large fluctuations seen in some steroids in plasma, and can negate the need for venipuncture, making it a potentially useful matrix in the wildlife. However, its utility in estimating steroid levels in wild young pinnipeds has not been evaluated. Here, we investigated the suitability of saliva for steroid hormone analysis in wild grey seal pups during their suckling and post-weaning fast periods. We collected saliva (n = 38) and plasma (n = 71) samples during the breeding season on the Isle of May, Scotland, 2012. We investigated success of sample collection, ease of preparation, accuracy and precision of analysis, and, where possible, comparability of measurements (n = 27) from saliva and plasma. Plasma sampling was rapid, whereas sampling saliva took up to five times longer. Analytical performance criteria (parallelism, accuracy, and precision (intra and inter assay co-efficient of variation (% CV)) of commercial ELISA kits to measure estradiol, testosterone and cortisol in both matrices were assessed. Estradiol and cortisol assays performed well and can be used in plasma and saliva. However, we could not confidently validate testosterone for either matrix. Saliva estradiol correlated with levels in plasma. Saliva sample preparation was faster and simpler than plasma preparation because it did not require extraction. However, given the additional time taken to obtain saliva in the wild, the possibility of blood contamination from oral damage and the lower success rate in obtaining sufficient sample for analysis, we recommend that this matrix only be used as an alternative to plasma sampling measurement in pinnipeds when animals are anaesthetized, tolerate mouth swabbing, or have been trained to accept saliva sampling in captivity

Measurement of parity-nonconserving rotation of neutron spin in the 0.734-eV p-wave resonance of 139La^{139}La

The parity nonconserving spin rotation of neutrons in the 0.734-eV p-wave resonance of $^{139}La$ was measured with the neutron transmission method. Two optically polarized $^3He$ cells were used before and behind a a 5-cm long $^{139}La$ target as a polarizer and an analyzer of neutron spin. The rotation angle was carefully measured by flipping the direction of $^3He$ polarization in the polarizer in sequence. The peak-to-peak value of the spin rotation was found to be $(7.4 \pm 1.1) \times 10^{-3}$ rad/cm which was consistent with the previous experiments. But the result was statisticallly improved. The s-p mixing model gives the weak matrix element as $xW = (1.71 \pm 0.25)$ meV. The value agrees well with the one deduced from the parity-nonconserving longitudinal asymmetry in the same resonance

Managed moves: schools collaborating for collective gain

Government guidance in the United Kingdom encourages groups of schools to take collective responsibility for supporting and making provision for excluded pupils and those at risk of exclusion. Managed-moves are one way that some schools and authorities are enacting such guidance. This paper presents the results of an evaluation of one such scheme. The scheme, involving seven neighbouring secondary schools, was nearing its first year of completion. The paper draws primarily on interview data with pupils, parents and school staff to describe a number of positive outcomes associated with the scheme and to explore how these were achieved. We found that while some of these could be attributed directly to the managed-move, others arose from the more inclusive ethos and practices of particular schools. The concepts of tailored support, care and commitment emerged as strong themes that underpinned the various practical ways in which some schools in the cluster were able to re-engage 'at-risk' pupils. As managed moves become more widely practiced it will be important to remember that it is how the move proceeds and develops rather than the move itself that will ultimately make the difference for troubled and troublesome pupils

Comments on Noncommutative ADHM Construction

We extend the method of matrix partition to obtain explicitly the gauge field for noncommutative ADHM construction in some general cases. As an application of this method we apply it to the U(2) 2-instanton and get explicit result for the gauge fields in the coincident instanton limit. We also easily apply it to the noncommutative 't Hooft instantons in the appendix.Comment: 17 pages, LaTeX; an appendix added, typos corrected, refs adde

The Generative Office Building

The Space Syntax concept of the generative and conservative building describes the effect of spatial configuration on knowledge creation: a building that acts generatively allows new relationships, new ideas, new products and new knowledge to emerge by maximising random encounters between people. In contrast, a building that acts conservatively preserves and mirrors existing relationships, existing ideas and existing knowledge by reinforcing a specific interface between people. A key criterion for the generativity of a building was proposed to be an integrative layout. However, evidence of patterns of encounter, movement flows and organisational behaviour suggests that not every building with high levels of integration is automatically generative of new knowledge. What is more, looking at a spatial layout it is difficult to judge whether the level of integration is rather high or low given size and structure of the space (e.g. number of floors, size of floor plate). Therefore the question of what constitutes a generative office building remains unanswered. Using a large sample of 62 different organisations and their office spaces, this paper therefore aims to create a better understanding of what renders an office building generative or conservative, by expanding on the original theory of generativity and including a more detailed articulation of the spatial qualities that are influential. For the analysis, results of a VGA of each of the office buildings in the sample are compared, investigating not only overall levels of integration, but also the distribution of integration and the relationship between integration levels and structural features. This allows the construction of a benchmark of possible ranges of integration for office buildings. It is further investigated which of the buildings are deemed generative by the inhabitants and how this relates to various spatial characteristics. The paper finally proposes a variety of different factors that may have a bearing on the generativity of an office building. This list of factors combines suggestions from the original theory of generative and conservative buildings with additional syntactical, spatial and organisational aspects of space usage. The paper concludes that the generativity of an office space depends on several factors and features, including but not limited to integration and syntactical measures that can be analysed on the basis of a floor plan. Implications for theory and workplace consultancy practice are discussed and reflected on