Catch Shares in Action: United States Mid-Atlantic Golden Tilefish Individual Fishing Quota Program

Established in 2009, the United States Mid-Atlantic Golden Tilefish Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) Program is a catch share program that has minimized the complexity of fishery management to create a usable, efficient system for fishermen and fishery managers. The program was implemented following the innovative self-organization of some fishery participants into an IFQ-like cooperative, which demonstrated the potential benefits of an IFQ. The goals of the IFQ program were focused on rebuilding the tilefish stock through overcapacity reduction and elimination of problems associated with derby-style fishing. Key design features include a discard prohibition and incidental tilefish catch limit for non-IFQ vessels to ensure all sources of tilefish fishing mortality are accounted for

Using visual analytics to develop situation awareness in astrophysics

We present a novel collaborative visual analytics application for cognitively overloaded users in the astrophysics domain. The system was developed for scientists who need to analyze heterogeneous, complex data under time pressure, and make predictions and time-critical decisions rapidly and correctly under a constant influx of changing data. The Sunfall Data Taking system utilizes several novel visualization and analysis techniques to enable a team of geographically distributed domain specialists to effectively and remotely maneuver a custom-built instrument under challenging operational conditions. Sunfall Data Taking has been in production use for 2 years by a major international astrophysics collaboration (the largest data volume supernova search currently in operation), and has substantially improved the operational efficiency of its users. We describe the system design process by an interdisciplinary team, the system architecture and the results of an informal usability evaluation of the production system by domain experts in the context of Endsley's three levels of situation awareness

Harnessing Complexity in High Performance Computing Ecosystems: A Complex Adaptive Systems Framework

The use of high performance computing (HPC) has been generating influential scientific breakthroughs since the twentieth century. Yet there have been few studies of the complex socio-technical systems formed by these supercomputers and the humans who operate and use them. In this paper, we describe the first complex adaptive systems (CAS) analysis of the dynamics of HPC ecosystems. We conducted an 18-month ethnographic study that included scientific collaborations that use an HPC research center and examined the processes in HPC socio-technical systems via CAS theory to devise organizational designs and strategies that take advantage of system complexity. We uncovered several significant mismatches in the variation and adaptation processes within subsystems and conclude with three potential design directions for management and organization of HPC socio-technical ecosystems

Probing thermal transport and layering in disk media using scanning thermal microscopy

With the advent of heat assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) [1] the thermal transport properties of magnetic recording media have become a key performance characteristic. In particular it is important that lateral heat transport is minimised in order to heat only the localised bit area and conversely that vertical heat transport is optimised for fast cooling of the medium essential for the thermal stability of written bits. Magnetic media are multilayered and highly structured on the nanoscale rendering classical treatment of thermal transport inapplicable and the likelihood that the transport is dominated by interfaces and dimensions rather than bulk material properties. A technique for measuring thermal transport on the nanoscale is therefore highly desirable in the design of new magnetic media. In this study we explore the potential of scanning thermal microscopy (SThM) to resolve thermal transport on the nanoscale and use a multilayered, grain segregated conventional disk

Probing thermal transport and layering in disk media using scanning thermal microscopy

With the advent of heat assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) [1] the thermal transport properties of magnetic recording media have become a key performance characteristic. In particular it is important that lateral heat transport is minimised in order to heat only the localised bit area and conversely that vertical heat transport is optimised for fast cooling of the medium essential for the thermal stability of written bits. Magnetic media are multilayered and highly structured on the nanoscale rendering classical treatment of thermal transport inapplicable and the likelihood that the transport is dominated by interfaces and dimensions rather than bulk material properties. A technique for measuring thermal transport on the nanoscale is therefore highly desirable in the design of new magnetic media. In this study we explore the potential of scanning thermal microscopy (SThM) to resolve thermal transport on the nanoscale and use a multilayered, grain segregated conventional disk

Protocol for development of a core outcome set for clinical trials in melasma

INTRODUCTION: Melasma is a pigmentation disorder of the skin. Characterised by brown to gray-brown patches on the face and neck, the condition predominantly affects women and has been associated with pregnancy, hormonal variation and sun exposure. Melasma can be disfiguring and anxiety-provoking, and quality of life is often adversely impacted. Management includes sun protection, laser and energy device therapy, topical and oral skin-bleaching agents and chemical peels. While clinical trials of melasma exist, there is a lack of consistency in reported outcomes, which has been a barrier to the aggregation of data in systematic reviews and meta-analyses. This protocol describes a planned process for development of a minimum set of outcomes (ie, \u27core outcome set\u27) that should be measured in all clinical trials of melasma. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: An exhaustive list of potential outcomes will be extracted from four sources: (1) systematic literature review of outcomes in clinical trials; (2) semistructured patient interviews; (3) brochures, pamphlets, clinical trial registries, and other published and unpublished sources and documentation; and (4) interviews with non-patient, non-physician stakeholders, including federal regulators, industry scientists and non-physician providers. An international two-round Delphi process will then be performed to identify the outcomes deemed most important to patients and physicians. Subsequently, a consensus meeting will be convened to review and process the results, and to vote on a final set of core outcomes. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethics approval was provided by the Northwestern University Institutional Review Board (protocol ID: STU00201637). This study is registered with both the Core Outcome Measures in Effectiveness Trials and Cochrane Skin-Core Outcome Set Initiative initiatives, and this protocol is in accordance with the guidelines for protocol development of both groups. All findings from the study described in this protocol will be disseminated to all stakeholders involved in the development process and will be submitted for publication in peer-reviewed journals. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42020214189

Improving image analysis in 2DGE-based redox proteomics by labeling protein carbonyl with fluorescent hydroxylamine

Recent advances in redox proteomics have provided significant insight into the role of oxidative modifications in cellular signalling and metabolism. At present, these techniques rely heavily on Western blots to visualize the oxidative modification and corresponding two dimensional (2D) gels for detection of total protein levels, resulting in the duplication of efforts. A major limitation associated with this methodology includes problematic matching up of gels and blots due to the differences in processing and/or image acquisition. In this study, we present a new method which allows detection of protein oxidation and total protein on the same gel to improve matching in image analysis. Furthermore, the digested protein spots are compatible with standard MALDI mass spectrometry protein identification. The methodology highlighted here may be useful in facilitating the development of biomarkers, assessing potential therapeutic targets and elucidating new mechanisms of redox signalling in redox-related conditions