Socioeconomic effects of area management and the potential for community-based co-management: A case study of the Atlantic sea scallop fishery

Community concerns regarding natural resource management may be addressed in several forms. The community may participate as part of the public in the management process; community concerns may be included in social impact assessment; and communities may directly participate as managers of resources whether on their own or in conjunction with higher levels of government. In fisheries, typically community concerns are addressed through social impact assessment which is perceived to be lacking in social theory, history, and often effect (Boggs 1994, Little and Krannich 1989). More recent activity and newer regulations show success with co-management, a management regime of shared responsibilities that is perceived to be based in social theory (McCay and Acheson 1987, Berkes et al 2001). Co-management requires specific situations to be in place for its institution, however (McCay 2002). This dissertation was undertaken to find a mechanism to assist communities in providing their concerns on management issues of area management and possible buybacks while meeting requirements of social theory and law. In the attempt, a social impact assessment based upon community-based co-management theory, an assessment of the potential of community-based co-management are generated.*. *This dissertation is a compound document (contains both a paper copy and a CD as part of the dissertation)

Profiler Support for Operations at Space Launch Ranges

Accurate vertical wind profiles are essential to successful launch or landing. Wind changes can make it impossible to fly a desired trajectory or avoid dangerous vehicle loads, possibly resulting in loss of mission. Balloons take an hour to generate a profile up to 20 km, but major wind changes can occur in 20 minutes. Wind profilers have the temporal response to detect such last minute hazards. They also measure the winds directly overhead while balloons blow downwind. At the Eastern Range (ER), altitudes from 2 to 20 km are sampled by a 50-MHz profiler every 4 minutes. The surface to 3 km is sampled by five 915-MHz profilers every 15 minutes. The Range Safety office assesses the risk of potential toxic chemical dispersion. They use observational data and model output to estimate the spatial extent and concentration of substances dispersed within the boundary layer. The ER uses 915-MHz profilers as both a real time observation system and as input to dispersion models. The WR has similar plans. Wind profilers support engineering analyses for the Space Shuttle. The 50-IVl11z profiler was used recently to analyze changes in the low frequency wind and low vertical wavenumber content of wind profiles in the 3 to 15 km region of the atmosphere. The 915-MHz profiler network was used to study temporal wind change within the boundary layer

Assessing Stakeholder Preferences for Chesapeake Bay Restoration Options : a stated preference discrete choice-based assessment

Chesapeake 2000 or C2K is a multi-jurisdictional agreement between the states of Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia, the Chesapeake Bay Commission and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, representing the federal government, to restore the health of the Chesapeake Bay’s ecosystem. This agreement commits the participants to achieve five major restoration goals, 22 sub-objectives or categories, and 102 specific commitments or restoration activities. The five major goals are the following: (1) restore and protect natural living resources; (2) restore and protect vital habitat; (3) restore and protect water quality; (4) promote sound land use; and (5) promote stewardship and community engagement. The sub-categories and specific commitments impose specific restoration requirements relative to each of the five major categories. In 2003, the Chesapeake Bay Commission, utilizing a panel of experts, estimated the cost of achieving all five major objectives equaled approximately $18.7 billion, which equals approximately$21.0 billion in 2007 dollars. Unfortunately, all partners of C2K only committed $5.9 billion ($6.6 billion in 2007 dollars) in funding to achieving the five major objectives. There is, thus, a deficit of $12.8 billion or$14.4 billion in 2007 dollars. The funding available to achieve the goals of C2K is of considerable concern because the single sub-objective of the category of reducing nutrients and sediments requires more than $12.0 billion in 2007 dollars, and this is a major requirement for restoring the health of the Bay’s ecosystem. The cost of restoring the Bay complicates the choices and levels of restoration options. Given the large deficit for achieving the goals and objectives of C2K, it is necessary to assess how restoration might proceed. The available level of funding is simply inadequate for achieving all the goals and objectives necessary to restore the Bay’s ecosystem. In this study, we attempt to provide an assessment of how available funds might be distributed among the restoration goals and objectives in a manner, which generates the greatest social value. (more...

Applied Meteorology Unit (AMU) Quarterly Report First Quarter FY-14

NASA's LSP and other programs at Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) use wind forecasts issued by the 30th Operational Support Squadron (30 OSS) to determine if they need to limit activities or protect property such as a launch vehicle due to the occurrence of warning level winds at VAFB in California. The 30 OSS tasked the AMU to provide a wind forecasting capability to improve wind warning forecasts and enhance the safety of their customers' operations. This would allow 30 OSS forecasters to evaluate pressure gradient thresholds between pairs of regional observing stations to help determine the onset and duration of warning category winds. Development of such a tool will require that solid relationships exist between wind speed and the pressure gradient of one or more station pairs. As part of this task, the AMU will also create a statistical climatology of meteorological observations from the VAFB wind towers

Educational Programs and Recidivism in Oklahoma: Another Look

Prior research suggests that educational programs are one of the most effective tools in reducing recidivism rates. In this study, however, the authors found that some educational programs administered in Oklahoma may not have an ameliorative effect on criminality. Specifically, they found that completion of a general equivalency diploma program was strongly associated with longer survival times outside of prison, particularly for women. However, for both men and women, completion of vocational-technical training while incarcerated was linked to shorter survival times. This indicates the need to evaluate the types of training offered in prisons.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

Bacterioplankton drawdown of coral mass-spawned organic matter

Coral reef ecosystems are highly sensitive to microbial activities that result from dissolved organic matter (DOM) enrichment of their surrounding seawater. However, the response to particulate organic matter (POM) enrichment is less studied. In a microcosm experiment, we tested the response of bacterioplankton to a pulse of POM from the mass-spawning of Orbicella franksi coral off the Caribbean coast of Panama. Particulate organic carbon (POC), a proxy measurement for POM, increased by 40-fold in seawater samples collected during spawning; 68% degraded within 66 h. The elevation of multiple hydrolases presumably solubilized the spawn-derived POM into DOM. A carbon budget constructed for the 275 µM of degraded POC showed negligible change to the concentration of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), indicating that the DOM was readily utilized. Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry shows that the DOM pool became enriched with heteroatom-containing molecules, a trend that suggests microbial alteration of organic matter. Our sensitivity analysis demonstrates that bacterial carbon demand could have accounted for a large proportion of the POC degradation. Further, using bromodeoxyuridine immunocapture in combination with 454 pyrosequencing of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene, we surmise that actively growing bacterial groups were the primary degraders. We conclude that coral gametes are highly labile to bacteria and that such large capacity for bacterial degradation and alteration of organic matter has implications for coral reef health and coastal marine biogeochemistry

The Campbell Howard Collection of Australian Plays

During the late 1950s and early 1960s, Mr. A.C.M. Howard, the Deputy Director of the University of New England Department then styled 'Adult Education', made a collection of potential research material, some 229 plays which had been written in the period 1920 to 1955. This collection is housed in the Dixson Library of the University. While the plays were generally performed but not published in an accepted format, they remained largely unknown. As he explained in the 'Preface' to the original catalogue, - 'Australian Plays in Manuscript: a check list of the Campbell Howard collection held in the University of New England Library', edited by S.M. Apted and published in 1968, by the University of New England Library, - A.C.M. Howard was concerned to collect "for historians of Australian drama and literature, some of the basic data", explaining that "'An Australian play', for my purpose, meant a play written by someone who by birth or residence was an Australian" (op cit, p. 4). The standard set for inclusion in the collection was that they had been performed by a reputable company and reviewed by a responsible critic, or by an unnamed critic in a reputable journal - in some cases reference being given to a particular review on the copy of the play. Many of the plays were prizewinners in various competitions

The National Healthcare Communication Programme: an audit of initial performance

Objective  To report on the initial roll-out of the National Healthcare Communication Programme, a comprehensive intervention to improve the communication skills of Health Care Providers in Ireland.  Method  An audit of a national programme to improve communication by Healthcare Providers was undertaken beginning with a pilot study followed by progression to a national roll-out. The programme involved a Train the Trainer approach using experienced facilitators to deliver the pilot programme and subsequently support the national roll-out. Evaluation forms were used to collect participant feedback at module completion and a survey was conducted subsequently to assess self-efficacy of participants after return to the work place. The programme was supported by the Health Service Executive and worked in close collaboration with The International Association of Communication in Healthcare (EACH).  Results  Six pilot sites delivered the modules to a total of 683 participants from different disciplines. The evaluation forms from the pilot sites demonstrated that 586 (95.5%) participants felt they had learned new communication skills and 607 (99%) would recommend the training to colleagues. Five hundred and ninety-two participants attended a further 37 modules of training with 526 (99.5%) declaring they had learned new skills and 524 (99%) would recommend the training to colleagues. One hundred and one participants completed a survey carried out at least three months post return to work place and 80(83%) recorded that their communication skills had improved and 89 (90.7%) would recommend the training to colleagues.  Conclusion  The audit demonstrates a highly successful implementation of a national communication training programme for all healthcare providers. The programme requires on-going support from the Health Service Executive to train more facilitators and encourage greater up-take of training in order to ensure long-term benefit to patients and staff.</p