2,237 research outputs found
Marinas as habitats for nearshore fish assemblages: comparative analysis of underwater visual census, baited cameras and fish traps
Understanding the ecological role that artificial structures might play on nearshore fish assemblages requires the collection of accurate and reliable data through efficient sampling techniques. In this work, differences in the composition and structure of fish assemblages between the inner and outer sides of three marinas located in the temperate northern-eastern Atlantic Ocean were tested using three complementary sampling techniques: underwater visual censuses (UVC), baited cameras (BCs) and fish traps (FTs). UVCs and BCs recorded a comparable number and relative abundance of species, which in turn were much greater than those recorded by FTs. This finding supports the use of UVCs and BCs over FTs for broad ecologically studies, especially when dealing with structurally complex habitats such as artificial structures. We found differences in fish assemblage structure between the inner and outer sides of marinas, independently of the sampling method. Four small-sized species (Similiparma lurida, Thalassoma pavo, Sarpa salpa and Symphodus roissali) associated with structurally complex vegetated habitats dominated, in terms of abundance, the outer sides of marinas; Diplodus vulgaris, Diplodus sargus and Gobius niger, species with high ecological plasticity in habitat requirements, dominated the inner sides of marinas. The information provided in this study is of great interest for developing sound monitoring programmes to ascertain the effects of artificial structures on fish communities.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
MgII absorption systems with W_0 > 0.1 \AA for a radio selected sample of 77 QSOs and their associated magnetic fields at high redshifts
We present a catalogue of MgII absorption systems obtained from high
resolution UVES/VLT data of 77 QSOs in the redshift range 0.6 < z < 2.0, and
down to an equivalent width W_0 > 0.1 \AA. The statistical properties of our
sample are found to be in agreement with those from previous work in the
literature. However, we point out that the previously observed increase with
redshift of dN/dz for weak absorbers, pertains exclusively to very weak
absorbers with W_0 < 0.1 \AA. Instead, dN/dz for absorbers with W_0 in the
range 0.1-0.3 \AA actually decreases with redshift, similarly to the case of
strong absorbers. We then use this catalogue to extend our earlier analysis of
the links between the Faraday Rotation Measure of the quasars and the presence
of intervening MgII absorbing systems in their spectra. In contrast to the case
with strong MgII absorption systems W_0 > 0.3 \AA, the weaker systems do not
contribute significantly to the observed Rotation Measure of the background
quasars. This is possibly due to the higher impact parameters of the weak
systems compared to strong ones, suggesting that the high column density
magnetized material that is responsible for the Faraday Rotation is located
within about 50 kpc of the galaxies. Finally, we show that this result also
rules out the possibility that some unexpected secondary correlation between
the quasar redshift and its intrinsic Rotation Measure is responsible for the
association of high Rotation Measure and strong intervening MgII absorption
that we have presented elsewhere, since this would have produced an equal
effect for the weak absorption line systems, which exhibit a very similar
distribution of quasar redshifts.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. 12 pages, 8 figure
Adaptive Subcarrier PSK Intensity Modulation in Free Space Optical Systems
We propose an adaptive transmission technique for free space optical (FSO)
systems, operating in atmospheric turbulence and employing subcarrier phase
shift keying (S-PSK) intensity modulation. Exploiting the constant envelope
characteristics of S-PSK, the proposed technique offers efficient utilization
of the FSO channel capacity by adapting the modulation order of S-PSK,
according to the instantaneous state of turbulence induced fading and a
pre-defined bit error rate (BER) requirement. Novel expressions for the
spectral efficiency and average BER of the proposed adaptive FSO system are
presented and performance investigations under various turbulence conditions
and target BER requirements are carried out. Numerical results indicate that
significant spectral efficiency gains are offered without increasing the
transmitted average optical power or sacrificing BER requirements, in
moderate-to-strong turbulence conditions. Furthermore, the proposed variable
rate transmission technique is applied to multiple input multiple output (MIMO)
FSO systems, providing additional improvement in the achieved spectral
efficiency as the number of the transmit and/or receive apertures increases.Comment: Submitted To IEEE Transactions On Communication
Individual fluctuations in blood lactate concentration during an ice hockey game; differences between player positions
Source at:https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/ijes/vol15/iss6/13The main purpose of the current study
was to provide an in-depth description of individual player’s intra-game physiological responses during an ice
hockey game. A secondary aim was to compare these responses between forwards and defensemen. Six elite junior
ice hockey players, three forwards and three defensemen, median (interquartile range) 17 (17–17) years, 182 (180–
185) cm, and 78 (74– 80) kg were recruited to participate in the study. Capillary blood samples were taken following
each shift and analyzed for blood lactate concentration (BLC). Heart rate (HR) was registered continuously
throughout the game. The game was filmed and shift lengths were determined retrospectively using a time-motion
analysis. All players had BLC ranging between 1.8 and 10.7 mmol/L (mean = 5.5 mmol/L), with forwards reaching
a significantly higher value than defensive players (F1, 32 = 75.2, p < 0.0001), a significant effect of time was also
observed (F2, 25 = 6.4, p = 0.0058). During the game, the players accumulated 11:18 ± 5:04 (minutes:seconds) above
90% of their maximal heart rate (HRmax), but the majority of the time was below 80% of HRmax. The fluctuations in
BLC and heart rate demonstrate that the intensity is highly variable during games and challenges both aerobic and
anaerobic metabolic pathways. The higher BLC of forwards might indicate that they perform more high-intensity
work during games than defensive players
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