Strategic Review of Tropical Fisheries Management

This project addresses the constraints to tropical fisheries development with sustainable exploitation through a strategic assessment of tropical fisheries management with the following purposes: (1) To evaluate relevant research methods for the development of assessment models appropriate to the circumstances of tropical coastal fisheries; and (2) To evaluate the utility of existing strategies for the implementation of management advice. The report consists of three substantive chapters. Chapter 2 contains a detailed socio-economic assessment of various instruments and implementation strategies applicable to tropical capture fisheries. In Chapter 3, a detailed assessment of the fisheries for tropical large marine ecosystems has been conducted using a technique developed by FAO (Granger & Garcia 1996). The data used were the FAO statistics published regularly by FAO. This analysis has been conducted for each of the tropical large marine ecosystems and indicates that there is the potential for increased fishing in a number of these ecosystems. One of the clear requirements identified in Chapter 2 and implicit in Chapter 3, is that there is a significant need for simple and robust fisheries assessment methods which can estimate the potential of a particular resource, its capacity in terms of the level of fishing effort and its current status ie whether it is currently exploited sustainably or not. In Chapter 4, these problems are addressed directly and, using two approaches, significant simplification of fishery methods is developed. In the first approach, simple empirical relationships between the life history parameters of a species are used to develop models of potential yield which can be determined by a simple assessment of fish growth. In the second approach, optimal life history theory is applied to the key demographic parameters of exploited fish populations and using estimates of the Beverton & Holt invariants a significant simplifying of the basic stock assessment equations is developed

A study of ignition phenomena of bulk metals by radiant heating

Early research on combustion of metals was motivated by the knowledge of the large heat release and corresponding high temperatures associated with metal-oxygen reactions. The advent of space flight brought about an increased interest in the ignition and combustion of metallic particles as additives in solid rocket propellants. More recently, attention has been given to the flammability properties of bulk, structural metals due to the number of accidental explosions of metal components in high-pressure oxygen systems. The following work represents a preliminary study that is part of a broader research effort aimed at providing further insight into the phenomena of bulk metal combustion by looking at the effects of gravity on the ignition behavior of metals. The scope of this preliminary experimental study includes the use of a non-coherent, continuous radiation ignition source, the measurement of temperature profiles of a variety of metals and a qualitative observation of the ignition phenomena at normal gravity. The specific objectives of the investigation include: (1) a feasibility study of the use of a continuous radiation source for metal ignition; (2) testing and characterization of the ignition behavior of a variety of metals; and (3) building a preliminary experimental database on ignition of metals under normal gravity conditions

Shifting Organizational Cultures: Developing Leaders in Humanistic Interprofessional Education

Organizational cultures significantly influence faculty and clinician well-being, trainees’ professional identity formation, and the care of patients and families. The ability of interprofessional healthcare teams to work collaboratively is important for safe, high quality, relationship-centered care. A multi-site project, Faculty Development for the Interprofessional Teaching of Humanism,* was initiated to create a national curriculum in humanism and professionalism designed to train interprofessional education (IPE) faculty leaders. Boston Children’s Hospital / Harvard Medical School (BCH/HMS) is the first pediatric site selected to design and implement this curriculum. Our objectives were to: 1) develop a national curriculum in humanism and professionalism for IPE faculty leaders; 2) adapt the curriculum for pediatrics; and 3) create and sustain a faculty fellowship for IPE leaders at BCH/HMS that promotes humanistic values in organizational culture and learning and care environments. We designed and implemented the curriculum at nine national sites. Topics focus on collaboration, communication, and relationships and include: highly functioning teams; advanced team formation; patients’ perspectives; empathy; well-being, resilience, renewal; diversity & inclusion; appreciative inquiry; values; IPE and others. To achieve sustainability at BCH/HMS, we created a unique Faculty Fellowship for Leaders in Humanistic Interprofessional Education. To increase impact, we recruited co-sponsors from departments across BCH. Fellows participate in 1½-hour, twice-monthly small-group sessions for 8 months and design and implement a group project. Twenty-one faculty applied. The first cohort included 11 faculty representing medicine, social work, nursing, and psychology. The Faculty Fellowship provides opportunities for IPE faculty leaders to enhance teaching skills, collaboration, relationships, reflective capacities, and role modeling in humanism and professionalism, and to work together to foster humanistic values within organizational culture. *Supported by a multi-institutional grant from the Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation (Dr. Branch as national PI; Dr. Rider as site PI) 

Training interprofessional faculty in humanism and professionalism: a qualitative analysis of what is most important

Introduction: The capacity of healthcare professionals to work collaboratively influences faculty and trainees’ professional identity formation, well-being, and care quality. Part of a multi-institutional project*, we created the Faculty Fellowship for Leaders in Humanistic Interprofessional Education at Boston Children’s Hospital/ Harvard Medical School. We aimed to foster trusting relationships, reflective abilities, collaboration skills, and work together to promote humanistic values within learning environments. Objective: To examine the impact of the faculty fellowship from participants’ reports of “the most important thing learned”. Methods: We studied participants’ reflections after each of 16 1½ hour fellowship sessions. Curriculum content included: highly functioning teams, advanced team formation, diversity/inclusion, values, wellbeing/renewal/burnout, appreciative inquiry, narrative reflection, and others. Responses to “What was the most important thing you learned?” were analyzed qualitatively using a positivistic deductive approach. Results: Participants completed 136 reflections over 16 sessions–77% response rate (136/176). Cohort was 91% female; mean age 52.6 (range 32-65); mean years since completion of highest degree 21.4; 64% held doctorates, 36% master’s degrees. 46% were physicians, 27% nurses, 18% social workers, 9% psychologists. 27% participated previously in a learning experience focusing on interprofessional education, collaboration or practice. Most important learning included: Relational capacities/ Use of self in relationships 96/131 (73%); Attention to values 46/131 (35%); Reflection/ Self-awareness 44/131 (34%); Fostering humanistic learning environments 21/131 (16%). Discussion: Results revealed the importance of enhancing relational capacities and use of self in relationships including handling emotions; attention to values; reflection/self-awareness and recognition of assumptions; and fostering humanistic learning environments. These topics should receive more emphasis in interprofessional faculty development programs and may help identify teaching priorities. *Supported in part by a multi-institutional grant from the Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation (Dr. Branch as PI; Dr. Rider as site PI)

Beyond Resilience and Burnout: The Need for Organizational Change to Promote Humanistic Practice and Teaching in Healthcare

Rapid changes in healthcare organization and practice environments, increasingly driven by business models and commercial interests, are associated with widespread burnout and dissatisfaction among healthcare professionals and pose barriers to humanistic relationship-centered quality care. Studies show burnout and significant stress currently affect over half of US physicians and nurses. Clinicians’ ability to provide compassionate care is significantly challenged. Most solutions to date have included individual interventions designed to enhance well-being and promote resilience. We examined organizational factors that inhibit or promote humanistic practice by faculty physicians in today’s healthcare environment. In this qualitative study, physician faculty who completed a one-year faculty development program in humanism at eight US academic medical centers provided written answers to two open-ended questions: a) What institutional or specific organizational unit-related factors promote humanism for you and others? b) What institutional or specific organizational unit-related factors inhibit or pose barriers, to humanism for you and others? 74% (68/92) of the physicians participated. The constant comparative method was used to analyze responses. We found that organizational culture was the central theme. Motivators of humanism included leadership supportive of humanistic practice, responsibility to role model humanism, organized activities promoting humanism, and practice structures that facilitate humanism. Factors that inhibited humanism included “top down” organizational culture, non-supportive leadership, time and bureaucratic pressures, and non-facilitative practice structures. Our findings suggest that organizational culture is, at a minimum, equally important as individual interventions. We describe features of organizational culture that reinforce humanistic practice and care in healthcare institutions and offer recommendations for organizational change that support the primacy of humanistic, compassionate, high quality patient care. 

C-axis Raman spectra of a normal plane-chain bilayer cuprate and the pseudogap

We investigate the Raman spectra in the geometry where both incident and scattered photon polarizations are parallel to the $\hat{z}$-direction, for a plane-chain bilayer coupled via a single-particle tunneling $t_\perp$. The Raman vertex is derived in the tight-binding limit and in the absence of Coulomb screening, the Raman intensity can be separated into intraband ($\propto t_\perp^4$) and interband ($\propto t_\perp^2$) transitions. In the small-$t_\perp$ limit, the interband part dominates and a pseudogap will appear as it does in the conductivity. Coulomb interactions bring in a two-particle coupling and result in the breakdown of intra- and interband separation. Nevertheless, when $t_\perp$ is small, the Coulomb screening ($\propto t_\perp^4$) has little effect on the intensity to which the unscreened interband transitions contribute most. In general, the total Raman spectra are strongly dependent on the magnitude of $t_\perp$.Comment: 23 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Study of Envelope Velocity Evolution of Type Ib-c Core-Collapse Supernovae from Observations of XRF 080109 / SN 2008D and GRB 060218 / SN 2006aj with BTA

Results of modeling the spectra of two supernovae SN 2008D and SN 2006aj related to the X-ray flash XRF 080109 and gamma-ray burst GRB / XRF 060218, respectively, are studied. The spectra were obtained with the 6-meter BTA telescope of the Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 6.48 and 27.61 days after the explosion of SN 2008D, and in 2.55 and 3.55 days after the explosion of SN 2006aj. The spectra were interpreted in the Sobolev approximation with the SYNOW code. An assumption about the presence of envelopes around the progenitor stars is confirmed by an agreement between the velocities of lines interpreted as hydrogen and helium, and the empiric power-law velocity drop with time for the envelopes of classic core-collapse supernovae. Detection of a P Cyg profile of the H-beta line in the spectra of optical afterglows of GRBs can be a determinative argument in favor of this hypothesis.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Astrophysical Bulletin

Developing a collaborative, humanistic interprofessional healthcare culture: a multi-site study

Introduction:Developing a collaborative, humanistic interprofessional healthcare culture requires optimal relational skills, respect, interpersonal cohesion, and role clarity. We developed a longitudinal curriculum to engender these skills and values in institutional leaders. We report results of a qualitative study at seven US-based academic health centers to identify participants’ learning. Methods:At each institution, participants from at least three different professions met in small group sessions twice-monthly over nine months. Sessions focused on relational capacities to enhance leadership and professionalism, and utilized critical reflection and experiential learning to promote teamwork, self-knowledge, communication skills, and address challenges encountered by a healthcare team. Participants completed reflective responses to open-ended questions asking what knowledge, insights, or skills they gained by working in this interprofessional group and applications of their learning. Five investigators analyzed the anonymized responses using the constant comparative method. Results:Overarching themes centered on relationships and the strength of the relational nature of the learning. We observed learning on three levels: a) Intrapersonal learning included self-awareness, mindfulness, and empathy for self that translated to reflections on application of these to teamwork and teaching; b) Interpersonal learning concerned relational skills and teaching about listening, understanding others’ perspectives, appreciation/respect for colleagues, and empathy for others; c) Systems level learning included teaching skills about resilience, conflict management, team dynamics and cultural norms, and appreciation of resources from interprofessional colleagues. Discussion:A curriculum focusing on humanistic teaching for leaders led to new insights and positive changes in relational perspectives. Learning occurred on multiple levels. Many learners reported revising previous assumptions, a marker for transformative learning. Humanistic faculty development can facilitate deep bonds between professions. &nbsp

SNLS Spectroscopy: Testing for Evolution in Type Ia Supernovae

Aims: We present a quantitative study of a new data set of high redshift Type Ia supernovae spectra, observed at the Gemini telescopes during the first 34 months of the Supernova Legacy Survey. During this time 123 supernovae candidates were observed, of which 87 have been identified as SNe Ia at a median redshift of z=0.720. Spectra from the entire second year of the survey and part of the third year (59 total SNe candidates with 46 confirmed SNe Ia) are published here for the first time. The spectroscopic measurements made on this data set are used determine if these distant SNe comprise a population similar to those observed locally. Methods: Rest-frame equivalent width and ejection velocity measurements are made on four spectroscopic features. Corresponding measurements are presented for a set of 167 spectra from 24 low-z SNe Ia from the literature. Results: We show that there exists a sample at high redshift with properties similar to nearby SNe. No significant difference was found between the distributions of measurements at low and high redsift for three of the features. The fourth feature displays a possible difference that should be investigated further. Correlations between Type Ia SNe properties and host galaxy morphology were also found to be similar at low and high z, and within each host galaxy class we see no evidence for redshift-evolution in SN properties. A new correlation between SNe Ia peak magnitude and the equivalent width of SiII absorption is presented. We demonstrate that this correlation reduces the scatter in SNe Ia luminosity distances in a manner consistent with the lightcurve shape-luminosity corrections that are used for Type Ia SNe cosmology. Conclusions: We show that this new sample of SNLS SNe Ia has spectroscopic properties similar to nearby objects. (Abridged)Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic