Socioeconomic and bioeconomic performance of Philippine fisheries in the recent decades

The fishing industry in the Philippines was tantamount to a marine capture fishery in the 1950s to 1960s. Aquaculture and inland fishery production were not significant. Only during the 1970s did aquaculture and inland capture fisheries contribute significantly to fish production. From 250 000 t fish production in 1951, this increased substantially to 1.6 million t in the 1990s. An average 4.3% was contributed by fisheries to the gross domestic product from 1988 - 98. Fisheries export earnings reached P12 billion in the 1990s. Exports of fishery products include tuna, shrimps, prawns and seaweed. Fishing industry employees in the Philippines are distributed thus: 70% in the municipal (artisanal) sector, 25% in aquaculture and 5% in the commercial sector. Fish and fish products comprise more than 50% of total animal protein intake vis-α-vis meat and meat products and poultry. However per capita consumption of food fish decreased from 40 kg╖year-1 in 1988 to 36 kg in 1998. In the Philippines, small scale fishing is defined as fishing within municipal waters using fishing vessels of 3 GT or less, or fishing without vessels. In 1948, there were 63 005 fishers rising to 743 544 in 1995. There was a declining trend in catch per unit effort (CPUE) from 2.10 t╖HP-1 in 1948 to 0.29 t╖HP-1 in 1985. Time-series data from 1976 - 87 showed that small pelagics accounted for 38% of total catch followed by demersals, 26%; tuna, 16%; seaweeds, 14%; large pelagics, 6% and invertebrates, 9%. The most important fishing gear in terms of contribution to total catch are gillnets (30%), hook and line (24%) and beach seine (8%). Hook and line accounts for almost 60% of tuna catch while hook and line, gillnets, and fish corrals account for 60% of demersal catch. Commercial fishing can be classified into: (a) small scale commercial fishing (fishing with passive or active gear and utilizing vessels of 3.1 GT up to 20 GT); (b) medium-scale commercial fishing (fishing with active gear and utilizing vessels of 20.1 GT up to 150 GT); and (c) large scale commercial fishing (fishing with active gear and vessels of more than 150 GT). In the 1950s the three dominant types of gear were bag net, the trawl (including beam and otter types) and the round haul seine. The larger tonnage category (more than 100 GT) became more significant in the 1980s. There are 35 species comprising 70 - 95% of total commercial fish production grouped as demersals, small pelagics and large pelagics. Roundscads dominated the small pelagics, followed by slipmouth, a demersal species. Declining catches, disappearance of high value species and increasing volume of juveniles are indications that the fishery is biologically over-fished. This translates as declining profit for the fishery sector. It also means that the fishery employs excess labor and utilizes capital that could be used in other economic sectors.Fishery resources, Fishery surveys, Catch/effort, Trawling, Population characteristics, Biomass, Coastal fisheries, Mathematical models, Marine fisheries, Ecosystems, Socioeconomic aspects, Artisanal fishing, Economic benefits, Fishery industry, Capture fishery economics, ISEW, Philippines,

An Equitable Transformation of the Energy System: The Role of State-Level Incentives for Distributed Energy Resources

One of the great obstacles to the transition to clean energy is that not everyone has an equal opportunity to participate. While previous research has demonstrated that the distribution of solar photovoltaic and battery storage technologies is correlated with race and ethnicity, income, educational attainment, and other variables, it has failed to perform similar analyses on specific clean energy incentive programs. This study evaluates the equitability of past and current state-level incentive programs for solar photovoltaic and battery storage systems in California and Massachusetts using multiple linear regression models. Among the most notable results, for the California programs that are open to the general market, whiter and wealthier populations yielded a higher average incentive amount and a higher likelihood of being served by the programs. Overall, when states are intentional about involving communities and serving environmental justice populations, their programs are more equitable than broad programs for the general public. Ultimately, this study identifies injustices that may obstruct the shift towards a decarbonized society and explores more equitable transformation pathways towards a clean and renewable energy future through distributed energy resources

Multiple Sources toward the High-mass Young Star S140 IRS1

S140 IRS1 is a remarkable source where the radio source at the center of the main bipolar molecular outflow in the region is elongated perpendicular to the axis of the outflow, an orientation opposite to that expected if the radio source is a thermal jet exciting the outflow. We present results of 1.3 cm continuum and H2O maser emission observations made with the VLA in its A configuration toward this region. In addition, we also present results of continuum observations at 7 mm and re-analyse observations at 2, 3.5 and 6 cm (previously published). IRS 1A is detected at all wavelengths, showing an elongated structure. Three water maser spots are detected along the major axis of the radio source IRS 1A. We have also detected a new continuum source at 3.5 cm (IRS 1C) located ~0.6'' northeast of IRS 1A. The presence of these two YSOs (IRS 1A and 1C) could explain the existence of the two bipolar molecular outflows observed in the region. In addition, we have also detected three continuum clumps (IRS 1B, 1D and 1E) located along the major axis of IRS 1A. We discuss two possible models to explain the nature of IRS 1A: a thermal jet and an equatorial wind.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures, to be published in A

Microbiome profile associated with malignant pleural effusion.

INTRODUCTION:There is ongoing research into the development of novel molecular markers that may complement fluid cytology malignant pleural effusion (MPE) diagnosis. In this exploratory pilot study, we hypothesized that there are distinct differences in the pleural fluid microbiome profile of malignant and non-malignant pleural diseases. METHOD:From a prospectively enrolled pleural fluid biorepository, samples of MPE were included. Non-MPE effusion were included as comparators. 16S rRNA gene V4 region amplicon sequencing was performed. Exact Sequence Variants (ESVs) were used for diversity analyses. The Shannon and Richness indices of alpha diversity and UniFrac beta diversity measures were tested for significance using permutational multivariate analysis of variance. Analyses of Composition of Microbiome was used to identify differentially abundant bacterial ESVs between the groups controlled for multiple hypothesis testing. RESULTS:38 patients with MPE and 9 with non-MPE were included. A subgroup of patients with metastatic adenocarcinoma histology were identified among MPE group (adenocarcinoma of lung origin (LA-MPE) = 11, breast origin (BA-MPE) = 11). MPE presented with significantly greater alpha diversity compared to non-MPE group. Within the MPE group, BA-MPE was more diverse compared to LA-MPE group. In multivariable analysis, ESVs belonging to family S24-7 and genera Allobaculum, Stenotrophomonas, and Epulopiscium were significantly enriched in the malignant group compared to the non-malignant group. CONCLUSION:Our results are the first to demonstrate a microbiome signature according to MPE and non-MPE. The role of microbiome in pleural effusion pathogenesis needs further exploration

Searching for compact radio sources associated to UCHII regions

Ultra-Compact (UC)HII regions represent a very early stage of massive star formation whose structure and evolution are not yet fully understood. Interferometric observations in recent years show that some UCHII regions have associated compact sources of uncertain nature. Based on this, we carried out VLA 1.3 cm observations in the A configuration of selected UCHII regions in order to report additional cases of compact sources embedded in UCHII regions. From the observations, we find 13 compact sources associated to 9 UCHII regions. Although we cannot establish an unambiguous nature for the newly detected sources, we assess some of their observational properties. According to the results, we can distinguish between two types of compact sources. One type corresponds to sources that probably are deeply embedded in the dense ionized gas of the UCHII region. These sources are being photo-evaporated by the exciting star of the region and will last for 10$^4-10^5$ yr. They may play a crucial role in the evolution of the UCHII region as the photo-evaporated material could replenish the expanding plasma and might provide a solution to the so-called lifetime problem for these regions. The second type of compact sources is not associated with the densest ionized gas of the region. A few of these sources appear resolved and may be photo-evaporating objects such as those of the first type but with significantly lower mass depletion rates. The rest of sources of this second type appear unresolved and their properties are varied. We speculate on the similarity between the sources of the second type and those of the Orion population of radio sources.Comment: 33 pages, 6 figures, 4 tables. Accepted for publication in Ap

Valuation of tropical coastal resources: theory and application of linear programming

Coastal zone management, Resource management, Economic analysis, Linear programming

Wireless Sensor Network for Monitoring Applied Physical Variables

This article reports an array of wireless sensors connected to a network to monitor physical variables; environment temperature, soil humidity and environment humidity applied to the internet of things. The use of the Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) has a promising future due to current technical advances and its almost unlimited applications. In this paper WSN topologies, measurement methodology, sensor distribution and visualization of recorded data are proposed based on the monitoring area, the communication protocol established by Wi-Fi and the readings of the environmental temperature (ET), environmental humidity (EH) and ground humidity (GH) are recorded and displayed on the web. In this experimental monitoring of environmental physical conditions, a record is made every hour during a period of 24 hours. Some of the potential applications for this remote measurement technique are the green technologies, industrial processes, internet of things, among others

Work integrated learning/professional practice in creative arts programs

This article reports on a project which aimed to re-think, re-leverage and re-imagine the power of industry/education/sector partnerships in the creative arts in Australia. A selection of case studies were collected and analysed to examine the role industry and community engagement plays increative learning and professional practice pedagogy. As one of three key projects exploring pedagogical approaches in the creative arts under the createED umbrella undertaken in 2011, this project also focussed on exploring tertiary-level work integrated learning (WIL) and professional practice in light of the new national creative and performing arts discipline standards. The result was a national benchmarking of best practice; an exploration of the role of the national discipline standards in evaluating the contribution of WIL, and a set of recommendations articulating how to successfully develop effective professional practice and industry partnership within a creative arts curriculum. Our findings were generally consistent with those of the Australian Learning and Teaching Council National Scoping Study: The Work Integrated Learning / WIL Report (Patrick et al. 2008) and extended upon that significant study through our primary focus upon the creative arts