Satellite Remote Sensing and Fisheries Applications

Satellite remote sensing has the capacity to aid the three major components of a fishery: research, management, and the fishing industry. An evaluation of the potential of satellite-derived data to the fishery is based upon six case studies which are presented as evidence of the capabilities of satellite-borne sensors. Peripheral applications pertaining to the marine environment and possible applications for the future are reviewed. Three basic categories of remote sensing programs related to the fishery are defined: one to test the applicability of the technology to the field of fisheries; another to employ the technology to fisheries research; and a third to provide remote sensing technology for commercial interests. Problems limiting the usage of remote sensing in fisheries are discussed. The possibilities of initiating a commercial venture to provide sea surface temperature charts to the fishing industry are explored; the foundation for such a venture at the present would be precarious. It was determined that the most successful contributors to remote sensing of fisheries were sea surface temperature and ocean color data. Data on sea surface wind activity is expected to be of great value, although initial studies were terminated with the early failure of the SEASAT-A mission. Temperature sensors and a scatterometer are included in future space programs; an ocean color imager is not. Until a full complement of relevant sensors is in orbit, the full potential of satellite remote sensing to the fishery cannot be realized. The factors governing deployment of an ocean color imager, and therefore limiting the potential of remote sensing, are of a political and economic nature. As a result, certain activities of import to fisheries are endangered, and many programs reliant upon ocean color data remain experimental

Introduction

[Extract] Stream 2 of the Commonwealth Government's Regional NRM Planning for Climate Change Fund supports the project "Knowledge to manage land and sea: A framework for the future" run by a consortium of scientists from James Cook University (JCU) and CSIRO. This report is the second major product of the consortium project, building on the first report: Climate Change Issues and Impacts in the Wet Tropics NRM Cluster Region (Hilbert et al. 2014). This second report provides syntheses of current knowledge about potential adaptation pathways and opportunities in response to climate change in the Wet Tropics Cluster (WTC) region (see below) across all relevant NRM sectors. The report is framed by the specific topics and issues defined by the NRM groups in the Wet Tropics Cluster (WTC) region (Appendix A), reflecting the planning processes and priorities of these groups as well as the characteristics of their regional communities. This report has two major aims: 1. To provide a review of potential adaptation pathways and opportunities across all NRM sectors in the WTC region, including a review of potential options for adaptation of species to climate change 2. To provide preliminary information about particular directions for adaptation in the Wet Tropics Cluster, based on collaboration with the four NRM bodies via the Brokering Hub

Where are the hot spots of ecosystem services?

Ecosystem services (ES) are the bridge between nature and society, and are essential elements of any community's wellbeing. Australia is a place of diverse climates with a narrow band of wet tropics in Far North Queensland. The Wet Tropics is environmentally diverse, iconic in biodiversity, and supplies numerous ES influencing community wellbeing of this region, Australian national economy, and global climate change mitigation efforts. However ES in the Wet Tropics have rarely been assessed. We dealt with two questions: i) how are ES spatially distributed across the Wet Tropics, ii) where are the hot spots of ES production. We have classified the Wet Tropics forests into four types: coastal eucalypt forests and wood lands, coastal rainforests, eucalypts hills and ranges, and wet highland rainforests. Vegetation data metrics have been collected from 70 plots of 0.05 ha each located from coast to more than 1000m above msl. We have spatially assessed the ES in these forest types. We have found spatial congruence and differences of ES production across the forest types. Different forests types have produced different ES in higher quantity. Our study has revealed that hot spots of ES production are widely distributed across the different forests types in the Wet Tropics. Disturbance regimes (cyclones, forest fire) and conservation priority in management options have also influenced the usual spatial trend of ES production. This study shall be useful for decision makers to incorporate ES into their natural resource management planning, and for practitioners to evaluate areas identified with ES significance

Oral Health Status and Treatment Needs of Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Clinics in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

During pregnancy, the oral cavity is characterised by an acidic environment and an inflammatory response brought about by vomiting and changes in hormonal levels, respectively, thereby increasing the mother’s risk of developing caries. Although evidence exists to support an association between pregnancy-associated periodontal disease and adverse pregnancy outcomes, there is a paucity of studies which focus on the caries prevalence and other oral manifestations of pregnant women. .e aim of this study was to assess the oral health status and treatment needs of pregnant women attending antenatal clinics in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Randomly selected mothers (n + 443) attending a maternal obstetrics unit participated in the study. A questionnaire elicited demographic information about the participants, while the measurement of decayed, missing, and filled indices (DMFT) determined their caries status. Oral lesions were noted if present. Descriptive statistics for independent variables described frequencies in the various categories of race, location, pregnancy stage, etc., with the association between 2 independent variables tested by chi-square. Dependent variables such as DMFT were expressed as means and standard deviations, and ANOVA was used to examine whether independent variables significantly influenced the DMFT. .e mean DMFT was 7.18 (±4.22) with significant correlations observed between DMFT, D, M, and age. F scores differed significantly between races, location, and educational levels and showed a significant correlation with pregnancy stage. Pregnancy epulis was diagnosed in 38 (8.5%), oral lesions in 65 (14.7%), and tooth mobility in 26 (5.9%) mothers. Early oral health screening during pregnancy can ensure the overall well-being of both the mother and the foetus

Ecosystem services based adaptation to climate change: why and how?

Ecosystem services (ES) are the benefits community receive from ecosystems. The necessity of ES for community well-being and sustainable development is universally accepted. ES have already been negatively impacted by climate change and will only deteriorate further during this century, if adequate adaptation measures are not taken. Noting ES are a relatively new dimension in the context of climate change, globally scientists and policy makers are busy searching for suitable adaptation options and ensuring an uninterrupted flow of ES. In this study, we have used climate change models, and synthesized the scholarly findings to answer two research questions (i) Why are ES based adaptations required? and (ii) What types of suitable adaptation options are available to ensure an uninterrupted supply (and flow) of ES? The study has been conducted in the Wet Tropics, Australia considering its outstanding national and global ecological significance. Our study has revealed that apart from the temporal and spatial variation, the magnitude of climate change impacts will be different for each ES. Therefore ES-based adaptations will ensure a sustainable supply and flow of ES, generating multiple ecological and community co-benefits. We have found a number of available adaptation options for different ES with substantial scientific evidence in the scholarly findings which can be implemented quite readily in the face of climate change. Some of these are: climate regulation- natural forests protection, agroforestry, planting higher wood density trees; water provision and regulation- upland forests protection, riparian restoration; coastal protection and erosion control- mangrove protection and landward facilitation, restoration of littoral forests, coastal plantation, green engineering; habitat provision-ecological connectivity, agroforestry; timber provision-planting tropical cyclone resistant trees. This study shall be useful for decision makers to incorporate suitable ES based adaptation options into their climate change related decisions, and for practitioners to select suitable adaptation options for interested ES

Concise Adoption of Generic Business Strategies, Virtues for Accomplishing:Corporate Mission in Multinational Firms in Nigeria

This study considered the concise adoption of generic business strategies in the accomplishment of corporate mission in multinational firms in Nigeria. Several attributes based on the resource and competencebased theories and models informed the nature of the study. Quantitative explanatory cross-sectional design was adopted using primarily the structured instrument designed on a 5-point Likert scale. Probability and non-probability sampling techniques were engaged in sampling 275 respondents from the multinational firms. The data obtained were analyzed using both descriptive statistics and regression analysis. The findings revealed that the generic business strategies have signify cant predictors of corporate mission accomplishment. Findings also revealed that there was positive significant influence between concise generic business strategies and firms’ productivity.This paper recommended a mandatory and thorough environmental scanning in order to select the appropriate business stratagem to be implemented in achieving the precise aspects of the corporate mission

Mosaics of canopy openness induced by tropical cyclones in lowland rain forests with contrasting management histories in northeastern Australia

Tropical Cyclone 'Rona' crossed the coast of the Daintree lowlands of northeastern Australia in 1999. This study reports on its impact on forest canopy openness at six lowland rain forest sites with contrasting management histories (old-growth, selectively logged and regrowth). Percentage canopy openness was calculated from individual hemispherical photographs taken from marked points below the forest canopy at nine plots per site 3±4 mo before the cyclone, and at the same points a month afterwards. Before the cyclone, when nine sites were visited, canopy openness in old-growth and logged sites was similar, but significantly higher in regrowth forest. After the cyclone, all six revisited sites showed an increase in canopy openness, but the increase was very patchy amongst plots and sites and varied from insignificant to severe. The most severely impacted site was an old-growth one, the least impacted a logged one. Although proneness to impact was apparently related to forest management history (old-growth being the most impacted), underlying local topography may have had an equally strong influence in this case. It was concluded that the likelihood of severe impact may be determined at the landscape-scale by the interaction of anthropogenic with meteorological, physiographic and biotic factors. In the long term, such interactions may caution against pursuing forest management in cyclone-prone areas

Spectra of Harmonium in a magnetic field using an initial value representation of the semiclassical propagator

For two Coulombically interacting electrons in a quantum dot with harmonic confinement and a constant magnetic field, we show that time-dependent semiclassical calculations using the Herman-Kluk initial value representation of the propagator lead to eigenvalues of the same accuracy as WKB calculations with Langer correction. The latter are restricted to integrable systems, however, whereas the time-dependent initial value approach allows for applications to high-dimensional, possibly chaotic dynamics and is extendable to arbitrary shapes of the potential.Comment: 11 pages, 1 figur

Terahertz underdamped vibrational motion governs protein-ligand binding in solution

Low-frequency collective vibrational modes in proteins have been proposed as being responsible for efficiently directing biochemical reactions and biological energy transport. However, evidence of the existence of delocalized vibrational modes is scarce and proof of their involvement in biological function absent. Here we apply extremely sensitive femtosecond optical Kerr-effect spectroscopy to study the depolarized Raman spectra of lysozyme and its complex with the inhibitor triacetylchitotriose in solution. Underdamped delocalized vibrational modes in the terahertz frequency domain are identified and shown to blue-shift and strengthen upon inhibitor binding. This demonstrates that the ligand-binding coordinate in proteins is underdamped and not simply solvent-controlled as previously assumed. The presence of such underdamped delocalized modes in proteins may have significant implications for the understanding of the efficiency of ligand binding and protein–molecule interactions, and has wider implications for biochemical reactivity and biological function