Report of the Biological Data Products Workshop of the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet)

From 25 till 26 of February 2010, the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) organized a workshop on biological data products in Oostende, Belgium. This workshop was organized within the framework of the upcoming European Marine Observation and Data Network, EMODnet, launched by the Maritime Policy of the European Commission. 57 participants from 42 excellent institutes involved in marine biological data collection, marine research and marine policy across Europe attended the workshop. The workshop had three main objectives: (1) to discuss the marine biological data availability and gaps in Europe, (2) to demonstrate the prototype of the EMODnet biological data portal to different user groups and (3) to define a set of derived biological data products relevant for private bodies, public authorities and researchers. A huge amount of reliable European marine biological data and information was presented to the public. These data are available and despite some temporal, spatial and taxonomic limitations, data are already very useful for analyses. There was a consensus amongst workshop participants that the look and feel and functionalities of the EMODnet biological prototype portal, visualizing both data observations and data products, were meeting the requirements. Although the user groups were very diverse, being people from the scientific community, people involved in the European marine policy and coastal and marine practitioners, a number of striking similarities amongst data products were found. In the different user discussion groups, four different sets of marine biological data products were identified as priority biological data products being: (1) species distribution maps and trends, (2) species sensitivity and vulnerability maps, (3) species attributes (functional groups, HAB’s, invasive species, red list or protected species) and (4) biodiversity indices. Within the biological EMODnet preparatory action, a few data analysis workshops will be organized in the near future (2011) to produce some of the data products identified during this workshop. The same community and other relevant stakeholders, identified during the meeting will be involved in this process

Forming simulation of a thermoplastic commingled woven textile on a double dome

This paper presents thermoforming experiments and FE simulations of a commingled glass-PP woven composite on a double dome geometry, with the aim of assessing the correspondence of predicted and experimental shear angles. Large local deformations - especially in-plane shear, i.e. relative rotation between the two yarn families – occur when draping a textile on a three dimensional part and eventually unwanted phenomena like wrinkling or tearing may occur. The macroscopic drape behaviour of a weave is generally subdivided into: 1) The high tensile resistance along the yarn directions, expressed as non-linear stress-strain curves, and 2) The shear resistance, expressed as non-linear shear force versus shear angle curves. The constitutive model is constituted of a dedicated non-orthogonal hypo-elastic shear resistance model, previously described in [1, 2], combined with truss elements that represent the high tensile resistance along the yarn directions. This model is implemented in a user subroutine of the ABAQUS explicit FE solver. The material parameters have been identified via textile biaxial tensile tests at room temperature and bias extension tests at 200°. Thermoforming experiments are performed on a rectangular blank with the warp direction along the second symmetry plane of the tool, with a preheating temperature of 200°C, a constant mold temperature of about 70°C, and a blankholder ring. It was concluded that the shear angles were fairly well predicted for this particular case study, which could be expected in view of the fact that no wrinkles had formed during the thermoforming experiment

EurOBIS & Co

The Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) is a distributed system that allows to search multiple datasets simultaneously for biogeographic information on marine organisms. This distributed system integrates individual datasets on marine organisms into one large consolidated database. EurOBIS has been developed within the MarBEF network and is the European node of OBIS. Within EurOBIS the European Register of Marine Species (ERMS) functions as the taxonomic backbone; the European Marine Gazetteer as the geographical reference list, and the Integrated Marine Information System as the inventory of relevant data and other information.The MarBEF data system is available at: http://www.marbef.org/data

Documenting marine species traits in the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS): current status, future plans and encountered challenges

The importance of describing species patterns and the underlying processes explaining these patterns is essential to assess the status and future evolution of marine ecosystems. This requires biological information on functional and structural species traits such as feeding ecology, body size, reproduction, life history, etc.To accommodate this need, the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) (WoRMS Editorial Board 2017) is expanding its content with trait information (Costello et al. 2015), subdivided into 3 main categories: (1) taxonomy related traits, e.g. paraphyletic groups, (2) biological and ecological traits-specific characteristics of a taxon, e.g. body size or feeding type and (3) human defined traits, e.g. the legal protection status of species, whether a species is introduced, harmful, or used as an ecological indicator.Initially, priority was given to the inclusion of traits that could be applied to the majority of marine taxa and where the information was easily available. The main driver for this approach was that the inclusion of these traits should result in new research, which in turn would drive improvements in the quality and quantity of trait information. Pilot projects were carried out for different species groups, allowing a thorough documentation of a selection of traits. In parallel, a standard vocabulary was put together (http://www.marinespecies.org/traits/wiki/), based on already existing resources to cover all marine life. All documented traits needed to be compliant with this vocabulary, in order to make the data as widely useable as possible, across groups. Defining a trait across all marine life is not trivial, as scientists can use terms in a different way between groups. This stresses the importance for users to realize these differences in terminology, before they analyse a trait across all taxa.Some traits were thought to be quite straightforward to document, although practice proved otherwise. Such a trait is body size, where the aim was to document the numerical value of the ‘maximum body size in length’. In reality, a lot of variation is possible (e.g. for fish: fork length versus standard length) and maximum size is not always considered relevant from an ecological point of view. On the other hand, documenting numerical body size for each marine species is quite time consuming. Therefore, a complementary size trait will be documented, indicating whether taxa are considered as micro, meio, macro or mega.Whereas the initial approach was to complete the register for each tackled trait relevant for all marine species, we now complement this by (1) documenting several traits within a specific group, regardless whether this trait is also present in other taxon groups, and (2) documenting one specific trait, covering a variety – but not all – taxonomic groups, e.g. the composition of the skeleton for calcareous animals.Where possible, we aim to document a trait on a higher taxonomic level to allow the work to progress more rapidly. As the database allows top-down inheritance of traits, exceptions can easily be documented. In addition, collaborations are sought with already running initiatives such as Encyclopedia of Life.Very soon, all the documented traits will be searchable through the Marine Species Traits Portal. The human-defined traits are already accessible through the EMODnet Biology Portal (http://www.emodnet-biology.eu/toolbox), in combination with distribution information from the European Ocean Biogeographic Information System (EurOBIS; www.eurobis.org; Vandepitte et al. 2011; Vandepitte et al. 2015) and taxonomy from WoRMS (www.marinespecies.org). Through the LifeWatch Taxonomic Backbone (LW-TaxBB) (http://www.lifewatch.be/data-services/), services are offered to access these traits, combined with data and information from other resources such as WoRMS and (Eur)OBIS.We would like to acknowledge the EMODnet Biology and the LifeWatch project, in which the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) – host institute of WoRMS – is responsible for the development of the LW-TaxBB. Both projects provide funding for the documentation of trait data and development of services allowing researchers to easily access the available data, in combination with data from other sources

'It is like a tomato stall where someone can pick what he likes': structure and practices of female sex work in Kampala, Uganda.

BACKGROUND: Effective interventions among female sex workers require a thorough knowledge of the context of local sex industries. We explore the organisation of female sex work in a low socio-economic setting in Kampala, Uganda. METHODS: We conducted a qualitative study with 101 participants selected from an epidemiological cohort of 1027 women at high risk of HIV in Kampala. Repeat in-depth life history and work practice interviews were conducted from March 2010 to June 2011. Context specific factors of female sex workers' day-to-day lives were captured. Reported themes were identified and categorised inductively. RESULTS: Of the 101 women, 58 were active self-identified sex workers operating in different locations within the area of study and nine had quit sex work. This paper focuses on these 67 women who gave information about their involvement in sex work. The majority had not gone beyond primary level of education and all had at least one child. Thirty one voluntarily disclosed that they were HIV-positive. Common sex work locations were streets/roadsides, bars and night clubs. Typically sex occurred in lodges near bars/night clubs, dark alleyways or car parking lots. Overall, women experienced sex work-related challenges at their work locations but these were more apparent in outdoor settings. These settings exposed women to violence, visibility to police, a stigmatising public as well as competition for clients, while bars provided some protection from these challenges. Older sex workers tended to prefer bars while the younger ones were mostly based on the streets. Alcohol consumption was a feature in all locations and women said it gave them courage and helped them to withstand the night chill. Condom use was determined by clients' willingness, a woman's level of sobriety or price offered. CONCLUSIONS: Sex work operates across a variety of locations in the study area in Kampala, with each presenting different strategies and challenges for those operating there. Risky practices are present in all locations although they are higher on the streets compared to other locations. Location specific interventions are required to address the complex challenges in sex work environments