Towards integrated island management: lessons from Lau, Malaita, for the implementation of a national approach to resource management in Solomon Islands: final report

Solomon Islands has recently developed substantial policy aiming to support inshore fisheries management, conservation, climate change adaptation and ecosystem approaches to resource management. A large body of experience in community based approaches to management has developed but “upscaling” and particularly the implementation of nation-wide approaches has received little attention so far. With the emerging challenges posed by climate change and the need for ecosystem wide and integrated approaches attracting serious donor attention, a national debate on the most effective approaches to implementation is urgently needed. This report discusses potential implementation of “a cost-effective and integrated approach to resource management that is consistent with national policy and needs” based on a review of current policy and institutional structures and examination of a recent case study from Lau, Malaita using stakeholder, transaction and financial cost analyses

Solomon Islands Aquatic Agricultural Systems Program design document

WorldFish is leading the CGIAR Research Program on Aquatic Agricultural Systems together with two other CGIAR Centers; the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and Bioversity. In 2012 and 2013 the AAS Program rolled out in Solomon Islands, Zambia, Bangladesh, Cambodia and the Philippines. Aquatic Agricultural Systems are places where farming and fishing in freshwater and/or coastal ecosystems contribute significantly to household income and food security. The program goal is to improve the well-being of AAS-dependent people. A hub is a geographic location that provides a focus for learning, innovation and impact through participatory action research. In Solomon Islands AAS works in Malaita Hub (Malaita Province) and Western Hub (Western Province). In each hub we identify a ‘Development Challenge’ that the Program will address to give us focus and motivation

Towards integrated island management: lessons from Lau, Malaita, for the implementation of a national approach to resource management in Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands has recently developed substantial policy aiming to support inshore fisheries management, conservation, climate change adaptation and ecosystem approaches to resource management. A large body of experience in community based approaches to management has developed but ôupscalingö and particularly the implementation of nation-wide approaches has received little attention so far. With the emerging challenges posed by climate change and the need for ecosystem wide and integrated approaches attracting serious donor attention, a national debate on the most effective approaches to implementation is urgently needed. This report discusses potential implementation of ôa cost-effective and integrated approach to resource management that is consistent with national policy and needsö based on a review of current policy and institutional structures and examination of a recent case study from Lau, Malaita using stakeholder, transaction and financial cost analyses.Resource management, Policies, Fishery management, Conservation, Environment management, ISEW, Pacific, Solomon Is., Malaita I.,

Customer satisfaction as a performance measurement and management tool in English social housing

Customer satisfaction measurement is argued to be the ultimate arbiter of the success of public organisations (Hill et al 2007). Despite being a regulatory requirement for English social housing providers to measure customer satisfaction throughout the 2000’s and remaining relevant after sector de-regulation in 2010 (Williams 2013), it is surprising there is little academic literature underpinning quality of service and customer satisfaction within English social housing. This study meets this gap by presenting the first academic research exploring the empirical evidence underpinning the relationship between customer satisfaction and service quality orientated business performance in the UK social housing sector

Reconciling multiple societal objectives in cross-scale marine governance: Solomon Islands’ engagement in the Coral Triangle Initiative

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the publisher via the DOI in this record.Environmental governance aims to reconcile an expanding set of societal objectives at ever-larger scales despite the challenges that remain in integrating conservation and development at smaller scales. We interrogate Solomon Islands’ engagement in the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security to contribute new insight on the scalar politics of multi-level marine governance. We show how regional objectives are re-interpreted and prioritized as they translate into national policy and practice. Our data suggest that enhanced coordination of finances and activities, integration of objectives in shared protocols and priority geographies, and a subtle shift in power relations between the state, donors, and implementation partners have resulted from processes of re-scaling. We discuss important procedural adjustments in cross-level and cross-scale governance across jurisdictional, institutional, and sectoral scales. We also reflect on the changing role of national governments in shifts toward large-scale, multi-national initiatives.LE acknowledges funding from the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. PJC and DB undertook this work as part of the CGIAR Research Program on Fish Agrifood Systems (FISH). Funding support for this study was provided by an Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research grant (FIS/2012/074)

Elucidating the role of matrix porosity and rigidity in glioblastoma type IV progression

The highly infiltrating nature of glioma cells is the major cause for the poor prognosis of brain malignancies. Motility, proliferation, and gene expression of cells in natural and synthetic gels have been analyzed by several authors, yet quantitative studies elucidating the role of matrix porosity and rigidity in the development of whole malignant masses are missing. Here, an experimental\u2010computational framework is introduced to analyze the behavior of U87\u2010MG cells and spheroids in compact hyaluronic acid gels (HA), replicating the brain parenchyma; and fibrous collagen gels (COL), resembling the organized structures of the brain. Experimentally it was observed that individual U87\u2010MG cells in COL assumed an elongated morphology within a few hours post inclusion (p.i.) and travelled longer distances than in HA. As spheroids, U87\u2010MG cells rapidly dispersed into COL resulting in infiltrating regions as large as tumor cores ( 48600 \u3bcm, at 8 days p.i.). Conversely, cells in HA originated smaller and denser infiltrating regions ( 48300 \u3bcm, at 8 days p.i.). Notably, COL tumor core size was only 20% larger than in HA, at longer time points. Computationally, by introducing for the first time the effects of matrix heterogeneity in our numerical simulations, the results confirmed that matrix porosity and its spatial organization are key factors in priming the infiltrating potential of these malignant cells. The experimental\u2010numerical synergy can be used to predict the behavior of neoplastic masses under diverse conditions and the efficacy of combination therapies simultaneously aiming at killing cancer cells and modulating the tumor microenvironment

A parametric study of a multiphase porous media model for tumor spheroids and environment interactions

Computational models for tumor growth provide an effective in silico tool to investigate the different stages of cancer growth. Recently, a series of computational models based on porous media theory has been proposed to predict tumor evolution and its interactions with the host tissue. In addition, a specialization of the original models, adapted for tumor spheroids, has been proposed and validated experimentally. However, due to the complexity of the modeling framework, a systematic understanding of the role of the parameters governing the equations is still lacking. In this work, we perform a parametric analysis on a set of fundamental parameters appearing in the model equations. We investigate the effects of a variation of these coefficients on the spheroid growth curves and, in particular, on the final radii reached by the cell aggregates in the growth saturation stage. Finally, we provide a discussion of the results and give a brief summary of our findings

Clarifying supply chain disruption and operational resilience relationship from a threat-rigidity perspective: Evidence from small and medium-sized enterprises

Given the significant risk supply chain disruptions pose to businesses, scholars and experts presume such events encourage resilience-building efforts. This study uses the threat-rigidity theory to question this normative assumption by proposing that supply chain disruption can trigger threat interpretation bias, which undermines operational resilience. Specifically, the study contends that threat interpretation bias negatively mediates the relationship between supply chain disruption and operational resilience, particularly in low disruption orientation circumstances. An empirical analysis of survey data from 259 small and medium-sized enterprises in Ghana using covariance-based structural equation modeling supports these theoretical predictions. The results indicate that supply chain disruption increases threat interpretation bias, which in turn reduces operational resilience. The negative effect of threat interpretation bias on operational resilience is stronger when disruption orientation is low than when it is high. These results offer an enhanced understanding of the supply chain disruption–resilience link while shedding light on how firms can manage threat interpretation bias to improve operational resilience

Memory effect in silicon time-gated single-photon avalanche diodes

We present a comprehensive characterization of the memory effect arising in thin-junction silicon Single-Photon Avalanche Diodes (SPADs) when exposed to strong illumination. This partially unknown afterpulsing-like noise represents the main limiting factor when time-gated acquisitions are exploited to increase the measurement dynamic range of very fast (picosecond scale) and faint (single-photon) optical signals following a strong stray one. We report the dependences of this unwelcome signal-related noise on photon wavelength, detector temperature, and biasing conditions. Our results suggest that this so-called "memory effect" is generated in the deep regions of the detector, well below the depleted region, and its contribution on detector response is visible only when time-gated SPADs are exploited to reject a strong burst of photons

Linking resource slack to operational resilience: integration of resource-based and attention-based perspectives

With limited empirical evidence, prior research suggests resource slack as a fundamental feature of resilient operations and supply chains. This study draws insights from the resource-based theory to empirically examine the relationship between resource slack and operational resilience. The attention-based view of the firm is then used to argue that while resource slack may be an essential feature of operational resilience, its effect is mediated by organizational attention under varying conditions of strategic mission rigidity. These arguments are tested on primary data from 259 firms in a sub-Saharan African market, Ghana. Contrary to conventional wisdom, findings show that resource slack is not directly related to operational resilience. Rather, the study finds that the contribution of resource slack in driving operational resilience is channeled through organizational attention. Results further show that this indirect path is strengthened under conditions of low strategic mission rigidity. In expanding and clarifying extant literature on the resilience implications of resource slack, therefore, this study explains how operations and supply chain managers can combine organizational attention with low strategic mission rigidity conditions to convert resource slack into enhanced operational resilience outcomes