Biological reference points for Atlantic surfclam (Spisula solidissima) in warming seas

Atlantic surfclam (Spisula solidissima) are a large, commercially important shellfish in the United States faced with several important management challenges. Compared to many harvested fish and shellfish, their life history is relatively unknown. They are undergoing contraction in the southern and inshore parts of their range, as well as expansion into deeper water. Atlantic surfclam are thermally sensitive, and the changes in their distribution track changes in maximum bottom temperature. Sessile species cannot emigrate and are limited to recruitment and mortality as mechanisms for redistribution in response to changing climate. Management of Atlantic surf clam should account for these challenges. We describe a simulation designed to calculate biological reference points that will work well for Atlantic surfclam relative to biological and fishery goals, over a range of life history parameters, assessment uncertainties, and increases in temperature. Simulations of the trade-off between somatic growth and mortality under increased temperature led to target fishing mortality rates higher than the status quo, but also to increased variability in yield. Results suggest that increasing temperature may adversely affect the Atlantic surfclam industry, which prefers stable catches to short term increases in yield, due to market limitations. The results of this analysis are specific to Atlantic surfclam, but the methods described here could be used to enhance management for other harvested species facing similar challenges

Exploring How Counselor Education Programs Support Site Supervisors

CACREP standards require counselor education programs to provide site supervisors with orientation, consultation, and professional development opportunities (PD). Using a nonexperimental descriptive design, we collected data from a national sample of CACREP-accredited programs (N=46, 13.3% response rate) via an online descriptive survey to explore how programs provide such opportunities to site supervisors. The survey contained open-ended and multiple-choice items addressing orientation, consultation, PD, and participants’ opinions on how their program addressed the three domains. We analyzed numerical data using descriptive statistics and open-ended responses using content analysis. We found that most programs offered orientation, consultation, and PD, though site supervisor engagement and methods of implementation varied considerably. Implications for research and practice are discussed in light of the findings

Improved Algorithms for Approximate String Matching (Extended Abstract)

The problem of approximate string matching is important in many different areas such as computational biology, text processing and pattern recognition. A great effort has been made to design efficient algorithms addressing several variants of the problem, including comparison of two strings, approximate pattern identification in a string or calculation of the longest common subsequence that two strings share. We designed an output sensitive algorithm solving the edit distance problem between two strings of lengths n and m respectively in time O((s-|n-m|)min(m,n,s)+m+n) and linear space, where s is the edit distance between the two strings. This worst-case time bound sets the quadratic factor of the algorithm independent of the longest string length and improves existing theoretical bounds for this problem. The implementation of our algorithm excels also in practice, especially in cases where the two strings compared differ significantly in length. Source code of our algorithm is available at http://www.cs.miami.edu/\~dimitris/edit_distanceComment: 10 page

Amerikanisierung oder Europäisierung der (Aus-) Bildung? Die Bologna- und Kopenhagen-Prozesse und das neue europäische Modell der Hochschul- und Berufsbildung

Die USA, Deutschland, Frankreich und Grossbritannien stehen für jeweils unterschiedliche sowie international viel beachtete Modelle der Hochschul- und Berufsbildung. Es gibt keinen globalen Konsens darüber, welche Kriterien für den Erfolg nationaler Bildungssysteme gelten oder welchem Vorbild gefolgt werden soll. Gegenwärtige europäische Reformen, wie die Bologna- und der Kopenhagen-Prozesse, sollen die Wettbewerbsfähigkeit Europas im Vergleich zu den USA erhöhen. Doch auf welchen zentralen Vorstellungen basiert das in diesen Prozessen verbreitete, im Entstehen begriffene europäische Bildungsmodell? Mit einer Inhaltsanalyse europäischer Dokumente (Deklarationen und Kommuniqués) gehen wir der Frage nach, ob die Ideale, Ziele, Legitimationen und Standards dieses Modells eher auf eine Amerikanisierung oder auf eine bricolage verschiedener aus Europa stammender Modelle hindeuten

The Emergent European Model in Skill Formation: Comparing Higher Education and Vocational Training in the Bologna and Copenhagen Processes

Proposing an alternative to the American model, intergovernmental reform initiatives in Europe have developed and promote a comprehensive European model of skill formation. What ideals, standards, and governance are proposed in this new pan-European model? This model responds to heightened global competition among “knowledge societies” as it challenges national systems to improve. The authors thus compare this emergent European model with the historically influential models of Germany, France, Great Britain, and the United States. To what extent does the European model resemble these traditionally influential national models? The authors report findings of a theory-guided content analysis of official European policy documents in higher education and vocational training from 1998 to 2010. They find that while the European model is a bricolage that integrates diverse characteristics of influential models, the ambitious goals and standards codified in the twin Bologna and Copenhagen processes in higher education and vocational training offer a new model to compete internationally. Dozens of countries now seek to implement these principles. This comparative analysis finds different visions for the future of skill formation on both sides of the Atlantic

DEVELOPING BETTER ECONOMIC INFORMATION ABOUT COASTAL RESOURCES AS A TOOL FOR INTEGRATED COASTAL MANAGEMENT

Measuring economic activity associated with the ocean through examination of the goods and services produced by specified industries and in coastal locations will provide answers to many of the most commonly asked questions about the ocean economy. But even this data will still be incomplete. Beyond are a variety of non-market values, which are needed to complete the picture. When someone goes to the beach in Florida or boats on Chesapeake Bay, there may be little that is directly purchased on that day. But the popularity of such activities is testament to their underlying value. Economists have developed a variety of techniques to measure such values, and a large number of studies have been done throughout the country using these techniques. The Project intends to compile the results of these studies into the ocean economy database to provide researchers with access to the information that has been generated. The resulting integrated, web-accessible database will provide as comprehensive a picture as possible of the economic values associated with the ocean. It will provide historical data, and because it is estimated as much as possible on a consistent basis, it can be used to compare these values across time and space. But there will still be important limitations. Requirements to maintain confidentiality of data will require that many smaller geographic areas cannot be described in the same level of detail as larger regions. The surveys of industries conducted by the Census Bureau that underlie the national data and which will be used to disaggregate to the industrial and geographic level will have sampling limitations that will require some indirect estimating techniques. The nonmarket values are estimated using complex techniques that can result in widely varying figures for the same resources

Integrating International Student Mobility in Work-based Higher Education: The Case of Germany

Dual study programs are hybrid forms of work-based higher education that have expanded very rapidly in Germany—a country traditionally considered a key model in both higher education (HE) and vocational education and training (VET). The continued expansion of these hybrid programs increasingly raises questions if, how, and why they may be internationalized. Although comparative research suggests that this could be challenging due to the uniqueness of the German education and training system, strong forces support internationalization. This study examines the current state and the future prospects of internationalization of such innovative dual study programs by focusing on student mobility, a key dimension of internationalization. We find growing interest in but still relatively little mobility related to dual study programs, whether among German (outgoing) or international (incoming) students. Based on expert interviews and document analysis, we extend existing typologies of student mobility regarding specific features of work-based HE programs. Furthermore, we discuss opportunities—at home and abroad—for increasing student mobility in this rapidly expanding sector