The distribution and abundance of dictyoceratid sponges in relation to hydrodynamic features: identifying candidates and environmental conditions for sponge aquaculture

The distribution and abundance of dictyoceratid sponges was surveyed to a depth of 20 m at eleven locations within the Palm Island Group, Great Barrier Reef (GBR), Australia. These surveys were related to prevailing hydrodynamic conditions to identify candidates and environmental conditions for sponge aquaculture. Locations were classified as sheltered, intermediate and exposed using quantitative wave exposure and current force models. The species richness of dictyoceratid sponges was high with ten taxa, but the abundance of most species was low with patchy distributions. Two species, Coscinoderma sp. and Rhopaloeides odorabile, were abundant, and detailed surveys of these species were conducted at seven locations representing common habitats within the Palm Island Group. Coscinoderma sp. was present at all locations and although abundances differed significantly across locations, this was not related to hydrodynamic conditions. In contrast, R. odorabile was only present at exposed locations with low abundance. The higher abundance and broad distribution of Coscinoderma sp. supports its selection as an aquaculture candidate. In contrast, R. odorabile was less abundant and was restricted to high-energy environments making aquaculture more problematic. The present study demonstrates the importance of ecological data in the decision-making process for new species aquaculture.

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Multivariable Automatisierungsentscheidungen*/Multivariate automation decisions – A tool for cost-benefit assessments as a basis for decision-making

wt Werkstattstechnik online ◽

10.37544/1436-4980-2019-03-32 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 109 (03) ◽

pp. 134-139

Author(s):

P. Burggräf ◽

J. Wagner ◽

M. Dannapfel ◽

K. Müller ◽

B. Koke

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Decision Support ◽

Environmental Conditions ◽

Cost Benefit ◽

Decision Support Tool ◽

Decision Making Process ◽

Support Tool ◽

Cost And Benefit ◽

Benefit Evaluation ◽

Level Of Automation

Der wachsende Bedarf an Wandlungsfähigkeit führt zu einer höheren Frequenz in der Umplanung von Montagesystemen und erfordert eine kontinuierliche Überprüfung und Anpassung des Automatisierungsgrades. Um auch die komplexen Umgebungsbedingungen abzubilden, sollen nicht-monetäre Faktoren in den Entscheidungsprozess eingebunden werden. Um die Entscheidung zu unterstützen, stellt dieser Beitrag ein Tool zur Identifizierung und Bewertung von Automatisierungsszenarien mittels einer Nutzwert-Aufwand-Analyse vor.   The increasing need for adaptability in assembly leads to a higher planning frequency of the system and requires continuous checks and adaptations of the appropriate level of automation. To account for the complex environmental conditions, non-monetary factors are included in the decision-making process. This paper presents a decision support tool to identify and evaluate automation scenarios by means of cost and benefit evaluation.

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Assessment of uncertainty in Great Barrier Reef catchment models

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.2007.450 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 56 (1) ◽

pp. 181-188 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

A. Herr ◽

P.M. Kuhnert

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Great Barrier Reef ◽

Land Management ◽

Water Quality Management ◽

Model Development ◽

Management Plan ◽

Decision Making Process ◽

Barrier Reef ◽

Research Activity ◽

Research Activities

This paper addresses uncertainty in socio-economic and sediment-nutrient models that are being developed for the assessment of change in the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) area. The catchments draining into the GBR lagoon are sources of pollutants. The Reef Water Quality Management Plan of the Queensland Government identified sediments and nutrients transported to the GBR lagoon as the major long-term threats to the reef and inshore ecosystems and the wellbeing of the human communities. The plan clearly indicates that changes in land management are required by 2013 to reduce pollutant inputs and, at the same time, maintain or enhance the benefits from using the inland waters. Science that provides decision tools for natural resource management and improves socio-economic and biophysical understanding is required to enable managers to make better decisions. A major research activity (the Water for a Healthy Country Flagship) aims to address social, economic and biophysical outcomes of land management change in the GBR. It contains research activities that provide information for integrated model development. Currently, however, these models lack the ability to estimate the uncertainty associated with prediction. This project aims to provide statistical methods for assessing uncertainty in models of sediment transportation to the GBR. Furthermore, it provides a link between the models and the decision-making process that allows assessment of uncertainty, a step pertinent to the risk analysis of policy options. This paper describes current and ongoing approaches for assessing uncertainty using a sediment modelling example and provides a way forward for the integration of applied socio-economic and biophysical models used in the decision-making process.

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An Advanced Salvage Method for Damaged Ship Structures

10.5957/smc-2021-046 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Alessandro La Ferlita ◽

Helge Rathje ◽

Thomas Lindemann ◽

Patrick Kaeding ◽

Robert Bronsart

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Environmental Conditions ◽

Bending Moment ◽

Decision Making Process ◽

Iterative Approach ◽

Short Term ◽

Smith Method ◽

Longitudinal Strength ◽

Wave Induced ◽

Damaged Ship

An advanced salvage method is proposed for damaged ships to ensure a short-term decision-making process for a safe ocean towage to the repair yard. The residual longitudinal strength must be greater than the sum of the still water and the maximum vertical wave bending moment. The ultimate bending moment is determined numerically for a container vessel by using an incremental iterative approach (Smith method) and wave-induced loads are predicted by means of hydrodynamic analyses. Successful applicability of the advanced salvage method is demonstrated for a damaged container vessel, which was towed from La Libertad, Ecuador, via Panama to the repair yard in Zhoushan, China, in restricted environmental conditions.

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On the optimal specificity of legal rules

Journal of Institutional Economics ◽

10.1017/s1744137407000653 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

pp. 147-164 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

VINCY FON ◽

FRANCESCO PARISI

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Environmental Conditions ◽

Optimal Choice ◽

Decision Making Process ◽

Legal Rules ◽

Optimal Degree ◽

Basic Model ◽

Levels Of Detail ◽

Legislative Processes ◽

Different Levels

Abstract:Lawmakers can choose to craft laws with different levels of detail to guide judges in their decision-making process, incorporating rules or standards into the laws they write. The optimal degree of specificity of legal rules under different environmental conditions and the functionality of these rules or standards are the subjects of the present study. A basic model of optimal specificity of laws is presented, clarifying the relevance of legal obsolescence and volume of litigation in the optimal choice. We then consider the important influence of codification style, judges’ specialization, and complexity of reality on the optimal choice of legislative instrument. The implications of our results are then reexamined in light of the more complex institutional reality that characterizes contemporary legislative processes in various areas of the law.

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DECISION MAKING AND ADAPTATION PROCESSES TO CLIMATE CHANGE

Ambiente & sociedade ◽

10.1590/1809-4422asocex0004v1942016 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 19 (4) ◽

pp. 215-234 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

EDUARDO SANDOVAL BUSTOS ◽

◽

SEBASTIÁN DIAZ VICUÑA ◽

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Decision Making ◽

Environmental Conditions ◽

Decision Making Process ◽

Adaptation To Climate Change ◽

Knowledge Source ◽

Communication Processes ◽

Adaptation Processes ◽

The Way

Abstract Climate change imposes certain challenges not only to ecosystems but to societies as well. The change in environmental conditions makes necessary to review the decision-making process related to adaptation to climate change. This review should consider future risks or current conditions of vulnerability through existing mechanisms in organizations or societies. From this analysis onwards, processes must be developed allowing, either to prepare the way to face expected future impacts or to decrease the current vulnerability regarding climate by creating more resilient systems. In this context, the role of the academy, as a knowledge source, results fundamentally. Nevertheless, this highlight the need to review and improve the communication processes from academy towards different interests groups by means of the co-production and strengthening of links among different society components.

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Mice adaptively generate choice variability in a deterministic task

Communications Biology ◽

10.1038/s42003-020-0759-x ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Marwen Belkaid ◽

Elise Bousseyrol ◽

Romain Durand-de Cuttoli ◽

Malou Dongelmans ◽

Etienne K. Duranté ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Reinforcement Learning ◽

Success Rate ◽

Decision Maker ◽

Environmental Conditions ◽

Optimal Strategy ◽

Temporal Structure ◽

Decision Making Process ◽

Reward Delivery ◽

Deterministic Setting

AbstractCan decisions be made solely by chance? Can variability be intrinsic to the decision-maker or is it inherited from environmental conditions? To investigate these questions, we designed a deterministic setting in which mice are rewarded for non-repetitive choice sequences, and modeled the experiment using reinforcement learning. We found that mice progressively increased their choice variability. Although an optimal strategy based on sequences learning was theoretically possible and would be more rewarding, animals used a pseudo-random selection which ensures high success rate. This was not the case if the animal is exposed to a uniform probabilistic reward delivery. We also show that mice were blind to changes in the temporal structure of reward delivery once they learned to choose at random. Overall, our results demonstrate that a decision-making process can self-generate variability and randomness, even when the rules governing reward delivery are neither stochastic nor volatile.

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AAC Decision-Making and Mobile Technology: Points to Ponder

Perspectives on Augmentative and Alternative Communication ◽

10.1044/aac23.2.104 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 23 (2) ◽

pp. 104-111 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Mary Ann Abbott ◽

Debby McBride

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Mobile Technology ◽

Communication System ◽

Augmentative And Alternative Communication ◽

Evaluation Process ◽

Decision Making Process ◽

Alternative Communication ◽

Ipod Touch ◽

Feature Match

The purpose of this article is to outline a decision-making process and highlight which portions of the augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) evaluation process deserve special attention when deciding which features are required for a communication system in order to provide optimal benefit for the user. The clinician then will be able to use a feature-match approach as part of the decision-making process to determine whether mobile technology or a dedicated device is the best choice for communication. The term mobile technology will be used to describe off-the-shelf, commercially available, tablet-style devices like an iPhone®, iPod Touch®, iPad®, and Android® or Windows® tablet.

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