scholarly journals Informing Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management from an Indigenous Perspective: The Mōtū Kahawai Fishery

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Kimberley Maxwell
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Fisheries Management ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
River Mouth ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Ecosystem Interactions

<p>Despite agencies striving to manage fisheries sustainably, focusing on large-scale commercial interests and ignoring target species and their wider ecosystem interactions, has depleted or collapsed fisheries globally. Indigenous community well-being, practices, knowledge, and food supplies have also diminished as a result. Fisheries managers are now developing a more combined approach to decision-making, which recognises the social and ecological relationships of fisheries. The Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries encourages fisheries scientists and managers to engage with each other, and with the wider community, and to include information on the wider social and ecological components of fisheries systems in decision-making.  This thesis explores an Indigenous fishery by demonstrating how to appropriately gather information from a wide range of sources to inform its management. We focus on a case study fishery for kahawai (Arripis trutta), from the perspective of Te Whānau-a-Hikarukutai/Ngāti Horomoana (TWAH/NH). This Hapū (sub-tribe) is part of the larger Te Whānau-a-Apanui Iwi (tribe) of New Zealand (NZ), who have strong cultural connections to, and a unique system for managing, the Mōtū kahawai fishery. This fishery is a small-scale, land-based, hand-line fishery for a medium-sized pelagic teleost fish based at the Mōtū river mouth, located at Maraenui in the eastern Bay of Plenty, NZ.  This research demonstrates holistic ecosystem-based fisheries research as a template for future fisheries research activities. A transdisciplinary research approach, grounded in kaupapa Māori research principles and Māori research ethics, was taken. A strategy was developed to direct engagement with Māori for fisheries research. The existing NZ fisheries management system was defined, and Independent fishery forum plans were identified as the most proactive way to inform the system. A plan can also be used to inform fisheries through other mechanisms; therefore, it is a valuable resource to create. Information on the history, background and value of the fishery was gathered and the Mōtū kahawai fishery identified as a cultural keystone species for TWAH/NH. Kahawai trophic and ecosystem interactions were described from ecology and mātauranga studies. This information was collated in a Hapū plan to inform management of the Mōtū kahawai fishery. This fishery has existed for ca. 600 years and the Hapū wish for it to thrive indefinitely. The Hapū plan will inform wider fisheries management, of Hapū values, practices, and knowledge, to be recognised by the wider community, and to support Hapū rangatiratanga (sovereignty) over the fishery.</p>

scholarly journals Informing Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management from an Indigenous Perspective: The Mōtū Kahawai Fishery

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Kimberley Maxwell
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Fisheries Management ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
River Mouth ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Ecosystem Interactions

<p>Despite agencies striving to manage fisheries sustainably, focusing on large-scale commercial interests and ignoring target species and their wider ecosystem interactions, has depleted or collapsed fisheries globally. Indigenous community well-being, practices, knowledge, and food supplies have also diminished as a result. Fisheries managers are now developing a more combined approach to decision-making, which recognises the social and ecological relationships of fisheries. The Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries encourages fisheries scientists and managers to engage with each other, and with the wider community, and to include information on the wider social and ecological components of fisheries systems in decision-making.  This thesis explores an Indigenous fishery by demonstrating how to appropriately gather information from a wide range of sources to inform its management. We focus on a case study fishery for kahawai (Arripis trutta), from the perspective of Te Whānau-a-Hikarukutai/Ngāti Horomoana (TWAH/NH). This Hapū (sub-tribe) is part of the larger Te Whānau-a-Apanui Iwi (tribe) of New Zealand (NZ), who have strong cultural connections to, and a unique system for managing, the Mōtū kahawai fishery. This fishery is a small-scale, land-based, hand-line fishery for a medium-sized pelagic teleost fish based at the Mōtū river mouth, located at Maraenui in the eastern Bay of Plenty, NZ.  This research demonstrates holistic ecosystem-based fisheries research as a template for future fisheries research activities. A transdisciplinary research approach, grounded in kaupapa Māori research principles and Māori research ethics, was taken. A strategy was developed to direct engagement with Māori for fisheries research. The existing NZ fisheries management system was defined, and Independent fishery forum plans were identified as the most proactive way to inform the system. A plan can also be used to inform fisheries through other mechanisms; therefore, it is a valuable resource to create. Information on the history, background and value of the fishery was gathered and the Mōtū kahawai fishery identified as a cultural keystone species for TWAH/NH. Kahawai trophic and ecosystem interactions were described from ecology and mātauranga studies. This information was collated in a Hapū plan to inform management of the Mōtū kahawai fishery. This fishery has existed for ca. 600 years and the Hapū wish for it to thrive indefinitely. The Hapū plan will inform wider fisheries management, of Hapū values, practices, and knowledge, to be recognised by the wider community, and to support Hapū rangatiratanga (sovereignty) over the fishery.</p>

scholarly journals Xylanolytic Bacillus species for xylooligosaccharides production: a critical review

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rozina Rashid ◽  
Muhammad Sohail
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Extracellular Enzymes ◽  
Membrane Separation ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Bacillus Species ◽  
Scale Production ◽  
Food Ingredients ◽  
Large Scale Production ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Biological Impacts

AbstractThe capacity of different Bacillus species to produce large amounts of extracellular enzymes and ability to ferment various substrates at a wide range of pH and temperature has placed them among the most promising hosts for the industrial production of many improved and novel products. The global interest in prebiotics, for example, xylooligosaccharides (XOs) is ever increasing, rousing the quest for various forms with expanded productivity. This article provides an overview of xylanase producing bacilli, with more emphasis on their capacity to be used in the production of the XOs, followed by the purification strategies, characteristics and application of XOs from bacilli. The large-scale production of XOs is carried out from a number of xylan-rich lignocellulosic materials by chemical or enzymatic hydrolysis followed by purification through chromatography, vacuum evaporation, solvent extraction or membrane separation methods. Utilization of XOs in the production of functional products as food ingredients brings well-being to individuals by improving defense system and eliminating pathogens. In addition to the effects related to health, a variety of other biological impacts have also been discussed.

scholarly journals A Confrontation Decision-Making Method with Deep Reinforcement Learning and Knowledge Transfer for Multi-Agent System

Symmetry ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 631
Author(s):  
Chunyang Hu
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Reinforcement Learning ◽  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Effective Control ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Learning Agent ◽  
Multi Agent ◽  
Transfer Method ◽  
Parameter Sharing

In this paper, deep reinforcement learning (DRL) and knowledge transfer are used to achieve the effective control of the learning agent for the confrontation in the multi-agent systems. Firstly, a multi-agent Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (DDPG) algorithm with parameter sharing is proposed to achieve confrontation decision-making of multi-agent. In the process of training, the information of other agents is introduced to the critic network to improve the strategy of confrontation. The parameter sharing mechanism can reduce the loss of experience storage. In the DDPG algorithm, we use four neural networks to generate real-time action and Q-value function respectively and use a momentum mechanism to optimize the training process to accelerate the convergence rate for the neural network. Secondly, this paper introduces an auxiliary controller using a policy-based reinforcement learning (RL) method to achieve the assistant decision-making for the game agent. In addition, an effective reward function is used to help agents balance losses of enemies and our side. Furthermore, this paper also uses the knowledge transfer method to extend the learning model to more complex scenes and improve the generalization of the proposed confrontation model. Two confrontation decision-making experiments are designed to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. In a small-scale task scenario, the trained agent can successfully learn to fight with the competitors and achieve a good winning rate. For large-scale confrontation scenarios, the knowledge transfer method can gradually improve the decision-making level of the learning agent.

Coupled Thermo-Hydro-Geochemical Models of Engineered Barrier Systems: The Febex Project

2000 ◽  
Vol 663 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Samper ◽  
R. Juncosa ◽  
V. Navarro ◽  
J. Delgado ◽  
L. Montenegro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Reference Model ◽  
Numerical Models ◽  
Full Scale ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
In Situ Test ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Engineered Barrier

ABSTRACTFEBEX (Full-scale Engineered Barrier EXperiment) is a demonstration and research project dealing with the bentonite engineered barrier designed for sealing and containment of waste in a high level radioactive waste repository (HLWR). It includes two main experiments: an situ full-scale test performed at Grimsel (GTS) and a mock-up test operating since February 1997 at CIEMAT facilities in Madrid (Spain) [1,2,3]. One of the objectives of FEBEX is the development and testing of conceptual and numerical models for the thermal, hydrodynamic, and geochemical (THG) processes expected to take place in engineered clay barriers. A significant improvement in coupled THG modeling of the clay barrier has been achieved both in terms of a better understanding of THG processes and more sophisticated THG computer codes. The ability of these models to reproduce the observed THG patterns in a wide range of THG conditions enhances the confidence in their prediction capabilities. Numerical THG models of heating and hydration experiments performed on small-scale lab cells provide excellent results for temperatures, water inflow and final water content in the cells [3]. Calculated concentrations at the end of the experiments reproduce most of the patterns of measured data. In general, the fit of concentrations of dissolved species is better than that of exchanged cations. These models were later used to simulate the evolution of the large-scale experiments (in situ and mock-up). Some thermo-hydrodynamic hypotheses and bentonite parameters were slightly revised during TH calibration of the mock-up test. The results of the reference model reproduce simultaneously the observed water inflows and bentonite temperatures and relative humidities. Although the model is highly sensitive to one-at-a-time variations in model parameters, the possibility of parameter combinations leading to similar fits cannot be precluded. The TH model of the “in situ” test is based on the same bentonite TH parameters and assumptions as for the “mock-up” test. Granite parameters were slightly modified during the calibration process in order to reproduce the observed thermal and hydrodynamic evolution. The reference model captures properly relative humidities and temperatures in the bentonite [3]. It also reproduces the observed spatial distribution of water pressures and temperatures in the granite. Once calibrated the TH aspects of the model, predictions of the THG evolution of both tests were performed. Data from the dismantling of the in situ test, which is planned for the summer of 2001, will provide a unique opportunity to test and validate current THG models of the EBS.

Editorial

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
Eva Cendon ◽  
John Butcher
Keyword(s):  
Further Education ◽  
University Education ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Widening Participation ◽  
The North ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
International Perspectives ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
International Sector ◽  
The Uk

This general edition of the journal provides insights and results of research employing a wide range of approaches and perspectives on widening participation and lifelong learning. Studies from across the UK and international sector utilise different methodological approaches, and as such are particularly interesting, with diverse methods and ways of analysis, including phenomenographic, narrative, and thematic analysis. Overall, the articles range from exploratory case studies and small-scale research to wider range and broad scale studies, highlighting different facets and perspectives. Furthermore, the articles in this volume cover a broad spectrum of institutions and places involved in widening participation, with an emphasis on the (higher) education sector in the UK balanced by international perspectives. The first seven empirical articles are based on research activities in a secondary school, a youth centre, in further education colleges (usually focusing on post-compulsory secondary or pre-university education), in so-called post-92 universities (new(er) universities, formerly Polytechnics and teacher training colleges), and last but not least in a research intensive Russell Group university. They reported challenges from the specific local contexts of different regions in England, from the South (Chichester) to London to the North (Carlisle), and can usefully be framed in the context of international discussions appearing later in the journal.

Buoyancy effects on large-scale motions in convective atmospheric boundary layers: implications for modulation of near-wall processes

2018 ◽  
Vol 856 ◽  
pp. 135-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. T. Salesky ◽  
W. Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Velocity Field ◽  
Boundary Layers ◽  
Vertical Velocity ◽  
Amplitude Modulation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Streamwise Velocity ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Convective Conditions ◽  
Wide Range

A number of recent studies have demonstrated the existence of so-called large- and very-large-scale motions (LSM, VLSM) that occur in the logarithmic region of inertia-dominated wall-bounded turbulent flows. These regions exhibit significant streamwise coherence, and have been shown to modulate the amplitude and frequency of small-scale inner-layer fluctuations in smooth-wall turbulent boundary layers. In contrast, the extent to which analogous modulation occurs in inertia-dominated flows subjected to convective thermal stratification (low Richardson number) and Coriolis forcing (low Rossby number), has not been considered. And yet, these parameter values encompass a wide range of important environmental flows. In this article, we present evidence of amplitude modulation (AM) phenomena in the unstably stratified (i.e. convective) atmospheric boundary layer, and link changes in AM to changes in the topology of coherent structures with increasing instability. We perform a suite of large eddy simulations spanning weakly ($-z_{i}/L=3.1$) to highly convective ($-z_{i}/L=1082$) conditions (where$-z_{i}/L$is the bulk stability parameter formed from the boundary-layer depth$z_{i}$and the Obukhov length $L$) to investigate how AM is affected by buoyancy. Results demonstrate that as unstable stratification increases, the inclination angle of surface layer structures (as determined from the two-point correlation of streamwise velocity) increases from$\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FE}\approx 15^{\circ }$for weakly convective conditions to nearly vertical for highly convective conditions. As$-z_{i}/L$increases, LSMs in the streamwise velocity field transition from long, linear updrafts (or horizontal convective rolls) to open cellular patterns, analogous to turbulent Rayleigh–Bénard convection. These changes in the instantaneous velocity field are accompanied by a shift in the outer peak in the streamwise and vertical velocity spectra to smaller dimensionless wavelengths until the energy is concentrated at a single peak. The decoupling procedure proposed by Mathiset al.(J. Fluid Mech., vol. 628, 2009a, pp. 311–337) is used to investigate the extent to which amplitude modulation of small-scale turbulence occurs due to large-scale streamwise and vertical velocity fluctuations. As the spatial attributes of flow structures change from streamwise to vertically dominated, modulation by the large-scale streamwise velocity decreases monotonically. However, the modulating influence of the large-scale vertical velocity remains significant across the stability range considered. We report, finally, that amplitude modulation correlations are insensitive to the computational mesh resolution for flows forced by shear, buoyancy and Coriolis accelerations.

scholarly journals Self-Supervised Pre-Training of Transformers for Satellite Image Time Series Classification

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuan Yuan ◽  
Lei Lin
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Deep Learning ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Temporal Structure ◽  
Satellite Image ◽  
Fine Tuning ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
Learning Approaches ◽  
Wide Range

Satellite image time series (SITS) classification is a major research topic in remote sensing and is relevant for a wide range of applications. Deep learning approaches have been commonly employed for SITS classification and have provided state-of-the-art performance. However, deep learning methods suffer from overfitting when labeled data is scarce. To address this problem, we propose a novel self-supervised pre-training scheme to initialize a Transformer-based network by utilizing large-scale unlabeled data. In detail, the model is asked to predict randomly contaminated observations given an entire time series of a pixel. The main idea of our proposal is to leverage the inherent temporal structure of satellite time series to learn general-purpose spectral-temporal representations related to land cover semantics. Once pre-training is completed, the pre-trained network can be further adapted to various SITS classification tasks by fine-tuning all the model parameters on small-scale task-related labeled data. In this way, the general knowledge and representations about SITS can be transferred to a label-scarce task, thereby improving the generalization performance of the model as well as reducing the risk of overfitting. Comprehensive experiments have been carried out on three benchmark datasets over large study areas. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method, leading to a classification accuracy increment up to 1.91% to 6.69%. <div><b>This work has been submitted to the IEEE for possible publication. Copyright may be transferred without notice, after which this version may no longer be accessible.</b></div>

scholarly journals Physical Transport Processes that Affect the Distribution of Oil in the Gulf of Mexico: Observations and Modeling

Oceanography ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-75
Author(s):  
Michel Boufadel ◽  
◽  
Annalisa Bracco ◽  
Eric Chassignet ◽  
Shuyi Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Of Mexico ◽  
Physical Environment ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Transport Processes ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Surface Mixed Layer ◽  
Physical Processes ◽  
Mixing Processes ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Wide Range

Physical transport processes such as the circulation and mixing of waters largely determine the spatial distribution of materials in the ocean. They also establish the physical environment within which biogeochemical and other processes transform materials, including naturally occurring nutrients and human-made contaminants that may sustain or harm the region’s living resources. Thus, understanding and modeling the transport and distribution of materials provides a crucial substrate for determining the effects of biological, geological, and chemical processes. The wide range of scales in which these physical processes operate includes microscale droplets and bubbles; small-scale turbulence in buoyant plumes and the near-surface “mixed” layer; submesoscale fronts, convergent and divergent flows, and small eddies; larger mesoscale quasi-geostrophic eddies; and the overall large-scale circulation of the Gulf of Mexico and its interaction with the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea; along with air-sea interaction on longer timescales. The circulation and mixing processes that operate near the Gulf of Mexico coasts, where most human activities occur, are strongly affected by wind- and river-induced currents and are further modified by the area’s complex topography. Gulf of Mexico physical processes are also characterized by strong linkages between coastal/shelf and deeper offshore waters that determine connectivity to the basin’s interior. This physical connectivity influences the transport of materials among different coastal areas within the Gulf of Mexico and can extend to adjacent basins. Major advances enabled by the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative in the observation, understanding, and modeling of all of these aspects of the Gulf’s physical environment are summarized in this article, and key priorities for future work are also identified.

scholarly journals Smart EcoCUVA – Tools for Food Marketing Strategy

2006 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Maarit Pallari
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Action Research ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Complex Problem ◽  
Utility Value ◽  
Value Analysis ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Application Fields

The implementation of the green productivity and marketing concept in agribusiness is a must in the future.Food production is influenced by the environment and society, and vice versa. Today a growing number ofconsumers are aware of the link between environmental and social well-being and fresh, pure, healthy, tastyand safe foodstuffs. Enterprises will have to consider three important aspects of value when doing business:economic, social and environmental value. The foundation of the quality research this study is concernedwith is action research. Action research is a way to analyze sustainable development, the aptness ofagriculture and the marketing opportunities these offer for developing ecoproducts in the SMEs.The study seeks to answer the following questions:- What kind of Classical Utility Value Analyses could be tool of the eco-product?- To what extent can a customer/interest group affect the development and decision-making of ecoproducts?- Is the method a suitable tool for analyzing ecological criterions in the marketing model?Classical Utility Value Analysis is a formal, analytic approach for evaluating and comparing differentalternatives. It is one decision making method of multi-criteria analysis. The roots of utility value analysis,which is one of the mathematical models for analytical decision making, are in the USA and Germany. Themethod is almost 40 years old, of the same age as the manuscript of the values tradeoff. The same historicallanguage is being used to build up new tools, principles and theory. The so-called Smart EcoCUVA hasused both methodologies (Utility value analysis and decision making analysis) when setting the goals andmathematical steps. Research results always give the best available alternative.Making rational decisions for any complex problem requires various analyses of trade-offs (compromises)between conflicting goals (objectives, outcomes) that are used for measuring the results of applying variousdecisions in a wide range of application fields. A typical decision problem has an infinite number ofsolutions, and decision makers are interested in analyzing trade-offs between those that correspond to theirpreferences, which is often called a preferential structure of the decision-maker.Smart EcoCuva analysis helps to assess different alternatives according to a variety of environmentalcriteria associated with enterprises and their products. The analysis methods take account of the monetaryand non-monetary aspects when determining the selection of the best alternative. Smart EcoCuva is themethodological cornerstone for the creation of an innovative concept that will contribute to encouraging theefficient use of natural resources and thereby enhancing sustainability.The Smart EcoCuva tools to be developed aim to be environmentally sound, economically viable, sociallyjust and culturally appropriate. They are a new, science-based reaction of sustainable agriculture to globalatmosphere, as well as constitute an appropriate link between people and nature. New environmentallyfriendly food combines healthy food with people’s lifestyles.

scholarly journals Dependence of Model Energy Spectra on Vertical Resolution

2016 ◽  
Vol 144 (4) ◽  
pp. 1407-1421 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael L. Waite
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Vertical Mixing ◽  
Energy Spectra ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Rossby Number ◽  
Vertical Resolution ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Qualitative Shape ◽  
Vertical Grid

Abstract Many high-resolution atmospheric models can reproduce the qualitative shape of the atmospheric kinetic energy spectrum, which has a power-law slope of −3 at large horizontal scales that shallows to approximately −5/3 in the mesoscale. This paper investigates the possible dependence of model energy spectra on the vertical grid resolution. Idealized simulations forced by relaxation to a baroclinically unstable jet are performed for a wide range of vertical grid spacings Δz. Energy spectra are converged for Δz 200 m but are very sensitive to resolution with 500 m ≤ Δz ≤ 2 km. The nature of this sensitivity depends on the vertical mixing scheme. With no vertical mixing or with weak, stability-dependent mixing, the mesoscale spectra are artificially amplified by low resolution: they are shallower and extend to larger scales than in the converged simulations. By contrast, vertical hyperviscosity with fixed grid-scale damping rate has the opposite effect: underresolved spectra are spuriously steepened. High-resolution spectra are converged except for the stability-dependent mixing case, which are damped by excessive mixing due to enhanced shear over a wide range of horizontal scales. It is shown that converged spectra require resolution of all vertical scales associated with the resolved horizontal structures: these include quasigeostrophic scales for large-scale motions with small Rossby number and the buoyancy scale for small-scale motions at large Rossby number. It is speculated that some model energy spectra may be contaminated by low vertical resolution, and it is recommended that vertical-resolution sensitivity tests always be performed.

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