scholarly journals Identifying Black Corals and Octocorals From Deep-Sea Imagery for Ecological Assessments: Trade-Offs Between Morphology and Taxonomy

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Candice B. Untiedt ◽  
Alan Williams ◽  
Franziska Althaus ◽  
Phil Alderslade ◽  
Malcolm R. Clark
Keyword(s):  
Deep Sea ◽  
Image Annotation ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Biodiversity Data ◽  
Automated Annotation ◽  
Black Corals ◽  
Biodiversity Inventory ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Fit For Purpose

An increased reliance on imagery as the source of biodiversity data from the deep sea has stimulated many recent advances in image annotation and data management. The form of image-derived data is determined by the way faunal units are classified and should align with the needs of the ecological study to which it is applied. Some applications may require only low-resolution biodiversity data, which is easier and cheaper to generate, whereas others will require well-resolved biodiversity measures, which require a larger investment in annotation methods. We assessed these trade-offs using a dataset of 5 939 images and physical collections of black and octocorals taken during surveys from a seamount area in the southwest Pacific Ocean. Coral diversity was greatly underestimated in images: only 55 black and octocoral ‘phototaxa’ (best-possible identifications) were consistently distinguishable out of a known 210 species in the region (26%). Patterns of assemblage composition were compared between the phototaxa and a standardized Australian classification scheme (“CATAMI”) that uses morphotypes to classify taxa. Results were similar in many respects, but the identities of dominant, and detection of rare but locally abundant, coral entities were achieved only when annotation was at phototaxon resolution, and when faunal densities were recorded. A case study of data from 4 seamounts compared three additional classification schemes. Only the two with highest resolution – phototaxon and a combined phototaxon-morphological scheme – were able to distinguish black and octocoral communities on unimpacted vs. impacted seamounts. We conclude that image annotation schemes need to be fit-for-purpose. Morphological schemes such as CATAMI may perform well and are most easily standardized for cross-study data sharing, but high resolution (and more costly) annotation schemes are likely necessary for some ecological and management-based applications including biodiversity inventory, change detection (monitoring) – and to develop automated annotation using machine learning.

Optimizing the cost, LEED credits, and time trade-offs using a genetic algorithmic model

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 596-608
Author(s):  
Shantanu Kumar ◽  
Mohammed S. Hashem M. Mehany
Keyword(s):  
Construction Projects ◽  
Time Budget ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Dataset Size ◽  
Preliminary Study ◽  
Algorithmic Model ◽  
The Cost

Over the last century, the complexity of construction projects has increased exponentially and its factors (e.g., time, budget, and quality) have generated complicated trade-offs. This research focuses on the trade-off between time, cost, and sustainability represented in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) credits (particularly materials and resources). The research is broken into preliminary and validation studies wherein the preliminary study uses an exhaustive search to find the optimized solution. In the validation case study, dataset size increased exponentially, and it became computationally incompatible to find the optimized solution. Genetic algorithm (GA) is used to find the optimized solution based on user-defined priority factors. Usage of GA is validated using the preliminary study data and then applied to the validation study data. A trade-off is seen between the priority factors and the optimized solution. The optimization model is successful in minimizing the time and cost, concurrently maximizing the points associated with LEED credits for a validation case study.

Removing Self-stigma: The Successes of People with Schizophrenia in Removing Self-stigma Through Self-control

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Franciscus Adi Prasetyo ◽  
Jajang Gunawijaya
Keyword(s):  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Study Quality ◽  
Data Display ◽  
Case Study Approach ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Depth Interviews

Self-stigma experienced by people who experience schizophrenia has influence on reduced self-esteem, on powerlessness, the weakening of hope, and a motivation towards recovery. The aim of this study is to explain the efforts of people suffering schizophrenia to manage their self-stigma through self-control, using a case study approach. Based on the purposive sampling technique, five people with schizophrenia were selected as the cases to be studied. Data collection techniques utilized in-depth interviews, observation, and documentary studies. The analysis of the study data employed the stages of data reduction, data display, and data verification. Improvement in study quality employed the triangulation of data sources by checking the data to determine its consistency. The results of this study indicate that people with schizophrenia who have the ability to self-control can overcome self-stigma through changes in the manner of viewing themselves, self-training through activities, having endurance, having an honest approach, being able to explain schizophrenia from a positive viewpoint, having initiative, and having a positive attitude and the courage to face challenges.

Parent and Grandparent Relationships in Emerging Adulthood

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael W. Pratt ◽  
M. Kyle Matsuba
Keyword(s):  
Emerging Adulthood ◽  
Attachment Theory ◽  
Emerging Adults ◽  
Family Relationships ◽  
Longitudinal Research ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Family Development ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Theory Framework

Chapter 7 begins with an overview of Erikson’s ideas about intimacy and its place in the life cycle, followed by a summary of Bowlby and Ainsworth’s attachment theory framework and its relation to family development. The authors review existing longitudinal research on the development of family relationships in adolescence and emerging adulthood, focusing on evidence with regard to links to McAdams and Pals’ personality model. They discuss the evidence, both questionnaire and narrative, from the Futures Study data set on family relationships, including emerging adults’ relations with parents and, separately, with grandparents, as well as their anticipations of their own parenthood. As a way of illustrating the key personality concepts from this family chapter, the authors end with a case study of Jane Fonda in youth and her father, Henry Fonda, to illustrate these issues through the lives of a 20th-century Hollywood dynasty of actors.

scholarly journals A Case Study of a Negotiated Tender within a Small-to-Medium Construction Contractor: Modelling Project Cost Variance

Buildings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 260
Author(s):  
James Ellis ◽  
David John Edwards ◽  
Wellington Didibhuku Thwala ◽  
Obuks Ejohwomu ◽  
Ernest Effah Ameyaw ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Construction Industry ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Review Literature ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Open Book ◽  
Competitive Tendering ◽  
Construction Contractor ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Insight Into

This research explores the failure of competitively tendered projects in the UK construction industry to procure the most suited contractor(s) to conduct the works. Such work may have equal relevance for other developed nations globally. This research seeks to teach clients and their representatives that “lowest price” does not mean “best value”, by presenting a case study of a successfully negotiated tender undertaken by a small-to-medium enterprise (SME) contractor; SME studies are relatively scant in academic literature. By applying the “lessons learnt” principle, this study seeks to improve future practice through the development of a novel alternative procurement option (i.e., negotiation). A mixed philosophical stance combining interpretivism and pragmatism was used—interpretivism to critically review literature in order to form the basis of inductive research to discuss negotiation as a viable procurement route, and pragmatism to analyse perceptions of tendering and procurement. The methods used follow a three-stage waterfall process including: (1) literature review and pilot study; (2) quantitative analysis of case study data; and (3) qualitative data collection via a focus group. Our research underscores the need to advise clients and their representatives of the importance of understanding the scope of works allowed within a tender submission before discounting it based solely on price. In addition, we highlight the failings of competitive tendering, which results in increased costs and project duration once the works commence on site. These findings provide new contemporary insight into procurement and tendering in the construction industry, with emphasis on SME contractors, existing relationships, and open-book negotiation. This research illustrates the adverse effects of early cost estimates produced without first securing a true understanding of project buildability and programming. Our work concludes with a novel insight into an alternative procurement option that involves early SME contractor involvement in an open-book environment, without the need for a third-party cost control.

scholarly journals Hindcast and Near Real-Time Monitoring of Green Macroalgae Blooms in Shallow Coral Reef Lagoons Using Sentinel-2: A New-Caledonia Case Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 211
Author(s):  
Maële Brisset ◽  
Simon Van Wynsberge ◽  
Serge Andréfouët ◽  
Claude Payri ◽  
Benoît Soulard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Green Algae ◽  
Algal Blooms ◽  
New Caledonia ◽  
Spectral Indices ◽  
Green Macroalgae ◽  
Spectral Bands ◽  
Algae Blooms ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Sentinel 2

Despite the necessary trade-offs between spatial and temporal resolution, remote sensing is an effective approach to monitor macroalgae blooms, understand their origins and anticipate their developments. Monitoring of small tropical lagoons is challenging because they require high resolutions. Since 2017, the Sentinel-2 satellites has provided new perspectives, and the feasibility of monitoring green algae blooms was investigated in this study. In the Poé-Gouaro-Déva lagoon, New Caledonia, recent Ulva blooms are the cause of significant nuisances when beaching. Spectral indices using the blue and green spectral bands were confronted with field observations of algal abundances using images concurrent with fieldwork. Depending on seabed compositions and types of correction applied to reflectance data, the spectral indices explained between 1 and 64.9% of variance. The models providing the best statistical fit were used to revisit the algal dynamics using Sentinel-2 data from January 2017 to December 2019, through two image segmentation approaches: unsupervised and supervised. The latter accurately reproduced the two algal blooms that occurred in the area in 2018. This paper demonstrates that Sentinel-2 data can be an effective source to hindcast and monitor the dynamics of green algae in shallow lagoons.

scholarly journals Entropy trade-offs in artistic design: A case study of Tamil kolam

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
N.-Han Tran ◽  
Timothy Waring ◽  
Silke Atmaca ◽  
Bret A. Beheim
Keyword(s):  
Trade Offs

Abstract

scholarly journals Decision Support for the (Inter-)Basin Management of Water Resources Using Integrated Hydro-Economic Modeling

Hydrology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 42
Author(s):  
Gerald Norbert Souza da Silva ◽  
Márcia Maria Guedes Alcoforado de Moraes
Keyword(s):  
Decision Support ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Water Allocation ◽  
Hydrological Modeling ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Water Transfer ◽  
Economic Modeling ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Study Results

The development of adequate modeling at the basin level to establish public policies has an important role in managing water resources. Hydro-economic models can measure the economic effects of structural and non-structural measures, land and water management, ecosystem services and development needs. Motivated by the need of improving water allocation using economic criteria, in this study, a Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS) with a hydro-economic optimization model (HEAL system) was developed and used for the identification and analysis of an optimal economic allocation of water resources in a case study: the sub-middle basin of the São Francisco River in Brazil. The developed SDSS (HEAL system) made the economically optimum allocation available to analyze water allocation conflicts and trade-offs. With the aim of providing a tool for integrated economic-hydrological modeling, not only for researchers but also for decision-makers and stakeholders, the HEAL system can support decision-making on the design of regulatory and economic management instruments in practice. The case study results showed, for example, that the marginal benefit function obtained for inter-basin water transfer, can contribute for supporting the design of water pricing and water transfer decisions, during periods of water scarcity, for the well-being in both basins.

scholarly journals How Do Trade-Offs and Synergies between Ecosystem Services Change in the Long Period? The Case Study of Uxin, Inner Mongolia, China

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (21) ◽  
pp. 6041 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhang ◽  
Li ◽  
Buyantuev ◽  
Bao ◽  
Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Inner Mongolia ◽  
Stepwise Regression ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
Extended Period ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Development And Utilization ◽  
Long Term Trends

Ecosystem services management should often expect to deal with non-linearities due to trade-offs and synergies between ecosystem services (ES). Therefore, it is important to analyze long-term trends in ES development and utilization to understand their responses to climate change and intensification of human activities. In this paper, the region of Uxin in Inner Mongolia, China, was chosen as a case study area to describe the spatial distribution and trends of 5 ES indicators. Changes in relationships between ES and driving forces of dynamics of ES relationships were analyzed for the period 1979–2016 using a stepwise regression. We found that: the magnitude and directions in ES relationships changed during this extended period; those changes are influenced by climate factors, land use change, technological progress, and population growth.

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