scholarly journals The Use of Soundscapes to Monitor Fish Communities: Meaningful Graphical Representations Differ with Acoustic Environment

Acoustics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 382-398
Author(s):  
Rita Carriço ◽  
Mónica Silva ◽  
Manuel Vieira ◽  
Pedro Afonso ◽  
Gui Menezes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fish Communities ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Great Depth ◽  
Life Cycles ◽  
Graphical Representations ◽  
Marine Animals ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Acoustic Environment ◽  
Fish Sounds ◽  
Acoustic Environments

Many marine animals produce sounds in several phases of their life cycles, either actively or as a byproduct of their activities, such as during mate attraction or when moving. Recent studies of underwater soundscapes have proved passive acoustic monitoring to be a cost-effective, non-invasive tool to understand ecological processes, especially when sampling in adverse conditions or at great depth. Four days of sound recordings at three seamounts from the Azorean archipelago were examined to assess the suitability of different sound graphical representations to characterize different acoustic environments that contrast in the contribution of vocal fish communities. Long-term spectrograms, sound pressure level, spectral probability densities and the Acoustic Complexity Index (ACI) were computed for two shallow seamounts (Formigas and Princesa Alice, c. 35 m) and one deep seamount (Condor, 190 m) using graphics with different time spans. Only in Formigas, which presented the highest occurrence of fish sounds, was it possible to observe temporal patterns of fish vocal activity in the graphical representations. We highlight that habitats with a higher diversity and abundance of sounds are the most suitable targets for these methods, while in locations with a low prevalence of fish sounds a combination of several methods would be recommended.

Hearing Aid Amplification Reduces Communication Effort of People With Hearing Impairment and Their Conversation Partners

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 1299-1311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Beechey ◽  
Jörg M. Buchholz ◽  
Gitte Keidser
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Impairment ◽  
Hearing Aid ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Referential Communication ◽  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
Directional Hearing ◽  
Acoustic Environment ◽  
Communication Task ◽  
Acoustic Environments ◽  
The Impact

Objectives This study investigates the hypothesis that hearing aid amplification reduces effort within conversation for both hearing aid wearers and their communication partners. Levels of effort, in the form of speech production modifications, required to maintain successful spoken communication in a range of acoustic environments are compared to earlier reported results measured in unaided conversation conditions. Design Fifteen young adult normal-hearing participants and 15 older adult hearing-impaired participants were tested in pairs. Each pair consisted of one young normal-hearing participant and one older hearing-impaired participant. Hearing-impaired participants received directional hearing aid amplification, according to their audiogram, via a master hearing aid with gain provided according to the NAL-NL2 fitting formula. Pairs of participants were required to take part in naturalistic conversations through the use of a referential communication task. Each pair took part in five conversations, each of 5-min duration. During each conversation, participants were exposed to one of five different realistic acoustic environments presented through highly open headphones. The ordering of acoustic environments across experimental blocks was pseudorandomized. Resulting recordings of conversational speech were analyzed to determine the magnitude of speech modifications, in terms of vocal level and spectrum, produced by normal-hearing talkers as a function of both acoustic environment and the degree of high-frequency average hearing impairment of their conversation partner. Results The magnitude of spectral modifications of speech produced by normal-hearing talkers during conversations with aided hearing-impaired interlocutors was smaller than the speech modifications observed during conversations between the same pairs of participants in the absence of hearing aid amplification. Conclusions The provision of hearing aid amplification reduces the effort required to maintain communication in adverse conditions. This reduction in effort provides benefit to hearing-impaired individuals and also to the conversation partners of hearing-impaired individuals. By considering the impact of amplification on both sides of dyadic conversations, this approach contributes to an increased understanding of the likely impact of hearing impairment on everyday communication.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT IN THE TRANSITION TO A CIRCULAR ECONOMY

2021 ◽  
pp. 21-26
Author(s):  
Sergey Bushuyev ◽  
Denis Bushuiev ◽  
Victoria Bushuieva ◽  
Olena Verenych
Keyword(s):  
Project Management ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Organizational Development ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Life Cycles ◽  
Development Projects ◽  
Waste Products ◽  
The World ◽  
The Impact

The problem of creating effective models, methods and tools for strategic management of projects and programs for the development of organizations in the transition to a circular economy. Global trends in the development of organizations prove that the world is transforming with acceleration. The life cycle of knowledge and technologies for managing complex projects and programs is significantly reduced. The technical and technological complexity of organizational development projects increases due to innovations. These trends create significant challenges in the development of project management systems and programs for the formation of a circular economy in Ukraine. This is especially true of projects and programs in conditions of uncertainty about the impact of COVID 19 and anticipation of a global crisis after a pandemic. Today, the application of proven best practices (benchmarking) is no longer a way forward. Forming a vision, goals and strategy for the implementation of organizational development projects in advance makes our actions rigid, not flexible. When creating a project or program begins with focusing on what is valuable to our customers and the country, it is enough for us to use best practices. But the complexity and innovative orientation of development projects of organizations in the transition to a circular economy creates a number of challenges. One of the answers to these challenges is cost-effective work on project management and development programs, taking into account the trends of transition to a circular economy. Project management teams learn to distinguish between what is valuable and what doesn't matter, this is the path that management methodologies have taken for decades. A number of projects have taken the first steps in implementing the necessary cost-effective / flexible transition that supports sustainability and adaptability to turbulent environmental changes. In the conditions of modern destructive economic relations in the world community the problem of a choice of strategy of projects as drivers of development of the organizations is vital. One of the key approaches to the development of the EU is the transition to a circular economy with maximum utilization of both waste products and projects, and the disposal of project products after the end of product life cycles.

scholarly journals Subjective Experience of Speech Depending on the Acoustic Treatment in an Ordinary Room

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (23) ◽  
pp. 12274
Author(s):  
Emma Arvidsson ◽  
Erling Nilsson ◽  
Delphine Bard-Hagberg ◽  
Ola J. I. Karlsson
Keyword(s):  
Speech Perception ◽  
Subjective Experience ◽  
Sound Quality ◽  
Reverberation Time ◽  
Acoustic Environment ◽  
Acoustic Environments ◽  
The Right ◽  
Acoustic Treatment ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Speech Clarity

In environments such as classrooms and offices, complex tasks are performed. A satisfactory acoustic environment is critical for the performance of such tasks. To ensure a good acoustic environment, the right acoustic treatment must be used. The relation between different room acoustic treatments and how they affect speech perception in these types of rooms is not yet fully understood. In this study, speech perception was evaluated for three different configurations using absorbers and diffusers. Twenty-nine participants reported on their subjective experience of speech in respect of different configurations in different positions in a room. They judged sound quality and attributes related to speech perception. In addition, the jury members ranked the different acoustic environments. The subjective experience was related to the different room acoustic treatments and the room acoustic parameters of speech clarity, reverberation time and sound strength. It was found that people, on average, rated treatments with a high degree of absorption as best. This configuration had the highest speech clarity value and lowest values for reverberation time and sound strength. The perceived sound quality could be correlated to speech clarity, while attributes related to speech perception had the strongest association with reverberation time.

scholarly journals Designing locally-appropriate conservation incentives for small-scale fishers

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hollie Booth ◽  
M Said Ramdlan ◽  
Ayesha Hafizh ◽  
Karto Wongsopatty ◽  
Susana Mourato ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cost Effective ◽  
Marine Conservation ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Marine Animals ◽  
Small Scale Fisheries ◽  
Outcome Goals ◽  
Use Values ◽  
Combination Of Methods ◽  
Marine Megafauna ◽  
Business As Usual

Large, long-lived marine animals (‘marine megafauna’) play critical roles in ocean ecosystems, however, they are threatened by overfishing. Technologies and practices that reduce fisheries’ impacts on marine megafauna are well documented, yet less is known about how to encourage their adoption. This is particularly challenging in small-scale fisheries (SSFs), where endangered species can have important consumptive use values. We used a novel combination of methods – scenario interviews with contingent valuation (CV) – to investigate how incentive-based interventions might influence fisher behaviour and reduce mortality of Critically Endangered taxa (hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna spp.) and wedgefish (Rhynchobatus spp.)) in two case study SSFs in Indonesia. Scenario interviews revealed that positive performance-based incentives were almost unanimously supported (98% and 96% of fishers would stop landing hammerheads and wedgefish, respectively). This is in contrast to 1% and 6% under a business as usual control scenario, and 52% and 46% in response to a regulation with a fine. Using CV, we estimated that an incentive-based scheme for catch mitigation of all hammerheads and wedgefish across both sites could cost US$71,620-298,820 annually, and save up to 18,500 hammerheads and 2,140 wedgefish relative to current catch baselines. This study provides empirical evidence that performance-based payments could offer a cost-effective, legitimate and socially-just approach for marine conservation in SSFs, and support “a sustainable and equitable blue economy” and “living in harmony with nature”. This is particularly important with the growing adoption of net-outcome goals for biodiversity, with studies such as this providing the basis for locally-appropriate investment ready schemes for bycatch-neutral seafood supply chains.

Method of Fuels and Lubricants Performance Properties Requirements Management

2021 ◽  
Vol 624 (2) ◽  
pp. 16-24
Author(s):  
Yu. M. Pimenov ◽  
◽  
A. V. Ulit’ko ◽  
V. A. Sereda ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cost Effective ◽  
Life Cycles ◽  
Requirements Management ◽  
Performance Properties ◽  
Operational Conditions ◽  
Quantitative Expression ◽  
Laboratory Bench ◽  
Motor Fuels ◽  
Cost Effective Method ◽  
The Cost

The cost-effective method of fuels and lubricants performance properties requirements management is proposed. Method ensures effectiveness enhancement of equipment and of fuels and lubricants life cycles; it includes requirements establishment (constructing of conceptual and empirical models of requirements), their quantitative expression through highly informative indicators of fuels and lubricants propensity for transformations, then approbation with the use of laboratory, bench and test stands tests, specification, assessment of realization in real world equipment operational conditions, effectiveness evaluation and modification of requirements. Some illustrations of application of the new method phases with regards to motor fuels and hydraulic fluid are provided.

scholarly journals A Time-Extended (24 h) Baited Remote Underwater Video (BRUV) for Monitoring Pelagic and Nocturnal Marine Species

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agusti Torres ◽  
Ana-Maria Abril ◽  
Eric E. G. Clua
Keyword(s):  
Cost Effective ◽  
Marine Species ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Video Data ◽  
Battery Life ◽  
Underwater Video ◽  
Marine Animals ◽  
Video Systems ◽  
Extended Duration ◽  
Technological Constraints

Baited remote underwater video systems (BRUVs) are efficient devices for remotely characterising the assemblage and relative density of fishes and other marine organisms. However, technological constraints (e.g., battery life and limited storage memory) typically limit deployment times to <2 h making it very difficult to capture the presence of marine species, including rare and elusive ones. We developed an extended duration (24 h) BRUV to enable fisheries-independent surveying of a pelagic shark population in the western Mediterranean. Video data revealed seven visits (three nocturnal, four diurnal) by blue sharks (Prionace glauca) over a period of 1355 h. In the future, this cost-effective device could be fitted with a wireless video transmitter to provide real-time observations of marine animals for scientific or ecotourism purposes.

scholarly journals Revisiting Acoustics Education Using Mobile Devices to Learn Urban Acoustic Environments: Recent Issues on Current Devices and Applications

Urban Science ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimihiro Sakagami ◽  
Fumiaki Satoh ◽  
Akira Omoto
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Devices ◽  
Urban Studies ◽  
Education Program ◽  
Sound Pressure ◽  
Measurement Accuracy ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Model Case ◽  
Acoustic Environment ◽  
Acoustic Environments ◽  
Noise Map

In this paper, we revisit the acoustics education program using mobile devices to better understand urban environments. We begin with a summary of our past projects to demonstrate a model case of the concept. In these projects, the output was mainly supposed to be a noise map with measured sound pressure levels (SPLs) and sound spectra. This methodology can obviously be applied to larger-scale urban studies. Including measured sound spectra can be another advantage. Next, current problems in measurement accuracy due to recent device developments are explained and the required examinations are stated. Finally, the accuracy of the current versions of the applications as well as recently available devices are discussed. The results of this study provide information regarding the measurement accuracy of mobile devices, and some suggestions for their practical use are given, which are also useful for additional studies pertaining to the urban acoustic environment.

scholarly journals Rethinking competence in marine life cycles: ontogenetic changes in the settlement response of sand dollar larvae exposed to turbulence

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (6) ◽  
pp. 150114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Hodin ◽  
Matthew C. Ferner ◽  
Gabriel Ng ◽  
Christopher J. Lowe ◽  
Brian Gaylord
Keyword(s):  
Life Histories ◽  
Immature Stage ◽  
Life Cycles ◽  
Sand Dollar ◽  
Ontogenetic Changes ◽  
Marine Animals ◽  
Settlement And Metamorphosis ◽  
Two Phases ◽  
Pass Through ◽  
Dendraster Excentricus

Complex life cycles have evolved independently numerous times in marine animals as well as in disparate algae. Such life histories typically involve a dispersive immature stage followed by settlement and metamorphosis to an adult stage on the sea floor. One commonality among animals exhibiting transitions of this type is that their larvae pass through a ‘precompetent’ period in which they do not respond to localized settlement cues, before entering a ‘competent’ period, during which cues can induce settlement. Despite the widespread existence of these two phases, relatively little is known about how larvae transition between them. Moreover, recent studies have blurred the distinction between the phases by demonstrating that fluid turbulence can spark precocious activation of competence. Here, we further investigate this phenomenon by exploring how larval interactions with turbulence change across ontogeny, focusing on offspring of the sand dollar Dendraster excentricus (Eschscholtz). Our data indicate that larvae exhibit increased responsiveness to turbulence as they get older. We also demonstrate a likely cost to precocious competence: the resulting juveniles are smaller. Based upon these findings, we outline a new, testable conception of competence that has the potential to reshape our understanding of larval dispersal and connectivity among marine populations.

scholarly journals Walking on their own legs: unassisted population growth of the agouti Dasyprocta leporina, reintroduced to restore seed dispersal in an Atlantic Forest reserve

Oryx ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 571-578 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caio Fittipaldi Kenup ◽  
Raíssa Sepulvida ◽  
Catharina Kreischer ◽  
Fernando A. S. Fernandez
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Medium Term ◽  
Scatter Hoarding ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Neotropical Forests ◽  
Forest Reserve ◽  
Management Actions ◽  
Reintroduced Population ◽  
Log Normal

AbstractReintroduction of locally extirpated species is an increasingly popular conservation tool. However, few initiatives focus on the restoration of ecological processes. In addition, many reintroductions fail to conduct post-release monitoring, hampering both assessment of their success and implementation of adaptive management actions. In 2009 a reintroduction effort was initiated to re-establish a population of the red-rumped agouti Dasyprocta leporina, a scatter-hoarding rodent known to be an important disperser of large seeds, with the aim of restoring ecological processes at Tijuca National Park, south-east Brazil. To assess whether this reintroduced population established successfully we monitored it using mark–resighting during November 2013–March 2015. Population size and survival were estimated using a robust design Poisson-log normal mixed-effects mark–resight model. By March 2015 the number of wild-born individuals fluctuated around 30 and overall growth of the population was positive. As the reintroduced population is capable of unassisted growth, we conclude that the reintroduction has been successful in the medium term. We recommend the cessation of releases, with efforts redirected to continued monitoring, investigation and management of possible threats to the species’ persistence, and to quantification of the re-establishment of ecological processes. Reintroduction of D. leporina populations can be a cost-effective tool to restore ecological processes, especially seed dispersal, in Neotropical forests.

scholarly journals Environmental constraints drive the partitioning of the soundscape in fishes

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (19) ◽  
pp. 6092-6097 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laëtitia Ruppé ◽  
Gaël Clément ◽  
Anthony Herrel ◽  
Laurent Ballesta ◽  
Thierry Décamps ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cues ◽  
Fish Community ◽  
Visual Display ◽  
Clear Distinction ◽  
Interference Avoidance ◽  
Acoustic Environment ◽  
Underwater Environment ◽  
Fish Sounds ◽  
Passive Acoustic ◽  
Diurnal Species

The underwater environment is more and more being depicted as particularly noisy, and the inventory of calling fishes is continuously increasing. However, it currently remains unknown how species share the soundscape and are able to communicate without misinterpreting the messages. Different mechanisms of interference avoidance have been documented in birds, mammals, and frogs, but little is known about interference avoidance in fishes. How fish thus partition the soundscape underwater remains unknown, as acoustic communication and its organization have never been studied at the level of fish communities. In this study, passive acoustic recordings were used to inventory sounds produced in a fish community (120 m depth) in an attempt to understand how different species partition the acoustic environment. We uncovered an important diversity of fish sounds, and 16 of the 37 different sounds recorded were sufficiently abundant to use in a quantitative analysis. We show that sonic activity allows a clear distinction between a diurnal and a nocturnal group of fishes. Moreover, frequencies of signals made during the day overlap, whereas there is a clear distinction between the different representatives of the nocturnal callers because of a lack of overlap in sound frequency. This first demonstration, to our knowledge, of interference avoidance in a fish community can be understood by the way sounds are used. In diurnal species, sounds are mostly used to support visual display, whereas nocturnal species are generally deprived of visual cues, resulting in acoustic constraints being more important.

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