Effects of shoreline discharge of iron mine tailings on a marine soft-bottom community in northern Chile.

PubMed

Lancellotti, D A; Stotz, W B

2004-02-01

This study evaluates the magnitude and extension of the impact produced by the discharge of inert allochthonous materials, including clays and particulate iron, on macrobenthic soft-bottom assemblages in the subtidal zone of a coastal bay in north-central Chile. An average of 118 Ton h(-1) of finely divided solids were discharged into the rocky intertidal zone of the bay for a period of over 16 years, producing continuous turbidity in the water column and sedimentation in the subtidal zone. Data obtained four months before cessation of the discharge showed that the macrofauna present at 20 and 50 m depth in the bay suffered an important decrease in abundance and species richness, low diversity/high dominance, and deep changes in community structure related to the discharge. The faunal assemblages present at 110 m depth did not show effects from the discharge, suggesting that the impact was limited to the inner part of the bay. The impoverished faunal aggregates at 20 and 50 m depth showed exclusive domination by the Lumbrineris bifilaris (polychaete)-Diastylis tongoyensis (cumacean) association, representing a simple trophic guild of deposit feeders. The complete absence of opportunistic species such as capitellid, spionid, and/or cirratulid polychaetes may be associated with the turbidity and sedimentation levels in the bay.

Temporal patterns of Deepwater Horizon impacts on the benthic infauna of the northern Gulf of Mexico continental slope

PubMed Central

Baguley, Jeffrey G.; Conrad-Forrest, Nathan; Cooksey, Cynthia; Hyland, Jeffrey L.; Lewis, Christopher; Montagna, Paul A.; Ricker, Robert W.; Rohal, Melissa; Washburn, Travis

2017-01-01

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill occurred in spring and summer 2010 in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Research cruises in 2010 (approximately 2–3 months after the well had been capped), 2011, and 2014 were conducted to determine the initial and subsequent effects of the oil spill on deep-sea soft-bottom infauna. A total of 34 stations were sampled from two zones: 20 stations in the “impact” zone versus 14 stations in the “non-impact” zone. Chemical contaminants were significantly different between the two zones. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons averaged 218 ppb in the impact zone compared to 14 ppb in the non-impact zone. Total petroleum hydrocarbons averaged 1166 ppm in the impact zone compared to 102 ppm in the non-impact zone. While there was no difference between zones for meiofauna and macrofauna abundance, community diversity was significantly lower in the impact zone. Meiofauna taxa richness over the three sampling periods averaged 8 taxa/sample in the impact zone, compared to 10 taxa/sample in the non-impact zone; and macrofauna richness averaged 25 taxa/sample in the impact zone compared to 30 taxa/sample in the non-impact zone. Oil originating from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill reached the seafloor and had a persistent negative impact on diversity of soft-bottom, deep-sea benthic communities. While there are signs of recovery for some benthic community variables, full recovery has not yet occurred four years after the spill. PMID:28640913

Impacts of dredged-material disposal on the coastal soft-bottom macrofauna, Saronikos Gulf, Greece.

PubMed

Katsiaras, N; Simboura, N; Tsangaris, C; Hatzianestis, I; Pavlidou, A; Kapsimalis, V

2015-03-01

Dredged sediments derived by the low course and estuary of the metropolitan river of Athens (Kifissos River) were dumped every day for 21 months to an open-sea site in the Saronikos Gulf. The spoil-ground and surrounding area was monitored prior, during and post to dumping for 24 months, over 6-month intervals. Dumping significantly changed the granulometry of the pre-existing superficial sediments to finer-grained only in the spoil ground and increased the sediment contamination load (aliphatic, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heavy metals) throughout the study area. Microtox® SPT showed that sediment toxicity levels were high at almost all sampling stations. During dumping, burial of natural soft-bottom habitats degraded severely the communities of the spoil-ground resulting in an almost azoic state, as well as significantly declined the species number and abundance of benthic communities in locations up to 3.2 km away from the spoil-ground, due to dispersion of the spoil and smothering. Benthic indices on the surrounding sites were significantly correlated with hydrocarbon concentrations and sediment toxicity levels. Post to dumping, the macrofauna communities of the spoil-ground were still significantly degraded, but the surrounding areas showed patterns of recovery. However, the high concentrations of aliphatic, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and levels of toxicity persisted in the sediments after the ceasing of dumping operations in the study area, implying the ecological hazard imposed on the area. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Butch bottom-femme top? An exploration of lesbian stereotypes.

PubMed

Walker, Ja'Nina J; Golub, Sarit A; Bimbi, David S; Parsons, Jeffrey T

2012-01-01

Lesbian gender labels (i.e., butch, soft butch, butch/femme, femme, and high femme) have set the stage for assumptions about lesbian attractions to sexual behaviors. This study explored the intersection of lesbian gender labels and attraction to sexual behaviors in 214 lesbian-identified women. Participants ranged in age from 18 to 69 with 48% being women of color. Contrary to stereotypes about sexual behavior in the lesbian community, very few differences emerged in regard to lesbian gender label. Overall, results do not support stereotypes about lesbian gender labels and suggest that behaviors in the lesbian community are fluid across labels.

Relationship between structure of macrobenthic assemblages and environmental variables in shallow sublittoral soft bottoms.

PubMed

Veiga, Puri; Redondo, Waldo; Sousa-Pinto, Isabel; Rubal, Marcos

2017-08-01

We establish baseline knowledge of abundance, diversity and multivariate structure of macrobenthos from shallow sublitoral soft bottoms in the North Portuguese coast and elucidate main environmental factors that shape their spatial patterns. In this area distribution of soft bottoms is patchy, surrounded by boulders and rocky substrates. This particular landscape and the lack of significant anthropogenic disturbances are values for the conservation of this habitat. Sediment and physicochemical properties of the water column were studied to provide models for each studied macrobenthic variable. Our models highlighted that most of variation (59%-72%) in macrobenthic spatial patterns was explained by the studied environmental variables. Sedimentary variables were more relevant that those of the water column. Therefore, disturbances affecting sedimentary environment could cause dramatic changes in macrobenthic assemblages because of the limited availability of soft bottoms in the area. In this way, results are useful to adopt right management and conservation strategies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Environmental Drivers of the Canadian Arctic Megabenthic Communities

PubMed Central

Roy, Virginie; Iken, Katrin; Archambault, Philippe

2014-01-01

Environmental gradients and their influence on benthic community structure vary over different spatial scales; yet, few studies in the Arctic have attempted to study the influence of environmental gradients of differing spatial scales on megabenthic communities across continental-scales. The current project studied for the first time how megabenthic community structure is related to several environmental factors over 2000 km of the Canadian Arctic, from the Beaufort Sea to northern Baffin Bay. Faunal trawl samples were collected between 2007 and 2011 at 78 stations from 30 to 1000 m depth and patterns in biomass, density, richness, diversity, and taxonomic composition were examined in relation to indirect/spatial gradients (e.g., depth), direct gradients (e.g., bottom oceanographic variables), and resource gradients (e.g., food supply proxies). Six benthic community types were defined based on their biomass-based taxonomic composition. Their distribution was significantly, but moderately, associated with large-scale (100–1000 km) environmental gradients defined by depth, physical water properties (e.g., bottom salinity), and meso-scale (10–100 km) environmental gradients defined by substrate type (hard vs. soft) and sediment organic carbon content. We did not observe a strong decline of bulk biomass, density and richness with depth or a strong increase of those community characteristics with food supply proxies, contrary to our hypothesis. We discuss how local- to meso-scale environmental conditions, such as bottom current regimes and polynyas, sustain biomass-rich communities at specific locations in oligotrophic and in deep regions of the Canadian Arctic. This study demonstrates the value of considering the scales of variability of environmental gradients when interpreting their relevance in structuring of communities. PMID:25019385

The Importance of Fine-Scale Flow Processes and Food Availability in the Maintenance of Soft-Sediment Communities

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-02-01

of the bottom sediments at a given site. From long time -series measurements of the flow and sediment-transport environment on Georges Bank...significantly affect flows and sediment transport depends, in part, on timing . Biological effects on seafloor stability may be more pronounced, for example...potentially can enhance particle retention time within the tube bed via skimming flow (described earlier), although it is unclear if natural populations of

Effects of wave energy converters on the surrounding soft-bottom macrofauna (west coast of Sweden).

PubMed

Langhamer, O

2010-06-01

Offshore wave energy conversion is expected to develop, thus contributing to an increase in submerged constructions on the seabed. An essential concern related to the deployment of wave energy converters (WECs) is their possible impact on the surrounding soft-bottom habitats. In this study, the macrofaunal assemblages in the seabed around the wave energy converters in the Lysekil research site on the Swedish west coast and a neighbouring reference site were examined yearly during a period of 5 years (2004-2008). Macrobenthic communities living in the WECs' surrounding seabed were mainly composed by organisms typical for the area and depth off the Swedish west coast. At both sites the number of individuals, number of species and biodiversity were low, and were mostly small, juvenile organisms. The species assemblages during the first years of sampling were significantly different between the Lysekil research site and the nearby reference site with higher species abundance in the research site. The high contribution to dissimilarities was mostly due to polychaetes. Sparse macrofaunal densities can be explained by strong hydrodynamic forces and/or earlier trawling. WECs may alter the surrounding seabed with an accumulation of organic matter inside the research area. This indicates that the deployment of WECs in the Lysekil research site tends to have rather minor direct ecological impacts on the surrounding benthic community relative to the natural high variances.

Effect of long-term mechanical perturbation on intertidal soft-bottom meiofaunal community spatial structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boldina, Inna; Beninger, Peter G.; Le Coz, Maïwen

2014-01-01

Situated at the interface of the microbial and macrofaunal compartments, soft-bottom meiofauna accomplish important ecological functions. However, little is known of their spatial distribution in the benthic environment. To assess the effects of long-term mechanical disturbance on soft-bottom meiofaunal spatial distribution, we compared a site subjected to long-term clam digging to a nearby site untouched by such activities, in Bourgneuf Bay, on the Atlantic coast of France. Six patterned replicate samples were taken at 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21 and 24 cm lags, all sampling stations being separated by 5 m. A combined correlogram-variogram approach was used to enhance interpretation of the meiofaunal spatial distribution; in particular, the definition of autocorrelation strength and its statistical significance, as well as the detailed characteristics of the periodic spatial structure of nematode assemblages, and the determination of the maximum distance of their spatial autocorrelation. At both sites, nematodes and copepods clearly exhibited aggregated spatial structure at the meso scale; this structure was attenuated at the impacted site. The nematode spatial distribution showed periodicity at the non-impacted site, but not at the impacted site. This is the first explicit report of a periodic process in meiofaunal spatial distribution. No such cyclic spatial process was observed for the more motile copepods at either site. This first study to indicate the impacts of long-term anthropogenic mechanical perturbation on meiofaunal spatial structure opens the door to a new dimension of mudflat ecology. Since macrofaunal predator search behaviour is known to be strongly influenced by prey spatial structure, the alteration of this structure may have important consequences for ecosystem functioning.

Oyster Larvae Settle in Response to Habitat-Associated Underwater Sounds

PubMed Central

Lillis, Ashlee; Eggleston, David B.; Bohnenstiehl, DelWayne R.

2013-01-01

Following a planktonic dispersal period of days to months, the larvae of benthic marine organisms must locate suitable seafloor habitat in which to settle and metamorphose. For animals that are sessile or sedentary as adults, settlement onto substrates that are adequate for survival and reproduction is particularly critical, yet represents a challenge since patchily distributed settlement sites may be difficult to find along a coast or within an estuary. Recent studies have demonstrated that the underwater soundscape, the distinct sounds that emanate from habitats and contain information about their biological and physical characteristics, may serve as broad-scale environmental cue for marine larvae to find satisfactory settlement sites. Here, we contrast the acoustic characteristics of oyster reef and off-reef soft bottoms, and investigate the effect of habitat-associated estuarine sound on the settlement patterns of an economically and ecologically important reef-building bivalve, the Eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica). Subtidal oyster reefs in coastal North Carolina, USA show distinct acoustic signatures compared to adjacent off-reef soft bottom habitats, characterized by consistently higher levels of sound in the 1.5–20 kHz range. Manipulative laboratory playback experiments found increased settlement in larval oyster cultures exposed to oyster reef sound compared to unstructured soft bottom sound or no sound treatments. In field experiments, ambient reef sound produced higher levels of oyster settlement in larval cultures than did off-reef sound treatments. The results suggest that oyster larvae have the ability to respond to sounds indicative of optimal settlement sites, and this is the first evidence that habitat-related differences in estuarine sounds influence the settlement of a mollusk. Habitat-specific sound characteristics may represent an important settlement and habitat selection cue for estuarine invertebrates and could play a role in driving settlement and recruitment patterns in marine communities. PMID:24205381

Oyster larvae settle in response to habitat-associated underwater sounds.

PubMed

Lillis, Ashlee; Eggleston, David B; Bohnenstiehl, DelWayne R

2013-01-01

Following a planktonic dispersal period of days to months, the larvae of benthic marine organisms must locate suitable seafloor habitat in which to settle and metamorphose. For animals that are sessile or sedentary as adults, settlement onto substrates that are adequate for survival and reproduction is particularly critical, yet represents a challenge since patchily distributed settlement sites may be difficult to find along a coast or within an estuary. Recent studies have demonstrated that the underwater soundscape, the distinct sounds that emanate from habitats and contain information about their biological and physical characteristics, may serve as broad-scale environmental cue for marine larvae to find satisfactory settlement sites. Here, we contrast the acoustic characteristics of oyster reef and off-reef soft bottoms, and investigate the effect of habitat-associated estuarine sound on the settlement patterns of an economically and ecologically important reef-building bivalve, the Eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica). Subtidal oyster reefs in coastal North Carolina, USA show distinct acoustic signatures compared to adjacent off-reef soft bottom habitats, characterized by consistently higher levels of sound in the 1.5-20 kHz range. Manipulative laboratory playback experiments found increased settlement in larval oyster cultures exposed to oyster reef sound compared to unstructured soft bottom sound or no sound treatments. In field experiments, ambient reef sound produced higher levels of oyster settlement in larval cultures than did off-reef sound treatments. The results suggest that oyster larvae have the ability to respond to sounds indicative of optimal settlement sites, and this is the first evidence that habitat-related differences in estuarine sounds influence the settlement of a mollusk. Habitat-specific sound characteristics may represent an important settlement and habitat selection cue for estuarine invertebrates and could play a role in driving settlement and recruitment patterns in marine communities.

Impacts of the 2011 Tsunami on Sediment Characteristics and Macrozoobenthic Assemblages in a Shallow Eutrophic Lagoon, Sendai Bay, Japan.

PubMed

Kanaya, Gen; Suzuki, Takao; Kikuchi, Eisuke

2015-01-01

A huge tsunami is one of the greatest disturbance events in coastal benthic communities, although the ecological consequences are not fully understood. Here we examined the tsunami-induced changes in the sediment environment and macrozoobenthic assemblage in a eutrophic brackish lagoon in eastern Japan. The 7.2-m-high tsunami completely replaced muddy sediment with drifting sea sand throughout the lagoon, leading to the drastic changes in quantity and quality of sedimental organic matters, sulfide contents, and sediment redox condition. Intensive physical stress devastated the benthic community, but the disappearance of sulfidic muddy bottoms significantly improved the habitat quality for macrozoobenthos. The re-established macrozoobenthic community after 5 months was characterized by (1) a 2-fold higher total density, but sharp declines in species richness, diversity, and evenness; (2) an increased density of opportunistic taxa (e.g., polychaete Pseudopolydora spp. and amphipod Monocorophium uenoi) in newly created sandy bottoms; and (3) disappearance of several dominant taxa including bivalves and chironomid larvae. These findings indicate that the sensitivity and recovery potential of macrozoobenthos were highly taxa-specific, which was closely related to the taxa's ecological characteristics, including tolerance to physical disturbance, life-history traits, and life form. Our data revealed the rapid recolonization of opportunistic macrozoobenthos after a huge tsunami, which would contribute to the functional recovery of estuarine soft-bottom habitats shortly after a disturbance event.

Bioturbation transports secondary microplastics to deeper layers in soft marine sediments of the northern Baltic Sea.

PubMed

Näkki, Pinja; Setälä, Outi; Lehtiniemi, Maiju

2017-06-15

Microplastics (MPs) are observed to be present on the seafloor ranging from coastal areas to deep seas. Because bioturbation alters the distribution of natural particles on inhabited soft bottoms, a mesocosm experiment with common benthic invertebrates was conducted to study their effect on the distribution of secondary MPs (different-sized pieces of fishing line<1mm). During the study period of three weeks, the benthic community increased MP concentration in the depth of 1.7-5.1cm in the sediment. The experiment revealed a clear vertical gradient in MP distribution with their abundance being highest in the uppermost parts of the sediment and decreasing with depth. The Baltic clam Macoma balthica was the only study animal that ingested MPs. This study highlights the need to further examine the vertical distribution of MPs in natural sediments to reliably assess their abundance on the seafloor as well as their potential impacts on benthic communities. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Epifauna dynamics at an offshore foundation--implications of future wind power farming in the North Sea.

PubMed

Krone, Roland; Gutow, Lars; Joschko, Tanja J; Schröder, Alexander

2013-04-01

In the light of the introduction of thousands of large offshore wind power foundations into the North Sea within the next decades, this manuscript focuses on the biofouling processes and likely reef effects. The study explores the macrozoobenthos (biofouling) colonization at an offshore platform which is comparable to offshore wind turbine foundations. A total of 183 single samples were taken and the parameters water depth and time were considered comparing biofouling masses and communities. The blue mussel Mytilus edulis, Anthozoa and the Amphipoda Jassa spp. were the dominant species. The community from the 1 m zone and those from the 5 and 20-28 m zones can clearly be differentiated. The 10 m zone community represents the transition between the M. edulis dominated 1 m and 5 m zones and the Anthozoa dominated 20-28 m zone. In the future offshore wind farms, thousands of wind turbine foundations will provide habitat for a hard bottom fauna which is otherwise restricted to the sparse rocky habitats scattered within extensive sedimentary soft bottoms of the German Bight. However, offshore wind power foundations cannot be considered natural rock equivalents as they selectively increase certain natural hard bottom species. The surface of the construction (1280 m²) was covered by an average of 4300 kg biomass. This foundation concentrates on its footprint area (1024 m²) 35 times more macrozoobenthos biomass than the same area of soft bottom in the German exclusive economic zone (0.12 kg m(-2)), functioning as a biomass hotspot. Concerning the temporal biomass variation, we assume that at least 2700 kg biomass was exported on a yearly basis. 345 × 10(4) single mussel shells of different sizes were produced during the study period. It is anticipated that the M. edulis abundance will increase in the North Sea due to the expansion of the offshore wind farm development. This will result in the enhanced production of secondary hard substrate (mussel shells) and its associated fauna and will intensify filtration rates of the seawater. This predicted ecological system change is coined the 'Mytilusation' of the German Bight. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Persistent impacts to the deep soft-bottom benthos one year after the Deepwater Horizon event.

PubMed

Montagna, Paul A; Baguley, Jeffrey G; Cooksey, Cynthia; Hyland, Jeffrey L

2017-03-01

In fall 2010, several months after the Deepwater Horizon blowout was capped, zones of moderate and severe impacts to deep-sea, soft-bottom benthos were identified that together extended over an area of 172 km 2 . A subset of stations sampled in 2010 was resampled in May and June 2011, 10 to 11 months after the event, to determine whether the identified adverse effects were persisting. The design compared 20 stations from the combined moderate and severe impact zone to 12 stations in the reference zone that were sampled in both years. There were no statistically significant differences in contaminant concentrations between the impact and nonimpact zones from 2010 to 2011, which indicates contaminants persisted after 1 y. Whereas there were some signs of recovery in 2011 (particularly for the meiofauna abundance and diversity), there was evidence of persistent, statistically significant impacts to both macrofauna and meiofauna community structure. Macrofaunal taxa richness and diversity in 2011 were still 22.8% and 35.9% less, respectively, in the entire impact zone than in the surrounding nonimpact area, and meiofaunal richness was 28.5% less in the entire impact zone than in the surrounding area. The persistence of significant biodiversity losses and community structure change nearly 1 y after the wellhead was capped indicates that full recovery had yet to have occurred in 2011. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2017;13:342-351. © 2016 SETAC. © 2016 SETAC.

Admiralty Bay Benthos Diversity—A census of a complex polar ecosystem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Siciński, Jacek; Jażdżewski, Krzysztof; Broyer, Claude De; Presler, Piotr; Ligowski, Ryszard; Nonato, Edmundo F.; Corbisier, Thais N.; Petti, Monica A. V.; Brito, Tania A. S.; Lavrado, Helena P.; BŁażewicz-Paszkowycz, Magdalena; Pabis, Krzysztof; Jażdżewska, Anna; Campos, Lucia S.

2011-03-01

A thorough census of Admiralty Bay benthic biodiversity was completed through the synthesis of data, acquired from more than 30 years of observations. Most of the available records arise from successive Polish and Brazilian Antarctic expeditions organized since 1977 and 1982, respectively, but also include new data from joint collecting efforts during the International Polar Year (2007-2009). Geological and hydrological characteristics of Admiralty Bay and a comprehensive species checklist with detailed data on the distribution and nature of the benthic communities are provided. Approximately 1300 species of benthic organisms (excluding bacteria, fungi and parasites) were recorded from the bay's entire depth range (0-500 m). Generalized classifications and the descriptions of soft-bottom and hard-bottom invertebrate communities are presented. A time-series analysis showed seasonal and interannual changes in the shallow benthic communities, likely to be related to ice formation and ice melt within the bay. As one of the best studied regions in the maritime Antarctic Admiralty Bay represents a legacy site, where continued, systematically integrated data sampling can evaluate the effects of climate change on marine life. Both high species richness and high assemblage diversity of the Admiralty Bay shelf benthic community have been documented against the background of habitat heterogeneity.

Bottom-up control of macrobenthic communities in a guanotrophic coastal system.

PubMed

Signa, Geraldina; Mazzola, Antonio; Costa, Valentina; Vizzini, Salvatrice

2015-01-01

Soft bottom macrobenthic communities were studied seasonally in three coastal ponds (Marinello ponds, Italy) at increasing distances from a gull (Larus michahellis) colony to investigate the effect of seabird-induced eutrophication (i.e. guanotrophication) on macrobenthic fauna. We hypothesized that enhanced nutrient concentration and organic load caused by guano input significantly alter the trophic and sedimentological condition of ponds, affecting benthic fauna through a bottom-up control. The influence of a set of environmental features on macrobenthic assemblages was also tested. Overall, the lowest macrobenthic abundances and functional group diversity were found in deeper sites, especially in the pond characterised by severe guanotrophication, where the higher disturbance resulted in a decline in suspension feeders and carnivores in favour of deposit feeders. An increase in opportunistic/tolerant taxa (e.g. chironomid larvae and paraonids) and totally azoic sediments were also found as an effect of the harshest environmental conditions, resulting in a very poor ecological status. We conclude that macrobenthic assemblages of the Marinello coastal system display high spatial variability due to a synergistic effect of trophic status and the geomorphological features of the ponds. The macrobenthic response to guanotrophication, which was a clear decrease in abundance, diversity and trophic functional groups, was associated with the typical response to severe eutrophication, magnified by the geomorphological features.

Bottom-Up Control of Macrobenthic Communities in a Guanotrophic Coastal System

PubMed Central

Signa, Geraldina; Mazzola, Antonio; Costa, Valentina; Vizzini, Salvatrice

2015-01-01

Soft bottom macrobenthic communities were studied seasonally in three coastal ponds (Marinello ponds, Italy) at increasing distances from a gull (Larus michahellis) colony to investigate the effect of seabird-induced eutrophication (i.e. guanotrophication) on macrobenthic fauna. We hypothesized that enhanced nutrient concentration and organic load caused by guano input significantly alter the trophic and sedimentological condition of ponds, affecting benthic fauna through a bottom-up control. The influence of a set of environmental features on macrobenthic assemblages was also tested. Overall, the lowest macrobenthic abundances and functional group diversity were found in deeper sites, especially in the pond characterised by severe guanotrophication, where the higher disturbance resulted in a decline in suspension feeders and carnivores in favour of deposit feeders. An increase in opportunistic/tolerant taxa (e.g. chironomid larvae and paraonids) and totally azoic sediments were also found as an effect of the harshest environmental conditions, resulting in a very poor ecological status. We conclude that macrobenthic assemblages of the Marinello coastal system display high spatial variability due to a synergistic effect of trophic status and the geomorphological features of the ponds. The macrobenthic response to guanotrophication, which was a clear decrease in abundance, diversity and trophic functional groups, was associated with the typical response to severe eutrophication, magnified by the geomorphological features. PMID:25679400

Impacts of the 2011 Tsunami on Sediment Characteristics and Macrozoobenthic Assemblages in a Shallow Eutrophic Lagoon, Sendai Bay, Japan

PubMed Central

Kanaya, Gen; Suzuki, Takao; Kikuchi, Eisuke

2015-01-01

A huge tsunami is one of the greatest disturbance events in coastal benthic communities, although the ecological consequences are not fully understood. Here we examined the tsunami-induced changes in the sediment environment and macrozoobenthic assemblage in a eutrophic brackish lagoon in eastern Japan. The 7.2-m-high tsunami completely replaced muddy sediment with drifting sea sand throughout the lagoon, leading to the drastic changes in quantity and quality of sedimental organic matters, sulfide contents, and sediment redox condition. Intensive physical stress devastated the benthic community, but the disappearance of sulfidic muddy bottoms significantly improved the habitat quality for macrozoobenthos. The re-established macrozoobenthic community after 5 months was characterized by (1) a 2-fold higher total density, but sharp declines in species richness, diversity, and evenness; (2) an increased density of opportunistic taxa (e.g., polychaete Pseudopolydora spp. and amphipod Monocorophium uenoi) in newly created sandy bottoms; and (3) disappearance of several dominant taxa including bivalves and chironomid larvae. These findings indicate that the sensitivity and recovery potential of macrozoobenthos were highly taxa-specific, which was closely related to the taxa’s ecological characteristics, including tolerance to physical disturbance, life-history traits, and life form. Our data revealed the rapid recolonization of opportunistic macrozoobenthos after a huge tsunami, which would contribute to the functional recovery of estuarine soft-bottom habitats shortly after a disturbance event. PMID:26241654

Modelling potential impacts of bottom trawl fisheries on soft sediment biogeochemistry in the North Sea†

PubMed Central

Duplisea, Daniel E; Jennings, Simon; Malcolm, Stephen J; Parker, Ruth; Sivyer, David B

2001-01-01

Bottom trawling causes physical disturbance to sediments particularly in shelf areas. The disturbance due to trawling is most significant in deeper areas with softer sediments where levels of natural disturbance due to wave and tidal action are low. In heavily fished areas, trawls may impact the same area of seabed more than four times per year. A single pass of a beam trawl, the heaviest gear routinely used in shelf sea fisheries, can kill 5–65% of the resident fauna and mix the top few cm of sediment. We expect that sediment community function, carbon mineralisation and biogeochemical fluxes will be strongly affected by trawling activity because the physical effects of trawling are equivalent to those of an extreme bioturbator, and yet, unlike bioturbating macrofauna, trawling does not directly contribute to community metabolism. We used an existing box-model of a generalised soft sediment system to examine the effects of trawling disturbance on carbon mineralisation and chemical concentrations. We contrasted the effects of a natural scenario, where bioturbation is a function of macrobenthos biomass, with an anthropogenic impact scenario where physical disturbance results from trawling rather than the action of bioturbating macrofauna. Simulation results suggest that the effects of low levels of trawling disturbance will be similar to those of natural bioturbators but that high levels of trawling disturbance prevent the modelled system from reaching equilibrium due to large carbon fluxes between oxic and anoxic carbon compartments. The presence of macrobenthos in the natural disturbance scenario allowed sediment chemical storage and fluxes to reach equilibrium. This is because the macrobenthos are important carbon consumers in the system whose presence reduces the magnitude of available carbon fluxes. In soft sediment systems, where the level physical disturbance due to waves and tides is low, model results suggest that intensive trawling disturbance could cause large fluctuations in benthic chemical fluxes and storage. PMID:16759420

Modelling potential impacts of bottom trawl fisheries on soft sediment biogeochemistry in the North Sea.

PubMed

Duplisea, D E; Jennings, S; Malcolm, S J; Parker, R; Sivyer, D B

2001-12-19

Bottom trawling causes physical disturbance to sediments particularly in shelf areas. The disturbance due to trawling is most significant in deeper areas with softer sediments where levels of natural disturbance due to wave and tidal action are low. In heavily fished areas, trawls may impact the same area of seabed more than four times per year. A single pass of a beam trawl, the heaviest gear routinely used in shelf sea fisheries, can kill 5-65% of the resident fauna and mix the top few cm of sediment. We expect that sediment community function, carbon mineralisation and biogeochemical fluxes will be strongly affected by trawling activity because the physical effects of trawling are equivalent to those of an extreme bioturbator, and yet, unlike bioturbating macrofauna, trawling does not directly contribute to community metabolism. We used an existing box-model of a generalised soft sediment system to examine the effects of trawling disturbance on carbon mineralisation and chemical concentrations. We contrasted the effects of a natural scenario, where bioturbation is a function of macrobenthos biomass, with an anthropogenic impact scenario where physical disturbance results from trawling rather than the action of bioturbating macrofauna. Simulation results suggest that the effects of low levels of trawling disturbance will be similar to those of natural bioturbators but that high levels of trawling disturbance prevent the modelled system from reaching equilibrium due to large carbon fluxes between oxic and anoxic carbon compartments. The presence of macrobenthos in the natural disturbance scenario allowed sediment chemical storage and fluxes to reach equilibrium. This is because the macrobenthos are important carbon consumers in the system whose presence reduces the magnitude of available carbon fluxes. In soft sediment systems, where the level physical disturbance due to waves and tides is low, model results suggest that intensive trawling disturbance could cause large fluctuations in benthic chemical fluxes and storage.

Periphyton accumulation at remote reefs and shoals in Lake Superior

USGS Publications Warehouse

Edsall, Thomas A.; Stoermer, Eugene F.; Kociolek, John P.

1991-01-01

Observations made from a submarine showed that the bed-rock surfaces at water depths of about 5 to 14 m on Stannard Rock and Superior Shoal in Lake Superior were covered with a dense, fleece-like blanket of periphyton. Examination of the periphyton revealed it consisted primarily of structurally complex, diverse, diatom communities, but occasional small thalli of the green algae Cladophora andStigeoclonium were also noted. Extensive windrows of detritus-like material, apparently derived from the local periphyton community, were seen on soft bottoms at depths of about 20 to 60 m near the reefs. Our observations suggested that these periphyton communities may be locally important to the food web at these remote and oligotrophic sites, which are 22 to 77 km from the nearest mainland shore and are surrounded by water at least 140 m deep.

The ecology of the soft-bottom benthos of San Francisco Bay: a community profile

USGS Publications Warehouse

Nichols, Frederic H.; Pamatmat, Mario M.

1988-01-01

The profile provides a reference to the scientific information concerning the animals and plants of the bay's benthic communities, their importance to the bay ecosystem, and their value as a resource measured in human terms. Because there have been few process-oriented studies of the benthos of San Francisco Bay (e.g., field and laboratory rate-measurement experiments), the material presented herein is largely descriptive. Nonetheless, we have described the processes that interconnect the various physical, chemical, and biological components of the benthic environment, and the important couplings between this environment and the water column above, with reference to research results from other estuaries where necessary. We consider the role of the benthic community as a food source for fish, aquatic birds, and humans; as a consumer or degrader of organic materials including wastes; as a recycler of minerals and nutrients; and as an accumulator of pollutants.

Benchmarking Non-Hardware Balance-of-System (Soft) Costs for U.S. Photovoltaic Systems, Using a Bottom-Up Approach and Installer Survey - Second Edition

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Friedman, B.; Ardani, K.; Feldman, D.

2013-10-01

This report presents results from the second U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) sponsored, bottom-up data-collection and analysis of non-hardware balance-of-system costs -- often referred to as 'business process' or 'soft' costs -- for U.S. residential and commercial photovoltaic (PV) systems. In service to DOE's SunShot Initiative, annual expenditure and labor-hour-productivity data are analyzed to benchmark 2012 soft costs related to (1) customer acquisition and system design (2) permitting, inspection, and interconnection (PII). We also include an in-depth analysis of costs related to financing, overhead, and profit. Soft costs are both a major challenge and a major opportunity for reducing PVmore » system prices and stimulating SunShot-level PV deployment in the United States. The data and analysis in this series of benchmarking reports are a step toward the more detailed understanding of PV soft costs required to track and accelerate these price reductions.« less

Regional and latitudinal patterns of soft-bottom macrobenthic invertebrates along French coasts: Results from the RESOMAR database

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gallon, Régis K.; Lavesque, Nicolas; Grall, Jacques; Labrune, Céline; Gremare, Antoine; Bachelet, Guy; Blanchet, Hugues; Bonifácio, Paulo; Bouchet, Vincent M. P.; Dauvin, Jean-Claude; Desroy, Nicolas; Gentil, Franck; Guerin, Laurent; Houbin, Céline; Jourde, Jérôme; Laurand, Sandrine; Le Duff, Michel; Le Garrec, Vincent; de Montaudouin, Xavier; Olivier, Frédéric; Orvain, Francis; Sauriau, Pierre-Guy; Thiebaut, Éric; Gauthier, Olivier

2017-12-01

This study aims to describe the patterns of soft bottom macrozoobenthic richness along French coasts. It is based on a collaborative database developed by the "Réseau des Stations et Observatoires Marins" (RESOMAR). We investigated patterns of species richness in sublittoral soft bottom habitats (EUNIS level 3) at two different spatial scales: 1) seaboards: English Channel, Bay of Biscay and Mediterranean Sea and 2) 0.5° latitudinal and longitudinal grid. Total observed richness, rarefaction curves and three incidence-based richness estimators (Chao2, ICE and Jacknife1) were used to compare soft bottom habitats species richness in each seaboard. Overall, the Mediterranean Sea has the highest richness and despite higher sampling effort, the English Channel hosts the lowest number of species. The distribution of species occurrence within and between seaboards was assessed for each major phylum using constrained rarefaction curves. The Mediterranean Sea hosts the highest number of exclusive species. In pairwise comparisons, it also shares a lower proportion of taxa with the Bay of Biscay (34.1%) or the English Channel (27.6%) than that shared between these two seaboards (49.7%). Latitudinal species richness patterns along the Atlantic and English Channel coasts were investigated for each major phylum using partial LOESS regression controlling for sampling effort. This showed the existence of a bell-shaped latitudinal pattern, highlighting Brittany as a hotspot for macrobenthic richness at the confluence of two biogeographic provinces.

Apparatus and method for cutting soft materials, especially meat

DOEpatents

Spletzer, Barry L.; Callow, Diane S.; Jones, James F.; Kuehl, Michael A.; Shaw, Dick L.; Scalia, Barbara J.

2005-10-18

An apparatus and method for cutting soft materials such as meat. Two or more spirally mounted helical blades are situated between two supports, and the supports are mounted to a shank. The shank is rotated to impart rotary action to the spiral shear blades, and the entire device may be used to perform various cutting operations. The distal or bottom one of the supports may also be a cutting blade, and a number of versions of bottom cutting blades are useable in the practice of the invention.

Use of the Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard (CMECS) for Geological Studies in Glacier Bay, Alaska

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cochrane, G. R.; Hodson, T. O.; Allee, R.; Cicchetti, G.; Finkbeiner, M.; Goodin, K.; Handley, L.; Madden, C.; Mayer, G.; Shumchenia, E.

2012-12-01

The U S Geological Survey (USGS) is one of four primary organizations (along with the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, the Evironmental Protection Agency, and NatureServe) responsible for the development of the Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard (CMECS) over the past decade. In June 2012 the Federal Geographic Data Committee approved CMECS as the first-ever comprehensive federal standard for classifying and describing coastal and marine ecosystems. The USGS has pioneered the application of CMECS in Glacier Bay, Alaska as part of its Seafloor Mapping and Benthic Habitat Studies Project. This presentation briefly describes the standard and its application as part of geological survey studies in the Western Arm of Glacier Bay. CMECS offers a simple, standard framework and common terminology for describing natural and human influenced ecosystems from the upper tidal reaches of estuaries to the deepest portions of the ocean. The framework is organized into two settings, biogeographic and aquatic, and four components, water column, geoform, substrate, and biotic. Each describes a separate aspect of the environment and biota. Settings and components can be used in combination or independently to describe ecosystem features. The hierarchical arrangement of units of the settings and components allows users to apply CMECS to the scale and specificity that best suits their needs. Modifiers allow users to customize the classification to meet specific needs. Biotopes can be described when there is a need for more detailed information on the biota and their environment. USGS efforts focused primarily on the substrate and geoform components. Previous research has demonstrated three classes of bottom type that can be derived from multibeam data that in part determine the distribution of benthic organisms: soft, flat bottom, mixed bottom including coarse sediment and low-relief rock with low to moderate rugosity, and rugose, hard bottom. The West Arm of Glacier Bay has all of these habitats, with the greatest abundance being soft, flat bottom. In Glacier Bay, species associated with soft, flat bottom habitats include gastropods, algae, flatfish, Tanner crabs, shrimp, sea pen, and other crustaceans; soft corals and sponge dominate areas of boulder and rock substrate. Video observations in the West Arm suggest that geological-biological associations found in central Glacier Bay to be at least partially analogous to associations in the West Arm. Given that soft, mud substrate is the most prevalent habitat in the West Arm, it is expected that the species associated with a soft bottom in the bay proper are the most abundant types of species within the West Arm. While mud is the dominant substrate throughout the fjord, the upper and lower West Arm are potentially very different environments due to the spatially and temporally heterogeneous influence of glaciation and associated effects on fjord hydrologic and oceanographic conditions. Therefore, we expect variations in the distribution of species and the development of biotopes for Glacier Bay will require data applicable to the full spectrum of CMECS components.

Recolonization of macrozoobenthos on defaunated sediments in a hypertrophic brackish lagoon: effects of sulfide removal and sediment grain size.

PubMed

Kanaya, Gen

2014-04-01

Influences of sediment types on recolonization of estuarine macrozoobenthos were tested using enclosures in a hypertrophic lagoon. Three types of azoic sediment, sand (S), sulfide-rich mud (M), and mud removed of sulfide through iron addition (MFe), were set in field for 35 days during a hypoxic period. A total of 14 taxa including opportunistic polychaetes and amphipods occurred. Infaunal community in S treatment was characterized by highest diversity, total density and biomass, and population density of five dominant taxa, while those parameters were lowest in M treatment. Sulfide removal in MFe treatment achieved much higher density, biomass, and population densities of several taxa in the sediment. Multivariate analyses demonstrated that the established community structure was unique to each treatment. These imply that dissolved sulfide level as well as sediment grain size is a key determinant for the community composition and recolonization speed of early colonists in estuarine soft-bottom habitats. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ecosystem goods and services from Swedish coastal habitats: identification, valuation, and implications of ecosystem shifts.

PubMed

Rönnbäck, Patrik; Kautsky, Nils; Pihl, Leif; Troell, Max; Söderqvist, Tore; Wennhage, Håkan

2007-11-01

Coastal areas are exposed to a variety of threats due to high population densities and rapid economic development. How will this affect human welfare and our dependence on nature's capacity to provide ecosystem goods and services? This paper is original in evaluating this concern for major habitats (macroalgae, seagrasses, blue mussel beds, and unvegetated soft bottoms) in a temperate coastal setting. More than 40 categories of goods and services are classified into provisional, regulating, and cultural services. A wide variety of Swedish examples is described for each category, including accounts of economic values and the relative importance of different habitats. For example, distinguishing characteristics would be the exceptional importance of blue mussels for mitigation of eutrophication, sandy soft bottoms for recreational uses, and seagrasses and macroalgae for fisheries production and control of wave and current energy. Net changes in the provision of goods and services are evaluated for three cases of observed coastal ecosystem shifts: i) seagrass beds into unvegetated substrate; ii) unvegetated shallow soft bottoms into filamentous algal mat dominance; and iii) macroalgae into mussel beds on hard substrate. The results are discussed in a management context including accounts of biodiversity, interconnectedness of ecosystems, and potential of economic valuation.

Spearfishing data reveals the littoral fish communities' association to coastal configuration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boada, Jordi; Sagué, Oscar; Gordoa, Ana

2017-12-01

Increasing the knowledge about littoral fish communities is important for ecological sciences, fisheries and the sustainability of human communities. The scarcity of baseline data at large spatial scales in a fast-changing world makes it necessary to implement special programs to monitor natural ecosystems. In the present study, we evaluate littoral fish communities using data from spearfishing contests. The Catalan Federation of Underwater Activities (FECDAS) regularly organizes fishing contests across ca. 600 km of coast. Catch records made over the last sixteen years were used to study the fish communities along the coastline. We found two different communities that are closely related to the habitat configuration at a regional level. Interestingly, contests held on the northern coast were mainly grouped together and were characterized by species that inhabit complex rocky habitats, and contests held on the southern coast were grouped together and were mainly determined by soft bottoms species (i.e. mugilids and Sarpa salpa). In the south group the white sea bream was also very abundant compared to the north group. No significant changes in the community composition were found in the studied period and we successfully set descriptive baselines. Finally, based on these results we propose that studying the data from fishing contest records can be used to complement the available tools for monitoring fish communities.

77 FR 32573 - Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities; Construction and Race Event...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-06-01

... operations, support space, media operations, hospitality services, sponsored commercial space, and...). Intertidal habitats in the Central Bay, or those that lie between low and high tides, include sandy beaches... sediment and hard substrate habitat. Soft bottom substrate ranges between soft mud with high silt and clay...

Long-term observations of bottom conditions and sediment movement on the Atlantic continental shelf; time-lapse photography from instrumented tripod

USGS Publications Warehouse

Butman, Bradford; Bryden, Cynthia G.; Pfirman, Stephanie L.; Strahle, William J.; Noble, Marlene A.

1984-01-01

An instrument system that measures bottom current, temperature, light transmission, and pressure, and that photographs the bottom at 2- to 6-hour intervals has been developed to study sediment transport on the Atlantic Continental Shelf. Instruments have been deployed extensively along the United States East Coast Continental Shelf for periods of from 2 to 6 months to study the frequency, direction, and rate of bottom sediment movement, and the processes causing movement. The time-lapse photographs are used to (1) characterize the bottom benthic community and surface microtopography; (2) monitor changes in the bottom topography and near-bottom water column caused by currents and storms (for example, ripple generation and migration, sediment resuspension); and (3) monitor seasonal changes in the bottom benthic community and qualitative effects of this community on the bottom sediments.

Distribution of green algal mats throughout shallow soft bottoms of the Swedish Skagerrak archipelago in relation to nutrient sources and wave exposure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pihl, Leif; Svenson, Anders; Moksnes, Per-Olav; Wennhage, Håkan

1999-06-01

Distribution and biomass of green algal mats were studied in marine shallow (0-1 m) soft-bottom areas on the Swedish west coast from 1994 to 1996, by combining aerial photography surveys with ground truth sampling. Filamentous green algae, dominated by species of the genera Cladophora and Enteromorpha, were generally present throughout the study area during July and August, and largely absent in late April and early May. These algae occurred at 60 to 90% of the locations investigated during the summer, and were estimated to cover between 30 and 50% of the total area of shallow soft bottoms of the Swedish Skagerrak archipelago. The distributional patterns were similar during the three years of the investigation and appeared unrelated to annual local nutrient inputs from point sources and river discharge. We postulate that the apparent lack of such a relationship is due to an altered state of nutrient dynamics throughout the archipelago. Mechanisms are likely to involve long-term, diffuse elevations in nutrient levels in coastal waters of the Skagerrak and the Kattegat over several decades leading to current eutrophic conditions, exceeding nutrient requirements for abundant filamentous algal growth. Patterns of algal abundance in our study were largely related to physical factors such as exposure to wind, waves and water exchange under conditions where nutrient loads among embayments seemed to be unlimited. Further, our results show that sediments covered by algal mats had higher carbon and nitrogen contents than unvegetated sediments. We hypothesise that sustained high nutrient loads, manifested in extensive biomass of filamentous algae during summer months, are re-mineralised via decay and sedimentation in the benthic realm. Hence, accumulated carbon and nutrients in the sediment could, in turn, constitute the basic pool for future algal mat production overlying soft bottoms in areas where tidal exchange is limited.

Deep-sea benthic habitats modeling and mapping in a NE Atlantic seamount (Galicia Bank)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Serrano, A.; González-Irusta, J. M.; Punzón, A.; García-Alegre, A.; Lourido, A.; Ríos, P.; Blanco, M.; Gómez-Ballesteros, M.; Druet, M.; Cristobo, J.; Cartes, J. E.

2017-08-01

This study presents the results of seafloor habitat identification and mapping of a NE Atlantic deep seamount. An ;assemble first, predict later; approach has been followed to identify and map the benthic habitats of the Galicia Bank (NW Iberian). Biotic patterns inferred from the survey data have been used to drive the definition of benthic assemblages using multivariate tools. Eight assemblages, four hard substrates and four sedimentary ones, have been described from a matrix of structural species. Distribution of these assemblages was correlated with environmental factors (multibeam and backscatter data) using binomial GAMs. Finally, the distribution model of each assemblage was applied to produce continuous maps and pooled in a final map with the distribution of the main benthic habitats. Depth and substrate type are key factors when determining soft bottom communities, whereas rocky habitat distribution is mainly explained by rock slope and orientation. Enrichment by northern water masses (LSW) arriving to GB and possible zooplankton biomass increase at vertical-steep walls by ;bottom trapping; can explain the higher diversity of habitat providing filter-feeders at slope rocky breaks. These results concerning vulnerable species and habitats, such as Lophelia and Madrepora communities and black and bamboo coral aggregations were the basis of the Spanish proposal of inclusion within the Natura 2000 network. The aim of the present study was to establish the scientific criteria needed for managing and protecting those environmental values.

Teaching Soft Skills Employers Need

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ellis, Maureen; Kisling, Eric; Hackworth, Robbie G.

2014-01-01

This study identifies the soft skills community colleges teach in an office technology course and determines whether the skills taught are congruent with the soft skills employers require in today's entry-level office work. A qualitative content analysis of a community college office technology soft skills course was performed using 23 soft skills…

Soft-Template Construction of 3D Macroporous Polypyrrole Scaffolds.

PubMed

Liu, Shaohua; Wang, Faxing; Dong, Renhao; Zhang, Tao; Zhang, Jian; Zheng, Zhikun; Mai, Yiyong; Feng, Xinliang

2017-04-01

A bottom-up approach toward 3D hierarchical macroporous polypyrrole aerogels is demonstrated via soft template-directed synthesis and self-assembly of ultrathin polypyrrole nanosheets in solution, which present interconnected macropores, ultrathin walls, and large specific surface areas, thereby exhibiting a high capacity, satisfactory rate capability, and excellent cycling stability for Na-ion storage. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

The Life of a Sponge in a Sandy Lagoon.

PubMed

Ilan, M; Abelson, A

1995-12-01

Infaunal soft-bottom invertebrates benefit from the presence of sediment, but sedimentation is potentially harmful for hard-bottom dwellers. Most sponges live on hard bottom, but on coral reefs in the Red Sea, the species Biemna ehrenbergi (Keller, 1889) is found exclusively in soft-bottom lagoons, usually in the shallowest part. This location is a sink environment, which increases the deposition of particulate organic matter. Most of the sponge body is covered by sediment, but the chimney-like siphons protrude from the sediment surface. The sponge is attached to the buried beach-rock, which reduces the risk of dislodgment during storms. Dye injected above and into the sediment revealed, for the first time, a sponge pumping interstitial water (rich with particles and nutrients) into its aquiferous system. Visual examination of plastic replicas of the aquiferous system and electron microscopical analysis of sponge tissue revealed that the transcellular ostia are mostly located on the buried surface of the sponge. The oscula, however, are located on top of the siphons; their elevated position and their ability to close combine to prevent the filtering system outflow from clogging. The transcellular ostia presumably remain open due to cellular mobility. The sponge maintains a large population of bacteriocytes, which contains bacteria of several different species. Some of these bacteria disintegrate, and may be consumed by the sponge.

Turning up the heat: temperature influences the relative importance of top-down and bottom-up effects.

PubMed

Hoekman, David

2010-10-01

Understanding how communities respond to changes in temperature is a major challenge for community ecology. Temperature influences the relative degree to which top-down and bottom-up forces structure ecological communities. In greenhouse experiments using the aquatic community found in pitcher plants (Sarracenia purpurea), I tested how temperature affected the relative importance of top-down (mosquito predation) and bottom-up (ant carcasses) forces on protozoa and bacteria populations. While bottom-up effects did not vary consistently with temperature, the top-down effects of predators on protozoa increased at higher temperatures. These results suggest that temperature could change the relative importance of top-down and bottom-up effects in ecological communities. Specifically, higher temperature may increase the strength of top-down effects by raising predator metabolic rate and concomitant processes (e.g., activity, foraging, digestion, growth) relative to cooler temperatures. These findings apply broadly to an understanding of trophic interactions in a variable environment and are especially relevant in the context of ongoing climate change.

Soft, flexible micromanipulators comprising polypyrrole trilayer microactuators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khaldi, Alexandre; Maziz, Ali; Alici, Gursel; Spinks, Geoffrey M.; Jager, Edwin W. H.

2015-04-01

Within the areas of cell biology, biomedicine and minimal invasive surgery, there is a need for soft, flexible and dextrous biocompatible manipulators for handling biological objects, such as single cells and tissues. Present day technologies are based on simple suction using micropipettes for grasping objects. The micropipettes lack the possibility of accurate force control, nor are they soft and compliant and may thus cause damage to the cells or tissue. Other micromanipulators use conventional electric motors however the further miniaturization of electrical motors and their associated gear boxes and/or push/pull wires has reached its limits. Therefore there is an urgent need for new technologies for micromanipulation of soft biological matter. We are developing soft, flexible micromanipulators such as micro- tweezers for the handling and manipulation of biological species including cells and surgical tools for minimal invasive surgery. Our aim is to produce tools with minimal dimensions of 100 μm to 1 mm in size, which is 1-2 orders of magnitude smaller than existing technology. We present newly developed patterning and microfabrication methods for polymer microactuators as well as the latest results to integrate these microactuators into easy to use manipulation tools. The outcomes of this study contribute to the realisation of low-foot print devices articulated with electroactive polymer actuators for which the physical interface with the power source has been a significant challenge limiting their application. Here, we present a new bottom-up microfabrication process. We show for the first time that such a bottom-up fabricated actuator performs a movement in air. This is a significant step towards widening the application areas of the soft microactuators.

Linking Environmental Forcing and Trophic Supply to Benthic Communities in the Vercelli Seamount Area (Tyrrhenian Sea)

PubMed Central

Covazzi Harriague, Anabella; Bavestrello, Giorgio; Bo, Marzia; Borghini, Mireno; Castellano, Michela; Majorana, Margherita; Massa, Francesco; Montella, Alessandro; Povero, Paolo; Misic, Cristina

2014-01-01

Seamounts and their influence on the surrounding environment are currently being extensively debated but, surprisingly, scant information is available for the Mediterranean area. Furthermore, although the deep Tyrrhenian Sea is characterised by a complex bottom morphology and peculiar hydrodynamic features, which would suggest a variable influence on the benthic domain, few studies have been carried out there, especially for soft-bottom macrofaunal assemblages. In order to fill this gap, the structure of the meio-and macrofaunal assemblages of the Vercelli Seamount and the surrounding deep area (northern Tyrrhenian Sea – western Mediterranean) were studied in relation to environmental features. Sediment was collected with a box-corer from the seamount summit and flanks and at two far-field sites in spring 2009, in order to analyse the metazoan communities, the sediment texture and the sedimentary organic matter. At the summit station, the heterogeneity of the habitat, the shallowness of the site and the higher trophic supply (water column phytopigments and macroalgal detritus, for instance) supported a very rich macrofaunal community, with high abundance, biomass and diversity. In fact, its trophic features resembled those observed in coastal environments next to seagrass meadows. At the flank and far-field stations, sediment heterogeneity and depth especially influenced the meiofaunal distribution. From a trophic point of view, the low content of the valuable sedimentary proteins that was found confirmed the general oligotrophy of the Tyrrhenian Sea, and exerted a limiting influence on the abundance and biomass of the assemblages. In this scenario, the rather refractory sedimentary carbohydrates became a food source for metazoans, which increased their abundance and biomass at the stations where the hydrolytic-enzyme-mediated turnover of carbohydrates was faster, highlighting high lability. PMID:25343621

Benthic habitat characterisation of soft-bottom continental shelves: Integration of acoustic surveys, benthic samples and trawling disturbance intensity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Juan, S.; Lo Iacono, C.; Demestre, M.

2013-01-01

Eleven sites were located on Mediterranean continental shelves to explore the link between the physical characteristics and epibenthic fauna from soft-sediment habitats. These sites, at 32-82 m in depth, were associated with fishing grounds and the trawling intensity was estimated at the site scale to assess the effects of trawling on benthic communities. Each site was surveyed with Multi-Beam (bathymetry and backscatter), side-scan sonar, benthic grabs and a surface dredge. The sites were clustered in three habitat types. Habitat 1, with moderate trawling disturbance, was characterised by homogeneous mud and associated epifauna that was also highly homogeneous across sites. Habitat 2, with sandy mud and scattered gravel and rocks, had a high abundance of sessile suspension feeders that probably attach to the coarser substratum and benefit from the low fishing disturbance in these sites. Habitat 3 included sites with heterogeneous sediments with maërl as the prevailing biocenosis and having the highest species richness, despite being subjected to variable trawling intensity. Statistical models were used to relate environmental parameters and the species abundance. More than 3 physical variables were necessary to explain the epifaunal patterns across sites, including the percentage of mud, sediment heterogeneity and fishing effort. These analyses are an essential step for extrapolating information from benthic samples to the larger scale of habitats, mapped through acoustic surveys. Despite this, a good integration is required between the mapping of physical habitat distribution and the ecological knowledge of communities.

Shadow Strands

NASA Image and Video Library

2006-06-02

The soft, sweeping shadows of Saturn C ring cover bright patches of clouds in the planet atmosphere. The shadow-throwing rings stretch across the view at bottom. The dark inner edge of the B ring is visible at top

Challenges in Engaging Communities in Bottom-Up Literacies for Democratic Citizenship

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Torres, Myriam N.

2010-01-01

The purpose of this article is to examine the authors' experiences while trying to enter and engage local communities in bottom-up literacies through participatory action research (PAR) toward the community's own collective self-development. In trying to enter five different communities, I have found several challenges and roadblocks such as…

Alpha, beta, or gamma: where does all the diversity go?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sepkoski, J. J. Jr; Sepkoski JJ, J. r. (Principal Investigator)

1988-01-01

Global taxonomic richness is affected by variation in three components: within-community, or alpha, diversity, between-community, or beta, diversity; and between-region, or gamma, diversity. A data set consisting of 505 faunal lists distributed among 40 stratigraphic intervals and six environmental zones was used to investigate how variation of alpha and beta diversity influenced global diversity through the Paleozoic, and especially during the Ordovician radiations. As first shown by Bambach (1977), alpha diversity increased by 50 to 70 percent in offshore marine environments during the Ordovician and then remained essentially constant of the remainder of the Paleozoic. The increase is insufficient, however, to account for the 300 percent rise observed in global generic diversity. It is shown that beta diversity among level, soft-bottom communities also increased significantly during the early Paleozoic. This change is related to enhanced habitat selection, and presumably increased overall specialization, among diversifying taxa during the Ordovician radiations. Combined with alpha diversity, the measured change in beta diversity still accounts for only about half of the increase in global diversity. Other sources of increase are probably not related to variation in gamma diversity but rather to appearance and/or expansion of organic reefs, hardground communities, bryozoan thickets, and crinoid gardens during the Ordovician.

Functional structure of marine benthic assemblages using Biological Traits Analysis (BTA): A study along the Emilia-Romagna coastline (Italy, North-West Adriatic Sea)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paganelli, Daniele; Marchini, Agnese; Occhipinti-Ambrogi, Anna

2012-01-01

The functional diversity index has shown that the functional diversity of the macrobenthic community increased along a spatial gradient of distance from the Po river delta (Emilia-Romagna coast, Italy, North-Adriatic Sea), which suggests that riverine inputs have a detrimental effect on community functioning. This study focuses on two different depths along a southward gradient of increasing distance from the Po river delta where the Po river is the main source of freshwater and nutrient inputs in the North-Adriatic Sea. A Biological Traits Analysis (BTA) was used to examine a dataset of 156 soft-bottom macrobenthic species that were collected at eight stations in this area. Instead of comparing communities on the basis of their taxonomic composition, BTA uses a series of life history, morphological and behavioural characteristics of species to indicate aspects of their ecological functioning. The variability of the Emilia-Romagna dataset was governed by relatively few biological traits: growth form, trophic group, type of movement, habit, adult mobility and bioturbation activity. The community closer to the coastline was mainly composed of moderately mobile vermiform organisms with burrowing or tube-dwelling behaviour, and deposit feeding behaviour. However, the offshore community was mainly characterized by organisms with a laterally compressed or globose body and tube-dwelling behaviour; filter feeders and deposit feeders were dominant.

A novel method to determine the elastic modulus of extremely soft materials.

PubMed

Stirling, Tamás; Zrínyi, Miklós

2015-06-07

Determination of the elastic moduli of extremely soft materials that may deform under their own weight is a rather difficult experimental task. A new method has been elaborated by means of which the elastic modulus of such materials can be determined. This method is generally applicable to all soft materials with purely neo-Hookean elastic deformation behaviour with elastic moduli lower than 1 kPa. Our novel method utilises the self-deformation of pendent gel cylinders under gravity. When suspended, the material at the very top bears the weight of the entire gel cylinder, but that at the bottom carries no load at all. Due to the non-uniform stress distribution along the gel sample both the stress and the resulting strain show position dependence. The cross-sectional area of the material is lowest at the top of the sample and gradually increases towards its bottom. The equilibrium geometry of the pendant gel is used to evaluate the elastic modulus. Experimental data obtained by the proposed new method were compared to the results obtained from underwater measurements. The parameters affecting the measurement uncertainty were studied by a Pareto analysis of a series of adaptive Monte Carlo simulations. It has been shown that our method provides an easily achievable method to provide an accurate determination of the elastic modulus of extremely soft matter typically applicable for moduli below 1 kPa.

Evaluation of Vickers hardness and depth of cure of six composite resins photo-activated with different polymerization modes.

PubMed

Poggio, C; Lombardini, M; Gaviati, S; Chiesa, M

2012-07-01

The current in vitro study evaluated Vickers hardness (VK) and depth of cure (hardness ratio) of six resin composites, polymerized with a light-emitting diode (LED) curing unit by different polymerization modes: Standard 20 s, Standard 40 s, Soft-start 40 s. SIX RESIN COMPOSITES WERE SELECTED FOR THE PRESENT STUDY: three microhybrid (Esthet.X HD, Amaris, Filtek Silorane), two nanohybrid (Grandio, Ceram.X mono) and one nanofilled (Filtek Supreme XT). The VK of the surface was determined with a microhardness tester using a Vickers diamond indenter and a 200 g load applied for 15 seconds. The mean VK and hardness ratio of the specimens were calculated using the formula: hardness ratio = VK of bottom surface / VK of top surface. For all the materials tested and with all the polymerization modes, hardness ratio was higher than the minimum value indicated in literature in order to consider the bottom surface as adequately cured (0.80). Curing time did not affect hardness ratio values for Filtek Silorane, Grandio and Filtek Supreme XT. The effectiveness of cure at the top and bottom surface was not affected by Soft-start polymerization mode.

Instrument packages to study long-term sediment transport processes in a shallow bay

USGS Publications Warehouse

Strahle, William J.; Martini, Marinna A.; Davis, Ray E.

1994-01-01

Pressure and near-surface and near-bottom measurements of current, temperature, salinity and light transmission were required in Mobile Bay, a 3 m deep estuary on the Gulf of Mexico. This environment presented several obstacles to obtaining long term observations. Boat traffic, soft estuary bottom, heavy biofouling, rapid sample rates and large data storage were overcome by using instrumentation techniques that are applicable to other estuary systems. Nearly two years of continuous data was collected.

Burrowing hard corals occurring on the sea floor since 80 million years ago.

PubMed

Sentoku, Asuka; Tokuda, Yuki; Ezaki, Yoichi

2016-04-14

We describe a previously unknown niche for hard corals in the small, bowl-shaped, solitary scleractinian, Deltocyathoides orientalis (Family Turbinoliidae), on soft-bottom substrates. Observational experiments were used to clarify how the sea floor niche is exploited by turbinoliids. Deltocyathoides orientalis is adapted to an infaunal mode of life and exhibits behaviours associated with automobility that include burrowing into sediments, vertical movement through sediments to escape burial, and recovery of an upright position after being overturned. These behaviours were achieved through repeated expansion and contraction of their peripheral soft tissues, which constitute a unique muscle-membrane system. Histological analysis showed that these muscle arrangements were associated with deeply incised inter-costal spaces characteristic of turbinoliid corals. The oldest known turbinoliid, Bothrophoria ornata, which occurred in the Cretaceous (Campanian), also possessed a small, conical skeleton with highly developed costae. An infaunal mode of life became available to turbinoliids due to the acquisition of automobility through the muscle-membrane system at least 80 million years ago. The newly discovered active burrowing strategies described herein provide new insights into the use of an unattached mode of life by corals inhabiting soft-bottom substrates throughout the Phanerozoic.

Burrowing hard corals occurring on the sea floor since 80 million years ago

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sentoku, Asuka; Tokuda, Yuki; Ezaki, Yoichi

2016-04-01

We describe a previously unknown niche for hard corals in the small, bowl-shaped, solitary scleractinian, Deltocyathoides orientalis (Family Turbinoliidae), on soft-bottom substrates. Observational experiments were used to clarify how the sea floor niche is exploited by turbinoliids. Deltocyathoides orientalis is adapted to an infaunal mode of life and exhibits behaviours associated with automobility that include burrowing into sediments, vertical movement through sediments to escape burial, and recovery of an upright position after being overturned. These behaviours were achieved through repeated expansion and contraction of their peripheral soft tissues, which constitute a unique muscle-membrane system. Histological analysis showed that these muscle arrangements were associated with deeply incised inter-costal spaces characteristic of turbinoliid corals. The oldest known turbinoliid, Bothrophoria ornata, which occurred in the Cretaceous (Campanian), also possessed a small, conical skeleton with highly developed costae. An infaunal mode of life became available to turbinoliids due to the acquisition of automobility through the muscle-membrane system at least 80 million years ago. The newly discovered active burrowing strategies described herein provide new insights into the use of an unattached mode of life by corals inhabiting soft-bottom substrates throughout the Phanerozoic.

The Girlfriends Project: Evaluating a Promising Community-Based Intervention from a Bottom-Up Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hawk, Mary

2015-01-01

Randomized controlled trials are the gold standard in research but may not fully explain or predict outcome variations in community-based interventions. Demonstrating efficacy of externally driven programs in well-controlled environments may not translate to community-based implementation where resources and priorities vary. A bottom-up evaluation…

Use of benthic invertebrate community structure and the sediment quality triad to evaluate metal-contaminated sediment in the upper Clark Fork River, Montana

USGS Publications Warehouse

Canfield, Timothy J.; Kemble, Nile E.; Brumbaugh, William G.; Dwyer, F. James; Ingersoll, Christopher G.; Fairchild, James F.

1994-01-01

The upper Clark Fork River, above Flathead River, is contaminated with large amounts of As, Cd, Cu, Pb, Mn, and Zn ores from past mining activities. The contaminated area extends from the Butte and Anaconda area to at least 230 km downstream to Milltown Reservoir. Both the upper Clark Fork River and Milltown Reservoir have been designated as U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Superfund sites because of metal-contaminated bottom sediments. We evaluated the impacts of past mining activities on the Clark Fork River ecosystem using benthic invertebrate community assessment, residue chemistry, and toxicity testing. Oligochaeta and Chironomidae generally accounted for over 90% of the benthic invertebrate community in the soft sediment depositional areas. Taxa of Oligochaeta and Chironomidae were predominantly pollution tolerant. Higher numbers of Chironomidae genera were present at stations with higher concentrations of metals in sediment identified as toxic by the amphipod Hyalella azteca in 28-d exposures. Frequency of mouthpart deformities in genera of Chironomidae was low and did not correspond to concentrations of metals in sediment. Total abundance of organisms/m2 did not correspond to concentrations of metals in the sediment samples. Chemical analyses, laboratory toxicity tests, and benthic community evaluations all provide evidence of metal-induced degradation to aquatic communities in both the reservoir and the river. Using a weight-of-evidence approach-the Sediment Quality Triad - provided good concurrence among measures of benthic community structure, sediment chemistry, and laboratory toxicity.

Benthic Species Richness of U.S. Pacific Estuaries

EPA Science Inventory

Understanding the spatial distribution of biodiversity is of paramount importance due to the potential consequences of its loss on human welfare. We demonstrate that biodiversity of soft-bottomed estuarine benthic organisms can be predicted with relatively high accuracy at multi...

Dispersal of post-larval macrobenthos in subtidal sedimentary habitats: Roles of vertical diel migration, water column, bedload transport and biological traits' expression

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pacheco, Aldo S.; Uribe, Roberto A.; Thiel, Martin; Oliva, Marcelo E.; Riascos, Jose M.

2013-03-01

Post-larval dispersal along the sediment-water interface is an important process in the dynamics of macrobenthic populations and communities in marine sublittoral sediments. However, the modes of post-larval dispersal in low energy sublittoral habitats have been poorly documented. Herein we examined the specific dispersal mechanisms (diel vertical migration, water column, and bedload transport) and corresponding biological traits of the dispersing assemblage. At two sublittoral sites (sheltered and exposed) along the northern coast of Chile, we installed different trap types that capture benthic organisms with specific modes of dispersal (active emergence and passive water column drifting) and also by a combination of mechanisms (bedload transport, passive suspension and settlement from the water column). Our results show that even though there were common species in all types of traps, the post-larval macrobenthic assemblage depended on specific mechanisms of dispersal. At the sheltered site, abundant emerging taxa colonized sediments that were placed 0.5 m above the bottom and bedload-transported invertebrates appeared to be associated to the passive drifting of macroalgae. At the exposed site, assemblage dispersal was driven by specific mechanisms e.g. bedload transport and active emergence. At both sites the biological traits "small size, swimming, hard exoskeleton, free living and surface position" were associated to water column and bedload dispersal. This study highlights the importance of (i) the water-sediment interface for dispersal of post-larvae in sublittoral soft-bottom habitat, and (ii) a specific set of biological traits when dispersing either along the bottom or through the water column.

Functions and ecological status of eight Italian lagoons examined using biological traits analysis (BTA).

PubMed

Marchini, Agnese; Munari, Cristina; Mistri, Michele

2008-06-01

The soft-bottom communities of eight Italian lagoons were analyzed for eight biological traits (feeding, mobility, adult life habitat, body size, life span, reproductive technique, type of larva and reproductive frequency) in order to identify the dominant traits in different transitional environments. We considered the ecological quality status (EcoQS) of the stations, assessed by two biotic indices, AMBI and Bentix. Stations were categorized into EcoQS classes to investigate the relationship between biological functions and ecological quality. The results indicate that the variability of the data was governed by traits linked to resource utilization rather than to life cycle. Lagoons affected by chronic disturbance displayed a poor functional composition, which usually corresponded to poor EcoQS in some cases, correlations between ecological groups and traits modalities were ecologically relevant; however, classes of EcoQS were found to be relatively independent from the functional structure of the considered stations.

Effects of offshore platforms on soft-bottom macro-benthic assemblages: a case study in a Mediterranean gas field.

PubMed

Terlizzi, Antonio; Bevilacqua, Stanislao; Scuderi, Danilo; Fiorentino, Dario; Guarnieri, Giuseppe; Giangrande, Adriana; Licciano, Margherita; Felline, Serena; Fraschetti, Simonetta

2008-07-01

The exploitation of fossil fuels in the Mediterranean Sea will likely lead to an increase in the number of offshore platforms, a recognized threat for marine biodiversity. To date, in this basin, few attempts have been made to assess the impact of offshore gas and oil platforms on the biodiversity of benthic assemblages. Here, we adopted a structured experimental design coupled with high taxonomic resolution to outline putative effects of gas platforms on soft-bottom macrofauna assemblages in the North Ionian Sea. The analysis was based on a total of 20,295 specimens of 405 taxa, almost entirely identified at species level. Multivariate and univariate analyses showed idiosyncratic patterns of assemblage change with increasing distance from the platforms. Potential reasons underlying such inconsistency are analyzed and the view that structured experimental monitoring is a crucial tool to quantify the extent and magnitude of potential threats and to provide sound baseline information on biodiversity patterns is supported.

Similar diversity-disturbance responses to different physical impacts: three cases of small-scale biodiversity increase in the Belgian part of the North Sea.

PubMed

De Backer, Annelies; Van Hoey, Gert; Coates, Delphine; Vanaverbeke, Jan; Hostens, Kris

2014-07-15

Human activities at sea are still increasing. As biodiversity is a central topic in the management of our seas, it is important to understand how diversity responds to different disturbances related with physical impacts. We investigated the effects of three impacts, i.e. sand extraction, dredge disposal and offshore wind energy exploitation, on the soft-bottom macrobenthic assemblages in the Belgian part of the North Sea. We found similar diversity-disturbance responses, mainly related to the fact that different impacts caused similar environmental changes. We observed a sediment refinement which triggered a shift towards a heterogenic, dynamic (transitional) soft-bottom macrobenthic assemblage, with several species typically associated with muddy sands. This led to a local unexpected biodiversity increase in the impacted area. On a wider regional scale, the ever increasing human impacts might lead to a homogenization of the sediment, resulting in a more uniform, yet less diverse benthic ecosystem. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Editorial

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maret, Georg; Reiter, Günter

2005-01-01

The European Physical Journal E Soft Matter (EPJE Soft Matter), launched on January 1, 2000, is now entering into its sixth year of existence. Despite the problems any new journal has to deal with, we see that EPJE Soft Matter is a success journal which achieved the goal to generate and strengthen links between physicists, chemists, engineers and also biologists interested in “Soft Matter". Why is EPJE Soft Matter needed and what is special with EPJE Soft Matter? Right from the start, EPJE Soft Matter aimed at providing a meeting place for the various communities involved in the rapidly growing field of “Soft Condensed Matter" science; a “melting pot" for ideas coming from physics, chemistry, materials science and also from biology. Besides regular publications the journal provides also a forum for discussion of controversial ideas (Perspectives, Commentaries, Focus Points, ...). The basic idea of publishing discussions is to draw the attention of all communities involved in “Soft Matter" science to fundamental current problems of common interest. The central philosophy of EPJE Soft Matter is thus to stimulate discussion amongst the community and to become a key tool for advancing soft matter science. EPJE Soft Matter is a journal made by scientists for scientists. Along these lines, the Editors-in-Chief welcome suggestions from colleagues for new concepts and novel ways of publishing scientific information and original results. How is EPJE Soft Matter performing? Being aware of the risk of addressing, in parallel, separate communities without sufficient mutual interaction, particular attention is paid to attracting contributions from traditionally linked fields like chemistry and physics in the case of polymers at interfaces. It appears that such a mix is well appreciated by the community as the impact factor of the journal is steadily growing (from 1.61 in 2001 to 2.45 in 2003). While publications from physics-related areas of Soft Matter are well represented in the journal, contributions from chemistry and biology are still rather sparse. Thus, one of our goal is to make the journal also more attractive for chemists and biologist interested in soft matter concepts. The future of EPJE Soft Matter In 2005, EPJE Soft Matter will see several organisational changes. First of all, the number of Editors-in-Chief will be reduced from four to two. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Athene Donald, Jean-François Joanny and Martin Möller for their enthusiastic efforts and personal engagements in setting up and raising EPJE Soft Matter to the place it takes up now. We believe that only because of their intense and excellent work EPJE Soft Matter has become a leading multidisciplinary journal. In the future, EPJE Soft Matter will continue to stimulate discussions and to publish also controversial ideas and views as long as they are based on the well-established scientific rules. EPJE Soft Matter will evolve towards a journal which is willing and capable to adapt to the needs of the involved communities. The Editors-in-Chief, together with their editorial board members, will always have an open ear for the problems colleagues may encounter in publishing their work. We will assure that requests and suggestions are treated in the most appropriate way and to the full satisfaction of authors and readers. We wish you a happy and productive New Year 2005!

Potential Environmental Factors Affecting Oil-Degrading Bacterial Populations in Deep and Surface Waters of the Northern Gulf of Mexico

PubMed Central

Liu, Jiqing; Bacosa, Hernando P.; Liu, Zhanfei

2017-01-01

Understanding bacterial community dynamics as a result of an oil spill is important for predicting the fate of oil released to the environment and developing bioremediation strategies in the Gulf of Mexico. In this study, we aimed to elucidate the roles of temperature, water chemistry (nutrients), and initial bacterial community in selecting oil degraders through a series of incubation experiments. Surface (2 m) and bottom (1537 m) waters, collected near the Deepwater Horizon site, were amended with 200 ppm light Louisiana sweet crude oil and bacterial inoculums from surface or bottom water, and incubated at 4 or 24°C for 50 days. Bacterial community and residual oil were analyzed by pyrosequencing and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), respectively. The results showed that temperature played a key role in selecting oil-degrading bacteria. Incubation at 4°C favored the development of Cycloclasticus, Pseudoalteromonas, Sulfitobacter, and Reinekea, while 24°C incubations enhanced Oleibacter, Thalassobius, Phaeobacter, and Roseobacter. Water chemistry and the initial community also had potential roles in the development of hydrocarbon-degrading bacterial communities. Pseudoalteromonas, Oleibacter, and Winogradskyella developed well in the nutrient-enriched bottom water, while Reinekea and Thalassobius were favored by low-nutrient surface water. We revealed that the combination of 4°C, crude oil and bottom inoculum was a key factor for the growth of Cycloclasticus, while the combination of surface inoculum and bottom water chemistry was important for the growth of Pseudoalteromonas. Moreover, regardless of the source of inoculum, bottom water at 24°C was a favorable condition for Oleibacter. Redundancy analysis further showed that temperature and initial community explained 57 and 19% of the variation observed, while oil and water chemistry contributed 14 and 10%, respectively. Overall, this study revealed the relative roles of temperature, water chemistry, and initial bacterial community in selecting oil degraders and regulating their evolution in the northern Gulf of Mexico. PMID:28119669

Potential Environmental Factors Affecting Oil-Degrading Bacterial Populations in Deep and Surface Waters of the Northern Gulf of Mexico.

PubMed

Liu, Jiqing; Bacosa, Hernando P; Liu, Zhanfei

2016-01-01

Understanding bacterial community dynamics as a result of an oil spill is important for predicting the fate of oil released to the environment and developing bioremediation strategies in the Gulf of Mexico. In this study, we aimed to elucidate the roles of temperature, water chemistry (nutrients), and initial bacterial community in selecting oil degraders through a series of incubation experiments. Surface (2 m) and bottom (1537 m) waters, collected near the Deepwater Horizon site, were amended with 200 ppm light Louisiana sweet crude oil and bacterial inoculums from surface or bottom water, and incubated at 4 or 24°C for 50 days. Bacterial community and residual oil were analyzed by pyrosequencing and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), respectively. The results showed that temperature played a key role in selecting oil-degrading bacteria. Incubation at 4°C favored the development of Cycloclasticus, Pseudoalteromonas , Sulfitobacter , and Reinekea , while 24°C incubations enhanced Oleibacter, Thalassobius, Phaeobacter, and Roseobacter. Water chemistry and the initial community also had potential roles in the development of hydrocarbon-degrading bacterial communities. Pseudoalteromonas , Oleibacter , and Winogradskyella developed well in the nutrient-enriched bottom water, while Reinekea and Thalassobius were favored by low-nutrient surface water. We revealed that the combination of 4°C, crude oil and bottom inoculum was a key factor for the growth of Cycloclasticus , while the combination of surface inoculum and bottom water chemistry was important for the growth of Pseudoalteromonas . Moreover, regardless of the source of inoculum, bottom water at 24°C was a favorable condition for Oleibacter. Redundancy analysis further showed that temperature and initial community explained 57 and 19% of the variation observed, while oil and water chemistry contributed 14 and 10%, respectively. Overall, this study revealed the relative roles of temperature, water chemistry, and initial bacterial community in selecting oil degraders and regulating their evolution in the northern Gulf of Mexico.

Characterization of a Louisiana Bay Bottom

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Freeman, A. M.; Roberts, H. H.

2016-02-01

This study correlates side-scan sonar and CHIRP water bottom-subbottom acoustic amplitudes with cone penetrometer data to expand the limited understanding of the geotechnical properties of sediments in coastal Louisiana's bays. Standardized analysis procedures were developed to characterize the bay bottom and shallow subsurface of the Sister Lake bay bottom. The CHIRP subbottom acoustic data provide relative amplitude information regarding reflection horizons of the bay bottom and shallow subsurface. An amplitude analysis technique was designed to identify different reflectance regions within the lake from the CHIRP subbottom profile data. This amplitude reflectivity analysis technique provides insight into the relative hardness of the bay bottom and shallow subsurface, useful in identifying areas of erosion versus deposition from storms, as well as areas suitable for cultch plants for state oyster seed grounds, or perhaps other restoration projects. Side-scan and CHIRP amplitude reflectivity results are compared to penetrometer data that quantifies geotechnical properties of surface and near-surface sediments. Initial results indicate distinct penetrometer signatures that characterize different substrate areas including soft bottom, storm-deposited silt-rich sediments, oyster cultch, and natural oyster reef areas. Although amplitude analysis of high resolution acoustic data does not directly quantify the geotechnical properties of bottom sediments, our analysis indicates a close relationship. The analysis procedures developed in this study can be applied in other dynamic coastal environments, "calibrating" the use of synoptic acoustic methods for large-scale water bottom characterization.

What a drag: Quantifying the global impact of chronic bottom trawling on continental shelf sediment

USGS Publications Warehouse

Oberle, Ferdinand K.J.; Storlazzi, Curt; Hanebuth, Till J.J.

2016-01-01

Continental shelves worldwide are subject to intense bottom trawling that causes sediment to be resuspended. The widely used traditional concepts of modern sedimentary transport systems on the shelf rely only on estimates for naturally driven sediment resuspension such as through storm waves, bottom currents, and gravity-driven flows but they overlook a critical anthropogenic factor. The strong influence of bottom trawling on a source-to-sink sediment budget is explored on the NW Iberian shelf. Use of Automated Information System vessel tracking data provides for a high-resolution vessel track reconstruction and the accurate calculation of the spatial distribution of bottom trawling intensity and associated resuspended sediment load. The mean bottom trawling-induced resuspended sediment mass for the NW Iberian shelf is 13.50 Mt yr− 1, which leads to a six-fold increase in off-shelf sediment transport when compared to natural resuspension mechanisms. The source-to-sink budget analysis provides evidence that bottom trawling causes a rapid erosion of the fine sediment on human time scales. Combining global soft sediment distribution data of the shelves with worldwide bottom trawling intensity estimates we show that the bottom trawling-induced resuspended sediment mass amounts to approximately the same mass of all sediment entering the shelves through rivers. Spatial delineations between natural and anthropogenic sediment resuspension areas are presented to aid in marine management questions.

Recent Advances in Flexible and Stretchable Bio-Electronic Devices Integrated with Nanomaterials.

PubMed

Choi, Suji; Lee, Hyunjae; Ghaffari, Roozbeh; Hyeon, Taeghwan; Kim, Dae-Hyeong

2016-06-01

Flexible and stretchable electronics and optoelectronics configured in soft, water resistant formats uniquely address seminal challenges in biomedicine. Over the past decade, there has been enormous progress in the materials, designs, and manufacturing processes for flexible/stretchable system subcomponents, including transistors, amplifiers, bio-sensors, actuators, light emitting diodes, photodetector arrays, photovoltaics, energy storage elements, and bare die integrated circuits. Nanomaterials prepared using top-down processing approaches and synthesis-based bottom-up methods have helped resolve the intrinsic mechanical mismatch between rigid/planar devices and soft/curvilinear biological structures, thereby enabling a broad range of non-invasive, minimally invasive, and implantable systems to address challenges in biomedicine. Integration of therapeutic functional nanomaterials with soft bioelectronics demonstrates therapeutics in combination with unconventional diagnostics capabilities. Recent advances in soft materials, devices, and integrated systems are reviewes, with representative examples that highlight the utility of soft bioelectronics for advanced medical diagnostics and therapies. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Organisms as cooperative ecosystem engineers in intertidal flats

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Passarelli, Claire; Olivier, Frédéric; Paterson, David M.; Meziane, Tarik; Hubas, Cédric

2014-09-01

The importance of facilitative interactions and organismal ecosystem engineering for establishing the structure of communities is increasingly being recognised for many different ecosystems. For example, soft-bottom tidal flats host a wide range of ecosystem engineers, probably because the harsh physico-chemical environmental conditions render these species of particular importance for community structure and function. These environments are therefore interesting when focusing on how ecosystem engineers interact and the consequences of these interactions on community dynamics. In this review, we initially detail the influence on benthic systems of two kinds of ecosystem engineers that are particularly common in tidal flats. Firstly, we examine species providing biogenic structures, which are often the only source of habitat complexity in these environments. Secondly, we focus on species whose activities alter sediment stability, which is a crucial feature structuring the dynamics of communities in tidal flats. The impacts of these engineers on both environment and communities were assessed but in addition the interaction between ecosystem engineers was examined. Habitat cascades occur when one engineer favours the development of another, which in turn creates or modifies and improves habitat for other species. Non-hierarchical interactions have often been shown to display non-additive effects, so that the effects of the association cannot be predicted from the effects of individual organisms. Here we propose the term of “cooperative ecosystem engineering” when two species interact in a way which enhances habitat suitability as a result of a combined engineering effect. Finally, we conclude by describing the potential threats for ecosystem engineers in intertidal areas, potential effects on their interactions and their influence on communities and ecosystem function.

Cold Seep Epifaunal Communities on the Hikurangi Margin, New Zealand: Composition, Succession, and Vulnerability to Human Activities

PubMed Central

Bowden, David A.; Rowden, Ashley A.; Thurber, Andrew R.; Baco, Amy R.; Levin, Lisa A.; Smith, Craig R.

2013-01-01

Cold seep communities with distinctive chemoautotrophic fauna occur where hydrocarbon-rich fluids escape from the seabed. We describe community composition, population densities, spatial extent, and within-region variability of epifaunal communities at methane-rich cold seep sites on the Hikurangi Margin, New Zealand. Using data from towed camera transects, we match observations to information about the probable life-history characteristics of the principal fauna to develop a hypothetical succession sequence for the Hikurangi seep communities, from the onset of fluid flux to senescence. New Zealand seep communities exhibit taxa characteristic of seeps in other regions, including predominance of large siboglinid tubeworms, vesicomyid clams, and bathymodiolin mussels. Some aspects appear to be novel; however, particularly the association of dense populations of ampharetid polychaetes with high-sulphide, high-methane flux, soft-sediment microhabitats. The common occurrence of these ampharetids suggests they play a role in conditioning sulphide-rich sediments at the sediment-water interface, thus facilitating settlement of clam and tubeworm taxa which dominate space during later successional stages. The seep sites are subject to disturbance from bottom trawling at present and potentially from gas hydrate extraction in future. The likely life-history characteristics of the dominant megafauna suggest that while ampharetids, clams, and mussels exploit ephemeral resources through rapid growth and reproduction, lamellibrachid tubeworm populations may persist potentially for centuries. The potential consequences of gas hydrate extraction cannot be fully assessed until extraction methods and target localities are defined but any long-term modification of fluid flow to seep sites would have consequences for all chemoautotrophic fauna. PMID:24204691

Cold seep epifaunal communities on the Hikurangi margin, New Zealand: composition, succession, and vulnerability to human activities.

PubMed

Bowden, David A; Rowden, Ashley A; Thurber, Andrew R; Baco, Amy R; Levin, Lisa A; Smith, Craig R

2013-01-01

Cold seep communities with distinctive chemoautotrophic fauna occur where hydrocarbon-rich fluids escape from the seabed. We describe community composition, population densities, spatial extent, and within-region variability of epifaunal communities at methane-rich cold seep sites on the Hikurangi Margin, New Zealand. Using data from towed camera transects, we match observations to information about the probable life-history characteristics of the principal fauna to develop a hypothetical succession sequence for the Hikurangi seep communities, from the onset of fluid flux to senescence. New Zealand seep communities exhibit taxa characteristic of seeps in other regions, including predominance of large siboglinid tubeworms, vesicomyid clams, and bathymodiolin mussels. Some aspects appear to be novel; however, particularly the association of dense populations of ampharetid polychaetes with high-sulphide, high-methane flux, soft-sediment microhabitats. The common occurrence of these ampharetids suggests they play a role in conditioning sulphide-rich sediments at the sediment-water interface, thus facilitating settlement of clam and tubeworm taxa which dominate space during later successional stages. The seep sites are subject to disturbance from bottom trawling at present and potentially from gas hydrate extraction in future. The likely life-history characteristics of the dominant megafauna suggest that while ampharetids, clams, and mussels exploit ephemeral resources through rapid growth and reproduction, lamellibrachid tubeworm populations may persist potentially for centuries. The potential consequences of gas hydrate extraction cannot be fully assessed until extraction methods and target localities are defined but any long-term modification of fluid flow to seep sites would have consequences for all chemoautotrophic fauna.

Comprehensive Characteristics of Bottom Sediments of Water Bodies of Various Types in the Kiliya Delta of the Danube River

EPA Science Inventory

The "triad" approach, including analysis of the total content of toxicants, bioassay of bottom sediments, and the study of the structure of zoo- and phytobenthos communities, was used in assessing the quality of bottom sediments. It has been found that the studied bottom sediment...

Effects of Bottom-up and Top-down Controls and Climate Change on Estuarine Macrophyte Communities and the Ecosystem Services they Provide

EPA Science Inventory

Macrophytes provide important estuarine benthic habitats and support a significant portion of estuarine productivity. The composition and characteristics of these benthic communities are regulated bottom-up by resource availability and from the top-down by herbivory and predation...

Stretchable electronics based on Ag-PDMS composites

PubMed Central

Larmagnac, Alexandre; Eggenberger, Samuel; Janossy, Hanna; Vörös, Janos

2014-01-01

Patterned structures of flexible, stretchable, electrically conductive materials on soft substrates could lead to novel electronic devices with unique mechanical properties allowing them to bend, fold, stretch or conform to their environment. For the last decade, research on improving the stretchability of circuits on elastomeric substrates has made significant progresses but designing printed circuit assemblies on elastomers remains challenging. Here we present a simple, cost-effective, cleanroom-free process to produce large scale soft electronic hardware where standard surface-mounted electrical components were directly bonded onto all-elastomeric printed circuit boards, or soft PCBs. Ag-PDMS tracks were stencil printed onto a PDMS substrate and soft PCBs were made by bonding the top and bottom layers together and filling punched holes with Ag-PDMS to create vias. Silver epoxy was used to bond commercial electrical components and no mechanical failure was observed after hundreds of stretching cycles. We also demonstrate the fabrication of a stretchable clock generator. PMID:25434843

Using a RIVPACS model to predict expected macrofaunal species richness in Puget Sound

EPA Science Inventory

As part of a project to develop regional indicators for Pacific coastal environments using soft-bottom benthic species, we are evaluating a RIVPACS predictive model (River InVertebrate Prediction and Classification System). This approach was originally developed for rivers and s...

The Structure of Microbial Community and Degradation of Diatoms in the Deep Near-Bottom Layer of Lake Baikal

PubMed Central

Zakharova, Yulia R.; Galachyants, Yuri P.; Kurilkina, Maria I.; Likhoshvay, Alexander V.; Petrova, Darya P.; Shishlyannikov, Sergey M.; Ravin, Nikolai V.; Mardanov, Andrey V.; Beletsky, Alexey V.; Likhoshway, Yelena V.

2013-01-01

Insight into the role of bacteria in degradation of diatoms is important for understanding the factors and components of silica turnover in aquatic ecosystems. Using microscopic methods, it has been shown that the degree of diatom preservation and the numbers of diatom-associated bacteria in the surface layer of bottom sediments decrease with depth; in the near-bottom water layer, the majority of bacteria are associated with diatom cells, being located either on the cell surface or within the cell. The structure of microbial community in the near-bottom water layer has been characterized by pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA gene, which has revealed 149 208 unique sequences. According to the results of metagenomic analysis, the community is dominated by representatives of Proteobacteria (41.9%), Actinobacteria (16%); then follow Acidobacteria (6.9%), Cyanobacteria (5%), Bacteroidetes (4.7%), Firmicutes (2.8%), Nitrospira (1.6%), and Verrucomicrobia (1%); other phylotypes account for less than 1% each. For 18.7% of the sequences, taxonomic identification has been possible only to the Bacteria domain level. Many bacteria identified to the genus level have close relatives occurring in other aquatic ecosystems and soils. The metagenome of the bacterial community from the near-bottom water layer also contains 16S rRNA gene sequences found in previously isolated bacterial strains possessing hydrolytic enzyme activity. These data show that potential degraders of diatoms occur among the vast variety of microorganisms in the near-bottom water of Lake Baikal. PMID:23560063

The incidence and treatment of rocker bottom deformity as a complication of the conservative treatment of idiopathic congenital clubfoot.

PubMed

Koureas, G; Rampal, V; Mascard, E; Seringe, R; Wicart, P

2008-01-01

Rocker bottom deformity may occur during the conservative treatment of idiopathic congenital clubfoot. Between 1975 and 1996, we treated 715 patients (1120 clubfeet) conservatively. A total of 23 patients (36 feet; 3.2%) developed a rocker bottom deformity. It is these patients that we have studied. The pathoanatomy of the rocker bottom deformity is characterised by a plantar convexity appearing between three and six months of age with the hindfoot equinus position remaining constant. The convexity initially involves the medial column, radiologically identified by the talo-first metatarsal angle and secondly by the lateral column, revealed radiologically as the calcaneo-fifth metatarsal angle. The apex of the deformity is usually at the midtrasal with a dorsal calcaneocuboid subluxation. Ideal management of clubfoot deformity should avoid this complication, with adequate manipulation and splinting and early Achilles' percutaneous tenotomy if plantar convexity occurs. Adequate soft-tissue release provides satisfactory correction for rocker bottom deformity. However, this deformity requires more extensive and complex procedures than the standard surgical treatment of clubfoot. The need for lateral radiographs to ensure that the rocker bottom deformity is recognised early, is demonstrated.

[Taxonomic and functional diversity of the bycatch fishes community of trawl fishing from Northern Gulf of California, Mexico].

PubMed

Herrera-Valdivia, Eloísa; López-Martínez, Juana; Castillo Vargasmachuca, Sergio; García-Juárez, Rosa

2016-06-01

The Northern Gulf of California (NGC) is a mega diverse area of high endemism with major economic interest because of the multi-specific fisheries developed, mainly shrimp. There is a lack of recent studies on bycatch fish assemblages, so during the fishing seasons from 2009-2010 and 2010-2011, on board 13 shrimp boats, 14 commercial fishing trips were performed from 5 m - 90 m in depth with a total of 119 catches. The 119 catches were analyzed to assess fish community structure using taxonomic diversity indices to detect changes in the community following the taxonomic distinctness average Δ+ and the diversity index Δ* (TAXDEST of the PRIMER v6 program). To confirm the structure of functional groups, we considered similarities of ecologic and morphologic traits among species. The results showed that the indices Δ+ and Δ* were within the expected average and confidence intervals at 95%, finding significant differences between the indices. The analyses showed a well-structured community because of the great variety of forms and functions of the species within the community. In the community of the functional groups, reproduction was the ecological attribute that contributed the most to their structure. The community structure was represented by intermediate trophic levels (3-3.9), preferably primary and secondary carnivores within the trophic categories of predators of benthic ichthyo-fauna that belong to demersal species of soft bottoms and mostly fusiform body. To conclude, the NGC showed high functional redundancy according to the estimated functional groups, thus the ecosystem was considered stable and with great diversity. This type of studies should be followed using fishing and environmental effort due to the great biological and ecologic importance in the area.

Consistency of Bottom Fish Communities in the Beaufort Sea Within and Between Years

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Norcross, B.; Holladay, B.

2016-02-01

Fish communities in the Arctic may be indicators of change due to climate and oil and gas exploration. An initial benchmark is generally established by sampling a set of sites in multiple years sequentially to estimate interannual variability. Standard practice is to conduct one trawl haul per station. Establishing the annual frequency of sampling and minimum number of hauls per station necessary to detect changes in demersal fish communities is essential to designing a monitoring program. Using small bottom trawls, we assessed interannual variability of bottom fish communities between 2013 and 2014 in the eastern US Beaufort Sea at eight depths 20-1000 m on each of four transects. In 2014, to determine if one haul per station was representative of a site, replicate hauls were made at stations along one transect at the US-Canada border. The similarity among replicate hauls within a single year was excellent, indicating that one haul per station was representative of fish communities. There were distinctly different bottom fish communities on the Beaufort Sea shelf (20-100 m) and slope (200-1000 m). Shelf communities had higher abundances of smaller fishes; whereas slope communities had fewer, but larger, individuals. There was no change in fish abundance between years, but there was interannual variability in the biomass of fish communities on the slope. However, as few fishes were captured at deep stations, the difference between catching and not catching a single large heavy fish affected relative biomass significantly, which may distort the conclusion of interannual variability. Furthermore, these replicate hauls occurred in the eastern Beaufort Sea, which appears to have fewer fish species and in lower abundance than the western Beaufort Sea. The similarity within replicates may not be as striking in a more diverse environment, however this study shows that in this region of the Arctic, it is likely sufficient to forego replicate sampling at a station in one year and season, and sequential years of sampling in that season, when characterizing bottom fish communities within a long-term study of community stability.

Living macromolluscs from a paleo-reef region on the northeastern Venezuelan continental shelf

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buitrago, Joaquín; Capelo, Juan; Gutiérrez, Javier; Rada, Martín; Hernández, Ricardo; Grune, Sylvia

2006-02-01

Drowned reefs, fossil reefs or paleo-reefs, are important ecologically as areas of high biodiversity, foraging, shelter environment, and as areas supporting the spawning aggregations of economically important reef fish species. This is particularly significant when the structures are situated in a wide soft-bottom continental shelf. The presence of limestone structures, fossil reefs and pinnacles dating from circa 8 to 9 ka, to the north of the Paria Peninsula in north-eastern Venezuela, has been known to local fishermen for decades. Using echograms obtained during acoustic fisheries evaluations and the scarce previously available information, an improved location map of hard-bottom structures was made. Benthic samples to study macromolluscs were taken at depths between 54 and 93 m using an unmodified 2-m beam trawl. Four trawl samples were located over fossil reef areas while another four were situated in soft-bottom valleys between limestone structures. Fossil reefs in the area showed a highly patchy distribution. A total of 91 species from 43 Bivalvia, Gastropoda and Scaphopoda families were found, Gastropoda being the dominant class with 49 species. Paleo-reef-covered areas showed higher species richness and only 21% of the species found were common to both substrates. Gastropods Tonna maculosa and Polystira albida were the most abundant species and occurred in both substrate types. Bivalve life habits, a mixture of organism-substrate relationships, shell fixation, mobility and feeding type, differed significantly according to bottom type. Six species are recorded for the first time for eastern Venezuelan waters. Bottom heterogeneity plays an important role in marine ecosystems, providing shelter to fish populations and may be significant as breeding and nursery areas. Its presence in a region with biogeographical interest, situated in the confluence of three major provinces and with oceanographic conditions varying seasonally from upwelling dominated to Orinoco River discharges, makes this the area of interest and it should be evaluated as a possible Marine Protected Area.

Bottom-up approaches to strengthening child protection systems: Placing children, families, and communities at the center.

PubMed

Wessells, Michael G

2015-05-01

Efforts to strengthen national child protection systems have frequently taken a top-down approach of imposing formal, government-managed services. Such expert-driven approaches are often characterized by low use of formal services and the misalignment of the nonformal and formal aspects of the child protection system. This article examines an alternative approach of community-driven, bottom-up work that enables nonformal-formal collaboration and alignment, greater use of formal services, internally driven social change, and high levels of community ownership. The dominant approach of reliance on expert-driven Child Welfare Committees produces low levels of community ownership. Using an approach developed and tested in rural Sierra Leone, community-driven action, including collaboration and linkages with the formal system, promoted the use of formal services and achieved increased ownership, effectiveness, and sustainability of the system. The field needs less reliance on expert-driven approaches and much wider use of slower, community-driven, bottom-up approaches to child protection. Copyright © 2015 The Author. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Investigating School-Wide Antecedents of Good Practice Dissemination from Individual Subject Projects

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Christophersen, Knut-Andreas; Elstad, Eyvind; Turmo, Are

2012-01-01

Good practice dissemination is an unsolved problem in education. This article describes how clear and "soft" leadership and perceptions of social and economic exchange operate in the bottom-up processes of school reforms and examines the relative impact of these factors on school-wide good practice dissemination and discusses how…

Benthic colonization in newly ice-free soft-bottom areas in an Antarctic fjord

PubMed Central

Servetto, Natalia; Torre, Luciana; Sahade, Ricardo

2017-01-01

Extended glacier retreat is among the main consequences of the rapid warming of the West Antarctic Peninsula. Particularly, in the inner part of Potter Cove (South Shetland Islands, Antarctica) large areas are now exposed to open sea conditions owing to the retreat of Fourcade glacier. During the 2010 austral summer, underwater photographic surveys were undertaken by SCUBA diving up to 30 m in these new ice-free areas 80 m from the glacier front. Our main aim was to investigate colonization and early succession of the benthic assemblages on soft-bottom areas. Here, we reported a total of 1,146 animals belonging to 13 taxa. Filter-feeders comprised the largest trophic group and sessile fauna showed much higher coverages and densities than mobile fauna at all depths. The most abundant groups were ascidians and bryozoans, which together comprised ~90% of all taxa documented. In a region where most of marine-terminating glaciers are in retreat, these results are an important contribution to improve our knowledge on colonization in the newly ice-free areas. PMID:29117262

Benthic colonization in newly ice-free soft-bottom areas in an Antarctic fjord.

PubMed

Lagger, Cristian; Servetto, Natalia; Torre, Luciana; Sahade, Ricardo

2017-01-01

Extended glacier retreat is among the main consequences of the rapid warming of the West Antarctic Peninsula. Particularly, in the inner part of Potter Cove (South Shetland Islands, Antarctica) large areas are now exposed to open sea conditions owing to the retreat of Fourcade glacier. During the 2010 austral summer, underwater photographic surveys were undertaken by SCUBA diving up to 30 m in these new ice-free areas 80 m from the glacier front. Our main aim was to investigate colonization and early succession of the benthic assemblages on soft-bottom areas. Here, we reported a total of 1,146 animals belonging to 13 taxa. Filter-feeders comprised the largest trophic group and sessile fauna showed much higher coverages and densities than mobile fauna at all depths. The most abundant groups were ascidians and bryozoans, which together comprised ~90% of all taxa documented. In a region where most of marine-terminating glaciers are in retreat, these results are an important contribution to improve our knowledge on colonization in the newly ice-free areas.

Abundance fluctuations among benthic invertebrates in two pacific estuaries

USGS Publications Warehouse

Nichols, Frederic H.

1985-01-01

Long-term studies were used to examine (1) contrasting time scales and mechanisms of structural variations within two benthic communities and (2) the usefulness of long data sets for evaluating human impact. A 10-year study of a San Francisco Bay mudflat, the details of which are reported elsewhere, has revealed large short-term (on the order of months) variations in species abundances within a community composed predominantly of opportunistic species. The study site, located in a highly urbanized estuary, is subject to the influence of a nearby sewage-treatment facility. However, rapid changes in population size of the common species, in part due to periodic natural habitat disturbance, impedes the detection of anthropogenic influences on community composition. Only a very long-term data set may provide evidence of progressive change. Data collected for a 20-year period on the benthic community at 200 m depth in the main basin of Puget Sound, an environment subject to little apparent habitat disturbance show that numerical abundance of the common species can also change markedly. Here, however, numerical dominance shifts from one species to another at irregular, multiyear intervals. Recent increases in two heretofore rare species, and a significant increase in total numbers of individuals suggest that long-term changes may be occurring in this community. These two long-term data sets demonstrate the importance of measuring both the amplitude and the periodicity of fluctuations in population size of aquatic species as well as long-term fluctuations and patterns in environmental factors before attempting to demonstrate the effect of anthropogenic influences on aquatic communities. The results of these studies also demonstrate the usefulness of long-term data sets for revealing the potential importance of interactions among species in determining abundance patterns in the soft-bottom benthos.

Biogenic reefs affect multiple components of intertidal soft-bottom benthic assemblages: the Lanice conchilega case study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De Smet, Bart; D'Hondt, An-Sofie; Verhelst, Pieterjan; Fournier, Jérôme; Godet, Laurent; Desroy, Nicolas; Rabaut, Marijn; Vincx, Magda; Vanaverbeke, Jan

2015-01-01

Biogenic reefs composed of the tube-building polychaete Lanice conchilega are important from a conservation point of view because they noticeably increase the biodiversity in otherwise species poor environments. However, up to now, little or no attention has been paid to the intertidal epi- and hyperbenthic communities associated with the reefs. Therefore, this is the first study which focuses on the effect of L. conchilega reefs on the entire bentho-pelagic community at two different locations. Environmental variables were measured and macro-, epi- and hyperbenthic communities were sampled within a L. conchilega reef and a control area at two locations in France: the bay of the Mont Saint-Michel (BMSM) and Boulogne-sur-Mer (Boulogne). The effect of the reef presence on the benthic community was studied with a 3-factor (Reef, Location and Period) Permanova. In addition, the relationship between the benthic community and the environmental variables was investigated using Distance-based linear models (DistLM). Most collected organisms were sampled in the reef area (macrobenthos: 91%, epibenthos: 81% and hyperbenthos: 78.5%) indicating that, independent of the location, the L. conchilega reefs positively affect all three associated benthic communities. However, the extent of the effect seems to be most pronounced for the macrobenthos and less distinct in case of the hyperbenthos. The macro-, and epibenthos are mainly structured by biotic variables (L. conchilega density and macrobenthic food availability respectively), while the hyperbenthos is rather structured by environmental variables. In general, L. conchilega reefs do not only affect abundances and diversity but they substantially steer the structure of the intertidal benthic sandy beach ecosystem.

Structural and functional changes of soft-bottom ecosystems in northern fjords invaded by the red king crab (Paralithodes camtschaticus)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oug, Eivind; Sundet, Jan H.; Cochrane, Sabine K. J.

2018-04-01

The red king crab invaded Norwegian coastal waters in the early 1990s after having been introduced from the northern Pacific to the Russian Barents Sea coast. The crab stock increased rapidly in NE northern Norway in the latter half of the 1990s, and since 2002 there has been a commercial fishery in the eastern invaded areas. The crab is an active predator on benthic fauna especially feeding in deep soft-bottom environments. The present study is a follow-up of previous studies (2007-09) to assess the effects of the king crab predation on soft bottom species composition, ecological functioning and sediment quality. Macroinfauna (> 1 mm) was investigated in three fjord areas in the Varanger region with low, moderate and very high crab abundances, respectively. Compared with data from 1994, most benthic species were markedly reduced in abundance, in particular non-moving burrowing and tube-dwelling polychaetes, bivalves and echinoderms. However, a few species appeared to recover from 2007-09 to 2012. Changes in ecological functioning were assessed using 'biological traits analysis (BTA)'. Following the crab invasion there was a relative reduction of suspension and surface deposit feeding species, an increase in mobile and predatory organisms and an increase in those with planktotrophic larval development. From low to high crab abundances functioning changed from tube-building, deep deposit feeding and fairly large size to free-living, shallow burrowing and rather small size. With regard to sediment reworking, downward and upward conveyors were reduced whereas surficial modifiers increased. The changes imply that sediment biomixing and bioirrigation were reduced leading to a degraded sedimentary environment. It is suggested that establishing relationships between ecosystem functioning and crab abundances may form the basis for estimating ecological costs of the crab invasion. Such knowledge is important for managing the crab in the Barents Sea area being both a non-indigenous species affecting native ecosystems as well as a valuable resource for commercial fishery.

Demersal fish distribution and habitat use within and near Baltimore and Norfolk Canyons, U.S. Middle Atlantic Slope

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ross, Steve W.; Rhode, Mike; Quattrini, Andrea M.

2015-01-01

Numerous submarine canyons along the United States middle Atlantic continental margin support enhanced productivity, diverse and unique habitats, active fisheries, and are vulnerable to various anthropogenic disturbances. During two cruises (15 Aug–2 Oct 2012 and 30 Apr–27 May 2013), Baltimore and Norfolk canyons and nearby areas (including two cold seeps) were intensively surveyed to determine demersal fish distributions and habitat associations. Overall, 34 ROV dives (234–1612 m) resulted in 295 h of bottom video observations and numerous collections. These data were supplemented by 40, 30-min bottom trawl samples. Fish observations were assigned to five general habitat designations: 1) sand-mud (flat), 2) sloping sand-mud with burrows, 3) low profile gravel, rock, boulder, 4) high profile, canyon walls, rocks or ridges, and 5) seep-mixed hard and soft substrata, the later subdivided into seven habitats based on amounts of dead mussel and rock cover. The influence of corals, sponges and live mussels (seeps only) on fish distributions was also investigated. Both canyon areas supported abundant and diverse fish communities and exhibited a wide range of habitats, including extensive areas of deep-sea corals and sponges and two nearby methane seeps (380–430 m, 1455–1610 m). All methods combined yielded a total of 123 species of fishes, 12 of which are either new records for this region or have new range data. Depth was a major factor that separated the fish faunas into two zones with a boundary around 1400 m. Fishes defining the deeper zone included Lycodes sp.,Dicrolene introniger, Gaidropsaurus ensis, Hydrolagus affinis, Antimora rostrata, andAldrovandia sp. Fishes in the deep zone did not exhibit strong habitat affinities, despite the presence of a quite rugged, extensive methane seep. We propose that habitat specificity decreases with increasing depth. Fishes in the shallower zone, characterized by Laemonema sp., Phycis chesteri, Nezumia bairdii, Brosme brosme, and Helicolenus dactylopterus, exhibited a variety of habitat use patterns. In general, fish assemblages in the soft substrata areas (dominated by P. chesteri, N. bairdii, Glyptocephalus cynoglossus, Lophius americanus, Merluccius albidus) were different from those in more complex habitats (dominated by Laemonema spp., Hoplostethus spp., B. brosme,Benthocometes robustus, L. americanus, Dysommina rugosa). Although, when present, the dense coral and sponge cover did not statistically affect general fish assemblage patterns in hard bottom habitats, these sessile organisms markedly increased habitat complexity, and some fish species exhibited close association with them. Fish species compositions in the two canyons were not substantially different from the surrounding slopes. However, the diversity of habitats within both the canyons and seeps exerted an important influence on assemblage structure. At least for some species (e.g., B. brosme) canyon and seep environments may be a refuge from intensive bottom fishing activities. We frequently observed evidence of commercial and recreational fishing activity (lost gear on bottom and fishing boats in the area) throughout the canyons and some resulting habitat damage. Conservation measures for the unique and more vulnerable areas (seep and coral habitats) have recently been approved.

Financing, Overhead, and Profit: An In-Depth Discussion of Costs Associated with Third-Party Financing of Residential and Commercial Photovoltaic Systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Feldman, D.; Friedman, B.; Margolis, R.

Previous work quantifying the non-hardware balance-of-system costs -- or soft costs -- associated with building a residential or commercial photovoltaic (PV) system has left a significant portion unsegmented in an 'other soft costs' category. This report attempts to better quantify the 'other soft costs' by focusing on the financing, overhead, and profit of residential and commercial PV installations for a specific business model. This report presents results from a bottom-up data-collection and analysis of the upfront costs associated with developing, constructing, and arranging third-party-financed residential and commercial PV systems. It quantifies the indirect corporate costs required to install distributed PVmore » systems as well as the transactional costs associated with arranging third-party financing.« less

Geographical variations in bacterial communities associated with soft coral Scleronephthya gracillimum.

PubMed

Woo, Seonock; Yang, Shan-Hua; Chen, Hsing-Ju; Tseng, Yu-Fang; Hwang, Sung-Jin; De Palmas, Stephane; Denis, Vianney; Imahara, Yukimitsu; Iwase, Fumihito; Yum, Seungshic; Tang, Sen-Lin

2017-01-01

Environmental impacts can alter relationships between a coral and its symbiotic microbial community. Furthermore, changes in the microbial community associated with increased seawater temperatures can cause opportunistic infections, coral disease and death. Interactions between soft corals and their associated microbes are not well understood. The species Scleronephthya gracillimum is distributed in tropical to temperate zones in coral assemblages along the Kuroshio Current region. In this study we collected S. gracillimum from various sites at different latitudes, and compared composition of their bacterial communities using Next Generation Sequencing. Coral samples from six geographically distinct areas (two sites each in Taiwan, Japan, and Korea) had considerable variation in their associated bacterial communities and diversity. Endozoicimonaceae was the dominant group in corals from Korea and Japan, whereas Mycoplasma was dominant in corals from Taiwan corals. Interestingly, the latter corals had lower relative abundance of Endozoicimonaceae, but greater diversity. These biogeographic differences in bacterial composition may have been due to varying environmental conditions among study locations, or because of host responses to prevailing environmental conditions. This study provided a baseline for future studies of soft coral microbiomes, and assessment of functions of host metabolites and soft coral holobionts.

Geographical variations in bacterial communities associated with soft coral Scleronephthya gracillimum

PubMed Central

Chen, Hsing-Ju; Tseng, Yu-Fang; Hwang, Sung-Jin; De Palmas, Stephane; Denis, Vianney; Imahara, Yukimitsu; Iwase, Fumihito; Yum, Seungshic; Tang, Sen-Lin

2017-01-01

Environmental impacts can alter relationships between a coral and its symbiotic microbial community. Furthermore, changes in the microbial community associated with increased seawater temperatures can cause opportunistic infections, coral disease and death. Interactions between soft corals and their associated microbes are not well understood. The species Scleronephthya gracillimum is distributed in tropical to temperate zones in coral assemblages along the Kuroshio Current region. In this study we collected S. gracillimum from various sites at different latitudes, and compared composition of their bacterial communities using Next Generation Sequencing. Coral samples from six geographically distinct areas (two sites each in Taiwan, Japan, and Korea) had considerable variation in their associated bacterial communities and diversity. Endozoicimonaceae was the dominant group in corals from Korea and Japan, whereas Mycoplasma was dominant in corals from Taiwan corals. Interestingly, the latter corals had lower relative abundance of Endozoicimonaceae, but greater diversity. These biogeographic differences in bacterial composition may have been due to varying environmental conditions among study locations, or because of host responses to prevailing environmental conditions. This study provided a baseline for future studies of soft coral microbiomes, and assessment of functions of host metabolites and soft coral holobionts. PMID:28859111

Long-term performance and bacterial community dynamics in biocovers for mitigating methane and malodorous gases.

PubMed

Lee, Eun-Hee; Moon, Kyung-Eun; Cho, Kyung-Suk

2017-01-20

The long-term performance of lab-scale biocovers for the simulation of engineered landfill cover soils was evaluated. Methane (CH 4 ), trimethylamine (TMA), and dimethyl sulfide (DMS) were introduced into the biocovers as landfill gases for 134 days and the removal performance was evaluated. The biocover systems were capable of simultaneously removing methane, TMA, and DMS. Methane was mostly eliminated in the top layer of the systems, while TMA and DMS were removed in the bottom layer. Overall, the methane removal capacity and efficiency were 224.8±55.6g-CH 4 m -2 d -1 and 66.6±12.8%, respectively, whereas 100% removal efficiencies of both TMA and DMS were achieved. Using quantitative PCR and pyrosequencing assay, the bacterial and methanotrophic communities in the top and bottom layers were analyzed along with the removal performance of landfill gases in the biocovers. The top and bottom soil layers possessed distinct communities from the original inoculum, but their structure dynamics were different from each other. While the structures of the bacterial and methanotrophic communities showed little change in the top layer, both communities in the bottom layer were considerably shifted by adding TMA and DMA. These findings provide information that can extend the understanding of full-scale biocover performance in landfills. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

7 CFR 42.112 - Defects of containers: Tables IV, V, VI, and VII.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... Rust (rust stain confined to the top or bottom double seam or rust that can be removed with a soft cloth is not scored a defect): (a) Rust stain (nonmilitary purchases) 206 (b) Rust stain (military purchases) 108 (c) Pitted rust 109 Wet cans (excluding refrigerated containers) 207 Dent: (a) Materially...

7 CFR 42.112 - Defects of containers: Tables IV, V, VI, and VII.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... Rust (rust stain confined to the top or bottom double seam or rust that can be removed with a soft cloth is not scored a defect): (a) Rust stain (nonmilitary purchases) 206 (b) Rust stain (military purchases) 108 (c) Pitted rust 109 Wet cans (excluding refrigerated containers) 207 Dent: (a) Materially...

7 CFR 42.112 - Defects of containers: Tables IV, V, VI, and VII.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... Rust (rust stain confined to the top or bottom double seam or rust that can be removed with a soft cloth is not scored a defect): (a) Rust stain (nonmilitary purchases) 206 (b) Rust stain (military purchases) 108 (c) Pitted rust 109 Wet cans (excluding refrigerated containers) 207 Dent: (a) Materially...

7 CFR 42.112 - Defects of containers: Tables IV, V, VI, and VII.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... Rust (rust stain confined to the top or bottom double seam or rust that can be removed with a soft cloth is not scored a defect): (a) Rust stain (nonmilitary purchases) 206 (b) Rust stain (military purchases) 108 (c) Pitted rust 109 Wet cans (excluding refrigerated containers) 207 Dent: (a) Materially...

Toward a universal mass-momentum transfer relationship for predicting nutrient uptake and metabolite exchange in benthic reef communities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Falter, James L.; Lowe, Ryan J.; Zhang, Zhenlin

2016-09-01

Here we synthesize data from previous field and laboratory studies describing how rates of nutrient uptake and metabolite exchange (mass transfer) are related to form drag and bottom stresses (momentum transfer). Reanalysis of this data shows that rates of mass transfer are highly correlated (r2 ≥ 0.9) with the root of the bottom stress (τbot0.4) under both waves and currents and only slightly higher under waves (~10%). The amount of mass transfer that can occur per unit bottom stress (or form drag) is influenced by morphological features ranging anywhere from millimeters to meters in scale; however, surface-scale roughness (millimeters) appears to have little effect on actual nutrient uptake by living reef communities. Although field measurements of nutrient uptake by natural reef communities agree reasonably well with predictions based on existing mass-momentum transfer relationships, more work is needed to better constrain these relationships for more rugose and morphologically complex communities.

Methods, Tools, and Data for Coastal System Resilience Assessments

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-10-06

Baseline Resilience Indicators for Communities ( BRIC ) BUILDING STRONG® Innovative solutions for a safer, better world ► T: SoVI® – Social...address policy  Objective, although data may be arbitrarily weighted in an index Examples: Top-Down (T) and Bottom-Up (B) Bottom-UpTop-Down BRIC ...Coastal Resilience Index USACE’s Resilience Matrix ASCE’s Infrastructure Report Card T: Baseline Resilience Index for Communities ( BRIC

Long-term (1998 vs. 2010) large-scale comparison of soft-bottom benthic macrofauna composition in the Gulf of Lions, NW Mediterranean Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bonifácio, Paulo; Grémare, Antoine; Gauthier, Olivier; Romero-Ramirez, Alicia; Bichon, Sabrina; Amouroux, Jean-Michel; Labrune, Céline

2018-01-01

We achieved a long term (i.e., 1998 vs. 2010) large scale (i.e., whole Gulf of Lions) study of benthic macrofauna composition in the Gulf of Lions based on the resampling of 91 stations located along 21 inshore-offshore transects. Results show that the 3 main benthic communities identified in 1998 were still present in 2010 although their composition changed. Using only year and station of sampling we found a significant space-time interaction explaining changes in macrofaunal community composition, and, in this study, stations differ primarily in terms of depth and distance to the Rhône river mouth. Temporal changes in benthic macrofauna composition were clearly most important at shallow stations (i.e., in the Littoral Fine Sand community) than at deep ones (i.e., Terrigenous Coastal Mud community). These results are in good agreement with the current paradigm according to which climatic oscillations such as NAO (North Atlantic Oscillation) and WeMO (Western Mediterranean Oscillation) are indirectly (i.e., through changes in the frequency of occurrence and the intensity of storms) controlling benthic macrofauna composition in the Gulf of Lions. This hypothesis is further supported by a meta-analysis of changes in the average and maximal yearly abundances of the polychaete Ditrupa arietina. At last, the spatial modelling of 1998 and 2010 benthic macrofauna compositions both suggested a significant effect of Rhône River inputs on the spatial distribution of benthic macrofauna in the Gulf of Lions.

Evaluation of a vector-control strategy of haemorrhagic thelohanellosis in carp, caused by Thelohanellus hovorkai (Myxozoa).

PubMed

Liyanage, Yasoja S; Yokoyama, Hiroshi; Wakabayashi, Hisatsugu

2003-06-20

The life cycle of Thelohanellus hovorkai (Myxozoa), the causative agent of haemorrhagic thelohanellosis of carp Cyprinus carpio, involves the alternate oligochaete host Branchiura sowerbyi, which plays the role of vector in the parasite's transmission. Field investigations in carp farms suggested that oligochaete fauna were closely associated with the substrate type of the pond. The pond bottom in the enzootic farm consisted of clay soil and soft sediments comprised of organic mud, in which B. sowerbyi dominated in high densities, with a maximum of 5.6 ind. kg(-1) soil. In another case, in a carp farm with no previous history of the disease, the pond bottom was sandy soil, in which small-sized oligochaetes, composed mainly of Limnodrilus socialis, dominated. Laboratory studies on the substrate preference of oligochaetes proved that B. sowerbyi prefers mud to sand, whereas L. socialis has no tendency to substrate tropism. The delicate body surface of B. sowerbyi was subject to damage by rugged-edged sand particles, which inflicted severe injuries to the worms. Transmission experiments showed that L. socialis, which are non-susceptible to T. hovorkai, suppressed the production of T. hovorkai actinospores in B. sowerbyi in a mixed assemblage of oligochaetes. Field and experimental evidence in this study imply that substrate replacement in culture ponds might regulate the benthic oligochaete communities, resulting in minimization of the impact of haemorrhagic thelohanellosis. We propose that ecological control of oligochaete fauna by environmental management is a promising strategy against myxozoan diseases.

Sedimentation and near-bottom currents in the South-Western Atlantic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Emelyanov, Emelyan M.

2008-01-01

The aims of the paper are: 1) to study the bottom relief and Late Quaternary bottom sediments of the South-Western Atlantic from the Amazon cone to the Vema Channel and Rio Grande Rise, and 2) to reconstruct recent and palaeo-Antarctic near-bottom currents (AABW). For this purpose, we used three main Parasound seismic profiles: 30 cores (up to 500 cm in length), the nanoplankton stratigraphy of 9 cores from the Brazilian lithological profile (along 24 °W), and literature sources. No soft sedimentes were found in the Vema channel; the bottom of the channel is acoustically "hard". Our geological data confirm that AABW flows mainly through this channel. The velocity of this flow should be higher than 100 cm.s-1. Only this strong current is able to rewash not only soft Holocene sediments, but also consolidated Quaternary deposits. Soft layered sediments occur at a depth less than 4200 m in the Hunter channel. Consequently, the AABW is able to flow from the Argentine Basin to the Brazil Basin only at a depth of more than 4200 m in this channel. Brown red clay or yellowish gray miopelagic clay prevail in the Brazil Deep. The age of red clay in the cores is different: Early or Late Pleistocene, or Holocene. Clay was rewashed and re-deposited in many areas of the deep. This means that the hydrodynamics sometimes was very active at a depth of 4000-5000 m in the Brazil Deep. The presence of conturite and turbidite interlayers in the red clay of the S. America continental base confirms the occurrence of a strong jet of the AABW (Deep Western Boundary current - DWBC) here. Antarctic and other diatoms were brought by AABW from Antarctica up to 10-5 °S. An unusual Pleistocene Ethmodiscus rex ooze was discovered at the latitude of 20 °S. Our data confirm the occurrence in the area between 10-5 °S of two mid-oceanic channels, one of them (EMOC) being located on a large sedimentary swell. The AABW in the cross-section from the Amazon River to the MAR flows through the Nara (depth 4640-4660 m) plain. This flow was confirmed by hydrochemical data. The AABW started to appear in the Rio Grande Rise region, about 50-30 mill. years. Cyclic events of glaciation and interglacial transitions throughout the Miocene-Pleistocene is a mechanism that caused the AABW currents to become more intensive or passive, with the result that the intensity of the influx of these waters from the Brazilian Basin into the Guiana Basin also changed from strong to weak.

Machine-learning classifiers applied to habitat and geological substrate mapping offshore South Carolina

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

White, S. M.; Maschmeyer, C.; Anderson, E.; Knapp, C. C.; Brantley, D.

2017-12-01

Offshore of northern South Carolina holds considerable potential for wind energy development. This study describes a method for comprehensive and efficient evaluation of the geological framework and archaeological artifacts in potential Bureau of Ocean Energy Management lease blocks located 12 km offshore Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Identification of cultural artifacts and potential critical habitats on the seafloor is critical to support for lease blocks designation, but must be done primarily using sonar data with limited visual data. We used bathymetry and backscatter to create 6 m seafloor grids of slope, and gray-level co-occurrence matrices: homogeneity, entropy, and second-moment. Supervised automated classification using an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) in Matlab scripts provided comprehensive evaluation of the seafloor in the study area. Coastal Carolina University collected EM3002 multibeam sonar from the R/V Coastal Explorer on multiple cruises in 2015-2016 in a 32 km by 9 km area. We processed the multibeam using QPS Qimera and Fledermaus Geocoder to produce bathymetric and backscatter datasets gridded at 0.5 m with estimated 0.1 m vertical resolution. During Fall 2016, Coastal Carolina University collected ground-referenced tow-camera imagery of 68 km in 4 different sites within the multibeam survey zone. We created a ground-reference bottom-type dataset with over 75,000 reference points from the imagery. We extracted slope, backscatter intensity, and the first principal component of backscatter textures to each point. We trained an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) on 2,500 points representing three classes: soft-bottom, hard-bottom, and cultural artifact, 101 km2 is soft-bottom, 1.5 km2 is rocky outcrop or hard-bottom, and there were 3 locations of cultural artifacts. Our classification is > 88% accurate. The extent of human artifacts, such as sunken ships and artificial reefs, are under-represented by 60% in our classification as the classifier confused flat parts with relatively flat sand data. 100% of testing data representing rocky portions of the seafloor were correctly classified. The use of machine-learning classifiers to determine seafloor-type provides a new solution to habitat mapping and offshore engineering problems.

Microbial Community Response to Simulated Petroleum Seepage in Caspian Sea Sediments

PubMed Central

Stagars, Marion H.; Mishra, Sonakshi; Treude, Tina; Amann, Rudolf; Knittel, Katrin

2017-01-01

Anaerobic microbial hydrocarbon degradation is a major biogeochemical process at marine seeps. Here we studied the response of the microbial community to petroleum seepage simulated for 190 days in a sediment core from the Caspian Sea using a sediment-oil-flow-through (SOFT) system. Untreated (without simulated petroleum seepage) and SOFT sediment microbial communities shared 43% bacterial genus-level 16S rRNA-based operational taxonomic units (OTU0.945) but shared only 23% archaeal OTU0.945. The community differed significantly between sediment layers. The detection of fourfold higher deltaproteobacterial cell numbers in SOFT than in untreated sediment at depths characterized by highest sulfate reduction rates and strongest decrease of gaseous and mid-chain alkane concentrations indicated a specific response of hydrocarbon-degrading Deltaproteobacteria. Based on an increase in specific CARD-FISH cell numbers, we suggest the following groups of sulfate-reducing bacteria to be likely responsible for the observed decrease in aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbon concentration in SOFT sediments: clade SCA1 for propane and butane degradation, clade LCA2 for mid- to long-chain alkane degradation, clade Cyhx for cycloalkanes, pentane and hexane degradation, and relatives of Desulfobacula for toluene degradation. Highest numbers of archaea of the genus Methanosarcina were found in the methanogenic zone of the SOFT core where we detected preferential degradation of long-chain hydrocarbons. Sequencing of masD, a marker gene for alkane degradation encoding (1-methylalkyl)succinate synthase, revealed a low diversity in SOFT sediment with two abundant species-level MasD OTU0.96. PMID:28503173

Sponge communities on Caribbean coral reefs are structured by factors that are top-down, not bottom-up.

PubMed

Pawlik, Joseph R; Loh, Tse-Lynn; McMurray, Steven E; Finelli, Christopher M

2013-01-01

Caribbean coral reefs have been transformed in the past few decades with the demise of reef-building corals, and sponges are now the dominant habitat-forming organisms on most reefs. Competing hypotheses propose that sponge communities are controlled primarily by predatory fishes (top-down) or by the availability of picoplankton to suspension-feeding sponges (bottom-up). We tested these hypotheses on Conch Reef, off Key Largo, Florida, by placing sponges inside and outside predator-excluding cages at sites with less and more planktonic food availability (15 m vs. 30 m depth). There was no evidence of a bottom-up effect on the growth of any of 5 sponge species, and 2 of 5 species grew more when caged at the shallow site with lower food abundance. There was, however, a strong effect of predation by fishes on sponge species that lacked chemical defenses. Sponges with chemical defenses grew slower than undefended species, demonstrating a resource trade-off between growth and the production of secondary metabolites. Surveys of the benthic community on Conch Reef similarly did not support a bottom-up effect, with higher sponge cover at the shallower depth. We conclude that the structure of sponge communities on Caribbean coral reefs is primarily top-down, and predict that removal of sponge predators by overfishing will shift communities toward faster-growing, undefended species that better compete for space with threatened reef-building corals.

Sponge Communities on Caribbean Coral Reefs Are Structured by Factors That Are Top-Down, Not Bottom-Up

PubMed Central

Pawlik, Joseph R.; Loh, Tse-Lynn; McMurray, Steven E.; Finelli, Christopher M.

2013-01-01

Caribbean coral reefs have been transformed in the past few decades with the demise of reef-building corals, and sponges are now the dominant habitat-forming organisms on most reefs. Competing hypotheses propose that sponge communities are controlled primarily by predatory fishes (top-down) or by the availability of picoplankton to suspension-feeding sponges (bottom-up). We tested these hypotheses on Conch Reef, off Key Largo, Florida, by placing sponges inside and outside predator-excluding cages at sites with less and more planktonic food availability (15 m vs. 30 m depth). There was no evidence of a bottom-up effect on the growth of any of 5 sponge species, and 2 of 5 species grew more when caged at the shallow site with lower food abundance. There was, however, a strong effect of predation by fishes on sponge species that lacked chemical defenses. Sponges with chemical defenses grew slower than undefended species, demonstrating a resource trade-off between growth and the production of secondary metabolites. Surveys of the benthic community on Conch Reef similarly did not support a bottom-up effect, with higher sponge cover at the shallower depth. We conclude that the structure of sponge communities on Caribbean coral reefs is primarily top-down, and predict that removal of sponge predators by overfishing will shift communities toward faster-growing, undefended species that better compete for space with threatened reef-building corals. PMID:23667492

Status of rainbow smelt in the U.S. waters of Lake Ontario, 2013

USGS Publications Warehouse

Weidel, Brian C.; Connerton, Michael J.

2014-01-01

Rainbow Smelt Osmerus mordax are the second most abundant pelagic prey fish in Lake Ontario after Alewife Alosa psuedoharengus. The 2013, USGS/NYSDEC bottom trawl assessment indicated the abundance of Lake Ontario age-1 and older Rainbow Smelt decreased by 69% relative to 2012. Length frequency-based age analysis indicated that age-1 Rainbow Smelt constituted approximately 50% of the population, which is similar to recent trends where the proportion of age-1 has ranged from 95% to 42% of the population. While they constituted approximately half of the catch, the overall abundance index for age 1 was one of the lowest observed in the time series, potentially a result of cannibalism from the previous year class. Combined data from all bottom trawl assessments along the southern shore and eastern basin indicate the proportion of the fish community that is Rainbow Smelt has declined over the past 30 years. In 2013 the proportion of the pelagic fish catch (only pelagic species) that was Rainbow Smelt was the second lowest in the time series at 3.1%. Community diversity indices, based on bottom trawl catches, indicate that Lake Ontario fish community diversity, as assessed by bottom trawls, has sharply declined over the past 36 years and in 2013 the index was the lowest value in the time series. Much of this community diversity decline is driven by changes in the pelagic fish community and dominance of Alewife.

[The echinoderms (Echinodermata) from El Salvador].

PubMed

Enrique Barraza, José; Roberto Hasbún, Carlos

2005-12-01

A list of echinoderms from El Salvador (tropical eastern Pacific) is presented. The results were obtained from field surveys (between the years 2000 and 2004), the scarce literature sources, and Internet information. A total of 37 species and six genera are reported. The most abundant echinoderms in rocky shores were: Phataria unifascialis, Echinometra vanbrunti, Holothuria kefersteini, as well as Astropecten armatus in soft bottoms.

On the advantages of spring magnets compared to pure FePt: Strategy for rare-earth free permanent magnets following a bottom-up approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pousthomis, M.; Garnero, C.; Marcelot, C. G.; Blon, T.; Cayez, S.; Cassignol, C.; Du, V. A.; Krispin, M.; Arenal, R.; Soulantica, K.; Viau, G.; Lacroix, L.-M.

2017-02-01

Nanostructured magnets benefiting from efficient exchange-coupling between hard and soft grains represent an appealing approach for integrated miniaturized magnetic power sources. Using a bottom-up approach, nanostructured materials were prepared from binary assemblies of bcc FeCo and fcc FePt nanoparticles and compared with pure L10-FePt materials. The use of a bifunctional mercapto benzoic acid yields homogeneous assemblies of the two types of particles while reducing the organic matter amount. The 650 °C thermal annealing, mandatory to allow the L10-FePt phase transition, led to an important interdiffusion and thus decreased drastically the amount of soft phase present in the final composites. The analysis of recoil curves however evidenced the presence of an efficient interphase exchange coupling, which allows obtaining better magnetic performances than pure L10 FePt materials, energy product above 100 kJ m-3 being estimated for a Pt content of only 33%. These results clearly evidenced the interest of chemically grown nanoparticles for the preparation of performant spring-magnets, opening promising perspective for integrated subcentimetric magnets with optimized properties.

Reciprocal Symbiont Sharing in the Lodging Mutualism between Walking Corals and Sipunculans.

PubMed

Igawa, Momoko; Hata, Hiroki; Kato, Makoto

2017-01-01

Solitary scleractinian corals of the genera Heterocyathus and Heteropsammia inhabit soft marine bottoms without attaching to hard substrata. The corallums of these genera contain a coiled cavity inhabited by a sipunculan that roams the seafloor, carrying the host coral with it. The coral serves as a sturdy shelter that protects the sipunculan from possible predators. At the same time, the sipunculan maintains the coral in an upright position on the soft bottom. This coral-sipunculan association is unique because two phylogenetically distant coral genera have developed convergent associations with sipunculans. We investigate the process of convergent evolution of two coral species, Hc. aequicostatus and Hp. cochlea, in Okinawa, Japan, with their symbiotic sipunculans, using phylogenetic and morphological analyses. Phylogenetic analyses clarified that the symbiotic sipunculans comprise two distinct clades, surprisingly both of which are associated with both coral species. The bodily habitus of the sipunculan differed between coral species and fit the morphologies of the coiled cavities of their respective host corals. Our results suggest that the two coral species share two sipunculan clades and that sipunculan morphology is plastic and determined by the internal structure of their host corals.

Latitudinal trends and temporal shifts in the catch composition of bottom trawls conducted on the eastern Bering Sea shelf

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stevenson, Duane E.; Lauth, Robert R.

2012-06-01

Latitudinal species diversity gradients are well known in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems throughout the world. However, trends in relative abundance and other shifts in community structure with latitude, which can be more sensitive to environmental shifts such as climate change, have received less attention. Here we investigate latitudinal trends in the seafloor community of the eastern Bering Sea using catches of fishes and epibenthic invertebrates in bottom trawl surveys conducted from 1982 to 2010. Our results indicate that the overall biomass of the epibenthic community declines with increasing latitude in the eastern Bering Sea. This latitudinal trend is primarily driven by declining fish catches in the northern Bering Sea, which in turn reflects changes in the structure of the fish community. The fish fauna in northern latitudes is increasingly dominated by gadids, though the species composition of the gadid fauna also changes with latitude, with smaller species becoming more common in the north. The biomass of the invertebrate megafauna remains relatively consistent throughout the eastern Bering Sea, but invertebrates make up a larger proportion of the catch in bottom trawls conducted at higher latitudes. The epibenthic invertebrate megafauna in the eastern Bering Sea is composed primarily of sea stars (Asteriidae) and oregoniid crabs (Chionoecetes and Hyas), though no clear latitudinal trends in the invertebrate community are evident. Limited trawl data from the eastern Chukchi Sea indicate that the fish community farther north is even more heavily dominated by gadids, and the epibenthic invertebrate community is dominated by asteriid sea stars. Temperature data from bottom trawl surveys in the southeastern Bering Sea over the past decade indicate that there was a distinct temperature shift around 2005, and the relatively warm years of 2001-2005 were followed by five relatively cold years. This shift in the summer temperature regime of the Bering Sea has resulted in lower fish catches, particularly in the "cold pool" region (58-61°N), and a higher proportion of epibenthic invertebrates in the bottom trawl catches of the past 5 years.

Chemical reactions directed Peptide self-assembly.

PubMed

Rasale, Dnyaneshwar B; Das, Apurba K

2015-05-13

Fabrication of self-assembled nanostructures is one of the important aspects in nanoscience and nanotechnology. The study of self-assembled soft materials remains an area of interest due to their potential applications in biomedicine. The versatile properties of soft materials can be tuned using a bottom up approach of small molecules. Peptide based self-assembly has significant impact in biology because of its unique features such as biocompatibility, straight peptide chain and the presence of different side chain functionality. These unique features explore peptides in various self-assembly process. In this review, we briefly introduce chemical reaction-mediated peptide self-assembly. Herein, we have emphasised enzymes, native chemical ligation and photochemical reactions in the exploration of peptide self-assembly.

Chemical Reactions Directed Peptide Self-Assembly

PubMed Central

Rasale, Dnyaneshwar B.; Das, Apurba K.

2015-01-01

Fabrication of self-assembled nanostructures is one of the important aspects in nanoscience and nanotechnology. The study of self-assembled soft materials remains an area of interest due to their potential applications in biomedicine. The versatile properties of soft materials can be tuned using a bottom up approach of small molecules. Peptide based self-assembly has significant impact in biology because of its unique features such as biocompatibility, straight peptide chain and the presence of different side chain functionality. These unique features explore peptides in various self-assembly process. In this review, we briefly introduce chemical reaction-mediated peptide self-assembly. Herein, we have emphasised enzymes, native chemical ligation and photochemical reactions in the exploration of peptide self-assembly. PMID:25984603

Influence of photoactivation method and mold for restoration on the Knoop hardness of resin composite restorations.

PubMed

Brandt, William Cunha; Silva-Concilio, Lais Regiane; Neves, Ana Christina Claro; de Souza-Junior, Eduardo Jose Carvalho; Sinhoreti, Mario Alexandre Coelho

2013-09-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate in vitro the Knoop hardness in the top and bottom of composite photo activated by different methods when different mold materials were used. Z250 (3M ESPE) and XL2500 halogen unit (3M ESPE) were used. For hardness test, conical restorations were made in extracted bovine incisors (tooth mold) and also metal mold (approximately 2 mm top diameter × 1.5 mm bottom diameter × 2 mm in height). Different photoactivation methods were tested: high-intensity continuous (HIC), low-intensity continuous (LIC), soft-start, or pulse-delay (PD), with constant radiant exposure. Knoop readings were performed on top and bottom restoration surfaces. Data were submitted to two-way ANOVA and Tukey's test (p = 0.05). On the top, regardless of the mold used, no significant difference in the Knoop hardness (Knoop hardness number, in kilograms-force per square millimeter) was observed between the photoactivation methods. On the bottom surface, the photoactivation method HIC shows higher means of hardness than LIC when tooth and metal were used. Significant differences of hardness on the top and in the bottom were detected between tooth and metal. The photoactivation method LIC and the material mold can interfere in the hardness values of composite restorations.

Fully Tunable Silicon Nanowire Arrays Fabricated by Soft Nanoparticle Templating.

PubMed

Rey, By Marcel; Elnathan, Roey; Ditcovski, Ran; Geisel, Karen; Zanini, Michele; Fernandez-Rodriguez, Miguel-Angel; Naik, Vikrant V; Frutiger, Andreas; Richtering, Walter; Ellenbogen, Tal; Voelcker, Nicolas H; Isa, Lucio

2016-01-13

We demonstrate a fabrication breakthrough to produce large-area arrays of vertically aligned silicon nanowires (VA-SiNWs) with full tunability of the geometry of the single nanowires and of the whole array, paving the way toward advanced programmable designs of nanowire platforms. At the core of our fabrication route, termed "Soft Nanoparticle Templating", is the conversion of gradually compressed self-assembled monolayers of soft nanoparticles (microgels) at a water-oil interface into customized lithographical masks to create VA-SiNW arrays by means of metal-assisted chemical etching (MACE). This combination of bottom-up and top-down techniques affords excellent control of nanowire etching site locations, enabling independent control of nanowire spacing, diameter and height in a single fabrication route. We demonstrate the fabrication of centimeter-scale two-dimensional gradient photonic crystals exhibiting continuously varying structural colors across the entire visible spectrum on a single silicon substrate, and the formation of tunable optical cavities supported by the VA-SiNWs, as unambiguously demonstrated through numerical simulations. Finally, Soft Nanoparticle Templating is combined with optical lithography to create hierarchical and programmable VA-SiNW patterns.

Plankton community structure and connectivity in the Kimberley-Browse region of NW Australia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McKinnon, A. D.; Duggan, S.; Holliday, D.; Brinkman, R.

2015-02-01

We describe the zooplankton and ichthyoplankton communities of coastal waters of the Kimberley coast (North West Australia), sampled in macrotidal Camden Sound during both the wet and dry seasons of 2011, and compare these to six other Kimberley embayments during the wet season of 2013. Zooplankton abundance in Camden Sound was 7038 ± 3913 SD ind. m-3 in the wet season and 1892 ± 708 SD ind. m-3 in the dry season, with copepods accounting for 85% by number. In all, 78 species of copepods were recorded, with the families Paracalanidae and Oithonidae dominant. In Camden Sound, 48 families of larval fish occurred, with ichthyoplankton more abundant in the wet season than the dry season (1.16 ± 0.2 ind. m-3 cf 0.76 ± 0.2 ind. m-3). Larval gobiids (Subfamily Gobiinae) were most abundant, with other common families associated with either pelagic or soft-bottom habitats as adults. Multivariate analyses of both copepod and ichthyoplankton communities demonstrated strong seasonal contrasts, although an along-shelf gradient in copepod community composition was apparent along the embayments sampled in 2013. There was little spatial variation in plankton communities within Camden Sound as a result of the large tidal range (up to 11.7 m, with 2.5 m-1 velocities), although gradients in abundance and composition on cross-shelf transects occurred in the more northern embayments that had a lower tidal range, such as Napier Broome Bay. Copepod communities of the Kimberley-Browse region were placed in regional perspective by multivariate analyses of similar data collected in the eastern Indian Ocean at Scott Reef, in the Arafura Sea and on the southern North West (NW) shelf. The plankton communities of the NW shelf form a series of along-shore metacommunities linked by advection, with weaker cross-shelf connectivity. The presence of the larvae of mesopelagic fishes of the family Myctophidae in coastal waters confirms seasonal cross-shelf connectivity.

[Rapid ecological assessment of tropical fish communities in a gold mine area of Costa Rica].

PubMed

Espinoza Mendiola, Mario

2008-12-01

Gold mining impacts have generated a great concern regarding aquatic systems and habitat fragmentation. Anthropogenic disturbances on the structure and heterogeneity of a system can have an important effect on aquatic community stability. Ecological rapid assessments (1996, 2002, and 2007) were employed to determine the structure, composition and distribution of tropical fish communities in several rivers and smaller creeks from a gold mining area in Cerro Crucitas, Costa Rica. In addition, species composition and relative abundance were related with habitat structure. A total of 35 species were registered, among which sardine Astyanax aeneus (Characidae) and livebearer Alfaro cultratus (Poeciliidae) were the most abundant fish (71%). The highest species richness was observed in Caño Crucitas (s=19) and Minas Creek (s=18). Significant differences in fish communities structure and composition from Infiernillo river and Minas creek were observed (lamda = 0.0, F(132, 66) = 2.24, p < 0.001). Presence and/or absence of certain species such as Dormitor gobiomorus, Rhamdia nicaraguensis, Parachromis loiseillei and Atractosteus tropicus explained most of the spatial variation among sites. Habitat structure also contributed to explain differences among sites (lamda = 0.004, F(60.183) = 5.52, p < 0.001). Substratum (soft and hard bottom types) and habitat attributes (elevation, width and depth) explained most of the variability observed in Infiernillo River, Caño Crucitas and Tamagá Creek. In addition, a significant association between fish species and habitat structure was observed. This study reveals a high complexity in tropical fish communities that inhabit a gold mine area. Furthermore, it highlights the importance of habitat heterogeneity in fish community dynamics. The loss and degradation of aquatic systems in Cerro Crucitas can have a strong negative effect on fish community structure and composition of local species. A better understanding of the use of specific habitats that serve as essential fish habitats can improve tropical fish conservation and management strategies, thus increasing local diversity, and thereby, the biological importance of the area.

Fine-Scale Cartography of Human Impacts along French Mediterranean Coasts: A Relevant Map for the Management of Marine Ecosystems

PubMed Central

Holon, Florian; Mouquet, Nicolas; Boissery, Pierre; Bouchoucha, Marc; Delaruelle, Gwenaelle; Tribot, Anne-Sophie; Deter, Julie

2015-01-01

Ecosystem services provided by oceans and seas support most human needs but are threatened by human activities. Despite existing maps illustrating human impacts on marine ecosystems, information remains either large-scale but rough and insufficient for stakeholders (1 km² grid, lack of data along the coast) or fine-scale but fragmentary and heterogeneous in methodology. The objectives of this study are to map and quantify the main pressures exerted on near-coast marine ecosystems, at a large spatial scale though in fine and relevant resolution for managers (one pixel = 20 x 20 m). It focuses on the French Mediterranean coast (1,700 km of coastline including Corsica) at a depth of 0 to 80 m. After completing and homogenizing data presently available under GIS on the bathymetry and anthropogenic pressures but also on the seabed nature and ecosystem vulnerability, we provide a fine modeling of the extent and impacts of 10 anthropogenic pressures on marine habitats. The considered pressures are man-made coastline, boat anchoring, aquaculture, urban effluents, industrial effluents, urbanization, agriculture, coastline erosion, coastal population and fishing. A 1:10 000 continuous habitat map is provided considering 11 habitat classes. The marine bottom is mostly covered by three habitats: infralittoral soft bottom, Posidonia oceanica meadows and circalittoral soft bottom. Around two thirds of the bottoms are found within medium and medium high cumulative impact categories. Seagrass meadows are the most impacted habitats. The most important pressures (in area and intensity) are urbanization, coastal population, coastal erosion and man-made coastline. We also identified areas in need of a special management interest. This work should contribute to prioritize environmental needs, as well as enhance the development of indicators for the assessment of the ecological status of coastal systems. It could also help better apply and coordinate management measures at a relevant scale for biodiversity conservation. PMID:26266542

Fine-Scale Cartography of Human Impacts along French Mediterranean Coasts: A Relevant Map for the Management of Marine Ecosystems.

PubMed

Holon, Florian; Mouquet, Nicolas; Boissery, Pierre; Bouchoucha, Marc; Delaruelle, Gwenaelle; Tribot, Anne-Sophie; Deter, Julie

2015-01-01

Ecosystem services provided by oceans and seas support most human needs but are threatened by human activities. Despite existing maps illustrating human impacts on marine ecosystems, information remains either large-scale but rough and insufficient for stakeholders (1 km² grid, lack of data along the coast) or fine-scale but fragmentary and heterogeneous in methodology. The objectives of this study are to map and quantify the main pressures exerted on near-coast marine ecosystems, at a large spatial scale though in fine and relevant resolution for managers (one pixel = 20 x 20 m). It focuses on the French Mediterranean coast (1,700 km of coastline including Corsica) at a depth of 0 to 80 m. After completing and homogenizing data presently available under GIS on the bathymetry and anthropogenic pressures but also on the seabed nature and ecosystem vulnerability, we provide a fine modeling of the extent and impacts of 10 anthropogenic pressures on marine habitats. The considered pressures are man-made coastline, boat anchoring, aquaculture, urban effluents, industrial effluents, urbanization, agriculture, coastline erosion, coastal population and fishing. A 1:10 000 continuous habitat map is provided considering 11 habitat classes. The marine bottom is mostly covered by three habitats: infralittoral soft bottom, Posidonia oceanica meadows and circalittoral soft bottom. Around two thirds of the bottoms are found within medium and medium high cumulative impact categories. Seagrass meadows are the most impacted habitats. The most important pressures (in area and intensity) are urbanization, coastal population, coastal erosion and man-made coastline. We also identified areas in need of a special management interest. This work should contribute to prioritize environmental needs, as well as enhance the development of indicators for the assessment of the ecological status of coastal systems. It could also help better apply and coordinate management measures at a relevant scale for biodiversity conservation.

Report to the U.S. Congress on the National Oceanographic Partnership Program Fiscal Year 2012

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-01-01

Bottom Habitats with Emphasis on Coral Communities: Reefs , Rigs, and Wrecks (also known as Lophelia II) project. The annual award is given to the...Bottom Habitats with Emphasis on Coral Communities: Reefs , Rigs, and Wrecks1 (also known as Lophelia II) was the recipient of the 2011 NOPP...Information Service, the Ocean Acidification Program, and the National Ocean Service participated in the meeting to discuss how IWG-OP can better engage with

Cold-water coral distributions in the drake passage area from towed camera observations--initial interpretations.

PubMed

Waller, Rhian G; Scanlon, Kathryn M; Robinson, Laura F

2011-01-25

Seamounts are unique deep-sea features that create habitats thought to have high levels of endemic fauna, productive fisheries and benthic communities vulnerable to anthropogenic impacts. Many seamounts are isolated features, occurring in the high seas, where access is limited and thus biological data scarce. There are numerous seamounts within the Drake Passage (Southern Ocean), yet high winds, frequent storms and strong currents make seafloor sampling particularly difficult. As a result, few attempts to collect biological data have been made, leading to a paucity of information on benthic habitats or fauna in this area, particularly those on primarily hard-bottom seamounts and ridges. During a research cruise in 2008 six locations were examined (two on the Antarctic margin, one on the Shackleton Fracture Zone, and three on seamounts within the Drake Passage), using a towed camera with onboard instruments to measure conductivity, temperature, depth and turbidity. Dominant fauna and bottom type were categorized from 200 randomized photos from each location. Cold-water corals were present in high numbers in habitats both on the Antarctic margin and on the current swept seamounts of the Drake Passage, though the diversity of orders varied. Though the Scleractinia (hard corals) were abundant on the sedimented margin, they were poorly represented in the primarily hard-bottom areas of the central Drake Passage. The two seamount sites and the Shackleton Fracture Zone showed high numbers of stylasterid (lace) and alcyonacean (soft) corals, as well as large numbers of sponges. Though data are preliminary, the geological and environmental variability (particularly in temperature) between sample sites may be influencing cold-water coral biogeography in this region. Each area observed also showed little similarity in faunal diversity with other sites examined for this study within all phyla counted. This manuscript highlights how little is understood of these isolated features, particularly in Polar regions.

Cold-Water Coral Distributions in the Drake Passage Area from Towed Camera Observations – Initial Interpretations

PubMed Central

Waller, Rhian G.; Scanlon, Kathryn M.; Robinson, Laura F.

2011-01-01

Seamounts are unique deep-sea features that create habitats thought to have high levels of endemic fauna, productive fisheries and benthic communities vulnerable to anthropogenic impacts. Many seamounts are isolated features, occurring in the high seas, where access is limited and thus biological data scarce. There are numerous seamounts within the Drake Passage (Southern Ocean), yet high winds, frequent storms and strong currents make seafloor sampling particularly difficult. As a result, few attempts to collect biological data have been made, leading to a paucity of information on benthic habitats or fauna in this area, particularly those on primarily hard-bottom seamounts and ridges. During a research cruise in 2008 six locations were examined (two on the Antarctic margin, one on the Shackleton Fracture Zone, and three on seamounts within the Drake Passage), using a towed camera with onboard instruments to measure conductivity, temperature, depth and turbidity. Dominant fauna and bottom type were categorized from 200 randomized photos from each location. Cold-water corals were present in high numbers in habitats both on the Antarctic margin and on the current swept seamounts of the Drake Passage, though the diversity of orders varied. Though the Scleractinia (hard corals) were abundant on the sedimented margin, they were poorly represented in the primarily hard-bottom areas of the central Drake Passage. The two seamount sites and the Shackleton Fracture Zone showed high numbers of stylasterid (lace) and alcyonacean (soft) corals, as well as large numbers of sponges. Though data are preliminary, the geological and environmental variability (particularly in temperature) between sample sites may be influencing cold-water coral biogeography in this region. Each area observed also showed little similarity in faunal diversity with other sites examined for this study within all phyla counted. This manuscript highlights how little is understood of these isolated features, particularly in Polar regions. PMID:21283585

Cold-water coral distributions in the Drake Passage area from towed camera observations - Initial interpretations

USGS Publications Warehouse

Waller, Rhian G.; Catanach, Kathryn Scanlon; Robinson, Laura F.

2011-01-01

Seamounts are unique deep-sea features that create habitats thought to have high levels of endemic fauna, productive fisheries and benthic communities vulnerable to anthropogenic impacts. Many seamounts are isolated features, occurring in the high seas, where access is limited and thus biological data scarce. There are numerous seamounts within the Drake Passage (Southern Ocean), yet high winds, frequent storms and strong currents make seafloor sampling particularly difficult. As a result, few attempts to collect biological data have been made, leading to a paucity of information on benthic habitats or fauna in this area, particularly those on primarily hard-bottom seamounts and ridges. During a research cruise in 2008 six locations were examined (two on the Antarctic margin, one on the Shackleton Fracture Zone, and three on seamounts within the Drake Passage), using a towed camera with onboard instruments to measure conductivity, temperature, depth and turbidity. Dominant fauna and bottom type were categorized from 200 randomized photos from each location. Cold-water corals were present in high numbers in habitats both on the Antarctic margin and on the current swept seamounts of the Drake Passage, though the diversity of orders varied. Though the Scleractinia (hard corals) were abundant on the sedimented margin, they were poorly represented in the primarily hard-bottom areas of the central Drake Passage. The two seamount sites and the Shackleton Fracture Zone showed high numbers of stylasterid (lace) and alcyonacean (soft) corals, as well as large numbers of sponges. Though data are preliminary, the geological and environmental variability (particularly in temperature) between sample sites may be influencing cold-water coral biogeography in this region. Each area observed also showed little similarity in faunal diversity with other sites examined for this study within all phyla counted. This manuscript highlights how little is understood of these isolated features, particularly in Polar regions.

Cold-water coral distributions in the drake passage area from towed camera observations - Initial interpretations

USGS Publications Warehouse

Waller, Rhian G.; Scanlon, Kathryn M.; Robinson, Laura F.

2011-01-01

Seamounts are unique deep-sea features that create habitats thought to have high levels of endemic fauna, productive fisheries and benthic communities vulnerable to anthropogenic impacts. Many seamounts are isolated features, occurring in the high seas, where access is limited and thus biological data scarce. There are numerous seamounts within the Drake Passage (Southern Ocean), yet high winds, frequent storms and strong currents make seafloor sampling particularly difficult. As a result, few attempts to collect biological data have been made, leading to a paucity of information on benthic habitats or fauna in this area, particularly those on primarily hard-bottom seamounts and ridges. During a research cruise in 2008 six locations were examined (two on the Antarctic margin, one on the Shackleton Fracture Zone, and three on seamounts within the Drake Passage), using a towed camera with onboard instruments to measure conductivity, temperature, depth and turbidity. Dominant fauna and bottom type were categorized from 200 randomized photos from each location. Coldwater corals were present in high numbers in habitats both on the Antarctic margin and on the current swept seamounts of the Drake Passage, though the diversity of orders varied. Though the Scleractinia (hard corals) were abundant on the sedimented margin, they were poorly represented in the primarily hard-bottom areas of the central Drake Passage. The two seamount sites and the Shackleton Fracture Zone showed high numbers of stylasterid (lace) and alcyonacean (soft) corals, as well as large numbers of sponges. Though data are preliminary, the geological and environmental variability (particularly in temperature) between sample sites may be influencing cold-water coral biogeography in this region. Each area observed also showed little similarity in faunal diversity with other sites examined for this study within all phyla counted. This manuscript highlights how little is understood of these isolated features, particularly in Polar regions.

Two-dimensional hexagonally oriented CdCl2.H2O nanorod assembly: formation and replication.

PubMed

Deng, Zhaoxiang; Mao, Chengde

2004-09-14

This paper reports a simple bottom-up method that can controllably fabricate 2D hexagonally oriented and randomly distributed CdCl(2).H(2)O nanorods on mica surfaces. The as-formed nanorod assemblies have been successfully replicated into various matrixes, including gold, poly(dimethylsiloxane), and polyurethane. Thus, this method is compatible with soft-lithography towards further applications.

Edwardsia sojabio sp. n. (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Actiniaria: Edwardsiidae), a new abyssal sea anemone from the Sea ofJapan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sanamyan, Nadya; Sanamyan, Karen

2013-02-01

The paper describes new deep-water edwardsiid sea anemone Edwardsia sojabio sp. n. which is very common on soft muddy bottoms at lower bathyal and upper abyssal depths in the Sea of Japan. It was recorded in high quantity in depths between 2545 and 3550 m and is the second abyssal species of the genus Edwardsia.

A eutectic-alloy-infused soft actuator with sensing, tunable degrees of freedom, and stiffness properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hao, Yufei; Wang, Tianmiao; Xie, Zhexin; Sun, Wenguang; Liu, Zemin; Fang, Xi; Yang, Minxuan; Wen, Li

2018-02-01

This paper presents a soft actuator embedded with two types of eutectic alloys which enable sensing, tunable mechanical degrees of freedom (DOF), and variable stiffness properties. To modulate the stiffness of the actuator, we embedded a low melting point alloy (LMPA) in the bottom portion of the soft actuator. Different sections of the LMPA could be selectively melted by the Ni-Cr wires twined underneath. To acquire the curvature information, EGaIn (eutectic gallium indium) was infused into a microchannel surrounding the chambers of the soft actuator. Systematic experiments were performed to characterize the stiffness, tunable DOF, and sensing the bending curvature. We found that the average bending force and elasticity modulus could be increased about 35 and 4000 times, respectively, with the LMPA in a solid state. The entire LMPA could be melted from a solid to a liquid state within 12 s. In particular, up to six different motion patterns could be achieved under each pneumatic pressure of the soft actuator. Furthermore, the kinematics of the actuator under different motion patterns could be obtained by a mathematical model whose input was provided by the EGaIn sensor. For demonstration purposes, a two-fingered gripper was fabricated to grasp various objects by adjusting the DOF and mechanical stiffness.

Relative importance of top-down and bottom-up forces in food webs of Sarracenia pitcher communities at a northern and a southern site.

PubMed

Hoekman, David

2011-04-01

The relative importance of resources (bottom-up forces) and natural enemies (top-down forces) for regulating food web dynamics has been debated, and both forces have been found to be critical for determining food web structure. How the relative importance of top-down and bottom-up forces varies between sites with different abiotic conditions is not well understood. Using the pitcher plant inquiline community as a model system, I examine how the relative importance of top-down and bottom-up effects differs between two disparate sites. Resources (ant carcasses) and top predators (mosquito larvae) were manipulated in two identical 4 × 4 factorial press experiments, conducted at two geographically distant sites (Michigan and Florida) within the range of the purple pitcher plant, Sarracenia purpurea, and the aquatic community that resides in its leaves. Overall, top predators reduced the density of prey populations while additional resources bolstered them, and the relative importance of top-down and bottom-up forces varied between sites and for different trophic levels. Specifically, top-down effects on protozoa were stronger in Florida than in Michigan, while the opposite pattern was found for rotifers. These findings experimentally demonstrate that the strength of predator-prey interactions, even those involving the same species, vary across space. While only two sites are compared in this study, I hypothesize that site differences in temperature, which influences metabolic rate, may be responsible for variation in consumer-resource interactions. These findings warrant further investigation into the specific factors that modify the relative importance of top-down and bottom-up effects.

Resource partitioning within major bottom fish species in a highly productive upwelling ecosystem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abdellaoui, Souad; El Halouani, Hassan; Tai, Imane; Masski, Hicham

2017-09-01

The Saharan Bank (21-26°N) is a wide subtropical continental shelf and a highly productive upwelling ecosystem. The bottom communities are dominated by octopus and sparid fish, which are the main targets of bottom-trawl fishing fleets. To investigate resource partitioning within the bottom fish community, adult fish from 14 of the most abundant species were investigated for stomach content analysis. Samples were collected during two periods: October 2003 and May 2007. The diet of the analysed species showed more variation between periods than between size classes, suggesting that temporal or spatial variability in prey availability appears to play a significant role in their diet. Multivariate analysis and subsequent clustering led to a grouping of the species within five trophic guilds. Two species were fish feeders, and the others mainly fed on benthic invertebrates, where epibenthic crustaceans, lamellibranchs and fish were the most important groups in defining trophic guilds. We found that the studied species had a high rate of overlapping spatial distributions and overlapping trophic niches. In this highly productive upwelling ecosystem, where food resources may not be a limiting factor, inter-specific competition did not appear to be an important factor in structuring bottom fish communities. For the species that showed differences in the proportions of prey categories in comparison with other ecosystems, the rise of the proportion of epibenthic crustaceans in their diet was a common feature; a possible consequence of the benthic productivity of this highly productive upwelling ecosystem.

Mastering the soft skills in the implementation of work based learning among community college students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ali, Azita Binti; Islamiah Rosli, Doria; Sujadi, Imam; Usodo, Budi; Adie Perdana, Fengky

2017-01-01

Emphasizing the aspects of soft skills among students is an important element to produce graduates who are competitive when facing any situations in the workplace. Various efforts have been taken by the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia (MOHE) to improve the education system in Malaysia. Learning methods were introduced to ensure the education systems achieve the educational goals and to produce individuals who are well-balanced with spiritually, emotionally and physically. However, the issue of unemployment among graduates often being spoken in the community and it was regarded as a failure of educational institutions to produce quality graduates. Thus, the method of Work-Based Learning (WBL) was seen as a way to improve the soft skills among the graduates. The study was conducted using quantitative research survey as the design of the study used a questionnaire that was adapted as an instrument. Data were analysed using Statistical Package of Social Science (SPSS) version 20.0. The respondents were consisted of 97 students who attended WBL programs at the community college. Data were obtained from questionnaires using descriptive statistics for the calculation of the mean and one-way ANOVA test. The findings of the level of soft skills among community colleges were high where the communication skills obtained (mean = 4.1218), critical and problem solving skills (mean = 4.0946), teamwork skills (mean = 4.2297), learning and information management (mean = 4.1219), entrepreneurial skills (mean = 4.0240), professional ethics and moral (mean = 3.9410) and leadership skills (mean = 4.2104). The findings also showed the differences in term of communication skills among the community colleges. This study was significant to the community colleges to identify the level of soft skills among students who performed WBL methods in order to reduce the number of unemployment.

Overlapping community detection in weighted networks via a Bayesian approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Yi; Wang, Xiaolong; Xiang, Xin; Tang, Buzhou; Chen, Qingcai; Fan, Shixi; Bu, Junzhao

2017-02-01

Complex networks as a powerful way to represent complex systems have been widely studied during the past several years. One of the most important tasks of complex network analysis is to detect communities embedded in networks. In the real world, weighted networks are very common and may contain overlapping communities where a node is allowed to belong to multiple communities. In this paper, we propose a novel Bayesian approach, called the Bayesian mixture network (BMN) model, to detect overlapping communities in weighted networks. The advantages of our method are (i) providing soft-partition solutions in weighted networks; (ii) providing soft memberships, which quantify 'how strongly' a node belongs to a community. Experiments on a large number of real and synthetic networks show that our model has the ability in detecting overlapping communities in weighted networks and is competitive with other state-of-the-art models at shedding light on community partition.

Deep-water longline fishing has reduced impact on Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems

PubMed Central

Pham, Christopher K.; Diogo, Hugo; Menezes, Gui; Porteiro, Filipe; Braga-Henriques, Andreia; Vandeperre, Frederic; Morato, Telmo

2014-01-01

Bottom trawl fishing threatens deep-sea ecosystems, modifying the seafloor morphology and its physical properties, with dramatic consequences on benthic communities. Therefore, the future of deep-sea fishing relies on alternative techniques that maintain the health of deep-sea ecosystems and tolerate appropriate human uses of the marine environment. In this study, we demonstrate that deep-sea bottom longline fishing has little impact on vulnerable marine ecosystems, reducing bycatch of cold-water corals and limiting additional damage to benthic communities. We found that slow-growing vulnerable species are still common in areas subject to more than 20 years of longlining activity and estimate that one deep-sea bottom trawl will have a similar impact to 296–1,719 longlines, depending on the morphological complexity of the impacted species. Given the pronounced differences in the magnitude of disturbances coupled with its selectivity and low fuel consumption, we suggest that regulated deep-sea longlining can be an alternative to deep-sea bottom trawling. PMID:24776718

Cost-Effective Mapping of Benthic Habitats in Inland Reservoirs through Split-Beam Sonar, Indicator Kriging, and Historical Geologic Data

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Venteris, Erik R.; May, Cassandra

2014-04-23

Because bottom substrate composition is an important control on the temporal and spatial location of the aquatic community, accurate maps of benthic habitats of inland lakes and reservoirs provide valuable information to managers, recreational users, and scientists. Therefore, we collected vertical, split-beam sonar data (roughness [E1], hardness [E2], and bathymetry) and sediment samples to make such maps. Statistical calibration between sonar parameters and sediment classes was problematic because the E1:E2 ratios for soft (muck and clay) sediments overlapped a lower and narrower range for hard (gravel) substrates. Thus, we used indicator kriging (IK) to map the probability that unsampled locationsmore » did not contain coarse sediments. To overcome the calibration issue we tested proxies for the natural processes and anthropogenic history of the reservoir as potential predictive variables. Of these, a geologic map proved to be the most useful. The central alluvial valley and mudflats contained mainly muck and organic-rich clays. The surrounding glacial till and shale bedrock uplands contained mainly poorly sorted gravels. Anomalies in the sonar data suggested that the organic-rich sediments also contained trapped gases, presenting additional interpretive issues for the mapping. We extended the capability of inexpensive split-beam sonar units through the incorporation of historic geologic maps and other records as well as validation with dredge samples. Through the integration of information from multiple data sets, were able to objectively identify bottom substrate and provide reservoir users with an accurate map of available benthic habitat.« less

Cost-Effective Mapping of Benthic Habitats in Inland Reservoirs through Split-Beam Sonar, Indicator Kriging, and Historical Geologic Data

PubMed Central

Venteris, Erik R.; May, Cassandra J.

2014-01-01

Because bottom substrate composition is an important control on the temporal and spatial location of the aquatic community, accurate maps of benthic habitats of inland lakes and reservoirs provide valuable information to managers, recreational users, and scientists. Therefore, we collected vertical, split-beam sonar data (roughness [E1], hardness [E2], and bathymetry) and sediment samples to make such maps. Statistical calibration between sonar parameters and sediment classes was problematic because the E1:E2 ratios for soft (muck and clay) sediments overlapped a lower and narrower range for hard (gravel) substrates. Thus, we used indicator kriging (IK) to map the probability that unsampled locations did not contain coarse sediments. To overcome the calibration issue we tested proxies for the natural processes and anthropogenic history of the reservoir as potential predictive variables. Of these, a geologic map proved to be the most useful. The central alluvial valley and mudflats contained mainly muck and organic-rich clays. The surrounding glacial till and shale bedrock uplands contained mainly poorly sorted gravels. Anomalies in the sonar data suggested that the organic-rich sediments also contained trapped gases, presenting additional interpretive issues for the mapping. We extended the capability of inexpensive split-beam sonar units through the incorporation of historic geologic maps and other records as well as validation with dredge samples. Through the integration of information from multiple data sets, were able to objectively identify bottom substrate and provide reservoir users with an accurate map of available benthic habitat. PMID:24759834

Cost-effective mapping of benthic habitats in inland reservoirs through split-beam sonar, indicator kriging, and historical geologic data.

PubMed

Venteris, Erik R; May, Cassandra J

2014-01-01

Because bottom substrate composition is an important control on the temporal and spatial location of the aquatic community, accurate maps of benthic habitats of inland lakes and reservoirs provide valuable information to managers, recreational users, and scientists. Therefore, we collected vertical, split-beam sonar data (roughness [E1], hardness [E2], and bathymetry) and sediment samples to make such maps. Statistical calibration between sonar parameters and sediment classes was problematic because the E1:E2 ratios for soft (muck and clay) sediments overlapped a lower and narrower range for hard (gravel) substrates. Thus, we used indicator kriging (IK) to map the probability that unsampled locations did not contain coarse sediments. To overcome the calibration issue we tested proxies for the natural processes and anthropogenic history of the reservoir as potential predictive variables. Of these, a geologic map proved to be the most useful. The central alluvial valley and mudflats contained mainly muck and organic-rich clays. The surrounding glacial till and shale bedrock uplands contained mainly poorly sorted gravels. Anomalies in the sonar data suggested that the organic-rich sediments also contained trapped gases, presenting additional interpretive issues for the mapping. We extended the capability of inexpensive split-beam sonar units through the incorporation of historic geologic maps and other records as well as validation with dredge samples. Through the integration of information from multiple data sets, were able to objectively identify bottom substrate and provide reservoir users with an accurate map of available benthic habitat.

Hypoxia causes preservation of labile organic matter and changes seafloor microbial community composition (Black Sea).

PubMed

Jessen, Gerdhard L; Lichtschlag, Anna; Ramette, Alban; Pantoja, Silvio; Rossel, Pamela E; Schubert, Carsten J; Struck, Ulrich; Boetius, Antje

2017-02-01

Bottom-water oxygen supply is a key factor governing the biogeochemistry and community composition of marine sediments. Whether it also determines carbon burial rates remains controversial. We investigated the effect of varying oxygen concentrations (170 to 0 μM O 2 ) on microbial remineralization of organic matter in seafloor sediments and on community diversity of the northwestern Crimean shelf break. This study shows that 50% more organic matter is preserved in surface sediments exposed to hypoxia compared to oxic bottom waters. Hypoxic conditions inhibit bioturbation and decreased remineralization rates even within short periods of a few days. These conditions led to the accumulation of threefold more phytodetritus pigments within 40 years compared to the oxic zone. Bacterial community structure also differed between oxic, hypoxic, and anoxic zones. Functional groups relevant in the degradation of particulate organic matter, such as Flavobacteriia , Gammaproteobacteria , and Deltaproteobacteria , changed with decreasing oxygenation, and the microbial community of the hypoxic zone took longer to degrade similar amounts of deposited reactive matter. We conclude that hypoxic bottom-water conditions-even on short time scales-substantially increase the preservation potential of organic matter because of the negative effects on benthic fauna and particle mixing and by favoring anaerobic processes, including sulfurization of matter.

Hypoxia causes preservation of labile organic matter and changes seafloor microbial community composition (Black Sea)

PubMed Central

Jessen, Gerdhard L.; Lichtschlag, Anna; Ramette, Alban; Pantoja, Silvio; Rossel, Pamela E.; Schubert, Carsten J.; Struck, Ulrich; Boetius, Antje

2017-01-01

Bottom-water oxygen supply is a key factor governing the biogeochemistry and community composition of marine sediments. Whether it also determines carbon burial rates remains controversial. We investigated the effect of varying oxygen concentrations (170 to 0 μM O2) on microbial remineralization of organic matter in seafloor sediments and on community diversity of the northwestern Crimean shelf break. This study shows that 50% more organic matter is preserved in surface sediments exposed to hypoxia compared to oxic bottom waters. Hypoxic conditions inhibit bioturbation and decreased remineralization rates even within short periods of a few days. These conditions led to the accumulation of threefold more phytodetritus pigments within 40 years compared to the oxic zone. Bacterial community structure also differed between oxic, hypoxic, and anoxic zones. Functional groups relevant in the degradation of particulate organic matter, such as Flavobacteriia, Gammaproteobacteria, and Deltaproteobacteria, changed with decreasing oxygenation, and the microbial community of the hypoxic zone took longer to degrade similar amounts of deposited reactive matter. We conclude that hypoxic bottom-water conditions—even on short time scales—substantially increase the preservation potential of organic matter because of the negative effects on benthic fauna and particle mixing and by favoring anaerobic processes, including sulfurization of matter. PMID:28246637

Does EMF Emitted from In Situ Subsea Power Cables Affect the Composition of Deep Benthic Fish and Invertebrate Communities?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bull, A. S.; Nishimoto, M.; Love, M.; Schroeder, D. M.

2016-02-01

A network of power cables is an important component of any offshore renewable energy generation facilities (e.g., wind and wave). The cables laid on the seafloor carry current that produces both electric and magnetic fields; the magnetic field, here called an electromagnetic field (EMF), is what is emitted from shielded cables. The cables, themselves, add hard, low-relief structure to what is typically soft-bottom habitat (mud or sand). Given that laboratory experiments show EMF can affect the behavior of some marine vertebrates and invertebrates, concern is raised over the potential ecological impacts of in situ power cables. Here we report an unusual comparative study of the effect of EMF emitted from in situ power cables on the fish and invertebrate communities of the deep coastal shelf environment. In the Santa Barbara Channel of southern California, subsea power cables, similar to those used in the offshore renewable energy industry, transmit electricity from shore to offshore oil and gas production platforms. A non-energized cable in the vicinity of energized cables afforded us the unusual opportunity to control for the effect of cable as hard, low relief habitat. We conducted three annual submersible surveys in October, 2012- 2014, at depths from 75 m to 210 m. We present results comparing observations along the energized and nonenergized cables and on the adjacent natural substrate.

Effects of the thermal discharge from an offshore power plant on plankton and macrobenthic communities in subtropical China.

PubMed

Lin, Jie; Zou, Xinqing; Huang, Faming

2018-06-01

The ecological impact of thermal discharge has become an important issue in the field of marine and environmental protection. We focused on the effects of thermal discharge on seawater temperature and biological communities based on data from before (2006) and after (2013-2014) the construction of a power plant. The thermal discharge induced stratification, which resulted in changes in the vertical hydrodynamic conditions. Stratification combined with elevated temperatures significantly affected the phytoplankton abundance and community structure. Elevated seawater temperatures decreased the chlorophyll-a concentrations by 34% and 63%, at the surface and bottom, respectively. The elevated seawater temperature at the bottom might not be high enough to significantly affect the macrobenthos, but significantly affected the phytoplankton and zooplankton communities. Because these communities serve as food for the macrobenthic community, their changes resulted in growth of the macrobenthos. Furthermore, this effect induced macrobenthic community succession, resulting in decreased species diversity and increased dominance. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Transforming Your Community. Empowering for Change.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moore, Allen B.; Brooks, Rusty

This book presents a "bottom-up" action learning and action planning approach to community economic development. It is based on a learning experience for adults to promote community economic development that became the Community Economic Development Program. The book is organized in 11 chapters that cover the following topics: (1) framework for…

Symposium Supramolecular Assemblies on Surface: Nanopatterning, Functionality and Reactivity

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-05-19

considerable attention as “bottom-up” nanotechnology . A general substrate-mediated, soft solution methodology for the preparation of polymeric...defined architectures are key challenges in nanotechnology and of interest in various fields from molecular electronics over novel materials to...2006). [3] Y.-S. Fu et al. Nano Lett. 12, 3931-3935 (2012). [4] U.G.E. Perera et al. Nature Nanotechnology 5, 46-51 (2013). [5] Y. Zhang et al

Applying Benthic Index of Biotic Integrity in a soft bottom ecosystem in North of the Persian Gulf.

PubMed

Doustshenas, B; Savari, A; Nabavi, S M B; Kochanian, P; Sadrinasab, M

2009-06-15

In this study, the Chesapeake Bay Benthic Index of Biotic Integrity (B-IBI) was selected in an attempt to describe ecological health of soft bottom channels (Khowr-e Musa) in North of the Persian Gulf. Most of study area was found to be in degraded or severely degraded conditions. B-IBI scores were ranged between 1 and 3.86. Comparison ofmacrobenthos abundance and organic content between two developmental periods showed significant difference (p < 0.05). After the establishment and development of petrochemical industries, the abundance of macrofauna decreased (809 to 239 individuals m(-2)) and organic content increased leading to organic enrichment (15.3 to 22.4%). Three new sources of organic matter were found to be important namely industrial waste, sewage and mangrove litter. After 1999 about 6 millions Avicennia marina tree were planted near petrochemical zone in the area. Study area changed rapidly in the last decade and region is under severely anthropogenic impacts. The present study showed that Khowr-e Musa is under both natural stress and anthropogenic impacts and two main impacts could be attributed to the organic enrichment and to the dredging. Choice of suitable management plans and metric controls could help to the salvage of the largest tidal channel complex in Persian Gulf.

Trawl disturbance on benthic communities: chronic effects and experimental predictions.

PubMed

Hinz, Hilmar; Prieto, Virginia; Kaiser, Michel J

2009-04-01

Bottom trawling has widespread impacts on benthic communities and habitats. While the direct impacts of trawl disturbances on benthic communities have been extensively studied, the consequences from long-term chronic disturbances are less well understood. The response of benthic macrofauna to chronic otter-trawl disturbance from a Nephrops norvegicus (Norway lobster) fishery was investigated along a gradient of fishing intensity over a muddy fishing ground in the northeastern Irish Sea. Chronic otter trawling had a significant, negative effect on benthic infauna abundance, biomass, and species richness. Benthic epifauna abundance and species richness also showed a significant, negative response, while no such effect was evident for epibenthic biomass. Furthermore, chronic trawl disturbance led to clear changes in community composition of benthic infauna and epifauna. The results presented indicate that otter-trawl impacts are cumulative and can lead to profound changes in benthic communities, which may have far-reaching implications for the integrity of marine food webs. Studies investigating the short-term effects of fishing manipulations previously concluded that otter trawling on muddy substrates had only modest effects on the benthic biota. Hence, the results presented by this study highlight that data from experimental studies can not be readily extrapolated to an ecosystem level and that subtle cumulative effects may only become apparent when fishing disturbances are examined over larger spatial and temporal scales. Furthermore, this study shows that data on chronic effects of bottom trawling on the benthos will be vital in informing the recently advocated move toward an ecosystem approach in fisheries management. As bottom-trawl fisheries are expanding into ever deeper muddy habitats, the results presented here are an important step toward understanding the global ecosystem effects of bottom trawling.

The Evolutionary Ecology of Biotic Association in a Megadiverse Bivalve Superfamily: Sponsorship Required for Permanent Residency in Sediment

PubMed Central

Li, Jingchun; Ó Foighil, Diarmaid; Middelfart, Peter

2012-01-01

Background Marine lineage diversification is shaped by the interaction of biotic and abiotic factors but our understanding of their relative roles is underdeveloped. The megadiverse bivalve superfamily Galeommatoidea represents a promising study system to address this issue. It is composed of small-bodied clams that are either free-living or have commensal associations with invertebrate hosts. To test if the evolution of this lifestyle dichotomy is correlated with specific ecologies, we have performed a statistical analysis on the lifestyle and habitat preference of 121 species based on 90 source documents. Methodology/Principal Findings Galeommatoidea has significant diversity in the two primary benthic habitats: hard- and soft-bottoms. Hard-bottom dwellers are overwhelmingly free-living, typically hidden within crevices of rocks/coral heads/encrusting epifauna. In contrast, species in soft-bottom habitats are almost exclusively infaunal commensals. These infaunal biotic associations may involve direct attachment to a host, or clustering around its tube/burrow, but all commensals locate within the oxygenated sediment envelope produced by the host’s bioturbation. Conclusions/Significance The formation of commensal associations by galeommatoidean clams is robustly correlated with an abiotic environmental setting: living in sediments (). Sediment-dwelling bivalves are exposed to intense predation pressure that drops markedly with depth of burial. Commensal galeommatoideans routinely attain depth refuges many times their body lengths, independent of siphonal investment, by virtue of their host’s burrowing and bioturbation. In effect, they use their much larger hosts as giant auto-irrigating siphon substitutes. The evolution of biotic associations with infaunal bioturbating hosts may have been a prerequisite for the diversification of Galeommatoidea in sediments and has likely been a key factor in the success of this exceptionally diverse bivalve superfamily. PMID:22905116

Comparison of benthos and plankton for Waukegan Harbor Area of Concern, Illinois, and Burns Harbor-Port of Indiana non-Area of Concern, Indiana, in 2015

USGS Publications Warehouse

Eikenberry, Barbara C. Scudder; Olds, Hayley T.; Burns, Daniel J.; Dobrowolski, Edward G.; Schmude, Kurt L.

2017-06-06

During two seasonal sampling events in spring (June) and fall (August) of 2015, the U.S. Geological Survey collected benthos (benthic invertebrates) and plankton (zooplankton and phytoplankton) at three sites each in the Waukegan Harbor Area of Concern (AOC) in Illinois and in Burns Harbor-Port of Indiana, a non-AOC comparison site in Indiana. The study was done in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Samples were collected concurrently for physical and chemical parameters (specific conductance, temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll-a, total and volatile suspended solids in water samples; particle size and volatile-on-ignition solids of sediment in dredge samples). The purpose of the study was to assess whether or not aquatic communities at the AOC were degraded in comparison to communities at the non-AOC, which was presumed to be less impaired than the AOC. Benthos were collected by using Hester-Dendy artificial substrate samplers and a Ponar® dredge sampler to collect composited grabs of bottom sediment; zooplankton were collected by using tows from depth to the surface with a 63-micrometer mesh plankton net; phytoplankton were collected by using whole water samples composited from set depth intervals. Aquatic communities at the AOC and the non-AOC were compared by use of univariate statistical analyses with metrics such as taxa richness (number of unique taxa), diversity, and a multimetric Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI, for artificial-substrate samples only) as well as by use of multivariate statistical analyses of taxa relative abundances.Although benthos communities at Waukegan Harbor AOC were not rated as degraded in comparison to the non-AOC, metrics for zooplankton and phytoplankton communities did show some impairment for the 2015 sampling. Across seasons, benthos richness and diversity were significantly higher and rated as less degraded at the AOC compared to the non-AOC; however, benthos IBIs were not significantly different. Multivariate comparisons revealed that the benthos communities in the AOC and non-AOC were significantly different, but these comparisons do not address current degradation in either harbor. The dominant taxa in dredge samples were oligochaete worms in both harbors, but there were differences in the relative abundances of Dreissena as well as oligochaete and midge taxa. Although zooplankton richness and diversity in the AOC were lower and rated as more degraded in spring, these metrics were rated as less degraded in fall compared to the non-AOC, effectively balancing out so that there was no difference across seasons. Multivariate comparisons also indicated that zooplankton communities in the AOC were significantly different from those in the non-AOC for spring only but not across seasons, possibly because of lower water temperatures in spring at Waukegan Harbor than at the non-AOC site. The spring zooplankton community in Waukegan Harbor was dominated in density and biomass by the rotifer Synchaeta. Across seasons, diatom richness was significantly higher and rated as less degraded in the AOC than the non-AOC because of spring values, whereas soft algae richness was significantly lower and rated as more degraded in the AOC because of fall values. Spring richness of combined phytoplankton (soft algae and diatoms) was significantly higher in the AOC than in the non-AOC. Neither diatom diversity nor soft algae diversity differed significantly between the harbors, but combined phytoplankton diversity across seasons, if replicates were included, was significantly lower and rated as more degraded in the AOC than in the non-AOC. Multivariate tests indicated that the combined phytoplankton communities in the harbors were not significantly different across seasons. Significant differences were not found between harbors for chlorophyll-a, suspended solids, algal densities, or biomass.

Riparian forest communities of the lower Kaskaskia River bottoms

Treesearch

Susan P. Romano; James J. Zaczek; Karl W. J. Williard; Sara Baer; Andrew D. Carver; Jean C. Mangun

2003-01-01

Hydrologic alterations due to dam construction may have altered the floodplain ecology of the Lower Kaskaskia River. Seven forest communities within the study site were identified. Floodplain communities include Acer negundo-Celtis occidentalis-Acer saccharinum, Acer saccharinum-Acer negundo, and Celtis occidentalis-Ulmus americana...

Exotic plant species associations with horse trails, old roads, and intact native communities in the Missouri Ozarks

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stroh, E.D.; Struckhoff, M.A.

2009-01-01

We compared the extent to which exotic species are associated with horse trails, old roads, and intact communities within three native vegetation types in Ozark National Scenic Riverways, Missouri. We used a general linear model procedure and a Bonferroni multiple comparison test to compare exotic species richness, exotic to native species ratios, and exotic species percent cover across three usage types (horse trails, old roads, and intact communities) and three community types (river bottoms, upland waterways, and glades). We found that both exotic species richness and the ratio of exotic species to native species were greater in plots located along horse trails than in plots located either in intact native communities or along old roads. Native community types did not differ in the number of exotic species present, but river bottoms had a significantly higher exotic to native species ratio than glades. Continued introduction of exotic plant propagules may explain why horse trails contain more exotic species than other areas in a highly disturbed landscape.

High-density livestock operations, crop field application of manure, and risk of community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection, Pennsylvania, USA

PubMed Central

Casey, Joan A.; Curriero, Frank C.; Cosgrove, Sara E.; Nachman, Keeve E.; Schwartz, Brian S.

2015-01-01

Context Nearly 80% of antibiotics in the United States are sold for use in livestock feeds. The manure produced by these livestock contains antibiotic-resistant bacteria, resistance genes, and antibiotics, and is subsequently applied to crop fields where it may put community members at risk for antibiotic-resistant infections. Objective To assess the association between individual exposure to swine and dairy/veal industrial agriculture and risk of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection. Design, Setting, and Participants A population-based, nested case-control study of Geisinger primary care patients in Pennsylvania from 2005–2010. Incident MRSA cases were identified using electronic health records, classified as community-associated or healthcare-associated, and frequency-matched to randomly selected controls and patients with skin and soft tissue infection. Nutrient management plans were used to create two exposure variables: seasonal crop field manure application and number of livestock at the operation. In a sub-study we collected 200 isolates from patients stratified by location of diagnosis and proximity to livestock operations. Main outcome measures Community-associated MRSA, healthcare associated-MRSA, and skin and soft tissue infection status (with no history of MRSA) compared to controls. Results From 446,480 patients, 1539 community-associated MRSA, 1335 healthcare-associated MRSA, 2895 skin and soft tissue infection cases, and 2914 controls were included. After adjustment for MRSA risk factors, the highest quartile of swine crop field exposure was significantly associated with community-associated MRSA, healthcare-associated MRSA, and skin and soft tissue infection case status (adjusted odds ratio, 1.38 [95% CI, 1.13–1.69], 1.30 [95% CI, 1.05–1.61], and 1.37 [95% CI, 1.18–1.60], respectively); and there was a trend of increasing odds across quartiles for each outcome (all P for trend ≤0.01). There were similar but weaker associations of swine operations with community-associated MRSA and skin and soft tissue infection. Molecular testing of 200 isolates identified 31 unique spa types, none of which corresponded to CC398, but some have been previously found in swine. Conclusion Proximity to swine manure application to crop fields and livestock operations each was associated with MRSA and skin and soft tissue infection. These findings contribute to the growing concern about the potential public health impacts of high-density livestock production. PMID:24043228

Discovery of Rapidly Moving Partial X-Ray Absorbers Within Cassiopeiae

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hamaguchi, K.; Oskinova, L.; Russell, C. M. P.; Petre, R.; Enoto, T.; Morihana, K.; Ishida, M.

2016-01-01

Gamma Cassiopeiae is an enigmatic Be star with unusually strong hard X-ray emission. The Suzaku observatory detected six rapid X-ray spectral hardening events called "softness dips" in a approx.100 ks observation in 2011. All the softness dip events show symmetric softness-ratio variations, and some of them have flat bottoms apparently due to saturation. The softness dip spectra are best described by either approx.40% or approx.70% partial covering absorption to kT approx.12 keV plasma emission by matter with a neutral hydrogen column density of approx.(2-8) ×10(exp 21)/sq cm, while the spectrum outside these dips is almost free of absorption. This result suggests the presence of two distinct X-ray-emitting spots in the gamma Cas system, perhaps on a white dwarf (WD) companion with dipole mass accretion. The partial covering absorbers may be blobs in the Be stellar wind, the Be disk, or rotating around the WD companion. Weak correlations of the softness ratios to the hard X-ray flux suggest the presence of stable plasmas at kT approx 0.9 and 5 keV, which may originate from the Be or WD winds. The formation of a Be star and WD binary system requires mass transfer between two stars; gamma Cas may have experienced such activity in the past.

Phylogenetic shifts of bacterioplankton community composition along the Pearl Estuary: the potential impact of hypoxia and nutrients

PubMed Central

Liu, Jiwen; Fu, Bingbing; Yang, Hongmei; Zhao, Meixun; He, Biyan; Zhang, Xiao-Hua

2015-01-01

The significance of salinity in shaping bacterial communities dwelling in estuarine areas has been well documented. However, the influences of other environmental factors such as dissolved oxygen and nutrients in determining distribution patterns of both individual taxa and bacterial communities inhabited local estuarine regions remain elusive. Here, bacterioplankton community structures of surface and bottom waters from eight sites along the Pearl Estuary were characterized with 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing. The results showed significant differences of bacterioplankton community between freshwater and saltwater sites, and further between surface and bottom waters of saltwater sites. Synechococcus dominated the surface water of saltwater sites while Oceanospirillales, SAR11 and SAR406 were prevalent in the bottom water. Betaproteobacteria was abundant in freshwater sites, with no significant difference between water layers. Occurrence of phylogenetic shifts in taxa affiliated to the same clade was also detected. Dissolved oxygen explained most of the bacterial community variation in the redundancy analysis targeting only freshwater sites, whereas nutrients and salinity explained most of the variation across all samples in the Pearl Estuary. Methylophilales (mainly PE2 clade) was positively correlated to dissolved oxygen, whereas Rhodocyclales (mainly R.12up clade) was negatively correlated. Moreover, high nutrient inputs to the freshwater area of the Pearl Estuary have shifted the bacterial communities toward copiotrophic groups, such as Sphingomonadales. The present study demonstrated that the overall nutrients and freshwater hypoxia play important roles in determining bacterioplankton compositions and provided insights into the potential ecological roles of specific taxa in estuarine environments. PMID:25713564

Marine bacterioplankton community turnover within seasonally hypoxic waters of a subtropical sound: Devil's Hole, Bermuda.

PubMed

Parsons, Rachel J; Nelson, Craig E; Carlson, Craig A; Denman, Carmen C; Andersson, Andreas J; Kledzik, Andrew L; Vergin, Kevin L; McNally, Sean P; Treusch, Alexander H; Giovannoni, Stephen J

2015-10-01

Understanding bacterioplankton community dynamics in coastal hypoxic environments is relevant to global biogeochemistry because coastal hypoxia is increasing worldwide. The temporal dynamics of bacterioplankton communities were analysed throughout the illuminated water column of Devil's Hole, Bermuda during the 6-week annual transition from a strongly stratified water column with suboxic and high-pCO2 bottom waters to a fully mixed and ventilated state during 2008. A suite of culture-independent methods provided a quantitative spatiotemporal characterization of bacterioplankton community changes, including both direct counts and rRNA gene sequencing. During stratification, the surface waters were dominated by the SAR11 clade of Alphaproteobacteria and the cyanobacterium Synechococcus. In the suboxic bottom waters, cells from the order Chlorobiales prevailed, with gene sequences indicating members of the genera Chlorobium and Prosthecochloris--anoxygenic photoautotrophs that utilize sulfide as a source of electrons for photosynthesis. Transitional zones of hypoxia also exhibited elevated levels of methane- and sulfur-oxidizing bacteria relative to the overlying waters. The abundance of both Thaumarcheota and Euryarcheota were elevated in the suboxic bottom waters (> 10(9) cells l(-1)). Following convective mixing, the entire water column returned to a community typical of oxygenated waters, with Euryarcheota only averaging 5% of cells, and Chlorobiales and Thaumarcheota absent. © 2014 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Emergence of Soft Communities from Geometric Preferential Attachment

PubMed Central

Zuev, Konstantin; Boguñá, Marián; Bianconi, Ginestra; Krioukov, Dmitri

2015-01-01

All real networks are different, but many have some structural properties in common. There seems to be no consensus on what the most common properties are, but scale-free degree distributions, strong clustering, and community structure are frequently mentioned without question. Surprisingly, there exists no simple generative mechanism explaining all the three properties at once in growing networks. Here we show how latent network geometry coupled with preferential attachment of nodes to this geometry fills this gap. We call this mechanism geometric preferential attachment (GPA), and validate it against the Internet. GPA gives rise to soft communities that provide a different perspective on the community structure in networks. The connections between GPA and cosmological models, including inflation, are also discussed. PMID:25923110

Cascading effects of artificial light at night: resource-mediated control of herbivores in a grassland ecosystem

PubMed Central

Bennie, Jonathan; Davies, Thomas W.; Cruse, David; Inger, Richard; Gaston, Kevin J.

2015-01-01

Artificial light at night has a wide range of biological effects on both plants and animals. Here, we review mechanisms by which artificial light at night may restructure ecological communities by modifying the interactions between species. Such mechanisms may be top-down (predator, parasite or grazer controlled), bottom-up (resource-controlled) or involve non-trophic processes, such as pollination, seed dispersal or competition. We present results from an experiment investigating both top-down and bottom-up effects of artificial light at night on the population density of pea aphids Acyrthosiphon pisum in a diverse artificial grassland community in the presence and absence of predators and under low-level light of different spectral composition. We found no evidence for top-down control of A. pisum in this system, but did find evidence for bottom-up effects mediated through the impact of light on flower head density in a leguminous food plant. These results suggest that physiological effects of light on a plant species within a diverse plant community can have detectable demographic effects on a specialist herbivore. PMID:25780243

Influence of near-bottom environmental conditions on the structure of bathyal macrobenthic crustacean assemblages from the Capbreton canyon (Bay of Biscay, NE Atlantic)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marquiegui, Mikel A.; Sorbe, Jean Claude

1999-07-01

Sled and box-corer samplings were performed at two sites in the Capbreton canyon in order to appreciate the influence of near-bottom environmental conditions on the structure of their macrobenthic communities (crustaceans). Although located at similar depths (ca. 1 000 m), these two sites were characterised by different physicochemical conditions at the sediment-water interface, probably related with the morphology of the submarine valley (reduced environment, oxygen depletion and stagnation of bottom water at site A; normal oceanic conditions on the near-bottom environment of site B). The analysis of the collected fauna revealed a low similarity between the two sites, mainly due to the unusual dominance of three epibenthic species in sled samples from site A: the amphipod Bonnierella abyssorum, the tanaid Apseudes spinosus and the isopod Arcturopsis giardi. Due to their apparent rarity or absence in adjacent non-canyon communities, such epibenthic crustaceans may be considered as `canyon indicator species' able to exhibit abundant populations within the peculiar confinement area of this canyon.

The Fishery Performance Indicators: A Management Tool for Triple Bottom Line Outcomes

PubMed Central

Anderson, James L.; Anderson, Christopher M.; Chu, Jingjie; Meredith, Jennifer; Asche, Frank; Sylvia, Gil; Smith, Martin D.; Anggraeni, Dessy; Arthur, Robert; Guttormsen, Atle; McCluney, Jessica K.; Ward, Tim; Akpalu, Wisdom; Eggert, Håkan; Flores, Jimely; Freeman, Matthew A.; Holland, Daniel S.; Knapp, Gunnar; Kobayashi, Mimako; Larkin, Sherry; MacLauchlin, Kari; Schnier, Kurt; Soboil, Mark; Tveteras, Sigbjorn; Uchida, Hirotsugu; Valderrama, Diego

2015-01-01

Pursuit of the triple bottom line of economic, community and ecological sustainability has increased the complexity of fishery management; fisheries assessments require new types of data and analysis to guide science-based policy in addition to traditional biological information and modeling. We introduce the Fishery Performance Indicators (FPIs), a broadly applicable and flexible tool for assessing performance in individual fisheries, and for establishing cross-sectional links between enabling conditions, management strategies and triple bottom line outcomes. Conceptually separating measures of performance, the FPIs use 68 individual outcome metrics—coded on a 1 to 5 scale based on expert assessment to facilitate application to data poor fisheries and sectors—that can be partitioned into sector-based or triple-bottom-line sustainability-based interpretative indicators. Variation among outcomes is explained with 54 similarly structured metrics of inputs, management approaches and enabling conditions. Using 61 initial fishery case studies drawn from industrial and developing countries around the world, we demonstrate the inferential importance of tracking economic and community outcomes, in addition to resource status. PMID:25946194

When does fishing lead to more fish? Community consequences of bottom trawl fisheries in demersal food webs

PubMed Central

van Denderen, P. Daniel; van Kooten, Tobias; Rijnsdorp, Adriaan D.

2013-01-01

Bottom trawls are a globally used fishing gear that physically disturb the seabed and kill non-target organisms, including those that are food for the targeted fish species. There are indications that ensuing changes to the benthic invertebrate community may increase the availability of food and promote growth and even fisheries yield of target fish species. If and how this occurs is the subject of ongoing debate, with evidence both in favour and against. We model the effects of trawling on a simple ecosystem of benthivorous fish and two food populations (benthos), susceptible and resistant to trawling. We show that the ecosystem response to trawling depends on whether the abundance of benthos is top-down or bottom-up controlled. Fishing may result in higher fish abundance, higher (maximum sustainable) yield and increased persistence of fish when the benthos which is the best-quality fish food is also more resistant to trawling. These positive effects occur in bottom-up controlled systems and systems with limited impact of fish feeding on benthos, resembling bottom-up control. Fishing leads to lower yields and fish persistence in all configurations where susceptible benthos are more profitable prey. Our results highlight the importance of mechanistic ecosystem knowledge as a requirement for successful management. PMID:24004941

Microbial diversity from chlorophyll maximum, oxygen minimum and bottom zones in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Medina-Silva, Renata; de Oliveira, Rafael R.; Pivel, Maria A. G.; Borges, Luiz G. A.; Simão, Taiz L. L.; Pereira, Leandro M.; Trindade, Fernanda J.; Augustin, Adolpho H.; Valdez, Fernanda P.; Eizirik, Eduardo; Utz, Laura R. P.; Groposo, Claudia; Miller, Dennis J.; Viana, Adriano R.; Ketzer, João M. M.; Giongo, Adriana

2018-02-01

Conspicuous physicochemical vertical stratification in the deep sea is one of the main forces driving microbial diversity in the oceans. Oxygen and sunlight availability are key factors promoting microbial diversity throughout the water column. Ocean currents also play a major role in the physicochemical stratification, carrying oxygen down to deeper zones as well as moving deeper water masses up towards shallower depths. Water samples within a 50-km radius in a pockmark location of the southwestern Atlantic Ocean were collected and the prokaryotic communities from different water depths - chlorophyll maximum, oxygen minimum and deep-sea bottom (down to 1355 m) - were described. At phylum level, Proteobacteria were the most frequent in all water depths, Cyanobacteria were statistically more frequent in chlorophyll maximum zone, while Thaumarchaeota were significantly more abundant in both oxygen minimum and bottom waters. The most frequent microorganism in the chlorophyll maximum and oxygen minimum zones was a Pelagibacteraceae operational taxonomic unit (OTU). At the bottom, the most abundant genus was the archaeon Nitrosopumilus. Beta diversity analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequencing data uncovered in this study shows high spatial heterogeneity among water zones communities. Our data brings important contribution for the characterisation of oceanic microbial diversity, as it consists of the first description of prokaryotic communities occurring in different oceanic water zones in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean.

Assessing prey fish populations in Lake Michigan: Comparison of simultaneous acoustic-midwater trawling with bottom trawling

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fabrizio, Mary C.; Adams, Jean V.; Curtis, Gary L.

1997-01-01

The Lake Michigan fish community has been monitored since the 1960s with bottom trawls, and since the late 1980s with acoustics and midwater trawls. These sampling tools are limited to different habitats: bottom trawls sample fish near bottom in areas with smooth substrates, and acoustic methods sample fish throughout the water column above all substrate types. We compared estimates of fish densities and species richness from daytime bottom trawling with those estimated from night-time acoustic and midwater trawling at a range of depths in northeastern Lake Michigan in summer 1995. We examined estimates of total fish density as well as densities of alewife Alosa pseudoharengus (Wilson), bloater Coregonus hoyi (Gill), and rainbow smelt Osmerus mordax (Mitchell) because these three species are the dominant forage of large piscivores in Lake Michigan. In shallow water (18 m), we detected more species but fewer fish (in fish/ha and kg/ha) with bottom trawls than with acoustic-midwater trawling. Large aggregations of rainbow smelt were detected by acoustic-midwater trawling at 18 m and contributed to the differences in total fish density estimates between gears at this depth. Numerical and biomass densitites of bloaters from all depths were significantly higher when based on bottom trawl samples than on acoustic-midwater trawling, and this probably contributed to the observed significant difference between methods for total fish densities (kg/ha) at 55 m. Significantly fewer alewives per ha were estimated from bottom trawling than from acoustics-midwater trawling at 55 m, and in deeper waters, no alewives were taken by bottom trawling. The differences detected between gears resulted from alewife, bloater, and rainbow smelt vertical distributions, which varied with lake depth and time of day. Because Lake Michigan fishes are both demersal and pelagic, a single sampling method cannot be used to completely describe characteristics of the fish community.

Advances in top-down and bottom-up surface nanofabrication: techniques, applications & future prospects.

PubMed

Biswas, Abhijit; Bayer, Ilker S; Biris, Alexandru S; Wang, Tao; Dervishi, Enkeleda; Faupel, Franz

2012-01-15

This review highlights the most significant advances of the nanofabrication techniques reported over the past decade with a particular focus on the approaches tailored towards the fabrication of functional nano-devices. The review is divided into two sections: top-down and bottom-up nanofabrication. Under the classification of top-down, special attention is given to technical reports that demonstrate multi-directional patterning capabilities less than or equal to 100 nm. These include recent advances in lithographic techniques, such as optical, electron beam, soft, nanoimprint, scanning probe, and block copolymer lithography. Bottom-up nanofabrication techniques--such as, atomic layer deposition, sol-gel nanofabrication, molecular self-assembly, vapor-phase deposition and DNA-scaffolding for nanoelectronics--are also discussed. Specifically, we describe advances in the fabrication of functional nanocomposites and graphene using chemical and physical vapor deposition. Our aim is to provide a comprehensive platform for prominent nanofabrication tools and techniques in order to facilitate the development of new or hybrid nanofabrication techniques leading to novel and efficient functional nanostructured devices. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A dataset from bottom trawl survey around Taiwan

PubMed Central

Shao, Kwang-Tsao; Lin, Jack; Wu, Chung-Han; Yeh, Hsin-Ming; Cheng, Tun-Yuan

2012-01-01

Abstract Bottom trawl fishery is one of the most important coastal fisheries in Taiwan both in production and economic values. However, its annual production started to decline due to overfishing since the 1980s. Its bycatch problem also damages the fishery resource seriously. Thus, the government banned the bottom fishery within 3 nautical miles along the shoreline in 1989. To evaluate the effectiveness of this policy, a four year survey was conducted from 2000–2003, in the waters around Taiwan and Penghu (Pescadore) Islands, one region each year respectively. All fish specimens collected from trawling were brought back to lab for identification, individual number count and body weight measurement. These raw data have been integrated and established in Taiwan Fish Database (http://fishdb.sinica.edu.tw). They have also been published through TaiBIF (http://taibif.tw), FishBase and GBIF (website see below). This dataset contains 631 fish species and 3,529 records, making it the most complete demersal fish fauna and their temporal and spatial distributional data on the soft marine habitat in Taiwan. PMID:22707908

A community-based prevention program in western Norway. Organisation and progression model.

PubMed

Skutle, Arvid; Iversen, Erik; Bergan, Tone

2002-01-01

This paper presents the organisation, progression, and main findings from a community-based substance use prevention project in five municipalities in western Norway. At the central level, this project was organised with a steering committee and a principal project leader, who is situated at the Department of Health and Social Welfare at the county level. Locally, the way of organizing differed, as one would expect from the community-based model. Top-down/bottom-up strategies can apply both in the way a community organises its efforts, as well as in the relationship between the central project organisation and the participating local communities. It is argued that it can be beneficial for the success of community action programs if one attains a "good mix" between top-down and bottom-up strategies. Factors of importance for such "mix" in the Hordaland project were that the municipalities applied for participation, the availability of economic funding, the venues for meetings between central and local project management, the position of local coordinators, the possibilities for coupling project work to otherwise existing community planning, and the extent of formal bureaucracy.

Mesoscopic modelling and simulation of soft matter.

PubMed

Schiller, Ulf D; Krüger, Timm; Henrich, Oliver

2017-12-20

The deformability of soft condensed matter often requires modelling of hydrodynamical aspects to gain quantitative understanding. This, however, requires specialised methods that can resolve the multiscale nature of soft matter systems. We review a number of the most popular simulation methods that have emerged, such as Langevin dynamics, dissipative particle dynamics, multi-particle collision dynamics, sometimes also referred to as stochastic rotation dynamics, and the lattice-Boltzmann method. We conclude this review with a short glance at current compute architectures for high-performance computing and community codes for soft matter simulation.

Microbial community structures and in situ sulfate-reducing and sulfur-oxidizing activities in biofilms developed on mortar specimens in a corroded sewer system.

PubMed

Satoh, Hisashi; Odagiri, Mitsunori; Ito, Tsukasa; Okabe, Satoshi

2009-10-01

Microbially induced concrete corrosion (MICC) caused by sulfuric acid attack in sewer systems has been a serious problem for a long time. A better understanding of microbial community structures of sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) and sulfur-oxidizing bacteria (SOB) and their in situ activities is essential for the efficient control of MICC. In this study, the microbial community structures and the in situ hydrogen sulfide production and consumption rates within biofilms and corroded materials developed on mortar specimens placed in a corroded manhole was investigated by culture-independent 16S rRNA gene-based molecular techniques and microsensors for hydrogen sulfide, oxygen, pH and the oxidation-reduction potential. The dark-gray gel-like biofilm was developed in the bottom (from the bottom to 4 cm) and the middle (4-20 cm from the bottom of the manhole) parts of the mortar specimens. White filamentous biofilms covered the gel-like biofilm in the middle part. The mortar specimens placed in the upper part (30 cm above the bottom of the manhole) were corroded. The 16S rRNA gene-cloning analysis revealed that one clone retrieved from the bottom biofilm sample was related to an SRB, 12 clones and 6 clones retrieved from the middle biofilm and the corroded material samples, respectively, were related to SOB. In situ hybridization results showed that the SRB were detected throughout the bottom biofilm and filamentous SOB cells were mainly detected in the upper oxic layer of the middle biofilm. Microsensor measurements demonstrated that hydrogen sulfide was produced in and diffused out of the bottom biofilms. In contrast, in the middle biofilm the hydrogen sulfide produced in the deeper parts of the biofilm was oxidized in the upper filamentous biofilm. pH was around 3 in the corroded materials developed in the upper part of the mortar specimens. Therefore, it can be concluded that hydrogen sulfide provided from the bottom biofilms and the sludge settling tank was emitted to the sewer atmosphere, then oxidized to corrosive compounds in the upper and middle parts of the manhole, and only the upper part of the mortar specimens were corroded, because in the middle part of the manhole the generated corrosive compounds (e.g., sulfuric acid) was reduced in the deeper parts of the biofilm.

Open and Distance Education Systems: Do They Enhance Graduates' Soft Skills? The Results from 2009 Universitas Terbuka Tracer Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ratnaningsih, Dewi Juliah

2013-01-01

The vision and mission of Universitas Terbuka (UT) is to become a highly qualified open and distance education institution and to provide higher education access to all communities. Graduates of UT are expected to acquire adequate knowledge, hard skills and soft skills. Soft skills play important roles in the world of work. The aim of this article…

Soft Robotics: from scientific challenges to technological applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laschi, C.

2016-05-01

Soft robotics is a recent and rapidly growing field of research, which aims at unveiling the principles for building robots that include soft materials and compliance in the interaction with the environment, so as to exploit so-called embodied intelligence and negotiate natural environment more effectively. Using soft materials for building robots poses new technological challenges: the technologies for actuating soft materials, for embedding sensors into soft robot parts, for controlling soft robots are among the main ones. This is stimulating research in many disciplines and many countries, such that a wide community is gathering around initiatives like the IEEE TAS TC on Soft Robotics and the RoboSoft CA - A Coordination Action for Soft Robotics, funded by the European Commission. Though still in its early stages of development, soft robotics is finding its way in a variety of applications, where safe contact is a main issue, in the biomedical field, as well as in exploration tasks and in the manufacturing industry. And though the development of the enabling technologies is still a priority, a fruitful loop is growing between basic research and application-oriented research in soft robotics.

7 CFR 6.41 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... bodies of the European Economic Community. (d) Investigating Authority means the Director, Dairy... milk cheeses and soft-ripened cow's milk cheeses); 117.81; 117.86; 117.88(except goat's milk cheeses and soft-ripened cow's milk cheeses); (f) Secretary means the Secretary of Agriculture. (g) Subsidy...

7 CFR 6.41 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... bodies of the European Economic Community. (d) Investigating Authority means the Director, Dairy... milk cheeses and soft-ripened cow's milk cheeses); 117.81; 117.86; 117.88(except goat's milk cheeses and soft-ripened cow's milk cheeses); (f) Secretary means the Secretary of Agriculture. (g) Subsidy...

7 CFR 6.41 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... bodies of the European Economic Community. (d) Investigating Authority means the Director, Dairy... milk cheeses and soft-ripened cow's milk cheeses); 117.81; 117.86; 117.88(except goat's milk cheeses and soft-ripened cow's milk cheeses); (f) Secretary means the Secretary of Agriculture. (g) Subsidy...

Man induced change in community control in the north-western Black Sea: The top-down bottom-up balance.

PubMed

Bănaru, Daniela; Harmelin-Vivien, Mireille; Boudouresque, Charles F

2010-05-01

The present study shows how marine commercial fish food webs dramatically changed in the north-western Black Sea on both pelagic and benthic environments. Fisheries landings, diversity and equitability strongly decreased between 1965-1970 and 2001-2005. Fishes adapted their feeding behaviour to the increasingly low species diversity of the Black Sea communities. Their food web became poor and simplified following the loss of many top predator species and their trophic links. Linkage density, connectivity and Lyapunov stability proxy strongly decreased. The north-western Black Sea system switched from a complex top-down and bottom-up functioning pattern to a dominantly bottom-up functioning pattern. This study contributes to a better understanding of these transformations within the Danube-Black Sea system in the last decades. An attempt is made to relate these changes with river inputs, fisheries and coastal pollution. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Net community production in the bottom of first-year sea ice over the Arctic spring bloom

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Campbell, K.; Mundy, C. J.; Gosselin, M.; Landy, J. C.; Delaforge, A.; Rysgaard, S.

2017-09-01

The balance of photosynthesis and respiration by organisms like algae and bacteria determines whether sea ice is net heterotrophic or autotrophic. In turn this clarifies the influence of microbes on atmosphere-ice-ocean gas fluxes and their contribution to the trophic system. In this study we define two phases of the spring bloom based on bottom ice net community production and algal growth. Phase I was characterized by limited algal accumulation and low productivity, which at times resulted in net heterotrophy. Greater productivity in Phase II drove rapid algal accumulation that consistently produced net autotrophic conditions. The different phases were associated with seasonal shifts in light availability and species dominance. Results from this study demonstrate the importance of community respiration on spring productivity, as respiration rates can maintain a heterotrophic state independent of algal growth. This challenges previous assumptions of a fully autotrophic sea ice community during the ice-covered spring.

On the Theory of Accumulation of Hydrocarbons in a Dome Used to Eliminate a Technogenic Spill at the Bottom of the Ocean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gimaltdinov, I. K.; Kil'dibaeva, S. R.

2018-01-01

Consideration is given to the operation of a dome separator installed at the bottom of the World Ocean and intended to eliminate the effects of technogenic spill of hydrocarbons. It is assumed that oil and gas (methane) escape from the damaged well on the ocean floor. Under the conditions of stable existence of a hydrate, a hydration sheath is formed on the surface of methane bubbles. To collect the entering hydrocarbons, a dome from a soft polyurethane shell is installed above the spill site, inside which the hydrocarbons are accumulated. In the regime of steady-state operation of the dome, provision is made for pumping out of hydrocarbons for transportation and further utilization. In the work, temperature fields of the hydrocarbon layers accumulated in the dome are investigated.

Age-related changes in dynamic compressive properties of trochanteric soft tissues over the hip.

PubMed

Choi, W J; Russell, C M; Tsai, C M; Arzanpour, S; Robinovitch, S N

2015-02-26

Hip fracture risk increases dramatically with age, and 90% of fractures are due to falls. During a fall on the hip, the soft tissues overlying the hip region (skin, fat, and muscle) act as shock absorbers to absorb energy and reduce the peak force applied to the underlying bone. We conducted dynamic indentation experiments with young women (aged 19-30; n=17) and older women (aged 65-81; n=17) to test the hypothesis that changes occur with age in the stiffness and damping properties of these tissues. Tissue stiffness and damping were derived from experiments where subjects lay sideways on a bed with the greater trochanter contacting a 3.8cm diameter indenter, which applied sinusoidal compression between 5 to 30Hz with a peak-to-peak amplitude of 1mm. Soft tissue thickness was measured using ultrasound. On average, stiffness was 2.9-fold smaller in older than young women (5.7 versus 16.8kN/m, p=0.0005) and damping was 3.5-fold smaller in older than young women (81 versus 282Ns/m, p=0.001). Neither parameter associated with soft tissue thickness. Our results indicate substantial age-related reductions in the stiffness and damping of soft tissues over the hip region, which likely reduce their capacity to absorb and dissipate energy (before "bottoming out") during a fall. Strategies such as wearable hip protectors or compliant flooringmay compensate for age-related reductions in the shock-absorbing properties of soft tissues and decrease the injury potential of falls. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Diets and niche overlap among nine co-occurring demersal fishes in the southern continental shelf of East/Japan Sea, Korea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Myun Park, Joo; Nam Kwak, Seok; Huh, Sung-Hoi; Han, In-Seong

2017-09-01

Dietary niches and food resource partitioning can support the coexistence of many fishes in benthic marine systems, which can lead to the greater abundances of those species that can potentially support their fisheries. Diets and niche overlap among nine demersal fish species were investigated in the southern continental shelf of East/Japan Sea, Korea. Specimens were collected monthly from January to November 2007 on soft bottoms between 40 and 100 m depth using a bottom trawl. A total of 20 prey taxa were found in 1904 stomachs of the nine species. Comparison of the stomach contents among the nine species showed that inter-specific dietary compositions differed significantly. Although all fish species consumed similar types of prey items, their contributions to the diet of different species varied. Among prey taxa, carid shrimps contributed greatly to the diets of Amblychaeturichthys hexanema, Amblychaeturichthys sciistius, Coelorinchus multispinulosus, Lepidotrigla guentheri, and Liparis tanakae, whereas polychaetes and teleosts contributed to the diets of Callionymus lunatus and Lophius litulon, respectively. On the other hand, carid shrimps and teleosts together contributed to the diets of Pseudorhombus pentophthalmus. Non-metric multivariate analysis of the mass contributions of dietary categories for food resources emphasized visually that the dietary compositions of the nine species differed. Although C. multispinulosus, L. guentheri, L. litulon, and L. tanakae showed similar dietary compositions between small and large size classes, ontogenetic diet changes of the remaining six species were evident. Feeding relationships among the nine demersal species were complicated, but inter- and intra-specific differences in dietary composition among the species reduced potential competition for food resources within the fish community in the southern continental shelf of East/Japan Sea, Korea.

Integrating soft sensor systems using conductive thread

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Teng, Lijun; Jeronimo, Karina; Wei, Tianqi; Nemitz, Markus P.; Lyu, Geng; Stokes, Adam A.

2018-05-01

We are part of a growing community of researchers who are developing a new class of soft machines. By using mechanically soft materials (MPa modulus) we can design systems which overcome the bulk-mechanical mismatches between soft biological systems and hard engineered components. To develop fully integrated soft machines—which include power, communications, and control sub-systems—the research community requires methods for interconnecting between soft and hard electronics. Sensors based upon eutectic gallium alloys in microfluidic channels can be used to measure normal and strain forces, but integrating these sensors into systems of heterogeneous Young’s modulus is difficult due the complexity of finding a material which is electrically conductive, mechanically flexible, and stable over prolonged periods of time. Many existing gallium-based liquid alloy sensors are not mechanically or electrically robust, and have poor stability over time. We present the design and fabrication of a high-resolution pressure-sensor soft system that can transduce normal force into a digital output. In this soft system, which is built on a monolithic silicone substrate, a galinstan-based microfluidic pressure sensor is integrated with a flexible printed circuit board. We used conductive thread as the interconnect and found that this method alleviates problems arising due to the mechanical mismatch between conventional metal wires and soft or liquid materials. Conductive thread is low-cost, it is readily wetted by the liquid metal, it produces little bending moment into the microfluidic channel, and it can be connected directly onto the copper bond-pads of the flexible printed circuit board. We built a bridge-system to provide stable readings from the galinstan pressure sensor. This system gives linear measurement results between 500-3500 Pa of applied pressure. We anticipate that integrated systems of this type will find utility in soft-robotic systems as used for wearable technologies like virtual reality, or in soft-medical devices such as exoskeletal rehabilitation robots.

Application of Habitat Equivalency Analysis to USACE Projects

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-04-01

reef, open - water bay bottoms, and water column habitats. Of the four case studies, Craney Island is the only one where the logic behind the choice of...Act (NEPA) of 1969, the Federal Water Pollution Act (Clean Water Act) of 1972, and the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 1986, as well as...mitigation. These habitats support a diverse assemblage of sponges, algae , and soft and hard corals, provide habitat for larval fish, and are considered

Integrated Microfluidic Variable Optical Attenuator

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-11-28

Quantum Electron. 5, pp. 1289–1297 (1999). 5. G. Z. Xiao, Z. Zhang, and C. P. Grover, “A variable optical attenuator based on a straight polymer –silica...1998). 18. Y. Huang, G.T. Paloczi, J. K. S. Poon, and A. Yariv, “Bottom-up soft-lithographic fabrication of three- dimensional multilayer polymer ...quality without damaging polymer materials under high temperatures, resulting in a core index of 1.561 and cladding index of 1.546. The refractive

Soft Plumbing: Direct-Writing and Controllable Perfusion of Tubular Soft Materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guenther, Axel; Omoruwa, Patricia; Chen, Haotian; McAllister, Arianna; Jeronimo, Mark; Malladi, Shashi; Hakimi, Navid; Cao, Li; Ramchandran, Arun

2016-11-01

Tubular and ductular structures are abundant in tissues in a wide variety of diameters, wall thicknesses, and compositions. In spite of their relevance to engineered tissues, organs-on-chips and soft robotics, the rapid and consistent preparation of tubular structures remains a challenge. Here, we use a microfabricated printhead to direct-write biopolymeric tubes with dimensional and compositional control. A biopolymer solution is introduced to the center layer of the printhead, and the confining fluids to the top and the bottom layers. The radially flowing biopolymer solution is sandwiched between confining solutions that initiate gelation, initially assuming the shape of a funnel until emerging through a cylindrical confinement as a continuous biopolymer tube. Tubular constructs of sodium alginate and collagen I were obtained with inner diameters (0.6-2.2mm) and wall thicknesses (0.1-0.4mm) in favorable agreement with predictions of analytical models. We obtained homogeneous tubes with smooth and buckled walls and heterotypic constructs that possessed compositions that vary along the tube circumference or radius. Ductular soft materials were reversibly hosted in 3D printed fluidic devices for the perfusion at well-defined transmural pressures to explore the rich variety of dynamical features associated with collapsible tubes that include buckling, complete collapse, and self-oscillation.

Top-down and bottom-up control on bacterial diversity in a western Norwegian deep-silled fjord.

PubMed

Storesund, Julia E; Erga, Svein Rune; Ray, Jessica L; Thingstad, T Frede; Sandaa, Ruth-Anne

2015-07-01

We investigated the relationship between viruses and co-occurring bacterial communities in the Sognefjord, a deep-silled fjord in Western Norway. A combination of flow cytometry and automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis (ARISA) was used to assess prokaryote and viral abundances, and bacterial diversity and community composition, respectively, in depth profiles and at two different sampling seasons (November and May). With one exception, bacterial diversity did not vary between samples regardless of depth or season. The virus and prokaryote abundances as well as bacterial community composition, however, varied significantly with season and depth, suggesting a link between the Sognefjord viral community and potential bacterial host community diversity. To our knowledge, these findings provide the first description of microbial communities in the unique Sognefjord ecosystem, and in addition are in agreement with the simple model version of the 'Killing the Winner' theory (KtW), which postulates that microbial community diversity is a feature that is essentially top-down controlled by viruses, while community composition is bottom-up controlled by competition for limiting growth substrates. © FEMS 2015. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Soft-sediment deformation structures interpreted as seismites in the uppermost Aptian to lowermost Albian transgressive deposits of the Chihuahua basin (Mexico)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Blanc, E.J.-P.; Blanc-Aletru, M. -C.; Mojon, P.-O.

1997-01-01

Several levels of soft-sediment deformation structures (s.-s.d.s.) cut by synsedimentary normal faults have been observed in the transition beds between the "Las Vigas" and "La Virgen" formations (Cretaceous) in the northeastern part of the Chihuahua basin in Mexico. These structures consisted of four kinds of motifs (floating breccias, flame-like structures, large pillow structures, and wavy structures). They are restricted to five "stratigraphic" levels (??1-??5) and surrounded by undeformed beds in fluvio-lacustrine and tidal deposits and can be traced over a distance of several hundred meters. This deformation is interpreted to have resulted from the combined effects of liquidization and shear stress in soft-sediments due to local earthquakes in the area which could have been generated during the rifting stage of the Chihuahua basin. New constraints placed on the age of the "Las Vigas" Formation (bracketed by Late Aptian charophytes at the bottom and colomiellids of late Aptian to earliest Albian age at the top) suggest that this synrift tectonism lasted at least until the end of the Aptian.

Bottom-up Fabrication of Graphene on Silicon/Silica Substrate via a Facile Soft-hard Template Approach

PubMed Central

Yang, Yuxing; Liu, Ruili; Wu, Jiayang; Jiang, Xinhong; Cao, Pan; Hu, Xiaofeng; Pan, Ting; Qiu, Ciyuan; Yang, Junyi; Song, Yinglin; Wu, Dongqing; Su, Yikai

2015-01-01

In this work, a novel soft-hard template method towards the direct fabrication of graphene films on silicon/silica substrate is developed via a tri-constituent self-assembly route. Using cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) as a soft template, silica (SiO2) from tetramethoxysilane as a hard template, and pyrene as a carbon source, the self-assembly process allows the formation of a sandwich-like SiO2/CTAB/pyrene composite, which can be further converted to high quantity graphene films with a thickness of ~1 nm and a size of over 5 μm by thermal treatment. The morphology and thickness of the graphene films can be effectively controlled through the adjustment of the ratio of pyrene to CTAB. Furthermore, a high nonlinear refractive index n2 of ~10−12 m2 W−1 is measured from graphene/silica hybrid film, which is six orders of magnitude larger than that of silicon and comparable to the graphene from chemical vapor deposition process. PMID:26311022

[Empowerment and health promotion programming].

PubMed

Laverack, G

2008-12-01

Health promotion often presents a tension between "bottom up" and "top down" programming. "Bottom-up" is associated with community empowerment and begins on issues of concern to particular groups or individuals and regards an increase in overall control as an important element of the health outcome. "Top-down" is associated with disease prevention efforts and begins by seeking to involve beneficiaries on issues defined by health agencies. It regards improvements in health behaviours or bio-medical indicators as the important outcome and community empowerment is viewed simply as a means to the end of health behaviour change. The tension between these two approaches is not unresolvable, and this article presents a framework, the "parallel-track", intended to assist health promotion practitioners to systematically accommodate community empowerment goals within "top-down" health programming.

Shape control VO2 nanorods prepared by soft chemistry and electrochemical method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simo, A.; Sibanyoni, J.; Fuku, X.; Numan, N.; Omorogbe, S.; Maaza, M.

2018-07-01

"Bottom up" approach is of primary interest for chemistry and materials science because the fundamental building blocks are atoms. Thus colloidal chemical synthetic methods can be utilized to prepare uniform nanocrystals with controlled particle size. In the following work of study, thermochromic VO2 nanostructures were prepared by hydrothermal technique soft chemistry. We concentrate on solution phase synthetic methods that enable a proper shape and size control of metal oxide nanocrystals. Their structural properties were studied by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Fourier Transform IR (FTIR) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). It is demonstrated that the surfactant assistance (NaOH) has great influence on the morphology-control of the material. Electrochemical properties of the nanospheres show good stability after 20 cycles and the surface diffusion coefficient was calculated to be 5 × 10-6 cm2 s-1.

Ningaloo Reef: Shallow Marine Habitats Mapped Using a Hyperspectral Sensor

PubMed Central

Kobryn, Halina T.; Wouters, Kristin; Beckley, Lynnath E.; Heege, Thomas

2013-01-01

Research, monitoring and management of large marine protected areas require detailed and up-to-date habitat maps. Ningaloo Marine Park (including the Muiron Islands) in north-western Australia (stretching across three degrees of latitude) was mapped to 20 m depth using HyMap airborne hyperspectral imagery (125 bands) at 3.5 m resolution across the 762 km2 of reef environment between the shoreline and reef slope. The imagery was corrected for atmospheric, air-water interface and water column influences to retrieve bottom reflectance and bathymetry using the physics-based Modular Inversion and Processing System. Using field-validated, image-derived spectra from a representative range of cover types, the classification combined a semi-automated, pixel-based approach with fuzzy logic and derivative techniques. Five thematic classification levels for benthic cover (with probability maps) were generated with varying degrees of detail, ranging from a basic one with three classes (biotic, abiotic and mixed) to the most detailed with 46 classes. The latter consisted of all abiotic and biotic seabed components and hard coral growth forms in dominant or mixed states. The overall accuracy of mapping for the most detailed maps was 70% for the highest classification level. Macro-algal communities formed most of the benthic cover, while hard and soft corals represented only about 7% of the mapped area (58.6 km2). Dense tabulate coral was the largest coral mosaic type (37% of all corals) and the rest of the corals were a mix of tabulate, digitate, massive and soft corals. Our results show that for this shallow, fringing reef environment situated in the arid tropics, hyperspectral remote sensing techniques can offer an efficient and cost-effective approach to mapping and monitoring reef habitats over large, remote and inaccessible areas. PMID:23922921

Retailer-Led Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Price Increase Reduces Purchases in a Hospital Convenience Store in Melbourne, Australia: A Mixed Methods Evaluation.

PubMed

Blake, Miranda R; Peeters, Anna; Lancsar, Emily; Boelsen-Robinson, Tara; Corben, Kirstan; Stevenson, Christopher E; Palermo, Claire; Backholer, Kathryn

2018-06-01

Limited evidence has been gathered on the real-world impact of sugar-sweetened beverage price changes on purchasing behavior over time or in community-retail settings. Our aim was to determine changes in beverage purchases, business outcomes, and customer and retailer satisfaction associated with a retailer-led sugar-sweetened beverage price increase in a convenience store. We hypothesized that purchases of less-healthy beverages would decrease compared to predicted sales. A convergent parallel mixed methods design complemented sales data (122 weeks pre-intervention, 17 weeks during intervention) with stakeholder interviews and customer surveys. Electronic beverage sales data were collected from a convenience store in Melbourne, Australia (August through November 2015). Convenience store staff completed semi-structured interviews (n=4) and adult customers exiting the store completed surveys (n=352). Beverages were classified using a state government framework. Prices of "red" beverages (eg, nondiet soft drinks, energy drinks) increased by 20%. Prices of "amber" (eg, diet soft drinks, small pure fruit juices) and "green" beverages (eg, water) were unchanged. Changes in beverage volume, item sales, and revenue during the intervention were compared with predicted sales. Sales data were analyzed using time series segmented regression while controlling for pre-intervention trends, autocorrelation in sales data, and seasonal fluctuations. Beverage volume sales of red (-27.6%; 95% CI -32.2 to -23.0) and amber (-26.7%; 95% CI -39.3 to -16.0) decreased, and volume of green beverages increased (+26.9%; 95% CI +14.1 to +39.7) in the 17th intervention week compared with predicted sales. Store manager and staff considered the intervention business-neutral, despite a small reduction in beverage revenue. Fifteen percent of customers noticed the price difference and 61% supported the intervention. A 20% sugar-sweetened beverage price increase was associated with a reduction in their purchases and an increase in purchases of healthier alternatives. Community retail settings present a bottom-up approach to improving consumer beverage choices. Copyright © 2018 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Wave-flume experiments of soft-rock cliff erosion under monochromatic waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Regard, Vincent; Astruc, Dominique; Caplain, Bastien

2017-04-01

We investigate how cliffs erode under wave attack. Rocky coast erosion works through cycles, each one corresponding to three successive phases: (i) notch creation at cliff toe by mechanical action of waves, (ii) cliff fracturation leading to collapse, and (iii) evacuation of scree aprons by waves and currents. We performed experiments in a 5m x 14cm x 25cm wave flume (15 cm water depth) to investigate how waves are eroding a rocky coast. The cliff is made of wet sand and models a relatively soft rock. We used 3 different grain size (D50 = 0.28-0.41-0.48 mm), changing the cliff rheology. Waves are monochromatic; their height and period differ for the various experiments. Actual wave parameters are estimated by capacitive probes located offshore. The experiments are monitored by two video cameras both on the side and above the flume. Pictures are taken at a rate of 1Hz during the first 4h and then the rate is decreased to 0.1Hz till the end of experiment (about 1 day). The monitoring ensure a confident characterization of experiments in terms of waves (surf similarity parameter ξ and the incident wave energy flux F) and in terms of sediment (Dean number Ω and Shields number θb at breakers). Experiments begin by an initial phase of quick cliff retreat. Then the system evolves with slower cliff retreat. We focus on bottom morphology which we characterize in function of wave forcing (ξ, F). We show that the bottom morphology mainly depends on ξ. For our reference sediment (Dm = 0.41 mm), we observed: (i) surging breakers on a steep terrace (type T1) for ξ > 0.65; (ii)collapsing breakers on a bared profile attached to the inner platform (type T2) for 0.55< ξ <0.6; (iii) spilling breakers on gentle terrace (type T3) for F < 1.3 W/m and 0.55< ξ <0.6. Another bottom morphology, type T4, displays two sub-systems, an outer system with a double-bar profile where breaking waves are plunging, and an inner system with a T1, T2 or T3 profile. Some of these bottom morphologies are unsteady with sandbar oscillation. When changing sediment grain size, we observed that the bottom typology is similar but evolves in function of the Ω value. Finally, we observed that the cliff recession is proportional to F, is not monotonic with ξ and decreases with the sediment grain diameter.

DISCOVERY OF RAPIDLY MOVING PARTIAL X-RAY ABSORBERS WITHIN GAMMA CASSIOPEIAE

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hamaguchi, K.; Oskinova, L.; Russell, C. M. P.

2016-12-01

Gamma Cassiopeiae is an enigmatic Be star with unusually strong hard X-ray emission. The Suzaku observatory detected six rapid X-ray spectral hardening events called “softness dips” in a ∼100 ks observation in 2011. All the softness dip events show symmetric softness-ratio variations, and some of them have flat bottoms apparently due to saturation. The softness dip spectra are best described by either ∼40% or ∼70% partial covering absorption to kT  ∼ 12 keV plasma emission by matter with a neutral hydrogen column density of ∼(2−8) × 10{sup 21} cm{sup −2}, while the spectrum outside these dips is almost free of absorption. This resultmore » suggests the presence of two distinct X-ray-emitting spots in the γ  Cas system, perhaps on a white dwarf (WD) companion with dipole mass accretion. The partial covering absorbers may be blobs in the Be stellar wind, the Be disk, or rotating around the WD companion. Weak correlations of the softness ratios to the hard X-ray flux suggest the presence of stable plasmas at kT  ∼ 0.9 and 5 keV, which may originate from the Be or WD winds. The formation of a Be star and WD binary system requires mass transfer between two stars; γ  Cas may have experienced such activity in the past.« less

Students' Perceptions about Online Teaching Effectiveness: A Bottom-Up Approach for Identifying Online Instructors' Roles

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gómez-Rey, Pilar; Barbera, Elena; Fernández-Navarro, Francisco

2018-01-01

The topic of online instructors' roles has been of interest to the educational community since the late twentieth century. In previous studies, the identification of online instructors' roles was done using a top-down (deductive) approach. This study applied a bottom-up (inductive) procedure to examine not only the roles of online instructors from…

Bottom-up processes influence the demography and life-cycle phenology of Hawaiian bird communities

Treesearch

Jared D. Wolfe; C. John Ralph; Andrew Wiegardt

2017-01-01

Changes in climate can indirectly regulate populations at higher trophic levels by influencing the availability of food resources in the lower reaches of the food web. As such, species that rely on fruit and nectar food resources may be particularly sensitive to these bottom-up perturbations due to the strength of their trophic linkages with climatically-...

Functional Gene Diversity and Metabolic Potential of the Microbial Community in an Estuary-Shelf Environment

PubMed Central

Wang, Yu; Zhang, Rui; He, Zhili; Van Nostrand, Joy D.; Zheng, Qiang; Zhou, Jizhong; Jiao, Nianzhi

2017-01-01

Microbes play crucial roles in various biogeochemical processes in the ocean, including carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) cycling. Functional gene diversity and the structure of the microbial community determines its metabolic potential and therefore its ecological function in the marine ecosystem. However, little is known about the functional gene composition and metabolic potential of bacterioplankton in estuary areas. The East China Sea (ECS) is a dynamic marginal ecosystem in the western Pacific Ocean that is mainly affected by input from the Changjiang River and the Kuroshio Current. Here, using a high-throughput functional gene microarray (GeoChip), we analyzed the functional gene diversity, composition, structure, and metabolic potential of microbial assemblages in different ECS water masses. Four water masses determined by temperature and salinity relationship showed different patterns of functional gene diversity and composition. Generally, functional gene diversity [Shannon–Weaner’s H and reciprocal of Simpson’s 1/(1-D)] in the surface water masses was higher than that in the bottom water masses. The different presence and proportion of functional genes involved in C, N, and P cycling among the bacteria of the different water masses showed different metabolic preferences of the microbial populations in the ECS. Genes involved in starch metabolism (amyA and nplT) showed higher proportion in microbial communities of the surface water masses than of the bottom water masses. In contrast, a higher proportion of genes involved in chitin degradation was observed in microorganisms of the bottom water masses. Moreover, we found a higher proportion of nitrogen fixation (nifH), transformation of hydroxylamine to nitrite (hao) and ammonification (gdh) genes in the microbial communities of the bottom water masses compared with those of the surface water masses. The spatial variation of microbial functional genes was significantly correlated with salinity, temperature, and chlorophyll based on canonical correspondence analysis, suggesting a significant influence of hydrologic conditions on water microbial communities. Our data provide new insights into better understanding of the functional potential of microbial communities in the complex estuarine-coastal environmental gradient of the ECS. PMID:28680420

Influence of an oyster reef on development of the microbial heterotrophic community of an estuarine biofilm.

PubMed

Nocker, Andreas; Lepo, Joe E; Snyder, Richard A

2004-11-01

We characterized microbial biofilm communities developed over two very closely located but distinct benthic habitats in the Pensacola Bay estuary using two complementary cultivation-independent molecular techniques. Biofilms were grown for 7 days on glass slides held in racks 10 to 15 cm over an oyster reef and an adjacent muddy sand bottom. Total biomass and optical densities of dried biofilms showed dramatic differences for oyster reef versus non-oyster reef biofilms. This study assessed whether the observed spatial variation was reflected in the heterotrophic prokaryotic species composition. Genomic biofilm DNA from both locations was isolated and served as a template to amplify 16S rRNA genes with universal eubacterial primers. Fluorescently labeled PCR products were analyzed by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism, creating a genetic fingerprint of the composition of the microbial communities. Unlabeled PCR products were cloned in order to construct a clone library of 16S rRNA genes. Amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis was used to screen and define ribotypes. Partial sequences from unique ribotypes were compared with existing database entries to identify species and to construct phylogenetic trees representative of community structures. A pronounced difference in species richness and evenness was observed at the two sites. The biofilm community structure from the oyster reef setting had greater evenness and species richness than the one from the muddy sand bottom. The vast majority of the bacteria in the oyster reef biofilm were related to members of the gamma- and delta-subdivisions of Proteobacteria, the Cytophaga-Flavobacterium -Bacteroides cluster, and the phyla Planctomyces and Holophaga-Acidobacterium. The same groups were also present in the biofilm harvested at the muddy sand bottom, with the difference that nearly half of the community consisted of representatives of the Planctomyces phylum. Total species richness was estimated to be 417 for the oyster reef and 60 for the muddy sand bottom, with 10.5% of the total unique species identified being shared between habitats. The results suggest dramatic differences in habitat-specific microbial diversity that have implications for overall microbial diversity within estuaries.

Centring and Marginalizing: The "Soft Middle" and Japanese Minority Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bondy, Christopher

2014-01-01

Examining the gap between national level minority education policies and local implementation in Japan, this paper considers this gap as a "soft middle" whereby local communities and schools have considerable leeway in how they implement policies. In particular, this paper focuses on Japan's largest minority group, the…

A spatial framework for representing nearshore ecosystems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gregr, Edward J.; Lessard, Joanne; Harper, John

2013-08-01

The shallow, coastal regions of the world's oceans are highly productive ecosystems providing important habitat for commercial, forage, endangered, and iconic species. Given the diversity of ecosystem services produced or supported by this ecosystem, a better understanding of its structure and function is central to developing an ecosystem-based approach to management. However this region - termed the ‘white strip' by marine geologists because of the general lack of high-resolution bathymetric data - is dynamic, highly variable, and difficult to access making data collection challenging and expensive. Since substrate is a key indicator of habitat in this important ecosystem, our objective was to create a continuous substrate map from the best available bottom type data. Such data are critical to assessments of species distributions and anthropogenic risk. Using the Strait of Georgia in coastal British Columbia, Canada, as a case study, we demonstrate how such a map can be created from a diversity of sources. Our approach is simple, quantitative, and transparent making it amenable to iterative improvement as data quality and availability improve. We evaluated the ecological performance of our bottom patches using observed shellfish distributions. We found that observations of geoduck clam, an infaunal species, and red urchins, a species preferentially associated with hard bottom, were strongly and significantly associated with our soft and hard patches respectively. Our description of bottom patches also corresponded well with a more traditional, morphological classification of a portion of the study area. To provide subsequent analyses (such as habitat models) with some confidence in the defined bottom type values, we developed a corresponding confidence surface based on the agreement of, and distance between observations. Our continuous map of nearshore bottom patches thus provides a spatial framework to which other types of data, both abiotic (e.g., energy) and biotic, can be attached. As more data are associated with the bottom patches, we anticipate they will become increasingly useful for representing and developing species-habitat relationships, ultimately leading to a comprehensive representation of the nearshore ecosystem.

Breach History and Susceptibility Study, South Jetty and Navigation Project, Grays Harbor, Washington

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-09-01

second phase of the project was modified to incorporate a soft solution design. The plan consisted of construction of a wave diffraction mound to reduce...and local public property (that is considered as private) in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. An RSM approach was followed in this study...representation of hard bottom (non-erodible areas), and hot-start option. M2D has been designed as a local- scale model that can be easily and quickly

Enhanced Healing of Segmental Bone Defects by Modulation of the Mechanical Environment

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-10-01

5.5 µg BMP-2, it was largely disorganized, woven bone with non-osseous soft tissue interspersed. The highest 4 dose (11 µg) of BMP-2, in contrast...various doses of BMP-2. Top row: 16x magnification Bottom row: 100x magnification N= new cortex M= marrow T=trabecular bone F= fibrous tissue ...areas of cartilagenous tissue (figure 5) it was clear that substantial areas of cartilage remained in the defects treated with 5.5 µg BMP-2. These may

Grandidierella bonnieroides Stephensen, 1948 (Amphipoda, Aoridae)-first record of an established population in the Mediterranean Sea.

PubMed

Brutto, Sabrina Lo; Iaciofano, Davide; Lubinevsky, Hadas; Galil, Bella S

2016-03-17

The first record in the Mediterranean Sea of the invasive aorid amphipod crustacean Grandidierella bonnieroides is presented. A widespread circumtropical species, recorded off the Saudi coast of the Arabian Gulf, the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, it may have been introduced into the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal. This tube-builder species of soft bottoms recently established a population in the polluted Haifa Bay, Israel. Further, this is the first Mediterranean record of the genus.

Method to implement the CCD timing generator based on FPGA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Binhua; Song, Qian; He, Chun; Jin, Jianhui; He, Lin

2010-07-01

With the advance of the PFPA technology, the design methodology of digital systems is changing. In recent years we develop a method to implement the CCD timing generator based on FPGA and VHDL. This paper presents the principles and implementation skills of the method. Taking a developed camera as an example, we introduce the structure, input and output clocks/signals of a timing generator implemented in the camera. The generator is composed of a top module and a bottom module. The bottom one is made up of 4 sub-modules which correspond to 4 different operation modes. The modules are implemented by 5 VHDL programs. Frame charts of the architecture of these programs are shown in the paper. We also describe implementation steps of the timing generator in Quartus II, and the interconnections between the generator and a Nios soft core processor which is the controller of this generator. Some test results are presented in the end.

Habitat choice by juvenile cod ( Gadus morhua L.) on sandy soft bottoms with different vegetation types

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Borg, Å.; Pihl, L.; Wennhage, H.

1997-08-01

Habitat choice by juvenile cod ( Gadus morhua L.) on sandy bottoms with different vegetation types was studied in laboratory. The experiment was conducted day and night in flow-through tanks on two different size-classes of cod (7-13 and 17-28 cm TL). Four habitats, typical of shallow soft bottoms on the Swedish west coast: Fucus vesiculosus, Zostera marina, Cladophora sp. and bare sand, were set up pair-wise in six combinations. The main difference between habitats in this study was vegetation structure, since all parameters except vegetation type was considered equal for both sides of the experimental tanks and natural prey was eliminated. The results showed a difference in habitat utilization by juvenile cod between day (light) and night (dark). During day time the fishes showed a significant preference for vegetation, while nocturnally no significant choice of habitat was made. Both size-classes preferred Fucus, considered the most complex habitat in this study, when this was available. The smaller size-class seemed to be able to utilize the other vegetation types as well, always preferring vegetation over sand. Larger juvenile cod, on the other hand, appeared to be restricted to Fucus. This difference in habitat choice by the two size-classes might be due to a greater dependence on shelter from predation by the smaller juveniles, causing them to associate more strongly with vegetation. The larger juveniles avoided Cladophora, since they might have difficulties in entering the compact structure of this filamentous algae. Availability of vegetation at day time, as a predation refuge, as well as of open sandy areas for feeding during night, thus seems to be important for juvenile cod. It is concluded that eutrophication-induced changes in habitat structure, such as increased dominance by filamentous algae, could alter the availability of predation refuges and foraging habitats for juvenile cod.

A population-based study on the association between the intake of soft drinks and periodontal disease in Taiwanese adults aged 35-44 years (KCIS no. 33).

PubMed

Fann, Jean Ching-Yuan; Lai, Hongmin; Chiu, Sherry Yueh-Hsia; Yen, Amy Ming-Fang; Chen, Sam Li-Sheng; Chen, Hsiu-Hsi

2016-06-01

To elucidate the association between the intake of soft drinks and periodontal disease (PD) among Taiwanese middle-aged adults. The cross-sectional design was employed to assess a dose-response relationship between the intake of soft drinks and PD after controlling for relevant confounding factors, with adjusted odds ratios obtained from a multivariate logistic regression model. Keelung Community-based Integrated Screening (KCIS) programme, Keelung, Taiwan. Participants (n 10 213) aged 35-44 years who had undergone oral checks for PD between 2005 and 2009. A dose-response relationship between the intake of soft drinks and elevated risk for PD defined by community periodontal index ≥3 (the current status of PD) was noted (P=0·02 by trend test). Compared with infrequent intake of soft drinks (≤2 times/week), the adjusted OR increased from 1·05 (95 % CI 0·92, 1·20) for the frequency of 3-4 times/week to 1·17 (95 % CI 1·03, 1·34) for the frequency of ≥5 times/week. A similar trend (P<0·01) was also observed for PD defined by loss of attachment ≥1 (representing the long-term cumulative gum damage due to PD). A dose-response relationship between the intake frequency of soft drinks and PD was observed in Taiwanese middle-aged adults. Such evidence could be used in health promotion to support reductions in soft drink intake.

A Tutorial Guide about How to Manage a Client-Financed Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clark, Gary L.; King, Michael E.; Jurn, Iksu

2012-01-01

Today's marketing instructors are faced with the challenge of improving their students' soft skills to prepare them for today's business environment. Numerous authors have noted that client-based/-sponsored projects help students improve the soft skills they need to succeed in the business community. This article provides detailed guidelines on…

Eutrophication and Hypoxia Degrade Ecosystem Functions and Services of Narragansett Bay Benthic Communities

EPA Science Inventory

Excessive input of nitrogen to estuaries and coastal waters leads to eutrophication; the resulting organic matter over-enrichment of the sediments and seasonal hypoxia of the bottom water have well-known deleterious effects on benthic community biodiversity, abundance, and biomas...

Community Learning Centers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jennings, Wayne

2005-01-01

The Community Learning Centers plan provides a systemically changed model for the 21st century. This top-to-bottom transformation of current education addresses all aspects of schools with a detailed framework to guide serious educational reformers. This fresh approach to principles of learning, curriculum, staffing, facilities, student as…

Eutrophication and Hypoxia Diminish Ecosystem Functions of Benthic Communities in a New England Estuary

EPA Science Inventory

Excessive input of nitrogen to estuaries and coastal waters leads to eutrophication; the resulting organic matter over-enrichment of sediments and seasonal hypoxia of bottom water have significant deleterious effects on benthic community biodiversity, abundance, and biomass. Our ...

Demographic variation in community-based MRSA skin and soft tissue infection in Auckland, New Zealand.

PubMed

Ritchie, Stephen R; Fraser, John D; Libby, Eric; Morris, Arthur J; Rainey, Paul B; Thomas, Mark G

2011-04-15

To estimate the burden of skin and soft tissue infection caused by Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), and to determine the effects of ethnicity and age on the rate of skin and soft tissue due to MRSA in the Auckland community. We reviewed the culture and susceptibility results of all wound swabs processed by Auckland's only community microbiology laboratory in 2007. Demographic data for a random sample of 1000 people who had a wound swab collected and for all people from whom a methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) strain was isolated were obtained and compared to demographic data for the total population of Auckland. S. aureus was isolated from 23853/47047 (51%) wound swab cultures performed in 2007; the estimated annual incidence of S. aureus isolation from a wound swab was 1847/100,000 people; and the estimated annual incidence of MRSA isolation from a wound swab was 145/100,000 people. Maori and Pacific people had higher rates of non-multiresistant MRSA infection compared with New Zealand European and Asian people; elderly New Zealand European people had much higher rates of multiresistant MRSA infections compared with people from other ethnic groups. S. aureus is a very common cause of disease in the community and the incidence of infection with MRSA subtypes varies with ethnicity.

Covalent-supramolecular hybrid polymers as muscle-inspired anisotropic actuators.

PubMed

Chin, Stacey M; Synatschke, Christopher V; Liu, Shuangping; Nap, Rikkert J; Sather, Nicholas A; Wang, Qifeng; Álvarez, Zaida; Edelbrock, Alexandra N; Fyrner, Timmy; Palmer, Liam C; Szleifer, Igal; Olvera de la Cruz, Monica; Stupp, Samuel I

2018-06-19

Skeletal muscle provides inspiration on how to achieve reversible, macroscopic, anisotropic motion in soft materials. Here we report on the bottom-up design of macroscopic tubes that exhibit anisotropic actuation driven by a thermal stimulus. The tube is built from a hydrogel in which extremely long supramolecular nanofibers are aligned using weak shear forces, followed by radial growth of thermoresponsive polymers from their surfaces. The hierarchically ordered tube exhibits reversible anisotropic actuation with changes in temperature, with much greater contraction perpendicular to the direction of nanofiber alignment. We identify two critical factors for the anisotropic actuation, macroscopic alignment of the supramolecular scaffold and its covalent bonding to polymer chains. Using finite element analysis and molecular calculations, we conclude polymer chain confinement and mechanical reinforcement by rigid supramolecular nanofibers are responsible for the anisotropic actuation. The work reported suggests strategies to create soft active matter with molecularly encoded capacity to perform complex tasks.

Open-access microfluidic patch-clamp array with raised lateral cell trapping sites.

PubMed

Lau, Adrian Y; Hung, Paul J; Wu, Angela R; Lee, Luke P

2006-12-01

A novel open-access microfluidic patch-clamp array chip with lateral cell trapping sites raised above the bottom plane of the chip was developed by combining both a microscale soft-lithography and a macroscale polymer fabrication method. This paper demonstrates the capability of using such an open-access fluidic system for patch-clamp measurements. The surface of the open-access patch-clamp sites prepared by the macroscale hole patterning method of soft-state elastic polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is examined; the seal resistances are characterized and correlated with the aperture dimensions. Whole cell patch-clamp measurements are carried out with CHO cells expressing Kv2.1 ion channels. Kv2.1 ion channel blocker (TEA) dosage response is characterized and the binding activity is examined. The results demonstrate that the system is capable of performing whole cell measurements and drug profiling in a more efficient manner than the traditional patch-clamp set-up.

SO(10) Yukawa unification: SUSY on the edge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raby, Stuart

2016-06-01

In this talk we discuss SO(10) Yukawa unification and its ramifications for phenomenology. The initial constraints come from fitting the top, bottom and tau masses, requiring large tan β ~ 50 and particular values for soft SUSY breaking parameters. We perform a global χ2 analysis, fitting the recently observed `Higgs' with mass of order 125 GeV in addition to fermion masses and mixing angles and several flavor violating observables. We discuss two distinct GUT scale boundary conditions for soft SUSY breaking masses. In both cases we have a universal cubic scalar parameter, A0, non-universal Higgs masses and universal squark and slepton masses, m16. In the first case we consider universal gaugino masses, while in the latter case we have non-universal gaugino masses. We discuss the spectrum of SUSY particle masses, consequences for the LHC and the issue of fine-tuning.

A Student and Teacher Watershed and Wetland Education Program: Extension to Promote Community Social-Ecological Resilience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Myers, Monique R.

2012-01-01

A middle school student and teacher watershed education project supports a large wetland restoration effort. It provides community-based, science education for urban, low-income, multicultural 6th-9th grade students and their teachers. This is a bottom-up approach to extending information to the local community about the restoration. The project…

Science to support adaptive habitat management: Overton Bottoms North Unit, Big Muddy National Fish and Wildlife Refuge, Missouri [Volumes 1-6

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jacobson, Robert B.

2006-01-01

Extensive efforts are underway along the Lower Missouri River to rehabilitate ecosystem functions in the channel and flood plain. Considerable uncertainty inevitably accompanies ecosystem restoration efforts, indicating the benefits of an adaptive management approach in which management actions are treated as experiments, and results provide information to feed back into the management process. The Overton Bottoms North Unit of the Big Muddy National Fish and Wildlife Refuge is a part of the Missouri River Fish and Wildlife Habitat Mitigation Project. The dominant management action at the Overton Bottoms North Unit has been excavation of a side-channel chute to increase hydrologic connectivity and to enhance shallow, slow current-velocity habitat. The side-channel chute also promises to increase hydrologic gradients, and may serve to alter patterns of wetland inundation and vegetation community growth in undesired ways. The U.S. Geological Survey's Central Region Integrated Studies Program (CRISP) undertook interdisciplinary research at the Overton Bottoms North Unit in 2003 to address key areas of scientific uncertainty that were highly relevant to ongoing adaptive management of the site, and to the design of similar rehabilitation projects on the Lower Missouri River. This volume presents chapters documenting the surficial geologic, topographic, surface-water, and ground-water framework of the Overton Bottoms North Unit. Retrospective analysis of vegetation community trends over the last 10 years is used to evaluate vegetation responses to reconnection of the Overton Bottoms North Unit to the river channel. Quasi-experimental analysis of cottonwood growth rate variation along hydrologic gradients is used to evaluate sensitivity of terrestrial vegetation to development of aquatic habitats. The integrated, landscape-specific understanding derived from these studies illustrates the value of scientific information in design and management of rehabilitation projects.

Evaluating wave-current interaction in an urban estuary and flooding implications for coastal communities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cifuentes-Lorenzen, A.; O'Donnell, J.; Howard-Strobel, M. M.; Fake, T.; McCardell, G.

2016-12-01

Accurate hydrodynamic-wave coupled coastal circulation models aid the prediction of storm impacts, particularly in areas where data is absent, and can inform mitigation options. They are essential everywhere to account for the effects of climate change. Here, the Finite Volume Community Ocean Model (FVCOM) was used to estimate the residual circulation inside a small urban estuary, Long Island Sound, during three severe weather events of different magnitude (i.e. 1/5, 1/25 and 1/50 year events). The effect of including wave coupling using a log-layer bottom boundary and the bottom wave-current coupling, following the approach of Madsen (1994) on the simulated residual circulation was assessed. Significant differences in the solutions were constrained to the near surface (s>-0.3) region. No significant difference in the depth-averaged residual circulation was detected. When the Madsen (1994) bottom boundary layer model for wave-current interaction was employed, differences in residual circulation resulted. The bottom wave-current interaction also plays an important role in the wave dynamics. Significant wave heights along the northern Connecticut shoreline were enhanced by up to 15% when the bottom wave-current interaction was included in the simulations. The wave-induced bottom drag enhancement has a substantial effect on tides in the Sound, possibly because it is nearly resonant at semidiurnal frequencies. This wave-current interaction current leads to severe tidal dampening ( 40% amplitude reduction) at the Western end of the estuary in the modeled sea surface displacement. The potential magnitude of these effects means that wave current interaction should be included and carefully evaluated in models of estuaries that are useful.

Spatiotemporal patterns of the macrofaunal community structure in the East China Sea, off the coast of Zhejiang, China, and the impact of the Kuroshio Branch Current.

PubMed

Xu, Yong; Yu, Fei; Li, Xinzheng; Ma, Lin; Dong, Dong; Kou, Qi; Sui, Jixing; Gan, Zhibin; Gong, Lin; Yang, Mei; Wang, Yueyun; Sun, Yue; Wang, Jinbao; Wang, Hongfa

2018-01-01

The Kuroshio Current intrudes in the bottom layer of the East China Sea continental shelf from the northeast of Taiwan via two bottom branches named the Nearshore Kuroshio Branch Current (NKBC, along the 60 m isobath) and the Offshore Kuroshio Branch Current (OKBC, along the 100 m isobath). However, knowledge on the macrofaunal responses to these bottom branches is limited. This study examined the variations in the benthic macrofaunal community in a section of the East China Sea under the influence of the NKBC. Seven sites corresponding to three regions (the west, middle and east region) were sampled using an Agassiz trawl net at a monthly rate from February to November 2015 (except in August). A total of 270 macrofaunal species were collected in this study. Cluster analysis and nMDS ordination revealed three communities: the inshore, Kuroshio and offshore communities, roughly corresponding to the west, middle and east of NKBC route. Significant differences in the species composition (one-way PERMANOVA) and diversity indices (one-way ANOVA) among the regions and communities were observed, while no statistically significant difference among the months was detected. The indicator species also varied among the communities, with Sternaspis scutata and Odontamblyopus rubicundus dominating the inshore community, Camatopsis rubida, Schizaster lacunosus and Craspidaster hesperus dominating the Kuroshio community, and Portunus argentatus, Champsodon snyderi and Coelorinchus multispinulosus dominating the offshore community. Some rare species (e.g., Neobythites sivicola) may indicate the passage of the NKBC better than the indicator species. A redundancy analysis was used to describe the relationship between the macrofaunal species and environmental variables in this study. Water depth and turbidity played important roles in the distribution of the macrofauna. S. scutata and O. rubicundus were associated with high turbidity and shallow depth, while Plesionika izumiae and P. argentatus were associated with low turbidity and deep depth. This study outlines the impact of the NKBC on the distribution patterns of the macrofaunal community of the East China Sea. More studies are needed to understand the detailed interactions between macrofauna and the NKBC in the future.

Resources alter the structure and increase stochasticity in bromeliad microfauna communities.

PubMed

Petermann, Jana S; Kratina, Pavel; Marino, Nicholas A C; MacDonald, A Andrew M; Srivastava, Diane S

2015-01-01

Although stochastic and deterministic processes have been found to jointly shape structure of natural communities, the relative importance of both forces may vary across different environmental conditions and across levels of biological organization. We tested the effects of abiotic environmental conditions, altered trophic interactions and dispersal limitation on the structure of aquatic microfauna communities in Costa Rican tank bromeliads. Our approach combined natural gradients in environmental conditions with experimental manipulations of bottom-up interactions (resources), top-down interactions (predators) and dispersal at two spatial scales in the field. We found that resource addition strongly increased the abundance and reduced the richness of microfauna communities. Community composition shifted in a predictable way towards assemblages dominated by flagellates and ciliates but with lower abundance and richness of algae and amoebae. While all functional groups responded strongly and predictably to resource addition, similarity among communities at the species level decreased, suggesting a role of stochasticity in species-level assembly processes. Dispersal limitation did not affect the communities. Since our design excluded potential priority effects we can attribute the differences in community similarity to increased demographic stochasticity of resource-enriched communities related to erratic changes in population sizes of some species. In contrast to resources, predators and environmental conditions had negligible effects on community structure. Our results demonstrate that bromeliad microfauna communities are strongly controlled by bottom-up forces. They further suggest that the relative importance of stochasticity may change with productivity and with the organizational level at which communities are examined.

Resources Alter the Structure and Increase Stochasticity in Bromeliad Microfauna Communities

PubMed Central

Petermann, Jana S.; Kratina, Pavel; Marino, Nicholas A. C.; MacDonald, A. Andrew M.; Srivastava, Diane S.

2015-01-01

Although stochastic and deterministic processes have been found to jointly shape structure of natural communities, the relative importance of both forces may vary across different environmental conditions and across levels of biological organization. We tested the effects of abiotic environmental conditions, altered trophic interactions and dispersal limitation on the structure of aquatic microfauna communities in Costa Rican tank bromeliads. Our approach combined natural gradients in environmental conditions with experimental manipulations of bottom-up interactions (resources), top-down interactions (predators) and dispersal at two spatial scales in the field. We found that resource addition strongly increased the abundance and reduced the richness of microfauna communities. Community composition shifted in a predictable way towards assemblages dominated by flagellates and ciliates but with lower abundance and richness of algae and amoebae. While all functional groups responded strongly and predictably to resource addition, similarity among communities at the species level decreased, suggesting a role of stochasticity in species-level assembly processes. Dispersal limitation did not affect the communities. Since our design excluded potential priority effects we can attribute the differences in community similarity to increased demographic stochasticity of resource-enriched communities related to erratic changes in population sizes of some species. In contrast to resources, predators and environmental conditions had negligible effects on community structure. Our results demonstrate that bromeliad microfauna communities are strongly controlled by bottom-up forces. They further suggest that the relative importance of stochasticity may change with productivity and with the organizational level at which communities are examined. PMID:25775464

Differential recolonization of Atlantic intertidal habitats after disturbance reveals potential bottom-up community regulation.

PubMed

Petzold, Willy; Scrosati, Ricardo A

2014-01-01

In the spring of 2014, abundant sea ice that drifted out of the Gulf of St. Lawrence caused extensive disturbance in rocky intertidal habitats on the northern Atlantic coast of mainland Nova Scotia, Canada. To monitor recovery of intertidal communities, we surveyed two wave-exposed locations in the early summer of 2014. Barnacle recruitment and the abundance of predatory dogwhelks were low at one location (Tor Bay Provincial Park) but more than 20 times higher at the other location (Whitehead). Satellite data indicated that the abundance of coastal phytoplankton (the main food source for barnacle larvae) was consistently higher at Whitehead just before the barnacle recruitment season, when barnacle larvae were in the water column. These observations suggest bottom-up forcing of intertidal communities. The underlying mechanisms and their intensity along the NW Atlantic coast could be investigated through studies done at local and regional scales.

Distribution of benthic macrofaunal communities in the western Baltic Sea with regard to near-bottom environmental parameters. 1. Causal analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gogina, Mayya; Glockzin, Michael; Zettler, Michael L.

2010-01-01

In this study we relate patterns in the spatial distribution of macrofaunal communities to patterns in near-bottom environmental parameters, analysing the data observed in a limited area in the western Baltic Sea. The data used represents 208 stations, sampled during the years 2000 to 2007 simultaneously for benthic macrofauna, associated sediment and near-bottom environmental characteristics, in a depth range from 7.5 to 30 m. Only one degree of longitude wide, the study area is geographically bounded by the eastern part of the Mecklenburg Bight and the southwestern Darss Sill Area. Spatial distribution of benthic macrofauna is related to near-bottom environmental patterns by means of various statistical methods (e.g. rank correlation, hierarchical clustering, nMDS, BIO-ENV, CCA). Thus, key environmental descriptors were disclosed. Within the area of investigation, these were: water depth, regarded as a proxy for other environmental factors, and total organic content. Distinct benthic assemblages are defined and discriminated by particular species ( Hydrobia ulvae-Scoloplos armiger, Lagis koreni-Mysella bidentata and Capitella capitata-Halicryptus spinulosus). Each assemblage is related to different spatial subarea and characterised by a certain variability of environmental factors. This study represents a basis for the predictive modeling of species distribution in the selected study area.

Bottom morphology in the Song Hau distributary channel, Mekong River Delta, Vietnam

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allison, Mead A.; Dallon Weathers, H.; Meselhe, Ehab A.

2017-09-01

Field studies in the Song Hau distributary of the Mekong Delta in Vietnam conducted at high (Sept.-Oct 2014) and low (March 2015) Mekong River discharge are utilized to examine channel bottom morphology and links with sediment transport in the system. Multibeam bathymetric mapping surveys over the entire channel complex in the lower 80 km of the distributary channel, and over 12- to 24-h tidal periods at six transect locations in the reach are used to characterize bottom type and change on seasonal and tidal timescales, supplemented by bottom sampling. The results of this study indicate that the largest proportion of channel floor (up to 80% of the total area) is composed of substratum outcrops of relict sediment units deposited during the progradation of the delta in the last 3.5 ka. These take the form of outcrops that are either (1) steep-sided, tabular channel floor, (2) steep-sided sidewall, or (3) relatively flat channel floor. Flatter outcrops of channel floor substratum are identified by the presence of sedimentary furrows (<0.5 m deep) incised into the channel bottom that are exposed at high discharge and oriented along channel and laterally continuous for kilometers. These furrows are persistent in location and extent across tidal cycles and appear to be incised into relict units, sometimes with a thin surficial layer of modern sediment observable in bottom grabs. The extent of substratum exposure, greater than that observed previously in low tidal energy systems like the Mississippi River, may relate both to a relatively low sand supply from the catchment, and/or to an efficient transfer of both sand and mud through this tidally energetic channel. Sand bottom areas forming dunes, comprise about 19% of the channel floor over the study area and are generally less than a few meters thick except on bar extensions of mid-channel islands. Both sandy and substratum areas are mantled by soft muds 0.25-1 m thick during low discharge in the estuarine section of the study area. This mud mantling appears to be a key control on bottom sourcing of sand to suspension. An understanding of channel bottom morphology, particularly mobility and erodibility of sediments, is valuable for setting up morphodynamic models of channel evolution that can be used to test system response to anthropogenic alterations in the catchment and rising sea levels.

Community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection

PubMed Central

Loewen, Kassandra; Schreiber, Yoko; Kirlew, Mike; Bocking, Natalie; Kelly, Len

2017-01-01

Abstract Objective To provide information on the prevalence and treatment of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections and the distinction between community-associated MRSA and health care–associated MRSA. Quality of evidence The MEDLINE and EMBASE databases were searched from 2005 to 2016. Epidemiologic studies were summarized and the relevant treatment literature was based on level I evidence. Main message The incidence of community-associated MRSA infection is rising. Certain populations, including indigenous Canadians and homeless populations, are particularly affected. Community-associated MRSA can be distinguished from health care–associated MRSA based on genetic, epidemiologic, or microbiological profiles. It retains susceptibility to some oral agents including trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, clindamycin, and tetracyclines. Community-associated MRSA typically presents as purulent skin and soft tissue infection, but invasive infection occurs and can lead to severe, complicated disease. Treatment choices and the need for empiric MRSA coverage are influenced by the type and severity of infection. Conclusion Community-associated MRSA is a common cause of skin and soft tissue infections and might be common in populations where overcrowding and limited access to clean water exist. PMID:28701438

Design, Fabrication, and Implementation of a Wireless, Passive Implantable Pressure Sensor Based on Magnetic Higher-Order Harmonic Fields

PubMed Central

Tan, Ee Lim; DeRouin, Andrew J.; Pereles, Brandon D.; Ong, Keat Ghee

2011-01-01

A passive and wireless sensor was developed for monitoring pressure in vivo. Structurally, the pressure sensor, referred to as the magneto-harmonic pressure sensor, is an airtight chamber sealed with an elastic pressure membrane. A strip of magnetically-soft material is attached to the bottom of the chamber and a permanent magnet strip is embedded inside the membrane. Under the excitation of an externally applied AC magnetic field, the magnetically-soft strip produces a higher-order magnetic signature that can be remotely detected with an external receiving coil. As ambient pressure varies, the pressure membrane deflects, altering the separation distance between the magnetically-soft strip and the permanent magnet. This shifts the higher-order harmonic signal, allowing for detection of pressure change as a function of harmonic shifting. The wireless, passive nature of this sensor technology allows for continuous long-term pressure monitoring, particularly useful for biomedical applications such as monitoring pressure in aneurysm sac and sphincter of Oddi. In addition to demonstrating its pressure sensing capability, an animal model was used to investigate the efficacy and feasibility of the pressure sensor in a biological environment. PMID:25585564

Soft-sediment deformation structures interpreted as seismites in the uppermost Aptian to lowermost Albian transgressive deposits of the Chihuahua basin (Mexico)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Blanc, E.J.-P.; Blanc-Aletru, M. -C.; Mojon, P.-O.

1998-01-01

Several levels of soft-sediment deformation structures (s.-s.d.s.) cut by synsedimentary normal faults have been observed in the transition beds between the "Las Vigas" and "La Virgen" formations (Cretaceous) in the northeastern part of the Chihuahua basin in Mexico. These structures consisted of four kinds of motifs (floating breccias, flame-like structures, large pillow structures, and wavy structures). They are restricted to five "stratigraphie" levels (Z1-Z5) and surrounded by undeformed beds in fluvio-lacustrine and tidal deposits and can be traced over a distance of several hundred meters. This deformation is interpreted to have resulted from the combined effects of liquidization and shear stress in soft-sediments due to local earthquakes in the area which could have been generated during the rifting stage of the Chihuahua basin. New constraints placed on the age of the "Las Vigas" Formation (bracketed by Late Aptian charophytes at the bottom and colomiellids of late Aptian to earliest Albian age at the top) suggest that this synrift tectonism lasted at least until the end of the Aptian. ?? Springer-Verlag 1998.

Bivalve grazing can shape phytoplankton communities

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lucas, Lisa; Cloern, James E.; Thompson, Janet K.; Stacey, Mark T.; Koseff, Jeffrey K.

2016-01-01

The ability of bivalve filter feeders to limit phytoplankton biomass in shallow waters is well-documented, but the role of bivalves in shaping phytoplankton communities is not. The coupled effect of bivalve grazing at the sediment-water interface and sinking of phytoplankton cells to that bottom filtration zone could influence the relative biomass of sinking (diatoms) and non-sinking phytoplankton. Simulations with a pseudo-2D numerical model showed that benthic filter feeding can interact with sinking to alter diatom:non-diatom ratios. Cases with the smallest proportion of diatom biomass were those with the fastest sinking speeds and strongest bivalve grazing rates. Hydrodynamics modulated the coupled sinking-grazing influence on phytoplankton communities. For example, in simulations with persistent stratification, the non-sinking forms accumulated in the surface layer away from bottom grazers while the sinking forms dropped out of the surface layer toward bottom grazers. Tidal-scale stratification also influenced vertical gradients of the two groups in opposite ways. The model was applied to Suisun Bay, a low-salinity habitat of the San Francisco Bay system that was transformed by the introduction of the exotic clam Potamocorbula amurensis. Simulation results for this Bay were similar to (but more muted than) those for generic habitats, indicating that P. amurensis grazing could have caused a disproportionate loss of diatoms after its introduction. Our model simulations suggest bivalve grazing affects both phytoplankton biomass and community composition in shallow waters. We view these results as hypotheses to be tested with experiments and more complex modeling approaches.

The Understanding of Curriculum Philosophy among Trainee Teachers in Regards to Soft Skills Embedment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hassan, Aminuddin; Maharoff, Marina

2014-01-01

Curriculum philosophy may assist in learning practices that coincide with the philosophy of educational institution and community. This study was aimed to understand how the teacher trainees who pursued Bachelor of Teaching (PISMP) understand the embedment of soft skills into learning activities for core courses in Malaysian Institutes of Teacher…

Critical Soft Skills to Achieve Success in the Workplace

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meeks, Gloria Amparo

2017-01-01

The focus of this study was a problem identified by human resources directors and managers in a medium sized community in the southeast of the United States. The problem was that some college graduates are not equipped with the necessary soft skills to be successful in the workforce. Executive directors and human resources managers brought this…

Practices and Procedures to Prevent the Transmission of Skin and Soft Tissue Infections in High School Athletes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fritz, Stephanie A.; Long, Marcus; Gaebelein, Claude J.; Martin, Madeline S.; Hogan, Patrick G.; Yetter, John

2012-01-01

Skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) are frequent in student athletes and are often caused by community-associated methicillin-resistant "Staphylococcus aureus" (CA-MRSA). We evaluated the awareness of CA-MRSA among high school coaches and athletic directors in Missouri (n = 4,408) and evaluated hygiene practices affecting SSTI…

Bottom trawling and oxygen minimum zone influences on continental slope benthic community structure off Vancouver Island (NE Pacific)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De Leo, Fabio C.; Gauthier, Maéva; Nephin, Jessica; Mihály, Steven; Juniper, S. Kim

2017-03-01

Understanding responses of benthic ecosystems to cumulative impacts of natural stressors, long-term ocean change and increasing resource exploitation is an emerging area of interest for marine ecologists and environmental managers. Few, if any, studies have quantitatively addressed cumulative effects in the deep sea. We report here on a study from the continental slope off Vancouver Island (Canada) in the northeast Pacific Ocean, where the Oxygen Minimum Zone impinges on seabed habitats that are subjected to widespread bottom trawling, primarily by the fishery for thornyhead (Sebastolobus ssp.). We examined how the benthic megafauna in this area was influenced by varying levels of dissolved oxygen and trawling activity, along a depth gradient that was also likely to shape community composition. Continuous video and sonar records from two ROV surveys (50 linear km total; depth range 300-1400 m) respectively provided data on faunal attributes (composition, abundance and diversity) and the frequency of trawl door marks on the seabed. Faunal and trawl data were compiled in a geo-referenced database along with corresponding dissolved oxygen data, and pooled into 500 m segments for statistical analysis. Trawl mark occurrence peaked between 500 and 1100 m, corresponding to areas of slope subjected to hypoxia (<1.4 ml l-1) and severe hypoxia (<0.5 ml l-1). A combined total of 266,251 megafauna organisms from 87 taxa were enumerated in the two transects. Significant megafaunal assemblages according to depth, trawling intensity and bottom water dissolved oxygen concentration were identified by PERMANOVA analyses, with characterizing taxa identified for all three factors. Depth, dissolved oxygen and trawl mark density accounted for 21% to 52% of the variability in benthic community structure according to multiple regression (DISTLM) models. Species richness was highest at intermediate depths and in areas subject to intermediate levels of trawling, and higher under hypoxia than under severe hypoxia. These statistically significant trends demonstrate that the structuring influences of bottom trawling on deep-sea benthic communities can be observed even where communities are being shaped by strong environmental gradients.

Infusing Catholic Identity throughout the Campus Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Amata

2011-01-01

This article, originally presented as a plenary address at the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities 2011 Annual Meeting, addresses a bottom-up methodology for infusing the spirit of Catholic identity more deeply throughout a campus community. The author begins with an exploration of some theoretical underpinnings of this approach and…

Research on Livable Community Evaluation Based on GIS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yin, Zhangcai; Wu, Yang; Jin, Zhanghaonan; Zhang, Xu

2018-01-01

Community is the basic unit of the city. Research on livable community could provide a bottom-up research path for the realization of livable city. Livability is the total factor affecting the quality of community life. In this paper, livable community evaluation indexes are evaluated based on GIS and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method. Then the sum-index and sub-index of community livability are both calculated. And community livable evaluation index system is constructed based on the platform of GIS. This study provides theoretical support for the construction and management of livable communities, so as to guide the development and optimization of city.

Silicified sea life - Macrofauna and palaeoecology of the Neuburg Kieselerde Member (Cenomanian to Lower Turonian Wellheim Formation, Bavaria, southern Germany)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schneider, Simon; Jager, Manfred; Kroh, Andreas; Mitterer, Agnes; Niebuhr, Birgit; Vodrazka, Radek; Wilmsen, Markus; Wood, Christopher J.; Zagorsk, Kamil

2013-12-01

Schneider, S., Jager, M., Kroh, A., Mitterer, A., Niebuhr, B., Vodražka, R., Wilmsen, M., Wood, C.J. and Zagoršek, K. 2013. Silicified sea life - Macrofauna and palaeoecology of the Neuburg Kieselerde Member (Cenomanian to Lower Turonian Wellheim Formation, Bavaria, southern Germany). Acta Geologica Polonica, 63(4), 555-610. Warszawa. With approximately 100 species, the invertebrate macrofauna of the Neuburg Kieselerde Member of the Wellheim Formation (Bavaria, southern Germany) is probably the most diverse fossil assemblage of the Danubian Cretaceous Group. Occurring as erosional relicts in post-depositional karst depressions, both the Cretaceous sediments and fossils have been silicified during diagenesis. The Neuburg Kieselerde Member, safely dated as Early Cenomanian to Early Turonian based on inoceramid bivalve biostratigraphy and sequence stratigraphy, preserves a predominantly soft-bottom community, which, however, is biased due to near-complete early diagenetic loss of aragonitic shells. The community is dominated by epifaunal and semi-infaunal bivalves as well as sponges that settled on various (bio-) clasts, and may widely be split into an early bivalve-echinoid assemblage and a succeeding sponge-brachiopod assemblage. In addition to these groups we document ichnofauna, polychaete tubes, nautilids and bryozoans. The fauna provides evidence of a shallow to moderately deep, calm, fully marine environment, which is interpreted as a largescale embayment herein. The fauna of the Neuburg Kieselerde Member is regarded as an important archive of lower Upper Cretaceous sea-life in the surroundings of the Mid-European Island.

FLOATING COMMUNITIES OF ALGAE IN AN ARTIFICIAL POND IN THE PARQUE DO ESTADO, SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL(1).

PubMed

de Mattos Bicudo, C E; Teixeira Bicudo, R M

1967-12-01

A fresluvater floating algal community was repeatedly observed in an artificial pond in the Parque do Estado São Paulo, Brazil. The ontogeny and composition of the community are discussed and are related to oxygen liberation during photosynthesis of the periphyton, or of the pond-bottom algne, which carries up portions of the algae growing there.

VCCA Journal: Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges Association; Volume 4, Numbers 1 and 2, Spring/Summer 1989 and Fall/Winter 1989.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hurst, Darrell, Ed.; Jobin, Robert, Ed.

1989-01-01

The first issue of this semi-annual journal features presentations and papers from the sixth Annual Virginia Community Colleges Association Convention held November 17-18, 1988, including the following: "Community College Mission: An Ideology Out of Balance," by Darrel Clowes and Bernard H. Levin; "The Bottom of the Blind Man's…

Sectioning Coated Specimens Without Edge Rounding

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mckechnie, Timothy N.

1988-01-01

New method devised for preparation of cross sections of coated specimens for scanning electron microscopy or energy-dispersive analysis without rounding edges of coatings. After cutting and polishing, specimen section remains smooth and flat so it can be examined under high magnification out to edge of coating. Sectioned blade first electroplated with hard nickel 0.003 in., then encapsulated in two layers of material: soft conductive material at bottom and 0.25 in. of hard diallyl phthalate at top. Nickel plate provides electrical path from surface of section to conductive material below.

On the complex interaction between mathematics and the sciences of living systems. Comment on "Move me, astonish me...delight my eyes and brain: The Vienna Integrated Model of top-down and bottom-up processes in Art Perception (VIMAP) and corresponding affective, evaluative, and neurophysiological correlates" by Matthew Pelowski et al.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bellomo, Nicola; Outada, Nisrine

2017-07-01

Cultural framework: Our comment looks at the general framework given by the interactions between the so-called ;soft; and ;hard; sciences. Specifically, it looks at the development of a mathematics for living systems. Our comment aims at showing how the interesting survey [11] can contribute to the aforementioned challenging task.

The occurrence of Ophiocnemis marmorata (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea) associated with the rhizostome medusa Rhopilema hispidum (Cnidaria: Scyphozoa)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kanagaraj, Govindan; Kumar, Pithchai Sampath; Morandini, André C.

2008-11-01

The association of scyphomedusae with invertebrates has been long known in the literature; especially with hyperiids amphipods. The association of echinoderms with jellyfish is not common and rarely recorded. We reported the association of the ophiuroid Ophiocnemis marmorata with the rhizostome scyphomedusa Rhopilema hispidum collected in Vellar estuary (on the southeast coast of India). O. marmorata is supposed to be a filter feeding ophiuroid, quite common in soft bottom of shallow waters. The brittle stars possibly seek for food supply, shelter and protection through the association.

Effects of ecological engineered oxygenation on the bacterial community structure in an anoxic fjord in western Sweden

PubMed Central

Forth, Michael; Liljebladh, Bengt; Stigebrandt, Anders; Hall, Per O J; Treusch, Alexander H

2015-01-01

Oxygen-depleted bodies of water are becoming increasingly common in marine ecosystems. Solutions to reverse this trend are needed and under development, for example, by the Baltic deep-water OXygenation (BOX) project. In the framework of this project, the Swedish Byfjord was chosen for a pilot study, investigating the effects of an engineered oxygenation on long-term anoxic bottom waters. The strong stratification of the water column of the Byfjord was broken up by pumping surface water into the deeper layers, triggering several inflows of oxygen-rich water and increasing oxygen levels in the lower water column and the benthic zone up to 110 μmol l−1.We used molecular ecologic methods to study changes in bacterial community structure in response to the oxygenation in the Byfjord. Water column samples from before, during and after the oxygenation as well as from two nearby control fjords were analyzed. Our results showed a strong shift in bacterial community composition when the bottom water in the Byfjord became oxic. Initially dominant indicator species for oxygen minimum zones such as members of the SUP05 clade declined in abundance during the oxygenation event and nearly vanished after the oxygenation was accomplished. In contrast, aerobic species like SAR11 that initially were restricted to surface waters could later be detected deep into the water column. Overall, the bacterial community in the formerly anoxic bottom waters changed to a community structure similar to those found in oxic waters, showing that an engineered oxygenation of a large body of anoxic marine water is possible and emulates that of a natural oxygenation event. PMID:25238400

Effects of ecological engineered oxygenation on the bacterial community structure in an anoxic fjord in western Sweden.

PubMed

Forth, Michael; Liljebladh, Bengt; Stigebrandt, Anders; Hall, Per O J; Treusch, Alexander H

2015-03-01

Oxygen-depleted bodies of water are becoming increasingly common in marine ecosystems. Solutions to reverse this trend are needed and under development, for example, by the Baltic deep-water OXygenation (BOX) project. In the framework of this project, the Swedish Byfjord was chosen for a pilot study, investigating the effects of an engineered oxygenation on long-term anoxic bottom waters. The strong stratification of the water column of the Byfjord was broken up by pumping surface water into the deeper layers, triggering several inflows of oxygen-rich water and increasing oxygen levels in the lower water column and the benthic zone up to 110 μmol l(-1).We used molecular ecologic methods to study changes in bacterial community structure in response to the oxygenation in the Byfjord. Water column samples from before, during and after the oxygenation as well as from two nearby control fjords were analyzed. Our results showed a strong shift in bacterial community composition when the bottom water in the Byfjord became oxic. Initially dominant indicator species for oxygen minimum zones such as members of the SUP05 clade declined in abundance during the oxygenation event and nearly vanished after the oxygenation was accomplished. In contrast, aerobic species like SAR11 that initially were restricted to surface waters could later be detected deep into the water column. Overall, the bacterial community in the formerly anoxic bottom waters changed to a community structure similar to those found in oxic waters, showing that an engineered oxygenation of a large body of anoxic marine water is possible and emulates that of a natural oxygenation event.

The Search Conference as a Method in Planning Community Health Promotion Actions

PubMed Central

Magnus, Eva; Knudtsen, Margunn Skjei; Wist, Guri; Weiss, Daniel; Lillefjell, Monica

2016-01-01

Aims: The aim of this article is to describe and discuss how the search conference can be used as a method for planning health promotion actions in local communities. Design and methods: The article draws on experiences with using the method for an innovative project in health promotion in three Norwegian municipalities. The method is described both in general and how it was specifically adopted for the project. Results and conclusions: The search conference as a method was used to develop evidence-based health promotion action plans. With its use of both bottom-up and top-down approaches, this method is a relevant strategy for involving a community in the planning stages of health promotion actions in line with political expectations of participation, ownership, and evidence-based initiatives. Significance for public health This article describe and discuss how the Search conference can be used as a method when working with knowledge based health promotion actions in local communities. The article describe the sequences of the conference and shows how this have been adapted when planning and prioritizing health promotion actions in three Norwegian municipalities. The significance of the article is that it shows how central elements in the planning of health promotion actions, as participation and involvements as well as evidence was a fundamental thinking in how the conference were accomplished. The article continue discussing how the method function as both a top-down and a bottom-up strategy, and in what way working evidence based can be in conflict with a bottom-up strategy. The experiences described can be used as guidance planning knowledge based health promotion actions in communities. PMID:27747199

High Energy Benthic Boundary Layer Experiment (HEBBLE): Preliminary program plan and conceptual design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Frewing, K.

1980-01-01

Deep sea processes of flow-sediment interaction, particularly the role of high energy ocean bottom current events in forming the seafloor topography, transporting material, and mixing the bottom of the water column are examined. A series of observations at and near the sea bottom, in water depths of 4 to 5 km, in areas of the western North Atlantic where high energy current events occur, include site surveys and physical reconnaissance to identify suitable areas and positions, and one or more six month experiments to investigate temporal and spatial variations of high energy events within the boundary layer and their interaction with the seabed. Descriptions of proposed HEBBLE activities are included, with emphasis on technology transfer to the oceanographic community through design, fabrication, testing, and operation of an instrumented ocean bottom lander.

Performance-Based Seismic Retrofit of Soft-Story Woodframe Buildings

Treesearch

Pouria Bahmani; John W. van de Lindt; Steven E. Pryor; Gary L. Mochizuki; Mikhail Gershfeld; Douglas Rammer; Jingjing Tian; Michael D. Symans

2014-01-01

As early as 1970, the structural engineering and building safety community recognized that a large number of two-, three, and four story woodframe buildings, designed with the first floor used either for parking or commercial space, were built with readily identifiable structural deficiencies, referred to as a “soft story”. Often these buildings also have a strength...

An innovative piston corer for large‐volume sediment samples

PubMed Central

Haselmair, Alexandra; Stachowitsch, Michael; Zuschin, Martin

2016-01-01

Abstract Coring is one of several standard procedures to extract sediments and their faunas from open marine, estuarine, and limnic environments. Achieving sufficiently deep penetration, obtaining large sediment volumes in single deployments, and avoiding sediment loss upon retrieval remain problematic. We developed a piston corer with a diameter of 16 cm that enables penetration down to 1.5 m in a broad range of soft bottom types, yields sufficient material for multiple analyses, and prevents sediment loss due to a specially designed hydraulic core catcher. A novel extrusion system enables very precise slicing and preserves the original sediment stratification by keeping the liners upright. The corer has moderate purchase costs and a robust and simple design that allows for a deployment from relatively small vessels as available at most marine science institutions. It can easily be operated by two to three researchers rather than by specially trained technicians. In the northern Adriatic Sea, the corer successfully extracted more than 50 cores from a range of fine mud to coarse sand, at water depths from three to 45 m. The initial evaluation of the cores demonstrated their usefulness for fauna sequences along with heavy metal, nutrient and pollutant analyses. Their length is particularly suited for historical ecological work requiring sedimentary and faunal sequences to reconstruct benthic communities over the last millennia. PMID:28111529

Theory and Practice of Community Development: A Case Study from the United Kingdom.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Popple, Keith; Quinney, Anne

2002-01-01

A top-down approach to British community development is rooted in Victorian paternalism, a bottom-up approach in radical action. The case of ACHIEVE (Academic Centre for Health Improvement and Evidence of Effectiveness) shows how the current government's top-down approach is inadequate and potentially exploitive. It emphasizes development and…

Community Managed Services for Persons with Intellectual Disability: Andhra Pradesh Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Narayan, Jayanthi; Pratapkumar, Raja; Reddy, Sudhakara P.

2017-01-01

In resource poor settings innovative and bottom-up approaches are required to provide services to people with with disabilities. In this context, the present paper explains a community-based model of manpower development and coordination of services for people with intellectual disabilities in unified state of Andhra Pradesh in India. Women with…

Exploring Possible Links between Professional Learning Communities and Complex Adaptive Systems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Eric

2013-01-01

Implementation of Professional Learning Communities (PLC), as described by DuFour (2006), has depended upon a balance between teacher buy-in and administrative fiat. The tension between the "bottom-up" character of the former and the "top-down" character of the latter presents a leadership challenge: meeting students' learning…

The Northland fluoridation advocacy programme: an evaluation.

PubMed

Gowda, Sunitha; Thomas, David R

2008-12-01

On 20 July 2006, the Far North District Council resolved to fluoridate Kaitaia and Kaikohe. This was the first such initiative by any Territorial Local Authority (TLA) in New Zealand for 23 years, and resulted from a fluoridation advocacy programme. This paper describes the programme implementation, assesses its consistency with the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi, and critically examines the collaboration between the fluoride advocate and the key stakeholders. Process evaluation identified three main categories of programme implementation: policy advocacy, community action projects, and media advocacy. The collaboration of iwi, Maori health providers and the community suggests that the programme was consistent with the principles (partnership, participation and protection) ofthe Treaty ofWaitangi. Media advocacy played an important role in reflecting and engaging community views on fluoridation, and it influenced decision-making by the Far North District Council. The simultaneous, combined 'top-down and bottom-up' approach was an effective and successful strategy for fluoridation advocacy in the community. Less integrated approaches implemented on their own (such as the 'top down' approach in Whangarei and the 'bottom-up' approach in Dargaville) were not effective.

Coastal habitat mapping in the Aegean Sea using high resolution orthophoto maps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Topouzelis, Konstantinos; Papakonstantinou, Apostolos; Doukari, Michaela; Stamatis, Panagiotis; Makri, Despina; Katsanevakis, Stelios

2017-09-01

The significance of coastal habitat mapping lies in the need to prevent from anthropogenic interventions and other factors. Until 2015, Landsat-8 (30m) imagery were used as medium spatial resolution satellite imagery. So far, Sentinel-2 satellite imagery is very useful for more detailed regional scale mapping. However, the use of high resolution orthophoto maps, which are determined from UAV data, is expected to improve the mapping accuracy. This is due to small spatial resolution of the orthophoto maps (30 cm). This paper outlines the integration of UAS for data acquisition and Structure from Motion (SfM) pipeline for the visualization of selected coastal areas in the Aegean Sea. Additionally, the produced orthophoto maps analyzed through an object-based image analysis (OBIA) and nearest-neighbor classification for mapping the coastal habitats. Classification classes included the main general habitat types, i.e. seagrass, soft bottom, and hard bottom The developed methodology applied at the Koumbara beach (Ios Island - Greece). Results showed that UAS's data revealed the sub-bottom complexity in large shallow areas since they provide such information in the spatial resolution that permits the mapping of seagrass meadows with extreme detail. The produced habitat vectors are ideal as reference data for studies with satellite data of lower spatial resolution.

The emergence of top-down proteomics in clinical research

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Proteomic technology has advanced steadily since the development of 'soft-ionization' techniques for mass-spectrometry-based molecular identification more than two decades ago. Now, the large-scale analysis of proteins (proteomics) is a mainstay of biological research and clinical translation, with researchers seeking molecular diagnostics, as well as protein-based markers for personalized medicine. Proteomic strategies using the protease trypsin (known as bottom-up proteomics) were the first to be developed and optimized and form the dominant approach at present. However, researchers are now beginning to understand the limitations of bottom-up techniques, namely the inability to characterize and quantify intact protein molecules from a complex mixture of digested peptides. To overcome these limitations, several laboratories are taking a whole-protein-based approach, in which intact protein molecules are the analytical targets for characterization and quantification. We discuss these top-down techniques and how they have been applied to clinical research and are likely to be applied in the near future. Given the recent improvements in mass-spectrometry-based proteomics and stronger cooperation between researchers, clinicians and statisticians, both peptide-based (bottom-up) strategies and whole-protein-based (top-down) strategies are set to complement each other and help researchers and clinicians better understand and detect complex disease phenotypes. PMID:23806018

Bottom-up vs. top-down effects on terrestrial insect herbivores: a meta-analysis.

PubMed

Vidal, Mayra C; Murphy, Shannon M

2018-01-01

Primary consumers are under strong selection from resource ('bottom-up') and consumer ('top-down') controls, but the relative importance of these selective forces is unknown. We performed a meta-analysis to compare the strength of top-down and bottom-up forces on consumer fitness, considering multiple predictors that can modulate these effects: diet breadth, feeding guild, habitat/environment, type of bottom-up effects, type of top-down effects and how consumer fitness effects are measured. We focused our analyses on the most diverse group of primary consumers, herbivorous insects, and found that in general top-down forces were stronger than bottom-up forces. Notably, chewing, sucking and gall-making herbivores were more affected by top-down than bottom-up forces, top-down forces were stronger than bottom-up in both natural and controlled (cultivated) environments, and parasitoids and predators had equally strong top-down effects on insect herbivores. Future studies should broaden the scope of focal consumers, particularly in understudied terrestrial systems, guilds, taxonomic groups and top-down controls (e.g. pathogens), and test for more complex indirect community interactions. Our results demonstrate the surprising strength of forces exerted by natural enemies on herbivorous insects, and thus the necessity of using a tri-trophic approach when studying insect-plant interactions. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.

Beyond Hammers and Nails: Mitigating and Verifying Greenhouse Gas Emissions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gurney, Kevin Robert

2013-05-01

One of the biggest challenges to future international agreements on climate change is an independent, science-driven method of verifying reductions in greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) [Niederberger and Kimble, 2011]. The scientific community has thus far emphasized atmospheric measurements to assess changes in emissions. An alternative is direct measurement or estimation of fluxes at the source. Given the many challenges facing the approach that uses "top-down" atmospheric measurements and recent advances in "bottom-up" estimation methods, I challenge the current doctrine, which has the atmospheric measurement approach "validating" bottom-up, "good-faith" emissions estimation [Balter, 2012] or which holds that the use of bottom-up estimation is like "dieting without weighing oneself" [Nisbet and Weiss, 2010].

Addressing the Misuse Potential of Life Science Research-Perspectives From a Bottom-Up Initiative in Switzerland.

PubMed

Oeschger, Franziska M; Jenal, Ursula

2018-01-01

Codes of conduct have received wide attention as a bottom-up approach to foster responsibility for dual use aspects of life science research within the scientific community. In Switzerland, a series of discussion sessions led by the Swiss Academy of Sciences with over 40 representatives of most Swiss academic life science research institutions has revealed that while a formal code of conduct was considered too restrictive, a bottom-up approach toward awareness raising and education and demonstrating scientists' responsibility toward society was highly welcomed. Consequently, an informational brochure on "Misuse potential and biosecurity in life sciences research" was developed to provide material for further discussions and education.

The Origin of X-ray Emission from the Enigmatic Be Star γ Cassiopeiae

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamaguchi, K.; Oskinova, L.; Russell, C. M. P.; Petre, R.; Enoto, T.; Morihana, K.; Ishida, M.

2017-11-01

Gamma Cassiopeiae is an enigmatic Be star with unusually hard, strong X-ray emission compared with normal main-sequence B stars. The origin has been debated for decades between two theories: mass accretion onto a hidden compact companion and a magnetic dynamo driven by the star-Be disk differential rotation. There has been no decisive signature found that supports either theory, such as a pulse in X-ray emission or the presence of large-scale magnetic field. In a ~100 ksec duration observation of the star with the Suzaku X-ray observatory in 2011, we detected six rapid X-ray spectral hardening events called ``softness dips''. All the softness dip events show symmetric softness ratio variations, and some of them have flat bottoms apparently due to saturation. The softness dip spectra are best described by either ~40% or ~70% partial covering absorption to kT ~12 keV plasma emission by matter with a neutral hydrogen column density of ~2 - 8 × 1021cm-2, while the spectrum outside of these dips is almost free of absorption. This result suggests that two distinct X-ray emitting spots in the γ Cas system, perhaps on a white dwarf companion with dipole mass accretion, are occulted by blobs in the Be stellar wind, the Be disk, or rotating around the white dwarf companion. The formation of a Be star and white dwarf binary system requires mass transfer between two stars; γ Cas may have experienced such activity in the past.

Correlation between three-dimentional surface topography and color stability of different nanofilled composites.

PubMed

Öztürk, Elif; Güder, Gizem

2015-01-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the 3-dimensional (3D) surface topography and color stability of four different resin composites after immersion in different soft-beverages. One hundred sixty disk-shaped specimens (diameter: 10 mm, and thickness: 2 mm) were made from four different resin composites (i.e., Filtek Z550, Tetric N-Ceram, Clearfil Majesty Esthetic, and Cavex Quadrant Universal LC). Each specimen was cured under mylar strips for 20 sec for both top and bottom surfaces. All of the specimens were stored in distilled water for 24 h at 37°C. Surface measurements were carried out using a noncontact 3D-optical-profilometer in terms of surface topography (Ra values). Color measurements of each specimen were performed with Vita Easy Shade system. All the measurements were performed at baseline and after 30 days of immersion in the selected soft-beverages (Redbull, Coca-Cola and Dimes-Lemonade). Control groups were stored in distilled water during the study. Ra values and color changes (ΔE values) of the groups were recorded. The data were statistically analyzed using a one way ANOVA and Tukey's post-hoc tests (SPSS 18.0). The tested soft-beverages in the present study caused color changes at a 30-day evaluation period for the tested resin composites (p < 0.05). However, 3D surface topography of resin composites was not influenced by the tested soft-beverages (p > 0.05). There was no significant interaction between the composite and beverage type on the Ra values of the resin composites (p > 0.05). No correlation was found between color stability and 3D surface topography of the resin composites. Color stability of resin composites may be affected by soft beverages. © Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

An illustrated key to the soft-bottom caprellids (Crustacea: Amphipoda) of the Iberian Peninsula and remarks to their ecological distribution along the Andalusian coast

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guerra-García, José M.; Navarro-Barranco, Carlos; Corzo, Juan; Cobos-Muñoz, Vanessa; García-Adiego, Emilio M.; Giménez, Francisco Sempere; García-Gómez, J. Carlos

2013-06-01

The soft-bottom caprellids of the Iberian Peninsula are revised. Nineteen species have been reported so far, 42 % being endemic to the Mediterranean Sea. The lateral view of all of them is provided, together with an illustrated key for all the species. An ecological study was also conducted during 2007-2010 along the Andalusian coast to explore the relationships of caprellids with abiotic data. A total of 90 stations (0-40 m deep) were sampled and 40 contained caprellids. Along the Atlantic, caprellids were present in only 20 % of the stations, while along the Mediterranean coast, caprellids were present in the 75 % of the sampling sites. Furthermore, the abundance of caprellids was also higher in the Mediterranean coast. The dominant species was Pseudolirius kroyeri (present in 24 stations and showing the highest abundances with 1,780 ind/m2), followed by Phtisica marina (22 stations) and Pariambus typicus (11 stations). According to CCA and BIO-ENV, sediment type, P, pH and oxygen were the parameters that better explained the distribution of caprellids. Although the three dominant species were found in all types of sediment, the univariate approach showed that P. kroyeri was significantly more abundant in fine sediments (silt-clay and very fine sands) than in gross sediments (coarse and very coarse sands). The majority of studies dealing with caprellids from the Iberian Peninsula have been focused on shallow waters and further efforts are needed to explore biodiversity of deeper areas.

Biodiversity and community composition of sediment macrofauna associated with deep-sea Lophelia pertusa habitats in the Gulf of Mexico

USGS Publications Warehouse

Demopoulos, Amanda W.J.; Bourque, Jill R.; Frometa, Janessy

2014-01-01

Scleractinian corals create three-dimensional reefs that provide sheltered refuges, facilitate sediment accumulation, and enhance colonization of encrusting fauna. While heterogeneous coral habitats can harbor high levels of biodiversity, their effect on the community composition within nearby sediments remains unclear, particularly in the deep sea. Sediment macrofauna from deep-sea coral habitats (Lophelia pertusa) and non-coral, background sediments were examined at three sites in the northern Gulf of Mexico (VK826, VK906, MC751, 350–500 m depth) to determine whether macrofaunal abundance, diversity, and community composition near corals differed from background soft-sediments. Macrofaunal densities ranged from 26 to 125 individuals 32 cm−2 and were significantly greater near coral versus background sediments only at VK826. Of the 86 benthic invertebrate taxa identified, 16 were exclusive to near-coral habitats, while 14 were found only in background sediments. Diversity (Fisher’s α) and evenness were significantly higher within near-coral sediments only at MC751 while taxon richness was similar among all habitats. Community composition was significantly different both between near-coral and background sediments and among the three primary sites. Polychaetes numerically dominated all samples, accounting for up to 70% of the total individuals near coral, whereas peracarid crustaceans were proportionally more abundant in background sediments (18%) than in those near coral (10%). The reef effect differed among sites, with community patterns potentially influenced by the size of reef habitat. Taxon turnover occurred with distance from the reef, suggesting that reef extent may represent an important factor in structuring sediment communities near L. pertusa. Polychaete communities in both habitats differed from other Gulf of Mexico (GOM) soft sediments based on data from previous studies, and we hypothesize that local environmental conditions found near L. pertusa may influence the macrofaunal community structure beyond the edges of the reef. This study represents the first assessment of L. pertusa-associated sediment communities in the GOM and provides baseline data that can help define the role of transition zones, from deep reefs to soft sediments, in shaping macrofaunal community structure and maintaining biodiversity; this information can help guide future conservation and management activities.

Seismic Retrofit of Soft-Story Woodframe Buildings Using Cross Laminated Timbers

Treesearch

Van De John W. Lindt; Pouria Bahmani; Mikhail Gershfeld; Giraj Kumar Kandukuri; Doug Rammer; Shiling Pei

2013-01-01

As early as 1970, the structural engineering and building safety community recognized that a large number of two-, three- and four-story woodframe buildings designed with the first floor used either for parking or commercial space were built with readily identifiable structural system deficiencies, referred to as a “soft story”. Thus, many multi-story woodframe...

Assessing the quality of bottom water temperatures from the Finite-Volume Community Ocean Model (FVCOM) in the Northwest Atlantic Shelf region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Bai; Tanaka, Kisei R.; Chen, Yong; Brady, Damian C.; Thomas, Andrew C.

2017-09-01

The Finite-Volume Community Ocean Model (FVCOM) is an advanced coastal circulation model widely utilized for its ability to simulate spatially and temporally evolving three-dimensional geophysical conditions of complex and dynamic coastal regions. While a body of literature evaluates model skill in surface fields, independent studies validating model skill in bottom fields over large spatial and temporal scales are scarce because these fields cannot be remotely sensed. In this study, an evaluation of FVCOM skill in modeling bottom water temperature was conducted by comparison to hourly in situ observed bottom temperatures recorded by the Environmental Monitors on Lobster Traps (eMOLT), a program that attached thermistors to commercial lobster traps from 2001 to 2013. Over 2 × 106 pairs of FVCOM-eMOLT records were evaluated by a series of statistical measures to quantify accuracy and precision of the modeled data across the Northwest Atlantic Shelf region. The overall comparison between modeled and observed data indicates reliable skill of FVCOM (r2 = 0.72; root mean squared error = 2.28 °C). Seasonally, the average absolute errors show higher model skill in spring, fall and winter than summer. We speculate that this is due to the increased difficulty of modeling high frequency variability in the exact position of the thermocline and frontal zones. The spatial patterns of the residuals suggest that there is improved similarity between modeled and observed data at higher latitudes. We speculate that this is due to increased tidal mixing at higher latitudes in our study area that reduces stratification in winter, allowing improved model accuracy. Modeled bottom water temperatures around Cape Cod, the continental shelf edges, and at one location at the entrance to Penobscot Bay were characterized by relatively high errors. Constraints for future uses of FVCOM bottom water temperature are provided based on the uncertainties in temporal-spatial patterns. This study is novel as it is the first skill assessment of a regional ocean circulation model in bottom fields at high spatial and temporal scales in the Northwest Atlantic Shelf region.

Bottom Line: From the "Right to Fail" to the "Right to Succeed"--Black Males in Community Colleges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wood, J. Luke

2012-01-01

"Open access" is a core mission component of the community college. Through this mission, public two-year colleges provide postsecondary opportunities to nearly all individuals desiring further education. However, access is not necessarily synonymous with success. Many students, including black males, have concerning levels of success, or the lack…

Community-Based School Finance and Accountability: A New Era for Local Control in Education Policy?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vasquez Heilig, Julian; Ward, Derrick R.; Weisman, Eric; Cole, Heather

2014-01-01

Top-down accountability policies have arguably had very limited impact over the past 20 years. Education stakeholders are now contemplating new forms of bottom-up accountability. In 2013, policymakers in California enacted a community-based approach that creates the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) process for school finance to increase…

Comprehensive Child-Oriented Preventive Resilience Program in Israel Based on Lessons Learned from Communities Exposed to War, Terrorism and Disaster

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hamiel, Daniel; Wolmer, Leo; Spirman, Smadar; Laor, Nathaniel

2013-01-01

Background: Coping with mass emergencies and disasters has become a growing challenge for children, adults and entire communities. Among the population groups affected by disaster, children are particularly vulnerable. Responsible disaster intervention requires both top-down and bottom-up preparation that endorses an ecological perspective, taking…

The Bottom Line: Quality/Consumer-Oriented Child Care.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jackson, Cheryl D.

Arguing that the provision of child care services is consistent with the role of the community college, this paper provides an overview of the current demand for and delivery of child care services and briefly discusses ways in which community colleges can assist in the development and provision of consumer-oriented, high-quality child care.…

SO(10) Yukawa unification after the first run of the LHC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raby, Stuart

2014-06-01

In this talk we discuss SO(10) Yukawa unification and its ramifications for phenomenology. The initial constraints come from fitting the top, bottom and tau masses, requiring large tan β ˜ 50 and particular values for soft SUSY breaking parameters. We perform a global χ2 analysis, fitting the recently observed `Higgs' with mass of order 125 GeV in addition to fermion masses and mixing angles and several flavor violating observables. We discuss two distinct GUT scale boundary conditions for soft SUSY breaking masses. In both cases we have a universal cubic scalar parameter, A0. In the first case we consider universal gaugino masses, and universal scalar masses, m16, for squarks and sleptons; while in the latter case we have non-universal gaugino masses and either universal scalar masses, m16, for squarks and sleptons or D-term splitting of scalar masses. We discuss the spectrum of SUSY particle masses and consequences for the LHC.

Controlled molecular self-assembly of complex three-dimensional structures in soft materials

PubMed Central

Huang, Changjin; Quinn, David; Suresh, Subra

2018-01-01

Many applications in tissue engineering, flexible electronics, and soft robotics call for approaches that are capable of producing complex 3D architectures in soft materials. Here we present a method using molecular self-assembly to generate hydrogel-based 3D architectures that resembles the appealing features of the bottom-up process in morphogenesis of living tissues. Our strategy effectively utilizes the three essential components dictating living tissue morphogenesis to produce complex 3D architectures: modulation of local chemistry, material transport, and mechanics, which can be engineered by controlling the local distribution of polymerization inhibitor (i.e., oxygen), diffusion of monomers/cross-linkers through the porous structures of cross-linked polymer network, and mechanical constraints, respectively. We show that oxygen plays a role in hydrogel polymerization which is mechanistically similar to the role of growth factors in tissue growth, and the continued growth of hydrogel enabled by diffusion of monomers/cross-linkers into the porous hydrogel similar to the mechanisms of tissue growth enabled by material transport. The capability and versatility of our strategy are demonstrated through biomimetics of tissue morphogenesis for both plants and animals, and its application to generate other complex 3D architectures. Our technique opens avenues to studying many growth phenomena found in nature and generating complex 3D structures to benefit diverse applications. PMID:29255037

Scale-up of nature's tissue weaving algorithms to engineer advanced functional materials.

PubMed

Ng, Joanna L; Knothe, Lillian E; Whan, Renee M; Knothe, Ulf; Tate, Melissa L Knothe

2017-01-11

We are literally the stuff from which our tissue fabrics and their fibers are woven and spun. The arrangement of collagen, elastin and other structural proteins in space and time embodies our tissues and organs with amazing resilience and multifunctional smart properties. For example, the periosteum, a soft tissue sleeve that envelops all nonarticular bony surfaces of the body, comprises an inherently "smart" material that gives hard bones added strength under high impact loads. Yet a paucity of scalable bottom-up approaches stymies the harnessing of smart tissues' biological, mechanical and organizational detail to create advanced functional materials. Here, a novel approach is established to scale up the multidimensional fiber patterns of natural soft tissue weaves for rapid prototyping of advanced functional materials. First second harmonic generation and two-photon excitation microscopy is used to map the microscopic three-dimensional (3D) alignment, composition and distribution of the collagen and elastin fibers of periosteum, the soft tissue sheath bounding all nonarticular bone surfaces in our bodies. Then, using engineering rendering software to scale up this natural tissue fabric, as well as multidimensional weaving algorithms, macroscopic tissue prototypes are created using a computer-controlled jacquard loom. The capacity to prototype scaled up architectures of natural fabrics provides a new avenue to create advanced functional materials.

Scale-up of nature’s tissue weaving algorithms to engineer advanced functional materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ng, Joanna L.; Knothe, Lillian E.; Whan, Renee M.; Knothe, Ulf; Tate, Melissa L. Knothe

2017-01-01

We are literally the stuff from which our tissue fabrics and their fibers are woven and spun. The arrangement of collagen, elastin and other structural proteins in space and time embodies our tissues and organs with amazing resilience and multifunctional smart properties. For example, the periosteum, a soft tissue sleeve that envelops all nonarticular bony surfaces of the body, comprises an inherently “smart” material that gives hard bones added strength under high impact loads. Yet a paucity of scalable bottom-up approaches stymies the harnessing of smart tissues’ biological, mechanical and organizational detail to create advanced functional materials. Here, a novel approach is established to scale up the multidimensional fiber patterns of natural soft tissue weaves for rapid prototyping of advanced functional materials. First second harmonic generation and two-photon excitation microscopy is used to map the microscopic three-dimensional (3D) alignment, composition and distribution of the collagen and elastin fibers of periosteum, the soft tissue sheath bounding all nonarticular bone surfaces in our bodies. Then, using engineering rendering software to scale up this natural tissue fabric, as well as multidimensional weaving algorithms, macroscopic tissue prototypes are created using a computer-controlled jacquard loom. The capacity to prototype scaled up architectures of natural fabrics provides a new avenue to create advanced functional materials.

Distribution and abundance of juvenile demersal fishes in relation to summer hypoxia and other environmental variables in coastal Oregon, USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sobocinski, Kathryn L.; Ciannelli, Lorenzo; Wakefield, W. Waldo; Yergey, Matthew E.; Johnson-Colegrove, Angela

2018-05-01

The juvenile demersal fish assemblage along the Pacific Northwest coast has received little attention relative to adult life history stages since pioneering work in the 1970s. Increasing severity of hypoxia along the Oregon coast in recent years has prompted investigations into the response of biota in this region. We used summer data (2008-2013) from a beam trawl survey targeting juvenile demersal fishes in soft-bottom habitats along the Oregon coast to describe patterns of distribution and abundance at fixed sampling stations (from 30 m to 100 m depth). We relate the assemblage and abundance of the common species to environmental variables and analyze condition of recently settled fish (<50 mm SL). Most of the captured fishes were young-of-the-year flatfishes, dominated by Butter Sole (Isopsetta isolepis), English Sole (Parophrys vetulus), Speckled Sanddab (Citharichthys stigmaeus), and Pacific Sanddab (Citharichthys sordidus). Community analysis of the full dataset showed some variation in species richness among years and high evenness across all sampling sites and years. Depth was a structuring variable for the community, indicated by multivariate nonmetric multidimensional scaling analysis. Generalized additive models for common flatfish species abundances during the summer months indicated depth preferences, with Butter Sole, English Sole, and Speckled Sanddab at shallower locations and Pacific Sanddab occurring at deeper locations farther offshore. Additionally, while most common species were collected in high abundances in hypoxic conditions, dissolved oxygen was a significant factor in determining flatfish abundance. Condition factor was weakly negatively impacted by low dissolved oxygen for the species assessed, but the strength of the relationship varied by species. Increased sampling frequency and spatial coverage would improve our understanding of this community, especially in light of changing environmental drivers such as decreasing pH, warming water, and episodic periods of low dissolved oxygen coinciding with settlement for many species.

Interdecadal change in the deep Puget sound benthos

USGS Publications Warehouse

Nichols, F.H.

2003-01-01

Data from quantitative samples of the benthos at a 200-m site in central Puget Sound, collected twice yearly in most years between 1963 and 1992, were evaluated to determine the extent to which species composition in a continental-shelf depth community exhibits long-term persistence. Study results showed that the most abundant species were consistently present over the 30-year period. However, measures of species composition (e.g., similarity, diversity) reveal a subtle, gradual change in the community over time. Among the changes are (1) multi-year periods of greatly increased abundance of the common species; (2) an overall increase in the total abundance of the benthic community beginning in the mid-1970s; (3) periods of increased abundance, during the late 1970s and early 1980s, of two species that are tolerant of organic enrichment; and (4) the steady decline in abundance of the large burrowing echinoderm, Brisaster latifrons as a consequence of the lack of recruitment to the site since 1970. Despite the conspicuousness of these changes, there are no observed environmental factors that readily explain them. Circumstantial evidence suggests that climate-related change in Puget Sound circulation beginning in the mid-1970s, organic enrichment associated with a nearby large source of primary-treated sewage, and the influence of changes in the abundance of the large echinoderms on the smaller species are potential agents of change. The principle reasons for our inability to identify causes of long-term change in the Puget Sound benthos are (a) inconsistent long-term monitoring of environmental variables, (b) the lack of quantitative information about long-term changes in plankton and fish populations, (c) lack of knowledge of specific predator/prey and competitive interactions in soft bottom benthos, (d) unknown influence of moderate levels of contamination on biota; and (e) lack of understanding of possible linkages between climate regime shifts and fluctuations in local biological populations.

Factors controlling bacteria and protists in selected Mazurian eutrophic lakes (North-Eastern Poland) during spring

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background The bottom-up (food resources) and top-down (grazing pressure) controls, with other environmental parameters (water temperature, pH) are the main factors regulating the abundance and structure of microbial communities in aquatic ecosystems. It is still not definitively decided which of the two control mechanisms is more important. The significance of bottom-up versus top-down controls may alter with lake productivity and season. In oligo- and/or mesotrophic environments, the bottom-up control is mostly important in regulating bacterial abundances, while in eutrophic systems, the top-down control may be more significant. Results The abundance of bacteria, heterotrophic (HNF) and autotrophic (ANF) nanoflagellates and ciliates, as well as bacterial production (BP) and metabolically active cells of bacteria (CTC, NuCC, EST) were studied in eutrophic lakes (Mazurian Lake District, Poland) during spring. The studied lakes were characterized by high nanoflagellate (mean 17.36 ± 8.57 × 103 cells ml-1) and ciliate abundances (mean 59.9 ± 22.4 ind. ml-1) that were higher in the euphotic zone than in the bottom waters, with relatively low bacterial densities (4.76 ± 2.08 × 106 cells ml-1) that were lower in the euphotic zone compared to the profundal zone. Oligotrichida (Rimostrombidium spp.), Prostomatida (Urotricha spp.) and Scuticociliatida (Histiobalantium bodamicum) dominated in the euphotic zone, whereas oligotrichs Tintinnidium sp. and prostomatids Urotricha spp. were most numerous in the bottom waters. Among the staining methods used to examine bacterial cellular metabolic activity, the lowest percentage of active cells was recorded with the CTC (1.5–15.4%) and EST (2.7–14.2%) assay in contrast to the NuCC (28.8–97.3%) method. Conclusions In the euphotic zone, the bottom-up factors (TP and DOC concentrations) played a more important role than top-down control (grazing by protists) in regulating bacterial numbers and activity. None of the single analyzed factors controlled bacterial abundance in the bottom waters. The results of this study suggest that both control mechanisms, bottom-up and top-down, simultaneously regulated bacterial community and their activity in the profundal zone of the studied lakes during spring. In both lake water layers, food availability (algae, nanoflagellates) was probably the major factor determining ciliate abundance and their composition. In the bottom waters, both groups of protists appeared to be also influenced by oxygen, temperature, and total phosphorus. PMID:23566491

RHIC and LHC Phenomena with a Unified Parton Transport

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bouras, Ioannis; El, Andrej; Fochler, Oliver; Reining, Felix; Senzel, Florian; Uphoff, Jan; Wesp, Christian; Xu, Zhe; Greiner, Carsten

We discuss recent applications of the partonic pQCD based cascade model BAMPS with focus on heavy-ion phenomeneology in hard and soft momentum range. The nuclear modification factor as well as elliptic flow are calculated in BAMPS for RHIC end LHC energies. These observables are also discussed within the same framework for charm and bottom quarks. Contributing to the recent jet-quenching investigations we present first preliminary results on application of jet reconstruction algorithms in BAMPS. Finally, collective effects induced by jets are investigated: we demonstrate the development of Mach cones in ideal matter as well in the highly viscous regime.

RHIC and LHC phenomena with an unified parton transport

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bouras, Ioannis; El, Andrej; Fochler, Oliver; Reining, Felix; Senzel, Florian; Uphoff, Jan; Wesp, Christian; Xu, Zhe; Greiner, Carsten

2012-11-01

We discuss recent applications of the partonic pQCD based cascade model BAMPS with focus on heavy-ion phenomeneology in hard and soft momentum range. The nuclear modification factor as well as elliptic flow are calculated in BAMPS for RHIC end LHC energies. These observables are also discussed within the same framework for charm and bottom quarks. Contributing to the recent jet-quenching investigations we present first preliminary results on application of jet reconstruction algorithms in BAMPS. Finally, collective effects induced by jets are investigated: we demonstrate the development of Mach cones in ideal matter as well in the highly viscous regime.

An improved control system for a remotely operated vessel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bachnak, Rafic; Mendez, Marc; Esparza, Jack; Fahed, Oliver

2006-05-01

Collecting environmental data in coastal bays presents several challenges to the scientist. One of the most pressing issues is how to efficiently and reliably gather data in shallow water areas-environments that often preclude the use of traditional boats. Obstacles that are encountered in such environments include difficulty in covering large territories and the presence of inaccessible areas due to a variety of reasons, such as soft bottoms or contamination. There is also a high probability of disturbing the test area while placing the sensors. This paper outlines the development of a remotely operated boat and its real-time control system.

Monitoring of coastal coral reefs near Dahab (Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea) indicates local eutrophication as potential cause for change in benthic communities.

PubMed

Naumann, Malik S; Bednarz, Vanessa N; Ferse, Sebastian C A; Niggl, Wolfgang; Wild, Christian

2015-02-01

Coral reef ecosystems fringing the coastline of Dahab (South Sinai, Egypt) have experienced increasing anthropogenic disturbance as an emergent international tourism destination. Previous reports covering tourism-related impacts on coastal environments, particularly mechanical damage and destructive fishing, have highlighted the vital necessity for regular ecosystem monitoring of coral reefs near Dahab. However, a continuous scientific monitoring programme of permanent survey sites has not been established to date. Thus, this study conducted in situ monitoring surveys to investigate spatio-temporal variability of benthic reef communities and selected reef-associated herbivores along with reef health indicator organisms by revisiting three of the locally most frequented dive sites during expeditions in March 2010, September 2011 and February 2013. In addition, inorganic nutrient concentrations in reef-surrounding waters were determined to evaluate bottom-up effects of key environmental parameters on benthic reef community shifts in relation to grazer-induced top-down control. Findings revealed that from 2010 to 2013, live hard coral cover declined significantly by 12 % at the current-sheltered site Three Pools (TP), while showing negative trends for the Blue Hole (BH) and Lighthouse (LH) sites. Hard coral cover decline was significantly and highly correlated to a substantial increase in turf algae cover (up to 57 % at TP) at all sites, replacing hard corals as dominant benthic space occupiers in 2013. These changes were correlated to ambient phosphate and ammonium concentrations that exhibited highest values (0.64 ± 0.07 μmol PO4 (3-) l(-1), 1.05 ± 0.07 μmol NH4 (+) l(-1)) at the degraded site TP. While macroalgae appeared to respond to both bottom-up and top-down factors, change in turf algae was consistent with expected indications for bottom-up control. Temporal variability measured in herbivorous reef fish stocks reflected seasonal impacts by local fisheries, with concomitant changes in macroalgal cover. These findings represent the first record of rapid, localised change in benthic reef communities near Dahab, consistent with indications for bottom-up controlled early-stage phase shifts, underlining the necessity for efficient regional wastewater management for coastal facilities.

The Response of Heterotrophic Prokaryote and Viral Communities to Labile Organic Carbon Inputs Is Controlled by the Predator Food Chain Structure.

PubMed

Sandaa, Ruth-Anne; Pree, Bernadette; Larsen, Aud; Våge, Selina; Töpper, Birte; Töpper, Joachim P; Thyrhaug, Runar; Thingstad, Tron Frede

2017-08-23

Factors controlling the community composition of marine heterotrophic prokaryotes include organic-C, mineral nutrients, predation, and viral lysis. Two mesocosm experiments, performed at an Arctic location and bottom-up manipulated with organic-C, had very different results in community composition for both prokaryotes and viruses. Previously, we showed how a simple mathematical model could reproduce food web level dynamics observed in these mesocosms, demonstrating strong top-down control through the predator chain from copepods via ciliates and heterotrophic nanoflagellates. Here, we use a steady-state analysis to connect ciliate biomass to bacterial carbon demand. This gives a coupling of top-down and bottom-up factors whereby low initial densities of ciliates are associated with mineral nutrient-limited heterotrophic prokaryotes that do not respond to external supply of labile organic-C. In contrast, high initial densities of ciliates give carbon-limited growth and high responsiveness to organic-C. The differences observed in ciliate abundance, and in prokaryote abundance and community composition in the two experiments were in accordance with these predictions. Responsiveness in the viral community followed a pattern similar to that of prokaryotes. Our study provides a unique link between the structure of the predator chain in the microbial food web and viral abundance and diversity.

Macrobenthic communities of the Vellar Estuary in the Bay of Bengal in Tamil-Nadu in South India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chertoprud, M. V.; Chertoprud, E. S.; Saravanakumar, A.; Thangaradjou, T.; Mazei, Yu. A.

2013-03-01

The macrobenthic fauna and communities of the Vellar Estuary located at the southeast cost of India (11°30' N, 79°45' E) and the adjacent marine and river habitats are described on the basis of original data (70 samples over 10 transects). The fauna consists of 115 macrobenthic species and 79 species in estuarine habitats. We described 14 types of macrobenthic communities with different compositions of the dominant species. The leading ecological factors of the distribution of the communities are the salinity, depth, and bottom type. The Vellar estuary consists of two longitudinal zones of macrobenthos. The polyhalinic area is populated by the marine species, but it is related not to a salinity decrease but to the protection from waves and silt on the bottom in this area. The polyhalinic communities are most abundant in terms of the biomass and species richness. The mesohalinic area is inhabited by brackish water species and communities with low abundance. The sublittoral estuarine area is dominated by filter-feeders—the bivalves Crassostrea madrasensis, Meretrix casta, Modiolus metcalfei, and Scapharca inaequivalves—and the littoral zone is dominated by the gastropods Cerithidea cingulata, some crabs, and polychaetes. The ecosystem function of the Vellar estuary can be defined as a filter for the fine organic particles transported by the river.

Feeding habits of amphipods (Crustacea: Malacostraca) from shallow soft bottom communities: Comparison between marine caves and open habitats

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Navarro-Barranco, Carlos; Tierno-de-Figueroa, José Manuel; Guerra-García, José Manuel; Sánchez-Tocino, Luis; García-Gómez, José Carlos

2013-04-01

Marine caves are environments of great interest since the organisms that inhabit them are forced to develop specific adaptations to high constraint conditions. Because of some of these particular conditions, such as light absence or oligotrophy, it can be expected that feeding strategies into caves differ from that present outside them. Nevertheless, no studies have been done to compare the trophic structure of marine caves and open habitats, at least for amphipod communities, considering their importance both inside and outside of the caves. In this study, the diet of the dominant amphipod species living on shallow sediments, both inside and outside of six marine caves in western Mediterranean, was characterized. Thereby, the gut content of 17 amphipod species was studied, being this study the first attempt to establish the feeding habit of most of these species. Analysis of digestive contents of the species showed that amphipod diet is less diverse in sediments than in other environments, such as algae and seagrasses. No herbivorous species were found in the sediment and carnivorous amphipods showed a little variety of prey, feeding mainly on crustaceans. Differences in the trophic structure were also found between marine caves and open habitats sediments: while outside the caves detritivorous was the dominant group (both in number of species and number of individuals), amphipods mainly play the role of carnivorous inside the caves. No detritivorous species were found into the caves, where carnivorous represents almost 60% of amphipods species and more than 80% of amphipod individuals. This pattern obtained in amphipods differ from the general trend observed in marine cave organisms, for which a generalist diet, such as omnivory, usually is an advantage in these oligotrophic conditions. The possible causes of this pattern are discussed.

Exploration and Discovery of Hydrocarbon Seeps, Coral Ecosystems, and Shipwrecks in the Deep Gulf of Mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shank, T. M.; Hsing, P.; Carney, R. S.; Herrera, S.; Heyl, T.; Munro, C.; Bors, E.; Kiene, W.; Vecchione, M.; Evans, A.; Irion, J.; Warren, D.; Malik, M.; Lobecker, M.; Potter, J.

2012-12-01

Between March 20 and April 6, 2012, the NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer served as a platform for ship-board and shore-side scientists to explore the deep Gulf of Mexico, targeting the northern West Florida Escarpment, DeSoto Canyon, the vicinity (within 11km) of the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) well, and deepwater shipwrecks. We systematically explored and discovered natural hydrocarbon seeps, diverse coral ecosystems, wooden and iron-hulled shipwrecks more than 100 years old colonized by coral communities, and sperm whale habitat between 600 and 1200m. A total of sixteen dives took advantage of new and recent maps to explore and groundtruth both hard and soft-bottom habitats, from cretaceous carbonates to mounds of coral rubble. The final ROV dive successfully groundtruthed expected methane-release areas imaged by the ship's mapping systems up to 1150m above the seafloor. The source of the mapping imagery was a stream of bubbles issuing from beneath thriving seep mussel communities. We visited five sites in the Mississippi Canyon (MC) area (lease blocks MC294, MC297, MC388, MC255, and MC036; the DWH incident took place in MC252). These sites were 11.3 km SW, 6.8 km SW, 7.6 km SW, 25.7 km E, and 27.4 km to the NE of the DWH, respectively. We used high-definition imaging systems on the Little Hercules ROV and Seirios camera platform to document more than 130 coral colonies and over 400 associated individual animals to continue to assessing the impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. All of these efforts were conducted to provide fundamental knowledge of unknown and poorly known regions, ecosystems, and items of historical significance in the deep Gulf of Mexico.

Short-term post-mortality predation and scavenging and longer-term recovery after anoxia in the northern Adriatic Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blasnig, M.; Riedel, B.; Zuschin, M.; Schiemer, L.; Stachowitsch, M.

2013-03-01

In the Mediterranean, the northern Adriatic Sea shows most features known to promote late-summer hypoxia and anoxia. These features, along with anthropogenic eutrophication and marine snow events, have led to repeated benthic mortalities here. The present study was designed to document the post-anoxia macrofauna dynamics. We deployed an underwater instrument to induce small-scale anoxia in situ (total area 0.5 m2). Two time-lapse camera deployments examined short-term scavenging of the moribund and dead organisms (multi-species clumps consisting of sponges and ascidians) over a 3-day period (August 2008: 71.5 h, September 2008: 67.5 h). Longer-term recovery (2 yr) in the same two plots was examined with an independent photo-series. Predators and scavengers arrived in a distinct sequence. The first to arrive were demersal (Gobius niger, Serranus hepatus) and benthopelagic fishes (Diplodus vulgaris, Pagellus erythrinus), followed by hermit crabs (Paguristes eremita, showing a clear day/night rhythm in presence) and gastropods (Hexaplex trunculus). This sequence of arrival is attributed to the relative speeds of the organisms and their densities. The scavengers remained in dense aggregations (e.g. up to 33 P. eremita individuals at one time) as long as the dead organisms were available. The whole sessile fauna was largely removed or consumed within 7 (August plot) and 13 (September plot) days after anoxia. No macroepibenthic recovery took place in the experimental plots one and two years after anoxia. This study underlines the sensitivity of this soft-bottom community and supports calls for reducing additional anthropogenic disturbances such as damaging commercial fishing practices that impede recolonization and threaten benthic community structure and function over the long-term.

Development of In-situ Resonant Soft X-ray Scattering for Soft Materials at Advanced Light Source

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Cheng; Hexemer, Alexander; Young, Anthony; Padmore, Howard

2014-03-01

Resonant Soft X-ray Scattering was developed at ALS over the past a few years. It combines soft x-ray spectroscopy with x-ray scattering and offers statistical information for 3D chemical morphology over a large sample area. Its unique chemical sensitivity, large accessible size scale, polarization control and high coherence make it a powerful tool for mesoscale chemical/morphological structure characterization for many classes of materials. However, in order to study sciences in naturally occurring conditions, we need to overcome the sample limitations set by the low penetration depth of soft x-rays and requirement of high vacuum. Adapting to the evolving environmental cell designs utilized increasingly in the Electron Microscopy community, we will report our development of customize design liquid/gas environmental cells that will enable soft x-ray scattering experiments on biological, electro-chemical, self-assembly, and hierarchical functional systems in both static and dynamic fashion. Initial RSoXS result of solar fuel membrane assembly/fuel-cell membrane structure in wet cell will be presented.

Microbial community diversity patterns are related to physical and chemical differences among temperate lakes near Beaver Island, MI

PubMed Central

Hengy, Miranda H.; Horton, Dean J.; Uzarski, Donald G.

2017-01-01

Lakes are dynamic and complex ecosystems that can be influenced by physical, chemical, and biological processes. Additionally, individual lakes are often chemically and physically distinct, even within the same geographic region. Here we show that differences in physicochemical conditions among freshwater lakes located on (and around) the same island, as well as within the water column of each lake, are significantly related to aquatic microbial community diversity. Water samples were collected over time from the surface and bottom-water within four freshwater lakes located around Beaver Island, MI within the Laurentian Great Lakes region. Three of the sampled lakes experienced seasonal lake mixing events, impacting either O2, pH, temperature, or a combination of the three. Microbial community alpha and beta diversity were assessed and individual microbial taxa were identified via high-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. Results demonstrated that physical and chemical variability (temperature, dissolved oxygen, and pH) were significantly related to divergence in the beta diversity of surface and bottom-water microbial communities. Despite its correlation to microbial community structure in unconstrained analyses, constrained analyses demonstrated that dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration was not strongly related to microbial community structure among or within lakes. Additionally, several taxa were correlated (either positively or negatively) to environmental variables, which could be related to aerobic and anaerobic metabolisms. This study highlights the measurable relationships between environmental conditions and microbial communities within freshwater temperate lakes around the same island. PMID:29062609

Epidemiology, clinical manifestations, and treatment options for skin and soft tissue infection caused by community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

PubMed

Farley, Jason E

2008-02-01

This article reviews the evolving epidemiology of community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) and the appropriate outpatient management of CA-MRSA skin and soft tissue infection. Further, the paper will provide the basis upon which an individualized patient educational plan may be developed. To complete this review, a search of English language publications was conducted through Medline and CINAHL databases (1966-2006). The epidemiology of CA-MRSA is becoming increasingly complex. Research that addresses the impact of this organism in high-risk populations and within families is urgently needed. Nurse practitioners must remain informed of the epidemiology of common and emerging drug-resistant organisms in their patient populations.

California State Waters Map Series: offshore of Refugio Beach, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Johnson, Samuel Y.; Dartnell, Peter; Cochrane, Guy R.; Golden, Nadine E.; Phillips, Eleyne L.; Ritchie, Andrew C.; Krigsman, Lisa M.; Dieter, Bryan E.; Conrad, James E.; Greene, H. Gary; Seitz, Gordon G.; Endris, Charles A.; Sliter, Ray W.; Wong, Florence L.; Erdey, Mercedes D.; Gutierrez, Carlos I.; Yoklavich, Mary M.; East, Amy E.; Hart, Patrick E.; Johnson, Samuel Y.; Cochran, Susan A.

2015-01-01

Seafloor habitats in the broad Santa Barbara Channel region consist of significant amounts of soft, unconsolidated sediment interspersed with isolated areas of rocky habitat that support kelp-forest communities nearshore and rocky-reef communities in deep water. The potential marine benthic habitat types mapped in the Offshore of Refugio Beach map area are directly related to its Quaternary geologic history, geomorphology, and active sedimentary processes. These potential habitats, which lie primarily within the Shelf (continental shelf) but also partly within the Flank (basin flank or continental slope) megahabitats, primarily are composed of soft sediment interrupted by a few carbonate mounds. This homogeneous seafloor of sediment and low-relief bedrock provides promising habitat for groundfish, crabs, shrimp, and other marine benthic organisms.

Consumer species richness and nutrients interact in determining producer diversity.

PubMed

Groendahl, Sophie; Fink, Patrick

2017-03-17

While it is crucial to understand the factors that determine the biodiversity of primary producer communities, the relative importance of bottom-up and top-down control factors is still poorly understood. Using freshwater benthic algal communities in the laboratory as a model system, we find an unimodal relationship between nutrient availability and producer diversity, and that increasing number of consumer species increases producer diversity, but overall grazing decreases algal biodiversity. Interestingly, these two factors interact strongly in determining producer diversity, as an increase in nutrient supply diminishes the positive effect of consumer species richness on producer biodiversity. This novel and thus-far overlooked interaction of bottom-up and top-down control mechanisms of biodiversity may have a pronounced impact on ecosystem functioning and thus have repercussions for the fields of biodiversity conservation and restoration.

Response of amphipod assemblages to desalination brine discharge: Impact and recovery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de-la-Ossa-Carretero, J. A.; Del-Pilar-Ruso, Y.; Loya-Fernández, A.; Ferrero-Vicente, L. M.; Marco-Méndez, C.; Martinez-Garcia, E.; Sánchez-Lizaso, J. L.

2016-04-01

Desalination has become an important industry whose dense, high-salinity effluent has an impact on marine communities. Without adequate dilution, brine remains on the bottom increasing bottom salinity and affecting benthic communities. Amphipods showed high sensitivity to increased salinity produced by desalination brine discharge. A decrease in abundance and diversity of amphipods was detected at the station closest to the outfall, where salinity values reached 53. This salinity was later reduced by including a diffuser at the end of the pipeline. Six months after diffuser installation, amphipod abundance increased. During the first stage of this recovery, species such as Photis longipes recovered their abundance, others such as Microdeutopus versiculatus displayed opportunistic patterns, while others needed more time for recovery, e.g. Harpinia pectinata. These differences may be dependent on the organism living habits.

Consumer species richness and nutrients interact in determining producer diversity

PubMed Central

Groendahl, Sophie; Fink, Patrick

2017-01-01

While it is crucial to understand the factors that determine the biodiversity of primary producer communities, the relative importance of bottom-up and top-down control factors is still poorly understood. Using freshwater benthic algal communities in the laboratory as a model system, we find an unimodal relationship between nutrient availability and producer diversity, and that increasing number of consumer species increases producer diversity, but overall grazing decreases algal biodiversity. Interestingly, these two factors interact strongly in determining producer diversity, as an increase in nutrient supply diminishes the positive effect of consumer species richness on producer biodiversity. This novel and thus-far overlooked interaction of bottom-up and top-down control mechanisms of biodiversity may have a pronounced impact on ecosystem functioning and thus have repercussions for the fields of biodiversity conservation and restoration. PMID:28303953

Concept Development: An Operational Framework for Resilience

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-08-27

85% of the nation’s critical infrastructure, spanning both hard and soft features.16 Without support from the business community , resilience objectives...E., Robert W. Kates, and Shirley B. Laska. “Three Years After Katrina: Lessons for Community Resilience ” Environment, vol. 50, no. 5 (September 2008...Presentation at Building Community Resilience and a Culture of Preparedness.” NORAD and USNORTHCOM Surgeon’s Conference, March 10-12, 2009. Wang, Fan Xiao

Indirect effects of predators control herbivore richness and abundance in a benthic eelgrass (Zostera marina) mesograzer community.

PubMed

Amundrud, Sarah L; Srivastava, Diane S; O'Connor, Mary I

2015-07-01

Herbivore communities can be sensitive to changes in predator pressure (top-down effects) and resource availability (bottom-up effects) in a wide range of systems. However, it remains unclear whether such top-down and bottom-up effects reflect direct impacts of predators and/or resources on herbivores, or are indirect, reflecting altered interactions among herbivore species. We quantified direct and indirect effects of bottom-up and top-down processes on an eelgrass (Zostera marina) herbivore assemblage. In a field experiment, we factorially manipulated water column nutrients (with Osmocote(™) slow-release fertilizer) and predation pressure (with predator exclusion cages) and measured the effects on herbivore abundance, richness and beta diversity. We examined likely mechanisms of community responses by statistically exploring the response of individual herbivore species to trophic manipulations. Predators increased herbivore richness and total abundance, in both cases through indirect shifts in community composition. Increases in richness occurred through predator suppression of common gammarid amphipod species (Monocorophium acherusicum and Photis brevipes), permitting the inclusion of rarer gammarid species (Aoroides columbiae and Pontogeneia rostrata). Increased total herbivore abundance reflected increased abundance of a caprellid amphipod species (Caprella sp.), concurrent with declines in the abundance of other common species. Furthermore, predators decreased beta diversity by decreasing variability in Caprella sp. abundance among habitat patches. Osmocote(™) fertilization increased nutrient concentrations locally, but nutrients dissipated to background levels within 3 m of the fertilizer. Nutrient addition weakly affected the herbivore assemblage, not affecting richness and increasing total abundance by increasing one herbivore species (Caprella sp.). Nutrient addition did not affect beta diversity. We demonstrated that assemblage-level effects of trophic manipulations on community structure are the result of distinct and often indirect responses of herbivore species. These results underscore the importance of understanding herbivore-herbivore interactions in a system commonly subjected to both eutrophication and overfishing. © 2015 The Authors. Journal of Animal Ecology © 2015 British Ecological Society.

OBSIP: Advancing Capabilities and Expanding the Ocean Bottom Seismology Community

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aderhold, K.; Evers, B.

2016-12-01

The Ocean Bottom Seismograph Instrument Pool (OBSIP) is a National Science Foundation sponsored instrument facility that provides ocean bottom seismometers (OBS) and technical support for research in the areas of marine geology, seismology, and geodynamics. OBSIP is comprised of an OBSIP Management Office (OMO) and three Institutional Instrument Contributors (IICs), who each contribute instruments and technical support to the pool. OBSIP operates both short period and broadband OBS instruments with a variety of capabilities to operate in shallow or deep water over both short and long term durations. Engineering developments at the IICs include capability for freshwater deployments, increased recording duration (15+ months), more efficient recovery systems, and sensor upgrades for a less heterogeneous fleet. OBSIP will provide instruments for three experiments in 2016 with deployments along a 1500 km transect in the South Atlantic, a large active-source experiment on the Chilean megathrust, and the very first seismometers ever deployed in Yellowstone Lake. OBSIP OMO strives to lower the barrier to working with OBS data by performing quality checks on data, investigating and responding to community questions, and providing data products like horizontal orientation calculations. This has resulted in a significant increase in new users to OBS data, especially for the open data sets from community seismic experiments. In 2015 the five-year Cascadia Initiative community seismic experiment concluded with over 250 OBS deployments and recoveries in an extensive grid off-shore Washington, Oregon, and California. The logistics of the Cascadia Initiative were challenging, but lessons were learned and efficiencies have been identified for implementation in future experiments. Large-scale community seismic experiments that cross the shoreline like the Cascadia Initiative and the Eastern North American Margin experiment have led to the proposal of even more ambitious endeavors like the Subduction Zone Observatory. OBSIP also is working to develop international collaboration and networking between OBS operators and researchers through special interest group meetings and the biannual OBS Symposium, to be held again in Fall 2017.

Algal Turf Recruitment and Early Growth did not Differ Across Sites that Varied Greatly in Herbivore and Coral Community Structure.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaynus, C.

2016-02-01

Worldwide losses of coral with accompanying phase shifts to algae have been attributed to human alterations of major ecological processes, especially top down (herbivory) and bottom up (nutrients) forces. While positive effects on macroalgae have received some attention, less is known about turf algae. Closely cropped turf algae (< 1cm) are a major component of pristine coral reefs, providing trophic support, aiding in nutrient cycling, and providing high rates of photosynthesis. We hypothesized that enhanced nutrient supplies from developed watersheds and reduced herbivory from overfishing would result in longer turf, and possibly development of macroalgae. The goals of this study were to quantify top down and bottom up forces in conjunction with assessments of turf algae recruitment and growth on a fringing reef in Mo'orea French Polynesia. While this study will continue for 2 years, data here are for 5 weeks. We chose 3 sites in Cooks Bay that likely varied in nutrients and 3 along the north shore, presumably higher in herbivory. At each site 10 recruitment tiles were deployed. Turf communities accumulated over five-weeks while benthic and herbivorous fish communities were quantified at each site. Herbivorous fish communities consisted of juveniles and adults from the families Acanthuridae and Scaridae with both adult and juvenile acanthurids, comprising > 50% of all herbivorous fish. Sites within the bay, however, contained at least 66.7% less fish than sites along the north shore. In contrast benthic surveys portrayed little difference between sites, with turf making up > 70% of total hard bottom cover. Similarly, there was little difference among sites in the recruitment and growth rate ( 0.2-0.3 mm/week) of turf on tiles. While turf recruitment and early development appeared to be unaffected by herbivory or nutrients over the short time, we predict that longer-term effects will occur as this community develops.

An Analysis of Artificial Reef Fish Community Structure along the Northwestern Gulf of Mexico Shelf: Potential Impacts of “Rigs-to-Reefs” Programs

PubMed Central

Ajemian, Matthew J.; Wetz, Jennifer J.; Shipley-Lozano, Brooke; Shively, J. Dale; Stunz, Gregory W.

2015-01-01

Artificial structures are the dominant complex marine habitat type along the northwestern Gulf of Mexico (GOM) shelf. These habitats can consist of a variety of materials, but in this region are primarily comprised of active and reefed oil and gas platforms. Despite being established for several decades, the fish communities inhabiting these structures remain poorly investigated. Between 2012 and 2013 we assessed fish communities at 15 sites using remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). Fish assemblages were quantified from standing platforms and an array of artificial reef types (Liberty Ships and partially removed or toppled platforms) distributed over the Texas continental shelf. The depth gradient covered by the surveys (30–84 m) and variability in structure density and relief also permitted analyses of the effects of these characteristics on fish richness, diversity, and assemblage composition. ROVs captured a variety of species inhabiting these reefs from large transient piscivores to small herbivorous reef fishes. While structure type and relief were shown to influence species richness and community structure, major trends in species composition were largely explained by the bottom depth where these structures occurred. We observed a shift in fish communities and relatively high diversity at approximately 60 m bottom depth, confirming trends observed in previous studies of standing platforms. This depth was also correlated with some of the largest Red Snapper captured on supplementary vertical longline surveys. Our work indicates that managers of artificial reefing programs (e.g., Rigs-to-Reefs) in the GOM should carefully consider the ambient environmental conditions when designing reef sites. For the Texas continental shelf, reefing materials at a 50–60 m bottom depth can serve a dual purpose of enhancing diving experiences and providing the best potential habitat for relatively large Red Snapper. PMID:25954943

Long-term dynamics of a high-latitude coral reef community at Sodwana Bay, South Africa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Porter, S. N.; Schleyer, M. H.

2017-06-01

Dynamics in reef cover, mortality and recruitment success of a high-latitude coral community in South Africa were studied over 20 yr with the aim to detect the effects of climate change. Coral communities at this locality are the southernmost on the African continent, non-accretive, attain high biodiversity and are dominated by soft corals. Long-term monitoring within fixed transects on representative reef was initiated in 1993 and has entailed annual photo-quadrat surveys and hourly temperature logging. Although sea temperatures rose by 0.15 °C p.a. at the site up to 2000, they have subsequently been decreasing, and the overall trend based on monthly means has been a significant decrease of 0.03 °C p.a. Despite this, minor bleaching was encountered in the region during the 1998 El Niño-Southern Oscillation event, again in the summer of 2000/2001 and in 2005. A significant decreasing trend of 0.95% p.a. in soft coral cover has been evident throughout the monitoring period, attributable to significant decreases in Sinularia and Lobophytum spp. cover. In contrast, hard coral cover gradually and significantly increased up to 2005, this being largely attributable to increases in cover by Acropora spp. Recruitment success and mortality of both soft and hard corals has displayed high inter-annual variability with increasing but non-significant trends in the last 5 yr. The reduction in soft coral cover has been more consistent and greater than that of hard corals, but it is difficult at this stage to attribute this to changes in water quality, acidification-linked accretion or temperature.

Channel Bottom Morphology in the Deltaic Reach of the Song Hau (mekong) River Channel in Vietnam

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allison, M. A.; Weathers, H. D., III; Meselhe, E. A.

2016-02-01

Boat-based, channel bathymetry and bankline elevation studies were conducted in the tidal and estuarine Mekong River channel using multibeam bathymetry and LIDAR corrected for elevation by RTK satellite positioning. Two mapping campaigns, one at high discharge in October 2014 and one at low discharge in March 2015, were conducted in the lower 100 km reach of the Song Hau distributary channel to (1) examine bottom morphology and its relationship to sediment transport, and (2) to provide information to setup the grid for a multi-dimensional and reduced complexity models of channel hydrodynamics and sediment dynamics. Sand fields were identified in multibeam data by the presence of dunes that were as large as 2-4 m high and 40-80 m wavelength and by clean sands in bottom grabs. Extensive areas of sand at the head and toe of mid-channel islands displayed 10-25 m diameter circular pits that could be correlated with bucket dredge, sand mining activities observed at some of the sites. Large areas of the channel floor were relict (containing little or no modern sediment) in the high discharge campaign, identifiable by the presence of along channel erosional furrows and terraced outcrops along the channel floor and margins. Laterally extensive flat areas were also observed in the channel thalweg. Both these and the relict areas were sampled by bottom grab as stiff silty clays. Complex cross-channel combinations of these morphologies were observed in some transects, suggesting strong bottom steering of tidal and riverine currents. Relative to high discharge, transects above and below the salt penetration limit showed evidence of shallowing in the thalweg and adjacent sloping areas at low discharge in March 2015. This shallowing, combined with the reduced extent of sand fields and furrowed areas, and soft muds in grabs, suggests seasonal trapping of fine grained sediment is occurring by estuarine and tidal circulation.

WHISPERS Project on the easternmost slope of the Ross Sea (Antarctica): preliminary results.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olivo, E.; De Santis, L.; Bergamasco, A.; Colleoni, F.; Gales, J. A.; Florindo-Lopez, C.; Kim, S.; Kovacevic, V.; Rebesco, M.

2017-12-01

The advance and retreat of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet from the outer continental shelf and the oceanic circulation are the main causes of the depositional processes on the Ross Sea continental slope, at present time and during the most of the Cenozoic. Currently the Antarctic Bottom Water formation is directly linked to the relatively warm Circumpolar Deep Water that, encroaching the continental shelf, mixes with the colder Ross Sea Bottom Water. Detailed multibeam and geological surveys useful to locate and characterize peculiar morphological structures on the bottom are essential to study how the glacial and oceanographic processes interact with the seabed sediments. In the framework of the PNRA-WHISPERS project (XXXIIth Italian Antarctic expedition - January/March 2017), new multibeam bathymetric, sub-bottom chirp, were acquired from the easternmost margin of the Ross Sea, on the southeastern side of the Hayes Bank, usually covered by sea ice. We observed on the upper slope erosional features (incised gullies of likely glacial meltwater origin). A broad scar in the upper slope is characterized by an elongated SSW-NNE ridge (10 km long, 850-1200 m water depth, 2 km wide), that may be a remnants of previous glacial or debris flow deposits, eroded by meltwater outwash discharge at the beginning of grounding ice retreat and by RSBW cascading along the slope, as documented by Expandable Bathy-Thermograph and Acoustic Depth Current Profile data. Sub-bottom chirp profiles crossing this ridge show a very low amplitude reflective sea bed, supporting the hypothesis of its soft sediment nature, in good agreement with a very low acoustic velocity obtained by multichannel seismic data reprocessing. The occurrence of internal stratification on 2D multichannel seismic profiles would discount a gas-fluids related mud volcano origin. No sediment cores were collected, due to bad sea conditions and limited ship time, further data collection would be needed to fully understand the origin of such depositional feature and its relation with slope glacial and oceanographic processes.

Environmental Drivers of Benthic Flux Variation and Ecosystem Functioning in Salish Sea and Northeast Pacific Sediments.

PubMed

Belley, Rénald; Snelgrove, Paul V R; Archambault, Philippe; Juniper, S Kim

2016-01-01

The upwelling of deep waters from the oxygen minimum zone in the Northeast Pacific from the continental slope to the shelf and into the Salish Sea during spring and summer offers a unique opportunity to study ecosystem functioning in the form of benthic fluxes along natural gradients. Using the ROV ROPOS we collected sediment cores from 10 sites in May and July 2011, and September 2013 to perform shipboard incubations and flux measurements. Specifically, we measured benthic fluxes of oxygen and nutrients to evaluate potential environmental drivers of benthic flux variation and ecosystem functioning along natural gradients of temperature and bottom water dissolved oxygen concentrations. The range of temperature and dissolved oxygen encountered across our study sites allowed us to apply a suite of multivariate analyses rarely used in flux studies to identify bottom water temperature as the primary environmental driver of benthic flux variation and organic matter remineralization. Redundancy analysis revealed that bottom water characteristics (temperature and dissolved oxygen), quality of organic matter (chl a:phaeo and C:N ratios) and sediment characteristics (mean grain size and porosity) explained 51.5% of benthic flux variation. Multivariate analyses identified significant spatial and temporal variation in benthic fluxes, demonstrating key differences between the Northeast Pacific and Salish Sea. Moreover, Northeast Pacific slope fluxes were generally lower than shelf fluxes. Spatial and temporal variation in benthic fluxes in the Salish Sea were driven primarily by differences in temperature and quality of organic matter on the seafloor following phytoplankton blooms. These results demonstrate the utility of multivariate approaches in differentiating among potential drivers of seafloor ecosystem functioning, and indicate that current and future predictive models of organic matter remineralization and ecosystem functioning of soft-muddy shelf and slope seafloor habitats should consider bottom water temperature variation. Bottom temperature has important implications for estimates of seasonal and spatial benthic flux variation, benthic-pelagic coupling, and impacts of predicted ocean warming at high latitudes.

Using multiple gears to assess acoustic detectability and biomass of fish species in lake superior

USGS Publications Warehouse

Yule, D.L.; Adams, J.V.; Stockwell, J.D.; Gorman, O.T.

2007-01-01

Recent predator demand and prey supply studies suggest that an annual daytime bottom trawl survey of Lake Superior underestimates prey fish biomass. A multiple-gear (acoustics, bottom trawl, and midwater trawl) nighttime survey has been recommended, but before abandoning a long-term daytime survey the effectiveness of night sampling of important prey species must be verified. We sampled three bottom depths (30, 60, and 120 m) at a Lake Superior site where the fish community included all commercially and ecologically important species. Day and night samples were collected within 48 h at all depths during eight different periods (one new and one full moon period during both early summer and late summer to early fall over 2 years). Biomass of demersal and benthic species was higher in night bottom trawl samples than in day bottom trawl samples. Night acoustic collections showed that pelagic fish typically occupied water cooler than 15°C and light levels less than 0.001 lx. Using biomass in night bottom trawls and acoustic biomass above the bottom trawl path, we calculated an index of acoustic detectability for each species. Ciscoes Coregonus artedi, kiyis C. kiyi, and rainbow smeltOsmerus mordax left the bottom at night, whereas bloaters C. hoyi stayed nearer the bottom. We compared the biomass of important prey species estimated with two survey types: day bottom trawls and night estimates of the entire water column (bottom trawl biomass plus acoustic biomass). The biomass of large ciscoes (>200 mm) was significantly greater when measured at night than when measured during daylight, but the differences for other sizes of important species did not vary significantly by survey type. Nighttime of late summer is a period when conditions for biomass estimation are largely invariant, and all important prey species can be sampled using a multiple-gear approach.

The use of Sentinel-2 imagery for seagrass mapping: Kalloni Gulf (Lesvos Island, Greece) case study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Topouzelis, Konstantinos; Charalampis Spondylidis, Spyridon; Papakonstantinou, Apostolos; Soulakellis, Nikolaos

2016-08-01

Seagrass meadows play a significant role in ecosystems by stabilizing sediment and improving water clarity, which enhances seagrass growing conditions. It is high on the priority of EU legislation to map and protect them. The traditional use of medium spatial resolution satellite imagery e.g. Landsat-8 (30m) is very useful for mapping seagrass meadows on a regional scale. However, the availability of Sentinel-2 data, the recent ESA's satellite with its payload Multi-Spectral Instrument (MSI) is expected to improve the mapping accuracy. MSI designed to improve coastline studies due to its enhanced spatial and spectral capabilities e.g. optical bands with 10m spatial resolution. The present work examines the quality of Sentinel-2 images for seagrass mapping, the ability of each band in detection and discrimination of different habitats and estimates the accuracy of seagrass mapping. After pre-processing steps, e.g. radiometric calibration and atmospheric correction, image classified into four classes. Classification classes included sub-bottom composition e.g. seagrass, soft bottom, and hard bottom. Concrete vectors describing the areas covered by seagrass extracted from the high-resolution satellite image and used as in situ measurements. The developed methodology applied in the Gulf of Kalloni, (Lesvos Island - Greece). Results showed that Sentinel-2 images can be robustly used for seagrass mapping due to their spatial resolution, band availability and radiometric accuracy.

Developing Foram-AMBI for biomonitoring in the Mediterranean: Species assignments to ecological categories

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jorissen, Frans; Nardelli, Maria P.; Almogi-Labin, Ahuva; Barras, Christine; Bergamin, Luisa; Bicchi, Erica; El Kateb, Akram; Ferraro, Luciana; McGann, Mary; Morigi, Caterina; Romano, Elena; Sabattini, Anna; Schweizer, Magali; Spezzaferri, Silvia

2018-01-01

Most environmental bio-monitoring methods using the species composition of marine faunas define the Ecological Quality Status of soft bottom ecosystems based on the relative proportions of species assigned to a limited number of ecological categories. In this study we analyse the distribution patterns of benthic foraminifera in the Mediterranean as a function of organic carbon gradients on the basis of 15 publications and assign the individual species to five ecological categories. Our categories (of sensitive, indifferent and 3rd, 2nd and 1st order opportunists) are very similar to the ecological categories commonly used for macrofauna, but show some minor differences. In the 15 analysed publications, we considered the numerical data of 493 taxa, of which 199 could be assigned. In all 79 taxa were classified as sensitive, 60 as indifferent, 46 as 3rd order, 12 as 2nd order and 2 as 1st order opportunists. The remaining 294 taxa are all accessory, and will only marginally contribute to biotic indices based on relative species proportions. In this paper we wanted also to explain the methodology we used for these species assignments, paying particular attention to all complications and problems encountered. We think that the species list proposed here will constitute a highly useful tool for foraminiferal bio-monitoring of soft bottoms in the Mediterranean Sea, which can be used in different ecological indices (Foram-AMBI and similar methods). With additional information becoming available in the next few years, it will be possible to expand the list, and, if necessary, to apply some minor corrections. As a next step, we intend to test this species list using several biotic indices, in a number of independent data sets, as soon as these will become available.

A quantitative estimate of the function of soft-bottom sheltered coastal areas as essential flatfish nursery habitat

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trimoreau, E.; Archambault, B.; Brind'Amour, A.; Lepage, M.; Guitton, J.; Le Pape, O.

2013-11-01

Essential fish habitat suitability (EFHS) models and geographic information system (GIS) were combined to describe nursery habitats for three flatfish species (Solea solea, Pleuronectes platessa, Dicologlossa cuneata) in the Bay of Biscay (Western Europe), using physical parameters known or suspected to influence juvenile flatfish spatial distribution and density (i.e. bathymetry, sediment, estuarine influence and wave exposure). The effects of habitat features on juvenile distribution were first calculated from EFHS models, used to identify the habitats in which juvenile are concentrated. The EFHS model for S. solea confirmed previous findings regarding its preference for shallow soft bottom areas and provided new insights relating to the significant effect of wave exposure on nursery habitat suitability. The two other models extended these conclusions with some discrepancies among species related to their respective niches. Using a GIS, quantitative density maps were produced from EFHS models predictions. The respective areas of the different habitats were determined and their relative contributions (density × area) to the total amount of juveniles were calculated at the scale of stock management, in the Bay of Biscay. Shallow and muddy areas contributed to 70% of total juvenile relative abundance whereas only representing 16% of the coastal area, suggesting that they should be considered as essential habitats for these three flatfish species. For S. solea and P. platessa, wave exposure explained the propensity for sheltered areas, where concentration of juveniles was higher. Distribution maps of P. platessa and D. cuneata juveniles also revealed opposite spatial and temporal trends which were explained by the respective biogeographical distributions of these two species, close to their southern and northern limit respectively, and by their responses to hydroclimatic trends.

Seasonal and inter-annual variation in occurrence and biomass of rooted macrophytes and drift algae in shallow bays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berglund, J.; Mattila, J.; Rönnberg, O.; Heikkilä, J.; Bonsdorff, E.

2003-04-01

Submerged rooted macrophytes and drift algae were studied in shallow (0-1 m) brackish soft-bottom bays in the Åland Islands, N Baltic Sea, in 1997-2000. The study was performed by aerial photography and ground-truth sampling and the compatibility of the methods was evaluated. The study provided quantitative results on seasonal and inter-annual variation in growth, distribution and biomass of submerged macrophytes and drift algae. On an average, 18 submerged macrophyte species occurred in the studied bays. The most common species, by weight and occurrence, were Chara aspera, Cladophora glomerata, Pilayella littoralis and Potamogeton pectinatus. Filamentous green algae constituted 45-70% of the biomass, charophytes 25-40% and vascular plants 3-18%. A seasonal pattern with a peak in biomass in July-August was found and the mean biomass was negatively correlated with exposure. There were statistically significant differences in coverage among years, and among levels of exposure. The coverage was highest when exposure was low. Both sheltered and exposed bays were influenced by drift algae (30 and 60% occurrence in July-August) and there was a positive correlation between exposure and occurrence of algal accumulations. At exposed sites, most of the algae had drifted in from other areas, while at sheltered ones they were mainly of local origin. Data obtained by aerial photography and ground-truth sampling showed a high concordance, but aerial photography gave a 9% higher estimate than the ground-truth samples. The results can be applied in planning of monitoring and management strategies for shallow soft-bottom areas under potential threat of drift algae.

AERIAL OVERVIEW, LOOKING SOUTH ACROSS INTERSTATE 2059 (BOTTOM RIGHT) TO ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

AERIAL OVERVIEW, LOOKING SOUTH ACROSS INTERSTATE 20-59 (BOTTOM RIGHT) TO THE ORIGINAL PLANNED INDUSTRIAL COMMUNITY WHOSE MAJOR ACCESS (CENTER) LEADS FROM THE TENNESSEE COAL & IRON CO. - US STEEL - US STEEL FAIRFIELD WORKS (NOT PICTURED) ACROSS GARY AVENUE AND THE COMMERCIAL DISTRICT TO THE CIVIC CENTER PLAZA WHICH IS SURROUNDED BY RESIDENTIAL DISTRICTS TO THE FORMER TCI-US STEEL EMPLOYEES (NOW LLOYD NOLAND) HOSPITAL (TOP CENTER). TO LEFT OF HOSPITAL IS PARKWAY, ONE OF THE MODEL INDUSTRIAL TOWN'S PRINCIPAL LANDSCAPED THOROUGHFARES. - City of Fairfield, Fairfield, Jefferson County, AL

Legacy of top-down herbivore pressure ricochets back up multiple trophic levels in forest canopies over 30 years

Treesearch

Tim Nuttle; Ellen H. Yerger; Scott H. Stoleson; Todd E. Ristau

2011-01-01

Removal of top-down control on herbivores can result in a trophic cascade where herbivore pressure on plants results in changes in plant communities. These altered plant communities are hypothesized to exert bottom-up control on subsequent herbivory via changes in plant quality or productivity. But it remains untested whether top-down perturbation causes long term...

Microbial Community Analysis of Anaerobic Reactors Treating Soft Drink Wastewater

PubMed Central

Narihiro, Takashi; Kim, Na-Kyung; Mei, Ran; Nobu, Masaru K.; Liu, Wen-Tso

2015-01-01

The anaerobic packed-bed (AP) and hybrid packed-bed (HP) reactors containing methanogenic microbial consortia were applied to treat synthetic soft drink wastewater, which contains polyethylene glycol (PEG) and fructose as the primary constituents. The AP and HP reactors achieved high COD removal efficiency (>95%) after 80 and 33 days of the operation, respectively, and operated stably over 2 years. 16S rRNA gene pyrotag analyses on a total of 25 biofilm samples generated 98,057 reads, which were clustered into 2,882 operational taxonomic units (OTUs). Both AP and HP communities were predominated by Bacteroidetes, Chloroflexi, Firmicutes, and candidate phylum KSB3 that may degrade organic compound in wastewater treatment processes. Other OTUs related to uncharacterized Geobacter and Spirochaetes clades and candidate phylum GN04 were also detected at high abundance; however, their relationship to wastewater treatment has remained unclear. In particular, KSB3, GN04, Bacteroidetes, and Chloroflexi are consistently associated with the organic loading rate (OLR) increase to 1.5 g COD/L-d. Interestingly, KSB3 and GN04 dramatically decrease in both reactors after further OLR increase to 2.0 g COD/L-d. These results indicate that OLR strongly influences microbial community composition. This suggests that specific uncultivated taxa may take central roles in COD removal from soft drink wastewater depending on OLR. PMID:25748027

Feeding habits of the speckled guitarfish Rhinobatos glaucostigma (Elasmobranchii: Rhinobatidae).

PubMed

Lara-Mendoza, R E; Márquez-Farías, J F; Román-Reyes, J C

2015-08-01

The stomachs of 464 speckled guitarfish Rhinobatos glaucostigma were sampled from the south-eastern Gulf of California (GC) to determine diet composition. Numerical indices and prey-specific index of relative importance ((%I)PSIR ) were used to determine the feeding strategy of the species. An analysis of similarity (ANOSIM) was used to determine differences in diet with respect to sex, season (dry or rainy) and maturity stages (immature or mature). The diversity and niche breadth (by sex, season and maturity) and a general trophic level were determined. The overall diet was dominated by shrimps ((%I)PSIR  = 43.47), amphipods ((%I)PSIR  = 18.89) and crabs ((%I)PSIR  = 18.07). ANOSIM demonstrated differences in the diet by maturity and season, but not by sex. Rainy and dry season diets were dominated by shrimps and amphipods, respectively. Immature specimens fed mainly on amphipods, whereas mature fish preferred shrimps and crabs. Rhinobatos glaucostigma showed a narrow niche breadth with an intermediary trophic level (TL  = 3.72) and can be considered as a secondary consumer in the soft-bottom demersal community of the south-east GC. Understanding the feeding habits and trophic level of R. glaucostigma is vital to help identify the segments of the population vulnerable to overfishing by artisanal and industrial fisheries, and to aid in conservation and management of this elasmobranch. © 2015 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.

Correlated evolution between mode of larval development and habitat in muricid gastropods.

PubMed

Pappalardo, Paula; Rodríguez-Serrano, Enrique; Fernández, Miriam

2014-01-01

Larval modes of development affect evolutionary processes and influence the distribution of marine invertebrates in the ocean. The decrease in pelagic development toward higher latitudes is one of the patterns of distribution most frequently discussed in marine organisms (Thorson's rule), which has been related to increased larval mortality associated with long pelagic durations in colder waters. However, the type of substrate occupied by adults has been suggested to influence the generality of the latitudinal patterns in larval development. To help understand how the environment affects the evolution of larval types we evaluated the association between larval development and habitat using gastropods of the Muricidae family as a model group. To achieve this goal, we collected information on latitudinal distribution, sea water temperature, larval development and type of substrate occupied by adults. We constructed a molecular phylogeny for 45 species of muricids to estimate the ancestral character states and to assess the relationship between traits using comparative methods in a Bayesian framework. Our results showed high probability for a common ancestor of the muricids with nonpelagic (and nonfeeding) development, that lived in hard bottoms and cold temperatures. From this ancestor, a pelagic feeding larva evolved three times, and some species shifted to warmer temperatures or sand bottoms. The evolution of larval development was not independent of habitat; the most probable evolutionary route reconstructed in the analysis of correlated evolution showed that type of larval development may change in soft bottoms but in hard bottoms this change is highly unlikely. Lower sea water temperatures were associated with nonpelagic modes of development, supporting Thorson's rule. We show how environmental pressures can favor a particular mode of larval development or transitions between larval modes and discuss the reacquisition of feeding larva in muricids gastropods.

Epidemiologic study of soft tissue rheumatism in Shantou and Taiyuan, China.

PubMed

Zeng, Qing-yu; Zang, Chang-hai; Lin, Ling; Chen, Su-biao; Li, Xiao-feng; Xiao, Zheng-yu; Dong, Hai-yuan; Zhang, Ai-lian; Chen, Ren

2010-08-05

Soft tissue rheumatism is a group of common rheumatic disorders reported in many countries. For investigating the prevalence rate of soft tissue rheumatism in different population in China, we carried out a population study in Shantou rural and Taiyuan urban area. Samples of 3915 adults in an urban area of Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, and 2350 in a rural area of Shantou, Guangdong Province were surveyed. Modified International League of Association for Rheumatology (ILAR)-Asia Pacific League of Association for Rheumatology (APLAR) Community Oriented Program for Control of Rheumatic Diseases (COPCORD) core questionnaire was implemented as screening tool. The positive responders were then all examined by rheumatologists. Prevalence rate of soft tissue rheumatism was 2.0% in Taiyuan, and 5.3% in Shantou. Rotator cuff (shoulder) tendinitis, adhesive capsulitis (frozen shoulder), lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow), and digital flexor tenosynovitis (trigger finger) were the commonly seen soft tissue rheumatism in both areas. Tatarsalgia, plantar fasciitis, and De Quervain's tenosynovitis were more commonly seen in Shantou than that in Taiyuan. Only 1 case of fibromyalgia was found in Taiyuan and 2 cases in Shantou. The prevalence of soft tissue rheumatism varied with age, sex and occupation. Soft tissue rheumatism is common in Taiyuan and Shantou, China. The prevalence of soft tissue rheumatism was quite different with different geographic, environmental, and socioeconomic conditions; and varying with age, sex, and occupation. The prevalence of fibromyalgia is low in the present survey.

Water Consumption in European Children: Associations with Intake of Fruit Juices, Soft Drinks and Related Parenting Practices

PubMed Central

Mantziki, Krystallia; Renders, Carry M.; Seidell, Jaap C.

2017-01-01

Background: High intake of fruit juices and soft drinks contributes to excessive weight gain and obesity in children. Furthermore, parenting practices play an important role in the development of children’s dietary habits. The way parents play this role in the development of their children’s choices of beverages is still unclear. Objectives: To study the associations: (1) of both fruit juices and soft drinks consumption with water consumption of children and (2) The associations between parenting practices towards fruit juices and soft drinks and water consumption of children. Design: Cross-sectional data from 6 to 8 year old children from seven European communities (n = 1187) were collected. Associations among fruit juices, soft drinks, the respective parenting practices and the child’s water consumption were assessed by parental questionnaires. Results: The consumption of water was inversely associated with that of soft drinks but not with the consumption of fruit juices. The child’s water intake was favorably influenced when stricter parenting practices towards soft drinks were adopted (e.g., less parental allowance, low home availability and high parental self-efficacy in managing intake). There was less influence observed of parenting practices towards fruit juices. Fruit juices were consumed more often than soft drinks. Conclusions: Low consumption of soft drinks—and not of fruit juices—was associated with high water consumption in children in the current study. Moreover, parenting practices towards both fruit juices and soft drinks were associated with the water intake of the children, irrespective of their socio-economic status. PMID:28561769

Water Consumption in European Children: Associations with Intake of Fruit Juices, Soft Drinks and Related Parenting Practices.

PubMed

Mantziki, Krystallia; Renders, Carry M; Seidell, Jaap C

2017-05-31

Background : High intake of fruit juices and soft drinks contributes to excessive weight gain and obesity in children. Furthermore, parenting practices play an important role in the development of children's dietary habits. The way parents play this role in the development of their children's choices of beverages is still unclear. Objectives : To study the associations: (1) of both fruit juices and soft drinks consumption with water consumption of children and (2) The associations between parenting practices towards fruit juices and soft drinks and water consumption of children. Design : Cross-sectional data from 6 to 8 year old children from seven European communities ( n = 1187) were collected. Associations among fruit juices, soft drinks, the respective parenting practices and the child's water consumption were assessed by parental questionnaires. Results : The consumption of water was inversely associated with that of soft drinks but not with the consumption of fruit juices. The child's water intake was favorably influenced when stricter parenting practices towards soft drinks were adopted (e.g., less parental allowance, low home availability and high parental self-efficacy in managing intake). There was less influence observed of parenting practices towards fruit juices. Fruit juices were consumed more often than soft drinks. Conclusions : Low consumption of soft drinks-and not of fruit juices-was associated with high water consumption in children in the current study. Moreover, parenting practices towards both fruit juices and soft drinks were associated with the water intake of the children, irrespective of their socio-economic status.

Stressed but Stable: Canopy Loss Decreased Species Synchrony and Metabolic Variability in an Intertidal Hard-Bottom Community

PubMed Central

Valdivia, Nelson; Golléty, Claire; Migné, Aline; Davoult, Dominique; Molis, Markus

2012-01-01

The temporal stability of aggregate community properties depends on the dynamics of the component species. Since species growth can compensate for the decline of other species, synchronous species dynamics can maintain stability (i.e. invariability) in aggregate properties such as community abundance and metabolism. In field experiments we tested the separate and interactive effects of two stressors associated with storminess–loss of a canopy-forming species and mechanical disturbances–on species synchrony and community respiration of intertidal hard-bottom communities on Helgoland Island, NE Atlantic. Treatments consisted of regular removal of the canopy-forming seaweed Fucus serratus and a mechanical disturbance applied once at the onset of the experiment in March 2006. The level of synchrony in species abundances was assessed from estimates of species percentage cover every three months until September 2007. Experiments at two sites consistently showed that canopy loss significantly reduced species synchrony. Mechanical disturbance had neither separate nor interactive effects on species synchrony. Accordingly, in situ measurements of CO2-fluxes showed that canopy loss, but not mechanical disturbances, significantly reduced net primary productivity and temporal variation in community respiration during emersion periods. Our results support the idea that compensatory dynamics may stabilise aggregate properties. They further suggest that the ecological consequences of the loss of a single structurally important species may be stronger than those derived from smaller-scale mechanical disturbances in natural ecosystems. PMID:22574181

Selective hierarchical patterning of silicon nanostructures via soft nanostencil lithography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Du, Ke; Ding, Junjun; Wathuthanthri, Ishan; Choi, Chang-Hwan

2017-11-01

It is challenging to hierarchically pattern high-aspect-ratio nanostructures on microstructures using conventional lithographic techniques, where photoresist (PR) film is not able to uniformly cover on the microstructures as the aspect ratio increases. Such non-uniformity causes poor definition of nanopatterns over the microstructures. Nanostencil lithography can provide an alternative means to hierarchically construct nanostructures on microstructures via direct deposition or plasma etching through a free-standing nanoporous membrane. In this work, we demonstrate the multiscale hierarchical fabrication of high-aspect-ratio nanostructures on microstructures of silicon using a free-standing nanostencil, which is a nanoporous membrane consisting of metal (Cr), PR, and anti-reflective coating. The nanostencil membrane is used as a deposition mask to define Cr nanodot patterns on the predefined silicon microstructures. Then, deep reactive ion etching is used to hierarchically create nanostructures on the microstructures using the Cr nanodots as an etch mask. With simple modification of the main fabrication processes, high-aspect-ratio nanopillars are selectively defined only on top of the microstructures, on bottom, or on both top and bottom.

Deep-water scleractinian corals (Cnidaria: Anthozoa) from 2010-2011 INDEMARES expeditions to the Galicia Bank (Spain, northeast Atlantic).

PubMed

Altuna, Alvaro

2017-11-23

During surveys in the Galicia Bank (northeastern Atlantic) in the years 2010-2011 (INDEMARES project), 25 species of scleractinian corals corals were collected in a depth interval of 744-1764 m. Most interesting species are described and depicted. Additionally, species list and remarks are given for the 23 species dredged in the bank during the 1987 SEAMOUNT 1 expedition at 675-1125 m depth.From a literature review and new records from Galicia Bank given herein, 31 species of scleractinian corals are known from this seamount in a depth interval of 614-1764 m depth. Six are colonial and 25 solitary, with 17 occurring on hard bottoms and 14 on soft bottoms. Desmophyllum dianthus, Lophelia pertusa and Madrepora oculata are the most widely distributed species in both number of stations and depth range of specimens collected alive. Some species were recorded outside their previously known bathymetric ranges in the northeastern Atlantic. Javania pseudoalabastra is first documented for the Iberian Peninsula and Spanish faunas. Thrypticotrochus sp. is first collected from the Atlantic Ocean.

Selective hierarchical patterning of silicon nanostructures via soft nanostencil lithography.

PubMed

Du, Ke; Ding, Junjun; Wathuthanthri, Ishan; Choi, Chang-Hwan

2017-11-17

It is challenging to hierarchically pattern high-aspect-ratio nanostructures on microstructures using conventional lithographic techniques, where photoresist (PR) film is not able to uniformly cover on the microstructures as the aspect ratio increases. Such non-uniformity causes poor definition of nanopatterns over the microstructures. Nanostencil lithography can provide an alternative means to hierarchically construct nanostructures on microstructures via direct deposition or plasma etching through a free-standing nanoporous membrane. In this work, we demonstrate the multiscale hierarchical fabrication of high-aspect-ratio nanostructures on microstructures of silicon using a free-standing nanostencil, which is a nanoporous membrane consisting of metal (Cr), PR, and anti-reflective coating. The nanostencil membrane is used as a deposition mask to define Cr nanodot patterns on the predefined silicon microstructures. Then, deep reactive ion etching is used to hierarchically create nanostructures on the microstructures using the Cr nanodots as an etch mask. With simple modification of the main fabrication processes, high-aspect-ratio nanopillars are selectively defined only on top of the microstructures, on bottom, or on both top and bottom.

Controlled molecular self-assembly of complex three-dimensional structures in soft materials.

PubMed

Huang, Changjin; Quinn, David; Suresh, Subra; Hsia, K Jimmy

2018-01-02

Many applications in tissue engineering, flexible electronics, and soft robotics call for approaches that are capable of producing complex 3D architectures in soft materials. Here we present a method using molecular self-assembly to generate hydrogel-based 3D architectures that resembles the appealing features of the bottom-up process in morphogenesis of living tissues. Our strategy effectively utilizes the three essential components dictating living tissue morphogenesis to produce complex 3D architectures: modulation of local chemistry, material transport, and mechanics, which can be engineered by controlling the local distribution of polymerization inhibitor (i.e., oxygen), diffusion of monomers/cross-linkers through the porous structures of cross-linked polymer network, and mechanical constraints, respectively. We show that oxygen plays a role in hydrogel polymerization which is mechanistically similar to the role of growth factors in tissue growth, and the continued growth of hydrogel enabled by diffusion of monomers/cross-linkers into the porous hydrogel similar to the mechanisms of tissue growth enabled by material transport. The capability and versatility of our strategy are demonstrated through biomimetics of tissue morphogenesis for both plants and animals, and its application to generate other complex 3D architectures. Our technique opens avenues to studying many growth phenomena found in nature and generating complex 3D structures to benefit diverse applications. Copyright © 2017 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.

A comparative analysis of soft computing techniques for gene prediction.

PubMed

Goel, Neelam; Singh, Shailendra; Aseri, Trilok Chand

2013-07-01

The rapid growth of genomic sequence data for both human and nonhuman species has made analyzing these sequences, especially predicting genes in them, very important and is currently the focus of many research efforts. Beside its scientific interest in the molecular biology and genomics community, gene prediction is of considerable importance in human health and medicine. A variety of gene prediction techniques have been developed for eukaryotes over the past few years. This article reviews and analyzes the application of certain soft computing techniques in gene prediction. First, the problem of gene prediction and its challenges are described. These are followed by different soft computing techniques along with their application to gene prediction. In addition, a comparative analysis of different soft computing techniques for gene prediction is given. Finally some limitations of the current research activities and future research directions are provided. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Top-down Approach for the Direct Synthesis, Patterning, and Operation of Artificial Micromuscles on Flexible Substrates.

PubMed

Maziz, Ali; Plesse, Cédric; Soyer, Caroline; Cattan, Eric; Vidal, Frédéric

2016-01-27

Recent progress in the field of microsystems on flexible substrates raises the need for alternatives to the stiffness of classical actuation technologies. This paper reports a top-down process to microfabricate soft conducting polymer actuators on substrates on which they ultimately operate. The bending microactuators were fabricated by sequentially stacking layers using a layer polymerization by layer polymerization of conducting polymer electrodes and a solid polymer electrolyte. Standalone microbeams thinner than 10 μm were fabricated on SU-8 substrates associated with a bottom gold electrical contact. The operation of microactuators was demonstrated in air and at low voltage (±4 V).

Microfluidic networks embedded in a printed circuit board

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dong, Liangwei; Hu, Yueli

2017-07-01

In order to improve the robustness of microfluidic networks in printed circuit board (PCB)-based microfluidic platforms, a new method was presented. A pattern in a PCB was formed using hollowed-out technology. Polydimethylsiloxane was partly filled in the hollowed-out fields after mounting an adhesive tape on the bottom of the PCB, and solidified in an oven. Then, microfluidic networks were built using soft lithography technology. Microfluidic transportation and dilution operations were demonstrated using the fabricated microfluidic platform. Results show that this method can embed microfluidic networks into a PCB, and microfluidic operations can be implemented in the microfluidic networks embedded into the PCB.

In situ nitrification rates and activity of present nitrifiers in the bottom water layer of two Baltic coastal zones affected by different riverine nutrient loads

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bartl, I.; Münster Happel, E.; Riemann, L.; Voss, M.

2016-02-01

Baltic coastal zones are among the most eutrophied in the world receiving high loads of nitrogen from riverine inputs. However, not only the loads but also the internal dynamics in coastal zones might have positive feedback on eutrophication through efficient remineralisation of organic material in the bottom water. Therefore, we studied nitrification, which is a vital remineralisation process, near the seafloor along with the community of nitrifying microorganisms. We hypothesize that a high nutrient and organic matter load leads to elevated ammonium concentrations in coastal waters and thus stimulates nitrification rates and alters the nitrifying community. Here we present results from 3 cruises combining nitrification rate measurements by 15N-incubations with sequence-based analyses of present and active nitrifiers in the bottom water of two sites in the Baltic Sea receiving different nutrient loads. The first results from the Bonus projects COCOA and BLUEPRINT indicate an increase of nitrification rates with depth as well as distance from the river mouth. In situ rates in the bottom water of the nutrient rich Vistula plume range from 53 to 197 nmol L-1 d-1 and from 10 to 646 nmol L-1 d-1 during winter and summer, respectively. In the nutrient poor Öre estuary rates increased significantly by 11 nmol L-1 d-1 from the river mouth to the outermost station. The relationship between nitrification rates, nitrifiers and trophic state of the coastal zone shall be discussed.

Biogenic disturbance determines invasion success in a subtidal soft-sediment system.

PubMed

Lohrer, Andrew M; Chiaroni, Luca D; Hewitt, Judi E; Thrush, Simon F

2008-05-01

Theoretically, disturbance and diversity can influence the success of invasive colonists if (1) resource limitation is a prime determinant of invasion success and (2) disturbance and diversity affect the availability of required resources. However, resource limitation is not of overriding importance in all systems, as exemplified by marine soft sediments, one of Earth's most widespread habitat types. Here, we tested the disturbance-invasion hypothesis in a marine soft-sediment system by altering rates of biogenic disturbance and tracking the natural colonization of plots by invasive species. Levels of sediment disturbance were controlled by manipulating densities of burrowing spatangoid urchins, the dominant biogenic sediment mixers in the system. Colonization success by two invasive species (a gobiid fish and a semelid bivalve) was greatest in plots with sediment disturbance rates < 500 cm(3) x m(-2) x d(-1), at the low end of the experimental disturbance gradient (0 to > 9000 cm(3) x m(-2) x d(-1)). Invasive colonization declined with increasing levels of sediment disturbance, counter to the disturbance-invasion hypothesis. Increased sediment disturbance by the urchins also reduced the richness and diversity of native macrofauna (particularly small, sedentary, surface feeders), though there was no evidence of increased availability of resources with increased disturbance that would have facilitated invasive colonization: sediment food resources (chlorophyll a and organic matter content) did not increase, and space and access to overlying water were not limited (low invertebrate abundance). Thus, our study revealed the importance of biogenic disturbance in promoting invasion resistance in a marine soft-sediment community, providing further evidence of the valuable role of bioturbation in soft-sediment systems (bioturbation also affects carbon processing, nutrient recycling, oxygen dynamics, benthic community structure, and so on.). Bioturbation rates are influenced by the presence and abundance of large burrowing species (like spatangoid urchins). Therefore, mass mortalities of large bioturbators could inflate invasion risk and alter other aspects of ecosystem performance in marine soft-sediment habitats.

Benthic infaunal community structuring in an acidified tropical estuarine system.

PubMed

Hossain, M Belal; Marshall, David J

2014-01-01

Recent studies suggest that increasing ocean acidification (OA) should have strong direct and indirect influences on marine invertebrates. While most theory and application for OA is based on relatively physically-stable oceanic ecological systems, less is known about the effects of acidification on nearshore and estuarine systems. Here, we investigated the structuring of a benthic infaunal community in a tropical estuarine system, along a steep salinity and pH gradient, arising largely from acid-sulphate groundwater inflows (Sungai Brunei Estuary, Borneo, July 2011- June 2012). Preliminary data indicate that sediment pore-water salinity (range: 8.07 - 29.6 psu) declined towards the mainland in correspondence with the above-sediment estuarine water salinity (range: 3.58 - 31.2 psu), whereas the pore-water pH (range: 6.47- 7.72) was generally lower and less variable than the estuarine water pH (range: 5.78- 8.3), along the estuary. Of the thirty six species (taxa) recorded, the polychaetes Neanthes sp., Onuphis conchylega, Nereididae sp. and the amphipod Corophiidae sp., were numerically dominant. Calcified microcrustaceans (e.g., Cyclopoida sp. and Corophiidae sp.) were abundant at all stations and there was no clear distinction in distribution pattern along the estuarine between calcified and non-calcified groups. Species richness increased seawards, though abundance (density) showed no distinct directional trend. Diversity indices were generally positively correlated (Spearman's rank correlation) with salinity and pH (p <0.05) and negatively with clay and organic matter, except for evenness values (p >0.05). Three faunistic assemblages were distinguished: (1) nereid-cyclopoid-sabellid, (2) corophiid-capitellid and (3) onuphid- nereid-capitellid. These respectively associated with lower salinity/pH and a muddy bottom, low salinity/pH and a sandy bottom, and high salinity/pH and a sandy bottom. However, CCA suggested that species distribution and community structuring is more strongly influenced by sediment particle characteristics than by the chemical properties of the water (pH and salinity). Infaunal estuarine communities, which are typically adapted to survive relatively acidic conditions, may be less exposed, less sensitive, and less vulnerable than epibenthic or pelagic communities to further acidification of above-sediment waters. These data question the extent to which all marine infaunal communities, including oceanic communities, are likely to be affected by future global CO2-driven acidification.

Community Detection for Correlation Matrices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

MacMahon, Mel; Garlaschelli, Diego

2015-04-01

A challenging problem in the study of complex systems is that of resolving, without prior information, the emergent, mesoscopic organization determined by groups of units whose dynamical activity is more strongly correlated internally than with the rest of the system. The existing techniques to filter correlations are not explicitly oriented towards identifying such modules and can suffer from an unavoidable information loss. A promising alternative is that of employing community detection techniques developed in network theory. Unfortunately, this approach has focused predominantly on replacing network data with correlation matrices, a procedure that we show to be intrinsically biased because of its inconsistency with the null hypotheses underlying the existing algorithms. Here, we introduce, via a consistent redefinition of null models based on random matrix theory, the appropriate correlation-based counterparts of the most popular community detection techniques. Our methods can filter out both unit-specific noise and system-wide dependencies, and the resulting communities are internally correlated and mutually anticorrelated. We also implement multiresolution and multifrequency approaches revealing hierarchically nested subcommunities with "hard" cores and "soft" peripheries. We apply our techniques to several financial time series and identify mesoscopic groups of stocks which are irreducible to a standard, sectorial taxonomy; detect "soft stocks" that alternate between communities; and discuss implications for portfolio optimization and risk management.

The cost of murder. Anti-violence groups, hospitals work to try and stop homicides, which have negative impacts on both the community and bottom lines.

PubMed

Carlson, Joe

2009-11-30

The brutal toll of homicide in their communities has some hospitals working with anti-violence groups to halt the slaughter by trying to stop retaliation. Talking to victims after an attack is "really this golden window of opportunity, when they're open to change", says Marla Becker, left, of Youth Alive.

How To Build an Integrated Neighborhood Approach to Support Community-Dwelling Older People?

PubMed Central

Cramm, Jane Murray; Nieboer, Anna Petra

2016-01-01

Background: Although the need for integrated neighborhood approaches (INAs) is widely recognized, we lack insight into strategies like INA. We describe diverse Dutch INA partners’ experiences to provide integrated person- and population-centered support to community-dwelling older people using an adapted version of Valentijn and colleagues’ integrated care model. Our main objective was to explore the experiences with INA participation. We sought to increase our understanding of the challenges facing these partners and identify factors facilitating and inhibiting integration within and among multiple levels. Methods: Twenty-one interviews with INA partners (including local health and social care organizations, older people, municipal officers, and a health insurer) were conducted and subjected to latent content analysis. Results: This study showed that integrated care and support provision through an INA is a complex, dynamic process requiring multilevel alignment of activities. The INA achieved integration at the personal, service, and professional levels only occasionally. Micro-level bottom-up initiatives were not aligned with top-down incentives, forcing community workers to establish integration despite rather than because of meso- and macro-level contexts. Conclusions: Top-down incentives should be better aligned with bottom-up initiatives. This study further demonstrated the importance of community-level engagement in integrated care and support provision. PMID:27616960

Spatial distribution of bacterial communities and related biochemical properties in Luzhou-flavor liquor-fermented grains.

PubMed

Zheng, Jia; Wu, Chongde; Huang, Jun; Zhou, Rongqing; Liao, Xuepin

2014-12-01

Grain fermenting with separate layers in a fermentation pit is the typical and experiential brewing technology for Chinese Luzhou-flavor liquor. However, it is still unclear to what extent the bacterial communities in the different layers of fermented grains (FG) effects the liquor's quality. In this study, the spatial distributions of bacterial communities in Luzhou-flavor liquor FG (top, middle, and bottom layers) from 2 distinctive factories (Jiannanchun and Fenggu) were investigated using culture-independent approaches (phospholipid fatty acid [PLFA] and polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gel electrophoresis [DGGE]). The relationship between bacterial community and biochemical properties was also assessed by Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). No significant variation in moisture was observed in spatial samples, and the highest content of acidity and total ester was detected in the bottom layer (P < 0.05). A high level of ethanol was observed in the top and middle layers of Fenggu and Jiannanchun, respectively. Significant spatial distribution of the total PLFA was only shown in the 50-y-old pits (P < 0.05), and Gram negative bacteria was the prominent community. Bacterial 16S rDNA DGGE analysis revealed that the most abundant bacterial community was in the top layers of the FG both from Fenggu and Jiannanchun, with Lactobacillaceae accounting for 30% of the total DGGE bands and Lactobacillus acetotolerans was the dominant species. FG samples from the same pit had a highly similar bacterial community structure according to the hierarchal cluster tree. CCA suggested that the moisture, acidity, ethanol, and reducing sugar were the main factors affecting the distribution of L. acetotolerans. Our results will facilitate the knowledge about the spatial distribution of bacterial communities and the relationship with their living environment. © 2014 Institute of Food Technologists®

Using marine reserves to manage impact of bottom trawl fisheries requires consideration of benthic food-web interactions.

PubMed

van Denderen, P Daniël; Rijnsdorp, Adriaan D; van Kooten, Tobias

2016-10-01

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are widely used to protect exploited fish species as well as to conserve marine habitats and their biodiversity. They have also become a popular management tool for bottom trawl fisheries, a common fishing technique on continental shelves worldwide. The effects of bottom trawling go far beyond the impact on target species, as trawls also affect other components of the benthic ecosystem and the seabed itself. This means that for bottom trawl fisheries, MPAs can potentially be used not only to conserve target species but also to reduce impact of these side effects of the fishery. However, predicting the protective effects of MPAs is complicated because the side effects of trawling potentially alter the food-web interactions between target and non-target species. These changes in predatory and competitive interactions among fish and benthic invertebrates may have important ramifications for MPAs as tools to manage or mitigate the effects of bottom trawling. Yet, in current theory regarding the functioning of MPAs in relation to bottom trawl fisheries, such predatory and competitive interactions between species are generally not taken into account. In this study, we discuss how food-web interactions that are potentially affected by bottom trawling may alter the effectiveness of MPAs to protect (1) biodiversity and marine habitats, (2) fish populations, (3) fisheries yield, and (4) trophic structure of the community. We make the case that in order to be applicable for bottom trawl fisheries, guidelines for the implementation of MPAs must consider their potential food-web effects, at the risk of failing management. © 2016 by the Ecological Society of America.

Nanocellulose Fragmentation Mechanisms and Inversion of Chirality from the Single Particle to the Cholesteric Phase.

PubMed

Nyström, Gustav; Arcari, Mario; Adamcik, Jozef; Usov, Ivan; Mezzenga, Raffaele

2018-05-22

Understanding how nanostructure and nanomechanics influence physical material properties on the micro- and macroscale is an essential goal in soft condensed matter research. Mechanisms governing fragmentation and chirality inversion of filamentous colloids are of specific interest because of their critical role in load-bearing and self-organizing functionalities of soft nanomaterials. Here we provide a fundamental insight into the self-organization across several length scales of nanocellulose, an important biocolloid system with wide-ranging applications as structural, insulating, and functional material. Through a combined microscopic and statistical analysis of nanocellulose fibrils at the single particle level, we show how mechanically and chemically induced fragmentations proceed in this system. Moreover, by studying the bottom-up self-assembly of fragmented carboxylated cellulose nanofibrils into cholesteric liquid crystals, we show via direct microscopic observations that the chirality is inverted from right-handed at the nanofibril level to left-handed at the level of the liquid crystal phase. These results improve our fundamental understanding of nanocellulose and provide an important rationale for its application in colloidal systems, liquid crystals, and nanomaterials.

AERIAL OVERVIEW, LOOKING NORTH, WITH FORMER TCIUS STEEL ORE MINE ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

AERIAL OVERVIEW, LOOKING NORTH, WITH FORMER TCI-US STEEL ORE MINE HEADQUARTERS (BOTTOM) AND SUPERINTENDENT'S AND FOREMAN HOUSING ALONG MINNESOTA AVENUE AT CREST OF RED MOUNTAIN (TOP LEFT). - Muscoda Red Ore Mining Community, Bessemer, Jefferson County, AL

Biodiversity patterns of crustacean suprabenthic assemblages along an oligotrophic gradient in the bathyal Mediterranean Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Almeida, Mariana; Frutos, Inmaculada; Tecchio, Samuele; Lampadariou, Nikolaos; Company, Joan B.; Ramirez-Llodra, Eva; Cunha, Marina R.

2017-03-01

Crustacean suprabenthic abundance, community structure, α-diversity (both taxonomic and trophic) and β-diversity were studied along a West-East gradient of oligotrophy in the deep Mediterranean Sea. The assemblages were sampled with a suprabenthic sledge in three regions (western, central and eastern basins) at three water depths (1200, 2000 and 3000 m) in May-June 2009. Environmental data were obtained at each sampling location including sediment properties, oceanographic variables near the seafloor and in the water column, and proxies of epipelagic productivity at the surface. Our results, concerning the crustacean component of the suprabenthos, showed complex trends in community structure and biodiversity across different spatial scales (longitudinal, bathymetric, and near-bottom distribution). A decrease in the number of species and abundance, accompanied by changes in the trophic structure of the assemblages were observed from West to East. In the eastern region the assemblages were impoverished in number of trophic guilds and trophic diversity. The West-East oligotrophic gradient was identified as the main driver in community structure as shown by the significant correlation with trophic environmental variables. Differences in community structure across regions were more marked at greater depths, while at the shallower sites assemblages were more similar. Within each basin, abundance, number of species and number of trophic groups decreased with depth, showing high turnover rates between 1200 and 2000 m depths. The small-scale (0-150 cm) vertical distribution of the suprabenthos was interpreted in relation to the species' functional traits (e.g. swimming activity, migratory behaviour, bottom dependence, feeding habits). Bottom-dependent and more mobile components of the suprabenthos were apparently responding differently to the various environmental challenges imposed by the large-scale longitudinal and bathymetric gradients. We propose that the bathyal suprabenthos in the Mediterranean Sea may be essentially modulated by environmental sorting, but while the more mobile faunal component has more efficient dispersal mechanisms, the bottom-dependent component may be affected by limited dispersal. However, this empirical interpretation has still to be proved given the important caveats of our study (e.g. typically low densities of the Mediterranean bathyal suprabenthos; limited number of samples; difficulties in standardization inherent to suprabenthic sampling operations in the deep sea).

Time series of suspended-solids concentration, salinity, temperature, and total mercury concentration in San Francisco Bay during water year 1998

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ruhl, Catherine A.; Schoellhamer, David H.

2001-01-01

The transport and fate of suspended sediments are important factors in determining the transport and fate of constituents adsorbed on the sediments. For example, the concentration of suspended particulate chromium in the bay appears to be controlled primarily by sediment resuspension (Abu-Saba and Flegal, 1995). Concentrations of dissolved trace elements are greater in South Bay than elsewhere in San Francisco Bay, and bottom sediments are believed to be a significant source (Flegal et al., 1991). The sediments on the bay bottom provide habitat for benthic communities that can ingest these substances and introduce them into the food web (Luoma et al., 1985; Brown and Luoma, 1995, Luoma 1996). Bottom sediments also are a reservoir of nutrients that contribute to the maintenance of estuarine productivity (Hammond et al., 1985).

The Civitavecchia Coastal Environment Monitoring System (C-CEMS): an integrated approach to the study of coastal oceanographic processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marcelli, Marco; Piermattei, Viviana; Madonia, Alice; Bonamano, Simone; Martellucci, Riccardo; Pierattini, Alberto; Albani, Marta; Borsellino, Chiara; Zappalà, Giuseppe

2015-04-01

The study of the physical and biological processes of the coastal environment, characterized by high spatial and time variability, requires the adoption of multidisciplinary strategies of investigation that takes into account, not only the biotic and abiotic components of coastal marine ecosystems, but also the terrestrial, atmospheric and hydrological features linked to them. The understanding of coastal environment is fundamental to face efficiently and effectively the pollution phenomena, as expected by Marine Strategy (2008/56 EC) Directive, which is focused on the achievement of GES by 2020 in all Member States. Following these lines, the Laboratory of Experimental Oceanology and Marine Ecology (University of Tuscia) has developed a multi-platform observing network (the Civitavecchia Coastal Environment Monitoring System, C-CEMS) that operates since 2005 in the coastal marine area of Civitavecchia (northern Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy), where multiple uses (industrial, commercial and tourist activities) and high ecological values (Posidonia oceanica meadows, hard-bottom benthic communities, priority species, etc.) closely coexist. Furthermore, in the last years the Civitavecchia harbour, which is one of the main ports of Europe, has been subjected to a series of expansion works that could impact significantly on the coastal environment. The C-CEMS, implemented in the current configuration, is composed by five main modules (fixed stations, in-situ measurements and samplings, satellite observations, numerical models, GIS) which provide integrated informations to be used in different fields of the environmental research. The fixed stations system controls one weather, two water quality and two wave-buoy stations along the coast. In addition to the long term observations acquired by the fixed stations (L-TER), in situ surveys are periodically carried out for the monitoring of the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of the water column and marine sediments as well as of the benthic biota. The in situ data, integrated with satellite observations (temperature, chlorophyll a and TSM), are used to feed and validate the numerical models, which allow to analyse and forecast the dynamics of conservative and non-conservative particles under different conditions. Finally, the C-CEMS informations combined with diverse kind of datasets (fishery, land use, hydrology, orography, archeologic, naturalistic, etc) can be represented in thematic maps called Sea Uses Maps, supporting the management decisions of the stakeholders. As examples of C-CEMS applications two case studies are reported in this work: the analysis of faecal bacteria dispersion for bathing water quality assessment, and the evaluation of the effects of the dredged activities on Posidonia meadows and soft-bottom benthic communities.

Abundance and physiology of dominant soft corals linked to water quality in Jakarta Bay, Indonesia

PubMed Central

Januar, Indra; Wild, Christian; Kunzmann, Andreas

2016-01-01

Declining water quality is one of the main reasons of coral reef degradation in the Thousand Islands off the megacity Jakarta, Indonesia. Shifts in benthic community composition to higher soft coral abundances have been reported for many degraded reefs throughout the Indo-Pacific. However, it is not clear to what extent soft coral abundance and physiology are influenced by water quality. In this study, live benthic cover and water quality (i.e. dissolved inorganic nutrients (DIN), turbidity (NTU), and sedimentation) were assessed at three sites (< 20 km north of Jakarta) in Jakarta Bay (JB) and five sites along the outer Thousand Islands (20–60 km north of Jakarta). This was supplemented by measurements of photosynthetic yield and, for the first time, respiratory electron transport system (ETS) activity of two dominant soft coral genera, Sarcophyton spp. and Nephthea spp. Findings revealed highly eutrophic water conditions in JB compared to the outer Thousand Islands, with 44% higher DIN load (7.65 μM/L), 67% higher NTU (1.49 NTU) and 47% higher sedimentation rate (30.4 g m−2 d−1). Soft corals were the dominant type of coral cover within the bay (2.4% hard and 12.8% soft coral cover) compared to the outer Thousand Islands (28.3% hard and 6.9% soft coral cover). Soft coral abundances, photosynthetic yield, and ETS activity were highly correlated with key water quality parameters, particularly DIN and sedimentation rates. The findings suggest water quality controls the relative abundance and physiology of dominant soft corals in JB and may thus contribute to phase shifts from hard to soft coral dominance, highlighting the need to better manage water quality in order to prevent or reverse phase shifts. PMID:27904802

Setting up psychiatric services: cross-cultural issues in planning and delivery.

PubMed

Bhugra, D

1997-01-01

There is convincing evidence that in the UK, various ethnic minorities are over-represented in psychiatric hospitals, prisons and special hospitals. Various explanations have been put forward for this picture. The expanding emphasis on community care means that models for looking after ethnic communities should be innovative and work from a bottom-up approach. Psychiatric emphasis on clinical diagnoses means that services are developed according to the diagnoses rather than needs.

Microbial community structures in an integrated two-phase anaerobic bioreactor fed by fruit vegetable wastes and wheat straw.

PubMed

Wang, Chong; Zuo, Jiane; Chen, Xiaojie; Xing, Wei; Xing, Linan; Li, Peng; Lu, Xiangyang; Li, Chao

2014-12-01

The microbial community structures in an integrated two-phase anaerobic reactor (ITPAR) were investigated by 16S rDNA clone library technology. The 75L reactor was designed with a 25L rotating acidogenic unit at the top and a 50L conventional upflow methanogenic unit at the bottom, with a recirculation connected to the two units. The reactor had been operated for 21 stages to co-digest fruit/vegetable wastes and wheat straw, which showed a very good biogas production and decomposition of cellulosic materials. The results showed that many kinds of cellulose and glycan decomposition bacteria related with Bacteroidales, Clostridiales and Syntrophobacterales were dominated in the reactor, with more bacteria community diversities in the acidogenic unit. The methanogens were mostly related with Methanosaeta, Methanosarcina, Methanoculleus, Methanospirillum and Methanobacterium; the predominating genus Methanosaeta, accounting for 40.5%, 54.2%, 73.6% and 78.7% in four samples from top to bottom, indicated a major methanogenesis pathway by acetoclastic methanogenesis in the methanogenic unit. The beta diversity indexes illustrated a more similar distribution of bacterial communities than that of methanogens between acidogenic unit and methanogenic unit. The differentiation of methanogenic community composition in two phases, as well as pH values and volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentrations confirmed the phase separation of the ITPAR. Overall, the results of this study demonstrated that the special designing of ITPAR maintained a sufficient number of methanogens, more diverse communities and stronger syntrophic associations among microorganisms, which made two phase anaerobic digestion of cellulosic materials more efficient. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Water matters: An assessment of opinion on water management and community engagement in the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom.

PubMed

Rolston, Alec; Jennings, Eleanor; Linnane, Suzanne

2017-01-01

Internationally, water management is moving from the traditional top-down approach to more integrated initiatives focussing on community-led action. With inadequacies in previous engagement initiatives undertaken through the first cycle of River Basin Management Planning for the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD), the Republic of Ireland has only recently embraced this bottom-up approach. The attempted introduction of national charging for domestic water use in 2015 has resulted in significant public disquiet and protest movements against the national government. In April 2015 we undertook a survey of current opinion on water management and community engagement initiatives in the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. A total of 520 survey responses identified that although freshwater bodies are important in peoples' lives, respondents were typically unaware of global initiatives such as Integrated Water Resources Management and Integrated Catchment Management. Overall, 81% of respondents did not feel included in decisions about their water environment despite an overwhelming 95% believing that local communities should have a say in how the water environment is managed. However, only 35.1% of respondents stated that they would be willing to attend local water management engagement initiatives. Rather than supporting individual gain, respondents identified social gains for the local community as avenues for increasing local involvement in water initiatives. In the Republic of Ireland, a water engagement initiative that implements the national framework local delivery model should be developed and implemented. This would 1) contribute to the second round of WFD River Basin Management Planning; 2) facilitate stronger connections between local communities and their water environment; and 3) foster bottom-up initiatives that empower communities regarding local water management issues.

Water matters: An assessment of opinion on water management and community engagement in the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom

PubMed Central

Jennings, Eleanor; Linnane, Suzanne

2017-01-01

Internationally, water management is moving from the traditional top-down approach to more integrated initiatives focussing on community-led action. With inadequacies in previous engagement initiatives undertaken through the first cycle of River Basin Management Planning for the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD), the Republic of Ireland has only recently embraced this bottom-up approach. The attempted introduction of national charging for domestic water use in 2015 has resulted in significant public disquiet and protest movements against the national government. In April 2015 we undertook a survey of current opinion on water management and community engagement initiatives in the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. A total of 520 survey responses identified that although freshwater bodies are important in peoples’ lives, respondents were typically unaware of global initiatives such as Integrated Water Resources Management and Integrated Catchment Management. Overall, 81% of respondents did not feel included in decisions about their water environment despite an overwhelming 95% believing that local communities should have a say in how the water environment is managed. However, only 35.1% of respondents stated that they would be willing to attend local water management engagement initiatives. Rather than supporting individual gain, respondents identified social gains for the local community as avenues for increasing local involvement in water initiatives. In the Republic of Ireland, a water engagement initiative that implements the national framework local delivery model should be developed and implemented. This would 1) contribute to the second round of WFD River Basin Management Planning; 2) facilitate stronger connections between local communities and their water environment; and 3) foster bottom-up initiatives that empower communities regarding local water management issues. PMID:28369136

Imaging Reservoir Siltation and Quaternary Stratigraphy Beneath the Mactaquac Headpond by Acoustic and Ground Penetrating Radar Sub-bottom Imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grace, M.; Butler, K. E.; Peter, S.; Yamazaki, G.; Haralampides, K.

2016-12-01

The Mactaquac Hydroelectric Generating Station, located on the Saint John River in New Brunswick, Canada, is approaching the end of its life due to deterioration of the concrete structures. As part of an aquatic ecosystem study, designed to support a decision on the future of the dam, sediment in the headpond, extending 80 km upriver, is being examined. The focus of this sub-study lies in (i) mapping the thickness of sediments that have accumulated since inundation in 1968, and (ii) imaging the deeper glacial and post-glacial stratigraphy. Acoustic sub-bottom profiling surveys were completed during 2014 and 2015. An initial 3.5 kHz chirp sonar survey proved ineffective, lacking in both resolution and depth of the penetration. A follow-up survey employing a boomer-based "Seistec" sediment profiler provided better results, resolving sediment layers as thin as 12 cm, and yielding coherent reflections from the deeper Quaternary sediments. Post-inundation sediments in the lowermost 25 km of the headpond, between the dam and Bear Island, are interpreted to average 26 cm in thickness with the thickest deposits (up to 65 cm) in deep water areas overlying the pre-inundation riverbed west of Snowshoe Island, and south and east of Bear Island. A recent coring program confirmed the presence of silty sediment and showed good correlation with the Seistec thickness estimates. In the 15 km stretch upriver of Bear Island to Nackawic, the presence of gas in the uppermost sediments severely limits sub-bottom penetration and our ability to interpret sediment thicknesses. Profiles acquired in the uppermost 40 km reach of the headpond, extending to Woodstock, show a strong, positive water bottom reflection and little to no sub-bottom penetration, indicating the absence of soft post-inundation sediment. Deeper reflections observed within 5 km of the dam reveal a buried channel cut into glacial till, extending up to 20 m below the water bottom. Channel fill includes a finely laminated unit interpreted to be glaciolacustrine clay-silt and a possible esker - similar to stratigraphy found 20 - 30 km downriver at Fredericton. Future plans include a small scale survey in late summer, 2016 to evaluate the suitability of waterborne ground penetrating radar (GPR) profiling as an alternative to acoustic profiling in areas of gas-charged sediment.

Predictors of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungal Communities in the Brazilian Tropical Dry Forest.

PubMed

Sousa, Natália M F; Veresoglou, Stavros D; Oehl, Fritz; Rillig, Matthias C; Maia, Leonor C

2018-02-01

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are symbiotic fungi with a broad distribution, and many taxa have physiological and ecological adaptations to specific environments, including semiarid ecosystems. Our aim was to address regional distribution patterns of AMF communities in such semiarid environments based on spore morphological techniques. We assessed AMF spores at the bottom and top of inselbergs distributed throughout the tropical dry forest in the Northeast region of Brazil. Across 10 replicate inselbergs and the surrounding area, spanning a range of altitude between 140 and 2000 m, we scored the AMF soil diversity and properties in 52 plots. We fitted parsimonious ordination analyses and variance partitioning models to determine the environmental factors which explained the variation in AMF community, based on morphological spore analysis. The diversity of AMF was similar at the bottom and top of inselbergs; however, we detected high variation in abundance and richness across sites. We formulated a parsimonious richness model that used physical soil factors as predictors. The AMF community structure could be best explained through the variables coarse and total sand, iron, organic matter, potassium, silt, and sodium which together accounted for 17.8% of total variance. Several AMF species were indicators of either deficiency or high values of specific soil properties. We demonstrated that habitat isolation of the inselbergs compared with surrounding areas did not trigger differences in AMF communities in semiarid regions of Brazil. At the regional scale, soil predictors across sites drove the distribution of symbiotic mycorrhizal fungi.

Doing well by doing good. The 7 benefits of a meaningful corporate social responsibility program.

PubMed

Macdonald, Deborah

2008-08-01

You want your medical group to be a good community player--but you need to attract new patients, retain top staff and manage your bottom line. A corporate social responsibility program may be the shrewd solution.

Evaluating Environmental Effects of Dredged Material Management Alternatives: A Technical Framework

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-11-01

fluctuating flows and tamperatures would be difficult. Biological processes such as nitrification, nutrient catabolism, and photosynthesis are important...communities as tidal flats, seagrass meadows, oyster beds, clam flats, fishing reefs, and freshwater aquatic plant establishment. The bottom of many

Dementia RED (Respect Empathy Dignity): Collaborating to build dementia supportive communities in North Wales--reporting on a pilot project (innovative practice).

PubMed

Chalk, Annabel; Page, Sean

2016-03-01

There is increasing interest in developing dementia supportive communities world wide. Dementia RED (Respect Empathy Dignity) is a unique example from North Wales which is based on the twin concepts of people living with dementia as citizens in their community and developing 'bottom up' rather than 'top down' approaches to dementia supportive communities. Most people with dementia prefer to live at home thus making community connectivity key to maintaining healthy relationships and wellbeing. For those living with dementia, the community plays a pivotal role in providing value, meaning, purpose and acceptance. Building dementia supportive communities helps to raise awareness about dementia in the community through engagement and from identifying champions in the locality to voice issues. Dementia RED is an initiative and service which helps to develop such a philosophy in creating a dementia supportive community. © The Author(s) 2014.

A review of bottom-up vs. top-down control of sponges on Caribbean fore-reefs: what's old, what's new, and future directions.

PubMed

Pawlik, Joseph R; Loh, Tse-Lynn; McMurray, Steven E

2018-01-01

Interest in the ecology of sponges on coral reefs has grown in recent years with mounting evidence that sponges are becoming dominant members of reef communities, particularly in the Caribbean. New estimates of water column processing by sponge pumping activities combined with discoveries related to carbon and nutrient cycling have led to novel hypotheses about the role of sponges in reef ecosystem function. Among these developments, a debate has emerged about the relative effects of bottom-up (food availability) and top-down (predation) control on the community of sponges on Caribbean fore-reefs. In this review, we evaluate the impact of the latest findings on the debate, as well as provide new insights based on older citations. Recent studies that employed different research methods have demonstrated that dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and detritus are the principal sources of food for a growing list of sponge species, challenging the idea that the relative availability of living picoplankton is the sole proxy for sponge growth or abundance. New reports have confirmed earlier findings that reef macroalgae release labile DOC available for sponge nutrition. Evidence for top-down control of sponge community structure by fish predation is further supported by gut content studies and historical population estimates of hawksbill turtles, which likely had a much greater impact on relative sponge abundances on Caribbean reefs of the past. Implicit to investigations designed to address the bottom-up vs. top-down debate are appropriate studies of Caribbean fore-reef environments, where benthic communities are relatively homogeneous and terrestrial influences and abiotic effects are minimized. One recent study designed to test both aspects of the debate did so using experiments conducted entirely in shallow lagoonal habitats dominated by mangroves and seagrass beds. The top-down results from this study are reinterpreted as supporting past research demonstrating predator preferences for sponge species that are abundant in these lagoonal habitats, but grazed away in fore-reef habitats. We conclude that sponge communities on Caribbean fore-reefs of the past and present are largely structured by predation, and offer new directions for research, such as determining the environmental conditions under which sponges may be food-limited (e.g., deep sea, lagoonal habitats) and monitoring changes in sponge community structure as populations of hawksbill turtles rebound.

A review of bottom-up vs. top-down control of sponges on Caribbean fore-reefs: what’s old, what’s new, and future directions

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

Interest in the ecology of sponges on coral reefs has grown in recent years with mounting evidence that sponges are becoming dominant members of reef communities, particularly in the Caribbean. New estimates of water column processing by sponge pumping activities combined with discoveries related to carbon and nutrient cycling have led to novel hypotheses about the role of sponges in reef ecosystem function. Among these developments, a debate has emerged about the relative effects of bottom-up (food availability) and top-down (predation) control on the community of sponges on Caribbean fore-reefs. In this review, we evaluate the impact of the latest findings on the debate, as well as provide new insights based on older citations. Recent studies that employed different research methods have demonstrated that dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and detritus are the principal sources of food for a growing list of sponge species, challenging the idea that the relative availability of living picoplankton is the sole proxy for sponge growth or abundance. New reports have confirmed earlier findings that reef macroalgae release labile DOC available for sponge nutrition. Evidence for top-down control of sponge community structure by fish predation is further supported by gut content studies and historical population estimates of hawksbill turtles, which likely had a much greater impact on relative sponge abundances on Caribbean reefs of the past. Implicit to investigations designed to address the bottom-up vs. top-down debate are appropriate studies of Caribbean fore-reef environments, where benthic communities are relatively homogeneous and terrestrial influences and abiotic effects are minimized. One recent study designed to test both aspects of the debate did so using experiments conducted entirely in shallow lagoonal habitats dominated by mangroves and seagrass beds. The top-down results from this study are reinterpreted as supporting past research demonstrating predator preferences for sponge species that are abundant in these lagoonal habitats, but grazed away in fore-reef habitats. We conclude that sponge communities on Caribbean fore-reefs of the past and present are largely structured by predation, and offer new directions for research, such as determining the environmental conditions under which sponges may be food-limited (e.g., deep sea, lagoonal habitats) and monitoring changes in sponge community structure as populations of hawksbill turtles rebound. PMID:29404224

Cascadia Initiative Ocean Bottom Seismograph Performance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Evers, B.; Aderhold, K.

2017-12-01

The Ocean Bottom Seismograph Instrument Pool (OBSIP) provided instrumentation and operations support for the Cascadia Initiative community experiment. This experiment investigated geophysical processes across the Cascadia subduction zone through a combination of onshore and offshore seismic data. The recovery of Year 4 instruments in September 2015 marked the conclusion of a multi-year experiment that utilized 60 ocean-bottom seismographs (OBSs) specifically designed for the subduction zone boundary, including shallow/deep water deployments and active fisheries. The new instruments featured trawl-resistant enclosures designed by Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) and Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) for shallow deployment [water depth ≤ 500 m], as well as new deep-water instruments designed by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI). Existing OBSIP instruments were also deployed along the Blanco Transform Fault and on the Gorda Plate through complementary experiments. Station instrumentation included weak and strong motion seismometers, differential pressure gauges (DPG) and absolute pressure gauges (APG). All data collected from the Cascadia, Blanco, and Gorda deployments is available through the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) Data Management Center (DMC). The Cascadia Initiative is the largest amphibious seismic experiment undertaken to date, encompassing a diverse technical implementation and demonstrating an effective structure for community experiments. Thus, the results from Cascadia serve as both a technical and operational resource for the development of future community experiments, such as might be contemplated as part of the SZ4D Initiative. To guide future efforts, we investigate and summarize the quality of the Cascadia OBS data using basic metrics such as instrument recovery and more advanced metrics such as noise characteristics through power spectral density analysis. We also use this broad and diverse deployment to explore other environmental and configuration factors that can impact sensor and network performance and inform the design of future deployments.

The changes in the composition of Cladocera community in bottom sediments of Lake Maloye Shibrozero (Zaonezhsky Peninsula) as a consequence of shifts of environmental and climatic conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ibragimova, A. G.; Frolova, L. A.; Subetto, D. A.; Belkina, N. A.; Potakhin, M. S.

2018-01-01

The study aims to explore the evolution of lakes of the boreal zone during the late- and postglacial time on the south-eastern periphery of the Fennoscandian crystalline shield since the last deglaciation. In order to reconstruct the past for virgin territories of the Zaonezhsky Peninsula current investigation on bottom sediments of Lake Maloye Shibrozero was conducted. Analyzes were performed using the new paleoindicator - subfossil remains of Cladocera (Cladocera, Branchiopoda). The 28 samples of bottom sediments were analyzed. It has been determined that discovered Cladocera remains belong to representatives of 6 families and 38 taxa. Species inhabiting Palaearctic zone are predominant in lake deposits; most of the identified subfossil remains are related to the pelagic species inhabiting the open part of the lake. According to the Lubarsky scale the dominant of Cladocera community is Bosmina (Eubosmina) cf. longispina. Secondary taxa are Chydorus sphaericus, Bosmina coregoni, Alonella nana, Alona guadrangularis, A. affinis, Chydorus gibbus. At a depth of 650-653 cm, a partial replacement of Bosmina (Eubosmina) cf. longispina by Bosmina coregoni takes place with a simultaneous increase in the significance of Chydorus sphaericus, which is used to be an indicator of eutrophication and increasing trophic status of the reservoir. Changes in Cladocera community could be attributed to decreasing the level of periglacial lake, as a result of which the Lake Maloye Shibrozero became a small isolated lake with the trend to trophic status increasing. Cold-water species were replaced by thermophilic ones with a further return to a cold-water fauna. In the upper layers of the column an increase of the number of phytophilous species is noted.

The structure of soft-bottom benthic communities in the vicinity of the Texas Flower Garden Banks, Gulf of Mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yingst, Josephine Y.; Rhoads, Donald C.

1985-05-01

Biological and sedimentological samples were obtained in June 1980 from box cores taken in 100-200 m of water on sandy-mud sediments near the East and West Flower Garden Bank reefs, on the Texas-Louisiana Continental Shelf. The objective was to obtain baseline information about sedimentary parameters and organisms adjacent to the FGB environments in order to allow inferences to be made about potential effects of physical disturbance of the seafloor on the resident benthos. Most infaunal organisms are found in the upper 3-5 cm of the bottom. Permanent meiofauna dominate in both numbers and biomass. X-radiographs of sediment fabrics show all stations to be reworked by head-down deposit-feeders or errant bioturbators. Taxa responsible for this bioturbation were not quantitatively sampled. Macrofaunal densities range from 3000 to 25000 m -2 and total meiofauna from 221 to 892 × (10 cm) -2. Nematodes dominate followed in equal abundance by foraminiferans, polychaetes, and copepods. Seventy-five percent of the total sediment ATP in the top 3 cm is contributed by meiofauna. These benthic assemblages are hypothesized to represent a mixture of pioneering and high-order successional stages. Bacterial abundances are positively correlated with organic content and inversely correlated with macro- and meiofaunal densities. This inverse relationship may reflect consumer cropping intensities. Both microbial ATP and bacterial biomass are lower than reported for the Georgia Bight Shelf, Cape Blanc, West African Shelf, western coast of Norway, and Long Island Sound. Bacterial counts are lower than those recorded for the East China Sea and the Amazon River shelf. Moderate to low standing stocks of benthos, dominated by meiofaunal-sized taxa, further suggest that this area of the Gulf of Mexico is a relatively oligotrophic system for infaunal benthic consumers. Higher order successional stages are, in general, adversely affected to a greater extent than pioneering stages by physical disturbance. In the Texas-Louisiana shelf region, dilution of an already food limited system by inert barium sulphate would be expected to result in even lower standing stocks of benthic infaunal invertebrates.

NXL-103, a combination of flopristin and linopristin, for the potential treatment of bacterial infections including community-acquired pneumonia and MRSA

PubMed Central

Politano, Amani D; Sawyer, Robert G

2011-01-01

Novexel is developing a new, orally active, semisynthetic streptogramin, NXL103, with potential therapeutic application in the treatment of community-acquired pneumonia, community-acquired or nosocomial MRSA and VRE, and complicated skin and soft tissue infections. NXL103 is a 70/30 mixture of streptogramin A/streptogramin B components [1]. The spectrum of activity for NXL103 includes GPCs, fastidious GNRs, and anaerobes, and it has been shown to have bactericidal activity against S. aureus in a biofilm model [2–4]. In multiple in vitro experiments, NXL103 showed potent activity against many bacteria, such as S. aureus, including CA- and HA-MRSA, S. pneumoniae, S. pyogenes, E. faecium, E. faecalis, H. influenzae, and H. parainfluenzae [1–3, 5–10]. NXL103 was not affected by the resistance profiles of bacteria against other commonly used antibiotics [1, 3, 5–9, 11, 12]. In phase I trials, NXL103 achieved bactericidal levels in plasma and was generally well-tolerated, with primary side effects on the gastrointestinal system [13–19]. The first phase II trial performed for the evaluation of community-acquired pneumonia showed non-inferiority of NXL103 to amoxicillin [20]. NXL103 shows promise to become an important agent in the treatment of community-acquired pneumonia and complex skin and soft tissue infections, pending further development. PMID:20112172

Suppressing supersymmetric flavor violations through quenched gaugino-flavor interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wells, James D.; Zhao, Yue

2017-06-01

Realizing that couplings related by supersymmetry (SUSY) can be disentangled when SUSY is broken, it is suggested that unwanted flavor and C P -violating SUSY couplings may be suppressed via quenched gaugino-flavor interactions, which may be accomplished by power-law running of sfermion anomalous dimensions. A simple theoretical framework to accomplish this is exemplified, where a strongly coupled conformal field theory is achieved after SUSY is softly broken. The defeated constraints are tallied. One key implication of the scenario is the expectation of enhanced top, bottom and tau production at the LHC, accompanied by large missing energy. Also, direct detection signals of dark matter may be more challenging to find than in conventional SUSY scenarios.

Real-Time Vision-Based Stiffness Mapping †.

PubMed

Faragasso, Angela; Bimbo, João; Stilli, Agostino; Wurdemann, Helge Arne; Althoefer, Kaspar; Asama, Hajime

2018-04-26

This paper presents new findings concerning a hand-held stiffness probe for the medical diagnosis of abnormalities during palpation of soft-tissue. Palpation is recognized by the medical community as an essential and low-cost method to detect and diagnose disease in soft-tissue. However, differences are often subtle and clinicians need to train for many years before they can conduct a reliable diagnosis. The probe presented here fills this gap providing a means to easily obtain stiffness values of soft tissue during a palpation procedure. Our stiffness sensor is equipped with a multi degree of freedom (DoF) Aurora magnetic tracker, allowing us to track and record the 3D position of the probe whilst examining a tissue area, and generate a 3D stiffness map in real-time. The stiffness probe was integrated in a robotic arm and tested in an artificial environment representing a good model of soft tissue organs; the results show that the sensor can accurately measure and map the stiffness of a silicon phantom embedded with areas of varying stiffness.

Habitat selection and adult-recruit interactions in Pectinaria koreni (Malmgren) (Annelida: Polychaeta) post-larval populations: Results of flume experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olivier, Frédéric; Desroy, Nicolas; Retière, Christian

1996-12-01

The fate of recently settled populations of soft-bottom invertebrates depends not only on dispersal of pelagic larvae by tidal currents but also on other physical ( e. g. resuspension) and biological mechanisms ( e.g. habitat selection and adult-recruit interactions) acting at the water-substratum interface. To assess the relative importance of such processes under megatidal conditions in the Abra alba community of the eastern Baie de Seine (English Channel), flume experiments were conducted on post-larvae of the dominant polychaete species, Pectinaria koreni. Habitat selection by post-larvae of P. koreni was determined in a first set of experiments, where individuals were sowed either on a suitable or on an unsuitable substratum. Once resuspended, post-larvae were given a choice between two highly contrasting treatments with a natural organic-rich muddy sand and a bare flat PVC surface. P. koreni post-larvae were able to leave an unfavourable substratum into which they had initially burrowed and reach a more suitable substrate by drifting (induced by the secretion of mucus) before final settlement. The influence of adults on habitat selection and survival of P. koreni post-larvae was analysed in a second set of experiments, where individuals were sowed onto a suitable sediment with adults (test treatment) or without (control treatment). The presence of conspecific adults induced a high resuspension rate of the post-larvae. Drifting occurred mainly just after the introduction of the current and affected the whole experimental population, regardless of size. Such a response seems to be related to the intense bioturbation caused by the sub-surface deposit-feeding habit of the adults, which alters the boundary-layer flow. In contrast, the presence of adults of Owenia fusiformis, another dominant polychaete of the Abra alba community, led to an enhanced recruitment by a reduction in post-larvae resuspension. In fact, at low shear velocities, dense aggregates of tubes stabilize the sediment and so act as particle traps. Thus, in the megatidal environment of the Baie de Seine, physical conditions and behavioural responses interact and contribute to structuring the benthic community.

Benefit of pulsation in soft corals

PubMed Central

Kremien, Maya; Shavit, Uri; Mass, Tali; Genin, Amatzia

2013-01-01

Soft corals of the family Xeniidae exhibit a unique, rhythmic pulsation of their tentacles (Movie S1), first noted by Lamarck nearly 200 y ago. However, the adaptive benefit of this perpetual, energetically costly motion is poorly understood. Using in situ underwater particle image velocimetry, we found that the pulsation motions thrust water upward and enhance mixing across the coral–water boundary layer. The induced upward motion effectively prevents refiltration of water by neighboring polyps, while the intensification of mixing, together with the upward flow, greatly enhances the coral’s photosynthesis. A series of controlled laboratory experiments with the common xeniid coral Heteroxenia fuscescens showed that the net photosynthesis rate during pulsation was up to an order of magnitude higher than during the coral’s resting, nonpulsating state. This enhancement diminished when the concentration of oxygen in the ambient water was artificially raised, indicating that the enhancement of photosynthesis was due to a greater efflux of oxygen from the coral tissues. By lowering the internal oxygen concentration, pulsation alleviates the problem of reduced affinity of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase oxygenase (RuBisCO) to CO2 under conditions of high oxygen concentrations. The photosynthesis–respiration ratio of the pulsating H. fuscescens was markedly higher than the ratios reported for nonpulsating soft and stony corals. Although pulsation is commonly used for locomotion and filtration in marine mobile animals, its occurrence in sessile (bottom-attached) species is limited to members of the ancient phylum Cnidaria, where it is used to accelerate water and enhance physiological processes. PMID:23610420

Benefit of pulsation in soft corals.

PubMed

Kremien, Maya; Shavit, Uri; Mass, Tali; Genin, Amatzia

2013-05-28

Soft corals of the family Xeniidae exhibit a unique, rhythmic pulsation of their tentacles (Movie S1), first noted by Lamarck nearly 200 y ago. However, the adaptive benefit of this perpetual, energetically costly motion is poorly understood. Using in situ underwater particle image velocimetry, we found that the pulsation motions thrust water upward and enhance mixing across the coral-water boundary layer. The induced upward motion effectively prevents refiltration of water by neighboring polyps, while the intensification of mixing, together with the upward flow, greatly enhances the coral's photosynthesis. A series of controlled laboratory experiments with the common xeniid coral Heteroxenia fuscescens showed that the net photosynthesis rate during pulsation was up to an order of magnitude higher than during the coral's resting, nonpulsating state. This enhancement diminished when the concentration of oxygen in the ambient water was artificially raised, indicating that the enhancement of photosynthesis was due to a greater efflux of oxygen from the coral tissues. By lowering the internal oxygen concentration, pulsation alleviates the problem of reduced affinity of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase oxygenase (RuBisCO) to CO2 under conditions of high oxygen concentrations. The photosynthesis-respiration ratio of the pulsating H. fuscescens was markedly higher than the ratios reported for nonpulsating soft and stony corals. Although pulsation is commonly used for locomotion and filtration in marine mobile animals, its occurrence in sessile (bottom-attached) species is limited to members of the ancient phylum Cnidaria, where it is used to accelerate water and enhance physiological processes.

Environmental Conditions Outweigh Geographical Contiguity in Determining the Similarity of nifH-Harboring Microbial Communities in Sediments of Two Disconnected Marginal Seas

PubMed Central

Zhou, Haixia; Dang, Hongyue; Klotz, Martin G.

2016-01-01

Ecological evidence suggests that heterotrophic diazotrophs fueled by organic carbon respiration in sediments play an important role in marine nitrogen fixation. However, fundamental knowledge about the identities, abundance, diversity, biogeography, and controlling environmental factors of nitrogen-fixing communities in open ocean sediments is still elusive. Surprisingly, little is known also about nitrogen-fixing communities in sediments of the more research-accessible marginal seas. Here we report on an investigation of the environmental geochemistry and putative diazotrophic microbiota in the sediments of Bohai Sea, an eutrophic marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean. Diverse and abundant nifH gene sequences were identified and sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) were found to be the dominant putative nitrogen-fixing microbes. Community statistical analyses suggested bottom water temperature, bottom water chlorophyll a content (or the covarying turbidity) and sediment porewater Eh (or the covarying pH) as the most significant environmental factors controlling the structure and spatial distribution of the putative diazotrophic communities, while sediment Hg content, sulfide content, and porewater SiO32−-Si content were identified as the key environmental factors correlated positively with the nifH gene abundance in Bohai Sea sediments. Comparative analyses between the Bohai Sea and the northern South China Sea (nSCS) identified a significant composition difference of the putative diazotrophic communities in sediments between the shallow-water (estuarine and nearshore) and deep-water (offshore and deep-sea) environments, and sediment porewater dissolved oxygen content, water depth and in situ temperature as the key environmental factors tentatively controlling the species composition, community structure, and spatial distribution of the marginal sea sediment nifH-harboring microbiota. This confirms the ecophysiological specialization and niche differentiation between the shallow-water and deep-water sediment diazotrophic communities and suggests that the in situ physical and geochemical conditions play a more important role than geographical contiguity in determining the community similarity of the diazotrophic microbiota in marginal sea sediments. PMID:27489551

[Bacterial diversity within different sections of summer sea-ice samples from the Prydz Bay, Antarctica].

PubMed

Ma, Jifei; Du, Zongjun; Luo, Wei; Yu, Yong; Zeng, Yixin; Chen, Bo; Li, Huirong

2013-02-04

In order to assess bacterial abundance and diversity within three different sections of summer sea-ice samples collected from the Prydz Bay, Antarctica. Fluorescence in situ hybridization was applied to determine the proportions of Bacteria in sea-ice. Bacterial community composition within sea ice was analyzed by 16S rRNA gene clone library construction. Correlation analysis was performed between the physicochemical parameters and the bacterial diversity and abundance within sea ice. The result of fluorescence in situ hybridization shows that bacteria were abundant in the bottom section, and the concentration of total organic carbon, total organic nitrogen and phosphate may be the main factors for bacterial abundance. In bacterial 16S rRNA gene libraries of sea-ice, nearly complete 16S rRNA gene sequences were grouped into three distinct lineages of Bacteria (gamma-Proteobacteria, alpha-Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes). Most clone sequences were related to cultured bacterial isolates from the marine environment, arctic and Antarctic sea-ice with high similarity. The member of Bacteroidetes was not detected in the bottom section of sea-ice. The bacterial communities within sea-ice were little heterogeneous at the genus-level between different sections, and the concentration of NH4+ may cause this distribution. The number of bacteria was abundant in the bottom section of sea-ice. Gamma-proteobacteria was the dominant bacterial lineage in sea-ice.

Sugar-sweetened soft drinks are associated with poorer cognitive function in individuals with type 2 diabetes: the Maine-Syracuse Longitudinal Study.

PubMed

Crichton, Georgina E; Elias, Merrill F; Torres, Rachael V

2016-04-01

The importance of adequate nutrition on cognitive performance is well recognised. Greater intakes of soft drinks are associated with a higher risk for type 2 diabetes, as well as other cardiometabolic diseases. A few studies have specifically examined whether the intake of soft drinks may be related to cognitive function. The aim of this study was to investigate whether soft drink intakes, including both sugar-sweetened and diet beverages, are associated with cognitive function, with adjustment for cardiovascular, lifestyle and dietary factors, and stratified according to type 2 diabetes status. Cross-sectional analyses were undertaken using 803 community-dwelling participants, aged 23-98 years, from the Maine-Syracuse Longitudinal Study. Cognitive function was measured using an extensive battery of neuropsychological tests. Usual dietary intake of soft drinks was assessed using a FFQ. Stratification by type 2 diabetes indicated that a greater intake of sugar-sweetened soft drinks was significantly associated with poorer performance in visual spatial memory, working memory, scanning and tracking, executive function, the global composite and the Mini-Mental State Examination in diabetic individuals. These relations were not attenuated with statistical control for BMI and other cardiovascular, lifestyle and dietary factors. Diet soft drink intake was unrelated to cognitive performance. Frequent sugar-sweetened soft drink intake was associated with poorer cognitive performance, particularly in individuals with type 2 diabetes, but the underlying causal mechanisms are yet to be determined. Longitudinal studies are needed to clarify these findings and the underlying causal mechanisms.

MARINE BOTTOM COMMUNITIES OF BLOCK ISLAND WATERS

EPA Science Inventory

The sea has long been an integral part of Block Island's natural history, beginning when the rising sea surrounded the high spot on a Pleistocene terminal moraine that became Block Island. The southern New England continental shelf, which lies around Block Island, and the Great S...

WATERSHED LANDSCAPE INDICATORS OF ESTUARINE BENTHIC CONDITION

EPA Science Inventory

Do land use/cover characteristics of watersheds associated with small estuaries exhibit a strong enough signal to make landscape metrics useful for identifying degraded bottom communities? We tested this idea with 58 pairs of small estuaries (<260 km2) and watersheds in the U.S. ...

Benefits and shortcomings of non-destructive benthic imagery for monitoring hard-bottom habitats.

PubMed

Beisiegel, Kolja; Darr, Alexander; Gogina, Mayya; Zettler, Michael L

2017-08-15

Hard-bottom habitats with complex topography and fragile epibenthic communities are still not adequately considered in benthic monitoring programs, despite their potential ecological importance. While indicators of ecosystem health are defined by major EU directives, methods commonly used to measure them are deficient in quantification of biota on hard surfaces. We address the suitability of seafloor imaging for monitoring activities. We compared the ability of high-resolution imagery and physical sampling methods (grab, dredge, SCUBA-diving) to detect taxonomic and functional components of epibenthos. Results reveal that (1) with minimal habitat disturbance on large spatial scales, imagery provides valuable, cost-effective assessment of rocky reef habitat features and community structure, (2) despite poor taxonomic resolution, image-derived data for habitat-forming taxa might be sufficient to infer richness of small sessile and mobile fauna, (3) physical collections are necessary to develop a robust record of species richness, including species-level taxonomic identifications, and to establish a baseline. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Summary of Skylab S-193 altimeter altitude results. [orbit calculation and studies of the ocean bottom

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mcgoogan, J. T.; Leitao, C. D.; Wells, W. T.

1975-01-01

The SKYLAB S-193 altimeter altitude results are presented in a concise format for further use and analysis by the scientific community. The altimeter mission and instrumentation is described along with the altimeter processing techniques and values of parameters used for processing. The determination of reference orbits is discussed, and the tracking systems utilized are tabulated. Techniques for determining satellite pointing are presented and a tabulation of pointing for each data mission included. The geographical location, the ocean bottom topography, the altimeter-determined ocean surface topography, and the altimeter automatic gain control history is presented. Some typical applications of this data are suggested.

Soft Robotics: Academic Insights and Perspectives Through Bibliometric Analysis.

PubMed

Bao, Guanjun; Fang, Hui; Chen, Lingfeng; Wan, Yuehua; Xu, Fang; Yang, Qinghua; Zhang, Libin

2018-06-01

Soft robotics is of growing interest in the robot community as well as in public media, and there is an increase in the quality and quantity of publications related to this topic. To formally elaborate this growth, we have used a bibliometric analysis to evaluate the publications in the field from 1990 to 2017 based on the Science Citation Index Expanded database. We present a detailed overview and discussion based on keywords, citation, h-index, year, journal, institution, country, author, and review articles. The results show that the United States takes the leading position in this research field, followed by China and Italy. Harvard University has the most publications, high average number of citations per publication and the highest h-index. IEEE Transactions on Robotics ranks first among the top 20 academic journals publishing articles related to this field, whereas Soft Robotics holds the top position in journals categorized with "ROBOTICS." Actuator, fabrication, control, material, sensing, simulation, bionics, stiffness, modeling, power, motion, and application are the hot topics of soft robotics. Smart materials, bionics, morphological computation, and embodiment control are expected to contribute to this field in the future. Application and commercialization appear to be the initial driving force and final goal for soft robots.

Identifying the Value of the ACT Score as a Predictor of Student Success in Respiratory Care, Radiography, and Nursing at Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parrott-Robbins, Rebecca Jon

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate--by utilizing data obtained from the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) PeopleSoft database-- whether the American College Testing (ACT) assessment was a predictor of student success for students who had graduated from respiratory, radiography, and nursing programs at Southeast…

Environmental Impact Research Program. Gravel Bar Mussel Communities: A Community Model.

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-10-01

flowing waters, where all but the coarse substrate has washed away, have stone flies, mayflies, blackflies, and caddis flies adapted for attachment and...bivalve genera are very important in the faunas of estuarine and fresh waters, as are the more diverse groups of freshwater gastropods . The only...relatively permanent river systems. In - their soft parts most freshwater mussels are structural>y rather stereotyped. UnIonaceans show adaptive

Statistical inference of seabed sound-speed structure in the Gulf of Oman Basin.

PubMed

Sagers, Jason D; Knobles, David P

2014-06-01

Addressed is the statistical inference of the sound-speed depth profile of a thick soft seabed from broadband sound propagation data recorded in the Gulf of Oman Basin in 1977. The acoustic data are in the form of time series signals recorded on a sparse vertical line array and generated by explosive sources deployed along a 280 km track. The acoustic data offer a unique opportunity to study a deep-water bottom-limited thickly sedimented environment because of the large number of time series measurements, very low seabed attenuation, and auxiliary measurements. A maximum entropy method is employed to obtain a conditional posterior probability distribution (PPD) for the sound-speed ratio and the near-surface sound-speed gradient. The multiple data samples allow for a determination of the average error constraint value required to uniquely specify the PPD for each data sample. Two complicating features of the statistical inference study are addressed: (1) the need to develop an error function that can both utilize the measured multipath arrival structure and mitigate the effects of data errors and (2) the effect of small bathymetric slopes on the structure of the bottom interacting arrivals.

Hydrology of Lake Butler, Orange County, Florida

USGS Publications Warehouse

Smoot, James L.; Schiffer, Donna M.

1984-01-01

Lake Butler is one of the lakes that collectively make up the Butler chain of lakes in the headwaters of the Kissimmee River, Florida. The bottom configuration of the lake is typical of relict karst features formed during lower stages in sea level. The top of the Floridan aquifer is 50 to 100 feet below the land surface. The drainage area of Lake Butler is approximately 14.5 sq mi and is comprised of sub-basins of other lakes in the vicinity. Surface outflow from Lake Butler is generally southward to Cypress Creek, a tributary of the Kissimmee River. The extremes in lake stage for the period 1933-81 are 94.67 ft on June 23, 1981 and 101.78 ft on September 13, 1960. The median lake stage for this period was 99.28 ft above sea level. The quality of water in Lake Butler is excellent, based on studies of physical, chemical, and biological conditions by the Orange County Pollution Control Department. The lake water is slightly acidic and soft (48 mg/L hardness as calcium carbonate). Pesticides in water were below detection levels at two sites sampled in the lake, but were detected in the bottom sediments. (USGS)

Water quality of Rhode Island streams

USGS Publications Warehouse

Briggs, J.C.; Feiffer, J.S.

1986-01-01

Water quality data collected from November 1979 through September 1983 at five stream stations within Rhode Island and one in Massachusetts show that concentrations of the common constituents were low. Mean water hardness at all sites was in the ' soft ' category. Sodium concentrations were less than 20 mg/L at two sites and less than 35 mg/L at the other sites. Mean nitrogen values for the two Blackstone River sites were in the range that could cause undesirable growths of aquatic plants. Mean phosphorus values exceeded the recommended limits for protection of aquatic life at four sites. Trace-element concentrations in the water were generally low. Those trace elements which were found in concentrations near or exceeding any standard or criterion include cadmium, chromium, lead, iron, and manganese. High concentrations of several trace elements were found in the bottom materials at several sites. The bottom materials also contained pesticides and organic chemicals including aldrin, chlordane, DDD, DDE, DDT, dieldren, endosulfan , endrin, heptachlor, Mirex, and PCB. Results of trend analysis of total phosphorus, total nitrogen, and specific conductance show a downward trend in phosphorus at two sites; an upward trend in nitrogen at one site; and one downward trend and one upward trend in specific conductance. (USGS)

Ecology of an estuarine mysid shrimp in the Columbia River (USA)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Haskell, C.A.; Stanford, J.A.

2006-01-01

The estuarine mysid, Neomysis mercedis, has colonized John Day and other run-of-the-river Reservoirs of the Columbia River, over 400 km from the estuary. In John Day Reservoir N. mercedis numbers peaked (2 m-3) in August in areas near the dam in association with lower water velocity and softer bottom than at the upstream sampling sites. Neomysis broods were primarily released in late spring and early fall. Gut content analysis showed that Neomysis feeds mostly on cladoceran zooplankton and rotifers in John Day Reservoir. Diel vertical migration was documented, with daytime distribution restricted to the bottom and preferentially to the soft-textured sediments in the deepest areas. Common pelagic fishes in the reservoir, especially juvenile American shad (Alosa sapidissima) and chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), are daytime zooplankton feeders that cannot prey on Neomysis owing to mysid diel vertical migration. Thus, Neomysis has become an important food web component in John Day Reservoir. We also collected N. mercedis further upstream in Lower Granite Reservoir, where another estuarine crustacean, Corophium salmonis, also is reported, underscoring the need to better understand the role of these estuarine invertebrates in the trophic ecology of the Columbia River. Copyright ?? 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Helmholtz and parabolic equation solutions to a benchmark problem in ocean acoustics.

PubMed

Larsson, Elisabeth; Abrahamsson, Leif

2003-05-01

The Helmholtz equation (HE) describes wave propagation in applications such as acoustics and electromagnetics. For realistic problems, solving the HE is often too expensive. Instead, approximations like the parabolic wave equation (PE) are used. For low-frequency shallow-water environments, one persistent problem is to assess the accuracy of the PE model. In this work, a recently developed HE solver that can handle a smoothly varying bathymetry, variable material properties, and layered materials, is used for an investigation of the errors in PE solutions. In the HE solver, a preconditioned Krylov subspace method is applied to the discretized equations. The preconditioner combines domain decomposition and fast transform techniques. A benchmark problem with upslope-downslope propagation over a penetrable lossy seamount is solved. The numerical experiments show that, for the same bathymetry, a soft and slow bottom gives very similar HE and PE solutions, whereas the PE model is far from accurate for a hard and fast bottom. A first attempt to estimate the error is made by computing the relative deviation from the energy balance for the PE solution. This measure gives an indication of the magnitude of the error, but cannot be used as a strict error bound.

Limited depth zonation among bathyal epibenthic megafauna of the Gully submarine canyon, northwest Atlantic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kenchington, E. L.; Cogswell, A. T.; MacIsaac, K. G.; Beazley, L.; Law, B. A.; Kenchington, T. J.

2014-06-01

The Gully is a large submarine canyon incised into the Scotian Shelf, in the northwest Atlantic. A submersible-mounted camera was used to collect 17 km of high resolution video imagery of the soft sediment flanks and floor of the canyon between 1000 and 2500 m depth. A depth-stratified random survey design with two transects per stratum was followed. Depth strata were drawn at 1000-1500 m, 1500-2000 m and 2000-2500 m reflecting global and regional faunal boundaries. The 47,614 individuals or colonies observed on the transects were identified into 49 unique taxa drawn from 7 phyla, while 21 additional taxa were observed between the transect lines. Cnidaria was the most diverse phylum (22 taxa) on the transects, followed by the Echinodermata (15 taxa). Most fauna were sessile or sedentary suspension feeders. A species of Xenophyophorida, likely Syringammina sp., was the most abundant taxon. Cluster analysis of transects based on a Bray-Curtis (BC) matrix of species abundance identified one cluster of five transects and one independent transect - the deepest transect (2406 m average depth). A similarity profile test indicated that this structure is not random. There was a significant change in the megafaunal assemblage with depth over scales of 10s of kilometers, accounting for 65% of the variation in the BC matrix. Both total organic carbon and labile carbon were higher in cores from the 1000-1500 m stratum than at greater depth, consistent with transport of food and sediments into the canyon from shallower waters. The first principal component calculated from species abundances separated the two transects from the 1000-1500 m depth stratum from the others indicating that sediment food supply influences community structure and composition. Over small spatial scales (≤10 m), eight groups of species associations were identified. However, the associations between the species within each group were not strong with the highest correlation between the Xenophyophorida and the Pennatulacea (ρ=0.66). At this spatial scale substrate type was an important factor, with hard and soft bottom species associations being identified.

[Community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections in children].

PubMed

Frick, Marie Antoinette; Moraga-Llop, Fernando A; Bartolomé, Rosa; Larrosa, Nieves; Campins, Magda; Roman, Yuani; Vindel, Ana; Figueras, Concepció

2010-12-01

Community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) infections were first reported in the 1990s. Young, healthy individuals are frequently affected. The incidence of CA-MRSA in Spain is increasing. All children seen between August 2006 and January 2009 with CA-MRSA infections were included. The S. aureus isolates were studied by conventional techniques, their antibiotic susceptibility by agar disk diffusion, the presence of mecA gene was detected by multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and the gene encoding the Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) by conventional PCR. CA-MRSA colonization was studied both in patients and their family members. CA-MRSA was isolated in 15 samples from 12 patients, aged between 6 days and 14 years. Half of them were not native. Eight patients required hospital admission. The most common clinical presentation was skin and soft tissue infection (92%). Secondary CA-MRSA bacteraemia was present in two patients. All strains were PVL producers and two were resistant to macrolides associated to methicillin resistance and one of them was also resistant to lincosamides. An intra-familial transmission was identified. The clinical outcome was favourable in all patients. CA-MRSA infections are emerging in Spain. Empirical treatment of skin and soft tissue infections should not be changed, since their incidence is still low. The drainage of CA-MRSA suppurative infections plays an important role in their treatment. Clindamycin or trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole should be used for mild or moderate skin and soft tissue infections. Controlling the spread of these strains presents a challenge in the community today. Copyright © 2009 Elsevier España, S.L. All rights reserved.

CLOSING THE BIODIESEL LOOP: SELF SUSTAINING COMMUNITY BASED BIODIESEL PRODUCTION

EPA Science Inventory

Biofuels Technology TEC 4700/5700          The Quest for Sustainable, Healthy Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Black, Alan W.

2004-01-01

Sustainability is a contested concept. Whilst the "triple bottom line" is sometimes used to describe the economic, social and ecological dimensions of sustainability, there are differing conceptions of what this notion implies. There are nevertheless some recurring themes that are outlined in this paper. There has also been some…