Editorial: The Impact of Welfare Reform on Families

On the horizon a huge wave is building, about to crash down on the poorest most hard pressed families in our country. The impact of welfare reform on families and on those who serve them will be profound The degree to which families and workers will be adversely affected is to date not fully understood. Yet as my son concluded, "...basically, if you are on welfare you had better win the lottery or learn to swim in the treacherous waters of poverty!" (C. Sallee, personal communication, November, 1996). We are also informed by looking back at the Elizabethan Poor Laws of 1601 where we find the origin of welfare reform. Orphanages, the responsibility of relatives, poorhouses and awarding relief work to the lowest private sector bidder, all introduced in the beginning of the welfare state, are key components of the current reform. The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996 washes away the entitlements and rights created during this country's greatest depression, leaving exposed the stark selfishness of the junk bond 1980's.

Heat flow measurements on METEOR cruise M86/5

Mud volcanoes (MV) are sources of mass and energy, transported from deeper levels of the sediment pile to the surface. Together with fluid and gas, thermal energy is emitted through these structures. Therefore heat flow determination is a sensible tool to detect and quantify the amount of convective flow. In the Gulf of Cadiz several mud volcanoes can be found along major tectonic lines (SWIM faults). We employ geothermal measurements to observe the activity of mud volcanoes and possible leakage at the faults apart from pronounced structures.

Acoustic multi-frequency indicator of four major groups on a spatial grid in the Bay of Biscay

The first data set contains the mean and cofficient of variation (standard deviation divided by mean) of a multi-frequency indicator I derived from ER60 acoustic information collected at five frequencies (18, 38, 70, 120, and 200 kHz) in the Bay of Biscay in May of the years 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010 (Pelgas surveys). The multi-frequency indicator was first calculated per voxel (20 m long × 5 m deep sampling unit) and then averaged on a spatial grid (approx. 20 nm × 20 nm) for five 5-m depth layers in the surface waters (10-15m, 15-20m, 20-25m, 25-30m below sea surface); there are missing values in particular in the shallowest layer. The second data set provides for each grid cell and depth layer the proportion of voxels for which the multi-frequency indicator I was indicative of a certain group of organisms. For this the following interpretation was used: I < 0.39 swim bladder fish or large gas bubbles, I = 0.39-0.58 small resonant bubbles present in gas bearing organisms such as larval fish and phytoplankton, I = 0.7-0.8 fluidlike zooplankton such as copepods and euphausiids, and I > 0.8 mackerel. These proportions can be interpreted as a relative abundance index for each of the four organism groups.

Body sizes and dive characteristics of narwhals (Monodon monoceros) from Kakiak Point and Melville Bay (2005-2007)

We report on wintertime data collected from Baffin Bay and northern Davis Strait, a major gateway linking the Arctic with the subpolar North Atlantic, using narwhals (Monodon monoceros) as an oceanographic sampling platform. Fourteen narwhals were instrumented with satellite-linked time-depth-temperature recorders between 2005 and 2007. Transmitters collected and transmitted water column temperature profiles from each dive between December and April, where >90% of maximum daily dive depths reached the bottom. Temperature measurements were combined with 15 helicopter-based conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) casts taken in April 2007 across central Baffin Bay and compared with hydrographic climatology values used for the region in Arctic climate models. Winter temperature maxima for whale and CTD data were in good agreement, ranging between 4.0°C and 4.6°C in inshore and offshore Baffin Bay and in Davis Strait. The warm Irminger Water was identified between 57°W and 59°W (at 68°N) between 200 and 400 m depths. Whale data correlated well with climatological temperature maxima; however, they were on average 0.9°C warmer ±0.6°C (P < 0.001). Furthermore, climatology data overestimated the winter surface isothermal layer thickness by 50-80 m. Our results suggest the previously documented warming in Baffin Bay has continued through 2007 and is associated with a warmer West Greenland Current in both of its constituent water masses. This research demonstrates the feasibility of using narwhals as ocean observation platforms in inaccessible Arctic areas where dense sea ice prevents regular oceanographic measurements and where innate site fidelity, affinity for winter pack ice, and multiple daily dives to >1700 m offer a useful opportunity to sample the area.

Seawater carbonate chemistry, survival rate, shell mass growth, shell dissolution and locomotory speed of Limacina retroversa in a laboratory experiment

Anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions induce ocean acidification, thereby reducing carbonate ion concentration, which may affect the ability of calcifying organisms to build shells. Pteropods, the main planktonic producers of aragonite in the worlds' oceans, may be particularly vulnerable to changes in sea water chemistry. The negative effects are expected to be most severe at high-latitudes, where natural carbonate ion concentrations are low. In this study we investigated the combined effects of ocean acidification and freshening on Limacina retroversa, the dominant pteropod in sub polar areas. Living L. retroversa, collected in Northern Norwegian Sea, were exposed to four different pH values ranging from the pre-industrial level to the forecasted end of century ocean acidification scenario. Since over the past half-century the Norwegian Sea has experienced a progressive freshening with time, each pH level was combined with a salinity gradient in two factorial, randomized experiments investigating shell degradation, swimming behavior and survival. In addition, to investigate shell degradation without any physiologic influence, one perturbation experiments using only shells of dead pteropods was performed. Lower pH reduced shell mass whereas shell dissolution increased with pCO2. Interestingly, shells of dead organisms had a higher degree of dissolution than shells of living individuals. Mortality of Limacina retroversa was strongly affected only when both pH and salinity reduced simultaneously. The combined effects of lower salinity and lower pH also affected negatively the ability of pteropods to swim upwards. Results suggest that the energy cost of maintaining ion balance and avoiding sinking (in low salinity scenario) combined with the extra energy cost necessary to counteract shell dissolution (in high pCO2 scenario), exceed the available energy budget of this organism causing the pteropods to change swimming behavior and begin to collapse. Since L. retroversa play an important role in the transport of carbonates to the deep oceans these findings have significant implications for the mechanisms influencing the inorganic carbon cycle in the sub-polar area.

Sex-specific foraging during parental care in a size-monomorphic seabird

Sex differences in foraging behaviour are typically studied in size-dimorphic taxa. Data on sex-specific behavior in monomorphic taxa are needed to test theories of reproductive investment. It has been suggested that in seabirds foraging niche separation may be related to decreased intersexual competition for food between cooperating pair-bonded individuals. Alternatively, sex differences in foraging niches may be driven by different nutritional requirements of females associated with the reproductive costs of egg production and oviposition. To assess these possibilities, we studied a size-monomorphic colonial seabird, the Australasian Gannet (Morus serrator) at the Cape Kidnappers gannetry, New Zealand. We recorded maximum dive depths, and distinct diet composition of incubating females as indicated by stable isotopic signatures. Results suggested greater female foraging effort during early times of incubation, indicated by significantly deeper maximum dives. Sex-specific foraging patterns across other breeding stages were more variable. Nitrogen stable isotopic values showed that incubating females occupied a different trophic position compared to males at the same breeding stage, and also from those of gannets of both sexes at later stages of parental care. Overall, the data are consistent with cost-of-oviposition compensation in females necessitating male-bias in parental care in biparental breeders. Further research is needed to unravel the implications for the evolution of sex differences in behavior in this and other monomorphic taxa.

Automatic-dependent surveillance-broadcast experimental deployment using system wide information management

This paper describes an automatic-dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) implementation for air-to-air and ground-based experimental surveillance within a prototype of a fully automated air traffic management (ATM) system, under a trajectory-based-operations paradigm. The system is built using an air-inclusive implementation of system wide information management (SWIM). This work describes the relations between airborne and ground surveillance (SURGND), the prototype surveillance systems, and their algorithms. System's performance is analyzed with simulated and real data. Results show that the proposed ADS-B implementation can fulfill the most demanding surveillance accuracy requirements.