A surveillance strategy for invasive species of concern in deepwater habitats of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands

This report describes a surveillance strategy to detect deepwater invasive species in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. A need for this strategy was identified in the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument Management Plan and the Monument’s Draft Natural Resources Science Plan. This strategy focuses on detecting two species of concern, the octocoral Carijoa riisei and the red alga Hypnea musciformis. Most research on invasive species in the Hawaiian archipelago has focused on shallow water habitats within the limits of conventional SCUBA (0-30 m). Deeper habitats such as mesophotic reefs are much more difficult to access and consequently little is known about the distribution of deepwater invasive species or their impacts. Recent deepwater (>30 m) sightings of H. musciformis and C. riisei, in and near NWHI, respectively, have prompted a call for further research and surveillance of invasive species in deepwater habitats. This report compiles the most up to date information about these two species of concern in deepwater habitats. A literature search and conversations with subject matter experts was used to identify their current distribution, preferred habitat types, optimal detection methods and ways to efficiently sample the vast extent of NWHI. The proposed sampling strategy prioritizes survey effort where C. riisei and H. musciformis are most likely to be found. At coarse spatial scales (tens to hundreds of kilometers), opportunistic observations and distance from the Main Hawaiian Islands, a principal propagule source, are used to identify high-risk islands and banks. At fine spatial scales (meters to tens of kilometers) a habitat suitability model was developed to identify high-risk habitats. The habitat suitability model focused on habitat preferences of C. riisei, since the species is well studied and adequate data exists to map habitats. There was insufficient information to identify suitable habitat for H. muscifomis. Habitat preferences for the algae are poorly understood and there is a lack of data at relevant spatial scales to map those preferences which are known. The principal habitats identified by the habitat suitability model were ledges and the edges of rugose coral reefs, where the shade loving octocoral would likely be found. Habitat suitability maps were developed for seven atolls and banks to aid in survey site selection. The protocol relied on technical divers to conduct visual surveys of benthic habitats. It was developed to increase the efficiency of surveys, maximize the probability of detection, identify important information relevant to future surveys and standardize results. The strategy, model and protocol were tested during a field mission in 2009 at several atolls and islands in NWHI. The field mission did not detect any invasive species among deepwater habitats and much was learned to improve future surveys. Data gaps and improvements are discussed.

Assessing the precision of frequency distributions estimated from trawl-survey samples

In trawl surveys a cluster of fish are caught at each station, and fish caught together tend to have more similar characteristics, such as length, age, stomach contents etc., than those in the entire population. When this is the case, the effective sample size for estimates of the frequency distribution of a population characteristic can, therefore, be much smaller than the number of fish sampled during a survey. As examples, it is shown that the effective sample size for estimates of length-frequency distributions generated by trawl surveys conducted in the Barents Sea, off Namibia, and off South Africa is on average approximately one fish per tow. Thus many more fish than necessary are measured at each station (location). One way to increase the effective sample size for these surveys and, hence, increase the precision of the length-frequency estimates, is to reduce tow duration and use the time saved to collect samples at more stations.

Fichas analiticas dos equipamentos de pesca

The cards reproduced herewith are the direct result of the field surveys and have been the basic documents for the computed yearly strategic materials needs evaluation. They are presented due to the fundamental role played by them and due to their helpfulness regarding different nature studies, such as investment and maintenance costs determination, in terms of imported materials of the artisanal fishing gears of Mozambique.

Enterprise resource planning: Analysing the impact

Describes a study that set out to evaluate the performance impact of a SAP R3 implementation. The SAP system was implemented by a major multinational business in four of its European plants. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected over a two-year period, through surveys and interviews with systems users and by accessing company records. While users were able to identify the operational benefits of SAP, they were still doubtful at the end of the evaluation process whether the system had resulted in any significant positive financial benefits for the business. Two themes related to this observation are explored. First the time lag between operational improvements and subsequent financial impact. Second the importance of learning as a means of reducing the time lag. Learning in this context is a multi-dimensional concept and covers learning how to use the system, learning how to improve the system and learning how to improve the implementation process.

Habitat degradation of Rhinopithecus bieti in Yunnan, China

Black-and-white snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus bieti) are endemic to the Trans-Himalayas in Northwest Yunnan and Southeast Tibet between the upper Yangtze and Mekong Rivers. Based on field surveys and previous reports, we identified the dark-coniferous forest, the mixed coniferous and broadleaf forest, and oak patches as suitable habitats (SH) for the monkeys. Summer grazing lands (SGL), which were made by local people cutting and burning the dark-coniferous forest at the high altitude belt, replaced SH. To have a general view of the status of the SH in Yunnan, we estimated the areas of SH and SGL from satellite images in 1997, and compared with areas estimated from aerial photo-based maps (ca. 1958). The work resulted in: 1) the area of SH was 4,169 km(2) in 1997; 2) SGL was 1,923 km(2); 3) during the past 40 years, the area of SH decreased by 31% (1,887 km(2)), and SGL increased by 204% (1,291 km(2)); and 4) the mean size of forest patches decreased from 15.6 to 5.4 km(2). In addition, the area of SGL is positively correlated to local human population (R-2 greater than or equal to0.53), implying that the reduction and fragmentation of habitat for Rhinopithecus bieti is a result of population growth of humans, who mostly employ traditional modes of production. Only 11 monkey groups remained in the changing habitat. Considering that forests at lower elevation were also encroached upon by farmlands in a similar way, the forest ecosystem is highly threatened. The destruction will continue unless there is a change in the mode of production in the region.

Foresight vehicle programme - Customer understanding processes in design

Customer feedback is normally fed into product design and engineering via quality surveys and therefore mainly comprises negative comments: complaints about things gone wrong. Whilst eradication of such problems will result in a feeling of satisfaction in existing customers, it will not instil the sense of delight required to attract conquest buyers. CUPID's aim is to conceive and evaluate ideas to stimulate product desirability through the provision of delightful features and execution. By definition, surprise and delight features cannot be foreseen, so we have to understand sensory appeal and, therefore, the "hidden" voice of the customer. Copyright © 2002 Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc.

Is UK Planning a Barrier to Energy Efficient Heritage Retrofit: A Comparative Analysis of a Selection of London Boroughs

This paper is part of a larger PhD research project examining the apparent conflict in UK planning between energy efficiency and conservation for the retrofit of the thermal envelope of the existing building stock. Review of the literature shows that the UK will not meet its 2050 emission reduction target without substantial improvement to the energy performance of the thermal envelope of the existing building stock and that significantly, 40% of the existing stock has heritage status and may be exempted from Building Regulations. A review of UK policy and legislation shows that there are clear national priorities towards reducing emissions and addressing climate change, yet also shows a movement towards local decision making and control. This paper compares the current status of thirteen London Boroughs in respect to their position on thermal envelope retrofit for heritage and traditionally constructed buildings. Data collection is through ongoing surveys and interviews that compare statistical data, planning policies, sustainability and environmental priorities, and Officer decision-making. This paper finds that there is a lack of consistency in application of planning policy across Boroughs and suggests that this is a barrier to the up-take of energy efficient retrofit. Various recommendations are suggested at both national and local level which could help UK planning and planning officers deliver more energy efficient heritage retrofits.

青藏高原东缘高山林线乔木种群生态特征研究

青藏高原东部分布着世界最高的林线，该区域也是由欧亚北温带物种形成的林线的南界。在大面积野外踏勘的基础上，选择青藏高原东部具有典型高山林线分布的三个地点（滇西北白马雪山、川西北鹧鸪山及岷江源地区）作为研究区，从种群的结构、生存特征、分布格局及分形特征等方面对青藏高原东缘高山林线乔木种群生态学特征进行了研究，并在此基础上探讨了人类活动对林线种群生态特征及林线格局的影响。结果表明，林线区乔木树种多以单种群形式存在，林线区群落结构简单，乔木层多为单一树种组成，其生长型较之郁闭林发生了急剧的变化：树木高度急剧下降，而发展多茎多分枝的生长型。生长型的转变是高山林线乔木对恶劣自然条件的形态适应。 研究发现，在青藏高原东缘，阴坡林线乔木主要是冷杉（Abies spp.），阳坡主要由圆柏（Sabina spp.）组成，少数地方还有云杉（Picea spp.）。阴坡乔木种群结构多表现为增长型，幼苗和幼树在种群中占较大比重，种群潜在自然更新能力较强，但幼龄个体死亡率非常高，存活曲线多接近Deevey-Ⅲ型；阳坡乔木种群幼苗个体数极少，幼树相对增加。野外调查表明，人为活动较频繁的阳坡林线区幼苗数量极少甚至缺失，而受人为活动干扰较小的样地中幼苗和幼树数量明显增多，从一个侧面说明放牧等人类活动可能对林线种群的更新带来较大影响，而对卡卡沟围栏内外的样地分析也进一步证明了这一结果。 所研究林线乔木种群各龄级的空间格局在不同尺度上表现为聚集、随机和均匀分布，以聚集分布为主；各龄级在不同尺度上表现出显著的相关性，幼苗通常与另外两个龄级的关联性较密切。各龄级间显著的相关性表明不同龄级个体在空间交错分布，有利于对各种资源的充分利用，对种群的生存和发展非常有利，反映了高山生态系统恶劣生境中种群的一种适应对策。 林线乔木种群各龄级分布格局的计盒维数有差别，林线种群的计盒维数总是小于郁闭林种群的计盒维数。另外，郁闭林各龄级计盒维数通常也高于林线各龄级，表明不同海拔或者不同群落类型中的乔木树种具有不同的水平空间占据能力。林线区种群分布格局的计盒维数都很低，占据现实水平空间的程度较低，具有相对较高的生态间隙维，其潜在占据空间的能力较高，群落还可提供给种群的最大空间限度较大，但实际上由于受群落中种内、种间的竞争及林线区恶劣的生态环境条件的限制，其潜在空间占据能力可能难以表现出来。 青藏高原东缘高海拔地带以季节性游牧为主要的资源利用和生产方式，阳坡森林郁闭度低于阴坡，灌丛数量和种类较阴坡少，融雪早且积雪时间短，所以阳坡包括高山林线区成为当地牧民游牧路线的必经之地。牲畜的践踏、啃食使得幼龄乔木树种个体数量大大减少，严重阻碍了林线乔木种群的自然更新，同时种群占据空间的能力也明显降低。因此可以认为，在青藏高原东部地区，山地游牧等人为干扰叠加于恶劣的自然条件，阳坡林线的自然更新潜力受到抑制，其生存状态较之阴坡林线显著恶化，并可使阳坡林线高度逐渐降低。高山林线区森林一旦破坏在短时间内很难有效更新和恢复，因此，对于处于恶劣高山生境中的乔木种群应加强保护，同时适度控制人为干扰强度和幅度以减少其直接和间接破坏，防止阳坡林线退化并促进高山生态系统的自然恢复。 Eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau has the highest timberline of the world. On the basis of field surveys and literature reviews, three typical alpine timberlines were chosen for in-depth studies, i.e., Baima Snow Mountain in northwest Yunnan, Zhegu Mountain and the waterhead area of Minjiang River in west Sichuan. Using the methodologis of population ecology, we analyzed the population structure, survival characteristics, spatial point patterns and fractal dimensions of the timberline tree populations and discussed the impacts of grazing on the structure and spatial pattern of alpine timberline. Compared with closed forests, the community structure of timberline is simpler, usually with one or two species constituting the tree layer. Differences also exist in the growth forms: the trees were significantly shorter with more stems and branches, reflecting morphological adaptation of trees to the severe conditions at timberline. In the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, Abies spp. often formed alpine timberline in the north-facing slope while Sabina spp. and sometimes Picea spp. in the south- facing slope. The population structures of north-facing slope showed an increasing trend, with numerous seedlings and saplings. However, the survival curves tend to follow Deevy-III because of high dead ratio of young individuals. There are only few seedlings in the south-facing slope with heavy grazing, demonstrating that human disturbance may prevent regeneration at alpine timberline, which was confirmed by comparisons between fenced enclosures and control plots in the Kaka Valley. Depending on the spatial scales on consideration, the individuals of different age-classes showed clumping, random or even distribution, but mostly with clumping distribution. At all scales, individuals in different age-classes were all significantly correlated with each other while the seedlings were usually more correlated to two other age classes. This high degree of correlation among different age classes indicates that individuals of different age classes are spatially interlocked with each other, which helps sufficient utilization of various resources and is conducive to the survival and development of population. It is another adaptation strategy for trees at the severe environment. The spatial patterns of different age classes had different box dimension. In general, the box dimensions of total individuals and each age class at timberline are always smaller than that of closed forests, suggesting that space occupation capacity is not the same for populations at different altitude or in different communities. Populations on both the south- and the north-facing slopes had a very low box dimensions (far away from the max., 2), however, the lower the box dimension, the bigger the potential space provided by community. In fact, because of inner- and inter- competition as well as the severe conditions at timberline, this kind of potential ability can hardly be realized. Mountain pastoralism is the major type of as well as the only most effective way of resource uses in the high elevation regions of the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Due to lower canopy cover, less bushes and short snow-cover time, south-facing slopes became the favorite pastures. Damages from livestock through tramping, browsing and others have greatly reduced the number of young individuals. As a result, the potential of timberline trees to regenerate and their ability to occupy more space are greatly inhitibted. We conclude that human disturbances (mountain pastoralism) as well as harsh environmental conditions co-worked to inhibit the regeneration of tree populations in the south-facing slope and made south slopes more difficult than the north-facing slopes for trees to survive and develop, resulting a gradual retreat of timberline in the north-facing slopes. Forests at alpine timberline are susceptible to disturbance and difficult to regenerate and restore once damaged and controlling human disturbances is important for protecting the forest ecosystems at the timberline area.

Web-based spatiotemporal visualization of marine environment data

With long-term marine surveys and research, and especially with the development of new marine environment monitoring technologies, prodigious amounts of complex marine environmental data are generated, and continuously increase rapidly. Features of these data include massive volume, widespread distribution, multiple-sources, heterogeneous, multi-dimensional and dynamic in structure and time. The present study recommends an integrative visualization solution for these data, to enhance the visual display of data and data archives, and to develop a joint use of these data distributed among different organizations or communities. This study also analyses the web services technologies and defines the concept of the marine information gird, then focuses on the spatiotemporal visualization method and proposes a process-oriented spatiotemporal visualization method. We discuss how marine environmental data can be organized based on the spatiotemporal visualization method, and how organized data are represented for use with web services and stored in a reusable fashion. In addition, we provide an original visualization architecture that is integrative and based on the explored technologies. In the end, we propose a prototype system of marine environmental data of the South China Sea for visualizations of Argo floats, sea surface temperature fields, sea current fields, salinity, in-situ investigation data, and ocean stations. An integration visualization architecture is illustrated on the prototype system, which highlights the process-oriented temporal visualization method and demonstrates the benefit of the architecture and the methods described in this study.

同事关系质量及其作用机制

Although the research into coworker relationship quality has been recognized one of key factors related to organization performance, and has been thought a new trend in organization behavior research with the flatting of organization structure and complication of task assignment, there is relatively little empirical research on the mechanism between coworkers’ interaction, contraring to the fruitful results on member exchange research based on social network theory, say nothing of the influence of cultural differences such as GUANXI. This research developed the scale for the assessment of Coworker Relationship Quality by literature review, deep interview, and questionnaires, compared the predictable ability of Coworker Relationship Quality (CRQ) scale and Coworker Exchange (CWX) scale on employees’ work attitudes and behaviors. Finally, the mediating effect of Coworker Relationship Quality between employees’ similarities on personality and their work attitudes and behaviors was investigated. Following are main results. Firstly, we found that the interpersonal communication, trust, and mutual support are the key factors of coworker relationship quality, which is similar to the result getting from western samples. But Chinese people are more GUANXI ORIENTATION, means they want to build longtime relationship with others, not only when they are coworkers, but also when one of them left the organization. Secondly, though the core meaning of CRQ and CWX are same, their predictable ability on organization outcomes is different. CRQ is more powerful than CWX, especially on turnover intention. The result showed that after controlling the effect of demographic variables and CRQ, CWX cannot predict turnover intention significantly, but CRQ can still predict turnover intention significantly after controlling demographic variables and CWX. Thirdly, the partial mediating effect of CRQ between positive affectivity similarity and organizational citizenship behavior, coworker satisfaction, organizational commitment and turnover intention are validated, but we did not find the mediating effect of CRQ between demographic variable similarity and workers’ attitudes and behaviors. The Similarity Attraction Paradigm, Social Identity Theory, and Self Category Theory were supported.

中学生的性别—理科刻板印象及其影响因素

Gender stereotype has a great effect on an individual’s cognition and behavior. Notably, stereotyped cognition about gender and science exerts an influence on an individual’s academic or career choice. In order to weaken the negative effect of gender-science stereotype and facilitate girls’ participation in science, this study examined the development of implicit gender-science stereotype and influence factors with implicit association test and questionnaires in a sample of secondary school students. The present work showed that: Firstly, there were no gender differences and gender predominance in performance of math and physics during secondary school years. However, girls tended to attribute success in math and physics to unstable factors, or the failure to stable factors. The reverse was true for boys’ attribution. This gender difference in attribution was especially evident in their study of physics. Secondly, 7th to 11th grade students implicitly regarded science as male domain, with the exception of 7th grade boys, who thought both boys and girls can study science well. On the whole, this gender-science stereotype was more and more evident as the specialization of science subjects’ progresses through secondary school, and this inclination decreased with increasing grade. Thirdly, the negative correlation between explicit and implicit stereotype which appeared in girls from 8th grade grew stronger with increasing grade and became significant in 10th grade. On the contrary, the significantly positive correlation existed in 7th -11th boys. Fourthly, the experience including attitude toward science, science interests and self –efficacy in math and physics had significantly negative effect on girls’ implicit gender-science stereotype, and significantly positive effect on boys’. It was showed that gender moderated the effect of experience in the study of science and implicit gender-science stereotype, and the attitude toward science mediated the relationship between science interests, self-efficacy and implicit gender-science stereotype. Fifthly, the perceived teacher’s class behaviours by students and the perceived parents’ gender stereotype by children had strong predictive power on students’ implicit gender-science stereotype. And the perceived teachers’ and parents’ performance expectancies can influence gender-science stereotype indirectly through self-efficacy in related subjects and attitude toward science. In conclusion, the present study showed that cognitive bias about gender and science existed in Chinese secondary school students. The information conveyed from teachers and parents interacting with students’ experience in the study of science affect the formation of stereotyped cognition.

制造业技术工人工作-家庭关系的影响因素及其作用机制

The work-family relations included positive relationship (work-family enrichment) and negative relationship (work-family conflict). Along with the development of positive psychology, the researchers turned their focus from work-family conflict to work-family enrichment. On the other hand, the research between work and family had just started and most attention was fix on work-family conflict. This research based on the skilled workers in manufacturing, and tried to discuss antecedents and the machanism of work-family relations through a series research which include action relation among job characteristics, work-family relations and outcomes of work, and the action relation among job resource、work-family relations、marital adjustment、work outcomes and role salience. This subject made the investigation to the workers who are working in manufacturing through literature research, questionnaire surveys and other methods. In this subject, several statistical techniques such as Explore Factor Analysis（CFA）,Structural Equation Modeling（SEM）, multiple-group Analysis were used to get the following conclusion: Firstly, work-family enrichment was an independent variable in work-family conflict, which had more extensively influence. Work-family conflict would increase accompany with the increasing of job demand, and it also would enhance negative work outcomes; work-family enrichment was effected by both job demand and job resource, and it made positive influence to positive and negative work outcomes. Secondly, marital adjustment penetrated into work domain through work-family enrichment inner effect mechanism, and influenced the work outcomes. The work→family enrichment and family→work enrichment could facilitate mutually, marital adjustment influenced the work outcome by the reciprocal relationship of work→family enrichment ↔ family→work enrichment. Finally, the family-role salience had directed loop-enhanced effect to organizational commitment and the importance could also enhance the positive function of work→family enrichment to organizational commitment.

NHS Wales user needs study including knowledgebase tools report. Report for Informing Healthcare Strategy implementation programme.

Thomas, R., Spink, S., Durbin, J. & Urquhart, C. (2005). NHS Wales user needs study including knowledgebase tools report. Report for Informing Healthcare Strategy implementation programme. Aberystwyth: Department of Information Studies, University of Wales Aberystwyth. Sponsorship: Informing Healthcare, NHS Wales

Assessing the impact of a health library service. Best practice guidance

Urquhart, C. & Weightman, A. (2008). Assessing the impact of a health library service. Best Practice Guidance. Based on research originally funded by LKDN, now sponsored by National Library for Health. Aberystwyth: Department of Information Studies, Aberystwyth University. The guidance relates to a project report, Developing a toolkit for assessing the impact of health library services on patient care (also available in CADAIR). A version of this item is available as an online appendix to a paper in Health Information and Libraries Journal entitled: The value and impact of information provided through library services for patient care: developing guidance for best practice (Weightman, A., Urquhart, C. et al) available electronically prepublication Sponsorship: LKDN/NLH

Peace with Hamas? The transforming potential of political participation

Gunning, J. (2004). Peace with Hamas? The transforming potential of political participation. International Affairs. 80(2) pp.233-255 RAE2008