Abbondanze chimiche delle Blue Straggler Stars dell'ammasso aperto NGC 188

My Thesis work is aimed at searching for evidence of CO-depletion in the atmosphere of these objects. To this end, I am analyzing high-resolution spectra recently acquired with the spectrograph HDS at the Subaru Telescope. The global sample is composed of 5 BSSs with hot WD companions, 3 additional binary BSSs with no a significant far-UV excess, and one "normal" stars (along the RGB star) needed for comparison. The analysis will provide us with the surface chemical abundances (especially of C and O) of the target stars. The final goal is to verify the expected {chemical signature} and put constraints on its characteristic time scale (for instance, a positive detection in the 5 BSSs with hot companions and a non-detection in the other 3 binary BSSs would imply that CO-depletion is a transient phenomenon, lasting approx 300 Myr only). The analysis will also provide us with the rotational velocities of each target, thus allowing to investigate their kinematical properties and shed new light on their evolutionary path.

Black and Blue: Exploring Racial Bias and Law Enforcement in the Killings of Unarmed Black Male Civilians

In late 2014, a series of highly publicized police killings of unarmed Black male civilians in the United States prompted large-scale social turmoil. In the current review, we dissect the psychological antecedents of these killings and explain how the nature of police work may attract officers with distinct characteristics that may make them especially well-primed for negative interactions with Black male civilians. We use media reports to contextualize the precipitating events of the social unrest as we ground our explanations in theory and empirical research from social psychology and industrial and organizational (I/O) psychology. To isolate some of the key mechanisms at play, we disentangle racial bias (e.g., stereotyping processes) from common characteristics of law enforcement agents (e.g., social dominance orientation), while also addressing the interaction between racial bias and policing. By separating the moving parts of the phenomenon, we provide a more fine-grained analysis of the factors that may have contributed to the killings. In doing so, we endeavor to more effectively identify and develop solutions to eradicate excessive use of force during interactions between “Black” (unarmed Black male civilians) and “Blue” (law enforcement).

The Ocean Economic Statistical System of China and Understanding of the Blue Economy

The ocean and its resources are increasingly seen as indispensable in addressing the multiple challenges the planet is facing in the decades to come. It has never been easy to quantify this particular sector of the economy, in any country, given the lack of a detailed, centralized data base with adequate specifics covering the necessary sectors, this article aims to compare the existing ocean economy statistical systems, especially Asia-Pacific, American and European countries, in order to overcome the deficiencies with regard to the diversity of definitions and statistical representations of ocean sectors, establish the standard statistical system and compile data for the global ocean economy.

Measurement of the Ocean Economy From National Income Accounts to the Sustainable Blue Economy

The widespread efforts to incorporate the economic values of oceans into national income accounts have reached a stage where coordination of national efforts is desirable. A symposium held in 2015 began this process by bringing together representatives from ten countries. The symposium concluded that a definition of core ocean industries was possible but beyond that core the definition of ocean industries is in flux. Better coordination of ocean income accounts will require addressing issues of aggregation, geography, partial ocean industries, confidential, and imputation is also needed. Beyond the standard national income accounts, a need to incorporate environmental resource and ecosystem service values to gain a complete picture of the economic role of the oceans was identified. The U.N. System of Environmental and Economic Accounts and the Experimental Ecosystem Service Accounts provide frameworks for this expansion. This will require the development of physical accounts of environmental assets linked to the economic accounts as well as the adaptation of transaction and welfare based economic valuation methods to environmental resources and ecosystem services. The future development of ocean economic data is most likely to require cooperative efforts at development of metadata standards and the use of multiple platforms of opportunity created by policy analysis, economic development, and conservation projects to both collect new economic data and to sustain ocean economy data collection into the future by building capacity in economic data collection and use..

Relative contribution of natural productivity and compound feed to tissue growth in blue shrimp (Litopenaeus stylirostris) reared in biofloc: Assessment by C and N stable isotope ratios and effect on key digestive enzymes

The aim of this study was to assess the relative contribution of natural productivity and compound food to the growth of the juvenile blue shrimp Litopenaeus stylirostris reared in a biofloc system. Two experiments were carried out based on the same protocol with three treatments: clear water with experimental diet (CW), biofloc with experimental diet (BF) and biofloc unfed (BU). Shrimp survival was significantly higher in biofloc rearing than in CW rearing. The contribution of the biofloc to shrimp diet was estimated through measurement of carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios in shrimp and food sources. Different isotopic compositions between feeds were obtained by feeding natural productivity with a mixture rich in fish meal and the shrimps with a pellet containing a high level of soy protein concentrate. Using a two source one-isotope mixing model, we found that the natural productivity of the biofloc system contributed to shrimp growth at a level of 39.8% and 36.9%, for C and N, respectively. The natural food consumed by the shrimps reared in the biofloc system resulted in higher gene expression (mRNA transcript abundance) and activities of two digestive enzymes in their digestive gland: α-amylase and trypsin. The growth of shrimp biomass reared in biofloc was, on average, 4.4 times that of those grown in clear water. Our results confirmed the best survival and promoted growth of shrimps using biofloc technology and highlighted the key role of the biofloc in the nutrition of rearing shrimps. Statement of relevance In this study, we have applied an original protocol to determine the respective contribution of natural productivity and artificial feeds on the alimentation of the juvenile blue shrimp L. stylirostris reared in biofloc system by using C and N natural stable isotope analysis. Moreover, we have compared, in shrimp digestive gland, the α-amylase and trypsin enzyme activities at biochemical and molecular levels for two different shrimp rearing systems, biofloc and clear water. In our knowledge, the use of molecular tool to study the influence of biofloc consumption on digest process of shrimp was never carried out. We think that our research is new and important to increase knowledge on biofloc topic.

Mixture of time-dependent growth models with an application to blue swimmer crab length-frequency data

Understanding how aquatic species grow is fundamental in fisheries because stock assessment often relies on growth dependent statistical models. Length-frequency-based methods become important when more applicable data for growth model estimation are either not available or very expensive. In this article, we develop a new framework for growth estimation from length-frequency data using a generalized von Bertalanffy growth model (VBGM) framework that allows for time-dependent covariates to be incorporated. A finite mixture of normal distributions is used to model the length-frequency cohorts of each month with the means constrained to follow a VBGM. The variances of the finite mixture components are constrained to be a function of mean length, reducing the number of parameters and allowing for an estimate of the variance at any length. To optimize the likelihood, we use a minorization–maximization (MM) algorithm with a Nelder–Mead sub-step. This work was motivated by the decline in catches of the blue swimmer crab (BSC) (Portunus armatus) off the east coast of Queensland, Australia. We test the method with a simulation study and then apply it to the BSC fishery data.

Transient Blue Skin: Pseudochromhidrosis

Objectives: Pseudochromhidrosis is a rare condition where colours due to chromogenic microbial products or extrinsic chemicals are excreted with sweat. Chromhidrosis is the production of coloured sweat from apocrine or eccrine sweat glands. The aim of this case report is to illustrate all the steps involved in the diagnosis of pseudochromhidrosis. Materials and methods: A 17-year-old patient with pseudochromhidrosis is presented. Results: Clinical features of the patient were consistent with pseudochromhidrosis. Conclusions: The distinction between chromhidrosis and pseudochromhidrosis can be made based on a detailed history, skin biopsy and empiric treatment

Effects of density dependence, zooplankton and temperature on blue whiting Micromesistius poutassou growth

Blue whiting Micromesistius poutassou mean total length at age in the north-east Atlantic Ocean was found to vary by around ±6% during the period 2004–2011 and mean mass at age by ±22% during the years 1981–2013. Linear modelling provided strong evidence that these phenotypic growth variations can be explained by trophic conditions, mainly negative density dependence and also food availability, and a negative long-term temperature effect on asymptotic siz

SSF guidelines: towards blue growth

A consultation workshop on East Africa recognized that, if applied well, the principles of the SSF Guidelines can advance small-scale fisheries in the region.