Research Software Sustainability: Report on Knowledge Exchange Workshop

The report introduces software sustainability, provides definitions, clearly demonstrates that software is not the same as data and illustrates aspects of sustainability in the software lifecycle. The recommendations state that improving software sustainability requires a number of changes: some technical and others societal, some small and others significant. We must start by raising awareness of researchers’ reliance on software. This goal will become easier if we recognise the valuable contribution that software makes to research – and reward those people who invest their time into developing reliable and reproducible software. The adoption of software has led to significant advances in research. But if we do not change our research practices, the continued rise in software use will be accompanied by a rise in retractions. Ultimately, anyone who is concerned about the reliability and reproducibility of research should be concerned about software sustainability. Beside highlighting the benefits of software sustainability and addressing the societal and technical barriers to software sustainability, the report provides access to expertise in software sustainability and outlines the role of funders. The report concludes with a short landscape of national activities in Europe and outside Europe. As a result of the workshop steps will be explored to establish European coordination and cooperation of national initiatives.

Emergence of Cooperation in Heterogeneous Population: A Discrete-Time Replicator Dynamics Analysis

The emergence of cooperation is analyzed in heterogeneous populations where individuals can be classified in two groups according to their phenotypic appearance. Phenotype recognition is assumed for all individuals: individuals are able to identify the type of every other individual, but fail to recognize their own type, and thus behave under partial information conditions. The interactions between individuals are described by 2 × 2 symmetric games where individuals can either cooperate or defect. The evolution of such populations is studied in the framework of evolutionary game by means of the replicator dynamics. Overlapping generations are considered, so the replicator equations are formulated in discrete-time form. The well-posedness conditions of the system are derived. Depending on the parameters of the game, a restriction may exist for the generation length. The stability analysis of the dynamical system is carried out and a detailed description of the behavior of trajectories starting from the interior of the state-space is given. We find that, provided the conditions of well-posedness are verified, the linear stability of monomorphic states in the discrete-time replicator coincides with the one of the continuous case. Specific from the discrete-time case, a relaxed restriction for the generation length is derived, for which larger time-steps can be used without compromising the well-posedness of the replicator system.

Soviet-American Cooperative Research on Marine Mammals. Volume 1- Pinnipeds: Under Project V.6. Marine Mammals, of the US-USSR Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Environmental Protection

Some 25 to 30 yr ago, when we as students were beginning our respective careers and were developing for the first time our awareness of marine mammals in the waters separating western North America from eastern Asia, we had visions of eventually bridging the communication gap which existed between our two countries at that time. Each of us was anxious to obtain information on the distribution, biology, and ecological relations of "our" seals and walruses on "the other side," beyond our respective political boundari~s where we were not permitted to go to study them. We were concerned that the resource management practices on the other side of the Bering and Chukchi Seas, implemented in isolation, on a purely unilateral basis, might endanger the species which we had come to know and were striving to conserve. At once apparent to both of us was the need for free exchange of biological information between our two countries and, ultimately, joint management of our shared resources. In a small way, we and others made some initial efforts to generate that exchange by personal correspondence and through vocal interchange at the annual meetings of the North Pacific Fur Seal Commission. By the enabling Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Environmental Protection, reached between our two countries in 1972, our earlier visions at last came true. Since that time, within the framework of the Marine Mammal Project under Area V of that Agreement, we and our colleagues have forged a strong bond of professional accord and respect, in an atmosphere of free intercommunication and mutual understanding. The strength and utility of this arrangement from the beginning of our joint research are reflected in the reports contained in this, the first compendium of our work. The need for a series of such a compendia became apparent to us in 1976, and its implementation was agreed on by the regular meeting of the Project in La Jolla, Calif., in January 1977. Obviously, the preparation and publication of this first volume has been excessively delayed, in part by continuing political distrust between our governments but mainly by increasing demands placed on the time of the contributors. In this period of growing environmental concern in both countries, we and our colleagues have been totally immersed in other tasks and have experienced great difficulty in drawing together the works presented here. Much of the support for doing so was provided by the State of Alaska, through funding for Organized Research at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. For its ultimate completion in publishable form we wish to thank Helen Stockholm, Director of Publications, Institute of Marine Science, University of Alaska, and her staff, especially Ruth Hand, and the numerous referees narned herein who gave willingly oftheir time to review each ofthe manuscripts critically and to provide a high measure of professionalism to the final product. (PDF file contains 110 pages.)

The precautionary approach and the management of the European eel (Anguilla anguilla) – critical remarks

Recruitment and commercial catches of European eel have been in decline since the late 1970s. So far, the reasons are not well understood. A range of potential natural and anthropogenic reasons have been discussed, but the relative importance of the factors is unknown. As a consequence of the decline in recruitment an urgent need for protective management measures was concluded. The main approach is to restrict the fishery on eel, in particular with reference to the precautionary approach. However, in view of the lack of knowledge on the factors responsible for the recruitment decline and by considering that many yellow and silver eel stocks in freshwaters depend on restocking by the fishery, such simplified conclusions are critically discussed. A concept for the sustainable management of eel has to include 1) research on the factors determining the population dynamics, in particular during the oceanic stages, 2) a stronger consideration of socio-economic aspects, and 3) intensified research on artificial reproduction and rearing of eel.

Recovery of the stocks of the European eel (Anguilla anguilla) by spawner enhancement

The production of healthy high quality female European eel in recycle systems is proposed as a means to secure sufficient numbers of silver eel for spawning migration in order to meet the requirements of the European Commission’s proposal for a Regulation for the recovery of the stock of the European eel. Main advantages besides checks for parasites and viral diseases and avoidance of elevated levels of specific pollutants are the easily controllable numbers of spawners to be released and a reduction of labour and costs that will occur when acting along the lines of the Commission’s proposal.

Die Ostsee als Welterbe für die Lebensmittelversorgung

The Baltic Sea, the largest existing brackish water is a little smaller than the Baikal, which is a world heritage. The Baltic Sea is very young, less than 10 000 years, whereas the Baikal, which is of about the same volume, is the oldest lake with 25 million years. Not so long ago the Baltic was considered mainly as a recipient for effluents. Fisheries are administrated by the European Union in agreement with Russia. Fisheries in the Baltic could give, when optimally managed, some 900 000 ton fish a year, to less than 20 000 professional fisherfolk from nine nations. During the course of time they have developed different coastal cultures with different languages, not so well known outside their own countries. The proposal is made that the unique Baltic becomes a world heritage for food supply and for food production in a traditional way. This would lead towards a sustainable small scale fisheries and to maintaining food security. A cooperation between fisherfolk from different nations is essential. In order to raise the public interest in that important World heritage issue and additionally, how to better use fish resources from the Baltic sea, it is also suggested to arrange for a competition between coastal restaurants, offering food prepared from Baltic resources.

Rapid identification of European (Anguilla anguilla) and North American eel (Anguilla rostrata) by polymerase chain reaction.

A rapid and cost effective DNA test is described to identify European eel (Anguilla anguilla) and North American eel (Anguilla rostrata). By means of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique parts of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene are amplified with species specific primers which are designed to produce PCR fragments of different characteristic sizes for European and American eel. The size differences can easily be made visible by agarose gel electrophoresis

WEFTA-Laborvergleichsuntersuchungen zur pH-Bestimmung in Fischerei-Erzeugnissen - Eine gemeinsame Aktion der Western European Fish Technologists' Association

12 samples (6 original samples and 6 diluted samples) were analysed by 14 WEFTA laboratories for their pH values in an inter-laboratory comparison exercise. As a result it can be stated that the majority of participating laboratories could determine the pH values very exactly. The pH values obtained are ranging only little around the calculated mean (less than 0.1 pH unit). It could also be demonstrated that the participating institutes could analyse both, pH values in fishery products and aqueous salt solutions. However, also in this exercise a number of outliers and deviating values have been detected. Therefore it is of utmost importance to calibrate the pH electrodes in regular intervals and to maintain them carefully. Intra-laboratory comparison measurements are recommended to detect weak points.

32. Jahretagung der West European Fish Technologists Association

Die West European Fish Technologists Association (WEFTA, gegründet 1970) ist ein Zusammenschluß von Europäischen Insti-tuten, die auf dem Gebiet Fischerei, Fischqualität und -verarbeitung arbeiten und forschen. Ziele der WEFTA ist der Informa-tionsaustausch zwischen Wissenschaftlern und Fischindustrie sowie die Ausweitung und Verbesserung der Zusammenarbeitunterschiedlicher Interessengruppen und Instituten in Projekten.

31. Jahrestagung der "West European Fish Technologit´s Association" in Espoo, Finnland

Vom 27.-31. Mai 2001 fand in Espoo, Finnland, die 31. Jahrestagung der WEFTA (West European FishTechnologist’s Association) statt. 75 Teilnehmer aus15 europäischen Ländern, der FAO und der Europäischen Kommission sowie aus den USA und Kanadawaren der Einladung des VTT Biotechnology, eines großen finnischen Forschungsinstituts auf dem Gebiete der Biotechnologie und biologischer Materialien, zu dieser Tagung gefolgt. Die Durchführung in einemKongresszentrum in Espoo, nahe der finnische Hauptstadt Helsinki direkt am Bottnischen Meerbusen gelegen, ermöglichte einen straffen organisatorischen Ablauf und die Einhaltung des Zeitplanes der mit 41 Vorträgen und 18 Postern recht umfangreichen Veranstaltung, die in 7 Themenkomplexe gegliedert war. Nachfolgend werden wesentliche Ergebnisse der einzelnen Beiträge zusammengefasst

28. Jahrestagung der "West European Fish Technologists´ Association" in Tromsø, Norwegen

In der 1970 gegründeten West European Fish Technologists’ Association (WEFTA) arbeiten zahlreiche europäische Institute, die sich mit Fischen als Lebensmittel bzw. Fischtechnologie befassen, zusammen. Sie wurde seinerzeit ins Leben gerufen, um jüngeren Wissenschaftlern zu ermöglichen, ihre Ergebnisse und Probleme einem größeren fachkundigen Publikum vorzustellen gegebenenfalls weiter weisende Impulse zu erhalten. In ihr wird aber auch der Sachverstand der Institute zusammengeführt, was zu zahlreichen bi- und multilateralen Absprachen geführt hat, aus denen EU-finanzierte Forschungsvorhaben entstanden sind. Die Jahrestagungen der WEFTA sind deshalb gute Gelegenheiten, bei denen Wissenschaftler und Technologen aus verschiedenen Ländern ihre Kenntnisse und Informationen austauschen können, um globale und öffentliche Fragestellungen zu diskutieren und durch gemeinsame Forschungsvorhaben zu klären.

27. Jahrestagung der WEFTA (Western European Fish Technologists’ Association)

Die 27. Jahrestagung der WEFTA fand vom 20.-22.10.1997 in Madrid, Spanien, statt. Organisiert wurde diese WEFTA-Tagung von J. Boderias und den Mitarbeitern des Instituto des Frio in Madrid. Das Interesse an dieser WEFTA-Tagung war besonders groß, dies zeigte sich insbesondere an der Anzahl der angemeldeten Vorträge und Poster sowie an den ca. 130 gemeldeten Teilnehmern aus 16 WEFTA - Mitgliedstaaten und Gästen aus den USA, Argentinien, Israel, Lettland, Mexiko und Venezuela.

26. Jahrestagung der WEFTA (Western European Fish Technologists´ Association) in Gdynia, Polen

Die 26. Jahrestagung der WEFTA fand vom 22. bis 26. September 1996 erstmalig in Polen statt. Gastgeber war P. Bykowski vom Institut für Seefischerei (MIR) in Gdynia, das im Jahre 1996 sein 75jähriges Jubiläum feiern konnte . Die Tagung wurde von etwa 70 Delegierten aus den 16 WEFTA Mitgliedsstaaten und Gästen aus den USA, Rußland, Israel und Litauen besucht. Die Konferenz wurde von Z. Polanski, dem Direktor des Institutes und von M. Brzeski, dem Zweiten Bürgermeister der Stadt Gdynia eröffnet. In 10 Vortragssektionen und einer Postersektion wurden den Teilnehmern insgesamt 38 Vorträge und 24 Poster geboten.

Robot navigation in dense crowds : statistical models and experimental studies of human robot cooperation

This thesis explores the problem of mobile robot navigation in dense human crowds. We begin by considering a fundamental impediment to classical motion planning algorithms called the freezing robot problem: once the environment surpasses a certain level of complexity, the planner decides that all forward paths are unsafe, and the robot freezes in place (or performs unnecessary maneuvers) to avoid collisions. Since a feasible path typically exists, this behavior is suboptimal. Existing approaches have focused on reducing predictive uncertainty by employing higher fidelity individual dynamics models or heuristically limiting the individual predictive covariance to prevent overcautious navigation. We demonstrate that both the individual prediction and the individual predictive uncertainty have little to do with this undesirable navigation behavior. Additionally, we provide evidence that dynamic agents are able to navigate in dense crowds by engaging in joint collision avoidance, cooperatively making room to create feasible trajectories. We accordingly develop interacting Gaussian processes, a prediction density that captures cooperative collision avoidance, and a "multiple goal" extension that models the goal driven nature of human decision making. Navigation naturally emerges as a statistic of this distribution.

Most importantly, we empirically validate our models in the Chandler dining hall at Caltech during peak hours, and in the process, carry out the first extensive quantitative study of robot navigation in dense human crowds (collecting data on 488 runs). The multiple goal interacting Gaussian processes algorithm performs comparably with human teleoperators in crowd densities nearing 1 person/m², while a state of the art noncooperative planner exhibits unsafe behavior more than 3 times as often as the multiple goal extension, and twice as often as the basic interacting Gaussian process approach. Furthermore, a reactive planner based on the widely used dynamic window approach proves insufficient for crowd densities above 0.55 people/m². We also show that our noncooperative planner or our reactive planner capture the salient characteristics of nearly any dynamic navigation algorithm. For inclusive validation purposes, we show that either our non-interacting planner or our reactive planner captures the salient characteristics of nearly any existing dynamic navigation algorithm. Based on these experimental results and theoretical observations, we conclude that a cooperation model is critical for safe and efficient robot navigation in dense human crowds.

Finally, we produce a large database of ground truth pedestrian crowd data. We make this ground truth database publicly available for further scientific study of crowd prediction models, learning from demonstration algorithms, and human robot interaction models in general.