Assessing the responsiveness of existing production operations

Production responsiveness refers to the ability of a production system to achieve its operational goals in the presence of supplier, internal and customer disturbances, where disturbances are those sources of change which occur independently of the system's intentions. A set of audit tools for assessing the responsiveness of production operations is being prepared as part of an EPSRC funded investigation. These tools are based on the idea that the ability to respond is linked to: the nature of the disturbances or changes requiring a response; their impact on production goals; and the inherent response capabilities of the operation. These response capabilities include information gathering and processing (to detect disturbances and production conditions), decision processes (which initiate system responses to disturbances) and various types of process flexibilities and buffers (which provide the physical means of dealing with disturbances). The paper discusses concepts and issues associated with production responsiveness, describes the audit tools that have been developed and illustrates their use in the context of a steel manufacturing plant.

Fish movement patterns in Virgin Islands National Park, Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument and adjacent waters

NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS)-Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment’s (CCMA) Biogeography Branch, National Park Service (NPS), US Geological Survey, and the University of Hawaii used acoustic telemetry to quantify spatial patterns and habitat affinities of reef fishes around the island of St. John, US Virgin Islands. The objective of the study was to define the movements of reef fishes among habitats within and between the Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument (VICRNM), the Virgin Islands National Park (VIIS), and Territorial waters surrounding St. John. In order to better understand species’ habitat utilization patterns among management regimes, we deployed an array of hydroacoustic receivers and acoustically tagged reef fishes. Thirty six receivers were deployed in shallow near-shore bays and across the shelf to depths of approximately 30 m. One hundred eighty four individual fishes were tagged representing 19 species from 10 different families with VEMCO V9-2L-R64K transmitters. The array provides fish movement information at fine (e.g., day-night and 100s meters within a bay) to broad spatial and temporal scales (multiple years and 1000s meters across the shelf). The long term multi-year tracking project provides direct evidence of connectivity across habitat types in the seascape and among management units. An important finding for management was that a number of individuals moved among management units (VICRNM, VINP, Territorial waters) and several snapper moved from near-shore protected areas to offshore shelf-edge spawning aggregations. However, most individuals spent the majority of their time with VIIS and VICRNM, with only a few wide-ranging species moving outside the management units. Five species of snappers (Lutjanidae) accounted for 31% of all individuals tagged, followed by three species of grunts (Haemulidae) accounting for an additional 23% of the total. No other family had more than a single species represented in the study. Bluestripe grunt (Haemulon sciurus) comprised 22% of all individuals tagged, followed by lane snappers (Lutjanus synagris) at 21%, bar jack (Carangoides ruber) at 11%, and saucereye porgy (Calamus calamus) at 10%. The largest individual tagged was a 70 cm TL nurse shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum), followed by a 65 cm mutton snapper (Lutjanus analis), a 47 cm bar jack, and a 41 cm dog snapper (Lutjanus jocu). The smallest individuals tagged were a 19 cm blue tang (Acanthurus coeruleus) and a 19.2 cm doctorfish (Acanthurus chirurgus). Of the 40 bluestriped grunt acoustically tagged, 73% were detected on the receiver array. The average days at large (DAL) was 249 (just over 8 months), with one individual detected for 930 days (over two and a half years). Lane snapper were the next most abundant species tagged (N = 38) with 89% detected on the array. The average days at large (DAL) was 221 with one individual detected for 351 days. Seventy-one percent of the bar jacks (N = 21) were detected on the array with the average DALs at 47 days. All of the mutton snapper (N = 12) were detected on the array with an average DAL of 273 and the longest at 784. The average maximum distance travelled (MDT) was ca. 2 km with large variations among species. Grunts, snappers, jacks, and porgies showed the greatest movements. Among all individuals across species, there was a positive and significant correlation between size of individuals and MDT and between DAL and MDT.

神农架植被及其生物多样性与垂直分布格局-兼论中国中、北亚热带植被带的划分

本文主要通过样线法和样方法相结合，进行了大量的群落学调查和分析，分别从植物区系、物种多样性的垂直分布格局和森林群落类型三个方面分析了神农架植被的基本特征及其物种多样性，结果表明： 1．神农架地区具有很高的物种丰富度，有高等植物3，479种，隶属于1，010属，202科。 其中，蕨类植物305种，80属，32科;种子植物3，174种，930属，170科，其中裸子植物32种，19属，6科，被子植物3，142种，911属，164科;单子叶植物501种，175属，21科，双子叶植物2，641种，736属，143科。植物区系属的分布区类型中北温带分布型最多，其次为东亚分布、泛热带分布、东亚北美间断分布、旧世界温带分布以及热带亚洲分布。中国特有成分占5.65%，较全国的8.12%低。温热比(温带分布型(8-11)属数与热带分布型(2-7)属数的比值）为1.200，比全国(0.385)高。 调查样方中共出现高等植物784种，隶属于454属，144科，其中蕨类植物41种，32属，16科;种子植物743种，422属，128科，其中裸子植物20种，14属，5科，被子植物723种，408属，123科;单子叶植物86种，58属，11科，双子叶植物637种，350属，112科。属的分布区类型中北温带分布型最多，其次为东亚分布、泛热带分布、东亚北美间断分布、旧世界温带分布以及热带亚洲分布。温热比为1.52，草本层>乔木层>灌木层分别为2.18、1.76和1.14。 2．神农架植被类型多样，具有常绿阔叶林、常绿落叶阔叶混交林、落叶阔叶林、针阔混交林、亚高山针叶林、硬叶常绿阔叶林和亚高山灌丛草甸等自然植被类型。本文，依据乔木物种的重要值将神农架地区的森林植被划分出了69个类型。用Twinspan将调查的森林群落划分为32组，能基本上反映群落间相似的关系。 3．神农架地区具有完整的植被垂直带谱：海拔900 (1300) m以下为常绿阔叶林带;海拔900 (1300) m～1500 (1800)ⅡI为常绿落叶阔叶混交林带;海拔1500 (1800) m-2000 (2200)m为落叶阔叶林带;海拔2000 (2200) m～2400 (2600)m为针阔混交林带：海拔2400 (2600)m以上为亚高山针叶林带。神农架地区植被的垂直带的分化从总体上比较显著，但由于小生境的异质性和人为干扰，垂直带谱又具有一定的模糊性和次生性。南北坡具有一定的差异，但不十分明显，也说明神农架植被的过渡性。 4．神农架物种多样性的垂直分布格局。神农架的物种多样性与海拔的关系，类似于“中间膨胀”规律(mid-altitude bulge)，在中低海拔处生物多样性最高。通过二次多项式回归拟合，得到如下拟合曲线： 1)海拔与总体物种数：y= _14.445x2+ 34.74lx+42.07，Xd=1.203km; 2)海拔与乔木层物种数：y=-6.9707x2+ 21.334x+0.2004，Xdrl.530km; 3)海拔与灌木层物种数：y=-6.1599x2+ 9.9747x+30.991，Xd=0.8 lOkm: 4)海拔与草本层物种数：y= _3.9907x2+ 10.455x+15.35，Xd-1.308km; 5）海拔与乔木层Shannon-Wiener指数：y=_0.3337x2+ 0.9877x+0.2537，Xd' 1.480km; 6)海拔与灌木层Shannon-Wiener指数：y=-0.1938xz+ 0.422lx+1.2103，Xd=1.089km： 7)海拔与草本层Shannon-Wiener指数：y=_0.1072x2+ 0.294lx+0.9954，Xd=1.372km; x为海拔( km)，y为各物种多样性指标，Xd为物种多样性的最大时的海拔。 从这些拟合曲线中可以看出：总体物种多样性在海拔1200m左右的常绿落叶阔叶混交林带最高：乔木层物种多样性在海拔1500m左右的常绿落叶阔叶混交林带与落叶阔叶林的过渡带最高;灌木层物种多样性在海拔800-llOOm左右的常绿阔叶林与常绿落叶阔叶混交林带的过渡带最高;草本层物种多样性在海拔1300-1400m左右的常绿落叶阔叶混交林带最高。 但物种多样性随海拔变化有许多的起伏和波动。这些波动有些反映了群落的垂直带谱随海拔梯度变化的特点，在垂直带谱的过渡区物种多样性往往较高;有些波动反映了一些特殊的生境，有些反映了人为活动的影响，造成了神农架植被的次生性。因此，影响神农架物种多样性垂直分布的因素有：植被本身的性质和特点、过渡带的特点、生境的异质性和人为活动。 5．神农架植被水平地带性的过渡性。海拔1300m以下的植物属的分布区类型的温热比南坡总是比北坡小，而且相差十分显著，反映了神农架作为植被分界线的价值。神农架南坡的基带植被是常绿阔叶林，因此南坡属于中亚热带。北坡的基带植被，虽然也有常绿树种的零星分布，甚至有小块的常绿阔叶林，完全由于小生境所至，分布的主要类型是常绿落叶阔叶混交林，应属于北亚热带。因此，神农架是中、北亚热带重要的过渡地带。神农架地区中北亚热带的具体分界线宜按照分长江干流和汉水的水岭来划界，即猴子石、大窝坑、神农架、神农顶、老君山一线，南坡属于中亚热带，北坡属于北亚热带。 总之，神农架处于我国中、北亚热带的过渡带，具有过渡带的性质，具有很高的物种多样性，拥有完整的植被垂直带谱，具有多种多样的植物群落及其组成的生态系统。而且，具有我国许多特有植物和珍稀濒危保护植物和许多资源植物。因此，神农架植被在我国植被体系中具有重要的地位，是我国生物多样性最丰富的地区之一，是生物多样性保护的关键地区，也应是生物多样性研究的热点地区。 另外，调查分析了黄山和万朝山植被及其物种多样性与垂直分布格局，结果表明： 6．黄山样方中共出现高等植物259种，隶属于263属，110科，其中蕨类植物14种，II属，8科，种子植物345种，152属，105科，其中裸子植物9种，8属，6科，被子植物336种，144属，99科，其中单子叶植物37种，27属，6科，双子叶植物299种，117属，90科。属的分布区类型中北温带分布最多，其次为东亚分布和泛热带分布，再次为东亚北美间断分布、热带亚洲分布以及旧世界温带分布，与神农架和万朝山也较相似，但热带分布的属更多一些。温热比为1.1875，灌木层>草本层>乔木层，分别为1.3818、1.2609和1.2143。 黄山的森林植被类型有针叶林、常绿阔叶林、常绿落叶阔叶混交林、针阔混交林、落叶阔叶林和竹林。Twinspan将调查的森林群落划分为22组，反映群落间相似的关系，比较清楚和适用。依据乔木物种的重要值将森林植被划分出了34个类型。黄山物种多样性的与海拔的关系不十分明显。黄山植被的垂直带谱不是十分明显，将其垂直带谱划分为：海拔1300m(1500m)以下为常绿阔叶林带;海拔1300m(1500m)-1500m(1600m)常绿落叶阔叶混交林 带;1500m(1600m)以上为落叶阔叶林、黄山松林、山地灌木草丛带。垂直带谱在不同坡向上有差别，东、南、西坡的相似性较大，而北坡与其差别较大。 7．万朝山样方中共出现高等植物490种，隶属于339属，124科，其中蕨类植物21种，18属，11科，种子植物469种，321属，113科，其中裸子植物9种，7属，4科，被子植物460种，314属，109科，其中单子叶植物47种，37属，11科，双子叶植物413种，277属，98科。植物属的分布区类型中，北温带分布所占最多，其次为泛热带分布、东亚分布、东亚北美间断分布、旧世界温带分布以及热带亚洲分布，。温热比为1.3366，草本层>乔木层>灌木层，分别为1.5429、1.4063和1.0645。 万朝山的植被类型包括针叶林、落叶阔叶林、针阔混交林和常绿落时阔叶混交林，但没有典型的常绿阔叶林。依据乔木物种的重要值将森林植被划分出了20个类型。万朝山物种多样性与海拔的关系则不十分明显。万朝山的人为干扰比较强，植被的次生性很大，南、北坡物种多样性随海拔升高的起伏较大。

一种壳聚糖三嗪吡啶季铵盐衍生物极其植被方法和应用

本发明涉及日化领域及医药行业，具体讲是一种壳聚糖三嗪吡啶季铵盐衍生物及其制备方法和应用。如式（1）所示，其中n的平均取值范围是1035-1242。制备：三聚氰氯与吡啶在无水乙腈中，于25℃条件下反应待生成白色沉淀，得到吡啶取代的三聚氰氯衍生物；所述加入的吡啶摩尔量是三聚氰氯的1-2倍，得到吡啶取代的三聚氰氯衍生物再与壳聚糖在25-60℃条件下反应8-16h，其中吡啶取代的三聚氰氯加入量是壳聚糖单体摩尔数的1-3倍，得到壳聚糖三嗪吡啶季铵盐衍生物。所述壳聚糖三嗪吡啶季铵盐衍生物具有抑菌作用。本发明所得衍生物水溶性较好，增强了壳聚糖的生物活性，扩大了壳聚糖的应用范围，可以广泛用于医药与农业等领域。

Comparison of Pax1/9 locus reveals 500-Myr-old syntenic block and evolutionary conserved noncoding regions

Identification of conserved genomic regions within and between different genomes is crucial when studying genome evolution. Here, we described regions of strong synteny conservation between vertebrate deuterostomes (tetrapods and teleosts) and invertebrat

Input-output relationship and economics of pangas monoculture and carp-pangas polyculture in two districts of Bangladesh

An attempt was made to study the input-output relationships and economics of pangas monoculture and carp-pangas polyculture in Bangladesh. By analyzing the data collected from 50 pangas farms and 55 carp-pangas farms, the study has investigated the production systems of two technologies and the effects of fingerling stocking and applications of feed and fertilizer on fisheries income. The data were collected from the fishermen of Trishal and Bhaluka of Mymensingh district, and Kahaloo and Adamdighee of Bogra district during 2001-02. For pangas monoculture, the stocking density was 31,561 per ha while it was 55,017 per ha in carp-pangas polyculture. Most of the farmers used urea, TSP and lime before stocking. Rice and wheat bran happened to be the most common feed ingredients for both types of culture in general. Other important ingredients used were mustard oil-cakes, rice polish, wheat flour, fish meal, bone meal, soybean meal and poultry litter. In terms of quantities, rice bran and wheat bran dominated the farmers list. Rice and wheat bran together constituted about 60% of all studied feeds. Feed cost constituted 59.13% of total costs for pangas monoculture and 67.44% for carp-pangas polyculture. Per ha productions of pangas and carp-pangas in a single culture cycle were 15,508 kg and 19,745 kg, respectively. Per ha gross profits were estimated to be Tk 310,311 and Tk 464,418 for pangas monoculture and carp-pangas polyculture, respectively. Net profit appeared to be Tk 264,216 per ha for pangas monoculture and Tk 416,509 per ha for carp-pangas polyculture. The BCRs calculated were 1.46 and 1.68 for monoculture and polyculture, respectively. The break-even costs per kg of fish were estimated at Tk 36.93 for pangas and Tk 30.93 for mixed species which was much lower than the prices the producers received. Break-even productions were estimated at 10,702 kg per ha for pangas monoculture and 11,784 kg per ha for carp-pangas polyculture. Fingerling and feed cost, and pond size significantly explained the variation of income from pangas monoculture. These factors have significantly influenced the income from the crop. Functional analysis shows that 1% increase in the feed cost might increase 0.51% of pangas income and 0.41% in carp-pangas income. No other inputs had shown this much of responses to increasing income from a fish.