scholarly journals Harbour Seals: Population Structure, Status, and Threats in a Rapidly Changing Environment

Oceans ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-63
Author(s):  
Marie-Anne Blanchet ◽  
Cécile Vincent ◽  
Jamie N. Womble ◽  
Sheanna M. Steingass ◽  
Geneviève Desportes

The harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) is the world’s most widely distributed pinniped species ranging from temperate to Arctic regions (30–78.5° N in the Atlantic, 28–61.2° N in the Pacific), but no detailed overview of the species status exists. The aims of this review are to (i) provide current information on the genetic structure, population status, and threats; (ii) review potential consequences of a changing climate; and (iii) identify knowledge gaps to guide future research and monitoring. Although the species is globally abundant, wide differences exist across the species’ broad range. As climate warms, populations at the edges of the species’ distributional range are likely to be more affected. The primary climate-related drivers include: (i) changes in weather patterns, which can affect thermoregulation; (ii) decrease in availability of haul-out substrates; (iii) large-scale changes in prey availability and inter-specific competition; (iv) shifts in the range of pathogens; (v) increase in temperature favouring the biotransformation of contaminants; and (vi) increased exposure to pollutant from increased freshwater run-off. Multiple anthropogenic stressors may collectively impact some populations. Coordinated monitoring efforts across and within regions is needed. This would allow for a spatially explicit management approach including population-specific responses to known stressors.

2016 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Friedrich W. Köster ◽  
Bastian Huwer ◽  
Hans-Harald Hinrichsen ◽  
Viola Neumann ◽  
Andrei Makarchouk ◽  
...  

The Eastern Baltic cod abundance started rapidly to increase in the mid-2000s as evidenced by analytical stock assessments, due to increased recruitment and declining fishing mortality. Since 2014, the analytical stock assessment is not available, leaving the present stock status unclear and casting doubts about the magnitude of the recent increase in recruitment. Earlier studies identified main factors impacting on cod reproductive success to be related to the loss of two out of three spawning areas in the 1980s caused by lack of major Baltic inflows with a concurrent reduction in salinity and oxygen. Other important factors include prey availability for first-feeding larvae, egg predation by sprat and herring and cannibalism on juveniles, all in one way or the other related to the prevailing hydrographic conditions. These factors cannot explain increased reproductive success in the last decade, as the period was characterized by an absence of large-scale Baltic inflows since 2003 and persistent anoxic conditions in the bottom water of the deep Baltic basins. This questions the perception of the increased recruitment in later years and challenges our present understanding of cod recruitment dynamics in the Baltic Sea. In this contribution, we review evidence from the recent literature supplemented by information from latest research cruises to elucidate whether cod reproductive success indeed has increased during the last decade, and we suggest the key processes responsible for the recent dynamics in cod recruitment and outline directions for future research.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pascal Haegeli ◽  
Bret Shandro ◽  
Patrick Mair

Abstract. Numerous large-scale atmosphere-ocean oscillations including the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), the Pacific North American Teleconnection Pattern (PNA) and the Artic Oscillation (AO) are known to substantially affect winter weather patterns in western Canada. Several studies have examined the effect of these oscillations on avalanche hazard using long-term avalanche activity records from highway avalanche safety programs. While these studies offer valuable insights, they do not offer a comprehensive perspective on the influence of these oscillations because the underlying data only represent the conditions at a few point locations in western Canada where avalanches are tightly managed. We present a new approach for gaining insight into the relationship between atmosphere-ocean oscillations and avalanche hazard in western Canada that uses avalanche problem information published in public avalanche bulletins during the winters of 2010 to 2019. For each avalanche problem type, we calculate seasonal prevalence values for each forecast area, elevation band and season, which are then included in a series of beta mixed-effects regression models to explore both the overall and regional effects of the Pacific-centered oscillations (PO; including ENSO, PDO, PNA) and AO on the nature of avalanche hazard in the study area. Even though our study period is short, we find significant negative effects of PO on the prevalence of Storm slab avalanche problems, Wind slab avalanche problems, and Dry loose avalanche problems, which agree reasonably well with the known impacts of PO on winter weather in western Canada. The analysis also reveals a positive relationship between AO and the prevalence of Deep persistent slab avalanche problems particularly in the Rocky Mountains. In addition, we also find several smaller-scale patterns that highlight that the avalanche hazard response to these oscillations varies regionally. Our study shows that the forecaster judgment included in the avalanche problem assessments adds considerable value for these types of climate analyses. Since the predictability of the most important atmosphere-ocean oscillations is continuously improving, a better understanding of their effect on avalanche hazard can contribute to the development of informative seasonal avalanche forecasts and a better understanding of the effect of climate change on avalanche hazard.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 255-285
Author(s):  
Natalia Volgina ◽  

Recent years the phenomenon of global value chains (GVCs) has attracted great attention of international organizations. Many of them are involved in the study of GVCs, primarily the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the UN Commission on Trade and Development, the World Trade Organization, the World Bank, the World Intellectual Property Organization and others, including regional international organizations, such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Asia, UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, African Development Bank, etc. The purpose of this article is to identify how the role and position of international organizations in the global market for GVC research has changed, both in terms of specific content and in terms of interaction with individual scientists and other international and national institutions. GVC research by international organizations makes an important contribution to the understanding the contradictory features of international fragmentation, the participation of countries, regions, industries and individual firms in it. The publications of international organizations have a common research paradigm: they all recognize the importance of GVCs for national economic development. A similar conceptual framework for the study of GVCs is combined with the research specialization of international organizations, which reflects the main focus of the activity of one or another organization. The availability of research specialization is accompanied by continuity and coordination of research; the conclusions of international organizations do not contradict, but rather complement each other. The most important feature of all publications of international organizations is also their practical orientation, the focus on elaborating recommendations for national policies aimed at maximizing the benefits of participation in GVCs and minimizing the risks of such integration. A key feature of the research of international organizations is their generalizing nature, which allows highlighting the key trends in the development of GVCs and perspective areas for future research. Conducting large-scale research and the development of expert estimates in the field of GVCs became possible due to the availability of significant financial, intellectual and statistical resources of international organizations, including databases (TiVA, EORA, AMNE). The availability of such resources allows not only to conduct generalizing and comparative studies on a large array of macro and micro data, but also to carry out “pioneering” studies, which are a real increment of scientific knowledge in the field of GVC. Obtaining important generalizing or “pioneering” conclusions became possible due to the development of multilateral research cooperation of international organizations with individual researchers, universities, other international institutes and “think tanks”.


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-82
Author(s):  
Soumi Paul ◽  
Paola Peretti ◽  
Saroj Kumar Datta

Building customer relationships and customer equity is the prime concern in today’s business decisions. The emergence of internet, especially social media like Facebook and Twitter, changed traditional marketing thought to a great extent. The importance of customer orientation is reflected in the axiom, “The customer is the king”. A good number of organizations are engaging customers in their new product development activities via social media platforms. Co-creation, a new perspective in which customers are active co-creators of the products they buy and use, is currently challenging the traditional paradigm. The concept of co-creation involving the customer’s knowledge, creativity and judgment to generate value is considered not only an upcoming trend that introduces new products or services but also fitting their need and increasing value for money. Knowledge and innovation are inseparable. Knowledge management competencies and capacities are essential to any organization that aspires to be distinguished and innovative. The present work is an attempt to identify the change in value creation procedure along with one area of business, where co-creation can return significant dividends. It is on extending the brand or brand category through brand extension or line extension. This article, through an in depth literature review analysis, identifies the changes in every perspective of this paradigm shift and it presents a conceptual model of company-customer-brand-based co-creation activity via social media. The main objective is offering an agenda for future research of this emerging trend and ensuring the way to move from theory to practice. The paper acts as a proposal; it allows the organization to go for this change in a large scale and obtain early feedback on the idea presented. 


Author(s):  
Xu Pei-Zhen ◽  
Lu Yong-Geng ◽  
Cao Xi-Min

Background: Over the past few years, the subsynchronous oscillation (SSO) caused by the grid-connected wind farm had a bad influence on the stable operation of the system and has now become a bottleneck factor restricting the efficient utilization of wind power. How to mitigate and suppress the phenomenon of SSO of wind farms has become the focus of power system research. Methods: This paper first analyzes the SSO of different types of wind turbines, including squirrelcage induction generator based wind turbine (SCIG-WT), permanent magnet synchronous generator- based wind turbine (PMSG-WT), and doubly-fed induction generator based wind turbine (DFIG-WT). Then, the mechanisms of different types of SSO are proposed with the aim to better understand SSO in large-scale wind integrated power systems, and the main analytical methods suitable for studying the SSO of wind farms are summarized. Results: On the basis of results, using additional damping control suppression methods to solve SSO caused by the flexible power transmission devices and the wind turbine converter is recommended. Conclusion: The current development direction of the SSO of large-scale wind farm grid-connected systems is summarized and the current challenges and recommendations for future research and development are discussed.


2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Arturo Basaure ◽  
Heikki Kokkinen ◽  
Heikki Hämmäinen ◽  
V. Sridhar

Radio spectrum for commercial mobile services continues to be scarce. Countries around the world have recognized the importance of efficient utilization of this scarce resource and have initiated regulatory and policy steps towards flexible approaches to spectrum management, including sharing of licensed spectrum, and releasing unlicensed spectrum for mobile services. Technologies for shared access and the associated standardization activities have also progressed towards possible large scale deployments. In this paper, we analyze the evolution of spectrum management policies using a causal model and indicate how the markets can lock in to either centralized or flexible approach. We also cite a use case of a flexible spectrum management approach using spectrum band fill option and indicate its suitability to the Indian context.


Author(s):  
Matilda A. Haas ◽  
Harriet Teare ◽  
Megan Prictor ◽  
Gabi Ceregra ◽  
Miranda E. Vidgen ◽  
...  

AbstractThe complexities of the informed consent process for participating in research in genomic medicine are well-documented. Inspired by the potential for Dynamic Consent to increase participant choice and autonomy in decision-making, as well as the opportunities for ongoing participant engagement it affords, we wanted to trial Dynamic Consent and to do so developed our own web-based application (web app) called CTRL (control). This paper documents the design and development of CTRL, for use in the Australian Genomics study: a health services research project building evidence to inform the integration of genomic medicine into mainstream healthcare. Australian Genomics brought together a multi-disciplinary team to develop CTRL. The design and development process considered user experience; security and privacy; the application of international standards in data sharing; IT, operational and ethical issues. The CTRL tool is now being offered to participants in the study, who can use CTRL to keep personal and contact details up to date; make consent choices (including indicate preferences for return of results and future research use of biological samples, genomic and health data); follow their progress through the study; complete surveys, contact the researchers and access study news and information. While there are remaining challenges to implementing Dynamic Consent in genomic research, this study demonstrates the feasibility of building such a tool, and its ongoing use will provide evidence about the value of Dynamic Consent in large-scale genomic research programs.


Electronics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (14) ◽  
pp. 1670
Author(s):  
Waheeb Abu-Ulbeh ◽  
Maryam Altalhi ◽  
Laith Abualigah ◽  
Abdulwahab Ali Almazroi ◽  
Putra Sumari ◽  
...  

Cyberstalking is a growing anti-social problem being transformed on a large scale and in various forms. Cyberstalking detection has become increasingly popular in recent years and has technically been investigated by many researchers. However, cyberstalking victimization, an essential part of cyberstalking, has empirically received less attention from the paper community. This paper attempts to address this gap and develop a model to understand and estimate the prevalence of cyberstalking victimization. The model of this paper is produced using routine activities and lifestyle exposure theories and includes eight hypotheses. The data of this paper is collected from the 757 respondents in Jordanian universities. This review paper utilizes a quantitative approach and uses structural equation modeling for data analysis. The results revealed a modest prevalence range is more dependent on the cyberstalking type. The results also indicated that proximity to motivated offenders, suitable targets, and digital guardians significantly influences cyberstalking victimization. The outcome from moderation hypothesis testing demonstrated that age and residence have a significant effect on cyberstalking victimization. The proposed model is an essential element for assessing cyberstalking victimization among societies, which provides a valuable understanding of the prevalence of cyberstalking victimization. This can assist the researchers and practitioners for future research in the context of cyberstalking victimization.


2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (10) ◽  
pp. S30-S37
Author(s):  
Sophie Biddle

Introduction: Active surveillance is a conservative management approach to treating prostate cancer involving regular testing and close monitoring by the health professional. The aim of this literature review is to establish whether men experience a psychological impact of active surveillance and what the prevalent effects might be. Method: The search was carried out in three databases: CINAHL, Medline and PsycINFO. Articles published in English, from October 2015 to March 2018, which focused on the psychological impact of active surveillance, were included. Findings: A total of eight quantitative studies were included in this report. The review identified key psychological impacts of active surveillance, including anxiety, sub-clinical depression, illness uncertainty and hopelessness. Active surveillance was seen by some patients as a positive treatment approach that limited the side effects associated with active treatment. Conclusion: The evidence found a negative impact of active surveillance might be felt by men at any stage during treatment and at differing levels of severity. The article highlights key demographic areas, including ethnicity and age, for future research and recommends more qualitative studies are conducted.


Electronics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 461
Author(s):  
Yongbin Yim ◽  
Euisin Lee ◽  
Seungmin Oh

Recently, the demand for monitoring a certain object covering large and dynamic scopes such as wildfires, glaciers, and radioactive contaminations, called large-scale fluid objects (LFOs), is coming to the fore due to disasters and catastrophes that lately happened. This article provides an analytic comparison of such LFOs and typical individual mobile objects (IMOs), namely animals, humans, vehicles, etc., to figure out inherent characteristics of LFOs. Since energy-efficient monitoring of IMOs has been intensively researched so far, but such inherent properties of LFOs hinder the direct adaptation of legacy technologies for IMOs, this article surveys technological evolution and advances of LFOs along with ones of IMOs. Based on the communication cost perspective correlated to energy efficiency, three technological phases, namely concentration, integration, and abbreviation, are defined in this article. By reviewing various methods and strategies employed by existing works with the three phases, this article concludes that LFO monitoring should achieve not only decoupling from node density and network structure but also trading off quantitative reduction against qualitative loss as architectural principles of energy-efficient communication to break through inherent properties of LFOs. Future research challenges related to this topic are also discussed.


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