Exploring the applicability of biological and socioeconomic tools in developing EAFM plans for data absent areas: Spinner dolphin EAFM for Kalpitiya,Sri Lanka

The ecosystem approach to fisheries management (EAFM) methodology is currently considered the preferred option for long-term sustainability of fisheries and ecosystem services and is widely popularised. Manuals, guidelines and training have been given to many nations, but the actual existence and execution of an EAFM plan is rare. The applicability and relevance of biological and socioeconomic tools to follow EAFM planning guidelines in a data absent area were explored in Kalpitiya, northwest Sri Lanka, where there is a population of spinner dolphins that the local community are especially dependent on through tuna-dolphin association fishing and dolphin-watching tourism. This paper provides background to the design and collection of information leading to the formulation of an EAFM management plan. Scoping and the determination of a fishery management area were completed through stakeholder consultations using a combination of interviewer-administered questionnaires, interviews, meetings, dolphin distribution data and existing management plans. Threats and stakeholder prioritisation were compiled and the final agreed fisheries management area covers a total area of 2445 km² adjacent to the Kalpitiya peninsula. The completed EAFM plan contains 4 goals, 16 actions and 72 sub-actions agreed by stakeholders. It was concluded that both willingness of higher level stakeholders responsible for implementing regulations and working with grass-root level stakeholders are critical in developing a realistic and implementable EAFM plan. This work also highlights how data absence should not remain the bottleneck that hinders moving forward with EAFM approaches.     

新阈值及阈值函数的评价和变形预测实验

变形监测数据是判断对象是否会发生异常变化的重要依据,但实测数据会被带入噪声,将隐藏其实际变化规律。本文利用含有高斯白噪声的信号来评价两种新的阈值及阈值函数的去噪效果,并评价两种新的阈值及阈值函数在提高预测精度方面的效果。实验表明,较传统的硬/软阈值函数,两种新阈值及阈值函数的去噪效果更优,而且该组合方法提高了预测的可靠性和精度。     

Metropolitan land-use patterns by economic function: a spatial analysis of firm headquarters and branch office locations in Australian cities

This paper develops a comparative means by which to understand metropolitan spatial structure through the dynamics of economic activities. Clustering and suburbanization have been key processes within the contemporary urban landscape, but few scholarly accounts have systematically merged the two to explain the geographies of economic activity. Using firm location as a variable to discern sector- and industry-based locational requirements, we explore land-use and economic activity in Australia’s five largest metropolitan areas. Drawing upon the respective headquarters and branch office locations of a set of publically traded firms, we seek to establish general spatial patterns across Australian cities using two proxy measures for clustering and suburbanization, being well-established drivers of firm locational choice. Despite the complexity that post-industrial and suburbanizing processes add to metropolitan land-use patterns, we contend that certain patterns exist that can be generalized from one context to another across urban space, and that certain emerging trends such as the development of CBD-fringe precincts merit greater attention.     

Modeling the Stakeholder Profile in Territorial Management: The Segarra-Garrigues Irrigation System,Spain

Interest in obtaining a more accurate snapshot of irrigation management from a geographical perspective is increasingly relevant. This proposal is based on existing qualitative approaches in combination with an alternative method (the territorial irrigation management model) to identify and present key stakeholders attitudes and perceptions in the Segarra-Garrigues irrigation system in Spain. Advantages are (1) the focus on interrelations and context, (2) the applicability and extrapolation of the irrigation system, and (3) the irrigator-driven rather than researcher-driven perspective. Results revealed that there are conceptual and practical heterogeneities between the preferences of stakeholders' groups regarding water resources management, environmental protection, and agricultural challenges.     

Socioeconomic characteristics and crash injury exposure: A case study in Florida using two-step floating catchment area method

The objective of this study is to investigate the exposure of different population groups to severe injury crash hotspots using an empirical-Gaussian two-step floating catchment area (EG-2SFCA) method based on roadway network distances and a socioeconomic-based weighting approach. This is performed by developing a special form of a crash-to-population ratio index that incorporates the severe crash hotspots relative to the locations of populations they might impact. While identifying these hotspots, four different age groups are considered: 17 and younger, 18 to 21, 22 to 64 and 65 and older. For each age group, severe crash hotspots are identified based on the roadway network and the number of severely injured crash occupants that belong to the specific age group. Using these age-specific crash hotspots and the EG-2SFCA method, communities that were exposed to elevated crash injury risk (crash injury exposure) have been identified. Furthermore, from a residential perspective, a socioeconomic analysis is conducted in order to develop a socioeconomics-based crash injury exposure measure. This measure assesses the exposure of different socioeconomic groups to the risk of being injured. Results demonstrated by applying this measure in the Tampa Bay region, FL show that different population groups are under varying risk of being injured depending on their residential location. The developed approach has the potential to be a social fairness measure able to be applied by agencies, which could enhance the well-being of communities that are subject to elevated injury risk.     

Ultimate Strength of Ship Plating under Axial Compression

The failure of a ship hull girder is governed by buckling and plastic collapse of the deck, bottom and side shell steel stiffened plates. The stiffened steel plating in ships is generally subjected to both in-plane and out-of-plane loading and is more important to understand the characteristics of these panels under buckling. Tests are reported on the collapse load of stiffened plates with and without cutout and with reinforced cutout under uniaxial compression. A generalized computer program for the semi-analytical solutions proposed by various investigators based on strut approach and orthotropic plate approach, and a finite element analysis program based on orthotropic plate approach are developed. The panels are also analysed using the finite element analysis software ANSYS. An approximate method based on strut approach is proposed to calculate the collapse load of stiffened plates with cutouts and initial imperfections. The reduction in strength of the panels due to the presence of square cutout, rectangular cutout and increase in strength due to reinforcement around rectangular cutout are calculated based on the test results. Comparisons are made between the test results and predictions based on semi-analytical solutions and finite element analyses, and the uncertainty parameters calculated are discussed. Based on this study it is concluded that the cutout can be reinforced with a maximum increase in strength up to 19% for plate initiated failures.     

Scour below pipelines and around vertical piles in random waves

An approach by which the scour depth and scour width below a fixed pipeline and scour depth around a circular vertical pile in random waves can be derived is presented. Here, the scour depth formulas by Sumer and Fredsøe [ASCE J. Waterw., Port, Coastal Ocean Eng. 116 (1990) 307] for pipelines and Sumer et al. [ASCE J. Waterw., Port, Coastal Ocean Eng. 114 (1992) 599] for vertical piles as well as the scour width formula by Sumer and Fredsøe [The Mechanics of Scour in the Marine Environment, World Scientific, Singapore, 2002] for pipelines combined with describing the waves as a stationary Gaussian narrow-band random process are used to derive the cumulative distribution functions of the scour depths and width. Comparisons are made between the present approach and random wave scour data. Tentative approaches to related random wave scour cases are also suggested.     

一类非线性系统次优控制的灵敏度法

本文研究一类非线性定常系统的次优控制问题。通过在系统中引入 1个灵敏度参数并将系统变量关于灵敏度参数展开 Maclaurin级数 ,使求解最优控制的非线性两点边值问题化为一族线性两点边值问题。利用截取最优控制级数的有限项求得系统的次优控制律。仿真实例表明 ,该方法对非线性系统次优控制律的设计是有效的