MODELING A RIGHTS‐BASED APPROACH FOR MANAGING HABITAT IMPACTS OF FISHERIES

ABSTRACT. Limiting adverse consequences of fishing on essential fish habitat has emerged as a key fishery management objective. The conventional approach to providing habitat protection is to create MPAs or marine reserves that prohibit all or certain types of fishing in specific areas. However, there may be more cost‐effective and flexible ways to provide habitat protection. We propose an individual habitat quota (IHQ) system for habitat conservation that would utilize economic incentives to achieve habitat conservation goals cost‐effectively. Individual quotas of habitat impact units (HIU) would be distributed to fishers with an aggregate quota set to maintain a target habitat “stock.” HIU use would be based on a proxy for marginal habitat damage. We use a dynamic, explicitly spatial fishery and habitat simulation model to explore how such a system might work. We examine how outcomes are affected by spatial heterogeneity in the fishery and the scale of habitat regulation. We find that the IHQ system is a highly cost‐effective means of ensuring a given level of habitat protection, but that spatial heterogeneity and the scale of regulation can have significant effects on the distribution of habitat protection.     

LP-MODEL:XPRESS-LP's Model Builder

LP-MODEL, the model building component of the linear programmingsystem XPRESS-LP, is described, with particular attention tothe considerations that went into its design. The ability forthe user to be able completely to separate the model's structurefrom the data forming one instance of the model is displayed.Some of the restrictions imposed by choosing to implement themodeller on a personal computer are discussed.     

The Phase Transition between Chiral Nematic and Smectic A* Liquid Crystals

 In this paper we study the Landau-de Gennes free energy used to describe the transition between chiral nematic and smectic A liquid crystal phases. We consider the phenomenology of the transition and discuss the behavior of the material constants. Within the present mathematical framework, the physically observed growth behavior of the twist and bend Frank constants, K ² and K ³ respectively, plays a major role in determining the transition regime. We show existence of minimizers in a large class of admissible fields. Then, under the hypothesis that K ² and K ³ are large, we establish estimates for the transition regime separating the two phases. The work emphasizes the interplay between two competing effects: the layer formation of the smectic A phase and the twist tendency of the chiral nematic phase. Our discussion also illustrates the analogies as well as the discrepancies in modeling and behavior between smectic A^* liquid crystals and superconducting materials described by the Ginzburg-Landau theory. (Accepted May 7, 2002) Published online November 5, 2002     

The vertical spectrum of H2CO revisited: (SC)2-CI and CC calculations

The vertical electronic spectrum of formaldehyde has been studied by means of (SC)²-MR-SDCI and CCLR methods. Two basis sets of atomic natural orbitals (ANOs) complemented with a one-centre series of Rydberg orbitals were used. The first was taken from the CASPT2 study by Merchán, M., and Roos, B. O., 1995, Theoret. Chim. Acta, 92, 221, and may be described as C,O[4s3pld]/H[2slp] with a lslpld Rydberg series centred in the charge centroid of the ²B₂ state of the cation. The second was a larger basis set that may be described as C,O[6s5p3d2f]/H[4s3p2d] + 3s3p3d in the same centre. The (SC)² dressing may be applied efficiently to an MR-SDCI method and comparison with the dressed CAS-SDCI is satisfactory, in spite of the remarkable reduction in the CI space dimension. The consistency of the (SC)²-MR-SDCI results was tested also against the CCLR and CASPT2 results using the same basis sets and against the CCLR results using Dunning's aug- and daug-cc-pVQZ basis sets. The ³A₁(π → π *) state is correctly placed as the second excited triplet while the highly multi-configurational nature of the ¹A₁(π → π *) state is confirmed as well as its greatly mixed valence-Rydberg nature. This state is predicted as lying under the 10 eV level, on top of the (n_y → 3d) Rydberg states that are predicted in the 8.9–9.5eV region. The 5 ¹B₂(n^y → 4s) Rydberg state and the ¹B₂(σ_y → π*) also are predicted in this region. The triplet states also were calculated with the (SC)²-MR-SDCI method. The vertical ordering of the 2 ¹A₁(n_y → 3p_y) and 2 ¹B₂(n_y → 3p_z) states is discussed, as well as that of the ¹B₁(σ → π*) and the Rydberg ¹B₁(n_y → 3d_xy) states. This work shows the highly reliable values that may be reached applying the dressing method along with a large basis set. Such a procedure is made possible using an MR-SDCI selection of spaces instead of the CAS-SDCI that was used up to now in most (SC)² dressing applications.     

Overview of DWDM/ODC Project

Abstract

This article introduces the main achievements resulting from the DWDM/ODC project. The five areas of research activity within the DWDM/ODC project cover some of the main issues of design and development of dense wavelength division multiplexing systems for transparent optical networks. These issues are: performance assessment with arbitrary optical filtering; performance of signaling formats; dispersion compensation strategies for directly and externally modulated systems in presence of nonlinear transmission-induced degradation; and the impact of noise and crosstalk in the extent of transparent optical networks. All five areas of research activity have contributed significantly to a better understanding of the limitations present in dense wavelength division multiplexing systems.     

PHOTOACTIVATION OF UROCANASE IN PSEUDOMONAS PUTIDA: POSSIBLE CONFORMATIONAL CHANGE DURING ACTIVATION

Earlier studies of urocanase indicated that it is converted to an inactive form in resting cells of Pseudomonas putida . When cell extracts are irradiated by ultraviolet (u.v.) light, the enzyme is activated[1]. The chromophore is closely associated with the enzyme [ 1 ,2]. The action spectrum for photoactivation showed that, although near-u.v. light was effective, the most efficient wavelengths were at 275–280 nm[3]. The study we present here suggests that urocanase undergoes a conformational change upon photoactivation.     

BENEFITS AND RISKS OF INCREASED SPATIAL RESOLUTION IN THE MANAGEMENT OF FISHERY METAPOPULATIONS UNDER UNCERTAINTY

Abstract Stock assessments and harvest guidelines are typically based on the concept of a “fish stock,” which may encompass a very large area. The presence of discrete subpopulations within managed fish stocks presents risks and opportunities for fishery management. Failure to manage catch at the same scale as the true population structure can lead to extirpation of discrete subpopulations and to declines in the productivity of the larger metapopulation. However, it may be difficult and costly to assess and manage stocks at a finer spatial scale, and there is likely greater uncertainty about the size of substocks than about the aggregate stock. We use a two‐area simulation model to compare the performance of fishery management at different spatial resolutions when there is uncertainty about growth, the size of the total population, and the relative size of the subpopulations. We show that relative benefits of finer scale management, in terms of profits and risks of depleting subpopulations, depend on a number of biological, technical, and economic factors. In some cases it may be both less risky and more profitable to manage the fishery with a single total allowable catch, even when there are biologically separate fish populations in the two areas.