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Artificial reefs may be created within estuaries for multiple reasons, including habitat enhancement, oyster production, or recreational fishing. While traditional sampling in this environment is difficult due to complex structures and the high turbidity of estuaries, acoustic imaging sonar provides an effective alternative to measure abundance and size spectra of the fish community. We sampled eight artificial reefs in Pamlico Sound, North Carolina, that are designated as oyster sanctuaries. At each oyster sanctuary, we sampled 26 boat positions along two transects using ARIS imaging sonar, which included control areas outside of the sanctuaries over featureless bottom. We found that fish abundance and mean length were greater within the oyster sanctuary boundaries, but did not observe any significant differences among artificial substrate types within the sanctuaries. Further, we found that fish abundance dropped to near background levels within 25 m outside of the oyster sanctuary edge. Size spectra analysis revealed that abundance was higher in the sanctuaries versus control areas for every length bin of the fish community (5 to 50 cm). However, the differences in abundance were greatest for 10 to 30 cm fishes. Our results can be coupled with previous research on species composition data to more fully understand the potential role that the Pamlico Sound oyster sanctuaries, and estuarine artificial reefs in general, serve as habitat and recreational fishing enhancement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Acute respiratory infections (ARIs) are the most common issue in pediatric clinical practice. They pose a significant public threat, with high morbidity and mortality rates worldwide. Aiming at understanding the epidemiological characteristics of respiratory pathogens and their risk factors among children in eastern Guangdong, China. Samples obtained from 15,993 children hospitalized with ARIs in eastern Guangdong Province were tested for 14 pathogens via multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) from May 2019 to July 2023. The number of hospitalizations for ARIs was correlated with pathogens, age, meteorological parameters, and the pandemic of COVID-19. The data were analyzed by different statistical methods. Among all the samples, the positive rate with ARIs accounted for 68.94% (11,026/15,993) in hospitalized patients. Cytomegalovirus (CMV) (24.49%), Streptococcus pneumoniae (SP) (20.54%), and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) (14.16%) were the top three pathogens with the greatest infection rates. Among hospitalized patients, there were more single infections in pediatric patients (40.91%, P

Mobile acoustic sounding is an effective survey method for fish abundance residing or migrating in large riverine basins and marine areas. A long-standing challenge in acoustic fish surveys with conventional sonar is the uncertainty in identifying fish targets from acquired echo data. Identification errors of fish targets can significantly bias estimates of fish abundances and negatively impact the management of fisheries. In contrast to conventional sonar, adaptive resolution imaging sonar (ARIS), if deployed properly with appropriate settings, can yield high-quality images of fish targets. ARIS images acquired with adequate frame rates can form video recordings to allow for confident identification of fish targets from recorded morphological features, sizes, direction of movements, and speeds. In this paper, we present an approach of using ARIS sonar for mobile surveys of fish passage in a riverine environment. Applications of this approach are demonstrated for its practical values with results from an ARIS-based mobile survey of upstream migrating salmon at an acoustically challenging fish-counting site on the lower Fraser River in British Columbia, Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artificial reefs may be created within estuaries for multiple reasons, including habitat enhancement, oyster production, or recreational fishing. While traditional sampling in this environment is difficult due to complex structures and the high turbidity of estuaries, acoustic imaging sonar provides an effective alternative to measure abundance and size spectra of the fish community. We sampled eight artificial reefs in Pamlico Sound, North Carolina, that are designated as oyster sanctuaries. At each oyster sanctuary, we sampled 26 boat positions along two transects using ARIS imaging sonar, which included control areas outside of the sanctuaries over featureless bottom. We found that fish abundance and mean length were greater within the oyster sanctuary boundaries, but did not observe any significant differences among artificial substrate types within the sanctuaries. Further, we found that fish abundance dropped to near background levels within 25 m outside of the oyster sanctuary edge. Size spectra analysis revealed that abundance was higher in the sanctuaries versus control areas for every length bin of the fish community (5 to 50 cm). However, the differences in abundance were greatest for 10 to 30 cm fishes. Our results can be coupled with previous research on species composition data to more fully understand the potential role that the Pamlico Sound oyster sanctuaries, and estuarine artificial reefs in general, serve as habitat and recreational fishing enhancement.

I participated in the “baseline study,” examining 32 faculty research grant proposals from a variety of STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) fields submitted by faculty across multiple departments on a single university’s campus. We analyzed the broader impact statement in each of the 32 proposals using the Center for Advancing Research Impacts in Society (ARIS) broader impact (BI) Toolkit. This essay is a comprehensive review I attempted of BI strategies recommended by NSF and the ARIS Toolkit. My voice in this essay carries forward some of the impressions I perceived from interacting with NSF applicants’ proposals submitted by the faculty at the study site. Moreover, the essay is set in the backdrop of my academic and professional background in medicine, public health, human resource administration, and heath communication and social influence. Views on cross-cultural comparisons are included with reference to broader impacts between United States and Pakistan as a developing nation.

Broader Impacts (BI), or the potential for academic research to benefit society, are an important and growing function of higher education. Government agencies and private foundations increasingly expect researchers to clearly articulate BI in addition to intellectual contributions to their fields. In response to these expectations and the University of Notre Dame’s (ND) mission, the Center for Broader Impacts was established in 2022 to simultaneously enhance institutional efforts to support competitive research proposal development and contribute to the overall societal impact of ND by collaborating with faculty, campus units, and external partners to design, implement, and evaluate effective BI opportunities for a wide range of audiences. Drawing from expertise across a variety of faculty and staff practitioners, as well as discussions the authors participated in with seven other diverse universities as members of the Center for Advancing Research Impact in Society’s (ARIS) Program to Enhance Organizational Research Infrastructure Capacity (ORIC) Cohort 5 training sessions, this article helps inform BI practitioners in higher education of potential obstacles, opportunities, and approaches to supporting researchers across their own campuses and communities, while also highlighting nuances of working with researchers for BI partners. An example model for a sustainable approach to BI programming is also offered in the context of the future of BI.

This paper focuses on enhancing researchers’ ability to articulate and achieve societal impacts in their work using the ARIS Broad Impact (BI) Toolkit as a jumping off point. The authors conducted a survey of UNM researchers to understand their approach to societal impact and relationship-building in research projects. The key findings suggest that 1) researchers across disciplines and funding sources value societal impacts in their work; 2) most UNM researchers engage in collaborative relationships as part of their efforts to achieve broader societal impacts; and 3) while researchers feel confident in conceptualizing and carrying out activities related to broader societal impacts, they are less confident in writing BI statements for NSF proposals. Based on these findings, the authors recommend that research development professionals 1) emphasize the importance of finding meaning in research through its broader social impacts; 2) develop tools to support more intentional relationship-building in research projects; and 3) provide resources to help researchers translate their ideas into effective BI statements for proposals. The paper concludes by highlighting areas for further research, including student engagement, mentorship, and institutional questions about BI project development and evaluation. The authors argue that addressing these areas is crucial for enhancing the societal value and effectiveness of scholarly work, ultimately driving significant positive change through research.

The online following of conspiracy theory believers known as QAnon has recently come into focus of U.S. government agencies and terrorism scholars, raising questions about the risk of violence it poses. To address these questions, as well as to triangulate existing research on QAnon’s threat, the present study compared survey responses about actual radical intention and activist intention scores of QAnon supporters (n = 113) and non-QAnon participants (n = 287), relative to QAnon’s radicalization as perceived by non-QAnon participants. Actual radical intention scores for QAnon supporters were significantly lower than the perceptions of QAnon radical intentions, and were not significantly different than the actual radical intention scores for non-QAnon participants. Activist intention scores were lowest among QAnon supporters, followed by non-QAnon supporters, and then by perceptions of QAnon activist intentions. The implications of the results for public policy are discussed.

To demonstrate the value of operationalizing the efficacy of action beliefs in terms of peaceful and violent actions in understanding why people engage in different forms of collective action (CA), we conducted a study (N = 211 students) in Catalonia in 2019, during the massive protests after the Spanish Supreme Court ruling on the Catalan leaders. We tested six models differing regarding the operationalization of CA and inclusion of group identity and perceived injustice as control factors. The role of the efficacy of peaceful protests was model-dependent. Conversely, we found evidence in favour of the efficacy of violent protests as a robust predictor of intentions to participate in non-normative CA — participants perceiving violence as effective exhibited stronger intentions to participate in non-normative CA. Furthermore, no predictor other than the efficacy of violent protests predicted the variance of non-normative CA isolated from the variance of normative CA, implying that studying the perceived efficacy of different types of CA could improve our understanding of why people engage in different forms of CA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

QAnon is a set of conspiracy theories that originated online in 2017 and achieved a sizable following in the U.S. and around the world. QAnon's viral disinformation contributed to violent crimes committed by QAnon followers based on their conspiratorial beliefs, as well as to participation of some QAnon followers in the January 6th attack on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, and to widespread COVID vaccine hesitancy and rejection among believers. This paper presents a to-date unexplored additional cost of conspiracy beliefs: the emotional, social and political toll a relationship with QAnon followers can have on their loved ones. In an Internet survey of 288 U.S.-based participants, a majority (80%) reported having a QAnon-following family member or friend. These relationships have suffered as a result of the loved one's conspiratorial beliefs, leading to self-reported emotional distress and reevaluation of participants' views of the government and society. Participants with a QAnon loved one reported higher anxiety and PTSD than those without such connection. On average, participants viewed QAnon as significantly more radical (willing to engage in illegal or violent acts) than themselves. Perceived QAnon radicalization was predicted by own anxiety and by relationship deterioration with QAnon loved one. The discussion focuses on the importance of tracking these secondhand effects of conspiracy theories as drivers of political polarization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Oysters provide structured habitat along coastal margins, but owing to the high turbidity of many estuaries, characterising the faunal communities that utilise oyster reefs typically requires direct capture, which is potentially lethal or destructive. Acoustic imaging sonar can non-destructively sample the abundance and size of swimming organisms (nekton), but collection of data from acoustic imaging files requires substantial processing time following field sampling. Aims: We compared five alternate data examination protocols that could be applied to acoustic imaging files from intertidal oyster reefs and identified a protocol (analysing randomly chosen 3 of 5 min of imagery recordings) that reduces parameter estimation bias and processing time. Methods: To demonstrate the utility of this protocol, we investigated diel differences in fish use of fringing oyster reefs. Key results: During day-time and night-time sampling, we respectively recorded 4535 and 1924 fish across a size range of 1–52 cm. We found no difference between day and night in relative abundance, mean size, or size-spectra of the fish community inhabiting reefs. Conclusions and implications: Active acoustic imaging can be an effective, non-destructive method to characterise faunal communities in shallow, turbid habitats and can be used to test hypotheses regarding the ecology of these ecosystems. Sampling the mobile fauna that use oyster reefs as habitat is difficult because of the complex nature of the reef and the often turbid conditions found within estuaries. We used acoustic imaging sonar to estimate abundance and size of fishes on fringing, intertidal oyster reefs in South Carolina, USA, and recommend a data processing protocol to standardise future studies utilising this promising, non-lethal sampling methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we attempt to provide a perspective on the field of process systems engineering (PSE) by tracing its evolution back to the pioneering work of Neal Amundson, Rutherford Aris, and Roger Sargent, and highlighting their legacies that continue to guide research in PSE to this day. We underscore the growth in the technical scope of the field from the adoption of control and optimization methods for analyzing chemical engineering problems to the advancement of the methods themselves. We comment on the extended scope, current state, and major trends in PSE while reflecting on the intellectual identity of our field that has developed over time. PSE is positioned to play a crucial role in addressing major societal challenges, such as sustainability and health. While considering a diverse set of applications, it will also be critical to further advance theory which allows us to address the complexity that underlies these problems. Finally, we outline a few emerging research themes that could serve as initial food for thought in a broader discussion on future research directions in PSE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shem Creek is a Charleston waterway well-known for numerous recreational activities such as paddle boarding, fishing, and kayaking. However, Charleston WaterKeepers, a local organization, has consistently found high levels of coliform bacteria within Shem Creek. With antibiotic prescription rates surging and coastal flooding becoming an increasing concern, antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARBs) have become both a public health and environmental risk. ARBs can lead to the spread of antibiotic-resistant infections (ARIs) within populations. Precipitation influences bacterial concentrations in a body of water. Immediately after rainfall, the levels of bacteria rise tremendously. Runoff from livestock, sewage, and hospitals are known to contribute to the development of ARBs in bodies of water. Consistent water testing is essential to preventing the risk and spread of ARIs and determining what additional factors contribute to the development of ARBs in an aquatic environment. This pilot study found that precipitation was directly associated with the levels of bacteria found within Shem Creek and validated that ARBs are present within local waterways in Charleston, South Carolina.

Activism is legal and non-violent political action, whereas Radicalism is illegal and sometimes violent action. Moskalenko and McCauley introduced the Activism Intentions Scale (AIS) and the Radicalism Intentions Scale (RIS) as related but distinguishable dimensions: the scales were significantly correlated but showed different correlates. The same pattern has been seen consistently in subsequent research using the scales. In this paper, two studies (280 Catalan university students, 163 Croatian adults) use bifactor analysis to measure Activism Intentions uncorrelated with Radicalism Intentions, and Radicalism Intentions uncorrelated with Activism Intentions. Scores on the purified scales show more differentiated patterns of correlates than scores on the usual item-average scales, that is, bifactor scores show improved discriminant validity. These results support the idea that activism and radicalism are different theoretical constructs. The distinction is important because it implies that fighting radicalization does not require fighting activism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A diversified energy portfolio may include marine energy in the form of current energy converters (CECs) such as tidal or in-river turbines. New technology development in the research stage typically requires monitoring for environmental effects. A significant environmental effect of concern for CECs is the risk of moving parts (e.g., turbine blades) colliding with animals such as fishes. CECs are installed in energetic locations in which it is difficult to operate sensors to fulfill monitoring requirements for informing collision risk. Collecting data (i.e., about blade strikes or near-misses) that inform interactions of fishes with CECs is usually attempted using active acoustic sensors or video cameras (VCs). Limitations of low-light conditions or water turbidity that preclude effective use of VCs are overcome by using high-resolution multibeam echosounders (or acoustic cameras (ACs)). We used an AC at two sites to test its ability to detect artificial and real fish targets and determine if strike, near-miss, and near-field behavior could be observed. Interactions with fish and artificial targets with turbines have been documented but strike confirmation with an AC is novel. The first site was in a tidal estuary with a 25 kW turbine and water clarity sufficient to allow VC data to be collected concurrently with AC data showing turbine blade strike on tethered artificial fish targets. The second site was a turbid, debris-laden river with a 5 kW turbine where only AC data were collected due to high water turbidity. Data collection at the second site coincided with downstream Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) smolt migration. Physical fish capture downstream of the turbine was performed with an incline plane trap (IPT) to provide context for the AC observations, by comparing fish catches. Discrimination between debris and fishes in the AC data was not possible, because active movement of fishes was not discernable. Nineteen fishes were released upstream of the turbine to provide known times of possible fish/turbine interactions, but detection was difficult to confirm in the AC data. ACs have been used extensively in past studies to count large migratory fish such as Pacific salmon, but their application for small fish targets has been limited. The results from these two field campaigns demonstrate the ability of ACs to detect targets in turbid water and observe blade strikes, as well as their limitations such as the difficulty of distinguishing small fishes from debris in a high-energy turbid river. Recommendations are presented for future applications associated with CEC device testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Muslim converts are overrepresented in Islamist terrorism compared to non-convert Muslims – Why? To explore possible explanations, we probed aspects of radicalism and Islamic religiousness within relevant populations. Specifically, we surveyed 356 American Muslim adults, of which 177 were self-identified converts, with the Activism and Radicalism Intention Scale (ARIS: Moskalenko & McCauley [2009]. Measuring political mobilization: The distinction between activism and radicalism. Terrorism and Political Violence, 21(2), 239–260. https://doi.org/10.1080/09546550902765508) and the Psychological Measure of Islamic Religiousness (PMIR: Abu Raiya et al. [2008]. A psychological measure of Islamic religiousness: Development and evidence for reliability and validity. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 18(4), 291–315. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508610802229270). We used the ARIS because terrorism is rare, but radicalism and activism are more common. Activism and radicalism engagement may correlate with terrorism engagement, though they are neither necessary nor sufficient antecedents. We found that converts, compared to non-converts, demonstrated higher intent to engage in activism and radicalism on the ARIS, and that they experienced greater Religious Struggle and lower Fear of Punishing Allah Reappraisal (PAR) on the PMIR. We also found that both of these PMIR factors partially mediated the relationships between conversion and activism/radicalism. We propose that this is because converts feel a pressure to prove their faith, especially when they believe Allah punishes unfaithfulness. We discuss these findings in light of current psychology and political mobilization literature and then offer suggestions for future research on the relationships between conversion, radicalism, and religious experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Determining the role of age on the transmission of an infection is a topic that has received significant attention. In this work, a dataset of acute respiratory infections structured by age from San Luis Potosí, Mexico, is analyzed to understand the age impact on this class of diseases. To do that, a compartmental SEIRS multigroup model is proposed to describe the infection dynamics among age groups. Then, a Bayesian inference approach is used to estimate relevant parameters in the model such as the probability of infection, the average time that one individual remains infectious, the average time that one individual remains immune, and the force of infection, among others. Based on those estimates, our analysis leads us to conclude that children less than 5 years old are the primary spreaders of respiratory infections in San Luis Potosí's population from 2000 to 2008 since they are more prone to get sick, remain infectious for longer periods and they are reinfected more rapidly. On the other hand, the group of young adults (20-59) is the one that differs the most from the little children's group because it does not get sick often, it remains infectious only a few days and it stays healthy for longer periods. These observations allow us to infer that the group of young adults is the one that, on average, less contributed to the spread of this class of infections during the years represented in our database.

Copyright of Computer & Education is the property of Tokyo CIEC and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract In this poster paper, we describe our experiences with the Use Case methodology in a funded consortium research project. In our project, more than 50 documented Use Cases evolved during five phases where their maturity continuously increased. They were firstly used in the application phase of the project, afterwards recorded more detailed, migrated and continuously updated in a repository for the further utilization, and outlined in the Smart Grid Architecture Model. The report addresses the methodology used, the organizational support as well as the synergies that warrant the effort spend on the Use Case methodology. We thereby describe our initial course of action as well as our experiences made during two years of deploying the methodology.

Muslim converts tend to be overrepresented in terrorist activity compared to fellow nonconvert Muslims. However, due to the low base rate of terrorism activity, there is a significant risk that this overrepresentation is a "false positive." We therefore tested the prevalence of far more common, but potentially antecedent, cognitions to terrorism—activism and radicalism––among convert and nonconvert Muslims. We surveyed 356 American Muslim adults, of which 177 were self‐identified converts, with the Activism and Radicalism Intention Scale or ARIS. We found that converts as compared to nonconverts do demonstrate higher activism and radicalism intention scores. We also found that activism fully mediates the relationship between conversion and radicalism. This suggests that converts may be more likely to engage in radical behavior (such as terrorism) than nonconverts, but only because they are more likely to engage in activism than nonconverts. We discuss these findings in light of current psychology and political mobilization literature, then we offer suggestions for future research on the relationships between conversion, activism, radicalism, and terrorism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Österreichische Wasser- und Abfallwirtschaft is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This summary-for-students presents the claim of some recent analyses of home-based daily urban trips made in France or in the USA that the first four moments of travel time, not just the first, matter and that travelers react to changed service on road or transit networks by adjusting all four of their constructed trip duration moments, including the three higher moments characterizing time unreliability. Sole reliance on mean time changes to evaluate improved or worsened trip conditions then short-changes the benefit-cost analysis and notably fails to explain fast fill-ups and super-peaks that are part of the demanded trip time profile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dyke-based pumping stations have been linked with high fish mortalities during pumping events. Behavioural barriers like electric fish fences have been proposed as a promising solution to prevent entrainment of fish into pumps. In order to test the effectiveness of such barriers, the intake of a pumping station was equipped with a new generation electric fish fence while fish behaviour was observed with an adaptive resolution imaging sonar (ARIS) during non-electrified (reference) and electrified (treatment) operation modes. This study revealed the functionality of the fish fence as a behavioural barrier, with a fish turning rate of up to 72% at a mean water temperature of 4.3°C and a mean current velocity of 0.05 m s–1. These field results suggest that new-generation electric fish fences may be a promising solution to reduce the effects of pumping stations on fish. This study tested the effectiveness of fish protection by an electrified fish fence at a large dyke pumping station at the Danube River. Observed behavioural responses suggest that the electrified fish fence may be a promising tool in increasing the fish friendliness of pumping stations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This paper aimed at answering two specific questions: does breastfeeding reduce the occurrence of ARIs, Fever and Diarrhea in children who are breastfeeding; and is the occurrence of these common childhood diseases affected by duration (period) of breastfeeding? Data source and Method: Secondary analysis of the 2013 Zambia Demographic and Health Survey (ZDHS) was applied by using the children recode dataset (ZMKR6IFL). Analysis was done at three levels: Descriptive, bivariate and multivariate (Binary and Multinomial Logistics regressions). Results: Results in this paper show that breastfeeding does not protect children against Diarrhea (OR 1.3; 1.1-1.4) but does so against Fever and ARIs (OR 0.9; 0.8-1.0). Children whose mothers were employed were more likely to suffer from all the three disease outcomes compared to those not employed (OR Diarrhea 1.2; Fever 1.5; ARIs 1.2). Conclusion: Diarrhea seems to be more pronounced in children who are breastfeeding than those not breastfeeding, especially those breastfed beyond 6 months. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modelling and simulation of business processes is an area that in the recent years began to have greater importance and has been becoming more and more popular. The purpose of this article is to familiarise readers with knowledge on modelling of business processes in the Aurea BPM and ARIS tools in the process of an epidemiological inquiry. This article also aims to show how modelling and simulation of business processes support the company in developing integrated information processing system. The article presents the effects of the implementation of business processes, including changes that may occur in the organisation.

Monitoring of fish movement is important in understanding and optimising the functionality of fishways and in restoring riverine connectivity. This study compared fish monitoring data (ARIS sonar-based and GoPro camera-based), with catches in a multi-mesh stow net following downstream passage in a small river in Bavaria, Germany. In terms of the number of individuals, the sonar-based system (detection rate = 62.6% of net-based catches) outnumbered the counts of the camera-based system (45.4%). Smaller specimens of <100 and <150 mm were under-represented with the sonar and the camera-based systems respectively. Species identification based on the camera system was similar to that for net-based catch, whereas no proper species identification could be performed with sonar data. In conclusion, the sonar-based system can be recommended for the counting of fish >100 mm during night and turbid conditions, unless species identification is necessary. During daylight and with clear water, cameras can be a cheaper and promising option to monitor species compositions of fish >150 mm. This study compared fish monitoring data simultaneously recorded by ARIS sonar, GoPro camera and a multi-mesh stow net from fish downstream passage. Because there is a lack of knowledge about the accuracy of sonar- and camera-based fish counts and identification, we compared the recorded number, length and species composition among the different monitoring approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Featured Application: The hydroacoustic setup in this investigation enabled the monitoring of riverine fish in challenging conditions posed by deep, dark and turbulent waters. Specifically, it allowed for the collection of fish position in front of a vertical trash rack at a run-of-river hydropower plant. Information on fish assemblages was furthermore combined with in-situ flow velocity and pressure turbulence data, revealing new insights regarding fish hydrodynamic preferences. The applied combined acoustic-hydrodynamic method can be used to support planning processes as well as the design and monitoring of suitable mitigation measures for downstream fish migration. The spatial distribution of fish upstream of a vertical trash rack was investigated at the hydropower plant Kirchbichl in the alpine River Inn (Tyrol, Austria). The objective of the research project "FIDET" was to establish a non-invasive methodology to study fish presence and flow characteristics at large hydro power sites. A new monitoring approach was developed combining hydroacoustic observations of fish locations with multivariate hydrodynamic data. This was accomplished by utilizing complementary observations from multiple underwater sensor technologies: First, an array of echosounders were deployed at a fixed cross-section upstream of the trash rack for long-term monitoring. Afterwards, detailed underwater surveys with "acoustic cameras" (DIDSON and ARIS) revealed that the spatial distributions of fish in front of the trash rack were highly heterogeneous. The spatial distribution of the flow field was assessed via the time-averaged velocity fields from acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP). Finally, a custom pressure-based flow turbulence probe was developed, providing spatial estimates of flow turbulence immediately upstream of the trash rack. The significant contribution of this work is to provide a multi-modal monitoring approach incorporating both fish position data and hydrodynamic information. This forms the starting point for a future objective, namely to create an automated, sonar-based detection and control systems to assist and monitor fish protection operations in near real-time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a methodology applying an imaging sonar for three-dimensional (3D) target tracking underwater. The key process in this work involves obtaining the target’s position in space using two images of the same scene, acquired by an adaptive resolution imaging sonar (ARIS) at different positions. A data association algorithm was designed to connect the same target in image sequences. The goal of this work was to track multiple targets in 3D space. The ARIS provides sequences of bi-dimensional images from the backscattered energy according to the range and azimuth. The challenge involved determining the missing elevation information for the observed object within the sonar detection range. By computing the geometrical transformation between the acquisition planar images and the cubical space, using only the sonar information that included the posture and moving speed of the ARIS, the target’s elevation information was obtained. To evaluate the performance of the proposed method, an indoor experiment was conducted using the ARIS. On the basis of the experimental results, we confirmed that the proposed method effectively obtained the target’s position in 3D space. A moving target simulation was also conducted, and the results showed that this method was effective for moving targets. Finally, a field experiment was performed to obtain the vertical distribution and track the 3D trajectories of fish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quality of indoor environmental plays pivotal rule to influence the microbiological growth through the air that has a significant effect on human's respiratory health. In some regions in Indonesia, airborne diseases among productive age are still a common problem. Even though the trend of accidents increases in some provinces, it has not been the priority to overcome by the government. In 2013, the accident of acute respiratory infections (ARIs) among informal workers were taken place as the first rank of 10 most common occupational illnesses in Ciomas District, West Java Province and the prevalence experienced upward trend in four months, from June to September. Thus, this study aimed to describe the relationship between indoor environmental quality (IEQ) and the occurrence of ARIs. The population and sample of study were all workers who worked in seven footwear workshops in Pagelaran Village, Ciomas District, Bogor Regency that employed 85 workers. The present study used a cross-sectional design to investigate whether relative humidity, illumination, and indoor temperature as the IEQ parameters have to do with worker's respiratory health. The independent t-test was used to analyze the data that was collected in March to April 2014. The result revealed the average illumination levels at 175.586 lux (min 53.3 lux and max 367.0 lux), the average temperature levels at 30.962°C (28.8°C-34.8°C), the average humidity levels at 61.252 percent (53.6%-68.4%), and 34 (40%) workers suffered from ARIs. There were significant association between humidity (P = 0.017), temperature (P = 0.040), and incidence of ARIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]