Search

Human transport of species across oceans disrupts natural dispersal barriers and facilitates hybridization between previously allopatric species. The recent introduction of the North Pacific sea squirt, Ciona robusta , into the native range of the North Atlantic sea squirt, Ciona intestinalis , is a good example of this outcome. Recent studies have revealed an adaptive introgression in a single chromosomal region from the introduced into the native species. Here, we monitored this adaptive introgression over time, examining both the frequency of adaptive alleles at the core and the hitchhiking footprint in the shoulders of the introgression island by studying a thousand Ciona spp. individuals collected in 22 ports of the contact zone, 14 of which were sampled 20 generations apart. For that purpose, we developed a KASP multiplex genotyping approach, which proved effective in identifying native, nonindigenous and hybrid individuals and in detecting introgressed haplotypes. We found no early generation hybrids in the entire sample, and field observations suggest a decline in the introduced species. At the core region of the introgression sweep, where the frequency of C. robusta alleles is the highest and local adaptation genes must be, we observed stable frequencies of adaptive alien alleles in both space and time. In contrast, we observed erosion of C. robusta ancestry tracts in flanking chromosomal shoulders on the edges of the core, consistent with the second phase of a local sweep and a purge of hitchhiked incompatible mutations. We hypothesize that adaptive introgression may have modified the competition relationships between the native and invasive species in human-altered environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the events that originated an integrated water resources management (IWRM) model called Consorcio de Aguas de la Marina Baja (CAMB), in the province of Alicante (Spain), in 1978. The impact of tourism and population growth in the second half of the 20th century motivated the need for new management formulas seeking a balance between available resources and a greater need for water resources. The emergence of mass tourism in Benidorm at the end of the 1950s generated a great imbalance between the needs and availability of water resources. Also considering the effect of periods of severe drought, the solution to the deficit was found in the principles of institutional economics and circular water management. Water infrastructure and technology are elements of great importance in this model, allowing the exchange of natural water for reclaimed water, as a result of previous agreements between traditional irrigators and supply users of coastal populations. Its success has guaranteed the coexistence of traditional agriculture and the consolidated tourism activity, making possible the conservation of the cultural landscape. The historical and economic analysis of the model that led to the creation of CAMB can be applied to other regions facing similar challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Euchlorocystis marina, a new marine species of the genus Euchlorocystis discovered in 2022, has the potential to improve the water quality in mariculture ponds. However, the effects of salinity on the growth, physiology, and biochemical composition of these algae are not well understood. In this study, changes in physiological and biochemical indices such as cell density, photosynthetic pigment, polysaccharide, and lipid content of E. marina under different salinity treatments were analyzed. The results showed that the highest cell density was observed at a salinity of 15°C. The lowest photosynthetic pigment content was observed at a salinity of 60°C, and the highest polysaccharide and lipid content was observed at a salinity of 60°C. These results indicated that lower salinity was more conducive to E. marina reproduction and growth. E. marina can accumulate polysaccharides and lipids in high salinity environments. This study provides new information for understanding the salinity adaptation strategies of E. marina and has practical significance for its development and utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The beach bean (Vigna marina) exhibits robust growth in habitats characterised by sandy substrates, limited nutrient availability, and elevated saline levels. The utilisation of V. marina, a potentially beneficial leguminous cover crop, allows for its cultivation in regions characterised by soil salinity, hence facilitating the alleviation of environmental stress and the promotion of nitrogen fixation within the soil. A study assessed the feasibility of V. marina as a leguminous cover crop, in which this legume was cultivated in both coastal and inland soils. Pueraria javanica and Mucuna bracteata, widely recognised as established leguminous cover crops, were used as the control in this experiment. The observations involved were total plant biomass, nitrogenase activity, and leaf chlorophyll content of the host plants. The experiment consisted of five replicates arranged in a randomised complete block design, respectively. The effects of commercialised rhizobial compost on the development of the leguminous plants planted in both plots were also investigated. The results indicated that V. marina flourished in coastal and inland soils with the highest leaf chlorophyll concentration throughout the eight weeks of growth. It showed that V. marina has the potential to outperform the other two established leguminous cover crops when planted in highly salinised soils. The results also showed evidence that V. marina was an excellent potential leguminous cover crop, especially for any agricultural plots of high salinity soils, compared to the other two well-established leguminous cover crops, P. javanica and M. bracteata. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humans have built ports on all the coasts of the world, allowing people to travel, exploit the sea, and develop trade. The proliferation of these artificial habitats and the associated maritime traffic is not predicted to fade in the coming decades. Ports share common characteristics: Species find themselves in novel singular environments, with particular abiotic properties-e.g., pollutants, shading, protection from wave action-within novel communities in a melting pot of invasive and native taxa. Here, we discuss how this drives evolution, including setting up of new connectivity hubs and gateways, adaptive responses to exposure to new chemicals or new biotic communities, and hybridization between lineages that would have never come into contact naturally. There are still important knowledge gaps, however, such as the lack of experimental tests to distinguish adaptation from acclimation processes, the lack of studies to understand the putative threats of port lineages to natural populations or to better understand the outcomes and fitness effects of anthropogenic hybridization. We thus call for further research examining "biological portuarization," defined as the repeated evolution of marine species in port ecosystems under human-altered selective pressures. Furthermore, we argue that ports act as giant mesocosms often isolated from the open sea by seawalls and locks and so provide replicated life-size evolutionary experiments essential to support predictive evolutionary sciences.

Coastal marinas are particularly susceptible to pollution due to their limited flushing capabilities and ineffective management practices. Therefore, it is necessary to implement measures that promote enhanced sustainability. This study aims to explore the intricate relationship between tidal flushing characteristics and water quality within marinas to foster sustainable development and management practices that mitigate environmental impacts. The research scrutinized seven marinas along the Kuwait coastline, each exhibiting unique hydrodynamic conditions and geometric configurations. Water quality indicators such as BOD, COD, DO, and SO42− were evaluated concerning each marina's flushing efficiency through field assessments and hydrodynamic numerical modeling. An empirical formula was developed to predict and optimize flushing mechanisms, which provided critical insights into the design and management of marinas to enhance water quality. The study revealed significant disparities in water quality across the examined marinas as the hydrodynamic and geometric conditions differed. The empirical formula developed offers a novel approach to quantitatively assessing flushing efficiency, which is valuable for marina designers and managers, facilitating informed decisions, and promoting environmental sustainability. This study underscores the critical importance of integrating hydrodynamic and geometric considerations in the design and management of marinas to improve water quality and sustainability. It advocates for a multifaceted strategy that includes advanced design solutions, rigorous policy implementation, and active community engagement to safeguard coastal marine environments. The findings emphasize the need for comprehensive environmental management plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, the industrial world is undergoing a disruptive transformation towards more environmentally sustainable solutions. In the blue economy, this new approach is not only expressed in the domain of actual vessels, but also in the development of charging infrastructure, displaying a notable transition towards more eco-friendly solutions. The key focus lies in adopting flexible power systems capable of integrating renewable energy sources and storage technologies. Such systems play a crucial role in enabling a shift towards low-emission maritime transport. The emissions reduction goal extends beyond onboard shipboard distribution systems, encompassing also the design of supplying platforms and marinas. This study explores the implementation of a controlled DC microgrid tailored to efficient management of power flows within a yacht marina. Once having established the interfaces for the vessels at berth, the integration between the vessels, the onshore photovoltaic plant and the battery storage unit is made possible thanks to the coordinated management of multiple power converters. The overarching goal is to curtail reliance on external energy sources. Within this DC microgrid framework, a centralized controller assumes a pivotal role in orchestrating the power sources and loads. This coordinated management is essential to achieve sustainable operations, ultimately leading to the reduction of emissions from both ships and onshore power plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Studies in Oral Folk Literature / Estudis de Literatura Oral Popular is the property of Universitat Rovira I Virgili 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.)

Microplastics (MP) have been evidenced in marine and coastal areas worldwide, including the Gulf of California in Mexico, where the Vaquita Marina refuge area is located, which in turn borders the protected natural area Alto Golfo de California y Delta del Rio Colorado. This research aimed to determine the concentrations of microplastics in the Vaquita protection zone, analyzing samples of ten transects of surface water and samples in the sand of five beaches on the coast surrounding the Vaquita protection polygon. The total concentrations of MP in the surface water transects were from 0.000 to 0.020 MP/m3 and their most recurrent characteristics were fragments (69.0%), the chemical composition of polyethylene (60.0%), the blue color (39.0%) and a size of 2.1–3.0 mm (31.0%). While for the beaches, these corresponded to averages ranging from 28.2 ± 36.4; 17.6 to 200.7 ± 77.9; 193.7 MP/m2, the most common characteristics of MP from beaches were filaments (33.2%), PE (32.3%), white (28.0%), and a size of 4.1–5.0 mm (32.0%). The results suggest that part of the MP on the beaches and in the Vaquita Marina refuge area could come from urban areas such as the Gulf of California and activities such as fishing. It is recommended to study all the transects of the Vaquita Marina polygon and more beaches surrounding it in different seasons to better understand the status of MP pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although many novel marine fungi have been described from Indian mangroves, a significant number of mangroves in India have not been thoroughly investigated for marine fungi. This study highlights the diversity of marine fungi inhabiting dead and decaying wood of Avicennia marina and Rhizophora mucronata, collected from Thengaithittu and Veerampattinam mangroves of Pondicherry, Puducherry State, India. Through microscopic examination, a total of 52 species (in 48 genera) of marine fungi were identified, with 50 species (in 46 genera) belonging to the Ascomycota and 2 species (in 2 genera) belonging to the Basidiomycota. Previous studies recorded 69 marine fungi from Ariyankuppam and Mahé mangroves of Puducherry, and this study contributes 22 new records of marine fungi to this region. In this study, the phylogenetic placement of Rhizophila marina was determined, and this fungus was found to belong to the family Diatrypaceae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Ecología Política is the property of Fundacio ENT 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.)

Tetraselmis marina (Cienkowski) R.E.Norris, Hori & Chihara 1980, a costal green microalga, is considered as a promising animal feed in aquaculture due to the high content of fatty acids and carotenoid. Furthermore, T. marina plays important roles in bioremediation. In this study, we assembled the complete chloroplast genome of T. marina. Results showed that the full length of the complete chloroplast genome was 96,151 bp, containing a large single-copy region of 62,574 bp, a small single-copy region of 1261 bp, and a pair of inverted repeat regions of 16,158 bp. The GC content of the genome was 36.6%. A total of 125 genes were annotated, including 81 protein coding genes, 38 tRNA genes, and six rRNA genes. Phylogenetic analysis based on 22 chloroplast genomes suggested that T. marina was closely related to Tetraselmis sp. CCMP 881. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most important causes of biodiversity loss are non-indigenous species (NIS), in particular invasive ones. The dispersion of NIS mainly depends on anthropogenic activities such as maritime traffic, which account for almost half of the total NIS introduction in the European seas, as reported by the European Environmental Agency. For this reason, NIS management measures are mainly focused on commercial ports (i.e., ballast water management and Marine Strategy Framework Directive monitoring), underestimating the role of marinas and tourist harbors; these host small vessels (<20 m), such as recreational, fishery, and sail ones without ballast waters, but are also responsible for NIS arrival and spread through the bilge water as well as from hull fouling. With the aim of paying attention to marinas and tourist harbors and validating an innovative molecular methodology for NIS surveillance and monitoring, in the present work, eDNA metabarcoding of cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) was applied to both bilge waters and adjacent ones to assess species composition and particularly NIS presence. A total of 140 OTUs/species with extra-Mediterranean distribution were found in the bilge samples; several of these are most likely ascribed to food contamination (e.g., Salmo salar). Excluding food contamination species, twelve of these found in the bilge waters were already known as NIS in the Mediterranean Sea, belonging to algae, mollusks, crustaceans, annelids, echinoderms, and fishes. Nine of these species are new to Italian waters. The results obtained in the present work support the importance of NIS monitoring in marinas and small harbors, particularly in the bilge waters, through eDNA metabarcoding, having detected several potential NIS that otherwise would not have been discovered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The macro-litter (plastic) sea-bottom pollution of 14 city harbors and marinas in North Africa and in the western Baltic Sea was investigated using a new simple mobile underwater camera system. The study was complemented by a harbor-manager survey and 3D hydrodynamic transport simulations. The average pollution in German marinas was 0.1 particles/m2 sea floor (0.04–1.75). The pollution in North African marinas on average was seven times higher (0.7 particles/m2) and exceeded 3 particles/m2 in city-center harbors. The resulting > 100,000 litter particles per harbor indicate the existence of a problem. At 73–74%, plastic particles are dominating. Existing legal and management frameworks explain the lack of plastic bottles and bags on sea floors in Germany and are one reason for the lower pollution levels. Items that indicate the role of untreated sewage water were not found. Harbor festivals seem to be quantitatively irrelevant for open sea-bottom pollution. Our method tends to underestimate the pollution level. Model simulations indicate that storms can cause litter reallocations and sediment cleanings. However, marina sea-floor monitoring is recommendable because it addresses pollution hotspots, is cost-effective and takes place close to emission sources. Further, the effectiveness of land-based pollution-reduction measures can easily be assessed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The wide rocky coastline of the Antofagasta hosts an intertidal ecosystem in which the species that inhabit it are routinely exposed to a wide range of physical and chemical conditions and have therefore evolved to tolerate extremes. In the search for new species of potential biotechnological interest with adaptations to a wide range of environmental conditions, the isolation and characterization of microalgae from these ecosystems is of great interest. Here, a new microalgal strain, Tetraselmis marina AC16-MESO, is described, which was isolated from a biofilm collected on the intertidal rocks of the Antofagasta coast (23°36′57.2″ S, 70°23′33.8″ W). In addition to the morphological characterization, 18S and ITS sequence as well as ITS-2 secondary structure analysis revealed an identity of 99.76% and 100% with the species Tetraselmis marina, respectively. The analyses of the culture characteristics and biochemical content showed similarities with other strains that are frequently used in aquaculture, such as the species Tetraselmis suecica. In addition, it is tolerant of a wide range of salinities, thus allowing its culture in water of varying quality. On the other hand, added to these characteristics, the results of the improvement of the lipid content in stressful situations of salinity observed in this study, together with other antecedents such as the potential in bioremediation already published for this strain by the same research group, present a clear example of its biotechnological plasticity. It is noteworthy that this strain, due to its characteristics, allows easy collection of its biomass by decantation and, therefore, a more cost-efficient harvesting than for other microalgal strains. Therefore, this new strain of Tetraselmis marina, first report of this species in Chile, and its morphologically, molecularly and biochemically description, presents promising characteristics for its use in biotechnology and as feed for aquaculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yacht design is a multidisciplinary process that consists of set of iterative sub-processes. The main aim of the whole process is to reach the optimum design that satisfies not only the engineering-related requirements, but also the user's expectations. In the preliminary design process, determination of the type and the main dimensions of the yacht according to the user's preferences is followed by the processes such as the general arrangement plan, determination of the hull form and superstructure design, estimation of hydrostatic and hydrodynamic characteristics, etc. In this research, it is aimed to obtain a parametric design framework which enables to reach hull form characteristics, layout parameters and resistance estimation values with respect to various speeds, only by using only LOA of trawler type motor yachts. In this content, 26 trawler type motor yachts were investigated and their hull were modeled for speedresistance calculations. As a result of the research, graphics and tables were presented that allow to reach the characteristic parameters, which are important in terms of design and engineering, by using only the LOA value in the preliminary design phase of the trawler type motor yachts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The attraction of the place, the perception of services, the awareness, and the tourist satisfaction play an important role to motivate a tourist to visit and revisit a destination. Sustainability has also been receiving increasing attention and require also to promote inter-generational and intragenerational equity, to guarantee the cultural integrity and social cohesion of the communities, and to protect the environment and ecosystems. In this context, nautical tourism assesses some impacts to the economy, with the construction of port and the relative infrastructures and with all services to the boat, to the society and the local community that participate to the development and choices, and to the environment with significant potential risks. This paper focusses on small ports and marinas and investigates the real situation about services offered and the related possible tourism satisfaction for a socio-cultural sustainable development. In addition, FRAMESPORT project (FRAMEwork initiative fostering the sustainable development of Adriatic-Ionian Small PORTs) assists to these objectives collecting relevant experiences and feedbacks and developing a strategic guidance. For this reason, it has collected data from people connected to Italian and Croatian docks and are analyzed with statistic methods and georeferenced maps. The significance of the study is to understand similarities and differences of tourism in these two States and provide suggestions for a socio-cultural sustainable development.

Abstract Humans have built ports on all the coasts of the world, allowing people to travel, exploit the sea, and develop trade. The proliferation of these artificial habitats and the associated maritime traffic is not predicted to fade in the coming decades. Ports share common characteristics: Species find themselves in novel singular environments, with particular abiotic properties—e.g., pollutants, shading, protection from wave action—within novel communities in a melting pot of invasive and native taxa. Here, we discuss how this drives evolution, including setting up of new connectivity hubs and gateways, adaptive responses to exposure to new chemicals or new biotic communities, and hybridization between lineages that would have never come into contact naturally. There are still important knowledge gaps, however, such as the lack of experimental tests to distinguish adaptation from acclimation processes, the lack of studies to understand the putative threats of port lineages to natural populations or to better understand the outcomes and fitness effects of anthropogenic hybridization. We thus call for further research examining “biological portuarization,” defined as the repeated evolution of marine species in port ecosystems under human‐altered selective pressures. Furthermore, we argue that ports act as giant mesocosms often isolated from the open sea by seawalls and locks and so provide replicated life‐size evolutionary experiments essential to support predictive evolutionary sciences.

The lack of systematic mapping of water quality in the water areas of Croatian marinas hinders visualization and understanding of potential cumulative impact of marinas on the environment. The main goal of the research subject of this paper is forming an atlas of environmental risks and water area quality in Croatian marinas by implementing model of Marina Environmental Risk Assessment - MERA. Within the implemented model, input data are concrete and current data obtained through the questionnaire submitted to the management structures of Croatian marinas, which is an additional practical value of model and reasearch results. The implemented methodology and risk model of the impact of Croatian marinas on the environment in this paper provides an insight into the current situation and represents a significant basis for managing environmental risks and the quality of water areas in Croatian marinas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, we report the recent proliferation of the non-native serpulid worm Ficopomatus enigmaticus in parts of Galveston Bay, Texas. Reef-like aggregations were first recovered from a settlement plate and a submerged brick at the Kemah Boardwalk Marina on 4 May 2023. By 20 May, similar growths were reported to us by the Kemah Boardwalk Marina on floating docks, boat hulls, propellers, and rudders. On June 8, nearby marinas remained unaffected. We confirmed the worms' species identities by noting their diagnostic characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to highlight the state of development of tourist ports in the Romanian Black Sea coastal area and their implications for the sustainable provision of quality recreational transport. As indicated by the collected data, both locals and tourists are showing a growing interest in nautical sports and maritime recreational activities, and there are plans to upgrade existing marinas and build new ones. Although the boating activity in the Romanian Black Sea coastal area is not as developed and popular as that in other areas of the Balkan Peninsula, it has particular advantages due to its geographical position close to the Danube and its delta, as well as its historical and cultural heritage. Between 2014 and 2019, the south marinas of Romania's Black Sea coast experienced a 65% increase in the number of visiting boats. Despite some decreases in traffic during the pandemic, the general trend continues to be upward. An evaluation of the operational capacities and policies implemented by tourist ports and relevant stakeholders identifies the strengths and weaknesses of the current system and provides insights into the current activity and implemented policies of the four most known and developed marinas along the Romanian Black Sea coast. The study's main objective is to assess sustainable practices in relation to the environmental, social, and economic systems, with a focus on environmental protection, the use of renewable energy sources, and the implementation of quality management standards. The study uses a mix of qualitative and quantitative analyses to achieve this. Interviews with representatives of the four coastal marinas helped gather the data. The size of boat traffic was evaluated by taking into consideration the data from the local harbor master. The research identified gaps and highlighted areas that require improvement, subsequently providing recommendations to enhance sustainability. The findings can guide policymakers and stakeholders in developing practices that can promote the growth of recreational nautical transport in Romania while ensuring the sustainable development of the sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The attraction of the place, the perception of services, the awareness, and the tourist satisfaction play an important role to motivate a tourist to visit and revisit a destination. Sustainability has also been receiving increasing attention and require also to promote inter-generational and intragenerational equity, to guarantee the cultural integrity and social cohesion of the communities, and to protect the environment and ecosystems. In this context, nautical tourism assesses some impacts to the economy, with the construction of port and the relative infrastructures and with all services to the boat, to the society and the local community that participate to the development and choices, and to the environment with significant potential risks. This paper focusses on small ports and marinas and investigates the real situation about services offered and the related possible tourism satisfaction for a socio-cultural sustainable development. In addition, FRAMESPORT project (FRAMEwork initiative fostering the sustainable development of Adriatic-Ionian Small PORTs) assists to these objectives collecting relevant experiences and feedbacks and developing a strategic guidance. For this reason, it has collected data from people connected to Italian and Croatian docks and are analyzed with statistic methods and georeferenced maps. The significance of the study is to understand similarities and differences of tourism in these two States and provide suggestions for a socio-cultural sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New EL Alamein city (NAC) is located on the northwestern coast of Egypt 110 km western of Alexandria and just west of Marina resort. The city layout includes internal artificial lagoons circulated by jetties' inlets connected to the Mediterranean Sea. Intermediate and multigrade groynes have been proposed to reduce intermediate and downdrift expected erosion. Shoreline erosion at the downdrift area of coastal jetties and sedimentation at lagoons inlets are considered critical issues which shall be balanced and modeled. Marina resort lagoons and protections are considered a prototype for NAC coastal structures and inlets. For Marina resort lagoons case study, shoreline changes have been digitized from Google Earth historical images and field measurements data between 1988 and 2021 by using the Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) software. Cutting natural longshore sediment deposits by Marina jetties has significantly eroded the downdrift area eastern of Marina border. Most of Marina downdrift area was under accretion(up to + 10 m/year) and little erosion areas before the protection work from 1985 to 1988 and with an average rate of −1.00 m / year from 1988 to 2001 during the construction of the jetties and groynes and with an average rate of −1.20 m/ year after the construction stages between 2005 and 2018. High rates of erosion with an average rate of −4.30 m/year were identified between 2019 and 2021 with the start of NAC coastal proposed structures. This research aims to assess the historical and current situation of NAC shoreline changes and use the similar near project of Marina resort to identify and mitigate the side effects of the proposed protection works of New EL Alamein City. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Museums have employed video games in their exhibitions to foster visitors' participation and improve their learning process through a positive experience. In this work, we present Aventura Marina , a serious video game inspired by escape room game mechanics, composed of an app and an authoring tool, which aims to promote visitors' engagement with the new exhibition Sea Hall of the Caracol Museo de Ciencias , a Mexican museum in the northwest of Mexico. To design Aventura Marina , we followed a user-centered design approach, based on the design thinking methodology. We evaluated the high-fidelity prototype of the game and the low-fidelity prototype of the authoring tool with museum staff and potential visitors. Our results indicate that Aventura Marina has the potential to promote visitors' engagement with the Sea Hall exhibition as participants indicated having a positive experience, recognized that they were more interested in and less bored by the topics of the exhibition and that they were eager to play the game again. In relation to the authoring tool, museum staff mentioned how this project could be implemented in other halls of the museum. Finally, we discuss the improvements for a future iteration of the prototypes and how this kind of technology can complement the content of museum exhibitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bathymetric surveys of shallow waters are increasingly necessary for navigational safety and environmental studies. In situ surveys with floating acoustic sensors allow the collection of high-accuracy bathymetric data. However, such surveys are often unfeasible in very shallow waters in addition to being expensive and requiring specific sectorial skills for the acquisition and processing of raw data. The increasing availability of optical images from Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles, aircrafts and satellites allows for bathymetric reconstruction from images thanks to the application of state-of-the-art algorithms. In this paper, we illustrate a bathymetric reconstruction procedure involving the classification of the seabed, the calibration of the algorithm for each class and the subsequent validation. We applied this procedure to high-resolution, UAV-derived orthophotos, aircraft orthophotos and Sentinel-2 Level-2A images of two marinas along the western Ligurian coastline in the Mediterranean Sea and validated the results with bathymetric data derived from echo-sounder surveys. Our findings showed that the aircraft-derived bathymetry is generally more accurate than the UAV-derived and Sentinel-2 bathymetry in all analyzed scenarios due to the smooth color of the aircraft orthophotos and their ability to reproduce the seafloor with a considerable level of detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emerging concept of integrated community energy systems (ICESs) proves its suitability for improving the operation of local grids—increasing self-consumption from local generation, enhancing the load factor, and reducing energy cost. In Ballen marina—located on the Danish island of Samsø—the battery energy storage system (BESS)'s action can be possibly complemented by the flexibility of boats and electric cars. With the greater involvement of energy consumers, the energy system's performance may become more efficient—from both technical and economic perspectives. Within this framework, the optimal charging and discharging strategies of the marina's electric cars were developed and evaluated. The car usage profile was generated, utilising a stochastic approach to resemble daily variations in the driving pattern. The optimal charging strategy was established, subsequently integrating this action with boat flexibility. As a future scenario, the benefits of vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology implementation were examined, proving significant enhancements of the future marina's grid—with increased photovoltaic (PV) generation capacity and the number of electric cars. The economic benefits of bidirectional charging were proven, with ample advantages for the marina and the rental company, leading to cost savings of up to 51.7% and minimising the energy export by 21.3%. Therefore, increasing the integration level of Ballen marina's flexible units—electric cars and boats—was concluded to be an important goal for the coming years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Al Malweah for Archaeological & Historical Studies is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) 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.)

Simple Summary: Green sea turtles are currently listed as an endangered species. Therefore, any information on unstudied populations could provide valuable insight into the status of the species. Within the intracoastal waterway in northern Florida, juvenile green sea turtles are consistently seen eating the large leafy algae growing on the local marinas. The goal of this project was to use photographic records of each green sea turtle to determine whether individuals could be identified at two of these local marinas. Unique individuals were successfully identified, which allowed us to keep records of how often and where we saw certain turtles. To date, we have identified 195 turtles over an 18-month study period. The largest numbers were documented in warmer summer months, and the numbers decreased in colder winter months. Individual turtles were seen anywhere from once to 26 different encounters, with the longest duration between the first and last sighting of 569 days. This information can help bolster support for enacting local regulations to help conserve juvenile green sea turtles. As conservation efforts regarding green sea turtles, Chelonia mydas, continue, it is imperative to document behaviors and foraging habits/habitats of understudied populations. We have conducted an 18-month study dedicated to photographing the local population feeding alongside floating docks within the Guana Tolomato Matanzas estuary to determine the capability of matching head scale patterns efficiently through a pattern matching program: HotSpotter. To date, 195 unique sea turtles have been identified between two different marinas located in St. Augustine, FL. Of these, 98 were spotted more than once, with 39 of them being "tracked" for longer than a year. Temperature trends were also monitored in conjunction, showing that more individuals appeared during the warmer months of the year. The evidence, overall, indicates that these locations host a resident population of green sea turtles, leading to the need for a discussion on potential threats originating from the usage of these marinas by humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aims to analyze Human Resources Management (HRM) practices, especially Human Resources (HR) planning methods and to develop suggestions for yacht harbors and marinas in Türkiye. The study population comprises 41 yacht harbors and marinas on the Mediterranean, Aegean, and Marmara coasts. Semi-structured interviews are conducted with the HR managers of the companies. The content analysis method is used, the questions in the interview form are collected under three main themes, and the answers received from the participants are converted into data sets under the same themes. Although there is no HR department, the findings reveal that HR practices are carried out with a modern understanding in most yacht harbors and marinas. HR information systems are used in HR planning, recruitment, selection, performance evaluation, compensation, training, and development. Due to the difficulties in recruiting technical personnel in some companies, there are problems in employing eligible candidates at the right place and time. Since employees with higher education in the sector contribute more, they are primarily preferred in recruitment. As a result, with the HR specialists, significant improvements can be made in HRM, especially the efficiency of HR planning in yacht harbors and marinas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Mangroves are coastal ecosystems exposed to terrestrial, marine, geomorphic and climatic forcings operating in concert, making the mangrove niche hard to define, as evidenced by extremely poor restoration outcomes. We have developed a set of high‐resolution species distribution models and interpreted the variables that have the largest impact on the niche of Avicennia marina, the most globally widespread mangrove species, to comprehensively detail the forcings driving habitat suitability. Location: Australia. Time period: 1970–2020. Major taxa studied: Avicennia marina (Forssk.) Vierh. Methods: We modelled the suitable habitat for A. marina in Australia using the maxent method incorporating 38 environmental variables and the Global Mangrove Watch baseline for the presence records. Using k‐means grouping, we identified subregions where similar suites of environmental variables influence habitat suitability, while also identifying biogeographical commonalities among the subregions. To better understand the low realization of the fundamental niche, we analysed the other land covers occupying the niche. Results: Avicennia marina in Australia occupies six different environmental subregions. Maxent distribution models accurately predicted the presence of A. marina in each subpopulation (AUC > 0.9). A. marina's presence in all subregions was strongly determined by its proximity to freshwater. Precipitation and temperature extreme values were more important than average values in predicting the species presence. The species requires low‐energy coastlines with high solar radiation. The suitable areas are primarily shared with salt marshes, seagrass and buildings or cleared land. Main conclusions Our results offer a baseline for the suitable area of A. marina's presence that includes a range of environmental conditions, A. marina currently occupies <50% of its suitable habitat, and there is scope for restoration with significant ecosystem service gains. The six different subregions in Australia map to known phylogenetically distinct populations, indicating genetic plasticity in response to region specific climatic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monachus monachus is the only member of the Phocidae family native to the Mediterranean. Its presence has been established from the first written texts having to do with navigation, such as the Odyssey, to the latest publications on marine fauna. As to the denomination of the animal in Catalan, the term vell marí ('old mariner') has been documented from the 13th century until now. However, from the 15th century onwards we find other concurrent denominations that have restricted the territorial extension of the original form. Through time, forms such as bellmarí, llop de mar ('sea wolf'), llop marí ('marine wolf'), foca ('seal'), bou marí ('sea oxen'), lleona marina ('sea lioness'), porc marí ('sea pig'), ca marí ('sea dog') and vaca marina ('sea cow') have appeared. The study of these forms, of their semantic motivation and the contrast with the denominations in other Romance languages offer valuable information on the vision that coast dwellers had of this marine mammal and on the contributions to the Mediterranean lexical flow of each human community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Detailed taxonomic description of Najas marina L. including information on flowering and fruiting time, autecology, and distribution in Bangladesh are provided. The diagnostic characters with illustrations and behavioural patterns of different habitats are also provided. Presence of Najas marina in Joydia baor indicates that the water quality of this baor is fairly good and minor human interference of the habitats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three halophilic archaeal strains, NEN8T, GDY88T and ZY14T, were isolated from a salt lake in Tibet and coarse sea salt samples from Guangdong and Hebei, China, respectively. These strains formed three separate clades (showing 94.4–95.8% and 87.1–89.4% similarities, respectively) and then clustered with the current Halorientalis members (showing 90.7–97.6% and 87.0–91.2% similarities, respectively), as revealed by phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA and rpoB′ genes. The overall genome-related index, average nucleotide identity (ANI), in silico DNA–DNA hybridization (DDH), average amino acid identity (AAI) and the percentage of conserved proteins (POCP) values, among the three strains and members of the genus Halorientalis were 76.0–88.0%, 21.3–37.2%, 69.0–88.3% and 57.7–78.1%, clearly below the threshold values for species demarcation. Strains NEN8T, GDY88T and ZY14T could be distinguished from current Halorientalis species according to differential phenotypic characteristics. The major polar lipids of the three strains were phosphatidylglycerol (PG), phosphatidylglycerol phosphate methyl ester (PGP-Me), sulfated mannosyl glucosyl diether (S-DGD-1) and disulfated mannosyl glucosyl diether (S2-DGD). In addition, mannosyl glucosyl diether (DGD-1) was detected in strain NEN8T and phosphatidic acid (PA), posssulfated galactosyl mannosyl glucosyl diether (S-TGD-1) and sulfated mannosyl glucosyl diether–phosphatidic acid (S-DGD–PA) were observed in strain ZY14T. These results revealed that strains NEN8T (= CGMCC 1.17213T = JCM 34155T), GDY88T (= CGMCC 1.18548T = JCM 34481T) and ZY14T (= CGMCC 1.17178T = JCM 34154T) represent three novel species of the genus Halorientalis, for which the names Halorientalis salina sp. nov., Halorientalis marina sp. nov. and Halorientalis litorea sp. nov. are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adoption of electric boats faces challenges due to range anxiety. This study addresses this challenge by optimizing the allocation of slow and fast chargers for public electric boat charging stations. A mixed-integer linear programming model was developed to minimize charging infrastructure and electricity costs while meeting the demand of each participating marina in Stockholm, Sweden. The model identified three distinct categories of stations based on the optimal charger allocation: stations prioritizing fast chargers (e.g., Sickla station with 13 fast and 8 slow chargers for 208 boats), stations prioritizing slow chargers (e.g., Kungsholmen station with 2 slow and 3 fast chargers for 50 boats), and stations with an equal number of both charger types (Äppelviken station with 2 each for 25 boats). This study found out that all stations will achieve financial viability within seven years, indicating a promising return on investment. This study also proposes a novel way for optimizing charger allocation in electric boat charging infrastructure, promoting wider electric boat adoption. • Study considers optimization for sizing of infrastructure for electric boat. • Study determines optimal mix of slow & fast chargers for electric boat stations. • Three distinct categories of charging stations emerged in results. • Economic analysis shows that all the stations profitable within 7 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article tells the story of Jaxan Jernigan, a 6-year-old boy who was diagnosed with a large brain tumor. After a successful 14-hour surgery, Jaxan's family sought the best possible care and found a clinical trial at Children's of Alabama led by Dr. Girish Dhall. Jaxan underwent seven rounds of chemotherapy, three stem cell transplants, and 30 rounds of radiation. After eight months, Jaxan was considered to be in remission and continues to thrive. The family credits the care and support they received at Children's of Alabama for Jaxan's recovery. [Extracted from the article]

The role of navigation in transporting and introducing non-indigenous species (NIS) in ports is globally acknowledged, and maritime traffic is correlated with increasing NIS introductions. On the other hand, different types of vessels can occur in a port (e.g., for commercial or recreational purposes) and the success of a NIS in a new area also depends on several chemical-physical and biotic conditions of the arrival port. In this context, a study was conducted in 2020 in three marinas at Sanremo (Ligurian Sea, Italy) with the aim to assess if boat traffic influences the presence of NIS in marine fouling communities. Samples were collected from docks and pontoons with a hand-held rigid net in the marinas of Sanremo (Porto Sole, characterized by international recreational boat traffic; and Porto Vecchio, hosting only local fishing boats), as well as in Ospedaletti, a nearly finished, abandoned and unused marina. Overall, 47 species (including 9 NIS), 45 (8 NIS) and 86 (2 NIS) were collected in Porto Sole, Porto Vecchio and Ospedaletti, respectively. Number and proportion of NIS were significantly lower in the unused marina of Ospedaletti in comparison with the other two ones, which in turn exhibited similar sessile assemblages and comparable NIS richness. The peculiarity of Ospedaletti fouling community, despite the geographical proximity and similar habitat conditions of the other marinas, highlights the role of boating traffic in facilitating NIS settlement, while the sole presence of artificial substrates is not sufficient to promote NIS introduction. This site could provide opportunities for experimenting novel NIS management measures. • Comparison of fouling communities of two active and one inactive marinas. • A highly diverse fouling community was observed in the inactive marina. • A higher number of non-indigenous species (NIS) was observed in the active marinas. • Importance of the role of small boat traffic in NIS introduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]