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The following policy recommendations aim to help the EU aquaculture sector to apply a circular-economy approach in order to participate in the green transition set by the European Green Deal: Define circularity in aquaculture Define a common methodology to measure circularity in aquaculture Increase circularity in aquaculture production by increasing circularity in feed production and by valorising aquaculture wastes (effluent and sludge) Encourage sectorial and cross-sectorial co-governance

The growth rate of seaweed is significantly affected by wave parameters and sea conditions. The wave characteristics in an aquaculture farm is normally measured using expensive equipment, which is not affordable for many farmers or researchers, and is not easily relocated from place to place to evaluate wave conditions in a variety of locations. In this paper, a sensor fusion method is presented which can estimate wave height using the data logged by a multi modal low-cost seaweed-attached sensor system. The sensor was developed for use in an Aquaculture scenario. This method is based on combination of extended Kalman filter and artificial neural networks. Regarding the importance of studying the impact of wave on seaweeds growth rate, this method will avail many researchers to use wave height data in their study to fill the gap in knowledge of the impact of water motion on aquaculture and maximising of seaweed harvests.

This high school unit on prejudice encountered by minority groups begins with contradictory descriptions of the character of American Democracy and raises the question, "Is American democracy intrinsically tolerant?" Then, students are invited to examine a number of specific episodes reflecting the treatment of various types of minority groups. A final brief selection from Gordon Allport's "The Nature of Prejudice" suggests the sociological factors that re-enforce prejudice, after which students are asked if Allport's generalizations apply to American society. (Author)

Results of an Activity based resource allocation moden (ABRA model) on assessing the the cost-effectiveness if IMTA installatiions at the H2020 IMPAQT project pilot sites.

Although advantages and limitations of Integrated Multi-trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) have been widely reported, few studies have focused on potential effects of IMTA on the microbiological quality and safety of the end products. In the current study, the spoilage potential as well as the presence of pathogenic bacteria in two different species (salmon Salmo salar and seaweed Alaria esculenta) cultured in IMTA system were investigated. In addition, several nutritional parameters were evaluated so as to provide a preliminary view about the nutritional quality of such products.Alaria esculenta and Atlantic salmon were co-cultivated at a pilot scale IMTA site, Lehanagh Pool, operated by the Marine Institute in the west coast of Ireland. Both species were harvested in May 2020. The collected samples were subsequently packaged and sent to the Laboratory of Food Microbiology and Biotechnology (Agricultural University of Athens, Greece) for microbial testing. The received samples were placed in polystyrene trays and stored at different temperatures (0, 5, 10, 15oC for the seaweed, and 0 and 4oC for the salmon) for specific time intervals. Microbiological analysis was performed on the day of their arrival at the lab and at certain days of storage, for the estimation of Total Viable Counts (TVC), Pseudomonas spp., Lactic acid bacteria, Enterobacteriaceae, Bacillus spp., B. thermosphacta, Vibrio spp., Aeromonas spp., yeast and moulds, E. coli, Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus. Nutritional analyses, including the determination of protein, fat, carbohydrate, ash and moisture content, were performed on the day the samples arrived at the lab. Products were of acceptable microbial quality (TVC < 7.0 log CFU/g) and safe for human consumption for up to 12 days stored at 0oC and 8 days stored at 4oC. The time period for seaweed samples was 8 and 4 days for 0 and 5oC, respectively, while initial microbial load was in accordance with findings reported by Blikra et al. (2019). It should be noted that bacteria of Enterobacteriaceae family which are considered as hygiene indicator, were at low levels - even below enumeration limit - in both species, while all the examined pathogenic bacteria were absent both at the beginning and at the end of storage. Although further research is intended regarding quality and safety of IMTA products, for example, the detection of antibiotic resistant microbial strains, these preliminary findings provide significant information about the overall microbiological quality of IMTA products. As far as the nutritional quality of the tested samples is concerned, specific nutritional parameters (such as protein, fat and carbohydrate content) were found to be similar to reference values for the same species (non-IMTA).

Integrated Multi Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) is acknowledged as a promising solution for sustainable development of aquaculture. By farming multiple lower trophic species adjacent to traditional aquaculture enterprises, such as salmon monoculture, the wastes and by-products of one species become the feed, fertiliser and energy source for the others. This practice is shown to reduce waste materials from fed species and lower the nutrient load in the water (FAO,2018). This paper aims to give an overview of applying IMTA to an Irish monoculture site for Salmon production with the introduction of the lower trophic species Alaria esculenta, Pecten maximus and Homarus gammarus. Utilising low trophic products such as invertebrates and seaweeds (Barbier, 2019) would maximise the use of licensed aquaculture areas and reduce the environmental impact on the monoculture activity. If successful, this method could be adapted by other monoculture sites to provide more eco-efficient practices, creating more goods and services while using fewer resources and generating less waste. This paper can help shift the current application of IMTA to a more commercial level. In this trial the decision was made to cultivate winged kelp, Alaria esculenta, Scallop, Pecten maximus and European Lobster, Homarus gammarus within the current grid infrastructure traditionally established to hold salmon pens. The trial site is a pilot scale research site, with a moored grid infrastructure to support 6 pen structures. Grid spacing is 50m between cushion buoys. Seaweed longlines were attached at the cushion buoys and orientated in varying directions to the prevailing current and at different levels of exposure on the site. Lobster units and scallop lanterns were suspended from the outer ring of the salmon pens on site. Crop yield, biomass and condition were monitored throughout the growing cycle. This data was compared to abiotic data relating to current direction and to location on the site. Molecular analysis of the harvested seaweed was carried out to look for variation in composition based on location on the site. The costs to add the additional structures, and the operating procedures cost to maintain the additional species were also considered. Utilising the existing grid structure successfully yielded a crop of seaweed. By utilising the existing grid structure, no additional moorings we required resulting in cost savings for the operator, less visual impact, and maximising use of the existing space. Waste from the salmon at the farm was remediated by the low trophic species added, through nutrient cycling in the kelp and the scallop, whilst the lobster also showed utilisation of salmon waste. Data on biomass accumulation and crop yields provide expected nutrient uptake rates and value of additional products to the site. Although yields were not at a commercial level, a significant tonnage was achieved, providing additional value from the added products. There were further ecosystem service benefits from co-culturing novel low trophic lobster species for potential release to the wild for restocking. This low visual impact approach and more optimal use of the limited space for aquaculture within the coastal zone proved successful.

The present paper proposes a computational approach to the comparative analysis and visualization of the harmonic structure of three-voiced vocal music. The dataset which has been used in this study is the same as in Scherbaum et al. (2015), a corpus of polyphonic songs from Svaneti (Akhobadze, 1957). Similar to the earlier work, a song is treated as a discrete temporal process in which harmonic or melodic states change according to unknown rules which are implicitely contained in the song itself. In contrast to the prior study, however, there are no assumptions regarding their probabilistic or deterministic nature.

The success of the expression “world music,” a commercial label coined during the 1980s to refer to certain types of music, provokes an inquiry into the conditions underlying its invention and success, and to question about how these types are brought together and how this music is made. An analysis of a limited corpus of pieces circulating under the genre “world music” leads to the building of a typology. This music does not correspond to any homogeneous form; it derives completely from a combination of pre-existing elements. This art of making combinations, whereby the imagination spreads its wings in the contemporary world, explores a changing world, arouses a feeling of exercising control over it and provides a means for escaping from it. “World music” thus turns out to be an instrument for construing a new, emergent world. Sociological and musicological approaches must be brought together to understand how this music operates and how imagining this new world works through music.

In the first experiment, the extent and distribution of self-stimulation foci within the amygdala were mapped using moveable electrodes. Amygdaloid rate-frequency functions were obtained for all positive sites tested. The pulse period required to maintain criterial responding was then calculated using a curve fitting procedure. Self-stimulation was found throughout the amygdaloid complex, with the exception of the lateral amygdaloid nucleus. Depending on brain site, maximum self-stimulation rates varied from 3 to 37 presses/min whereas threshold frequencies varied from 9.2 to 40 pulses per train. No correlation was found between these two aspects of self-stimulation. The majority of threshold estimates lay within the range of 10 to 20 pulses per train, suggesting a relatively homogenous distribution of rewarding stimulation efficacy within the positive areas. The lowest threshold estimates are comparable to those usually obtained for the lateral hypothalamus, suggesting that the amygdala is an important focus for self-stimulation. In a second experiment, the effect of concurrent stimulation of the amygdala and lateral hypothalamus was assessed using a curve-shift method. In general, combining equi-rewarding stimuli had no effect on self-stimulation rate and threshold. However, when current to the lateral hypothalamus was adjusted such that the hypothalamic pulses were subthreshold for self-stimulation, under concurrent amygdalo-hypothalamic stimulation, a dramatic increase in self-stimulation rate was obtained. The magnitude of this rate augmentation was positively correlated with hypothalamic pulse intensity, however, independent of the order of stimulus presentation and intrapulse pair interval. The rate enhancing effect of combining low intensity hypothalamic stimulation with threshold amygdaloid self-stimulation was subsequently investigated in a series of experiments. In the first experiment, subjects were given a choice between a pulse frequency yielding maximal amygdaloid rate and a series of higher pulse frequencies. Subjects consistently preferred the higher frequency values attesting that the maximal rate in the amygdaloid rate-frequency function was not constrained by a saturating reinforcing effect. In a second experiment, subjects were given a choice between amygdaloid stimulation and concurrent amygdalo-hypothalamic stimulation, using low intensity hypothalamic pulses. Subjects showed no preference for either stimulation condition, although rates were higher for the latter condition. These findings suggest that the maximal rate for amygdaloid stimulation was constrained by factors interfering with barpressing and that the effect of these factors was attenuated by co-activation of the lateral hypothalamus. The nature of this constraint was then investigated. Administration of Phenobarbital (10, 15 & 20 mg/kg; i.p.) mimicked the rate-enhancing effect of concurrent amygdalo-hypothalamic stimulation for 2 of the 4 subjects tested. This finding suggests that the hypothalamic pulses contributed to attenuate seizure activity accompanying amygdaloid self-stimulation. In a final experiment, amygdaloid self-stimulation rates were also increased by co-activation of rewarding sites in the rostral medial forebrain bundle but not the dorsal raphe suggesting an anatomical specificity of this effect. It is concluded that within the circumscribed area of brain stimulation reward the amygdala is a separate reward system, the behavioral expression of which can be modulated by concurrent activation of rewarding foci in the lateral hypothalamus or medial forebrain bundle.