Implications of STAMP for Warhead Safety at AWE

STAMP (System-Theoretic Accident Model and Processes) is a relatively new approach to safety assessment methodology and post-accident cause analysis; its prime developer is Nancy Leveson of MIT. STAMP is a holistic system-level approach to overall organizational structure and to technical operations and design. It takes a comprehensive look at all possible organizational and technical system influences that can ultimately affect the safety of technical processes and product designs in whatever scenarios or environments in which they operate or to which they are subjected. Of course, the process can be applied equally to both reliability of performance and security, in addition to safety

A complex network approach to structural inequality of educational deprivation in a Latin American country

To guarantee the human right to education established by the fourth UNESCO’s Sustainable Development Goal, a deep understanding of a big set of non-linear relationships at different scales is need it, as well as to know how they impact on learning outcomes. In doing so, current methods do not provide enough evidence about interactions and, for this reason, some researchers have proposed to model education as a complex system for considering all interactions at individual level, as well as using computer simulation and network analysis to provide a comprehensive look at the educational processes, as well as to predict the outcomes of different public policies. The highlight of this paper is modeling the structure of the inequality of a national educational system as a complex network from learning outcomes and socio-economic, ethnicity, rurality and type of school funding, for providing a better understanding and measuring of the educational gaps. This new approach might help to integrate insights improving the theoretical framework, as well as to provide valuable information about non-trivial relationships between educational and non-educational variables in order to help policymakers to implement effective solutions for the educational challenge of ensuring inclusive and equitable education.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Assessing Economic Performance of Maine\u27s Lobster Fleet Under Changing Ecosystem Conditions in the Gulf of Maine

This thesis explores the inter-disciplinary space that lies between fisheries management and stock conservation, resource extraction and economic return at the individual producer level, balanced with societal welfare. It considers policy implications in support of changing marine ecosystems and considers the values of the Maine lobster communities, which depend on it. We conducted a comprehensive lobster industry survey to assess costs and effort expended at the producer level for a representative fishing year, and establish a series of production function performance baselines for future comparison. The demographic data, attitudes and valuations collected allow us to characterize the fishing effort and regional dependency on the resource. We look at the Maine Lobster limited entry licensing system, to understand how the future participation in the fishery might change, and how Maine’s communities might be affected. We examine the influences of ex-vessel price in the Maine lobster fleet, as a primary driver of profitability and economic value of the fishery. We apply multiple disciplines, and present four separate essays, with appendices containing the tabulated results of our three surveys. First, we evaluate and model a stochastic frontier production analysis to assess lobster producer efficiency and create a vessel-level profitability model. We then evaluate willingness to pay for a Maine Lobster license model with a censored regression Tobit model, and general linear regressions to evaluate desired number of traps, as stated by existing and potential new entrants. We explore the variety of influences of ex-vessel price through a multiple linear regression, building on previous studies that demonstrated an inverse demand price response in the Maine fleet; we consider how changes in monthly landings have created excessive inventory holdings and examine this has on ex-vessel price. We then conclude by applying a retrospective analysis to evaluate future profitability and economic performance in the fishery, under potential changing conditions facing the coupled natural and human system. In aggregate these analyses identify risks of overcapitalization in the Maine Lobster fishery which are likely to confound efforts to effectively manage the resource in times of changing harvest patterns, and in light of variability in supply and market demand

Assessing Economic Performance of Maine\u27s Lobster Fleet Under Changing Ecosystem Conditions In the Gulf of Maine

This research evaluates lobster producer efficiency and considers fleet wide economics and policy implications in support of changing marine ecosystems in the Gulf of Maine. We conducted a comprehensive lobster industry survey to assess costs and effort expended at the producer level for a representative fishing year, and establish a series of production function performance baselines for future comparison. The demographic data, attitudes and valuations collected allow us to characterize the fishing effort and regional dependency on the resource. We look at the Maine Lobster limited entry licensing system, to understand how the future participation in the fishery might change, and how Maine’s communities might be affected. We examine the influences of ex-vessel price in the Maine lobster fleet, as a primary driver of profitability and economic value of the fishery. We apply multiple disciplines, and present four separate essays, with appendices containing the tabulated results of our three surveys. First, we evaluate and model a stochastic frontier production analysis to assess lobster producer efficiency and create a vessel-level profitability model. We then evaluate willingness to pay for a Maine Lobster license model with a censored regression Tobit model, and general linear regressions to evaluate desired number of traps, as stated by existing and potential new entrants. We explore the variety of influences of ex-vessel price through a multiple linear regression, building on previous studies that demonstrated an inverse demand price response in the Maine fleet; we consider how changes in monthly landings have created excessive inventory holdings and examine this has on ex-vessel price. We then conclude by applying a retrospective analysis to evaluate future profitability and economic performance in the fishery, under potential changing conditions facing the coupled natural and human system. In aggregate these analyses identify risks of over-capitalization in the Maine Lobster fishery which are likely to confound efforts to effectively manage the resource in times of changing harvest patterns, and in light of variability in supply and market demand

A Case Study of Health Interventions and the Caste System: Addressing the Social Determinants of Health Through Development at Crhp Jamkhed

In the Southeast Asian country of India, the ancient but in some cases still rigidly intact caste system plays a role in determining health status and outcomes for much of its population of over 1.2 billion people.[1] The Comprehensive Rural Health Project, located in Jamkhed in the state of Maharashtra, India, approaches health interventions from a development standpoint, addressing biomedical needs, structural and environmental concerns, and the social and economic determinants of health that impact the lives of over a million villagers in the surrounding area.[2] This independent study project was designed to analyze how the Comprehensive Rural Health Project uses health interventions to address the rigid social injustice of the caste system in order to improve health and development of the population in the area which it serves. This project aimed to make observations and conclusions about how the Comprehensive Rural Health Project fought back against the caste system which had previously been a main factor in the determining the health outcomes for the population by collecting narratives of those involved with the organization as well as those who have been implicated by its actions. This project found that the development work CRHP has focused on in its project villages combats the caste system by addressing the concept economic need as a social equalizer through health interventions, and uses a model in which they use education as reinforcement to make their efforts at social change sustainable, which has served as a more effective model than other vertical programming conducted in other parts of the world with the same health goals. CRHP has done this through horizontal programming following the Maharashtra drought and subsequent famine of the early 1970s, which has had an effect on the implicated population’s views of the caste system, and has resulted in a society that has seen vast social change over the course of the past 41 years that CRHP has been in existence. Further research as a result of this study could be done to look into how using economic need as a social equalizer through health interventions could be used to level power structures that marginalize people in other parts of the world. [1] “The India Census 2011.” LA Times. 01 April 2011. [2] “CRHP Mission.” www.jamkhed.or

The management of educational change in Pakistani educational institutions

This research study aims to explore the process of educational change management in Pakistan through the experiences and views of institution heads and teachers to look at the reality of an externally mandated reform at the school level. Beyond contextualising the process of educational change at the school level within the Pakistani education system, the study aims to contextualise this process in the global perspective by delineating an emergent model of educational change management for Pakistani education system. A change initiative to reform the national curriculum and assessment system for public examinations was investigated to provide the participants of the study a point of reference to express their opinions and to reflect upon and describe their experiences. This particular change initiative was part of a comprehensive reform programme called Education Sector Reform (ESR) programme initiated in 2002. To define the selection of institutions and the sample of teachers within those institutions, the curriculum and assessment system change at Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSSC) level in the subject areas of English, Urdu and Pakistan Studies was focused in the institutions affiliated with the examination board of Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (FBISE). Beyond affiliation with FBISE, the selection of twenty institutions was made in order to balance a number of factors as the ownership, attraction for admissions, gender representation and administrative structures. The data collection was done at three stages through three research tools. At the first stage, the institution heads of the selected institutions were included in the research through semi-structured interviews. At the second stage an exploratory questionnaire, which was based on the interview data and the related literature, was given to twenty teachers in ten of the institutions included in the study. The data from this exploratory questionnaire was used to develop a structured questionnaire for the third phase of the research, which was given to 124 teachers in the twenty institutions included in the study. The sample was balanced for the subject areas and the length of teaching experience of the participants. The analysis of data from both institution heads and teachers has converged on three overarching themes of student learning and assessment, issues related to the role of teachers in the process of change and the management of the reform process. In summary, participating institution heads and teachers are positive about the need and purpose of the reform; they also consider it good for student learning and attainment but have reservations about the top down approach in change management and poor resourcing. They demand well-resourced institutions and teachers, capacity building for implementers in the institutions and their inclusion in the process of the reform planning. They suggest improved communication and coordination for effective implementation of the reform along with comprehensive, inclusive, consistent and research based approach in the policymaking, planning and implementation strategy of the reform, which needs to be incremental in nature. Based on the data, especially the suggestions of the participants, an emergent model for educational change management in Pakistan has been outlined with strategic management at the core built around incremental, consistent, research based, inclusive and comprehensive, approaches. This model extends into the role of teachers: who are resourced with information, guidance, support, materials, facilities and funds, who are satisfied with the change management process and their professional status in the system and working conditions, and who are ready for the change through acceptance of the change (especially with reference to its effect on student learning), participation in the whole change process and training. This emergent model has been situated in the existing research literature to highlight the similarities as well as the distinctive features of the Pakistani context

Institutional differentiation. Models and the comprehensive institution

Published ArticleThe higher education sector faces challenges in the 21 century that institutions need to respond to. In South Africa current reforms emphasize the reality of a changing environment that one can expect institutions will respond to in different ways. The comprehensive institutions that have been created by current reforms face an interesting challenge to establish an institutional identity that creates a university on the one hand, but maintains the career-orientated focus of the academic programmes of their merging partners. The expectation internationally is that "... there will be much more variety in the landscape in the future" (De Boer et al., 2002: 52). Variations will emerge along certain dimensions such as different clienteles that are served, a focus on different missions, different geographical levels as operating domain, the use of different technologies, and trends to form coalitions/networks/consortia At the organizational level universities will experience stress to maintain the unity of functions that are associated with the university. The unity of research and teaching and the nature of the academic task can come under stress. The pursuit of excellence and the maintenance of some form of diversity can interact in interesting ways as well. In quality assurance the question can be raised as to the adequacy of the application of traditional fairly homogeneous academic standards to diverse institutions that respond to different stakeholder expectations. The article will seek to identify the dimensions along which diversity and institutional differentiation can take place and will look at some of the models that have emerged in distance education internationally, in the community college sector (an oft neglected sector) in the USA, and efforts at extending the traditional university model. Some lines will be drawn to the comprehensive institutions, the new kids on the block in the SA higher education system

An SEA Guide for Identifying Evidence-Based Interventions for School Improvement

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is the most recent reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and replaces the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The law focuses on using research evidence to improve teaching and learning and at the same time passes considerable authority from federal to state policymakers. This means that responsibility largely falls on states and localities to effectively make sense of and use research evidence in their decisions around school improvement, teacher preparation, principal recruitment, and family engagement. With support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Overdeck Family Foundation, and the William T. Grant Foundation, the Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR) has developed Guides for Identifying Evidence-Based Interventions for School Improvement

Cracking the Code: Synchronizing Policy and Practice for Performance-Based Learning

Proposes a policy framework for integrating performance-based learning into the education system, synchronizing policy and practice, and ensuring collaborative state leadership and flexible federal leadership. Lists state policy issues and exemplars

Health Center Financial Check-Up: Prescriptions for Strengthening New York's Diagnostic and Treatment Centers

Analyzes evidence of financial distress among nonprofit health centers and contributing factors for individual centers as well as the sector. Makes recommendations for the state, philanthropic organizations, public and private payers, and health centers