Optical/IR from ground

Optical/infrared (O/IR) astronomy in the 1990's is reviewed. The following subject areas are included: research environment; science opportunities; technical development of the 1980's and opportunities for the 1990's; and ground-based O/IR astronomy outside the U.S. Recommendations are presented for: (1) large scale programs (Priority 1: a coordinated program for large O/IR telescopes); (2) medium scale programs (Priority 1: a coordinated program for high angular resolution; Priority 2: a new generation of 4-m class telescopes); (3) small scale programs (Priority 1: near-IR and optical all-sky surveys; Priority 2: a National Astrometric Facility); and (4) infrastructure issues (develop, purchase, and distribute optical CCDs and infrared arrays; a program to support large optics technology; a new generation of large filled aperture telescopes; a program to archive and disseminate astronomical databases; and a program for training new instrumentalists

Managing madness: mental health and complexity in public policy

Abstract This paper explores the concept of collaborative care, particularly in relation to a range of new models of organisation and service that are emerging in response to one of the most problematic areas of public policy – mental health. These emerging models of coordinated mental health care are testing the limits of the evidence supporting coordinated care, and require critical evaluation. Myriad concepts of collaborative or coordinated care in health, including mental health, have created multiple definitions. Once definitional issues have been surmounted, however, the evidence for coordination of health care is reasonably strong. There is considerable research about which treatments and programs are best for people with a mental illness. There are few areas seemingly as complex as mental health, given that responsibility for policy and service lies across all three tiers of Australian government and across multiple jurisdictions. It also engages public, private and non-government sectors. Co-morbidities are commonplace, particularly drug and alcohol problems among younger people. Governments in Australia have traditionally taken responsibility for policy, programs and services, either as direct service providers or through contracting outputs from others. Yet the evidence indicates that for people with a mental illness, the best solutions are often not found in government but in the community and in organisations outside of government. New organisations and new structures are attempting more holistic management approaches, combining clinical care, community support, housing, employment and other services. This paper considers some of these new models in the light of existing evidence. The key challenge facing continued reform in mental health is not uncertainty regarding programs or services, but rather how to drive coordinated care for consumers across departments, governments and providers. This review will highlight the key changes that must be made for the benefit of the millions of Australians with a mental illness. Such changes need to empower users of care systems to choose options that actively support coordinated and efficient care delivery systems

INTRA- AND INTER-STATE TRANSFERABILITY OF SOYBEAN VARIETY RESEARCH

An example of agricultural researching technology transfer and implications for the fiscal coordination and conduct of agricultural research programs is presented. Uniform Soybean Tests conducted in four Southern States are used to estimate the potential for transferability of soybean variety research among homogeneous sub-areas. The results indicate a high degree of transferability among the sub-areas. Coordinated management of soybean variety research could potentially provide more effective expenditure of soybean breeding research investments. Additionally, the concept or research transferability is not limited to soybeans or soybean variety research. Increased coordination of agricultural research investments by individual states may enhance existing benefits.Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Safe, Remote-Access Swarm Robotics Research on the Robotarium

This paper describes the development of the Robotarium -- a remotely accessible, multi-robot research facility. The impetus behind the Robotarium is that multi-robot testbeds constitute an integral and essential part of the multi-agent research cycle, yet they are expensive, complex, and time-consuming to develop, operate, and maintain. These resource constraints, in turn, limit access for large groups of researchers and students, which is what the Robotarium is remedying by providing users with remote access to a state-of-the-art multi-robot test facility. This paper details the design and operation of the Robotarium as well as connects these to the particular considerations one must take when making complex hardware remotely accessible. In particular, safety must be built in already at the design phase without overly constraining which coordinated control programs the users can upload and execute, which calls for minimally invasive safety routines with provable performance guarantees.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, 3 code samples, 72 reference

Global Soil Changes (Report of an IIASA-ISSS-UNEP Task Force on the Role of Soil in Global Changes)

The present report is one of a series of documents by soil scientists in preparation of a coordinated input by the various national and international centers on soil research and management into the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programs (IGBP or "Global Change" Program) initiated by the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU)

The Economic Impact of Failing Infrastructure in the New York Metropolitan Area

Infrastructure in the New York Metropolitan Area has been seriously underfunded due to a failure of public investment on the local, state and federal level. Prior research has presented concrete reasoning that the now crumbling infrastructure will seriously affect economic growth and worker productivity. This research seeks to quantify the economic effects as a result of this failing infrastructure. My research asks: what are the concrete, additional economic expenditures, due to failing infrastructure, that drivers spend each year? How much do these economic costs decrease our economic productivity, and how do the economic costs compare with proposed infrastructure improvements? From the research, it is evident drivers in the New York-Newark NY-NJ Metropolitan Statistical Area experience some of the highest of these costs than other areas in the Combined Statistical Area. It is projected the 2018 economic cost to these drivers will be $2,045 based on the value of one’s time lost spend in traffic. With a continued lack of investment, these costs are expected to grow due to continued infrastructure failure and a growing population. Various programs have been proposed to alleviate specific bottlenecks in the region, but a coordinated source of investment from local, state and federal levels remains a major issue in securing funding for these projects

Cooperation, collective action, and the archeology of large-scale societies

Archeologists investigating the emergence of large-scale societies in the past have renewed interest in examining the dynamics of cooperation as a means of understanding societal change and organizational variability within human groups over time. Unlike earlier approaches to these issues, which used models designated voluntaristic or managerial, contemporary research articulates more explicitly with frameworks for cooperation and collective action used in other fields, thereby facilitating empirical testing through better definition of the costs, benefits, and social mechanisms associated with success or failure in coordinated group action. Current scholarship is nevertheless bifurcated along lines of epistemology and scale, which is understandable but problematic for forging a broader, more transdisciplinary field of cooperation studies. Here, we point to some areas of potential overlap by reviewing archeological research that places the dynamics of social cooperation and competition in the foreground of the emergence of large-scale societies, which we define as those having larger populations, greater concentrations of political power, and higher degrees of social inequality. We focus on key issues involving the communal-resource management of subsistence and other economic goods, as well as the revenue flows that undergird political institutions. Drawing on archeological cases from across the globe, with greater detail from our area of expertise in Mesoamerica, we offer suggestions for strengthening analytical methods and generating more transdisciplinary research programs that address human societies across scalar and temporal spectra