The Vascular Flora of Cherokee County

This survey brings together the available information on the vascular flora of Cherokee County, Iowa, taking into consideration such things as: which species of vascular plants occur in the area, their relative frequencies, and the habitats in which these species exist. A general description of the area is included

A Preliminary Report on the Vascular Flora of Northwestern Iowa

This survey brings together the available information on the flora of ten northwestern Iowa counties-the species of vascular plants occurring in the area, their relative frequencies, and the habitats in which they exist. The major collecting was done throughout the growing seasons of 1956 and 1957. Over 4,000 collections were made, and the probable number of specimens is over 9,000. The author examined and annotated over 1,100 specimens which had been previously collected and deposited in the major herbaria of the state. Plants characteristic of several of the typical plant communities are listed

Positive dependence in qualitative probabilistic networks

Qualitative probabilistic networks (QPNs) combine the conditional independence assumptions of Bayesian networks with the qualitative properties of positive and negative dependence. They formalise various intuitive properties of positive dependence to allow inferences over a large network of variables. However, we will demonstrate in this paper that, due to an incorrect symmetry property, many inferences obtained in non-binary QPNs are not mathematically true. We will provide examples of such incorrect inferences and briefly discuss possible resolutions.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure

Social Media and Humanitarian Logistics: The Impact of Task-technology Fit on New Service Development

AbstractThe concept of humanitarian technology is growing in popularity due to the role of organizations such as food charities that provide food to populations with challenges in acquiring food from traditional outlets (retail stores, restaurants, etc.). Many food charities receive donations from retail outlets looking to donate products that are near expiration dates (Jett and Crumbly, 2013). To ensure impoverished populations gain access to food with limited dates, food charities search for ways to improve the delivery process through the use of information technology tools to enhance operational efficiency and effectiveness. This paper explores how to improve supply chain management in humanitarian organizations, such as food charities, by utilizing new service development and task technology fit as the theoretical foundation. In particular, it provides the conceptual development for an integrated model of social media and supply chain management. Results and implications will be discussed at the conference

The Impact of Information Technology on the Six “Ts” of Supply Chain Management

Product recalls can highlight strengths and weaknesses in an organization’s supply chain. To date, few studies have explored the role of information systems in the recall process. This study presents Roth et al. (2008)’s 6Ts of global recall effectiveness as a useful framework for assessing the role of information technology (IT) in the recall process. In this study, we use a qualitative methodology to capture the richness of this phenomenon. The results offer new insights into the value of IT in the recall process. We highlight diverse management strategies utilized by supply chain stakeholders during the recall process. In particular, we discuss important themes that emerged from the data analysis. We conclude with a discussion of the research and practical implications

Understanding Law Enforcement Intelligence Processes: Report to the Office of University Programs, Science and Technology Directorate

Despite clear evidence of significant changes, very little research exists that examines issues related to the intelligence practices of state, local, and tribal (SLT) law enforcement agencies. Important questions on the nature of the issues that impact SLT intelligence practices remain. While there is some uncertainty among SLT law enforcement about current terrorism threats, there is certainty that these threats evolve in a largely unpredictable pattern. As a result there is an ongoing need for consistent and effective information collection, analysis and sharing. Little information is known about perceptions of how information is being shared between agencies and whether technologies have improved or hurt information sharing, and little is known about whether agencies think they are currently prepared for a terrorist attack, and the key factors distinguishing those that think they are compared to those who do not. This study was designed to address these issues, and a better understanding of these issues could significantly enhance intelligence practices and enhance public safety.This research was supported by the Department of Homeland Science and Technology Directorate’s Office of University Programs through Award Number 2012-ST-061-CS0001, Center for the Study of Terrorism and Behavior (CSTAB) 2.13 made to START to investigate the understanding and countering of terrorism within the U.S. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security or START

Hiding in the Shadows II: Collisional Dust as Exoplanet Markers

Observations of the youngest planets ($\sim$1-10 Myr for a transitional disk) will increase the accuracy of our planet formation models. Unfortunately, observations of such planets are challenging and time-consuming to undertake even in ideal circumstances. Therefore, we propose the determination of a set of markers that can pre-select promising exoplanet-hosting candidate disks. To this end, N-body simulations were conducted to investigate the effect of an embedded Jupiter mass planet on the dynamics of the surrounding planetesimal disk and the resulting creation of second generation collisional dust. We use a new collision model that allows fragmentation and erosion of planetesimals, and dust-sized fragments are simulated in a post process step including non-gravitational forces due to stellar radiation and a gaseous protoplanetary disk. Synthetic images from our numerical simulations show a bright double ring at 850 $\mu$m for a low eccentricity planet, whereas a high eccentricity planet would produce a characteristic inner ring with asymmetries in the disk. In the presence of first generation primordial dust these markers would be difficult to detect far from the orbit of the embedded planet, but would be detectable inside a gap of planetary origin in a transitional disk.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap

Understanding the Intelligence Practices of State, Local, and Tribal Law Enforcement Agencies

In addition, the study examined the activities of three fusion centers in order to identify strategies that are successful in increasing the information flow across agencies, the major obstacles to effective intelligence-gathering and information-sharing, and identify key practices for integrating domestic intelligence into the information-sharing environment and overcoming these obstacles. The study found that although significant progress has been made since 9/11 in installing fundamental policy and procedures related to building the intelligence capacity of law enforcement, there is significant room for improvement and a need to move agencies forward to be consistent with key requirements. Also, fusion centers are further along in instituting intelligence policies and practices than are individual law enforcement agencies. This is most likely because there has been a focus on developing fusion center operations and expertise by both the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice. In addition, both samples of respondents emphasized that they have worked at building relationships with a diverse range of agencies, but they also indicated that they are not completely satisfied with these relationships. Further, there is a significant amount of information coming into and going out of these agencies. It is likely that without sufficient analysts within the organizations or poorly trained analysts, there are missed opportunities for strategic and tactical understanding of homeland security and criminal threats. Assessing the performance of analysts is difficult, but respondents emphasized the need to focus on the quality of strategic and tactical products produced

Law Enforcement’s Information Sharing Infrastructure: A National Assessment

The September 11 attacks impacted society generally, and law enforcement specifically, in dramatic ways. One of the major trends has been changing expectations regarding criminal intelligence practices among state, local, and tribal (SLT) law enforcement agencies and the need to coordinate intelligence efforts and share information at all levels of government. In fact, enhancing intelligence efforts has emerged as a critical issue for the prevention of all threats and crimes. To date, an increasing number of SLT law enforcement agencies have expanded their intelligence capacity, and there have been fundamental changes in the national, state, and local information sharing infrastructure. Moreover, critical to these expanding information sharing expectations is the institutionalization of fusion centers (FCs). Despite these dramatic changes, an expanding role, and the acknowledgement that local law enforcement intelligence is critical to the prevention and deterrence of threats and crimes, very little research exists that highlights issues related to the intelligence practices of SLT law enforcement agencies and FCs.1 This research describes what agencies are doing to build an intelligence capacity and assesses the state of information sharing among agencies. Specifically, a national survey was developed to examine the experiences of SLT agencies and FCs for building an intelligence capacity as well as to understand critical gaps in the sharing of information regarding intelligence