Comparing legislative mechanisms for SEA screening and decision-making: Austrian and Australian experiences

Austrian and Australian approaches to strategic environmental assessment (SEA) are compared with particular emphasis upon the legal basis for the initial phase of agreement/screening and the final stage of SEA decision-making and implementation. In Austrian SEA, screening is compulsory and the outcome leads only to recommendations, meaning that the SEA results have to be considered, but are not binding for the approval decision. In Australia engagement in SEA is largely voluntary but the process results in legally binding conditions of approval that can be applied to relevant actions arising from an assessed policy, plan or programme; the incentive for proponents to participate voluntarily is that subsequent project level activities may be exempt from further assessment processes. Compulsory SEA in Australia also provides a legally certain outcome, a factor of benefit to proponents. Examples of SEAs are provided to demonstrate the operation of the respective stages in the two countries. In Austria compulsory screening results in a lot of energy being spent avoiding triggering a full SEA. Although Australian proponents have been somewhat cautious in volunteering for SEA of their activities, there are signs that this is changing. We argue that the regulatory framework characteristics are a key determinant of the behaviour of proponents and the competent authority in practice and subsequently of SEA potential and outcomes. Consideration of the construct of the regulatory framework for SEA screening and decision-making provides a useful point of reflection for practitioners attempting to understand the effectiveness of SEA processes in a given jurisdiction

Simulation models for autonomous rendezvous and capture

Autonomous rendezvous and capture (AR&C) is a critical space technology with significant application to a variety of missions. Martin Marietta Astronautics Group (MMAG) has been developing AR&C technical capability in support of several recent NASA contracts. The use of AR&C for the Mars Rover/Sample Return (MRSR) mission was studied through a contract with JSC. Incorporation of AR&C in the Space Transportation Vehicle (STV) lunar mission was studied through a contract with MSFC. The MMAG has also been developing AR&C simulation capability under independent research and development studies. Simulation development was driven by two goals: comprehensive software simulation of the autonomous rendezvous and capture mission from launch to final capture; and integration of the overall software and hardware simulation to support an AR&C flight demonstration. This presentation will highlight the AR&C software simulation tools and analyze results from their application to the STV lunar mission. Plans for an integrated software and hardware simulation will also be summarized

Evolving in Collaboration: Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Workflows in North Carolina

Thirty-seven colleges and universities in North Carolina offer advanced degrees, and most require a thesis or dissertation. The websites of thirteen (35%) indicate they accept or require electronic submission of dissertations and/or theses (ETD). How do these institutions handle the interdepartmental communication and collaboration needs of ETD programs? To begin answering this question, this study examines current practices among ETD administrators in North Carolina and in current national literature, paying special attention to communication, collaboration, workflows, and divisions of labor. The literature review surveys current (since 2003) library and higher education articles on topics related to collaboration, workflows, and divisions of labor in ETD programs. Then the authors use a brief web survey (sixteen questions) that was emailed to twenty-three individuals identified on institutional websites as being involved in the ETD program. Fifty percent of recipients completed the survey, and the results tend to support common themes found in the literature: ETD depositories require a great variety of skill sets and thus will involve multiple departments; libraries and graduate schools are primary players, but not exclusively, in ETD workflows; and communication and collaboration between departments are important from start to finish

Properties of HxTaS2

The preparation of Hx TaS2 (0 \u3c x \u3c 0.87) is described. The compounds are only marginally stable at room temperature, slowly evolving H2S and H2 (and possibly Hp in air). Magnetic susceptibility data show that a low temperature transformation in 2H ... TaS2 (at so•K) is suppressed with the addition of hydrogen, and· at the same time the superconducting transition temperature T c rises from 0.8 to ~4.2•K at x = 0.11. Heat capacity measurements near this concentration show the superconductivity to be a bulk effect. Finally, by correlation of this data with susceptibility and T c measurements in other intercalation compounds, we suggest that the rise of T c (at low electron transfer) is due to suppression of the low temperature transformation and not due to an excitonic mechanism of superconductivity

Towards magnetic slowing of atoms and molecules

We outline a method to slow paramagnetic atoms or molecules using pulsed magnetic fields. We also discuss the possibility of producing trapped particles by adiabatic deceleration of a magnetic trap. We present numerical simulation results for the slowing and trapping of molecular oxygen

Constrained Willmore Surfaces

Constrained Willmore surfaces are conformal immersions of Riemann surfaces that are critical points of the Willmore energy $W=\int H^2$ under compactly supported infinitesimal conformal variations. Examples include all constant mean curvature surfaces in space forms. In this paper we investigate more generally the critical points of arbitrary geometric functionals on the space of immersions under the constraint that the admissible variations infinitesimally preserve the conformal structure. Besides constrained Willmore surfaces we discuss in some detail examples of constrained minimal and volume critical surfaces, the critical points of the area and enclosed volume functional under the conformal constraint.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figures; v2: Hopf tori added as an example, minor changes in presentation, numbering changed; v3: new abstract and appendix, several changes in presentatio

Autopsy Standardized Mortality Review: A Pilot Study Offering a Methodology for Improved Patient Outcomes

A standardized mortality review of hospital autopsies identified discrepancies between clinical diagnoses and autopsy findings, unexpected deaths, adequacy of diagnostic workup, presence of adverse event, and type of a quality issue if present. The standardized review elements were chosen based on a review of quality metrics commonly used by hospitals. The review was completed by the pathologist based on their initial autopsy findings. The final autopsy report was later reviewed to confirm the initial review findings. Major discrepancies in diagnosis were categorized as class I or II based on the modified Goldman criteria. Ninety-six hospital autopsy cases from January 2015 to February 2018 were included in the study. The overall major discrepancy rate was 27%. Class I discrepancies, where a diagnosis found at autopsy might have improved survival had it been made premortem, were identified in 16% of cases. Categories associated with increased discrepancy rates included unexpected deaths, inadequate workup, abnormal labs or imaging not addressed, and certain quality issues. Deaths not expected at admission but expected at the time of death, those with adverse events, those within 48 hours of a procedure, those within 48 hours of admission, those with physician-specific quality issues, and those with system or process issues were not significantly related to diagnostic accuracy

The quality of different types of child care at 10 and 18 months. A comparison between types and factors related to quality.

The quality of care offered in four different types of non-parental child care to 307 infants at 10 months old and 331 infants at 18 months old was compared and factors associated with higher quality were identified. Observed quality was lowest in nurseries at each age point, except that at 18 months they offered more learning activities. There were few differences in the observed quality of care by child-minders, grandparents and nannies, although grandparents had somewhat lower safety and health scores and offered children fewer activities. Cost was largely unrelated to quality of care except in child-minding, where higher cost was associated with higher quality. Observed ratios of children to adults had a significant impact on quality of nursery care; the more infants or toddlers each adult had to care for, the lower the quality of the care she gave them. Mothers' overall satisfaction with their child's care was positively associated with its quality for home-based care but not for nursery settings