Paper Session II-B - The Emergence of Inland Spaceports

The unfulfilled demand for economical access to space has slowed the progress of many potential commercial projects stemming from NASA research. The commercialization of space is the next major business development on the horizon when the cost to launch can be reduced. This search will ultimately produce reusable launch vehicles. Coinciding with that development will be the demand for additional launch locations. This will lead many companies, such as telecommunications companies, aerospace developers and the newcomers to the travel industry, space tourism companies, to seek launch alternatives for development, testing and launches. At the state level, many lawmakers and economic development specialists have kept a vigilant watch on this current situation and have begun making strides toward establishing new facilities that are owned and operated by state governments. Unlike existing federal launch facilities, many of these facilities are being developed in inland states, such as Oklahoma. These inland spaceports offer the space industry an economically-feasible alternative to the federal launch facilities. This paper will examine the emergence of inland spaceports throughout the US, particularly the progress being made in Oklahoma. Various subtopics the paper will address include legislative needs, funding requirements, barriers and benefits to private industry. Further, readers will find information regarding the effects an inland spaceport may have on a community that is not yet accustomed to the idea

Managing Marketing Teams

With the emergence of global information and technology, firms have reformulated marketing and technological teaming in a concert effort to accommodate transnational marketing relationships that enable firms to compete in a global business society.  Given the competitiveness of organizational distinction and implication, firms have proactively created an internal synergy that enable marketing teams to better excel in an environment of obscurity and uncertainly.  Marketing management has evolved into phenomena that require constant reassessment of vision, mission, and strategy in an unrelenting effort to maintain organizational survival and competitiveness in a global recessive business economy.  Information technology has greatly inspired this renewed sense of competition; moreover, organizations that embrace the challenge of integrating technology within marketing teams will only become the change agents the business world community will aspire to duplicate for great strategic advantage

The Impact Of Leadership And Followership: An Organizational Phenomena

Although traditional research has viewed leadership and followership as separate functions, recent studies have acknowledged the importance of followership in both the effectiveness and development of leaders. Followership models have emerged suggesting that leaders cannot be effective without having experience as a follower and that leaders and followers share characteristics that when successfully used in concert, can result in the achievement of organizational goals. Several stereotypes of what it means to be a follower inhibit both the development of followers and the willingness of aspiring leaders to assume followership roles. More research on the importance of followership to the health of an organization is necessary to encourage follower development

High Resolution Rapid Response observations of compact radio sources with the Ceduna Hobart Interferometer (CHI)

Context. Frequent, simultaneous observations across the electromagnetic spectrum are essential to the study of a range of astrophysical phenomena including Active Galactic Nuclei. A key tool of such studies is the ability to observe an object when it flares i.e. exhibits a rapid and significant increase in its flux density. Aims. We describe the specific observational procedures and the calibration techniques that have been developed and tested to create a single baseline radio interferometer that can rapidly observe a flaring object. This is the only facility that is dedicated to rapid high resolution radio observations of an object south of -30 degrees declination. An immediate application is to provide rapid contemporaneous radio coverage of AGN flaring at {\gamma}-ray frequencies detected by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. Methods. A single baseline interferometer was formed with radio telescopes in Hobart, Tasmania and Ceduna, South Australia. A software correlator was set up at the University of Tasmania to correlate these data. Results. Measurements of the flux densities of flaring objects can be made using our observing strategy within half an hour of a triggering event. These observations can be calibrated with amplitude errors better than 15%. Lower limits to the brightness temperatures of the sources can also be calculated using CHI.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in A&

Lessons From Improv Theater: Applying Improvisational Concepts and Techniques to LIS

This article explores improv theater concepts and techniques that are relevant to LIS and can be integrated into student training and librarian workshops. Some LIS literature applies these practices directly to library contexts. Substantial research exists in applying improvisation to three general areas: 1) collaboration and teamwork, 2) interacting with patrons and customers, and 3) teaching and instruction. Further research is needed in applying improvisational concepts to two LIS-specific areas: reference and information literacy.Ye

Altered visual perception near the hands: a critical review of attentional and neurophysiological models

Visual perception changes as a function of hand proximity. While various theoretical accounts have been offered for this alteration (attentional prioritisation, bimodal cell involvement, detailed evaluation, and magnocellular neuron input enhancement), the current literature lacks consensus on these mechanisms. The purpose of this review, therefore, is to critically review the existing body of literature in light of these distinct theoretical accounts. We find that a growing number of results support the magnocellular (M-cell) enhancement account, and are difficult to reconcile with general attention-based explanations. Despite this key theoretical development in the field, there has been some ambiguity with interpretations offered in recent papers, for example, equating the existing attentional and M-cell based explanations, when in fact they make contrasting predictions. We therefore highlight the differential predictions arising from the distinct theoretical accounts. Importantly, however, we also offer novel perspectives that synthesises the role of attention and neurophysiological mechanisms in understanding altered visual perception near the hands. We envisage that this theoretical development will ensure that the field can progress from documenting behavioural differences, to a consensus on the underlying visual and neurophysiological mechanisms.This research was supported by an Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Early Career Research Award (DE140101734) awarded to S.C.G., ARC Discovery Project (DP110104553) awarded to M.E, a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grants awarded S.F. and J.P