A National Dialogue on Health Information Technology and Privacy

Increasingly, government leaders recognize that solving the complex problems facing America today will require more than simply keeping citizens informed. Meeting challenges like rising health care costs, climate change and energy independence requires increased level of collaboration. Traditionally, government agencies have operated in silos -- separated not only from citizens, but from each other, as well. Nevertheless, some have begun to reach across and outside of government to access the collective brainpower of organizations, stakeholders and individuals.The National Dialogue on Health Information Technology and Privacy was one such initiative. It was conceived by leaders in government who sought to demonstrate that it is not only possible, but beneficial and economical, to engage openly and broadly on an issue that is both national in scope and deeply relevant to the everyday lives of citizens. The results of this first-of-its-kind online event are captured in this report, together with important lessons learned along the way.This report served as a call to action. On his first full day in office, President Obama put government on notice that this new, more collaborative model can no longer be confined to the efforts of early adopters. He called upon every executive department and agency to "harness new technology" and make government "transparent, participatory, and collaborative." Government is quickly transitioning to a new generation of managers and leaders, for whom online collaboration is not a new frontier but a fact of everyday life. We owe it to them -- and the citizens we serve -- to recognize and embrace the myriad tools available to fulfill the promise of good government in the 21st Century.Key FindingsThe Panel recommended that the Administration give stakeholders the opportunity to further participate in the discussion of heath IT and privacy through broader outreach and by helping the public to understand the value of a person-centered view of healthcare information technology

Hope\u27s Village of San Luis Obispo Charging Cabinet

This paper will review the steps the students took to provide Hope\u27s Village of SLO with a new charging cabinet. Hope\u27s Village of SLO is a local non profit that provides support for the central coast homeless community. Becky Jorgensen, who leads the organization, reached out to the students expressing her want for a new cabinet that people could use to charge their phones and tablets. The students then conceptualized the design with the help of an architecture student, applied for and received funding from the Alliance Group, purchased all materials and built the cabinet. This paper will walk you through all the steps the students took to curate this project as well as the steps to build the cabinet in the event this senior project is repeated

Fiscal Magic: Outsourcing and the Taxing Power

Some state and local governments in the United States are increasingly outsourcing services through third-party surrogates. In some instances, outsourcing is used as a mechanism to raise revenue to cover current deficits or pay for goods that would otherwise require increasing taxes. We argue that certain forms of outsourcing have been used to mask accountability for the levying fees that are substantively indistinguishable from taxes and thus shift tax burdens. We call for additional research to examine the shifting cost burden associated outsourcing deals and the increased challenge of maintaining public fiscal accountability

SUPnP : Secure Access and Service Registration for UPnP-Enabled Internet of Things

Funding Information: This work was supported in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation under Grant CNS-1828363, and in part by the Sejong University Research Faculty Program under Grant 20212023.Peer reviewedPostprin

Soil properties affected by grazing, forage rotations, and tillage in the semi-arid dryland cropping systems central Great Plains

Master of ScienceDepartment of AgronomyJohnathon D. HolmanKraig L. RoozeboomAnnual forages in dryland cropping systems in the semi-arid central Great Plains could improve soil health and provide forage for livestock. A study was initiated in 2016 near Jetmore, KS to investigate tillage effects on grazed continuous winter triticale [×Triticosecale Wittm. ex A. Camus (Secale ×Triticum)]. The two treatments included minimal tillage (MT) and no-till (NT). A second story was conducted from 2012 to 2022 at the Southwest Research Extension Center near Garden City, KS. The crops in the rotations included winter triticale (T), forage sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] (FS) and oats (Avena sativa L.) (O). Six treatments in an incomplete factorial combination of four crop rotation and two tillage treatments include FS-FS (NT), T/FS–FS–O (NT), T/FS–FS–O (RT), T/FS–FS–FS–O (NT), T/FS–FS–FS–O (RT), T-FS-O (NT). At Jetmore, Bulk density was greater pre-till (1.31g cm-3) compared to the post-till (1.23 g cm-3) and was lower under MT (1.24 g cm-3) compared to NT (1.29 g cm-3). Minimal tillage decreased water stable aggregate mean weight diameter, increased wind erodibility, and decreased dry aggregate stable MWD. Penetration resistance was unaffected by tillage systems. No-till had greater sorptivity in 2022 compared to MT. Time to runoff was greater in 2022 compared to 2021. Infiltration rate was unaffected by tillage. Soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks on a fixed depth basis was greater in pre-till than post-till in two of three years, greater in the 5- to 15-cm depth compared to 0- to 5-cm depth, and greater in NT than MT in 2022. Soil equivalent mass SOC stocks were greater in the pre-till compared to post-till and greater in the 5- to 15-cm soil depth than the 0- to 5-cm soil depth. Soil organic carbon concentration was greater in NT than MT in 2022 and greater in the 0- to 5-cm than the 5- to 15-cm depth. Nitrate-N concentration was greater in the MT and was in greater concentration in the 0- to 5-cm depth compared to the 5- to 15-cm depth. Soil phosphorus concentrations in the soil surface were greater pre-till than post-till (884 ppm vs. 554 ppm). Soil pH was slightly lower in NT compared to MT. Early forage biomass was greater in MT compared to NT, but consistent grazing leveled out forage production. Crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber digestibility (NDFD), and total digestible nutrients (TDN) were greater in the spring compared to summer. However, acid detergent fiber (ADF), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), and undigested neutral detergent fiber (UNDF) were greater in the summer compared to spring. Minimal tillage increased CP, NDF, and UNDF but decreased NDFD in 2022. Minimal tillage significantly reduced weed density compared to NT. Our findings suggest that MT had minimal effects on soil physical and chemical properties, significantly decreased weed population, and increased early season forage biomass. At Garden City, results showed treatments was not different for soil parameters except total nitrogen (TN), soil nitrate (NO3-) concentrations and soil potassium (K). Soil nitrate-N concentration was greatest in T/S-S-S-O (NT) and the lower nitrate concentrations in T/FS-FS-O (NT), T/FS-FS-O (RT), and T/FS-FS-FS-O (RT). Potassium concentration differed among forage rotations; T/S-S-S-O in NT had the highest level and FS-FS had the lowest level. Tillage had no significant differences in soil parameters except NO3-, K and WSA MWD. No tillage had more soil nitrates and K concentration than RT. However, RT had a higher WSA MWD compared to NT. Sorptivity, infiltration rate, and TTR was not significantly different among treatment. Sorptivity was greater in NT in 2021 but was greater in RT in 2022. Similarly, infiltration rate in 2021 infiltration rate was greater in NT but was greater in RT in 2022. Time to runoff was faster in NT in 2021 but was faster in RT in 2022. Time to run-off saw that 2021 was faster in run-off time compared to 2022. Our findings suggest that forage rotations can be used without negative impacts on soil physical and chemical properties and tillage had limited impacts on soil parameters

Mutual Accountability Is the Key to Equity-Oriented Systems Change: How Initiatives Can Create Durable Shifts in Policies and Practices

The COVID-19 pandemic and protests arising from police killings of Black Americans have drawn national attention to long-existent and worsening racialized gaps in health, wealth, and well-being that decades of investment and problem solving have been unable to close. Responding to amplified calls from communities and advocates for meaningful change, some philanthropic organizations are reexamining what and how they fund. We present findings from one such effort by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) in partnership with the Urban Institute to assess the funder's health-promoting portfolio of investments in community development organizations and activities.This brief presents a framework for grantmakers seeking to understand why some past efforts have fallen short and how future investments might produce more equity-oriented, power-shifting systems change. Urban analyzed a portion of RWJF's portfolio consisting of 15 health-promoting programs and investments launched between 2013 and 2019 that aimed to integrate public health, health care, and community development to improve community health, well-being, and equity. As part of the assessment, we developed a guiding framework that proved critical to our inquiry. We were able to road-test the model as we synthesized insights from dozens of interviews with grantees and partners, community development intermediaries, and philanthropic leaders and staff. The mutual accountability framework allowed us to disentangle intended goals, necessary commitments, and actual results to think about the ways these three elements may—or may not be—aligned