Overview of space station

An overview of the Space Station program for workshop participants is given. Covered here are overall program guidelines, international involvement, the present baseline configuration, and development plans for the coming year

Promoting adaptive flood risk management: the role and potential of flood recovery mechanisms

There is a high potential for recovery mechanisms to be used to incentivise the uptake of flood mitigation and loss reduction measures, undertake adaptation and promote community resilience. Indeed, creating a resilient response to flooding requires flood risk management approaches to be aligned and it needs to be ensured that recovery mechanisms to not provide disincentives for individuals and business to take proactive action to reduce risk. However, the degree to which it is desirable and effective for insurers and governments providing compensation to promote resilience and risk reduction depends upon how the cover or compensation is organised and the premiums which are charged. A review of international flood recovery mechanisms has been undertaken to identify firstly the types of schemes that exist and their characteristics. Analysis of existing instruments highlights that there are various potential approaches to encourage or require the uptake of flood mitigation and also discourage the construction of new development in high flood risk. However despite the presence of these instruments, those organising recovery mechanisms could be doing much more to incentivise increased resilience

The evolution of UK flood insurance: incremental change over six decades

In this paper, the authors' theorizing shifts away from the catalytic role of the flood itself – or other crises – towards a deeper understanding of the relationship between change and stability, taking the example of UK flood insurance and the agreements – and the implicit policy approaches – between the actors involved: private insurers and the government. The study relies upon in-depth analysis of policy agreements governing flood insurance since the 1960s, and semi-structured interviews with six current or former flood insurance professionals. The important agents of change have been, firstly, threats to existing household insurers from new entrants unencumbered by agreements to insure all comers. Secondly, technological changes have made exposure more explicit and pricing risk both easier and less expensive. The slow pace of change and the relatively stable role of the different actors and coalitions is now clearer. Many windows of opportunity created by major flooding or financial crises have not significantly affected the pace or direction of policy change. The overriding importance of the London location for – and the profitability of – the insurance industry, both to government and to the insurers, explains the extraordinary policy stability described here. This history suggests that the UK may not be a good model for imitation elsewhere

Role of the Hospital in the 21st Century Opioid Overdose Epidemic: The Addiction Medicine Consult Service

Objective: The aim of the study was to explore and describe the structure and design elements of addiction medicine consult (AMC) services within selected US hospitals. Methods: As part of a larger mixed methods study, 10 qualitative semi-structured telephone interviews were completed with board-certified addiction medicine physicians affiliated with the Addiction Medicine Foundation\u27s Addiction Medicine Fellowship Programs at 9 US hospitals. Interviews were transcribed, coded, and analyzed using a directed content analysis. Results: Interviews completed with established AMC services in 9 hospitals probed AMC structure and design commonalities and differences across 4 domains: (1) availability and coverage, (2) team composition, (3) scope and responsibility, and (4) financing. Only 1 service provided weekend consults and most services did not provide coverage in the emergency department. Interprofessional teams were common with a variety of discipline combinations. AMC service scope and responsibility, generally, included 3 types of activities: (1) education and culture change, (2) the delivery of psychosocial and medical services, and (3) hospital guidance document development. Finally, most AMC services existed within a fragile financial environment with idiosyncratic arrangements. Conclusions: As opioid use disorder (OUD)-related hospitalizations increase stakeholders look to innovative care delivery mechanisms to improve care and outcomes for persons with OUD. The implementation of an AMC service may be an organizational intervention for achieving these aims. Understanding the shared and different approaches to AMC service structure and design is an important first step for delivery systems interested in implementing or expanding these services

High-Lundquist Number Scaling in Three-Dimensional Simulations of Parker's Model of Coronal Heating

Parker's model is one of the most discussed mechanisms for coronal heating and has generated much debate. We have recently obtained new scaling results in a two-dimensional (2D) version of this problem suggesting that the heating rate becomes independent of resistivity in a statistical steady state [Ng and Bhattacharjee, Astrophys. J., 675, 899 (2008)]. Our numerical work has now been extended to 3D by means of large-scale numerical simulations. Random photospheric footpoint motion is applied for a time much longer than the correlation time of the motion to obtain converged average coronal heating rates. Simulations are done for different values of the Lundquist number to determine scaling. In the high-Lundquist number limit, the coronal heating rate obtained so far is consistent with a trend that is independent of the Lundquist number, as predicted by previous analysis as well as 2D simulations. In the same limit the average magnetic energy built up by the random footpoint motion tends to have a much weaker dependence on the Lundquist number than that in the 2D simulations, due to the formation of strong current layers and subsequent disruption when the equilibrium becomes unstable. We will present scaling analysis showing that when the dissipation time is comparable or larger than the correlation time of the random footpoint motion, the heating rate tends to become independent of Lundquist number, and that the magnetic energy production is also reduced significantly.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journa

Benchmarking Fast-to-Alfven Mode Conversion in a Cold MHD Plasma

Alfv\'en waves may be generated via mode conversion from fast magneto-acoustic waves near their reflection level in the solar atmosphere, with implications both for coronal oscillations and for active region helio-seismology. In active regions this reflection typically occurs high enough that the Alfv\'en speed $a$ greatly exceeds the sound speed $c$, well above the $a=c$ level where the fast and slow modes interact. In order to focus on the fundamental characteristics of fast/Alfv\'en conversion, stripped of unnecessary detail, it is therefore useful to freeze out the slow mode by adopting the gravitationally stratified cold MHD model $c\to0$. This provides a benchmark for fast-to-Alfv\'en mode conversion in more complex atmospheres. Assuming a uniform inclined magnetic field and an exponential Alfv\'en speed profile with density scale height $h$, the Alfv\'en conversion coefficient depends on three variables only; the dimensionless transverse-to-the-stratification wavenumber $\kappa=kh$, the magnetic field inclination from the stratification direction $\theta$, and the polarization angle $\phi$ of the wavevector relative to the plane containing the stratification and magnetic field directions. We present an extensive exploration of mode conversion in this parameter space and conclude that near-total conversion to outward-propagating Alfv\'en waves typically occurs for small $\theta$ and large $\phi$ ($80^\circ$--$90^\circ$), though it is absent entirely when $\theta$ is exactly zero (vertical field). For wavenumbers of helioseismic interest, the conversion region is broad enough to encompass the whole chromosphere.Comment: 14 pages plus supplementary tables. Astrophys J (accepted 25 May 2011). Two ancillary animations (animated gif) attache

Translating the complexities of flood risk science using KEEPER - a knowledge exchange exploratory tool for professionals in emergency response

Within flood risk management (FRM) decision making, there is a growing interest in participatory approaches to engage and integrate stakeholder expertise. Decision support tools are becoming common features in the FRM ‘toolkit’, yet there is a limited application of participatory methodologies in the construction of such tools. This paper reports on completed FRMRC research (Flood Risk Management Research Consortium, UK http://www.floodrisk.org.uk/) and the construction of a geographic information system-based flood risk assessment tool, KEEPER – a Knowledge Exchange Exploratory tool for Professionals in Emergency Response. An iterative methodology was used to engage emergency professionals throughout the research process, allowing a mixing of scientific and professional expertise in the co-production of KEEPER. KEEPER was both instrumental in facilitating participation and knowledge exchange, and informing recommendations for future tools in practice. This paper argues that participation is both essential for supporting pragmatic flood research and as a means of enhancing communication across traditionally divided communities