Christoph Schuck (Ed.), Security in a Changing Global Environment: Challenging the Human Security Approach, Baden-Baden: Nomos Verslaggesselschraft. 2011.

Book review

March Storm 2017

The commercial space industry is emerging out of the technological advances made in the last half century. Much like the aerospace industry, policy and law are needed to regulate what can and cannot be done in space. This has been known since the launch of the first man-made object put into orbit. Laws and regulations pertaining to the use of space have been drafted and will continue to be necessary. This project examines legislative advocacy tactics and advocate training procedures during a weeklong legislative blitz on Capitol Hill. Through applied research in the planning, execution, and results of citizen advocacy, the impact of a legislative campaign will be examined. The “Citizens’ Space Agenda” consists of pro-space legislative proposals supported by national non-profit space groups. The leaders of the March Storm blitz schedule meetings with congressional offices, committees, and executive offices. With no lobbying experience necessary, volunteers are trained on the agenda and advocacy techniques to employ during congressional meetings. Throughout the week, advocates are tasked with compiling after-action reports for each congressional meeting detailing the agenda items discussed and the offices’ reactions. Upon the resolution of the blitz, organizers will follow up with congressional staff to monitor the results of the specific asks made. The entire process will be analyzed and a critique offered. This research, which will be included in the overall group presentation by the students who are going to March Storm, involves the efforts of the branches of the Federal Government in producing space legislation that will then be placed into the United States Code and the Code of Federal Regulations. Research will include how the statutes affect the policy of the United States for operating in space and the direction it gives to its federal agencies to do so

Regional Mapping and Spectral Analysis of Mounds in Acidalia Planitia, Mars

Acidalia Planitia is a approx.3000 km diameter planum located in the northern plains of Mars. It is believed to be a sedimentary basin containing an accumulation of sediments brought by Hesperian outflow channels that drained the Highlands. A large number of high-albedo mounds have been identified across this basin [1-2] and understanding the process that formed them should help us understand the history of this region. Farrand et al. [2] showed that the mounds are dark in THEMIS (Thermal Emission Imaging System) nighttime IR (infrared) image data. This implies that the mounds have a lower thermal inertia than the surrounding plains (Fig. 1), suggesting that the material of the mounds is fine-grained or unconsolidated. Farrand et al. [2] also reviewed potential analogs for the mounds and concluded that a combination of mud volcanoes with evaporites around geysers or springs is most consistent with all the data. We have built on this work by creating regional maps of the features and analyzing CRISM (Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars) data to see if there are mineralogical differences between the mounds and surrounding plains

Decomposing the impacts of overeducation and overskilling on earnings and job satisfaction: an analysis using REFLEX data.

This article assesses the extent to which the impact of overeducation and overskilling on labour market outcomes such as earnings and job satisfaction relate to mismatches in particular competency areas. The analysis uses REFLEX data, which collects information about 19 key competence areas related to job performance. We find that the penalties to both forms of mismatch are insensitive to the inclusion of controls for overskilling in a wide range of jobspecific competencies. The research suggests that the problem of mismatch relates to an inability to fully utilise general or innate ability as opposed to specific areas of acquired learning. We conclude that the problem of mismatch can only be effectively addressed by raising general levels of job quality within developed labour markets

UK end-of-life care services in dementia, initiatives and sustainability: results of a national online survey

BACKGROUND: People living and dying with non-cancer diagnoses, including dementia, have poorer access to generalist and specialist palliative care than people with cancer, and experience worse outcomes in terms of pain and symptom control, and quality and experience of care. In the UK, the National Council for Palliative Care (NCPC) ran a national survey of services for end-of-life care for people with dementia (2008) in which 16 services were identified, and reported on case studies and examples of good practice. We updated the NCPC survey to review progress in previously identified services, identify factors that lead to sustainable services and identify new initiatives in this area of care. METHODS: An online survey was developed and piloted before use. Initiatives were contacted via targeted (N=63) and open call invitations. The survey was made up of 5 sections. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: 15 services responded. They engaged in a wide range of activities predominately providing direct care (80%) and workforce development/advisory or educational activities (87%). Results suggest that sustainability of services is reliant on clinicians with a leadership role and wider system support through funding mechanisms and a minimum level of integration within normal service provision. CONCLUSIONS: Recent initiatives are largely built on the expertise of the nursing profession (with or without input from medical consultants), and driven mainly by the charity and hospice sector. This has generated a potential new model of care provision in end of life dementia care, 'Hospice-enabled Dementia Care'