Planning for Planning - Coal: Issues for the Eighties

This Collaborative Paper contains the technical papers presented at IIASA's Task Force Meeting held at the Institute in November 1980 entitled "Planning for Planning -- Coal: Issues for the Eighties", This meeting was part of a research program at IIASA under the generic title "Issues for the Eighties" in which systems analysts and managers from a given industry met to exchange ideas and information, as well as to explore and develop a strategy of using systems analysis, rather than using it merely as a tool to be brought in for certain well-defined problems. The subject of the task force meeting was to explore the use of systems analysis in the planning of new capacity for deep mining in hard coal. In fact, the planning of any major project or enterprise, but especially a colliery is, in itself, an extremely complex process which, by definition, requires planning, i.e., planning must itself be planned. Hence the title of this seminar. The discussion was attended by 17 representatives from 7 countries, and 13 papers were presented or tabled at the meeting

Szczyrk Conference Papers -- Part I. Coal: Issues for the Eighties (Proceedings of Meeting: November 6-9, 1979)

This volume is the first of two Collaborative Papers which contain the technical papers presented at an IIASA Seminar under the generic title "Coal: Issues for the Eighties" which was held in Szczyrk, Poland in November 1979. The seminar was jointly organized by IIASA and the Polish institutes collaborating in this study. The papers are here reproduced for the convenience of those attending the seminar and for reference by those involved in this continuing industry study. The second volume contains those papers concerning the environmental issues, CP-80-24

Report of an IIASA Seminar on Systems Analysis in the Coal Industry Held in Szczyrk, Poland, 6-9 November 1979

This paper summarizes the proceedings of the IIASA seminar that was held in Poland in November 1979 to discuss the results of collaborative work under the generic title "Coal -- Issues for the Eighties" and to establish a general policy and plan for the future and presents the main conclusions. Three main topics were discussed during this seminar: Organization, Management and Computers; Planning for Planning; and Environmental Problems. This paper covers the first two topics in some detail. The papers themselves are available separately as an IIASA Collaborative Paper, CP-80-23. The presentations and discussion on environmental issues are being issued separately as CP-80-24. All the proceedings will be published as IIASA Collaborative Papers

Coal - Issues for the Eighties

This paper summarizes the proceedings of the inaugural meeting to establish a new international collaborative project for the coal industry -- the first IIASA Industry Study to be carried out under the generic title of "Issues for the Eighties". The purpose of this paper is to provide information for those who may be interested in the project to understand what has so far been done, and what the value may be of cooperation. It may be worth saying something about the general concept lying behind the IIASA Industry Studies. The purpose of these is to bring together representatives of the same industry from many countries, to identify the key issues which the industry faces over the next ten years, to identify the way in which systems analysis can assist in the major policy and investment decisions, and to engage in a collaborative program of information exchange and research. IIASA's role is essentially catalytic. It is our task to identify needs, and seek to create the conditions in which they can be satisfied. Its unique international -- but nongovernmental -- position in the systems analysis field, and the fact that it works in so many fields of concern to industry (Energy, Resources, Environment, Manpower and Health, Management, Technology, etc.,) makes it an ideal base for a creative exchange of information methods and ideas. Funding limitations restrict the amount of research that it can undertake but, in any case, the knowledge and research skills lie within the industry itself. The fact that the work will be collaborative is fundamental to its success, which we hope will result in better information and an improved methodology for those involved in policy decisions. Up to the present, two such industry studies have been set in motion, one in coal and another in the forestry/forest product industry. The reasons for selecting the coal industry, and the general background to the study, are set out in Appendix A which was sent out in advance to participants at the inaugural meeting held at IIASA in March 1979. A brief report of that meeting, together with recommendations for future action follow. Various supporting documents are set out in the Appendices

Review and synthesis of problems and directions for large scale geographic information system development

Problems and directions for large scale geographic information system development were reviewed and the general problems associated with automated geographic information systems and spatial data handling were addressed

Assessing the sociology of sport: On sports mega-events and capitalist modernity

On the 50th anniversary of the ISSA and IRSS, one of the leading international scholars on sport and consumer culture, John Horne, considers the trajectory and challenges of research on sports mega-events and their place in capitalist modernity. In anchoring work on this topic in Roche’s definition of mega-events, Horne notes that sports mega-events are important symbolic, economic, and political elements in the orientation of nations to stake their place in global society. Fundamental issues about the concept of ‘mega-event’ pose challenges for scholars as questions remain over what qualifies as a sports mega-event and how ‘lived experience’ with such events transacts with media spectacularization and characterization. The essay closes by posing broader questions for further investigation about the economic, political, and social risks and benefits of sports mega-events and how these events may portend and relate to changing relations of economic and political power on a global scale

Co-ordinated rabbit control using 1080

In the coming season it is proposed to poison with 1080 most of the rabbit-infested areas south of the East-West railway and comprising chiefly the South-West and Great Southern areas. The Agriculture Protection Board will be employing 14 Rabbit Control Units each consisting of two men, a Land Rover and caravan. These will be grouped in two main batches of six each, with the other two kept in reserve to do small isolated areas as required

Mathematical modelling of tissue-engineering angiogenesis

We present a mathematical model for the vascularisation of a porous scaffold following implantation in vivo. The model is given as a set of coupled non-linear ordinary differential equations (ODEs) which describe the evolution in time of the amounts of the different tissue constituents inside the scaffold. Bifurcation analyses reveal how the extent of scaffold vascularisation changes as a function of the parameter values. For example, it is shown how the loss of seeded cells arising from slow infiltration of vascular tissue can be overcome using a prevascularisation strategy consisting of seeding the scaffold with vascular cells. Using certain assumptions it is shown how the system can be simplified to one which is partially tractable and for which some analysis is given. Limited comparison is also given of the model solutions with experimental data from the chick chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) assay

Infiltration and short-term movement of nitrogen in a silt-loam soil typical of rice cultivation in Arkansas

Rice production in Arkansas is one of the top three crop commodities in terms of cash receipts. Researchers and farmers report that nitrogen (N) needs to be managed according to a variety of factors with two important ones being soil and fertilizer type. The objectives of this experiment were to determine: 1) the degree to which floodwater-incorporated N applied as urea or as ammonium sulfate infiltrates intact cores (7.2-cm dia., 10-cm depth) containing DeWitt siltloam soil, and 2) the distribution of N during 12 h of ponding. Inorganic-N concentrations were analyzed at 2-cm depth intervals in cores following removal of the flood. Nitrogen from applied fertilizer was recovered as ammonium. Ammonium sulfate-N remained in the top 4 cm of soil with concentrations of 375 µg N g-1 in the surface 2 cm and 300 µg N g-1 at the 2 - 4 cm depth after 12 hr of ponding. At all depth intervals below 4 cm, ammonium sulfate-N remained below 30 µg N g-1. In contrast, after 12 h of ponding, N in soil receiving urea was 105 µg N g-1 in the top 2 cm and 173 µg N g-1 at 2-4 cm. At 4-6, 6-8, and 8-10 cm, N was 109, 108, and 35 µg N g-1, respectively, after 12 h of ponding. These results demonstrate immediate and deeper movement of ammonium into silt loam soil receiving urea as compared to ammonium sulfate, demonstrating how the form of N in fertilizer affects its movement into the soil profile

Perceptions of governance and social capital in Ghana’s cocoa industry

Governance and social capital are significant components in the management and operation of agricultural value chains. We explore these related concepts by examining the regulator (COCOBOD) farmer dyad within the (Ghanaian) cocoa value chain, using unique survey and interview data from 300 Ghanaian cocoa farmers. Utilising this data, we construct multi-scalar and multi-dimensional measures of both governance and social capital, before exploring this dyad using multivariate analysis. Alongside our interview data, our results confirm a positive relationship existing between perceptions of good governance and social capital, although governance perceptions differ across the different cocoa growing regions. Our results point towards industry bodies as conduits for facilitating wider stakeholder participation, enhancing social capital and shared values, and fostering consensus within (agricultural) value chains and socio-economic development