Paper Session II-C - Florida Commercial Space Initiatives and Technology Transfer Mechanisms

This paper discusses commercial space policy for the State of Florida in the context of state initiatives for general technology and economic development. The paper also compares Florida\u27s commercial space initiatives to national space policies and describes mechanisms for transferring space related technologies and research to Florida businesses for subsequent development and commercialization

Local Governments in the United States: An Overview of Cities and Counties

America’s local governments, while still evolving over time, trace their roots back to the English shire from centuries ago. The shire had a dual function, serving as the administrative arm of the national government as well as the citizen’s local government. The structural form of the shire was adopted along the eastern seaboard of North America by the original colonists, who adapted it to suit the diverse economic and geographic needs of each of the original colonies. When the United States national government was formed, the framers of the Constitution did not provide for local governments. Rather, they left this matter to the states. Subsequently, early state constitutions generally embraced local governments as arms of the state. Currently, the term county is used in 48 of the 50 states of the United States to describe that tier of government below the state. Louisiana has government entities similar to counties, but they are called parishes. Alaska is divided into boroughs, which typically provide fewer services than most counties, since the state provides most services directly to citizens. Units of government below the county level are often referred to generically as cities, but they are known by a host of different names that vary greatly from state to state. Common terms include towns, townships, boroughs, villages, and municipalities

Legume Re-Establishment in Pastures after the Application of Residual Herbicides

Integrated management of pastures and hayfields sometimes require the application of broadleaf herbicides to manage weeds. Weed infestations are usually caused by a variety of factors including but not limited to drought, poor grazing management, and feeding weed infested hay in pastures. Weeds can adversely affect livestock access to forage as well as reduce forage quantity and quality. Producers are often hesitant to apply herbicides to manage weeds because of the effect the herbicides will have on forage legumes present in the pasture

The need for improved management of the subsurface

The subsurface is used intensively to support economic stability and growth. Human interaction with the shallow subsurface ranges from exploitation of resources, accommodation of utilities, harnessing of energy (ground source heat pumps) and storage of waste. Current practice of managing these shallow subsurface zones is far from ideal. Many subsurface interventions are preceded by feasibility studies, predictive models or investigative measures to mitigate risks or predict the impacts of the work. However, the complex interactions between the anthropogenic structures and natural processes mean that a holistic impact assessment is often not achievable. By integrating these subsurface infrastructures within three dimensional framework models, a comprehensive assessment of the potential hazards in these shallow subsurface environments may be made. Some Geological Survey Organizations (GSOs) are currently developing subsurface management systems that will aid decision making in the shallow subsurface [1]. The British Geological Survey (BGS) is developing an open Environmental Modeling Platform [2] to provide the data standards and applications to link models, numerical simulations and ultimately socio-economic models so as to generate predictive responses to questions concerning sustainable us of the subsurface

Filtration by oysters : interactive effects of water flow, seston composition and filtration rate

Filtration by suspension-feeding bivalves affects water quality and the postulated impacts include increased light penetration and enhanced benthic primary production. Such system-level predictions are extrapolated fiom still water experiments which neglect the effects of flow, seston composition, turbulent mixing and refiltration by oysters within groups. Flume experiments were used to investigate the effects of varying flow speed and seston composition on filtration capacity of oysters. Six groups of 90 oysters were used in treatments which varied concentrations of the algae Ekalassiosira weisj70grgrsie parately and in combination with inorganics; four sets of shell only controls were used to evaluate hydrodynamic effects. The results indicate the importance of morphological differences in bed structure on turbulence and particle redistribution which may obscure biological effects and of the importance of the physiological condition of oysters on filtration capacity. Field transplants of eelgrass, Zostera marina, and American oysters, Crassostrea virgmica, were used to evaluate interactions between oyster filtration, water quality and plant survival in the field. Abnormally poor water quality forced the early termination of these experiments, but in conjunction with the flume results they indicate a strong effect of physical forces on seston distribution against which impacts of suspension feeders must judged

Sequential Grazing Systems for Beef Cattle Production

Pasture productivity in Iowa is often limited by low productivity of cool-season grasses during summer. This uneven seasonal distribution of for age production could be improved by including species in pasture systems that perform better under higher temperatures. Warm-season grasses produce most of their growth during summer when cool-season grasses are semi -dormant. By using cool-season and warm-season pastures in a sequential system it should be possible to improve seasonal productivity. The overall objective of this project i s to evaluate the productivity of sequential grazing system s for beef cattle production in Southern Iowa. Specific objectives are to: 1) evaluate the impact of legumes on the productivity of cool-season pastures grazed in the spring and fall, 2) evaluate warm-season grasses f or summer grazing, and 3) determine the effects of pasture sequence on the productivity of season-long grazing systems

Complementary grazing systems for beef cattle production

Pasture productivity in Iowa often is limited by the low yield of cool-season grasses in the summer. This project considers whether uneven seasonal distribution in pastures could be improved by including species that perform better under higher temperatures