75 FR 65706 - Notice of Final Federal Agency Actions on Proposed Highway in Washington State

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-26

... actions taken by the FHWA and other Federal agencies that are final within the meaning of 23 U.S.C. 139(l... notice, the FHWA is advising the public of final agency actions subject to 23 U.S.C. 139(l)(1). A claim... still applies. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For FHWA: Ms. Liana Liu, Area Engineer, Federal Highway...

In and out of control: brain mechanisms linking fluency of action selection to self-agency in patients with schizophrenia.

Science.gov (United States)

Voss, Martin; Chambon, Valérian; Wenke, Dorit; Kühn, Simone; Haggard, Patrick

2017-08-01

Sense of agency refers to the feeling of control over one's actions, and their consequences. It involves both predictive processes linked to action control, and retrospective 'sense-making' causal inferences. Schizophrenia has been associated with impaired predictive processing, but the underlying mechanisms that impair patients' sense of agency remain unclear. We introduce a new 'prospective' aspect of agency and show that subliminally priming an action not only influences response times, but also influences reported sense of agency over subsequent action outcomes. This effect of priming was associated with altered connectivity between frontal areas and the angular gyrus. The effects on response times and on frontal action selection mechanisms were similar in patients with schizophrenia and in healthy volunteers. However, patients showed no effects of priming on sense of agency, no priming-related activation of angular gyrus, and no priming-related changes in fronto-parietal connectivity. We suggest angular gyrus activation reflects the experiences of agency, or non-agency, in part by processing action selection signals generated in the frontal lobes. The altered action awareness that characterizes schizophrenia may be due to impaired communication between these areas. © The Author (2017). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Guarantors of Brain. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Forging University-Community Collaboration: The Agency Perspective on National Service.

Science.gov (United States)

Tice, Carol H.

1994-01-01

With passage of the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993, national service volunteers will be joining forces with community-based organizations to work with underserved populations, creating many challenges. The community agency perspective on some anticipated challenges, possible responses, and application of principles of good…

Building Civic Bridges: Community-Centered Action Civics

Science.gov (United States)

LeCompte, Karon; Blevins, Brooke

2015-01-01

Project-based learning is an example of powerful social studies learning in which student engage in active inquiry. Action civics is a relatively new educational practice in which students "act as citizens" through a cycle of research, action, and reflection about problems they care about in their community. "Building Civic…

21 CFR 516.123 - Informal conferences regarding agency administrative actions.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... exemption, determining that a qualified expert panel does not meet the selection criteria, denying a request... 21 Food and Drugs 6 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Informal conferences regarding agency administrative actions. 516.123 Section 516.123 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH...

76 FR 41797 - Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork Reduction Act Review

Science.gov (United States)

2011-07-15

.... Proposed Project Community Assessment and Engagement Process--New--Division of Health Assessment and... implement ATSDR's programs, the agency works with communities by listening to and understanding their health concerns and seeking their guidance on where, when, and how to take public health actions. Communities in...

Information actions in science and technology: institutionalities, agencies and subjects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rodrigo Rabello

Full Text Available Considering the influence of new agency forms - intervention and interaction among subjects - in the context of information intermediation, we aim to approach information actions in Science and Technology (S&T taking into consideration the institutionalities involved. For such, we assume there is an influence of a theoretical model emerging in Information Science (IS regarding current inventive and interactive form propitiated by the Web. The text is structured in two central topics bringing: i theoretical and epistemic constructions of the "information action" concept; and ii a certain interpretation oriented by the "informational action in S&T" construct, taking as its object the actions performed by IBICT (Brazilian Institute for Information in Science and Technology, directed towards excellence in information. Finally, we discuss how limitations of the "systemic model" propitiate the construction of new study objects in the model emerging in IS from theoretical innovations and counterpoints thoughts facing the diverse forms of information action, considering, for instance, the action of subjects on what concerns the validation of information in the current scenery of institutional intermediation.

Sense of agency in continuous action: Assistance-induced performance improvement is self-attributed even with knowledge of assistance.

Science.gov (United States)

Inoue, Kazuya; Takeda, Yuji; Kimura, Motohiro

2017-02-01

In a task involving continuous action to achieve a goal, the sense of agency increases with an improvement in task performance that is induced by unnoticed computer assistance. This study investigated how explicit instruction about the existence of computer assistance affects the increase of sense of agency that accompanies performance improvement. Participants performed a continuous action task in which they controlled the direction of motion of a dot to a goal by pressing keys. When instructions indicated the absence of assistance, the sense of agency increased with performance improvement induced by computer assistance, replicating previous findings. Interestingly, this increase of sense of agency was also observed even when instructions indicated the presence of assistance. These results suggest that even when a plausible cause of performance improvement other than one's own action exists, the improvement can be misattributed to one's own control of action, resulting in an increased sense of agency. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Collective action, political identites and armed conflict: the ethnization of a black community in the norte of the Cauca

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

María Jimena López León

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This article aims to analyze the production process of nonviolent collective action in a Afro-Colombian community in response to the social, political, environmental, labor conflicts that have jeopardized their stay in the territory. The artvile presents elements of analysis of ethnographic work conducted by the author in 2012 and 2013 in the municipality of Santander de Quilichao are presented. The theoretical development of the paper takes the concept proposed by Elisabeth Wood on “social processes of the Civil War” (2010 to establish correspondences between social dynamics generated by conflict –increased since 2008 in the region– and processes of collective action and identity agency of Afro-Colombians. Some of these conflicts are territorial tensions between different social actors in the processes of legalization and expansion of ethnic territories, mining, the process of Land Consolidation; and the strengthening of interethnic organizational alliances, and organizational process of black communities in the area. Under these conditions, the narratives of “ancestral”, “being black” and “autonomy” have become guiding axes of collective action that legitimizes the territorial presence of the study community and its demand in the access to rights such as collective ownership and consultation.

19 CFR 210.78 - Notice of enforcement action to Government agencies.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Notice of enforcement action to Government agencies. 210.78 Section 210.78 Customs Duties UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION INVESTIGATIONS OF UNFAIR PRACTICES IN IMPORT TRADE ADJUDICATION AND ENFORCEMENT Enforcement Procedures and Advisory...

77 FR 70798 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Community...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-11-27

... Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and sent via electronic mail to oira... Program's (NFIP) Community Rating System (CRS) to document the activities that communities have undertaken... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY Federal Emergency Management Agency [Docket ID: FEMA-2010-0012...

Essential Biodiversity Variables: A framework for communication between the biodiversity community and space agencies

Science.gov (United States)

Leidner, A. K.; Skidmore, A. K.; Turner, W. W.; Geller, G. N.

2017-12-01

The biodiversity community is working towards developing a consensus on a set of Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) that can be used to measure and monitor biodiversity change over time. These EBVs will inform research, modeling, policy, and assessment efforts. The synoptic coverage provided by satellite data make remote sensing a particularly important observation tool to inform many EBVs. Biodiversity is a relatively new subject matter for space agencies, and thus the definition, description, and requirements of EBVs with a significant remote sensing component can foster ways for the biodiversity community to clearly and concisely communicate observational needs to space agencies and the Committee on Earth Observing Satellites (CEOS, the international coordinating body for civilian space agencies). Here, we present an overview of EBVs with a particular emphasis on those for which remote sensing will play a significant role and also report on the results of recent workshops to prioritize and refine EBVs. Our goal is to provide a framework for the biodiversity community to coalesce around a set of observational needs to convey to space agencies. Compared to many physical science disciplines, the biodiversity community represents a wide range of sub-disciplines and organizations (academia, non-governmental organizations, research institutes, national and local natural resource management agencies, etc.), which creates additional challenges when communicating needs to space agencies unfamiliar with the topic. EBVs thus offer a communication pathway that could increase awareness within space agencies of the uses of remote sensing for biodiversity research and applications, which in turn could foster greater use of remote sensing in the broader biodiversity community.

78 FR 41795 - Farm, Ranch, and Rural Communities Committee Teleconference

Science.gov (United States)

2013-07-11

... Communities Committee Teleconference AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ACTION: Notice of Public..., EPA gives notice of a teleconference meeting of the Farm, Ranch, and Rural Communities Committee (FRRCC). The FRRCC is a policy-oriented committee that provides policy advice, information, and...

Turtle Watch: Community Engagement and Action

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, Elaine; Baudains, Catherine

2015-01-01

Many threats face the freshwater turtle, Chelodina colliei, also known as the oblong turtle. A community education project, Turtle Watch, focused on this target species and enabled effective conservation action to be implemented. Turtle Watch was conducted in the Perth Metropolitan Area of Western Australia, as the oblong turtle inhabits the…

Learning through Participatory Action Research for Community Ecotourism Planning.

Science.gov (United States)

Guevara, Jose Roberto Q.

1996-01-01

Ecologically sound tourism planning and policy require an empowering community participation. The participatory action research model helps a community gain understanding of its social reality, learn how to learn, initiate dialog, and discover new possibilities for addressing its situation. (SK)

76 FR 47288 - Notice of Final Federal Agency Actions on Proposed Highway in California

Science.gov (United States)

2011-08-04

... highway project will be barred unless the claim is filed on or before January 31, 2012. If the Federal law... following highway project in the State of California: The addition of bus rapid transit stations and... actions by the Federal agencies, and the laws under which such actions were taken, are described in the...

Collaborative agency to support integrated care for children, young people and families: an action research study.

Science.gov (United States)

Stuart, Kaz

2014-04-01

Collaboration was legislated in the delivery of integrated care in the early 2000s in the UK. This research explored how the reality of practice met the rhetoric of collaboration. The paper is situated against a theoretical framework of structure, agency, identity and empowerment. Collectively and contextually these concepts inform the proposed model of 'collaborative agency' to sustain integrated care. The paper brings sociological theory on structure and agency to the dilemma of collaboration. Participative action research was carried out in collaborative teams that aspired to achieve integrated care for children, young people and families between 2009 and 2013. It was a part time, PhD study in collaborative practice. The research established that people needed to be able to be jointly aware of their context, to make joint decisions, and jointly act in order to deliver integrated services, and proposes a model of collaborative agency derived from practitioner's experiences and integrated action research and literature on agency. The model reflects the effects of a range of structures in shaping professional identity, empowerment, and agency in a dynamic. The author proposes that the collaborative agency model will support integrated care, although this is, as yet, an untested hypothesis.

500 Women Scientists: Science Advocacy Through Community Action

Science.gov (United States)

Bohon, W.; Bartel, B. A.; Pendergrass, A. G.; Ramirez, K. S.; Vijayaraghavan, R.; Weintraub, S. R.; Zelikova, T. J.

2017-12-01

500 Women Scientists is a grassroots organization formed in late 2016 to empower women to grow to their full potential in science, increase scientific literacy through public engagement, and advocate for science and equality. Our organization is global but we focus on building community relationships through local action. Our "pods," or local chapters, focus on issues that resonate in their communities, rooted in our mission and values. Pod members meet regularly, develop a support network, make strategic plans, and take action. In less than a year, 500 Women Scientists has already formed important partnerships and begun to work on local, regional and national projects. Nationally, we partnered with The Cairn Project to raise money to support girls in science. In an effort led by the DC pod, our members sent postcards sharing stories of how the EPA protects their communities in the #OurEPA postcard campaign. Pods have also participated in marches, including the Women's March, the March for Science and the People's Climate March. The "Summer of Op-Ed" campaign catalyzed pods and individuals to write to their local newspapers to speak up for funding science, climate change action, and general science advocacy. We have organized "strike-teams" that are working on local issues like education, the environment, climate change, and equal access to science. Additionally, pod members serve as mentors, participate in local events, hold workshops and partner with local organizations. As women scientists, we are in the position to take action to increase diversity in science and to draw attention to unacknowledged structural biases that negatively impact historically under-represented groups. 500 Women Scientists enables women in science to embrace this advocacy role, both within our scientific system and within our local communities.

Preparing US community greenhouse gas inventories for climate action plans

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blackhurst, Michael; Scott Matthews, H; Hendrickson, Chris T; Sharrard, Aurora L; Azevedo, Ines Lima

2011-01-01

This study illustrates how alternative and supplemental community-level greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory techniques could improve climate action planning. Eighteen US community GHG inventories are reviewed for current practice. Inventory techniques could be improved by disaggregating the sectors reported, reporting inventory uncertainty and variability, and aligning inventories with local organizations that could facilitate emissions reductions. The potential advantages and challenges of supplementing inventories with comparative benchmarks are also discussed. While GHG inventorying and climate action planning are nascent fields, these techniques can improve CAP design, help communities set more meaningful emission reduction targets, and facilitate CAP implementation and progress monitoring.

Preparing US community greenhouse gas inventories for climate action plans

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Blackhurst, Michael [Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station C1752, Austin, TX 78712-0276 (United States); Scott Matthews, H; Hendrickson, Chris T [Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, 119 Porter Hall, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 (United States); Sharrard, Aurora L [Green Building Alliance, 333 East Carson Street, Suite 331, Pittsburgh, PA 15219 (United States); Azevedo, Ines Lima, E-mail: mblackhurst@gmail.com, E-mail: hsm@cmu.edu, E-mail: auroras@gbapgh.org, E-mail: cth@andrew.cmu.edu, E-mail: iazevedo@cmu.edu [Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University, 119 Porter Hall, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 (United States)

2011-07-15

This study illustrates how alternative and supplemental community-level greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory techniques could improve climate action planning. Eighteen US community GHG inventories are reviewed for current practice. Inventory techniques could be improved by disaggregating the sectors reported, reporting inventory uncertainty and variability, and aligning inventories with local organizations that could facilitate emissions reductions. The potential advantages and challenges of supplementing inventories with comparative benchmarks are also discussed. While GHG inventorying and climate action planning are nascent fields, these techniques can improve CAP design, help communities set more meaningful emission reduction targets, and facilitate CAP implementation and progress monitoring.

31 CFR 19.620 - Do Federal agencies coordinate suspension and debarment actions?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 31 Money and Finance: Treasury 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Do Federal agencies coordinate suspension and debarment actions? 19.620 Section 19.620 Money and Finance: Treasury Office of the Secretary of the Treasury GOVERNMENTWIDE DEBARMENT AND SUSPENSION (NONPROCUREMENT) General Principles Relating...

76 FR 81011 - Notice of Final Federal Agency Actions on Proposed Light Rail Project in Washington

Science.gov (United States)

2011-12-27

... startup operations. The actions by the Federal agencies, and the laws under which such actions were taken... Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970, as amended [42 U.S.C. 61]. 7. Wetlands and...

76 FR 56262 - Community Advantage Pilot Program

Science.gov (United States)

2011-09-12

... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION [Docket No. SBA 2011-0003] Community Advantage Pilot Program AGENCY: U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). ACTION: Notice of change to Community Advantage Pilot... Community Advantage Pilot Program. In that notice, SBA modified or waived as appropriate certain regulations...

75 FR 80561 - Community Express Pilot Program

Science.gov (United States)

2010-12-22

... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Community Express Pilot Program AGENCY: U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). ACTION: Notice of short-term extension and termination of the Community Express Pilot Program. SUMMARY: This notice announces the termination of the Community Express Pilot Program following a...

Fostering Nurses' Moral Agency and Moral Identity: The Importance of Moral Community.

Science.gov (United States)

Liaschenko, Joan; Peter, Elizabeth

2016-09-01

It may be the case that the most challenging moral problem of the twenty-first century will be the relationship between the individual moral agent and the practices and institutions in which the moral agent is embedded. In this paper, we continue the efforts that one of us, Joan Liaschenko, first called for in 1993, that of using feminist ethics as a lens for viewing the relationship between individual nurses as moral agents and the highly complex institutions in which they do the work of nursing. Feminist ethics, with its emphasis on the inextricable relationship between ethics and politics, provides a useful lens to understand the work of nurses in context. Using Margaret Urban Walker's and Hilde Lindemann's concepts of identity, relationships, values, and moral agency, we argue that health care institutions can be moral communities and profoundly affect the work and identity and, therefore, the moral agency of all who work within those structures, including nurses. Nurses are not only shaped by these organizations but also have the power to shape them. Because moral agency is intimately connected to one's identity, moral identity work is essential for nurses to exercise their moral agency and to foster moral community in health care organizations. We first provide a brief history of nursing's morally problematic relationship with institutions and examine the impact institutional master narratives and corporatism exert today on nurses' moral identities and agency. We close by emphasizing the significance of ongoing dialogue in creating and sustaining moral communities, repairing moral identities, and strengthening moral agency. © 2016 The Hastings Center.

75 FR 473 - Community Express Pilot Program

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-05

... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Community Express Pilot Program AGENCY: U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). ACTION: Notice of extension of the Community Express Pilot Program. SUMMARY: This notice extends the Community Express Pilot Program in its current form through December 31, 2010. Based upon the...

The Feeling of Agency: Empirical Indicators for a Pre-Reflective Level of Action Awareness

Science.gov (United States)

David, Nicole; Stenzel, Anna; Schneider, Till R.; Engel, Andreas K.

2011-01-01

The sense of agency has been defined as the sense that I am the author of my own actions. This sense, however, is usually not reflected upon but instead pre-reflectively experienced. Experimental approaches usually measure the sense of agency by judgments or verbal reports, despite evidence that the sense of agency is not sufficiently assessed on such a reflective level. Here we sought to identify non-verbal measures of the sense of agency, particularly testing the relevance of physiological activity such as skin conductance and heart rate. Manipulating the visual feedback to an executed movement, we investigated how well physiological activity and other movement parameters differed between real and false feedback (i.e., between actual agency and non-agency), and how they related to accuracy of agency judgments. Skin conductance and heart rate did not differ between agency and non-agency situations; neither did they inform agency judgments. In contrast, movement onsets – particularly, discrepancies between feedback and movement onsets – were related to agency judgments. Overall, our results indicate weak visceral–somatic associations with the sense of agency. Thus, physiological activity did not prove to be an empirical indicator for the feeling of agency. PMID:21779268

78 FR 65302 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; Evaluation of a District Wide...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-10-31

... DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION [Docket No.: ED-2013-ICCD-0139] Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; Evaluation of a District Wide Implementation of a Professional Learning Community Initiative AGENCY: Institute of Education Sciences (IES), Department of Education (ED). ACTION: Notice...

Action Research as a Network

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Boulus-Rødje, Nina

2012-01-01

This paper explores roles and interventions in IS action research. I draw upon a four-year research project about electronic medical records, conducted in close collaboration with a community partner. Following a self-reflexive stance, I trace the trajectory of the research engagement...... and the different roles I occupied. To better understand the complex nature of collaboration found within action research projects, I propose conceptualizing action research as a network. The network framework directs our attention to the collective production and the conditions through which roles...... this influences the researcher’s agency....

76 FR 1664 - Notice of Final Federal Agency Actions on State Highway 99 (Segment G)

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-11

... on State Highway 99 (Segment G) AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), DOT. ACTION: Notice of.... 139(l)(1). The actions relate to a proposed highway project, Grand Parkway (State Highway 99) Segment... (State Highway 99) Segment G from I- 45 to US 59 in Harris and Montgomery Counties; FHWA Project...

"We're Trying to Take Action": Transformative Agency, Role Re-Mediation, and the Complexities of Youth Participatory Action Research

Science.gov (United States)

Bertrand, Melanie; Durand, E. Sybil; Gonzalez, Taucia

2017-01-01

This article seeks to illuminate the complexity of youth participatory action research (YPAR) through the use of two concepts: (1) transformative agency, a collective initiative to address conflicts and contradictions in activity systems, and (2) role re-mediation, the disruption of power relations. We demonstrate that these concepts, in…

2 CFR 180.610 - What procedures does a Federal agency use in suspension and debarment actions?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

..., consistent with principles of fundamental fairness. (a) For suspension actions, a Federal agency uses the... suspension and debarment actions? 180.610 Section 180.610 Grants and Agreements OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND... GOVERNMENTWIDE DEBARMENT AND SUSPENSION (NONPROCUREMENT) General Principles Relating to Suspension and Debarment...

Developing a vision and strategic action plan for future community-based residency training.

Science.gov (United States)

Skelton, Jann B; Owen, James A

2016-01-01

The Community Pharmacy Residency Program (CPRP) Planning Committee convened to develop a vision and a strategic action plan for the advancement of community pharmacy residency training. Aligned with the profession's efforts to achieve provider status and expand access to care, the Future Vision and Action Plan for Community-based Residency Training will provide guidance, direction, and a strategic action plan for community-based residency training to ensure that the future needs of community-based pharmacist practitioners are met. National thought leaders, selected because of their leadership in pharmacy practice, academia, and residency training, served on the planning committee. The committee conducted a series of conference calls and an in-person strategic planning meeting held on January 13-14, 2015. Outcomes from the discussions were supplemented with related information from the literature. Results of a survey of CPRP directors and preceptors also informed the planning process. The vision and strategic action plan for community-based residency training is intended to advance training to meet the emerging needs of patients in communities that are served by the pharmacy profession. The group anticipated the advanced skills required of pharmacists serving as community-based pharmacist practitioners and the likely education, training and competencies required by future residency graduates in order to deliver these services. The vision reflects a transformation of community residency training, from CPRPs to community-based residency training, and embodies the concept that residency training should be primarily focused on training the individual pharmacist practitioner based on the needs of patients served within the community, and not on the physical location where pharmacy services are provided. The development of a vision statement, core values statements, and strategic action plan will provide support, guidance, and direction to the profession of pharmacy to

Transgressing the norm: Transformative agency in community-based learning for sustainability in southern African contexts

Science.gov (United States)

Lotz-Sisitka, Heila; Mukute, Mutizwa; Chikunda, Charles; Baloi, Aristides; Pesanayi, Tichaona

2017-12-01

Environment and sustainability education processes are often oriented to change and transformation, and frequently involve the emergence of new forms of human activity. However, not much is known about how such change emerges from the learning process, or how it contributes to the development of transformative agency in community contexts. The authors of this article present four cross-case perspectives of expansive learning and transformative agency development in community-based education in southern Africa, studying communities pursuing new activities that are more socially just and sustainable. The four cases of community learning and transformative agency focus on the following activities: (1) sustainable agriculture in Lesotho; (2) seed saving and rainwater harvesting in Zimbabwe; (3) community-based irrigation scheme management in Mozambique; and (4) biodiversity conservation co-management in South Africa. The case studies all draw on cultural-historical activity theory to guide learning and change processes, especially third-generation cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT), which emphasises expansive learning in collectives across interacting activity systems. CHAT researchers, such as the authors of this article, argue that expansive learning can lead to the emergence of transformative agency. The authors extend their transformative agency analysis to probe if and how expansive learning might also facilitate instances of transgressing norms - viewed here as embedded practices which need to be reframed and changed in order for sustainability to emerge.

77 FR 37953 - Final Federal Agency Actions on Proposed Bridge Replacement in Massachusetts

Science.gov (United States)

2012-06-25

... Massachusetts Division Office, 55 Broadway, 10th Floor, Cambridge, MA 02142, 617-494-2419, [email protected]dot.gov . For Massachusetts Department of Transportation Highway Division (MassDOT): Michael Furlong, Project... Proposed Bridge Replacement in Massachusetts AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), DOT. ACTION...

Forging Professional Learning Communities: The Role of External Agency

Science.gov (United States)

Sperandio, Jill; Kong, Peggy A.

2018-01-01

This article explored the effects of external agency on the establishment of professional learning communities (PLCs). The research was undertaken in the context of schools that have chosen to adopt the Primary Years Programme (PYP) of the International Baccalaureate (IB) worldwide. The study employed a two-stage qualitative sequential design…

78 FR 26417 - Notice of Final Federal Agency Actions on Transportation Project in Washington State

Science.gov (United States)

2013-05-06

... the meaning of 23 U.S.C. 139(l)(1). The actions relate to the Interstate 90 (I-90) Snoqualmie Pass... to 23 U.S.C. 139(l)(1). A claim seeking judicial review of the Federal agency actions on the listed... claim, then that shorter time period still applies. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Liana Liu, Area...

Community stress and social and technological change: a framework for interpreting the behavior of social movements and community action groups

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Perry, R.W.; Schuller, C.R.; Lindell, M.K.; Greene, M.R.; Walsh, J.T.; Earle, T.

1980-06-01

The purpose of this report is to provide a comprehensive examination of existing research on community organizations and community political systems. These findings will be integrated into a framework for understanding the variety of social and political responses which may be manifest in small communities facing the prospect of hosting a major nuclear facility. The principal focus is on the formation and behavior of social groups in communities, particularly politically oriented social movements or community action groups. This analysis is set on the context of a community experiencing social stress. Most of the discussion which follows is based on an extrapolation from the large body of reseach literature on the topics in sociology, political science, and psychology. Chapter I examines the community political systems which are the arena in which local action groups will operate. Chapter II focuses on the internal conditions necessary for the formation and maintenance of community action groups. Chapter III reviews the research literature on the social environment of organizations in communities and the external conditions which are necessary to maintain organizations over time. Chapter IV develops a logic whereby the community consensus model can be adopted to particular social movement organizations and community actions groups. Chapter V examines changes in aspects of the environment which can be a function of the operation of movement organizations, and changes in the structure and tactics of movement organizations which appear to be a response to the environment.

Collaborative agency to support integrated care for children, young people and families: an action research study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karen Stuart

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Collaboration was legislated in the delivery of integrated care in the early 2000s in the UK. This research explored how the reality of practice met the rhetoric of collaboration.Theory: The paper is situated against a theoretical framework of structure, agency, identity and empowerment. Collectively and contextually these concepts inform the proposed model of ‘collaborative agency’ to sustain integrated care. The paper brings sociological theory on structure and agency to the dilemma of collaboration.Methods: Participative action research was carried out in collaborative teams that aspired to achieve integrated care for children, young people and families between 2009 and 2013. It was a part time, PhD study in collaborative practice.Results: The research established that people needed to be able to be jointly aware of their context, to make joint decisions, and jointly act in order to deliver integrated services, and proposes a model of collaborative agency derived from practitioner’s experiences and integrated action research and literature on agency. The model reflects the effects of a range of structures in shaping professional identity, empowerment, and agency in a dynamic. The author proposes that the collaborative agency model will support integrated care, although this is, as yet, an untested hypothesis.

Collaborative agency to support integrated care for children, young people and families: an action research study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karen Stuart

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Collaboration was legislated in the delivery of integrated care in the early 2000s in the UK. This research explored how the reality of practice met the rhetoric of collaboration. Theory: The paper is situated against a theoretical framework of structure, agency, identity and empowerment. Collectively and contextually these concepts inform the proposed model of ‘collaborative agency’ to sustain integrated care. The paper brings sociological theory on structure and agency to the dilemma of collaboration. Methods: Participative action research was carried out in collaborative teams that aspired to achieve integrated care for children, young people and families between 2009 and 2013. It was a part time, PhD study in collaborative practice. Results: The research established that people needed to be able to be jointly aware of their context, to make joint decisions, and jointly act in order to deliver integrated services, and proposes a model of collaborative agency derived from practitioner’s experiences and integrated action research and literature on agency. The model reflects the effects of a range of structures in shaping professional identity, empowerment, and agency in a dynamic. The author proposes that the collaborative agency model will support integrated care, although this is, as yet, an untested hypothesis.

The Limits of Epistemic Communities: EU Security Agencies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mai'a K. Davis Cross

2015-03-01

Full Text Available This article examines the cases of the European Defence Agency (EDA and EU Intelligence Analysis Centre (IntCen to argue that although they are comprised of high-level security experts, they do not constitute epistemic communities. Research on other groups of security experts based in Brussels has shown that epistemic communities of diplomats, military experts, security researchers, and civilian crisis management experts, among others, have been able to influence the trajectory of security integration by virtue of their shared knowledge. Importantly, these security epistemic communities have been shown to significantly impact outcomes of EU security policy beyond what would be expected by looking only at member-states’ initial preferences. In exploring two examples of “non-cases” that are at the same time very similar to the other examples, the author seeks to shed light on why some expert groups do not form epistemic communities, and how this changes the nature of their influence. In so doing, the goal is to sharpen the parameters of what constitutes epistemic communities, and to add to our understanding of why they emerge. The argument advanced in this article is that institutional context and the nature of the profession matter as preconditions for epistemic community emergence.

Measuring progress of collaborative action in a community health effort

OpenAIRE

Vicki L. Collie-Akers; Stephen B. Fawcett; Jerry A. Schultz

2013-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To measure the progress made by the collaborative actions of multisectorial partners in a community health effort using a systematic method to document and evaluate community/system changes over time. METHODS: This was a community-based participatory research project engaging community partners of the Latino Health for All Coalition, which based on the Health for All model, addresses health inequity in a low-income neighborhood in Kansas City, Kansas, United States of America. Guid...

Your health is your wealth: faith-based community action on the health of African migrant communities in Amsterdam

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Agyemang, Charles; Meeks, Karlijn; Boateng, Reynolds; Beune, Erik

2018-01-01

The African migrant communities in Europe face many challenges including poor health outcomes. Migrant community leaders can play a crucial role in addressing the health needs of their community members. In this paper, we described Sub-Saharan African migrant community leaders' action to improve the

75 FR 35881 - Smaller Learning Communities Program

Science.gov (United States)

2010-06-23

... Part II Department of Education Smaller Learning Communities Program; Notice #0;#0;Federal... EDUCATION Smaller Learning Communities Program Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.215L. AGENCY: Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Department of Education. ACTION: Notice of final...

75 FR 14183 - Office of Community Oriented Policing Services; Agency Information Collection Activities...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-03-24

... information collection under review: COPS' Rural Law Enforcement National Training Assessment. The Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) will be submitting the... DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE [OMB Number 1103-NEW] Office of Community Oriented Policing Services; Agency...

Increasing advance personal planning: the need for action at the community level.

Science.gov (United States)

Waller, Amy; Sanson-Fisher, Rob; Ries, Nola; Bryant, Jamie

2018-05-09

Advance personal planning is the process by which people consider, document and communicate their preferences for personal, financial and health matters in case they lose the ability to make decisions or express their wishes in the future. Advance personal planning is most often undertaken by individuals who are seriously ill, often in the context of a medical crisis and/or at the time of admission to hospital. However, the clinical utility and legal validity of the planning process may be compromised in these circumstances. Patients may lack sufficient capacity to meaningfully engage in advance personal planning; there may be insufficient time to adequately reflect on and discuss wishes with key others; and there may also be limited opportunity for inter-professional input and collaboration in the process. Here, we propose an agenda for research to advance the science of advance personal planning by promoting a 'whole community' approach. Adoption of advance personal planning at a community level may be achieved using a variety of strategies including public media campaigns, intervening with professionals across a range of health care and legal settings, and mobilising support from influential groups and local government. One potentially promising method for encouraging earlier adoption of advance personal planning among a broader population involves a community action approach, whereby multiple evidence-based strategies are integrated across multiple access points. Community action involves calling on community members, professionals, community and/or government organisations to work collaboratively to design and systematically implement intervention strategies with the aim of bringing about desired behaviour change. An example of a community action trial to improving uptake and quality of advance personal planning is described. While promising, there is a need for rigorous evidence to demonstrate whether a community action approach is effective in

Corrective Action Decision Document, Area 15 Environmental Protection Agency Farm Laboratory Building, Corrective Action Unit No. 95, Revision 0

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1997-08-18

This report is the Corrective Action Decision Document (CADD) for the Nevada Test Site (NTS) Area 15 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Farm, Laboratory Building (Corrective Action Unit [CAU] No. 95), at the Nevada Test Site, Nye County, Nevada. The scope of this CADD is to identify and evaluate potential corrective action alternatives for the decommissioning and decontamination (D and D) of the Laboratory Building, which were selected based on the results of investigative activities. Based on this evaluation, a preferred corrective action alternative is recommended. Studies were conducted at the EPA Farm from 1963 to 1981 to determine the animal intake and retention of radionuclides. The main building, the Laboratory Building, has approximately 370 square meters (4,000 square feet) of operational space. Other CAUS at the EPA Farm facility that will be investigated and/or remediated through other environmental restoration subprojects are not included in this CADD, with the exception of housekeeping sites. Associated structures that do not require classification as CAUS are considered in the evaluation of corrective action alternatives for CAU 95.

Corrective Action Decision Document, Area 15 Environmental Protection Agency Farm Laboratory Building, Corrective Action Unit No. 95, Revision 0

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1997-01-01

This report is the Corrective Action Decision Document (CADD) for the Nevada Test Site (NTS) Area 15 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Farm, Laboratory Building (Corrective Action Unit [CAU] No. 95), at the Nevada Test Site, Nye County, Nevada. The scope of this CADD is to identify and evaluate potential corrective action alternatives for the decommissioning and decontamination (D and D) of the Laboratory Building, which were selected based on the results of investigative activities. Based on this evaluation, a preferred corrective action alternative is recommended. Studies were conducted at the EPA Farm from 1963 to 1981 to determine the animal intake and retention of radionuclides. The main building, the Laboratory Building, has approximately 370 square meters (4,000 square feet) of operational space. Other CAUS at the EPA Farm facility that will be investigated and/or remediated through other environmental restoration subprojects are not included in this CADD, with the exception of housekeeping sites. Associated structures that do not require classification as CAUS are considered in the evaluation of corrective action alternatives for CAU 95

Cleanups In My Community (CIMC) - Hazardous Waste Corrective Actions, National Layer

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This data layer provides access to Hazardous Waste Corrective Action sites as part of the CIMC web service. Hazardous waste is waste that is dangerous or potentially...

Learning from a Community Action Plan to Promote Safe Sexual Practices

Science.gov (United States)

Weiss, Josie A.; Dwonch-Schoen, Kathy; Howard-Barr, Elissa M.; Panella, Michael P.

2010-01-01

The well-being of a community is only as good as the well-being of the individuals who reside in the community. A group of citizens, concerned about the welfare of their community, recognized the high rates of HIV/AIDS and teenage pregnancy in their south Florida county and decided to take action. Supported by community leaders and using available…

The Search Conference as a Method in Planning Community Health Promotion Actions

Science.gov (United States)

Magnus, Eva; Knudtsen, Margunn Skjei; Wist, Guri; Weiss, Daniel; Lillefjell, Monica

2016-01-01

Aims: The aim of this article is to describe and discuss how the search conference can be used as a method for planning health promotion actions in local communities. Design and methods: The article draws on experiences with using the method for an innovative project in health promotion in three Norwegian municipalities. The method is described both in general and how it was specifically adopted for the project. Results and conclusions: The search conference as a method was used to develop evidence-based health promotion action plans. With its use of both bottom-up and top-down approaches, this method is a relevant strategy for involving a community in the planning stages of health promotion actions in line with political expectations of participation, ownership, and evidence-based initiatives. Significance for public health This article describe and discuss how the Search conference can be used as a method when working with knowledge based health promotion actions in local communities. The article describe the sequences of the conference and shows how this have been adapted when planning and prioritizing health promotion actions in three Norwegian municipalities. The significance of the article is that it shows how central elements in the planning of health promotion actions, as participation and involvements as well as evidence was a fundamental thinking in how the conference were accomplished. The article continue discussing how the method function as both a top-down and a bottom-up strategy, and in what way working evidence based can be in conflict with a bottom-up strategy. The experiences described can be used as guidance planning knowledge based health promotion actions in communities. PMID:27747199

Linking community, parenting, and depressive symptom trajectories: testing resilience models of adolescent agency based on race/ethnicity and gender.

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, Amanda L; Merten, Michael J

2014-09-01

Family stress models illustrate how communities affect youth outcomes through effects on parents and studies consistently show the enduring effects of early community context. The present study takes a different approach identifying human agency during adolescence as a potentially significant promotive factor mediating the relationship between community, parenting, and mental health. While agency is an important part of resilience, its longitudinal effects are unknown, particularly based on gender and race/ethnicity. The purpose of this research was to model the long-term effects of community structural adversity and social resources as predictors of adolescent depressive symptom trajectories via indirect effects of parental happiness, parent-child relationships, and human agency. Latent growth analyses were conducted with 1,796 participants (53% female; 56% White) across four waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health spanning adolescence (Wave 1) through adulthood (Wave 4). The results identified agency as an important promotive factor during adolescence with long-term mental health benefits, but only for White and male participants. For these individuals, community social resources and the quality of the parent-child relationship were related to higher levels of agency and more positive mental health trajectories. Although community social resources similarly benefitted parenting and agency among females and non-White participants, there were no significant links between agency and depressive symptoms for these youth. The results suggest that agency remains an important, but poorly understood concept and additional work is necessary to continue unpacking its meaning for diverse groups of youth.

Developing and Implementing a Citywide Asthma Action Plan: A Community Collaborative Partnership.

Science.gov (United States)

Staudt, Amanda Marie; Alamgir, Hasanat; Long, Debra Lynn; Inscore, Stephen Curtis; Wood, Pamela Runge

2015-12-01

Asthma affects 1 in 10 children in the United States, with higher prevalence among children living in poverty. Organizations in San Antonio, Texas, partnered to design and implement a uniform, citywide asthma action plan to improve asthma management capacity in schools. The asthma action plan template was modified from that of the Global Initiative for Asthma. School personnel were trained in symptom recognition, actions to take, and use of equipment before the asthma action plan implementation. The annual Asthma Action Plan Summit was organized as a forum for school nurses, healthcare providers, and members of the community to exchange ideas and strategies on implementation, as well as to revise the plan. The asthma action plan was implemented in all 16 local school districts. Feedback received from school nurses suggests that the citywide asthma action plan resulted in improved asthma management and student health at schools. The evidence in this study suggests that community organizations can successfully collaborate to implement a citywide health initiative similar to the asthma action plan.

Development and Evaluation of a Train-the-Trainer Workshop for Hong Kong Community Social Service Agency Staff.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Qianling; Stewart, Sunita M; Wan, Alice; Leung, Charles Sai-Cheong; Lai, Agnes Y; Lam, Tai Hing; Chan, Sophia Siu-Chee

2017-01-01

Capacity building approaches are useful in large-scale community-based health promotion interventions. However, models to guide and evaluate capacity building among social service agency staff in community settings are rare in the literature. This paper describes the development and evaluation of a 1-day (7 h) train-the-trainer (TTT) workshop for the "Enhancing Family Well-Being Project". The workshop aimed at equipping staff from different community agencies with the knowledge and skills to design, implement, and evaluate positive psychology-based interventions for their clients in Sham Shui Po, an over-crowded and low-income district in Hong Kong. The current TTT extended and improved on our previous successful model by adding research and evaluation methods (including the Logic Model, process evaluation, and randomized controlled trial), which are important to plan and evaluate the community interventions. Evaluation of the TTT was guided by the Integrated Model of Training Evaluation and Effectiveness (IMTEE), with quantitative and qualitative methods. Quantitative data were collected from pretraining (T1), post-training (T2), and 6-month (T3) and 12-month (T4) follow-up surveys. Qualitative data were collected from four focus groups of agency staff after the intervention. Ninety-three staff from 30 community agencies attended the training, and 90 completed the baseline survey. Eighty-eight, 63, and 57 staff performed the evaluations at T2, T3, and T4, respectively. Agency staff were satisfied with the TTT. Immediate enhancement of knowledge, self-efficacy, and positive attitudes toward the training content was found at T2 (Cohen's d ranged from 0.24 to 1.22, all p  agency staff, and delivered to 1,586 participants. The agency staff indicated their intention to utilize the skills they had learned for other interventions (score ≥4 out of 6) and to share these skills with their colleagues. Qualitative feedbacks from 23 agency staff supported the

Fostering resilience: Empowering rural communities in the face of hardship

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Darryl Maybery

2010-11-01

Full Text Available Australian rural communities are experiencing some of the worst climactic and economic conditions in decades. Unfortunately, the multiple government and non-government agency responses have reportedly been uncoordinated, sometimes losing sight of their consumers. This article describes a program designed to strengthen and empower resilience in small rural communities and summarises the outcomes, including needs and action planning undertaken. The 97 participants were from eight outer regional or remote towns and communities in the northern Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. As groups representing their communities, they attended meetings and responded to a series of questions regarding issues arising from the drought, community needs, and actions their community could take to address these issues and needs. The study findings highlight the stress and strain of the climatic conditions and the insecurity of rural incomes, as well as problems with the high cost of transport. The communities recognised a degree of social disintegration but also expressed considerable hope that, by working together and better utilising social agencies, they could develop a social connectedness that would make their communities more resilient. Approaches that empower and facilitate community resilience are suggested as an effective model that governments and non-government agencies can use to encourage social groups that are struggling to build resilience.

Community action for sustainable housing: Building a low-carbon future

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seyfang, Gill

2010-01-01

This paper presents a new analytical framework of 'grassroots innovations' which views community-led initiatives for sustainable development as strategic green niches with the potential for wider transformation of mainstream society. This framework is applied to a low-carbon, low-impact, community-based sustainable housing initiative in the USA that pioneers straw bale housing techniques within a strong community-building ethos. The project is evaluated according to New Economics criteria of sustainable consumption, and is found to be successful at localising the construction supply chain, reducing ecological footprints, community-building, enabling collective action and building new institutions and systems of provision around housebuilding. However, viewing it as a strategic niche with aim to influence wider society, it is clear that it faces significant challenges in diffusing its ideas and practices beyond the niche. Its model is not necessarily suitable for scaling up or widespread replication; however, the scope for niche lessons to be adopted by mainstream builders is greater, given a supportive policy environment. Recognising the innovative nature of green niches at the policy level could lead to new approaches to governance of bottom-up community action for sustainable development.

Civic Action and Play: Examples from Maori, Aboriginal Australian and Latino Communities

Science.gov (United States)

Adair, Jennifer Keys; Phillips, Louise; Ritchie, Jenny; Sachdeva, Shubhi

2017-01-01

Using data from an international, comparative study of civic action in preschools in New Zealand, Australia and the US, we consider some of the types of civic action that are possible when time and space are offered for children to use their agency to initiate, work together and collectively pursue ideas and things that are important to the group.…

12 CFR 19.135 - Applications for stay or review of disciplinary actions imposed by registered clearing agencies.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... Involving the Federal Securities Laws § 19.135 Applications for stay or review of disciplinary actions... 12 Banks and Banking 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Applications for stay or review of disciplinary actions imposed by registered clearing agencies. 19.135 Section 19.135 Banks and Banking COMPTROLLER OF...

Integrated community energy solutions : a roadmap for action

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2009-07-01

Integrated community energy solutions (ICES) can significantly improve community energy performance and help to achieve Canada's energy efficiency and climate change objectives. The solutions integrate physical components from multiple sectors, including transportation; housing and buildings; industry; water; waste management; and other local community services. However, ICES require the support of communities, governments and investors who can help to reduce barriers to action and define a marketplace. This road map provided details of provincial, territorial, and federal government inputs to ensuring the adoption of ICES. The roles of municipalities, developers, energy utilities and other stakeholders were also discussed. Key roles, sectoral building blocks, and barriers affecting ICES implementation were discussed. A 3-phase transition approach was presented in which the overarching strategies of ICES implementation were described. A menu of ICES tools was also included. 17 figs.

Assessing and Planning Health Actions During a Crisis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Selim SUNER

2015-10-01

Full Text Available SUMMARY: Initial stage of a disaster is managed with existing resources. The following stages of disaster response often involve assistance from outside of the disaster zone. This may consist of mutual aid from neighboring communities for small-scale incidents but in major disasters, the response is from federal or international agencies or often both. Rapid needs assessment after an incident is a collaborative effort between responding agencies and local emergency preparedness and health authorities. Ideally, a team from responding agencies with intimate knowledge and experience regarding the capabilities and assets of the responding entity along with local authorities, with decision making capacity, who have knowledge of the community, the limitations of the responding agencies and can obtain near real-time information about the incident and subject matter experts (engineering, medical, law enforcement, etc. comprise the needs assessment team. Keywords: Crisis, health action, disaster planning

Successful community relations efforts at the Weldon Spring Site Remedial Action Project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McKee, James E. Jr.; Meyer, Linda L.

1992-01-01

The Weldon Spring Site Remedial Action Project (WSSRAP) Community Relations Program involves many participants from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Prime Management Contractor (PMC) composed of M.K. Ferguson and Jacobs Engineering. The proactive community relations plan exceeds the compliance requirements of NEPA and CERCLA and is coordinated by a three-person staff of professional communicators. The program permeates many of the operating decisions and the result has been public acceptance of the Project and its actions to date, which has been to conduct remedial actions that will place the site in a radiologically and chemically safe condition, eliminating potential hazards to the public and environment. (author)

Developmental Advising for Marginalized Community College Students: An Action Research Study

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Terrica S.

2013-01-01

The purpose of this action research study was to understand, evaluate, and improve the developmental advising practices used at a Washington State community college. This action research study endeavored to strengthen the developmental advising model originally designed to support the college's marginalized students. Guiding questions for the…

Balancing risk, interpersonal intimacy and agency: perspectives from marginalised women in Zambia.

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Lwendo Moonzwe; Kostick, Kristin Marie

2018-05-15

Women are most exposed to sexual health risks within their marital relationships, primarily due to the sexually risky behaviours of their spouses. Studies show that expanding agency is critical for women to mitigate both physical and sexual health risks and is linked to increased psycho-social well-being and economic independence. Drawing on qualitative and quantitative primary data collected from a peri-urban community in Zambia, this paper explores how women exert agency in a community where few educational and economic opportunities and substantial food insecurity exacerbate women's risk for HIV within their marital relationships. It also examines how expressions of agency within marital unions can reduce HIV risk exposure and lead to socio-economic benefits. However, expressions of agency can also create physical, psycho-social and sexual health risks, particularly when spouses do not support independent decision-making and actions that women consider necessary to support the household and maintain intimacy. Findings highlight the importance of community involvement and addressing harmful socio-cultural norms to foster the realisation of women's agency.

The Biodiversity Community Action Project: An STS Investigation

Science.gov (United States)

Aidin, Amirshokoohi; Mahsa, Kazempour

2010-01-01

The Biodiversity Community Action Project is a stimulating and vigorous project that allows students to gain an in-depth understanding of the interconnection between organisms and their environments as well as the connection of science to their lives and society. It addresses key content standards in the National Science Education Standards and…

Action and agency

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Galle, Per

2000-01-01

Following the Conceptual Engineering approach suggested in OAR 'The notion of product modelling', I develop a 'sufficient but minimal' philosophical understanding (in the Platonist tratidion) of agents and their actions. The motivation for this is the role of product modelling in mediating...

Proprioception contributes to the sense of agency during visual observation of hand movements: evidence from temporal judgments of action

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Balslev, Daniela; Cole, Jonathan; Miall, R Chris

2007-01-01

The ability to recognize visually one's own movement is important for motor control and, through attribution of agency, for social interactions. Agency of actions may be decided by comparisons of visual feedback, efferent signals, and proprioceptive inputs. Because the ability to identify one's own...

Rhetoric to action: a study of stakeholder perceptions of aging well in two local communities.

Science.gov (United States)

Everingham, Jo-Anne; Lui, Chi-Wai; Bartlett, Helen; Warburton, Jeni; Cuthill, Michael

2010-11-01

This qualitative study of local perceptions of policy goals and action in relation to aging reports 31 stakeholder interviews within 2 Australian communities exploring (a) the meaning of aging well; and (b) preferred policy actions to achieve positive aging outcomes. Findings suggest that community perceptions of aging well are broadly consistent with the goals of national and international policy frameworks in focusing on 3 dimensions--health, social engagement, and security. Further, participants believe that achievement of positive aging outcomes requires a mix of self-help, community action, and government intervention--particularly government support and encouragement for aging well initiatives.

From Service to Action? Students, Volunteering and Community Action in Mid Twentieth-Century Britain

Science.gov (United States)

Brewis, Georgina

2010-01-01

Volunteering by higher education students in the UK has a long history which remains largely unexplored despite recent research and policy attention. This article offers a brief overview of the development of student volunteering before the 1960s and then discusses a shift from student social service to Student Community Action in the late 1960s…

77 FR 8801 - Request for Applications: The Community Forest and Open Space Conservation Program

Science.gov (United States)

2012-02-15

... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Forest Service Request for Applications: The Community Forest and Open Space Conservation Program AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. ACTION: Request for applications. SUMMARY: The..., requests applications for the Community Forest and Open Space Conservation Program (Community Forest...

Supportive Environments for Physical Activity, Community Action and Policy in Eight EU Member States

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ruetten, Alfred; Frahsa, Annika; Engbers, Luuk

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND: A multi-level theoretical framework of physical activity (PA) promotion that addresses supportive environments, PA behavior, community action and PA promoting policies is related to research and development in an international comparative study. METHODS: Most-different and most...... on the interplay of environment, PA behavior, community action and policies appears to be working across most different countries. Comprehensive systems of PA infrastructures are interlinked with relatively high levels of PA prevalence. These countries implement comprehensive national policies on PA promotion...... and show a positive perception of related local governments' engagement. Less comprehensive systems of infrastructures interplay with lower levels of PA prevalence, less community action and fewer policies. Differences between similar cases are linked to country-specific contexts. CONCLUSIONS: Framework...

Specific issues, exact locations: case study of a community mapping project to improve safety in a disadvantaged community.

Science.gov (United States)

Qummouh, Rana; Rose, Vanessa; Hall, Pat

2012-12-01

Safety is a health issue and a significant concern in disadvantaged communities. This paper describes an example of community-initiated action to address perceptions of fear and safety in a suburb in south-west Sydney which led to the development of a local, community-driven research project. As a first step in developing community capacity to take action on issues of safety, a joint resident-agency group implemented a community safety mapping project to identify the extent of safety issues in the community and their exact geographical location. Two aerial maps of the suburb, measuring one metre by two metres, were placed on display at different locations for four months. Residents used coloured stickers to identify specific issues and exact locations where crime and safety were a concern. Residents identified 294 specific safety issues in the suburb, 41.9% (n=123) associated with public infrastructure, such as poor lighting and pathways, and 31.9% (n=94) associated with drug-related issues such as drug activity and discarded syringes. Good health promotion practice reflects community need. In a very practical sense, this project responded to community calls for action by mapping resident knowledge on specific safety issues and exact locations and presenting these maps to local decision makers for further action.

Participatory Evaluation with Youth: Building Skills for Community Action

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elissa E. Wells

2009-03-01

Full Text Available This article describes an innovative training program that combines youth-adult partnerships, social inquiry, and community action as a method for effective youth engagement. Elements of the training are outlined, and program evaluation results are presented. In addition, several strategies for successful program replication are presented.

"The commune, site community action and transformation"

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Royiana Paredes Díaz

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Whereas Review argues that current environmental knowing, which requires rethinking actions, evaluate new contexts that affect the needs and motivations of people to participate in the change, we have to reconstruct the environment with "new knowledge environmental "to identify the main negative impacts on the environment, the human environment, economic environment and the natural environment Worked with people of Jesus Suarez Soca CPA, to prepare them for agro ecological measures that respond to diagnosis, based on the MST OP/15 Project. The Community Working Group of the Project which OP/15 stay composed of community members, seniors, youth, women, students, representatives of organizations such as ANAP, FMC, members of the peasant band, delegates and managers created CPA so that everyone could participate in change from their areas of influence, the structure was approved by the majority of a president, secretary, and members popularizer. The main objective of the group is trained in the areas of MST, and economic, social and environmental impact of it, and transmit it in a practical way in their spheres of influence. In this process it was possible to disclose the actions taken and improvements in SLM practices and go on exchanging events, competitions and other areas of the municipality, the province and internationally for farmers to be incorporating these measures MST.

76 FR 64022 - Hydrogen Sulfide; Community Right-to-Know Toxic Chemical Release Reporting

Science.gov (United States)

2011-10-17

... Hydrogen Sulfide; Community Right-to-Know Toxic Chemical Release Reporting AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ACTION: Lifting of Administrative Stay for Hydrogen Sulfide. SUMMARY: EPA is announcing... (EPCRA) section 313 toxic chemical release reporting requirements for hydrogen sulfide (Chemical...

Community Empowerment for School Health: Action Research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thomas Mathew

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Background: One of the authors living in Yelagiri Hills incidentally noticed that the one government school and two hostels there, were facing acute issues with performance and multiple student health issues. Hence the action research was undertaken to address the problem and simultaneously to empower the local community. Methods: It was a mixed-method action research study comprising of quantitative surveys (before- after design and qualitative approach (participatory intervention. At baseline survey 177 children in two residential hostels and one government school were examined using a locally adapted Global School based Student Health Survey questionnaire. The hemoglobin level was estimated using WHO hemoglobin color scale. The participatory interventions were carried out through School Health Committee. Periodic health checkup with hemoglobin levels and school performance were examined. After one year, 230 children were examined in the follow up survey using the same questionnaire. Results: There was significant improvement in the personal hygiene and reduction in related morbidity among the children. The number of students of hemoglobin level less than 12gm% decreased from 31.4% to 11.3%.The number of students of hemoglobin level more than or equal to 12gm% increased from 68.6% to 88.7%. There was significant decline in anemia from 31.4% from baseline to 11.3% at follow up survey. There was also significant decrease in the malnutrition. Conclusion: The need based participatory health promoting school initiative for tribal children at Yelagiri hills led to a significant improvement in the school performance and general health conditions of the children. The school health committee has played a vital role in the sustainability of the project. The action research could bring positive improvements in health status of school children through active participation of students, parents, teachers and community members.

The search conference as a method in planning community health promotion actions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eva Magnus

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Aims: The aim of this article is to describe and discuss how the search conference can be used as a method for planning health promotion actions in local communities. Design and methods: The article draws on experiences with using the method for an innovative project in health promotion in three Norwegian municipalities. The method is described both in general and how it was specifically adopted for the project. Results and conclusions: The search conference as a method was used to develop evidence-based health promotion action plans. With its use of both bottom-up and top-down approaches, this method is a relevant strategy for involving a community in the planning stages of health promotion actions in line with political expectations of participation, ownership, and evidence-based initiatives.

Action against 2nd partial construction permit for Muelheim-Kaerlich reactor dismissed on grounds of the community having no claim to legal action

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1985-01-01

Key sentences: (non-official) 1. A community is not authorized to plead its citizens' rights and interests. 2. A community is not entitled to plead environmental and nature-protection aspects. 3. Fear of community-owned land being adversely affected constitutes no cause of action. 4. By transferring self-administration tasks to an independent company the community gives up the possibility to plead on its own behalf the legal claims deriving from the self-administration. Koblenz Court of Administration. Ruling of December 13, 1984 - 10 K 3/82 - (non-final). From the reasons given for the ruling: Nonsuit on grounds of the action being inadmissible. (orig./HP) [de

76 FR 69136 - Hydrogen Sulfide; Community Right-to-Know Toxic Chemical Release Reporting

Science.gov (United States)

2011-11-08

... Hydrogen Sulfide; Community Right-to-Know Toxic Chemical Release Reporting AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ACTION: Lifting of Administrative Stay for Hydrogen Sulfide; Correction. SUMMARY: The... Administrative Stay of the reporting requirements for hydrogen sulfide. The Office of the Federal Register...

The effects of freedom of choice in action selection on perceived mental effort and the sense of agency.

Science.gov (United States)

Barlas, Zeynep; Hockley, William E; Obhi, Sukhvinder S

2017-10-01

Previous research showed that increasing the number of action alternatives enhances the sense of agency (SoA). Here, we investigated whether choice space could affect subjective judgments of mental effort experienced during action selection and examined the link between subjective effort and the SoA. Participants performed freely selected (among two, three, or four options) and instructed actions that produced pleasant or unpleasant tones. We obtained action-effect interval estimates to quantify intentional binding - the perceived interval compression between actions and outcomes and feeling of control (FoC) ratings. Additionally, participants reported the degree of mental effort they experienced during action selection. We found that both binding and FoC were systematically enhanced with increasing choice-level. Outcome valence did not influence binding, while FoC was stronger for pleasant than unpleasant outcomes. Finally, freely chosen actions were associated with low subjective effort and slow responses (i.e., higher reaction times), and instructed actions were associated with high effort and fast responses. Although the conditions that yielded the greatest and least subjective effort also yielded the greatest and least binding and FoC, there was no significant correlation between subjective effort and SoA measures. Overall, our results raise interesting questions about how agency may be influenced by response selection demands (i.e., indexed by speed of responding) and subjective mental effort. Our work also highlights the importance of understanding how subjective mental effort and response speed are related to popular notions of fluency in response selection. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Moving Science Off the ``Back Burner'': Meaning Making Within an Action Research Community of Practice

Science.gov (United States)

Goodnough, Karen

2008-02-01

In this study, the participants conceptualized and implemented an action research project that focused on the infusion of inquiry principles into a neglected science curriculum. Specific objectives were to find (a) What factors challenge and support the evolution of an action research community of practice? (b) How are teachers’ beliefs about science teaching and learning transformed? and (c) How does teachers’ knowledge of curriculum, instruction, assessment, and student learning change as a result of learning within a community of practice? In this instrumental case study (Stake 2000, In N. K. Denzin, & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 435-454). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage), a range of data collection sources and methods were adopted. Outcomes focus on how the design principles for cultivating a community of practice emerged in the action research group, as well as the types of teacher learning that occurred by engaging in action research.

45 CFR 61.7 - Reporting licensure actions taken by Federal or State licensing and certification agencies.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 45 Public Welfare 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Reporting licensure actions taken by Federal or State licensing and certification agencies. 61.7 Section 61.7 Public Welfare DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES GENERAL ADMINISTRATION HEALTHCARE INTEGRITY AND PROTECTION DATA BANK FOR FINAL ADVERSE...

[Social Cognition and the Sense of Agency in Autism: From Action to Interaction].

Science.gov (United States)

Lafleur, Alexis; Soulières, Isabelle; Forgeot d'Arc, Baudoin

The sense of agency (SoA) refers to the ability for one to detect that she is the cause of an action (Gallagher, 2000). The SoA is linked to motor control but also to self-awareness and could play an important role in social interactions. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by an alteration of social interactions and communication (DSM-5; APA, 2013) and is often seen as a primary deficit of functions specific to social cognition. However, motor control is also altered in ASD. We hypothesize that motor symptoms and social impairments could both arise from the same alteration of SoA. We first introduce theoretical models of implicit and explicit SoA (Synofzik et al., 2008) and present their neurofunctional basis. Then, we assess the clinical expressions of a disrupted SoA in different neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia. In ASD, the atypical formation of internal models of action during motor acquisition (Haswell et al., 2009) could be at the source of an altered implicit SoA. A lack of fidelity of sensorimotor agency cues (Zalla et al., 2015) could also entail an alteration of explicit SoA. We discuss the main clinical expressions of ASD that may ensue from a disrupted SoA (difficulties in theory of mind and imitation, deficits in motor coordination and praxis, etc.).

75 FR 42608 - Safety Zone; Lyme Community Days, Chaumont Bay, NY

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-22

...-AA00 Safety Zone; Lyme Community Days, Chaumont Bay, NY AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS. ACTION: Temporary final rule. SUMMARY: The Coast Guard is establishing a temporary safety zone for Lyme Community Days Fireworks on Chaumont Bay, Lyme, New York. All vessels are prohibited from transiting the zone except as...

Shifting contours of boundaries: an exploration of inter-agency integration between hospital and community interprofessional diabetes programs.

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, Rene; Breiner, Petra; Mylopoulos, Maria

2014-09-01

This article reports on research into the relationships that emerged between hospital-based and community-based interprofessional diabetes programs involved in inter-agency care. Using constructivist grounded theory methodology we interviewed a purposive theoretical sample of 21 clinicians and administrators from both types of programs. Emergent themes were identified through a process of constant comparative analysis. Initial boundaries were constructed based on contrasts in beliefs, practices and expertise. In response to bureaucratic and social pressures, boundaries were redefined in a way that created role uncertainty and disempowered community programs, ultimately preventing collaboration. We illustrate the dynamic and multi-dimensional nature of social and symbolic boundaries in inter-agency diabetes care and the tacit ways in which hospitals can maintain a power position at the expense of other actors in the field. As efforts continue in Canada and elsewhere to move knowledge and resources into community sectors, we highlight the importance of hospitals seeing beyond their own interests and adopting more altruistic models of inter-agency integration.

The actions of the social insurance agency regarding long-term sickness absentees before and after a medical assessment--a study of 384 case files.

Science.gov (United States)

Marklund, Staffan; Lundh, Göran; Gustafsson, Klas; Linder, Jürgen; Svedberg, Pia; Alexanderson, Kristina

2015-01-01

The purpose of this article is to investigate actions taken by the Social Insurance Agency (SIA) for long-term sickness absentees and possible associations of this with future sick leave or disability pension. For 384 long-term sickness absentees who had had a multidisciplinary medical assessment (MMA) during 2001-2006, three types of data were obtained: (1) case file information about SIA actions, (2) suggested rehabilitation measures from the MMA and (3) sickness absence and disability pension data. Most individuals had been subject to a range of actions by the SIA. Sixty percent had been invited to a coordination meeting, and half of those who assessed by the MMA for vocational rehabilitation were approved to get it by the SIA. Few SIA actions were associated with full or partial return to work. Although the studied individuals had been on sick leave for a long time, the number of SIA actions related to vocational rehabilitation was limited and came late in the sick-leave spell. The information from the MMA was often not used as a basis for further SIA action and seldom resulted in return to work. The positive MMA views on the potential of vocational rehabilitation were not met by SIA actions. Suggestions on vocational rehabilitation from a medical assessment was in many cases not used by the social insurance agency in relationship to long-term sickness absentees. Active rehabilitation measures by the social insurance agency were few and came late in the sickness absence process. Few of the activities taken by the social insurance agency enhanced return to work.

Between individual agency and structure in HIV prevention: understanding the middle ground of social practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Kippax, Susan; Stephenson, Niamh; Parker, Richard G; Aggleton, Peter

2013-08-01

When HIV prevention targets risk and vulnerability, it focuses on individual agency and social structures, ignoring the centrality of community in effective HIV prevention. The neoliberal concept of risk assumes individuals are rational agents who act on information provided to them regarding HIV transmission. This individualistic framework does not recognize the communities in which people act and connect. The concept of vulnerability on the other hand acknowledges the social world, but mainly as social barriers that make it difficult for individuals to act. Neither approach to HIV prevention offers understanding of community practices or collective agency, both central to success in HIV prevention to date. Drawing on examples of the social transformation achieved by community action in Australia and Brazil, this article focuses on this middle ground and its role in effective HIV prevention.

75 FR 45695 - Final Federal Agency Actions on Trans-Texas Corridor 35 (TTC-35) in Texas

Science.gov (United States)

2010-08-03

...-Texas Corridor 35 (TTC-35) in Texas AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), DOT. ACTION: Notice... proposed transportation project, TTC-35, extending from the Texas- Oklahoma line to the City of Laredo, generally paralleling existing I- 35 in the State of Texas. DATES: By this notice, the FHWA is advising the...

77 FR 46346 - Petition for Inclusion of the Arab-American Community in the Groups Eligible for MBDA Services

Science.gov (United States)

2012-08-03

... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Minority Business Development Agency 15 CFR Part 1400 [Docket No. 120517080-2284-03] Petition for Inclusion of the Arab-American Community in the Groups Eligible for MBDA Services AGENCY: Minority Business Development Agency, Commerce. ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking and request...

77 FR 31765 - Petition for Inclusion of the Arab-American Community in the Groups Eligible for MBDA Services

Science.gov (United States)

2012-05-30

... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Minority Business Development Agency 15 CFR Part 1400 [Docket No. 120517080-2080-01] Petition for Inclusion of the Arab-American Community in the Groups Eligible for MBDA Services AGENCY: Minority Business Development Agency, Commerce. ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking and request...

77 FR 53780 - Petition for Inclusion of the Arab-American Community in the Groups Eligible for MBDA Services

Science.gov (United States)

2012-09-04

... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Minority Business Development Agency 15 CFR Part 1400 [Docket No. 120517080-2402-04] Petition for Inclusion of the Arab-American Community in the Groups Eligible for MBDA Services AGENCY: Minority Business Development Agency, Commerce. ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking and request...

77 FR 72254 - Petition for Inclusion of the Arab-American Community in the Groups Eligible for MBDA Services

Science.gov (United States)

2012-12-05

... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Minority Business Development Agency 15 CFR Part 1400 [Docket No. 121130667-2667-01] Petition for Inclusion of the Arab-American Community in the Groups Eligible for MBDA Services AGENCY: Minority Business Development Agency, Commerce. ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking and request...

Project FIND: a profile of a community-based senior services agency.

Science.gov (United States)

Lockwood, Andrée

2007-01-01

Project FIND has been providing innovative supportive housing, nutrition, and social support to homeless and low- and moderate-income seniors on New York City's West Side since 1967. This article profiles this nonprofit, community-based agency, which was established to meet the needs of the frail and isolated elderly, and has continued to grow and evolve in response to changing demographics, neighborhood gentrification, and needs of both the homeless as well as the active "younger old." The article describes creative programming that has distinguished Project FIND's response to seniors' needs beyond basic housing and nutrition. It also explores what it takes to successfully provide senior services using limited resources and examines challenges for the future both nationally and for the agency.

Participatory evaluation of community actions as a learning methodology for personal and community empowerment: case studies and empowerment processes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xavier Úcar Martínez

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Participatory evaluation (PE is a hybrid methodology that can be used simultaneously to investigate and act in groups and communities. It can generate new knowledge about reality, but italso allows changes in the participants and their sociocultural context. This research project, developed over three years, aims to find out whether PE processes are useful and appropriate to evaluate community actionsand to generate learning that contribute to the empowerment of people who develop them.Method: The methodological structure of the research process design Participatory Evaluation processes that are applied in three selected communities-cases, over one year. The steering groups in each caseevaluated four dimensions of Community Development Plans: context, evolution, performance and results, using different techniques and group dynamics. Throughout this process, participants identify the acquiredknowledge and this is linked to indicators of empowerment, using questionnaires, content analysis and semi-structured interviews.Results: The development PE process in the three analyzed cases confirmed that PE is a useful strategy to assess participatory community actions of a territory; to report them to the people of the community; andto make shared decisions, about initiatives in order to improve community actions. The obtained results also verify that, throughout PE, there has been learning in the participants.Conclusions: The involvement of community members in the evaluation makes it more useful, fairer and more valid, but also a fourth positive consequence of PE is empowerment. From the process and the resultsof these cases of Participatory Evaluation, we consider that community EP is social transformation.

Factors Influencing the Desire To Take Environmental Action in Communities.

Science.gov (United States)

Pruneau, Diane; Chouinard, Omer; Musafiri, Jean-Pierre; IsaBelle, Claire

In a coastal community, four social groups were chosen to participate in various educational programs designed to promote their desire to take environmental action. At the end of these educational programs, conducted by a scientist and an environmental educator, the participants were invited to get involved in the resolution of an environmental…

Measuring progress of collaborative action in a community health effort

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vicki L. Collie-Akers

2013-12-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: To measure the progress made by the collaborative actions of multisectorial partners in a community health effort using a systematic method to document and evaluate community/system changes over time. METHODS: This was a community-based participatory research project engaging community partners of the Latino Health for All Coalition, which based on the Health for All model, addresses health inequity in a low-income neighborhood in Kansas City, Kansas, United States of America. Guided by three research questions regarding the extent to which the Coalition catalyzed change, intensity of change, and how to visually display change, data were collected on community/system changes implemented by the community partners from 2009-2012. These changes were characterized and rated according to intensity (event duration, population reach, and strategy and by other categories, such as social determinant of health mechanism and sector. RESULTS: During the 4-year study period, the Coalition implemented 64 community/system changes. These changes were aligned with the Coalition's primary goals of healthy nutrition, physical activity, and access to health screenings. Community/system efforts improved over time, becoming longer in duration and reaching more of the population. CONCLUSIONS: Although evidence of its predictive validity awaits further research, this method for documenting and characterizing community/system changes enables community partners to see progress made by their health initiatives.

Catalyzing community action within a national campaign: VERB community and national partnerships.

Science.gov (United States)

Bretthauer-Mueller, Rosemary; Berkowitz, Judy M; Thomas, Melonie; McCarthy, Susan; Green, Lula Anna; Melancon, Heidi; Courtney, Anita H; Bryant, Carol A; Dodge, Kristin

2008-06-01

The VERB campaign used a social marketing approach to deliver its message through the mass media, school and community promotions, and partnerships to encourage children aged 9-13 years (tweens) to be physically active every day. This paper presents the VERB campaign's community and national partnership strategy, highlights three successful partnerships, and discusses challenges associated with the efforts. The national advertising generated awareness of and affinity for the product's brand and motivated the primary audience to seek out the product. The campaign's national and community partners were engaged to facilitate a product-distribution channel. The campaign developed a three-pronged partnership strategy to integrate the promotion with the placement of the campaign's product (physical activity): (1) reframe the way physical activity is positioned and delivered; (2) connect the brand to the point-of-purchase; and (3) refer (or drive) the audience to the action outlets, opportunities, places, spaces and programs to purchase the product. The VERB campaign provided partners with marketing training and resources to assist them as they leveraged tweens' brand awareness and supported regular physical activity among tweens. The method of technical assistance and the types of marketing tools were provided in relationship to four characteristics of the partner: (1) partner's network, (2) leaders and champions in the network, (3) partner's financial resources for community campaigns; and (4) partner's understanding of the marketing mindset. Coordinated, collaborative, and strong mass-media and community-based interventions within a national social marketing campaign can sustain the immediate effects of such campaigns.

76 FR 30286 - Community Development Revolving Loan Fund

Science.gov (United States)

2011-05-25

... Revolving Loan Fund AGENCY: National Credit Union Administration (NCUA). ACTION: Proposed rule. SUMMARY..., evaluates, and acts on credit union applications seeking loans and technical assistance grants from the Community Development Revolving Loan Fund (CDRLF or Fund). The proposed changes update the current rule to...

‘We are a community [but] that takes a certain amount of energy’: Exploring shared visions, social action, and resilience in place-based community-led energy initiatives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parkhill, K.A.; Shirani, F.; Butler, C.; Henwood, K.L.; Groves, C.; Pidgeon, N.F.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • We engage with conceptual characteristics of 3 community-led energy case studies. • We examine data from interviews to explore the issues community energy groups face. • Shared visions, social action and social resilience are important to community energy. • Creating and maintaining shared visions, social action and social resilience is extremely challenging. - Abstract: In UK energy policy, community-led energy initiatives are increasingly being imbued with transformative power to facilitate low carbon transitions. The ways that such expectations for communities are manifesting in practice remains, however, relatively poorly understood. In particular, key conceptual developments in unpacking what constitutes ‘community’ that highlight the significance of ‘place’ along with important characteristics, such as shared visions, collective social action, and resilience, have yet to be comprehensively explored in the context of community-led energy initiatives. This paper uses an interpretive stance to engage with these conceptual ideas about community and provides insights into the nature of community and its meaning for developing energy-related initiatives and realising the wider goals of energy policy. The paper draws on data from in-depth qualitative, longitudinal interviews undertaken in two residential communities and one purely workplace-based community, which are engaged in community energy initiatives. We argue that there are difficulties and ambiguities in creating shared visions, achieving social action, and developing resilience that are related to the specificities of community in place, but that all three characteristics are likely to be important for the making of sustainable places

After epidemiological research: what next? Community action for health promotion.

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Cwikel, J G

1994-01-01

The underlying purpose of all epidemiological research is ultimately to use inferences in order to prevent disease and promote health and well-being. Effective skills in translating results into appropriate policy, programs, and interventions are inherently tricky, and often politically controversial. Generally they are not taught to epidemiologists formally, even though they are a traditionally part of public health practice. To move from findings to policy change requires that the informed and committed epidemiologist should known how to: (1) organize affected parties to negotiate successfully with government and industry; (2) activate populations at risk to protect their health (3) communicate responsibly with lay persons about their health risks so as to encourage effective activism; (4) collaborate with other professionals to achieve disease prevention and health promotion goals. The paper presents and discusses four case studies to illustrate these strategies: (1) the grass-roots social action that was the response of the community to the environmental contamination at Love Canal, New York; (2) mobilization of recognized leaders within the gay community to disseminate HIV risk reduction techniques; (3) collaboration with an existing voluntary organization interested in community empowerment through health promotion in a Chicago slum by using existing hospital, emergency room admissions, and local motor vehicle accident data; (4) a self-help group, MADD (mothers against drunk driving) which fought to change public policy to limit and decrease drunk driving. In addition, the importance of multidisciplinary collaboration and responsible communication with the public is emphasized. Factors that limit the ability of the epidemiologist to move into public health action are discussed, including who owns the research findings, what is the degree of scientific uncertainty, and the cost-benefit balance of taking affirmative public action. Putting epidemiological

Women's responses to intimate partner violence in Rwanda: Rethinking agency in constrained social contexts.

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Mannell, Jenevieve; Jackson, Sharon; Umutoni, Aline

2016-01-01

This paper explores instances of agency in women's responses to intimate partner violence (IPV) in Rwanda. The literature on women's responses to IPV conceptualises agency primarily as an individual's capacity to take action by reporting violence or leaving a relationship, obscuring other ways women may respond to violence in contexts where reporting or leaving are unlikely. We aim to replace this narrow conceptualisation of agency with a social constructivist focus on the meanings women attribute to possible IPV responses. We draw on data from a study of IPV in Rwanda, which includes semi-structured interviews with women experiencing violence and four focus group discussions with women community members (n = 39). Our findings highlight sociocultural, economic, political-legal and historical constraints that shape women's actions in this context. In relation to these constraints, women describe four possible responses to IPV: reporting the violence; seeking emotional support; 'fighting back' against violence; or remaining silent. While reporting and leaving violent relationships are identified, women also discuss the social constraints that make these actions extremely difficult. In designing effective strategies, we conclude that public health strategies need to consider women's understandings of their own actions, particularly in social contexts where certain actions may be constrained.

Enacting Change through Action Learning: Mobilizing and Managing Power and Emotion

Science.gov (United States)

Conklin, James; Cohen-Schneider, Rochelle; Linkewich, Beth; Legault, Emma

2012-01-01

This paper reports on a study of how action learning facilitates the movement of knowledge between social contexts. The study involved a community organization that provides educational services related to aphasia and members of a complex continuing care (CCC) practice that received training from the agency. People with aphasia (PWA) (a disability…

Empowering America's Communities to Prepare for the Effects of Climate Change: Developing Actionable Climate Science Under the President's Climate Action Plan

Science.gov (United States)

Duffy, P. B.; Colohan, P.; Driggers, R.; Herring, D.; Laurier, F.; Petes, L.; Ruffo, S.; Tilmes, C.; Venkataraman, B.; Weaver, C. P.

2014-12-01

Effective adaptation to impacts of climate change requires best-available information. To be most useful, this information should be easily found, well-documented, and translated into tools that decision-makers use and trust. To meet these needs, the President's Climate Action Plan includes efforts to develop "actionable climate science". The Climate Data Initiative (CDI) leverages the Federal Government's extensive, open data resources to stimulate innovation and private-sector entrepreneurship in support of actions to prepare for climate change. The Initiative forges commitments and partnerships from the private, NGO, academic, and public sectors to create data-driven tools. Open data from Federal agencies to support this innovation is available on Climate.Data.gov, initially focusing on coastal flooding but soon to expand to topics including food, energy, water, energy, transportation, and health. The Climate Resilience Toolkit (CRT) will facilitate access to data-driven resilience tools, services, and best practices, including those accessible through the CDI. The CRT will also include access to training and tutorials, case studies, engagement forums, and other information sources. The Climate Action Plan also calls for a public-private partnership on extreme weather risk, with the goal of generating improved assessments of risk from different types of extreme weather events, using methods and data that are transparent and accessible. Finally, the U.S. Global Change Research Program and associated agencies work to advance the science necessary to inform decisions and sustain assessments. Collectively, these efforts represent increased emphasis across the Federal Government on the importance of information to support climate resilience.

75 FR 43160 - Clean Water Act Section 303(d): Final Agency Action on One Arkansas Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL)

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-23

... taking final agency action on the following TMDL for waters located within the State of Arkansas: Segment-reach Waterbody name Pollutant 11070208-901 Town Branch..... Total Phosphorus. EPA requested the public...

Development and successful application of a "Community-First" communication model for community-based environmental health research.

Science.gov (United States)

Emmett, Edward Anthony; Zhang, Hong; Shofer, Frances Susan; Rodway, Nancy; Desai, Chintan; Freeman, David; Hufford, Mary

2009-02-01

Effectively communicate results from a community exposure study to meet predetermined community priorities, maintaining ethical principles of autonomy, empowerment and justice. The community established principles for the communications and a plan to inform study participants, community and other stakeholders of results and recommendations in a novel sequence: the "Community-First" communication model. The communications resulted in positive actions including company sponsored free bottled water, accepted by 77.6% of eligible households. Over 95% of participants in a follow-up survey had made some change to residential water supplies. Serum perfluorooctanoate levels were reduced. Government agencies acted on the results. The unique communication approach generated workable solutions to the problem investigated, raised community awareness and modified behaviors. Information generated a "free market" of community-level solutions. Each major stakeholder voluntarily adopted a "precautionary principle."

Sensation of agency and perception of temporal order.

Science.gov (United States)

Timm, Jana; Schönwiesner, Marc; SanMiguel, Iria; Schröger, Erich

2014-01-01

After adaptation to a fixed temporal delay between actions and their sensory consequences, stimuli delivered during the delay are perceived to occur prior to actions. Temporal judgments are also influenced by the sensation of agency (experience of causing our own actions and their sensory consequences). Sensory consequences of voluntary actions are perceived to occur earlier in time than those of involuntary actions. However, it is unclear whether temporal order illusions influence the sensation of agency. Thus, we tested how the illusionary reversal of motor actions and sound events affect the sensation of agency. We observed an absence of the sensation of agency in the auditory modality in a condition in which sounds were falsely perceived as preceding motor acts relative to the perceived temporal order in the control condition. This finding suggests a strong association between the sensation of agency and the temporal order perception of actions and their consequences. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Agency attribution: event-related potentials and outcome monitoring.

Science.gov (United States)

Bednark, Jeffery G; Franz, Elizabeth A

2014-04-01

Knowledge about the effects of our actions is an underlying feature of voluntary behavior. Given the importance of identifying the outcomes of our actions, it has been proposed that the sensory outcomes of self-made actions are inherently different from those of externally caused outcomes. Thus, the outcomes of self-made actions are likely to be more motivationally significant for an agent. We used event-related potentials to investigate the relationship between the perceived motivational significance of an outcome and the attribution of agency in the presence of others. In our experiment, we assessed agency attribution in the presence of another agent by varying the degree of contiguity between participants' self-made actions and the sensory outcome. Specifically, we assessed the feedback correct-related positivity (fCRP) and the novelty P3 measures of an outcome's motivational significance and unexpectedness, respectively. Results revealed that both the fCRP and participants' agency attributions were significantly influenced by action-outcome contiguity. However, when action-outcome contiguity was ambiguous, novelty P3 amplitude was a reliable indicator of agency attribution. Prior agency attributions were also found to influence attribution in trials with ambiguous and low action-outcome contiguity. Participants' use of multiple cues to determine agency is consistent with the cue integration theory of agency. In addition to these novel findings, this study supports growing evidence suggesting that reinforcement processes play a significant role in the sense of agency.

Maximizing effectiveness of adaptation action in Pacific Island communities using coastal wave attenuation models

Science.gov (United States)

Jung, H.; Carruthers, T.; Allison, M. A.; Weathers, D.; Moss, L.; Timmermans, H.

2017-12-01

Pacific Island communities are highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, specifically accelerating rates of sea level rise, changes to storm intensity and associated rainfall patterns resulting in flooding and shoreline erosion. Nature-based adaptation is being planned not only to reduce the risk from shoreline erosion, but also to support benefits of a healthy ecosystem (e.g., supporting fisheries or coral reefs). In order to assess potential effectiveness of the nature-based actions to dissipate wave energy, two-dimensional X-Beach models were developed to predict the wave attenuation effect of coastal adaptation actions at the pilot sites—the villages of Naselesele and Somosomo on Taveuni island, Fiji. Both sites are experiencing serious shoreline erosion due to sea level rise and storm wave. The water depth (single-beam bathymetry), land elevation (truck-based LiDAR), and vegetation data including stem density and height were collected in both locations in a June 2017 field experiment. Wave height and water velocity were also measured for the model setup and calibration using a series of bottom-mounted instruments deployed in the 0-15 m water depth portions of the study grid. The calibrated model will be used to evaluate a range of possible adaptation actions identified by the community members of Naselesele and Somosomo. Particularly, multiple storm scenario runs with management-relevant shoreline restoration/adaptation options will be implemented to evaluate efficiencies of each adaptation action (e.g., no action, with additional planted trees, with sand mining, with seawalls constructed with natural materials, etc.). These model results will help to better understand how proposed adaption actions may influence future shoreline change and maximize benefits to communities in island nations across the SW Pacific.

77 FR 22347 - Agency Information Collection Agencies: Proposed Collection; Comments Requested Reinstatement...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-04-13

... Approval Has Expired: Survey of General Purpose Law Enforcement Agencies, 2012 ACTION: 60-Day notice of information collection under review. The Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice... DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE [OMB Number 1121-0240] Agency Information Collection Agencies: Proposed...

Interdependence and Sustainable Collective Action: : The case of four collective housing communities in Mexico City

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Montelongo Arana, Marina; Wittek, Rafael

2015-01-01

We study under which conditions collective action breaks down into some communities but keeps sustainable in others. The main purpose of our explorative qualitative study is to identify the micro-level pathways that lead to the maintenance and decay of collective action. Drawing on sharing group

The role of COST Actions in unifying the European ionospheric community in the transition between the two millennia

Science.gov (United States)

Zolesi, Bruno; Cander, Ljiljana R.

2018-05-01

This paper consists of a review of the important contributions of four COST (European Co-operation in Science and Technology) Actions in the period 1991-2009 to terrestrial ionospheric research, with applications in modern communication and navigation systems. Within this context, new ionospheric studies were initiated, leading to the development of a number of models, algorithms for prediction, forecasting, and real-time specification, as well as numerical programs. These were successfully implemented in different collaborative projects within EU instruments, promoting co-operation between scientists and researchers across Europe. A further outcome was to bring together more than a hundred researchers from around 40 scientific institutions, agencies, and academia in about 25 countries worldwide. They collaborated with enthusiasm in research, as briefly described in this paper, forming a lively ionospheric community and presenting a strong intellectual response to the rapidly growing contemporary challenge of space weather research.

The effectiveness of community action in reducing risky alcohol consumption and harm: a cluster randomised controlled trial.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anthony Shakeshaft

2014-03-01

Full Text Available The World Health Organization, governments, and communities agree that community action is likely to reduce risky alcohol consumption and harm. Despite this agreement, there is little rigorous evidence that community action is effective: of the six randomised trials of community action published to date, all were US-based and focused on young people (rather than the whole community, and their outcomes were limited to self-report or alcohol purchase attempts. The objective of this study was to conduct the first non-US randomised controlled trial (RCT of community action to quantify the effectiveness of this approach in reducing risky alcohol consumption and harms measured using both self-report and routinely collected data.We conducted a cluster RCT comprising 20 communities in Australia that had populations of 5,000-20,000, were at least 100 km from an urban centre (population ≥ 100,000, and were not involved in another community alcohol project. Communities were pair-matched, and one member of each pair was randomly allocated to the experimental group. Thirteen interventions were implemented in the experimental communities from 2005 to 2009: community engagement; general practitioner training in alcohol screening and brief intervention (SBI; feedback to key stakeholders; media campaign; workplace policies/practices training; school-based intervention; general practitioner feedback on their prescribing of alcohol medications; community pharmacy-based SBI; web-based SBI; Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services support for SBI; Good Sports program for sports clubs; identifying and targeting high-risk weekends; and hospital emergency department-based SBI. Primary outcomes based on routinely collected data were alcohol-related crime, traffic crashes, and hospital inpatient admissions. Routinely collected data for the entire study period (2001-2009 were obtained in 2010. Secondary outcomes based on pre- and post-intervention surveys (n�

The effectiveness of community action in reducing risky alcohol consumption and harm: a cluster randomised controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Shakeshaft, Anthony; Doran, Christopher; Petrie, Dennis; Breen, Courtney; Havard, Alys; Abudeen, Ansari; Harwood, Elissa; Clifford, Anton; D'Este, Catherine; Gilmour, Stuart; Sanson-Fisher, Rob

2014-03-01

The World Health Organization, governments, and communities agree that community action is likely to reduce risky alcohol consumption and harm. Despite this agreement, there is little rigorous evidence that community action is effective: of the six randomised trials of community action published to date, all were US-based and focused on young people (rather than the whole community), and their outcomes were limited to self-report or alcohol purchase attempts. The objective of this study was to conduct the first non-US randomised controlled trial (RCT) of community action to quantify the effectiveness of this approach in reducing risky alcohol consumption and harms measured using both self-report and routinely collected data. We conducted a cluster RCT comprising 20 communities in Australia that had populations of 5,000-20,000, were at least 100 km from an urban centre (population ≥ 100,000), and were not involved in another community alcohol project. Communities were pair-matched, and one member of each pair was randomly allocated to the experimental group. Thirteen interventions were implemented in the experimental communities from 2005 to 2009: community engagement; general practitioner training in alcohol screening and brief intervention (SBI); feedback to key stakeholders; media campaign; workplace policies/practices training; school-based intervention; general practitioner feedback on their prescribing of alcohol medications; community pharmacy-based SBI; web-based SBI; Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services support for SBI; Good Sports program for sports clubs; identifying and targeting high-risk weekends; and hospital emergency department-based SBI. Primary outcomes based on routinely collected data were alcohol-related crime, traffic crashes, and hospital inpatient admissions. Routinely collected data for the entire study period (2001-2009) were obtained in 2010. Secondary outcomes based on pre- and post-intervention surveys (n = 2,977 and 2

Community action research track: Community-based participatory research and service-learning experiences for medical students.

Science.gov (United States)

Gimpel, Nora; Kindratt, Tiffany; Dawson, Alvin; Pagels, Patti

2018-04-01

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) and service-learning are unique experiential approaches designed to train medical students how to provide individualized patient care from a population perspective. Medical schools in the US are required to provide support for service-learning and community projects. Despite this requirement, few medical schools offer structured service-learning. We developed the Community Action Research Track (CART) to integrate population medicine, health promotion/disease prevention and the social determinants of health into the medical school curriculum through CBPR and service-learning experiences. This article provides an overview of CART and reports the program impact based on students' participation, preliminary evaluations and accomplishments. CART is an optional 4‑year service-learning experience for medical students interested in community health. The curriculum includes a coordinated longitudinal program of electives, community service-learning and lecture-based instruction. From 2009-2015, 146 CART students participated. Interests in public health (93%), community service (73%), primary care (73%), CBPR (60%) and community medicine (60%) were the top reasons for enrolment. Significant improvements in mean knowledge were found when measuring the principles of CBPR, levels of prevention, determining health literacy and patient communication strategies (all p's Projects were disseminated by at least 65 posters and four oral presentations at local, national and international professional meetings. Six manuscripts were published in peer-reviewed journals. CART is an innovative curriculum for training future physicians to be community-responsive physicians. CART can be replicated by other medical schools interested in offering a longitudinal CBPR and service-learning track in an urban metropolitan setting.

Survey on Public Awareness On AIDS- Role Of Government And Non Government Agencies In A Rural South Indian Community

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Balagnesh G

1996-01-01

Full Text Available Research Question: What is the level of Public awareness on AIDS in a rural community and to what extent the government and non-government agencies have played their role in creating the awareness? Objectives: (i To study the public awareness on AIDS in a rural community (ii To Study role of government and non-government agencies in creating the awareness on AIDS. Design: Cross-sectional study Setting: Rural area under S. V. Medical College Triputi (AP Participants: 100 males (15-45 yrs and 100 females (15-45 yrs. Study variables: Awareness on AIDS, Government and non-government agencies. Statistical Analysis: Percentages Results: Most of the persons interviewed had minimal knowledge on AIDS. Quite a large section of the ‘ study population was ignorant over the safety offered by condoms in preventing AIDS. Doordarshan and Newspaper agencies played much role in creation the awareness on AIDS, while the non-government agencies like Lions’ Club, Rotary Club. Indian Junior Chamber etc. played no role in creating the awareness on AIDS in the study area. Recommendations: Government health sector should take more responsibility in educating the people and creating adequate awareness on AIDS. Non-government agencies should involve themselves in creating awareness on AIDS.

7 CFR 245.10 - Action by local educational agencies.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... submit for approval to the State agency a free and reduced price policy statement. Once approved, the... shall amend its permanent free and reduced price policy statement to reflect substantive changes. Any... local educational agency's free and reduced price policy statement has been approved by the State agency...

78 FR 24794 - Notice of Final Federal Agency Actions on the Proposed Presque Isle Bypass in Aroostook County...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-04-26

... advised to file their claim no later than the business day preceding this date. If the Federal law that... northeast from U.S. Route 1 immediately north of Cambridge Road in Westfield, Maine, continuing north for 7....6 miles is in Westfield, Maine. The actions by the Federal agencies, and the laws under which such...

Development and Successful Application of a “Community-First” Communication Model for Community-Based Environmental Health Research

Science.gov (United States)

Emmett, Edward Anthony; Zhang, Hong; Shofer, Frances Susan; Rodway, Nancy; Desai, Chintan; Freeman, David; Hufford, Mary

2011-01-01

Objectives Effectively communicate results from a community exposure study to meet predetermined community priorities, maintaining ethical principles of autonomy, empowerment and justice. Methods The community established principles for the communications and a plan to inform study participants, community and other stakeholders of results and recommendations in a novel sequence: the “Community-First” communication model. Results The communications resulted in positive actions including company sponsored free bottled water, accepted by 77.6% of eligible households. Over 95% of participants in a follow-up survey had made some change to residential water supplies. Serum PFOA levels were reduced. Government agencies acted on the results. Conclusions The unique communication approach generated workable solutions to the problem investigated, raised community awareness and modified behaviors. Information generated a “free market” of community-level solutions. Each major stakeholder voluntarily adopted a “precautionary principle”. PMID:19209035

Opening Data in the Long Tail for Community Discovery, Curation and Action Using Active and Social Curation

Science.gov (United States)

Hedstrom, M. L.; Kumar, P.; Myers, J.; Plale, B. A.

2012-12-01

In data science, the most common sequence of steps for data curation are to 1) curate data, 2) enable data discovery, and 3) provide for data reuse. The Sustainable Environments - Actionable Data (SEAD) project, funded through NSF's DataNet program, is creating an environment for sustainability scientists to discover data first, reuse data next, and curate data though an on-going process that we call Active and Social Curation. For active curation we are developing tools and services that support data discovery, data management, and data enhancement for the community while the data is still being used actively for research. We are creating an Active Content Repository, using drop box, semantic web technologies, and a Flickr-like interface for researchers to "drop" data into a repository where it will be replicated and minimally discoverable. For social curation, we are deploying a social networking tool, VIVO, which will allow researchers to discover data-publications-people (e.g. expertise) through a route that can start at any of those entry points. The other dimension of social curation is developing mechanisms to open data for community input, for example, using ranking and commenting mechanisms for data sets and a community-sourcing capability to add tags, clean up and validate data sets. SEAD's strategies and services are aimed at the sustainability science community, which faces numerous challenges including discovery of useful data, cleaning noisy observational data, synthesizing data of different types, defining appropriate models, managing and preserving their research data, and conveying holistic results to colleagues, students, decision makers, and the public. Sustainability researchers make significant use of centrally managed data from satellites and national sensor networks, national scientific and statistical agencies, and data archives. At the same time, locally collected data and custom derived data products that combine observations and

Climate Action Team

Science.gov (United States)

Science Partnerships Contact Us Climate Action Team & Climate Action Initiative The Climate Action programs and the state's Climate Adaptation Strategy. The CAT members are state agency secretaries and the . See CAT reports Climate Action Team Pages CAT Home Members Working Groups Reports Back to Top

Home health agency work environments and hospitalizations.

Science.gov (United States)

Jarrín, Olga; Flynn, Linda; Lake, Eileen T; Aiken, Linda H

2014-10-01

An important goal of home health care is to assist patients to remain in community living arrangements. Yet home care often fails to prevent hospitalizations and to facilitate discharges to community living, thus putting patients at risk of additional health challenges and increasing care costs. To determine the relationship between home health agency work environments and agency-level rates of acute hospitalization and discharges to community living. Analysis of linked Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services Home Health Compare data and nurse survey data from 118 home health agencies. Robust regression models were used to estimate the effect of work environment ratings on between-agency variation in rates of acute hospitalization and community discharge. Home health agencies with good work environments had lower rates of acute hospitalizations and higher rates of patient discharges to community living arrangements compared with home health agencies with poor work environments. Improved work environments in home health agencies hold promise for optimizing patient outcomes and reducing use of expensive hospital and institutional care.

Micro credit and women's agency: a comparative perspective across socio-religious communities in West Bengal, India

OpenAIRE

Kundu, AMIT

2011-01-01

The paper explores the impact of a government sponsored microcredit program in India on women's decision-making agency across different socio-religious communities. The paper shows that women's participation in the Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojona (SGSY) has resulted in varied patterns of decision-making across socio-religious communities (SRC) in four areas chosen for inquiry: (a) Money Management, (b) Food item (c) Use of borrowed money and (d) Kinship and family matters. The likelihood ...

78 FR 58382 - Notice of Final Federal Agency Actions on the Proposed U.S. 50 Study Crossing Over Sinepauxent...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-09-23

... 5th Street to Somerset Street located in the Town of Ocean City, Worcester County, Maryland. This... on the Proposed U.S. 50 Study Crossing Over Sinepauxent Bay in the Town of Ocean City, Worcester County, Maryland AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), DOT. ACTION: Notice of limitation on...

Insider Threat: Preventing Direct Action Attacks Within the United States Army

Science.gov (United States)

2017-06-09

Intelligence Agency, 2012. Joint Chiefs of Staff. Joint Publication (JP) 3-07.2, Antiterrorism. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 2010. 81...Federal Bureau of Investigation GEN General (Army rank, O-10) HIPAA Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 INSCOM Intelligence and...commanders, and the intelligence community to prevent insider threats from developing into direct action attacks, this study sought to answer the

Setting up charging electric stations within residential communities in current China: Gaming of government agencies and property management companies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, Tian; Ma, Lin; Mao, Zhonggen; Ou, Xunmin

2015-01-01

The difficulty of charging electric vehicles (EVs) is now hindering their further development. Governments generally choose to build stations for home charging (including piles) within residential communities. Given the conflict of interest between various government agencies and property management companies, constructing a charging station within residential communities would result in welfare loss for the property management companies and therefore lead to the principal–agent problem. This paper constructs a two-period imperfect information game theory model to study the moral hazard involved in this issue and government agencies' optimal choice. In the analytic solution of the model, we find that the optimal choice for a farsighted government agency is to constantly improve the incentive mechanism and introduce charging stations only when the conflict of interest is eliminated. Any benefits derived from government regulations by force would prove short-lived. The government should focus on long-term returns in the development of EVs, and its optimal mechanism should be designed to mitigate the principal–agent problem of property management companies, thereby accelerate the progress of EV charging infrastructure and improve overall social welfare. - Highlights: • The charging of electric vehicles (EVs) is hindering their use. • A game theory model is used for analysis of EV charging station construction. • Charging stations are in residential communities in China. • Government agencies are constantly improving incentive mechanisms

A Model for Health Promotion in Rural Communities through the Development of Personal Agency and Intrinsic Empowerment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Iwin Leenen

2011-05-01

Full Text Available ConBased on the program “Yo quiero, yo puedo… mejorar mi salud y ejercer mis derechos” [I want to, I can…improve my health and exercise my rights], a pilot model was designed and implemented in three States of Mexico. This model aims to change nutrition and hygiene behaviors in the inhabitants of marginalized communities, through knowledge and psychosocial skills development facilitating personal agency and intrinsic empowerment. Evaluation of the program showed an effect on knowledge, assertive communication, personal agency and gender equity among the personnel in charge of the warehouses that provide the rural stores, and on knowledge, assertive communication, decision making and personal agency in the target population. Life skills training, knowledge and personal agency promotion enhance opportunities for poverty reduction.

Status report - FoodReach Toronto: lowering food costs for social agencies and community groups

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul Coleman

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Toronto has the largest absolute number of food insecure households for any metropolitan census area in Canada: of its 2.1 million households, roughly 252 000 households (or 12% experience some level of food insecurity. Community organizations (including social agencies, school programs, and child care centres serve millions of meals per year to the city’s most vulnerable citizens, but often face challenges accessing fresh produce at affordable prices. Therefore in 2015, Toronto Public Health, in collaboration with public- and private-sector partners, launched the FoodReach program to improve the efficiency of food procurement among community organizations by consolidating their purchasing power. Since being launched, FoodReach has been used by more than 50 community organizations to provide many of Toronto’s most marginalised groups with regular access to healthy produce.

Visual methodologies and participatory action research: Performing women's community-based health promotion in post-Katrina New Orleans.

Science.gov (United States)

Lykes, M Brinton; Scheib, Holly

2016-01-01

Recovery from disaster and displacement involves multiple challenges including accompanying survivors, documenting effects, and rethreading community. This paper demonstrates how African-American and Latina community health promoters and white university-based researchers engaged visual methodologies and participatory action research (photoPAR) as resources in cross-community praxis in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and the flooding of New Orleans. Visual techniques, including but not limited to photonarratives, facilitated the health promoters': (1) care for themselves and each other as survivors of and responders to the post-disaster context; (2) critical interrogation of New Orleans' entrenched pre- and post-Katrina structural racism as contributing to the racialised effects of and responses to Katrina; and (3) meaning-making and performances of women's community-based, cross-community health promotion within this post-disaster context. This feminist antiracist participatory action research project demonstrates how visual methodologies contributed to the co-researchers' cross-community self- and other caring, critical bifocality, and collaborative construction of a contextually and culturally responsive model for women's community-based health promotion post 'unnatural disaster'. Selected limitations as well as the potential for future cross-community antiracist feminist photoPAR in post-disaster contexts are discussed.

Community based needs assessment in an urban area; A participatory action research project

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahari Saeid

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Community assessment is a core function of public health. In such assessments, a commitment to community participation and empowerment is at the heart of the WHO European Healthy Cities Network, reflecting its origins in health for all and the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion. This study employs a participation and empowerment plan in order to conduct community assessment. Methods The method of participatory action research (PAR was used. The study was carried out in an area of high socio-economic deprivation in Ardabil, a city in the northwest of Iran, which is currently served by a branch of the Social Development Center (SDC. The steering committee of the project was formed by some university faculty members, health officials and delegates form Farhikhteh non-governmental organization and representatives from twelve blocks or districts of the community. Then, the representatives were trained and then conducted focus groups in their block. The focus group findings informed the development of the questionnaire. About six hundred households were surveyed and study questionnaires were completed either during face-to-face interviews by the research team (in case of illiteracy or via self-completion. The primary question for the residents was: 'what is the most important health problem in your community? Each health problem identified by the community was weighted based on the frequency it was selected on the survey, and steering committee perception of the problem's seriousness, urgency, solvability, and financial load. Results The main problems of the area appeared to be the asphalt problem, lack of easy access to medical centers, addiction among relatives and unemployment of youth. High participation rates of community members in the steering committee and survey suggest that the PAR approach was greatly appreciated by the community and that problems identified through this research truly reflect community opinion

Improving actions to control high blood pressure in Hispanic communities - Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health Across the U.S. Project, 2009-2012.

Science.gov (United States)

Liao, Youlian; Siegel, Paul Z; White, Shannon; Dulin, Rick; Taylor, April

2016-02-01

Compared with the general population in the United States (U.S.), Hispanics with hypertension are less likely to be aware of their condition, to take antihypertensive medication, and to adopt healthy lifestyles to control high blood pressure. We examined whether a multi-community intervention successfully increased the prevalence of actions to control hypertension among Hispanics. Annual survey from 2009-2012 was conducted in six Hispanic communities in the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) Across the U.S. The survey used address based sampling design that matched the geographies of intervention program. Age- and sex-standardized prevalences of taking hypertensive medication, changing eating habits, cutting down on salt, and reducing alcohol use significantly increased among Hispanics with self-reported hypertension in REACH communities. The 3-year relative percent increases were 5.8, 6.8, 7.9, and 35.2% for the four indicators, respectively. These favorable (healthier) trends occurred in both foreign-born and U.S.-born Hispanics. This large community-based participatory intervention resulted in more Hispanic residents in the communities taking actions to control high blood pressure. Published by Elsevier Inc.

On the inference of agency in operant action : an examination of the cognitive and neural underpinnings in health and schizophrenia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Renes, R.A.

2016-01-01

This dissertation elucidates cognitive and neural underpinnings of the sense of agency, which is the feeling that we are in control of our actions and the subsequent consequences. This consciously accessible sensation of control is pervasive, sometimes subtle, and can even be illusory in nature.

Inspection methods for physical protection Task III review of other agencies' physical security activities for research reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

In Task I of this project, the current Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) position-on physical security practices and procedures at research reactors were reviewed. In the second task, a sampling of the physical security plans was presented and the three actual reactor sites described in the security plans were visited. The purpose of Task III is to review other agencies' physical security activities for research reactors. During this phase, the actions, procedures and policies of two domestic and two foreign agencies other than the NRC that relate to the research reactor community were examined. The agencies examined were: International Atomic Energy Agency; Canadian Atomic Energy Control Board; Department of Energy; and American Nuclear Insurers

42 CFR 137.136 - What happens if the agency takes no action within the 45 day review period (or any extensions...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... HUMAN SERVICES TRIBAL SELF-GOVERNANCE Final Offer § 137.136 What happens if the agency takes no action within the 45 day review period (or any extensions thereof)? The final offer is accepted automatically by operation of law. ...

75 FR 62919 - Notice of Final Federal Agency Actions on the Route 250 Bypass Interchange at McIntire Road...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-13

... on the Route 250 Bypass Interchange at McIntire Road Project in Virginia AGENCY: Federal Highway.... 139(l)(1). The actions relate to the Route 250 Bypass Interchange at McIntire Road project in the City... Virginia: Route 250 Bypass Interchange at McIntire Road. The project would involve construction of a grade...

Illusion of Sense of Self-Agency: Discrepancy between the Predicted and Actual Sensory Consequences of Actions Modulates the Sense of Self-Agency, but not the Sense of Self-Ownership

Science.gov (United States)

Sato, Atsushi; Yasuda, Asako

2005-01-01

It is proposed that knowledge of motor commands is used to distinguish self-generated sensation from externally generated sensation. In this paper, we show that the sense of self-agency, that is the sense that I am the one who is generating an action, largely depends on the degree of discrepancy resulting from comparison between the predicted and…

77 FR 13261 - Request for Applications: The Community Forest and Open Space Conservation Program

Science.gov (United States)

2012-03-06

... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Forest Service Request for Applications: The Community Forest and Open Space Conservation Program AGENCY: Forest Service. ACTION: Notice; Correction. SUMMARY: The Department..., published a document in the Federal Register of February 15, 2011, concerning requests for applications for...

Diplomatic agency

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Adler-Nissen, Rebecca

2016-01-01

diplomatic agency has been conceptualized in International Relations theory (English School, game theory, Foreign Policy Analysis, constructivism, practice theory, post-positivism) before presenting and exemplifying major and overlapping types of diplomatic agency, including communication, negotiation......Diplomatic agency is intriguing. On the one hand, diplomats are crucial to the management of day-to-day international relations and the negotiation of war and peace. On the other hand, most diplomatic action is highly constrained or invisible. This chapter provides an overview of the ways in which...... and advocacy. It analyzes how professionalization, legalization, personalization and popularization of diplomacy have shaped diplomatic agency including how international law, bureaucracy, public diplomacy and new information technologies have impacted the scope and content of diplomatic agency. Finally...

Learning communities and overcoming poverty in Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tatiana Santos Pitanga

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Object: Brazil has implemented social programs to meet the Millennium Development Goals of reducing poverty and inequality. Despite the good results still there are ghettos and educational and social inequalities. Moreover Learning Communities are responding to these needs by promoting education based on successful actions scientifically proven of which promote educational change and social inclusion. The aim of this article is to highlight the characteristics of Learning Communities that allow overcoming poverty, and in this perspective, explain the implementation of the Learning Communities in Brazil and how, in this way, it is creating the conditions for effective overcoming give poverty and inequality in this country.Design / methodology: This article is based on documentary analysis of reports of the INCLUD-ED - the project on school education more scientific resources has been funded by the European Union, United Nations / ECLAC, Brazilian public agencies and websites of official institutions that promote Learning Communities in Brazil. Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics are also collected.Contributions and results: It highlights successful actions that contribute to overcoming poverty and social exclusion. Such actions are based on dialogic learning, democratic management and the formation of heterogeneous groups. It is observed that in Brazil are carrying out such actions and the ongoing expansion of the project in the country is creating the conditions for effective poverty reduction.Added value: This article reveals specific elements of overcoming poverty through education.

National action plan to reduce smoking during pregnancy: the National Partnership to Help Pregnant Smokers Quit.

Science.gov (United States)

Orleans, Tracy; Melvin, Cathy; Marx, Joseph; Maibach, Edward; Vose, Kathryn Kahler

2004-04-01

Although there has been remarkable progress and momentum toward achieving smoke-free pregnancies in the United States since 1990, concerted action is needed to close the remaining gaps in treatment and prevention so that we can reach the Healthy People 2010 goal for pregnant smokers: a prevalence of 1% or less. This need for action led to the formation of the National Partnership to Help Pregnant Smokers Quit, a collaboration among more than 50 organizations and agencies, public and private, that have joined forces to help pregnant smokers quit by providing proven clinical and community-based interventions to every pregnant smoker. This article summarizes the action plan developed by the partnership, the strategies it outlines, and some of the actions taken by partners over the past year to put the plan into action. Action is planned and progress is being made in five strategic areas: offering help through the health care system; using the media effectively; harnessing community and worksite resources; promoting policies known to increase smoking cessation efforts and successes; and expanding national research, surveillance, and evaluation efforts.

Factors affecting collective action for forest fire management: a comparative study of community forest user groups in central Siwalik, Nepal.

Science.gov (United States)

Sapkota, Lok Mani; Shrestha, Rajendra Prasad; Jourdain, Damien; Shivakoti, Ganesh P

2015-01-01

The attributes of social ecological systems affect the management of commons. Strengthening and enhancing social capital and the enforcement of rules and sanctions aid in the collective action of communities in forest fire management. Using a set of variables drawn from previous studies on the management of commons, we conducted a study across 20 community forest user groups in Central Siwalik, Nepal, by dividing the groups into two categories based on the type and level of their forest fire management response. Our study shows that the collective action in forest fire management is consistent with the collective actions in other community development activities. However, the effectiveness of collective action is primarily dependent on the complex interaction of various variables. We found that strong social capital, strong enforcement of rules and sanctions, and users' participation in crafting the rules were the major variables that strengthen collective action in forest fire management. Conversely, users' dependency on a daily wage and a lack of transparency were the variables that weaken collective action. In fire-prone forests such as the Siwalik, our results indicate that strengthening social capital and forming and enforcing forest fire management rules are important variables that encourage people to engage in collective action in fire management.

French local agencies of energy control; Agences locales francaise de maitrise de l'energie

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2000-07-01

In the framework of the SAVE program, the European Commission brings financial assistance to the creation of local or regional agencies of energy control in municipalities and regions. The main criteria are the impacts on the energy demand, the reinforcement of the economic and social cohesion, the environmental quality and the contribution to the economic development and the employment creation. In this document, realized by Energie-Cites, the Ademe objective is to present a state of the art of french local agencies. Ten agencies are presented as case study. Each case deals with the following topics: the main context of the action which details the energy and the environmental policy of the municipality, the creation and the description of the agency, the implemented actions and the perspectives. (A.L.B.)

Adapting cognitive behavioral therapy for psychosis for case managers: increasing access to services in a community mental health agency.

Science.gov (United States)

Montesano, Vicki L; Sivec, Harry J; Munetz, Mark R; Pelton, Jeremy R; Turkington, Douglas

2014-03-01

The purpose of this article is twofold: (a) to describe the adaptation of an evidence-based practice and, (b) using a dissemination framework, to describe the process of implementing the practice at a community mental health agency. The authors describe the training concept and dissemination framework of implementing an emerging practice: high-yield cognitive behavioral techniques for psychosis, which is rooted in cognitive behavioral therapy. Thirteen case managers who represented teams from across the agency delivered the adapted practice at a community mental health agency. Implementation required buy in from all stakeholders, communication across disciplines, persistence, and flexibility. It appears that the use of a dissemination framework that is grounded in the literature, yet flexible, eases the process of implementing an adapted practice. Further research focusing on the effectiveness of this approach, along with the impact of implementing a full spectrum of cognitive behavioral therapy services for individuals with persistent psychotic symptoms, based on cognitive behavioral therapy principles, is indicated.

Divided Attention and Processes Underlying Sense of Agency

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wen eWen

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Sense of agency refers to the subjective feeling of controlling events through one’s behavior or will. Sense of agency results from matching predictions of one’s own actions with actual feedback regarding the action. Furthermore, when an action involves a cued goal, performance-based inference contributes to sense of agency. That is, if people achieve their goal, they would believe themselves to be in control. Previous studies have shown that both action-effect comparison and performance-based inference contribute to sense of agency; however, the dominance of one process over the other may shift based on task conditions such as the presence or absence of specific goals. In this study, we examined the influence of divided attention on these two processes underlying sense of agency in two conditions. In the experimental task, participants continuously controlled a moving dot for 10 s while maintaining a string of three or seven digits in working memory. We found that when there was no cued goal (no-cued-goal condition, sense of agency was impaired by high cognitive load. Contrastingly, when participants controlled the dot based on a cued goal (cued-goal-directed condition, their sense of agency was lower than in the no-cued-goal condition and was not affected by cognitive load. The results suggest that the action-effect comparison process underlying sense of agency requires attention. On the other hand, the weaker influence of divided attention in the cued-goal-directed condition could be attributed to the dominance of performance-based inference, which is probably automatic.

Community garden: A bridging program between formal and informal learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ranjan Datta

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Community garden activities can play a significant role in bridging formal and informal learning, particularly in urban children’s science and environmental education. It promotes relational methods of learning, discussing, and practicing that will integrate food security, social interactions, community development, environmental activism, and cultural integration. Throughout the last five years of my community garden activities, I have learned that community garden-based practices adhere to particular forms of agency: embracing diversity, sharing power, and trust building as a part of everyday learning. My auto-ethnographic study provides valuable insights for environmental educators whose goals include, incorporating ethnic diversity as well as engaging children in research, ultimately leading to community action.

Community–University Partnerships: Using Participatory Action Learning and Action Research (PALAR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Judith Kearney

2013-09-01

Full Text Available This article positions participatory action learning and action research (PALAR as a preferred methodology for community-university partnerships to achieve a holistic outcome that benefits the common interest. Evidence for this claim is illustrated through case studies of two community engagement programs, one in South Africa and the other in Australia. The South African study explains how relationships, reflection and recognition (the three R’s of PALAR are important elements that promote a truly participatory approach to knowledge creation and practical improvement in social circumstances. The Australian study then highlights what can be achieved. It does this by showing the potential for PALAR participants to learn how to design and implement a community engagement program, and how to cascade their own learning into their community to improve educational opportunities. Both studies demonstrate PALAR’s potential to disrupt traditional understandings of the research process, particularly in terms of researcher–participant relationships. At the same time, both studies identify the challenges arising from the theoretical and practical implications of PALAR as an approach to community development. This article is therefore significant for universities and funding organisations engaging in community-based research and development through partnerships, specifically in contexts of disadvantage. Keywords: Participatory action learning and action research, PALAR, community development, community engagement, community partnerships, disadvantaged communities, higher education.

International learning communities for global and localcitizenship

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hana Cervinkova

2011-10-01

Full Text Available In this paper, I describe our ongoing international project in engaged educationalethnography and participatory action research with young adults and consider itsrelevance for a discussion on the community-building role of adult education in aglobalized context. I use the example of our case study to suggest that adult educatorscan generate viable communities by creating learning spaces that nurture criticalconsciousness, a sense of agency, participation and social solidarity amonginternationally and culturally diverse young adult learners. Furthermore, I argue thatparticipation in international learning communities formed through this educationalprocess can potentially help young adults become locally and globally engaged citizens.International learning communities for global citizenship thus present a proposition forconceptualizing the vital role of adult community education in supporting democraticglobal and local citizenship in a world defined in terms of cross-cultural and longdistanceencounters in the formation of culture.

Peer-led Aboriginal parent support: Program development for vulnerable populations with participatory action research.

Science.gov (United States)

Munns, Ailsa; Toye, Christine; Hegney, Desley; Kickett, Marion; Marriott, Rhonda; Walker, Roz

2017-10-01

Participatory action research (PAR) is a credible, culturally appropriate methodology that can be used to effect collaborative change within vulnerable populations. This PAR study was undertaken in a Western Australian metropolitan setting to develop and evaluate the suitability, feasibility and effectiveness of an Aboriginal peer-led home visiting programme. A secondary aim, addressed in this paper, was to explore and describe research methodology used for the study and provide recommendations for its implementation in other similar situations. PAR using action learning sets was employed to develop the parent support programme and data addressing the secondary, methodological aim were collected through focus groups using semi-structured and unstructured interview schedules. Findings were addressed throughout the action research process to enhance the research process. The themes that emerged from the data and addressed the methodological aim were the need for safe communication processes; supportive engagement processes and supportive organisational processes. Aboriginal peer support workers (PSWs) and community support agencies identified three important elements central to their capacity to engage and work within the PAR methodology. This research has provided innovative data, highlighting processes and recommendations for child health nurses to engage with the PSWs, parents and community agencies to explore culturally acceptable elements for an empowering methodology for peer-led home visiting support. There is potential for this nursing research to credibly inform policy development for Aboriginal child and family health service delivery, in addition to other vulnerable population groups. Child health nurses/researchers can use these new understandings to work in partnership with Aboriginal communities and families to develop empowering and culturally acceptable strategies for developing Aboriginal parent support for the early years. Impact Statement Child

French local agencies of energy control; Agences locales francaise de maitrise de l'energie

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2000-07-01

In the framework of the SAVE program, the European Commission brings financial assistance to the creation of local or regional agencies of energy control in municipalities and regions. The main criteria are the impacts on the energy demand, the reinforcement of the economic and social cohesion, the environmental quality and the contribution to the economic development and the employment creation. In this document, realized by Energie-Cites, the Ademe objective is to present a state of the art of french local agencies. Ten agencies are presented as case study. Each case deals with the following topics: the main context of the action which details the energy and the environmental policy of the municipality, the creation and the description of the agency, the implemented actions and the perspectives. (A.L.B.)

Negotiating power relations, gender equality, and collective agency: are village health committees transformative social spaces in northern India?

Science.gov (United States)

Scott, Kerry; George, Asha S; Harvey, Steven A; Mondal, Shinjini; Patel, Gupteswar; Sheikh, Kabir

2017-09-15

Participatory health initiatives ideally support progressive social change and stronger collective agency for marginalized groups. However, this empowering potential is often limited by inequalities within communities and between communities and outside actors (i.e. government officials, policymakers). We examined how the participatory initiative of Village Health, Sanitation, and Nutrition Committees (VHSNCs) can enable and hinder the renegotiation of power in rural north India. Over 18 months, we conducted 74 interviews and 18 focus groups with VHSNC members (including female community health workers and local government officials), non-VHSNC community members, NGO staff, and higher-level functionaries. We observed 54 VHSNC-related events (such as trainings and meetings). Initial thematic network analysis supported further examination of power relations, gendered "social spaces," and the "discourses of responsibility" that affected collective agency. VHSNCs supported some re-negotiation of intra-community inequalities, for example by enabling some women to speak in front of men and perform assertive public roles. However, the extent to which these new gender dynamics transformed relations beyond the VHSNC was limited. Furthermore, inequalities between the community and outside stakeholders were re-entrenched through a "discourse of responsibility": The comparatively powerful outside stakeholders emphasized community responsibility for improving health without acknowledging or correcting barriers to effective VHSNC action. In response, some community members blamed peers for not taking up this responsibility, reinforcing a negative collective identity where participation was futile because no one would work for the greater good. Others resisted this discourse, arguing that the VHSNC alone was not responsible for taking action: Government must also intervene. This counter-narrative also positioned VHSNC participation as futile. Interventions to strengthen

Discretionary authority and prioritizing in government agencies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schinkel, M.P.; Tóth, L.; Tuinstra, J.

2014-01-01

Government agencies typically have a certain freedom to choose among different possible courses of action. This paper studies agency decision-making on priorities in a principal-agent framework with multi-tasking. The agency head (the principal) has discretion over part of the agency's budget to

Investigating the Prospective Sense of Agency: Effects of Processing Fluency, Stimulus Ambiguity, and Response Conflict

Science.gov (United States)

Sidarus, Nura; Vuorre, Matti; Metcalfe, Janet; Haggard, Patrick

2017-01-01

How do we know how much control we have over our environment? The sense of agency refers to the feeling that we are in control of our actions, and that, through them, we can control our external environment. Thus, agency clearly involves matching intentions, actions, and outcomes. The present studies investigated the possibility that processes of action selection, i.e., choosing what action to make, contribute to the sense of agency. Since selection of action necessarily precedes execution of action, such effects must be prospective. In contrast, most literature on sense of agency has focussed on the retrospective computation whether an outcome fits the action performed or intended. This hypothesis was tested in an ecologically rich, dynamic task based on a computer game. Across three experiments, we manipulated three different aspects of action selection processing: visual processing fluency, categorization ambiguity, and response conflict. Additionally, we measured the relative contributions of prospective, action selection-based cues, and retrospective, outcome-based cues to the sense of agency. Manipulations of action selection were orthogonally combined with discrepancy of visual feedback of action. Fluency of action selection had a small but reliable effect on the sense of agency. Additionally, as expected, sense of agency was strongly reduced when visual feedback was discrepant with the action performed. The effects of discrepant feedback were larger than the effects of action selection fluency, and sometimes suppressed them. The sense of agency is highly sensitive to disruptions of action-outcome relations. However, when motor control is successful, and action-outcome relations are as predicted, fluency or dysfluency of action selection provides an important prospective cue to the sense of agency. PMID:28450839

77 FR 20616 - Agency Information Collection Extension

Science.gov (United States)

2012-04-05

.... EIA's petroleum marketing survey forms collect volumetric and price information needed for determining... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Energy Information Administration Agency Information Collection Extension AGENCY: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Department of Energy. ACTION: Agency Information...

Growing up with expectations. Better understanding the expectations of community partners in participatory action research projects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Clarissa Wilkinson

2009-06-01

Full Text Available This paper challenges the assumption that youth and youth agencies are in a condition of equality when entering a participatory action research (PAR. By asserting that it is not a state of equality that practitioners nor youth should assume nor be immediately striving for, but a consistently equitable process, this article draws from and reflects on the relationship between young people and researchers who have used a PAR methodology in action oriented projects. Using the UNESCO Growing up in Cities Canada project as a case example, this review extrapolates from and reflects on challenges faced by the project as a whole. Using semi-structured interviews to explore the roles of adults and youth, a number of strategies are highlighted as the techniques used to overcome these challenges. The discussion concludes with further reflection on the complexities of equality and equity, recommending a number of actions that have the potential to create an equitable environment in PAR projects similar to the one examined. Le présent article examine la condition supposée d’égalité des jeunes et des agences de jeunes engagés dans des projets participatifs de recherche-action. L’article se base sur la relation entre des jeunes et des chercheurs dans le cadre de démarches de recherche-action participative pour affirmer que ce n’est pas une condition d’égalité que les praticiens et les jeunes devraient assumer ou rechercher en premier lieu, mais plutôt des processus équitables. Le cas d’étude utilisé est le projet Grandir en Ville Canada, de l’UNESCO. À partir d’entrevues semi-dirigées visant à explorer les rôles des adultes et des jeunes, plusieurs stratégies employées pour surmonter les défis soulevés par le projet sont soulignées. L’article termine avec une réflexion sur les complexités de l’égalité et de l’équité, et propose plusieurs actions ayant le potentiel de créer un environnement d’équité lors des d

Implementing Action Research and Professional Learning Communities in a Professional Development School Setting to Support Teacher Candidate Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Shanks, Joyce

2016-01-01

The paper reviews teacher candidates' use of action research and the Professional Learning Community (PLC) concept to support their work in their pre-student teaching field experience. In this research study, teacher candidates are involved in a professional development school relationship that uses action research and PLCs to support candidate…

Re-construction of action awareness depends on an internal model of action-outcome timing.

Science.gov (United States)

Stenner, Max-Philipp; Bauer, Markus; Machts, Judith; Heinze, Hans-Jochen; Haggard, Patrick; Dolan, Raymond J

2014-04-01

The subjective time of an instrumental action is shifted towards its outcome. This temporal binding effect is partially retrospective, i.e., occurs upon outcome perception. Retrospective binding is thought to reflect post-hoc inference on agency based on sensory evidence of the action - outcome association. However, many previous binding paradigms cannot exclude the possibility that retrospective binding results from bottom-up interference of sensory outcome processing with action awareness and is functionally unrelated to the processing of the action - outcome association. Here, we keep bottom-up interference constant and use a contextual manipulation instead. We demonstrate a shift of subjective action time by its outcome in a context of variable outcome timing. Crucially, this shift is absent when there is no such variability. Thus, retrospective action binding reflects a context-dependent, model-based phenomenon. Such top-down re-construction of action awareness seems to bias agency attribution when outcome predictability is low. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

76 FR 72391 - Defense Logistics Agency Revised Regulation 1000.22, Environmental Considerations in Defense...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-11-23

... DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Office of the Secretary [Docket ID DOD-2011-OS-0055] Defense Logistics Agency Revised Regulation 1000.22, Environmental Considerations in Defense Logistics Agency Actions AGENCY: Defense Logistics Agency, Department of Defense. ACTION: Revised Defense Logistics Agency...

State health agencies and the legislative policy process.

Science.gov (United States)

Williams-Crowe, S M; Aultman, T V

1994-01-01

A new era of health care reform places increasing pressure on public health leaders and agencies to participate in the public policy arena. Public health professionals have long been comfortable in providing the scientific knowledge base required in policy development. What has been more recent in its evolution, however, is recognition that they must also play an active role in leading and shaping the debate over policy. A profile of effective State legislative policy "entrepreneurs" and their strategies has been developed to assist health agencies in developing such a leadership position. Based on the experiences of State legislative liaison officers, specific strategies for dealing with State legislatures have been identified and are organized into five key areas--agency organization, staff skills, communications, negotiation, and active ongoing involvement. A public health agency must be organized effectively to participate in the legislative policy process. Typically, effective agencies centralize responsibility for policy activities and promote broad and coordinated participation throughout the organization. Playing a key role in the agency's political interventions, the legislative liaison office should be staffed with persons possessing excellent interpersonal skills and a high degree of technical competence. Of central importance to effective legislative policy entrepreneurship is the ability to communicate the agency's position clearly. This includes setting forward a focused policy agenda, documenting policy issues in a meaningful manner, and reaching legislators with the proper information. Once a matter is on the legislative agenda, the agency must be prepared to negotiate and build broad support for the measure. Finally, public health agencies must be active policy players. To take advantage of new opportunities for action, the public health (policy) leader must monitor the political environment continually.By working to anticipate and formulate

48 CFR 33.103 - Protests to the agency.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... must be filed within 10 days of knowledge of initial adverse agency action (4 CFR 21.2(a)(3)). (e... acquisition system, may consider the merits of any protest which is not timely filed. (f) Action upon receipt... well-reasoned, and explain the agency position. The protest decision shall be provided to the protester...

Social Transmission of Experience of Agency: An Experimental Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Khalighinejad, Nima; Bahrami, Bahador; Caspar, Emilie A; Haggard, Patrick

2016-01-01

The sense of controlling one's own actions is fundamental to normal human mental function, and also underlies concepts of social responsibility for action. However, it remains unclear how the wider social context of human action influences sense of agency. Using a simple experimental design, we investigated, for the first time, how observing the action of another person or a robot could potentially influence one's own sense of agency. We assessed how observing another's action might change the perceived temporal relationship between one's own voluntary actions and their outcomes, which has been proposed as an implicit measure of sense of agency. Working in pairs, participants chose between two action alternatives, one rewarded more frequently than the other, while watching a rotating clock hand. They judged, in separate blocks, either the time of their own action, or the time of a tone that followed the action. These were compared to baseline judgements of actions alone, or tones alone, to calculate the perceptual shift of action toward outcome and vice versa. Our design focused on how these two dependent variables, which jointly provide an implicit measure of sense of agency, might be influenced by observing another's action. In the observational group, each participant could see the other's actions. Multivariate analysis showed that the perceived time of action and tone shifted progressively toward the actual time of outcome with repeated experience of this social situation. No such progressive change occurred in other groups for whom a barrier hid participants' actions from each other. However, a similar effect was observed in the group that viewed movements of a human-like robotic hand, rather than actions of another person. This finding suggests that observing the actions of others increases the salience of the external outcomes of action and this effect is not unique to observing human agents. Social contexts in which we see others controlling external events

Establishing community trust at radioactively contaminated sites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Simpson, E.

1999-01-01

Establishing community trust is an essential element in the successful remediation of a radioactively contaminated site. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 2 has been involved in the clean up of numerous radioactively contaminated Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), Resource Conservation Recovery Act (RCRA), and Formerly Utilized Site Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) sites in New Jersey and New York. Each site presented a unique challenge which centered around establishing and, often, re-establishing the trust of the surrounding community. Thanks to the United States government's history regarding the use of radioactive materials, people question whether governmental regulators could possibly have the public's best interests in mind when it comes to addressing radioactively contaminated sites. It has been our experience that EPA can use its position as guardian of the environment to help establish public confidence in remedial actions. The EPA can even use its position to lend credibility to remedial activities in situations where it is not directly responsible for the clean-up. Some ways that we have found to instill community confidence are: establishing radioanalytical cross-check programs using EPA's National Air and Radiation Environmental Laboratory to provide analytical quality assurance; and establishing an environmental radiation monitoring program for the contaminated site and surrounding community. (author)

76 FR 28757 - Defense Logistics Agency Revised Regulation 1000.22, Environmental Considerations in Defense...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-05-18

... DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Office of the Secretary [DOCKET ID DOD-2011-OS-0055] Defense Logistics Agency Revised Regulation 1000.22, Environmental Considerations in Defense Logistics Agency Actions AGENCY: Defense Logistics Agency, Department of Defense. ACTION: Notice of Availability (NOA) of Revised...

76 FR 53119 - Defense Logistics Agency Revised Regulation 1000.22, Environmental Considerations in Defense...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-08-25

... DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Office of the Secretary [Docket ID: DOD-2011-OS-0055] Defense Logistics Agency Revised Regulation 1000.22, Environmental Considerations in Defense Logistics Agency Actions AGENCY: Defense Logistics Agency, Department of Defense. ACTION: Comment Addressed on Notice of...

Collective action and technology development: up-scaling of innovation in rice farming communities in Northern Thailand

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Limnirankul, B.

2007-01-01

Keywords:small-scale rice farmers, collective action, community rice seed, local innovations, green manure crop, contract farming, participatory technology development, up-scaling, technological configuration, grid-group theory,

Community Service and University Roles: An Action Research Based on the Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy

Science.gov (United States)

Nuangchalerm, Prasart; Chansirisira, Pacharawit

2012-01-01

This study employs action research to develop community service through university roles by applying the philosophy of sufficiency economy of His Majesty the King Bhumibol Adulyadej to fulfill villagers' way of life. Participatory learning, seminar, field trip and supervision were employed for strategic plan. Data were collected by participatory…

The Charlotte Action Research Project: A Model for Direct and Mutually Beneficial Community-University Engagement

Science.gov (United States)

Morrell, Elizabeth; Sorensen, Janni; Howarth, Joe

2015-01-01

This article describes the evolution of the Charlotte Action Research Project (CHARP), a community-university partnership founded in 2008 at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and focuses particularly on the program's unique organizational structure. Research findings of a project evaluation suggest that the CHARP model's unique…

The Use of the Data-to-Action Framework in the Evaluation of CDC's DELTA FOCUS Program.

Science.gov (United States)

Armstead, Theresa L; Kearns, Megan; Rambo, Kirsten; Estefan, Lianne Fuino; Dills, Jenny; Rivera, Moira S; El-Beshti, Rasha

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) Domestic Violence Prevention Enhancements and Leadership Through Alliances, Focusing on Outcomes for Communities United with States (DELTA FOCUS) program is a 5-year cooperative agreement (2013-2018) funding 10 state domestic violence coalitions and local coordinated community response teams to engage in primary prevention of intimate partner violence. Grantees' prevention strategies were often developmental and emergent; therefore, CDC's approach to program oversight, administration, and support to grantees required a flexible approach. CDC staff adopted a Data-to-Action Framework for the DELTA FOCUS program evaluation that supported a culture of learning to meet dynamic and unexpected information needs. Briefly, a Data-to-Action Framework involves the collection and use of information in real time for program improvement. Utilizing this framework, the DELTA FOCUS data-to-action process yielded important insights into CDC's ongoing technical assistance, improved program accountability by providing useful materials, and information for internal agency leadership, and helped build a learning community among grantees. CDC and other funders, as decision makers, can promote program improvements that are data-informed by incorporating internal processes supportive of ongoing data collection and review.

"It's the Way That You Do It": Developing an Ethical Framework for Community Psychology Research and Action.

Science.gov (United States)

Campbell, Rebecca

2016-12-01

In the 50 years since the 1965 Swampscott conference, the field of community psychology has not yet developed a well-articulated ethical framework to guide research and practice. This paper reviews what constitutes an "ethical framework"; considers where the field of community psychology is at in its development of a comprehensive ethical framework; examines sources for ethical guidance (i.e., ethical principles and standards) across multiple disciplines, including psychology, evaluation, sociology, and anthropology; and recommends strategies for developing a rich written discourse on how community psychology researchers and practitioners can address ethical conflicts in our work. © Society for Community Research and Action 2016.

Participatory Action Research Experiences for Undergraduates

Science.gov (United States)

Sample McMeeking, L. B.; Weinberg, A. E.

2013-12-01

Research experiences for undergraduates (REU) have been shown to be effective in improving undergraduate students' personal/professional development, ability to synthesize knowledge, improvement in research skills, professional advancement, and career choice. Adding to the literature on REU programs, a new conceptual model situating REU within a context of participatory action research (PAR) is presented and compared with data from a PAR-based coastal climate research experience that took place in Summer 2012. The purpose of the interdisciplinary Participatory Action Research Experiences for Undergraduates (PAREU) model is to act as an additional year to traditional, lab-based REU where undergraduate science students, social science experts, and community members collaborate to develop research with the goal of enacting change. The benefits to traditional REU's are well established and include increased content knowledge, better research skills, changes in attitudes, and greater career awareness gained by students. Additional positive outcomes are expected from undergraduate researchers (UR) who participate in PAREU, including the ability to better communicate with non-scientists. With highly politicized aspects of science, such as climate change, this becomes especially important for future scientists. Further, they will be able to articulate the relevance of science research to society, which is an important skill, especially given the funding climate where agencies require broader impacts statements. Making science relevant may also benefit URs who wish to apply their science research. Finally, URs will gain social science research skills by apprenticing in a research project that includes science and social science research components, which enables them to participate in future education and outreach. The model also positively impacts community members by elevating their voices within and outside the community, particularly in areas severely underserved

Teaching undergraduate students community nursing: using action research to increase engagement and learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Seib, Charrlotte; English, Rebecca; Barnard, Alan

2011-09-01

Nurses play a pivotal role in responding to the changing needs of community health care. Therefore, nursing education must be relevant, responsive, and evidence based. We report a case study of curriculum development in a community nursing unit embedded within an undergraduate nursing degree. We used action research to develop, deliver, evaluate, and redesign the curriculum. Feedback was obtained through self-reflection, expert opinion from community stakeholders, formal student evaluation, and critical review. Changes made, especially in curriculum delivery, led to improved learner focus and more clearly linked theory and practice. The redesigned unit improved performance, measured with the university's student evaluation of feedback instrument (increased from 0.3 to 0.5 points below to 0.1 to 0.5 points above faculty mean in all domains), and was well received by teaching staff. The process confirmed that improved pedagogy can increase student engagement with content and perception of a unit as relevant to future practice. Copyright 2011, SLACK Incorporated.

Interdisciplinary linkage of community psychology and cross-cultural psychology: history, values, and an illustrative research and action project on intimate partner violence.

Science.gov (United States)

Mankowski, Eric S; Galvez, Gino; Glass, Nancy

2011-03-01

An analysis of the respective organizational histories, missions, and scholarly activity of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology and the Society for Community Research and Action was conducted in order to inform the development of interdisciplinary linkages between members of the two organizations. The analysis revealed many points of shared values and actions, as well as some important differences. Both scholarly organizations developed out of a similar historical and cultural zeitgeist in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The missions emphasize the role of culture/diversity in psychological phenomena, adopting an interdisciplinary orientation, the value of collaboration, the importance of research method and ethics, and the value of action research. However, community psychology generally lacks an adequate treatment of cultural phenomena while cross-cultural psychology often fails to draw on community and participatory methods useful for understanding culture in context. These common roots and differences are examined. Finally, we describe a community based, participatory research and intervention project to address intimate partner violence among Latinos and European-Americans living in Oregon. Analysis of the research process and on some of our initial findings illustrates challenges and potential benefits of an interdisciplinary, cultural community psychology.

76 FR 22681 - Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Address Directory

Science.gov (United States)

2011-04-22

... DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Office of the Secretary Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Address Directory AGENCY: Department of Defense. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) is updating... Directory: Defense Logistics Agency Headquarters, Andrew T. McNamara Building, 8725 John J. Kingman Road...

Conceptualizing agency: Folkpsychological and folkcommunicative perspectives on plants.

Science.gov (United States)

Ojalehto, Bethany L; Medin, Douglas L; García, Salino G

2017-05-01

The present research addresses cultural variation in concepts of agency. Across two experiments, we investigate how Indigenous Ngöbe of Panama and US college students interpret and make inferences about nonhuman agency, focusing on plants as a critical test case. In Experiment 1, participants predicted goal-directed actions for plants and other nonhuman kinds and judged their capacities for intentional agency. Goal-directed action is pervasive among living kinds and as such we expected cultural agreement on these predictions. However, we expected that interpretation of the capacities involved would differ based on cultural folktheories. As expected, Ngöbe and US participants both inferred that plants would engage in goal-directed action but Ngöbe were more likely to attribute intentional agency capacities to plants. Experiment 2 extends these findings by investigating action predictions and capacity attributions linked to complex forms of plant social agency recently discovered in botanical sciences (communication, kin altruism). We hypothesized that the Ngöbe view of plants as active agents would productively guide inferences for plant social interaction. Indeed, Ngöbe were more likely than US participants to infer that plants can engage in social behaviors and they also attributed more social agency capacities to plants. We consolidate these findings by using bottom-up consensus modeling to show that these cultural differences reflect two distinct conceptual models of agency rather than variations on a single (universal) model. We consider these findings in light of current theories of domain-specificity and animism, and offer an alternative account based on a folktheory of communication that infers agency on the basis of relational interactions rather than having a mind. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Local government energy action in the UK: from service delivery to community leadership

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wade, Joanne; Pearson, Amanda; Knowland, Rachael [Impetus Consulting (United Kingdom); Flanagan, Brooke [Energy Saving Trust (United Kingdom)

2007-07-01

In October 2006 the UK government published a new Local Government White Paper. This policy statement set the framework for the role of local government in the coming years.The White Paper is one stage in the latest wave of local government reform in the UK. This reform has aimed to refocus attention away from delivery of specific services and towards community leadership, particularly with reference to sustainable development. Climate change is given some emphasis within the White Paper, and should become one of the indicators against which local government performance is measured.This paper examines energy action in local authorities in the past few years, in a situation where most, but not all, were still strongly focused on service delivery. By contrasting this with the results achieved in authorities that have taken a community leadership role, the paper examines the potential of the White Paper. It addresses the following questions: does local government have the capacity to deliver increased local action on climate change? Does the UK policy framework support and encourage development and deployment of this capacity? And do the national and regional bodies that provide support for local authorities need to change the services they offer in light of recent policy developments?.

The role of the temporoparietal junction in implicit and explicit sense of agency.

Science.gov (United States)

Hughes, Gethin

2018-05-01

The experience of being in control of one's actions and thier outcomes is called the sense of agency. This is a fundamental feature of our human experience, and may underpin important social functions such as morality and responsibility. Sense of agency can be measured explicitly, by asking people to report their experience, or implicitly by recording the perceived time interval between actions and outcomes (intentional binding). The current studies used transcranial direct current stimulation to assess the role of left and right temporoparietal junction in both implicit and explicit sense of agency. Participants were informed that they could control the volume output of the computer with one of two buttons. Participants experienced reduced sense of agency when the outcome was inconsistent with their action. However, binding did not differ between congruent and incongruent action-outcomes. The modulation of explicit agency ratings by action-outcome congruency was significantly reduced by right TPJ stimulation (experiment 1) but not left TPJ stimulation (experiment 2). Implicit agency was not affected in either stimulation condition. These findings are discussed in terms of the possible neural mechanisms of implicit and explicit sense of agency. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

ONLINE SOCIAL ADVERTISING: PROMOTIONAL ELEMENTS POSTED BY TRAVEL AGENCIES FROM SUCEAVA CITY ON FACEBOOK FRIENDS’ COMMUNITY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pavel STANCIU

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Like any other business in the travel and hospitality industry, it is essential for travel agencies to establish a good promotion policy, to be most noticeable among buyers of travel packages. The promotion – WOM (Word of Mouth, and especially Social Advertising via social networks offer a new perspective of economic development, based on participatory marketing policies that would break the barriers of classical marketing, perceived by tourists as unattractive and completely outdated socio-morally. The new policy promoting travel agencies must be built in cyberspace, on account of social networks, which tend to overshadow the traditional ways of tourist feedback. In this relatively new conjuncture, travel agencies in Suceava are forced to adapt, offering potential customers in the online environment, tourism products and presenting highly attractive destinations in informal circumstances, with a seemingly purely informative character. A research based on questionnaires, which benefited from dissemination on social networks, was carried out with the support of one affable group of 137 friends from Facebook community, and aimed to highlight the effectiveness of online promotion of travel agencies in Suceava and its driving force generated locally. We conclude that people from Suceava who are in the group of friends have constant activity on social networks (especially Facebook, have much knowledge about the travel agencies in Suceava that are active in the virtual environment, but are reluctant when they have the opportunity to sign in with the promotional offers of tour operators. It is therefore imperative that travel agencies in Suceava have a constant interaction with future tourists and respond as quickly as possible to the signals they receive from them, even if, at least for now, locally, there is no culture that fosters such promotion relations - offer for sale - purchase between travel agencies and potential customers, recruited on

77 FR 12865 - Enforcement Actions Summary

Science.gov (United States)

2012-03-02

...] Enforcement Actions Summary AGENCY: Transportation Security Administration, DHS. ACTION: Notice of availability. SUMMARY: The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is providing notice that it has issued an annual summary of all enforcement actions taken by TSA under the authority granted in the...

78 FR 11216 - Enforcement Actions Summary

Science.gov (United States)

2013-02-15

...] Enforcement Actions Summary AGENCY: Transportation Security Administration, DHS. ACTION: Notice of availability. SUMMARY: The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is providing notice that it has issued an annual summary of all enforcement actions taken by TSA under the authority granted in the...

76 FR 9357 - Enforcement Actions Summary

Science.gov (United States)

2011-02-17

...] Enforcement Actions Summary AGENCY: Transportation Security Administration, DHS. ACTION: Notice of Availability. SUMMARY: The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is providing notice that it has issued an annual summary of all enforcement actions taken by TSA under the authority granted in the...

Working with Toronto neighbourhoods toward developing indicators of community capacity.

Science.gov (United States)

Jackson, Suzanne F; Cleverly, Shelley; Poland, Blake; Burman, David; Edwards, Richard; Robertson, Ann

2003-12-01

Often the goal of health and social development agencies is to assess communities and work with them to improve community capacity. Particularly for health promoters working in community settings and to ensure consistency in the definition of health promotion, the evaluation of health promotion programmes should be based on strengths and assets, yet existing information for planning and evaluation purposes usually focuses on problems and deficits. A model and definition of community capacity, grounded in community experience and focusing on strengths and assets, was developed following a 4-year, multi-site, qualitative, action research project in four Toronto neighbourhoods. There was significant community involvement in the four Community Advisory Committees, one for each study site. Semi-structured, open-ended interviews and focus groups were conducted with 161 residents and agency workers identified by the Community Advisory Committees. The data were analyzed with the assistance of NUDIST software. Thematic analysis was undertaken in two stages: (i) within each site and (ii) across sites, with the latter serving as the basis for the development of indicators of community capacity. This paper presents a summary of the research, the model and the proposed indicators. The model locates talents and skills of community members in a larger context of socioenvironmental conditions, both inside and outside the community, which can act to enable or constrain the expression of these talents and skills. The significance of the indicators of community capacity proposed in the study is that they focus on identifying and measuring the facilitating and constraining socioenvironmental conditions.

Decision-making contexts involving Earth observations in federal and state government agencies

Science.gov (United States)

Kuwayama, Y.; Thompson, A.

2017-12-01

National and international organizations are placing greater emphasis on the societal and economic benefits that can be derived from applications of Earth observations, yet improvements are needed to connect to the decision processes that produce actions with direct societal benefits. The Consortium for the Valuation of Applications Benefits Linked with Earth Science (VALUABLES), a cooperative agreement between Resources for the Future (RFF) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), has the goal of advancing methods for the valuation and communication of the applied benefits linked with Earth observations. One of the Consortium's activities is a set of Policy Briefs that document the use of Earth observations for decision making in federal and state government agencies. In developing these Policy Briefs, we pay special attention to documenting the entire information value chain associated with the use of Earth observations in government decision making, namely (a) the specific data product, modeling capability, or information system used by the agency, (b) the decision context that employs the Earth observation information and translates it into an agency action, (c) the outcomes that are realized as a result of the action, and (d) the beneficiaries associated with the outcomes of the decision. Two key examples include the use of satellite data for informing the US Drought Monitor (USDM), which is used to determine the eligibility of agricultural communities for drought disaster assistance programs housed at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the use of satellite data by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to develop numeric nutrient water quality standards and monitoring methods for chlorophyll-a, which is codified in Florida state code (62-302.532).

Influencing the sense of agency

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Damen, T.G.E.

2015-01-01

One of the most exciting aspects of human consciousness is the sensation that we cause actions and that we are personally involved in the direct consequences those actions have. This sensation, also known as agency, is of great importance to the way we perceive the world and to the way we see

Contextual community prevention theory: building interventions with community agency collaboration.

Science.gov (United States)

Morales, Eduardo S

2009-11-01

Translation from research to practice faces numerous problems that include replicating effectiveness, fidelity to the protocol and processes, and adaptations to different types of target populations. Working collaboratively with existing service providers can speed up the time for development and can ease the implementation of empirical randomized trials. Contextual community prevention theory is an innovative approach that focuses on changing behaviors of community members by creating a visible institutional presence that draws and pulls the targeted population into the organization's activities and interventions. The result is an institution or organization within the community that provides a new active and dynamic context, engaging its community members into its activities, interventions, and functions. An HIV prevention program developed collaboratively from the ground up for Latino gay/bisexual men is presented. Results from the program evaluation efforts across the years suggest promise for testing its efficacy through a randomized trial. HIV prevention efforts need to develop dynamic support systems within communities where these men have ownership, have control, and feel safe; otherwise HIV infection rates in this population will increase. Copyright 2009 by the American Psychological Association

Are you ready! To take early action? Embedding serious gaming into community managed DRR in Bangladesh

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Homberg, M.J.C. van den; Cumiskey, L.; Oprins, E.A.P.B.; Suarez, P.; Hulst, A.H. van der

2015-01-01

This paper applies a Game-based Learning Evaluation Model (GEM) to assess whether the early warning - early action serious game "Ready!" is an effective component to add to existing Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) training curricula, facilitated by NGO staff and applied at the community level. We

Community medicine in action: an integrated, fourth-year urban continuity preceptorship.

Science.gov (United States)

Brill, John R; Jackson, Thomas C; Stearns, Marjorie A

2002-07-01

To provide an opportunity for fourth-year students at the University of Wisconsin Medical School in Madison to immerse in urban community medicine during a 34-week program. This experience enhances the integrity of the fourth year as well as merges medicine and public health perspectives in medical education as called for by the Medicine and Public Health Initiative. A limited number of fourth-year Wisconsin medical students have the opportunity to select a one-year, continuity-based preceptorship at the Milwaukee clinical campus with a focus in one of three domains: family medicine, internal medicine, or women's health. Students participate in the following clinical activities: a one-year, integrated preceptorship (one to three half days per week in a primary preceptor's office), medicine subinternship, senior surgery clerkship, selectives (16-20 weeks of clerkships relevant to preceptorship focus area), and one month of out-of-city electives. Complementing this community-based clinical experience is the opportunity to develop an increased appreciation for urban community health issues and resources by participating in a required urban community medicine clerkship and a mentored student scholarly project focusing on an aspect of urban community medicine and population health. All students begin the year in July with a four-week urban community medicine clerkship, which is based on the St. Luke's family practice residency's community medicine rotation and arranged by residency faculty. They conduct a "windshield survey" of a Milwaukee neighborhood, observing health hazards and identifying assets, and then present these observations to others in the clerkship. During this first month, students are introduced to the work of a variety of social service agencies, the Milwaukee City Health Department, and the Aurora Health Care/UW community clinics, which serve the state's most diverse zip codes. They meet with providers and researchers who share their expertise in

Cortical information flow during inferences of agency

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Myrthel eDogge

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Building on the recent finding that agency experiences do not merely rely on sensorimotor information but also on cognitive cues, this exploratory study uses electroencephalographic recordings to examine functional connectivity during agency inference processing in a setting where action and outcome are independent. Participants completed a computerized task in which they pressed a button followed by one of two color words (red or blue and rated their experienced agency over producing the color. Before executing the action, a matching or mismatching color word was pre-activated by explicitly instructing participants to produce the color (goal condition or by briefly presenting the color word (prime condition. In both conditions, experienced agency was higher in matching versus mismatching trials. Furthermore, increased electroencephalography (EEG-based connectivity strength was observed between parietal and frontal nodes and within the (prefrontal cortex when color-outcomes matched with goals and participants reported high agency. This pattern of increased connectivity was not identified in trials where outcomes were pre-activated through primes. These results suggest that different connections are involved in the experience and in the loss of agency, as well as in inferences of agency resulting from different types of pre-activation. Moreover, the findings provide novel support for the involvement of a fronto-parietal network in agency inferences.

Work Process in Primary Health Care: action research with Community Health Workers.

Science.gov (United States)

Cordeiro, Luciana; Soares, Cassia Baldini

2015-11-01

The aim of this article was to describe and analyze the work of community health workers (CHW). The main objective of study was to analyze the development process of primary health care practices related to drug consumption. The study is based on the Marxist theoretical orientation and the action research methodology, which resulted in the performance of 15 emancipatory workshops. The category work process spawned the content analysis. It exposed the social abandonment of the environment in which the CHWs work is performed. The latter had an essential impact on the identification of the causes of drug-related problems. These findings made it possible to criticize the reiterative, stressful actions that are being undertaken there. Such an act resulted in raising of the awareness and creating the means for political action. The CHWs motivated themselves to recognize the object of the work process in primary health care, which they found to be the disease or addiction in the case of drug users. They have criticized this categorization as well as discussed the social division of work and the work itself whilst recognizing themselves as mere instruments in the work process. The latter has inspired the CHW to become subjects, or co-producers of transformations of social needs.

Cortical information flow during inferences of agency

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dogge, Myrthel; Hofman, Dennis; Boersma, Maria; Dijkerman, H Chris; Aarts, Henk

2014-01-01

Building on the recent finding that agency experiences do not merely rely on sensorimotor information but also on cognitive cues, this exploratory study uses electroencephalographic recordings to examine functional connectivity during agency inference processing in a setting where action and outcome

Childhood lead poisoning in a Somali refugee resettlement community in New Hampshire.

Science.gov (United States)

Caron, Rosemary M; Tshabangu-Soko, Thandi; Finefrock, Krysten

2013-08-01

Despite the gradual decrease in childhood lead poisoning in the United States, the risk for lead poisoning among African refugee children who resettle in the United States remains elevated. Communication methods implemented by resettlement agencies in the public health system for preventing childhood lead poisoning in this at-risk population warrant further investigation. We utilized structured interviews with key stakeholders (resettlement agencies, social service agencies developed by African refugees and resettled Somali refugees) involved in the refugee resettlement process to (1) describe the agency's role in the refugee resettlement process; (2) examine communication methods utilized and barriers experienced by the public health system in reference to childhood lead poisoning; (3) describe the refugee population's perception of childhood lead poisoning; (4) examine general challenges experienced by the public health system and the refugee population during the resettlement process; and (5) describe stakeholders' recommendations to improve health communication efforts. Based on our findings, we propose that communities are important determinants in health-related problems for refugee populations. Each community has its own environment and public health system that interacts with each other to influence health risks and risk perceptions of its populations. We advocate that understanding a community's ecology and implementing a culture-centered approach is essential for the public health system to help educate and prevent communication inequalities and health disparities among an at-risk African refugee population. This action can reduce a population's resistance to communication and help build a community's capacity to address a persistent public health problem, such as childhood lead poisoning.

Agency costs and income taxation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ulrich Schmidt

2012-03-01

Full Text Available This paper analyzes agency costs and the moral hazard problem in the presence of income taxation. As basic framework, income taxes are integrated in the hidden action model of agency theory. In the case of symmetric information no agency costs occur, i.e. optimal risk-sharing can be achieved, if and only if the tax is proportional. It is well-known that asymmetric information causes a welfare loss, termed agency costs, even if no taxes are imposed. Introducing a proportional income tax now increases (decreases these agency costs if the agent exhibits decreasing (increasing absolute risk aversion. Additionally, we show that non-proportional taxes cause higher (lower agency costs than a proportional tax if the agent’s marginal tax rate exceeds (is smaller than the marginal tax rate of the principal.

ACDC Agency: Food and Politics with Community College Students at Vassar

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert Cowan

2017-02-01

arises out of the experience of eating ACDC, though—of being low-income, immigrant, first-generation college students, studying at one of the whitest and most expensive schools in the country and yet being forced to eat poor food—is “how do they develop a sense of personal agency,” since that is what the transition through community college and onto a school like Vassar requires.

Can We Speak of African Agency?: APRM and Africa's Agenda 2063

African Journals Online (AJOL)

actions and intentions and/or life course studies become their foci of analysis ... as it is read in feminism, asserts that agency straddles different divides ... structuralism, post-structuralism and critical realism that the concept has ... actionable perspective where Africans seek, from agency, to assert ..... Gender and Education.

76 FR 38143 - Proposed Agency Information Collection

Science.gov (United States)

2011-06-29

..., Solar Energy Technologies Program, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. [FR Doc. 2011-16307... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Proposed Agency Information Collection AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. ACTION...

75 FR 9588 - Defense Intelligence Agency Advisory Board; Closed Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2010-03-03

... DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Office of the Secretary Defense Intelligence Agency Advisory Board; Closed Meeting AGENCY: Defense Intelligence Agency, DoD. ACTION: Notice of closed meeting. SUMMARY: Pursuant to... Law 94-409, notice is hereby given that the Defense Intelligence Agency Advisory Board, will meet on...

Community-company relations in gold mining in Ghana.

Science.gov (United States)

Garvin, Theresa; McGee, Tara K; Smoyer-Tomic, Karen E; Aubynn, Emmanuel Ato

2009-01-01

As a result of Structural Adjustment Programme from the 1980s, many developing countries have experienced an increase in resource extraction activities by international and transnational corporations. The work reported here examines the perceived impacts of gold mining at the community level in the Wassa West District of Ghana, Africa and discusses those perceived impacts in the context of globalization processes and growing multinational corporate interest in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Interview data compared community members' perceptions with those of company representatives in three communities. The results indicate that communities held companies responsible for a series of economic, social, and environmental changes. While recognizing some of the benefits brought by the mines, communities felt that the companies did not live up to their responsibility to support local development. Companies responded by denying, dismissing concerns, or shifting blame. Findings from this work show that lack of engagement and action by government agencies at all levels resulted in companies acting in a surrogate governmental capacity. In such situations, managing expectations is key to community-company relations.

7 CFR 275.16 - Corrective action planning.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Corrective action planning. 275.16 Section 275.16... Corrective action planning. (a) Corrective action planning is the process by which State agencies shall...)/management unit(s) in the planning, development, and implementation of corrective action are those which: (1...

ICDF Complex Remedial Action Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

W. M. Heileson

2007-09-26

This Idaho CERCLA Disposal Facility (ICDF) Remedial Action Report has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of Section 6.2 of the INEEL CERCLA Disposal Facility Remedial Action Work Plan. The agency prefinal inspection of the ICDF Staging, Storage, Sizing, and Treatment Facility (SSSTF) was completed in June of 2005. Accordingly, this report has been developed to describe the construction activities completed at the ICDF along with a description of any modifications to the design originally approved for the facility. In addition, this report provides a summary of the major documents prepared for the design and construction of the ICDF, a discussion of relevant requirements and remedial action objectives, the total costs associated with the development and operation of the facility to date, and identification of necessary changes to the Agency-approved INEEL CERCLA Disposal Facility Remedial Action Work Plan and the ICDF Complex Operations and Maintenance Plan.

Reducing inequalities in health and access to health care in a rural Indian community: an India-Canada collaborative action research project.

Science.gov (United States)

Haddad, Slim; Narayana, Delampady; Mohindra, Ks

2011-11-08

Inadequate public action in vulnerable communities is a major constraint for the health of poor and marginalized groups in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). The south Indian state of Kerala, known for relatively equitable provision of public resources, is no exception to the marginalization of vulnerable communities. In Kerala, women's lives are constrained by gender-based inequalities and certain indigenous groups are marginalized such that their health and welfare lag behind other social groups. The goal of this socially-engaged, action-research initiative was to reduce social inequalities in access to health care in a rural community. Specific objectives were: 1) design and implement a community-based health insurance scheme to reduce financial barriers to health care, 2) strengthen local governance in monitoring and evidence-based decision-making, and 3) develop an evidence base for appropriate health interventions. Health and social inequities have been masked by Kerala's overall progress. Key findings illustrated large inequalities between different social groups. Particularly disadvantaged are lower-caste women and Paniyas (a marginalized indigenous group), for whom inequalities exist across education, employment status, landholdings, and health. The most vulnerable populations are the least likely to receive state support, which has broader implications for the entire country. A community based health solidarity scheme (SNEHA), under the leadership of local women, was developed and implemented yielding some benefits to health equity in the community-although inclusion of the Paniyas has been a challenge. The Canadian-Indian action research team has worked collaboratively for over a decade. An initial focus on surveys and data analysis has transformed into a focus on socially engaged, participatory action research. Adapting to unanticipated external forces, maintaining a strong team in the rural village, retaining human resources capable of analyzing

20 CFR 658.416 - Action on JS-related complaints.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 20 Employees' Benefits 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Action on JS-related complaints. 658.416... ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS GOVERNING THE JOB SERVICE SYSTEM Job Service Complaint System State Agency Js Complaint System § 658.416 Action on JS-related complaints. (a) The appropriate State agency official handling an...

Community-led cancer action councils in Queens, New York: process evaluation of an innovative partnership with the Queens library system.

Science.gov (United States)

Basu Roy, Upal; Michel, Tamara; Carpenter, Alison; Lounsbury, David W; Sabino, Eilleen; Stevenson, Alexis Jurow; Combs, Sarah; Jacobs, Jasmine; Padgett, Deborah; Rapkin, Bruce D

2014-02-06

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) has great potential to address cancer disparities, particularly in racially and ethnically diverse and underserved neighborhoods. The objective of this study was to conduct a process evaluation of an innovative academic-community partnership, Queens Library HealthLink, which aimed to reduce cancer disparities through neighborhood groups (Cancer Action Councils) that convened in public libraries in Queens, New York. We used a mixed-methods approach to conduct 69 telephone survey interviews and 4 focus groups (15 participants) with Cancer Action Council members. We used 4 performance criteria to inform data collection: action or attention to sustainability, library support for the council, social cohesion and group leadership, and activity level. Focus group transcripts were independently coded and cross-checked for consensus until saturation was achieved. Members reported benefits and barriers to participation. Thirty-three original focus group transcript codes were organized into 8 main themes related to member experiences: 1) library as a needed resource, 2) library as a reputable and nondenominational institution, 3) value of library staff, 4) need for a HealthLink specialist, 5) generation of ideas and coordination of tasks, 6) participation challenges, 7) use of community connections, and 8) collaboration for sustainability. In response to the process evaluation, Cancer Action Council members and HealthLink staff incorporated member suggestions to improve council sustainability. The councils merged to increase intercouncil collaboration, and institutional changes were made in funding to sustain a HealthLink specialist beyond the grant period.

Responding to the deaf in disasters: establishing the need for systematic training for state-level emergency management agencies and community organizations

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background Deaf and hard-of-hearing (Deaf/HH) individuals have been underserved before and during emergencies. This paper will assess Deaf/HH related emergency preparedness training needs for state emergency management agencies and deaf-serving community-based organizations (CBOs). Methods Four approaches were used: 1) a literature review; 2) results from 50 key informant (KI) interviews from state and territorial-level emergency management and public health agencies; 3) results from 14 KI interviews with deaf-serving CBOs in the San Francisco Bay Area; and 4) a pilot program evaluation of an emergency responder training serving the Deaf/HH in one urban community. Results Results from literature review and state and territorial level KIs indicate that there is a substantive gap in emergency preparedness training on serving Deaf/HH provided by state agencies. In addition, local KI interviews with 14 deaf-serving CBOs found gaps in training within deaf-serving CBOs. These gaps have implications for preparing for and responding to all-hazards emergencies including weather-related or earthquake-related natural disasters, terrorist attacks, and nuclear-chemical disasters. Conclusion Emergency preparedness trainings specific to responding to or promoting preparedness of the Deaf/HH is rare, even for state agency personnel, and frequently lack standardization, evaluation, or institutionalization in emergency management infrastructure. This has significant policy and research implications. Similarly, CBOs are not adequately trained to serve the needs of their constituents. PMID:23497178

Corporate Philanthropy Toward Community Health Improvement in Manufacturing Communities.

Science.gov (United States)

McHugh, Megan; Farley, Diane; Maechling, Claude R; Dunlop, Dorothy D; French, Dustin D; Holl, Jane L

2018-06-01

Virtually all large employers engage in corporate philanthropy, but little is known about the extent to which it is directed toward improving community health. We conducted in-depth interviews with leaders of corporate philanthropy from 13 of the largest manufacturing companies in the US to understand how giving decisions were made, the extent to which funding was directed towards improving community health, and whether companies coordinate with local public health agencies. We found that corporate giving was sizable and directed towards communities in which the manufacturers have a large presence. Giving was aligned with the social determinants of health (i.e., aimed at improving economic stability, the neighborhood and physical environment, education, food security and nutrition, the community and social context, and the health care system). However, improving public health was not often cited as a goal of corporate giving, and coordination with public health agencies was limited. Our results suggest that there may be opportunities for public health agencies to help guide corporate philanthropy, particularly by sharing community-level data and offering their measurement and evaluation expertise.

Abnormal agency experiences in schizophrenia patients : examining the role of psychotic symptoms and familial risk

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Prikken, Merel; van der Weiden, A.; Renes, R.A.; Koevoets, Martijn G J C; Heering, H.D.; Kahn, R.R.; Aarts, H.; Haren, N.E.M.

2017-01-01

Experiencing self-agency over one’s own action outcomes is essential for social functioning. Recent research revealed that patients with schizophrenia do not use implicitly available information about their action-outcomes (i.e., prime-based agency inference) to arrive at self-agency experiences.

Abnormal agency experiences in schizophrenia patients: Examining the role of psychotic symptoms and familial risk

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Prikken, Merel; van der Weiden, Anouk; Renes, Robert A.; Koevoets, Martijn G. J. C.; Heering, Henriette D.; Kahn, René S.; Aarts, Henk; van Haren, Neeltje E. M.

2017-01-01

Experiencing self-agency over one's own action outcomes is essential for social functioning. Recent research revealed that patients with schizophrenia do not use implicitly available information about their action-outcomes (i.e., prime-based agency inference) to arrive at self-agency experiences.

Abnormal agency experiences in schizophrenia patients : Examining the role of psychotic symptoms and familial risk

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Prikken, Merel; van der Weiden, Anouk; Renes, Robert A.; Koevoets, Godefridus J C; Heering, Henriette D.; Kahn, René S.; Aarts, Henk; van Haren, Neeltje E M

2017-01-01

Experiencing self-agency over one's own action outcomes is essential for social functioning. Recent research revealed that patients with schizophrenia do not use implicitly available information about their action-outcomes (i.e., prime-based agency inference) to arrive at self-agency experiences.

Protocol Additional to the agreement between France, the European Atomic Energy Community and the International Atomic Energy Agency for the application of safeguards in France

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-01-01

The text of the Protocol Additional to the Agreement between France, the European Atomic Energy Community and the International Atomic Energy Agency for the Application of Safeguards in France is reproduced in the Annex to this document for the information of all Members. The Additional Protocol was approved by the Board of Governors on 11 June 1998. It was signed in Vienna on 22 September 1998. Pursuant to Article 16 of the Additional Protocol, the Protocol entered into force on 30 April 2004, the date on which the Agency received written notification that the European Atomic Energy Community and France had met their respective internal requirements for entry into force

Tracking Success: Outputs Versus Outcomes-A Comparison of Accredited and Non-Accredited Public Health Agencies' Community Health Improvement Plan objectives.

Science.gov (United States)

Perrault, Evan K; Inderstrodt-Stephens, Jill; Hintz, Elizabeth A

2018-06-01

With funding for public health initiatives declining, creating measurable objectives that are focused on tracking and changing population outcomes (i.e., knowledge, attitudes, or behaviors), instead of those that are focused on health agencies' own outputs (e.g., promoting services, developing communication messages) have seen a renewed focus. This study analyzed 4094 objectives from the Community Health Improvement Plans (CHIPs) of 280 local PHAB-accredited and non-accredited public health agencies across the United States. Results revealed that accredited agencies were no more successful at creating outcomes-focused objectives (35% of those coded) compared to non-accredited agencies (33% of those coded; Z = 1.35, p = .18). The majority of objectives were focused on outputs (accredited: 61.2%; non-accredited: 63.3%; Z = 0.72, p = .47). Outcomes-focused objectives primarily sought to change behaviors (accredited: 85.43%; non-accredited: 80.6%), followed by changes in knowledge (accredited: 9.75%; non-accredited: 10.8%) and attitudes (accredited: 1.6%; non-accredited: 5.1%). Non-accredited agencies had more double-barreled objectives (49.9%) compared to accredited agencies (32%; Z = 11.43, p < .001). The authors recommend that accreditation procedures place a renewed focus on ensuring that public health agencies strive to achieve outcomes. It is also advocated that public health agencies work with interdisciplinary teams of Health Communicators who can help them develop procedures to effectively and efficiently measure outcomes of knowledge and attitudes that are influential drivers of behavioral changes.

5 CFR 2635.106 - Disciplinary and corrective action.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 5 Administrative Personnel 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Disciplinary and corrective action. 2635... supplemental agency regulations may be cause for appropriate corrective or disciplinary action to be taken... appropriate disciplinary or corrective action in individual cases. However, corrective action may be ordered...

Householder engagement with energy consumption feedback: the role of community action and communications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burchell, Kevin; Rettie, Ruth; Roberts, Tom C.

2016-01-01

The provision of energy consumption feedback on in-home displays (IHDs) has a prominent role in government strategies for domestic energy demand reduction. Research suggests that IHDs can support energy consumption reduction, but also that engagement with IHDs can be limited to men and is often short-term. In this paper, we draw on research carried out in Smart Communities, a two-year project in which electricity and gas consumption feedback played a key role. This study was distinctive because it was accompanied by a weekly email communications programme and was provided within the context of community action. Project findings suggest that, although by no means panaceas, approaches such as these can support long-term engagement with energy consumption feedback, including by women, and can support behaviour change. - Highlights: • We examine the challenge of householder engagement with energy consumption feedback. • The potential of ‘community action’ and ‘communications’ is explored. • These approaches are shown to support long-term engagement by householders. • These approaches are also shown to support greater engagement by women. • Recommendations for future IHD platforms and smart meter roll-outs are presented.

Regional action plan handling of social welfare problem in nganjuk regency

Science.gov (United States)

Zain, IM; Utami, WS; Setyawan, KG

2018-01-01

Local action plans are expected to ensure a social protection for vulnerable and disadvantaged groups or PMKS. The method used in this research is by primary survey and secondary survey. The condition of the people who still belong to PMKS requires the state to come to the community to solve the problems faced. Stakeholders should be involved to handle PMKS. The activities presented should also receive periodic monitoring and evaluation so that there is progress reporting at any time. Implementable poverty reduction strategies and policies are social protection strategies, opportunity expansion strategies, resource capacity building strategies, community empowerment strategies and partnership strategies. The flow of PMKS is the validation and updating of data, the fulfillment of the basic needs of the PMKS family, the development of PMKS human resources, the improvement of the quality of life for poor families, the institutions of poverty alleviation stakeholders and the unemployed at the base level. The Regional Action Plan (RAP) is prepared as a reference in the context of carrying out PMKS mitigation which is expected to serve as a guide for managers and program implementers with relevant agencies that are conducted jointly and continuously for the period of time specified.

78 FR 42071 - Updates to Protective Action Guides Manual: Protective Action Guides (PAGs) and Planning Guidance...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-07-15

... Guides Manual: Protective Action Guides (PAGs) and Planning Guidance for Radiological Incidents AGENCY... guidance ``PAG Manual: Protective Action Guides (PAGs) and Planning Guidance for Radiological Incidents... ``anonymous access'' system, which means the EPA will not know your identity or contact information unless you...

Distinctiveness and Sense of Community in the Historical Center of Naples: A Piece of Participatory Action Research

Science.gov (United States)

Arcidiacono, Caterina; Procentese, Fortuna

2005-01-01

Inspired by the impact of an increase in tourism in the Old Center of Naples, Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo, a nonprofit organization that promotes sustainable town development and encourages participation, has undertaken the participatory action research described in this article. The inhabitants' sense of community (McMillan & Chavis,…

Creating a Bridge of Understanding between Two Worlds: Community-Based Collaborative-Action Research with Sudanese Refugee Women.

Science.gov (United States)

Baird, Martha B; Domian, Elaine Williams; Mulcahy, Ellyn R; Mabior, Rebecca; Jemutai-Tanui, Gladys; Filippi, Melissa K

2015-01-01

To explore the process of partnership between university researchers, students, and South Sudanese refugee women to address the health challenges associated with their resettlement transition to the United States. This qualitative study used a community-based collaborative action research (CBCAR) framework in the design, collection, and analysis of the qualitative data. Twenty refugee women participated in this study. Five health education seminars followed by an audio-recorded focus group were held over 9 months. A final focus group was held to confirm derived themes and develop an action plan. The partnership between the refugee women and researchers resulted in awareness of how power structures and differing expectations affected the process. The dialog in the focus groups provided an opportunity for refugee women to voice challenges to their health in resettlement. A pattern was recognized about how political and sociocultural events affected the process of CBCAR. Dialog and sharing differing worldviews and perspectives led to insights about ways to improve the health of the South Sudanese refugee community. CBCAR is a useful framework to address health concerns of a refugee community. Insights from this study provided a foundation for a future intervention research project with the refugee women. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

75 FR 74044 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Gasoline Volatility

Science.gov (United States)

2010-11-30

...; Gasoline Volatility AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: In compliance... entities: Entities potentially affected by this action are those who produce or import gasoline containing... Additives: Gasoline Volatility, Reporting Requirements for Parties Which Produce of Import Gasoline...

The community regulation for environmental management and audit: an opportunity for firms. Some Enea promotion actions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andriola, L.; Brunetti, N.; Caropreso, G.; Luciani, R.; Merelli, A.

1999-01-01

EMAS (Environmental Management and Audit Scheme), introduced by the 1836/93 Community regulation, is one of the tools activated by the European Union in the field of firm-environment interactions, to overcome the old Command and Control logic by means of the new Moral Suasion one. EMAS has a voluntary character: it intends to replace conflicting relations between control authority and firm with relations centred on a dialogue and action agreed upon by the parties, on the basis of impartial and reliable information. The report illustrates the procedure for applying this regulation, EMAS advantages for firms, its implementation in Italy and the most important pilot actions carried out by ENEA [it

A Model for Health Promotion in Rural Communities through the Development of Personal Agency and Intrinsic Empowerment

OpenAIRE

Iwin Leenen; Georgina García Rodríguez; Susan Pick Steiner

2011-01-01

ConBased on the program “Yo quiero, yo puedo… mejorar mi salud y ejercer mis derechos” [I want to, I can…improve my health and exercise my rights], a pilot model was designed and implemented in three States of Mexico. This model aims to change nutrition and hygiene behaviors in the inhabitants of marginalized communities, through knowledge and psychosocial skills development facilitating personal agency and intrinsic empowerment. Evaluation of the program showed an effect on knowledge, assert...

Using public health and community partnerships to reduce density of alcohol outlets.

Science.gov (United States)

Jernigan, David H; Sparks, Michael; Yang, Evelyn; Schwartz, Randy

2013-04-11

Excessive alcohol use causes approximately 80,000 deaths in the United States each year. The Guide to Community Preventive Services recommends reducing the density of alcohol outlets - the number of physical locations in which alcoholic beverages are available for purchase either per area or per population - through the use of regulatory authority as an effective strategy for reducing excessive alcohol consumption and related harms. We briefly review the research on density of alcohol outlets and public health and describe the powers localities have to influence alcohol outlet density. We summarize Regulating Alcohol Outlet Density: An Action Guide, which describes steps that local communities can take to reduce outlet density and the key competencies and resources of state and local health departments. These include expertise in public health surveillance and evaluation methods, identification and tracking of outcome measures, geographic information systems (GIS) mapping, community planning and development of multisector efforts, and education of community leaders and policy makers. We illustrate the potential for partnerships between public health agencies and local communities by presenting a contemporary case study from Omaha, Nebraska. Public health agencies have a vital and necessary role to play in efforts to reduce alcohol outlet density. They are often unaware of the potential of this strategy and have strong potential partners in the thousands of community coalitions nationwide that are focused on reducing alcohol-related problems.

The Importance of Audience and Agency for Representation: A Case Study of an Urban Youth Media Community.

Science.gov (United States)

Charmaraman, Linda

2010-01-01

PURPOSE: Urban youths' agency to represent their realities through media has been largely unexplored in the youth development literature. In this qualitative case study of an after-school youth media program in the Bay Area, expressions of youth agency and the role of audiences are explored during the process of producing videos for public consumption. METHODOLOGY: As participant observer of 14 ethnically diverse youth participants aged between 15 and 18 years over 18 months, I documented (a) the kind of agencies participants engaged in and (b) the impact of live and imagined future audiences on youths' creative processes. Analyses of field notes, semi-structured interviews, and media projects were conducted using thematic analysis to inductively generate emerging categories. FINDINGS: Themes included an agentive sense of self-efficacy, commitment, and responsibility, as well as perceived contributions to local audiences and an emerging collective identity. The youth demonstrated their increased sense of a social or civic duty to realistically represent youth of color to familiar and unfamiliar audiences. IMPLICATIONS: This case study demonstrated how one youth media organization fostered agency through youth authorship, production, distribution, and local community dialogue. By documenting the impact of audiences from conception to public reception, this study provides valuable insight into the agentive process of publicly "performing" a commitment to complete a social change video project. CONTRIBUTION: This chapter underscores the value of performance within youth development programs and the critical component of audiences as one form of authentic assessment in order to foster individual and collective agency.

Making connections to translate climate research into effective action

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, K. J.; Niepold, F., III; Pierce, L.

2016-12-01

Climate change is strongly apparent at many scales and facets of the Earth system including glacier retreat, increased ocean acidity, altered meteorological patterns, and changing ecosystems. There is general recognition that a more strategic and coordinated response is needed to ameliorate these impacts on communities and to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5°C imposed by the 2015 Paris agreement. However, concrete plans to achieve these goals require actionable and specific guidance from the scientific community that is targeted for specific stakeholder groups within government agencies, industry, and individuals, while also supporting decision-makers plans and policies. This guidance depends on scientific advances that establish quantified predictions and minimize the levels of uncertainty. Although, these advances are ongoing; the decision maker, civil society organizations, and business and investor communities are not waiting for perfection. The urgency of taking action now has brought new approaches to the fore that try to bring the best available science into the business and decision making process. Combining a breadth of expertise, we highlight the specific transmission pathways of information needed for stakeholders, and it spans initial data collection and climate model construction, experimentation, analysis, synthesis of results, education, to government, communities, and business planning to reduce impacts and minimize additional human-caused contributions. We propose a multi-pathway relay along these paths. In one direction we encourage scientists to provide accessible and useable summary results with uncertainties to educators and stakeholders, who in turn need to collate results in a manner that enables interested parties to identify their specific mitigation action. In the other direction, stakeholders and shareholders are already requesting more comprehensive verification, validation, and active linkages to the way in which

Agency in Paul and Implications for Adolescent Girls

Science.gov (United States)

Peck-McClain, Emily A.

2015-01-01

Agency is a particular concern for ministry with adolescent girls because they rarely see themselves as subjects of their own lives. Human agency is often emphasized in churches as a way to explain human sinful action. As a population treated as objects by society, it is important for young women to embrace and exercise their agency in order to be…

77 FR 36010 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-06-15

... Respondents, Local Jails and State Prisons ACTION: 60-day notice. The Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of..., students, the media, others interested in criminal justice statistics, and the general public. (5) An... DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Office of Justice Programs [OMB No. 1121-0249] Agency Information Collection...

77 FR 46411 - Agency Information Collection Activities Under OMB Review

Science.gov (United States)

2012-08-03

... orderly procedures for membership and disciplinary actions. The Commission's review of decisions of... disciplinary, membership denial, registration, and member responsibility actions to the Commission for review... AGENCY: Commodity Futures Trading Commission. ACTION: Notice; Information Collection 3038-0043, Rules...

Wrestling with 'doubt-sayers': a first step in leading community-wide climate change action for better health.

Science.gov (United States)

Ritchie, Jan

2011-12-01

Although the evidence base for climate change is indisputable and the potential human health impact is extremely concerning, to date public health professionals are playing little part in influencing community change to accept and act on the science. In reviewing the techniques used to obstruct action on tobacco control by vested interests through constantly raising doubt about the science in this arena, a similar pattern is seen in obstructing action on climate change. It is clear that the raising of unverified doubt is the primary tool employed by profit-driven corporations to prevent constructive action in both these arenas, with the very high potential for the health of the whole population to suffer as a result. Those promoting the health of Australians have a responsibility to optimise health in this regard and need to think differently through embracing complexity science and then take action, with the first step being to provide constant counter-arguments to the unsubstantiated statements of the 'doubt-sayers'.

Reducing inequalities in health and access to health care in a rural Indian community: an India-Canada collaborative action research project

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohindra KS

2011-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Inadequate public action in vulnerable communities is a major constraint for the health of poor and marginalized groups in low and middle-income countries (LMICs. The south Indian state of Kerala, known for relatively equitable provision of public resources, is no exception to the marginalization of vulnerable communities. In Kerala, women’s lives are constrained by gender-based inequalities and certain indigenous groups are marginalized such that their health and welfare lag behind other social groups. The research The goal of this socially-engaged, action-research initiative was to reduce social inequalities in access to health care in a rural community. Specific objectives were: 1 design and implement a community-based health insurance scheme to reduce financial barriers to health care, 2 strengthen local governance in monitoring and evidence-based decision-making, and 3 develop an evidence base for appropriate health interventions. Results and outcomes Health and social inequities have been masked by Kerala’s overall progress. Key findings illustrated large inequalities between different social groups. Particularly disadvantaged are lower-caste women and Paniyas (a marginalized indigenous group, for whom inequalities exist across education, employment status, landholdings, and health. The most vulnerable populations are the least likely to receive state support, which has broader implications for the entire country. A community based health solidarity scheme (SNEHA, under the leadership of local women, was developed and implemented yielding some benefits to health equity in the community—although inclusion of the Paniyas has been a challenge. The partnership The Canadian-Indian action research team has worked collaboratively for over a decade. An initial focus on surveys and data analysis has transformed into a focus on socially engaged, participatory action research. Challenges and successes Adapting to

77 FR 62469 - Defense Logistics Agency Freedom of Information Act Program

Science.gov (United States)

2012-10-15

... DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Office of the Secretary 32 CFR Part 300 Defense Logistics Agency 32 CFR Part 1285 RIN 0790-AI87 [Docket ID: DOD-2012-OS-0019] Defense Logistics Agency Freedom of Information Act Program AGENCY: Defense Logistics Agency, DoD. ACTION: Proposed rule. SUMMARY: The Defense Logistics...

48 CFR 5.504 - Use of advertising agencies.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Use of advertising... ACQUISITION PLANNING PUBLICIZING CONTRACT ACTIONS Paid Advertisements 5.504 Use of advertising agencies. (a) General. Basic ordering agreements may be placed with advertising agencies for assistance in producing and...

44 CFR 334.6 - Department and agency responsibilities.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... the current crisis, action taken to obtain those resources, and GMR plans implemented consistent with... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Department and agency responsibilities. 334.6 Section 334.6 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY...

Local government energy action in the UK: from service delivery to community leadership. Volume 1

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wade, Joanne; Pearson, Amanda; Knowland, Rachael [Impetus Consulting (United Kingdom); Flanagan, Brooke [Energy Saving Trust (United Kingdom)

2007-07-01

In October 2006 the UK government published a new Local Government White Paper. This policy statement set the framework for the role of local government in the coming years.The White Paper is one stage in the latest wave of local government reform in the UK. This reform has aimed to refocus attention away from delivery of specific services and towards community leadership, particularly with reference to sustainable development. Climate change is given some emphasis within the White Paper, and should become one of the indicators against which local government performance is measured.This paper examines energy action in local authorities in the past few years, in a situation where most, but not all, were still strongly focused on service delivery. By contrasting this with the results achieved in authorities that have taken a community leadership role, the paper examines the potential of the White Paper. It addresses the following questions: does local government have the capacity to deliver increased local action on climate change? Does the UK policy framework support and encourage development and deployment of this capacity? And do the national and regional bodies that provide support for local authorities need to change the services they offer in light of recent policy developments?.

Local government energy action in the UK: from service delivery to community leadership. Volume 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wade, Joanne; Pearson, Amanda; Knowland, Rachael; Flanagan, Brooke

2007-01-01

In October 2006 the UK government published a new Local Government White Paper. This policy statement set the framework for the role of local government in the coming years.The White Paper is one stage in the latest wave of local government reform in the UK. This reform has aimed to refocus attention away from delivery of specific services and towards community leadership, particularly with reference to sustainable development. Climate change is given some emphasis within the White Paper, and should become one of the indicators against which local government performance is measured.This paper examines energy action in local authorities in the past few years, in a situation where most, but not all, were still strongly focused on service delivery. By contrasting this with the results achieved in authorities that have taken a community leadership role, the paper examines the potential of the White Paper. It addresses the following questions: does local government have the capacity to deliver increased local action on climate change? Does the UK policy framework support and encourage development and deployment of this capacity? And do the national and regional bodies that provide support for local authorities need to change the services they offer in light of recent policy developments?

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Academic Research Program

Science.gov (United States)

Loomer, S. A.

2004-12-01

"Know the Earth.Show the Way." In fulfillment of its vision, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) provides geospatial intelligence in all its forms and from whatever source-imagery, imagery intelligence, and geospatial data and information-to ensure the knowledge foundation for planning, decision, and action. To achieve this, NGA conducts a multi-disciplinary program of basic research in geospatial intelligence topics through grants and fellowships to the leading investigators, research universities, and colleges of the nation. This research provides the fundamental science support to NGA's applied and advanced research programs. The major components of the NGA Academic Research Program (NARP) are: - NGA University Research Initiatives (NURI): Three-year basic research grants awarded competitively to the best investigators across the US academic community. Topics are selected to provide the scientific basis for advanced and applied research in NGA core disciplines. - Historically Black College and University - Minority Institution Research Initiatives (HBCU-MI): Two-year basic research grants awarded competitively to the best investigators at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and Minority Institutions across the US academic community. - Director of Central Intelligence Post-Doctoral Research Fellowships: Fellowships providing access to advanced research in science and technology applicable to the intelligence community's mission. The program provides a pool of researchers to support future intelligence community needs and develops long-term relationships with researchers as they move into career positions. This paper provides information about the NGA Academic Research Program, the projects it supports and how other researchers and institutions can apply for grants under the program.

Building Trust in Natural Resource Management Within Local Communities: A Case Study of the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie

Science.gov (United States)

Davenport, Mae A.; Leahy, Jessica E.; Anderson, Dorothy H.; Jakes, Pamela J.

2007-03-01

Communities neighboring federally protected natural areas regularly weigh the costs and benefits of the administering agency’s programs and policies. While most agencies integrate public opinion into decision making, efforts to standardize and formalize public involvement have left many local communities feeling marginalized, spurring acrimony and opposition. A significant body of research has examined barriers to effective public participation as well as strategies for relationship building in planning processes; many of which point to trust as a key factor. Trust is especially tenuous in local communities. This paper explores perceptions of trust, expectations for management, as well as constraints to building trust. In-depth interviews were conducted with 21 community members and USDA Forest Service personnel at the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie in northeastern Illinois. The interviews revealed that trust is perceived as important to effective management. Distinct expectations for management outcomes and processes emerged, including the values, knowledge, and capacity demonstrated in management decisions and actions and opportunities provided for communication, collaboration, and cooperation within the agency-community relationship. The case study identified several constraints to building trust, including competing values, knowledge gaps, limited community engagement, and staff turnover.

Training community health students to develop community-requested social marketing campaigns: an innovative partnership.

Science.gov (United States)

Lindsey, Billie J; Hawk, Carol Wetherill

2013-01-01

This paper describes a sustained partnership between a university community health program and local and regional community health agencies. As a key component of the Health Communication and Social Marketing course, the partnership involves undergraduate community health students working for and with community agencies and community members to design social marketing campaigns based on community-identified health needs. The goals of the course are to (1) provide students with the opportunity to work within the community to apply their skills in program planning, evaluation, and communication and (2) provide community agencies with a tailored campaign that can be implemented in their communities. Throughout the 10-week quarter, teams of students follow the principles of community participation in planning a social marketing campaign. These include (1) audience segmentation and formative assessment with the intended audience to determine campaign content and strategies and (2) pretesting and revisions of campaign messages and materials based on community feedback. This partnership contributes to the promotion of health in the local community and it builds the skills and competencies of future health educators. It demonstrates a successful and sustainable combination of community-based participatory research and experiential learning. From 2005 to 2011, 35 campaigns have been developed, many which have been implemented.

75 FR 51531 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

Science.gov (United States)

2010-08-20

... DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request AGENCY: Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Treasury. ACTION: ACTION: Notice and request for comment. SUMMARY: The OCC, as part of its continuing...

Housekeeping category corrective action unit work plan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1996-08-01

The purpose of this Corrective Action Unit (CAU) Work Plan is to provide a strategy to be used by the US Department of Energy Nevada Operations Office (DOE/NV), the US Department of Defense (DoD) Defense Special Weapons Agency (DSWA) (formerly the Defense Nuclear Agency), and contractor personnel for conducting corrective actions at the Nevada Test Site (NTS) and Nevada off-site locations including the Tonopah Test Range (TTR), the Project Shoal Area, and the Central Nevada Test Area. This Work Plan applies to housekeeping category CAUs already listed in the Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (FFACO) Appendices (FFACO, 1996) as well as newly identified Corrective Action Sites (CASs) that will follow the housekeeping process

IAEA Sets Up Team to Drive Nuclear Safety Action Plan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2011-01-01

Full text: The International Atomic Energy Agency is setting up a Nuclear Safety Action Team to oversee prompt implementation of the IAEA Action Plan on Nuclear Safety and ensure proper coordination among all stakeholders. The 12-point Action Plan, drawn up in the wake of the Fukushima Daiichi accident, was approved by the Agency's Board of Governors on 13 September and endorsed by all 151 Member States at its General Conference last week. The team will work within the Agency's Department of Nuclear Safety and Security, headed by Deputy Director General Denis Flory, and will coordinate closely with the Director General's Office for Policy. ''The Action Plan requires immediate follow-up,'' Director General Yukiya Amano said. ''This compact, dedicated team will assist Deputy Director General Flory in implementing the measures agreed in the Action Plan.'' Gustavo Caruso, Head of the Regulatory Activities Section in the IAEA's Division of Installation Safety, has been designated as the team's Special Coordinator for the implementation of the Action Plan. The IAEA has already started implementing its responsibilities under the Action Plan, including development of an IAEA methodology for stress tests for nuclear power plants. The methodology will be ready in October. (IAEA)

5 CFR 2636.104 - Civil, disciplinary and other action.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 5 Administrative Personnel 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Civil, disciplinary and other action... Provisions § 2636.104 Civil, disciplinary and other action. (a) Civil action. Except when the employee... prohibited conduct, whichever is greater. (b) Disciplinary and corrective action. An agency may initiate...

75 FR 39583 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-09

... the World Wide Web. The survey is a fully automated web data collection effort and is handled... NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request AGENCY: National Science Foundation. ACTION: Notice; Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request. SUMMARY: The...

75 FR 29368 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request

Science.gov (United States)

2010-05-25

... made available to researchers on CD-ROM and on the World Wide Web. Mathematica Policy Research will... NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request AGENCY: National Science Foundation. ACTION: Submission for OMB review; comment request. SUMMARY: The National...

Case studies of community relations on DOE's Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program as models for Superfund sites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Plant, S.W.; Adler, D.G.

1995-01-01

Ever since the US Department of Energy (DOE) created its Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) in 1974, there has been a community relations program. The community relations effort has grown as FUSRAP has grown. With 20 of 46 sites now cleaned up, considerable experience in working with FUSRAP stakeholders has been gained. Why not share that experience with others who labor on the Superfund sites? Many similarities exist between the Superfund sites and FUSRAP. FUSRAP is a large, multiple-site environmental restoration program. The challenges range from small sites requiring remedial actions measurable in weeks to major sites requiring the full remedial investigation/feasibility study process. The numerous Superfund sites throughout the United States offer the same diversity, both geographically and technically. But before DOE offers FUSRAP's community relations experience as a model, it needs to make clear that this will be a realistic model. As experiences are shared, DOE will certainly speak of the efforts that achieved its goals. But many of the problems that DOE encountered along the way will also be related. FUSRAP relies on a variety of one- and two-way communication techniques for involving stakeholders in the DOE decision-making process. Some of the techniques and experiences from the case studies are presented

Predictive coding in Agency Detection

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Marc Malmdorf

2017-01-01

Agency detection is a central concept in the cognitive science of religion (CSR). Experimental studies, however, have so far failed to lend support to some of the most common predictions that follow from current theories on agency detection. In this article, I argue that predictive coding, a highly...... promising new framework for understanding perception and action, may solve pending theoretical inconsistencies in agency detection research, account for the puzzling experimental findings mentioned above, and provide hypotheses for future experimental testing. Predictive coding explains how the brain......, unbeknownst to consciousness, engages in sophisticated Bayesian statistics in an effort to constantly predict the hidden causes of sensory input. My fundamental argument is that most false positives in agency detection can be seen as the result of top-down interference in a Bayesian system generating high...

What Does It Mean to Be a Friendly Outsider? Critical Reflection on Finding a Role as an Action Researcher with Communities Developing Renewable Energy Projects

Science.gov (United States)

Rogers, Jennifer; Convery, Ian; Simmons, Eunice; Weatherall, Andrew

2012-01-01

This paper is a reflective account exploring the value of using action research in a relatively new context in the United Kingdom; the development of community renewable-energy projects. There is a strong rationale for using action research in this setting due to the synergies between the principles and practice of action research and localised…

Preventing adolescent suicide: a community takes action.

Science.gov (United States)

Pirruccello, Linda M

2010-05-01

Suicide is the third leading cause of death for adolescents and young people in the United States. The etiology of suicide in this population has eluded policy makers, researchers, and communities. Although many suicide prevention programs have been developed and implemented, few are evidence-based in their effectiveness in decreasing suicide rates. In one northern California community, adolescent suicide has risen above the state's average. Two nurses led an effort to develop and implement an innovative grassroots community suicide prevention project targeted at eliminating any further teen suicide. The project consisted of a Teen Resource Card, a community resource brochure targeted at teens, and education for the public and school officials to raise awareness about this issue. This article describes this project for other communities to use as a model. Risk and protective factors are described, and a comprehensive background of adolescent suicide is provided.

Developing ADUN e-Community Portal for Community in Malaysia : Crime Prevention Tips Module, Message Board Module, Report Module and Analysis Module

OpenAIRE

Nuur Iffahton Ain binti Mohd Filus; Ahmad Suhaimi Baharudin; Kamal Karkonasasi

2016-01-01

ADUN e-Community Portal is a medium that enable community to voice out their complaints, dissatisfaction or opinion towards relevant government agencies services in Malaysia. This portal can help to enhance the way of relevant government agencies managed the complaints created by community. This is because the portal provides the service that allows the community representative supervised the progress of particular government agencies that handling the community’s complaint. This portal also ...

22 CFR 905.1 - Grievances other than disciplinary actions.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 22 Foreign Relations 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 true Grievances other than disciplinary actions. 905... other than disciplinary actions. (a) In all grievances other than those concerning disciplinary actions... may have been a substantial factor in an agency action, and the question is presented whether the...

Learners' Agency in a Facebook-Mediated Community

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Greg Chung-Hsien; Chao, Yu-Chuan Joni

2015-01-01

Agency, defined by Gao (2013) as learners' "dynamic strategic behavior" (p. 29) in response to contextual realities, has been central to educational undertakings. While the affordances of social networking sites like Facebook have been extensively examined in a number of educational studies, there has been a scarcity of research on…

BCI and a User’s Judgment of Agency

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vlek, R.J.; Acken, J.P. van; Beurskens, E.; Roijendijk, L.M.M.; Haselager, W.F.G.; Grübler, G.; Hildt, E.

2014-01-01

Performing an action with the assistance of a BCI may affect a user’s judgment of agency, resulting in an illusion of control, or automatism. We analyze this possibility from a theoretical perspective and discuss various factors that might influence a user’s judgment of agency in a BCI context. We

75 FR 29366 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request

Science.gov (United States)

2010-05-25

... researchers on CD-ROM and on the World Wide Web. The National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University... NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request AGENCY: National Science Foundation. ACTION: Notice and request for comments. SUMMARY: The National Science...

Taking the right action in the right way: a comparison of frameworks for assessing the health and quality of life of a postsecondary student campus community.

Science.gov (United States)

Racher, Frances E; Hyndman, Kathyrn; Anonson, June; Arries, Ebin; Foster, Cathy

2014-01-01

The focus of campus health research, historically, has been on population health at the individual or aggregate level with little effort to examine the health of the students at a community level with a focus on the broader determinants of health and community-level intervention. The purpose of this article is to critique three models or frameworks of campus health, articulate the World Health Organization (WHO) vision of a health-promoting university, and demonstrate the efficacy of adapting the Community Health Action model for use in university and college settings. Foundational within this proposed model is taking the right action using the right process, an inclusive participatory process. Adaptation of the model requires careful attention to student engagement in community, a healthy campus infrastructure and processes, and relationships beyond the campus. Effective student community assessment and improvement of student community health, ultimately, will serve to generate knowledge and build skills at various levels to benefit the health and quality of life of the students, their student community, the educational institution, and the broader community.

Research and development action of the Commission of the European Communities (CEC) in the field of radioactive waste management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Orlowski, S.; Bresesti, M.

1983-01-01

The CEC R and D action, started in 1973, is carried out within the framework of cost-sharing contracts with Community organizations and in the laboratories of the Joint Research Centre, Ispra. About 350 research workers from 30 organizations within the Community are taking part. The R and D activities cover processing, conditioning, characterization, intermediate storage and final disposal of the radioactive wastes generated in reactors and in fuel reprocessing and fuel fabrication plants. In the Community, spent fuels are not considered as radioactive waste. About one half of the total effort has been devoted to the disposal of high-level and long-lived radioactive wastes in geological formations (granite, clay, salt) and to related studies. The sub-seabed disposal option is also being investigated with a more limited effort. The R and D activities on waste treatment cover low-level, alpha-bearing and gaseous wastes. An important activity has been developed on the characterization of vitrified HLW. A similar activity for the characterization of other types of conditioned wastes has been started. The R and D activity of the CEC is supported by the existence of a Community Plan of Action (1980-1992) which entrusts to the Commission a wider role in the development of waste management policies. The Plan assures in particular the continuity of the R and D work up to 1992. International co-operation is considered important; international symposia have been co-sponsored with the IAEA; co-operative agreements with non-Community countries are in force (such as with Canada) or in preparation (such as with the USA). (author)

Conceptualising the agency of highly marginalised women: Intimate partner violence in extreme settings.

Science.gov (United States)

Campbell, Catherine; Mannell, Jenevieve

2016-01-01

How is the agency of women best conceptualised in highly coercive settings? We explore this in the context of international efforts to reduce intimate partner violence (IPV) against women in heterosexual relationships. Articles critique the tendency to think of women's agency and programme endpoints in terms of individual actions, such as reporting violent men or leaving violent relationships, whilst neglecting the interlocking social, economic and cultural contexts that make such actions unlikely or impossible. Three themes cut across the articles. (1) Unhelpful understandings of gender and power implicit in commonly used 'men-women' and 'victim-agent' binaries obscure multi-faceted and hidden forms of women's agency, and the complexity of agency-violence intersections. (2) This neglect of complexity results in a poor fit between policy and interventions to reduce IPV, and women's lives. (3) Such neglect also obscures the multiplicities of women's agency, including the competing challenges they juggle alongside IPV, differing levels of response, and the temporality of agency. We outline a notion of 'distributed agency' as a multi-level, incremental and non-linear process distributed across time, space and social networks, and across a continuum of action ranging from survival to resistance. This understanding of agency implies a different approach to those currently underpinning policies and interventions.

77 FR 19303 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request, Application...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-03-30

...--Collateral Security, FEMA Form 085-0-1, 10 hours; Application for Community Disaster Loan, FEMA Form 090-0-2... Request, Application for Community Disaster Loan (CDL) Program AGENCY: Federal Emergency Management Agency... Title: Application for Community Disaster Loan (CDL) Program. Type of information collection: Extension...

Meaningful Engagement of Organizational and Agency Partnerships to Enhance Diversity within the Earth System Science Community: A Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Pyrtle, A. J.; Whitney, V. W.; Powell, J. M.; Bailey, K. L.

2006-12-01

The Minorities Striving and Pursuing Higher Degrees of Success in Earth System Science Initiative (MS PHD'S) was established by and for underrepresented minorities to facilitate increased and sustained participation in Earth system science community. The MS PHD'S launched its pilot program in 2003 with twenty professional organizations, agencies and institutions as partners. Each year partnership alliances have grown. In the second year or programming, thirty-one partnering agencies/institutions supported involvement of MS PHD'S student participants and for 2005-2006, representatives from forty-five agencies and institutions have provided similar support and exposure to the third cohort of student participants. Nineteen scientists served as meeting mentors during the MS PHD'S pilot program in 2003. By the following year, twenty-two additional scientists partnered with MS PHD'S mentees. During 2005-2006, twenty-one new scientists served as program mentors. Thus far, the MS PHD'S program has successfully engaged sixty-two minority and non-minority scientists as mentors to MS PHD'S student participants. AGU, AMS, ASLO, ESA, TOS, NAS OSB and JOI continue to serve as MS PHD'S Society Partners and hosts for MS PHD'S student activities in conjunction with their meetings. Each of the five professional society partners provided assistance in identifying mentors, provided complimentary memberships and meeting registrations for MS PHD'S student participants. AGU, AMS, ASLO, JOI and TOS have sponsored more than 90 conference registration and travel awards for the purpose of student participants engaging in MS PHD'S Professional Development Program Phase 2 activities at their international meetings. How did MS PHD'S establish meaningful engagement of organizational and agency partnerships to enhance diversity within the Earth system science community? This case study reveals replicable processes and constructs to enhance the quality of meaningful collaboration and engagement

A cooperative inquiry into action learning and praxis development in a community nursing module.

Science.gov (United States)

Jenkins, Emrys R; Mabbett, Gaynor M; Surridge, Andrea G; Warring, Joanna; Gwynn, Elizabeth D

2009-09-01

As nurse lecturers we investigated practice development and action learning approaches aimed at enabling postregistration bachelor's- and master's-level nursing students (Community Health Studies, Nursing in the Home) to advance practice in the context of policy and professional developments. A patchwork text was used to assess summatively what students achieved (practice change/development) and how this was informed critically, via an extended epistemology. First-person inquiry supplemented by cooperative inquiry postcourse completion (including reflective discussions with 16 students and 16 practice mentors) were used to assist coresearcher constructions of meaning. A relational, tripartite approach to learning and assessment (students', teachers', and practice mentors' collective contributions) depends on continuing reflective attention. Action learning enhances interrelation of experience with dialectic thinking. The patchwork text functions to promote creative writing, evaluative thinking, and praxis development. Role modeling by all, being genuine and not just "talking" genuine, is challenging yet crucial if people are to function as mutual resources for learning.

34 CFR 200.42 - Corrective action.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... action; and (ii) Any underlying staffing, curriculum, or other problems in the school; (2) Is designed to... provide all students enrolled in the school with the option to transfer to another public school in... Programs Operated by Local Educational Agencies Lea and School Improvement § 200.42 Corrective action. (a...

Children’s Civic Engagement in the Scratch Online Community

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ricarose Roque

2016-09-01

Full Text Available In public discourse, and in the governance of online communities, young people are often denied agency. Children are frequently considered objects to protect, safeguard, and manage. Yet as children go online from very early ages, they develop emergent forms of civic and political engagement. Children appropriate the affordances of digital platforms in order to discuss, connect, and act with their peers and in their communities. In this paper, we analyze civic engagement in Scratch Online, a creative community where children from around the world learn programming by designing and sharing interactive media projects. We explore the ways that young Scratch community members connect with issues of global importance, as well as with local topics and questions of community governance. We develop a typology of the strategies they use to express themselves, engage with their peers, and call for action. We then analyze the reaction of the community, including other Scratch members and adult moderators, and draw key lessons from these examples in order to describe guidelines for educators and designers who would like to support children’s rights to civic engagement in online learning environments.

Are REDD+ community forest projects following the principles for collective action, as proposed by Ostrom?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdul-Razak Saeed

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Forested countries in the global south that have agreed to engage in REDD+, a policy mechanism for addressing climate change, are receiving support to improve laws, policies, systems and structures. As a mechanism initiated at the global level and seeking to use forests to address a global commons crisis (atmospheric carbon concentration, understanding how REDD+ translates into implementation at the local level is essential. Therefore, using a systematic review approach, we examined 15 studies of REDD+ in the context of public and/or community managed forests, drawn from a comprehensive application of inclusion criteria to identify relevant published peer-reviewed empirical research. The common property resources literature was used to highlight the role of local institutions in REDD+ and to distil how REDD+ community forest projects conform to Ostrom’s collective action principles. The review revealed limited sharing of information and decision-making authority with communities; a general absence of FPIC; and a lack of defined benefit sharing and conflict resolution arrangements in many of the REDD+ projects.

Riverland expedited response action assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1995-06-01

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) recommended that the US Department of Energy (DOE) prepare an expedited response action (ERA) for the Riverland Railroad Car Wash Pit (located in the Riverland Rail Yard) and the 600 Area Army Munitions Burial Site (Munitions Cache). This assessment report details the actions taken to complete the Riverland ERA

75 FR 29367 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request

Science.gov (United States)

2010-05-25

... researchers on CD-ROM and on the World Wide Web. The Bureau of the Census, as in the past, will conduct the... NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request AGENCY: National Science Foundation. ACTION: Submission for OMB review; comment request. SUMMARY: The National...

76 FR 44048 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request

Science.gov (United States)

2011-07-22

.../webcaspar . A public release file is also made available on the World Wide Web. Comment: On May 11, 2011 we... NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request AGENCY: National Science Foundation. ACTION: Submission for OMB review; Request for Comments. SUMMARY: The National...

Hope over fear. The establishment of the International Atomic Energy Agency

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Forland, A.

1995-12-01

President Eisenhower`s ``Atoms for Peace`` speech in 1953 started a process that led to the establishment of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). This study analyses the negotiations of the Statute of the Agency. It focuses on how the Agency`s scope of action regarding safeguards was negotiated. The Statute is seen as a reflection of the dual purpose of the new Agency to promote peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and to control that peaceful nuclear activities receiving IAEA assistance are not diverted to military purposes. On one hand, the countries receiving assistance from the Agency accepted a degree of international control that represented a breakthrough in international relations. On the other hand, many countries strongly resented controls. Consequently, compromises had to be made in the course of the negotiations in order to reach a consensus. Thus, although the IAEA was established as a competent and technical body, the underlying compromises meant that its scope of actions was restricted. 6 refs.

Building capability throughout a change effort: leading the transformation of a police agency to community policing.

Science.gov (United States)

Ford, J Kevin

2007-06-01

This case describes a change effort to move a police agency to become a community policing organization. The community policing effort was seen as a means to make a transformational change to become a learning organization with the goal of improving the delivery of police services. The case describes the steps taken to meet the new vision of community policing as well as the steps taken to deal with the challenges or realities of trying to make change happen. The lens for this case is the leadership role across the stages of change (exploration, planning, implementation, monitoring and institutionalization) in building capacity within the organization to sustain the change effort. The capacity building focused on incorporating systems thinking into the mindset of the members of the organization, breaking down the command and control mindset by building a new norm around high involvement of committed teams, and developing skill sets to support continuous learning and improvement in order to align organizational systems. A key lesson learned is that effective leaders do not just prepare an organization prior to a change effort. They must have the patience to constantly build the capacity for change among organizational members throughout the various stages of the change effort.

Action research: Scandinavian Experiences

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Lauge Baungaard

2004-01-01

The article focus on paradigms, methods and ethics of action research in the Scandinavian countries. The special features of the action research paradigm is identified. A historical overview follows of some main action research projects in Norway, Sweden and Denmark. The tendency towards upsclae...... action research projects from organisational or small community projects yo large-scale, regional based network apporaches are also outlined and discussed. Finally, a synthesised approach of the classical, socio-technical action research approach and the large-scale network and holistic approaches...

Women's Agency and Fertility: Recent Evidence from Egypt.

Science.gov (United States)

Samari, Goleen

2017-08-01

Fertility reached a two decade high of 3.5 births per woman in Egypt in 2014. Lower status of women is associated with higher fertility. Majority of the studies on women's agency and fertility rely on individual level cross-sectional data from South Asia, which limits the understanding of variation among communities and the direction of the relationship between women's agency and fertility in other global contexts. This study examines the relationship between women's agency and fertility longitudinally and among communities in the most populous country in the Middle East - Egypt. For 3,795 ever married women 15 to 49 years old in the 2006 and 2012 Egyptian Labor Market Panel Survey, multilevel models are estimated for having given birth and number of births between 2006 and 2012. Contrary to expectation, women with more agency with greater participation in household decision-making and mobility are, in fact, more likely to have had a birth and have a greater total number of births. Only women with more egalitarian attitudes are associated with fewer births. Community membership explains 5% of the variation in fertility. Since social norms in Egypt favor a higher number of births and labor market participation among women is low, women with agency could be fulfilling social expectations of having children and choosing to have more children.

Experiencing local community resilience in action : Learning from post-disaster communities

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Imperiale, Angelo Jonas; Vanclay, Frank

2016-01-01

Although increasing attention has been given to the need to engage local communities and facilitate community resilience, discrepancies between theory and practice remain evident. Myths, misconceptions and mistakes persist in post-disaster emergency operations, and in the reconstruction and

Bootstrapping agency: How control-relevant information affects motivation.

Science.gov (United States)

Karsh, Noam; Eitam, Baruch; Mark, Ilya; Higgins, E Tory

2016-10-01

How does information about one's control over the environment (e.g., having an own-action effect) influence motivation? The control-based response selection framework was proposed to predict and explain such findings. Its key tenant is that control relevant information modulates both the frequency and speed of responses by determining whether a perceptual event is an outcome of one's actions or not. To test this framework empirically, the current study examines whether and how temporal and spatial contiguity/predictability-previously established as being important for one's sense of agency-modulate motivation from control. In 5 experiments, participants responded to a cue, potentially triggering a perceptual effect. Temporal (Experiments 1a-c) and spatial (Experiments 2a and b) contiguity/predictability between actions and their potential effects were experimentally manipulated. The influence of these control-relevant factors was measured, both indirectly (through their effect on explicit judgments of agency) and directly on response time and response frequency. The pattern of results was highly consistent with the control-based response selection framework in suggesting that control relevant information reliably modulates the impact of "having an effect" on different levels of action selection. We discuss the implications of this study for the notion of motivation from control and for the empirical work on the sense of agency. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

76 FR 34120 - Action Subject to Intergovernmental Review

Science.gov (United States)

2011-06-10

... and prospective small business owners in management, marketing, finance, operations, planning, taxes... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Action Subject to Intergovernmental Review AGENCY: U.S. Small Business Administration. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: Under Executive Order 12372, the Small Business...

Federal Emergency Management Agency

Science.gov (United States)

... Term(s): About the Agency Text Messages Federal Interagency Operational Plans Whole Community Technological Hazards Division - Contacts Accessible ASL ... content. Home About Us Download Plug-ins Doing Business with FEMA Privacy ... General Strategic Plan Whitehouse.gov DHS.gov Ready.gov USA.gov ...

Police Training in El Salvador: Challenges and Opportunities in Promoting the Community Police Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luisa Carolina Arévalo Herrera

2014-05-01

Full Text Available The Peace Accords emphasized creating a new police force that would be diametrically opposite to previous security forces. This change would have to be expressed symbolically, and from the onset it would have to underscore the fact that the main weapon of the police would be intelligence. From its foundation to June 2011, a total of 30,344 people have graduated from the Academy. Currently, in the process of training new police with greater quality, and modernizing the entire police force, it faces the difficult challenge of adopting the Community Police philosophy to empower this model for action, promoting a new relationship between community and law enforcement, and between managers and operational personnel in the agency. Nevertheless,police training is not enough if there are no significantchanges in the organizational climate and culture within the law enforcement agency.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5377/rpsp.v1i1.1390

78 FR 22876 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request

Science.gov (United States)

2013-04-17

... EXPORT-IMPORT BANK [Public Notice 2013-0112] Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request AGENCY: Export-Import Bank of the United States. ACTION: Submission for OMB review and comments... Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank), as a part of its continuing effort to reduce...

78 FR 1859 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-09

... EXPORT-IMPORT BANK [Public Notice 2013-0101] Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request AGENCY: Export-Import Bank of the United States. ACTION: Submission for OMB Review and Comments... Insurance Policy SUMMARY: The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank), as a part of its...

Networked Community Change: Understanding Community Systems Change through the Lens of Social Network Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Lawlor, Jennifer A; Neal, Zachary P

2016-06-01

Addressing complex problems in communities has become a key area of focus in recent years (Kania & Kramer, 2013, Stanford Social Innovation Review). Building on existing approaches to understanding and addressing problems, such as action research, several new approaches have emerged that shift the way communities solve problems (e.g., Burns, 2007, Systemic Action Research; Foth, 2006, Action Research, 4, 205; Kania & Kramer, 2011, Stanford Social Innovation Review, 1, 36). Seeking to bring clarity to the emerging literature on community change strategies, this article identifies the common features of the most widespread community change strategies and explores the conditions under which such strategies have the potential to be effective. We identify and describe five common features among the approaches to change. Then, using an agent-based model, we simulate network-building behavior among stakeholders participating in community change efforts using these approaches. We find that the emergent stakeholder networks are efficient when the processes are implemented under ideal conditions. © Society for Community Research and Action 2016.

Health activism and the logic of connective action. A case study of rare disease patient organisations.

Science.gov (United States)

Vicari, Stefania; Cappai, Franco

2016-11-01

This exploratory work investigates the role of digital media in expanding health discourse practices in a way to transform traditional structures of agency in public health. By focusing on a sample of rare disease patient organisations as representative of contemporary health activism, this study investigates the role of digital communication in the development of (1) bottom-up sharing and co-production of health knowledge, (2) health public engagement dynamics and (3) health information pathways. Findings show that digital media affordances for patient organisations go beyond the provision of social support for patient communities; they ease one-way, two-way and crowdsourced processes of health knowledge sharing, exchange and co-production, provide personalised routes to health public engagement and bolster the emergence of varied pathways to health information where experiential knowledge and medical authority are equally valued. These forms of organisationally enabled connective action can help the surfacing of personal narratives that strengthen patient communities, the bottom-up production of health knowledge relevant to a wider public and the development of an informational and eventually cultural context that eases patients' political action.

Science for Managing Riverine Ecosystems: Actions for the USGS Identified in the Workshop "Analysis of Flow and Habitat for Instream Aquatic Communities"

Science.gov (United States)

Bencala, Kenneth E.; Hamilton, David B.; Petersen, James H.

2006-01-01

Federal and state agencies need improved scientific analysis to support riverine ecosystem management. The ability of the USGS to integrate geologic, hydrologic, chemical, geographic, and biological data into new tools and models provides unparalleled opportunities to translate the best riverine science into useful approaches and usable information to address issues faced by river managers. In addition to this capability to provide integrated science, the USGS has a long history of providing long-term and nationwide information about natural resources. The USGS is now in a position to advance its ability to provide the scientific support for the management of riverine ecosystems. To address this need, the USGS held a listening session in Fort Collins, Colorado in April 2006. Goals of the workshop were to: 1) learn about the key resource issues facing DOI, other Federal, and state resource management agencies; 2) discuss new approaches and information needs for addressing these issues; and 3) outline a strategy for the USGS role in supporting riverine ecosystem management. Workshop discussions focused on key components of a USGS strategy: Communications, Synthesis, and Research. The workshop identified 3 priority actions the USGS can initiate now to advance its capabilities to support integrated science for resource managers in partner government agencies and non-governmental organizations: 1) Synthesize the existing science of riverine ecosystem processes to produce broadly applicable conceptual models, 2) Enhance selected ongoing instream flow projects with complementary interdisciplinary studies, and 3) Design a long-term, watershed-scale research program that will substantively reinvent riverine ecosystem science. In addition, topical discussion groups on hydrology, geomorphology, aquatic habitat and populations, and socio-economic analysis and negotiation identified eleven important complementary actions required to advance the state of the science and to

[Municipal Health Councils: activity and representation of grassroots communities].

Science.gov (United States)

Gerschman, Silvia

2004-01-01

This article was based on the results of research concerning health policy in municipalities that achieved the most extensive development of decentralization and innovation in the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The study applied a questionnaire for health system users' representatives in Municipal Health Councils. The central issues were: the Councils' political role; social control by the Councils, viewed as surveillance by organized society over government actions; the nature of social representation exercised by the Council members; and the type of mandate they serve. Community representatives in the Councils reinforce aspects pertaining to the exercise of representation in unequal societies. There is a predominance of a differentiated elite consisting of older males with more schooling and higher income than the community average. The notion of "social control" as the basis for the Councils is difficult for the members to grasp. Exercise of representation is diffuse, occurring by way of designation by community associations, election in assemblies, or designation by institutional health policy agencies.

76 FR 34119 - Action Subject to Intergovernmental Review

Science.gov (United States)

2011-06-10

... counseling to existing and prospective small business owners in management, marketing, finance, operations... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Action Subject to Intergovernmental Review AGENCY: U.S. Small Business Administration. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: Under Executive Order 12372, the Small Business...

Mirror neurons and embodied simulation in the development of archetypes and self-agency.

Science.gov (United States)

Knox, Jean

2009-06-01

In this paper I explore the role of mirror neurons and motor intentionality in the development of self-agency. I suggest that this will also give us a firmer basis for an emergent view of archetypes, as key components in the development trajectory of self-agency, from its foundation in bodily action to its mature expression in mentalization and a conscious awareness of intentionality. I offer some ideas about the implications of these issues of self-agency for our clinical work with patients whose developmental trajectory of self-agency has been partially inhibited, so that their communications have a coercive effect. I discuss the possibility that this kind of clinical phenomenon may relate to Gallese and Lakoff's hypothesis that abstract thought and imagination are forms of simulated action, and that the same sensory-motor circuits that control action also control imagination, concept formation and understanding, but with a crucial development, that of an inhibition of the connections between secondary pre-motor cortical areas and the primary motor cortex. I shall speculate that in the earlier developmental stages of self-agency, the separation of secondary from primary motor areas is not complete, so that imagination and thought are not entirely independent of physical action.

76 FR 25281 - Atrazine, Chloroneb, Chlorpyrifos, Clofencet, Endosulfan, et al.; Proposed Tolerance Actions

Science.gov (United States)

2011-05-04

... or proposed product label. Generally, the level selected for a tolerance is a value slightly above..., Chloroneb, Chlorpyrifos, Clofencet, Endosulfan, et al.; Proposed Tolerance Actions AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ACTION: Proposed rule. SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to revoke certain tolerances in...

Reconsidering the culture and violence connection: strategies of action in the rural South.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Matthew R; Ousey, Graham C

2011-03-01

Crime scholars have long conceptualized culture as a set of values that violence is used to defend or reinforce (i.e., honor). This analysis moves beyond this framework by conceptualizing culture as a toolkit providing strategies of action that individuals use to negotiate social situations. Qualitative data obtained from participant responses to vignettes describing potential conflict situations are analyzed to explore the merit of the cultural toolkit framework as it pertains to the "southern culture of violence" thesis. Contrary to the traditional culture as values model, these data indicate that interpersonal violence is a situationally viable response for diverse groups of people, including males and females, Blacks and Whites, the young and the older. The interplay between culture and social structure is also apparent. Although culture provides individuals with a toolkit, structural factors provide situations in which individuals must decide which cultural tools are most appropriately used. Violence is most viable when individuals feel that the police cannot be relied on and when they perceive that there is an imminent or potentially recurring threat to their family or themselves. Rarely is violent action justified to achieve overarching values, although values are clearly part of the toolkit that informs social action. Participants also frequently report that some segments of their community would consider violence to be an appropriate response even when they personally disagree with that assessment. This highlights the role of agency, where individual lines of action may be constructed independently from perceived community expectations, another major point of departure from the values model.

75 FR 56501 - Information Collection; Land Management Agency Volunteer Surveys

Science.gov (United States)

2010-09-16

... Information Collection; Land Management Agency Volunteer Surveys AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. ACTION: Notice... and test models of volunteer management; supply information to LMA program managers and other... is seeking comments from all interested individuals and organizations on the new information...

Five Ethical Paradigms for Community College Leaders: Toward Constructing and Considering Alternative Courses of Action in Ethical Decision Making

Science.gov (United States)

Wood, J. Luke; Hilton, Adriel A.

2012-01-01

This article encourages community college leaders to employ ethical paradigms when constructing and considering alternative courses of action in decision-making processes. The authors discuss four previously articulated paradigms (e.g., ethic of justice, ethic of critique, ethic of care, and ethic of the profession) and propose an additional…

Evolving Workforce Demographics: Federal Agency Action and Reaction

Science.gov (United States)

1993-11-01

MICi ltiKit tii- tAtu l III wiwk VIj IIci( wi hcit’s iim t..’~iliil I1cil\\ f/ ic es ’ Ic ’ts o wwf tilt t’ ’t> il I/it’ f/IlIlit~ t10, tl flt’ ti’lit’ I...below, staffing entry-level jobs, one official calling the Student Employment and Partnerships With program "our bread and butter." Schools. A...and bureaus of the Federal Government. All agencies Involvement with Schools either formally or informally assess individual The partnerships that many

Turning Awareness into Action: What Your Community Can Do about Drug Use in America = De La Toma de Conciencia a la Accion: Que Puede Hacer la Comunidad Respecto al Consumo de Drogas en America.

Science.gov (United States)

Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration (DHHS/PHS), Rockville, MD. Office for Substance Abuse Prevention.

This booklet gives examples of successful community drug abuse prevention programs, as well as guidelines for finding out more about a community's prevention needs and taking action. The first section discusses taking action against drug abuse. It presents examples which illustrate the different approaches communities have taken. Ten steps to help…

78 FR 70044 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request

Science.gov (United States)

2013-11-22

... EXPORT-IMPORT BANK OF THE UNITED STATES [Public Notice: 2014-6009] Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request AGENCY: Export-Import Bank of the United States. ACTION: Submission for OMB...-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank), as a part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and...

77 FR 59922 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request

Science.gov (United States)

2012-10-01

... EXPORT-IMPORT BANK OF THE UNITED STATES [Public Notice 2012-0521] Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request AGENCY: Export-Import Bank of the United States. ACTION: Submission for OMB.... SUMMARY: The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank), as a part of its continuing effort to...

Health, Traffic, and Environmental Justice: Collaborative Research and Community Action in San Francisco, California

Science.gov (United States)

Sciammas, Charlie; Seto, Edmund; Bhatia, Rajiv; Rivard, Tom

2009-01-01

Health impacts on neighborhood residents from transportation systems can be an environmental justice issue. To assess the effects of transportation planning decisions, including the construction of an intraurban freeway, on residents of the Excelsior neighborhood in southeast San Francisco, PODER (People Organizing to Demand Environmental and Economic Rights), a local grassroots environmental justice organization; the San Francisco Department of Public Health; and the University of California, Berkeley, collaborated on participatory research. We used our findings regarding traffic-related exposures and health hazards in the area to facilitate community education and action to address transportation-related health burdens on neighborhood residents. PMID:19890147

Promoting HIV Vaccine Research in African American Communities: Does the Theory of Reasoned Action Explain Potential Outcomes of Involvement?

Science.gov (United States)

Frew, Paula M; Archibald, Matthew; Martinez, Nina; del Rio, Carlos; Mulligan, Mark J

2007-01-01

The HIV/AIDS pandemic continues to challenge the African American community with disproportionate rates of infection, particularly among young women ages 25 to 34 years. Development of a preventive HIV vaccine may bring a substantial turning point in this health crisis. Engagement of the African American community is necessary to improve awareness of the effort and favorably influence attitudes and referent norms. The Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) may be a useful framework for exploration of community engagement outcomes including future attendance, community mobilization, and study participation. Within the context of HIV vaccine outreach, we conducted a cross-sectional survey in early 2007 with 175 African-American adults (>/= 18 years). Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were performed and the findings support the potential of the model in understanding behavioral intentions toward HIV vaccine research.

78 FR 63869 - Change of Using Agency for Restricted Areas R-2916, FL and R-7105, PR

Science.gov (United States)

2013-10-25

...-0803; Airspace Docket No. 13-ASO-20] RIN 2120-AA66 Change of Using Agency for Restricted Areas R-2916, FL and R- 7105, PR AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: This action updates the name of the using agencies for Restricted Areas R-2916, FL and R-7105, PR, at...

Engaging community to support HIV prevention research.

Science.gov (United States)

Sahay, Seema; Mehendale, Sanjay

2011-01-01

Actively engaging communities in effective partnerships is considered critical for ethically robust and locally relevant HIV prevention research. This can be challenging in developing countries that have little prior experience in this area. This paper summarizes processes and lessons learnt while setting up the Community Involvement Plan of National AIDS Research Institute, Pune, India. Formal partnerships were established with voluntary agencies. The focus was on using strategies adapted from participatory learning and action techniques. The community program was implemented through peer educators specifically identified from the communities where partner non-governmental organizations function. At the grass root level, peer educators imparted education to the common people about research studies and helped to implement community based recruitment and retention activities. The focus was on facilitating periodic interaction between the outreach workers of the research team and the peers and modifying the strategies till they were found locally implementable and appropriate. Through adequate time investment, mutually beneficial and respectful partnerships with community based organizations and grass root level workers, the community became actively involved in clinical research. The program helped in developing a sense of partnership among the peers for the research conducted by the research organization, widening the net of community education and identification of research participants. By building trust in the community and implementing research within an ethical framework, culturally sensitive matters were appropriately addressed. The community involvement process is long, laborious and ever-evolving. Effective community engagement requires institutional leadership support, adequate funding and commitment by researchers. It is possible to sustain such a model in a resource limited setting.

Building beyond the Evaluation Of Environmental Education and Sustainable Development in African Schools and Communities: The Women Global Green Action Network (WGGAN) Africa Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Enie, Rosemary Olive Mbone

2006-01-01

This article describes the Community Health Education and School Sanitation (CHESS) Project, an initiative by the Women Global Green Action Network International to support community-based environmental projects in Africa. The CHESS Project uses women, children and youth to develop more sustainable health and sanitation systems in urban and rural…

78 FR 1211 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-08

... EXPORT-IMPORT BANK OF THE UNITED STATES [Public Notice 2012-0561] Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request AGENCY: Export-Import Bank of the U.S. ACTION: Submission for OMB Review and...-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank), as a part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and...

77 FR 5017 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request

Science.gov (United States)

2012-02-01

... approximate in content and volume the advertising disclosures discussed above. Accordingly, staff estimates a... FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The information collection requirements...

Traditional uses of medicinal plants used by Indigenous communities for veterinary practices at Bajaur Agency, Pakistan.

Science.gov (United States)

Aziz, Muhammad Abdul; Khan, Amir Hasan; Adnan, Muhammad; Ullah, Habib

2018-01-29

The pastoral lifestyle of Indigenous communities of Bajaur Agency is bringing them close to natural remedies for treating their domestic animals. Several studies have been conducted across the globe describing the importance of traditional knowledge in veterinary care. Therefore, this study was planned with the aim to record knowledge on ethnoveterinary practices from the remote areas and share sit with other communities through published literature. Data was gathered from community members through semi-structured interviews and analyzed through informant consensus factor (Fic) to evaluate the consent of current ethnoveterinary practices among the local people. In total, 73 medicinal plants were recorded under the ethnoveterinary practices. Most widely used medicinal plants with maximum use reports (URs) were Visnaga daucoides Gaertn., Foeniculum vulgare Mill., Solanum virginianum L., Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal, Glycyrrhiza glabra L., and Curcuma longa L. New medicinal values were found with confidential level of citations for species including Heracleum candicans and Glycerhiza glabra. Family Apiaceae was the utmost family with high number (7 species) of medicinal plants. Maximum number of medicinal plants (32) was used for gastric problems. High Fic was recorded for dermatological (0.97) followed by reproductive (0.93) and gastrointestinal disorders (0.92). The main route of remedies administration was oral. Current study revealed that the study area has sufficient knowledge on ethnoveterinary medicinal plants. This knowledge is in the custody of nomadic grazers, herders, and aged community members. Plants with new medicinal uses need to be validated phytochemically and pharmacologically for the development of new alternative drugs for veterinary purposes.

Enabling Possibility: Women Associate Professors' Sense of Agency in Career Advancement

Science.gov (United States)

Terosky, Aimee LaPointe; O'Meara, KerryAnn; Campbell, Corbin M.

2014-01-01

In this multimethod, qualitative study we examined associate women professors' sense of agency in career advancement from the rank of associate to full. Defining agency as strategic perspectives or actions toward goals that matter to the professor, we explore the perceptions of what helps and/or hinders a sense of agency in career advancement. Our…

78 FR 69099 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

Science.gov (United States)

2013-11-18

... Investment Justification Template; FEMA Form 089-26, RCGCP (Sample) Detailed Project Plan Template; FEMA Form... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY Federal Emergency Management Agency [Docket ID: FEMA-2013-0033... Request AGENCY: Federal Emergency Management Agency, DHS. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The Federal Emergency...

Hope over fear. The establishment of the International Atomic Energy Agency

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Forland, A.

1995-01-01

President Eisenhower's ''Atoms for Peace'' speech in 1953 started a process that led to the establishment of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). This study analyses the negotiations of the Statute of the Agency. It focuses on how the Agency's scope of action regarding safeguards was negotiated. The Statute is seen as a reflection of the dual purpose of the new Agency to promote peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and to control that peaceful nuclear activities receiving IAEA assistance are not diverted to military purposes. On one hand, the countries receiving assistance from the Agency accepted a degree of international control that represented a breakthrough in international relations. On the other hand, many countries strongly resented controls. Consequently, compromises had to be made in the course of the negotiations in order to reach a consensus. Thus, although the IAEA was established as a competent and technical body, the underlying compromises meant that its scope of actions was restricted. 6 refs

Risk, responsibility and political action

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Halskov Jensen, Elisabeth

2004-01-01

action was transformed into a moral respon-sibility on the part of the national and European politicians, constrained by economic and technical-scientific reality and represented as taking place only in the public sphere. KEY WORDS: CDA, World Risk Society, argumentation, media discourse, argumentation......ABSTRACT. This paper presents an argumentative case study of the discursive representation of risk, responsibility and political action in the Spanish media. The study uses a critical discourse analytical approach combined with theories on risk, agency and political communication in the media....... It is argued that an application of the Toulmin model is useful for eliciting systematic overall repre-sentations of responsibility and agency in environmental crises such as the mad cow crisis as well as for revealing relationships between social domains such as moral, politics, economics and science...

Community-based research in action: tales from the Ktunaxa community learning centres project.

Science.gov (United States)

Stacy, Elizabeth; Wisener, Katherine; Liman, Yolanda; Beznosova, Olga; Lauscher, Helen Novak; Ho, Kendall; Jarvis-Selinger, Sandra

2014-01-01

Rural communities, particularly Aboriginal communities, often have limited access to health information, a situation that can have significant negative consequences. To address the lack of culturally and geographically relevant health information, a community-university partnership was formed to develop, implement, and evaluate Aboriginal Community Learning Centres (CLCs). The objective of this paper is to evaluate the community-based research process used in the development of the CLCs. It focuses on the process of building relationships among partners and the CLC's value and sustainability. Semistructured interviews were conducted with key stakeholders, including principal investigators, community research leads, and supervisors. The interview transcripts were analyzed using an open-coding process to identify themes. Key challenges included enacting shared project governance, negotiating different working styles, and hiring practices based on commitment to project objectives rather than skill set. Technological access provided by the CLCs increased capacity for learning and collective community initiatives, as well as building community leads' skills, knowledge, and self-efficacy. An important lesson was to meet all partners "where they are" in building trusting relationships and adapting research methods to fit the project's context and strengths. Successful results were dependent upon persistence and patience in working through differences, and breaking the project into achievable goals, which collectively contributed to trust and capacity building. The process of building these partnerships resulted in increased capacity of communities to facilitate learning and change initiatives, and the capacity of the university to engage in successful research partnerships with Aboriginal communities in the future.

75 FR 54917 - Criteria for Nominating Materials Licensees for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Agency...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-09-09

... NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION [NRC-2010-0294] Criteria for Nominating Materials Licensees for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Agency Action Review Meeting AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Request for comment. SUMMARY: It is the policy of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission...

Environmental Agency in Read-Alouds

Science.gov (United States)

Oliveira, Alandeom W.; Rogers, Patterson; Quigley, Cassie F.; Samburskiy, Denis; Barss, Kimberly; Rivera, Seema

2015-01-01

Despite growing interest in helping students become agents of environmental change who can, through informed decision-making and action-taking, transform environmentally detrimental forms of human activity, science educators have reduced agency to rationality by overlooking sociocultural influences such as norms and values. We tackle this issue by…

End-of-Life care in a community garden: Findings from a Participatory Action Research project in regional Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

Marsh, Pauline; Gartrell, Gabrielle; Egg, Gwen; Nolan, Andrew; Cross, Merylin

2017-05-01

This article presents findings from research that explored how a community garden might function as a place of end-of-life and bereavement support. Adopting Participatory Action Research (PAR) methods, and informed by Third Place theory and notions of therapeutic landscape, creative consultations were held in the Garden and people's homes. The findings provide insights into the nature of informal care as it is played out in the liminal garden space, between home and institution. The results illuminate the therapeutic landscape of community gardens, and contribute new understandings to the fields of PAR, health geography and end-of-life care. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

45 CFR 1230.200 - Agency and legislative liaison.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 45 Public Welfare 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Agency and legislative liaison. 1230.200 Section 1230.200 Public Welfare Regulations Relating to Public Welfare (Continued) CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE NEW RESTRICTIONS ON LOBBYING Activities by Own Employees § 1230.200 Agency and legislative...

78 FR 24305 - Actions on Special Permit Applications

Science.gov (United States)

2013-04-24

... special permit Lincoln, NE. to authorize an alternative fire protection system. 11624-M Clean Harbors 49... Special Permit Applications AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), DOT. ACTION: Notice of actions on Special Permit Applications. SUMMARY: In accordance with the procedures...

34 CFR 200.53 - LEA corrective action.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... operated by the LEA to a higher-performing public school operated by another LEA in accordance with § 200... Programs Operated by Local Educational Agencies Lea and School Improvement § 200.53 LEA corrective action... SEA to identify an LEA for corrective action; and (ii) Any underlying staffing, curriculum, or other...

"Who's gonna plant the trees?!?": Creating effective synergies between community and research goals in scientist-community partnerships

Science.gov (United States)

Declet-Barreto, J.; Johnson, C.

2017-12-01

Harnessing science into effective, community-focused action requires ongoing partnerships that increase both understanding and trust between communities and scientists. One hurdle to overcome is that often, research questions and goals do not line up with the most pressing perceived or objective issues that a partner community faces. Another barrier is that community members often do not have a clear idea of how communities could benefit from the research, an issue that can create confusion and undermine community support for a partnership. In this session, we will discuss some of our successes and misses in developing research partnerships and actionable science for the benefit of communities. We will share stories on how we crafted effective actionable research products in partnership with Environmental Justice and other vulnerable communities.

76 FR 77852 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request

Science.gov (United States)

2011-12-14

... teaching and learning. Method of Collection Teachers who have registered to use NSDL resources through... NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request AGENCY: National Science Foundation. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The National Science Foundation (NSF...

78 FR 28244 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request

Science.gov (United States)

2013-05-14

... Licensing of Production and Utilization Facilities,'' specifies technical information and data to be... NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION [Docket No. NRC-2013-0085] Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Notice of pending NRC...

The time between intention and action affect the experience of action

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mikkel C. Vinding

2015-06-01

Full Text Available We present a study investigating how the delay between the intention to act and the following action, influenced the experience of action. In experiments investigating sense of agency and experience of action, the contrast is most often between voluntary and involuntary actions. It is rarely asked whether different types of intentions influence the experience of action differently. To investigate this we distinguished between proximal intentions (i.e. intentions for immediate actions and delayed intentions (i.e. intentions with a temporal delay between intention and action. The distinction was implemented in an intentional binding paradigm, by varying the delay between the time where participants formed the intention to act and the time at which they performed the action. The results showed that delayed intentions were followed by a stronger binding effect for the tone following the action compared to proximal intentions. The actions were reported to have occurred earlier for delayed intentions than for proximal intentions. This effect was independent of the binding effect usually found in intentional binding experiments. This suggests that two perceptual shifts occurred in the contrast between delayed intentions and proximal intentions: The first being the binding effect, the second a general shift in the perceived time of action. Neither the stronger binding effect for tone, nor the earlier reports of action, differed across delays for delayed intentions. The results imply that delayed intentions and proximal intentions have a different impact on the experience of action.

78 FR 40729 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request: Generic Clearance...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-07-08

... precision requirements or power calculations that justify the proposed sample size, the expected response... Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery AGENCY: Washington Headquarters Service (WHS), DOD. ACTION: 30... (Generic ICR): ``Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery...

Mobilising community action towards a low-carbon future: Opportunities and challenges for local government in the UK

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peters, Michael; Fudge, Shane; Sinclair, Philip

2010-01-01

Over the last decade the important role that local authorities can play in catalyzing community action on climate change has been repeatedly emphasised by the UK Government. The paper examines this policy context and explores the options available to local authorities in terms of reaching and engaging their communities. The type of progressive response shown by some UK local authorities is illustrated with empirical evidence gathered through a study conducted in the London Borough of Islington focusing on their recently established 'Green Living Centre'. The results confirm interest in this major council-led community initiative, with positive attitudes expressed by the majority of those questioned in terms of the advice and information available. However, it is also clear that many participants had preexisting pro-environmental attitudes and behavioural routines. Results from a broader sample of Islington residents indicate a substantial challenge in reaching the wider community, where enthusiasm for sustainability change and interest in this type of scheme were more mixed. The prospect for local government in addressing this challenge - and their ability to trigger and capitalize upon concepts of social change at the community level towards a lower carbon future - is discussed in the final part of the paper.

76 FR 4708 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request, OMB No...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-26

...; Logistics Capability Assessment Tool (LCAT) AGENCY: Federal Emergency Management Agency, DHS. ACTION: Notice... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY Federal Emergency Management Agency [Docket ID: FEMA-2010-0061...-1, LCAT Booklet. SUMMARY: The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will submit the information...

76 FR 55706 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comments Requested

Science.gov (United States)

2011-09-08

...] Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comments Requested ACTION: 60-Day notice of information collection: Certification on Agency Letterhead Authorizing Purchase of Firearm for..., including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; --Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity...

Multi-agency collaboration in local governace: partnership or pragmatism? An exploratory case study

OpenAIRE

Cunneen, Jacinta Mary

2012-01-01

peer-reviewed Policy makers everywhere are confronted by complex problems and public agencies strive to find effective solutions in a context of dwindling resources and increased demands. This study examines how a partnership, among Irish public agencies, was used to address anti-social behaviour on some public housing estates in Limerick City. In 2007 the Limerick City Community Safety Partnership Limited was established. This was the first time a multi-agency community ...

Exceptionalist naturalism: Human agency and the causal order.

Science.gov (United States)

Turri, John

2018-02-01

This paper addresses a fundamental question in folk metaphysics: How do we ordinarily view human agency? According to the transcendence account, we view human agency as standing outside of the causal order and imbued with exceptional powers. According to a naturalistic account, we view human agency as subject to the same physical laws as other objects and completely open to scientific investigation. According to exceptionalist naturalism, the truth lies somewhere in between: We view human agency as fitting broadly within the causal order while still being exceptional in important respects. In this paper, I report seven experiments designed to decide between these three competing theories. Across a variety of contexts and types of action, participants agreed that human agents can resist outcomes described as inevitable, guaranteed, and causally determined. Participants viewed non-human animal agents similarly, whereas they viewed computers, robots, and simple inanimate objects differently. At the same time, participants judged that human actions are caused by many things, including psychological, neurological, and social events. Overall, in folk metaphysics, human and non-human animals are viewed as exceptional parts of the natural world.

RCRA corrective action determination of no further action

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1996-06-01

On July 27, 1990, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed a regulatory framework (55 FR 30798) for responding to releases of hazardous waste and hazardous constituents from solid waste management units (SWMUs) at facilities seeking permits or permitted under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The proposed rule, 'Corrective Action for Solid Waste Management Units at Hazardous Waste Facilities', would create a new Subpart S under the 40 CFR 264 regulations, and outlines requirements for conducting RCRA Facility Investigations, evaluating potential remedies, and selecting and implementing remedies (i.e., corrective measures) at RCRA facilities. EPA anticipates instances where releases or suspected releases of hazardous wastes or constituents from SWMUs identified in a RCRA Facility Assessment, and subsequently addressed as part of required RCRA Facility Investigations, will be found to be non-existent or non-threatening to human health or the environment. Such releases may require no further action. For such situations, EPA proposed a mechanism for making a determination that no further corrective action is needed. This mechanism is known as a Determination of No Further Action (DNFA) (55 FR 30875). This information Brief describes what a DNFA is and discusses the mechanism for making a DNFA. This is one of a series of Information Briefs on RCRA corrective action

Remedial action of radium contaminated residential properties

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

White, D.; Eng, J.

1986-01-01

Since November 1983, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) and the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) have been in the process of identifying properties in Montclair, Glen Ridge and West Orange, New Jersey, which were built over radium contaminated soil landfilled areas. Elevated indoor radon concentrations prompted the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to issue a health advisory which included permanent remediation of radon progeny levels in excess of 0.02 Working Levels within two years of discovery. In order to expedite remedial action, NJDEP undertook a ten million dollar cleanup program. Remedial Action at the 12 residential properties encountered some unanticipated problems despite the efforts of numerous government agencies and their contractors to characterize the contamination as much as possible prior to remediation. Some of the unanticipated issues include contamination from other radionuclides, underestimation of removal volumes, and controversy over the transportation and disposal of the radium contaminated soil at a commercial facility in Nevada. This paper will review the approach taken by NJDEP to the remedial action for radium contaminated soil, discuss some of the issues encountered during the remedial action, and provide post remedial action data

Town of Canmore Energy Management Action Plan (EMAP)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-03-01

In 1999, the Town of Canmore, Alberta joined the Federation of Canadian Municipalities' Partners for Climate Protection (PCP) Program and committed to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from municipal operations by 20 per cent and community-wide emissions by 6 per cent of 2000 levels by 2012. To date, the City has completed a baseline analysis for municipal operations and the community. It has also initiated an Energy Management Action Plan (EMAP) to identify opportunities in sustainable development through energy, GHG and air quality management. The broad community objectives include housing and transportation management, job creation and local economic development. The city has adopted The Natural Step (TNS) framework which defines sustainability and the guiding principles for decision-making. The objectives of EMAP are to define and evaluate options for a practical strategy and action plan to meet the city's GHG reduction targets; raise local awareness of the issues and opportunities of energy planning and GHG reductions and develop a local action plan outlining action items to reduce energy use and GHG emissions from municipal operations throughout the community. This report explained the methodology and framework for EMAP management and presented a community profile for the Town of Canmore. It also included an energy and emissions inventory and forecast with reference to corporate energy and emissions baseline; community energy and emissions baseline; corporate energy and emissions forecast; community energy and emissions forecast and corporate and community GHG targets. refs., tabs., figs

Agency, access, and Anopheles: neighborhood health perceptions and the implications for community health interventions in Accra, Ghana

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marta M. Jankowska

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Background: Social and environmental factors are increasingly recognized for their ability to influence health outcomes at both individual and neighborhood scales in the developing urban world. Yet issues of spatial heterogeneity in these complex environments may obscure unique elements of neighborhood life that may be protective or harmful to human health. Resident perceptions of neighborhood effects on health may help to fill gaps in our interpretation of household survey results and better inform how to plan and execute neighborhood-level health interventions. Objective: We evaluate differences in housing and socioeconomic indicators and health, environment, and neighborhood perceptions derived from the analysis of a household survey and a series of focus groups in Accra, Ghana. We then explore how neighborhood perceptions can inform survey results and ultimately neighborhood-level health interventions. Design: Eleven focus groups were conducted across a socioeconomically stratified sample of neighborhoods in Accra, Ghana. General inductive themes from the focus groups were analyzed in tandem with data collected in a 2009 household survey of 2,814 women. In-depth vignettes expand upon the three most salient emergent themes. Results: Household and socioeconomic characteristics derived from the focus groups corroborated findings from the survey data. Focus group and survey results diverged for three complex health issues: malaria, health-care access, and sense of personal agency in promoting good health. Conclusion: Three vignettes reflecting community views about malaria, health-care access, and sense of personal agency in promoting good health highlight the challenges facing community health interventions in Accra and exemplify how qualitatively derived neighborhood-level health effects can help shape health interventions.

7 CFR 275.18 - Project area/management unit corrective action plan.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Project area/management unit corrective action plan... SYSTEM Corrective Action § 275.18 Project area/management unit corrective action plan. (a) The State agency shall ensure that corrective action plans are prepared at the project area/management unit level...

40 CFR 230.72 - Actions controlling the material after discharge.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Actions controlling the material after discharge. 230.72 Section 230.72 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) OCEAN... Actions To Minimize Adverse Effects § 230.72 Actions controlling the material after discharge. The effects...

Cue integration and the perception of action in intentional binding

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wolpe, Noham; Haggard, Patrick; Siebner, Hartwig R

2013-01-01

'Intentional binding' describes the perceived temporal attraction between a voluntary action and its sensory consequence. Binding has been used in health and disease as an indirect measure of awareness of action or agency, that is, the sense that one controls one's own actions. It has been propos...

Oppression and discrimination among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and Transgendered people and communities: a challenge for community psychology.

Science.gov (United States)

Harper, Gary W; Schneider, Margaret

2003-06-01

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) people continue to experience various forms of oppression and discrimination in North America and throughout the world, despite the social, legal, and political advances that have been launched in an attempt to grant LGBT people basic human rights. Even though LGBT people and communities have been actively engaged in community organizing and social action efforts since the early twentieth century, research on LGBT issues has been, for the most part, conspicuously absent within the very field of psychology that is explicitly focused on community research and action--Community Psychology. The psychological and social impact of oppression, rejection, discrimination, harassment, and violence on LGBT people is reviewed, and recent advances in the areas of LGBT health, public policy, and research are detailed. Recent advances within the field of Community Psychology with regard to LGBT research and action are highlighted, and a call to action is offered to integrate the knowledge and skills within LGBT communities with Community Psychology's models of intervention, prevention, and social change in order to build better theory and intervention for LGBT people and communities.

77 FR 32952 - Defense Intelligence Agency National Intelligence University Board of Visitors Closed Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2012-06-04

... DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Office of the Secretary Defense Intelligence Agency National Intelligence University Board of Visitors Closed Meeting AGENCY: Department of Defense, Defense Intelligence Agency, National Intelligence University. ACTION: Notice of closed meeting. SUMMARY: Pursuant to the provisions of...

40 CFR 230.74 - Actions related to technology.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 24 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Actions related to technology. 230.74 Section 230.74 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) OCEAN DUMPING SECTION... Minimize Adverse Effects § 230.74 Actions related to technology. Discharge technology should be adapted to...

Unlocking community capabilities for improving maternal and newborn health: participatory action research to improve birth preparedness, health facility access, and newborn care in rural Uganda

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elizabeth Ekirapa-Kiracho

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Community capacities and resources must be harnessed to complement supply side initiatives addressing high maternal and neonatal mortality rates in Uganda. This paper reflects on gains, challenges and lessons learnt from working with communities to improve maternal and newborn health in rural Uganda. Methods A participatory action research project was supported from 2012 to 2015 in three eastern districts. This project involved working with households, saving groups, sub county and district leaders, transporters and village health teams in diagnosing causes of maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity, developing action plans to address these issues, taking action and learning from action in a cyclical manner. This paper draws from project experience and documentation, as well as thematic analysis of 20 interviews with community and district stakeholders and 12 focus group discussions with women who had recently delivered and men whose wives had recently delivered. Results Women and men reported increased awareness about birth preparedness, improved newborn care practices and more male involvement in maternal and newborn health. However, additional direct communication strategies were required to reach more men beyond the minority who attended community dialogues and home visits. Saving groups and other saving modalities were strengthened, with money saved used to meet transport costs, purchase other items needed for birth and other routine household needs. However saving groups required significant support to improve income generation, management and trust among members. Linkages between savings groups and transport providers improved women’s access to health facilities at reduced cost. Although village health teams were a key resource for providing information, their efforts were constrained by low levels of education, inadequate financial compensation and transportation challenges. Ensuring that the village health

75 FR 9444 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request

Science.gov (United States)

2010-03-02

... Utilization Facilities,'' specifies technical information and data to be provided to the NRC or maintained by... NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION [Docket No. NRC-2010-0063] Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request AGENCY: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). ACTION: Notice of...

75 FR 8408 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request

Science.gov (United States)

2010-02-24

... respondent confidentiality, also will be made available to researchers on CD-ROM and on the World Wide Web... NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request AGENCY: National Science Foundation. ACTION: Notice and request for comments. SUMMARY: Under the...

76 FR 27369 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request

Science.gov (United States)

2011-05-11

... public use file is also made available on the world-wide Web. Data are obtained primarily by Web survey... NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request AGENCY: National Science Foundation. ACTION: Notice and request for comments. SUMMARY: Under the...

Covert Action Lead -- Central Intelligence Agency or Special Forces

Science.gov (United States)

2007-05-01

designed, people will blame the action on the wrong party (the enemy). Thus, public opinion will be won over to the side that actually did the killing ...mountain warfare. The FSSF training was conducted at Fort William Henry Harrison in Helena, Montana. The FSSF was activated for Project Plough , which

Building a community of practice for sustainability: strengthening learning and collective action of Canadian biosphere reserves through a national partnership.

Science.gov (United States)

Reed, Maureen G; Godmaire, Hélène; Abernethy, Paivi; Guertin, Marc-André

2014-12-01

Deliberation, dialogue and systematic learning are now considered attributes of good practice for organizations seeking to advance sustainability. Yet we do not know whether organizations that span spatial scales and governance responsibilities can establish effective communities of practice to facilitate learning and action. The purpose of this paper is to generate a framework that specifies actions and processes of a community of practice designed to instill collective learning and action strategies across a multi-level, multi-partner network. The framework is then used to describe and analyze a partnership among practitioners of Canada's 16 UNESCO biosphere reserves, and additional researchers and government representatives from across Canada. The framework is a cycle of seven action steps, beginning and ending with reflecting on and evaluating present practice. It is supported by seven characteristics of collaborative environmental management that are used to gauge the success of the partnership. Our results show that the partnership successfully built trust, established shared norms and common interest, created incentives to participate, generated value in information sharing and willingness to engage, demonstrated effective flow of information, and provided leadership and facilitation. Key to success was the presence of a multi-lingual facilitator who could bridge cultural differences across regions and academia-practitioner expectations. The project succeeded in establishing common goals, setting mutual expectations and building relations of trust and respect, and co-creating knowledge. It is too soon to determine whether changes in practices that support sustainability will be maintained over the long term and without the help of an outside facilitator. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Thinking outside the lines: Parks and the quality of life in area communities

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, J.G.; Burkardt, N.; Caughlan, L.; Lamb, B.L.

2000-01-01

Many national parks, national forests, and other public land units exist in highly changeable regional environments. Often the parks and forests themselves serve as important catalysts of change in the levels of tourism, outdoor recreation participation, and contribution of traveling publics to local and regional economies. Resource managers are called upon to protect lands in their jurisdictions while juggling a variety of inputs and expectations. In each agency, resource decisions are bound by law and agency policy. In this context, the decision space of the national park manager is quite different from that of those in multiple-use land management agencies. Management actions must stand up, not only to law and policy and to scientific scrutiny, but they must also be sensitive to the needs of residents in surrounding communities, to county and state governing bodies, and to visitors from across the nation and around the world. Balancing these needs while protecting resources in an ongoing challenge made more difficult as the mix of stakeholders growsa?|

Creating Open Education Resources for Teaching and Community Development through Action Research: An Overview of the Makerere AgShare Project

Science.gov (United States)

Kaneene, John B.; Ssajjakambwe, Paul; Kisaka, Stevens; Miller, RoseAnn; Kabasa, John D.

2013-01-01

The AgShare Phase I Program, conducted at Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda, was formed to create open education resources for teaching and community development through action research. The study was conducted by an interdisciplinary team of investigators from fields of veterinary medicine and agri-business. Two master of science students…

COREDAR: COmmunicating Risk of sea level rise and Engaging stakeholDers in framing community based Adaptation stRategies

Science.gov (United States)

Amsad Ibrahim Khan, S. K.; Chen, R. S.; de Sherbinin, A. M.; Andimuthu, R.; Kandasamy, P.

2015-12-01

Accelerated sea-level rise (SLR) is a major long term outcome of climate change leading to increased inundation of low-lying areas. Particularly, global cities that are located on or near the coasts are often situated in low lying areas and these locations put global cities at greater risk to SLR. Localized flooding will profoundly impact vulnerable communities located in high-risk urban areas. Building community resilience and adapting to SLR is increasingly a high priority for cities. On the other hand, Article 6 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change addresses the importance of climate change communication and engaging stakeholders in decision making process. Importantly, Community Based Adaptation (CBA) experiences emphasize that it is important to understand a community's unique perceptions of their adaptive capacities to identify useful solutions and that scientific and technical information on anticipated coastal climate impacts needs to be translated into a suitable language and format that allows people to be able to participate in adaptation planning. To address this challenge, this study has put forth three research questions from the lens of urban community engagement in SLR adaptation, (1) What, if any, community engagement in addressing SLR occurring in urban areas; (2) What information do communities need and how does it need to be communicated, in order to be better prepared and have a greater sense of agency? and (3) How can government agencies from city to federal levels facilitate community engagement and action?. To answer these questions this study has evolved a framework "COREDAR" (COmmunicating Risk of sea level rise and Engaging stakeholDers in framing community based Adaptation StRategies) to communicate and transfer complex climate data and information such as projected SLR under different scenarios of IPCC AR5, predicted impact of SLR, prioritizing vulnerability, etc. to concerned stakeholders and local communities

A Community Checklist for Health Sector Resilience Informed by Hurricane Sandy.

Science.gov (United States)

Toner, Eric S; McGinty, Meghan; Schoch-Spana, Monica; Rose, Dale A; Watson, Matthew; Echols, Erin; Carbone, Eric G

This is a checklist of actions for healthcare, public health, nongovernmental organizations, and private entities to use to strengthen the resilience of their community's health sector to disasters. It is informed by the experience of Hurricane Sandy in New York and New Jersey and analyzed in the context of findings from other recent natural disasters in the United States. The health sector is defined very broadly, including-in addition to hospitals, emergency medical services (EMS), and public health agencies-healthcare providers, outpatient clinics, long-term care facilities, home health providers, behavioral health providers, and correctional health services. It also includes community-based organizations that support these entities and represent patients. We define health sector resilience very broadly, including all factors that preserve public health and healthcare delivery under extreme stress and contribute to the rapid restoration of normal or improved health sector functioning after a disaster. We present the key findings organized into 8 themes. We then describe a conceptual map of health sector resilience that ties these themes together. Lastly, we provide a series of recommended actions for improving health sector resilience at the local level. The recommended actions emphasize those items that individuals who experienced Hurricane Sandy deemed to be most important. The recommendations are presented as a checklist that can be used by a variety of interested parties who have some role to play in disaster preparedness, response, and recovery in their own communities. Following a general checklist are supplemental checklists that apply to specific parts of the larger health sector.

A Meta-Analysis of Local Climate Change Adaptation Actions ...

Science.gov (United States)

Local governments are beginning to take steps to address the consequences of climate change, such as sea level rise and heat events. However, we do not have a clear understanding of what local governments are doing -- the extent to which they expect climate change to affect their community, the types of actions they have in place to address climate change, and the resources at their disposal for implementation. Several studies have been conducted by academics, non-governmental organizations, and public agencies to assess the status of local climate change adaptation. This project collates the findings from dozens of such studies to conduct a meta-analysis of local climate change adaptation actions. The studies will be characterized along several dimensions, including (a) methods used, (b) timing and geographic scope, (c) topics covered, (d) types of adaptation actions identified, (e) implementation status, and (f) public engagement and environmental justice dimensions considered. The poster presents the project's rationale and approach and some illustrative findings from early analyses. [Note: The document being reviewed is an abstract in which a poster is being proposed. The poster will enter clearance if the abstract is accepted] The purpose of this poster is to present the research framework and approaches I am developing for my ORISE postdoctoral project, and to get feedback on early analyses.

Reality Monitoring and Feedback Control of Speech Production Are Related Through Self-Agency.

Science.gov (United States)

Subramaniam, Karuna; Kothare, Hardik; Mizuiri, Danielle; Nagarajan, Srikantan S; Houde, John F

2018-01-01

Self-agency is the experience of being the agent of one's own thoughts and motor actions. The intact experience of self-agency is necessary for successful interactions with the outside world (i.e., reality monitoring) and for responding to sensory feedback of our motor actions (e.g., speech feedback control). Reality monitoring is the ability to distinguish internally self-generated information from outside reality (externally-derived information). In the present study, we examined the relationship of self-agency between lower-level speech feedback monitoring (i.e., monitoring what we hear ourselves say) and a higher-level cognitive reality monitoring task. In particular, we examined whether speech feedback monitoring and reality monitoring were driven by the capacity to experience self-agency-the ability to make reliable predictions about the outcomes of self-generated actions. During the reality monitoring task, subjects made judgments as to whether information was previously self-generated (self-agency judgments) or externally derived (external-agency judgments). During speech feedback monitoring, we assessed self-agency by altering environmental auditory feedback so that subjects listened to a perturbed version of their own speech. When subjects heard minimal perturbations in their auditory feedback while speaking, they made corrective responses, indicating that they judged the perturbations as errors in their speech output. We found that self-agency judgments in the reality-monitoring task were higher in people who had smaller corrective responses ( p = 0.05) and smaller inter-trial variability ( p = 0.03) during minimal pitch perturbations of their auditory feedback. These results provide support for a unitary process for the experience of self-agency governing low-level speech control and higher level reality monitoring.

78 FR 47676 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; National Professional Development...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-08-06

... DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION [Docket No. ED-2013-ICCD-0100] Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; National Professional Development Program: Grantee Performance Report AGENCY: Office of English Language Acquisition (OLEA), Department of Education (ED). ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: In accordance...

75 FR 66116 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request, OMB No. 1660-NEW...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-27

...; Logistics Capability Assessment Tool (LCAT) AGENCY: Federal Emergency Management Agency, DHS. ACTION: Notice... FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nicole Kelsey, Program Analyst, Logistics Management Directorate, Logistics... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY Federal Emergency Management Agency [Docket ID: FEMA-2010-0061...

76 FR 9024 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Electronic...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-02-16

...] Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Electronic Records; Electronic Signatures AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The Food and Drug... relating to FDA's electronic records and electronic signatures. DATES: Submit either electronic or written...

36 CFR 1211.110 - Remedial and affirmative action and self-evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... action and self-evaluation. 1211.110 Section 1211.110 Parks, Forests, and Public Property NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION GENERAL RULES NONDISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF SEX IN EDUCATION... affirmative action and self-evaluation. (a) Remedial action. If the designated agency official finds that a...

78 FR 42056 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget for...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-07-15

... Financial Report AGENCY: Federal Student Aid (FSA), Department of Education (ED). ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY... considered public records. Title of Collection: Guaranty Agency Financial Report. OMB Control Number: 1845... amended. Guaranty agencies use the Guaranty Agency Financial Report to: (1) Request reinsurance from the...

Understanding Agency and Educating Character

Science.gov (United States)

Roth, Klas

2011-01-01

How can we understand human agency, and what does it mean to educate character? In this essay Klas Roth develops a Kantian notion, one that suggests we render ourselves efficacious and autonomous in education and elsewhere. This requires, among other things, that we are successful in bringing about the intended result through our actions and the…

An Approach to Monitor and Initiate Community Led Actions for Antenatal Care in Rural India – A Pilot Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dongre AR

2009-09-01

Full Text Available Background and Objective: Utilization of antenatal care in rural India is far from universal. It requires monitoring and identification of specific needs at field level for timely corrective actions. To pilot test the triangulation of rapid quantitative (Lot Quality Assurance Sampling and qualitative (Focus Group Discussion monitoring tools for ensuring antenatal care in a community based program. Methods: The present study was undertaken in surrounding 23 villages of Kasturba Rural Health Training Centre (KRHTC, Anji, which is also a field practice area of Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (MGIMS, Sewagram. The monthly monitoring and action system of the study was based on the rapid quantitative monitoring tool (Lot Quality Assurance Sampling, LQASto find out poor performing supervision areas and overall antenatal service coverage and the qualitative methods (Focus group discussions (FGDs, and free listing for exploring ongoing operational constraints in the processes for timely decision making at program and community level. A trained program supervisor paid house visit to 95 randomly selected pregnant women from 5 supervision areas by using pre-designed and pre-tested questionnaire. For poor performing indicators, semi structured FGDs and free listing exercise were undertaken to identify unmet service needs and reasons for its poor performance. Results: Registration of pregnancy within 12 weeks improved from 22.8% to 29.6%. The consumption of 100 or more IFA tablets during pregnancy significantly improved from 6.3% to 17.3%. There was significant improvement in awareness among pregnant women regarding danger signs and symptoms during pregnancy. Over three months period, the overall antenatal registration improved from 253 (67% to 327 (86.7%. Conclusion: The present field based monitoring and action approach constructively identified the reasons for failures and directed specific collective actions to achieve the targets.

Corrective Action Decision Document/Closure Report for Corrective Action Unit 477: Area 12 N-Tunnel Muckpile, Nevada Test Site

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NSTec Environmental Restoration

2010-03-15

This Corrective Action Decision Document (CADD)/Closure Report (CR) was prepared by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) for Corrective Action Unit (CAU) 477, N-Tunnel Muckpile. This CADD/CR is consistent with the requirements of the Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (FFACO) agreed to by the State of Nevada, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the U.S. Department of Defense. Corrective Action Unit 477 is comprised of one Corrective Action Site (CAS): • 12-06-03, Muckpile The purpose of this CADD/CR is to provide justification and documentation supporting the recommendation for closure with no further action, by placing use restrictions on CAU 477.

78 FR 32241 - Defense Intelligence Agency National Intelligence University Board of Visitors; Notice of Closed...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-05-29

... DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Office of the Secretary Defense Intelligence Agency National Intelligence University Board of Visitors; Notice of Closed Meeting AGENCY: National Intelligence University, Defense Intelligence Agency, Department of Defense. ACTION: Notice of closed meeting. SUMMARY: Pursuant to the...

75 FR 76423 - Defense Intelligence Agency National Defense Intelligence College Board of Visitors Closed Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2010-12-08

... DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Office of the Secretary Defense Intelligence Agency National Defense Intelligence College Board of Visitors Closed Meeting AGENCY: National Defense Intelligence College, Defense Intelligence Agency, Department of Defense. ACTION: Notice of Closed Meeting. SUMMARY: Pursuant to the...

76 FR 28960 - Defense Intelligence Agency National Defense Intelligence College Board of Visitors Closed Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2011-05-19

... DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Office of the Secretary Defense Intelligence Agency National Defense Intelligence College Board of Visitors Closed Meeting AGENCY: National Defense Intelligence College, Defense Intelligence Agency, Department of Defense. ACTION: Notice of Closed Meeting. SUMMARY: Pursuant to the...

Organizational factors influencing implementation of evidence-based practices for integrated treatment in behavioral health agencies.

Science.gov (United States)

Bonham, Caroline A; Sommerfeld, David; Willging, Cathleen; Aarons, Gregory A

2014-01-01

Objective. In recent years, New Mexico has prioritized integrated treatment for cooccurring mental health and substance use disorders within its public behavioral health system. This report describes factors likely to be important when implementing evidence-based practices (EBPs) in community agencies. Methods. Our mixed-method research design consisted of observations, semistructured interviews, and surveys undertaken with employees at 14 agencies at baseline and after 18 months. We developed four-agency typologies based on iterative coding and analysis of observations and interviews. We then examined survey data from employees at the four exemplar agencies to validate qualitative findings. Results. Financial resources and strong leadership impacted agency capacity to train providers and implement EBPs. Quantitative analysis of service provider survey responses from these agencies (N = 38) supported qualitative findings and demonstrated significant mean score differences in leadership, organizational climate, and attitudes toward EBPs in anticipated directions. Conclusion. The availability of strong leadership and financial resources were key components to initial implementation success in this study of community agencies in New Mexico. Reliance only on external funding poses risks for sustainment when demoralizing work climates precipitate employee turnover. Strong agency leadership does not always compensate for deficient financial resources in vulnerable communities.

Partnership for Sustainable Communities: Five Years of Learning from Communities and Coordinating Federal Investments

Science.gov (United States)

This report commemorating the fifth anniversary of the HUD-DOT-EPA Partnership for Sustainable Communities shows how the three agencies are changing their policies and removing barriers to help communities.

32 CFR 196.110 - Remedial and affirmative action and self-evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 32 National Defense 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Remedial and affirmative action and self... SECRETARY OF DEFENSE (CONTINUED) MISCELLANEOUS NONDISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF SEX IN EDUCATION PROGRAMS... action and self-evaluation. (a) Remedial action. If the designated agency official finds that a recipient...

75 FR 68970 - Amendment of Using Agency for Restricted Areas R-4002, R-4005, R-4006 and R-4007; MD

Science.gov (United States)

2010-11-10

...-1070; Airspace Docket No. 10-AEA-18] RIN 2120-AA66 Amendment of Using Agency for Restricted Areas R-4002, R-4005, R- 4006 and R-4007; MD AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: This action makes a minor change to the name of the using agency for restricted areas R...

New frontiers in the neuroscience of the sense of agency

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicole eDavid

2012-06-01

Full Text Available The sense that I am the author of my own actions, including the ability to distinguish my own from other people’s actions, is a fundamental building block of our sense of self, on the one hand, and successful social interactions, on the other. Using cognitive neuroscience techniques, researchers have attempted to elucidate the functional basis of this intriguing phenomenon, also trying to explain pathological abnormalities of action awareness in certain psychiatric and neurological disturbances. Recent conceptual, technological and methodological advances suggest several interesting and necessary new leads for future research on the neuroscience of agency. Here I will describe new frontiers for the field such as the need for novel and multifactorial paradigms, anatomically plausible network models for the sense of agency, investigations of the temporal dynamics during agentic processing and ecologically valid virtual reality applications.

Trust the process: community health psychology after Occupy.

Science.gov (United States)

Cornish, Flora; Montenegro, Cristian; van Reisen, Kirsten; Zaka, Flavia; Sevitt, James

2014-01-01

This article argues that community health psychology's core strategy of 'community mobilisation' is in need of renewal and proposes a new way of conceptualising community health action. Taking the Occupy movement as an example, we critique modernist understandings of community mobilisation, which are based on instrumental action in the service of a predetermined goal. Aiming to re-invigorate the 'process' tradition of community health psychology, we explore possibilities of an open-ended, anti-hierarchical and inclusive mode of community action, which we label 'trusting the process'. The gains to be made are unpredictable, but we suggest that the risk is worth taking.

The Significance of Critical Incidents and Voice to Identity and Agency

Science.gov (United States)

Sisson, Jamie Huff

2016-01-01

Human agency is significant to the understanding of professional identities and actions. It is through human agency that individuals can become powerful in changing or authoring their own identities. Stemming from a larger narrative inquiry focused on understanding the professional identities of public preschool teachers, this paper draws on…

Community Development Agency in Developing Village in The Lamongan District

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abid Muhtarom

2017-03-01

Privileges Institute for Community Empowerment  In Development In Rural System In the Village Administration is (1 Plan development by consensus, (2 Mobilize and increase community participation in the implementation of development, (3 Cultivate dynamic condition of society and increase resilience in the district that studied to perform the function and role in the development of the Institute for Community Empowerment must comply with the rules villages and villages that have been made. However, there are some good functions to be executed to enhance the development of the Institute for Community Empowerment, namely (1 As a means of community participation in planning and implementing development; (2 Cultivating understanding and appreciation and awareness of the Pancasila; (3 Digging, harness, potential and mobilize self-help mutual aid societies to develop; (4 As a means of communication between the Government and the community and between citizens themselves; (5 Improving the knowledge and skills of the community; (6 To foster and mobilize the potential of the youth in development; (7 Fostering cooperation between institutions in society for development; (8 Implementation of other tasks in order to help the village government to build resilience established. Keywords: Role of the Institute of Community and Rural Development.

In pursuit of resilient, low carbon communities: An examination of barriers to action in three Canadian cities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burch, Sarah

2010-01-01

This article presents the findings of a study that examined three municipalities in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada, in order to determine the nature of the socio-cultural and institutional barriers to action on climate change at the local level. The central goals of this paper are: (1) to propose a simple typology of institutional and socio-cultural barriers to action by gathering insights from an inter-disciplinary set of literatures; (2) to explore the ways that these barriers influence the utilization of various forms of capacity to achieve greenhouse gas reduction and resiliency in three case study communities; and (3) to understand the dynamic interactions amongst, and relative importance of, these barriers at the local level. The evidence presented in this paper indicates that barriers are deeply interwoven phenomena, which may reinforce one another and create substantial inertia behind unsustainable patterns of municipal operations. Nevertheless, the same factors that can inhibit action on climate change (such as an organizational culture of combativeness or mutual disrespect) can also facilitate it (as with a culture of collaboration or innovation). This article suggests that a deeper understanding of the ways in which barriers can be transformed into enablers of action is a critical next step in the evolution climate change policy design and implementation at the local level.

Formal education as an avenue for community action on climate change

Science.gov (United States)

Cordero, E.

2017-12-01

Green Ninja started at San Jose State University as an educational initiative to inspire youth action on climate change. We created educational videos, games and lesson plans that promoted climate science literacy and pro-environmental behavior. Although some teachers found our content valuable, we came to learn that the overriding decisions about course curriculum come from the school district level. Should we want to scale in a manner that might really provide an environmental benefit, we needed to learn about school district needs and to develop a product that solves their problems. This presentation will discuss our journey from value propositions to empathy for our clients, and how we came to realize that the best approach for achieving our common goals was through the commercial marketplace. We will share data from some of our early adopters that suggests that formal education can both achieve district goals while also delivering environmental benefits. We will also describe the value of partnerships and how leveraging support from communities with aligning interests are improving our chances of success.

76 FR 4343 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Contractor...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-25

...; Contractor Conflicts of Interest AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: In... control numbers in certain EPA regulations is consolidated in 40 CFR part 9. Abstract: EPA contractors... cleanup and enforcement and because its contractors are often involved in both activities, it is...

50 CFR 402.44 - Advance coordination for FIFRA actions.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 7 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Advance coordination for FIFRA actions... by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act § 402.44 Advance coordination for FIFRA actions. (a) Advance coordination. EPA may request the...

Social Movements and Political Agency in the Digital Age: A Communication Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anastasia Kavada

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Digital media pose a dual challenge to conventional understandings of political agency. First, digital media destabilize long-held assumptions about the nature of collective action, about social movements and their capacity to effect change. This is because digital media are thought to facilitate more decentralized, dispersed, temporary and individualized forms of political action that subvert the notion of the collective as singular, unified, homogeneous, coherent, and mass. One way of resolving this challenge is to view the collective in looser terms, as a process rather than as a finished product, a conceptualization that can be influence our understanding not only of social movements, but also of other political actors and of society as a whole. Second, digital media highlight the need to take communication seriously in how we conceptualize both collective action and political agency. Placing communication at the centre allows us to develop this looser and more processual understanding of the collective by studying it as a process that is constituted in and through communication. Inspired by organizational communication and particularly the work of Taylor and van Every (2000, this essay proposes a conception of collective action as emerging in conversations and solidified in texts. This conceptualization allows for a more multiplex and variegated view of political agency that takes into account the specific context where agency is exercised and the power that different actors can exert in a communicative process of negotiation, persuasion and claim-making.

Building Action for Stability in Communities (BASIC) : Training for ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

The BASIC approach combines demographic, health and environmental management tools to increase community stability and wellbeing. Following the training, the participants will undertake community population appraisals, environmental planning and health service delivery planning in their own communities. Two pilot ...

76 FR 24476 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; National Volatile...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-05-02

... are manufacturers, distributors, and importers of aerosol coatings. These affected entities fall within the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code 32551, ``Paint and Coating... Aerosol Coatings AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: In compliance...

A social action learning approach to community resilience

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Berliner, Peter; Larsen, Line Natascha; de Casas Soberón, María Elena

2011-01-01

In Paamiut in Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland) a community mobilisation programme has been launched as a response to a history of violence, suicides, drug abuse, and child neglect. The overall goal of the programme is to strengthen community resilience, psychosocial well-being and revitalisation...

32 CFR 989.7 - Requests from Non-Air Force agencies or entities.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... requester or an agency other than the Air Force. The EPF and other Air Force staff elements must identify... EPF may permit requesters to submit draft EAs for their proposed actions, except for actions described in § 989.16(a) and (b), or for actions the EPF has reason to believe will ultimately require an EIS...

Co-existing institutional logics and agency among top-level public servants

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bjerregaard, Toke

2011-01-01

to address parts of this void. This study examines the agency exerted by top-level public servants through their everyday strategy and policy work in face of co-existing logics of public administration. The findings illustrate how their action strategies span from more passive strategies of coping...... with coexisting logics of administration to more skilled agency of combining logics aimed at enhancing their opportunity and action space. The study suggests that the interplay between co-existing institutional logics, action strategies and the practical skills of top-level public servants provides the basis...... for both coping and more proactive strategies in pluralistic public administrations. Findings illustrate the role of public servants' practical sense of realizable opportunities that inform such strategies of handling co-existing institutional logics. Implications for institutional studies of organizations...

77 FR 76036 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Final Collection; Comment Request

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2012-12-26

... EXPORT-IMPORT BANK OF THE U.S. [Public Notice 2012-0555] Agency Information Collection Activities: Final Collection; Comment Request AGENCY: Export-Import Bank of the U.S. ACTION: Submission for OMB.... SUMMARY: The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank), as a part of its continuing effort to...

77 FR 65549 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Final Collection; Comment Request

Science.gov (United States)

2012-10-29

... EXPORT-IMPORT BANK OF THE U.S. [Public Notice 2012-122] Agency Information Collection Activities: Final Collection; Comment Request AGENCY: Export-Import Bank of the U.S. ACTION: Submission for OMB...: The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank), as a part of its continuing effort to reduce...

77 FR 37041 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Final Collection; Comment Request

Science.gov (United States)

2012-06-20

... EXPORT-IMPORT BANK OF THE U.S. [Public Notice 2012-0111] Agency Information Collection Activities: Final Collection; Comment Request AGENCY: Export-Import Bank of the U.S. ACTION: Submission for OMB... Credit Insurance Policy. SUMMARY: The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank), as a part of...

77 FR 52717 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Final Collection; Comment Request

Science.gov (United States)

2012-08-30

... EXPORT-IMPORT BANK OF THE UNITED STATES [Public Notice 2012-0333] Agency Information Collection Activities: Final Collection; Comment Request AGENCY: Export-Import Bank of the U.S. ACTION: Submission for...: The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank), as a part of its continuing effort to reduce...

77 FR 16549 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Final Collection; Comment Request

Science.gov (United States)

2012-03-21

... EXPORT-IMPORT BANK OF THE U.S. [Public Notice 2012-0087] Agency Information Collection Activities: Final Collection; Comment Request AGENCY: Export-Import Bank of the U.S. ACTION: Submission for OMB... Credit Insurance Policy. SUMMARY: The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank), as a part of...

76 FR 29242 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Final Collection; Comment Request

Science.gov (United States)

2011-05-20

... EXPORT-IMPORT BANK OF THE U.S. [Public Notice 2011-0060] Agency Information Collection Activities: Final Collection; Comment Request AGENCY: Export-Import Bank of the U.S. ACTION: Submission for OMB.... SUMMARY: The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank), as a part of its continuing effort to...

77 FR 35679 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Final Collection; Comment Request

Science.gov (United States)

2012-06-14

... EXPORT-IMPORT BANK OF THE UNITED STATES [Public Notice 2012-0134] Agency Information Collection Activities: Final Collection; Comment Request AGENCY: Export-Import Bank of the U.S. ACTION: Submission for...: The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank), as a part of its continuing effort to reduce...

Identifying Drivers of Collective Action for the Co-management of Coastal Marine Fisheries in the Gulf of Nicoya, Costa Rica

Science.gov (United States)

García Lozano, Alejandro J.; Heinen, Joel T.

2016-04-01

Small-scale fisheries are important for preventing poverty, sustaining local economies, and rural livelihoods, but tend to be negatively impacted by traditional forms of management and overexploitation among other factors. Marine Areas for Responsible Fishing (Áreas Marinas de Pesca Responsable, AMPR) have emerged as a new model for the co-management of small-scale fisheries in Costa Rica, one that involves collaboration between fishers, government agencies, and NGOs. The primary objective of this paper is to elucidate some of the key variables that influence collective action among small-scale fishers in Tárcoles, a community in the Gulf of Nicoya. We examined collective action for the formation of a local marketing cooperative and participation in management through the AMPR. We apply the social-ecological framework as a diagnostic and organizational tool in the analysis of several types of qualitative data, including interviews with key informants, informal interviews, legal documents, and gray literature. Findings illustrate the importance of socio-economic community attributes (e.g., group size, homogeneity, previous cooperation), as well as that of social (e.g., equity) and ecological (e.g., improved stocks) outcomes perceived as favorable by actors. In addition, our work demonstrates the importance of certain kinds of external NGOs for facilitating and sustaining collective action.

Sodium dichromate expedited response action assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1993-09-01

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) recommended that the US Department of Energy (DOE) perform an expedited response action (ERA) for the Sodium Dichromate Barrel Disposal Landfill. The ERA lead regulatory agency is Ecology and EPA is the support agency. The ERA was categorized as non-time-critical, which required preparation of an engineering evaluation and cost analysis (EE/CA). The EE/CA was included in the ERA proposal. The EE/CA is a rapid, focused evaluation of available technologies using specific screening factors to assess feasibility, appropriateness, and cost. The ERA goal is to reduce the potential for any contaminant migration from the landfill to the soil column, groundwater, and Columbia River. Since the Sodium Dichromate Barrel Disposal Landfill is the only waste site within the operable unit, the removal action may be the final remediation of the 100-IU-4 Operable Unit. This ERA process started in March 1992. The ERA proposal went through a parallel review process with Westinghouse Hanford Company (WHC), DOE Richland Operations (RL), EPA, Ecology, and a 30-day public comment period. Ecology and EPA issued an Action Agreement Memorandum in March 1993 (Appendix A). The memorandum directed excavation of all anomalies and disposal of the collected materials at the Hanford Site Central Landfill. Primary field activities were completed by the end of April 1993. Final waste disposal of a minor quantity of hazardous waste was completed in July 1993

78 FR 73872 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Logistics...

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2013-12-09

...; Logistics Capability Assistance Tool (LCAT) AGENCY: Federal Emergency Management Agency, DHS. ACTION: Notice... Reduction Act of 1995, this notice seeks comments concerning the Logistics Capability Assistance Tool (LCAT... submitting comments. (2) Mail. Submit written comments to Docket Manager, Office of Chief Counsel, DHS/FEMA...

76 FR 9584 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

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2011-02-18

... Services Administration, HHS. ACTION: Correction of Burden Table. SUMMARY: The Health Resources and Services Administration published an Agency Information Collection document in the Federal Register of... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Health Resources and Services Administration Agency...

75 FR 61765 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

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2010-10-06

... Services Administration, HHS. ACTION: Correction in Burden Table. SUMMARY: The Health Resources and Services Administration published an Agency Information Collection document in the Federal Register of... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Health Resources and Services Administration Agency...

78 FR 50435 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request: FEMA Mitigation...

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2013-08-19

... process to collect and disseminate information describing successful mitigation and flood insurance... Mitigation Success Story Database AGENCY: Federal Emergency Management Agency, DHS. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY... experiences of those persons affected by mitigation efforts. The information describes successful mitigation...

Rural Action: A Collection of Community Work Case Studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Henderson, Paul, Ed.; Francis, David, Ed.

This book contains 10 case studies of rural community development in England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and Catalonia, as seen from the perspective of community-work practitioners. Development projects encompassed such activities as promotion of tourism, establishment of community centers, vocational training for school dropouts, adult community…

The Communities Advancing Resilience Toolkit (CART): an intervention to build community resilience to disasters.

Science.gov (United States)

Pfefferbaum, Rose L; Pfefferbaum, Betty; Van Horn, Richard L; Klomp, Richard W; Norris, Fran H; Reissman, Dori B

2013-01-01

Community resilience has emerged as a construct to support and foster healthy individual, family, and community adaptation to mass casualty incidents. The Communities Advancing Resilience Toolkit (CART) is a publicly available theory-based and evidence-informed community intervention designed to enhance community resilience by bringing stakeholders together to address community issues in a process that includes assessment, feedback, planning, and action. Tools include a field-tested community resilience survey and other assessment and analytical instruments. The CART process encourages public engagement in problem solving and the development and use of local assets to address community needs. CART recognizes 4 interrelated domains that contribute to community resilience: connection and caring, resources, transformative potential, and disaster management. The primary value of CART is its contribution to community participation, communication, self-awareness, cooperation, and critical reflection and its ability to stimulate analysis, collaboration, skill building, resource sharing, and purposeful action.

10 CFR 5.110 - Remedial and affirmative action and self-evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 10 Energy 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Remedial and affirmative action and self-evaluation. 5.110 Section 5.110 Energy NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION NONDISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF SEX IN EDUCATION... action and self-evaluation. (a) Remedial action. If the designated agency official finds that a recipient...

Earth Science Informatics Community Requirements for Improving Sustainable Science Software Practices: User Perspectives and Implications for Organizational Action

Science.gov (United States)

Downs, R. R.; Lenhardt, W. C.; Robinson, E.

2014-12-01

Science software is integral to the scientific process and must be developed and managed in a sustainable manner to ensure future access to scientific data and related resources. Organizations that are part of the scientific enterprise, as well as members of the scientific community who work within these entities, can contribute to the sustainability of science software and to practices that improve scientific community capabilities for science software sustainability. As science becomes increasingly digital and therefore, dependent on software, improving community practices for sustainable science software will contribute to the sustainability of science. Members of the Earth science informatics community, including scientific data producers and distributers, end-user scientists, system and application developers, and data center managers, use science software regularly and face the challenges and the opportunities that science software presents for the sustainability of science. To gain insight on practices needed for the sustainability of science software from the science software experiences of the Earth science informatics community, an interdisciplinary group of 300 community members were asked to engage in simultaneous roundtable discussions and report on their answers to questions about the requirements for improving scientific software sustainability. This paper will present an analysis of the issues reported and the conclusions offered by the participants. These results provide perspectives for science software sustainability practices and have implications for actions that organizations and their leadership can initiate to improve the sustainability of science software.

The problem of psychophysical agency in the classical Sāṃkhya and Yoga perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marzenna JAKUBCZAK

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The paper discusses the issue of psychophysical agency in the context of Indian philosophy, focusing on the oldest preserved texts of the classical tradition of Sāṃkhya-Yoga. The author raises three major questions: What is action in terms of Sāṃkhyakārikā (ca. fifth century CE and Yogasūtra (ca. third century CE? Whose action is it, or what makes one an agent? What is a right and morally good action? The first part of the paper reconsiders a general idea of action — including actions that are deliberately done and those that ‘merely’ happen — identified by Patañjali and Ῑśvarakṛṣṇa as a permanent change or transformation (pariṇāma determined by the universal principle of causation (satkārya. Then, a threefold categorization of actions according to their causes is presented, i.e. internal agency (ādhyātmika, external agency (ādhibhautika and ‘divine’ agency (ādhidaivika. The second part of the paper undertakes the problem of the agent’s autonomy and the doer’s psychophysical integrity. The main issues that are exposed in this context include the relationship between an agent and the agent’s capacity for perception and cognition, as well as the crucial Sāṃkhya-Yoga distinction between ‘a doer’ and ‘the self ’. The agent’s self-awareness and his or her moral self-esteem are also briefly examined. Moreover, the efficiency of action in present and future is discussed (i.e. karman, karmāśaya, saṃskāra, vāsanā, along with the criteria of a right act accomplished through meditative insight (samādhi and moral discipline (yama.

Eyes that bind us: Gaze leading induces an implicit sense of agency.

Science.gov (United States)

Stephenson, Lisa J; Edwards, S Gareth; Howard, Emma E; Bayliss, Andrew P

2018-03-01

Humans feel a sense of agency over the effects their motor system causes. This is the case for manual actions such as pushing buttons, kicking footballs, and all acts that affect the physical environment. We ask whether initiating joint attention - causing another person to follow our eye movement - can elicit an implicit sense of agency over this congruent gaze response. Eye movements themselves cannot directly affect the physical environment, but joint attention is an example of how eye movements can indirectly cause social outcomes. Here we show that leading the gaze of an on-screen face induces an underestimation of the temporal gap between action and consequence (Experiments 1 and 2). This underestimation effect, named 'temporal binding,' is thought to be a measure of an implicit sense of agency. Experiment 3 asked whether merely making an eye movement in a non-agentic, non-social context might also affect temporal estimation, and no reliable effects were detected, implying that inconsequential oculomotor acts do not reliably affect temporal estimations under these conditions. Together, these findings suggest that an implicit sense of agency is generated when initiating joint attention interactions. This is important for understanding how humans can efficiently detect and understand the social consequences of their actions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Creating community collaboration to improve the care of patients with high blood pressure: lessons from Rochester, New York.

Science.gov (United States)

Bisognano, John D; Speranza, Paul S; Becker, Lawrence M; Norwood, Wade S; Bradley, Al; Nazar, Michael D; Beckman, Howard B

2012-03-01

Over the past two years, the business community of Monroe County, which includes Rochester, New York, has been engaging in a collaborative to improve outcomes for people with high blood pressure. As the employers examined the costs of care in the community, they recognized two important factors. First, the costs of care for the uninsured, the underinsured, and the Medicare population influence the business community's cost of care. Second, trying to redesign care just for their employees alone was not effective. This project is unique in that the stimulus and funding for community-wide action comes from the business community. They saw beyond the often unsuccessful short-term cost reduction programs and joined with a community-focused organization, the Finger Lakes Health Systems Agency, to construct a multi-year, multi-faceted intervention designed to encourage practice redesign and an invigorated community commitment to partnership and accountability. This report describes the process to date and hopefully will stimulate conversations about mechanisms to encourage similar collaboration within other communities. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Understanding intentional actions from observers' viewpoints: A social neuroscience perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Isoda, Masaki

2016-11-01

When we see others, we also try to 'see' their unobservable states of minds, such as beliefs, desires, and intentions. We carefully monitor others' actions, as we assume that those actions are outward manifestations of their internal states. Actors and observers can have divergent views on the cause of the same actions. Critically, it is often the observers' view that affects important decisions in social life, from deciding the optimal level of cooperation to judging moral responsibility and court's decisions. Thus, the judgment about intentionality and agency in others' actions determines the way in which the observer deals with the actor. The primate brain has two separate neural systems that function in understanding others' actions and intentions. The mirror system is activated by others' visible actions and predicts their physical consequences in goal terms, whereas the mentalizing system is primarily involved in the prediction of others' intentions and upcoming actions regardless of whether others' actions are directly observable or not. The functional roles of the two systems have sometimes been described as mutually independent or even oppositional. I propose a hypothesis that the two systems may collaborate closely for judging the sense of other-agency. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd and Japan Neuroscience Society. All rights reserved.

Organizational Factors Influencing Implementation of Evidence-Based Practices for Integrated Treatment in Behavioral Health Agencies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Caroline A. Bonham

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Objective. In recent years, New Mexico has prioritized integrated treatment for cooccurring mental health and substance use disorders within its public behavioral health system. This report describes factors likely to be important when implementing evidence-based practices (EBPs in community agencies. Methods. Our mixed-method research design consisted of observations, semistructured interviews, and surveys undertaken with employees at 14 agencies at baseline and after 18 months. We developed four-agency typologies based on iterative coding and analysis of observations and interviews. We then examined survey data from employees at the four exemplar agencies to validate qualitative findings. Results. Financial resources and strong leadership impacted agency capacity to train providers and implement EBPs. Quantitative analysis of service provider survey responses from these agencies (N = 38 supported qualitative findings and demonstrated significant mean score differences in leadership, organizational climate, and attitudes toward EBPs in anticipated directions. Conclusion. The availability of strong leadership and financial resources were key components to initial implementation success in this study of community agencies in New Mexico. Reliance only on external funding poses risks for sustainment when demoralizing work climates precipitate employee turnover. Strong agency leadership does not always compensate for deficient financial resources in vulnerable communities.

77 FR 15114 - Extension of Agency Information Collection Activity Under OMB Review: Transportation Security...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-03-14

... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY Transportation Security Administration Extension of Agency Information Collection Activity Under OMB Review: Transportation Security Officer (TSO) Medical Questionnaire AGENCY: Transportation Security Administration, DHS. ACTION: 30-day Notice. SUMMARY: This notice...

75 FR 2556 - Extension of Agency Information Collection Activity Under OMB Review: Transportation Security...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-15

... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY Transportation Security Administration Extension of Agency Information Collection Activity Under OMB Review: Transportation Security Officer (TSO) Medical Questionnaire AGENCY: Transportation Security Administration, DHS. ACTION: 30-day notice. SUMMARY: This notice...

78 FR 16361 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Information Collection Renewal; Comment Request...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-03-14

... Agreements AGENCY: Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Treasury. ACTION: Notice and request for comment. SUMMARY: The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), as part of its continuing effort to... DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Agency Information Collection...

78 FR 24811 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-04-26

... DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Agency Information Collection... Activities AGENCY: Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Treasury. ACTION: Notice and Request for Comment. SUMMARY: The OCC, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden...

76 FR 9013 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Detergent Gasoline

Science.gov (United States)

2011-02-16

... Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Detergent Gasoline AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency... this action are those who (1) Manufacture gasoline, post-refinery component, or detergent additives, (2) blend detergent additives into gasoline or post-refinery component, or (3) transport or receive a...

78 FR 38077 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

Science.gov (United States)

2013-06-25

... the World Wide Web. The survey is a fully automated Web data collection effort and is handled... NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request AGENCY: National Science Foundation. ACTION: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request...

29 CFR 36.110 - Remedial and affirmative action and self-evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 29 Labor 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 true Remedial and affirmative action and self-evaluation. 36.110 Section 36.110 Labor Office of the Secretary of Labor NONDISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF SEX IN EDUCATION... affirmative action and self-evaluation. (a) Remedial action. If the designated agency official finds that a...

Communication dated 31 January 2014 received from the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Agency concerning the text of the Joint Plan of Action

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2014-01-01

The Director General has received a communication dated 31 January 2014 from the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Agency, concerning the text of the Joint Plan of Action agreed by the Islamic Republic of Iran and China, France, Germany, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States of America on 24 November 2013. As requested, the communication is circulated herewith [es

The text of the Agreement between Belgium, Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, the European Atomic Energy Community and the Agency in connection with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1989-05-01

On 5 April 1989 the Agency received in respect of the European Atomic Energy Community and Spain the notification required by Article 23(a) of the Agreement of 5 April 1973 between Belgium, Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, the European Atomic Energy Community and the Agency, which therefore came into force for Spain on that date

Community Action Projects: Applying Biotechnology in the Real World

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Phuong D.; Siegel, Marcelle A.

2015-01-01

Project-based learning and action research are powerful pedagogies in improving science education. We implemented a semester-long course using project-based action research to help students apply biotechnology knowledge learned in the classroom to the real world. Students had several choices to make in the project: working individually or as a…

Sustained Large-Scale Collective Climate Action Supported by Effective Climate Change Education Practice

Science.gov (United States)

Niepold, F., III; Crim, H.; Fiorile, G.; Eldadah, S.

2017-12-01

Since 2012, the Climate and Energy Literacy community have realized that as cities, nations and the international community seek solutions to global climate change over the coming decades, a more comprehensive, interdisciplinary approach to climate literacy—one that includes economic and social considerations—will play a vital role in knowledgeable planning, decision-making, and governance. City, county and state leaders are now leading the American response to a changing climate by incubating social innovation to prevail in the face of unprecedented change. Cities are beginning to realize the importance of critical investments to support the policies and strategies that will foster the climate literacy necessary for citizens to understand the urgency of climate actions and to succeed in a resilient post-carbon economy and develop the related workforce. Over decade of federal and non-profit Climate Change Education effective methods have been developed that can support municipality's significant educational capabilities for the purpose of strengthening and scaling city, state, business, and education actions designed to sustain and effectively address this significant social change. Looking to foster the effective and innovative strategies that will enable their communities several networks have collaborated to identify recommendations for effective education and communication practices when working with different types of audiences. U.S. National Science Foundation funded Climate Change Education Partnership (CCEP) Alliance, the National Wildlife Federation, NOAA Climate Program Office, Tri-Agency Climate Change Education Collaborative and the Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network (CLEAN) are working to develop a new web portal that will highlight "effective" practices that includes the acquisition and use of climate change knowledge to inform decision-making. The purpose of the web portal is to transfer effective practice to support communities to be

Academic research opportunities at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency(NGA)

Science.gov (United States)

Loomer, Scott A.

2006-05-01

The vision of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is to "Know the Earth...Show the Way." To achieve this vision, the NGA provides geospatial intelligence in all its forms and from whatever source-imagery, imagery intelligence, and geospatial data and information-to ensure the knowledge foundation for planning, decision, and action. Academia plays a key role in the NGA research and development program through the NGA Academic Research Program. This multi-disciplinary program of basic research in geospatial intelligence topics provides grants and fellowships to the leading investigators, research universities, and colleges of the nation. This research provides the fundamental science support to NGA's applied and advanced research programs. The major components of the NGA Academic Research Program are: *NGA University Research Initiatives (NURI): Three-year basic research grants awarded competitively to the best investigators across the US academic community. Topics are selected to provide the scientific basis for advanced and applied research in NGA core disciplines. *Historically Black College and University - Minority Institution Research Initiatives (HBCU-MI): Two-year basic research grants awarded competitively to the best investigators at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and Minority Institutions across the US academic community. *Intelligence Community Post-Doctoral Research Fellowships: Fellowships providing access to advanced research in science and technology applicable to the intelligence community's mission. The program provides a pool of researchers to support future intelligence community needs and develops long-term relationships with researchers as they move into career positions. This paper provides information about the NGA Academic Research Program, the projects it supports and how researchers and institutions can apply for grants under the program. In addition, other opportunities for academia to engage with NGA through

Corrective Action Decision Document/Closure Report for Corrective Action Unit 476: Area 12 T-Tunnel Muckpile, Nevada Test Site

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NSTec Environmental Restoration

2010-03-15

This Corrective Action Decision Document (CADD)/Closure Report (CR) was prepared by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) for Corrective Action Unit (CAU) 476, Area 12 T-Tunnel Muckpile. This CADD/CR is consistent with the requirements of the Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (FFACO) agreed to by the State of Nevada, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the U.S. Department of Defense. Corrective Action Unit 476 is comprised of one Corrective Action Site (CAS): • 12-06-02, Muckpile The purpose of this CADD/CR is to provide justification and documentation supporting the recommendation for closure in place with use restrictions for CAU 476.

Communities of practice in support of collaborative multi-disciplinary learning and action in response to climate change

Science.gov (United States)

Heimlich, J. E.; Stylinski, C.; Palmquist, S.; Wasserman, D.

2017-12-01

Collaborative efforts reaching across interdisciplinary boundaries to address controversial issues such as climate change present significant complexities, including developing shared language, agreeing on common outcomes, and even establishing habits of regular dialogue. Such collaborative efforts should include museums, aquariums, zoos, parks, and youth groups as each of these informal education institutions provides a critical avenue for supporting learning about and responding to climate change. The community of practice framework offers a potential effective approach to support learning and action of diverse groups with a shared interest. Our study applied this framework to the NSF-funded Maryland and Delaware Climate Change Assessment and Education (MADE-CLEAR) project, facilitating informal educators across these two states to advance their climate change education practices, and could provide insight for a building a citywide multi-sector collaborative effort. We found strategies that center on the process of group evolution; support different perspectives, levels of participation, and community spaces; focus on value as defined by members; and balance familiarity and fun produced a dynamic and functional community with a shared practice where none had existed before. Also important was expanding the community-of-practice focus on relationship building to include structured professional development and spin-off opportunities for small-group team-based endeavors. Our findings suggest that this collaborative professional learning approach is well suited to diverse groups seeking creative solutions to complex and even divisive challenges.

The Text of the Agreement between Belgium, Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, the European Atomic Energy Community and the Agency in Connection with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Accession of Slovenia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2007-01-01

Article 23(a) of the Agreement, and the Protocol thereto, between Belgium, Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, the European Atomic Energy Community and the Agency in implementation of Article III, (1) and (4) of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) provides that the Agreement shall come into force for non-nuclear-weapon States Party to NPT which become members of the European Atomic Energy Community upon: (i) Notification to the Agency by the State concerned that its procedures with respect to the coming into force of the Agreement have been completed; and (ii) Notification to the Agency by the European Atomic Energy Community that it is in a position to apply its safeguards in respect of that State for the purposes of the Agreement [es

The Text of the Agreement between Belgium, Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, the European Atomic Energy Community and the Agency in Connection with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Accession of Bulgaria

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2009-01-01

Article 23(a) of the Agreement, and the Protocol thereto, between Belgium, Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, the European Atomic Energy Community and the Agency in implementation of Article III, (1) and (4) of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) provides that the Agreement shall come into force for non-nuclear-weapon States Party to NPT which become members of the European Atomic Energy Community upon: (i) Notification to the Agency by the State concerned that its procedures with respect to the coming into force of the Agreement have been completed; and (ii) Notification to the Agency by the European Atomic Energy Community that it is in a position to apply its safeguards in respect of that State for the purposes of the Agreement [fr

The Text of the Agreement between Belgium, Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, the European Atomic Energy Community and the Agency in Connection with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Accession of Bulgaria

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2009-01-01

Article 23(a) of the Agreement, and the Protocol thereto, between Belgium, Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, the European Atomic Energy Community and the Agency in implementation of Article III, (1) and (4) of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) provides that the Agreement shall come into force for non-nuclear-weapon States Party to NPT which become members of the European Atomic Energy Community upon: (i) Notification to the Agency by the State concerned that its procedures with respect to the coming into force of the Agreement have been completed; and (ii) Notification to the Agency by the European Atomic Energy Community that it is in a position to apply its safeguards in respect of that State for the purposes of the Agreement [es

The Text of the Agreement between Belgium, Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, the European Atomic Energy Community and the Agency in Connection with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Accession of Bulgaria

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2009-01-01

Article 23(a) of the Agreement, and the Protocol thereto, between Belgium, Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, the European Atomic Energy Community and the Agency in implementation of Article III, (1) and (4) of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) provides that the Agreement shall come into force for non-nuclear-weapon States Party to NPT which become members of the European Atomic Energy Community upon: (i) Notification to the Agency by the State concerned that its procedures with respect to the coming into force of the Agreement have been completed; and (ii) Notification to the Agency by the European Atomic Energy Community that it is in a position to apply its safeguards in respect of that State for the purposes of the Agreement

The Text of the Agreement between Belgium, Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, the European Atomic Energy Community and the Agency in Connection with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Accession of Cyprus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2008-01-01

Article 23(a) of the Agreement, and the Protocol thereto, between Belgium, Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, the European Atomic Energy Community and the Agency in implementation of Article III, (1) and (4) of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) provides that the Agreement shall come into force for non-nuclear-weapon States Party to NPT which become members of the European Atomic Energy Community upon: (i) Notification to the Agency by the State concerned that its procedures with respect to the coming into force of the Agreement have been completed; and (ii) Notification to the Agency by the European Atomic Energy Community that it is in a position to apply its safeguards in respect of that State for the purposes of the Agreement

The Text of the Agreement between Belgium, Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, the European Atomic Energy Community and the Agency in Connection with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Accession of Slovenia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2007-01-01

Article 23(a) of the Agreement, and the Protocol thereto, between Belgium, Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, the European Atomic Energy Community and the Agency in implementation of Article III, (1) and (4) of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) provides that the Agreement shall come into force for non-nuclear-weapon States Party to NPT which become members of the European Atomic Energy Community upon: (i) Notification to the Agency by the State concerned that its procedures with respect to the coming into force of the Agreement have been completed; and (ii) Notification to the Agency by the European Atomic Energy Community that it is in a position to apply its safeguards in respect of that State for the purposes of the Agreement

77 FR 68149 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed New Collection; Comments Requested: COPS...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-11-15

... Collection; Comments Requested: COPS Comparative Assessment of Cost Reduction by Agencies Survey ACTION: 60... Collection: Proposed new collection; comments requested. (2) Title of the Form/Collection: COPS Comparative... brief abstract: Law enforcement agencies and other public and private entities that apply for COPS...

75 FR 4836 - Renewal of Agency Information Collection for Tribal Energy Resource Agreements

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-29

... ``Tribal Energy Resource Agreements (TERAs)'' to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for renewal... DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Bureau of Indian Affairs Renewal of Agency Information Collection for Tribal Energy Resource Agreements AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior. ACTION: Notice of request...

Agence Francaise de Developpement. Strategic Orientation Plan 2012-2016

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2012-01-01

Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD) is a development finance institution that has been working to fight poverty and foster economic growth in developing countries and the French Overseas Communities for more than seventy years. It executes the policy defined by the French Government. AFD is present on five continents where it has an international network of 71 agencies and representation offices, including 9 in the French Overseas Communities and 1 in Brussels. It finances and supports projects that support more sustainable and shared economic growth, improve living conditions for the poorest, contribute to protecting the planet and help stabilize fragile or post-conflict states. It subsidiary, Proparco, supports private investment. AFD also works with French and international academic networks to feed into debates and forward planning on development. In 2011, AFD approved nearly euro 6.9 billion to finance activities in developing countries and the French Overseas Communities. The funds will help get 4 million children into primary school and 2 million into secondary school; they will also improve drinking water supply for 1.53 million people. Energy efficiency projects financed by AFD in 2011 will save nearly 3.8 million tons of CO_2 equivalent annually. After ten years of strong growth and substantial transformation at AFD, the third Strategic Orientation Plan (POS3) builds on the potential it has acquired. It aims to strengthen AFD and situate it within the framework of the new 'partnership for development' promoted by the French Government. In a rapidly changing international environment, AFD is underscoring its strategy to finance long-term development activities. The aim is to help communities build sustainable conditions to allow them to meet their priority needs, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. The attention given to the social and environmental dimensions of the projects it finances, along with their impact

Christian Community in Action: Bruderhof Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Spielhagen, Frances R.; Cooper, Bruce S.

2007-01-01

The Bruderhof communities in the United States have organized their own private schools with a distinctly Christian philosophy of education, adding to the interesting mix of American private and religious schools. Rooted in early 20th century German pedagogy, romanticism, and shared responsibility, Bruderhof schools represent the essence of a…

78 FR 8192 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request; Education and Human Resources Project...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-02-05

... NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request; Education and Human Resources Project Monitoring Clearance AGENCY: National Science Foundation. ACTION: Notice... study will assess the implementation of resources, models, and technologies to determine how and why...

Court-agency interaction in environmental policymaking: the cases of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thomas, L.W.

1981-01-01

This study examines the increasingly active participation of courts in the administrative process as well as agency responses to court-imposed policy shifts. More specifically, it is an investigation of the interaction between the federal courts, primarily the Supreme Court and the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, and two federal regulatory agencies, the Nuclar Regulatory Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency. There are five objectives to the study. The first is to examine the natura of court-agency interaction and to determine the extent to which patterns of judicial review of administrative actions can be discerned. The second is to examine the effect of court orders on agency programs and policies. The third is to assess the anticipatory dimension of court-agency relations. The fourth is to inquire into the recurring dimension of court-agency interaction and to determine its effect on subsequent court decisions. The last is to assess the institutional capacity of courts to deal with scientific and technological issues. This study indicates that judicial review has a substantial effect on the NRC's and the EPA's decision-making activities. Few, if any, recent major policy decisions of the two agencies have not been scrutinized closely by federal appellate courts. During the past decade, the courts have blocked policy initiative on numerous occasions and have been the primary source of change in others. In addition, the mere anticipation of judicial review was found to be a factor motivating the two agencies to make reasoned decisions

Community partnerships in healthy eating and lifestyle promotion: A network analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ruopeng An

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Promoting healthy eating and lifestyles among populations with limited resources is a complex undertaking that often requires strong partnerships between various agencies. In local communities, these agencies are typically located in different areas, serve diverse subgroups, and operate distinct programs, limiting their communication and interactions with each other. This study assessed the network of agencies in local communities that promote healthy eating and lifestyles among populations with limited resources. Network surveys were administered in 2016 among 89 agencies located in 4 rural counties in Michigan that served limited-resource audiences. The agencies were categorized into 8 types: K-12 schools, early childhood centers, emergency food providers, health-related agencies, social resource centers, low-income/subsidized housing complexes, continuing education organizations, and others. Network analysis was conducted to examine 4 network structures—communication, funding, cooperation, and collaboration networks between agencies within each county. Agencies had a moderate level of cooperation, but were only loosely connected in the other 3 networks, indicated by low network density. Agencies in a network were decentralized rather than centralized around a few influential agencies, indicated by low centralization. There was evidence regarding homophily in a network, indicated by some significant correlations within agencies of the same type. Agencies connected in any one network were considerably more likely to be connected in all the other networks as well. In conclusion, promoting healthy eating and lifestyles among populations with limited resources warrants strong partnership between agencies in communities. Network analysis serves as a useful tool to evaluate community partnerships and facilitate coalition building.

Lessons From a Pilot Community-Driven Approach for Obesity Prevention.

Science.gov (United States)

Hilgendorf, Amy; Stedman, John; Inzeo, Paula Tran; McCall, Ann; Burrows, Judy; Krueger, Scott; Christens, Brian; Pollard, Ethen; Meinen, Amy; Korth, Amy; Wolf, Lesley; Adams, Alexandra

2016-11-01

The Wisconsin Obesity Prevention Initiative has piloted a novel approach for community action for obesity prevention that incorporates both coalition and community organizing efforts in 2 counties. This article describes lessons learned to date from this experience. A description of the progress made in these communities and the support provided by Initiative staff and other partners are drawn from process evaluation of the pilot from November 2014 through December 2015, as well as the reflections of community partners. In Marathon County, building towards coalition action required thoughtful re-engagement and restructuring of an existing obesity-focused coalition. Community organizing surfaced local concerns related to the root causes of obesity, including poverty and transit. In Menominee County, coalition and community organizing efforts both have drawn attention to cultural assets for health promotion, such as traditional food practices, as well as the links between cultural loss and obesity. Building coalition action and community organizing varies across community contexts and requires addressing various steps and challenges. Both approaches require critical local examination of existing community action and stakeholders, attention to relationship building, and support from outside partners. In coalition action, backbone staff provide important infrastructure, including member recruitment and facilitating group processes towards collaboration. Community organizing involves broad resident engagement to identify shared interests and concerns and build new leadership. A community-driven systems change model offers potential to increase community action for obesity prevention.

[Community Service Program, Westmont College.

Science.gov (United States)

Kistler, Christina

This report describes a 2-year project at Westmont College, California, which established a Community Service Program with the purposes of decreasing student debt and increasing student participation in community organizations. Eligible students worked 8-10 hours per week for a qualified community agency and received credit towards tuition for the…

Addressing unmet mental health and substance abuse needs: a partnered planning effort between grassroots community agencies, faith-based organizations, service providers, and academic institutions.

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, Eunice C; Chung, Bowen; Stover, Gabriel; Stockdale, Susan; Jones, Felica; Litt, Paula; Klap, Ruth S; Patel, Kavita; Wells, Kenneth B

2011-01-01

To conduct a process evaluation of the Restoration Center Los Angeles, a community-academic partnered planning effort aimed at holistically addressing the unmet mental health and substance abuse needs of the Los Angeles African American community. Semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions on key domains of partnership effectiveness were conducted with a random stratified sample of participants varying by level of involvement. Eleven partners representing grassroots community agencies, faith-based organizations, service providers, and academic institutions. Common themes identified by an evaluation consultant and partners relating to partnership effectiveness, perceived benefits and costs, and future expectations. Findings underscore the importance of considering the potential issues that may arise with the increasing diversity of partners and perspectives. Many of the challenges and facilitating factors that arise within academic-community partnerships were similarly experienced between the diverse set of community partners. Challenges that affected partnership development between community-to-community partners included differences in expectations regarding the final goal of the project, trust-building, and the distribution of funds. Despite such challenges, partners were able to jointly develop a final set of recommendations for the creation of restoration centers, which was viewed as a major accomplishment. Limited guidance exists on how to navigate differences that arise between community members who have shared identities on some dimensions (eg, African American ethnicity, Los Angeles residence) but divergent identities on other dimensions (eg, formal church affiliation). With increasing diversity of community representation, careful attention needs to be dedicated to not only the development of academic-community partnerships but also community-community partnerships.

7 CFR 1940.312 - Environmental assessments for Class II actions.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... HOUSING SERVICE, RURAL BUSINESS-COOPERATIVE SERVICE, RURAL UTILITIES SERVICE, AND FARM SERVICE AGENCY... following actions is an expansion of a previously approved FmHA or its successor agency under Public Law 103... assistance for, or the approval of, a subdivision as well as the expansion of an existing one, which involves...

45 CFR 1321.57 - Area agency advisory council.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

...) Persons with leadership experience in the private and voluntary sectors; (6) Local elected officials; and... leadership role of the area agency in developing community-based systems of services. The advisory council...

Operation of the Selected Local Action Group

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lukáš Nevěděl

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The main objective of this article is to compare the current operation of elected local action group with the concept of learning regions. This comparison is built on detailed knowledge and understanding of the operation of local action group Podbrnensko citizens’ association (Podbrnensko CA and learning regions in general. The following is assumed: the understanding of community-based processes from the perspective of residents, the important stakeholders who influence the operation of communities or locations. The operation of local action groups is in line with the current concept led by local community development (community led local development, CLLD, which uses elements of the LEADER method. In this method the solution of development problems comes primarily from the inside, not from the outside of the studied territory. The methods used for the collection of empirical data were mostly observation and interviews with all partners involved in LAG (31 people, all mayors in LAG (29 people and 176 people from region, i.e. methods, which result in so called deep data. Between the primary techniques applied in the research are: participant observation, unstructured or semi-structured interviews and public debates.