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Daily Archives: July 5, 2016

A Case Study of New York State’s Response to Extreme Weather Events

“Researchers from the Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery (GOSR) and the Rockefeller Institute of Government of the State University of New York (SUNY) have released a study evaluating New York State’s planning efforts to reduce the state’s vulnerability to future disasters. Such efforts form part of the state’s adaptations to climate change. The study analyzed New York State’s “NY Rising Community Reconstruction Program” (NYRCRP), an initiative that uses a “Managed-Participatory” approach to community resiliency. The approach is notable for integrating bottom-up, community-based planning with a more traditional top-down, government-based method.In the wake of a series of major storms, including Superstorm Sandy, policymakers used the Managed-Participatory approach to assist 124 disaster-assisted communities to “develop and implement comprehensive reconstruction and resiliency plans through a unique combination of bottom-up community participation and state-provided facilitation, technical expertise, and significant financial support.” More than 1,100 storm recovery projects were developed through 650 committee meetings and 250 public engagement events. The study found that the state’s approach is unique in “facilitating the development of plans by harnessing local knowledge, resources, and capacities; supplementing it by providing technical assistance, data analysis, and consultation; and managing the scale and scope both of the process and the funds allocated for disaster recovery.” These findings came in part from a comparison of New York’s approach to community reconstruction to those used by Louisiana and Mississippi in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The researchers characterize the state’s approach as “Managed -Participatory” because it combines the most important components of both horizontal and vertical integration planning. The approach facilitates the production of strong long-term recovery and resiliency plans by encouraging robust local participation and strengthening links between communities and policymakers. The Managed-Participatory approach also emphasizes the process as much as the final product, and the importance of working with the communities to propose the most realistic and implementable projects.”

Measuring the impact of digitized theses: a case study from the London School of Economics

Bennett, L. & Flanagan, D., (2016). Measuring the impact of digitized theses: a case study from the London School of Economics. Insights. 29(2), pp.111–119. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1629/uksg.300. Published 5 July 2016. “This study tests the assertion that the online dissemination of theses has a positive impact on the research profile of the institution and sets out… Continue Reading

Guidance on cyber resilience for financial market infrastructures

“The Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) have published the Guidance on cyber resilience for financial market infrastructures (“Cyber Guidance”). This builds on an earlier version of the report that underwent a three-month public consultation. The safe and efficient operation of financial market infrastructures (FMIs) is… Continue Reading

FCC – New limits on telemarketers

“Scammers want your money, but they don’t want to get caught taking it. That’s why fraudulent telemarketers ask people to pay with systems that deliver a quick, anonymous cash payout like cash-to-cash transfers or cash reload card PINs. However, it’s now illegal for telemarketers to ask for payment by: cash-to-cash money transfers — like those… Continue Reading

Paper – Statistical software used in brain imaging MRI studies subject to “bad data”

Ever had a brain MRI –  if so, you may want to read this new study: Cluster failure: Why fMRI inferences for spatial extent have inflated false-positive rates Published online before print June 28, 2016, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1602413113. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. PNAS June 28, 2016. “Functional MRI (fMRI) is 25 years old,… Continue Reading

CRS – Nanotechnology: A Policy Primer

Via FAS – Nanotechnology: A Policy Primer, John F. Sargent Jr., Specialist in Science and Technology Policy. June 28, 2016: “Nanoscale science, engineering, and technology—commonly referred to collectively as nanotechnology—is believed by many to offer extraordinary economic and societal benefits. Congress has demonstrated continuing support for nanotechnology and has directed its attention particularly to three… Continue Reading

GAO Reports – TARP, U.S.-China Cooperation

Troubled Asset Relief Program: Most Community Development Capital Initiative Investments Remain Outstanding, GAO-16-626: Published: Jul 5, 2016. Publicly Released: Jul 5, 2016: “As of March 31, 2016, the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) had approximately 76 percent of the original Community Development Capital Initiative (CDCI) investment outstanding and 57 institutions remained. Treasury’s total investment was… Continue Reading

GAO Report – Gun Control: Analyzing Available Data Could Help Improve Background Checks Involving Domestic Violence Records

Gun Control: Analyzing Available Data Could Help Improve Background Checks Involving Domestic Violence Records, GAO-16-483: Published: Jul 5, 2016. Publicly Released: Jul 5, 2016. “Most of the 50 states submit domestic violence records—misdemeanor crime of domestic violence (MCDV) convictions and domestic violence protection orders—to the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for… Continue Reading

CRS – Slow Growth in the Current U.S. Economic Expansion

Via FAS – Slow Growth in the Current U.S. Economic Expansion – Mark P. Keightley, Specialist in Economics; Marc Labonte, Specialist in Macroeconomic Policy; Jeffrey M. Stupak, Analyst in Macroeconomic Policy. June 24, 2016. “Between 2008 and 2015, economic growth has been, depending on the indicator, one-quarter to one-half the long-term average since World War… Continue Reading