The next generation of high-power lasers enables repetition of experiments at orders of magnitude higher frequency than what was possible using the prior generation. Facilities requiring human intervention between laser repetitions need to adapt in order to keep pace with the new laser technology. A distributed networked control system can enable laboratory-wide automation and feedback control loops. These higher-repetition-rate experiments will create enormous quantities of data. A consistent approach to managing data can increase data accessibility, reduce repetitive data-software development and mitigate poorly organized metadata. An opportunity arises to share knowledge of improvements to control and data infrastructure currently being undertaken. We compare platforms and approaches to state-of-the-art control systems and data management at high-power laser facilities, and we illustrate these topics with case studies from our community.

Integrating geophysical survey with the study of community settlement patterns can be challenging because of cultural and environmental factors including (1) site formation and house preservation, (2) the coordination of domestic tasks at extra-household scales, and (3) the survey environment of the study area. In this article, we present the results of a program of geophysical survey comprising magnetic susceptibility and magnetometry at Weeden Island (8Pi1)—a shell-bearing, wooded site with nearly pure sand soils on the Gulf Coast of Florida. Combining remote sensing techniques mitigated some of the challenges of surveying forested terrain while providing insight into community organization at a site with minimal preserved structural remains. Compared with previous traditional surveys of the area, the geophysical survey extended the recognized boundaries of occupational activity, provided additional definition to the spatial structure of deposits, and allowed us to identify specific domestic features. Excavations at each area of intensive occupation provided evidence about the organization of the domestic economy at the site and showed the potential of this approach to reveal significant patterns of community settlement.

This article is a review of the development of the Bukharan Jewish community organization. It describes the transformations it has undergone in the twentieth century and examines the changes that Bukharan Jews underwent from demographic, social, and organizational perspectives, and the far-reaching processes that have occurred later in community organizations, particularly in light of the establishment of the World Congress of Bukharan Jewry in 2000. Traditionally, when dealing with Jewish communities the term “diaspora” refers to different Jewish communities scattered away from the “promised land” (Diatlov 1999). Thus, the terminology of: “Jewish immigration” traditionally is considered as their return. In this article, which focuses on Bukharan Jews, I use “diaspora” to describe different Bukharan communities created due to immigration to the land of Israel and to other destinations from the cradle of Central Asia.