People centred eco-design: consumer adoption of low and zero carbon products and systems

Literature review, research model and findings of exploratory empirical research on consumer adoption and effective use of low and zero carbon technologies ranging from a hybrid car to solar water heating systems

Maximizing the Effectiveness of Provisional Voting

Every registered citizen who votes should have her ballot counted. This is not a controversial statement. Yet, for a variety of reasons, some voters arrive at the polls on Election Day only to be turned away when their names do not appear on the list of registered voters. Congress has attempted to correct this situation by including "fail-safe" or provisional voting requirements in the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002. States had the opportunity to adopt laws and procedures that maximized the chances for a provisional ballot cast by an eligible voter to count. The 2004 elections show, however, that states have taken very different paths in implementing provisional voting requirements. Consequently, the rates at which provisional ballots are counted vary widely from state to state -- from 96% counted in Alaska to only 6% counted in Delaware. These practices sometimes even vary widely within the state. This policy brief outlines HAVA's provisional voting requirements, reviews the experience of states with the 2004 implementation of provisional voting, and provides policy recommendations

Improved Resection and Outcome of Colon-Cancer Liver Metastasis with Fluorescence-Guided Surgery Using In Situ GFP Labeling with a Telomerase-Dependent Adenovirus in an Orthotopic Mouse Model.

Fluorescence-guided surgery (FGS) of cancer is an area of intense development. In the present report, we demonstrate that the telomerase-dependent green fluorescent protein (GFP)-containing adenovirus OBP-401 could label colon-cancer liver metastasis in situ in an orthotopic mouse model enabling successful FGS. OBP-401-GFP-labeled liver metastasis resulted in complete resection with FGS, in contrast, conventional bright-light surgery (BLS) did not result in complete resection of the metastasis. OBP-401-FGS reduced the recurrence rate and prolonged over-all survival compared with BLS. In conclusion, adenovirus OBP-401 is a powerful tool to label liver metastasis in situ with GFP which enables its complete resection, not possible with conventional BLS

Pre-Retirement Cashouts and Foregone Retirement Saving: Implications for 401(k) Asset Accumulation

This paper presents new evidence on the potential importance of 401(K) assets in contributing to the retirement resources of future retirees. We use data on past 401(k) participation rates by age and imcome decile, along with information on average 401(k) contribution rates, to project the future 401(k) contribution trajectories of households that are currently headed by individuals between the ages of 29 and 39. We allow for the possibility of pre-retirmenet withdrawal of 401(k) assets when individuals experience employment transistion. By combining data from the Health and Retirement Survye on the likelihood of 'cashing out' a 401(k) account conditional on a job change, with data from other sources on the probability of job change, it is possible to estimate the prospective pre-retirement 'leakage' from 401(k) accounts. Our central findings are that for households reaching retirement age between 2025 and 2035, 401(k) balances are likely to be a much more important factor in financial preparation for retirement than they are today. We estimate that average 401(k) balances in 2025 will be between five and ten times as large as they are today, and would represent one-half to twice Social Security wealth (depending on investment allocation and based on current Social Security provisions). For persons retiring in 2035 we estimate that 401(k) balances will be three-quarters to two and one-half times Social Security wealth. Moreover, we find that pre-retirement withdrawals have a small effect on the balance in 401(k) accounts. We estimate that these withdrawals typically reduce average 401(k) assets at age 65 by about five percent. This is largely because most households who are eligible for a lump sum distribution when they change jobs choose to keep their accumulated 401(k) assets in the retirement saving system. These households either leave their assets in their previous employer's 401(k) plan, or they roll the assets over to another retirement saving account, such as a new 401(k) or an Individual Retirement Account. Most of those who do withdraw assets have very small accumulated balances. By comparison, the expense ratio charged by the financial institutions administering 401(k) accounts has a larger effect on retirement resources than the possibility of pre-retirement withdrawal.

Fluorescence-guided surgery of a highly-metastatic variant of human triple-negative breast cancer targeted with a cancer-specific GFP adenovirus prevents recurrence.

We have previously developed a genetically-engineered GFP-expressing telomerase-dependent adenovirus, OBP-401, which can selectively illuminate cancer cells. In the present report, we demonstrate that targeting a triple-negative high-invasive human breast cancer, orthotopically-growing in nude mice, with OBP-401 enables curative fluorescence-guided surgery (FGS). OBP-401 enabled complete resection and prevented local recurrence and greatly inhibited lymph-node metastasis due to the ability of the virus to selectively label and subsequently kill cancer cells. In contrast, residual breast cancer cells become more aggressive after bright (white)-light surgery (BLS). OBP-401-based FGS also improved the overall survival compared with conventional BLS. Thus, metastasis from a highly-aggressive triple-negative breast cancer can be prevented by FGS in a clinically-relevant mouse model

Tumor-targeting adenovirus OBP-401 inhibits primary and metastatic tumor growth of triple-negative breast cancer in orthotopic nude-mouse models.

Our laboratory previously developed a highly-invasive, triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) variant using serial orthotopic implantation of the human MDA-MB-231 cell line in nude mice. The isolated variant was highly-invasive in the mammary gland and lymphatic channels and metastasized to lymph nodes in 10 of 12 mice compared to 2 of 12 of the parental cell line. In the present study, the tumor-selective telomerase dependent OBP-401 adenovirus was injected intratumorally (i.t.) (1 × 108 PFU) when the high-metastatic MDA-MB-231 primary tumor expressing red fluorescent protein (MDA-MB-231-RFP) reached approximately 500 mm3 (diameter; 10 mm). The mock-infected orthotopic primary tumor grew rapidly. After i.t. OBP-401 injection, the growth of the orthotopic tumors was arrested. Six weeks after implantation, the fluorescent area and fluorescence intensity showed no increase from the beginning of treatment. OBP-401 was then injected into high-metastatic MDA-MB-231-RFP primary orthotopic tumor growing in mice which already had developed metastasis within lymphatic ducts. All 7 of 7 control mice subsequently developed lymph node metastasis. In contrast, none of 7 mice which received OBP-401 had lymph node metastasis. Seven of 7 control mice also had gross lung metastasis. In contrast, none of the 7 mice which received OBP-401 had gross lung metastasis. Confocal laser microscopy imaging demonstrated that all control mice had diffuse lung metastases. In contrast, all 7 mice which received OBP-401 only had a few metastatic cells in the lung. OBP-401 treatment significantly extended survival of the treated mice

Storm Clouds Ahead for 401(k) Plans?

Presents a preliminary assessment of whether the automatic 401(k) plan features approved in 2006 are encouraging employers to offer plans and employees to save. Discusses the potential impact of a lawsuit over an employer's management of a 401(k) account

Adenoviral targeting of malignant melanoma for fluorescence-guided surgery prevents recurrence in orthotopic nude-mouse models.

Malignant melanoma requires precise resection in order to avoid metastatic recurrence. We report here that the telomerase-dependent, green fluorescent protein (GFP)-containing adenovirus OBP-401 could label malignant melanoma with GFP in situ in orthotopic mouse models. OBP-401-based fluorescence-guided surgery (FGS) resulted in the complete resection of malignant melanoma in the orthotopic models, where conventional bright-light surgery (BLS) could not. High-dose administration of OBP-401 enabled FGS without residual cancer cells or recurrence, due to its dual effect of cancer-cell labeling with GFP and killing

Have 401(k)s Raised Household Saving? Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study

401(k)-type pension arrangements are the most popular tax subsidy to household saving in the U.S. This study uses self- and firm-reported pension information, Social Security, and household wealth data from 1992 Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to examine the extent to which 401(k) pension plans have raised household saving. Comparison of self- and firm-reported pension information indicates significant measurement error in self-reported 401(k) eligibility. This error has biased the estimated 401(k) saving effects in all previous studies upward significantly and differentially by income category. There is evidence of significant measurement error in pension assets as well. Overall, the estimates that account for both types of measurement error suggest that 401(k)s have not raised household saving. All of the estimates are significantly lower than those implied by previous studies that have found large effects. The most plausible explanation for the large estimated offset to household saving is firm-level substitution of 401(k)s for other pensions. Even though very little of the average dollar of 401(k) wealth appears to be new household saving, 401(k)s may have stimulated saving significantly for lower-to-middle income households and, hence, increased retirement income security for an important segment of the population.pensions; household saving