Comparing White and African American Homeless Youth in San Francisco: Research Findings and Policy Implications

Homeless youth are not a homogenous group. The needs of this population vary based on geographic location, demographic characteristics, and homelessness history. Some research indicates that racial and ethnic minorities are over-represented among homeless youth; other studies find that homeless youth generally reflect the racial and ethnic makeup of their local community. While researchers continue to identify the characteristics of homeless youth, it is important to understand the unique needs of all homeless young people. Research from the University of California at San Francisco School of Medicine, and the University Of California Berkeley School Of Public Health reveals important differences between white and African American homeless youth living on the streets in San Francisco. These differences may have significant implications for policy and programs to address and prevent youth homelessness in California

Six-year mortality in a street-recruited cohort of homeless youth in San Francisco, California.

Objectives. The mortality rate of a street-recruited homeless youth cohort in the United States has not yet been reported. We examined the six-year mortality rate for a cohort of street youth recruited from San Francisco street venues in 2004. Methods. Using data collected from a longitudinal, venue-based sample of street youth 15-24 years of age, we calculated age, race, and gender-adjusted mortality rates. Results. Of a sample of 218 participants, 11 died from enrollment in 2004 to December 31, 2010. The majority of deaths were due to suicide and/or substance abuse. The death rate was 9.6 deaths per hundred thousand person-years. The age, race and gender-adjusted standardized mortality ratio was 10.6 (95% CI [5.3-18.9]). Gender specific SMRs were 16.1 (95% CI [3.3-47.1]) for females and 9.4 (95% CI [4.0-18.4]) for males. Conclusions. Street-recruited homeless youth in San Francisco experience a mortality rate in excess of ten times that of the states general youth population. Services and programs, particularly housing, mental health and substance abuse interventions, are urgently needed to prevent premature mortality in this vulnerable population

Enabling Entrepreneurial Ecosystems

Inspired by research on the importance of entrepreneurship for sustained economic growth and improved wellbeing, many governments and non-governmental grantmaking organizations have sought over the past decade to implement policies and programs intended to support entrepreneurs. Over this interval, growing appreciation of the limits of strategies focused narrowly on financing or training entrepreneurs has prompted a number of such entities to shift their efforts toward more broadbased strategies aimed at enabling "entrepreneurial ecosystems" at the city or sub-national regional scale.This paper takes the metaphor of the "ecosystem" seriously, seeking to draw lessons from evolutionary biology and ecology to inform policy for entrepreneurship. In so doing, the paper provides a framework for data gathering and analysis of practical value in assessing the vibrancy of entrepreneurial ecosystems

Foreign and defense policy in the Obama administration

Comunicação proferida pelo Prof. Doutor David Auerswald, no IDN no dia 10 de Novembro de 2009, no âmbito do ciclo de conferências intitulado Visões Globais para a Defesa

Adaptation, Mitigation and Risk-Taking in Climate Policy

The future consequences of climate change are highly uncertain. Today, the exact size of possible future damages are widely unknown. Governments try to cope with these risks by investing in mitigation and adaptation measures. Mitigation aims at a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions whereas adaptation reduces the follow-up costs of climate change. In contrast to the existing literature, we explicitly model the decision of risk-averse governments on mitigation and adaptation policies. Furthermore we also consider the interaction of the two strategies. Mitigation efforts of a single country trigger crowding out as other countries will reduce their mitigation efforts. We show that, under fairly mild conditions, a unilateral increase in mitigation efforts of a single country can even increase global emissions. In contrast, a unilateral commitment to large adaptation efforts benefits the single country and may reduce the global risk from climate change at the expense of other countries.climate change, adaptation, mitigation, risk-taking

Kinetic and thermodynamic analysis of leech-derived tryptase inhibitor interaction with bovine tryptase and bovine trypsin

The interaction of leech-derived tryptase inhibitor (LDTI) with bovine liver capsule tryptase (BLCT) and bovine trypsin has been studied using both thermodynamic and kinetic approaches. Several differences were detected: (i) the equilibrium affinity of LDTI for BLCT (K-a = 8.9 x 10(5) M-1) is about 600-fold lower than that for bovine trypsin (K-a = 5.1 x 10(8) M-1); (ii) LDTI behaves as a purely non-competitive inhibitor of BLCT, while it is a purely competitive inhibitor of bovine trypsin. These functional data are compared with those previously reported for the LDTI binding to human tryptase, where tight inhibition occurs at two of the four active sites of the tetramer (K-a = 7.1 x 10(8) M-1). Amino acid sequence alignment of BLCT, human beta II-tryptase and bovine trypsin allows us to infer some possible structural basis for the observed functional differences

Grundzüge der Wirtschaftspolitik in der Provinz Alberta : Themenschwerpunkt: Kooperation Freistaat Sachsen - Provinz Alberta (Kanada)

Die aktuellen Ziele der Wirtschaftspolitik in der Provinz Alberta werden dargelegt um aufzuzeigen, in welche Richtung sich diese Provinz Kanadas in den nächsten Jahren entwickeln soll. Eine Besonderheit Albertas liegt dabei in den politischen Rahmenbedingungen, unter denen diese Politik gemacht wird. Denn Alberta nimmt nicht nur aufgrund seiner enormen Erdölvorkommen und dem daraus resultierenden wirtschaftlichen Erfolg eine Ausnahmestellung innerhalb Kanadas ein, sondern auch aufgrund der großen Kontinuität der Regierung, deren letzter Regierungswechsel bereits über 35 Jahre zurück liegt.Wirtschaftspolitik; Wirtschaftsstruktur; Wirtschaftslage; Kanada; Teilstaat

Unsichere Klimafolgen und rationale Klimapolitik

Für die Klimapolitik einzelner Länder spielt nach Ansicht von Heike Auerswald, Technische Universität Dresden, Kai A. Konrad, Max-Planck-Institut für Steuerrecht und Öffentliche Finanzen, und Marcel Thum, Technische Universität Dresden und Niederlassung Dresden des ifo Instituts, neben der globalen Bedeutung des Problems die große Unsicherheit bezüglich der möglichen zukünftigen Schäden eine wichtige Rolle. Unilaterale Vorleistungen in der Klimapolitik können in einer Welt risikoaverser Entscheider dazu führen, dass die globalen Treibhausgasemissionen steigen. Es empfiehlt sich eine strategische Festlegung auf Anpassungsmaßnahmen. Diese schützen nicht nur das eigene Land vor den Klimafolgen, sondern zwingen auch andere Akteure dazu, mehr in Emissionsvermeidung zu investieren und so die globalen Risiken aus dem Klimawandel zu mindern