Evaluation and Analysis of the Role Played by the International Mobility & Trade Corridor Project (IMTC) in the Cascade Gateway Region

The International Mobility & Trade Corridor Project (IMTC) is a highly unique cross-border planning and policy coalition. It describes itself to be a, “U.S. - Canadian coalition of government and business entities that identifies and promotes improvements to mobility and security for the four border crossings between Whatcom County, Washington State and the Lower Mainland of British Columbia.” (www.wcog.org/Border/About-IMTC/58.aspx, retrieved 10 June 2009). Purpose of the study: The major purpose of this study was to document the role, successes, and obstacles that the IMTC faces along with evaluating its voluntary nature, impact on cross border collaboration & communication, and speculate on its future function. Second, it is to share this information with similar regions along the border that might benefit from organizing comparable micro-level cross-border voluntary projects

Environmental Resource Management in Borderlands: Evolution from Competing Interests to Common Aversions

Great enthusiasm is attached to the emergence of cross-border regions (CBRs) as a new institutional arrangement for dealing with local cross-border environmental resource management and other issues that remain too distant from national capitals and/or too expensive to be addressed in the traditional topocratic manner requiring instead local adhocratic methods. This study briefly discusses the perceived value of CBRs and necessary and sufficient conditions for the successful and sustainable development of such places. Then, assuming that necessary conditions can be met, the study investigates an intriguing hypothesis concerning the catalyzing of sustainable consensus for cross-border resource management based on a game theoretical approach that employs the use of dilemma of common aversion rather than the more traditional dilemma of competing common interests. Using this lens to investigate a series of events on the Pacific northwestern Canadian-American border in a part of the Fraser Lowland, we look for evidence of the emergence of an active and sustainable CBR to address local trans-border resource management issues. Although our micro-level scale fails to conclusively demonstrate such evidence, it does demonstrate the value of using this approach and suggests a number of avenues for further research

The Role of Sister Cities’ Staff Exchanges in Developing “Learning Cities”: Exploring Necessary and Sufficient Conditions in Social Capital Development Utilizing Proportional Odds Modeling

In the last half century former international adversaries have become cooperators through networking and knowledge sharing for decision making aimed at improving quality of life and sustainability; nowhere has this been more striking then at the urban level where such activity is seen as a key component in building “learning cities” through the development of social capital. Although mega-cities have been leaders in such efforts, mid-sized cities with lesser resource endowments have striven to follow by focusing on more frugal sister city type exchanges. The underlying thesis of our research is that great value can be derived from city-to-city exchanges through social capital development. However, such a study must differentiate between necessary and sufficient conditions. Past studies assumed necessary conditions were met and immediately jumped to demonstrating the existence of structural relationships by measuring networking while further assuming that the existence of such demonstrated a parallel development of cognitive social capital. Our research addresses this lacuna by stepping back and critically examining these assumptions. To accomplish this goal we use a Proportional Odds Modeling with a Cumulative Logit Link approach to demonstrate the existence of a common latent structure, hence asserting that necessary conditions are met

Imaging the Future of Cross Border Environmental Resource Management within the Fraser Lowland: A Delphi Analysis

This report presents the findings of a study that utilizes a Delphi questionnaire technique to explore trans-border environmental governance issues in the Fraser Lowland of south-western British Columbia/ north-western Washington State. The international border that bisects this area, presents an implicit obstacle to coherent and consistent management of the environmental resources located in this unified bio-physical region. Moreover, as population and industrial pressures continue unabated, there is a sense that some degree of unified bi-national effort is inevitable in this cross-border region (CBR)

Cascadia Reconsidered: Questioning Micro-scale Cross-border Integration in the Fraser Lowland

Cascadia has been promoted as the premier cross-border region (CBR) along the western US-Canada border. However, most studies of this CBR have a strong normative inflection that assumes a great desire by the actors to emancipate themselves from dominance by the nation-state. Unlike as in other regions of the world such as Europe, little micro-level empirical investigation has been done of this hypothesis. This study seeks to address that issue by focusing on a proposed power plant in the heart of Cascadia which was to integrate resources and services between the border towns of Sumas, Washington and Abbotsford, British Columbia which lie at the western end of the enclosed Fraser Lowland. After an initial agreement between the towns collapsed based mainly on grassroots opposition concerned over impacts on the shared air shed, the two cities found themselves at loggerheads ever more willing to appeal to more distant political levels to support their case. This eventually resulted in a move by the Canadian National Energy Board to favour Canadian environmental interests over US economic ones, an apparent move to reaffirm the border as a shield. The paper explores how the micro-scale relationship that emerges from this dispute fits into the emerging discussion on CBRs and more importantly what this failed attempt at cross-border integration in the Fraser Lowland tells us about Cascadia as whole

Modeling Cross-Border Regions, Place-Making, and Resource Management: A Delphi Analysis

Along international borders, spillover of resource management issues is a growing challenge. Development of cross-border regions (CBRs) is seen as an emerging means of addressing these issues. A set of theoretical models, geo-economic mobilization and a resource-focused territorial program of place-making have been proposed as a lens for understanding why such change could occur. From this theory, we identify three C’s as critical initial or necessary conditions to start the process: common territorial identity, convergence of knowledge and values, willingness for cooperation. We then utilize results of a Delphi study in the Fraser Lowland, a sub-district of the American-Canadian Cascadia borderland, to test if these three are present and actively working together. Our analysis based on both cumulative logit and mixed-effect modeling confirms the active existence of the three C’s demonstrating the value of these theoretical models. However, the Delphi also shows that not all in this region are convinced of cross-border convergence and case studies provide mixed signals of successful cross-border resource management, indicating that sufficient conditions are yet to be fully met. Thus, our results confirm the value of these models as a lens to view events, but leave many questions to be researched

Inductively Heated Shape Memory Polymer for the Magnetic Actuation of Medical Devices

Submitted to IEEE Trans. Biomed. Eng.Presently there is interest in making medical devices such as expandable stents and intravascular microactuators from shape memory polymer (SMP). One of the key challenges in realizing SMP medical devices is the implementation of a safe and effective method of thermally actuating various device geometries in vivo. A novel scheme of actuation by Curie-thermoregulated inductive heating is presented. Prototype medical devices made from SMP loaded with Nickel Zinc ferrite ferromagnetic particles were actuated in air by applying an alternating magnetic field to induce heating. Dynamic mechanical thermal analysis was performed on both the particle-loaded and neat SMP materials to assess the impact of the ferrite particles on the mechanical properties of the samples. Calorimetry was used to quantify the rate of heat generation as a function of particle size and volumetric loading of ferrite particles in the SMP. These tests demonstrated the feasibility of SMP actuation by inductive heating. Rapid and uniform heating was achieved in complex device geometries and particle loading up to 10% volume content did not interfere with the shape recovery of the SMP.Lawrence Livermore National Lab

MicroRNA-184 inhibits neuroblastoma cell survival through targeting the serine/threonine kinase AKT2

BACKGROUND: Neuroblastoma is a paediatric cancer of the sympathetic nervous system. The single most important genetic indicator of poor clinical outcome is amplification of the MYCN transcription factor. One of many down-stream MYCN targets is miR-184, which is either directly or indirectly repressed by this transcription factor, possibly due to its pro-apoptotic effects when ectopically over-expressed in neuroblastoma cells. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the molecular mechanism by which miR-184 conveys pro-apoptotic effects. RESULTS: We demonstrate that the knock-down of endogenous miR-184 has the opposite effect of ectopic up-regulation, leading to enhanced neuroblastoma cell numbers. As a mechanism of how miR-184 causes apoptosis when over-expressed, and increased cell numbers when inhibited, we demonstrate direct targeting and degradation of AKT2, a major downstream effector of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway, one of the most potent pro-survival pathways in cancer. The pro-apoptotic effects of miR-184 ectopic over-expression in neuroblastoma cell lines is reproduced by siRNA inhibition of AKT2, while a positive effect on cell numbers similar to that obtained by the knock-down of endogenous miR-184 can be achieved by ectopic up-regulation of AKT2. Moreover, co-transfection of miR-184 with an AKT2 expression vector lacking the miR-184 target site in the 3\u27UTR rescues cells from the pro-apoptotic effects of miR-184. CONCLUSIONS: MYCN contributes to tumorigenesis, in part, by repressing miR-184, leading to increased levels of AKT2, a direct target of miR-184. Thus, two important genes with positive effects on cell growth and survival, MYCN and AKT2, can be linked into a common genetic pathway through the actions of miR-184. As an inhibitor of AKT2, miR-184 could be of potential benefit in miRNA mediated therapeutics of MYCN amplified neuroblastoma and other forms of cancer