Developing the Next Generation of Technological Aids to Effective Public Involvement in Public Transportation Planning & Design

Problem Public involvement in the design of complex public infrastructure solutions, such as a new light rail line, including stops, stations and transit centers, and associated Transit- Oriented Developments (TOD), often relies on lengthy public meetings during which the complexities and subtleties of design preferences, their articulation and communication is overwhelming to both participants and design professionals. Such gatherings can produce more confusion than clarity for the public and design professional alike, especially when strong personalities highlight differences and discourage compromise and consensus. More effective methods of discerning, developing and evaluating the nature of the public’s different preferences and perspectives, without fostering destructive confrontations, are desirable. Methodology The Transit Authority of River City’s (TARC) Transportation Tomorrow (T2) Light Rail Project is collaborating on the community-based design of a transit oriented district planned for the South Central Corridor, Louisville, KY., with the Policy and Systems Analysis Team of the University of Kentucky’s (UK)Transportation Research Center, and UK’s College of Architecture, and the Urban Design Studio in Louisville in combining virtual reality and other visualization techniques with cutting-edge decision modeling tools. Neighborhood residents provide their input to professionals through the use of anonymous electronic scoring keypads, after having helped the professionals develop the design issues about which they are queried. The public’s input is modeled mathematically to help architects, planners and other design professionals understand the precise nature of their design preferences, which then becomes one aspect of the design problem. While these user-friendly electronic gadgets are novel in themselves, it is their judicious use that enables more effective input, especially from less vocal participants. They can transform potential confrontation scenarios into collective learning experiences for the public. Members of the local community are able to quickly and easily express their views and preferences, while learning about the significant aspects of the design problem. In turn, their preferences are clearly documented and modeled so as to be useful to the design professionals charged with producing the ultimate design solution. Conclusion Used properly, this Next Generation of Technological Aids: Empowers the public participant, by providing a coherent method of both educating and soliciting input Gives the design professional measurable, qualitative information she/he can interpret and utilize in the design process Moves the design discussion from a personality conflict to a problem solution context Gives the public confidence that they can effectively contribute to the process Enhances public willingness to participate in future processes Makes community meetings more time-efficien

Three-point correlation functions from semiclassical circular strings

The strong-coupling limit of three-point correlation functions of local operators can be analyzed beyond the supergravity regime using vertex operators representing spinning string states. When two of the vertex operators correspond to heavy string states having large quantum numbers, while the third operator corresponds to a light state with fixed charges, the correlator can be computed in the large string tension limit by means of a semiclassical approximation. We study the case when the heavy string states are circular string solutions with one AdS_5 spin and three different angular momenta along S^5, for several choices of the light string state.Comment: 13 pages. Latex. v2: Misprints corrected and references adde

Pessimistic, Anxious, and Depressive Personality Traits Predict All-Cause Mortality: The Mayo Clinic Cohort Study of Personality and Aging

Objective: To study the association between several personality traits and all-cause mortality. Methods: We established a historical cohort of 7216 subjects who completed the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) for research at the Mayo Clinic from 1962 to 1965, and who resided within a 120-mile radius centered in Rochester, MN. A total of 7080 subjects (98.1%) were followed over four decades either actively (via a direct or proxy telephone interview) or passively (via review of medical records or by obtaining their death certificates). We examined the association of pessimistic, anxious, and depressive personality traits (as measured using MMPI scales) with all-cause mortality. Results: A total of 4634 subjects (65.5%) died during follow-up. Pessimistic, anxious, and depressive personality traits were associated with increased all-cause mortality in both men and women. In addition, we observed a linear trend of increasing risk from the first to the fourth quartile for all three scales. Results were similar in additional analyses considering the personality scores as continuous variables, in analyses combining the three personality traits into a composite neuroticism score, and in several sets of sensitivity analyses. These associations remained significant even when personality was measured early in life (ages 20-39 years). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that personality traits related to neuroticism are associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality even when they are measured early in life. Copyright © 2009 by the American Psychosomatic Society

Community Visions for the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant Site

This report presents the results of a future vision process for the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. The report is meant to inform the local citizens of the Paducah area, as well as US DOE as part of its ongoing End State Vision Process. The process implemented in this study and the associated presentation of these results are not pre-decisional; rather, they are intended to provide insights into a range of perspectives and community preferences related to the future use of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant site and surrounding US DOE properties. The ultimate selection of specific actions will be made in accordance with applicable laws and agreements

Anxious personality predicts an increased risk of parkinson\u27s disease

We studied the association of three personality traits related to neuroticism with the subsequent risk of Parkinson\u27s disease (PD) using a historical cohort study. We included 7,216 subjects who resided within the 120-mile radius centered in Rochester, MN, at the time they completed the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) for research at the Mayo Clinic from 1962 to 1965. We considered three MMPI personality scales (pessimistic, anxious, and depressive traits). A total of 6,822 subjects (94.5%) were followed over four decades either actively or passively. During follow-up, 227 subjects developed parkinsonism (156 developed PD). An anxious personality was associated with an increased risk of PD [hazard ratio (HR), 1.63; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.16-2.27]. A pessimistic personality trait was also associated with an increased risk of PD but only in men (HR = 1.92; 95% CI = 1.20-3.07). By contrast, a depressive trait was not associated with increased risk. Analyses combining scores from the three personality scales into a composite neuroticism score showed an association of neuroticism with PD (HR = 1.54; 95% CI = 1.10-2.16). The association with neuroticism remained significant even when the MMPI was administered early in life (ages 20-39 years). By contrast, none of the three personality traits was associated with the risk of non-PD types of parkinsonism grouped together. Our long-term historical cohort study suggests that an anxious personality trait may predict an increased risk of PD developing many years later. © 2010 Movement Disorder Society

MicroRNA-sensitive oncolytic measles virus for chemovirotherapy of pancreatic cancer

Advanced pancreatic cancer is characterized by few treatment options and poor outcomes. Oncolytic virotherapy and chemotherapy involve complementary pharmacodynamics and could synergize to improve therapeutic efficacy. Likewise, multimodality treatment may cause additional toxicity, and new agents have to be safe. Balancing both aims, we generated an oncolytic measles virus for 5-fluorouracil-based chemovirotherapy of pancreatic cancer with enhanced tumor specificity through microRNA-regulated vector tropism. The resulting vector encodes a bacterial prodrug convertase, cytosine deaminase-uracil phosphoribosyl transferase, and carries synthetic miR-148a target sites in the viral F gene. Combination of the armed and targeted virus with 5-fluorocytosine, a prodrug of 5-fluorouracil, resulted in cytotoxicity toward both infected and bystander pancreatic cancer cells. In pancreatic cancer xenografts, a single intratumoral injection of the virus induced robust in vivo expression of prodrug convertase. Based on intratumoral transgene expression kinetics, we devised a chemovirotherapy regimen to assess treatment efficacy. Concerted multimodality treatment with intratumoral virus and systemic prodrug administration delayed tumor growth and prolonged survival of xenograft-bearing mice. Our results demonstrate that 5-fluorouracil-based chemovirotherapy with microRNA-sensitive measles virus is an effective strategy against pancreatic cancer at a favorable therapeutic index that warrants future clinical translation