Pittsburgh's Failed Industry Targeting Strategy of the 1960s

In the 1960's and early 1970's, public and private leaders made a substantial effort to promote Pittsburgh's existing transportation industry as a center for the emerging urban transportation market. The selection of the rapid transit industry for targeting in the 1960's purportedly addressed two issues. Despite national acclaim for its Renaissance redevelopment since World War II, the metropolitan region still needed an effective mass transportation system. Moreover, industrial development efforts had not substantially diversified the region's manufacturing base that still specialized in primary metals. Operating in the region's Renaissance tradition of a public and private partnership, corporate executives and public officials pursued a three-pronged strategy: build an innovative rapid transportation system for Allegheny County, use it as a showcase for testing and marketing rapid transit hardware of regional corporations, and promote the city as a center of the rapid transportation industry. They settled on Westinghouse's automated, rubber-tired vehicle running on a separate cement guideway, known locally as "Skybus," for the demonstration project and the region's mass transit solution. The mass transit plan and industry targeting strategy foundered by the early 1970's because leadership weakened in both poles of the partnership. The Westinghouse technology divided the corporate community, while populist political sentiment diminished the ability of the Democratic party's political machine to deliver key public decisions. The Pittsburgh case suggests that a successful industry targeting strategy may depend more on effective leadership and local politics than on the quality of the selection process and vigorous pursuit of traditional economic development programs in support of the targeted industry

Finding Common Ground: Morton Coleman: My Life as a Mediator in Neighborhoods, Communities, Government, and Politics

In his memoir, Morton Coleman illustrates the importance of mediating influences and finding common ground, especially "as our political environment has become increasingly polarized, with both conservative and liberal perspectives becoming hardened by the echo chambers of ideologically skewed media outlets." The memoir covers Mr. Coleman's: 1. Work as a community organizer at two Pittsburgh settlement houses amidst upheaval due to urban development and major changes in the racial makeup of the neighborhoods served (approximately 1954–61, 2. Involvement in neighborhood development issues, first at the Kingsley settlement house and the Pittsburgh Department of City Planning (1959–64) and then through interaction with community development organizations and as a consultant to Henry Ford II in Detroit, Mich., 3. Time as an aide to Pittsburgh Mayor Joseph Barr (1964–69)—years dominated by Great Society programs, the civil rights movement, desegregation, and Vietnam War protests, and 4. Attempts at community consensus building, first as executive of the Hartford Process in Hartford, Conn., (1977–1980), and then at the University of Pittsburgh Institute of Politics, which he founded in 1989 and with which he remains active as director emeritus

What to Do about Municipal Pensions?

Even before the precipitous market decline of late 2008, pension obligations were threatening the long-term fiscal stability of many municipalities. Urban centers with declining populations and unfavorable retiree-to-employee ratios— such as Pittsburgh, where pension fund liabilities represent a big chunk of the city’s financial woes—have the most serious problems, but underfunded pension plans can be found in dozens of Pennsylvania municipalities of all sizes. In response to the growing awareness of municipal pension problems in Pennsylvania, the Fiscal Policy and Governance Committee of the University of Pittsburgh Institute of Politics formed the Pensions Subcommittee to gather information and consider policy options

The Future of Medicaid Long-Term Care Services in Pennsylvania: A Wake-up Call

This policy paper establishes the urgent need to reshape how Pennsylvania provides long-term care for older residents through Medicaid. It explains how demographics, demand, cost shifting to the public sector, and management issues are combining to place rapidly growing financial strains on Medicaid’s ability to fund long-term care. After providing general background on the Medicaid program, the paper discusses in detail each of the major factors contributing to this impending fiscal crisis

Integrated control of vector-borne diseases of livestock--pyrethroids: panacea or poison?

Tick- and tsetse-borne diseases cost Africa approximately US$4-5 billion per year in livestock production-associated losses. The use of pyrethroid-treated cattle to control ticks and tsetse promises to be an increasingly important tool to counter this loss. However, uncontrolled use of this technology might lead to environmental damage, acaricide resistance in tick populations and a possible exacerbation of tick-borne diseases. Recent research to identify, quantify and to develop strategies to avoid these effects are highlighted

Poverty: Beyond the Urban Core

Southwestern Pennsylvania is experiencing a shift of its more than 740,000 living in poverty and near poverty away from its urban core in Pittsburgh to the suburbs, similar to poverty shifts that are occurring in suburban areas across the country. Sixty-one percent of the people living in poverty in Allegheny County and 79 percent of those living in poverty in the entire Pittsburgh metropolitan statistical area reside in suburbs. Between 2002 and 2013, Allegheny County experienced a 3 percent rise in poverty occurring outside the City of Pittsburgh. This report makes several recommendations in each of four areas - housing, transportation, economic inequality, and education - in order to increase awareness of this often-overlooked but growing problem and serve as a stepping-stone to future action

Poverty: Beyond the Urban Core

Southwestern Pennsylvania is experiencing a shift of its more than 740,000 living in poverty and near poverty away from its urban core in Pittsburgh to the suburbs, similar to poverty shifts that are occurring in suburban areas across the country. Sixty-one percent of the people living in poverty in Allegheny County and 79 percent of those living in poverty in the entire Pittsburgh metropolitan statistical area reside in suburbs. Between 2002 and 2013, Allegheny County experienced a 3 percent rise in poverty occurring outside the City of Pittsburgh. This report makes several recommendations in each of four areas - housing, transportation, economic inequality, and education - in order to increase awareness of this often-overlooked but growing problem and serve as a stepping-stone to future action

Thermodynamics of non-local materials: extra fluxes and internal powers

The most usual formulation of the Laws of Thermodynamics turns out to be suitable for local or simple materials, while for non-local systems there are two different ways: either modify this usual formulation by introducing suitable extra fluxes or express the Laws of Thermodynamics in terms of internal powers directly, as we propose in this paper. The first choice is subject to the criticism that the vector fluxes must be introduced a posteriori in order to obtain the compatibility with the Laws of Thermodynamics. On the contrary, the formulation in terms of internal powers is more general, because it is a priori defined on the basis of the constitutive equations. Besides it allows to highlight, without ambiguity, the contribution of the internal powers in the variation of the thermodynamic potentials. Finally, in this paper, we consider some examples of non-local materials and derive the proper expressions of their internal powers from the power balance laws.Comment: 16 pages, in press on Continuum Mechanics and Thermodynamic

Murine gammaherpesvirus 68 lacking thymidine kinase shows severe attenuation of lytic cycle replication in vivo but still establishes latency

The lytic cycle functions of gammaherpesviruses have received relatively little attention to date, at least in part due to the lack of a convenient experimental model. The murine gammaherpesvirus 68 (MHV-68) now provides such a model and allows the roles of individual lytic cycle gammaherpesvirus proteins to be evaluated in vivo. We have used MHV-68 to determine the contribution of a gammaherpesvirus thymidine kinase (TK) to viral lytic replication and latency establishment. MHV-68 mutants with a disrupted TK gene grew normally in vitro but showed a severe attenuation of replication in the lungs after intranasal inoculation, with lytic titers at least 1,000-fold lower than those of wild-type and revertant viruses. Nevertheless, the establishment of latency by the TK-deficient mutants, while delayed, was not prevented by their lytic replication deficit. The viral TK clearly plays a crucial role in the capacity of MHV-68 to replicate efficiently in its natural host but does not seem to be essential to establish a persistent infection. The potential of TK-deficient mutants as gammaherpesvirus vaccines is discussed

Exploring international differences in ovarian cancer care: a survey report on global patterns of care, current practices, and barriers

OBJECTIVE: Although global disparities in survival rates for patients with ovarian cancer have been described, variation in care has not been assessed globally. This study aimed to evaluate global ovarian cancer care and barriers to care. METHODS: A survey was developed by international ovarian cancer specialists and was distributed through networks and organizational partners of the International Gynecologic Cancer Society, the Society of Gynecologic Oncology, and the European Society of Gynecological Oncology. Respondents received questions about care organization. Outcomes were stratified by World Bank Income category and analyzed using descriptive statistics and logistic regressions. RESULTS: A total of 1059 responses were received from 115 countries. Respondents were gynecological cancer surgeons (83%, n=887), obstetricians/gynecologists (8%, n=80), and other specialists (9%, n=92). Income category breakdown was as follows: high-income countries (46%), upper-middle-income countries (29%), and lower-middle/low-income countries (25%). Variation in care organization was observed across income categories. Respondents from lower-middle/low-income countries reported significantly less frequently that extensive resections were routinely performed during cytoreductive surgery. Furthermore, these countries had significantly fewer regional networks, cancer registries, quality registries, and patient advocacy groups. However, there is also scope for improvement in these components in upper-middle/high-income countries. The main barriers to optimal care for the entire group were patient co-morbidities, advanced presentation, and social factors (travel distance, support systems). High-income respondents stated that the main barriers were lack of surgical time/staff and patient preferences. Middle/low-income respondents additionally experienced treatment costs and lack of access to radiology/pathology/genetic services as main barriers. Lack of access to systemic agents was reported by one-third of lower-middle/low-income respondents. CONCLUSIONS: The current survey report highlights global disparities in the organization of ovarian cancer care. The main barriers to optimal care are experienced across all income categories, while additional barriers are specific to income levels. Taking action is crucial to improve global care and strive towards diminishing survival disparities and closing the care gap