University Scholar Series: Frances Edwards and Daniel Goodrich

Transportation Security After 9/11 On November 13, 2013, Dr. Frances Edwards and Daniel Goodrich gave a talk titled “Transportation Security After 9/11” as part of the University Scholar Series hosted by Provost Ellen Junn at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library. Dr. Frances L. Edwards is Deputy Director of the National Transportation Security Center at Mineta Transportation Institute, professor of political science, and director of the MPA program at SJSU. Dan Goodrich is a Research Associate with Mineta Transportation Institute at SJSU, and a lecturer in the MSTM and MPA programs. Together, they have authored the textbook Introduction to Transportation Security. They will discuss the role of transportation in the economy and the challenges of maintaining the security of these critical infrastructure systems.https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/uss/1029/thumbnail.jp

Handbook of Emergency Management For State-Level Transportation Agencies, MTI Report 09-10

The Department of Homeland Security has mandated specific systems and techniques for the management of emergencies in the United States, including the Incident Command System, the National Incident Management System, Emergency Operations Plans, Emergency Operations Centers, Continuity of Government Plans and Continuity of Operations Plans. These plans and systems may be applied to the state-level transportation agency�s disaster response systems to enhance efficiency and effectiveness. Specific guidance and management techniques are provided to aid emergency planning staff to create DHS-compliant systems

Transportation, Terrorism and Crime: Deterrence, Disruption and Resilience

Abstract: Terrorists likely have adopted vehicle ramming as a tactic because it can be carried out by an individual (or “lone wolf terrorist”), and because the skills required are minimal (e.g. the ability to drive a car and determine locations for creating maximum carnage). Studies of terrorist activities against transportation assets have been conducted to help law enforcement agencies prepare their communities, create mitigation measures, conduct effective surveillance and respond quickly to attacks. This study reviews current research on terrorist tactics against transportation assets, with an emphasis on vehicle ramming attacks. It evaluates some of the current attack strategies, and the possible mitigation or response tactics that may be effective in deterring attacks or saving lives in the event of an attack. It includes case studies that can be used as educational tools for understanding terrorist methodologies, as well as ordinary emergencies that might become a terrorist’s blueprint

Emergency Management Training and Exercises for Transportation Agency Operations, MTI Report 09-17

Training and exercises are an important part of emergency management. Plans are developed based on threat assessment, but they are not useful unless staff members are trained on how to use the plan, and then practice that training. Exercises are also essential for ensuring that the plan is effective, and outcomes from exercises are used to improve the plan. Exercises have been an important part of gauging the preparedness of response organizations since Civil Defense days when full-scale exercises often included the community. Today there are various types of exercises that can be used to evaluate the preparedness of public agencies and communities: seminars, drills, tabletop exercises, functional exercises, facilitated exercises and full-scale exercises. Police and fire agencies have long used drills and full-scale exercises to evaluate the ability of staff to use equipment, protocols and plans. Transit and transportation agencies have seldom been included in these plans, and have little guidance for their participation in the exercises. A research plan was designed to determine whether urban transit systems are holding exercises, and whether they have the training and guidance documents that they need to be successful. The main research question was whether there was a need for a practical handbook to guide the development of transit system exercises

Generic Continuity of Operations/Continuity of Government Plan for State-Level Transportation Agencies, Research Report 11-01

The Homeland Security Presidential Directive 20 (HSPD-20) requires all local, state, tribal and territorial government agencies, and private sector owners of critical infrastructure and key resources (CI/KR) to create a Continuity of Operations/Continuity of Government Plan (COOP/COG). There is planning and training guidance for generic transportation agency COOP/COG work, and the Transportation Research Board has offered guidance for transportation organizations. However, the special concerns of the state-level transportation agency’s (State DOT’s) plan development are not included, notably the responsibilities for the entire State Highway System and the responsibility to support specific essential functions related to the State DOT Director’s role in the Governor’s cabinet. There is also no guidance on where the COOP/COG planning and organizing fits into the National Incident Management System (NIMS) at the local or state-level department or agency. This report covers the research conducted to determine how to integrate COOP/COG into the overall NIMS approach to emergency management, including a connection between the emergency operations center (EOC) and the COOP/COG activity. The first section is a presentation of the research and its findings and analysis. The second section provides training for the EOC staff of a state-level transportation agency, using a hybrid model of FEMA’s ICS and ESF approaches, including a complete set of EOC position checklists, and other training support material. The third section provides training for the COOP/COG Branch staff of a state-level transportation agency, including a set of personnel position descriptions for the COOP/COG Branch members

Targeted deletion of a 170-kb cluster of LINE-1 repeats and implications for regional control.

Approximately half the mammalian genome is composed of repetitive sequences, and accumulating evidence suggests that some may have an impact on genome function. Here, we characterized a large array class of repeats of long-interspersed elements (LINE-1). Although widely distributed in mammals, locations of such arrays are species specific. Using targeted deletion, we asked whether a 170-kb LINE-1 array located at a mouse imprinted domain might function as a modulator of local transcriptional control. The LINE-1 array is lamina associated in differentiated ES cells consistent with its AT-richness, and although imprinting occurs both proximally and distally to the array, active LINE-1 transcripts within the tract are biallelically expressed. Upon deletion of the array, no perturbation of imprinting was observed, and abnormal phenotypes were not detected in maternal or paternal heterozygous or homozygous mutant mice. The array does not shield nonimprinted genes in the vicinity from local imprinting control. Reduced neural expression of protein-coding genes observed upon paternal transmission of the deletion is likely due to the removal of a brain-specific enhancer embedded within the LINE array. Our findings suggest that presence of a 170-kb LINE-1 array reflects the tolerance of the site for repeat insertion rather than an important genomic function in normal development

The collapse of intermediate structures?

How can we explain the rise of President Trump and the attraction of his campaign behavior before and since he took office? We argue here that the collapse of ‘intermediate structures’ has been a key factor; that the associations and groups which are building blocks of pluralistic politics have been eroded to such an extent that Trump’s personality politics have been able to take over the political stage

Improving the normalization of complex interventions: measure development based on normalization process theory (NoMAD): study protocol

<b>Background</b> Understanding implementation processes is key to ensuring that complex interventions in healthcare are taken up in practice and thus maximize intended benefits for service provision and (ultimately) care to patients. Normalization Process Theory (NPT) provides a framework for understanding how a new intervention becomes part of normal practice. This study aims to develop and validate simple generic tools derived from NPT, to be used to improve the implementation of complex healthcare interventions.<p></p> <b>Objectives</b> The objectives of this study are to: develop a set of NPT-based measures and formatively evaluate their use for identifying implementation problems and monitoring progress; conduct preliminary evaluation of these measures across a range of interventions and contexts, and identify factors that affect this process; explore the utility of these measures for predicting outcomes; and develop an online users’ manual for the measures.<p></p> <b>Methods</b> A combination of qualitative (workshops, item development, user feedback, cognitive interviews) and quantitative (survey) methods will be used to develop NPT measures, and test the utility of the measures in six healthcare intervention settings.<p></p> <b>Discussion</b> The measures developed in the study will be available for use by those involved in planning, implementing, and evaluating complex interventions in healthcare and have the potential to enhance the chances of their implementation, leading to sustained changes in working practices

Acetate Promotes T Cell Effector Function during Glucose Restriction.

Competition for nutrients like glucose can metabolically restrict T cells and contribute to their hyporesponsiveness during cancer. Metabolic adaptation to the surrounding microenvironment is therefore key for maintaining appropriate cell function. For instance, cancer cells use acetate as a substrate alternative to glucose to fuel metabolism and growth. Here, we show that acetate rescues effector function in glucose-restricted CD8+ T cells. Mechanistically, acetate promotes histone acetylation and chromatin accessibility and enhances IFN-γ gene transcription and cytokine production in an acetyl-CoA synthetase (ACSS)-dependent manner. Ex vivo acetate treatment increases IFN-γ production by exhausted T cells, whereas reducing ACSS expression in T cells impairs IFN-γ production by tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and tumor clearance. Thus, hyporesponsive T cells can be epigenetically remodeled and reactivated by acetate, suggesting that pathways regulating the use of substrates alternative to glucose could be therapeutically targeted to promote T cell function during cancer

p68/DdX5 supports β-Catenin & RNAP II during androgen receptor mediated transcription in prostate cancer

The DEAD box RNA helicase p68 (Ddx5) is an important androgen receptor (AR) transcriptional co-activator in prostate cancer (PCa) and is over-expressed in late stage disease. β-Catenin is a multifunctional protein with important structural and signalling functions which is up-regulated in PCa and similar to p68, interacts with the AR to co-activate expression of AR target genes. Importantly, p68 forms complexes with nuclear β-Catenin and promotes gene transcription in colon cancer indicating a functional interplay between these two proteins in cancer progression. In this study, we explore the relationship of p68 and β-Catenin in PCa to assess their potential co-operation in AR-dependent gene expression, which may be of importance in the development of castrate resistant prostate cancer (CRPCa). We use immunoprecipitation to demonstrate a novel interaction between p68 and β-Catenin in the nucleus of PCa cells, which is androgen dependent in LNCaP cells but androgen independent in a hormone refractory derivative of the same cell line (representative of the CRPCa disease type). Enhanced AR activity is seen in androgen-dependent luciferase reporter assays upon transient co-transfection of p68 and β-Catenin as an additive effect, and p68-depleted Chromatin-Immunoprecipitation (ChIP) showed a decrease in the recruitment of the AR and β-Catenin to androgen responsive promoter regions. In addition, we found p68 immunoprecipitated with the processive and non-processive form of RNA polymerase II (RNAP II) and show p68 recruited to elongating regions of the AR mediated PSA gene, suggesting a role for p68 in facilitating RNAP II transcription of AR mediated genes. These results suggest p68 is important in facilitating β-Catenin and AR transcriptional activity in PCa cells