Low-Stress Bicycling and Network Connectivity

For a bicycling network to attract the widest possible segment of the population, its most fundamental attribute should be low-stress connectivity, that is, providing routes between people’s origins and destinations that do not require cyclists to use links that exceed their tolerance for traffic stress, and that do not involve an undue level of detour. The objective of this study is to develop measures of low-stress connectivity that can be used to evaluate and guide bicycle network planning. We propose a set of criteria by which road segments can be classified into four levels of traffic stress (LTS). LTS 1 is suitable for children; LTS 2, based on Dutch bikeway design criteria, represents the traffic stress that most adults will tolerate; LTS 3 and 4 represent greater levels of stress. As a case study, every street in San Jose, California, was classified by LTS. Maps in which only bicycle-friendly links are displayed reveal a city divided into islands within which low-stress bicycling is possible, but separated from one another by barriers that can be crossed only by using high-stress links. Two points in the network are said to be connected at a given level of traffic stress if the subnetwork of links that do not exceed the specified level of stress connects them with a path whose length does not exceed a detour criterion (25% longer than the most direct path). For the network as a whole, we demonstrate two measures of connectivity that can be applied for a given level of traffic stress. One is “percent trips connected,” defined as the fraction of trips in the regional trip table that can be made without exceeding a specified level of stress and without excessive detour. This study used the home-to-work trip table, though in principle any trip table, including all trips, could be used. The second is “percent nodes connected,” a cruder measure that does not require a regional trip table, but measures the fraction of nodes in the street network (mostly street intersections) that are connected to each other. Because traffic analysis zones (TAZs) are too coarse a geographic unit for evaluating connectivity by bicycle, we also demonstrate a method of disaggregating the trip table from the TAZ level to census blocks. For any given TAZ, origins in the home-to-work trip table are allocated in proportion to population, while destinations are allocated based on land-use data. In the base case, the fraction of work trips up to six miles long that are connected at LTS 2 is 4.7%, providing a plausible explanation for the city’s low bicycling share. We show that this figure would almost triple if a proposed slate of improvements, totaling 32 miles in length but with strategically placed segments that provide low-stress connectivity across barriers, were implemented

Endogenous Decentralization in Federal Environmental Policies

Under most federal environmental laws and some health and safety laws, states may apply for "primacy," that is, authority to implement and enforce federal law, through a process known as "authorization." Some observers fear that states use authorization to adopt more lax policies in a regulatory "race to the bottom." This paper presents a simple model of the interaction between the federal and state governments in such a scheme of partial decentralization. Our model suggests that the authorization option may not only increase social welfare but also allow more stringent environmental regulations than would otherwise be feasible. Our model also suggests that the federal government may choose its policies so that states that desire more strict regulation authorize, while other states remain under the federal program. We then test this hypothesis using data on federal regulation of water pollution and of hazardous waste, which are two of the most important environmental programs to allow authorization. We find that states that prefer more environmental protection authorize more quickly under both policies. This evidence suggests that states seek authorization to adopt more strict policies instead of more lax policies compared to federal policies.

Called to Serve: Elevating Human-Performed Caregiver and Volunteer Work in an Era of AI-Robotic Technologies

Although the status quo of the traditional female caregiver has managed to muddle forward, it may begin to unwind as increasingly capable technologies dislodge humans from full-time employment and compel a redefinition of valuable work. Given this backdrop, this Essay seeks to open a dialogue for developing thoughtful, modem tax policies. Part I outlines the vocational endeavors of historically female community members who serve as caregivers and social volunteers. Next, Part II summarizes the economic value of volunteer and caregiver services. Part III examines whether tax policies should adopt a more expansive definition of beneficial occupations, as artificial intelligence (AI) and robotic technologies reconfigure the marketplace. Then, Part IV recommends that policymakers amend the Code to include a refundable tax credit for caregiver and volunteer work. Essentially, this Essay encourages a multi-faceted understanding of economic and social roles so that our human traits (such as courage or care) or callings (such as business leader or stay-at-home parent) are not prescribed by gender or sex. Finally, Part V offers conclusions regarding the consequences of implementing a refundable tax credit for caregiver and volunteer work

Signage System for Abuja Internation Airport, Abuja Republic of Nigeria

The purpose of my thesis is to design a signage system for my country\u27s new capital city international airport now under construction at Abuja. Although this project is not a professional contract, I have chosen this topic because of the almost true-to-life experience it has afforded me in working closely with government agencies. It is hoped that this contact will help government managers and planners understand that large construction projects need well thought-out environmental graphics programs. This signage system is designed specifically to orient passen gers from the point of entry on the airport premises to their leaving through the departure gates. There has also been a conscious effort on my part to uphold the cultural identity of the locality in the designs executed for this system, while fully realizing that airport signage must address itself to an international audience

Technology Justice: Taxation of our Collective and Cumulative Cognitive Inheritance

As artificial intelligence and robotic technologies accelerate economic transformation, outdated property and tax laws will increasingly fail American workers with ordinary skills that perform routine job functions. Because technology may render millions of workers redundant, U.S. policymakers must make significant social, economic, and legal structural changes to (1) improve the lives of average workers, (2) support the economy, and (3) maintain political stability. Inspired by Thomas Paine’s Agrarian Justice, this twenty-first century Article argues that “Technology Justice” requires that humans benefit from the cognitive endowment created by our ancestors’ minds. Specifically, it asserts that our collective and cumulative cognitive inheritance constitutes valuable property—an asset class—that should be taxed for the benefit of all. It then advocates that Technology Justice requires future-focused democracies to invent and implement an integrated property and tax paradigm. This modern paradigm will pre-distribute the economic bounty of our shared cognitive inheritance throughout the community—inspired by Paine’s guaranteed minimum income proposal—so that everyone may reap and enjoy the blessings of human progress

Taphonomic and Sedimentologic Study of the Cretaceous Tepee Buttes Limestone

The Tepee Buttes methane seep deposits exist today as topographically defined limestone features in the surrounding Pierre Shale of the Campanian Western Interior Seaway. The present sloping surface has previously been assumed to be indicative of original seep structure, and biofacies were interpreted as roughly ringing a central vent core. Contradictory field observations in this study have prompted a more detailed taphonomic approach to the Tepee Buttes limestone, and certain depositional features such as reworked horizontal shell beds were noted and examined in detail for the first time. The results of a taphonomic and sedimentologic analysis reveal a complex history of reworking that likely involved current action and bioturbation by burrowing seep fauna. We found no clear evidence for deposition along a sloping surface as inclined as today, and buttes are interpreted as having low/uneven original relief

Legal Education: A New Growth Vision: Part II—The Groundwork: Building a Customer Satisfying Innovation Ecosystem

Financial sustainability awaits agile, future-focused legal education programs that deliver students with market-valued, cost-effective, and omnichannel knowledge and skills development solutions. Shifting from an atom-based, traditional law school mindset to a platform-based, human-artificial intelligence (AI) integrated education system requires vision, planning, and drive. Bold and determined leaders will invent the future of legal education. To do this, they will (1) edit the law school’s DNA to focus on delivering customer satisfactions, (2) build vibrant multidisciplinary ecosystems focused on cultivating modern education services, (3) embrace emerging digital technologies, and (4) seize new marketplace opportunities to diversify revenue streams—thereby enhancing program solvency and relevance. I. Introduction: Satisfied Customers Key to Sustainable Growth II. Assessing the Law School Landscape III. Getting Back to the Basics ... A. Customer-Focused Program Reinvention ... 1. What Is Your Business? ... 2. Who Are Your Customers? … 3. What Do Your Customers Want? ... 4. What Is Value and How Do You Add Value? ... B. Physical and Digital Convergence of Education ... C. Friction Audits and Resolving “Pain Points” ... 1. Friction Audit: Students ... 2. Friction Audit: Employers, Practitioners, and Community Professionals ... D. Modernizing Legal Education to Deliver Customer Satisfactions IV. Building an Innovation Ecosystem ... A. Ecosystems: An Explainer ... B. Theories of Innovation ... 1. Recombinant (Combinatorial) Innovation ... 2. Disruptive Innovation ... 3. Value Innovation ... 4. Open Innovation ... 5. Breakthrough/Revolutionary versus Incremental/Evolutionary Innovations ... C. Innovation in the Digital Age ... 1. Bits, Atoms, and Moore’s Law ... 2. Information Over Instinct ... 3. Agile and Lean Startup Methodologies ... 4. Basic Tools: Prototypes and Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) ... D. Resistance to Innovation ... E. Innovation Triumvirate: Visionary, Thinker-planner, and Driver V. Conclusion

Legal Education: A New Growth Vision: Part III—The Path Forward: Being Both Human and Digital

In the decades ahead, innovative and status quo–breaking law schools will leverage and combine multidisciplinary, multigenerational human expertise with digital platform and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to create vibrant legal education ecosystems. These combinations will deliver market-valued knowledge and skill transfer and development services that are high-quality, cost-effective, omnichannel, pedagogically sound, data-validated, personalized, on-demand or just-in-time, and multiformat (e.g., hybrid, HyFlex, digitalfirst, digital-live, etc.). Modern business models (e.g., platform and open) will provide these future-focused law schools with solid foundations for reimagining legal education. These agile, shape-shifting programs are also likely to discover diverse revenue opportunities by offering complementary services to adjacent markets. Growth opportunities for inventive law schools abound, so long as entrepreneurial program leaders embrace a human-AI integrated future. Simply put, digital and business model innovations represent the only firewalls to obsolescence. I. Introduction: Platforms Are Eating the World II. Path Forward: Being Both Human and Digital ... A. Envisioning Innovation Mission Trajectories … B. Aligning Action with Innovation Mission Trajectories ... 1. Step 1: Build Multidisciplinary Digital Innovation Teams ... 2. Step 2: Foster Conditions Where Innovation Can Thrive III. Designing Education for the Future ... A. Platform-Based Education ... 1. From Pipeline to Platforms: Business Model ... 2. From Pipeline to Platforms: Teaching and Learning ... 3. Platform Potential: Enhance Program Visibility and Increase Market Share ... 4. Platform Design: Open versus Closed ... B. Data and Metrics ... 1. Data and Learning Metrics: Students and Teachers ... 2. Data and Innovation Metrics: Program and Platforms ... C. Pricing Models, Strategic Cannibalization, and Cost Containment ... 1. Pricing Models and Strategic Cannibalization … 2. Cost Containment and Process Efficiencies ... D. Current Offerings and Room for Growth ... 1. MOOCs: Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) with Promise ... 2. Future of Education: Human Expertise United with Omnichannel Platforms and AI IV. Planning and Moving Forward ... A. Innovation Frameworks ... 1. 70/20/10 ... 2. Three Horizons ... B. Moving Forward ... 1. Day 1 Mindset Shift ... 2. Organizational Shift: Being Both Human and Digital ... 3. OKRs: A Brief Introduction to an Effective and Coherent Transformation Management System … C. Sample Plans V. Conclusions Appendix I: T-Shaped Skills for Knowledge Professionals Appendix II: Multimedia Resources Appendix III: Glossary of Key Term

Associations between environmental exposures and asthma control and exacerbations in young children : a systematic review

Peer reviewedPublisher PD