Risky Business: The Economic Risks of Climate Change in the United States

The American economy could face significant and widespread disruptions from climate change unless U.S. businesses and policymakers take immediate action to reduce climate risk. This report summarizes findings of an independent assessment of the impact of climate change at the county, state, and regional level, and shows that communities, industries, and properties across the U.S. face profound risks from climate change. The findings also show that the most severe risks can still be avoided through early investments in resilience, and through immediate action to reduce the pollution that causes global warming. The Risky Business report shows that two of the primary impacts of climate change -- extreme heat and sea level rise -- will disproportionately affect certain regions of the U.S., and pose highly variable risks across the nation. In the U.S. Gulf Coast, Northeast, and Southeast, for example, sea level rise and increased damage from storm surge are likely to lead to an additional $2 to$3.5 billion in property losses each year by 2030, with escalating costs in future decades. In interior states in the Midwest and Southwest, extreme heat will threaten human health, reduce labor productivity and strain electricity grids. Conversely in northern latitudes such as North Dakota and Montana, winter temperatures will likely rise, reducing frost events and cold-related deaths, and lengthening the growing season for some crops. The report is a product of The Risky Business Project a joint, non-partisan initiative of former Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr., Mayor of New York City from 2002-2013 Michael R. Bloomberg, and Thomas P. Steyer, former Senior Managing Member of Farallon Capital Management. They were joined by members of a high-level "Risk Committee" who helped scope the research and reviewed the research findings

No Californian Left Behind: Clean and Affordable Transportation Options for All Through Vehicle Replacement

As California focuses in on new, high-tech, best-in-class transportation strategies, it risks leaving behind an important subset of households and communities who could most benefit from the transition to a cleaner, cheaper, and more sustainable transportation future. Hundreds of thousands of low-income Californians, particularly those in rural parts of the state, live with some of the worst air pollution in the U.S. They also often drive relatively old, inefficient, unsafe, and highly polluting vehicles, and struggle to cover the costs of their basic transportation needs. For these Californians, getting into a relatively more efficient vehicle is more realistic than getting into a new electric vehicle, which is expensive, or onto public transit, which is often ineffective in serving rural and non-urban households.The state has recognized this problem and attempted to address it by focusing on vehicle repair and retirement programs. However, by merely repairing and retiring vehicles and not replacing them with cleaner, more efficient ones, existing programs do not maximize long-term air benefits or lessen the financial burden these inefficient vehicles currently place on low-income Californians. To help address this issue, Senate Bill 459, signed by Governor Brown in September 2013, directs the California Air Resources Board (ARB) to rewrite the guidelines of California's Enhanced Fleet Modernization Program (EFMP). This program has been in place since 2010, and is designed to allow residents who own the highest-emitting vehicles in the state to retire and/or replace them.In this report, we discuss the contribution made by these highly polluting vehicles to the state's air quality problems; we also discuss the serious drag that driving these vehicles can have on household budgets. After outlining these problems, we discuss the state's current policies aimed at promoting vehicle retirement and replacement and offer some recommendations for improving those programs.California is already a leader in advanced and high-tech transportation and transit solutions. It is time we also became a leader in pragmatic solutions for a population that is sometimes left behind in these discussions: non-urban, low-income, car-dependent households. Bringing solutions to these communities will have a huge impact on our current air quality and family budgets; it will also widen the circle of Californians who play an active part in moving this state toward a cleaner, less oil-dependent future

Targeting Protein Arginine Methyltransferase 5 (PRMT5) Overexpression by Use of Small Molecule Inhibitors in Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM)

High grade astrocytomas (grade III and IV tumors) are the most common and aggressive brain tumors that carry a bleak prognosis with an average survival of less than 15 months despite multimodal therapy. Therefore, there is a great need for new therapies to target grade III and grade IV (glioblastoma multiforme, GBM) astrocytomas. Recent studies have shown epigenetic regulation of chromatin plays a key role in cell growth, differentiation, and survival. Chromatin remodeling enzymes like histone deactylase (HDAC), DNA methyltransferase, and protein arginine methyltransferase 5 (PRMT5) are involved in silencing tumor suppressor gene (TSG) expression and contribute towards cellular transformation. PRMT5 contributes towards transcriptional inhibition of several regulatory genes by symmetric dimethylation of arginine residues on histone proteins (histone 4 arginine residue 3 (H4R3) and H3R8) and works more efficiently when associated with other co-repressor enzymes. Our lab has shown that epigenetic processes driven by over expression of PRMT5 are important in regulation of oncogenic pathways operative in GBM. Our studies have shown that the amount of PRMT5 over expression inversely correlates with the survival of GBM patients and correlates directly with proliferation of these cancerous astrocytes. Our lab developed small RNA molecules (siRNA) that inhibit PRMT5 expression which leads to loss of symmetric dimethyl H4R3 and transcriptional de-repression and translation of tumor suppressor and immune modulatory genes. PRMT5 knockdown in GBM cells by this siRNA leads GBM cells to undergo cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, inhibition of cell migration, and sensitization to the anti-tumor effects of temazolomide, a drug used in therapy for GBM patients. Because therapy using siRNA is still in the experimental stage, there was a need to look for small molecule compounds that could inhibit PRMT5 in a similar way. Using a computational modeling system, our lab identified several compounds that looked promising. Two compounds were identified as selective inhibitors of PRMT5 activity (CMP5 and BLL54). Both compounds were able to selectively inhibit the methylation of histone 4 arginine 3. This knockdown led GBM cells to undergo cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. When used in combination with other inhibitors, we saw de-repression of transcriptional activity and restoration of protein expression of the chemokine CXCL10 which was identified as a potential target of PRMT5. Both compounds were able to induce these effects, but BLL54 showed to be more potent. These findings identify these small molecule PRMT5 inhibitors as a new potential drug regimen for patients afflicted with this cancer.Pelotonia Undergraduate Research FellowshipThe American Society of Hematology Trainee Research AwardUndergraduate Research Award (Ohio State)No embarg

Heat in the Heartland: Climate Change and Economic Risk in the Midwest

This report offers a first step toward defining the range of potential economic consequences to the Midwest if we continue on our current greenhouse gas emissions pathway. The research combines state-of-the-art climate science projections through the year 2100 (and beyond in some cases) with empirically-derived estimates of the impact of projected changes in temperature and precipitation on the Midwest economy. The authors analyze not only those outcomes most likely to occur, but also lower-probability, higher-cost climate futures. These are the "tail risks," most often expressed here as the 1-in-20 chance something will occur. Unlike any other study to date, this report looks at climate impacts at a very geographically granular level, in some cases providing county-level results

Understanding Professional Service Delivery

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to apply concepts from organizational and social identity theories to theoretically consider different ways that professional service providers conceptualize their roles and deliver their knowledge. Design/methodology/approach: The paper is a conceptual discussion to advance the understanding of professional service delivery, within the realm of service-quality research. Findings: The field has yet to provide a clear understanding of what professional service delivery actually looks like. The paper offers propositions examining the process by which professionals identify with membership in their profession and firms that in turn, influence their expert-based self-concepts, the images they form of their clients as recipients of their knowledge, and ways they create the service exchange. The paper also considers the impact of professional and organizational identification on the types of clientele professionals may develop. Research limitations/implications: The paper adds depth to the understanding of the complex process of expert-based service delivery. The ideas presented in this paper have implications for research in service-quality, specifically in understanding how and why professionals approach their client-interactions. Practical implications: The ideas presented in this paper would be useful to professional service firms interested in understanding the role their firm’s identity plays in ways its professionals conduct their work and the types of clientele they wish to attract. Originality/value: The paper contributes to the service quality literature through conceptualizing professional service delivery. It represents a step in acknowledging the role of professional delivery in influencing service outcomes and in developing the theoretical rationale as to why different approaches exist

Visual Perceptual Difficulties and Under-Achievement at School in a Large Community-Based Sample of Children

Difficulties with visual perception (VP) are often described in children with neurological or developmental problems. However, there are few data regarding the range of visual perceptual abilities in populations of normal children, or on the impact of these abilities on children's day-to-day functioning. Methods Data were obtained for 4512 participants in an ongoing birth cohort study (Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children; ALSPAC). The children's mothers responded to questions designed to elicit indications of visual perceptual difficulties or immaturity, when their children were aged 13 years. We examined associations with standardised school test results in reading and in mathematics at age 1314 years (SATS-KS3), accounting for potential confounders including IQ. Results Three underlying factors explained half the variance in the VP question responses. These correlated best with questions on interpreting cluttered scenes; guidance of movement and face recognition. The adjusted parameter estimates (95% CI) for the cluttered-scenes factor (0.05; 0.02 to 0.08; p<0.001) suggested positive associations with the reading test results whilst that for the guidance-of-movement factor (0.03; 0.00 to 0.06; p = 0.026) suggested positive association with the mathematics results. The raw scores were associated with both test results. Discussion VP abilities were widely distributed in this sample of 13-year old children. Lower levels of VP function were associated with under-achievement in reading and in mathematics. Simple interventions can help children with VP difficulties, so research is needed into practicable, cost-effective strategies for identification and assessment, so that support can be targeted appropriately

The role of natural resources in the livelihoods of the urban poor

This publication is based on briefing material commissioned for the European Union (EU). The EU briefing papers have sub-Saharan Africa as their primary focus, though case study material may also be drawn from Caribbean and Pacific country experience. The information they contain is based principally on a review of secondary data and documentation, although some specific aspects have been explored through short, focused field studies. The publication is divided into three sections: this introductory section provides an overview of urbanization in developing regions, and introduces key issues of migration, employment, the areas of interface with the agriculture and the rural economy, and the nature of urban poverty; the second section focuses on the details of how poor people in urban areas use natural resources, and how natural resources affect their livelihoods and well-being; and the last section builds on the analysis of the nature of urban poverty, and its interaction with natural resources, to propose appropriate pro-poor policies and direct intervention, taking into account the importance of natural resources to the urban poor