Dynamic Firm Location Network Model with Anticipatory Scenarios for the Northeast Ohio Region

Public policy and planning decisions require glimpses into the future, to assess how the social-ecological systems we plan for might evolve with or without policy intervention. To do so, one approach gaining currency is using anticipatory tools rather than predictions. Anticipation entails generating a range of possible systems futures (scenarios), instead of attempting to predict the one that will prevail. We use here a scenario-generating model, to anticipate where in a region businesses are likely to locate in time. Using data for Northeast Ohio, including the Cleveland–Akron–Lorain– Elyria, Ohio Combined Statistical Area, we estimate the model parameters. We evaluate its prediction accuracy against 2001–2015 regional data. To illustrate how policymakers could use the model, we generate three scenarios to explore what might happen to the spatial configuration of businesses if policies were implemented to attract businesses at specific locations or discourage them from locating in parts of the region

A Theory of Interests in the Context of Hybrid Warfare: It\u27s Complex

We will begin with a discussion about how the hybrid warfare context is different from other conflict contexts. We will describe some complexity aspects that make hybrid warfare challenging to negotiators. We will then discuss whether classical negotiation theory prescriptions apply to a hybrid warfare context, especially regarding interests. We will argue that these prescriptions related to classical negotiations are unlikely to work in this context. We will focus our analysis on a subset of hybrid warfare attacks, consisting of short-term, time-sensitive, high-risk crises, where negotiations are possible and necessary, such as ransom demands, rather than on hybrid warfare situations which state actors, diplomats, or security professionals are called to manage.5 We will explore how negotiators can better deal with such negotiable crises. We note that such events are likely part of a broader hybrid warfare strategy, and therefore their negotiated conclusion is not the same as the end of hybrid warfare hostilities. Nevertheless, the costs and risks to human life make engagement necessary. We will conclude with suggestions about how negotiators might handle such hybrid warfare crisis situations and that most classical interest-based advice does not help. We hope that our thoughts on how individual negotiators can approach hybrid warfare will contribute to a growing understanding of how to defend our interests in this complex environment

Sociophysics Analysis of Multi-Group Conflicts

© 2020 by the authors. We present our research on the application of statistical physics techniques to multi-group social conflicts. We identify real conflict situations of which the characteristics correspond to the model. We offer realistic assumptions about conflict behaviors that get factored into model-generated scenarios. The scenarios can inform conflict research and strategies for conflict management. We discuss model applications to two-and three-group conflicts. We identify chaotic time evolution of mean attitudes and the occurrence of strange attractors. We examine the role that the range of interactions plays with respect to the occurrence of chaotic behavior

Online Communication Technology and Relational Development

Key to success in negotiation is managing and enhancing relationships. This concept can be difficult to convey in short-term executive training courses where students have little time for relational development. Not to worry: the authors assert that by strategically using online communication before, during, and after such courses, students can effectively both train for, and depend on, good relations at a distance

Lighted Schoolhouse at Daniel E. Morgan Elementary School: Pilot Program Evaluation

The Lighted Schoolhouse pilot project (LSH) at Daniel E. Morgan Elementary School (DEM) in the Hough neighborhood of Cleveland began operation in February 2005. It is a collaborative effort among a number of community organizations, led by the Urban League of Greater Cleveland (ULGC). The pilot LSH was initiated by then-Mayor Jane Campbell as a response to Cleveland’s designation as the poorest large city in the U.S., and was meant to address three community priorities: after-school programming, fuller use of schools, and pathways out of poverty. In June 2005, a team of evaluators from the Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University was selected to evaluate the pilot project. The purpose of this evaluation is to: 1) assess the start-up and implementation process and the lessons learned; 2) track program activities and accomplishments; and 3) develop recommendations regarding the sustainability and replication of the pilot program. The Levin College Evaluation Team (LCET) also developed a

Androgen ablation augments human HLA2.1-restricted T cell responses to PSA self-antigen in transgenic mice

BACKGROUND In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in targeting human prostate tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) for prostate cancer immunotherapy as an alternative to other therapeutic modalities. However, immunologic tolerance to TAA poses a significant obstacle to effective, TAA-targeted immunotherapy. We sought to investigate whether androgen deprivation would result in circumventing immune tolerance to prostate TAA by impacting CD8 cell responses. METHODS To this end, we generated a transgenic mouse that expresses the human prostate-specific antigen (PSA) specifically in the prostate, and crossed it to the HLA-A2.1 transgenic mouse to evaluate how androgen deprivation affects human HLA A2.1-resticted T cell responses following immunization of PSA-expressing mice by vaccinia-PSA (PROSTVAC). RESULTS Our PSA transgenic mouse showed restricted expression of PSA in the prostate and detectable circulating PSA levels. Additionally, PSA expression was androgen-dependent with reduced PSA expression in the prostate within 1 week of castration, and undetectable PSA by day 42 after castration as evaluated by ELISA. Castration of the PSA/A2.1 hybrid mouse prior to immunization with a PSA-expressing recombinant vaccinia virus resulted in a significant augmentation of PSA-specific cytotoxic lymphocytes. CONCLUSIONS This humanized hybrid mouse model provides a well-defined system to gain additional insight into the mechanisms of immune tolerance to PSA and to test novel strategies aiming at circumventing immune tolerance to PSA and other TAA for targeted prostate cancer immunotherapy. Prostate © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/75780/1/21134_ftp.pd

Current and Emerging Treatment Options for Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer: A Focus on Immunotherapy

BACKGROUND: Castration-resistant prostate cancer is a disease with limited treatment options. However, the ongoing elucidation of the mechanisms underlying this disease continues to support the development of not only novel agents, but also innovative approaches. Among these therapies, immunotherapy has emerged as a promising strategy. DESIGN: This review article summarizes the most recent data from investigations of immunotherapies in castration-resistant prostate cancer (literature and congress searches current as of August 2011). RESULTS: Immunotherapeutic strategies such as passive immunization, vaccines, and particularly checkpoint blockade have demonstrated some efficacy as single agents. Elucidation of effective combinations of agents and drug regimens is ongoing but will require continued careful investigation, including the standardization of surrogate endpoints in clinical trials. CONCLUSIONS: It is hypothesized that the combination of immunotherapeutic agents with traditional and novel chemotherapeutics will potentiate the efficacy of the chemotherapeutics while maintaining manageable toxicity