Blueprint Buffalo Action Plan: Regional Strategies for Reclaiming Vacant Properties in the City and Suburbs of Buffalo

Over a period of about nine months, the NVPC team conducted interviews and gathered insights that have resulted in this report. During the study period, Buffalo–Niagara emerged as a region broadly challenged by decades of disinvestment and population loss, but also as a close network of communities singularly blessed with a wealth of historic, transit-friendly, and affordable neighborhoods and commercial areas. Building on the City of Buffalo’s “asset management” strategy first proposed in 2004 by the Cornell Cooperative Extension Association—and now formally adopted by the Buffalo Common Council as part of its comprehensive 20-year plan for the city—the NVPC team sought to reexamine how the revitalization of Buffalo’s vacant properties could actually serve as a catalyst to address the region’s other most pressing problems: population loss, a weak real estate market in the inner city, signs of incipient economic instability in older suburbs, quality-of-life issues, school quality, and suburban sprawl

Bridges to Home: Navigating High-Risk Inpatient Clients Using a Lay-Health Worker Model in Eastern Kentucky

Roughly 20% of all Medicare fee-for-service clients are readmitted within 30 days of hospital discharge, resulting in $17 billion annually. It is estimated that 75% of these readmissions are avoidable. Research has demonstrated that a broad range of socioeconomic and personal factors impact readmission rates. This study seeks to address such factors through a hospital-based Lay Health Worker (LHW) model for transition of care

Entwicklung und Verifikation eines Mess- und Bewertungsverfahrens der elektromagnetischen Immission durch ITS-G5

Immer mehr Bereiche des alltäglichen Lebens werden von drahtlos kommunikationsfähigen elektronischen Geräten beeinflusst, so dass die Relevanz für die persönliche Exposition der Nutzer durch hochfrequente elektromagnetische Felder rapide zunimmt. So soll auch der Straßenverkehr stetig weiter automatisiert und per Funk vernetzt werden, indem so genannte intelligente Transportsysteme (ITS) entwickelt werden. Im Rahmen des vernetzten Fahrens sollen Fahrzeuge im Verkehr untereinander, aber auch mit Infrastruktur und weiteren Verkehrsteilnehmern kommunizieren, um Sensor-, Zustands- und Ortsinformationen austauschen zu können. Hierfür wird der Begriff vehicle-to-everything (V2X)- Kommunikation verwendet. Zukünftig wird somit der Straßenverkehr als ein weiterer und erheblicher Teil der Alltagsumgebung von neuen Funktechnologien durchdrungen, die per Konstruktion einen signifikanten zusätzlichen Beitrag zur persönlichen Exposition liefern. Für die technische Umsetzung der V2X-Kommunikation etabliert sich neben der auf Mobilfunk basierenden Funktechnik cellular-V2X (C-V2X) der Kooperation 3rd Generation Partnership Project derzeit in Europa die Kommunikationstechnologie ITS-G5, die auf dem Standard 802.11p [1] des Verbands Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) basiert. Für den europäischen Einsatz wird ITS-G5 durch das europäische Institut für Telekommunikationsnormen (ETSI) spezifiziert und genormt. Ein zuverlässiges und praktikables Verfahren zur Bestimmung der elektromagnetischen Immission durch ITSG5- Geräte existiert allerdings bislang nicht. Um die Exposition der Allgemeinbevölkerung in Verkehrsumgebungen durch die neuen ITS-Funksysteme abschätzen zu können, ist die Entwicklung eines Immissionsmessverfahrens für ITS-G5 dringend erforderlich. Vorliegender Beitrag beschreibt die Entwicklung eines ITS-G5-spezifischen Mess- und Bewertungsverfahrens unter Verwendung des frequenzselektiven Messgeräts SRM-3006 von Narda STS [2]. Abgesehen von der physikalischen Zugangsschicht weist der Standard ITS-G5 Ähnlichkeiten mit dem Sidelink des LTE-Derivats C-V2X auf, so dass die hier beschriebenen Schlussfolgerungen sinngemäß für beide Standards Anwendung finden können

Avoiding URL Reference Degradation in Scientific Publications

Arguments are presented concerning the deposit of Internet-based information into the Internet Archive, a digital library of Internet sites and other digital dat

Guidance on the integrated assessment of complex health technologies: the INTEGRATE-HTA model

Challenges in assessments of health technologies In recent years there have been major advances in the development of health technology assessment (HTA). However, HTA still has certain limitations when assessing technologies which are complex, i.e. consist of several interacting components, target different groups or organizational levels, have multiple and variable outcomes, and/or permit a certain degree of flexibility or tailoring (Craig et al., 2008), fi are context-dependent - current HTA usually focusses on the technology, not on the system within which it is used, fi perform differently depending on the way they are implemented, fi have different effects on different individuals. Furthermore, HTA usually assesses and appraises aspects side-by-side, while decision-making needs an integrated perspective on the value of a technology. In the EU-funded INTEGRATE-HTA project, we developed concepts and methods to deal with these challenges, which are described in six guidances. Because of the interactions, an integrated assessment needs to start from the beginning of the assessment. This guidance provides a systematic five-step-process for an integrated assessment of complex technologies (the INTEGRATE-HTA Model). Purpose and scope of the guidance The aim of the INTEGRATE-HTA project is to provide concepts and methods that enable a patient-centred, comprehensive, and integrated assessment of complex health technologies. The purpose of this guidance is to structure the overall HTA-process. The INTEGRATE-HTA Model outlines an integrated scoping process, a coordinated application of assessment methods for different aspects and an integrated and structured decision-making process. It is intended for HTA agencies, HTA researchers and those engaged in the evaluation of complex health technologies. As it links the assessment to the decision-making process, it also addresses HTA commissioners and other stakeholders using or planning HTAs. While all technologies are arguably complex, some are more complex than others. Applying this guidance might lead to a more thorough and therefore more time-consuming process. Depending on the degree of complexity, one might choose to follow the whole process as described in this guidance, or only focus on certain steps. The guidance provides an operational definition to assess the complexity of technologies which can be used to identify specific aspects that will need more attention than others. What the guidance does not provide is a post-hoc solution for assessments that have already been completed. | 6 Development of the guidance The INTEGRATE-HTA Model presented in this guidance was developed based on a systematic literature search on approaches for integration, on the experiences of traditional HTAs, as well as on the other methodological guidances developed in the INTEGRATE-HTA project. It was tested in a case study on palliative care and iteratively revised during the practical application. The guidance was again revised after internal and external peer-review. Application of this guidance For a comprehensive integrated assessment of a complex technology, we developed a five-step process, the INTEGRATE-HTA model. In Step 1, the HTA objective and the technology are defined with the support from a panel of stakeholders. An initial logic model is developed in Step 2. The initial logic model provides a structured overview of the technology, the context, implementation issues, and relevant patient groups. It then frames the assessment of the effectiveness, as well as economic, ethical, legal, and socio-cultural aspects in Step 3. In Step 4, a graphical overview of the assessment results, structured by the logic model, is provided. Step 5 is a structured decision-making process informed by the HTA (and is thus not formally part of the HTA, but follows it). fi Step 1: In step 1, the technology under assessment and the objective of the HTA are defined. Especially for complex technologies, such as palliative care, the definition of the technology alone is a challenge that must not be underestimated. It is recommended to do this based on a tentative literature review and with the support of stakeholder advisory panels (SAPs) which should comprise clinical experts, academics, patients, possibly their relatives and/or other caretakers, and the public. The setting of an objective considering all relevant aspects of complexity and structured by assessment criteria is important. The assessment criteria will usually reflect values of the stakeholders as well as the input from the theoretical, methodological and empirical literature. fi Step 2: In step 2, an initial logic model is developed (see Guidance on the use of logic models in health technology assessments of complex interventions). The model provides a structured overview on participants, interventions, comparators, and outcomes. Parallel to this, groups of patients that are distinguished by different preferences and treatment moderators (see Guidance for the assessment of treatment moderation and patients’ preferences) are identified. Specific context and implementation issues are also identified as part of the initial logic model (see Guidance for the Assessment of Context and Implementation in Health Technology Assessments (HTA) and Systematic Reviews of Complex Interventions). The product of this step is the logic model as a graphical representation of all aspects and their interactions that are relevant for the assessment of the complex technology. fi Step 3: In step 3, the logic model serves as a conceptual framework that guides the evidence assessment. Depending on the specific aspect (e.g. effectiveness, economic, ethical, socio-cultural, or legal aspects) different methods are available for the assessment (see Guidance for assessing effectiveness, economic aspects, ethical aspects, socio-cultural aspects and legal aspects in complex technologies). The outputs of step 3 are evidence reports and standardized evidence summaries for each assessment aspect (e.g. report on economics, report on ethical aspects, etc.). fi Step 4: In step 4, the assessment results of step 3 are structured using the logic model developed in step 2. Whereas the initial logic model in step 2 specifies what evidence is relevant, the extended logic model to assist decision-making in step 4 visualizes the assessment results as well as the interaction with respect to the HTA objectives. It also allows for the consideration of different scenarios depending on the variation in context, implementation and patient characteristics. 7 | fi Step 5: Step 5 involves a structured decision-making process and is not an integral part of the HTA in the narrow sense. Decision-making can be supported by applying quantitative e.g. MCDA- (Multi-criteria decision analysis) or qualitative decision support tools. Flexibility in the application of these tools by the decision committee is crucial, taking different decision settings and evidence needs into consideration. Conclusions In current HTA, different aspects are usually assessed and presented independent of each other. Context, implementation issues and patient characteristics are rarely considered. The INTEGRATE-HTA Model enables a coordinated assessment of all these aspects and addresses their interdependencies. The perspective of stakeholders such as patients and professionals with their values and preferences is integrated in the INTEGRATE-HTA Model to obtain HTA results that are meaningful for all relevant stakeholders. Finally, health policy makers obtain an integrated perspective of the assessment results to achieve fair and legitimate conclusions at the end of the HTA process. The application of the model will usually require more time and resources than traditional HTA. An initial assessment of the degree and the character of complexity of a technology might be helpful to decide whether or not the whole process or only specific elements will be applied

Competitive Equilibrium in the Random Assignment Problem

This paper studies the problem of random assignment with fractional endowments. In the random assignment problem, a number of objects has to be assigned to a number of agents. Though the objects are indivisible, an assignment can be probabilistic: it can give an agent some probability of getting an object. Fractional endowments complicate the matter because the assignment has to make an agent weakly better off than his endowment. I first formulate an exchange economy that resembles the random assignment problem and prove the existence of competitive equilibrium in this economy. I then propose a pseudo-market mechanism for the random assignment problem that is based on the competitive equilibrium. This mechanism is individually rational, Pareto Optimal and justified envy-free but not incentive compatible

Applied system analysis and technology of designing the software

An analogy is made between the stages of applied system analysis and the stages of software Engineerin