Promoting the Concept of Sustainable Transportation within the Federal System - The Need to Reinvent the U.S. DOT

This paper argues that a major obstacle to progress towards sustainable development/transportation is the lack of an integrated approach to decision-making within the U.S. federal system. To address this problem, the concept of sustainable transportation is first broadened to include the transportation sector’s interconnections with other sectors. This revised notion of sustainable transportation is then used to help visualize the need for horizontal integration and co-optimization of policies/regulations/initiatives across federal agencies. From the assumption that a national strategy for sustainable development will remain illusive in the short-term, a ‘U.S. DOT reinvention model’ is endorsed as a useful mechanism to promote sustainable development/transportation policy in the U.S

Trade-off/Positional Analysis (with a Rawlsian Approach to Equity) as an Alternative to Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) in Socio-technical Decisions

This paper introduces a hybrid trade-off/positional analysis framework as an alternative to cost-benefit analysis (CBA). As a decision-support tool, the proposed framework [1] allows decision-makers not to monetize or aggregate non-monetary factors over time; [2] invites the entrance of stakeholders into the debate since there is greater transparency as to who benefits and who is harmed by a particular policy/program/project; [3] enables analysts to undertake a comparative analysis of alternatives over time; and [4] takes into account the important role of technological change in shaping the state and performance of a system. In addition, a Rawlsian approach to incorporating equity into decision-making is advocated

Koncepcja binary approach jako instrument kształtowania zrównoważonego wzrostu

This article focuses on the binary economic approach and explains how this approach can enhance not only their capital earning capacity but also their demand for employment and the prospect for achieving environmental sustainability. The binary economic approach envisions an implementation of an ownership-broadening system of corporate finance that world require no taxes, redistribution, or government command. Corporations would be free to continue to meet their capital requirements as before, but they would have an additional, potentially more profitable, market means to do so.Niniejszy artykuł skupia się na podejściu charakterystycznym dla ekonomii binarnej i wyjaśnia, w jaki sposób koncepcja ta może przyczynić się nie tylko do zwiększenia ich zdolności zarabiania kapitału, ale również do zwiększenia popytu na zatrudnienie oraz perspektyw osiągnięcia równowagi środowiskowej. Koncepcja ekonomii binarnej (ang. binary approach) proponuje wdrożenie systemu pozwalającego na rozszerzenie systemu własności finansów korporacyjnych, który byłby wolny od podatków, redystrybucji czy ingerencji państwa. Przedsiębiorstwa miałyby prawo do pozyskiwania źródeł finansowania swoich potrzeb tak, jak to robiły dotychczas, ale dysponowałyby jeszcze dodatkowymi, potencjalnie bardziej rentownymi instrumentami rynkowymi umożliwiającymi im takie działanie

Understanding and applying the concept of sustainable development to transportation planning and decision-making in the U.S.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology, Management, and Policy Program, 2006.Includes bibliographical references.This research demonstrates that sustainable development is a multidimensional concept that should be approached in a transdisciplinary manner. Its objective has been to synthesize and integrate disparate and currently unconnected lines of thought that have not yet been applied in a systematic way to promote sustainable development and sustainable transportation. The primary contribution of this research is the theoretical development of a decision-support framework that identifies the tools and approaches that decision-makers could/should use to create policies and programs that transition society towards sustainability. These tools and approaches are either articulated or developed by the author throughout the dissertation. Specific ideas explored include a Rawlsian/utilitarian decision-making philosophy; a hybrid trade-off/positional analysis framework that is presented as an alternative to benefit-cost analysis; ecological vs. environmental economics; participatory backcasting; and ways to stimulate disrupting and/or radical technological innovation. To identify gaps that exist between theory and practice, the approach embodied in the proposed sustainable transportation decision-support framework is compared with current metropolitan transportation planning and decision-making processes in the U.S. The framework is then used to consider how the U.S. federal government might move the nation's transportation system towards sustainability.by Ralph P. Hall.Ph.D

Effects of μCT radiation on tissue engineered bone-like constructs

High-resolution, non-destructive imaging with micro-computed tomography (μCT) enables in situ monitoring of tissue engineered bone constructs. However, it remains controversial, if the locally imposed X-ray dose affects bone development and thus could influence the results. Here, we developed a model system for μCT monitoring of tissue engineered bone-like constructs. We examined the in vitro effects of high-resolution μCT imaging on the cellular level by using pre-osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells embedded into three-dimensional collagen type I matrices. We found no significantly reduced cell survival 2h after irradiation with a dose of 1.9Gy. However, 24h post-irradiation, cell survival was significantly decreased by 15% compared to non-irradiated samples. The highest dose of 7.6Gy decreased survival of the pre-osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells by around 40% at 2days post-irradiation. No significant increase of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity at 2days post-irradiation was found with a dose of 1.9Gy. However, ALP activity was significantly decreased after 7days. Using our model system, the results indicate that μCT imaging with doses as low as 1.9Gy, which is required to obtain a reasonable image quality, can induce irreparable damages on the cellular leve

Note and Comment

The Law School - In common with all other law schools requiring college work for admission, this school has suffered a very heavy loss in attendance because of war conditions. This, however, is a matter for pride and not for discouragement for it means that our students have gone into the army or navy or other branches of the national service in very high ratio to their total number. And this is by no means due only to the effect of the Selective Service Act for from the very beginning our men have volunteered in great spirit and promptness. In 1917 fewer than two-thirds of the then senior class were present at the Commencement exercises to receive their degrees. Most of them had gone by the middle of May. All this indicates that the profession is living up to one of its high traditions of patriotic service

Pit latrine fecal sludge resistance using a dynamic cone penetrometer in low income areas in Mzuzu city, Malawi

Pit latrines can provide improved household sanitation, but without effective and inexpensive emptying options, they are often abandoned once full and may pose a public health threat. Emptying techniques can be difficult, as the sludge contents of each pit latrine are different. The design of effective emptying techniques (e.g., pumps) is limited by a lack of data characterizing typical in situ latrine sludge resistance. This investigation aimed to better understand the community education and technical engineering needs necessary to improve pit latrine management. In low income areas within Mzuzu city, Malawi, 300 pit latrines from three distinct areas were assessed using a dynamic cone penetrometer to quantify fecal sludge strength, and household members were surveyed to determine their knowledge of desludging procedures and practices likely to impact fecal sludge characteristics. The results demonstrate that there is a significant difference in sludge strength between lined and unlined pits within a defined area, though sludge hardened with depth, regardless of the pit type or region. There was only limited association between cone penetration depth and household survey data. To promote the adoption of pit emptying, it is recommended that households be provided with information that supports pit emptying, such as latrine construction designs, local pit emptying options, and cost. This study indicates that the use of a penetrometer test in the field prior to pit latrine emptying may facilitate the selection of appropriate pit emptying technology

Liberal intervention in the foreign policy thinking of Tony Blair and David Cameron

David Cameron was a critic of Tony Blair’s doctrine of the international community, which was used to justify war in Kosovo and more controversially in Iraq, suggesting caution in projecting military force abroad while in opposition. However, and in spite of making severe cuts to the defence budget, the Cameron-led Coalition government signed Britain up to a military intervention in Libya within a year of coming into office. What does this say about the place liberal interventionism occupies in contemporary British foreign policy? To answer this question, this article studies the nature of what we describe as the ‘bounded liberal’ tradition that has informed British foreign policy thinking since 1945, suggesting that it puts a distinctly UK national twist on conventional conservative thought about international affairs. Its components are: scepticism of grand schemes to remake the world; instinctive Atlanticism; security through collective endeavour; and anti-appeasement. We then compare and contrast the conditions for intervention set out by Tony Blair and David Cameron. We explain the similarities but crucially also the vital differences between the two leaders’ thinking on intervention, with particular reference to Cameron’s perception that Downing Street needed to loosen its control over foreign policy-making after Iraq. Our argument is that policy substance, policy style and party political dilemmas prompted Blair and Cameron to reconnect British foreign policy with its ethical roots, ingraining a bounded liberal posture to British foreign policy after the moral bankruptcy of the John Major years. This return to a patient, pragmatic and ethically informed foreign policy meant that military operations in Kosovo and Libya were undertaken in quite different circumstances, yet came to be justified by similar arguments from the two leaders