The Future of Work In Cities

The latest report in our City of the Future series examines societal shifts and advancements in technology that are impacting the rapidly changing American workforce. The report outlines solutions to help city leaders plan for the fast-approaching future, while forecasting the economic viability of two distinct sectors – retail and office administration – in which a quarter of Americans are currently employed

City Survey on the Sharing Economy: Shifting Perceptions of Collaborative Consumption

The growing sharing economy is impacting cities as innovative companies are providing improvements to service efficiency and on-demand information. The National League of Cities released the first national quantitative survey of local elected officials' views on the sharing economy. The report found that 71 percent of cities surveyed are supportive of growth in the sharing economy - particularly with ridesharing services such as Uber and Lyft - but many are concerned about the sharing economy's impact on public safety. On the whole, cities want to encourage economic development and accommodate the services their constituents want. The survey found that city leaders are open to integrating sharing economy services more fully within their communities - and they want to capitalize on this opportunity. When asked to identify the greatest benefit of the sharing economy, 22 percent of city leaders identified improved services, 20 percent identified increased economic activity, and 16 percent identified increased entrepreneurial activity. At the same time, the survey found that cities do have concerns with the sharing economy. By a large margin, 61 percent of city leaders were most concerned with public safety, specifically identifying the lack of comparable insurance coupled with general safety concerns. Other areas of concern included the protection of traditional service providers and industry participants (10 percent) and non-compliance with current standards (9 percent)

City Rights in an Era of Preemption: A State-by-State Analysis

In a new report, NLC finds that states limit city power through preemption in a number of policy areas, ranging from labor protections to taxing authority.Preemption is the use of state law to nullify a municipal ordinance or authority. In some cases, preemption can lead to improved policy statewide. However, preemption that prevents cities from expanding rights, building stronger economies, and promoting innovation can be counterproductive when decision-making is divorced from the core wants and needs of community members

Cities, The Sharing Economy and What's Next

This report seeks to provide an analysis of what is currently happening in American cities so that city leaders may better understand, encourage and regulate the growing sharing economy. Interviews were conducted with city officials on the impact of the sharing economy and related topics, and the report centers around five key themes: innovation, economic development, equity, safety and implementation.The sharing economy is also commonly referred to as collaborative consumption, the collaborative economy, or the peer-to-peer economy. This term refers to business models that enable providers and consumers to share resources and services, from housing to vehicles and more. These business models typically take the form of an online and/or application-based platform for business transactions

City Open Data Policies

The capture and analysis of data is transforming the 21st Century. As society becomes more data driven, data has the ability to drive the bottom line for private companies and help the public sector to define where and how services can best be delivered. In City Open Data Policies: Learning by Doing, the National League of Cities identifies how cities can take advantage of the opportunities presented by open data initiatives.SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONSLeadership: Political support stands out as one of the key requirements to implementing a successful open data project.Appropriate Legislation: Enacting legislation or formal policies is a crucial step toward ensuring the growth and sustainability of open data portals. Funding: Open data initiatives do not require high levels of funding. It is, however, important that the programs have their own budget line items where resources are specifically allocated. Technical Approach: Leading U.S. cities rely on commercial platforms that facilitate the implementation of open data initiatives, provide technical expertise, and ensure 24/7 customer support, often at a lower cost than providing these services in-house. Stakeholder Involvement: Open data is a two-way process. It is, therefore, essential to encourage participation and engagement among multiple stakeholders including: community members; non-profits; universities; the press; businesses; city departments; and other levels of government. Many cities adopt a flexible, and usually informal, approach to interact with the stakeholders. Measuring Success: Developing evaluation tools should be an integral part of any future open data policies

On the Frontlines of Todays Cities: Trauma, Challenges and Solutions

Local officials work at the level of government closest to the people, and with that comes great responsibility and great challenge. While public officials at the state and federal level have faced harassment and threats for decades, this trend has now made its way to cities, with local leaders on the frontlines of these challenges. Driven by increasing polarization, the spread of mis- and disinformation and the growing influence and power of social media, local officials face everything from racist, homophobic attacks online to city council meetings that devolve into screaming matches. The COVID-19 pandemic, racial reckoning and other recent national crises pushed many things to the extreme and threats and harassment against local leaders are no exception. While a certain amount of disagreement is a healthy part of a functioning democracy, civil discourse in America has been increasingly in decline. Eighty-seven percent of surveyed local officials have noticed an increase in levels of harassment, threats and violence during their time in office.While more than 8 in 10 surveyed local officials have experienced some form of harassment, threats and violence, fewer than half work in an office with a strategy to handle these incidents. This report sheds light on the impact felt by local officials and their communities across the country and offers a three-pronged approach to help keep them safe from threats, while maintaining their mental and physical wellbeing

h-> mu^+ mu^- via tth Production at the LHC

In this work, we examine the process at the LHC in which a Higgs boson is produced in association with a t t-bar pair and subsequently decays to a pair of muons. We show that the statistical significance for the discovery of a light, Standard-Model Higgs boson with a mass around 120 GeV in this channel is comparable to those for other processes (gluon fusion, weak-boson fusion) in which the Higgs decays to a muon pair. Combining all three of these channels, we show that evidence for a Higgs boson with a mass in the range 115 GeV < m_h < 130 GeV could be obtained at the 3 sigma significance level with an integrated luminosity of 300 fb^{-1}. We also calculate the enhancement factor to the cross-section that would be needed to discover a non-standard Higgs boson in this channel.Comment: 11 pages, ReVTeX, 1 figure, 5 table

Simplified Models for LHC New Physics Searches

This document proposes a collection of simplified models relevant to the design of new-physics searches at the LHC and the characterization of their results. Both ATLAS and CMS have already presented some results in terms of simplified models, and we encourage them to continue and expand this effort, which supplements both signature-based results and benchmark model interpretations. A simplified model is defined by an effective Lagrangian describing the interactions of a small number of new particles. Simplified models can equally well be described by a small number of masses and cross-sections. These parameters are directly related to collider physics observables, making simplified models a particularly effective framework for evaluating searches and a useful starting point for characterizing positive signals of new physics. This document serves as an official summary of the results from the "Topologies for Early LHC Searches" workshop, held at SLAC in September of 2010, the purpose of which was to develop a set of representative models that can be used to cover all relevant phase space in experimental searches. Particular emphasis is placed on searches relevant for the first ~50-500 pb-1 of data and those motivated by supersymmetric models. This note largely summarizes material posted at http://lhcnewphysics.org/, which includes simplified model definitions, Monte Carlo material, and supporting contacts within the theory community. We also comment on future developments that may be useful as more data is gathered and analyzed by the experiments.Comment: 40 pages, 2 figures. This document is the official summary of results from "Topologies for Early LHC Searches" workshop (SLAC, September 2010). Supplementary material can be found at http://lhcnewphysics.or

NADPH oxidases: key modulators in aging and age-related cardiovascular diseases?

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and oxidative stress have long been linked to aging and diseases prominent in the elderly such as hypertension, atherosclerosis, diabetes and atrial fibrillation (AF). NADPH oxidases (Nox) are a major source of ROS in the vasculature and are key players in mediating redox signalling under physiological and pathophysiological conditions. In this review, we focus on the Nox-mediated ROS signalling pathways involved in the regulation of 'longevity genes' and recapitulate their role in age-associated vascular changes and in the development of age-related cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). This review is predicated on burgeoning knowledge that Nox-derived ROS propagate tightly regulated yet varied signalling pathways, which, at the cellular level, may lead to diminished repair, the aging process and predisposition to CVDs. In addition, we briefly describe emerging Nox therapies and their potential in improving the health of the elderly population