Planning for Density in a Driverless World

Automobile-centered, low-density development was the defining feature of population growth in the United States for decades. This development pattern displaced wildlife, destroyed habitat, and contributed to a national loss of biodiversity. It also meant, eventually, that commutes and air quality worsened, a sense of local character was lost in many places, and the negative consequences of sprawl impacted an increasing percentage of the population. Those impacts led to something of a shift in the national attitude toward sprawl. More people than ever are fluent in concepts of “smart growth,” “new urbanism,” and “green building,” and with these tools and others, municipalities across the country are working to redevelop a central core, rethink failing transit systems, and promote pockets of density. Changing technology may disrupt this trend. Self-driving vehicles are expected to be widespread within the next several decades. Those vehicles will likely reduce congestion, air pollution, and deaths, and free up huge amounts of productive time in the car. These benefits may also eliminate much of the conventional motivation and rationale behind sprawl reduction. As the time-cost of driving falls, driverless cars have the potential to incentivize human development of land that, by virtue of its distance from settled metropolitan areas, had been previously untouched. From the broader ecological perspective, each human surge into undeveloped land results in habitat destruction and fragmentation, and additional loss of biological diversity. New automobile technology may therefore usher in better air quality, increased safety, and a significant threat to ecosystem health. Our urban and suburban environments have been molded for centuries to the needs of various forms of transportation. The same result appears likely to occur in response to autonomous vehicles, if proactive steps are not taken to address their likely impacts. Currently, little planning is being done to prepare for driverless technology. Actors at multiple levels, however, have tools at their disposal to help ensure that new technology does not come at the expense of the nation’s remaining natural habitats. This Article advocates for a shift in paradigm from policies that are merely anti-car to those that are pro-density, and provides suggestions for both cities and suburban areas for how harness the positive aspects of driverless cars while trying to stem the negative. Planning for density regardless of technology will help to ensure that, for the world of the future, there is actually a world

Shared Prosperity, Stronger Regions: An Agenda for Rebuilding America's Older Core Cities

Explores opportunities for community collaborations to promote economic development and neighborhood revitalization, and offers strategies for public/private investment. Includes case studies in Baltimore, Cleveland, Detroit, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh

Officer-Involved Homicides of Unarmed Black Males: Perceptions of the African American Community

Officer-involved homicides of unarmed black males have gained increasing publicity in recent years. However, there has been no research regarding how officer-involved homicides of unarmed black males have impacted members of the African American community’s perceptions of police. The purpose of this qualitative research study was to examine how members of the African American community’s perceptions of police have been impacted as a result of the officer-involved homicides of unarmed black males. Three members of the African American community were interviewed for this study. The interviews were guided by open-ended questions in a semi-structured format. After transcribing and coding the interviews, the themes that emerged from the data included lack of accountability, the role of media, unequal treatment between races, black lives do not matter, perceptions of police, and improvements for policeminority relations. The researcher provided a discussion of the findings and the correlation of findings with existing research. Strengths and limitations and implications for future research are also discussed

Modification, Verification of Sequence and Optimization of Expression of P297F an Inactive Mutant of Flavonol Specific Glucosyltransferase from Grapefruit (CP3GT)

Citrus fruits are widely consumed and can offer various health benefits. One enzyme found in grapefruits, Citrus paradisi flavonol specific 3-O-glucosyltransferase (CP3GT), catalyzes the addition of glucose to one specific flavonoid class and at only one site. These flavonoids are plant secondary metabolites that can be used in a variety of plant functions including signaling and protection. The only class of flavonoids that CP3GT glucosylates is flavonols, and this specificity is of interest to study for potential benefits in biotechnology and enzyme modeling. In order to study this enzyme and its structure, a variety of mutants were created using site-directed mutagenesis. One mutant, P297F, exhibited a loss of function. This mutant was previously studied by inserting a thrombin cleavage site, extracting the plasmid expressing the mutation and sequencing it. The gene sequence was previously verified to be in frame and contain the needed thrombin cleavage site to remove tags used for protein purification and identification. The plasmid was then linearized, and transformed into yeast. After this, conditions for protein expression were tested over a 72-hour period. The protein was found to have optimal expression at 50 hours with a constant temperature of 28 °C and methanol concentration of 0.5 %. However, numerous protein expression experiments indicated very low protein expression. For this reason, the P297F gene was amplified through colony PCR, extracted and sent for sequencing to verify the transformation of the gene into yeast and identify possible reasons for low protein production. Analysis of this sequencing data showed a single nucleotide addition early in the tag sequence causing a frameshift after this location. Reanalysis of the previous plasmid sequencing data showed this same mutation, indicating improper conclusions were drawn. Efforts should be made to identify a plasmid without the mutation or correct the frameshift mutation so that the tag sequence produces the correct amino acids

Officer-Involved Homicides of Unarmed Black Males: Perceptions of the African American Community

Officer-involved homicides of unarmed black males have gained increasing publicity in recent years. However, there has been no research regarding how officer-involved homicides of unarmed black males have impacted members of the African American community’s perceptions of police. The purpose of this qualitative research study was to examine how members of the African American community’s perceptions of police have been impacted as a result of the officer-involved homicides of unarmed black males. Three members of the African American community were interviewed for this study. The interviews were guided by open-ended questions in a semi-structured format. After transcribing and coding the interviews, the themes that emerged from the data included lack of accountability, the role of media, unequal treatment between races, black lives do not matter, perceptions of police, and improvements for policeminority relations. The researcher provided a discussion of the findings and the correlation of findings with existing research. Strengths and limitations and implications for future research are also discussed

[…] you feel there’s nowhere left to go: the barriers to support among women who experience substance use and domestic abuse in the UK

Purpose – Domestic abuse victimisation is a common experience among women with problematic substance use, but support provision for both issues is siloed within the UK. Research on the topic focuses on practitioner responses, dominating women’s voices within research, policy and practice. As such, knowledge about women’s experiences of help-seeking is missing. This study therefore aims to fill a gap in knowledge by exploring the lived experiences of supporting seeking among women impacted by domestic abuse and substance use. Design/methodology/approach – Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 women who had a history of co-occurring problematic substance use and domestic abuse. Influenced by interpretive phenomenological analysis and feminist research praxis, the study explored how women with dual needs navigated support and help seeking and the barriers they faced. Findings – The women reported the biggest barrier was the disconnect between substance use and domestic abuse support, including a gap in the communication of information. This resulted in them having to choose which of their needs to seek support for. None of the women received support for their combined experiences, and most of the women never received support for their domestic abuse experiences alone. Originality/value – This is the first piece of research from the UK to explore, in-depth, women’s journey through support for their co-occurring substance use and domestic abuse victimisation. Previous research has not consulted with women to understand how they navigate the complex support systems available. This paper is, therefore, important, because it demonstrates the journeys to services these women take and the barriers they have to overcome

Leadership Curriculum Evaluation: Final Report DFE- RR639

Evaluation report of the National College for Teaching and Leadership's Leadership Curriculum commissioned by Department for Education (2013-2016