Housing Homeless People: Local Mobilization of Federal Resources to Fight NIMBYism

Local sentiments are rarely favorable to human service facilities. City governments and neighborhood organizations frequently utilize zoning restrictions to exclude various community facilities, including services and housing for homeless people. This exclusionary phenomenon is commonly referred to as “not‐in‐my‐backyard” or “NIMBYism.” The power of NIMBYism is grounded in the local autonomy afforded municipalities concerning land use policies. However, recent cases suggest that the tradition of local authority over certain types of land uses is being reexamined and, even more frequently, challenged at the extra‐local level. Given this trend, the purpose of this article is to question the assumption that local government will be able to preserve their authority over housing for homeless people. Using a case study of a local zoning battle over a proposed housing development for homeless people, the author argues that recent changes in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s governance over Fair Housing Law enforcement and administration of Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance funding, coupled with the agency’s more aggressive position on housing discrimination, may already have changed the balance of power on this issue. By examining the process by which a non‐profit organization in Albany, New York, was able to reach a settlement with the city concerning a zoning denial by mobilizing federal resources, the author attempts to highlight a possible emerging federal role in facilitating local mobilization against NIMBYism as it applies to housing for homeless individuals.     

Performance optimization of multidisciplinary mechanical systems subject to uncertainties

This paper presents a methodology to solve a new class of stochastic optimization problems for multidisciplinary systems (multidisciplinary stochastic optimization or MSO) wherein the objective is to maximize system mechanical performance (e.g. aerodynamic efficiency) while satisfying reliability-based constraints (e.g. structural safety). Multidisciplinary problems require a different solution approach than those solved in earlier research in reliability-based structural optimization (single discipline) wherein the goal is usually to minimize weight (or cost) for a structural configuration subject to a limiting probability of failure or to minimize probability of failure subject to a limiting weight (or cost). For the problems solved herein, the objective is to maximize performance over the range of operating conditions, while satisfying constraints that ensure safe and reliable operation. Because the objective is performance based and because the constraints are reliability based, the random variables used in the objective must model variability in operating conditions, while the random variables used in the constraints must model uncertainty in extreme values (to ensure safety). Thus, the problem must be formulated to treat these two different types of variables at the same time, including the case when the same physical quantity (e.g. a particular load) appears in both the objective function and the constraints. In addition, the problem must be formulated to treat multiple load cases, which can again require modeling the same physical quantity with different random variables. Deterministic multidisciplinary optimization (MDO) problems have advanced to the stage where they are now commonly formulated with multiple load cases and multiple disciplines governing the objective and constraints. This advancement has enabled MDO to solve more realistic problems of much more practical interest. The formulation used herein solves stochastic optimization problems that are posed in this same way, enabling similar practical benefits but, in addition, producing optimum designs that are more robust than the deterministic optimum designs (since uncertainties are accounted for during the optimization process). The methodology has been implemented in the form of a baseline MSO shell that executes on both a massively parallel computer and a network of workstations. The MSO shell is demonstrated herein by a stochastic shape optimization of an axial compressor blade involving fully coupled aero-structural analysis.     

Solution structure of glutathione bound to human glutathione transferase P1-1: comparison of NMR measurements with the crystal structure

The conformation of the bound glutathione (GSH) in the active site of the human glutathione transferase P1-1 (EC 2.5.1.18) has been studied by transferred NOE measurements and compared with those obtained by X-ray diffraction data. Two-dimensional TRNOESY and TRROESY experiments have been performed under fast-exchange conditions. The family of GSH conformers, compatible with TRNOE distance constraints, shows a backbone structure very similar to the crystal model. Interesting differences have been found in the side chain regions. After restrained energy minimization of a representative NMR conformer in the active site, the sulfur atom is not found in hydrogen-bonding distance of the hydroxyl group of Tyr 7. This situation is similar to the one observed in an "atypical" crystal complex grown at low pH and low temperature. The NMR conformers display also a poorly defined structure of the glutamyl moiety, and the presence of an unexpected intermolecular NOE could indicate a different interaction of this substrate portion with the G-site. The NMR data seem to provide a snapshot of GSH in a precomplex where the GSH glutamyl end is bound in a different fashion. The existence of this precomplex is supported by pre-steady-state kinetic experiments [Caccuri, A. M., Lo Bello, M., Nuccetelli, M., Nicotra, M., Rossi, P., Antonini, G., Federici, G., and Ricci, G. (1998) Biochemistry 37, 3028-3034] and preliminary time-resolved fluorescence data.     

Quantum dot light emitting devices for photomedical applications

While OLEDs have struggled to find a niche lighting application that can fully take advantage of their unique form factors as thin, flexible, lightweight and uniformly large‐area luminaire, photomedical researchers have been in search of low‐cost, effective illumination devices with such form factors that could facilitate widespread clinical applications of photodynamic therapy (PDT) or photobiomodulation (PBM). Although existing OLEDs with either fluorescent or phosphorescent emitters cannot achieve the required high power density at the right wavelength windows for photomedicine, the recently developed ultrabright and efficient deep red quantum dot light emitting devices (QLEDs) can nicely fit into this niche. Here, we report for the first time the in‐vitro study to demonstrate that this QLED‐based photomedical approach could increase cell metabolism over control systems for PBM and kill cancerous cells efficiently for PDT. The perspective of developing wavelength‐specific, flexible QLEDs for two critical photomedical fields (wound repair and cancer treatment) will be presented with their potential impacts summarized. The work promises to generate flexible QLED‐based light sources that could enable the widespread use and clinical acceptance of photomedical strategies including PDT and PBM.     

Counting clicks and beeps: Exploring numerosity based haptic and audio PIN entry

Haptic and audio cues now appear commonly in computer interfaces, partially due to inherent advantages such as their support for eyes-free interaction. Their invisible, unobservable nature also makes them ideal candidates for security interfaces in which users have to enter secret information such as passwords. In particular, researchers have explored this idea through the design of PIN entry authentication systems based on multi-modal combinations of visual and non-visual content or on the recognition of small sets of unimodal haptic or audio stimuli. This paper highlights the benefits and performance limitations of these approaches and introduces an alternative based on unimodal audio or haptic temporal numerosity – the ability to accurately and rapidly determine the number of cues presented in rapid temporal succession. In essence, in a numerosity interface, rather than recognizing distinct cues, users must count the number of times that a single cue occurs. In an iterative process of design and evaluation, three prototypes implementing this concept are presented and studies of their use reported. The results show the fastest PIN entry times and lowest error rates to be 8 s and 2%, figures that improve substantially on previous research. These results are attained while maintaining low levels of workload and substantial resistance to observation attack (as determined via camera attack security studies). In sum, this paper argues that unimodal audio and haptic numerosity is a valuable and relatively unexplored metaphor for non-visual input and demonstrates the validity of this claim in the demanding task of unobservable authentication systems.     

Probabilistic uncertainty analysis of an FRF of a structure using a Gaussian process emulator

This paper introduces methods for probabilistic uncertainty analysis of a frequency response function (FRF) of a structure obtained via a finite element (FE) model. The methods are applicable to computationally expensive FE models, making use of a Bayesian metamodel known as an emulator. The emulator produces fast predictions of the FE model output, but also accounts for the additional uncertainty induced by only having a limited number of model evaluations. Two approaches to the probabilistic uncertainty analysis of FRFs are developed. The first considers the uncertainty in the response at discrete frequencies, giving pointwise uncertainty intervals. The second considers the uncertainty in an entire FRF across a frequency range, giving an uncertainty envelope function. The methods are demonstrated and compared to alternative approaches in a practical case study.     

Information privacy in organizations: Empowering creative and extrarole performance.

This article examines the relationship of employee perceptions of information privacy in their work organizations and important psychological and behavioral outcomes. A model is presented in which information privacy predicts psychological empowerment, which in turn predicts discretionary behaviors on the job, including creative performance and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Results from 2 studies (Study 1: single organization, N=310; Study 2: multiple organizations, N=303) confirm that information privacy entails judgments of information gathering control, information handling control, and legitimacy. Moreover, a model linking information privacy to empowerment and empowerment to creative performance and OCBs was supported. Findings are discussed in light of organizational attempts to control employees through the gathering and handling of their personal information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Increased incidence of congenital malformations in children with transient thyroid-stimulating hormone elevation on neonatal screening

Huntington's disease is an autosomal-dominant inherited progressive neurodegenerative disease associated with an expanded trinucleotide repeat (CAG) sequence on the short arm of chromosome 4. The disease is considered rare in Africans. We report five black South African families of different ethnic origin with proven expansions typical of Huntington's disease and discuss the possible origins of the disease in Africa.     

Researching the design/production interface: product specifications

To learn more about the relationship between design and production functions in manufacturing firms, a number of relevant topics are being researched. This paper concentrates on one aspect—the product specification (design brief)—and examines different approaches to its compilation, based on interviews with 20 firms and the observed experiences of four companies.     

Using a system-on-a-chip implantable device to filter circulating infected cells in blood or lymph

This paper describes a system on a chip (SoC) that makes use of nanoscale cellular adhesion mechanisms in an integrated electronic microsystem to filter infected cells from blood or lymph. An example of a human immunodeficiency virus-specific SoC is explored in depth. Such systems work in vivo, and blood and lymph are filtered on a continuous basis. With the intelligence on the chip, captured cells can be identified and lyzed, expelled, or otherwise acted upon. These types of systems transfer the burden of research from traditional chemotherapy to bioengineering and system design.