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In 2001, New York State teamed with IBM to create a research center for nanoelectronics at the University at Albany. Since then, the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) has been expanded with over $6 billion in investment, attracted over 250 industrial collaborators, and awarded 72 graduate degrees. This paper discusses the formation of the triple helix center in Albany, NY. It then examines the impact of the CNSE on the regional economy and compares it with three other nanotechnology triple helix centers. The analysis finds that the CNSE is more successful at generating nanoknowledge as measured by publications and patents. Much of the research conducted at CNSE has been collaborative effort between university and industrial partners and often resulted in patents assigned to industrial partners. Since 2001, there has been qualitative and quantitative evidence of the emergence of a nanotechnology cluster in the Capital Region of NY. Upstate NY has become home to multiple nanotechnology firms and experienced growth in the employment in nanotechnology related industries. Potential explanations for the success of the CNSE are explored including the anchor tenant hypothesis and the entrepreneurial university. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The paper examines the role of community-based participatory research (CBPR) within the context of social justice literature and practice. Methods: Two CBPR case studies addressing health inequities related to Type 2 Diabetes and Cardiovascular disease were selected from a national cross-site study assessing effective academic-community research partnerships. One CBPR partnership works with African Americans in rural Pemiscot County, Missouri and the other CBPR partnership works with African American and Latinos in urban South Bronx, New York City. Data collection included semi-structured key informant interviews and focus groups. Analysis focused on partnerships' context/ history and their use of multiple justice-oriented strategies to achieve systemic and policy changes in order to address social determinants of health in their communities. Results: Community context and history shaped each partnership's strategies to address social determinants. Four social justice approaches (identity/recognition, procedural, distributive, and structural justice) used by both partnerships were identified. These social justice approaches were employed to address underlying causes of inequitable distribution of resources and power structures, while remaining within a scientific research framework. Conclusion: CBPR can bridge the role of science with civic engagement and political participation, empowering community members to become political agents who integrate evidence into their social justice organizing strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In art and design programmes across the USA, the ‘history of design survey’ remains the first, and sometimes the only, formal exposure most design students will have to design history, especially that of the premodern period. In contrast to the model of the art history survey, in which painting and sculpture dominate, history of design surveys consider a range of disciplines from textile and furniture design to landscape, graphics and new media. Moreover, the history of design survey is an opportunity to introduce students not only to design history but also to the culture of these various disciplines within design practice. This greatly expands the scope of what is already a broad chronological study. The continuing debate within the field of design history over the very nature of what constitutes design further complicates teaching a survey. This paper presents a case study of ‘History of Design, 1850–2000’, the introductory-level design history survey course taught to design students at Parsons The New School for Design, New York. It is based on an overview of history of design courses currently being taught in the USA and on discussions with instructors in the field. It examines the challenges as well as the opportunities of teaching design history surveys and sets the Parsons course within continuing debates by exploring the ways history of design surveys might address more closely the needs and goals of future design practitioners. The article is intended to elucidate methodological and pedagogical perspectives that will help history of design surveys remain relevant to design students and useful in framing the field and propelling it forward. It invites disciplinary discussions of new strategies and approaches for teaching and learning the history of design. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Urban stormwater runoff management systems are usually designed to meet performance standards based on historical climate data, which are assumed to be stationary. Based on the evidence from climate change impact studies, in the near future, stormwater management systems, within the built environment, may need to meet performance expectations under climatic conditions different from historical climate. Considering the impacts of climate change on rainfall intensities and stormwater runoff peak flow and volumes, and in turn the effectiveness of mitigation, practices for urban stormwater management are desirable. This paper presents the results of a climate change impact study on urban stormwater runoff in the Bronx River watershed, New York City. Considering the impacts of climate change on watershed runoff, the potential for low-impact development (LID) controls to mitigate the impacts was investigated. Stormwater runoff and LID controls were modeled using the U.S. EPA Storm Water Management Model version 5 (EPA SWMM5). The simulations were driven by historical precipitation modified to represent future projections using a change factor methodology based on precipitation from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5). Using the change factor method, historical precipitation was perturbed to obtain future data, based on three climate scenarios projecting maximum, mean, and minimum values for rainfall. Results of frequency analysis performed on the simulated peak flow rates, with different recurrence intervals, showed a noticeable increase in the frequency of occurrence of extreme storm events and their peak values, under future extreme climate conditions. An LID control scenario consisting of rainwater harvesting, porous pavement, and bioretention was designed and evaluated using the SWMM model. The results showed that, while average increase in historical annual runoff volume under climate change impacts was approximately 48%, the LID controls could provide an average reduction of 41% in annual runoff volume. Application of the LID controls also reduced peak flow rates by an average of 8 to 13%. LID implementation decreased watershed runoff corresponding to 2-year and 50-year return periods, by 28 and 14%, respectively. In conclusion, retrofits with LID controls may provide not only their inherent benefits (e.g., runoff volume and water quality), but also additional climate impact mitigation benefits for stormwater runoff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents abstracts of marketing articles related to area analysis. They include "Effect of High-Wage Unionized Industries on Neighboring Industries," by Ethel B. Jones, "Development of New Shopping Centers: Area Estimation," by D.R. Diamond and E.B. Gibb, and "The Evolution of the American City and the Emergence of Anomie: A Culture Case Study of Buffalo, New York," by Elwin H. Powell.

Illustration is made, with reference to a ease study of airport landing congestion in the New York area, of how numerical solutions may be easily obtained for the transient behavior of nonstationary waiting lines characterized by Poisson arrivals, constant holding time, and service in order of arrival. In the case study only the mean arrival rate vanes as a given function of time, but the methods used as easily provide for variation also of servicing rate and of number of servers. Exact numerical values are sought and obtained only at intervals of the servicing tune While these times were short in the case study, so that little information is sacrficed, the method may be adapted to yield more frequent values in the case of long servicing times. Subject to this restriction, the entire probability distribution of the queue is calculated as the main numerical routine, from which the distribution of waiting time is directly obtained Use of a stored-program computer is simple, cheap, and especially effective under saturating arrival rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective:To describe the neonatal outcomes of a case series of infants who were prenatally diagnosed with potential life-limiting conditions and to whom individualized comfort measures were offered.Study Design:This is a retrospective analysis of the postnatal outcomes of a selected population of 49 infants prenatally diagnosed with potential life-limiting conditions whose parents were prenatally referred for counseling to the comfort care team.Result:The prenatal diagnosis was confirmed postnatally in 45 infants. The only four survivors had a significant discrepancy between prenatal and postnatal diagnosis. Whether they were treated with individualized comfort measures (n=28) or intensive care (n=17), all the newborns died with similar median age at death (2 days).Conclusion:Diagnostic accuracy is the main determinant of outcomes. Provision of intensive care neither prevents the death of infants affected by life-limiting conditions nor prolongs life compared with that of infants treated with individualized comfort measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over 75% of the New York City Watershed is forested, and the majority of the land is owned hy family forest owners. Ownership fragmentation and development may impact both the working forested landscape and water quality. We surveyed the owners of intact and subdivided family forest parcels across various parcel sizes to gauge their awareness of forest management practices and to assess the potential property-level impacts of their activities on water quality. To support the landowner survey, we used field data on forest stocking and timber quality gathered at each property. Results indicate that owners of large parcels ( > 5 0 ac) hod significantly higher water quality awareness scores than did owners of small parcels and were more likely to hove a written forest management plan. Full-time resident owners were more likely to engage in practices that may negatively impact water quality more directly, such as adding structures and a driveway, which increases impervious surface orea and associated runoff, and using additives on their lawns, which can odd nutrients and chemicals to surface water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to increasing obesity, diabetes, and food-related contributions to climate change, many individuals and organizations are mobilizing to advocate for healthier and more just local and national food policies and systems. In this report, we describe and analyze the food movement in New York City, examine tensions within it, and consider its potential role in improving health and nutrition. We conclude by suggesting that public health professionals can amplify the health effects of such movements by creating opportunities for dialog with movement participants, providing resources such as policy-relevant scientific evidence, documenting problems and evaluating policies, and offering technical, political, and organizational development expertise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a case study on disparities in live birth weight due to race or ethnicity. Using data of all live births in New York City in 2003, the study incorporates random effects and variance elements in a multilevel linear model to change the effects of race and nativity. It discusses details in finding the correlations of observations using the Laplace approximation to calculate the Bayes factors.

Background: Rates of blood pressure (BP) control are lower in minority populations compared to whites.Objective: As part of a project to decrease health-related disparities among ethnic groups, we sought to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes, and management practices of clinicians caring for hypertensive patients in a predominantly minority community.Design/participants: We developed clinical vignettes of hypertensive patients that varied by comorbidity (type II diabetes mellitus, chronic renal insufficiency, coronary artery disease, or isolated systolic hypertension alone). We randomly assigned patient characteristics, e.g., gender, age, race/ethnicity, to each vignette. We surveyed clinicians in ambulatory clinics of the 4 hospitals in East/Central Harlem, NY.Measurements: The analysis used national guidelines to assess the appropriateness of clinicians' stated target BP levels. We also assessed clinicians' attitudes about the likelihood of each patient to achieve adequate BP control, adhere to medications, and return for follow-up.Results: Clinicians' target BPs were within 2 mm Hg of the recommendations 9% of the time for renal disease patients, 86% for diabetes, 94% for isolated systolic hypertension, and 99% for coronary disease. BP targets did not vary by patient or clinician characteristics. Clinicians rated African-American patients 8.4% (p = .004) less likely and non-English speaking Hispanic patients 8.1% (p = .051) less likely than white patients to achieve/maintain BP control.Conclusions: Clinicians demonstrated adequate knowledge of recommended BP targets, except for patients with renal disease. Clinicians did not vary management by patients' sociodemographics but thought African-American, non-English-speaking Hispanic and unemployed patients were less likely to achieve BP control than their white counterparts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a case study of the New York garment district to examine and explain the "enclave effect" on workers employed in the enclave and looks at some of the advantages these workers share or don't share with the primary sector. In contrast to existing explanations that conceptualize the enclave as a special case of the primary sector, the authors emphasize the distinctive characteristics of ethnic economies, and explain the "enclave effect" using a single, consistent account of recruitment and skill acquisition processes in primary, secondary, and enclave labor markets. The authors claim that unlike other sectors of the economy,the ethnic enclave is characterized by an external, informal training system that shapes the employment relationship and increases the availability and quality of information for workers and employers. The framework rests on the concept of training systems, structures that reduce the risks of investment in skills or training by increasing the probability that firms and/or workers will be able to make productive use of the skills in which they have invested. Training systems are the mechanisms by which labor market information is circulated, workers are recruited, and skills are obtained.