bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Lipid Peroxidation Levels and Total Oxidant/Antioxidant Status in Serum and Saliva From Patients With Chronic and Aggressive Periodontitis. Oxidative Stress Index: A New Biomarker for Periodontal Disease?
Authors: Baltacıoğlu Esra , Yuva Pınar , Aydın Güven , Alver Ahmet , Kahraman Cemil , Karabulut Erdem , Akalın Ferda Alev
Published: March 2014

Background: In this study, levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), which is a significant product of lipid peroxidation (LPO), total oxidant status (TOS), total antioxidant capacity (TAOC), and the oxidative stress index (OSI), a novel value as a marker of periodontal disease activity, are investigated in serum and saliva from patients with chronic (CP) and generalized aggressive (GAgP) periodontitis.

Methods: A total of 98 patients (33 with CP, 35 patients with GAgP, and 30 periodontally healthy controls) enrolled in the study. After clinical measurements and sample collection, the MDA level, TOS, and TAOC were measured by high‐performance liquid chromatography and a novel automatic colorimetric method. The OSI was calculated as [(TOS/TAOC) × 100].

Results: Although the salivary MDA levels and serum and salivary TOS and OSI values were significantly higher in the periodontitis groups than in the control group (P <0.05), the serum and salivary TAOC levels were significantly lower, and no significant difference in serum MDA levels was found (P >0.05). Furthermore, oxidative stress parameters were higher in the GAgP group than in the CP group (except the serum and salivary MDA levels and serum TAOC). Significant positive and negative correlations were observed between periodontal parameters and the MDA levels and TOS, TAOC, and OSI values (except serum MDA) (P <0.05).

Conclusions: The present findings suggest that an increased TOS and decreased TAOC, rather than LPO, play important roles in the pathology of periodontitis and are closely associated with clinical periodontal status. Furthermore, the OSI may be a useful and practical parameter for evaluating periodontal disease activity.
Choice of concept adoption in terms of protecting the right of the child to know its origin
Authors: Covic Ana , Covic Dragan
Published: March 2014

Protection of children without parental care and choosing the forms through
which it is implemented makes a very delicate task. Professional bodies and
persons in the area of the child care, in addition to expertise and
professionalism, must have ability to adequately assess all the circumstances
of each case and participants in it. Adoption is considered the best way to
provide the child growing up in a family environment, because, as opposed to
foster care and guardianship, it is characterized by durability. Adoption
provides the child growing up in family and domestic environment. This right
of the child is recognized in international law and comparative legislation
and its implementation is not a matter of good will of the state and
potential individuals (e.g., adoptive parents). However, the question is
whether in the process of adoption and later in life, one of the fundamental
rights of every man, the right of the child to know his or her origin, is
violated. This is exactly the bone of contention between supporters of closed
and open procedures. Comparative analysis of the solutions and decisions of
the European Court of Human Rights in the area will try to answer to the
question whether the prevailing concept of closed adoption provides complete
protection of all rights of the child or the protection of certain rights is
done at the expense of violation of others.
Statewide Multimodal Planning
Authors: Sonnenberg Anthon H. , Southworth Frank , Meyer Michael D. , Comer Carol L.
Published: March 2014

This paper summarizes the results of a national survey of state departments of transportation (DOTs) focusing on the extent to which they emphasized multimodal solutions in transportation planning. The results offer insights into the size, the scope, and the progress in multimodal planning that states have been making since the passage of the Inter-modal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991. The online survey instrument was distributed to all 50 state DOTs; 35 responses were collected. Some key challenges that apparently limited the adoption of multimodal planning approaches in earlier decades are still considered challenges today. The current snapshot of multimodal planning suggests that most state transportation agencies still do not use evaluation criteria to compare multiple modal options. Not surprisingly, constraints and limitations on project eligibility because of funding source restrictions were identified as the major limitation to advances in multimodal planning and program development, followed by the need to follow agency standard operating procedures and by an agency's history and culture of highway-dominated planning. However, changes were clearly taking place. It is a positive sign that many state officials (20 out of 35) concluded that real progress had been made in furthering multimodal planning objectives during the past 10 years.
Sketch-Level Approach to Incorporate Active Traffic Management into the Regional Planning Process
Authors: Miller John S. , Fontaine Michael D.
Published: March 2014

Active traffic management (ATM) investments, such as variable speed limits (VSLs), queue warning systems, hard shoulder running, and dynamic ramp metering, offer mobility, safety, and environmental benefits. ATM investments differ from conventional capacity investments in a number of ways, such as lower capital costs, shorter planning horizons, reduced right-of-way requirements, and heightened need to consider longer-term operations. As a result, agencies sometimes have difficulty in determining how to incorporate ATM into the planning process. This paper develops a conceptual framework to enable consideration of ATM investments alongside traditional capacity investments in the regional transportation planning process. Although states and metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) already consider operational initiatives to some degree, the proposed framework offers 10 practices to strengthen regional planning for ATM initiatives. Practices include (a) linking ATM to the MPO's congestion management plan, (b) using operations-related performance measures such as delay and reliability, (c) using sketch planning techniques to estimate the safety and environmental aspects of ATM when detailed simulation studies are infeasible, (d) encouraging the inclusion of operations-related goals in local and regional plans, and (e) relating ATM to statewide policies. The framework uses a mixture of two strategies: translating ATM effects into a planning-related narrative and modifying the planning process to be compatible with ATM. The rationale is not to promote ATM as more effective than other types of investments but rather to compare ATM objectively with such investments. The framework is demonstrated with a case study of VSLs on Interstate 66 in Virginia.
Linking Transportation and Land use Goals through Scenario Planning
Authors: Morrow Erin M. , Park Jinchul , Randall Eric , Sivasailam Daivamani , Son Daniel Hojun
Published: March 2014

The federal transportation legislation Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) provides metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) with a framework for developing and evaluating scenarios for consideration in metropolitan transportation planning. Scenario planning will be an important tool as the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board (TPB), the MPO for the metropolitan Washington, D.C., region, works to develop a Regional Transportation Priorities Plan. TPB has a long history of scenario planning work. This paper discusses TPB's Financially Constrained Long-Range Transportation Plan (CLRP) Aspirations Scenario Study, completed in October 2011, which combines for the first time significant changes in land use with an extensive network of variably priced lanes (VPLs) and high-quality bus rapid transit (BRT) service into an integrated scenario. Two variations of this scenario were developed as sensitivity tests to (a) analyze the effect of land use changes without the VPL and BRT components and (b) analyze a variation of the scenario that included a lower-cost, streamlined VPL network that would require less new construction and more conversion of general-purpose lanes to VPLs. This paper describes the development and results of the analysis of the three scenarios in relation to baseline forecasts for land use and transportation. In addition, this paper compares the CLRP Aspirations Scenario Study with the recommendations outlined in the MAP-21 legislation for scenario development and analysis to evaluate how well the current TPB scenario planning process aligns with the new legislation and how the process can be improved in the future.
Policy Options for Incorporating Life-Cycle Environmental Assessment into Transportation Planning
Authors: Eisenstein William , Chester Mikhail , Pincetl Stephanie
Published: March 2014

This paper examines the potential for incorporating life-cycle assessment (LCA) into transportation planning and policy by drawing on analysis and precedent-setting policy structures from California. The paper first summarizes a case study of a transportation system LCA for Los Angeles County and briefly describes the existing structure of transportation policy, emissions regulation, and existing partial precedents for incorporating LCA and decision criteria into transportation policy and planning. Using standard criteria for good policy, the paper then identifies and describes six possible policy mechanisms for incorporating LCA into the transportation planning process. These include legislative requirements for project planning, a preferential finance program, a planning standard for regional transportation plans, an environmental impact assessment criterion, a criterion for selecting transportation control measures under the federal Clean Air Act, and a cap-and-trade system for transportation-related life-cycle emissions. The advantages and disadvantages of each approach are identified, with an ultimate recommendation to refine and pursue a blended approach focusing on the regional planning scale.
Measuring Performance of Public Engagement in Transportation Planning
Authors: Wagner Jason
Published: March 2014

Measuring performance provides a variety of benefits: establishing accountability with the public, enabling management and performance improvements, increasing transparency, and building public trust. The most recent transportation authorization bill, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century, includes a heavy focus on performance measurement. Despite such strong reasons, measuring the performance of public engagement in transportation planning has proved difficult for a variety of issues, including unclear goals, limited funding, and the situational nature of engagement activities. To address some of these issues, the literature of best practices for public engagement in transportation planning is analyzed, and three principles that encapsulate the contained concepts are derived. The three principles include accessible events, engaging interactions, and an outcome-oriented process. The author developed a performance scorecard rubric to operationalize the three principles. The scorecard provides an intuitive and concise method to measure and display performance information. This paper organizes the disparate and fragmented literature of recommended practices into a usable framework that enables practitioners to understand more easily the important aspects of public engagement and to better measure the performance of engagement activities. The paper also advances the discourse surrounding public engagement and performance measurement. Additional study would provide opportunities for further refinement and investigation of the efficacy of the system developed in a real-world setting.
Beyond Westway and after the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001
Authors: Weiss Lisa D. , Nelson Debra A. , Sporn Heather
Published: March 2014

Since 1973, New York City's Route 9A from Battery Park to West 59th Street has undergone a transformation from a crumbling 1930s elevated highway in a derelict postmaritime environment of rotting piers and abandoned buildings to a first-class multimodal, at-grade, tree-lined urban boulevard with a recreational focus. Route 9A connects Lower Manhattan and the west side of Manhattan with Hudson River Park and the waterfront and is a premier example of the economic revitalization that can take place when urban design and community involvement combine with engineering and the environment. The New York State Department of Transportation reconstructed Route 9A in seven segments, bid as seven contracts. As the last contract adjacent to the World Trade Center was winding down, the terrorist events of September 11, 2001 (9/11), occurred. With the devastation came the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan and a new emphasis on people, environment, and coordination in a post-9/11 environment. Route 9A was and continues to be a vital link. This paper describes the process of transformation and how adversity experienced along the way was overcome—beyond Westway and post-9/11 at the World Trade Center—as well as the citizens’ vital role in rebuilding Route 9A.
Modeling Transportation Affordability with Cumulative Density Function of Mathematical Beta Distribution
Authors: Panou Konstantinos , Proios George
Published: March 2014

Transportation affordability refers to people's financial ability to access important goods and activities such as work, education, medical care, basic shopping, and socializing. Making transportation more affordable can produce considerable socioeconomic benefits by lowering the costs and boosting mobility for people who are more disadvantaged. More affordable transportation is equivalent to higher income. There are many factors to consider when evaluating transportation affordability, including housing affordability; land use factors that affect accessibility; the quantity, quality, and pricing of mobility options; and individuals’ mobility needs and abilities. Traditional transportation planning takes hardly any transportation affordability considerations into account. Greater emphasis on this field would shed more light on affordability effects and help policy makers to identify more affordable transportation solutions. However, to take transportation affordability into account, there should be practical ways of evaluating it. This paper investigates the concept of transportation affordability and suggests a metric for its measurement. The metric calculates affordability on the basis of the trade-offs that households make between transportation and housing costs. The transportation costs considered include car ownership, car use, and public transport costs. The suggested approach can be applied to any spatial zone (e.g., neighborhood or other) to reflect the average expenditure that households are willing to make to satisfy their basic travel needs.
Do Residents of Smart Growth Neighborhoods in Los Angeles, California, Travel “Smarter”?
Authors: Zhu Pengyu , Dong Hongwei , Wu Cifang
Published: March 2014

With the individual trip diary from the recent 2009 National Household Travel Survey, a study was done on the effect of neighborhood-level smart growth patterns and socioeconomic diversity on commute mode choice, daily work travel mode choice, and nonwork travel mode choice for individuals living in neighborhoods in the Los Angeles, California, metropolitan statistical area. Model results consistently showed that nonauto transportation infrastructure diversity and quality were the most important aspects of smart growth patterns that affected the choice of nonauto travel modes. Moreover, housing mix in a neighborhood increased the likelihood of choosing walking and cycling for daily work trips and daily nonwork trips. The socioeconomic diversity of a neighborhood reduced the likelihood of choosing walking and cycling for daily nonwork trips. The remaining two factors—residential density and mixed use—insignificantly affected travel mode choice. Overall, people living in smart growth neighborhoods in Los Angeles do travel smarter, in that they use environmentally more sustainable (bus and train) and healthier (walking and cycling) travel modes.
Measuring Travel Behavior and Transit Trip Generation Characteristics of Transit-Oriented Developments
Authors: Faghri Arsalan , Venigalla Mohan
Published: March 2014

Transit-oriented developments (TODs) have been recognized as a promising proposition for policy makers and land developers in meeting the challenges of urban sprawl. The rapid pace with which TODs are being developed across the United States has left policy makers and transportation planners looking for methods aimed at modeling the travel characteristics of TODs. Current ITE trip-generation models are generally based on consolidated survey data from various land uses and are inadequate for serving the planning needs for travel demand parameters necessary to predict trip generation rates, develop trip distribution tables, identify mode choice characteristics, and determine trip assignment of TODs. The primary foci of this research were to understand the trip-making behavior of the TODs and develop a method for determining vehicular trip generation rates. A comparative assessment of TODs vis-à-vis non-TODs in relation to trip rates, transit usage, and primary travel mode was performed. A regression model relating TOD trip ends to gross floor area was developed and validated. Model behavior was consistent with the industry state of the practice; this factor would help transportation practitioners accurately forecast the trip generation rate for TODs. Validation of the regression model was performed by checks for normality, multicollinearity, and heteroscedasticity of the independent variable. The activity-based survey data used for this research were associated with the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, which provided a wealth of transit-oriented corridors and diverse land use. Use of these data mitigated the loss of computational information frequently caused by aggregate data and therefore provided a more accurate quantitative forecast.
Causality between Built Environment and Travel Behavior
Authors: Wang Ke
Published: March 2014

The goal of this study was to explore the causality between the built environment and three transportation modes (private vehicles, mass transit, and nonmotorized modes such as bicycling and walking) while accounting for sociodemographic characteristics for an understanding of what factors may foster transit and nonmotor use. Data from the 2009 National Household Transportation Survey combined with Los Angeles County, California, land use data were used to estimate a recursive structural equations model for an examination of causality direction and for a quantification of the built environment effect and residential self-selection effect. Results suggest that urban planning strategies that promote high population and employment density, land use mix, high four-way intersection density, and road density as well as good transit service can either significantly encourage transit use, bicycling, and walking or reduce vehicle miles traveled. However, the relatively small effect of the size of the built environment on travel behavior implies that achieving the above planning goals may cause considerable residential relocation, which contributes to the major part of observed travel behavior changes.
What to Expect in 2030
Authors: Erdoğan Sevgi , Welch Timothy F. , Knaap Gerrit J. , Ducca Frederick W.
Published: March 2014

The cost of travel, which depends largely on fuel prices, can have a significant effect on the allocation of land use, the amount of travel, selected modes, and route choice. With the volatility of energy prices during the past several decades, the growing instability of energy supply—both domestic and foreign—and ever-growing demand, it is difficult to predict fuel prices and thus the cost of travel. To begin to grapple with such uncertainty, planners must understand the potential effects of energy prices. With a knowledge of these effects, better planning can be achieved to accommodate the likely outcomes. This paper investigates the effects of increased fuel prices on the performance of future transportation systems by using an integrated land use and transportation model. Several scenarios build on national macroeconomic forecasts of changes in household and employment allocations with future transportation network improvements, modeled for 2030 in the capital megaregion area. The scenarios are designed so that the effect on land use and travel behavior from changes in fuel prices and economy is captured. The model results show that increased fuel prices lead to a denser land use pattern and a reduction in automobile mode share and vehicle miles traveled, even though fuel economy increases. The reduction is less pronounced if fuel economy increases significantly. When technological advances lead to very high fuel economy in the future, it may be necessary for policy intervention to increase travel cost to meet planning goals that aim to prevent sprawl.
Location and Transportation Effects on Nonresidential Real Estate Price Regressions in Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Authors: Gingerich Kevin , Maoh Hanna , Anderson William
Published: March 2014

In this paper, land prices for nonresidential real estate listings in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, are analyzed with the use of ordinary least squares regression models. Location and transportation attributes are used in the analysis to explain observed land prices. Seven models were estimated to control the heterogeneity in the land use types. The results show differences in factors explaining land prices of the models, indicating that caution should be used when land use types are aggregated together. The role of transportation carried mixed results. Rail had a positive effect for industrial properties but was negative for commercial and food services. Transit had a positive effect on vacant land. Direct proximity to highway ramps had a negative correlation for vacant land, but indirect variables such as potential (residential) accessibility and time to the central business district indicated the positive effects that roads and highways had. Testing showed that although spatial autocorrelation was present in the price data, the independent regressors used in the modeling partially mitigated that effect. Multicollinearity and heteroscedasticity were also accounted for throughout the modeling process. The results obtained provide a useful account of various spatial and transportation-related phenomena for a midsize Canadian metropolitan area. Moreover, the empirical analysis is particularly valuable given the lack of modeling done on the commercial and industrial prices when compared with that done for residential properties.
Modeling the Effect of Land Use on Person Miles Traveled by Using Geographically Weighted Regression
Authors: Nowrouzian Roosbeh , Srinivasan Sivaramakrishnan
Published: March 2014

This study contributes to the literature by developing a geographically weighted regression (GWR) model for capturing the effect of land use on person miles traveled (PMT) and demonstrating its benefits over simpler methods. Travel survey and land use data from southeast Florida were used in this analysis. The empirical results reconfirm the strong effects of regional accessibility, land use mixing, and connectivity on PMT. These land use effects were estimated to be significant after controlling for socioeconomic variables. Further, the GWR model demonstrated that the marginal sensitivities of PMT to various land use attributes vary over space. This spatial variation was particularly strong in the case of the effect of regional accessibility. Empirical results show that allowing for flexible trends in the parameter effects improves the models and explains a greater proportion of the variance in PMT across the region. The study also highlights the statistical superiority of the GWR model over the global regression models.
Combined Effects of Compact Development, Transportation Investments, and Road User Pricing on Vehicle Miles Traveled in Urbanized Areas
Authors: Ewing Reid , Hamidi Shima , Gallivan Frank , Nelson Arthur C. , Grace James B.
Published: March 2014

Vehicle miles traveled (VMT) is the primary determinant of traffic congestion, vehicle crashes, greenhouse gas emissions, and other effects of transportation. Two previous studies have sought to explain VMT levels in urbanized areas. This study updates and expands on previous work with more recent data, additional metrics, and structural equation modeling (SEM) to explain VMT levels in 315 urbanized areas. According to SEM, population, income, and gasoline prices are primary exogenous drivers of VMT. Development density is a primary endogenous driver. Urbanized areas with more freeway capacity are significantly less dense and have significantly higher VMT per capita. Areas with more transit service coverage and service frequency have higher development densities and per capita transit use, which leads to lower VMT per capita. The indirect effect of transit on VMT through land use, the so-called land use multiplier, is more than three times greater than the direct effect through transit ridership.
Perceived Neighborhood Environment and Transit Use in Low-Income Populations
Authors: Lee Jeongwoo
Published: March 2014

Although much has been written about local access to public transport, few studies have examined the role of the perceived environment in promoting transit by considering how the effects of these perceptions differ by neighborhood type. By analyzing the self-reported frequency of transit use and measured neighborhood attributes and using data from Los Angeles County, California, this study examined how the perceptions low-income people have about the walking environment affect their travel behavior. A principal component analysis was used to reduce many overlapping perceptional variables to latent factors that were used in subsequent models of transit use. Four perceptional attributes that affect regular transit use are identified: physical safety, personal safety, amenities, and perceived isolation. The results of this study show that unfavorable perceptions of environmental conditions are independently associated with decreased regular transit use; however, these effects vary among different neighborhood types. Personal safety related to crime and violence is the major concern associated with decreased transit use in mixed land use neighborhoods; in low-density neighborhoods, isolation from the street environment and physical safety concerns, including dangerous crosswalks, are the significant deterrents to public transportation use. Notably, low-income travelers view the conditions of their walking environment as problematic more often than do higher-income travelers, and it appears that transit use by lower-income travelers is more likely to be affected by safety concerns than by other urban design factors of their neighborhood. Findings suggest that safety concerns precede amenity concerns; therefore, enhancing neighborhood safety is the necessary first step to increasing the utility of transit for low-income people.
Integrating the Military into the Metropolitan Transportation Planning Process
Authors: Belfield Samuel S.
Published: March 2014

According to the TRB Military Transportation Committee, most U.S. metropolitan planning areas with military installations currently have a disconnect between Department of Defense military bases, metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), departments of transportation, and local communities. The Hampton Roads (Virginia) Transportation Planning Organization (HRTPO), however, has a long-standing relationship with the military community and has taken steps to increase related efforts in recent years. HRTPO has advanced the cause of planning in Hampton Roads—and, by example, in the United States—through a coordinated approach to meeting the transportation needs of the military located in the Hampton Roads region. In response to military concerns about local traffic congestion and delays, the HRTPO board placed greater emphasis on military transportation planning in the region by endorsing annual military briefings by military representatives to the MPO board and by including a military needs study in its work program. The Hampton Roads Military Transportation Needs Study, an ongoing effort by HRTPO, is reportedly the first and only attempt of an MPO to identify solutions to the transportation needs of the local military. The purpose of this paper is to inform other metropolitan areas about the integration of the military into the transportation planning process in Hampton Roads and to provide a summary of key findings from the region's Military Transportation Needs Study. Other MPOs can apply the methods, results, successes, and lessons learned from Hampton Roads to their respective regions.
Using Technology to Build and Manage a Two-Way Public Conversation on Transportation Issues
Authors: Griffith Reema , Young Bill
Published: March 2014

The Washington State Transportation Commission (WSTC) has pioneered a new approach to involving the public in transportation policy by using online surveying and survey panels. To broaden outreach to Washington State residents and improve public engagement with government, WSTC created the Ferry Riders’ Opinion Group (FROG) survey panel in 2007. WSTC, whose responsibilities include setting ferry fares and highway tolls, began by surveying ferry riders’ views on customer service, ferry fares, and fare policies. After discovering how eager ferry riders were to share ideas and opinions, WSTC created an online survey panel of ferry riders to listen and communicate with them about more detailed, focused topics such as ferry service levels, assessment of mode shift potential, and system investment priorities. In 2012 WSTC took this two-way, dynamic interaction with the public to the next step, launching the Voice of Washington State (VOWS) online survey statewide panel. The FROG and VOWS programs elicit citizen views on transportation policy and funding, generating unique data that WSTC then shares with state and local decision makers. These survey panels engage the silent majority in policy making in a manner never before offered. This paper describes the development of the FROG and VOWS survey panels, the recruitment and retention of panel members, and how survey results are analyzed and reported to decision makers and panel members. The many participants and the real and responsive policy changes resulting from the survey data demonstrate the success of these programs.
Identifying Resiliency Performance Measures for Megaregional Planning
Authors: Beiler Michelle Oswald , McNeil Sue , Ames David , Gayley Rebekah
Published: March 2014

Transportation corridors in megaregions present a unique challenge for planners because of the high concentration of development, complex interjurisdictional issues, and history of independent development of core urban centers. The concept of resilience, as applied to megaregions, can be used to understand better the performance of these corridors. Resiliency is the ability to recover from or adjust easily to change. Resiliency performance measures can be expanded on for application to megaregions throughout the United States. When applied to transportation corridors in megaregions and represented by performance measures such as redundancy, continuity, connectivity, and travel time reliability, the concept of resiliency captures the spatial and temporal relationships between the attributes of a corridor, a network, and neighboring facilities over time at the regional and local levels. This paper focuses on the development of performance measurements for evaluating corridor resiliency as well as a plan for implementing analysis methods at the jurisdictional level. The transportation corridor between Boston, Massachusetts, and Washington, D.C., is used as a case study to represent the applicability of these measures to megaregions throughout the country.
Megaregion Network Simulation for Evacuation Analysis
Authors: Zhang Zhao , Spansel Katherine , Wolshon Brian
Published: March 2014

This paper describes a project to develop a microlevel traffic simulation for a megaregion. To accomplish that goal, a mass evacuation event was modeled with a traffic demand generation process that created a spatial and temporal distribution of departure times, origins, and destinations based on past hurricane scenarios. A megaregion-scale simulation was required to assess this event, because only at this level could traffic from multiple cities, over several days, with route assignments in multiple and overlapping directions be analyzed. One finding of the research was that it was possible to scale up and adapt existing models to reflect a simultaneous multicity evacuation covering a megaregion. The movements generated by the demand and operational models were logical and meaningful, and they were able to capture the key elements of the system, including the traffic progression over vast spaces and long time durations. They were also adequate to demonstrate the benefits of proactive traffic management strategies and the effect of increased and decreased advance warning times. The project also revealed numerous limitations of the existing modeling and computational processing capabilities. The knowledge and results gained from this research can be adapted and can be transferable for the evaluation of other locations with different road networks, populations, transportation resources, and hazard threats. Models such as this can also be modified to represent future anticipated growth and development in other large regions and can be used to evaluate the performance, varying conditions, and interrelationships between behavioral response and regional transportation management strategies.
Culture, Entertainment and Listening Habits in The West German Discourse on Radio During the 1950s
Authors: Nietzel Benno
Published: March 2014

This article examines the intellectual discourse in West Germany on the role of entertainment in radio programs during the 1950s. Although accounting for most of the airtime and being an assigned mission of public broadcasters, many radio officials and experts continued to be suspicious of entertainment. Strongly adhering to the classical tradition of highbrow culture, these humanistic intellectuals had difficulties accepting entertainment as an integral component of broadcasting. The only discursive path for them to adopt entertainment as a legitimate concept was to discuss its specific contribution in the context of Bildung and Kultur. The article thus provides insight into how members of the cultural elites came-to-terms with the rise of popular culture during the 1950s.
Troubling Territory: West Germany in the European Airwaves
Authors: Badenoch Alexander
Published: March 2014

Until recently, broadcasting in Europe has been seen by historians and broadcasters alike as intricately related to national territory. Starting immediately after the Second World War, when West German national territory was still uncertain, this article explores how the broadcasting space of the Federal Republic (FRG) shaped and was shaped by material, institutional, and discursive developments in European broadcasting spaces from the end of World War II until the early 1960s. In particular, it examines the border regimes defined by overlapping zones of circulation via broadcasting, including radio hardware, signals and cultural products such as music. It examines these spaces in part from the view of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the federation of (then) Western public service broadcasters in Europe. By reconstructing the history of broadcasting in the Federal Republic within the frame of attempts to regulate European broadcasting spaces, it aims to show how territorial spaces were transgressed, transformed, or reinforced by the emerging global conflict.
Sounds of the Apocalypse: Preserving Cold War Memories in Ulrich Horstmann's Radio Play Die Bunkermann-Kassette
Authors: Roessler Gerrit K.
Published: March 2014

This article examines Ulrich Horstmann's science fiction radio play Die Bunkermann-Kassette (The Bunker Man Cassette, 1979), in which the author frames fears and anxieties surrounding a potential nuclear conflict during the Cold War as apocalyptic self-annihilation of the human race. Radio, especially radio drama, had a unique role in capturing the historical imaginaries and traumatic experiences surrounding this non-event. Horstmann's radio drama and the titular cassette tape become sound artifacts that speak to the technological contexts of their time, while their acoustic content carries the past sounds into the present. In the world of the play, these artifacts are presented in a museum of the future, which uses the possibilities of science fictional imagination and speculation to create prosthetic memories of the Cold War. The article suggests that these memories are cyborg memories, because the listener is a fully integrated component of radio technology that makes these memories and recollections of imagined events possible in the first place.
The Ethnography of the University Initiative: A decade of student research on the university
Authors: Hunter Gina , Abelmann Nancy
Published: March 2014

Welcome to this special issue of Learning and Teaching: The International Journal of Higher Education in the Social Sciences. As guest editors, we are delighted to be able to share the experiences of the Ethnography of the University Initiative (EUI, www.eui.uiuc.edu), a multi-disciplinary course-based initiative that fosters student research on their own universities and is

housed at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (U of I). EUI is at once a pedagogical approach, a teaching community and a digital archive. EUI also works as a research agenda committed to student engagement with university practice and policy – and thus to institutional critique. In this editorial introduction, we provide an overview of EUI’s history, innovations, organisational structure and guiding values. We also introduce this issue’s authors – faculty members, an administrator and a former student – all of whom have taught with EUI and have documented here the ways in which taking the university as a research subject transformed their courses and teaching, and in some cases, their programmes and learning.
The persistence of racial discomfort on campus: Ethnographic perspectives from under-represented student researchers
Authors: Fortier Priscilla
Published: March 2014

This article describes the findings of an undergraduate Ethnography of the University Initiative (EUI) course in which students examined the university's efforts to improve the racial climate of the campus. These institutional efforts are intended to create a more comfortable environment for under-represented minority students who often comprise a significantly smaller group on campus than in their home neighbourhoods and high schools. Many minority group students experience isolation and discomfort connected to a lack of 'ownership' of campus spaces and traditions, which tend to be monopolised by white students. In my EUI class, which was sponsored by the Office of Minority Student Affairs (OMSA) at the University of Illinois (U of I), under-represented minority students focused their ethnographic projects specifically on campus-sponsored programmes intended to facilitate interaction across racial and ethnic groups. Of particular interest to students were programmes related to residence halls and campus social spaces. The findings presented here indicate that campus-sponsored programmes to increase race awareness that depend upon students' voluntary participation may be less effective in bringing students together than required classroom-based programmes and informal interaction through shared extra-curricular passions.
Anti-racist teaching, student ethnography and the multiracial model of Islam
Authors: Rana Junaid
Published: March 2014

My Ethnography of the University (EUI) course 'Muslims in America' introduces undergraduate students to the racialisation of Islam and Muslims in the U.S. at large, and in the University in particular. In this article, I describe how an anti-racist pedagogy coupled with student ethnographic research can yield a rich learning process. Beginning with one of the key debates in the scholarship on Muslims in the United States, I introduce students to the productive ways in which a multiracial history of American Islam can inform their ethnographic research. Additionally, I elaborate the potential for student research to transform university policy. The University offers a valuable ethno- graphic site for the critical study of the history and place of Muslims in U.S. society, politics and culture.
Critical race ethnography of higher education: Racial risk and counter-storytelling
Authors: Ramos Teresa
Published: March 2014

The Ethnography of the University Initiative (EUI) joins a long history of critique, challenge and transformation of higher education. EUI courses are an important site for the creation of non-traditional narratives in which students challenge 'business-as-usual' in higher education. For under-represented students, this includes inquiry and analysis of the racial status quo at the University. In this article, I provide a student's perspective on EUI through my own experiences with EUI research as both an undergraduate and later graduate student investigating race and racism at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (U of I). Using ethnographic methods and drawing on critical race theory, I provide two examples of EUI research that critiqued the University's management of race. The first example is a collaborative ethnography of the Brown versus Board of Education Commemoration at U of I – a project that I joined as an undergraduate (Abelmann et al. 2007); and the second is my own dissertation on 'racial risk management', a project that emerged from my encounter with EUI. I discuss both projects as examples of Critical Race Ethnography, namely works based on empirical research that challenge institutions' racial composition, structure and climate.
Reinventing the university: EUI as writing initiative
Authors: Prendergast Catherine
Published: March 2014

This article reports on the multi-year collaboration between the Ethnography of the University Initiative (EUI) at the University of Illinois and the University's Rhetoric Program, a required first-year writing course. I argue that this collaboration was successful in large part because the goals of writing programmes in American higher education settings – teaching the process of research, inviting students to see themselves as producers of knowledge and fostering collaboration between peers – are highly consonant with principles of EUI. Indeed, my own history with EUI reflects the parallel commitment of Writing Studies and the methods and goals of EUI. I suggest that EUI can serve as a powerful model for universities if they seek to place undergraduate student research writing at the core of their mission.
Examining the university: EUI at the confluence of student research, institutional critique, pedagogical community-building and technological change
Authors: Cain Timothy Reese
Published: March 2014

This concluding contribution to the special issue on the Ethnography of the University Initiative based at the University of Illinois locates the project at the intersections of several of the main currents in modern higher education: the push for undergraduate research, calls for critical inquiry into higher education, an interest in pedagogical communities and excitement over technological innovation. It further identifies the challenges facing EUI as it enters its second decade.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids Protect Renal Functions by Increasing Docosahexaenoic Acid-Derived Metabolite Levels in SHR.Cg-Leprcp/NDmcr Rats, a Metabolic Syndrome Model
Authors: Katakura Masanori , Hashimoto Michio , Inoue Takayuki , Mamun Abdullah , Tanabe Yoko , Iwamoto Ryo , Arita Makoto , Tsuchikura Satoru , Shido Osamu
Published: March 2014

The omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω-3 PUFAs) docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and/or eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) protect against diabetic nephropathy by inhibiting inflammation. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of highly purified DHA and EPA or EPA only administration on renal function and renal eicosanoid and docosanoid levels in an animal model of metabolic syndrome, SHR.Cg-Leprcp/NDmcr (SHRcp) rats. Male SHRcp rats were divided into 3 groups. Control (5% arabic gum), TAK-085 (300 mg/kg/day, containing 467 mg/g EPA and 365 mg/g DHA), or EPA (300 mg/kg/day) was orally administered for 20 weeks. The urinary albumin to creatinine ratio in the TAK-085-administered group was significantly lower than that in other groups. The glomerular sclerosis score in the TAK-085-administered group was significantly lower than that in the other groups. Although DHA levels were increased in total kidney fatty acids, the levels of nonesterified DHA were not significantly different among the 3 groups, whereas the levels of protectin D1, resolvin D1, and resolvin D2 were significantly increased in the TAK-085-administered group. The results show that the use of combination therapy with DHA and EPA in SHRcp rats improved or prevented renal failure associate with metabolic syndrome with decreasing triglyceride levels and increasing ω-3 PUFA lipid mediators.
Cytotoxic Quinones from the Roots of Aloe dawei
Authors: Abdissa Negera , Induli Martha , Fitzpatrick Paul , Alao John , Sunnerhagen Per , Landberg Göran , Yenesew Abiy , Erdélyi Máté
Published: March 2014

Seven naphthoquinones and nine anthraquinones were isolated from the roots of Aloe dawei by chromatographic separation. The purified metabolites were identified by NMR and MS analyses. Out of the sixteen quinones, 6-hydroxy-3,5-dimethoxy-2-methyl-1,4-naphthoquinone is a new compound. Two of the isolates, 5,8-dihydroxy-3-methoxy-2-methylnaphthalene-1,4-dione and 1-hydroxy-8-methoxy-3-methylanthraquinone showed high cytotoxic activity (IC50 1.15 and 4.85 µM) on MCF-7 breast cancer cells, whereas the others showed moderate to low cytotoxic activity against MDA-MB-231 (ER Negative) and MCF-7 (ER Positive) cancer cells.