Geographic impacts of federally funded state-based obesity programs on adult obesity prevalence in the United States

Koh, Keumseok Michigan State University ProQuest Dissertations & 2016 해외박사(DDOD)

Approximately one-third of adults in the United States are obese. Following a moderate increase in obesity during the 1970s, obesity prevalence in the U.S. has more than doubled since the 1980s. There are also large black and white disparities in obesity prevalence. Obesity is an important public health problem because it is related to many comorbidities, including heart disease and cancer that cause premature mortality. Since 2000, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity (DNPAO) has funded 37 state health departments to reduce the rising obesity in populations within their states. Importantly to-date there have not been any national studies evaluating the impacts of these CDC-DNPAO funded programs on changing obesity prevalence within and across funded and non-funded states. This dissertation research therefore, investigated the impacts of CDC-DNPAO state-specific obesity intervention programs on the geography of adult obesity in the United States at the county level. The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) and census data comprised the data used for this research. Theoretical frameworks and techniques were applied from the fields of health geography, population geography and economics. This dissertation research included three independent and interrelated studies described below. The first study utilized a spatial microsimulation approach to indirectly estimate obesity prevalence at the county level. Obtaining a comprehensive obesity dataset across all counties is challenging because the BRFSS is designed to estimate obesity prevalence only at the national or state levels. There is a need therefore to apply spatial microsimulation modeling to virtually replicate the demographic characteristics of BRFSS survey respondents and allocate their BMI status at the county level. Obesity prevalence estimates---i.e., the number of obese cases/ population at risk from the spatial microsimulation modeling were mapped to visualize and explore the spatial patterns and detect obesity clusters. Counties in Southern states, especially along the Mississippi River and the Appalachian Mountains, and counties containing or in proximity to American Indian reservation sites had elevated obesity prevalence rates across time, 2000 to 2010. The output from the spatial microsimulation is also used in the subsequent two studies in this dissertation research. The second study evaluated the impact of the CDC-DNPAO programs on obesity prevalence in states with and without funding using an interrupt time series modeling technique to identify where state CDC-DNPAO programs were more or less protective of adult obesity and where to target future interventions. The third study partitioned the variance in obesity prevalence between blacks and whites into explainable and unexplainable portions of obesity using a reweighting decomposition technique to further understand these disparities. The findings from this research identified where programs have been successful in controlling obesity and where to target future interventions to reduce obesity, reduce racial disparities in obesity and improve population health. The translation of this knowledge will also be helpful to reduce obesity in other countries, particularly those countries experiencing a transition toward obesity in their populations.

The Disenfranchisement of Justice-Involved College Students from State Financial Aid

Custer, Bradley D Michigan State University ProQuest Dissertations & 2019 해외박사(DDOD)

The collateral consequences of a criminal conviction have long-lasting and devasting effects on people involved in the criminal justice system. From losing the ability to find employment, to being banned from public housing, to losing access to most federal benefits, "justice-involved" people face a life of punishment, even after their sentences are completed. One rarely discussed collateral consequence is the inability of justice-involved people to get state financial aid grants for college. It is well known that incarcerated people cannot get federal Pell Grants for college, but some states impose even more restrictive barriers on state-funded scholarships for students who were previously convicted of crimes or who are currently incarcerated. Through statutory or regulatory eligibility rules, policymakers in over half of states deny aid eligibility to one or more populations of justice-involved student, according to this study's findings. The eligibility rules of these programs, often decades old, have never been investigated, leaving researchers without an understanding of the scope of the disenfranchisement of justice-involved students from state financial aid. This two-phase dissertation explores this policy issue. Because there was no existing research on this topic to build on, this dissertation begins with a descriptive study that illustrates the financial aid policy landscape for justice-involved students (Phase I). For the first time, I identified all the state grant programs that currently deny eligibility to incarcerated students and students with criminal convictions. The descriptive analysis also identifies when the policies were adopted and explores patterns in where the policies exist across the country. This accounting of policies unveils how commonly states deny aid to justice-involved students, something that policy researchers and advocates should scrutinize. Results from Phase I raised questions about the policymaking process, chiefly: how and why did state legislators adopt these eligibility rules to deny aid to justice-involved students? This is the pursuit of the policy adoption study (Phase II). Using qualitative case study methodology and framed in a conceptual model of state policy innovation and diffusion in higher education, I interviewed state policymakers and studied historical documents to understand the rationales for denying state grant aid to justice-involved students. Findings have implications for the study of state policy adoption as well as for policymakers and advocates seeking to restore state financial aid to justice-involved students.

Uber Politics: The Sharing Economy Meets American Federalism

Rosebrook, Erika Michigan State University ProQuest Dissertations & 2019 해외박사(DDOD)

This dissertation analyzes the policy paths of short-term rentals and ride-sharing to understand how and when state governments intervene in local issues. I use an original dataset of all state sharing economy policy from 2009–2018 to detail how the sharing economy emerged into the American policy landscape and was processed by state and local governments and the ways American federalism shaped the outcomes. Expectations from existing research would predict that the processes of short-term rental and ride-sharing policy adoption are similar and driven by partisanship, however through quantitative analysis and detailed case studies I find that instead, the policies proceed differently based on the division of functional responsibilities between state and local governments. Forty-nine states, driven by an alliance between interest groups and the availability of model legislation, quickly adopted similar ride-sharing regulations grounded in insurance policy that also largely eliminated local policymaking authority. For short-term rentals, the twenty-two states that have adopted state-level policy have moved more deliberately, customized the policy to state needs, and left cities with the governing authority to respond to local concerns. The divergent outcomes illustrate how states and cities sort out who governs what by filtering competing arguments and policy preferences through their existing functional responsibilities. This functional fit directs policies toward more receptive venues: if ride-sharing policy is about insurance, states, which typically regulate insurance, are more likely to step in and restrict local policy involvement. Conversely, after states were assured of receiving tax revenue, they left the regulation of short-term rentals to cities, as is typical for other land use-related governance. Ultimately, this research adds to the understanding of how emerging issues enter the policy landscape and when states intrude in local concerns.

Measuring the value and economic impacts of changes in water quality at Great Lakes beaches in Michigan

Cheng, Li Michigan State University ProQuest Dissertations & 2016 해외박사(DDOD)

The objectives of this dissertation are to measure the monetary value of public Great Lakes beaches, then to measure the monetary value and economic impacts of water quality improvements to Great Lakes beaches. The first essay applied all trip data from a general population survey to Michigan adults to estimate the economic value of the public Great Lakes beaches. We found that on average a Michigan resident took 3.8 trips to the Great Lakes beaches in the summer of 2011. The seasonal value of access to a public Great Lakes beach ranged from $24.74 to $28.07 per person per trip, which would be reduced to two-thirds of the value if we only used single day trip data. To incorporate water quality attributes, Essay 2 combined trip data (RP) and choice experiment data (SP) to estimate the economic benefits from water quality changes at Great Lakes beaches in Michigan. We first applied a scaling approach to jointly estimate the parameters of attributes in both RP and SP data sets under a unified RUM framework. Different model specifications for common preferences across the data types were tested. The common preference test between the RP and SP data was consistently rejected. Our results provided empirical evidences that the scaling approach is not sufficient to account for differences in the amount of unexplained variance when using RP and SP data together in some applications. With some caveats, we then applied the calibration of SP to RP approach to measure the change in consumer surplus in response to two types of water quality scenarios. We found that water quality improvement impacts Huron south most, Michigan south least; water quality degradation impacts Lake Michigan most, Huron south least. To measure the economic impacts of Great Lakes beaches, the third essay applied a visitor spending survey to estimate Michigan beachgoers' spending to Great Lakes beaches. An on-site recruitment of beachgoers was conducted at three public beaches in Michigan in 2014. Intercepted beachgoers were asked to take a web survey about their beach activities and their spending of the visits. A sample selection model was used to address potential nonresponse bias problem in the spending data. We found the regional spending of an average beachgoer to Great Lakes beaches ranged from $35.92 to $248.80 in 2014 dollars. Essay 4 integrated the recreation demand system from Essay 2 and spending analysis from Essay 3 to estimate regional variations in economic impacts from trips to Great Lakes beaches in Michigan. We found that the spending by all Michigan beachgoers living in the Lower Peninsula had a total economic impact of direct sales within a region that ranged from $425.87 million to $1,724.1 million per season in 2014 dollars.

Reforming Michigan's Criminal Indigent Defense Systems: Chief Judges' and Court Administrators' Experiences and Perceptions

Petlakh, Ksenia Michigan State University ProQuest Dissertations & 2017 해외박사(DDOD)

The need for improvement across Michigan's criminal indigent defense systems has long been recognized, and new legislation has created the opportunity to reform the quality of criminal indigent defense across the state. With the creation of the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission and the establishment of the first set of minimum standards for criminal indigent defense, this study uses this unique time in Michigan's history to study implementation of reform in the courts at a critical time. Using implementation science and role theory to guide the study, key stakeholders---chief judges and court administrators---were surveyed anonymously across the State of Michigan. They were queried on the current state of criminal indigent defense in their jurisdiction, their perceptions on the new reform, and their role in implementing this new reform. Their experiences and perceptions provide insight into the critical role that key stakeholders' perceptions play in implementing reform in organizations. Findings indicate that while there is widespread support for the reform effort for criminal indigent defense systems in Michigan, there is skepticism that the state will provide adequate funding in order to ensure the success of the reform. There are also concerns about the logistics of the reform as well as some confusion about the specific roles that chief judges and court administrators will fulfill in the implementation process. The study provides insight into the thought processes of key stakeholders at a critical starting point of reform implementation.

Women of Color International Graduate Students' Perceptions and Experiences of Safety and Violence while Studying in the United States

Naik, Sapna Michigan State University ProQuest Dissertations & 2021 해외박사(DDOD)

The purpose of this dissertation was to understand women of color international graduate students’ conceptualizations, perceptions, and experiences of violence and safety, in addition to the influences of those perceptions and experiences on their lives, while studying in the United States. I perceived women of color international graduate students to be at a particular juncture of political context and oppressions that could influence their experiences. I conducted a qualitative interview study of 11 women of color international graduate students enrolled in doctoral programs at two universities in the southern United States. I was informed by a framework made up of intersectionality and transnational feminism.I learned women of color international graduate students’ conceptualizations of violence and safety complicated those found in the literature by understanding violence and safety in terms of physical, non-physical, and security aspects. Participants also had complex experiences and perceptions, including experiences of sexual harassment, threats of physical violence, discrimination, and silencing. Participants shared financial and visa status insecurity as contributing to lack of safety. I found policies and events factored into participants’ assessments of safety to varying degrees, with gun violence and campus carry factoring in heavily while sexual harassment from faculty members was less of a concern. Coronavirus emerged as contributing to lack of safety. Influences on participants’ lives included the creation of strategies to maintain safety and prevent violence. In addition, I found participants spent a lot of time and energy thinking about their safety. Participants had perspectives about effects on their own lives including loss of freedom and increased empowerment.I asked participants about their perspectives of university responsibility. While some participants did not perceive the university had additional responsibility than what was already done, others perceived their universities could improve on transparency and training. Their recommendations informed my recommendations in the final chapter. I offered implications for practice and policy, including universities making changes within and advocating for changes at a state and national level. I also discuss implications for theory, including the need for a racialized, gendered, internationalized, and graduate student worker lens, and one that incorporates women of color international graduate students’ previous and current locations. Suggestions for future research include research with other populations and taking into account changing contexts. I offer implications for methods including those that may help researchers studying precarious populations. My hope is this research will positively influence women of color international graduate students’ experiences in the United States.

What Happens in Your State Doesn't Stay in Your State: Omissions and Opportunities in Policy Diffusion

Jordan, Marty P Michigan State University ProQuest Dissertations & 2019 해외박사(DDOD)

Decades of research have offered strong evidence for policy diffusion, whereby one government's adoption of a new policy influences subsequent governments' enactment of the same innovation. But most of this rich research has narrowly focused on the spread of statutes in the legislative arena, neglecting the myriad other venues where policy change occurs. And even when scholars have taken note of policies adopted via multiple forums, they have typically employed binary models to estimate enactment without accounting for inter-venue dynamics that might affect policy diffusion. In addition, nearly all diffusion studies fall prey to selection bias, explaining the transfer of innovations that have knowingly diffused, omitting from the models those policies that failed to spread. What is more, most of this research has focused on the transmission of the policy itself, overlooking the potential diffusion of alternative aspects of the policymaking process. This dissertation addresses these omissions and capitalizes on existing opportunities in the policy diffusion literature. First, to better understand the spread of policies beyond the legislative context, I mapped the diffusion of a large sample of ballot measures across U.S. states from 1902 - 2016, and both anti- and pro-gay marriage policies via multiple venues from 1993 - 2015. I offer evidence of policy diffusion via state legislatures, legislative referenda, citizen initiatives, state courts, and federal courts. While the results reinforce much of our current understanding of policy diffusion, they also help refine the precise nature of this dynamic process across varying institutional arrangements. Second, I used an established but underutilized modeling strategy-multinomial logistic regression-to better account for the transfer of innovative ideas via multiple competing arenas. This approach allows me to simultaneously recognize each factor's contribution to policy adoption in the respective venues and uncover inter-venue dynamics. Third, to address the persistent selection bias in diffusion studies, I relied on the same large sample of ballot measures pursued across U.S. states from 1902 - 2016. I find that nearly half of the ballot measures did not diffuse to other states, and almost three-quarters of the measures were enacted by less than a handful of states. Moreover, when I reran the models omitting policies that did not diffuse or only narrowly spread, policy learning's effect on adoption was twice as large when compared to the full set. This suggests that policy scholars may be overstating the rate of policy diffusion and inflating fundamental mechanisms' effect on the process.Finally, fusing the policy-diffusion and venue-shopping literatures, I investigated whether policy actors' choice of venue to press for anti- or pro-gay marriage policies in one state influenced subsequent states' actors to pick the same forum, a process I term venue diffusion. I posit that policy advocates look to and learn from others, purposively seeking a solution to their shared problem (i.e., policy learning) and how best to achieve that solution (i.e., political learning). By incorporating political learning into my models, I am better able to explain the dynamics of policy diffusion and offer evidence of venue diffusion, at least in the context of a salient morality policy. States are more likely to pick the venue that other, especially similarly-situated, states have chosen to enact the policy successfully. The interdependence between the American laboratories of democracy appears to go beyond merely the copying of a policy idea to emulating a fundamental input of the policymaking process.

Molecular diagnostics, epidemiology, and population genetics of the soybean sudden death syndrome pathogen, Fusarium virguliforme

Wang, Jie Michigan State University ProQuest Dissertations & 2016 해외박사(DDOD)

Soybean sudden death syndrome (SDS), caused by Fusarium virguliforme, is one of the most devastating diseases of soybean responsible for yield losses in both North America and South America. In the United States, F. virguliforme is the predominant SDS causal pathogen, while four Fusarium species including F. virguliforme can cause SDS in South America. All four SDS-causing Fusarium species are located in clade2 of the Fusarium solani species complex (FSSC) along with three bean root rot (BRR) Fusarium pathogens. Within this group of fungi, it is difficult to identify to species level based on morphological traits. We developed a specific and sensitive diagnostic real-time quantitative PCR assay (qPCR) for detection and quantification of F. virguliforme from plant or environmental samples. Furthermore, this assay was applied in characterization of temporal dynamics of F. virguliforme infection and colonization of soybean roots. The quantity of F. virguliforme increased over time and reached a plateau at the end of the season. The severity or appearance of SDS foliar symptoms was not associated with quantity of F. virguliforme infection, and cultivars with varied SDS resistance levels did not differ in their quantity of F. virguliforme in roots. The fungicide fluopyram has been demonstrated to be effective in reducing SDS foliar symptoms in field trials as a seed treatment; however, in vitro evaluation of fungicide baseline sensitivity of F. virguliforme had not been determined. In this study, 185 F. virguliforme isolates collected from multiple locations in the United States were selected for estimation of fungicide sensitivity to fluopyram. Overall, the US F. virguliforme population appears to be sensitive to fluopyram. The effective concentration to inhibit 50% growth for 95.1% of isolates was determined to be between 0.81 to 5 microg/ml, while only nine isolates were determined to be less sensitive. Since the first report of SDS in Arkansas in 1971, SDS had been reported in surrounding states with an apparent pattern of dispersal. To date, although SDS has been reported in most soybean producing areas in the United States, limited research had been conducted to study the population biology of F. virguliforme. We utilized 539 isolates from North and South America in a population genetics study to test the hypothesis that Arkansas was the center of introduction within the United States, and investigate possible intercontinental movement. The Arkansas population demonstrated the highest genotypic diversity and most diverse population structure. Coalescence based migration analysis also supported a directional migration model from Arkansas to Indiana and Michigan. Within the United States, there was a weak positive correlation (P = 0.08) between genetic dissimilarity and geographical distance, suggesting a mixed dispersal pattern of F. virguliforme in the United States. Although South America has been proposed as the center of origin in previous studies, this hypothesis was only supported in the migrate analysis, while the genotypic diversity and population structure compositions detected in the United States cannot be explained by this hypothesis. Therefore, Arkansas as the center of origin in the United States hypothesis is supported by the population genetic analyses, but the South America as the center of origin hypothesis does not have strong support in our analysis.

Lands of leisure: Recreation, space, and the struggle for urban Kenya, 1900-2000

Owen, Caleb Edwin Michigan State University ProQuest Dissertations & 2016 해외박사(DDOD)

The movement of people to cities has been a significant trend in the recent history of Africa; in the year 2000, the urban population in Africa superseded the rural. African cities are nonetheless underrepresented and misunderstood in historical scholarship. The predominant narrative of the city and urban life, particularly in the post-colonial context, has been one of impoverishment, social disjuncture, and state failure. My dissertation challenges this metanarrative, highlighting how non-elite Kenyan actors, through their struggles for public parks, playgrounds, and other spaces of leisure, had a stake in urban life and contributed to the production of the city. This dissertation highlights the role of recreation as a governing and community interest that shaped the development of urban policy and land use in Nairobi and Mombasa, Kenya's two largest cities. Through allocation of land for clubs, the state affirmed its authority as an arbitrator of multiple interests and constituencies. During the 1940s and 1950s, the state, viewing African boredom as a cause of social delinquency, promoted the development of new spaces of leisure---social halls, playing fields, and public gardens. Rather than reaffirming the state's position as the paternalistic guardian of African interests, these spaces were sites of social and cultural negotiation between urban Kenyans and colonial welfare officers. By independence, Kenyans recognized playgrounds, parks, and other recreational amenities as fundamental requisites of city life, connecting them with ideas of propriety, legitimacy, and dignity. My dissertation chronicles the struggles of urban Kenyans for recreational spaces in the midst of competing demands for urban space, extension of state authority, and the social effects of privatization and neoliberalism. My dissertation makes at least three contributions to historical literature. First, it calls attention to the capacity of non-elite actors to shape the physical production of urban environments, challenging the presumed dominance of ruling-class interests and capital. While Africans' perspectives on land use and environmental practice have been prominent themes in African historiography, it is less understood how Africans contributed to the built environments of cities. I highlight how non-elite Africans' concerns, interests, and activities shaped the work of urban planners and contributed to the changing physical landscape of the city. Secondly, my work shows how recreation shaped state policy, calling attention to alternative governing concerns of African states, beyond control of capital and resources. Finally, this work calls attention to previously underexplored relationships between matters of leisure and cultural production and the history of built environments in Africa. Rather than distinguishing cultural concerns of sports, dances, and cinema from material struggles over land and housing, my dissertation integrates these issues, highlighting how Africans' pursuit of leisure shaped---and was shaped by---competing claims for land.

Studies on Diversity of Alternaria alternata Associated with Alternaria Leaf Spot in Sugar Beet

Jayawardana, Malini Anudya Michigan State University ProQuest Dissertations & 2022 해외박사(DDOD)

Alternaria leaf spot (ALS) is one of the foliar diseases that can impact sugar beet. Recently, ALS has been an increasing issue in fields from several states in the United States including Michigan. One of the most common causative agents of ALS is Alternaria alternata. This same organism has been reported as a pathogen not only in sugar beet, but also in a number of other crops. Michigan is the second most agriculturally diverse state in the United States and a wide range of crops are grown in the state. Since A. alternata is a pathogen on a number of crops currently grown and associated with sugar beet crop rotation in Michigan, it is important to learn about the interactions between A. alternata and its hosts. Therefore, the current projects were carried out to examine some of the host-pathogen interactions in A. alternata with a focus on ALS in sugar beet. The first project addressed developing effective inoculation methods for ALS in the laboratory, greenhouse or in the field. An effective inoculation method for ALS in sugar beet is important for assessing potential management tools for ALS such as screening for resistance and for fungicide efficacy. A detached leaf assay and a greenhouse inoculation with the inoculum in 0.2% malt extract as an outside nutrient source indicated a significant difference between susceptible and resistant varieties for the disease. Field results showed a significant effect of inoculation in three out of four years but showed issues with other pathogens and still need further testing. However, preliminary evidence for a consistent inoculation was observed in 2021, where the inoculum in an outside nutrient source, similar to what we used in the greenhouse, gave higher disease severity than a non-inoculated control or water-suspended inoculum. The diversity of A. alternata was observed in the second and third projects. Aspects of the host range of A. alternata were examined by isolating the pathogen from four crops growing in Michigan and cross-inoculating each isolate across four hosts. All the A. alternata strains caused lesions on all four host crops tested regardless of the crop from which they originally were isolated. Therefore, the results supported a wide host range of A. alternata. Furthermore, genetic diversity of A. alternata was examined in the third project. A total of 48 A. alternata isolates, collected from four hosts in Michigan, and in silico data for an additional 15 A. alternata isolates from different hosts in other geographic areas, were used in a genetic analysis using three loci. The phylogenetic tree in this study agreed with previous reports of a high level of genetic diversity for A. alternata. This was the first study to examine diversity on beet and indicated similar diversity to what has been observed on other crops like potato and apple. No clear separation was observed between A. alternata strains related to the host from which they were originally collected. This further supports a lack of host specialization of A. alternata among the diverse hosts examined. Therefore, care should be taken when including these crops in a crop rotation system. If these crops are grown in rotation, the potential for disease development needs to be considered for appropriate management. The pathogen diversity also has implications for screening for host resistance.