Practice cost and size differences in invasive plant management strategies: An empirical analysis of US Great Plains states

Grassland conservation of the Conservation Stewardship Program in the United States (US) is one of the largest cost-sharing initiatives for protecting grazing land from invasive and woody plants. The practice cost and unit size of various invasive and woody plant management strategies, such as mulching, brush management, and pre- scribed burning, are different from state to state. We aimed to compare and examine the association between practice cost ($/acre[ac]) and standard unit size of practice (acre) of mulching, brush management, and pre- scribed burning strategies in nine US Great Plains states, including Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming. We estimated state-level average practice cost and unit size of mulching, brush management, and prescribed burning strategies using the conservation pay- ment data of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to determine a cost-minimizing management strategy. A linear regression model was used to understand the association between practice cost and unit size of different management strategies and states. Practice cost and unit size differ by invasive and woody plant manage- ment strategy and Great Plains state. In the nine US Great Plains states, prescribed burning costs less on average ($29/ac) than mulching ($222/ac) and brush management ($152/ac) but covers a larger area on average (239 acres/unit) than mulching (3.19 acres/unit) and brush management (132 acres/unit). From the regression results, we also find a significantly negative association between practice cost and unit size (Coef. = -0.18, p \u3c 0.05). For prescribed burning, the practice cost is significantly lower (Coef. = -148.70, p \u3c 0.00) than the reference category of mulching. Our findings imply a policy idea that prescribed burning could be a cost-minimizing and high- coverage strategy than brush management in managing woody invasion under existing cost-unit size framework. Alternatively, expanding the typical unit sizes of a small covering strategy such as mulching could be another policy option for further assessment

Relationships among college-level science course enrollment, environmental perception, and pro-environmental attitude: Evidence from the US General Social Survey

Understanding pro-environmental attitudes is critical to encouraging pollution-minimizing behaviors. Therefore, identifying associated factors is essential for understanding different types of pro-environmental attitudes. We aimed to investigate the associations among individuals’ college-level science course enrollment and their perceptions of the level of spending to improve and protect the environment, as well as their pro-environmental attitudes. We used nationwide population-based cross-sectional survey data from 2,348 individuals obtained from the General Social Survey in the United States. An ordered logistic model was used to examine the associations among college-level science course enrollment, environmental perception, and pro-environmental attitude. We found that science course enrollment was positively associated (OR:1.80, 95% CI: 1.17–2.75) with individuals’ pro-environmental attitudes. We also found that the perception that “too little” is spent on improving and protecting the environment was positively associated (OR:6.68, 95% CI: 2.46–18.12) with a pro-environmental attitude. Understanding how people’s college-level science education and positive environmental perceptions are associated with their positive pro-environmental attitudes could facilitate national environmental policy and the allocation of necessary funds

Estimation of household smoke-exposure risk using Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data

We introduce Stata and R codes to estimate the household smoke-exposure risk (SER) variable using cooking fuel- and cooking place-related information obtained from country-level demographic and health survey (DHS) data. Two categories of cooking fuels (smoke-producing and non-smoke producing fuels) and two categories of cooking places (indoor and outdoor) are used to estimate the household SER. Finally, household SER is classified into four levels of risk: high (cooking indoor using smoke-producing fuels), medium (cooking outdoor using smoke-producing fuels), low (cooking indoor using non-smoke-producing fuels), and very low (cooking outdoor using non-smoke-producing fuels). An example of a household SER calculation using the DHS data and codes is provided for clarification. The available DHS data of over 90 countries contain both cooking fuel- and cooking place-related information, so the method of estimating household SER would be the same for these countries. We introduce Stata and R codes to estimate the household smoke-exposure risk (SER) variable using cooking fuel- and cooking place-related information obtained from country-level demographic and health survey (DHS) data. Two categories of cooking fuels (smoke-producing and non-smoke producing fuels) and two categories of cooking places (indoor and outdoor) are used to estimate the household SER. Finally, household SER is classified into four levels of risk: high (cooking indoor using smoke-producing fuels), medium (cooking outdoor using smoke-producing fuels), low (cooking indoor using non-smoke-producing fuels), and very low (cooking outdoor using non-smoke-producing fuels). An example of a household SER calculation using the DHS data and codes is provided for clarification. The available DHS data of over 90 countries contain both cooking fuel- and cooking place-related information, so the method of estimating household SER would be the same for these countries

Relationships Among Toilet Sharing, Water Source Locations, and Handwashing Places Without Observed Soap: A Cross-Sectional Study of the Richest Households in Bangladesh

Background: A high percentage of the richest households in Bangladesh lack soap at their handwashing places, a problem that is typically considered to be one of the poor. Objective: We investigated toilet sharing practices, locations of water sources, and relevant sociodemographic factors associated with the observed handwashing places that lack soap in the richest (ninth wealth decile) households in Bangladesh. Methods: We used data from the 2017-18 Bangladesh Demographic and Health (BDHS) Survey. Logistic regression technique was used to investigate how toilet sharing practices, water source locations, and different sociodemographic factors were associated with observed handwashing places without soap. Results: We found that 25.8% of the richest households were observed to have no soap at their handwashing places. Of these households, those that shared their toilets with another household were 4.6 times (95% CI 3.15-6.60) more likely to observe handwashing places without soap as compared with those that did not share their toilets. Further, the richest households were 4.2 times (95% CI 2.38-7.33) more likely to observe handwashing places without soap if they collected water from their own yard or plot, and 7.1 times (95% CI 3.61-13.97) more likely to observe handwashing places without soap if they collected water from elsewhere in comparison to the reference group that collected water from their own dwelling. Conclusion: Sharing toilet with other households and location of main water source are associated with handwashing places without observed soap in the richest households in Bangladesh. These results can inform discussions of water availability and soap-handwashing related policy and program development

Investigating the determinants of inflationary trends in Bangladesh: an ARDL bounds F-Test Approach

Inflation appears to have emerged as a perennial phenomenon in Bangladesh in the recent past. High inflationary trend that began to show up since the second quarter of FY2010 continued throughout FY2011 and FY2012. In this regard, an empirical examination to explore the major sources of inflation is necessary for effective policy suggestions towards curbing inflationary pressure, ensuring price stability and attaining the desired economic growth. This paper investigates major determining factors of inflationary trends in Bangladesh during the period FY1981 to FY2009. An unrestricted error-correction model (UECM) version auto-regressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds F-test is employed to find out the short run and long run elasticities of the determinants of inflation. Empirical result reveals that domestic rice production affects inflation negatively in the short run to a significant extent. Conversely, domestic petroleum price and broad money (M2) supply have low but positive impact on inflationary trends. This suggests that increased domestic rice production and effective fiscal-monetary integration are the crucial policy options to curb the inflationary pressure in Bangladesh

Investigating the determinants of inflationary trends in Bangladesh: an ARDL bounds F-Test Approach

Inflation appears to have emerged as a perennial phenomenon in Bangladesh in the recent past. High inflationary trend that began to show up since the second quarter of FY2010 continued throughout FY2011 and FY2012. In this regard, an empirical examination to explore the major sources of inflation is necessary for effective policy suggestions towards curbing inflationary pressure, ensuring price stability and attaining the desired economic growth. This paper investigates major determining factors of inflationary trends in Bangladesh during the period FY1981 to FY2009. An unrestricted error-correction model (UECM) version auto-regressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds F-test is employed to find out the short run and long run elasticities of the determinants of inflation. Empirical result reveals that domestic rice production affects inflation negatively in the short run to a significant extent. Conversely, domestic petroleum price and broad money (M2) supply have low but positive impact on inflationary trends. This suggests that increased domestic rice production and effective fiscal-monetary integration are the crucial policy options to curb the inflationary pressure in Bangladesh

Investigating the determinants of inflationary trends in Bangladesh: an ARDL bounds F-Test Approach

Inflation appears to have emerged as a perennial phenomenon in Bangladesh in the recent past. High inflationary trend that began to show up since the second quarter of FY2010 continued throughout FY2011 and FY2012. In this regard, an empirical examination to explore the major sources of inflation is necessary for effective policy suggestions towards curbing inflationary pressure, ensuring price stability and attaining the desired economic growth. This paper investigates major determining factors of inflationary trends in Bangladesh during the period FY1981 to FY2009. An unrestricted error-correction model (UECM) version auto-regressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds F-test is employed to find out the short run and long run elasticities of the determinants of inflation. Empirical result reveals that domestic rice production affects inflation negatively in the short run to a significant extent. Conversely, domestic petroleum price and broad money (M2) supply have low but positive impact on inflationary trends. This suggests that increased domestic rice production and effective fiscal-monetary integration are the crucial policy options to curb the inflationary pressure in Bangladesh

Essays on Health Education and Behavior, and Household Decision-making

Unsafe water sources, poor sanitation, and insufficient hygiene practices are risk factors for disease among pastoralists (extensive livestock-keepers) in sub-Saharan Africa. Preventive health behaviors such as treating water, using pit toilets, and handwashing with soap—WASH behaviors—can reduce disease transmission and improve overall household health. This dissertation is a compilation of three empirical studies: one investigating pastoralist households’ water treatment, sanitation, and hygiene-related preventive health decisions; one examining the effect of a short education intervention on WASH behaviors; and one investigating seasonal differences in their primary water sources in the Iringa Rural District of south-central Tanzania. Chapter one investigates the socioeconomic, demographic, and environmental factors related to pastoralists’ WASH behaviors using household survey data of 196 pastoralists from Barabaig, Maasai, and Sukuma ethnic communities among 21 villages. Our results show that the percentage of school-going children in the household was associated with pastoralists’ water treatment behaviors, pit toilet use, and handwashing with soap after toilet use and working with livestock. Chapter two evaluates the impact of a short health educational intervention on pastoralists’ behaviors related to water treatment in the rainy and dry seasons and handwashing with soap at three critical points in time (before eating, after toilet use, and after working with animals). After two baseline surveys, we collected follow-up data from eight to 20 months after the educational intervention. We found no significant impact of the health education intervention on households’ water treatment and handwashing behaviors. Additional investigation of households’ attitudes and levels of knowledge, social norms, and belief-related factors will strengthen our understanding of their preventive health behaviors. The third chapter explores the socioeconomic, demographic, and spatial factors associated with the pastoralists using different primary water sources in the rainy and dry seasons. Using household-level survey data from four rounds (2012, 2013, 2015, and 2016), pastoralists were found to collect all or the majority of their household water from three major sources in both seasons: dug wells, piped water, and rivers, with slight seasonal variation. We also found seasonal differences in pastoralists’ primary household water sources, which were associated with pastoralists’ ethnic and village characteristics. These findings provide a foundation to better understand WASH behaviors, impacts of health education interventions on pastoralists’ WASH decisions, and source- and season-based water access and usage behaviors of pastoralist households to facilitate safe drinking water, improved sanitation, and handwashing practices

Mental model-based repeated multifaceted (MRM) intervention design: a conceptual framework for improving preventive health behaviors and outcomes

Objective: Field interventions employed to improve preventive health behaviors and outcomes generally use well established approaches; however, recent studies have reported that health education and promotional interventions have little to no impact on health behaviors, especially in low- and middle-income countries. We aimed to develop a conceptual framework to improve intervention designs that would internalize these concerns and limitations. Results: We identified three major experimental design- and implementation-related concerns associated with mental models, including the balance between the treatment and control groups, the treatment group’s willingness to adopt suggested behaviors, and the type, length, frequency, intensity, and sequence of treatments. To minimize the influence of these aspects of an experimental design, we proposed a mental model-based repeated multifaceted (MRM) intervention design framework, which represents a supportive intervention design for the improvement of health education and promotional programs. The framework offers a step-by-step method that can be used for experimental and treatment design and outcome analysis, and that addresses potential implementation challenges