URBAN SPRAWL AND OBESITY

In the U.S., urban sprawl and the rise in obesity rates have been two powerful trends during the latter half of the 20th century. Previous empirical work has found that obesity rates are influenced by labor market outcomes that are fundamentally shaped by the spatial pattern of developed land. We examine these potential linkages in an urban spatial model augmented to include time allocation and weight. Residents maximize utility defined over housing, weight, and food subject to a fixed time budget allocated to commuting, calorie expenditure, and work. We examine how weight is affected by commuting distance, food prices, and the rate of calorie expenditure; how a reduction in transportation costs affects weight throughout the city; and how initial weight affects location decisions. We identify, and explore the significance of, the conditions under which weight gain is associated with common features of sprawl.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Restricted Opportunities, Personal Choices, Ineffective Policies: What Explains Food Insecurity in Oregon?

This study examines the extent to which household demographics, local economic and social conditions, and federal food security programs explain the likelihood of household food insecurity in Oregon. Between 1999 and 2001, Oregon had the highest average rate of hunger in the nation and ranked in the top five states with respect to food insecurity. Statistical analyses using a multivariate logit model reveal that food insecurity is influenced by much more than demographics and individual choices. County-level factors such as residential location (urban versus rural) and housing costs significantly affect the likelihood that families will be food insecure.food insecurity, food stamps, hunger, rural residence, Food Security and Poverty,

The strategic mind of Zbigniew Brzezinski: how a native Pole used Afghanistan to protect his homeland

Many years after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in late 1979, Zbigniew Brzezinski and Robert Gates revealed several formerly classified details regarding the Carter Administration’s pre-invasion aid to the Mujahideen resistance fighters. Unwittingly, these separate yet interconnected disclosures from Brzezinski and Gates gave the appearance that the White House had intentionally lured the USSR into an insurgent-infested trap in Afghanistan designed to give Moscow its own Vietnam War. Brzezinski, being in a much higher position within the administration than Gates and coming forth with the most provocative revelations, was subsequently accused by many of essentially instigating a war all by himself. But although Brzezinski had hoped that the Soviets would get bogged down in a “Vietnamese quagmire” in Afghanistan if they decided to intervene, he did not attempt to lure the Russians into a trap. The covert aid to the Mujahideen was carried out to trap Moscow only if it continued to act aggressively in the Third World. In addition to Brzezinski’s need to limit the Soviet Union’s capability to project strength in the Third World, he admitted to this author that he had other strategic and personal reasons for aiding the Mujahideen. Months before President Carter signed the covert aid directive on July 3, 1979, Brzezinski had begun to receive quite explicit information from CIA assets in his native Poland that the situation there was on the verge of an explosion. These developments prompted him to turn his thoughts toward both crises simultaneously, with the ultimate goal to develop a strategy that would protect his homeland at all costs. In the final analysis, Brzezinski was correct in his assessment that aiding the Mujahideen and turning up the heat on the Soviets in Afghanistan would later prevent the Kremlin from sending its troops into Poland in order to squelch the burgeoning labor movement known as Solidarity

Balancing Coordinated Care with Tribal Sovereignty: Lesson’s from Oregon’s Medicaid Reform

The purpose of this case study is to examine the efforts made by the legislature and the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) to involve Oregon’s nine federally recognized tribes in the implementation of the revised Oregon Health Plan. We identified eight key informants, consisting of four tribal representatives and four state representatives, for interviews. Additionally, we identified the contact person from each newly-established Medicaid delivery network to determine if they had included the tribe(s) or planned to include the tribe(s) in their network. The OHA made some steps to ensure the inclusion of tribes in the planning and implementation process, but were challenged with the rapid implementation timeframe. Formal linkages between the tribes and Medicaid delivery networks were not developed. The federally recognized tribes of Oregon and their respective members had legitimate concerns about the revised Oregon Health Plan and how they might affect access to health care services and provider reimbursements. As other states expand Medicaid based on changes resulting from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the needs of American Indians and Alaska Natives must be included in the planning process

Software for Engineering Simulations of a Spacecraft

Spacecraft Engineering Simulation II (SES II) is a C-language computer program for simulating diverse aspects of operation of a spacecraft characterized by either three or six degrees of freedom. A functional model in SES can include a trajectory flight plan; a submodel of a flight computer running navigational and flight-control software; and submodels of the environment, the dynamics of the spacecraft, and sensor inputs and outputs. SES II features a modular, object-oriented programming style. SES II supports event-based simulations, which, in turn, create an easily adaptable simulation environment in which many different types of trajectories can be simulated by use of the same software. The simulation output consists largely of flight data. SES II can be used to perform optimization and Monte Carlo dispersion simulations. It can also be used to perform simulations for multiple spacecraft. In addition to its generic simulation capabilities, SES offers special capabilities for space-shuttle simulations: for this purpose, it incorporates submodels of the space-shuttle dynamics and a C-language version of the guidance, navigation, and control components of the space-shuttle flight software

Nutritional adequacy of meals from an independent catering facility versus chain restaurants for young adults

BACKGROUND: Eating out of home has been associated with the increasing prevalence of obesity. While some chain restaurants provide nutritional information for their products, smaller independent catering facilities may not provide such information. The aim of this study was to assess the nutritional adequacy of meals provided to young adults at an independent catering facility and compare them with meals provided by chain restaurants. METHODS: Meals were analysed in 2014 in the UK in relation of nutrient provision to targets for macro- and micro-nutrients. One-way ANOVA was performed to compare menus between the restaurants included in the analyses. RESULTS: 2056 meal combinations were analysed, 210 from the student accommodation and 1,846 from five largest national chain restaurants. Mean (SD) nutritional content was: student accommodation: 1193(269)kcal, fat 52.0(22)g, saturated fat 24.5(14.5)g, protein 42.4(28.5)g, carbohydrate 117.0(30)g; chain restaurants: 922(160)kcal, fat 40.0(9.7)g, saturated fat 14.5(5.8)g, protein 31.2(6.5)g, carbohydrate 104.2(16.6)g. Meals from the student accommodation presented significantly more calories than the meals in all five chain restaurants ( p = 0.0015). CONCLUSIONS: Meal provision in the student accommodation was in excess of energy requirements and higher than the meals offered in chain restaurants. Regulating or setting nutritional standards for all places that provide food is essential as current food provision may favour unwanted weight gain and diet-related diseases