You Get What You Pay For: Environmental Policy and Public Health

In this article, we examine the cumulative impact of state environmentalprotection policies and environmental quality on the healthof state residents in the United States. Using a series of pathanalytic models, we simultaneously analyze the effect of stateenvironmental policies on environmental pollution and healthoutcomes. Our results indicate that states with stronger environmentalprograms have lower levels of pollution and better public health.These results are robust across multiple measures and alternativemodel specifications. We also find some evidence that statesthat assume authority to implement federal environmental programshave worse health outcomes. Our findings suggest that overalllevels of public health may be affected by state choices withrespect to environmental policies and highlight the importanceof assessing programmatic consequences across policy areas.     

Serving those Who Served: Outcomes from the San Diego Veterans Treatment Review Calendar (SDVTRC) Pilot Program

Veterans Treatment Courts (VTCs) are a type of specialty treatment, problem-solving, criminal court. Though the number of VTCs has increased over the past decade, few research studies have examined their effectiveness. This paper examines the data collected concerning a particular VTC experience, the first 82 Veterans enrolled in the Veterans Treatment Review Calendar Pilot Program conducted by the California Superior Court of the county of San Diego from February 2011 until July 2014 (SDVTRC.) The evidence presented herein concerns the nature of this cohort’s population, the SDVTRC program structure in which these Veterans participated, and the outcomes of participation. SDVTRC participants showed a significant decrease in symptoms on 11 of 12 clinical measures from baseline to 12 months. Particular outcomes of the SDVTRC program were related to factors of military service, such as length of service, number of awards, and discharge status. There were also significant relationships between symptom decrease and court process factors, such as length of time in program and sanctions imparted. This court has a 0% recidivism rate, which is believed to be related to its systematic data collection process that was used to inform individualized treatment plans for participants. Implications for other VTCs are provided.     

Explaining the Association between Early Adversity and Young Adults’ Diabetes Outcomes: Physiological,Psychological, and Behavioral Mechanisms

Previous studies have documented that early adversity increases young adults’ risk for diabetes resulting in morbidity and comorbidity with adverse health conditions. However, less is known about how inter-related physiological (e.g., body mass index [BMI]), psychological (e.g., depressive symptoms), and behavioral mechanisms (e.g., unhealthy eating and sedentary behavior) link early adversity to young adults’ diabetes outcomes, although these mechanisms appear to stem from early stressful experiences. The current study tested the patterning of these longitudinal pathways leading to young adults’ diabetes using a nationally representative sample of 13,286 adolescents (54% female) over a period of 13 years. The findings indicated that early adversity contributed to elevated BMI, depressive symptoms, and stress-related health behaviors. The impact of these linking mechanisms on hierarchical diabetes outcomes (i.e., prediabetes and diabetes) remained significant after taking their associations with each other into account, showing that these mechanisms operate concurrently. The findings emphasize the importance of early detection for risk factors of young adults’ diabetes in order to minimize their detrimental health effects.     

The last acceptable prejudice: an overview of LGBT social and criminal injustice issues within the USA

The intolerance of, and discrimination against, gays and lesbians is not a new concept. Yet, as many parts of the world have begun to socially and legally recognize gay rights, in many ways, the USA has lagged behind. An overview of past and present lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender social and criminal justice within the USA are presented. Also, specific recommendations are made for the future in an effort to put an end to this last acceptable prejudice.     

A field study of the accuracy and reliability of a biometric iris recognition system

PurposeThe iris of the eye appears to satisfy the criteria for a good anatomical characteristic for use in a biometric system. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a biometric iris recognition system: Mobile-Eyes?.MethodsThe enrollment, verification, and identification applications were evaluated in a field study for accuracy and reliability using both irises of 277 subjects. Independent variables included a wide range of subject demographics, ambient light, and ambient temperature. A sub-set of 35 subjects had alcohol-induced nystagmus. There were 2710 identification and verification attempts, which resulted in 1,501,340 and 5540 iris comparisons respectively.ResultsIn this study, the system successfully enrolled all subjects on the first attempt. All 277 subjects were successfully verified and identified on the first day of enrollment. None of the current or prior eye conditions prevented enrollment, verification, or identification. All 35 subjects with alcohol-induced nystagmus were successfully verified and identified. There were no false verifications or false identifications. Two conditions were identified that potentially could circumvent the use of iris recognitions systems in general.ConclusionsThe Mobile-Eyes? iris recognition system exhibited accurate and reliable enrollment, verification, and identification applications in this study. It may have special applications in subjects with nystagmus.     

Agenda Setting in Emergent R&D Policy Subsystems: Examining Discourse Effects of the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act

The literature on government responsiveness to societal issues is extensive but provides a mixed assessment of effectiveness. We examine this issue in the case of policy addressing effective and safe management of research and development in the emerging field of nanotechnology. Specifically, we examine the agenda setting effects of the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act (the Act), a piece of legislation designed to be implemented by a network of actors in the nanotechnology research and development policy subsystem. We adopt a public values lens in our examination of discourse related to societal concerns. Policy documents from Congress, an agency, and federal funding recipients are examined. Findings suggest a narrowing of public values discourse around more specific societal concerns in the documents crafted after the Act was passed.