Foodborne illness is a persistent problem in the food service industry. Restaurant inspections reveal that only 60-70% of restaurants are in compliance with health code requirements, which vary from state to state and county to county. In Maryland, 5 of the state's 24 counties have a requirement that restaurants classified as medium- or high-priority food establishments must employ certified food managers (CFMs). It is unknown how this requirement has influenced the operation of the affected restaurants and the extent to which the requirement has resulted in improved food handling safety. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine the effectiveness of CFMs in reducing the incidence of foodborne illness in Maryland counties. The study was based on the theory of planned behavior. The study was also based on the relationship between foodborne illness outbreaks and the presence of CFMs and the role such managers can play in reducing those outbreaks. Data were collected from the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene reports regarding foodborne illness outbreaks from 2004 to 2013. A total of 288 establishments were selected for analysis. Data analysis involved comparing results for the 5 counties that require CFMs with the 19 counties that lack this requirement. Results showed a significance difference of 0.008 (95% CI, 0.005), z = 4.71, p = 0.000 in the proportion of foodborne illness outbreaks between county restaurants that require CFMs and those without such a requirement. Social change implications include the potential to reduce the incidence of foodborne illness, thereby contributing to improved public health. The patrons who live in Maryland counties without onsite CFMs risk exposure to foodborne illness more than those living in counties with CFMs.

Since the implementation of the USA Patriot Act in October 2001, public trust in the U.S. federal government to protect individuals' right to privacy has been affected negatively. Many studies have addressed this topic, but few have delved deeply into the reasons behind the distrust. The purposes of this qualitative study were, to explore the perceptions and attitudes of U.S. citizens regarding the effect of the USA Patriot Act on their right to privacy, to determine whether a loss of trust in the government occurred, and to identify the factors contributing to the lack of trust. The theoretical foundation for this study was Rawl's Social Perspective of Public Trust, Sax's Augmentation of Social Contract Theory, and Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior. The central research question pertained to the views of U.S. citizens about the federal government's use of electronic surveillance to monitor their communication without their knowledge. A generic qualitative study design was employed using purposeful, semi-structured interviews of 20 purposely sampled adult male and female U.S. citizens. Data from the interviews were coded and categorized for thematic analysis. When confronted with the lesser known specifics of the electronic surveillance provision of the USA Patriot Act, participants were more likely to reject the government interference as an invasion of privacy. This study can provide guidance for the democratic basis of policymaking designed to protect U.S. citizens. The implication for social change includes providing information to policymakers of both the US and organizations of various sizes regarding the polarized views and lack of trust pertaining to electronic surveillance among U.S. public. This information can be used to implement program or campaign to foster trust.

Microplastics have increased water pollution, particularly in urban areas like Chicago. The purpose of this study was to explore how conflicts of interests and belief systems among different stakeholders can impede efforts for developing or revising plastic pollution mitigating laws. The theoretical foundation was Sabatier's advocacy coalition framework, which addresses public policies from the perspective of individual or organizational convictions. The research question addressed how policy makers can build coalitions among diverse stakeholders to formulate policies aimed at reducing microplastic pollution. A qualitative case study design included a document review and 12 semistructured interviews of participants drawn from 3 major different stakeholder groups. The interview data were transcribed, inductively coded and subjected to thematic analysis. The study showed universal stakeholder interest for the need for increased research on how microplastic pollution affects aquatic and human life. The results pointed to a moderate intensity of conflict among different stakeholders which enhances the likelihood for formulating microplastic pollution control policy. The study findings also show that policy-oriented learning can enhance increased stakeholder cooperation and lead to policy change on efforts to control microplastic pollution in waterways. Implications of the study for positive social change include increasing awareness of the sources and effects of plastic pollution, which may facilitate stakeholder cooperation and engineer the societal pressure required for formulating environmental and ecosystem protection policies. The result may be an improved environment and a reduction on the dangers of the plastic pollutants to aquatic and human lives.

No description available.

Typescript (photocopy) / Also published by Gower as `Housing in' capitalist societies, 1980 / xvii, 294 leaves ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Politics, 1981

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 181-188). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center.

Thesis--Ph. D., University of Hong Kong, 1985.

Individuals, endowments, pension funds, and sovereign wealth funds constantly face portfolio management decisions ultimately affecting the lives of billions. This dissertation addresses two crucial challenges in the context of portfolio management which are to identify the optimal portfolio at any given point in time and to transition the portfolio accordingly. The first essay considers the dynamic consumption/portfolio allocation problem and develops solution techniques allowing us to identify the optimal portfolio allocation (between a risky and risk-free asset) and consumption level over time. Deciding how much to consume, versus how much to save is a question affecting nearly everyone. This essay develops two perturbation methods that yield approximate closed-form solutions to dynamic portfolio allocation/consumption problems under general preferences and a time-varying investment opportunity set. These solution methods are illustrated with examples involving time-varying expected returns, volatility, and interest rates. The second essay examines this monolithic "risky asset" more closely, developing a robust diversification method to define the optimal allocation of assets within the risky portfolio component. This diversification method relies solely on the covariance structure of the investment opportunity set which can be much more precisely estimated than expected returns. Using this new approach leads to an alternative to the mean-variance efficient set of portfolios as traditionally implemented. The resulting optimally diversified portfolio equalizes the correlation between each asset and the overall portfolio. This approach provides individuals and institutions with a robust and stable asset allocation rule which avoids the typical over-concentrations associated with substantial losses during market downturns. The third essay analyzes the question of how to optimally transition a portfolio from one set of allocations to another in the face of transaction costs (which are quantity-sensitive) and a penalty (utility) function for not holding the target portfolio. This improves on existing models by allowing for portfolio mandates that may not be mean-variance efficient, e.g., if they are sub-portfolios and do not represent the total wealth of an investor, or if political or reputational concerns lead to restricting investments. This essay identifies a formula for the optimal rebalancing path and shows that there are several general factors influencing this path.

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Social Sciences

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration