No Brasil, pesquisas sobre a situação nutricional apontam para a redução da prevalência de desnutrição no país, mas se observa o aumento da prevalência de sobrepeso e de obesidade. Apesar do diagnóstico nutricional positivo, alguns problemas estruturais permanecem, como a elevada concentração de renda, os altos níveis de analfabetismo funcional, a discriminação social e racial e a prevalência de Insegurança Alimentar e Nutricional (INSAN). Está em curso um processo de legitimação e de exigibilidade do Direito Humano a Alimentação Adequada, no Brasil. A própria constituição federal e a Lei Orgânica de SAN (LOSAN), sancionada em 2006, integram um conjunto de regras de ordenamento jurídico do país que, em tese, garantiria uma alimentação saudável e adequada a todos os brasileiros, em consonância com as Diretrizes Voluntárias da FAO e com os tratados internacionais de direitos humanos, aos quais o Brasil é signatário. O objetivo geral do presente estudo é analisar a Política de Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional (PNSAN) em construção no Brasil, discutindo o seu arranjo institucional e a alocação de recursos. A metodologia da pesquisa foi baseada na análise de dados secundários, de documentos oficiais, e na legislação pertinente envolvendo o período de 2003 ao final do ano de 2008. A análise teve como suporte teórico os ensinamentos da Economia Institucional e de Finanças Públicas. Entre os principais resultados destaca-se a conclusão de que a Política de Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional brasileira está constituída. Com as Leis que a embasam tornou-se uma política de Estado e não mais de um Governo, entretanto, um dos tripés de sua “institucionalidade”, a Câmara Interministerial criada em 2007, peça-chave no processo de articulação da PNSAN, por sua natureza intersetorial, é, sem dúvida, o órgão mais precário do SISAN. Apesar dessa falha institucional, a política tem recebido apoio econômico substantivo, contudo os recursos estão concentrados em um único programa, importante, mas não estruturante. Programas que garantam o emprego e a produção, passando por qualificação, educação e assistência técnica são inequivocamente essenciais para a garantia do Direito Humano a Alimentação Adequada a todos os brasileiros e portanto deveriam receber maiores quantidades de recursos orçamentários. / In Brazil, research on the nutritional situation shows the reduction of the prevalence of malnutrition in the country, but reveals the increased prevalence of overweight and obesity. Although the positive nutritional diagnosis, structural problems remain, such as high income concentration, high levels of functional illiteracy, social and racial discrimination and the prevalence of Food and Nutrition Insecurity. There is an ongoing process of legitimation and enforceability of the Human Right to Adequate Food in Brazil. The federal constitution and the Food and Nutritional Security Law, published in 2006, incorporate a set of rules that, in theory, ensure a healthy and adequate diet to all Brazilians, in line with the FAO Voluntary Guidelines and the international human rights treaties to which Brazil is signatory. The general objective of this study is to analyze the Food and Nutritional Security Policy under construction in Brazil, discussing its institutional arrangement and allocation of resources. The methodology of the research was based on the analysis of secondary data, from official documents, and legislation involving the period of 2003 to 2008. The theoretical analysis was based on the teachings of Institutional Economics and Public Finance. Among the main results there is a conclusion that the Brazilian Food and Nutritional Security Policy is established, with Laws that makes it as a State Policy rather than a government. However, one of the tripods of its \"institutions\", the \"Câmara terministerial\" established in 2007, a key element in the articulation of this Policy, is without doubt the most precarious element of the Food and Nutritional Policy system. Despite this institutional failure, the policy has received substantial economic support, however the resources are concentrated in a single program, an important one, but not structural. Programs made to ensure employment and production, through skills, education and technical assistance are clearly essential to ensure the human right to adequate food to all Brazilians and therefore should receive higher amounts of budgetary resources.

The key underlying question of this dissertation is how individuals develop informed views about the open international economy and make informed decisions as consumers, workers and voters. Globalization has generated competing interest groups that are highly informed about its effects. Each of these groups can exploit its informational advantage and strategically provide information to less informed individuals in order to shape their policy preferences and economic and political behavior. Focusing on this informational discrepancy among domestic actors, this dissertation investigates the mechanisms and the effects of information dissemination from three different angles. The first chapter examines the role of product-related information provided by the news media, biased in favor of domestic firms, in shaping consumer behavior. In the second chapter, I examine the role of trade-related information provided by interest groups in altering the trade preferences of workers. In the third chapter, I examine the role of trade-related information provided by political elites in shaping their constituents' attitudes toward trade. These essays contribute to the extant international political economy literature by introducing an actor that has been largely neglected, illuminating new causal mechanisms with information at the center, and clarifying the causal effect of certain economic groups in trade policy preference formation.

The 2001 destruction of the World Trade Center and the subsequent anthrax attacks highlighted the inability of an antiquated public health system in the United States to respond effectively to emergencies. Little documentation exists to define how public health agencies can improve performance. The overarching research question was the extent to which drills and exercises improve performance in public health emergencies. Adult learning theory and deliberate practice theory were explored in this context. The research data were from 50 state public health departments, which were required to report performance information to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The data were examined using Poisson analysis and logistic regression. Results indicated that drills and exercises had no statistically significant impact on public health performance for the 3 performance measures examined; of all predictors, what explained the most variance in reaching performance targets was the number of real emergencies to which a health department had responded in the past. Performing drills and exercises did not predict the likelihood of reaching performance targets. These findings have implications for positive social change for Congressional leaders and other government representatives. Such public servants could use this information to guide their efforts to redirect public health emergency preparedness funds away from drills and exercises and toward other fundamental public health activities. These more focused efforts could facilitate the improvement of public health laboratory capacity, the training of field epidemiologists, and the advancements in technology for enhanced reporting and surveillance.

In the best of times, emergency managers of athletic event venues struggle with the responsibilities of venue security. The possibility of terrorist threats exacerbates the situation, especially when security threats can involve a critical mass of spectators at an event. Emergency managers at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) athletic venues were the focus of this study. The overarching research question examined whether the minimum core competencies and qualifications for NCAA emergency managers were perceived by the same managers as being sufficient and in alignment with the work that is expected of the position. Research questions were designed to study what practices emergency managers in the field deemed as the most important minimum work qualifications necessary to competently perform their duties. A quantitative survey instrument was administered to 120 Division I-A football stadium emergency managers. A 42 percent response rate was obtained. Data were collected and analyzed using a 3-round Delphi technique. Data were solicited by an online survey for the first 2 rounds, and either online or by mail for the final round. A total of 50 core competencies were identified with a high rate of agreement (96 percent) among participants. Findings indicate that command level emergency management related experience is vitally important with developing the most competent stadium emergency manager, while advanced educational training opportunities available through the Department of Homeland Security and National Center for Sports Security ranked low. Positive social change implications stemming from this study include a greater understanding of skills required to secure sporting venues, thereby potentially increasing the level of safety to spectators and reducing the possibility of terroristic threat.

The growth of mobile phone use has paralleled increased reports of identity theft. Identity theft can result in financial loss and threats to a victim's personal safety. Although trends in identity theft are well-known, less is known about individual cell phone users' attitudes toward identity theft and the extent to which they connect it to cell phone use. The purpose of this qualitative study was to determine how cell phone use is affected by attitudes toward privacy and identity theft. The study was based on social impact theory, according to which people's attitudes and behavior are affected by the strength and immediacy of others' attitudes and behavior. The research questions concerned the extent to which participants connected cell phone use with decreasing privacy and increasing cybercrime, how the use of biometrics affected cell phone users' attitudes and behavior, and what steps can be taken to reduce the misuse of private information associated with cell phone use. Data collection consisted of personal interviews with representatives from 3 groups: a private biometrics company, individual cell phone users who earn more than {dollar}55,000 a year, and individual cell phone users who earn less than {dollar}55,000 a year. Interviews were transcribed and coded for themes and patterns. Findings showed that interviewees were more likely to see identity theft as a problem among the public at large than in the industries in which they worked. Participants recommended a variety of measures to improve cell phone security and to reduce the likelihood of identity theft: passwords, security codes, voice or fingerprint recognition, and encryption. The implications for positive social change include informing government officials and individual users about the use and abuse of cell phones in order to decrease violations of privacy and identity theft while still promoting national security.

Thesis (M. Soc. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1987.

Thesis (M.S.W.)--University of Hong Kong, 1981.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Victoria University of Wellington, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (D.P.H.)--University of Michigan.