Objective: Tennessee’s tobacco use prevalence rate is 20.7%, compared to 16.1% nationally. This is associated with over 11,000 premature deaths and $5 billion annual costs. Over a third of young adults attend colleges/universities, and the use of electronic nicotine products is highest among this age group. This study created a Tennessee-specific best practices policy rating instrument to assist Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in crafting comprehensive nicotine product policies. Methods: Between August 2017 and October 2018, a Tobacco-Free Generation Campus Initiative-funded team developed the Nicotine Product Policy Index (NPPI) rating instrument, with 50 items within four sections: 1) environment, 2) enforcement, 3) prevention and treatment services, and 4) policy organization. The policies of 84 Tennessee HEIs were scored using the NPPI, and total scores were transformed to ratings from 0-5 for a comprehensive policy. Results: Of Tennessee’s 34 independent colleges/universities, 11.76% were rated at 0 for lack of policy accessible to investigators. Ratings of 1 were given to 44%, 2 to 8.82%, 3 to 14.71%, and 4 to 17.64%. A rating of 4 was given to 17.64% of independent colleges/universities,15.38% of Tennessee’s 13 Community Colleges and 33.33% of Tennessee’s six Locally Governed Institutions. All four University of Tennessee-affiliated institutions earned a 4 rating. Only one institutional tobacco/smoking policy rated a 5: Tusculum College, an independent college/university. Conclusion: The NPPI could guide development of comprehensive nicotine product policies designed to address the high prevalence of tobacco use.

Le Sénégal est confronté au double fardeau de la malnutrition mais l’influence des politiques publiques et des environnements alimentaires dans cette crise sont peu étudiés. Or, le gouvernement est actuellement engagé à développer les premières Recommandations Alimentaires Nationales (RANS). Dans ce contexte, l’objectif principal de cette étude est d’évaluer les politiques publiques et les actions gouvernementales visant la création d’environnements alimentaires sains au Sénégal en utilisant une méthodologie basée sur l’Indice de Politique pour un Environnement Alimentaire sain (Food-EPI) du réseau INFORMAS. Cette méthodologie permet de recenser, évaluer et définir un agenda de priorités pour les politiques publiques en misant sur une approche comparative et participative. D’abord, les actions gouvernementales et les politiques publiques mises en place par le gouvernement ont été recensées et ont constitué un document de preuves basé sur 43 indicateurs qui fut validé par la Cellule de Lutte contre la Malnutrition (CLM) du gouvernement. Ensuite, un groupe d’experts indépendants (n =15) et d’experts du gouvernement (n =16) a évalué le niveau de mise en œuvre des 43 indicateurs par rapport aux meilleures pratiques internationales en utilisant une échelle Likert. La plupart des indicateurs visant la création d’environnements alimentaires sains ont été qualifiés de « faible » (31 sur 43 soit 72%). L’indice de fiabilité inter-évaluateur était de 0.75 (IC : 0.70 - 0.80). Lors d’un atelier de priorisation, les mêmes experts ont identifié 45 actions prioritaires pour améliorer les environnements alimentaires au Sénégal et réduire le double fardeau de la malnutrition. Ce faisant, le projet a permis de réaliser une recension des actions gouvernementales et d’établir un agenda d’actions prioritaires supporté par un groupe d’experts nationaux. Il a permis de regrouper et de sensibiliser les acteurs nationaux autour des questions cruciales de nutrition publique et il fournira des informations contextuelles importantes au développement des RANS. / Senegal is struggling with the double burden of malnutrition but the influence of public policies and of food environments in this crisis are poorly studied. However, the government is currently committed to develop its first National Food Based Dietary Guidelines (FBDG). In this context, the primary aim of this project is to evaluate public policies and government actions aimed at creating healthier food environments in Senegal using a methodology based on the Policy Index for a Healthy Food Environment (Food -EPI) of the INFORMAS network. This methodology allows to identify, evaluate and define an agenda of priorities for public policies using a comparative and participative approach. First, government actions and public policies set up by the government were identified and constituted a document of evidence based on 43 indicators that was validated by the Government's Malnutrition Cell (CLM).Then, a group of independent experts (n = 15) and government experts (n = 16) assessed the level of implementation of the 43 indicators against international best practices using a Likert scale. Implementation of most indicators aimed at creating healthy eating environments were rated as "low" (31 on 43, or 72%). The inter-rater reliability index was 0.75 (CI 0.70 - 0.80). In a prioritization workshop, the same experts identified forty-five priority actions to improve food environments in Senegal and reduce the double burden of malnutrition. In doing so, the project made it possible to conduct a review of government actions and to establish a priority action agenda supported by a group of national experts. It has brought together national stakeholders around critical issues of public nutrition and will provide important contextual information for the development of FBDG.

As an alternative renewable source for bioenergy, forest biomass has recently drawn more attention from the U.S. government and the general public. Woody biomass policies have been adopted to encourage the new bioenergy industry. A variety of state policy incentives attempt to create a desirable legal climate and lure new firms, imposing two important questions regarding state government policies and the sustainable use of forest resources. This dissertation sheds some light on these questions. The first paper constructs a woody biomass policy index through scoring each statute and weighting different categories of policies from the vantage point of renewable energy investment. It analyzes the disparity in the strength of state government incentives in the woody biomass utilization. The second paper employs a conditional logit model (CLM) to explore the effects of woody biomass policies on the siting decisions of new bioenergy projects. In addition, significant state attributes influencing the births of new bioenergy firms are identified such as resource availability, business tax climate, delivered pulpwood price, and the average wage rate. The third paper uses the Sub-Regional Timber Supply (SRTS) model to examine the regional aggregate forest biomass feedstock potential in Tennessee and to predict the impacts of additional pulpwood demand on the regional roundwood market through 2030. The fourth paper includes the benefits of thinning and logging residues in a dynamic optimization model to analyze how bioenergy policies will impact forest stock, harvest levels, optimal rotation, and silvicultural effort. The results may have substantial implications regarding woody biomass policies, the creation of a new bioenergy industry, and sustainable forest resource management. A lucrative state woody biomass policy support and tax climate can attract new bioenergy businesses. States endowed with abundant forest resources may choose to provide strong tax incentives to spur the birth of new plants. However, overuse of forest biomass can impact roundwood markets and traditional wood processing industries. How government incentives will affect the sustainability of natural resources can be diverse. These findings offer constructive insights in the enactment and implementation of new woody biomass legislation.

This diploma thesis is describing the theme of price development of construction work on the railway superstructure. The result is meant as determination of technical-economic indicator which can be used in view of pricing mainly for public tenders as well as in the way of orientation at cost prices. The work is also engaged in production index for construction. The main meaning of this part is formed by comparing the dates of the Czech Statistical Office in the production of building and civil engineering in the Czech Republic between years of 2009 and 2015 with the production of railways constructions. As the railroad tracks are in corporate governance SŽDC state organization – whole planned construction works are controlled by conditions and rules of public tenders. After joining the Czech Republic into the European Union the requirements for optimal state of international transportation networks in their technical and social part had to be guaranteed. The thesis „The Development of the Price Level in Railway Deliveries“ includes topic of progressing of Czech economy, development of Czech and foreign markets and its influence on material deliveries and price fluctuations, pricing and costing. Because of main topic contains railway economy production there are given basic technical and technological information with application for Brno subregion.