Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide as of 2020. Early detection and diagnosis of colorectal cancer can greatly increase the chances of successful treatment and can also reduce the cost of care including treatment. It’s shown in recent years that the colorectal cancer screening rates have slowed nationwide which impacts the new diagnoses of colorectal cancer (CRC) and the ability to treat it at an early stage to avoid increase in mortality rate. The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of the Affordable Care Act 2010 ‘s policy to remove colorectal cancer screening fee for adults aged 50-75 on screening, incidence, and mortality rate of colorectal cancer using panel data model and employing sequential recursive system of equations method. Since a decision to get screened is an individual’s choice, this study explores methods to increase colorectal cancer screening rate with the help of behavioral economics theories. Results of the study show that Affordable Care Act’s policy to remove colorectal cancer screening fee has a significant impact on both colorectal cancer screening and incidence rates. The ACA’s policy is associated with an increase in colorectal cancer screening rate while associating with a decrease in cancer incidence rate. Relating to the colorectal cancer mortality rate, an effort was made to examine the effect of the Affordable Care Act's policy to remove colorectal cancer screening fee on the overall cost savings resulting from lives saved. However, since this study found no significant impact of the ACA's policy on the mortality rate of colorectal cancer, further exploration in this regard was not pursued. On the other hand, studies conducted to increase colorectal cancer screening rate by applying behavioral economics methods have shown that default method with an opt-out choice and financial incentive with a loss-framed messaging methods are proven effective. Therefore, these methods can be investigated to design and implement a nationwide initiative.

No description available.

Sveriges befolkning ökar och koncentreras allt mer till storstäderna. Detta har lett till en kraftigt ökad efterfrågan på bostäder och ett högre tryck på den svenska bostadsmarknaden. Några av konsekvenserna är en marknad med kraftigt stigande priser, långa bostadsköer och stora svårigheter för särskilt utsatta grupper att hitta en bostad till rimligt pris. Hushållens genomsnittliga ekonomiska standard har haft en god utveckling och stigit med 35 % sedan 2005. Vid uppdelning av Sveriges totala disponibla inkomst i tiondelar framgår det att 27 % av Sveriges befolkning har en inkomst motsvarande den högsta tiondelen. I denna grupp har en ökning med tre procentenheter skett sedan 2005. Samtidigt har 30 % av befolkningen en inkomst motsvarande de fem lägsta tiondelarna. Sedan 2005 har denna andel sjunkit med två procentenheter. Detta indikerar att inkomstklyftorna ökar. Nyproduktion av bostäder har länge byggts för hushåll med högst inkomster medan inkomstsvaga grupper är utlämnade till den befintliga bostadsmarknaden med höga hyror, priser och långa kötider för hyresrätter. Behovet av nya bostäder med lägre nyproduktionshyror är stort och det finns idag ett fåtal aktörer med en uttalad strategi att bygga prisvärda hyresrätter. Denna kvalitativa fallstudie har som målsättning att svara på följande frågor rörande prisvärda hyresrätter: 1. Hur stämmer studiens resultat överens med relevant teori? 2. Varför har bolagen valt att bygga eller utveckla mer prisvärda hyresrätter? 3. Hur arbetar bolagen för att minska produktionskostnaderna? 4. Blir de bostäder som bolagen bygger och utvecklar tillgängliga för de grupper som är mest utsatta på bostadsmarknaden? Det vill säga blir de tillräckligt prisvärda? Fördjupade intervjuer med bolagen Bonava, Botrygg, KlaraBo, BoKlok samt K-fastigheter har genomförts för att kunna besvara frågorna. Likheterna i bolagens produktionsprocesser är hög. För samtliga är målet att skapa sig kunskap och kontroll över så många skeden av projekten som möjligt. Detta för att skapa en effektiv process som möjliggör lägre kostnader och minskade ledtider. Återupprepningseffekten är mycket viktig för att hela tiden utvecklas. Standardisering av komponenter, husmoduler och byggsystem kortar ledtiderna vilket också sparar både tid och pengar. Den produkt som bolagen i studien bygger är billigare än den genomsnittliga nyproducerade hyresrätten i Sverige och bolagens mindre lägenheter blir tillgängliga för de mest utsatta grupperna på bostadsmarknaden. Statens investeringsstöd gör samtliga bostäder tillgängliga för grupper med lägre inkomster. Trots detta finns det ett stort behov av att bygga fler, framför allt större, lägenheter utan investeringsstöd eller subventioner med lägre nyproduktionshyror för de grupper i samhället med lägst inkomster. / Sweden's population is increasing and gets more and more concentrated to the metropolitan areas. This has lead to a sharply increased demand for housing and a higher pressure on the Swedish housing market. One of the consequences is a market with rising prices, long housing queues and difficulties for particularly vulnerable income groups to find an affordable home. The average development of the economic standard of the Swedish households has been good and has increased by 35 % since 2005. When dividing Sweden’s total disposable income into tenths it shows that 27 % of Sweden’s population has an income responding to the highest tenth. This is an increase by three percent since 2005. At the same time 30 % of the population has an income corresponding to the five lowest tenth of the total disposable income. Since 2005 this part has decreased with two percent. These differences indicate that the income gap has increased. New construction of housing has long been built for households with the highest incomes while lower income households are dependant on the existing housing stock with high rents, prices and long housing ques. The need of new construction of housing with lower rents is great and today there are a few companies in the market with a strategy to build more affordable rental apartments. This qualitative case study aims to answer the following research questions regarding affordable rental apartments: 1. How well does the result of the study correlate with relevant theories? 2. Why have the companies decided to produce or develop more affordable rental apartments? 3. How does the companies work in order to reduce their production costs? 4. Will the rental apartments that the companies build and develop become available to the groups that are most vulnerable in the housing market? That is, will they be affordable enough? In-depth interviews have been conducted with the companies Bonava, Botrygg, KlaraBo, BoKlok and K-Fastigheter to answer the four research questions.The similarities between the production processes of the companies are many. For all of them the goal is to gain knowledge and control over as many stages of the projects as possible. This in order to create an efficient process that enables lower costs and reduced lead times. The repetition effect is very important for continuous development. Standardization of components, housing modules and building systems reduce lead times, which also saves both time and money. The product that the companies produce has lower rents than the average newly constructed rental apartment in Sweden and the companies’ smaller apartments gets available for the most exposed groups in the housing market. The state's investment subsidy makes all the apartments, independent of their size, available to groups with lower incomes. Despite this there is still a need to build larger apartments without subsidies that has lower rents for the groups in society with the lowest incomes.

Amid the global pandemic, it becomes more apparent that diabetes is a pressing health concern because racial/ethnic minorities with underlying diabetes conditions have been disproportionately affected. The study proposes a multiyear examination to document the role of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in racial/ethnic disparities in diabetes health. Using the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System from 2011 to 2019, the study with a pre-post design investigated changes in access to care and diabetes health among non-White minorities compared with Whites before and after the ACA by conducting multivariable linear regression, with state-fixed effects and robust standard errors. Compared with Whites, racial/ethnic minorities showed significant improvements in health insurance coverage, having a personal doctor, and not seeing a doctor because of cost. Blacks (3.2% points,  ≤ 0.000), Hispanics (1.6% points,  = 0.001), and "other" racial/ethnic group (1.5% points,  = 0.003) experienced a greater increase in diagnosed prediabetes than Whites, whereas no and small differences were found in diagnosed diabetes and obesity, respectively. The yearly comparisons of changes in diagnosed prediabetes showed that Blacks compared with Whites had a growing increase from 1.2% points ( = 0.001) in 2014 to 3.3% points ( = 0.001) in 2019. Insurance coverage has declined after 2016, and obesity had an increasing trend across race/ethnicity. The ACA had a positive role in improving access to care and identifying those at risk for diabetes to a larger extent among racial/ethnic minorities. However, the policy impacts have been diminishing in recent years. Continued efforts are needed for sustained policy effects.

This professional project estimates the upfront costs and utility savings expected from greening an approximately 1,100 square foot home built in the 1950s in the San Francisco Bay Area. Two sets of upgrades (alternative and original) were compared for costs and benefits. The alternative set (which included ceiling insulation and omitted upgrading to dual-pane windows) clearly out performed the original set. The alternative set would be expected to reduce resident utility bills by 28% annually, and to prevent approximately 2,700 lbs of carbon dioxide emissions annually. The water efficiency upgrades were the best performing group of upgrades, as they had the lowest upfront cost and shortest payback period. (These water efficiency upgrades consisted of modifying toilets, faucets, and showerhead, as well as upgrading the dishwasher and clothes washer to efficient models.) Future very low-budget greening programs, in nearly all cases, should include a full-set of water fixture modifications, weatherstripping, and clotheslines. As budgets allow, other upgrades from alternative upgrades list are recommended, such as ceiling fans, programmable thermostats, and ceiling insulation. Whenever possible, workforce development labor should be used to simultaneously reduce labor costs and multiply the social benefit of each project dollar by providing entry-level green collar jobs.

The three branches of government rely on public engagement for the prosperity of the nation. Moreover, informed public opinion is a fundamental tenant of democracy. With that in mind, this paper aims to explore the relationship between the Judicial Branch and the public. Specifically, this paper examines and questions the Supreme Court’s efficacy communicating with the public. American constituents are inundated on a daily basis by the clamor of D.C. politics. The twenty four hour news cycle has given way to politicized headlines and exaggerated pundit commentary on contentious national issues. In a technological age where information is instant and the public has become accustomed to soundbites for education, the Supreme Court is left out of place. Both the Executive Branch and Legislative Branch converse directly with the public when necessary. Politicians frequently address their constituents or discuss complicated issues with voters first hand. However, the Supreme Court has rejected this strategy and instead relies almost exclusively on the press to relay their decisions. The judicial branch is the only third of our government without constant communication to the American people. As a result, the judiciary is relatively ignored by its citizens. By discussing a number of landmark cases since the turn of the century, this paper aims to analyze how those decisions were both announced to the public by the media and how the public received them. The Court has certainly adopted the press as an agent of communication. But is the media truly the proper outlet for the Court’s rulings?

Ontario’s current regulatory approach to low-income housing lies between two primary challenges: the human right to housing, and political/fiscal constraints. This thesis draws on legal theory and economic analysis of law to articulate the proper goals of housing access policy. A structural theory is proposed to explain the normative relationship between efficiency, communitarianism and justice in housing. An array of regulatory options are compared and considered in light of the features that characterize Ontario’s low-income rental housing markets. This analysis favours demand-side housing subsidies to low-income households, combined with supply-side tax expenditures to improve elasticity in the low-income rental market. Further reform of rent and covenant controls, social and affordable housing supply, and land use planning is recommended to ensure an efficient residential tenancy market. These reforms are offered as a framework for the implementation of the human right to housing in Ontario.

Ontario’s current regulatory approach to low-income housing lies between two primary challenges: the human right to housing, and political/fiscal constraints. This thesis draws on legal theory and economic analysis of law to articulate the proper goals of housing access policy. A structural theory is proposed to explain the normative relationship between efficiency, communitarianism and justice in housing. An array of regulatory options are compared and considered in light of the features that characterize Ontario’s low-income rental housing markets. This analysis favours demand-side housing subsidies to low-income households, combined with supply-side tax expenditures to improve elasticity in the low-income rental market. Further reform of rent and covenant controls, social and affordable housing supply, and land use planning is recommended to ensure an efficient residential tenancy market. These reforms are offered as a framework for the implementation of the human right to housing in Ontario.

This study evaluates the current environment for mixed-income transit oriented development along DART rail within the city limits of Dallas. A close look at income and racial disparity is used as the foundation for advocating for a more proactive and aggressive approach to the development of affordable units proximate to affordable transportation choices. Assembling financing for mixed-income TOD projects is especially challenging, and multiple layers of federal, state, and city funding mechanisms are required for achieving the capital requirements of the development. Both typical affordable housing funding methods and new and nontraditional funding methods for multifamily housing were researched and evaluated with the intention to propose possibilities for catalyzing development in DART station areas within the City of Dallas that have, to this point, experienced underdevelopment. / text

This item contains the agenda, minutes, and attachments for the Faculty Senate meeting on this date. There may be additional materials from the meeting available at the Faculty Center.