Research Grants Program Office

INTRODUCTION: Tobacco control policies aim to limit access, reduce initiation, and mitigate tobacco-related harms, particularly among youth. However, the effectiveness of these policies relies on consistent enforcement to ensure widespread compliance and achieve their intended public health impacts. Socioeconomic vulnerability and neighborhood characteristics have been shown to influence retailer compliance, although existing studies often primarily focus on compliance violations instead of inspections. This study uses Los Angeles (LA) County, California to explore the associations between compliance inspections, violations, and neighborhood social vulnerability. METHODS: We identified inspection and violation data from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Tobacco Compliance Check Outcomes database for Los Angeles County, CA (January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2023) and linked these data to census tract level data from the 2022 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Social Vulnerability Index (SVI). All analyses were conducted at the census-tract level, with separate multivariable models adjusted for tobacco retailer density, and used to examine the relationship between inspections, violations, and neighborhood social vulnerability. FINDINGS: Neighborhood-level social vulnerability significantly predicted the likelihood of tobacco retailer inspections, but not violations. Census tracts with greater socioeconomic vulnerability and housing vulnerability had higher odds of inspections, while census tracts with higher proportions of racial/ethnic minority residents were less likely to undergo compliance inspections. CONCLUSION: The uneven distribution of FDA compliance inspection efforts in socially vulnerable neighborhoods highlights systemic inequities. The results underscore the importance of utilizing equitable enforcement frameworks that leverage tools like SVI to pinpoint high-need areas, optimize resource allocation, and support comprehensive tobacco policy implementation. IMPLICATIONS: This study reveals disparities in Food and Drug Administration compliance inspections with a concentration of inspections identified in socioeconomically vulnerable areas and gaps in predominantly racial/ethnic minority communities. No direct link was found between social vulnerability and violations, suggesting heightened retailer compliance may stem from successful outreach, past regulatory scrutiny, or other factors. Leveraging the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Social Vulnerability Index can strengthen tobacco control enforcement in high-need areas, ensuring inspections are more equitable and targeted where enforcement gaps and tobacco access remain most pronounced.

There are significant racial and ethnic disparities in head and neck cancer (HNC) survival. Disparities in cancer stage appear to account for some of the disparities in survival. However, the proportion of the survival disparities mediated by cancer stage is unclear. This study aimed to quantify the mediation effects of stage at diagnosis on racial/ethnic disparities in HNC survival using data from the California Cancer Registry. We found that T3-4 disease accounted for 36.3% (95% CI 15.6% to 57.0%) of the association between Black (versus White) and worse OS, and for 44.2% (95% CI 10.9% to 77.4%) of the association between Black (versus White) and worse DSS. This suggests that interventions aimed at improving access to care and early detection of malignancies may have highest impact in reducing racial/ethnic disparities in HNC survival. Future studies are needed to further understand factors that drive racial disparities in HNC stage at diagnosis, and to inform the development of intervention strategies to address these disparities.

INTRODUCTION: Prior research indicates that social class is strongly associated with academic outcomes such as GPA. However, little work explores the role that social discrimination plays in this relation. This study examined the link between social class discrimination and academic outcomes among high school students. METHOD: Participants were 956 working class adolescents (ages 13-18; 55% boys, 65% Latine) in the western United States. Using latent profile analysis, we identified four patterns of discrimination from five sources (teachers, classmates, friends, other teenagers, and community members). We also assessed socio-emotional academic outcomes (school isolation, impulsivity) and academic self-reported achievement outcomes (GPA, grades). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Two profiles showed high discrimination from either in-school or out-of-school sources, one showed frequent discrimination from all sources, and one reported low levels overall. Adolescents in profiles experiencing in-school discrimination from teachers and classmates had lower academic outcomes than those experiencing infrequent or out-of-school social class discrimination. Findings highlight that in-school social class discrimination may be particularly detrimental to self-reported performance and socio-emotional academic outcomes.

OBJECTIVE: To compare head and neck cancer (HNC) stage at diagnosis and survival outcomes between South Asian, Other Asian, and non-Hispanic white individuals in the United States. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective population-based cohort study. SETTING: Data from Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Research Plus 17 database. METHODS: Patients diagnosed with squamous HNC from 2006 to 2020 were categorized as South Asian, Other Asian, and non-Hispanic white. Logistic regression assessed the association between race/ethnicity and advanced-stage disease (stage III/IV vs I/II). Overall survival (OS) and disease-specific survival (DSS) outcomes were evaluated using Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox proportional hazards regression models, respectively. RESULTS: Among 92,664 patients (1066 South Asian, 3260 Other Asian, and 88,338 non-Hispanic white individuals), adjusted logistic regression showed South Asian individuals had a higher risk of advanced stage at diagnosis (odds ratio [OR] 1.48, 95% CI 1.29-1.70) than Other Asian (OR 1.13, 95% CI 1.05-1.22) and non-Hispanic white individuals. Adjusted Cox regression showed Other Asian (hazard ratio [HR] 0.89, 95% CI 0.84-0.94) individuals had improved OS, while South Asian individuals had similar OS (HR 1.09, 95% CI 0.99-1.21) as non-Hispanic white individuals. South Asian individuals had worse DSS (HR 1.30, 95% CI 1.16-1.46) than Other Asian (HR 1.05, 95% CI 0.98-1.12), and non-Hispanic white individuals. CONCLUSION: South Asian individuals with HNC are more likely to present with advanced disease stage and have worse survival compared with Other Asian and non-Hispanic white individuals, highlighting the importance of disaggregating Asian ethnic groups when assessing HNC outcome disparities.

A non-equilibrium electronic state will, in general, thermalize toward an equilibrium state due to electron-electron interactions as well as interactions with ions. The description of such processes has remained unclear and controversial in time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT), given that the occupation numbers remain fixed over time and that adiabatic functionals do not include explicit dissipation. Here, we study the explicit time propagation of graphene after ultrafast laser pulses, using the Octopus real-space code, with and without ionic motion in Ehrenfest molecular dynamics. This work has implications for the treatment of statistical mechanics in a TDDFT framework.

INTRODUCTION: Cigarettes and cannabis are commonly co-used, but little research has examined how cannabis use relates to cigarette price responsiveness. This study compares the price elasticity of cigarette demand between U.S. adults who currently use cannabis and those who do not. METHODS: We analyzed cross-sectional data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2004-2019; annual mean unweighted n = 50 000 adults aged 18+). A two-part econometric model of cigarette demand was estimated separately for adults who currently use cannabis and those who do not, including a multivariable logistic regression for smoking participation and a multivariable linear regression for smoking intensity. RESULTS: From 2004 to 2019, smoking prevalence declined from 24.5% to 16.6%, while cannabis use increased from 5.8% to 11.6%, and co-use rose from 3.6% to 4.5%. Among cannabis users, price elasticity was statistically significant at -0.20 for smoking participation, -0.27 for smoking intensity, and -0.47 for total demand-indicating that a 1% increase in cigarette prices is associated with a 0.20%, 0.27%, and 0.47% decrease in smoking participation, smoking intensity and overall cigarette demand. Among non-cannabis users, price elasticity was also statistically significant at -0.23, -0.13, and -0.36. Those who currently use cannabis were significantly more price-responsive in reducing smoking participation and smoking intensity than those who do not. CONCLUSIONS: Higher cigarette prices are associated with lower smoking prevalence, intensity, and total demand for both subgroups. However, adult smokers who currently use cannabis are more price-sensitive, suggesting that tobacco taxes may be particularly effective in reducing smoking among this subgroup. IMPLICATIONS: Both cannabis-using and non-cannabis-using smokers are significantly responsive to cigarette prices, with higher prices associated with in lower levels of smoking initiation and smoking intensity as well as a higher quit rate. However, the cannabis-using smokers are significantly more price-responsive than non-cannabis-using smokers. These results suggest that increasing cigarette prices, such as through taxation, is effective in reducing cigarette smoking among U.S. adults, especially those who currently use cannabis.

The United States agriculture sector needs to adapt to and mitigate its contributions to climate change, especially with adverse impacts such as intense and frequent drought, flooding, wildfire, and extreme heat that affect crop yields, livestock health, farm infrastructure, and farmer incomes. Recently, federal and state governments have introduced new ‘climate-smart agriculture’ (CSA) policies and programs to help farmers mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from farming operations. However, farmers face persistent barriers to accessing government resources, which necessitates an understanding of power dynamics among CSA program actors and existing institutions and structures in the agricultural sector. I used the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) CSA incentive programs to investigate these dynamics. I examined how farmer access to CSA programs and the broader program goal of GHG mitigation are enabled or constrained by program actors involved in program implementation and decision-making, and external institutional and structural ‘conditions.’ I explored if and what foci should be incorporated into the California CSA approach to further achieve GHG mitigation and broader climate change adaptation. To assess these objectives in the context of the CSA programs’ implementation and agenda-setting policy process stages, I employed qualitative methods. Drawing from conservation social sciences, political sciences, and human geography, I used a research approach based in concepts of power – the mechanisms of power and the enabling and constraining outcomes – and theories of institutions and structures. The findings demonstrate persisting challenges within the implementation process that ultimately constrain farmers’ access to the CSA programs. External policies, market dynamics, farmland and labor access, structural discrimination, and asymmetrical power dynamics in program agenda-setting further constrain farmer access to programs and the programs’ ability to mitigate GHG emissions. My findings highlight potential foci to address structural constraints for GHG mitigation and adaptation at the farm level for the CSA approach utilized in California. I recommend considering a more holistic, multi-policy approach to address climate change mitigation and adaptation in agriculture and I argue for future participatory action research with farmers, farm workers, and rural communities to determine mitigation and adaptation needs.

The following report chronicles the professional project completed in partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Science in Environmental Sciences and Management at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. This professional project spanned fifteen months and was conducted with the support of the Sustainable Land Initiative under the supervision of Professor Nicholas Babin. Two educational workshops resulted from the endeavor, thus contributing to the Central Coast’s agriculture community through increased knowledge access and professional networks. Additionally, a two-year road map was developed for future Sustainable Land Initiative events. This plan was intended to be used as a reference point as the organization continues to develop and uplift regenerative farming practices within the region. This report provides the context of the development of the workshops through a literature review, whereas the future outreach plan was informed by survey results from the organized workshops.

This is a case study of City Farm SLO.