scholarly journals Disaster-Related Environmental Health Hazards: Former Lead Smelting Plants in the United States

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yao Wang ◽  
Robert K. Kanter
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
High Risk ◽  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Natural Disaster ◽  
Rhode Island ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
The United States ◽  
Environmental Hazards ◽  
Lead Smelting ◽  
Public Responsibility

AbstractObjectiveNatural disasters exacerbate risks of hazardous environmental exposures and adverse health consequences. The present study determined the proportion of previously identified lead industrial sites in urban locations that are at high risk for dispersal of toxic chemicals by natural disasters.MethodsGeographic analysis from publicly available data identified former lead smelting plants that coincide with populated urban areas and with high-risk locations for natural disasters.ResultsFrom a total of 229 urban smelting sites, 66 (29%) were in relatively high-risk areas for natural disasters: flood (39), earthquake (29), tornado (3), and hurricane (2). States with urban sites at relatively high risk for natural disaster included California (15); Pennsylvania (14); New York (7); Missouri (6); Illinois (5); New Jersey (4); Kentucky (3); Florida, Oregon, and Ohio (2 each); and Indiana, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, and Washington (1 each). Incomplete historical records showed at least 10 smelting site locations were affected by natural disaster.ConclusionsForgotten environmental hazards may remain hazardous in any community. Uncertainty about risks in disasters causes disruptive public anxiety that increases difficulties in community responses and recovery. Our professional and public responsibility is to seek a better understanding of the risks of latent environmental hazards. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2014;0:1–7)

Using Research to Understand Youth in High-Risk Urban Communities

2012 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 187-202
Author(s):  
Megan Yarmuth ◽  
Jennifer Patterson ◽  
Tessa Burton ◽  
Caitlin Douglas ◽  
Trish Taylor ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High School Students ◽  
High Risk ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Urban Communities ◽  
Peer Relationships ◽  
Dating Violence ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Teen Dating Violence ◽  
The United States ◽  
High Risk Youth

Research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that nearly 1.5 million high school students a year are affected by dating violence and that youth who are physically hurt by a boyfriend/girlfriend are more likely to report binge drinking, suicide attempts, and other harmful behaviors. Dating violence may be more prevalent in economically and socially disadvantaged communities, especially in urban areas. Targeting youth with prevention messages before they start dating may avert teen dating violence and subsequent adult intimate partner violence; however, there is a dearth of materials available for youth in high-risk urban communities. This article reports on secondary analyses of market research databases and other sources, as well as on primary research (e.g., focus groups) conducted with youth in high-risk urban communities. This research is exploratory in nature and is limited by the fact that the qualitative findings cannot be generalized to the overall population of high-risk youth. While the focus groups included youth from various races/ethnicities and geographical areas, CDC is aware that the study samples were not representative of the entire parent population in the United States. This exploratory research was conducted to inform the development of a communication campaign designed to reach youth in high-risk urban communities. Key findings for high-risk youth are provided across a variety of constructs including demographics, media and technology usage and impact, daily life and time spent in relationships, peer relationships, and attitudes and approaches to relationships. Implications for reaching this audience are discussed. These include reaching youth in urban settings and using approaches that focus on their peers, the Internet, cell phones, television, and music venues. Communication approaches that utilize print media or organized sports and other youth-oriented clubs and groups as channels to reach high-risk youth may be less impactful.

scholarly journals A Study on the GIS Professional (GISP) Certification Program in the U.S.

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 523
Author(s):  
Dapeng Li ◽  
Yingru Li ◽  
Quynh C. Nguyen ◽  
Laura K. Siebeneck
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Spatial Patterns ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
The United States ◽  
Washington Dc ◽  
Certification Program ◽  
Managerial Role ◽  
Current State ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
The U.S

This study examines the characteristics of the members in the most popular Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Professional (GISP) certification program in the United States as well as the spatial patterns of the certified GISPs. The results show that the majority of GISPs (97.3%) are located in urban areas. About 75% of the GISPs are male. Among all the GISPs, 3971 GISPs (43.3%) play a managerial role, while 4983 individuals (54.5%) assume a non-administrative role. Among the GISPs with a non-administrative role, 348 GISPs (7%) fall within the GIS Developer group, 3392 GISPs (68%) belong to the GIS Analyst group, and 1243 GISPs (25%) play other roles. Additionally, in our analysis of spatial patterns, we identified two hotspots and two coldspots. The first hotspot is centered around Idaho and Wyoming, while the second hotspot includes Virginia, Washington DC, and Maryland. One coldspot is along Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana in the central U.S., while the other coldspot includes states such as Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York on the east coast. The information presented in this study can help GIS educators and practitioners develop a better understanding of the current state of this certification program in the U.S and shed light on how to further improve the GISP certification program.

scholarly journals A Method for Mapping Future Urbanization in the United States

Urban Science ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lahouari Bounoua ◽  
Joseph Nigro ◽  
Kurtis Thome ◽  
Ping Zhang ◽  
Najlaa Fathi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Land Development ◽  
Population Data ◽  
The United States ◽  
Population Increase ◽  
Large Cities ◽  
Urban Land Management

Cities are poised to absorb additional people. Their sustainability, or ability to accommodate a population increase without depleting resources or compromising future growth, depends on whether they harness the efficiency gains from urban land management. Population is often projected as a bulk national number without details about spatial distribution. We use Landsat and population data in a methodology to project and map U.S. urbanization for the year 2020 and document its spatial pattern. This methodology is important to spatially disaggregate projected population and assist land managers to monitor land use, assess infrastructure and distribute resources. We found the U.S. west coast urban areas to have the fastest population growth with relatively small land consumption resulting in future decrease in per capita land use. Except for Miami (FL), most other U.S. large urban areas, especially in the Midwest, are growing spatially faster than their population and inadvertently consuming land needed for ecosystem services. In large cities, such as New York, Chicago, Houston and Miami, land development is expected more in suburban zones than urban cores. In contrast, in Los Angeles land development within the city core is greater than in its suburbs.

scholarly journals Racial, Economic and Health Inequality and COVID-19 Infection in the United States

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vida Abedi ◽  
Oluwaseyi Olulana ◽  
Venkatesh Avula ◽  
Durgesh Chaudhary ◽  
Ayesha Khan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
Health Care Access ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Death Rate ◽  
The United States ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
The Impact

AbstractBackgroundThere is preliminary evidence of racial and social-economic disparities in the population infected by and dying from COVID-19. The goal of this study is to report the associations of COVID-19 with respect to race, health and economic inequality in the United States.MethodsWe performed a cross-sectional study of the associations between infection and mortality rate of COVID-19 and demographic, socioeconomic and mobility variables from 369 counties (total population: 102,178,117 [median: 73,447, IQR: 30,761-256,098]) from the seven most affected states (Michigan, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, California, Louisiana, Massachusetts).FindingsThe risk factors for infection and mortality are different. Our analysis shows that counties with more diverse demographics, higher population, education, income levels, and lower disability rates were at a higher risk of COVID-19 infection. However, counties with higher disability and poverty rates had a higher death rate. African Americans were more vulnerable to COVID-19 than other ethnic groups (1,981 African American infected cases versus 658 Whites per million). Data on mobility changes corroborate the impact of social distancing.InterpretationThe observed inequality might be due to the workforce of essential services, poverty, and access to care. Counties in more urban areas are probably better equipped at providing care. The lower rate of infection, but a higher death rate in counties with higher poverty and disability could be due to lower levels of mobility, but a higher rate of comorbidities and health care access.

scholarly journals Gangs and Social Policy

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Doucette
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
High Risk ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Rhode Island ◽  
Community Violence ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Emotional And Behavioral Disorders ◽  
Policy Perspective ◽  
Exposure To Community Violence ◽  
Practice Literature

<p>Youth involvement in gangs in urban areas is significantly increasing. These youth are at high risk for physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders. Exposure to community violence is linked to aggressive behavior, lower academic performance, lower levels of social competence, and negative mental health outcomes. The purpose of this paper is to set the agenda on how to deal with gangs and gang members from a social policy perspective. This paper will outline the nature of the gang problem in Providence, Rhode Island from three different perspectives: Violence, Forgiveness, and Practice. Literature will be presented and discussed and recommendations for social policy using Ortiz's (2007) Social Diagnosis will be presented.</p>

Geographic distribution of clinical trials for breast cancer across the United States, 2011-2015.

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (27_suppl) ◽  
pp. 140-140
Author(s):  
Sindhu Janarthanam Malapati ◽  
Sunny R K Singh ◽  
Rohit Kumar ◽  
Jibran Ahmed ◽  
Vatsala Katiyar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
New York ◽  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Rhode Island ◽  
The United States ◽  
Female Breast Cancer ◽  
Phase 3 ◽  
Cancer Burden ◽  
Cancer Statistics ◽  
Quality Cancer Care

140 Background: Access to clinical trials is paramount for delivery of high quality cancer care. We aim to study the geographical distribution of phase 3 & 4 clinical trials for females with breast cancer across 51 states between 2011 & 2015. Methods: We searched Clinicaltrials.gov registry for phase 3 & 4 clinical trials in US for females with breast cancer & those first posted from 01/01/2011 to 12/31/2015. New cases of female breast cancer from 2011 to 2015 were estimated with U.S. Cancer Statistics Data Visualizations Tool (www.cdc.gov/cancer/dataviz). Results: We found 88 phase 3 & 4 clinical trials over 51 states. The average number (no.) of new cancer cases and no. of trials per state were 22,985 and 34.4 (range: 16 - 57) respectively. On average, each state had 0.003 (SD: 0.002) trials per case. States with maximum number of cases and trials were California, New York, Texas and Florida. These accounted for 30.7% of total cases, but only 12.5% of total trials. Also, these four states had the lowest no. of clinical trials per case while District of Columbia had the highest (0.0123). The states with the lowest no. of clinical trials included Rhode Island, Vermont, Wyoming & Alaska (3.7% of total trials). Table with data regarding states with lowest and highest cancer burden is attached. Conclusions: For breast cancer in females during the years 2011 to 2015, the ratio of available phase 3 & 4 clinical trials to new cancer cases was quite low when examined state-wise. The gap widened as the cancer burden increased resulting in the lowest no. of clinical trials per case in the states with maximum cancer burden. This highlights the need of better allocation of resources and efforts across the nation when conducting clinical trials. [Table: see text]

Can Decrease in Smoking Incidence Reduce Leukemia Mortality?

Blood ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 112 (11) ◽  
pp. 3985-3985
Author(s):  
Ramya Varadarajan ◽  
Michael K Cummings ◽  
Andrew J Hyland ◽  
Eunice S. Wang ◽  
Meir Wetzler
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Rhode Island ◽  
Myeloid Leukemia ◽  
The United States ◽  
Western World ◽  
Mortality Data ◽  
Incidence And Mortality ◽  
Seer Data ◽  
Control And Prevention ◽  
Leukemia Data

Abstract Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the Western world. There is substantial evidence that smokers are approximately 1.5 times more likely to develop acute myeloid leukemia (AML) than non smokers. We were interested to know if there is a relationship between smoking and treatment outcome in AML. We searched the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) databases for data about smoking incidence and AML mortality. We collected AML mortality data for the United States (US) from SEER and state leukemia mortality data from CDC. CDC data are lumped for all types of leukemia. Since AML is the most common leukemia, and no significant improvement in AML treatment, as compared to chronic myeloid leukemia, occurred in the last two decades, we used the collective leukemia data. We compared smoking incidence and age-adjusted leukemia mortality between overall US and states with either a high (Alabama, Indiana, Ohio, Oklahoma, Kentucky) or a low (California, Connecticut, New York, Utah, Rhode Island) smoking incidence. SEER data revealed a statistically significant correlation (r=0.88) between smoking incidence and AML mortality for the different US regions (Figure 1). The correlation was significant whether we included a 10-year lag period (r= 0.75) for leukemia mortality or not. The correlation between smoking incidence and mortality rates for individual states was much more variable; data from two representative states, California (CA) with low smoking incidence (r=0.74) and Indiana (IN) with high smoking incidence (r=0.03) are shown (Figure 2). Possible causes for decreased mortality can include less pulmonary infections, less aggressive leukemia [reports of more frequent chromosomal aberrations involving chromosome 5, 7 and 8 in smokers] and better transplant outcome in non-smokers. To date, we did not find any data on association between leukemia incidence and smoking prevalence. These data suggest a possible association between smoking and leukemia mortality, and additional research is needed to determine if smoking cessation can be a tool to decrease leukemia mortality. Figure 1 Figure 1. Figure 2: Figure 2:.

Handbook of Countermeasures to Protect Cultural Heritages Located in Foothills from Natural Disasters

2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 142-153
Author(s):  
Takeyuki Okubo ◽  
◽  
Kazuyuki Izuno
Keyword(s):  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Natural Disaster ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Modern Age ◽  
Basic Concepts

This tutorial presents a draft handbook of countermeasures. The handbook can be used as a reference for protecting from natural disaster tangible cultural heritages located at the foot of hills. Cultural heritages located at the foot of hills were generally far from urban areas before the modern age and ran very little risk from the spread of fires from private houses. However, many are now close to urban areas or surrounded by urban areas that have rapidly expanded as societies have modernized, and this has greatly increased the risk to these heritages. This handbook describes the basic concepts for what disaster countermeasures should be established to protect cultural heritages. It includes the procedures for determining what heritages should be protected from what and how. It also includes detailed investigation items related to the procedures.

scholarly journals Geographic Distribution and rDNA-ITS Region Sequence Diversity of Waitea circinata var. circinata Isolated from Annual Bluegrass in the United States

Plant Disease ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 93 (9) ◽  
pp. 906-911 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chi-Min Chen ◽  
Karla A. de la Cerda ◽  
John E. Kaminski ◽  
Greg W. Douhan ◽  
Francis P. Wong
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
Rhode Island ◽  
Geographic Distribution ◽  
Rflp Analysis ◽  
Its Region ◽  
The United States ◽  
Annual Bluegrass ◽  
Rdna Its ◽  
Waitea Circinata

Waitea circinata var. circinata is the causal agent of brown ring patch, an emergent disease of turfgrass in the United States. Forty-two isolates from annual bluegrass were obtained from California, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Oregon, and Rhode Island. Almost all isolates produced white to orange sclerotia (bulbils), 2 to 5 mm in size, that turned dark brown after 21 days on ¼-strength potato dextrose agar. The ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer regions and 5.8S region (ITS) were analyzed by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis using MspI and sequencing to attempt identification of the isolates. Some isolates were heterozygous at the MspI restriction site, results not found in previous reports using the RFLP technique for identification. Four additional nucleotide positions were found to be variable within ITS based on sequence analysis, including two indels and two additional heterozygous positions. A total of 17 ITS haplotypes were found, and there was no obvious relationship between ITS haplotype and the geographic distribution of the isolates. Results of this work indicate that W. circinata var. circinata is present in multiple states and provide an initial understanding of the diversity of the pathogen in the United States.

scholarly journals Leadership challenges of urban institutions of higher learning, which serve a predominantly diverse and multi-cultural student population

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
The United States ◽  
Student Population ◽  
Higher Learning ◽  
Exploratory Research ◽  
Leadership Challenges ◽  
Institutions Of Higher Learning

The topic of this research article examines the unique leadership challenges confronted by staff and faculty of higher education institutions that serve a predominantly diverse and multi-cultural student population in urban areas of the United States. Urban colleges and universities are found in the large metropolitan cities of the United States where students are from the area, as well as domestic and international. The study isolates five areas of concern that raise leadership challenges for these institutions of higher learning. Specific areas of challenge are the rising cost of tuition, retention, student preparedness for higher education, technology, and gainful employment. The exploratory research within this study was conducted primarily in the New York tri-state area. It is qualitative in nature and conclusions are based on research and observations of subjects directly affiliated with these institutions.

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