Obesity and motor vehicle deaths in the USA: a state‐level analysis

2010 ◽  
Vol 37 (5) ◽  
pp. 544-556 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter O. Simmons ◽  
Thomas J. Zlatoper
Keyword(s):  
Motor Vehicle ◽  
State Level ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Level Analysis

scholarly journals Title: Modeling Study: Characterizing the Spatial Heterogeneity of the COVID-19 Pandemic through Shape Analysis of Epidemic Curves

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anuj Srivast ◽  
Gerardo Chowell
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Heterogeneity ◽  
Incidence Rate ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
State Level ◽  
Incidence Rates ◽  
Transmission Dynamics ◽  
Rate Curve ◽  
Geographical Regions ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Level Analysis

Abstract Background: The COVID-19 incidence rates across different geographical regions (e.g., counties in a state, states in a nation, countries in a continent) follow different shapes and patterns. The overall summaries at coarser spatial scales, that are obtained by simply averaging individual curves (across regions), hide nuanced variability and blur the spatial heterogeneity at finer spatial scales. For instance, a decreasing incidence rate curve in one region is obscured by an increasing rate curve for another region, when the analysis relies on coarse averages of locally heterogeneous transmission dynamics. Objective: To highlight regional differences in COVID-19 incidence rates and to discover prominent patterns in shapes of incidence rate curves in multiple regions (USA and Europe). Methods: We employ statistical methods to analyze shapes of local COVID-19 incidence rate curves and statistically group them into distinct clusters, according to their shapes. Using this information, we derive the so-called shape averages of curves within these clusters, which represent the dominant incidence patterns of these clusters. We apply this methodology to the analysis of the daily incidence trajectory of the COVID-pandemic for two geographic areas: A state-level analysis within the USA and a country-level analysis within Europe during late-February to October 1 st , 2020. Results: Our analyses reveal that pandemic curves often differ substantially across regions. However, there are only a handful of shapes that dominate transmission dynamics for all states in the USA and countries in Europe. This approach yields a broad classification of spatial areas into different characteristic epidemic trajectories. In particular, spatial areas within the same cluster have followed similar transmission and control dynamics.Conclusion: The shape-based analysis of pandemic curves presented here helps divide country or continental data into multiple regional clusters, each cluster containing areas with similar trend patterns. This clustering helps highlight differences in pandemic curves across regions and provides summaries that better reflect dynamical patterns within the clusters. This approach adds to the methodological toolkit for public health practitioners to facilitate decision making at different spatial scales.

Understanding Spatial Heterogeneity of COVID-19 Pandemic Using Shape Analysis of Growth Rate Curves (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anuj Srivastava ◽  
Gerardo Chowell
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Spatial Heterogeneity ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
State Level ◽  
Public Health Decision ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Geographical Regions ◽  
Health Decision ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Level Analysis

UNSTRUCTURED The growth rates of COVID-19 across different geographical regions (e.g., states in a nation, countries in a continent) follow different shapes and patterns. The overall summaries at coarser spatial scales that are obtained by simply averaging individual curves (across regions) obscure nuanced variability and blurs the spatial heterogeneity at finer spatial scales. We employ statistical methods to analyze shapes of local COVID-19 growth rate curves and statistically group them into distinct clusters, according to their shapes. Using this information, we derive the so-called elastic averages of curves within these clusters, which correspond to the dominant incidence patterns. We apply this methodology to the analysis of the daily incidence trajectory of the COVID-pandemic at two spatial scales: A state-level analysis within the USA and a country-level analysis within Europe during mid-February to mid-May, 2020. Our analyses reveal a few dominant incidence trajectories that characterize transmission dynamics across states in the USA and across countries in Europe. This approach results in broad classifications of spatial areas into different trajectories and adds to the methodological toolkit for guiding public health decision making at different spatial scales.

scholarly journals Development of a tobacco 21 policy assessment tool and state-level analysis in the USA, 2015–2019

2019 ◽  
pp. tobaccocontrol-2019-055102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Page D Dobbs ◽  
Ginny Chadwick ◽  
Katherine W Ungar ◽  
Chris M Dunlap ◽  
Katherine A White ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tobacco Control ◽  
Development Process ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
State Level ◽  
Tool Development ◽  
Tobacco Products ◽  
State Laws ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Key Policy ◽  
Level Analysis

ObjectivePolicies raising the minimum legal sales age (MLSA) of tobacco products to 21 are commonly referred to as tobacco 21. This study sought to identify components of tobacco 21 policies and develop an instrument to examine policy language within 16 state laws adopted by July 2019.MethodsThe multistage tool development process began with a review of established literature and existing tobacco 21 policies. In a series of meetings, tobacco control experts identified key policy components used to develop an initial tool. After testing and revisions, the instrument was used to code the existing tobacco 21 state-level policies. Inter-rater reliability (κ=0.70) was measured and discrepancies were discussed until consensus was met. Policy component frequencies were reported by state.ResultsWhile all 16 states raised the MLSA to 21, the laws varied widely. Two laws omitted purchaser identification requirements. Fifteen laws mentioned enforcement would include inspections, but only three provided justification for conducting inspections. All 16 states provided a penalty structure for retailer/clerk violations, but penalties ranged considerably. Fourteen states required a tobacco retail licence, nine renewed annually. Six laws contained a military exemption, five were phased-in and 10 contained purchase, use or possession laws, which penalised youth. Four states introduced or expanded pre-emption of local tobacco control.ConclusionsThe instrument developed is the first to examine policy components within state-level tobacco 21 laws. Policies that include negative components or omit positive components may not effectively prevent retailers from selling to youth, which could result in less effective laws.

The Politics of Chiefs and Commoners before the 1830s

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raevin Jimenez
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
South African ◽  
State Level ◽  
Temporal Context ◽  
Political Elites ◽  
African History ◽  
New Wave ◽  
Early Nineteenth Century ◽  
Late Eighteenth ◽  
Level Analysis

The field of pre-1830 South African history has been subject to periodic interrogations into conventional narratives, sources, and methods. The so-called mfecane debates of the 1980s and 1990s marked a radical departure from characterizations of warfare in the interior, generally regarded in earlier decades as stemming solely or mostly from the Zulu king Shaka. Efforts to reframe violence led to more thorough considerations of political elites and statecraft from the late eighteenth to the early nineteenth century but also contributed to new approaches to ethnicity, dependency, and to some extent gender. A new wave of historiographical critique in the 2010s shows the work of revision to be ongoing. The article considers the debates around the wars of the late precolonial period, including unresolved strands of inquiry, and argues for a move away from state-level analysis toward social histories of women and non-elites. Though it focuses on the 1760s through the 1830s, the article also presents examples highlighting the importance of recovering deeper temporal context for the South African interior.

scholarly journals COVID Lockdowns, Social Distancing, and Fatal Car Crashes: More Deaths on Hobbesian Highways?

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 238-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marshall W. Meyer
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Traffic Safety ◽  
Motor Vehicle ◽  
Road Traffic ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Traffic Volume ◽  
Similar Data ◽  
World War ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
The Usa

Abstract Research Question What happened to US traffic safety during the first US COVID-19 lockdown, and why was the pattern the opposite of that observed in previous sudden declines of traffic volume? Data National and local statistics on US traffic volume, traffic fatalities, injury accidents, speeding violations, running of stop signs, and other indicators of vehicular driving behavior, both in 2020 and in previous US economic recessions affecting the volume of road traffic. Methods Comparative analysis of the similarities and differences between the data for the COVID-19 lockdown in parts of the USA in March 2020 and similar data for the 2008–2009 global economic crisis, as well as other US cases of major reductions in traffic volume. Findings The volume of traffic contracted sharply once a COVID-19 national emergency was declared and most states issued stay-at-home orders, but motor vehicle fatality rates, injury accidents, and speeding violations went up, and remained elevated even as traffic began returning toward normal. This pattern does not fit post-World War II recessions where fatality rates declined with the volume of traffic nor does the 2020 pattern match the pattern during World War II when traffic dropped substantially with little change in motor vehicle fatality rates. Conclusions The findings are consistent with a theory of social distancing on highways undermining compliance with social norms, a social cost of COVID which, if not corrected, poses potential long-term increases in non-compliance and dangerous driving.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document