scholarly journals Federal Crop Insurance and the Disincentive to Adapt to Extreme Heat

2015 ◽  
Vol 105 (5) ◽  
pp. 262-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francis Annan ◽  
Wolfram Schlenker
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Crop Insurance ◽  
The United States ◽  
Extreme Heat ◽  
County Level ◽  
Significant Progress ◽  
Insurance Program ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Potential Losses ◽  
Over Time

Despite significant progress in average yields, the sensitivity of corn and soybean yields to extreme heat has remained relatively constant over time. We combine county-level corn and soybeans yields in the United States from 1989-2013 with the fraction of the planting area that is insured under the federal crop insurance program, which expanded greatly over this time period as premium subsidies increased from 20 percent to 60 percent. Insured corn and soybeans are significantly more sensitive to extreme heat that uninsured crops. Insured farmers do not have the incentive to engage in costly adaptation as insurance compensates them for potential losses.

scholarly journals The evolution of infant mortality inequality in the United States, 1960–2016

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (29) ◽  
pp. eaba5908
Author(s):  
Nick Turner ◽  
Kaveh Danesh ◽  
Kelsey Moran
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Infant Mortality ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mortality Rates ◽  
County Level ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Antipoverty Programs ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Mortality Inequality

What is the relationship between infant mortality and poverty in the United States and how has it changed over time? We address this question by analyzing county-level data between 1960 and 2016. Our estimates suggest that level differences in mortality rates between the poorest and least poor counties decreased meaningfully between 1960 and 2000. Nearly three-quarters of the decrease occurred between 1960 and 1980, coincident with the introduction of antipoverty programs and improvements in medical care for infants. We estimate that declining inequality accounts for 18% of the national reduction in infant mortality between 1960 and 2000. However, we also find that level differences between the poorest and least poor counties remained constant between 2000 and 2016, suggesting an important role for policies that improve the health of infants in poor areas.

scholarly journals Trends in Mortality Due to Cancer in the United States by Age and County-Level Income, 1999–2015

2019 ◽  
Vol 111 (8) ◽  
pp. 863-866 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana R Withrow ◽  
Amy Berrington de González ◽  
Susan Spillane ◽  
Neal D Freedman ◽  
Ana F Best ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Cancer Mortality ◽  
Death Certificate ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mortality Rates ◽  
Income Quintile ◽  
County Level ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Rate Ratios ◽  
Over Time

Abstract Disparities in cancer mortality by county-level income have increased. It is unclear whether these widening disparities have affected older and younger adults equally. National death certificate data were utilized to ascertain cancer deaths during 1999–2015. Average annual percent changes in mortality rates and mortality rate ratios (RRs) were estimated by county-level income quintile and age (25–64 vs ≥65 years). Among 25- to 64-year-olds, cancer mortality rates were 30% higher (RR = 1.30, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.29 to 1.31) in the lowest-vs the highest-income counties in 1999–2001 and 56% higher (RR = 1.56, 95% CI = 1.55 to 1.57) in 2013–2015; the disparities among those 65 years and older were smaller but also widened over time (RR1999–2001 = 1.04, 95% CI = 1.03 to 1.05; RR2013–2015 = 1.14, 95% CI = 1.13 to 1.14). Widening disparities occurred across cancer sites. If all counties had the mortality rates of the highest-income counties, 21.5% of cancer deaths among 25- to 64-year-olds and 7.3% of cancer deaths in those 65 years and older would have been avoided in 2015. These results highlight an ongoing need for equity-focused interventions, particularly among younger adults.

Heat Waves and Innovation in Air Conditioning in the United States

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Air Conditioning ◽  
Heat Waves ◽  
Heat Exposure ◽  
The United States ◽  
Extreme Heat ◽  
Weather Data ◽  
County Level ◽  
Similar Increase ◽  
Patent Data

AbstractThis study investigates whether extreme heat episodes (heatwaves) have contributed to the development of air conditioning technology in the United States. To this end we use weather data to identify days at which heat and relative humidity were above levels comfortable to the human body, and match these with patent data at the county level for nearly a hundred years. We find that in the two years after a county has experienced extreme heat air-conditioning patents increase. Overall, average extreme heat exposure results in an increase of 7.5% greater innovation. We find no similar increase in the frequency of non-air conditioning related patent filings, and therefore conclude that heatwaves result in innovation targeting their mitigation.

scholarly journals Hospitalization at the End of Life in Myeloma Patients: Lessons from the National Inpatient Sample

Blood ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 136 (Supplement 1) ◽  
pp. 4-5
Author(s):  
Saqib Abbasi ◽  
Brian McClune ◽  
Al-Ola Abdallah ◽  
Leyla Shune ◽  
Ghulam Rehman Mohyuddin
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Palliative Care ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cost Of Care ◽  
Infection Frequency ◽  
National Inpatient Sample ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Transfusion Requirements ◽  
Over Time

INTRODUCTION: Multiple myeloma (MM) remains a largely incurable disease, and despite the variety of treatment options available, duration of response decreases with each subsequent line of therapy resulting in refractory disease . In this setting, studies have shown most patients prefer to die in the comfort of home, yet hospitalizations remain frequent at the end of life. We explored the hospitalization burden of MM patients at the end of their life using the National Inpatient Sample (NIS). METHODS: The NIS is a database that provides information on all inpatient hospitalizations in the United States (US), including primary and secondary diagnoses, procedures, length of stay, and disposition. Approximately 20% of admissions are tracked and weighted estimates are provided regarding the total number of hospitalizations. Using the NIS, we tracked hospital admissions for MM patients and inpatient mortality from 2002 to 2014 via procedural International Classification of Disease (ICD) 9 codes to gain insight into trends in transfusions, infectious complications, and cost of admission. Linear regression modeling was used for analysis. Overall annual number of deaths for MM in the United States was obtained from publicly available reports from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention and the National Cancer Institute (NCI). RESULTS: During the time period 2002-2014, the CDC and NCI reported a total of 144,105 deaths from MM, ranging from 10,913 in 2002 to 12,112 in 2014. The NIS identified a total of 233,932 (non-weighted) hospitalizations for MM during this time period. Amongst these, a total of 14,770 (non-weighted) hospitalizations resulted in death, thus 6.3% of all hospitalizations for myeloma patients resulted in death. A weighted sample of 69,825 hospitalizations resulting in deaths were identified. During our study time period, 48.4% of all deaths related to myeloma in the United States occurred in the hospital, ranging from 5,893 (54%) in 2002 to 5,035 (41.6%) in 2014, p<0.01. We analyzed blood transfusion dependency in the hospitalization leading to death. There was a receipt of blood transfusions (35.8%) in 5,285 of the 14,770 (non-weighted) admissions leading to death. Infection frequency was identified using the Clinical Classification Software. The Clinical Classifications Software (CCS) is a tool that allows for clustering patient diagnoses and procedures into clinically meaningful categories. A total of 6,644 infections were identified amongst the 14,770 (non-weighted) hospitalizations leading to death (45.0%). We then analyzed palliative care/hospice involvement during the hospitalization leading to death over time. Palliative care/hospice was consulted in 67 of the 1260 (non-weighted) hospitalizations in 2002 (5.3%), and 338 out of the 1007 (non-weighted) hospitalizations in 2014 (33.57%), p<0.01. Median cost of the hospitalization leading to death increased over time from $48,709 in 2002 to $104,115 in 2014, p<0.01. CONCLUSIONS: Despite a decrease in the percentage of inpatient deaths over time, greater than 40% of patients with myeloma continue to die in the hospital, with significant transfusion requirements and infections at the end of life. This comes with an increased cost to the health care system. Our analysis suggests that while palliative care involvement at the end of life has also increased over time, earlier involvement of palliative care and incorporation of transfusion support within hospice services may decrease the number of myeloma patients dying in the hospital and, therefore, the overall burden and cost of care. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

scholarly journals Levothyroxine prescriptions trends may indicate a downtrend in prescribing

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 204201882092055
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Jonklaas ◽  
Sameer DeSale
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Thyroid Stimulating Hormone ◽  
Annual Number ◽  
Washington Dc ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Number Of Patients ◽  
Prescribing Trends ◽  
System Operating ◽  
Over Time

Background: There has been a trend for increased prescribing of levothyroxine (LT4) in many countries, including the United States. Several different factors have been suggested to be the cause of this practice pattern. These factors include increased size of the United States population, more diagnosis of hypothyroidism, more treatment of minimally elevated thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels, more use of LT4 in older patients, and use of LT4 for treatment of euthyroid patients with non-thyroidal conditions. Methods: The electronic databases of the MedStar Health system operating in the Washington, DC and Maryland areas were interrogated to determine the number of patients who were being prescribed levothyroxine during the time period 2008–2016, the number of prescriptions supplied to these individuals, the associated diagnosis, and whether the prescriptions were new or existing prescriptions. Regression analyses were also performed to determine the prescribing trends during this time period. Results: Although the annual number of levothyroxine prescriptions increased during this time period, the percentage of patients in the database receiving levothyroxine for hypothyroidism initially increased and then decreased over time (2.5% to 3.2% to 2.5%). The percentage of prescriptions written for patients who did not appear to carry a diagnosis of hypothyroidism steadily declined (3.5% to 1.0%). Although the percentage of patients with existing prescriptions for hypothyroidism initially increased and then were maintained at steady levels (1.4% to 2.4% to 2.2%), a smaller percentage of patients with existing prescriptions were documented over time when there was no diagnosis of hypothyroidism (1.45% to 0.89%). The percentage of patients with new prescriptions declined over time for all groups. The number of annual 90-day period prescriptions increased over the time for patients with a diagnosis of hypothyroidism, but down-trended starting over the latter part of the time period for those patients without a diagnosis of hypothyroidism. Conclusion: Taken together, these data suggest that there may be a stabilization, and even a down-trend in levothyroxine prescribing with the MedStar system. The decrease in levothyroxine prescribing appears to be accounted for by less use of levothyroxine without an established diagnosis of hypothyroidism, and less initiation of new prescriptions.

scholarly journals As Disaster Costs Rise, So Does Inequality

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 237802311881679 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junia Howell ◽  
James R. Elliott
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Natural Hazards ◽  
Random Sample ◽  
Natural Hazard ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
The United States ◽  
County Level ◽  
The Social ◽  
Damage Data ◽  
Over Time

Across the United States, communities are experiencing increases in the frequency and severity of natural hazards. The pervasiveness and upward trajectory of these damages are worrisome enough, but equally disconcerting are the social inequalities they can leave in their wake. To examine these inequalities, the authors linked county-level damage data to a random sample of American households. The authors visualize the pervasiveness of natural hazards as well as their influence on racial wealth gaps over time. The results show that natural hazard damages and how relief is provided afterward exacerbate the growing gap between white and black wealth.

scholarly journals Global Mutual Fund Industry Comparisons: Canada, The United Kingdom And The United States

2010 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian D. Fitzpatrick ◽  
Daniel C. Hepp ◽  
Erinn J. Lott
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Mutual Funds ◽  
Mutual Fund ◽  
The United States ◽  
Equity Market ◽  
Expense Ratio ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Over Time

The concept of mutual funds is older than many believe, originating in Holland over 230 years ago.  Through the years, mutual funds have evolved by allowing investors to invest their capital in various venues.  The structure of mutual funds in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States possess similar configurations.  The majority of funds in all three nations are invested in the equity market.  Although the structure may be the same, the size in terms of assets varies by these three countries.  This is not the only difference though; the expense ratio is greatly differentiated, dramatically affecting the amount of return that the investor will anticipate over time.  Assuming identical returns, the authors illustrate that over a hypothetical ten-year time period, your funds would grow the most in the United States, followed by the United Kingdom and finally Canada.  This analysis assumes comparable contemporary expense ratios of 1.4% for the United States, 1.63% for the United Kingdom, and 2.1% for Canada.  In addition, we make the assumption that these comparison countries are having investors procure funds in no-load mutual funds.

scholarly journals Transmission of COVID-19 in the state of Georgia, United States: Spatiotemporal variation and impact of social distancing

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuke Wang ◽  
Casey Siesel ◽  
Yangping Chen ◽  
Ben Lopman ◽  
Laura Edison ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Prevention And Control ◽  
Reproduction Number ◽  
The State ◽  
County Level ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Serial Interval ◽  
June July ◽  
And Control ◽  
Over Time

SummaryBackgroundBeginning in early February 2020, COVID-19 spread across the state of Georgia, leading to 258,354 cumulative cases as of August 25, 2020. The time scale of spreading (i.e., serial interval) and magnitude of spreading (i.e., Rt or reproduction number) for COVID-19, were observed to be heterogenous by demographic characteristics, region and time period. In this study, we examined the COVID-19 transmission in the state of Georgia, United States.MethodsDuring February 1 to July 13, 2020, we identified 4080 transmission pairs using contact information from reports of COVID-19 cases from the Georgia Department of Public Health. We examined how various transmission characteristics were affected by disease symptoms, demographics (age, gender, and race), and time period (during shelter-in-place and after reopening). In addition, we estimated the time course of reproduction numbers during early February–mid-June for all 159 counties in the state of Georgia, using a total of 118,491 reported COVID-19 cases.FindingsOver this period, the serial interval appeared to decrease from 5.97 days in February–April to 4.40 days in June–July. With regard to age, transmission was assortative and patterns of transmission changed over time. COVID-19 mainly spread from adults to all age groups; transmission among and between children and the elderly was found less frequently. Younger adults (20– 50 years old) were involved in the majority of transmissions occurring during or after reopening subsequent to the shelter-in-place period. By mid-July, two waves of COVID-19 transmission were apparent, separated by the shelter-in-place period in the state of Georgia. Counties around major cities and along interstate highways had more intense transmission.InterpretationThe transmission of COVID-19 in the state of Georgia had been heterogeneous by area and changed over time. The shelter-in-place was not long enough to sufficiently suppress COVID-19 transmission in densely populated urban areas connected by major transportation links. Studying local transmission patterns may help in predicting and guiding states in prevention and control of COVID-19 according to population and region.FundingEmory COVID-19 Response Collaborative.Research in contextEvidence before this studyThe ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has caused 37,109,581 cases and 1,070,355 deaths worldwide as of October 11, 2020. We searched PubMed for articles published on and before October 11, 2020 using keywords “novel coronavirus”, “SARS–nCoV–2”, “COVID-19”, “transmission”, “serial interval”, “reproduction number”, and “shelter-in-place”. Few published studies have estimated the serial interval but no study was found that examined the time-varying serial interval. Few studies have examined the transmission patterns between groups with different characteristics. And no study has examined the timevarying reproduction number for COVID-19 and impact of shelter-in-place order at the county level in the United States.Added value of this studyTo our knowledge, this is the first study showing the multiple aspects of COVID-19 transmission, including serial interval, transmission patterns between age, gender, or race groups, and spatiotemporal patterns, based on data from 118,491 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 4080 tracked pairs of infector and infectee. We found that during February–July the serial interval for symptom onset shortened, and the major contribution to the spread of COVID-19 shifted to younger ages (from 40–70 years old in February–April to 20–50 years old in June–July). We also found three to four weeks of the shelter-in-place slowed transmission but was insufficient to prevent transmission into urban and peri-urban counties connected with major transportation.Implications of all the available evidenceThe contracting serial intervals and increasing spread by younger generation show the COVID-19 transmission at county level changes over time. The spatiotemporal patterns of transmission in county level further provide important evidence to guide effective COVID-19 prevention and control measures (e.g., shelter-in-place) in different areas.

scholarly journals Geographic and temporal variation in racial and ethnic disparities in SARS-CoV-2 positivity between February 2020 and August 2021 in the United States

2022 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline M. Ferguson ◽  
Amy C. Justice ◽  
Thomas F. Osborne ◽  
Hoda S. Abdel Magid ◽  
Amanda L. Purnell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Ethnic Disparities ◽  
Personal Characteristics ◽  
The United States ◽  
Racial And Ethnic Disparities ◽  
Department Of Veterans Affairs ◽  
Electronic Health Record Data ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Over Time

AbstractThe coronavirus pandemic has disproportionally impacted racial and ethnic minority communities in the United States. Patterns of these disparities may be changing over time as outbreaks occur in different communities. Utilizing electronic health record data from the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), we estimated odds ratios, stratified by time period and region, for testing positive among 1,313,402 individuals tested for SARS-CoV-2 between February 12, 2020 and August 16, 2021 at VA medical facilities. We adjusted for personal characteristics (sex, age, rural/urban residence, VA facility) and a wide range of clinical characteristics that have been evaluated in prior SARS-CoV-2 reports and could potentially explain racial/ethnic disparities in SARS-CoV-2. Our study found racial and ethnic disparities for testing positive were most pronounced at the beginning of the pandemic and decreased over time. A key finding was that the disparity among Hispanic individuals attenuated but remained elevated, while disparities among Asian individuals reversed by March 1, 2021. The variation in racial and ethnic disparities in SARS-CoV-2 positivity by time and region, independent of underlying health status and other demographic characteristics in a nationwide cohort, provides important insight for strategies to prevent further outbreaks.

The Evolution of Women’s (and Men’s) Partisan Attachments

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather L. Ondercin
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Quantitative Data ◽  
The United States ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Nineteenth Amendment ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Extensive Collection ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Over Time

This chapter examines how women’s and men’s attachments with the two major political parties in the United States have evolved since the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment. The chapter contends that over time gender has become increasingly important in influencing both men’s and women’s partisan attachments. Along with identifying the similarities and differences between men and women in partisan attachments, this chapter examines the unity and disunity of women’s partisan attachments, drawing on historical analyses to understand men’s and women’s partisanship attachments immediately after the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment when systematic quantitative data are unavailable. The text then explores the partisan attachments of men and women between 1950 and 2012 using an extensive collection of Gallup surveys from this time period. Differences based on generation, education, race, and region are also examined.

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