scholarly journals Diversity and distribution of the tick-borne relapsing fever spirochete Borrelia turicatae

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (11) ◽  
pp. e0009868
Author(s):  
Aparna Krishnavajhala ◽  
Brittany A. Armstrong ◽  
Alexander R. Kneubehl ◽  
Sarah M. Gunter ◽  
Julie Piccione ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ribosomal Rna ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Intergenic Spacer ◽  
The United States ◽  
Relapsing Fever ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Field Collection ◽  
Plasmid Diversity ◽  
Chromosomal Loci

Borrelia turicatae is a causative agent of tick-borne relapsing fever (TBRF) in the subtropics and tropics of the United States and Latin America. Historically, B. turicatae was thought to be maintained in enzootic cycles in rural areas. However, there is growing evidence that suggests the pathogen has established endemic foci in densely populated regions of Texas. With the growth of homelessness in the state and human activity in city parks, it was important to implement field collection efforts to identify areas where B. turicatae and its vector circulate. Between 2017 and 2020 we collected Ornithodoros turicata ticks in suburban and urban areas including public and private parks and recreational spaces. Ticks were fed on naïve mice and spirochetes were isolated from the blood. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) was performed on eight newly obtained isolates and included previously reported sequences. The four chromosomal loci targeted for MLST were 16S ribosomal RNA (rrs), flagellin B (flaB), DNA gyrase B (gyrB), and the intergenic spacer (IGS). Given the complexity of Borrelia genomes, plasmid diversity was also evaluated. These studies indicate that the IGS locus segregates B. turicatae into four genomic types and plasmid diversity is extensive between isolates. Furthermore, B. turicatae and its vector have established endemic foci in parks and recreational areas in densely populated settings of Texas.

The Rural-Urban Continuum of Polarization: Understanding the Geography of the 2018 Midterms

The Forum ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth M. Johnson ◽  
Dante J. Scala
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Metropolitan Areas ◽  
Political Attitudes ◽  
The United States ◽  
Rural America ◽  
Rural Regions ◽  
Urban America ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas ◽  
The Continuum

Abstract This study of the 2018 congressional midterms demonstrates how voting patterns and political attitudes vary across a spectrum of urban and rural areas in the United States. Rural America is no more a monolith than is urban America. The rural-urban gradient is better represented by a continuum than a dichotomy. This is evident in the voting results in 2018, just as it was in 2016. We found that the political tipping point lies beyond major metropolitan areas, in the suburban counties of smaller metropolitan areas. Democrats enjoyed even greater success in densely populated urban areas in 2018 than in 2016. Residents of these urban areas display distinctive and consistent social and political attitudes across a range of scales. At the other end of the continuum in remote rural areas, Republican candidates continued to command voter support despite the challenging national political environment. Voters in these rural regions expressed social and political attitudes diametrically opposed to their counterparts in large urban cores.

Housing Finance Reform: Should There Be a Government Guarantee?

2011 ◽  
Vol 01 (04) ◽  
pp. 811-822 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard K. Green
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
The United States ◽  
Economic Stress ◽  
Mortgage Market ◽  
Best Interest ◽  
Finance Reform ◽  
Fixed Rate ◽  
The Great Depression ◽  
The Republic

In 2007 and 2008, the mortgage market failed. It failed in a number of dimensions: Default rates rose to their highest levels since the great depression, and mortgage liquidity ground to a halt. This failure has produced recriminations: Blame has been laid at the feet of borrowers, brokers, lenders, investment banks, investors and government and quasi-government entities that guaranteed mortgages. These recent events have produced an important debate: Whether the U.S. mortgage market requires a federal guarantee in order to best serve consumers, investors and markets. My view is that such a guarantee is necessary. I will divide my argument into four areas: (1) I will argue that the United States has had a history of providing guarantees, either implicit or explicit, regardless of its professed position on the matter. This phenomenon goes back to the origins of the republic. It is in the best interest of the country to acknowledge the existence of such guarantees, and to price them appropriately before, rather than after, they become necessary. (2) I will argue that in times of economic stress, such as now, the absence of government guarantees would lead to an absence of mortgages. (3) I will argue that a purely "private" market would likely not provide a 30 year fixed rate pre-payable mortgage. I think that this is no longer a particularly controversial statement; what is more controversial is whether such a mortgage is necessary — I will argue that it is. (4) I will argue that in the absence of a federal guarantee, the price and quantity of mortgages will vary across geography. In particular, rural areas will have less access to mortgage credit that urban areas, central cities will have less access than suburbs. Condominiums already are treated less favorably than detached houses, and this difference is likely to get larger in the absence of a guarantee.

An Academic-Community Collaboration to Deliver Medication Therapy Management (MTM) Services to Patients Living in Rural Counties of a Southwestern State in the United States

2021 ◽  
pp. 089719002110002
Author(s):  
David Rhys Axon ◽  
Melissa Johnson ◽  
Brittany Abeln ◽  
Stephanie Forbes ◽  
Elizabeth J. Anderson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Program Effectiveness ◽  
Small Town ◽  
The United States ◽  
Small Towns ◽  
Academic Community ◽  
Service Needs ◽  
Medication Therapy

Background: Patients living in rural communities often experience pronounced health disparities, have a higher prevalence of diabetes and hypertension, and poorer access to care compared to urban areas. To address these unmet healthcare service needs, an established, academic-based MTM provider created a novel, collaborative program to provide comprehensive, telephonic services to patients living in rural Arizona counties. Objective: This study assessed the program effectiveness and described differences in health process and outcome measures (e.g., clinical outcomes, gaps in care for prescribed medications, medication-related problems) between individuals residing in different rural-urban commuting area (RUCA) groups (urban, micropolitan, and small town) in rural Arizona counties. Methods: Subjects eligible for inclusion were 18 years or older with diabetes and/or hypertension, living in rural Arizona counties. Data were collected on: demographic characteristics, medical conditions, clinical values, gaps in care, medication-related problems (MRPs), and health promotion guidance. Subjects were analyzed using 3 intra-county RUCA levels (i.e., urban, micropolitan, and small town). Results: A total of 384 patients were included from: urban (36.7%), micropolitan (19.3%) and small town (44.0%) areas. Positive trends were observed for clinical values, gaps in care, and MRPs between initial and follow-up consultations. Urban dwellers had significantly lower average SBP values at follow-up than those from small towns (p < 0.05). A total of 192 MRPs were identified; 75.0% were resolved immediately or referred to providers and 16.7% were accepted by prescribers. Conclusion: This academic-community partnership highlights the benefits of innovative collaborative programs, such as this, for individuals living in underserved, rural areas.

scholarly journals Stroke Incidence and Case Fatality According to Rural or Urban Residence

Stroke ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (10) ◽  
pp. 2661-2667 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivier Grimaud ◽  
Yacine Lachkhem ◽  
Fei Gao ◽  
Cindy Padilla ◽  
Mélanie Bertin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Healthcare Access ◽  
Case Fatality ◽  
The United States ◽  
Stroke Severity ◽  
Day Case ◽  
Stroke Incidence ◽  
Stroke Registry ◽  
Stroke Type

Background and Purpose— Recent findings suggest that in the United States, stroke incidence is higher in rural than in urban areas. Similar analyses in other high-income countries are scarce with conflicting results. In 2008, the Brest Stroke Registry was started in western France, an area that includes about 366 000 individuals living in various urban and rural settings. Methods— All new patients with stroke included in the Brest Stroke Registry from 2008 to 2013 were classified as residing in town centers, suburbs, isolated towns, or rural areas. Poisson regression was used to analyze stroke incidence and 30-day case fatality variations in the 4 different residence categories. Models with case fatality as outcome were adjusted for age, stroke type, and stroke severity. Results— In total, 3854 incident stroke cases (n=2039 women, 53%) were identified during the study period. Demographic and socio-economic characteristics and primary healthcare access indicators were significantly different among the 4 residence categories. Patterns of risk factors, stroke type, and severity were comparable among residence categories in both sexes. Age-standardized stroke rates varied from 2.90 per thousand (95% CI, 2.59–3.21) in suburbs to 3.35 (95% CI, 2.98–3.73) in rural areas for men, and from 2.14 (95% CI, 2.00–2.28) in town centers to 2.34 (95% CI, 2.12–2.57) in suburbs for women. Regression models suggested that among men, stroke incidence was significantly lower in suburbs than in town centers (incidence rate ratio =0.87; 95% CI, 0.77–0.99). Case fatality risk was comparable across urban categories but lower in rural patients (relative risk versus town centers: 0.76; 95% CI, 0.60–0.96). Conclusions— Stroke incidence was comparable, and the 30-day case fatality only slightly varied in the 4 residence categories despite widely different socio-demographic features covered by the Brest Stroke Registry.

scholarly journals Mapping poverty using mobile phone and satellite data

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (127) ◽  
pp. 20160690 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica E. Steele ◽  
Pål Roe Sundsøy ◽  
Carla Pezzulo ◽  
Victor A. Alegana ◽  
Tomas J. Bird ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Census Data ◽  
Data Sources ◽  
Human Potential ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Mobile Data ◽  
Poverty Measures ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas

Poverty is one of the most important determinants of adverse health outcomes globally, a major cause of societal instability and one of the largest causes of lost human potential. Traditional approaches to measuring and targeting poverty rely heavily on census data, which in most low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are unavailable or out-of-date. Alternate measures are needed to complement and update estimates between censuses. This study demonstrates how public and private data sources that are commonly available for LMICs can be used to provide novel insight into the spatial distribution of poverty. We evaluate the relative value of modelling three traditional poverty measures using aggregate data from mobile operators and widely available geospatial data. Taken together, models combining these data sources provide the best predictive power (highest r 2 = 0.78) and lowest error, but generally models employing mobile data only yield comparable results, offering the potential to measure poverty more frequently and at finer granularity. Stratifying models into urban and rural areas highlights the advantage of using mobile data in urban areas and different data in different contexts. The findings indicate the possibility to estimate and continually monitor poverty rates at high spatial resolution in countries with limited capacity to support traditional methods of data collection.

Length-Based Vehicle Classification Schemes and Length Bin Boundaries

2013 ◽  
Vol 2339 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Herbert Weinblatt ◽  
Erik Minge ◽  
Scott Petersen
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
The United States ◽  
Traffic Monitoring ◽  
Vehicle Classification ◽  
Pavement Performance ◽  
Department Of Transportation ◽  
Classification Schemes ◽  
Weigh In Motion

Vehicle classification data are an important component of traffic-monitoring programs. Although most vehicle classification conducted in the United States is axle based, some applications could be supplemented or replaced by length-based data. The typically higher deployment cost and reliability issues associated with collecting axle-based data as compared with length-based data present a challenge. This paper reports on analyses of alternative length-based vehicle classification schemes and appropriate length bin boundaries. The primary analyses use data from a set of 13 Long-Term Pavement Performance weigh-in-motion sites, all in rural areas; additional analyses are conducted with data from 11 Michigan Department of Transportation weigh-in-motion sites located in rural and small urban areas and one site located in an urbanized area. For most states, the recommended length-based vehicle classification scheme is a four-bin scheme (motorcycles, short, medium, and long) with an optional very long bin recommended for use by states in which significant numbers of longer combination vehicles operate.

Emergency management and homeland security: Exploring the relationship

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 483
Author(s):  
Jerome H. Kahan, BA, BS, MSEE
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Management ◽  
Homeland Security ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
The United States ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Preparedness Planning ◽  
Efficiency And Effectiveness ◽  
State And Local ◽  
Public And Private Stakeholders

In the years after the 9/11 tragedy, the United States continues to face risks from all forms of major disasters, from potentially dangerous terrorist attacks to catastrophic acts of nature. Professionals in the fields of emergency management and homeland security have responsibilities for ensuring that all levels of government, urban areas and communities, nongovernmental organizations, businesses, and individual citizens are prepared to deal with such hazards though actions that reduce risks to lives and property. Regrettably, the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the nation's ability to deal with disasters is unnecessarily challenged by the absence of a common understanding on how these fields are related in the workforce and educational arenas. Complicating matters further is the fact that neither of these fields has developed agreed definitions. In many ways, homeland security and emergency management have come to represent two different worlds and cultures. These conditions can have a deleterious effect on preparedness planning for public and private stakeholders across the nation when coordinated responses among federal, state, and local activities are essential for dealing with consequential hazards. This article demonstrates that the fields of emergency management and homeland security share many responsibilities but are not identical in scope or skills. It argues that emergency management should be considered a critical subset of the far broader and more strategic field of homeland security. From analytically based conclusions, it recommends five steps that be taken to bring these fields closer together to benefit more from their synergist relationship as well as from their individual contributions.

scholarly journals HIGH RISK OF CARDIAC DISEASE IN MIDDLE INCOME GROUP AND URBAN PATIENTS

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dr. Ruchi Jindal ◽  
Dr. Manisha ◽  
Dr. K. L. Mali
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Income Group ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cvd Risk ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Adverse Health Outcomes ◽  
Established Risk Factor ◽  
Middle Income Group ◽  
History Of

Background: Smoking is an established risk factor for many diseases and is one of the most important public health problems worldwide. Rural areas of the United States have a higher smoking prevalence than urban areas. Chronic stress associated with high income inequality has been hypothesized to increase CVD risk and other adverse health outcomes Material & Methods: 50 patients were enrolled for this study. Taking Consent and History of patients by a pre planned Performa Manner. Results:   Higher levels of risk of CVD were found in urban and middle income group. Conclusion: Smoking and Alcohol in middle income group in urban population are major risk for CVD. So need to aware people for the same. Keywords: CVD, Smoking, Alcohol, Rural, urban.

White Internal Migration to American Cities, 1940–1980

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chad Berry
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Internal Migration ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Early Period ◽  
The United States ◽  
White Americans ◽  
Urban Centers ◽  
Suburban Areas ◽  
The North

An overview of Euro-American internal migration in the United States between 1940 and 1980 explores the overall population movement away from rural areas to cities and suburban areas. Although focused on white Americans and their migrations, there are similarities to the Great Migration of African Americans, who continued to move out of the South during the mid-20th century. In the early period, the industrial areas in the North and West attracted most of the migrants. Mobilization for World War II loosened rural dwellers who were long kept in place by low wages, political disfranchisement, and low educational attainment. The war also attracted significant numbers of women to urban centers in the North and West. After the war, migration increased, enticing white Americans to become not just less rural but also increasingly suburban. The growth of suburbs throughout the country was prompted by racial segregation in housing that made many suburban areas white and earmarked many urban areas for people of color. The result was incredible growth in suburbia: from 22 million living in those areas in 1940 to triple that in 1970. Later in the period, as the Steelbelt rusted, the rise of the West as a migration magnet was spurred by development strategies, federal investment in infrastructure, and military bases. Sunbelt areas were making investments that stood ready to recruit industries and of course people, especially from Rustbelt areas in the North. By the dawn of the 21st century, half of the American population resided in suburbs.

Young People and Disadvantaged Environments in Affluent Countries

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirsten Visser
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Personal Characteristics ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Structural Factors ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Rural Environments

Many social scientists over the last decades have focused on the question of the impacts of poverty on people. Studies in this field primarily examine the effects of social, cultural, and economic resources and structural factors on the development, social outcomes, and well-being of an individual. In the last decades, scholarly interest has increasingly focused on poverty among children and adolescents (hereafter “young people”). Young people are seen as a nation’s future, which forms a reason for societal concern with their well-being and developmental outcomes. In addition, scholars increasingly acknowledge that poverty is multidimensional and heterogenous: the effects of poverty differ according to personal characteristics such as age, gender, race/ethnicity, or disability, but they are also exemplified by the disadvantaged environments in which young people find themselves, such as dysfunctional families, deprived neighborhoods, and low-quality schools. This article gives an overview of the most important works in the field of the effects of poverty and disadvantaged environments on young people (0–18 years of age). As the nature of poverty differs significantly between affluent countries and low-income developing countries, this review is focused on studies in the United States, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Given the fact that disadvantage, and the different effects thereof on young people, can be approached from the perspectives offered by different social sciences, publications from geography, sociology, social work, anthropology, economics, and (environmental) psychology are included in this review. This article departs from the idea of ecological models, assuming that poverty impacts children within their various contexts such as the home, school, and neighborhood. After presenting general works on poverty among young people, attention is given to the impacts of disadvantages in home, neighborhood, and school environments. Most studies that are discussed in this review deal with disadvantage in urban areas, reflecting the focus of the overall literature in affluent countries. However, poverty and disadvantage also differ between urban and rural environments. Therefore, the article ends with an overview of literature on poverty among young people in rural areas.

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