scholarly journals Spatial Disparities of COVID-19 Cases and Fatalities in United States Counties

Author(s):  
Sarah L. Jackson ◽  
Sahar Derakhshan ◽  
Leah Blackwood ◽  
Logan Lee ◽  
Qian Huang ◽  
...  

This paper examines the spatial and temporal trends in county-level COVID-19 cases and fatalities in the United States during the first year of the pandemic (January 2020–January 2021). Statistical and geospatial analyses highlight greater impacts in the Great Plains, Southwestern and Southern regions based on cases and fatalities per 100,000 population. Significant case and fatality spatial clusters were most prevalent between November 2020 and January 2021. Distinct urban–rural differences in COVID-19 experiences uncovered higher rural cases and fatalities per 100,000 population and fewer government mitigation actions enacted in rural counties. High levels of social vulnerability and the absence of mitigation policies were significantly associated with higher fatalities, while existing community resilience had more influential spatial explanatory power. Using differences in percentage unemployment changes between 2019 and 2020 as a proxy for pre-emergent recovery revealed urban counties were hit harder in the early months of the pandemic, corresponding with imposed government mitigation policies. This longitudinal, place-based study confirms some early urban–rural patterns initially observed in the pandemic, as well as the disparate COVID-19 experiences among socially vulnerable populations. The results are critical in identifying geographic disparities in COVID-19 exposures and outcomes and providing the evidentiary basis for targeting pandemic recovery.

2019 ◽  
Vol 139 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 1379-1384
Author(s):  
Brandon Lawhorn ◽  
Robert C. Balling

AbstractIt is well-documented that the United States (US), along with other mid-latitude land locations, has experienced warming in recent decades in response to changes in atmospheric composition. Among other changes, Easterling (2002) reported that the frost-free period is now longer across much of the US with the first frost in fall occurring later and the last freeze in spring occurring earlier. In this investigation, we explore spatial and temporal variations in all freeze warnings issued by the US National Weather Service. Freeze warning counts are highest in the southeastern US peaking overall in the spring and fall months. Freeze warnings tend to occur more toward summer moving northward and westward into more northerly states. Consistent with the warming in recent decades, we find statistically significant northward movements in freeze warning centroids in some months (December, February) across the study period (2005–2018). Detection of spatial and temporal trends in freeze warnings may be of interest to any number of scientists with applied climatological interests.


2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. L. Hand ◽  
B. A. Schichtel ◽  
W. C. Malm ◽  
N. H. Frank

The rural/remote IMPROVE network (Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments) and the Environmental Protection Agency's urban Chemical Speciation Network have measured PM2.5organic (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) since 1989 and 2000, respectively. We aggregated OC and EC data from 2007 to 2010 at over 300 sites from both networks in order to characterize the spatial and seasonal patterns in rural and urban carbonaceous aerosols. The spatial extent of OC and EC was more regional in the eastern United States relative to more localized concentrations in the West. The highest urban impacts of OC and EC relative to background concentrations occurred in the West during fall and winter. Urban and rural carbonaceous aerosols experienced a large (although opposite) range in seasonality in the West compared to a much lower seasonal variability in the East. Long-term (1990–2010) trend analyses indicated a widespread decrease in rural TC (TC = OC + EC) across the country, with positive, though insignificant, trends in the summer and fall in the West. Short-term trends indicated that urban and rural TC concentrations have both decreased since 2000, with the strongest and more spatially homogeneous urban and rural trends in the West relative to the East.


2020 ◽  
Vol Publish Ahead of Print ◽  
Author(s):  
Howard Guo ◽  
Angela Y. Lam ◽  
Abdel Aziz Shaheen ◽  
Nauzer Forbes ◽  
Gilaad G. Kaplan ◽  
...  

2006 ◽  
Vol 24 (18_suppl) ◽  
pp. 6131-6131
Author(s):  
D. B. Ross ◽  
K. D. Weiss ◽  
P. Keegan ◽  
R. Justice ◽  
R. Pazdur

6131 Background: No systematic examination of temporal trends in oncology approvals in the United States (US) has been conducted. Methods: Internal databases at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) were queried to determine the number of first-time approvals for New Molecular Entities (NMEs) (both traditional drugs and therapeutic biologics) for oncology indications between the years 1986 and 2005, inclusive; 1986 was the first year for which database records were available for both drugs and biologics. Correlation analysis was used to analyze the data for time-dependent changes in approvals and approval rates. Results: During the period examined, 70 NMEs received first-time approval for an oncology indication ( Table ); 52 (74%) were drugs and 18 were biologics. The median annual number of approvals was 3 (range, 1 to 7); the maximum number of approvals during the period examined occurred in 2004. Statistical analysis showed a weak positive correlation between the number of oncology approvals and time, and between the proportion of applications approved as a percentage of all oncology product applications and time. Conclusions: Available data suggest that the number and rate of oncology product approvals has remained stable in the US over the last two decades. [Table: see text] No significant financial relationships to disclose.


1986 ◽  
Vol 108 (3) ◽  
pp. 432-439 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. J. Bodnaruk

The Great Plains Gasification Project is the first commercial-sized plant to produce substitute natural gas from coal in the United States. The plant is designed to convert 14,000 tons/D of North Dakota lignite into 137.5 million standard cubic feet of gas per day. The plant construction has been successfully completed per original design, on schedule and on budget. The plant has also been successfully turned over from construction to operations, as per the original plan. With the completion of the capital projects being implemented at the plant, plans are to achieve 70 percent stream factor in the first year of production (1985). The DOE-Chicago Operations Office has been assigned the responsibility for monitoring the project’s performance against baselines of cost, schedule, and technical criteria. During the startup phase of the project, significant technological advancements have been made and considerable knowledge has been gained, both by the operators and DOE (considering this to be a first of a kind plant built in the U.S.).


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