scholarly journals The Disproportionate Impact of COVID-19 among Undocumented Immigrants and Racial Minorities in the US

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (23) ◽  
pp. 12708
Author(s):  
Mohammad Tawhidul Hasan Bhuiyan ◽  
Irtesam Mahmud Khan ◽  
Sheikh Saifur Rahman Jony ◽  
Renee Robinson ◽  
Uyen-Sa D. T. Nguyen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Population Characteristics ◽  
Minority Population ◽  
Observation Data ◽  
Strong Positive Correlation ◽  
County Level ◽  
Minority Communities ◽  
The North ◽  
The Us ◽  
Health Initiatives ◽  
Resolution Model

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus responsible for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has had an unprecedented effect, especially among under-resourced minority communities. Surveillance of those at high risk is critical for preventing and controlling the pandemic. We must better understand the relationships between COVID-19-related cases or deaths and characteristics in our most vulnerable population that put them at risk to target COVID-19 prevention and management efforts. Population characteristics strongly related to United States (US) county-level data on COVID-19 cases and deaths during all stages of the pandemic were identified from the onset of the epidemic and included county-level socio-demographic and comorbidities data, as well as daily meteorological modeled observation data from the North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR), and the NARR high spatial resolution model to assess the environment. Advanced machine learning (ML) approaches were used to identify outbreaks (geographic clusters of COVID-19) and included spatiotemporal risk factors and COVID-19 vaccination efforts, especially among vulnerable and underserved communities. COVID-19 outcomes were found to be negatively associated with the number of people vaccinated and positively associated with age, the prevalence of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and the minority population. There was also a strong positive correlation between unauthorized immigrants and the prevalence of COVID-19 cases and deaths. Meteorological variables were also investigated, but correlations with COVID-19 were relatively weak. Our findings suggest that COVID-19 has had a disproportionate impact across the US population among vulnerable and minority communities. Findings also emphasize the importance of vaccinations and tailored public health initiatives (e.g., mask mandates, vaccination) to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and the number of COVID-19 related deaths across all populations.

scholarly journals Multilevel modeling of county-level excessive alcohol use, rurality, and COVID-19 case fatality rates in the US

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. e0253466
Author(s):  
George Pro ◽  
Paul A. Gilbert ◽  
Julie A. Baldwin ◽  
Clare C. Brown ◽  
Sean Young ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Alcohol Misuse ◽  
New York Times ◽  
Case Fatality ◽  
Population Characteristics ◽  
County Level ◽  
Model Case ◽  
The Us

Objective Reports of disparities in COVID-19 mortality rates are emerging in the public health literature as the pandemic continues to unfold. Alcohol misuse varies across the US and is related to poorer health and comorbidities that likely affect the severity of COVID-19 infection. High levels of pre-pandemic alcohol misuse in some counties may have set the stage for worse COVID-19 outcomes. Furthermore, this relationship may depend on how rural a county is, as access to healthcare in rural communities has lagged behind more urban areas. The objective of this study was to test for associations between county-level COVID-19 mortality, pre-pandemic county-level excessive drinking, and county rurality. Method We used national COVID-19 data from the New York Times to calculate county-level case fatality rates (n = 3,039 counties and county equivalents; October 1 –December 31, 2020) and other external county-level data sources for indicators of rurality and health. We used beta regression to model case fatality rates, adjusted for several county-level population characteristics. We included a multilevel component to our model and defined state as a random intercept. Our focal predictor was a single variable representing nine possible combinations of low/mid/high alcohol misuse and low/mid/high rurality. Results The median county-level COVID-19 case fatality rate was 1.57%. Compared to counties with low alcohol misuse and low rurality (referent), counties with high levels of alcohol and mid (β = -0.17, p = 0.008) or high levels of rurality (β = -0.24, p<0.001) demonstrated significantly lower case fatality rates. Conclusions Our findings highlight the intersecting roles of county-level alcohol consumption, rurality, and COVID-19 mortality.

The Tragedy of Lebanon

1984 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-52
Author(s):  
Mahmud A. Faksh
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
World War ◽  
Land Area ◽  
Henry Kissinger ◽  
The North ◽  
Northern Cyprus ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Status ◽  
New States

I.Since the end of World War 11, approximately eighty new states havebeen established. Only two, Pakistan and Cyprus, have undergone theagony of dismemberment when Bangladesh broke off in 1973 and theTurkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was declared in 1983. The worldmay now be witnessing the possible breakup of yet a third state:Lebanon, whose disintegration has been accelerated since the June 1982Israeli invasion.Shortly after the invasion began, Henry Kissinger assessed itsconsequence for Lebanon’s future, concluding, “It is neither desirablenor possible to return to the status quo ante in Lebanon.” One possibleoutcome was that some Syrian and Israeli forces would remain in thenorthern and southern ends, respectively, and the central government’sauthority would ostensibly cover the rest of the country. Implicit in theKissinger diagnosis is the possibility of eventual partition.Though the gloomy assessment by the “wizard” of US. foreign policyshould by no means be construed as a portent of an official shift awayfrom the publicly stated US. support of “Lebanon’s sovereignty andterritorial integrity,” a shadow was cast on the country’s prospects.Subsequent developments have seemed to indicate that Lebanon’sdemise looms larger than at any time since the beginning of the civil warin 1975-76.For over a year and a half national fragmentation has proceededinexorably. What many people once could imagine only with difficulty,they now acknowledge: in reality, Lebanon is facing possible death. TheSouth (35 percent of the land area) is occupied by Israel; the North andthe Biqa’ (45 percent) are controlled by Syria; Kasrawan (15 percent) iscontrolled by the Christian Maronite forces (the Lebanese Front forces),which are not subject to the government’s authority. The rest of thecountry-beleaguered Beirut and environs-was until the February1984 breakdown under the government’s shaky control supported bysymbolic US., French, Italian, and British units. The Multi-NationalForce (MNF) was subject to increasing attacks by Muslim leftist factions,as witnessed in the October 23 bombing of the quarters of U.S.Marines and French troops. Thus, instead of keeping peace, the MNFbecame ,a partisan force trying to protect itself. The US. and Frenchforces in particular seemed to have outlived their usefulness as“peacekeepers.” Recurrent fighting in southern Beirut and in theadjacent Chouf mountains, that pitted Christian Maronites and armyunits against Shi‘ite and Druse Muslims constantly threatened theexistence of President Amin Gemayel’s government and consequently arenewal of the civil war. This situation culminated in February 1984 inthe resignation of the Shafiq al-Wazzan’s cabinet, the loss ofgovernment’s control of West Beirut to Muslim-leftist militias, and theimminent collapse of Amin Gemayel’s presidency ...

Uncommon Grounds

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Lawrence
Keyword(s):  
American Literature ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Historical Novel ◽  
Latin American Literature ◽  
Historical Account ◽  
American Novel ◽  
Song Of Solomon ◽  
The Past ◽  
The North ◽  
The Us

This chapter turns from a historical account of the development of the US literature of experience and the Latin American literature of reading to a textual analysis of the US and Latin American historical novel. Hemispheric/inter-American scholars often cite William Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom! (1936), Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967), and Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon (1977) as exemplifying instances of literary borrowing across the North–South divide. As I demonstrate, however, each of the later texts also realigns its predecessor’s historical imaginary according to the dominant logics of the US and Latin American literary fields. Whereas the American works foreground experiential models of reconstructing the past and conveying knowledge across generations, García Márquez’s Latin American novel presents reading as the fundamental mode of comprehending and transmitting history.

An Inter-American Episode

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Lawrence
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Pablo Neruda ◽  
Jose Marti ◽  
The South ◽  
American Reader ◽  
The North ◽  
Literary Theories ◽  
The Us

This chapter focuses on a paradigmatic misencounter between an American experiencer and a Latin American reader. Examining an implicit debate about the sources of Walt Whitman’s poetry and vision of the Americas, I argue that Waldo Frank, one of the twentieth century’s main literary ambassadors from the US to Latin America, positioned Whitman as the representative US writer whose antibookish experiential aesthetics could serve as a model for “American” writers both in the North and in the South. I show how Frank’s framework provided a foil for Borges’s idiosyncratic view that Whitman’s poetry about America derived entirely from his readings of European and US writers. Although much of the best scholarship on Whitman’s reception in Latin America has concentrated on poets like José Martí and Pablo Neruda, who adapted Whitman’s naturalism, I contend that Borges’s iconoclastic portrait of Whitman as a reader profoundly influenced a range of anti-experiential literary theories and practices in Latin America.

Fluoroquinolone- and Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus: Insights from the Antimicrobial Resistance Management Program

2005 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 123-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
John G Gums ◽  
Benjamin J Epstein
Keyword(s):  
Staphylococcus Aureus ◽  
Antimicrobial Resistance ◽  
Methicillin Resistance ◽  
Resistance Management ◽  
Multidrug Resistant ◽  
Management Program ◽  
Methicillin Resistant ◽  
The North ◽  
The Us ◽  
Northeast Us

Background: Staphylococcus aureus is a frequent cause of infections involving the bloodstream, skin and soft tissue, and lungs in hospitalized patients. These isolates are often multidrug resistant and represent a major therapeutic challenge. Objective: To explore the susceptibilities of S. aureus to nafcillin/oxacillin, a surrogate for methicillin resistance, and the fluoroquinolones and determine whether a relationship might exist between fluoroquinolone use and the prevalence of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). Methods: To date, 353 institutions throughout the US and Puerto Rico have enrolled in the Antimicrobial Resistance Management (ARM) Program, and data have been submitted on nearly 5 million isolates of S. aureus. Isolates submitted from 1990 through 2002 were reviewed for sensitivity to nafcillin/oxacillin, clindamycin, erythromycin, and the fluoroquinolones ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin. Results: From 1990 through 2002 inclusive, susceptibility to nafcillin/oxacillin nationally was 64.9% (n = 360,460), ranging from 62.2% in the North Central and Northeast US to 72.8% in the Southwest. Nationally, S. aureus isolates were more resistant to levofloxacin (41.4%, n = 123,868) than ciprofloxacin (38.7%, n = 256,178). The greatest change in susceptibility of S. aureus to nafcillin/oxacillin and ciprofloxacin occurred concurrently from 1998 to 2002, which may implicate fluoroquinolone use with increasing rates of MRSA infection. Conclusions: Resistance to methicillin and the fluoroquinolones has increased in concert during the past 5 years. Collectively, data from the ARM Program, along with several other investigations, support a role of fluoroquinolone use in the emergence of MRSA. These observations, along with increasing resistance among gram-positive and gram-negative pathogens, underscore the need for judicious use of fluoroquinolones.

A County-Level Analysis of the US Radiologist Workforce: Physician Supply and Subspecialty Characteristics

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 601-606 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew B. Rosenkrantz ◽  
Wenyi Wang ◽  
Danny R. Hughes ◽  
Richard Duszak
Keyword(s):  
County Level ◽  
Physician Supply ◽  
The Us ◽  
Level Analysis

US Hegemony in Korean Studies and the Soviet Role in Early Postwar Korea

2021 ◽  
pp. 375-395
Author(s):  
Kathryn Weathersby
Keyword(s):  
The South ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Korean History ◽  
American Occupation ◽  
Korean Studies ◽  
The North ◽  
Soviet Occupation ◽  
The Us ◽  
Us Hegemony

This paper examines some of the ways the US-centric framework of Anglophone Korean studies has distorted scholarship on post-colonial Korean history. First, an over-emphasis on the American role in the division of Korea has exaggerated the possibility that the US and USSR could have compromised to create a unified government for the peninsula. The Soviet documentary record reveals that Moscow was determined to obstruct such an outcome if it endangered Soviet security. Second, by focusing on the serious damage the American occupation inflicted on the South, scholars have understated the control Soviet occupation authorities exercised in the North.

scholarly journals Comparative Aspects Regarding The Regulation Of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 424-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florin Fainisi ◽  
Victor Al. Fainisi
Keyword(s):  
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Civil Aviation ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Chicago Convention ◽  
The North ◽  
Aerial Vehicles ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Military ◽  
Legislative Measures

Abstract The technology of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) has constantly developed in the last decade, becoming a key feature of the military programs and operations in Europe and the US, and the industry market has considerably grown. The vast majority of this growth is at the US level, whose military budget is bigger than of any other state in the world. On the other hand, with respect to the civil market, the sale of these kinds of aircrafts is in its initial stages, even though there are lots of fields in which it can be applied. In general, the states have begun to take legislative measures so that the unmanned flight of such an aircraft in areas open to civil aircrafts is controlled, so that any danger to the civil aircrafts should be avoided. The countries of the European Union that have not legislated this field are subject to Regulation 216/2008/EC regarding common norms in the civil aviation field and the Chicago Convention. Furthermore, all EU states are NATO members and thus apply in principle the norms established by the North-Atlantic Organization.

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