Model misspecification, measurement error, and apparent supralinearity in the concentration-response relationship between PM2.5 and mortality.

A growing number of studies have produced results that suggest the shape of the concentration-response (C-R) relationship between PM2.5 exposure and mortality is "supralinear" such that incremental risk is higher at the lowest exposure levels than at the highest exposure levels. If the C-R function is in fact supralinear, then there may be significant health benefits associated with reductions in PM2.

A simulation-based assessment of the ability to detect thresholds in chronic risk concentration-response functions in the presence of exposure measurement error.

An important question when setting appropriate air quality standards for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is whether there exists a "threshold" in the concentration-response (C-R) function, such that PM2.5 levels below this threshold are not expected to produce adverse health effects.

Using Uncertainty Analysis to Improve Consistency in Regulatory Assessments of Criteria Pollutant Standards.

Regulatory impact analyses (RIAs), required for new major federal regulations, are often criticized for not incorporating epistemic uncertainties into their quantitative estimates of benefits and costs. "Integrated uncertainty analysis," which relies on subjective judgments about epistemic uncertainty to quantitatively combine epistemic and statistical uncertainties, is often prescribed. This article identifies an additional source for subjective judgment regarding a key epistemic uncertainty in RIAs for National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)-the regulator's degree of confidence in continuation of the relationship between pollutant concentration and health effects at varying concentration levels.

Setting Air Quality Standards for PM : A Role for Subjective Uncertainty in NAAQS Quantitative Risk Assessments?

The U.S. Clean Air Act (CAA) requires the Administrator of the U.

Integrated Uncertainty Analysis for Ambient Pollutant Health Risk Assessment: A Case Study of Ozone Mortality Risk.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) uses health risk assessment to help inform its decisions in setting national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS).

Inconsistencies in Risk Analyses for Ambient Air Pollutant Regulations.

This article describes inconsistencies between health risk analyses that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) uses to support its decisions on primary National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), and in the associated Regulatory Impact Analyses (RIAs) that accompany each NAAQS rulemaking.

Enhancing the Characterization of Epistemic Uncertainties in PM2.5 Risk Analyses.

The Environmental Benefits Mapping and Analysis Program (BenMAP) is a software tool developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that is widely used inside and outside of EPA to produce quantitative estimates of public health risks from fine particulate matter (PM2.

An evaluation of the robustness of the visual air quality "preference study" method.

Unlabelled: In 2012, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considered setting a secondary National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for particulate matter (PM) to maintain urban visual air quality (VAQ) above the level that EPA believes results in adverse effects on public welfare.

Pubertal status, sensation-seeking, impulsivity, and substance use in high school-aged boys and girls.

Objective: To examine how factors such as pubertal status, sensation-seeking, and impulsivity are related to substance use (cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana) in high school students and examine these associations by gender.

Methods: Ten public high schools in Connecticut participated in a survey of high-risk behaviors. Adolescents from grades 9 to 12 (N = 3068) completed measures of physical development (Pubertal Development Scale), perceived pubertal timing, impulsivity and sensation-seeking (Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire-Form III), and cigarette, marijuana, and alcohol use in the past 30 days.

Gender differences in adolescent marijuana use and associated psychosocial characteristics.

Marijuana use in adolescents is associated with many adverse outcomes, including neurobiological and health consequences. Despite this, little is known about gender differences in the correlates of adolescent marijuana use. This study attempted to fill this gap by examining gender differences in the correlates of lifetime and past 30-day marijuana use.

Preliminary Examination of Adolescent Spending in a Contingency Management Based Smoking Cessation Program.

Contingency management (CM) utilizing monetary incentives is efficacious in enhancing abstinence in an adolescent smoking cessation program, but how adolescents spend their money has not been examined. We assessed spending habits of 38 adolescent smokers in a CM-based smoking cessation project prior to quitting and during treatment using a questionnaire about spending in a number of categories, including cigarettes, other addictive substances, durable goods, and disposable goods. Our preliminary results indicate that participation in a CM based program for smoking cessation did not lead to greater spending on cigarettes and other substances and may have produced more socially acceptable spending.

Smoking expectancies, weight concerns, and dietary behaviors in adolescence.

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the association of cigarette smoking and weight concerns in adolescents, given that adolescents may begin smoking or have difficulty quitting because of their expectancies of the effects of smoking on body weight.

Methods: This study used data from a cross-sectional survey of 4523 Connecticut high school adolescents to assess the influence of gender, smoking intensity, and dietary-restrictive behavior on smoking-related weight concerns.

Results: Heavy smokers were significantly less likely to engage in healthy dietary restrictions than nonsmokers; however, light smokers did not differ from nonsmokers.

Impulsive sensation seeking, parental history of alcohol problems, and current alcohol and tobacco use in adolescents.

Objectives: This study attempted to evaluate whether impulsive sensation seeking mediated the relationship between parental alcohol problems and offspring alcohol and tobacco use.

Methods: Participants were Connecticut high school students (n = 2733) completing a survey of high-risk behaviors. Variables of interest included past month alcohol use, past month binge alcohol use, frequency of past month alcohol use, past month tobacco use, having a biological parent with an alcohol problem, and score on the impulsive sensation seeking (ImpSS) scale from the Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire - Form III.

The associations of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and downstream inflammatory markers with risk of cardiovascular disease: the Caerphilly Study.

Objectives: Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a key pro-inflammatory cytokine which mediates expression of several 'downstream' inflammatory markers and may play a role in atherothrombosis. However, it is not yet known whether IL-6 plays a role in mediating the associations of each marker with risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) or ischaemic stroke (IS).

Methods And Results: We examined the role of IL-6 and several "downstream" markers of inflammation (leucocyte counts, plasma and serum viscosity, fibrinogen, C-reactive protein, alpha1-antitrypsin and alpha2-macroglobulin) with risk of subsequent CHD, IS, and a combined endpoint (CHD/IS) in a population of British men.

Off-time Pubertal Timing Predicts Physiological Reactivity to Post-puberty Interpersonal Stress.

We investigated associations between retrospectively assessed timing of pubertal development, interpersonal interactions, and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis reactivity to an interpersonal stress task in 110 young adult women. Participants provided salivary cortisol samples at points prior and subsequent to a video-taped conflict discussion with their romantic partner. Participants also provided subjective global ratings of their discussion on dimensions of conflict and support.

Critical considerations in evaluating scientific evidence of health effects of ambient ozone: a conference report.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), under the authority of the Clean Air Act (CAA), is required to promulgate National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQSs) for criteria air pollutants, including ozone.

Preliminary examination of tobacco withdrawal in adolescent smokers during smoking cessation treatment.

Tobacco withdrawal symptoms have been shown to play a significant role in mediating relapse to smoking in adult smokers; however, few prospective studies have examined the course of tobacco withdrawal symptoms over time and their connection to lapse in adolescent smokers. Withdrawal symptoms were assessed weekly for 4 weeks in a sample of adolescent smokers participating in a pilot cessation intervention. Adolescent smokers experienced an exacerbation in overall withdrawal symptoms, particularly of cravings and restlessness, although symptoms were generally mild.

Effects of acute tobacco abstinence in adolescent smokers compared with nonsmokers.

Purpose: Abstinence effects such as nicotine withdrawal and mood changes contribute to the maintenance of cigarette smoking in adult smokers, and emerging reports on adolescent smokers suggest they may experience similar subjective effects when deprived. This study aimed to prospectively document tobacco abstinence-induced changes during the first 48 hours of abstinence in adolescent smokers compared with nonsmokers, to distinguish effects distinct from typical adolescent lability.

Methods: Fifty-seven adolescent smokers and 44 adolescent nonsmokers were assessed during a 48-hour inpatient session.

Combining cognitive behavioral therapy with contingency management for smoking cessation in adolescent smokers: a preliminary comparison of two different CBT formats.

This pilot study evaluated the optimal format of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to combine with contingency management (CM) in a four-week, high school-based smoking cessation program. Thirty-four adolescent smokers received a standard weekly version of CBT or a frequent brief behavioral intervention. Results indicate a trend toward a higher seven-day point prevalence end-of-treatment abstinence rate and percent days abstinent during treatment in the CBT condition.

Methods and results from a new survey of values for eastern regional haze improvements.

A contingent valuation survey was designed and implemented in 2003 to elicit the willingness to pay for haze reduction in scenic areas of the Eastern United States. This survey updated and enhanced a portion of a 1988 survey, Chestnut and Rowe's Preservation Values Study, which is commonly used to estimate benefits of haze reduction policies. The 2003 survey incorporated features to address criticisms of the 1988 survey regarding its lack of budget constraints and its simplistic descriptions of changes in visibility.