Geospatial and Temporal Associations between Increases in Opioid Deaths, Socioeconomics, and Rates of Sexually Transmitted Infections in the Northeast United States 2012-2017.

With the introduction of fentanyl to illegal markets in 2013 and an overall rise in rates of synthetic opioid use, opioid-related deaths have increased significantly. A similar trend has been observed for sexually transmitted infections, homicides, and poor mental health outcomes. In this paper, we explore the spatiotemporal relationship between opioid death rates and sexually transmitted infection (STI) rates in counties from the Northeast region of the United States between the years 2012-2017.

Political and personal reactions to COVID-19 during initial weeks of social distancing in the United States.

Objective: To examine perceptions, behaviors, and impacts surrounding COVID-19 early in the pandemic response.

Materials And Methods: A cross-sectional survey of 1,030 U.S.

Comparative Seasonal Respiratory Virus Epidemic Timing in Utah.

Previous studies have found evidence of viral interference between seasonal respiratory viruses. Using laboratory-confirmed data from a Utah-based healthcare provider, Intermountain Health Care, we analyzed the time-specific patterns of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza A, influenza B, human metapneumovirus, rhinovirus, and enterovirus circulation from 2004 to 2018, using descriptive methods and wavelet analysis ( = 89,462) on a local level. The results showed that RSV virus dynamics in Utah were the most consistent of any of the viruses studied, and that the other seasonal viruses were generally in synchrony with RSV, except for enterovirus (which mostly occurs late summer to early fall) and influenza A and B during pandemic years.

Transitions From Heart Disease to Cancer as the Leading Cause of Death in US States, 1999-2016.

Introduction: Heart disease has been the leading cause of death in the United States since 1910 and cancer the second leading cause of death since 1933. However, cancer emerged recently as the leading cause of death in many US states. The objective of this study was to provide an in-depth analysis of age-standardized annual state-specific mortality rates for heart disease and cancer.

Personal exposure to fine particulate air pollution while commuting: An examination of six transport modes on an urban arterial roadway.

Traffic-related air pollution in urban areas contributes significantly to commuters' daily PM2.5 exposures, but varies widely depending on mode of commuting. To date, studies show conflicting results for PM2.

Interference Between Respiratory Syncytial Virus and Human Rhinovirus Infection in Infancy.

Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and human rhinovirus (HRV) are the most common viruses associated with acute respiratory tract infections in infancy. Viral interference is important in understanding respiratory viral circulation and the impact of vaccines.

Methods: To study viral interference, we evaluated cases of RSV and HRV codetection by polymerase chain reaction in 2 prospective birth cohort studies (the Infant Susceptibility to Pulmonary Infections and Asthma Following RSV Exposure [INSPIRE] study and the Tennessee Children's Respiratory Initiative [TCRI]) and a double-blinded, randomized, controlled trial (MAKI), using adjusted multivariable regression analyses.

Identifying and Reducing Disparities in Mental Health Outcomes Among American Indians and Alaskan Natives Using Public Health, Mental Healthcare and Legal Perspectives.

The purpose of this paper was to investigate disparities in mental healthcare delivery in American Indian/Alaska Native populations from three perspectives: public health, legal policy and mental healthcare and provide evidence-based recommendations toward reducing those disparities. Data on mental health funding to tribes were obtained from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. As a result of analysis of these data, vital statistics and current literature, we propose three recommendations to reduce mental health disparities.

Elemental analysis of infant airborne particulate exposures.

Air pollution is hypothesized to have negative impacts on infant pulmonary health because of infants' increased rates of respiration and ongoing lung development. The severity and type of impact may differ depending on elemental concentrations. We conducted a study of 21 infants <6 months old whose parents carried a small personal particulate monitoring device (RTI MicroPEM) and GPS unit with the infant for 7 days in January and February 2015.

Seasonal Timing of Infant Bronchiolitis, Apnea and Sudden Unexplained Infant Death.

Rates of Sudden Unexplained Infant Death (SUID), bronchiolitis, and central apnea increase in winter in temperate climates. Though associations between these three conditions are suggested, more work is required to establish if there is a causal pathway linking bronchiolitis to SUID through inducing central apnea. Utilizing a large population-based cohort of infants studied over a 20-year period (n = 834,595, from birth years 1989-2009)), we analyzed ecological associations between timing of SUID cases, bronchiolitis, and apnea healthcare visits.

Respiratory syncytial virus immunoprophylaxis in high-risk infants and development of childhood asthma.

Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) lower respiratory tract infection is implicated in asthma development. RSV immunoprophylaxis during infancy is efficacious in preventing RSV-related hospitalizations and has been associated with decreased wheezing in the first years of life.

Objective: We investigated whether greater adherence to immunoprophylaxis in infants at high risk for severe RSV would be associated with decreased childhood asthma.

Applications of GPS-tracked personal and fixed-location PM(2.5) continuous exposure monitoring.

Unlabelled: Continued development of personal air pollution monitors is rapidly improving government and research capabilities for data collection. In this study, we tested the feasibility of using GPS-enabled personal exposure monitors to collect personal exposure readings and short-term daily PM2.5 measures at 15 fixed locations throughout a community.

Investigation of spatio-temporal cancer clusters using residential histories in a case-control study of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in the United States.

Background: Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) is an enigmatic disease with few known risk factors. Spatio-temporal epidemiologic analyses have the potential to reveal patterns that may give clues to new risk factors worthy of investigation. We sought to investigate clusters of NHL through space and time based on life course residential histories.

Space-time analysis of testicular cancer clusters using residential histories: a case-control study in Denmark.

Though the etiology is largely unknown, testicular cancer incidence has seen recent significant increases in northern Europe and throughout many Western regions. The most common cancer in males under age 40, age period cohort models have posited exposures in the in utero environment or in early childhood as possible causes of increased risk of testicular cancer. Some of these factors may be tied to geography through being associated with behavioral, cultural, sociodemographic or built environment characteristics.

Spatiotemporal patterns of infant bronchiolitis in a Tennessee Medicaid population.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major cause of worldwide morbidity and mortality in infants, primarily through the induction of bronchiolitis. RSV epidemics are highly seasonal, occurring in the winter months in the northern hemisphere. Within the United States, RSV epidemic dynamics vary both spatially and temporally.

Reactive versus proactive patterns of inhaled corticosteroid use.

For patients with persistent asthma, inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) are a mainstay of controller therapy. These medications are usually prescribed to be taken daily and have been shown to be associated with decreased asthma morbidity. Adherence to daily treatment is very low in many populations in the United States.

Performance of cancer cluster Q-statistics for case-control residential histories.

Few investigations of health event clustering have evaluated residential mobility, though causative exposures for chronic diseases such as cancer often occur long before diagnosis. Recently developed Q-statistics incorporate human mobility into disease cluster investigations by quantifying space- and time-dependent nearest neighbor relationships. Using residential histories from two cancer case-control studies, we created simulated clusters to examine Q-statistic performance.

Indoor and Outdoor Air Pollution and Lung Cancer in New Hampshire and Vermont.

Indoor and outdoor air pollution is known to contribute to increased lung cancer incidence. This study is the first to address the contribution of home heating fuel and geographical course particulate matter (PM) concentrations to lung cancer rates in New Hampshire, U.S.

Spatio-temporal epidemiology: principles and opportunities.

Space-time analysis of disease data has historically involved the search for patterns in aggregated data to identify how regions of high and low risk change through time. Space-time analysis of aggregated data has great value, but represents only a subset of space-time epidemiologic applications. Technological advances for tracking and mapping individuals (e.

Genetic pathway-based hierarchical clustering analysis of older adults with cognitive complaints and amnestic mild cognitive impairment using clinical and neuroimaging phenotypes.

Hierarchical clustering is frequently used for grouping results in expression or haplotype analyses. These methods can elucidate patterns between measures that can then be applied to discerning their validity in discriminating between experimental conditions. Here a hierarchical clustering method is used to analyze the results of an imaging genetics study using multiple brain morphology and cognitive testing endpoints for older adults with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or cognitive complaints (CC) compared to healthy controls (HC).

Whole genome association study of brain-wide imaging phenotypes for identifying quantitative trait loci in MCI and AD: A study of the ADNI cohort.

A genome-wide, whole brain approach to investigate genetic effects on neuroimaging phenotypes for identifying quantitative trait loci is described. The Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative 1.5 T MRI and genetic dataset was investigated using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and FreeSurfer parcellation followed by genome-wide association studies (GWAS).

Genetic population structure analysis in New Hampshire reveals Eastern European ancestry.

Genetic structure due to ancestry has been well documented among many divergent human populations. However, the ability to associate ancestry with genetic substructure without using supervised clustering has not been explored in more presumably homogeneous and admixed US populations. The goal of this study was to determine if genetic structure could be detected in a United States population from a single state where the individuals have mixed European ancestry.

Ecogeographic genetic epidemiology.

Complex diseases such as cancer and heart disease result from interactions between an individual's genetics and environment, i.e. their human ecology.