Self-Reported Effects of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Stewardship Organizations and Their Activities in Southeast New England, USA.

In many communities, regions, or landscapes, there are numerous environmental groups working across different sectors and creating stewardship networks that shape the environment and the benefits people derive from it. The make-up of these networks can vary, but generally include organizations of different sizes and capacities. As the Covid-19 pandemic (2020 to the present) shuts down businesses and nonprofits, catalyzes new initiatives, and generally alters the day-to-day professional and personal lives, it is logical to assume that these stewardship networks and their environmental work are impacted; exactly how, is unknown.

Childhood Overweight/Obesity and the Physical Activity Environment in Rhode Island.

Objective: This study seeks to better understand the relationship between the physical activity environment and child overweight/obesity in Rhode Island.

Methods: Using geographic information systems (GIS), this study calculated distances from residences to physical activity resources to assess the relationship distance has with childhood overweight/obesity.

Results: Mean distances in high-risk towns ranged from 0.

Mapping the Opioid Epidemic in Rhode Island: Where Are We Missing Resources?

Opioid overdose deaths have been rising steadily over the past decade in Rhode Island (RI), and although deaths have decreased slightly over the past year, there were 314 deaths in 2018 and there have been 208 deaths in the first 9 months of 2019.1 The objective of this spatial study is to identify the RI regions with the greatest need for opioid emergency response and rehabilitation resources. Using geographic information systems (GIS), we identify areas in RI with high overdose rates and that are far from emergency departments, and areas with high rates of treatment admissions that are far away from Centers of Excellence (COEs) which provide effective medication-assisted treatment (MAT).

Residential green space and birth outcomes in a coastal setting.

Background: Residential green space may improve birth outcomes, with prior studies reporting higher birthweight among infants of women living in greener areas. However, results from studies evaluating associations between green space and preterm birth have been mixed. Further, the potential influence of residential proximity to water, or 'blue space', on health has not previously been evaluated.

Climate patterns and mosquito-borne disease outbreaks in South and Southeast Asia.

Background: Vector-borne infectious diseases, particularly mosquito-borne, pose a substantial threat to populations throughout South and Southeast Asia. Outbreaks have affected this region several times during the early years of the 21st century, notably through outbreaks of Chikungunya and Dengue. These diseases are believed to be highly prevalent at endemic levels in the region as well.

Global rise in human infectious disease outbreaks.

To characterize the change in frequency of infectious disease outbreaks over time worldwide, we encoded and analysed a novel 33-year dataset (1980-2013) of 12,102 outbreaks of 215 human infectious diseases, comprising more than 44 million cases occuring in 219 nations. We merged these records with ecological characteristics of the causal pathogens to examine global temporal trends in the total number of outbreaks, disease richness (number of unique diseases), disease diversity (richness and outbreak evenness) and per capita cases. Bacteria, viruses, zoonotic diseases (originating in animals) and those caused by pathogens transmitted by vector hosts were responsible for the majority of outbreaks in our dataset.

Proximity of US schools to major roadways: a nationwide assessment.

Long-term exposure to traffic pollution has been associated with adverse health outcomes in children and adolescents. A significant number of schools may be located near major roadways, potentially exposing millions of children to high levels of traffic pollution, but this hypothesis has not been evaluated nationally. We obtained data on the location and characteristics of 114,644 US public and private schools, grades prekindergarten through 12, and calculated their distance to the nearest major roadway.

Demographic, geographic, and temporal patterns of ambulance runs for suspected opiate overdose in Rhode Island, 1997-20021.

We examine ambulance runs for suspected opiate overdose from 1997 to 2002 using a Rhode Island Department of Health database. Of the 8,763 ambulance runs for overdoses, 18.6% were for suspected opiate overdoses.