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There is growing concern regarding the attrition of surgeon-scientists. To understand the decline of basic science research (BSR), it is essential to examine trends in research conducted by trainees. We hypothesized that, over recent decades, cardiothoracic (CT) surgery trainees have published fewer BSR articles. CT surgeons at United States training institutions in 2020 who completed training in the past three decades, excluding international trainees, were analyzed (1991-2000: n = 148; 2001-2010: n = 228; 2011-2020: n = 247). Publication records were obtained from Scopus. Articles with medical subject heading terms involving molecular/cellular or animal research were classified as BSR using the National Institutes of Health iCite Translation module. Data were analyzed using Fisher's exact test or the Wilcoxon rank-sum test. While the proportion of surgeons who published a first-author paper during training remained stable over the past two decades (178/228 [78.1%] versus 189/247 [76.5%], P = 0.7427), the proportion who published a first-author BSR paper decreased significantly (135/228 [59.2%] versus 96/247 [38.9%], P < 0.0001). Among surgeons who published a first-author paper in training, the total papers published by each trainee did not change over the past two decades (3.5 versus 3.3 first-author papers per 10 y of training, P = 0.8819). However, the number of BSR papers published during training decreased significantly (1.7 versus 0.8 first-author papers per 10 y of training, P < 0.0001). CT surgery trainees are publishing fewer BSR papers. Additional efforts are needed to increase exposure of trainees to BSR and reaffirm that BSR is a valuable and worthwhile pursuit for academic surgeons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper estimates flexible demand systems for heterogeneous households in the United States and links the estimated parameters with an economy-wide model to assess their relative contributions to the social cost of regulation. We estimate elasticities for several final demand categories as well as labor-leisure elasticities that are important for calibrating the labor-leisure choice in the economy-wide model and find that estimated elasticities are relatively similar across regions but vary meaningfully by income. Using the estimated elasticities, we explore the implications of both the functional form and its parameterization in a simplified computable general equilibrium model for the social and distributional costs of illustrative policy scenarios. Model variants with less flexible consumer demand systems overestimate social costs across our entire range of scenarios. Furthermore, we find that parameterizing the model with elasticities that vary with household income is important for adequately characterizing the distributional implications of a policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using quarterly temperature and employment data between 1990 and 2021, this paper uncovers nuanced evidence on the impact of seasonal temperature within US counties: higher winter temperature increases private sector employment growth while higher summer temperature decreases it. The impacts of higher temperature in milder seasons, fall and spring, are statistically insignificant. Moreover, the negative impact of higher summer temperature persists while the positive impact of higher temperature in the winter is more short-lived. The negative effects of a hotter summer are pervasive and persistent in many sectors: most significantly in "Construction" and "Leisure and Hospitality" but also in "Trade, Transport, and Utilities" and "Financial Activities". In contrast, the positive effects of a warmer winter are less pervasive. The employment effect of a hotter summer has been more severe in recent decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The genetic load hypothesis of Hermann Muller raised the profound question of possible species extinction, even for humans, following a prolonged accumulation of recessive genes due to ionizing radiation exposure within the population. Two major mouse radiation research teams in the United States provided the most extensive tests of Muller's hypothesis. One group continued its study for more than two decades, over 82 consecutive generations, approximating 2500 human years. Even though Muller had stressed for decades his fear of species-threatening effects, no significant effects were observed for related factors such as reproductive fitness and longevity. Yet, the paper presenting the data of the 82-generation negative study has only been cited five times in 45 years. Altogether numerous laboratories worldwide collected vast amounts of data on mice, rats, and swine in an unsuccessful attempt to see if there was convincing evidence to support the genetic load theory and claims that species might deteriorate or be rendered extinct. This paper re-examines Muller's genetic load hypothesis with a new evaluation of how that hypothesis was tested and the significance of the findings, with most of those studies being completed before the BEIR I Committee Report in 1972. That committee briefly discussed the available evidence, mostly ignoring those results as they proceeded to make hereditary risk estimates both for (1) the first generation after a radiation exposure and (2) for the time, in the distant future, when a hypothetical genetic equilibrium would be reached. Their estimates assumed accumulation of harmful mutations and a linear no-threshold dose response extending all of the way down to a single ionization. More recent data on induction by ionizing radiation of dominant mutations that affect the skeletons of mice provide further robust supporting evidence that the generationally cumulative and LNT-based assumptions underpinning Muller's genetic load hypothesis are not correct. • Accumulation of recessive mutation were hypothesized to cause species extinction. • Muller referred to this as his genetic load hypothesis. • This hypothesis was based upon the LNT model for mutation. • Multiple large-scale experimental studies failed to support this hypothesis. • An 82-generation mouse study failed to support this hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Firearms are now the number one killer of children and adolescents in the United States. Firearm homicides among Black male youth are the driver of this increase. Prevention requires a multi-faceted life course approach. Academic achievement has been identified as a protective factor. Early childhood education, which is linked to later achievement, is thus an intervention area of interest. Conceptualizing the potential links between early childhood education and reduced risk for youth firearm homicide is important for guiding policy advocacy and informing future research. This paper presents a conceptual model linking early childhood education to reduced risk for firearm homicide. Each link in the model is discussed, and a corresponding review of the literature is presented. The need for anti-racist policies to strengthen the impact of early childhood education is highlighted. Early education and firearm homicide research are each well-established but largely disconnected. There are clear immediate benefits of early childhood education; however, these effects wane with time, particularly for youth of color. At the same time, juvenile delinquency—a major risk factor for firearm homicide—is influenced by educational inequities. Effective interventions to reduce firearm homicides among Black male youth in the United States are needed. Early childhood education shows promise as an intervention. However, to have an impact, this education needs to be accessible and affordable for all, particularly families of color and low income. Societal structures and policies must also better support the positive gains seen through early childhood education to avoid dissipation. • Firearms are the number one killer of children and adolescents in the United States. • Racial inequities are present with Black male youth disproportionately affected. • Effective interventions are crucial, with early childhood education programs showing promise. • Access to high-quality early childhood education is imperative for impact. • Family supportive policies may enhance outcomes, especially for families of color. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydraulic fracturing is an increasingly common method of oil and gas extraction across the United States. Many of the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing processes have been proven detrimental to human and environmental health. While disclosure frameworks have advanced significantly in the last 20 years, the practice of withholding chemical identities as "trade secrets" or "proprietary claims" continues to represent a major absence in the data available on hydraulic fracturing. Here, we analyze rates of trade secret claims using FracFocus, a nationwide database of hydraulic fracturing data, from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2022. We use the open-source tool Open-FF, which collates FracFocus data, makes it accessible for systematic analysis, and performs several quality-control measures. We found that the use by mass of chemicals designated as trade secrets has increased over the study time period, from 728 million pounds in 2014 to 2.96 billion pounds in 2022 (or a 43.7% average yearly increase). A total of 10.4 billion pounds of chemicals were withheld as trade secrets in this time period. The water volume used (and therefore total mass of fracturing fluid) per fracturing job has shown a large increase from 2014 to 2022, which partly explains the increase in mass of chemicals withheld as trade secrets over this time period, even as total fracturing jobs and individual counts of proprietary records have decreased. Our analysis also shows increasing rates of claiming proppants (which can include small grains of sand, ceramic, or other mineral substances used to prop open fractures) as proprietary. However, the mean and median masses of non-proppant constituents designated as trade secrets have also increased over the study period. We also find that the total proportion of all disclosures including proprietary designations has increased by 1.1% per year, from 79.3% in 2014 to 87.5% in 2022. In addition, most disclosures designate more than one chemical record as proprietary: trade secret withholding is most likely to apply to 10–25% of all records in an individual disclosure. We also show the top ten reported purposes that most commonly include proprietary designations, after removing vague or multiple entries, the first three of which are corrosion inhibitors, friction reducers, and surfactants. Finally, we report the top ten operators and suppliers using and supplying proprietary chemicals, ranked by mass used or supplied, over our study period. These results suggest the importance of revisiting the role of proprietary designations within state and federal disclosure mechanisms. • Proprietary claims allow chemical identities used in hydraulic fracturing to be withheld as trade secrets. • Proprietary claims have increased from 2014 to 2022 in mass, frequency, and proportion. • a total of 10.4 billion pounds of chemicals were withheld as trade secrets from 2014 to 2022. • These results suggest the importance of revisiting the role of proprietary claims within disclosure mechanisms. This paper investigates rates of trade secrets, or chemical records designated as proprietary, in hydraulic fracturing chemical disclosure data. This research is necessary to close information gaps in environmental health and toxicological research on hydraulic fracturing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atherosclerosis, hardening of the arteries, originates from small plaques in the arteries; it is a major cause of disability and premature death in the United States and worldwide. In this paper, we study the bifurcation of a highly nonlinear and highly coupled PDE model describing the growth of an arterial plaque in the early stage of atherosclerosis. The model involves LDL and HDL cholesterols, macrophage cells, and foam cells, with the interface separating the plaque and blood flow regions being a free boundary. We establish finite branches of symmetry-breaking stationary solutions which bifurcate from the radially symmetric solution. Since plaques in reality are unlikely to be strictly radially symmetric, our result would be useful to explain the asymmetric shapes of plaques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to investigate the responsiveness of renewable energy production (REP) to fluctuations in geopolitical risks, oil prices and economic policy uncertainty (EPU). It applies a cross-quantilogram framework to examine monthly data of the US economy for the period of 1986–2022. The findings illustrate the asymmetric effect of historical geopolitical risk (GPRH) on REP under long memory. The findings also hold after different subcategories of GPRH, including geopolitical threats and geopolitical acts, are considered. A positive shock in GPRH has the most decisive positive impact on REP when the policies are driven by both energy security and environmental commitments. A positive shock in GPRH can negatively impact REP when policies are driven by energy security causes only. EPU exerts strong negative effects on REP in bearish and bullish states of the market under medium and long memory across different measures of EPU. Dynamic connectedness analysis applying TVP-VAR method between pairwise variables indicates that net REP is a volatility receiver to the changes in GPRH, its subcomponents, oil prices and different measures of EPU. [Display omitted] • Application of cross-quantilogram approach to US monthly data during 1986–2022. • Responsiveness of renewable energy production to historical geopolitical risk. • A positive shock in GPRH has asymmetric effects on REP in long memory. • This nexus is sensitive to the motivation of energy policies in US. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) is a chronic and relapsing condition characterized by the misuse of opioid drugs, causing significant morbidity and mortality in the United States. Existing medications for OUD are limited, and there is an immediate need to discover treatments with enhanced safety and efficacy. Drug repurposing aims to find new indications for existing medications, offering a time-saving and cost-efficient alternative strategy to traditional drug discovery. Computational approaches have been developed to further facilitate the drug repurposing process. In this paper, we reviewed state-of-the-art data-driven computational drug repurposing approaches for OUD and discussed their advantages and potential challenges. We also highlighted promising repurposed candidate drugs for OUD that were identified by computational drug repurposing techniques and reviewed studies supporting their potential mechanisms of action in treating OUD. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To effectively manage species and habitats at multiple scales, population and land managers require rapid information on wildlife use of managed areas and responses to landscape conditions and management actions. GPS tracking studies of wildlife are particularly informative to species ecology, habitat use, and conservation. Combining GPS data with administrative data and a diverse suite of remotely sensed, geo-referenced environmental (e.g., climatic) data, would more comprehensively inform how animals interact with and utilize habitats and ecosystems and our goal was to create a conceptual model for a system that would accomplish this – the 'Automated Interactive Monitoring System (AIMS) for Wildlife'. Our objective for this study was to develop a Customized Wildlife Report (CWR) - the first AIMS for Wildlife deliverable product. CWRs collate and summarize our 8-year GPS tracking dataset of ∼11 million locations from 1338 individual (16 species) avifauna and make actionable, real-time data on animal movements and trends in a specific area of interest available to managers and stakeholders for rapid application in day-to-day management. The CWR exemplar presented in this paper was developed to address needs identified by habitat managers of Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge and illustrates the highly specific, information offered and how it contributes to assessing the efficacy of conservation actions while allowing for near real-time adaptive management. The report can be easily customized for any of the thousands of wildlife refuges or regional areas of interest in the United States, emphasizing the broad application of an animal movement data stream. Utilizing diverse, extensive telemetry data streams through scientific collaboration can aid managers and conservation stakeholders with short and long-term research and conservation planning and help address a cadre of issues from local-scale habitat management to improving the understanding of landscape level impacts like drought, wildfire, and climate change on wildlife populations. [Display omitted] • Our Automated Interactive Monitoring System (AIMS) for Wildlife utilizes animal GPS data. • We developed proof-of-concept Customized Wildlife Reports (CWRs) with 11 million locations. • CWRs inform wildlife managers' decision-making in near real-time. • We conceptualize a multi-tool AIMS for Wildlife incorporating remote-sensing data. • Automated delivery of animal movement data will allow for true adaptive management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our original paper is: Harrell MB, Mantey DS, Baojiang C, Kelder SH, Barrington-Trimis J. Impact of the e-cigarette era on cigarette smoking among youth in the United States A population-level study. Preventive Medicine 2022; 164:107265). This is a response to correspondence received from Foxon and Juul Labs Inc. (JUUL) regarding our original paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The topic of algorithmic fairness is of increasing importance to the Human–Computer Interaction research community following accumulating concerns regarding the use and deployment of Artificial Intelligence-based systems. How we conduct research on algorithmic fairness directly influences our inferences and conclusions regarding algorithmic fairness. To better understand the methodological decisions of studies focused on people's perceptions of algorithmic fairness, we systematic analysed relevant papers from the CHI and FAccT conferences. We identified 200 relevant papers published between 1993 and 2022 and assessed their study design, participant sample, and geographical location of participants and authors. Our results highlight that studies are predominantly cross-sectional, cover a wide range of participant roles, and that both authors and participants are primarily from the United States. Based on these findings, we reflect on the potential pitfalls and shortcomings in how the community studies algorithmic fairness. • Mapping of CHI and FAccT papers on algorithmic fairness published 1993–2022. • Over one-third of papers miss details on participant locality and compensation. • Algorithmic fairness research largely restricted to US and other Western countries. • Limited cross-country collaboration, most study samples from a single country. • Remote studies are most common, longitudinal studies are relatively rare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of international trade on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has primarily been viewed through the lens of emissions embodied in goods, which flow from lower-income to higher-income countries. This trade has been interpreted as allowing the high-income countries to shirk their responsibilities to address the global climate challenge by offshoring emissions. However, international trade may also have an impact on climate through flows from higher-income to lower-income countries, particularly long-lived capital and durable goods that have the potential to avoid future emissions. Given the innovation resources concentrated in higher-income countries and their historic domination of trade in such long-lived goods, this concept may balance the scales to some degree. This paper briefly develops the concept of future avoided emissions and illustrates it with the empirical case of the United States' trade in battery electric vehicles (BEVs) from 2017 to 2020. • Trade in capital goods may reduce future emissions in importing countries. • Such trade may balance trade in goods that embody emissions. • Trade in BEVs is an example, reducing future emissions from conventional cars. • A case study of US BEV trade reveals a surplus in future avoided emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extensive research has been conducted on the concept of jobless recoveries and their potential causes, primarily focused on the United States from the 1990s. This paper finds that the prolonged employment downturn following the brief 1980–1981 recession in Britain qualifies as a jobless recovery and then investigates possible contributing factors: labor reallocation across industries, regional employment changes, and job polarization. The United States, which did not have a jobless recovery from the early 1980s recession, is taken as a comparison case. I find that the leading candidate explanation for this jobless recovery is the reallocation of labor across industries. This suggests an important role for structural change in the early 1980s recession and in jobless recoveries more generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Legislative action on issues of immigration emerged prominently across and within US states throughout the 2000s. The emerging literature on this topic demonstrates the political motivations driving anti-immigrant laws that negatively impact the mobility of Hispanic/Latino and Foreign-born populations across US states. Considerable research identifies the political mechanisms driving restrictive state-level immigration policies. Despite the growth of this scholarly work, the impact of these laws within states requires further study. This paper broadens the approach to the study of restrictive state-level omnibus immigration laws (OILs) using a rich dataset to uncover the effects of these laws on compositional change for undocumented, foreign-born, and Hispanic/Latino populations from 2005 to 2017. Using a quasi-experimental design, I show that by passing omnibus immigration laws, states shape demographic patterns of Foreign-born populations. Specifically, I find that states that pass omnibus immigration laws experience a decrease in undocumented and Foreign-born populations relative to states that did not pass similar laws. Effects are estimated each year after the passage of OILs, providing additional insight into the temporal impact of omnibus immigration laws on the settlement patterns of these groups. I conclude by discussing the theoretical implications of the multiple interior immigration law and policies, specifically at the state level, and their salience in shaping population dynamics across the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elongate mineral particles, including asbestos, have long been screened in talc and other mineral powders. In recent years, there has been a renewed scrutiny of talc containing asbestos due to allegations in civil litigation in the United States as well as reports, proposals, and white papers by international laboratories and government bodies related to this subject. This study demonstrates the importance of the fundamental understanding of both mineralogy and its application, using microscopy with empirical examples from conflicting analyses of the same talc powders by two independent laboratories in civil litigation in the United States. Methods include polarized light microscopy (PLM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in the accurate measurement of morphological, optical, compositional, and structural data to characterize mineral-based samples. Discussions in this study include: 1) contrasting the interlaboratory findings of amphibole and amphibole asbestos by PLM and TEM using various preparation techniques, 2) the use of multiple analytical tools on a singular particle for identification, 3) the misidentification of anthophyllite asbestos by inexpert use of electron diffraction using TEM, and 4) the misidentification of chrysotile in talc by PLM. These examples emphasize the importance of not only maintaining the existing requirements, but of the need for even more rigorous analytical requirements in routine monitoring of elongate mineral particles that may occur in mineral-based powders. • Amphibole, biopyribole, talc, chrysotile, asbestos, amphibole asbestos, talcum powder, TEM, PLM, SEM, EBSD, SAED, zone axis index, asbestos testing, asbestiform, non-asbestiform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The number of adults experiencing obesity continues to rise. A significant amount of research has addressed primary prevention interventions within pediatric populations to minimize the onset of obesity. However, research efforts within adult populations have commonly emphasized secondary and tertiary prevention for obesity. Therefore, this scoping review aimed to characterize and identify gaps in primary prevention interventions targeting adult populations at risk for obesity. A scoping review was conducted via PubMed, CINAHL, Cochrane, and PscyINFO. A total of 7216 papers were retrieved. Sixteen articles were included in the review. Seven of the studies included only females in the interventions. Only two studies occurred within the United States. Three studies included multi-modal interventions. Interventions were delivered by dieticians in four studies and nurses in three studies. Fifteen of the studies proved to be effective overall for improving weight-related outcomes. The following themes were revealed through this review: (1) participants were usually female and homogenous; (2) studies frequently occurred outside of the United States; (3) studies most often explored unimodal interventions; (4) dieticians and nurses were the most common intervention providers; and (5) favorable outcomes for reducing weight were demonstrated across studies. This scoping review reveals that primary prevention interventions have the potential to minimize obesity onset in at-risk adult populations. However, evaluation of current interventions shows multiple gaps in population target, intervention origin, intervention type, and provider type. • One of the first reviews to examine gaps in adult obesity primary prevention. • Primary prevention interventions show potential to minimize adult obesity onset. • Existing primary prevention interventions demonstrate gaps in target and type. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Small landlords and landlords of color disproportionately struggled with rent collection both prior to and during the pandemic. • Pandemic-induced rental revenue declines alone cannot explain landlords' changing business practices. • Landlords were more likely to take punitive actions against tenants in communities of color than in white communities holding constant rental payment rates, both before and during the pandemic. • Elevated rates of property disinvestment during the pandemic have implications for the viability and affordability of the housing stock for years to come. This paper uses a survey of over 2500 rental property owners in ten cities across the United States to determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on landlords' rent collection and business behavior. Our findings show that yearly rent collection was down significantly in 2020 relative to 2019—both within and across rental markets—and that an increasing number of owners have a large share of their portfolio behind on rent. Small owners and owners of color faced the highest exposure to deep tenant arrears in 2020, challenges they were also more likely to face prior to pandemic. Our findings show that owner business practices changed dramatically in 2020, with a higher share of landlords granting tenants rent extensions or forgiving back rent during the pandemic relative to prior. However, many owners also disinvested in their rental properties through deferred maintenance, missed mortgage payments, and property sale listings. Landlords of color pursued disinvestment strategies during the pandemic at an elevated rate compared to white landlords. Owners of properties in neighborhoods with more non-white residents were both more likely to experience decreased rent collection and more likely to pursue evictions and rental late fees holding constant rental payment rates, implying the pandemic has disproportionately affected renters in communities of color. Overall, our findings highlight the strain the pandemic has placed on the housing stock, which has implications for the long-term viability and affordability of many of these units. More concerningly, our results show that households of color—which have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic in other domains—were more likely to face punitive measures from landlords in both 2019 and 2020, suggesting the pandemic has exacerbated existing racial inequality in housing markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patient and public involvement can produce high-quality, relevant research that better addresses the needs of patients and their families. This systematic review investigated the nature and impact of patient and public involvement in cancer prevention, screening and early detection research. Two patient representatives were involved as members of the review team. Databases (Medline, EMBASE, Emcare, Involve Evidence Library) were searched for English-language studies published 1995–March 2022. Titles/abstracts were screened by two reviewers independently. For eligible studies, data were extracted on study characteristics, patient and public involvement (who, when, how, and impact on research outcomes), and reporting quality using the Guidance for Reporting Involvement of Patients and the Public 2-Short Form. Of 4095 articles screened, 58 were eligible. Most research was from the United States (81%) and examined cancer screening or prevention (82%). Community members/organisations/public were the most involved (71%); fewer studies involved patients and/or carers (14%). Over half reported a high-level of involvement (i.e. partner and/or expert involvement), although this declined in later stages of the research cycle, e.g. data analysis. Common positive impacts included improved study design, research methods and recruitment, although most papers (62%) did not describe methods to determine impact. Reporting quality was sub-optimal, largely due to failure to consider challenges. This review found that high-level involvement of patients and the public in cancer prevention, screening and early detection research is feasible and has several advantages. However, improvements are needed to encourage involvement across the research cycle, and in evaluating and reporting its impact. • Involving patients and the public in research is being increasingly recognised. • We reviewed involvement in cancer prevention, screening and early detection research. • High-level involvement was feasible with several advantages. • Improving involvement across the research cycle and evaluating impact is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 vaccine coverage in the US has marked demographic and geographical disparities, but few explanations exist for them. Our paper aimed to identify behavioral and social drivers that explain these vaccination disparities. Participants were a national sample of 3562 American adults, recruited from the Ipsos KnowledgePanel. Participants completed an online survey in spring 2021, when COVD-19 vaccination was available for higher-risk groups but not yet available to all US adults. The survey assessed COVID-19 vaccination stage (intentions and vaccine uptake), constructs from the Increasing Vaccination Model (IVM) domains (thinking and feeling, social processes, and direct behavior change), self-reported exposure to COVID-19 vaccine information, and demographic characteristics. Analyses used multiple imputation to address item nonresponse and linear regressions to conduct mediation analyses. Higher COVID-19 vaccination stage was strongly associated with older age, liberal political ideology, and higher income in adjusted analyses (all p < .001). Vaccination stage was more modestly associated with urbanicity, white race, and Hispanic ethnicity (all p < .05). Some key mediators that explained more than one-third of demographic differences in vaccination stage were perceived vaccine effectiveness, social norms, and recommendations from family and friends across most demographic characteristics (all p < .05). Other mediators included safety concerns, trust, altruism, provider recommendation, and information seeking. Access to vaccination, barriers to vaccination, and self-efficacy explained few demographic differences. One of the most reliable explanations for demographic differences in COVID-19 vaccination stage is social processes, including social norms, recommendations, and altruism. Interventions to promote COVID-19 vaccination should address social processes and other domains in the IVM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumer food purchasing and willingness to adopt a sustainable healthy diet (SHD) is a key factor affecting the sustainability of the entire food system. Studies have developed scales to measure consumer preferences for particular consumption patterns, while others have sought to empirically define the multiple dimensions of a sustainable food system (environmental, social, economic, etc.). This paper builds on these literatures by tracking consumers' SHD behaviors using a large-scale, longitudinal survey of adults in the United States and mapping them onto multiple systems-level indicators. We wanted to know whether consumers interact with the sustainability of their food along the same principles developed by experts. Our study defines 18 food purchasing behaviors that support the sustainability goals of leading scientific institutions, uses factor analysis to identify the unobserved drivers behind these behaviors, and creates SHD scores to investigate their correlations with other consumer characteristics and behaviors. Factor analysis results show consumer food purchasing is motivated by three underlying sustainability dimensions-Economic Security, Socio-Environment, and Nutrition-which are fewer constructs than often defined by academic researchers. SHD scores reveal higher adoption of behaviors that fall under Economic Security relative to the other two dimensions. All three sustainability constructs are impacted by socio-economic and demographic characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This investigation explores whether sustainable finance and renewable energy could facilitate U.S. carbon neutrality. We perform the time-varying parameter-stochastic volatility-vector auto-regression (TVP-SV-VAR) model to obtain the changing relations among U.S. sustainable finance (SF), renewable energy (RE) and carbon dioxide emission (CO2). The empirical outcomes reveal a short-term negative effect from RE to CO2, indicating that renewable energy consumption could promote U.S. carbon neutrality. This effect is asymmetrical, and it could be observed that RE increase has a greater effect on CO2 than RE reduction. Also, the development of sustainable finance could facilitate U.S. carbon neutrality, and the direct impact is longer and more significant than RE, but the indirect effect of SF on CO2 by influencing RE is hysteretic. Besides, the asymmetric effect reveals that the negative direct impact of SF increase on CO2 is smaller than SF reduction, and the latter's indirect effect is more rapid than the former. Against the backdrop of global warming and frequent extreme weather, the above conclusions have meaningful practical applications for the U.S. to achieve carbon neutrality targets through developing sustainable finance and renewable energy. [Display omitted] • This paper explores the effects of SF and RE on U.S. carbon neutrality. • The facilitation of SF on U.S. carbon neutrality is more influential than that of RE. • There is a hysteretic indirect effect of SF on CO2 by influencing RE. • The negative effect of RE reduction on CO2 is smaller than that of RE increase. • The direct and indirect effects of SF on CO2 are asymmetric. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although overall health in the United States (US) has improved dramatically during the past century, long-standing health inequities, particularly the unequal and unjust burden of tobacco-related disease and death among racialized populations, persist. A considerable gap exists in our understanding of how commercial tobacco product regulations and policies cause and/or exacerbate race-based health inequities among Black/African American (B/AA) and Indigenous American people. The purpose of this paper is to 1) describe how existing US commercial tobacco regulatory policies may contribute to structural racism and undermine the full benefits of tobacco prevention and control efforts among B/AA and Indigenous American groups; and 2) initiate a call to action for researchers and regulators of tobacco products to examine policies using an equity lens. These actions are imperative if empirically-informed regulation of commercial tobacco products is to address health equity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United States federal government, along with many state and local governments, have passed restrictions on electronic cigarette ("e-cigarette") sales with the stated purpose of preventing youth use of these products. The justification for these restrictions includes the argument that youth e-cigarette use will re-normalize youth smoking, leading to increased rates of cigarette smoking by teenagers. However, in this paper, we propose an evidence-based version of this model based on several years' worth of longitudinal and econometric research, which suggests that youth e-cigarette use has instead worked to replace a culture of youth smoking. From this analysis, we propose a re-evaluation of current policies surrounding e-cigarette sales so that declines in e-cigarette use will not come at the cost of increasing cigarette use among youth and adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Epilepsy can be burdensome for patients, families, health systems, and society. • Health disparities of people with epilepsy can be worsened by living in rural areas. • Demographics and socioeconomic status drive the poor outcomes, not rurality per se. • Prospective studies with standard definitions of rural are needed. Epilepsy is a leading cause of global disease burden, with people with epilepsy (PWE) experiencing adverse health outcomes related to the psychiatric comorbidities and socioeconomic consequences of the disorder. Rural populations are more likely to be impoverished or uninsured, which could impact health outcomes for rural-dwelling PWE (RPWE). This systematic literature review identified original research studying health disparities and outcomes among RPWE in the United States and Canada to (1) characterize the disparities faced by RPWE and (2) elucidate the effects of these disparities upon clinical outcomes. We performed a systematic search of six electronic databases: Pubmed, Cochrane, PsychInfo, Web of Science, Scopus, and Ovid. Articles considered were original research reports conducted in Canada or the United States before August 2020. A modified Newcastle Ottawa Scale was used to assess the quality of the included studies. Our search returned 2093 articles that examined the health disparities of RPWE, of which six met criteria for this review. Outcome measures of health disparity included in these papers were mortality (2; 33%), use of health resources (2; 33%), and epilepsy prevalence (2; 33%). Only one paper (16%) concluded that RPWE experienced worse health outcomes relative to urban-dwelling PWE, while 5 (84%) found no difference. Our study did not find sufficient evidence that RPWE in the US and Canada experience significant health disparities compared to similar urban populations of PWE. More research using prospective studies and datasets allowing better characterization of rurality is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of the novel coronavirus has necessitated immense research efforts to understand how several non-environmental and environmental factors affect transmission. With the United States leading the path in terms of case incidence, it is important to investigate how weather variables influence the spread of the disease in the country. This paper assembles a detailed and comprehensive dataset comprising COVID-19 cases and climatological variables for all counties in the continental U.S. and uses a developed econometric approach to estimate the causal effect of certain weather factors on the growth rate of infection. The results indicate a non-linear and significant negative relationship between the individual weather measures and the growth rate of COVID-19 in the U.S. Specifically, the paper finds that a 1 °C rise in daily temperature will reduce daily covid growth rate in the U.S. by approximately 6 percent in the following week, while a marginal increase in relative humidity reduces the same outcome by 1 percent over a similar period. In comparison, a 1 m/s increase in daily wind speed will bring about an 8 percent drop in daily growth rate of COVID-19 in the country. These results differ by location and are robust to several sensitivity checks, so large deviations are unexpected. • This paper develops a temporal model to estimate daily weather fluctuation's effects on growth rate of COVID-19 infection. • Marginal increases in temperature, relative humidity and wind speed reduces COVID-19 growth rate. • The effect of weather fluctuations on COVID-19 growth rate is non-linear. • The impact of weather changes differ by geography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper based on quantile stochastic frontier framework constructs quantile eco-efficiency measures. Using the estimates from the quantile stochastic frontier, the eco-performance of the U.S. states for nitrogen oxides (NO X), carbon dioxide (CO 2), and sulfur dioxide (SO 2) emissions is evaluated. A decoupling analysis involving the evaluation of the nonsynchronous change among states' economic output and environmental degradation levels is also performed. The findings suggest that U.S. states have followed a decoupling process among their GDP and emission levels over the period 1990–2017. In addition, a quantile eco-productivity change estimator is presented alongside with its main components (i.e. quantile eco-technical change and quantile eco-efficiency change). Our findings suggest that over the examined period states' eco-productivity levels have been improved driven both from their eco-technical and eco-efficiency change levels. • We examine regional eco-efficiency across the US states. • We examine regional eco-productivity across the US states. • We employ a quantile stochastic frontier analysis. • We employ a decoupling analysis among U.S. states' GDP and emissions levels. • We find that eco-productivity levels was driven by eco-technical change levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Depression screeners (NDDI-E-Y, NeuroQOL) have been validated in pediatric epilepsy. • Anxiety and disruptive behavior measures show promise but are not fully validated. • Further development of epilepsy-specific measures for behavioral health is necessary. To improve evidence-based implementation of behavioral health screening measures in pediatric epilepsy care, guidance is needed in the selection and interpretation of evidence-based screening measures. Therefore, the goals of this project were to (1) evaluate the clinical utility and psychometric properties of screening instruments frequently used in the United States (US) for anxiety, depression, and behavior problems in youth with epilepsy (YWE), and (2) provide guidance around selection and interpretation of these behavioral health screening measures. The critique was conducted in three phases: (1) identification of articles based on search criteria; (2) full review of articles for eligibility assessment; (3) evaluation of screening measures and organization into Tiers. Nine behavioral health measures frequently used to screen for anxiety, depression, and disruptive behaviors in the US were selected for evaluation. PubMed, CINAHL, Medline, and APA databases were searched using the following search terms: [target area] + [screening measure] + epilepsy + children [youth], [adolescents]. Inclusion/exclusion criteria for articles were as follows: (1) focused on YWE, (2) written in English, and (3) conducted in the US. Once articles were selected, Hunsley and Mash's criteria were used to evaluate and categorize the screening measures' psychometric properties, which have clear relevance to clinical practice. Measures were also classified into three tiers by the level of validation according to established evidence-based criteria. Forty-one unique papers were identified through the literature search and assessed as eligible. Evaluation of screening measures revealed only two psychometrically sound measures that met criteria for Tier 1, the NDDI-E-Y and the Pediatric NeuroQoL-Depression, both depression screening measures. Several additional depression screening measures met criteria for Tier 2 (CDI-2, BASC-2-Depression Scale, and CBCL Withdrawn/Depressed Scale). Anxiety screening measures have not been validated in pediatric epilepsy and thus only met the criteria for Tier 2 (BASC-2 Anxiety Scale, CBCL DSM-IV Oriented Anxiety Problems Scale, MASC). Similarly for disruptive behaviors, two measures met Tier 2 criteria (BASC-2 Externalizing Problems Index, CBCL Externalizing Problems Index). Strides have been made in the validation of behavioral health screening measures for YWE; however, continued research in this area is necessary to validate existing psychometrically sound measures and to develop and evaluate epilepsy-specific measures in the pediatric epilepsy population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we assess if two protective mechanisms for mental health - social support and social engagement - are associated with lower risk of reporting worsening mental health as a result of the pandemic. Using a demographically representative sample of working age adults in the United States (N = 4014) collected in February and March of 2021, we use logistic regression models to predict self-reported worsening mental health as a result of the pandemic using social support - measured as instrumental and emotional support - and social engagement. We use additional stratified models to determine if these relationships are consistent across rural-urban areas. Results indicate that among urban working age adults, emotional support, high levels of instrumental support, and some types of social engagement were associated with significantly lower risk of worsening mental health. However, among rural working age adults, only emotional support and high levels of instrumental support were significantly associated with lower odds of worsening mental health. Findings suggest that while emotional support may be effective for working age adults in lowering risk of worsening mental health from the pandemic, social engagement may not be for rural residents. The results support use of mental health promotion and prevention approaches that bolster emotional support through familial and local social networks, and raises caution about the efficacy of social engagement approaches in rural contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has long been known that social and physical environments can shape individual and population health, for better or worse. Master-planned communities (MPCs) in the US are custom-designed residential neighborhoods with defined boundaries planned and developed under a single, private owner or entity from their inception. Across the US, these vary greatly in scale ranging from 100 to over 50,000 homes, but broadly all provide residents with housing, infrastructure, landscaping, and purpose-built facilities to support socialization. Current research in the urban planning literature suggests that MPCs can influence the health of their residents. However, few studies have examined the use of MPCs as settings to conduct individual or population health research. In this paper, we examine the potential of MPCs as context for observational or intervention studies aimed at understanding individual and population-level health and well-being. We first summarize links between built and social environment and individual and population health research. Next, we describe the history of planned communities in the US. Then, we review specific features of MPCs related to governance, development, design, and social structure. We end by exploring how those specific features may lead to potential opportunities and challenges when using MPCs in health research. Through this discussion, we highlight MPCs as overlooked settings that may offer potential for collaborative, innovative, and socially engaged health research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain recommends that providers consider co-prescribing naloxone when factors that increase the risk of overdose are present. Naloxone is an opioid receptor antagonist that counteracts the effects of an opioid overdose. This paper explores trends in naloxone dispensing and out-of-pocket costs among commercially insured individuals in the United States. Administrative claims data from the IBM Watson Health MarketScan database are analyzed to assess trends in naloxone dispensing from 2015 to 2018. Descriptive statistics on concurrent dispensing of naloxone with opioid analgesics are performed among several at-risk populations. The rate of commercially insured individuals being co-dispensed naloxone increased between 2015 and 2018 across all population sub-groups. In 2018, 16.2 individuals were co-dispensed naloxone for every 1000 receiving an opioid dosage ≥ 90 MME/day compared to 0.9 in 2015, 27.6 individuals were co-dispensed naloxone for every 1000 concurrently dispensed benzodiazepines and an opioid dosage ≥ 90 MME/day compared to 7.6 in 2015, and 43.7 individuals were co-dispensed naloxone for every 1000 receiving an opioid dosage ≥90 MME/day with a past overdose compared to 17.6 in 2015. Median out-of-pocket cost for naloxone increased from $12 in 2015 to $25 in 2018. Despite increases in naloxone dispensing from 2015 to 2018, the provision of naloxone to the commercially insured population remains low. Opportunities remain to increase the supply of naloxone to at-risk populations. Considering ways to reduce out-of-pocket costs associated with naloxone may be a potential strategy to increase access to this life-saving drug. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Social determinants of health (SDoH) are interconnected and influence adherence. • There is not enough evidence to identify the impact of each SDoH individually. • Subjective and objective measurements can be used to understand adherence behaviors. • Understanding the influence of SDoH on adherence requires longitudinal studies. The aim of this paper is to share the results of a scoping review in which we examined the social determinants of health (SDoH) that are associated with anti-seizure medication (ASM) treatment adherence among people living with epilepsy in the United States. Our review was informed by the methods of Arksey and O'Malley for a scoping review. A total of 3,826 articles were identified for reference through a literature search, of which 17 publications were deemed relevant to our scoping review. The final articles were mapped using the Epilepsy SDoH Conceptual Framework to identify gaps. Our review suggests that there are multidimensional associations of SDoH in ASM adherence. The SDoH were interrelated. Race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status appeared to have major associations with ASM adherence. Several gaps in the literature were identified, including inadequately exploring the effect that each SDoH has on treatment adherence, and the methods used for assessment. Future longitudinal research to address the identified gaps would foster interventions that promote ASM adherence among vulnerable populations living with epilepsy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large scale temporal data have flourished in a vast array of applications, and their sophisticated structures, especially the heteroscedasticity among subjects with inter- and intra-temporal dependence, have fueled a great demand for new statistical models. In this paper, with covariate information, we consider a flexible model for large scale temporal data with subject-specific heteroscedasticity. Formally, the model employs latent semiparametric factors to simultaneously account for the subject-specific heteroscedasticity and the contemporaneous and/or serial correlations. The subject-specific heteroscedasticity is modeled as the product of the unobserved factor process and subject's covariate effect, which is further characterized via additive models. For estimation, we propose a two-step procedure. First, the latent factor process and nonparametric loading are recovered through projection-based methods, and following, we estimate the regression components by approaches motivated from the generalized least squares. By scrupulously examining the non-asymptotic rates for recovering the factor process and its loading, we show the consistency and efficiency of estimated regression coefficients in the absence of prior knowledge of latent factor process and subject's covariate effect. The statistical guarantees remain valid even for finite time points that makes our method particularly appealing when the subjects significantly outnumber the observation time points. Using comprehensive simulations, we demonstrate the finite sample performance of our method, which corroborates the theoretical findings. Finally, we apply our method to a data set of air quality and energy consumption collected at 129 monitoring sites in the United States in 2015. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the impact of voluntary prices on the demand for plastic bags, using two years of administrative data from a national supermarket chain in Uruguay. We find that prices of US$ 0.07 and US$ 0.10 per unit decreased the number of bags used by its customers in the range of 70%–85%. We also find that in anticipation of the price, customers increased the use of bags by up to 38% in some branches before its implementation. This result has strong implications for future studies, regarding the need to use long pre-periods. According to our data, short pre periods could bias upward the estimation of the effect of the prices by up to 41%. Finally, we do not find evidence consistent with the supermarket suffering a loss of sales, due to clients moving to stores not pricing the bags. The fact that the supermarket is a discount chain (clients are more price sensitive) and that it seems to have chosen the cities and towns in which it had more market share to rollout the prices, may inform policy makers about the conditions under which incomplete and moderate incentives may work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The staggered and partial restructuring of state electricity markets beginning in 1996 is leveraged to identify the effect of entry deregulation on investment in generation capacity during the U.S. Gas Boom. Using synthetic control to construct the counterfactual outcome, this paper finds restructuring led to a 17 percent increase in capacity beyond the counterfactual in the seven years following restructuring. The overinvestment of the electricity industry is consistent with market coordination failure, contagion and low real interest rates, leading to an environmental welfare gain of $27.6 billion but overall net welfare loss of $18.85 billion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flood-related events are the most damaging natural hazard in the United States, yet many households at risk do not have flood insurance. Using detailed policy- and claims-level data from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), we conduct a holistic analysis of the market for publicly provided flood insurance in the U.S., focusing on not only high-risk areas subject to an incomplete mandate requiring the purchase of insurance, but also lower risk areas where no such mandate exists. We are able to better understand determinants of demand for insurance in a setting with voluntary purchase and low take-up and therefore provide a more complete analysis of the market for flood insurance in the U.S. than previous work. In addition to exploring correlates of demand for flood insurance, this paper provides quasi-experimental estimates of households' willingness-to-pay for flood insurance and finds strong evidence to suggest the NFIP failing to utilize full information on flood risk leads to adverse selection in the program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Describes the ABCD study aims and design. • Covers issues surrounding estimation of meaningful associations, including population inferences, effect sizes, and control of covariates. • Outlines best practices for reproducible research and reporting of results. • Provides worked examples that illustrate the main points of the paper. The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study is the largest single-cohort prospective longitudinal study of neurodevelopment and children's health in the United States. A cohort of n = 11,880 children aged 9–10 years (and their parents/guardians) were recruited across 22 sites and are being followed with in-person visits on an annual basis for at least 10 years. The study approximates the US population on several key sociodemographic variables, including sex, race, ethnicity, household income, and parental education. Data collected include assessments of health, mental health, substance use, culture and environment and neurocognition, as well as geocoded exposures, structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and whole-genome genotyping. Here, we describe the ABCD Study aims and design, as well as issues surrounding estimation of meaningful associations using its data, including population inferences, hypothesis testing, power and precision, control of covariates, interpretation of associations, and recommended best practices for reproducible research, analytical procedures and reporting of results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estimated labor force participation rates among free women in the pre-Civil War period were exceedingly low. This is due, in part, to cultural or societal expectations of the role of women and the lack of thorough enumeration by Census takers. This paper develops an augmented labor force participation rate for free women in 1860 and compares it with the augmented rate for 1920 and today. Our methodology identifies women who are likely providing informal and unenumerated labor for market production in support of a family business, that is, unreported family workers. These individuals are not coded in the original data as formally working, but are likely to be engaged in the labor force on the basis of the self-employment of other relatives in their household. Unreported family workers are classified into four categories: farm, merchant, craft, and boardinghouse keepers. Using microdata, the inclusion of these workers more than triples the free female labor force participation rate in the 1860 Census from 16 percent to 57 percent, more than doubles the participation rate in the 1920 Census from 24 percent to 50 percent, and has a small effect on the currently measured rate of 56 percent (2015-2019 American Community Survey). This suggests that rather than a steep rise from a very low level in the female labor force participation rate since 1860, it has in fact always been high and fairly stable over time. In contrast, the effect of including unreported family workers in the male augmented labor force participation rate is relatively small. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]