Early-Life Air Pollution Exposure, Neighborhood Poverty, and Childhood Asthma in the United States, 1990⁻2014.

Ambient air pollution is a well-known risk factor of various asthma-related outcomes, however, past research has often focused on acute exacerbations rather than asthma development. This study draws on a population-based, multigenerational panel dataset from the United States to assess the association of childhood asthma risk with census block-level, annual-average air pollution exposure measured during the prenatal and early postnatal periods, as well as effect modification by neighborhood poverty. Findings suggest that early-life exposures to nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), a marker of traffic-related pollution, and fine particulate matter (PM2.5), a mixture of industrial and other pollutants, are positively associated with subsequent childhood asthma diagnosis (OR = 1.25, 95% CI = 1.10⁻1.41 and OR = 1.25, 95% CI = 1.06⁻1.46, respectively, per interquartile range (IQR) increase in each pollutant (NO₂ IQR = 8.51 ppb and PM2.5 IQR = 4.43 µ/m³)). These effects are modified by early-life neighborhood poverty exposure, with no or weaker effects in moderate- and low- (versus high-) poverty areas. This work underscores the importance of a holistic, developmental approach to elucidating the interplay of social and environmental contexts that may create conditions for racial-ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in childhood asthma risk

Extended-family resources and racial inequality in the transition to homeownership

We use longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to examine how access to financial resources in the extended family affects the accumulation of wealth among non-owners and how these resources subsequently affect transitioning into homeownership. Our findings show that economic conditions of the extended family have substantial effects on non-owners’ wealth accumulation and likelihood of becoming homeowners, even after adjusting for individual sociodemographic and economic characteristics. We find significant effects of extended-family wealth for both black and white households, but effects of extended-family income insufficiency for blacks only. Consequently, limited access to wealth and greater level of poverty in the extended family hamper blacks’ transition to homeownership. Our results show that the level of extended-family wealth necessary for black householders to equalize their likelihood of becoming homeowners with whites is very high. In fact, our findings indicate that white householders embedded in extended families with no net wealth are just as likely to make the transition to ownership as are black householders with affluent extended families. These findings support arguments related to the importance of extended-family resources in processes of residential attainment but also point to important racial differences in not only levels but also consequences of these family resources

Spatial and temporal dimensions of neighborhood effects on high school graduation

Research into the effects of neighborhood characteristics on children’s behavior has burgeoned in recent years, but these studies have generally adopted a limited conceptualization of the spatial and temporal dimensions of neighborhood effects. We use longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and techniques of spatial data analysis to examine how both the socioeconomic characteristics of extralocal neighborhoods—neighborhoods surrounding the immediate neighborhood of residence—and the duration of exposure to disadvantaged neighborhoods throughout the childhood life course influence the likelihood of graduating from high school. Among blacks and whites, socioeconomic advantage in the immediate neighborhood increases the likelihood of completing high school, but among whites higher levels of socioeconomic advantage in extralocal neighborhoods decrease high school graduation rates. Extralocal neighborhood advantage suppresses the influence of advantage in the immediate neighborhood so that controlling for extralocal conditions provides stronger support for the neighborhood effects hypothesis than has previously been observed. Exposure to advantaged neighborhoods over the childhood life course exerts a stronger effect than point-in-time measures on high school graduation, and racial differences in exposure to advantaged neighbors over the childhood life course help to suppress a net black advantage in the likelihood of completing high school

Constraints And Opportunities For Innovation In The Moving To Work Demonstration Program

The Moving to Work (MTW) Demonstration Program provides participating housing agencies with additional programmatic and operational flexibility that is used to achieve Congress’s statutory goals. The MTW Demonstration Program is designed to provide agencies with the flexibility to pursue innovative activities, yet there are myriad constraints that alter the behavior of these agencies. This study uses evidence generated from interviews with personnel from MTW agencies to understand how they use MTW to address and overcome bureaucratic, resource, and market constraints to further their mission. The findings from this study enhance our understanding of MTW agencies, their decision-making, and how they innovate in a constrained environment. These results are relevant to a wide audience, including existing MTW agencies, public housing authorities that are considering MTW designation under the new expansion, housing researchers, as well as policymakers and practitioners who focus on federal housing policy and innovation in public agencies

Neighborhood Immigration and Native Out-Migration

This study combines data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics with data from four censuses to examine the effects of foreign-born populations in the immediate neighborhood of residence and surrounding neighborhoods on the residential mobility decisions of native-born black and white householders. We find that the likelihood of out-mobility for native householders is significantly and positively associated with the relative size of, and increases in, the immigrant population in the neighborhood. Consistent with theoretical arguments related to the distance dependence of mobility, large concentrations of immigrants in surrounding areas reduce native out-mobility, presumably by reducing the attractiveness of the most likely mobility destinations. A sizable share of local immigration effects can be explained by the mobility-related characteristics of native-born individuals living in immigrant-populated areas, but the racial composition of the neighborhood (for native whites) and local housing market conditions (for native blacks) also are important mediating factors. The implications of these patterns for processes of neighborhood change and broader patterns of residential segregation are discussed

Metropolitan influences on migration into poor and nonpoor neighborhoods

Data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and three decennial U.S. censuses are used to examine the influence of metropolitan-area characteristics on black and white households' propensity to move into poor versus nonpoor neighborhoods. We find that a nontrivial portion of the variance in the odds of moving to a poor rather to a nonpoor neighborhood exists between metropolitan areas. Net of established individual-level predictors of inter-neighborhood migration, black and white households are more likely to move to a poor or extremely poor tract rather than to a nonpoor tract in metropolitan areas containing many poor neighborhoods and a paucity of recently-built housing in nonpoor areas. Blacks are especially likely to move to a poor tract in metropolitan areas characterized by high levels of racial residential segregation and in which poor tracts have a sizeable concentration of blacks. White households are more likely to move to a poor than to a nonpoor tract in metropolitan areas that have comparatively few African Americans

Microlith-Based Catalytic Reactor for Air Quality and Trace Contaminant Control Applications

Traditionally, gaseous compounds such as methane, carbon monoxide, and trace contaminants have posed challenges for maintaining clean air in enclosed spaces such as crewed spacecraft cabins as they are hazardous to humans and are often difficult to remove by conventional adsorption technology. Catalytic oxidizers have provided a reliable and robust means of disposing of even trace levels of these compounds by converting them into carbon dioxide and water. Precision Combustion, Inc. (PCI) and NASA - Marshall (MSFC) have been developing, characterizing, and optimizing high temperature catalytic oxidizers (HTCO) based on PCI's patented Microlith technology to meet the requirements of future extended human spaceflight explorations. Current efforts have focused on integrating the HTCO unit with a compact, simple recuperative heat exchanger to reduce the overall system size and weight while also reducing its energy requirements. Previous efforts relied on external heat exchangers to recover the waste heat and recycle it to the oxidizer to minimize the system's power requirements; however, these units contribute weight and volume burdens to the overall system. They also result in excess heat loss due to the separation of the HTCO and the heat recuperator, resulting in lower overall efficiency. Improvements in the recuperative efficiency and close coupling of HTCO and heat recuperator lead to reductions in system energy requirements and startup time. Results from testing HTCO units integrated with heat recuperators at a variety of scales for cabin air quality control and heat melt compactor applications are reported and their benefits over previous iterations of the HTCO and heat recuperator assembly are quantified in this paper

Energy Efficient Microlith-Based Catalytic Reactor and Recuperator for Air Quality Control Applications

Precision Combustion, Inc. (PCI) and NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) have been developing, characterizing, and optimizing high temperature catalytic oxidizers (HTCO) based on PCIs patented Microlith technology to meet the requirements of future extended human spaceflight explorations. Previous efforts focused on integrating PCIs HTCO unit with a compact, simple recuperative heat exchanger to reduce the overall system size and weight. Significant improvement was demonstrated over traditional approaches of integrating the HTCO with an external recuperative heat exchanger. While the critical target performance metrics were achieved, the thermal effectiveness of PCIs recuperator remained a potential area of improvement to further reduce the energy requirements of the integrated system. Using the same material combinations and an improved recuperator design, the redesigned prototype has experimentally demonstrated 20 30% reduction (flow dependent) in steady state power consumption compared to the earlier prototype without compromising the destruction efficiency of methane and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Moreover, design modifications and improvements allow our redesigned prototype to be more easily manufactured compared to traditional brazed plate-fin recuperator designs. The redesigned prototype was delivered to MSFC for validation testing. Here, we report and discuss the performance of the improved prototype HTCO unit with a high efficiency recuperative heat exchanger based on testing at PCI and MSFC. The device is expected to provide a reliable and robust means of disposing of trace levels of methane and VOCs by oxidizing them into carbon dioxide and water in order to maintain clean air in enclosed spaces, such as crewed spacecraft cabins

‘Bigotry is all around us, and we have to deal with that’: Exploring LGBTQ+ young people’s experiences and understandings of health inequalities in North East England.

Background Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, asexual/agender+ (LGBTQ ​+ ​hereafter) people report poorer health and worse experiences of healthcare than the general population, compounded by growing inequalities in health seen across the UK. Correspondingly, LGBTQ ​+ ​youth have higher rates of several negative health outcomes, particularly depression, anxiety, and suicide ideation. Methods This paper explores the views and experiences of LGBTQ ​+ ​youth in North East England in relation to health inequalities, with data collected from two youth groups (n ​= ​20) situated within socio-economically deprived areas (according to IMD measures). Three 1.5 ​h focus-groups with each youth group were conducted. Findings Participants faced discrimination in most areas of life, with damaging and long-lasting impacts on mental, physical and emotional health and well-being. Participants were acutely aware of such disadvantages and attributed them to lack of awareness, a need for education, lack of commitment to inclusion and access, negative and bigoted attitudes (worsened by media and political discourses), and active discrimination. Conclusions Addressing systemic discrimination faced by LGBTQ ​+ ​youth must be seen as a public health priority. LGBTQ ​+ ​youth must be included in decision-making (policy and practice) that impacts them and their health. Meanwhile, the vital sanctuary and support provided by LGBTQ ​+ ​youth groups must be bolstered to address limitations and gaps in provision due to growing public sector cuts. This is necessary to reduce or buffer the multiple intersecting inequalities faced by LGBTQ ​+ ​youth. Finally, more research is needed to fully understand the crisis of health inequalities faced by LGBTQ ​+ ​youth in England