Living in the Mystery: Myriad Approaches to Death in Edgar Allan Poe\u27s Tales of Terror

Since an individual isn\u27t likely to be swallowed by a whirlpool and magically spat back out, Poe\u27s attempts at living in a death- in-life world are made through his writing. He uses art as a way to become close to the divine, while still living in this world. For Poe, as for any writer, writing is the way to explore the world and come to an understanding of it. A story, which could be so carefully melded together, each word and sentence a carefully chosen part of the whole, all adding up to one ultimate goal, was Poe\u27s example of unity in life. Art in the form of poetry or tales could approximate the unity felt in death because every part contributed towards one overarching message of the work. There are no individual pieces of one of Poe\u27s tales; rather every word contributes to the overall effect, just as in death, every soul contributes to the overall idea of the Godhead. Similarly, an understanding of Poe\u27s work surrounding death leads to an overall idea of life and death as a shared and simultaneously felt force. For Poe, people must live both in life and death, and his work suggests this in its very nature, by forcing its readers to become involved in thought about what it means to really die, and how we should approach this ultimate unity while still alive. 9

Traffic-related Pollution: Implications for Environmental Justice and Policy

Traffic is a problem across the globe, reaching perniciously into cities and communities nearly everywhere. The United States (US) has its share of traffic problems; of the ten cities with the highest traffic delay times in 2022, four were in the US. While nearly everyone living in the US has likely experienced traffic congestion of some kind, some cities are notoriously worse than others. In New York City (NYC), traffic congestion has been a problem as far back as 1913, when Fifth Avenue was so traffic-clogged it could take 40 minutes to go 23 blocks. Today, of the 25 most congested traffic corridors in the US, three are in NYC. One of these runs through the South Bronx, an environmental justice neighborhood we highlight in this dissertation. Traffic congestion is a source of air pollution (traffic-related air pollution, or TRAP) and noise, and it can result in property damage, injuries, and fatalities from collisions with other vehicles, pedestrians, or those using other forms of transportation. Both traffic congestion and TRAP have been associated with numerous negative health outcomes. For example, TRAP is associated with respiratory, cardiovascular, neurological, and pregnancy outcomes, including asthma exacerbation, incident childhood and adult asthma, reduced lung function, atherosclerosis, hypertension, stroke, myocardial infarction, cardiovascular-related mortality, cognitive decline, neurodevelopmental outcomes, pregnancy loss, term low birth weight, and small for gestational age birth. In general across the US, communities of color and higher-poverty neighborhoods face greater exposure and health burden from traffic. Throughout this dissertation, we study traffic congestion and TRAP through two lenses: (1) environmental justice; and (2) policy. Additionally, we assess the cardiovascular health impacts of TRAP. In Chapter 1, we provide background on the problem of traffic, focusing on NYC and the South Bronx. In Chapter 2, we present a case study from the South Bronx, where a new trucking-intensive warehouse was opened in 2018. In this study, we quantified the increase in vehicles and trucks following the opening of the warehouse and estimated the resulting increases in black carbon (BC) and noise. We discuss the injustice in the methods used to assess the environmental impact of the warehouse, the warehouse’s siting in a predominantly Black and Lantinx community already overburdened with trucking-intensive industries, and the desire of the community to instead use the land for a community park. In Chapter 3, we present a study quantifying how traffic congestion in NYC changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. We assess how NY on Pause, the state’s stay-at-home order, impacted traffic congestion by comparing the magnitude of traffic decreases in environmentally burdened or systematically disadvantaged neighborhoods to the magnitude of decreases in less burdened and more advantaged neighborhoods. We discuss the implications of these results for upcoming traffic policies in NYC, such as congestion pricing. In Chapter 4, we present a study evaluating diurnal changes in TRAP in NYC during NY on Pause. We discuss the implications of these results for congestion pricing, including the potential timing of TRAP decreases. In Chapter 5, we present an epidemiologic study of TRAP and myocardial infarction (MI) in New York State, identifying hazard windows of exposure in a study period where the mean nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) concentration was substantially lower than the hourly national standard. We discuss implications for the NO₂ National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) and suggest that the current standard may be insufficient to protect population cardiovascular health. Finally, in Chapter 6, we conclude with a discussion of recommended research directions and policy considerations

An Environmental Justice Analysis of Air Pollution Emissions in the United States from 1970 to 2010

<h4>1. Introduction</h4><p>Over the last decades, air pollution emissions have decreased substantially; however, inequities in air pollution persist. We evaluate county-level racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in emissions changes from six air pollution source sectors (industry [SO2], energy [SO2, NOx], agriculture [NH3], commercial [NOx], residential [particulate organic carbon], and on-road transportation [NOx]) in the contiguous United States during the 40 years following the Clean Air Act (CAA) enactment (1970-2010). We calculate relative emission changes and examine the differential changes given county demographics using hierarchical nested models. The results show racial/ethnic disparities, particularly in the industry and energy generation source sectors. We also find that median family income is a driver of variation in relative emissions changes in all sectors—counties with median family income >$75K vs. less generally experience larger relative declines in industry, energy, transportation, residential, and commercial-related emissions. Emissions from most air pollution source sectors have, on a national level, decreased following the United States CAA. In this work, we show that the relative reductions in emissions varied across racial/ethnic and socioeconomic groups. This repository houses the code and data used in the analysis presented in the peer-reviewed article: An Environmental Justice Analysis of Air Pollution Emissions in the United States from 1970 to 2010.</p><p>Notice that this repository is linked with a journal article: </p><p><strong>Yanelli Nunez, Jaime Benavides, Jenni A. Shearston, Elena M. Krieger, Misbath Daouda, Lucas R.F. Henneman, Erin E. McDuffie, Jeff Goldsmith, Joan A. Casey, and Marianthi-Anna Kioumourtzoglou: An Environmental Justice Analysis of Air Pollution Emissions in the United States from 1970 to 2010 [Under review]</strong></p><p> </p><h4>2. Code & Datasets</h4><p>We present the source code and the results here. The code is developed in R programming (R Core Team (2022)). Please, read carefully the <strong>README.md</strong> document enclosed within the zip file:</p><ul><li>The zip file <a href="https://zenodo.org/api/records/10059811/draft/files/yanellinunez/USA_emissions_code-v1.0.0.zip/content">yanellinunez/USA_emissions_code-v1.0.0.zip</a> contains four folders: <i>code</i>, <i>data</i>, <i>figures</i>, and <i>output. </i> It also includes a README.md file detailing the contents of each folder and subfolder.</li><li>All journal article source code, generated data, and results have been openly published in this repository</li></ul&gt

Patterns of electronic cigarette use and level of psychological distress.

BACKGROUND:Psychological distress has been correlated with higher levels of nicotine dependence. To date, the possible association between individuals' levels of psychological distress and e-cigarette use has not been investigated, despite the dramatic growth of e-cigarette use in the US. We examined this possible association using a nationally representative sample of US adults. METHODS:A total of 36,697 adults from the 2014 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) were included. The Kessler 6 scale was used to measure psychological distress. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to assess the association between level of psychological distress and e-cigarette use. RESULTS:Both e-cigarette and cigarette use varied according to level of psychological distress as well as multiple socio-demographic characteristics. In a multivariate model, psychological distress was significantly associated with the following groups: (a) exclusive e-cigarette ever-use (aOR = 3.7; 95% CI = 1.6, 8.6), (b) current dual use of e-cigarettes and cigarettes (aOR = 4.6; 95% CI = 3.1, 6.7), (c) former cigarette use and ever use of e-cigarette (aOR = 3.2; 95% CI = 2.2, 4.8) and (d) current use of cigarettes only (aOR = 2.1; 95% CI = 1.7, 2.6). CONCLUSION:These are the first data to demonstrate that, as is true for cigarettes, e-cigarette use is associated with increased levels of psychological distress. Further large-scale, longitudinal studies are needed to determine the direction of this relationship and to evaluate the long-term positive and negative consequences of such use

Quantifying diurnal changes in NO2 due to COVID-19 stay-at-home orders in New York City

Introduction: Policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, such as the NY on Pause stay-at-home order (March 22 – June 8, 2020), substantially reduced traffic and traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) in New York City (NYC). We evaluated the magnitude of TRAP decreases and examined the role of modifying factors such as weekend/weekday, road proximity, location, and time-of-day. Methods: Hourly nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations from January 1, 2018 through June 8, 2020 were obtained from the Environmental Protection Agency's Air Quality System for all six hourly monitors in the NYC area. We used an interrupted time series design to determine the impact of NY on Pause on NO2 concentrations, using a mixed effects model with random intercepts for monitor location, adjusted for meteorology and long-term trends. We evaluated effect modification through stratification. Results: NO2 concentrations decreased during NY on Pause by 19% (-3.2 ppb, 95% confidence interval [CI]: -3.5, -3.0), on average, compared to pre-Pause time trends. We found no evidence for modification by weekend/weekday, but greater decreases in NO2 at non-roadside monitors and weak evidence for modification by location. For time-of-day, we found the largest decreases for 5 am (27%, -4.5 ppb, 95% CI: -5.7, -3.3) through 7 am (24%, -4.0 ppb, 95% CI: -5.2, -2.8), followed by 6 pm and 7 pm (22%, -3.7 ppb, 95% CI: -4.8, -2.6 and 22%, -4.8, -2.5, respectively), while the smallest decreases occurred at 11 pm and 1 am (both: 11%, -1.9 ppb, 95% CI: -3.1, -0.7). Conclusion: NY on Pause's impact on TRAP varied greatly diurnally. Decreases during early morning and evening time periods are likely due to decreases in traffic. Our results may be useful for planning traffic policies that vary by time of day, such as congestion tolling policies

Increasing hookah use among adolescent females in the US: analyses from the 2011-2014 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS)

Introduction The use of hookah (waterpipe) is increasing rapidly among US adolescents, nearly doubling from 2011-2014. Further information is needed about characteristics of those who use hookahs and how key characteristics associated with use may be changing. Methods Data from the nationally representative 2014 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS), n=22,007, were analyzed to determine adolescents’ characteristics independently associated with use of hookahs, using bivariate and multivariate analyses. Additionally, NYTS 2011-2014 data were analyzed to investigate changes in prevalence of hookah use over time, by sex. Results Among adolescents in 2014, female sex and past 30-day use of cigarettes or e-cigarettes were each independently associated with higher odds of past 30-day use of hookahs (AOR=1.41, 95% CI 1.15-1.72; aOR=4.01, 95% CI 3.19-5.05; AOR=6.85, 95% CI 5.29-8.88, respectively). Hispanic adolescents (AOR=1.91, 95% CI 1.51-2.42) and adolescents who live with someone who uses hookah (AOR=8.56, 95% CI 6.02-12.18) had greater odds of past 30-day use. From 2011 to 2014, use among males and females increased, with a percent change of 87% for males (1.60% to 2.99%) and 175% for females (1.21% to 3.33%). Conclusions These data demonstrate the magnitude of adolescent hookah use, particularly among adolescents who use electronic or traditional cigarettes. Most strikingly, rates of female adolescent use have increased much more rapidly than has male use, and adolescent females are for the first time more likely to smoke hookahs than adolescent males in the US nationwide. These findings urgently call for better understanding of the changing correlates of hookah use, including polytobacco use

Multivariate logistic regression model (aOR^a, 95% CI) for the association between smoking status and psychological distress, and covariates, NHIS 2014.

<p>Multivariate logistic regression model (aOR<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0173625#t002fn001" target="_blank">^a</a>, 95% CI) for the association between smoking status and psychological distress, and covariates, NHIS 2014.</p

Selected characteristics by e-cigarette and cigarette use, 2014 National Health Interview Survey (n = 36,697)^a.

<p>Selected characteristics by e-cigarette and cigarette use, 2014 National Health Interview Survey (n = 36,697)<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0173625#t001fn002" target="_blank">^a</a>.</p

The Mediating Effect of E-Cigarette Harm Perception in the Relationship between E-Cigarette Advertising Exposure and E-Cigarette Use

Exposure to e-cigarette advertising is associated with e-cigarette use among young people. This study examined the mediating effect of e-cigarette harm perception on the above relationship. Cross-sectional survey data were collected from 2112 college students in New York City in 2017&ndash;2018. The analytic sample comprised 2078 participants (58.6% females) who provided completed data. Structural equal modeling was performed to examine if e-cigarette harm perception mediated the relationship between e-cigarette advertising exposure (via TV, radio, large signs, print media, and online) and ever e-cigarette use and susceptibility to e-cigarette use. About 17.1% of participants reported ever e-cigarette use. Of never users, 17.5% were susceptible to e-cigarette use. E-cigarette advertising exposure was mainly through online sources (31.5%). Most participants (59.4%) perceived e-cigarettes as equally or more harmful than cigarettes. Advertising exposure showed different effects on e-cigarette harm perception depending on the source of the advertising exposure, but perceiving e-cigarettes as less harmful than cigarettes was consistently associated with e-cigarette use and susceptibility. Low harm perception mediated the association between advertising exposure (via online, TV, and radio) and ever e-cigarette use and between online advertising exposure and e-cigarette use susceptibility. Regulatory actions are needed to address e-cigarette marketing, particularly on the Internet

Can traffic-related air pollution trigger myocardial infarction within a few hours of exposure? Identifying hourly hazard periods

Introduction: Traffic-related air pollution can trigger myocardial infarction (MI). However, the hourly hazard period of exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a common traffic tracer, for incident MI has not been fully evaluated. Thus, the current hourly US national air quality standard (100 ppb) is based on limited hourly-level effect estimates, which may not adequately protect cardiovascular health. Objectives: We characterized the hourly hazard period of NO2 exposure for MI in New York state (NYS), USA, from 2000 to 2015. Methods: For nine cities in NYS, we obtained data on MI hospitalizations from the NYS Department of Health Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System and hourly NO2 concentrations from the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Quality System database. We used city-wide exposures and a case-crossover study design with distributed lag non-linear terms to assess the relationship between hourly NO2 concentrations over 24 h and MI, adjusting for hourly temperature and relative humidity. Results: The mean NO2 concentration was 23.2 ppb (standard deviation: 12.6 ppb). In the six hours preceding MI, we found linearly increased risk with increasing NO2 concentrations. At lag hour 0, a 10 ppb increase in NO2 was associated with 0.2 % increased risk of MI (Rate Ratio [RR]: 1.002; 95 % Confidence Interval [CI]: 1.000, 1.004). We estimated a cumulative RR of 1.015 (95 % CI: 1.008, 1.021) for all 24 lag hours per 10 ppb increase in NO2. Lag hours 2–3 had consistently elevated risk ratios in sensitivity analyses. Conclusions: We found robust associations between hourly NO2 exposure and MI risk at concentrations far lower than current hourly NO2 national standards. Risk of MI was most elevated in the six hours after exposure, consistent with prior studies and experimental work evaluating physiologic responses after acute traffic exposure. Our findings suggest that current hourly standards may be insufficient to protect cardiovascular health