Commentary on Household Hardships, Public Programs, and Their Associations with the Health and Development of Very Young Children: Insights from Children\u27s HealthWatch

This commentary, written in response to the article Household Hardships, Public Programs, and Their Associations with the Health and Development of Very Young Children: Insights from Children\u27s HealthWatch , highlights the importance of the research done by Children\u27s HealthWatch in relation to childhood food insecurity. Childhood food insecurity has been linked with various adverse health effects, including undernutrition, poor or delayed child development, and social and psychological consequences. Children\u27s HealthWatch provides important data that can be used to monitor threats to our children\u27s well-being and address problems with effective interventions

Climate Change, Air Pollution, and Children’s Mental Health

Climate change and air pollution are twin global public health challenges of high priority. Sharing linked causes and solutions, both climate change and air pollution are suggested by a growing body of research to inflict negative mental health outcomes through multiple mechanisms. However, there are still gaps in understanding the links between climate change, air pollution and mental health, especially in children and adolescents, who are particularly at-risk. Current findings are summarized and their implications for future research as well as public health policies are discussed

Passive and Active Tobacco Exposure and Children’s Lipid Profiles

INTRODUCTION: Despite reductions in smoking rates, exposure to cigarette smoke remains common among US children and adolescents. In adults, active smoking and secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure have been linked to adverse changes in lipid profiles and increases in inflammatory markers. Evidence that such changes are present before adulthood remains limited, and the extent to which active smoking and SHS exposure affect these cardiovascular measures in children has not been thoroughly assessed. METHODS: We employed data from 2008 individuals aged 12-19 years from the 2005-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Comparisons of the lipid and inflammatory marker levels among active smokers, those exposed to SHS (as determined by serum cotinine levels), and those unexposed to tobacco smoke were made using linear regression with multiple propensity score adjustment. RESULTS: Compared to unexposed children, lipid and inflammatory marker profiles did not differ among those exposed to SHS exposure. Among active smokers, differences compared to unexposed children were observed in triglyceride levels ( β=8.5 mg/dL, P = .01), the ratio of triglycerides to high-density lipoprotein ( β=0.2, P = .045), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol ( β-4.1 mg/dL , P = .03), though these did not reach levels of confirmatory statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS: After accounting for sociodemographic characteristics and medical comorbidities, serum lipids and markers of systemic inflammation were not associated with SHS exposure. Tobacco smoke exposure in children may require longer durations of compounded effect before serum lipid abnormalities are detected. IMPLICATIONS: This paper adds detail to the study of secondhand smoke's effects on lipid profiles of children and adolescents. Prior research on this topic for these age groups has been limited, and this study provides national, cross-sectional data to show that both secondhand smoke and active smoking in childhood and adolescence is not associated with changes in lipid profiles or markers of inflammation. Tobacco smoke exposure may require longer durations of compounded effect before abnormalities are detected

Discrete Element Modeling of Triboelectrically Charged Particles

Tribocharging of particles is common in many processes including fine powder handling and mixing, printer toner transport and dust extraction. In a lunar environment with its high vacuum and lack of water, electrostatic forces are an important factor to consider when designing and operating equipment. Dust mitigation and management is critical to safe and predictable performance of people and equipment. The extreme nature of lunar conditions makes it difficult and costly to carry out experiments on earth which are necessary to better understand how particles gather and transfer charge between each other and with equipment surfaces. DEM (Discrete Element Modeling) provides an excellent virtual laboratory for studying tribocharging of particles as well as for design of devices for dust mitigation and for other purposes related to handling and processing of lunar regolith. Theoretical and experimental work has been performed pursuant to incorporating screened Coulombic electrostatic forces into EDEM, a commercial DEM software package. The DEM software is used to model the trajectories of large numbers of particles for industrial particulate handling and processing applications and can be coupled with other solvers and numerical models to calculate particle interaction with surrounding media and force fields. While simple Coulombic force between two particles is well understood, its operation in an ensemble of particles is more complex. When the tribocharging of particles and surfaces due to frictional contact is also considered, it is necessary to consider longer range of interaction of particles in response to electrostatic charging. The standard DEM algorithm accounts for particle mechanical properties and inertia as a function of particle shape and mass. If fluid drag is neglected, then particle dynamics are governed by contact between particles, between particles and equipment surfaces and gravity forces. Consideration of particle charge and any tribocharging and electric field effects requires calculation of the forces due to these effects

Suspected Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Is Not Associated with Vitamin D Status in Adolescents after Adjustment for Obesity

This study investigated a potential independent association between hypovitaminosis D and suspected nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in a nationally representative sample of the US adolescents. Data from 1630 subjects 12–19 years of age were examined using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2001–2004. The vitamin D status of subjects was categorized into quartiles of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D. Subjects with serum ALT > 30 U/L were classified as having suspected NAFLD. Data regarding age, sex, race, BMI, and poverty level were also analyzed in bivariate and multivariate analyses using SAS and SUDAAN software. Suspected NAFLD was identified in 12.1% of adolescents in the lowest quartile compared to 6.9% of adolescents in the second quartile, 8.0% in the third quartile, and 13.17% in the highest quartile of serum 25(OH)D concentrations (P = .05). In analyses utilizing vitamin D as a continuous variable, no independent association was found between Vitamin D levels and rates of elevated ALT levels. In multivariate analyses, higher risks for suspected NAFLD were observed in males and overweight adolescents; however, vitamin D status was not found to be independently associated with suspected NAFLD after adjusting for obesity

Global welfare comparisons

Abstract. To provide a normative foundation for transfers between different economies, one needs information on their 'per capita welfare.' This paper considers various methods for doing this and reaches the following conclusions: (i) Such global welfare comparisons are more demanding than usually thought. (ii) The ranking of methods differs from that of local (over-time) comparisons, with real comprehensive per capita NNP being the least impractical method. The lesson is that global welfare comparisons should be performed with great care. The comparisons must be made in local real prices calculated according to 'purchasing-power-parity,' where non-traded environmental amenities play an important role. JEL classification: D60, D90, O47 Comparaisons globales de bien-être. Pour fournir un fondement normatif aux transferts entre différenteséconomies, on a besoin de renseignements sur leurs niveaux de bien-être per capita. Ce texte considère diverses méthodes pour ce faire et en arrive aux conclusions suivantes: (i) de telles comparaisons sont plus complexes qu'on le pense habituellement; (ii) l'ordre des méthodes diffère de ce qui transparaît dans les comparaisons (longitudinales) locales -et la méthode qui utilise la mesure compréhensive du PNN per capita en termes réels s'avèreêtre la méthode la moins insatisfaisante. Le leçon majeure est qu'on ne peut faire de telles comparaisons qu'avec le plus grand soin. Les comparaisons doiventêtre faites en utilisant les prix locaux réels (calculés selon les règles de la parité du pouvoi

A latitudinal cline in the efficacy of endogenous signals: evidence derived from retinal cone contraction in fish.

Like many physiological systems synchronised to the light:dark cycle, retinomotor movements in 'lower' vertebrates are controlled by both the ambient illumination and input from endogenous circadian oscillators. In the present study, we examine the relative influence of these two signals in various species of teleost fish with different latitudes of origin. We find equatorial species show very strong endogenous control. The cones of the glowlight tetra, for example, continue to go through undiminished cycles of contraction and relaxation that mirror the previous light:dark cycle for at least two weeks in continual darkness. To quantify the relative effectiveness of the ambient light compared with endogenous signals in causing cone contraction, the degree to which seven teleost species responded to light during the dark phase of their light:dark cycle was examined. In this situation the retina receives conflicting instructions; while the light is acting directly to cause light adaptation, any endogenous signal tends to keep the retinal elements dark adapted. The further from the equator a species originated, the more its cones contracted in response to such illumination, suggesting animals from higher latitudes make little use of endogenous oscillators and rely more on ambient illumination to control behaviours. Equatorial species, however, rely on internal pacemakers to a much greater degree and are relatively insensitive to exogenous light signals. Because these data are consistent with published observations in systems as diverse as melatonin synthesis in Arctic reindeer and the behaviour of regional populations of Drosophila, latitudinal clines in the efficacy of circadian oscillators may be a common feature among animals

SMART-SREC: a stochastic model of the New Jersey solar renewable energy certificate market

Markets for solar renewable energy certificates (SRECs) are gaining in promi- nence in many states, stimulating growth of the U.S. solar industry. However, SREC market prices have been extremely volatile, causing high risk to participants and potentially less investment in solar power generation. Such concerns necessitate the development of realis- tic, flexible and tractable models of SREC prices that capture the behavior of participants given the rules that govern the market. We propose an original stochastic model called SMART-SREC to fill this role, building on established ideas from the carbon pricing liter- ature, and including a feedback mechanism for generation response to prices. We calibrate the model to the New Jersey market and backtest it, analyzing parameter sensitivity and demonstrating its ability to reproduce historical dynamics. Finally, we run simulations to investigate the role and impact of regulatory parameters, thus providing insight into the crucial role played by market design