To investigate the possible relationship between airborne particulate matter and mortality, we developed regression models of daily mortality counts using meteorological covariates and measures of outdoor PM10. Our analyses included data from Cook County, Illinois, and Salt Lake County, Utah. We found no evidence that particulate matter < or = 10 microns (PM10) contributes to excess mortality i...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE In the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS), we previously observed lower stroke incidence in Allegheny County, PA compared with the other 3 study sites. The purpose of this study was to study possible reasons for the lower stroke incidence in Allegheny County. METHODS CHS participants 65 years or older who were stroke-free at baseline (n=5639) were followed between 1989 t...

This report delineates Yolo County Health Department's process to ascertain its optimal methods of participation in syndromic surveillance and health information exchange. As a health department serving a county of just 200,000 residents, Yolo County Health Department needed to operate within strict financial constraints. Meaningful Use legislation enabled it to pursue both syndromic surveillan...

To monitor disease incidence and antibiotic resistance, effective, practical surveillance strategies are needed at the local level for drug-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae (DRSP). Knox County, Tennessee, participates in three forms of DRSP surveillance: an active system sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC; Atlanta, Georgia); a novel county-sponsored system; and c...

Acknowledgements We would like to thank all the staff in the local and county law enforcement agencies in Palm Beach County who were extremely cooperative in supplying data on violent arrests and spent numerous hours in their already busy schedules to compile this critical information. Also, we want to thank the Palm Beach County Medical Examiner's Office who was gracious enough to share their ...

The authors wish to thank the following faculty of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) for their time and valuable contributions in reviewing the manuscript for this publication: Dr. Eldridge Collins, Agricultural Waste Specialist, Department of Biological Systems Engineering; Dr. Darrell Bosch, Assoc. Professor, Department of Agricultural and A...

INTRODUCTION Although county-level obesity estimates are necessary for planning and evaluating community-based interventions, the quality of these data has never been examined. OBJECTIVES To evaluate the reliability of the county-level obesity prevalence estimates from Wisconsin's 72 counties and to highlight the variation of obesity among Wisconsin counties. METHODS Obesity prevalence data...

The description of the Swedish system still needs to be improved. On page 10 it should be said that the Swedish health system has three administrative levels: The national level which has responsibility for law, regulations, monitoring, evaluation and some national state obligations like national disease control and drug registration and drug control; The county council level which has responsi...

Giraffaphaenops yangi n. sp. is described from a limestone cave named Shizikou Dadong, Tianlin County, northwestern Guangxi, China. It is the second species of this genus, which is the most morphologically modified in the tribe Trechini in terms of troglobiomorphy. So far, Giraffaphaenops ranges in a small karstic area in northwestern Guangxi. Of the two known species, G. clarkei Deuve, 2002 wa...

A model is considered in which optimal search intensity is a result of a trade off between short run losses due to higher search costs (more interviews, commuting...) and long-run gains due to a higher chance of finding a job. We show that this optimal search intensity is higher in areas characterized by larger cost of living and/or higher labor market tightness. We then test this model using c...