Background Disparities in adverse COVID-19 health outcomes have been associated with multiple social and environmental stressors. However, research is needed to evaluate the consistency and efficiency of methods for studying these... more
Background Disparities in adverse COVID-19 health outcomes have been associated with multiple social and environmental stressors. However, research is needed to evaluate the consistency and efficiency of methods for studying these associations at local scales. Objective To assess socioexposomic associations with COVID-19 outcomes across New Jersey and evaluate consistency of findings from multiple modeling approaches. Methods We retrieved data for COVID-19 cases and deaths for the 565 municipalities of New Jersey up to the end of the first phase of the pandemic, and calculated mortality rates with and without long-term-care (LTC) facility deaths. We considered 84 spatially heterogeneous environmental, demographic and socioeconomic factors from publicly available databases, including air pollution, proximity to industrial sites/facilities, transportation-related noise, occupation and commuting, neighborhood and housing characteristics, age structure, racial/ethnic composition, povert...
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ABSTRACT
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past studies with air quality modeling have used very few Monte Carlo runs for studying uncertainties∗ of the order of 20-200 simulations involving 10-100 parameters• Direct Decoupled Method (DDM)–provides accurate local sensitivity... more
past studies with air quality modeling have used very few Monte Carlo runs for studying uncertainties∗ of the order of 20-200 simulations involving 10-100 parameters• Direct Decoupled Method (DDM)–provides accurate local sensitivity information–significant memory requirements as number of parameters increase–large number of simulations for global sensitivity/uncertainty analysis–requires re-coding major portions of a model (not a black-box tool)
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†<p>Original data from young humans, scaled by lung weight <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0080917#pone.0080917-Meyer1"... more
†<p>Original data from young humans, scaled by lung weight <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0080917#pone.0080917-Meyer1" target="_blank">[53]</a>.</p>‡<p>Original data from pigs, scaled by lung weight <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0080917#pone.0080917-Martini1" target="_blank">[7]</a>.</p>††<p>Original data for LB from rats, AT2 composition calculated by assuming identical proportion as in LB <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0080917#pone.0080917-OosterlakenDijksterhuis1" target="_blank">[54]</a>.</p><p>◊Original data from bovine surfactant <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0080917#pone.0080917-Possmayer1" target="_blank">[55]</a>.</p
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*<p>Values estimated from Clegg <i>et al.</i>, 2005 <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0080917#pone.0080917-Clegg1"... more
*<p>Values estimated from Clegg <i>et al.</i>, 2005 <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0080917#pone.0080917-Clegg1" target="_blank">[56]</a>.</p>**<p>From Chen <i>et al.</i>, 2004 <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0080917#pone.0080917-Chen1" target="_blank">[57]</a>.</p>†<p>From Morgan & Talbot, 1988 <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0080917#pone.0080917-Morgan1" target="_blank">[58]</a>.</p
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<p>Figures in brackets denote percentage composition in alveolar PL (data from <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0080917#pone.0080917-Notter1"... more
<p>Figures in brackets denote percentage composition in alveolar PL (data from <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0080917#pone.0080917-Notter1" target="_blank">[3]</a>).</p>*<p>Source: Avanti Polar Lipids, Co.</p
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<p>Total chemicals in (a) venous blood, (b) urine, and (c) feces after ingestion of 1.23 mg/kg body weight of <i>α</i>-ZAL by adult healthy human subjects: results from PBTK model (red line) compared with <i>in... more
<p>Total chemicals in (a) venous blood, (b) urine, and (c) feces after ingestion of 1.23 mg/kg body weight of <i>α</i>-ZAL by adult healthy human subjects: results from PBTK model (red line) compared with <i>in vivo</i> measurements from Migdalof <i>et al.</i><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0113632#pone.0113632-Migdalof1" target="_blank">[16]</a>.</p
Research Interests: USA, Biological Sciences, Concentration, Zea, Characterization, and 7 moreSubject, Dose, Exposure, Biomarker, Mycotoxin, Metabolite, and Zal
<p>Blood serum (venous blood) concentration of ZEA for 8 mg/kg BW of (a) injected dose, and (b) oral dose over a period of 24 hours; PBTK model predictions (red line) compared with <i>in vivo</i> measurements in rats... more
<p>Blood serum (venous blood) concentration of ZEA for 8 mg/kg BW of (a) injected dose, and (b) oral dose over a period of 24 hours; PBTK model predictions (red line) compared with <i>in vivo</i> measurements in rats from Shin <i>et al.</i><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0113632#pone.0113632-Shin2" target="_blank">[34]</a>.</p
Research Interests: USA, Biological Sciences, Concentration, Zea, Characterization, and 7 moreSubject, Dose, Exposure, Biomarker, Mycotoxin, Metabolite, and Zal
<p>(a) Compounds of the zeranol family of mycotoxins and their biotransformation pathways (adapted from Kleinova <i>et al.</i><a... more
<p>(a) Compounds of the zeranol family of mycotoxins and their biotransformation pathways (adapted from Kleinova <i>et al.</i><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0113632#pone.0113632-Kleinova1" target="_blank">[29]</a>); The stars represent the relative estrogenic potency of the compounds which is in the order: <i>α</i>-ZAL> <i>α</i>-ZOL> <i>β</i>-ZAL> ZEA> <i>β</i>-ZOL. (b) Zearalenone (ZEA) (bottom) and Zeranol (ZAL) (top) molecules with their structural representation.</p
Research Interests: USA, Biological Sciences, Concentration, Zea, Characterization, and 7 moreSubject, Dose, Exposure, Biomarker, Mycotoxin, Metabolite, and Zal
<p>Contributions of the various major food groups towards (a) entire diet of the JGS subjects and (b) estimated ZEA dose; major food groups were constituted by combining similar smaller food groups as described in <a... more
<p>Contributions of the various major food groups towards (a) entire diet of the JGS subjects and (b) estimated ZEA dose; major food groups were constituted by combining similar smaller food groups as described in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0113632#pone-0113632-t004" target="_blank">Table 4</a>.</p
Research Interests: USA, Biological Sciences, Concentration, Zea, Characterization, and 7 moreSubject, Dose, Exposure, Biomarker, Mycotoxin, Metabolite, and Zal
<p>Summary of available dietary concentrations (means and ranges) from published literature of ZEA (in blue) and <i>α</i>-ZAL (in red) in major food groups identified for the Jersey Girl Study (Food groups explained in... more
<p>Summary of available dietary concentrations (means and ranges) from published literature of ZEA (in blue) and <i>α</i>-ZAL (in red) in major food groups identified for the Jersey Girl Study (Food groups explained in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0113632#pone-0113632-t004" target="_blank">Table 4</a>); green bars at the bottom represent the percentages of positive detects among the food samples tested (Only the food groups with any positive detects identified from the literature are shown here).</p
Research Interests: USA, Biological Sciences, Concentration, Zea, Characterization, and 7 moreSubject, Dose, Exposure, Biomarker, Mycotoxin, Metabolite, and Zal
Motivation: In microarray experiments, missing entries arise from blemishes on the chips. In large-scale studies, virtually every chip contains some missing entries and more than 90 % of the genes are affected. Many analysis methods... more
Motivation: In microarray experiments, missing entries arise from blemishes on the chips. In large-scale studies, virtually every chip contains some missing entries and more than 90 % of the genes are affected. Many analysis methods require a full set of data. Either those genes with missing entries are excluded, or the missing entries are filled with estimates prior to the analyses. This study compares methods of missing value estimation. Results: Two evaluation metrics of imputation accuracy are employed. First, the root mean squared error measures the difference between the true values and the imputed values. Second, the number of misclustered genes measures the difference between clustering with true values and that with imputed values; it examines the bias introduced by imputation to clustering. The Gaussian mixture clustering with model averaging imputation is superior to all other imputation methods, according to both evaluation metrics, on both time-series (correlated) and n...
Environmental, dietary, demographic, and activity variables associated with biomarkers of exposure for benzene and lead
pollution control strategies
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Exposures to airborne allergenic pollen have been increasing under the influence of changing climate. A modeling system incorporating pollen emissions and atmospheric transport and fate processes has been developed and applied to simulate... more
Exposures to airborne allergenic pollen have been increasing under the influence of changing climate. A modeling system incorporating pollen emissions and atmospheric transport and fate processes has been developed and applied to simulate spatiotemporal distributions of two major aeroallergens, oak and ragweed pollens, across the contiguous United States (CONUS) for both historical (year 2004) and future (year 2047) conditions. The transport and fate of pollen presented here is simulated using our adapted version of the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model. Model performance was evaluated using observed pollen counts at monitor stations across the CONUS for 2004. Our analysis shows that there is encouraging consistency between observed seasonal mean concentrations and corresponding simulated seasonal mean concentrations (oak: Pearson = 0.35, ragweed: Pearson = 0.40), and that the model was able to capture the statistical patterns of observed pollen concentration distributio...
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A connection between field-theoretic descriptions of condensation and density-functional theories of nucleation is established. The time-independent differential equation for the density profile of a liquid droplet that mediates the... more
A connection between field-theoretic descriptions of condensation and density-functional theories of nucleation is established. The time-independent differential equation for the density profile of a liquid droplet that mediates the transition from liquid to gas phase is derived based on a variational principle. The droplet profile depends crucially on an attractive interaction term. A physically motivated form for the one-dimensional droplet
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This paper describes techniques used to determine airflow rate in multiple emission point applications typical of animal housing. An accurate measurement of building airflow rate is critical to accurate emission rate estimates. Animal... more
This paper describes techniques used to determine airflow rate in multiple emission point applications typical of animal housing. An accurate measurement of building airflow rate is critical to accurate emission rate estimates. Animal housing facilities rely almost exclusively on ventilation to control inside climate at desired conditions. This strategy results in building airflow rates that range from about three fresh-air changes per hour in cold weather to more than 100 fresh-air changes per hour in hot weather. Airflow rate measurement techniques used in a comprehensive six-state study could be classified in three general categories: fan indication methods, fan rotational methods, and airspeed measurement methods. Each technique is discussed and implementation plans are noted. A detailed error analysis is included that estimated the uncertainty in airflow rate between +/-5 and +/-6.1% of reading at a building operating static pressure, air temperature, relative humidity, and bar...
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Air pollutant concentrations are inherently random variables because of their dependence on the fluctuations of a variety of meteorological and emission variables. When sets of air quality data are available, various statistical... more
Air pollutant concentrations are inherently random variables because of their dependence on the fluctuations of a variety of meteorological and emission variables. When sets of air quality data are available, various statistical characteristics can be determined and assigned to the pollutant concentrations.
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Researchers have reported adverse health effects among rescue/recovery workers and people living near the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. The authors investigated the occurrence of respiratory symptoms among persons living... more
Researchers have reported adverse health effects among rescue/recovery workers and people living near the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. The authors investigated the occurrence of respiratory symptoms among persons living outside of Lower Manhattan in areas affected by the World Trade Center particulate matter plume. Using a novel atmospheric dispersion model, they estimated relative cumulative plume intensity in areas surrounding theWorld Trade Center site over a 5-day period following the collapse of the buildings. Using data from a telephone survey of residents (n 2,755) conducted approximately 6 months after the event, the authors evaluated associations between the estimated plume intensities at individual residence locations and self-reported respiratory symptoms among nonasthmatics, as well as symptoms and nonroutine care among asthmatics. Com-paring persons at or above the 75th percentile of cumulative plume intensity with those below it, there was no statistically...
Motivation: In microarray experiments, missing entries arise from blemishes on the chips. In large-scale studies, virtually every chip contains some missing entries and more than 90% of the genes are affected. Many analysis methods... more
Motivation: In microarray experiments, missing entries arise from blemishes on the chips. In large-scale studies, virtually every chip contains some missing entries and more than 90% of the genes are affected. Many analysis methods require a full set of data. Either those genes with missing entries are excluded, or the missing entries are filled with estimates prior to the analyses.This study compares methods of missing value estimation. Results: Two evaluation metrics of imputation accuracy are employed. First, the root mean squared error measures the difference between the true values and the imputed values. Second, the number of mis-clustered genes measures the difference between clustering with true values and that with imputed values; it examines the bias introduced by imputation to clustering. The Gaussian mixture clustering with model averaging imputation is superior to all other imputation methods, according to both evaluation metrics, on both time-series (correlated) and no...
Research Interests: Bioinformatics, Algorithms, Time Series, Cell Cycle, Benchmarking, and 15 moreBiological Sciences, Model averaging, Mathematical Sciences, Cluster Analysis, Artifacts, Comparative method, Chip, Gaussian Mixture, Reproducibility of Results, Missing Values, Large Scale, Sensitivity and Specificity, Normal Distribution, Microarray Data, and Gene expression profiling
Background: Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are chemicals of emerging concern. A PFAS, Perfluorononanoic Acid (PFNA), , was detected in the community water supply (CWS) of Paulsboro, NJ at a ten-f...
by Panos Georgopoulos, UMDNJ – RWJ Medical School and Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute (EOHSI); Sastry Isukapalli, UMDNJ – RWJ Medical School; Janet Burke, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency National Exposure... more
by Panos Georgopoulos, UMDNJ – RWJ Medical School and Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute (EOHSI); Sastry Isukapalli, UMDNJ – RWJ Medical School; Janet Burke, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency National Exposure Research Laboratory; Sergey Napelenok, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Atmospheric Modeling Division; Ted Palma and John Langstaff, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards; Mohammed Majeed, State of Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control; Shan He, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Division of Air Quality; Daewon Byun and Mark Cohen, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; and Robert Vautard, Laboratory of Climate and Environment Sciences (CEA/CNRS/UVSQ). Contact Panos Georgopoulos: panosg@fidelio.rutgers.edu. Air Quality Modeling Needs for Exposure Assessment from the Source-to-Outcome Perspective
COVID-19 created an unprecedented global public health crisis during 2020–2021. The severity of the fast-spreading infection, combined with uncertainties regarding the physical and biological processes affecting transmission of... more
COVID-19 created an unprecedented global public health crisis during 2020–2021. The severity of the fast-spreading infection, combined with uncertainties regarding the physical and biological processes affecting transmission of SARS-CoV-2, posed enormous challenges to healthcare systems. Pandemic dynamics exhibited complex spatial heterogeneities across multiple scales, as local demographic, socioeconomic, behavioral and environmental factors were modulating population exposures and susceptibilities. Before effective pharmacological interventions became available, controlling exposures to SARS-CoV-2 was the only public health option for mitigating the disease; therefore, models quantifying the impacts of heterogeneities and alternative exposure interventions on COVID-19 outcomes became essential tools informing policy development. This study used a stochastic SEIR framework, modeling each of the 21 New Jersey counties, to capture important heterogeneities of COVID-19 outcomes across...
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DNA methylation has emerged as a promising target linking environmental exposures and cancer. The World Trade Center (WTC) responders sustained exposures to potential carcinogens, resulting in an increased risk of cancer. Previous studies... more
DNA methylation has emerged as a promising target linking environmental exposures and cancer. The World Trade Center (WTC) responders sustained exposures to potential carcinogens, resulting in an increased risk of cancer. Previous studies of cancer risk in WTC-exposed responders were limited by the deficiency in quantitative and individual information on exposure to carcinogens. The current study introduces a new exposure-ranking index (ERI) for estimating cancer-related acute and chronic exposures, which aimed to improve the ability of future analyses to estimate cancer risk. An epigenome-wide association study based on DNA methylation and a weighted gene co-expression network analysis were carried out to identify cytosine-phosphate-guanosine (CpG) sites, modules of correlated CpG sites, and biological pathways associated with the new ERI. Methylation was profiled on blood samples using Illumina 450K Beadchip. No significant epigenome-wide association was found for ERI at a false d...
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Allergic illness is responsible for a substantial proportion of health care costs in the United Stat…
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There are multiple components to emergency preparedness and the response to chemical and biological threat agents. The 5Rs framework (rescue, reentry, recovery, restoration, and rehabitation) outlines opportunities to apply exposure... more
There are multiple components to emergency preparedness and the response to chemical and biological threat agents. The 5Rs framework (rescue, reentry, recovery, restoration, and rehabitation) outlines opportunities to apply exposure science in emergency events. Exposure science provides guidance and refined tools for characterizing, assessing, and reducing risks from catastrophic events, such as the release of hazardous airborne chemicals or biological agents. Important challenges to be met include deployment of assets, including medications, before and after an emergency response situation. Assessment of past studies demonstrates the value of integrating exposure science methods into risk analysis and the management of catastrophic events.
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Exposure to silver nanoparticles (AgNP) used in consumer products carries potential health risks including increased susceptibility to infectious pathogens. Systematic assessments of antimicrobial macrophage immune responses in the... more
Exposure to silver nanoparticles (AgNP) used in consumer products carries potential health risks including increased susceptibility to infectious pathogens. Systematic assessments of antimicrobial macrophage immune responses in the context of AgNP exposure are important because uptake of AgNP by macrophages may lead to alterations of innate immune cell functions. In this study we examined the effects of exposure to AgNP with different particle sizes (20 and 110 nm diameters) and surface chemistry (citrate or polyvinlypyrrolidone capping) on cellular toxicity and innate immune responses against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) by human monocyte-derived macrophages (MDM). Exposures of MDM to AgNP significantly reduced cellular viability, increased IL8 and decreased IL10 mRNA expression. Exposure of M.tb-infected MDM to AgNP suppressed M.tb-induced expression of IL1B, IL10, and TNFA mRNA. Furthermore, M.tb-induced IL-1β, a cytokine critical for host resistance to M.tb, was inhibited b...
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ABSTRACT