Protecting Food Security, and Increasing Nutrition as Well as Food System Resilience Through Climate Change Adaptation in Greater Miami

Food insecurity, defined as the lack of access to affordable and nutritious food, is one of the greatest challenges of our generation. Worldwide it affects more than 750 million people, with the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic pushing this number towards 1 billion. Aside from a lack of food, poor nutrition related to overconsumption of nutrients of concern such as sugar and salt, is creating a global health pandemic. In the United States, it is estimated that by 2030, close to a staggering half of the population will be obese. Obesity has been linked to a variety of diseases such as diabetes or cardiovascular conditions that kill more people than cancer on a global scale. These lifestyle diseases rooted in the nutritional value of consumed food are thereby largely preventable, provided a focus on the issue, and effective interventions. Climate change, which augments severe weather events, the number of heat days, and triggers stressors such as sea level rise, is exacerbating the issue of food insecurity by affecting the entire food system from production to consumption. This chapter discusses what the Southeast Florida region Greater Miami is doing to address food security as part of their climate change adaptation initiatives. Miami is "Ground Zero” for the effects of climate change with sea level rise putting in danger economic viability, and ultimately livability in this beautiful coastal region. The counties and municipalities in Greater Miami are spearheading initiatives that have been praised on a national level and are mainly related to infrastructure improvements to adapt to sea level rise. However, as this chapter discusses, they fall short on addressing food security, and nutrition as well as food system resilience. Thus, recommendations will be given to address these issues, based on tertiary research. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021.

COVID-19 and Urban Futures: Impacts on Business Closures in Miami-Dade County

The COVID-19 pandemic altered the local economic geographies of many U.S. cities, and it remains unclear how long these changes will persist. This study analyzed the sociospatial dynamics of business closures in Miami-Dade County, Florida, from August 2020 to August 2021 with an explicit focus on reconciling the pandemic's effects in the context of location theory. We found that traditional urban centers and transit-concentrated areas experienced disproportionately higher rates of business closures during the study period, suggesting a potential wave of commercial suburbanization in Miami. Middle-class and working-class Hispanic neighborhoods suffered the most business closures. The results of correlation analysis and spatial regression models suggested a positive association between the incidence of COVID-19 cases and business closures at both zip code and individual business levels. These results also beckon a revaluation of the role of certain urban externalities in traditional location theory. The importance of automobile accessibility and agglomeration effects are poised to persist beyond the pandemic, but the benefits of proximity to the public transport system might decline. The trends observed in Miami suggest that the pandemic could generate more automobile-reliant employment subcenters in U.S. cities and amplify problems of intraurban inequality and urban sprawl. (English) [ FROM AUTHOR] La pandemia del COVID-19 alteró las geografías económicas locales de muchas ciudades de los Estados Unidos, y aún no hay claridad por cuánto tiempo más persistirán estos cambios. Este estudio analizó la dinámica socioespacial del cierre de negocios en el Condado de Miami-Dade, Florida, de agosto del 2020 hasta agosto del 2021, centrándose explícitamente en reconciliar los efectos de la pandemia dentro del contexto de la teoría locacional. Descubrimos que los centros urbanos tradicionales y las áreas de tránsito concentrado experimentaron tasas desproporcionadamente más altas de cierres de negocios durante el período del estudio, lo cual sugiere una ola potencial de suburbanización comercial en Miami. Los vecindarios hispánicos de clase media y de la clase trabajadora sufrieron al máximo de cierres de negocios. Los resultados del análisis de los modelos de correlación y regresión espacial sugirieron una asociación positiva entre la incidencia de los casos de COVID-19 y los cierres de negocios, tanto al nivel de los códigos zip como de los negocios individuales. Estos resultados también invitan a la revaluación del papel de ciertas externalidades urbanas en la teoría locacional tradicional. La importancia de la accesibilidad al automóvil y los efectos de la aglomeración muestran disposición a persistir más allá de la pandemia, opero los beneficios de la proximidad del sistema de transporte público podría declinar. La tendencia observada en Miami sugiere que la pandemia podría generar más subcentros de empleo dependientes del automóvil en las ciudades americanas y ampliar los problemas de desigualdad intraurbana y la dispersión urbana. (Spanish) [ FROM AUTHOR] COVID-19疫情改变了美国许多城市的地方经济地理。目前, 尚不清楚这些变化会持续多久。本研究分析了2020年8月至2021年8月期间佛罗里达州迈阿密-戴德县商业倒闭的社会空间变化, 根据区位理论探讨了对疫情影响的缓解。我们发现, 在此期间, 传统的城市中心和交通密集地区经历了不成比例的更高的商业倒闭率, 这表明迈阿密可能会出现商业郊区化浪潮。西班牙裔中产阶级和工人阶级社区出现了最多的商业倒闭。相关性分析和空间回归模型结果表明, 在邮政编码尺度和个体尺度, COVID-19发病率与商业倒闭都存在着正相关性。这些结果也呼吁, 需要重新评估某些城市外部特性在传统区位理论中的作用。汽车可及性和聚集效应的重要性将会一直持续到疫情之后, 但公共交通系统的临近优势可能会下降。迈阿密的趋势表明, COVID-19可能会在美国城市产生更多依赖于汽车的就业分中心, 加剧城市内部不平等、城市扩张等问题。 (Chinese) [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Annals of the American Association of Geographers is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Geographic disparities in violent crime during the COVID-19 lockdown in Miami-Dade County, Florida, 2018-2020.

OBJECTIVES: This study uses two cluster detection techniques to identify clusters of violent crime during the 3 months of the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown in Miami-Dade County compared to that during an equivalent period in 2018 and 2019. METHODS: Violent crime data from the Miami-Dade Central Records Bureau were analyzed. The Local Indicators of Spatial Association statistics and a space-time permutation statistic were used to identify clusters of violent crimes and outliers, and Global Moran's I tool was used to assess spatial patterning in violent crime. Neighborhood disadvantage data were obtained from the American Community Survey 5-year estimates linked with arrest locations. RESULTS: Violent crime arrests fell by 7.1% in 2020. Arrests were concentrated in predominantly Black disadvantaged neighborhoods in the northern part, and similar results were produced for core clusters by the two cluster techniques with positive global Moran's I for all study years. Although accounting for only 17% of the county population, nearly half of violent crime arrests were for Black or African American. Males comprised most violent crime arrests. CONCLUSIONS: Crime prevention and intervention efforts should be focused on both high-risk places and offenders.

COVID-19 and Urban Futures: Impacts on Business Closures in Miami-Dade County

The COVID-19 pandemic altered the local economic geographies of many U.S. cities, and it remains unclear how long these changes will persist. This study analyzed the sociospatial dynamics of business closures in Miami-Dade County, Florida, from August 2020 to August 2021 with an explicit focus on reconciling the pandemic’s effects in the context of location theory. We found that traditional urban centers and transit-concentrated areas experienced disproportionately higher rates of business closures during the study period, suggesting a potential wave of commercial suburbanization in Miami. Middle-class and working-class Hispanic neighborhoods suffered the most business closures. The results of correlation analysis and spatial regression models suggested a positive association between the incidence of COVID-19 cases and business closures at both zip code and individual business levels. These results also beckon a revaluation of the role of certain urban externalities in traditional location theory. The importance of automobile accessibility and agglomeration effects are poised to persist beyond the pandemic, but the benefits of proximity to the public transport system might decline. The trends observed in Miami suggest that the pandemic could generate more automobile-reliant employment subcenters in U.S. cities and amplify problems of intraurban inequality and urban sprawl. © 2022 by American Association of Geographers.

Utility of exercise testing to assess athletes for post COVID-19 myocarditis.

Purpose: This study assessed a functional protocol to identify myocarditis or myocardial involvement in competitive athletes following SARS-CoV2 infection. Methods: We prospectively evaluated competitive athletes (n = 174) for myocarditis or myocardial involvement using the Multidisciplinary Inquiry of Athletes in Miami (MIAMI) protocol, a median of 18.5 (IQR 16-25) days following diagnosis of COVID-19 infection. The protocol included biomarker analysis, ECG, cardiopulmonary stress echocardiography testing with global longitudinal strain (GLS), and targeted cardiac MRI for athletes with abnormal findings. Patients were followed for median of 148 days. Results: We evaluated 52 females and 122 males, with median age 21 (IQR: 19, 22) years. Five (2.9%) had evidence of myocardial involvement, including definite or probable myocarditis (n = 2). Three of the 5 athletes with myocarditis or myocardial involvement had clinically significant abnormalities during stress testing including ventricular ectopy, wall motion abnormalities and/or elevated VE/VCO2, while the other two athletes had resting ECG abnormalities. VO2max, left ventricular ejection fraction and GLS were similar between those with or without myocardial involvement. No adverse events were reported in the 169 athletes cleared to exercise at a median follow-up of 148 (IQR108,211) days. Patients who were initially restricted from exercise had no adverse sequelae and were cleared to resume training between 3 and 12 months post diagnosis. Conclusions: Screening protocols that include exercise testing may enhance the sensitivity of detecting COVID-19 related myocardial involvement following recovery from SARS-CoV2 infection.

HOSPITAL STRESS AND CARE PROCESS TEMPORAL VARIANCE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN THE U.S

The survey assessed hospital stress ordinally and also assessed ED and ICU stress and deviations from standard operating procedures. During one December 2020 week, hospital stress, ICU stress, and care deviations were all present at 100% of reporting sites. B Introduction: b Hospitals experienced substantial stress during the COVID-19 pandemic - threats to standard operations - but it is not well known how this stress manifested at individual hospitals. [Extracted from the article] Copyright of Critical Care Medicine is the property of Lippincott Williams & Wilkins and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Dynamic Panel Data Modeling and Surveillance of COVID-19 in Metropolitan Areas in the United States: Longitudinal Trend Analysis.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has had profound and differential impacts on metropolitan areas across the United States and around the world. Within the United States, metropolitan areas that were hit earliest with the pandemic and reacted with scientifically based health policy were able to contain the virus by late spring. For other areas that kept businesses open, the first wave in the United States hit in mid-summer. As the weather turns colder, universities resume classes, and people tire of lockdowns, a second wave is ascending in both metropolitan and rural areas. It becomes more obvious that additional SARS-CoV-2 surveillance is needed at the local level to track recent shifts in the pandemic, rates of increase, and persistence. OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study is to provide advanced surveillance metrics for COVID-19 transmission that account for speed, acceleration, jerk and persistence, and weekly shifts, to better understand and manage risk in metropolitan areas. Existing surveillance measures coupled with our dynamic metrics of transmission will inform health policy to control the COVID-19 pandemic until, and after, an effective vaccine is developed. Here, we provide values for novel indicators to measure COVID-19 transmission at the metropolitan area level. METHODS: Using a longitudinal trend analysis study design, we extracted 260 days of COVID-19 data from public health registries. We used an empirical difference equation to measure the daily number of cases in the 25 largest US metropolitan areas as a function of the prior number of cases and weekly shift variables based on a dynamic panel data model that was estimated using the generalized method of moments approach by implementing the Arellano-Bond estimator in R. RESULTS: Minneapolis and Chicago have the greatest average number of daily new positive results per standardized 100,000 population (which we refer to as speed). Extreme behavior in Minneapolis showed an increase in speed from 17 to 30 (67%) in 1 week. The jerk and acceleration calculated for these areas also showed extreme behavior. The dynamic panel data model shows that Minneapolis, Chicago, and Detroit have the largest persistence effects, meaning that new cases pertaining to a specific week are statistically attributable to new cases from the prior week. CONCLUSIONS: Three of the metropolitan areas with historically early and harsh winters have the highest persistence effects out of the top 25 most populous metropolitan areas in the United States at the beginning of their cold weather season. With these persistence effects, and with indoor activities becoming more popular as the weather gets colder, stringent COVID-19 regulations will be more important than ever to flatten the second wave of the pandemic. As colder weather grips more of the nation, southern metropolitan areas may also see large spikes in the number of cases.

A novel grey model based on traditional Richards model and its application in COVID-19.

In 2020, a new type of coronavirus is in the global pandemic. Now, the number of infected patients is increasing. The trend of the epidemic has attracted global attention. Based on the traditional Richards model and the differential information principle in grey prediction model, this paper uses the modified grey action quantity to propose a new grey prediction model for infectious diseases. This model weakens the dependence of the Richards model on single-peak and saturated S-shaped data, making Richards model more applicable, and uses genetic algorithm to optimize the nonlinear terms and the background value. To illustrate the effectiveness of the model, groups of slowly growing small-sample and large-sample data are selected for simulation experiments. Results of eight evaluation indexes show that the new model is better than the traditional GM(1,1) and grey Richards model. Finally, this model is applied to China, Italy, Britain and Russia. The results show that the new model is better than the other 7 models. Therefore, this model can effectively predict the number of daily new confirmed cases of COVID-19, and provide important prediction information for the formulation of epidemic prevention policies.

An Evaluation of Florida's Zika Response Using the WHO Health Systems Framework: Can We Apply These Lessons to COVID-19?

OBJECTIVES: From 2016 to 2018 Florida documented 1471 cases of Zika virus, 299 of which were pregnant women (Florida Department of Health, https://www.floridahealth.gov/diseases-and-conditions/mosquito-bornediseases/surveillance.html , 2019a). Florida's response required unprecedented rapid and continuous cross-sector communication, adaptation, and coordination. Zika tested public health systems in new ways, particularly for maternal child health populations. The systems are now being challenged again, as the Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic spreads throughout Florida. This qualitative journey mapping evaluation of Florida's response focused on care for pregnant women and families with infants exposed to Zika virus. METHODS: Fifteen focus groups and interviews were conducted with 33 public health and healthcare workers who managed outbreak response, case investigations, and patient care in south Florida. Data were thematically analyzed, and the results were framed by the World Health Organization's (WHO) Healthcare Systems Framework of six building blocks: health service delivery, health workforce, health information systems, access to essential medicines, financing, and leadership and governance (World Health Organization, https://www.who.int/healthsystems/strategy/everybodys_business.pdf , 2007, https://www.who.int/healthinfo/systems/monitoring/en/ , 2010). RESULTS: Results highlighted coordination of resources, essential services and treatment, data collection, communication among public health and healthcare systems, and dissemination of information. Community education, testing accuracy and turnaround time, financing, and continuity of health services were areas of need, and there was room for improvement in all indicator areas. CONCLUSIONS: The WHO Framework encapsulated important infrastructure and process factors relevant to the Florida Zika response as well as future epidemics. In this context, similarities, differences, and implications for the Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic response are discussed.