Showing papers by "Edmund Seto published in 2017"
TL;DR: Novel, objective measures used to explore the relationships between exposure to NOE and different indicators of mental health indicate that contact with NOE benefits mental health, and suggest that having contact with NoE that can facilitate stress reduction could be particularly beneficial.
140 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the reliability and usability of wearable sensors for monitoring roofing workers' on-duty and off-duty activities were examined. But wearable sensors are not suitable for the monitoring of roofing work.
105 citations
TL;DR: The finding suggests that the low cost, personal sensors have potential to reduce exposure measurement error in epidemiological studies and provide valid data for citizen science studies.
101 citations
TL;DR: The Imperial County Community Air Monitoring Network is a collaborative group of community, academic, nongovernmental, and government partners designed to fill the need for more detailed data on particulate matter in an area that often exceeds air quality standards.
Abstract: Summary: The Imperial County Community Air Monitoring Network (the Network) is a collaborative group of community, academic, nongovernmental, and government partners designed to fill the need for m...
66 citations
TL;DR: This study extends the existing evidence on the benefits of NOE for people's health and suggests NOE potential as a preventive medicine, specifically focusing on people with indications of psychological distress.
Abstract: © 2017 Triguero-Mas et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Introduction: Experimental studies have reported associations between short-term exposure to natural outdoor environments (NOE) and health benefits. However, they lack insight into mechanisms, often have low external and ecological validity, and have rarely focused on people with some psycho-physiological affection. The aim of this study was to use a randomized, case-crossover design to investigate: (i) the effects of unconstrained exposure to real natural and urban environments on psycho-physiological indicators of people with indications of psychological distress, (ii) the possible differential effects of 30 and 30+180 minutes exposures, and (iii) the possible mechanisms explaining these effects. Material and methods: People (n = 26) with indications of psychological distress were exposed to green (Collserola Natural Park), blue (Castelldefels beach) and urban (Eixample neighbourhood) environments in Catalonia. They were exposed to all environments in groups for a period of 30+180 minutes between October 2013 and January 2014. During the exposure period, participants were instructed to do what they would usually do in that environment. Before, during (at 30 and 30+180 minutes) and after each exposure, several psycho-physiological measures were taken: mood (measured as Total Mood Disturbance, TMD), attention capacity (measured as backwards digit-span task), stress levels (measures as salivary cortisol), systolic and diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, autonomous nervous system (assessed as heart rate variability and the indicators: low frequency power (LF), high frequency power (HF), ratio between LF and HF (LF:HF), and coefficients of component variance of LF, HF, and LF:HF). We also measured several potential mediators: air pollution, noise, physical activity, social interactions, and self-perceived restoration experience. Results: When compared with responses to urban environment, we found statistically significantly lower TMD [-4.78 (-7.77, -1.79) points difference], and salivary cortisol [-0.21 (-0.34, -0.08) log nmol/L] in the green exposure environment, and statistically significantly lower TMD [-4.53 (-7.57, -1.49) points difference], and statistically significant favourable changes in heart rate variability indicators (specifically LF:HF and CCV-LF:HF with around -0.20 points of difference of the indicators) in the blue exposure environment. Physical activity and self-perceived restoration experience partially mediated the associations between NOE and TMD. Physical activity and air pollution partially mediated the associations between NOE and heart rate variability. Discussion and conclusions: This study extends the existing evidence on the benefits of NOE for people's health. It also suggests NOE potential as a preventive medicine, specifically focusing on people with indications of psychological distress. Trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02624921.
65 citations
TL;DR: Initial evidence of a positive association between O3 and incident diabetes in African American women is provided, given the ubiquity of ozone exposure and the importance of diabetes on quality of life and survival, these results may have important implications for the protection of public health.
55 citations
TL;DR: The measurements from the two sensors were found to be in agreement during slow-motion symmetric bending activities with a target bending of ≤45°, however, for asymmetric bending tasks, when the SPMWS was placed on the chest, its readings were substantially different from those of the MPMWS worn on thechest or under the armpit.
46 citations
TL;DR: A methodology for quantifying the performance of a next-generation Dylos PM sensor used in the Imperial County Community Air Monitoring Network provides data at a much finer spatial and temporal resolution than has previously been possible with government monitoring efforts.
Abstract: The Imperial County Community Air Monitoring Network was developed as part of a community-engaged research study to provide real-time particulate matter (PM) air quality information at a high spatial resolution in Imperial County, California. The network augmented the few existing regulatory monitors and increased monitoring near susceptible populations. Monitors were both calibrated and field validated, a key component of evaluating the quality of the data produced by the community monitoring network. This paper examines the performance of a customized version of the low-cost Dylos optical particle counter used in the community air monitors compared with both PM2.5 and PM10 (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters <2.5 and <10 μm, respectively) federal equivalent method (FEM) beta-attenuation monitors (BAMs) and federal reference method (FRM) gravimetric filters at a collocation site in the study area. A conversion equation was developed that estimates particle mass concentrations from the ...
45 citations
TL;DR: Having residential NOE availability was consistently linked with higher NOE contact during weekdays, but not to overall PA, especially for the authors' Barcelona participants, people that lived in a city with low NOE available.
Abstract: This study investigated whether residential availability of natural outdoor environments (NOE) was associated with contact with NOE, overall physical activity and physical activity in NOE, in four different European cities using objective measures. A nested cross-sectional study was conducted in Barcelona (Spain); Stoke-on-Trent (United Kingdom); Doetinchem (The Netherlands); and Kaunas (Lithuania). Smartphones were used to collect information on the location and physical activity (overall and NOE) of around 100 residents of each city over seven days. We used Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to determine residential NOE availability (presence/absence of NOE within 300 m buffer from residence), contact with NOE (time spent in NOE), overall PA (total physical activity), NOE PA (total physical activity in NOE). Potential effect modifiers were investigated. Participants spent around 40 min in NOE and 80 min doing overall PA daily, of which 11% was in NOE. Having residential NOE availability was consistently linked with higher NOE contact during weekdays, but not to overall PA. Having residential NOE availability was related to NOE PA, especially for our Barcelona participants, people that lived in a city with low NOE availability.
43 citations
TL;DR: SNAP participation was associated with higher odds of obesity in a primarily Hispanic sample in Los Angeles County, with no effect modification found for the unhealthy portion of the food environment.
Abstract: Participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has been linked to an increased risk of obesity, but not much is known about the mechanisms behind this association. The objective of this study was to determine if the neighborhood density of unhealthy food outlets modifies the association between obesity and participation in SNAP. Data comes from the first wave of the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey; included are a subsample of adults (18+ years) who were SNAP participants or eligible non-participants (N = 1,176). We carried out multilevel analyses with obesity (BMI ≥ 30 Kg/m2), SNAP participation, and the neighborhood density of unhealthy food outlets as dependent, independent and modifying variables, respectively, controlling for age, gender, race/ethnicity, marital status, working status, mental health, and neighborhood poverty. SNAP participants had double the odds of obesity compared to eligible non-participants (OR = 2.02; 95%CI = 1.44-2.83). However, the neighborhood density of unhealthy food outlets did not modify this association. SNAP participation was associated with higher odds of obesity in our primarily Hispanic sample in Los Angeles County, with no effect modification found for the unhealthy portion of the food environment. More research is needed with additional food environment measures to confirm our null findings. Additional research is needed to elucidate the mechanisms linking SNAP participation and obesity as they remain unclear.
9 citations
TL;DR: It is concluded that EMS call volume increases significantly on a heat day compared to non-heat day for both call types, and with adequate power, spatially refined analyses may not be necessary to accurately estimate the extreme-heat effect on health.
Abstract: This research analyzed the relationship between extreme heat and Emergency Medical Service (EMS) calls in King County, WA, USA between 2007 and 2012, including the effect of community-level characteristics. Extreme heat thresholds for the Basic Life Support (BLS) data and the Advanced Life Support (ALS) data were found using a piecewise generalized linear model with Akaike Information Criterion (AIC). The association between heat exposure and EMS call rates was investigated using a generalized estimating equations with Poisson mean model, while adjusting for community-level indicators of poverty, impervious surface, and elderly population (65+). In addition, we examined the effect modifications of these community-level factors. Extreme-heat thresholds of 31.1 °C and 33.5 °C humidex were determined for the BLS and ALS data, respectively. After adjusting for other variables in the model, increased BLS call volume was significantly associated with occurring on a heat day (relative rate (RR) = 1.080, p < 0.001), as well as in locations with higher percent poverty (RR = 1.066, p < 0.001). No significant effect modification was identified for the BLS data on a heat day. Controlling for other variables, higher ALS call volume was found to be significantly associated with a heat day (RR = 1.067, p < 0.001), as well as in locations with higher percent impervious surface (RR = 1.015, p = 0.039), higher percent of the population 65 years or older (RR = 1.057, p = 0.005), and higher percent poverty (RR = 1.041, p = 0.016). Furthermore, percent poverty and impervious surface were found to significantly modify the relative rate of ALS call volumes between a heat day and non-heat day. We conclude that EMS call volume increases significantly on a heat day compared to non-heat day for both call types. While this study shows that there is some effect modification between the community-level variables and call volume on a heat day, further research is necessary. Our findings also suggest that with adequate power, spatially refined analyses may not be necessary to accurately estimate the extreme-heat effect on health.