Fazlay Faruque - Profile on Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Fazlay Faruque

Molecules

To date very few promising leads from natural products (NP) secondary metabolites with antiviral ... more To date very few promising leads from natural products (NP) secondary metabolites with antiviral and immunomodulatory properties have been identified for promising/potential intervention for COVID-19. Using in-silico docking studies and genome based various molecular targets, and their in vitro anti-SARS CoV-2 activities against whole cell and/or selected protein targets, we select a few compounds of interest, which can be used as potential leads to counteract effects of uncontrolled innate immune responses, in particular those related to the cytokine storm. A critical factor for prevention and treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection relates to factors independent of viral infection or host response. They include population-related variables such as concurrent comorbidities and genetic factors critically relevant to COVID-19 health disparities. We discuss population risk factors related to SARS-CoV-2. In addition, we focus on virulence related to glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficien...

Online Journal of Public Health Informatics, 2014

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the availability of mammography resources affected breast cancer ... more OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the availability of mammography resources affected breast cancer incidence rates, stage of disease at initial diagnosis, mortality rates and/or mortality-to-incidence ratios throughout Mississippi. METHODS: Mammography facilities were geocoded and the numbers of residents residing within a thirty minute drive of a mammography facility were calculated. Other data were extracted from the Mississippi Cancer Registry, the U.S. Census, and the Mississippi Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFSS). RESULTS & DISCUSSION: There were no statistically-significant differences between breast cancer incidence rates in Black versus White females in Mississippi; however, there were significant differences in the use of mammography, percentages of advancedstage initial diagnoses, mortality rates, and mortality-to-incidence ratios, where Black females fared worse in each category. No statistically-significant correlations were observed between breast cancer outcomes and the availability of mammography facilities. The use of mammography was negatively correlated with advanced stage of disease at initial diagnosis. By combining Black and White subsets, a correlation between mammography use and improved survival was detected; this was not apparent in either subset alone. There was also a correlation between breast cancer mortality-to-incidence ratios and the percentage of the population living below the poverty level. CONCLUSIONS: The accessibility and use of mammography resources has a greater impact on breast cancer in Mississippi than does the geographic resource distribution per se. Therefore, intensified mammography campaigns to reduce the percentage of advanced-stage breast cancers initially diagnosed in Black women, especially in communities with high levels of poverty, are warranted in Mississippi.

Geospatial Health

Type-2 diabetes is a growing lifestyle disease mainly due to increasing physical inactivity but a... more Type-2 diabetes is a growing lifestyle disease mainly due to increasing physical inactivity but also associated with various other variables. In Saudi Arabia, around 58.5% of the population is deemed to be physically inactive. Against this background, this study attempts explore the spatial heterogeneity of Type-2 diabetes prevalence in Jeddah and to estimate various socio-economic and built environment variables contributing to the prevalence of this disease based on modelling by ordinary least squares (OLS), weighted regression (GWR) and multi-scale geographically weighted (MGWR). Our OLS results suggest that income, population density, commercial land use and Saudi population characteristics are statistically significant for Type-2 diabetes prevalence. However, by the GWR model, income, commercial land use and Saudi population characteristics were significantly positive while population density was significantly negative in this model for 70.6%, 9.1%, 26.6% and 58.7%, respectivel...

Geospatial Technology for Human Well-Being and Health: An Overview

Geospatial Technology for Human Well-Being and Health

Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 2019

The associations of environmental factors with human health and well-being now can be more precis... more The associations of environmental factors with human health and well-being now can be more precisely analyzed than before. Several multidisciplinary achievements advanced our understanding of the continuum of Benvironment and health outcomes.^Investments in multidisciplinary initiatives led to the development of many new tools that can pinpoint environmental factors, human exposure, and health outcomes on a wide range of scales-from global to even an individual. As environmental factors and human interactions cannot be completely examined without accounting for their spatial components and relationships, the improvements in geospatial data quality, technology, and analytical tools are playing a critical role to advance our understanding of environmental factors affecting human health and well-being. However, at the same time, researchers must be aware of the limitations of spatial data and tools, while conducting their studies. This special issue covers a wide range of geospatial health-related topics and methods including the climate change, neglected tropical diseases, vector-borne diseases, smartphone technology, healthcare utilization, health disparities, air quality assessment, asthma, water quality assessment, antimicrobial resistance, and machine learning. After intense reviews and revisions, the following 23 papers were selected for publication. While in many instances, the topics and methodologies of the papers significantly overlap, a brief discussion about the papers is provided below under loosely aggregated categorizations. Research topics Climate Extreme weather and related phenomena appear to be rising in frequency and intensity which pose growing health risks to human populations. Liss and Naumova (2019) conducted spatio-temporal analyses to examine the association between hospitalizations due to heat stroke in older adults in the United States with respect to heatwave sequence, time of arrival, and regional climate. Analyzing 16 years of daily hospitalization records, the authors found substantial differences in heat-related hospitalizations and response to heatwaves in different climate regions of the USA. As heatwaves are one of the major manifestations of the growing events of extreme weather, the authors suggested that the findings of this study could be useful for prevention as well as for decision support framework for heat-related medical care, which would be more essentials in the coming years. Wrable and her colleagues (Wrable et al. 2019) analyzed 8 years of monthly reported schistosomiasis to

Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 2019

Temperature and rainfall predicted for the twenty-first century by global coupled models as repor... more Temperature and rainfall predicted for the twenty-first century by global coupled models as reported by IPCC, (2014a, and b) were obtained regionally for Burkina Faso and through the Paluclim project, 2011-2014. One of the goals of this project was to assess the upcoming evolution of malaria transmission dynamics. From an impact model on malaria risk linked to climate variability, temperature and rainfall indices were derived. Malaria transmission dynamics were then predicted using the derived temperature and rainfall for the twenty-first century. Similar to the historical evidence of rainfall being an important factor for regulating the seasonal density of malaria vectors, this study also reports a definitive link between low-frequency rainfall variability and malaria in the region under the influence of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO). This finding can be used by local stakeholders involved with the geography-based population health planning. Moreover, the predicted increase in temperature during the twenty-first century suggests a reduction of larvae survival in Burkina Faso and thus the malaria risk. More generally, the temperature increase could become a new limiting factor for malaria transmission dynamics in the Sahel Region (as reported by Mordecai et al. (2013).

Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 2019

In order to examine associations between asthma morbidity and local ambient air pollution in an a... more In order to examine associations between asthma morbidity and local ambient air pollution in an area with relatively low levels of pollution, we conducted a time-series analysis of asthma hospital admissions and fine particulate matter pollution (PM 2.5) in and around Jackson, MS, for the period 2003 to 2011. Daily patientlevel records were obtained from the Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) Asthma Surveillance System. Patient geolocations were aggregated into a grid with 0.1°× 0.1°resolution within the Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area. Daily PM 2.5 concentrations were estimated via machine-learning algorithms with remotely sensed aerosol optical depth and other associated parameters as inputs. Controlling for long-term temporal trends and meteorology, we estimated a 7.2% (95% confidence interval 1.7-13.1%) increase in daily all-age asthma emergency room admissions per 10 μg/m 3 increase in the 3-day average of PM 2.5 levels (current day and two prior days). Stratified analyses reveal significant associations between asthma and 3-day average PM 2.5 for males and blacks. Our results contribute to the current epidemiologic evidence on the association between acute ambient air pollution exposure and asthma morbidity, even in an area characterized by relatively good air quality.

ISPRS - International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, 2016

Genes, behaviour, and the environment are known to be the major risk factors for common diseases.... more Genes, behaviour, and the environment are known to be the major risk factors for common diseases. When the patient visits a physician, typical questions include family history (genes) and lifestyle of the patient (behaviour), but questions concerning environmental risk factors often remain unasked. It is ironic that 25 centuries ago Hippocrates, known as the father of medicine, noted the importance of environmental exposure in medical investigation as documented in his classic work, “Airs, Waters, Places”, yet the practice of routinely incorporating environmental risk factors is still not in place. Modern epigenetic studies have found that unhealthy lifestyle and environmental factors can cause changes to our genes that can increase disease risk factors. Therefore, attempting to solve the puzzle of diseases using heredity and lifestyle alone will be incomplete without accounting for the environmental exposures. The primary reason why environmental exposure has not yet been a routine...

In recent years there has been serious concern on the deteriorating groundwater quality due to th... more In recent years there has been serious concern on the deteriorating groundwater quality due to the activities of man. Geographic Information System (GIS), a high performance computer based tool is playing a critical role in water resource management and pollution study. In this work, the GIS software was used to analyze the effects of various data layers (topographic slope, groundwater table variation, soil porosity and land use activities) on the distribution of groundwater pollution in the Nigerian city of Uyo. Spatial variability map of different groundwater quality parameters were generated using interpolation operation in the software. A good correlation exists between some of the pollution indicators (total dissolved solids, TDS and conductivity, CN, 0.8; chloride and TDS, 0.17 as well as TDS and sulphate, 0.23). The results of spatial variability maps of different groundwater quality parameters indicate an increase in the percentages of pollution levels during the last five years. Cross operation was also used to explain the effects of various data layers viz. topographic slope, groundwater slope, depth to groundwater layer and land use activities on the distribution of groundwater pollution.

Infectious and Communicable Diseases in Mississippi

BMC research notes, Jan 8, 2015

The state of Mississippi has the highest colorectal cancer (CRC) mortality rate in the USA. The g... more The state of Mississippi has the highest colorectal cancer (CRC) mortality rate in the USA. The geographic distribution of CRC screening resources and geographic- and population-based CRC characteristics in Mississippi are investigated to reveal the geographic disparity in CRC screening. The primary practice sites of licensed gastroenterologists and the addresses of licensed medical facilities offering on-site colonoscopies were verified via telephone surveys, then these CRC screening resource data were geocoded and analyzed using Geographic Information Systems. Correlation analyses were performed to detect the strength of associations between CRC screening resources, CRC screening behavior and CRC outcome data. Age-adjusted colorectal cancer incidence rates, mortality rates, mortality-to-incidence ratios, and self-reported endoscopic screening rates from the years 2006 through 2010 were significantly different for Black and White Mississippians; Blacks fared worse than Whites in al...

Estimating the Global Abundance of Ground Level Particulate Matter (PM2. 5) Since 1997

ABSTRACT With the increasing awareness of the health impacts of particulate matter there is a gro... more ABSTRACT With the increasing awareness of the health impacts of particulate matter there is a growing need to comprehend the spatial and temporal variations of the global abundance of ground level airborne particulate matter (PM2.5). Here we use a suite of remote sensing and meteorologi-cal data products together with ground based observations of PM2.5 from 8,329 measurement sites in 55 countries taken between 1997-2014 to train a machine learning algorithm to estimate the daily distributions of PM2.5 from 1997-present. In this first paper of a series we present the method-ology and global average results from 1997-2014 and demonstrate that the new PM2.5 data product can reliably represent global observations of PM2.5 for epidemiological studies.

Geospatial Health, 2014

The spread of dengue fever depends mainly on the availability of favourable breeding sites for it... more The spread of dengue fever depends mainly on the availability of favourable breeding sites for its mosquito vectors around human dwellings. To investigate if the various factors influencing breeding habitats can be mapped from space, dengue indices, such as the container index, the house index and the Breteau index, were calculated from Ministry of Public health data collected three times annually in Phitsanulok, Thailand between 2009 and 2011. The most influential factors were found to be temperature, humidity, rainfall, population density, elevation and land cover. Models were worked out using parameters mostly derived from freely available satellite images and fuzzy logic software with parameter synchronisation and a predication algorithm based on data mining and the Decision Tree method. The models developed were found to be sufficiently flexible to accommodate additional parameters and sampling data that might improve prediction of favourable breeding hotspots. The algorithm applied can not only be used for the prediction of near real-time scenarios with respect to dengue, but can also be applied for monitoring other diseases influenced by environmental and climatic factors. The multi-criteria model presented is a cost-effective way of identifying outbreak hotspots and early warning systems lend themselves for development based on this strategy. The proposed approach demonstrates the successful utilisation of remotely sensed images to map mosquito breeding habitats.

Geospatial Health, 2014

With the increasing awareness of the health impacts of particulate matter, there is a growing nee... more With the increasing awareness of the health impacts of particulate matter, there is a growing need to comprehend the spatial and temporal variations of the global abundance of ground level airborne particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 microns or less (PM 2.5). Here we use a suite of remote sensing and meteorological data products together with groundbased observations of particulate matter from 8,329 measurement sites in 55 countries taken 1997-2014 to train a machinelearning algorithm to estimate the daily distributions of PM 2.5 from 1997 to the present. In this first paper of a series, we present the methodology and global average results from this period and demonstrate that the new PM 2.5 data product can reliably represent global observations of PM 2.5 for epidemiological studies.

The Use of Nationwide Geographic Information Systems to Meet the Challenge of Sustainable Development in the Least …

International experiences on sustainability, 2002

Real-time syndromic surveillance

ArcUser: The Magazine for ESRI …, 2006

Editor's note: The authors, staff members at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UM... more Editor's note: The authors, staff members at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC), have developed a syndromic surveillance system with GIS disease mapping capabilities. The GeoMedStat system incorporates real-time discharge data from an urban ...

Utilizing Geographic Information Systems in Community Assessment and Nursing Research

Journal of Community Health Nursing, 2003

Application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in health sciences is relatively new, but it ... more Application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in health sciences is relatively new, but it appears to be expanding faster than any other areas of GIS application. Although health scientists have long been using geographic information conceptually, the current availability of user-friendly GIS tools has caused a rapid endorsement of GIS in community health research. Locations of disease incidence, surrounding environments, health care facilities, geographic boundaries of the communities, and other essential community infrastructures have always been essential components of epidemiological and health care studies. This article provides an example of the effective use of GIS in a community assessment project. The purpose of this project was to survey the households in Hinds County, Mississippi, to assess community health status and the under-utilization of health care services. Ultimately, the assessment will be used to positively influence health outcomes within defined geographic communities. Community assessment was accomplished using extensive face-to-face surveys coupled with GIS technology to optimize the process and to evaluate the results.

The Indian River-Linking Project: A Geologic, Ecological, and Socio-Economic Perspective

lhup.edu

... Md. Khalequzzaman Lock Haven University, Lock Haven, PA 17745, USA Puneet Srivastava Auburn U... more ... Md. Khalequzzaman Lock Haven University, Lock Haven, PA 17745, USA Puneet Srivastava Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849-5417 ... The major rivers in the Indian subcontinent include the Ganges, Subarnarekha, Brahmaputra, Meghna, Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri ...

The Indian River-linking Project: A Geologic

… -economic Perspective'in Ahmed et al …, 2004

BMJ Open, 2021

IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated health inequalities across the globe, dispropor... more IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated health inequalities across the globe, disproportionately affecting those with poor social determinants of health (SDOHs). It is imperative to understand how SDOH influences the transmission and outcomes (positive case, hospitalisation and mortality) of COVID-19. This systematic review will investigate the impact of a wide range of SDOHs across the globe on the transmission and outcomes of COVID-19.Methods and analysisThis review will follow the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Protocol guidelines. We will search three electronic bibliographical databases (MEDLINE via PubMed, Embase and Scopus), as well as the WHO COVID-19 Global Research on Coronavirus Disease database. We will consider observational studies that report statistical relationships between the SDOHs (as listed in PROGRESS-Plus and Healthy People 2020) and COVID-19 transmission and outcomes. There will be no limitation on the geographica...

Molecules

To date very few promising leads from natural products (NP) secondary metabolites with antiviral ... more To date very few promising leads from natural products (NP) secondary metabolites with antiviral and immunomodulatory properties have been identified for promising/potential intervention for COVID-19. Using in-silico docking studies and genome based various molecular targets, and their in vitro anti-SARS CoV-2 activities against whole cell and/or selected protein targets, we select a few compounds of interest, which can be used as potential leads to counteract effects of uncontrolled innate immune responses, in particular those related to the cytokine storm. A critical factor for prevention and treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection relates to factors independent of viral infection or host response. They include population-related variables such as concurrent comorbidities and genetic factors critically relevant to COVID-19 health disparities. We discuss population risk factors related to SARS-CoV-2. In addition, we focus on virulence related to glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficien...

Online Journal of Public Health Informatics, 2014

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the availability of mammography resources affected breast cancer ... more OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the availability of mammography resources affected breast cancer incidence rates, stage of disease at initial diagnosis, mortality rates and/or mortality-to-incidence ratios throughout Mississippi. METHODS: Mammography facilities were geocoded and the numbers of residents residing within a thirty minute drive of a mammography facility were calculated. Other data were extracted from the Mississippi Cancer Registry, the U.S. Census, and the Mississippi Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFSS). RESULTS & DISCUSSION: There were no statistically-significant differences between breast cancer incidence rates in Black versus White females in Mississippi; however, there were significant differences in the use of mammography, percentages of advancedstage initial diagnoses, mortality rates, and mortality-to-incidence ratios, where Black females fared worse in each category. No statistically-significant correlations were observed between breast cancer outcomes and the availability of mammography facilities. The use of mammography was negatively correlated with advanced stage of disease at initial diagnosis. By combining Black and White subsets, a correlation between mammography use and improved survival was detected; this was not apparent in either subset alone. There was also a correlation between breast cancer mortality-to-incidence ratios and the percentage of the population living below the poverty level. CONCLUSIONS: The accessibility and use of mammography resources has a greater impact on breast cancer in Mississippi than does the geographic resource distribution per se. Therefore, intensified mammography campaigns to reduce the percentage of advanced-stage breast cancers initially diagnosed in Black women, especially in communities with high levels of poverty, are warranted in Mississippi.

Geospatial Health

Type-2 diabetes is a growing lifestyle disease mainly due to increasing physical inactivity but a... more Type-2 diabetes is a growing lifestyle disease mainly due to increasing physical inactivity but also associated with various other variables. In Saudi Arabia, around 58.5% of the population is deemed to be physically inactive. Against this background, this study attempts explore the spatial heterogeneity of Type-2 diabetes prevalence in Jeddah and to estimate various socio-economic and built environment variables contributing to the prevalence of this disease based on modelling by ordinary least squares (OLS), weighted regression (GWR) and multi-scale geographically weighted (MGWR). Our OLS results suggest that income, population density, commercial land use and Saudi population characteristics are statistically significant for Type-2 diabetes prevalence. However, by the GWR model, income, commercial land use and Saudi population characteristics were significantly positive while population density was significantly negative in this model for 70.6%, 9.1%, 26.6% and 58.7%, respectivel...

Geospatial Technology for Human Well-Being and Health: An Overview

Geospatial Technology for Human Well-Being and Health

Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 2019

The associations of environmental factors with human health and well-being now can be more precis... more The associations of environmental factors with human health and well-being now can be more precisely analyzed than before. Several multidisciplinary achievements advanced our understanding of the continuum of Benvironment and health outcomes.^Investments in multidisciplinary initiatives led to the development of many new tools that can pinpoint environmental factors, human exposure, and health outcomes on a wide range of scales-from global to even an individual. As environmental factors and human interactions cannot be completely examined without accounting for their spatial components and relationships, the improvements in geospatial data quality, technology, and analytical tools are playing a critical role to advance our understanding of environmental factors affecting human health and well-being. However, at the same time, researchers must be aware of the limitations of spatial data and tools, while conducting their studies. This special issue covers a wide range of geospatial health-related topics and methods including the climate change, neglected tropical diseases, vector-borne diseases, smartphone technology, healthcare utilization, health disparities, air quality assessment, asthma, water quality assessment, antimicrobial resistance, and machine learning. After intense reviews and revisions, the following 23 papers were selected for publication. While in many instances, the topics and methodologies of the papers significantly overlap, a brief discussion about the papers is provided below under loosely aggregated categorizations. Research topics Climate Extreme weather and related phenomena appear to be rising in frequency and intensity which pose growing health risks to human populations. Liss and Naumova (2019) conducted spatio-temporal analyses to examine the association between hospitalizations due to heat stroke in older adults in the United States with respect to heatwave sequence, time of arrival, and regional climate. Analyzing 16 years of daily hospitalization records, the authors found substantial differences in heat-related hospitalizations and response to heatwaves in different climate regions of the USA. As heatwaves are one of the major manifestations of the growing events of extreme weather, the authors suggested that the findings of this study could be useful for prevention as well as for decision support framework for heat-related medical care, which would be more essentials in the coming years. Wrable and her colleagues (Wrable et al. 2019) analyzed 8 years of monthly reported schistosomiasis to

Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 2019

Temperature and rainfall predicted for the twenty-first century by global coupled models as repor... more Temperature and rainfall predicted for the twenty-first century by global coupled models as reported by IPCC, (2014a, and b) were obtained regionally for Burkina Faso and through the Paluclim project, 2011-2014. One of the goals of this project was to assess the upcoming evolution of malaria transmission dynamics. From an impact model on malaria risk linked to climate variability, temperature and rainfall indices were derived. Malaria transmission dynamics were then predicted using the derived temperature and rainfall for the twenty-first century. Similar to the historical evidence of rainfall being an important factor for regulating the seasonal density of malaria vectors, this study also reports a definitive link between low-frequency rainfall variability and malaria in the region under the influence of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO). This finding can be used by local stakeholders involved with the geography-based population health planning. Moreover, the predicted increase in temperature during the twenty-first century suggests a reduction of larvae survival in Burkina Faso and thus the malaria risk. More generally, the temperature increase could become a new limiting factor for malaria transmission dynamics in the Sahel Region (as reported by Mordecai et al. (2013).

Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 2019

In order to examine associations between asthma morbidity and local ambient air pollution in an a... more In order to examine associations between asthma morbidity and local ambient air pollution in an area with relatively low levels of pollution, we conducted a time-series analysis of asthma hospital admissions and fine particulate matter pollution (PM 2.5) in and around Jackson, MS, for the period 2003 to 2011. Daily patientlevel records were obtained from the Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) Asthma Surveillance System. Patient geolocations were aggregated into a grid with 0.1°× 0.1°resolution within the Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area. Daily PM 2.5 concentrations were estimated via machine-learning algorithms with remotely sensed aerosol optical depth and other associated parameters as inputs. Controlling for long-term temporal trends and meteorology, we estimated a 7.2% (95% confidence interval 1.7-13.1%) increase in daily all-age asthma emergency room admissions per 10 μg/m 3 increase in the 3-day average of PM 2.5 levels (current day and two prior days). Stratified analyses reveal significant associations between asthma and 3-day average PM 2.5 for males and blacks. Our results contribute to the current epidemiologic evidence on the association between acute ambient air pollution exposure and asthma morbidity, even in an area characterized by relatively good air quality.

ISPRS - International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, 2016

Genes, behaviour, and the environment are known to be the major risk factors for common diseases.... more Genes, behaviour, and the environment are known to be the major risk factors for common diseases. When the patient visits a physician, typical questions include family history (genes) and lifestyle of the patient (behaviour), but questions concerning environmental risk factors often remain unasked. It is ironic that 25 centuries ago Hippocrates, known as the father of medicine, noted the importance of environmental exposure in medical investigation as documented in his classic work, “Airs, Waters, Places”, yet the practice of routinely incorporating environmental risk factors is still not in place. Modern epigenetic studies have found that unhealthy lifestyle and environmental factors can cause changes to our genes that can increase disease risk factors. Therefore, attempting to solve the puzzle of diseases using heredity and lifestyle alone will be incomplete without accounting for the environmental exposures. The primary reason why environmental exposure has not yet been a routine...

In recent years there has been serious concern on the deteriorating groundwater quality due to th... more In recent years there has been serious concern on the deteriorating groundwater quality due to the activities of man. Geographic Information System (GIS), a high performance computer based tool is playing a critical role in water resource management and pollution study. In this work, the GIS software was used to analyze the effects of various data layers (topographic slope, groundwater table variation, soil porosity and land use activities) on the distribution of groundwater pollution in the Nigerian city of Uyo. Spatial variability map of different groundwater quality parameters were generated using interpolation operation in the software. A good correlation exists between some of the pollution indicators (total dissolved solids, TDS and conductivity, CN, 0.8; chloride and TDS, 0.17 as well as TDS and sulphate, 0.23). The results of spatial variability maps of different groundwater quality parameters indicate an increase in the percentages of pollution levels during the last five years. Cross operation was also used to explain the effects of various data layers viz. topographic slope, groundwater slope, depth to groundwater layer and land use activities on the distribution of groundwater pollution.

Infectious and Communicable Diseases in Mississippi

BMC research notes, Jan 8, 2015

The state of Mississippi has the highest colorectal cancer (CRC) mortality rate in the USA. The g... more The state of Mississippi has the highest colorectal cancer (CRC) mortality rate in the USA. The geographic distribution of CRC screening resources and geographic- and population-based CRC characteristics in Mississippi are investigated to reveal the geographic disparity in CRC screening. The primary practice sites of licensed gastroenterologists and the addresses of licensed medical facilities offering on-site colonoscopies were verified via telephone surveys, then these CRC screening resource data were geocoded and analyzed using Geographic Information Systems. Correlation analyses were performed to detect the strength of associations between CRC screening resources, CRC screening behavior and CRC outcome data. Age-adjusted colorectal cancer incidence rates, mortality rates, mortality-to-incidence ratios, and self-reported endoscopic screening rates from the years 2006 through 2010 were significantly different for Black and White Mississippians; Blacks fared worse than Whites in al...

Estimating the Global Abundance of Ground Level Particulate Matter (PM2. 5) Since 1997

ABSTRACT With the increasing awareness of the health impacts of particulate matter there is a gro... more ABSTRACT With the increasing awareness of the health impacts of particulate matter there is a growing need to comprehend the spatial and temporal variations of the global abundance of ground level airborne particulate matter (PM2.5). Here we use a suite of remote sensing and meteorologi-cal data products together with ground based observations of PM2.5 from 8,329 measurement sites in 55 countries taken between 1997-2014 to train a machine learning algorithm to estimate the daily distributions of PM2.5 from 1997-present. In this first paper of a series we present the method-ology and global average results from 1997-2014 and demonstrate that the new PM2.5 data product can reliably represent global observations of PM2.5 for epidemiological studies.

Geospatial Health, 2014

The spread of dengue fever depends mainly on the availability of favourable breeding sites for it... more The spread of dengue fever depends mainly on the availability of favourable breeding sites for its mosquito vectors around human dwellings. To investigate if the various factors influencing breeding habitats can be mapped from space, dengue indices, such as the container index, the house index and the Breteau index, were calculated from Ministry of Public health data collected three times annually in Phitsanulok, Thailand between 2009 and 2011. The most influential factors were found to be temperature, humidity, rainfall, population density, elevation and land cover. Models were worked out using parameters mostly derived from freely available satellite images and fuzzy logic software with parameter synchronisation and a predication algorithm based on data mining and the Decision Tree method. The models developed were found to be sufficiently flexible to accommodate additional parameters and sampling data that might improve prediction of favourable breeding hotspots. The algorithm applied can not only be used for the prediction of near real-time scenarios with respect to dengue, but can also be applied for monitoring other diseases influenced by environmental and climatic factors. The multi-criteria model presented is a cost-effective way of identifying outbreak hotspots and early warning systems lend themselves for development based on this strategy. The proposed approach demonstrates the successful utilisation of remotely sensed images to map mosquito breeding habitats.

Geospatial Health, 2014

With the increasing awareness of the health impacts of particulate matter, there is a growing nee... more With the increasing awareness of the health impacts of particulate matter, there is a growing need to comprehend the spatial and temporal variations of the global abundance of ground level airborne particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 microns or less (PM 2.5). Here we use a suite of remote sensing and meteorological data products together with groundbased observations of particulate matter from 8,329 measurement sites in 55 countries taken 1997-2014 to train a machinelearning algorithm to estimate the daily distributions of PM 2.5 from 1997 to the present. In this first paper of a series, we present the methodology and global average results from this period and demonstrate that the new PM 2.5 data product can reliably represent global observations of PM 2.5 for epidemiological studies.

The Use of Nationwide Geographic Information Systems to Meet the Challenge of Sustainable Development in the Least …

International experiences on sustainability, 2002

Real-time syndromic surveillance

ArcUser: The Magazine for ESRI …, 2006

Editor's note: The authors, staff members at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UM... more Editor's note: The authors, staff members at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC), have developed a syndromic surveillance system with GIS disease mapping capabilities. The GeoMedStat system incorporates real-time discharge data from an urban ...

Utilizing Geographic Information Systems in Community Assessment and Nursing Research

Journal of Community Health Nursing, 2003

Application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in health sciences is relatively new, but it ... more Application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in health sciences is relatively new, but it appears to be expanding faster than any other areas of GIS application. Although health scientists have long been using geographic information conceptually, the current availability of user-friendly GIS tools has caused a rapid endorsement of GIS in community health research. Locations of disease incidence, surrounding environments, health care facilities, geographic boundaries of the communities, and other essential community infrastructures have always been essential components of epidemiological and health care studies. This article provides an example of the effective use of GIS in a community assessment project. The purpose of this project was to survey the households in Hinds County, Mississippi, to assess community health status and the under-utilization of health care services. Ultimately, the assessment will be used to positively influence health outcomes within defined geographic communities. Community assessment was accomplished using extensive face-to-face surveys coupled with GIS technology to optimize the process and to evaluate the results.

The Indian River-Linking Project: A Geologic, Ecological, and Socio-Economic Perspective

lhup.edu

... Md. Khalequzzaman Lock Haven University, Lock Haven, PA 17745, USA Puneet Srivastava Auburn U... more ... Md. Khalequzzaman Lock Haven University, Lock Haven, PA 17745, USA Puneet Srivastava Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849-5417 ... The major rivers in the Indian subcontinent include the Ganges, Subarnarekha, Brahmaputra, Meghna, Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri ...

The Indian River-linking Project: A Geologic

… -economic Perspective'in Ahmed et al …, 2004

BMJ Open, 2021

IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated health inequalities across the globe, dispropor... more IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated health inequalities across the globe, disproportionately affecting those with poor social determinants of health (SDOHs). It is imperative to understand how SDOH influences the transmission and outcomes (positive case, hospitalisation and mortality) of COVID-19. This systematic review will investigate the impact of a wide range of SDOHs across the globe on the transmission and outcomes of COVID-19.Methods and analysisThis review will follow the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Protocol guidelines. We will search three electronic bibliographical databases (MEDLINE via PubMed, Embase and Scopus), as well as the WHO COVID-19 Global Research on Coronavirus Disease database. We will consider observational studies that report statistical relationships between the SDOHs (as listed in PROGRESS-Plus and Healthy People 2020) and COVID-19 transmission and outcomes. There will be no limitation on the geographica...