Heat poses an urgent threat to public health in cities, as the urban heat island (UHI) effect can amplify exposures, contributing to high heat-related mortality and morbidity. Urban trees have the potential to mitigate heat by providing substantial cooling, as well as co-benefits such as reductions in energy consumption. The City of Boston has attempted to expand its urban canopy, yet maintenance costs and high tree mortality have hindered successful canopy expansion. Here, we present an interactive web application called Right Place, Right Tree-Boston that aims to support informed decision-making for planting new trees. To highlight priority regions for canopy expansion, we developed a Boston-specific Heat Vulnerability Index (HVI) and present this alongside maps of summer daytime land surface temperatures. We also provide information about tree pests and diseases, suitability of species for various conditions, land ownership, maintenance tips, and alternatives to tree planting. This web application is designed to support decision-making at multiple spatial scales, to assist city officials as well as residents who are interested in expanding or maintaining Boston's urban forest.

Objective: To determine the extent to which gender disparities exist in either obtaining a leadership position or pay equity among those with leadership positions in state governmental public health agencies. Design: Utilizing the 2014 Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey, a nationally representative cross-sectional study of state governmental public health agency employees, the characteristics of the state governmental public health agency leadership were described. We estimated the odds of being a manager or an executive leader and the odds of leaders earning greater than $95 000 annually for women compared with men using polytomous multinomial regression and logistic regression models, respectively. Setting and Participants: The Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey was conducted via electronic survey at 37 state health departments. This study utilized only those respondents who listed their current position as a supervisory position (n = 3237). Main Outcome Measures: Leadership position and high-earning leadership were the 2 main outcome measures explored. Leadership position was defined as a 3-level ordinal variable: supervisor, manager, or executive leader. High-earning leadership was defined as a member of leadership earning $95 000 or greater. Results: Women accounted for 72.0% of the overall state governmental public health agency workforce and 67.1% of leadership positions. Women experienced lower odds (odds ratio = 0.55, 95% confidence interval: 0.39-0.78) of holding executive leadership positions than men and lower odds (odds ratio = 0.64, 95% confidence interval: 0.50-0.81) of earning an annual salary greater than $95 000. Conclusion: While women were represented in similar proportions in the general workforce as in leadership positions, gender disparities still existed within leadership positions. Increased effort is needed to ensure that opportunities exist for women in executive leadership positions and in pay equity. With public health's commitment to social justice and the benefits of diversity to an agency's policies and programs, it is important to ensure that women's voices are equally represented at all levels of leadership.

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Background: Exposure to the excessive levels of occupational noise is one of the principal harmful agents affecting the workers' health. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the occupational noise exposure and the hearing loss caused by working in small-scale service industries in the city of Damavand, close to the metropolitan capital city of Tehran, Iran. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study investigated the occupational noise levels within the 90 small-scale industries (mainly service industries and workshops) working under the supervision of Damavand healthcare network governed by the Iranian ministry of health and medical education. A sound level meter (Bruel and Kjaer 2250) was employed to determine the noise exposure levels based on the dB A, and according to the standard ISO 9612: 2009. The audiometric exam tests were performed by an audiometer (model MEVOX SA-900). The obtained data were then analysed by SPSS 16, using linear regression and t-test. Results: The highest measured 8-hour equivalent continuous sound pressure levels (Leqs) were associated with auto body mechanics (89.2 dB A), foundry and casting workers (88.8 dB A), aluminium products fabrication workers (86.32 dB A), blacksmiths and forging (85.8 dB A) carpenters (84.93 dB A), and cabinet manufacturers, respectively (84 dB A). Results from the hearing threshold shifts of the workers from the studied occupational groups revealed that the highest work-related hearing loss associated with the right ear occurred among the auto body mechanics, aluminium products fabrication workers and carpenters. However, the most significant work-related hearing loss associated with the left ear was noticed among carpenters, aluminium products fabrication workers, and auto body mechanics, respectively. Pearson correlation coefficient was tested between Leqs, work experience and hearing loss, and the results implied that the progress of workers' hearing loss was correlated with the increase in work history and experience. Conclusions: The 8-hour Leqs and work experience were, respectively, the most important factors affecting the rate of hearing loss among the participants of this study.

The health and wellbeing of building occupants should be a key priority in the design, building, and operation of new and existing buildings. Buildings can be designed, renovated, and constructed to promote healthy environments and behaviors and mitigate adverse health outcomes. This paper highlights health in terms of the relationship between occupants and buildings, as well as the relationship of buildings to the community. In the context of larger systems, smart buildings and green infrastructure strategies serve to support public health goals. At the level of the individual building, interventions that promote health can also enhance indoor environmental quality and provide opportunities for physical activity. Navigating the various programs that use metrics to measure a building's health impacts reveals that there are multiple co-benefits of a "healthy building," including those related to the economy, environment, society, transportation, planning, and energy efficiency. BUILT ENVIRONMENT HEALTH IMPACTSThe built environment can promote healthy environments and behaviors, as well as mitigate adverse health outcomes. Air quality, social equity, community cohesion, physical safety, transportation choices, traffic-related crashes, water quality, access to healthy foods, physical activity levels, access to nature, and daylight levels all influence public health [1].Physical activity promotion is one of many ways the built environment can support health. Physical activity can help prevent hypertension, stroke, non-insulin dependent diabetes, colon cancer, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, and cardiovascular disease and can also help DISCLAIMER The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. HHS Public AccessAuthor manuscript J Sol Energy Eng. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2018 January 25. Author Manuscript Author ManuscriptAuthor Manuscript Author Manuscript prevent obesity, which exacerbates many of these conditions [2]. The built environment can support physical activity by providing opportunities for active transportation, trips to nearby destinations, and access to green spaces and parks. Built environment interventions can be maximized when their multiple impacts (for example, in reducing energy use and creating cooler microclimates) are acknowledged and leveraged.Globally, buildings account for between 20% and 40% of energy consumption in developed countries, exceeding contributions from the industrial and transportation sectors [3]. In the United States, commercial buildings and industrial facilities generate 45% of the nation's greenhouse gas emissions [4], which drive global anthropogenic climate change. These emissions come from not only building-level construction, materials, and energy use, but also from the level of building connectedness in the context of transportation and water systems, as well as at the scale of land use changes [5]. Therefore, buildings and t...

Identification of populations susceptible to heat effects is critical for targeted prevention and more accurate risk assessment. Fluid and electrolyte imbalance (FEI) may provide an objective indicator of heat morbidity. Data on daily ambient temperature and FEI emergency department (ED) visits were collected in Atlanta, Georgia, USA during 1993–2012. Associations of warm-season same-day temperatures and FEI ED visits were estimated using Poisson generalized linear models. Analyses explored associations between FEI ED visits and various temperature metrics (maximum, minimum, average, and diurnal change in ambient temperature, apparent temperature, and heat index) modeled using linear, quadratic, and cubic terms to allow for non-linear associations. Effect modification by potential determinants of heat susceptibility (sex; race; comorbid congestive heart failure, kidney disease, and diabetes; and neighborhood poverty and education levels) was assessed via stratification. Higher warm-season ambient temperature was significantly associated with FEI ED visits, regardless of temperature metric used. Stratified analyses suggested heat-related risks for all populations, but particularly for males. This work highlights the utility of FEI as an indicator of heat morbidity, the health threat posed by warm-season temperatures, and the importance of considering susceptible populations in heat-health research.

The growing frequency, intensity, and duration of extreme heat events necessitates interventions to reduce heat exposures. Local opportunities for heat adaptation may be optimally identified through collection of both quantitative exposure metrics and qualitative data on perceptions of heat. In this study, we used mixed methods to characterize heat exposure among urban residents in the area of Boston, Massachusetts, US, in summer 2020. Repeated interviews of N = 24 study participants ascertained heat vulnerability and adaptation strategies. Participants also used low-cost sensors to collect temperature, location, sleep, and physical activity data. We saw significant differences across temperature metrics: median personal temperature exposures were 3.9 °C higher than median ambient weather station temperatures. Existing air conditioning (AC) units did not adequately control indoor temperatures to desired thermostat levels: even with AC use, indoor maximum temperatures increased by 0.24 °C per °C of maximum outdoor temperature. Sleep duration was not associated with indoor or outdoor temperature. On warmer days, we observed a range of changes in time-at-home, expected given our small study size. Interview results further indicated opportunities for heat adaptation interventions including AC upgrades, hydration education campaigns, and amelioration of energy costs during high heat periods. Our mixed methods design informs heat adaptation interventions tailored to the challenges faced by residents in the study area. The strength of our community-academic partnership was a large part of the success of the mixed methods approach.

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