#uw!alden

[susartwork]

"Now I understand why I always see you two in the newspapers."

Finally finished this! I did this for a school assignment. Thank lord they let me use the school scanner afwfij

Anyway, meet Mira and Alden. Aka Alys' parents! q(≧▽≦q)

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved in our archive

Not covid, but another great reason to keep masks on hand: Fine particulate matter increases all sorts of other health issues like asthma, high blood pressure, some cancers, and even strokes. Pollution is just as bad for you as covid in some senses.

By Alden Woods and Kiyomi Taguchi

As Baby Boomers hit retirement, about 1 in 6 Americans is now over the age of 65. The number of Americans living with dementia is projected to skyrocket — but the proportion of older Americans who develop dementia has actually decreased. The exact reason why is uncertain, but various lifestyle and environmental factors can influence a person’s risk of cognitive decline.

One recently discovered risk is air pollution. Studies have linked exposure to a type of air pollution called fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, with an increased risk of developing dementia, and researchers suspect that some sources of PM2.5 may pose a greater risk than others.

New research led by the University of Washington found that wildfire smoke is especially hazardous. An analysis of the health care records of 1.2 million Southern California residents found that higher long-term smoke exposure was associated with a significant increase in the odds that a person would be diagnosed with dementia.

The researchers presented their findings at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in July and published the full study Nov. 25 in JAMA Neurology.

“There have been studies that have found total PM2.5 is related to people developing dementia, but no one had looked specifically at wildfire PM2.5,” said lead author Joan Casey, a UW associate professor of environmental & occupational health sciences. “Wildfire smoke is a different animal, in that it’s much spikier. There are many days where there’s no wildfire smoke, and there are some days where exposure is really, really extreme.”

Researchers analyzed the health records of 1.2 million members aged 60 and older of Kaiser Permanente Southern California between 2008 and 2019, all of whom were free from dementia at the start of the study period. They estimated each person’s long-term exposure to both wildfire and non-wildfire PM2.5 as a three-year rolling average, and then identified people who received a dementia diagnosis.

Researchers found that for every 1 microgram per cubic meter (µg/m3) increase in three-year average wildfire PM2.5 concentration, the odds of a dementia diagnosis increased by 18%. Exposure to non-wildfire PM2.5 also increased a person’s risk of dementia, but to a much lesser degree.

“One microgram per meter cubed might sound fairly small, but we have to think about how people are exposed to wildfire smoke,” Casey said. “Most days they aren’t exposed at all, so this might represent a few days of exposure at a concentration of something like 300 µg/m3, where the AQI is over 200 in someone’s community. When you think about it, it’s actually a few really severe wildfire smoke days that might translate into increased risk.”

That risk further increased among racialized people and those living in high-poverty census tracts, following long-term trends in which vulnerable populations often experience disproportionate effects of environmental hazards. The authors suggested that disparities might be related to lower-quality housing, which can increase the amount of smoke that enters people’s homes, or lower-income families’ inability to afford air filtration systems.

The study period does not include the summers of 2020 and 2021, which produced the most extreme wildfire seasons recorded in California. The climate crisis has drastically increased the frequency and severity of wildfires across the American West, introducing “smoke season” in many West Coast regions The influx of smoke has chipped away at air quality improvements made over the last century.

“The main culprit here is climate change,” Casey said. “It’s a global problem. While individuals can protect themselves with air filters and masks, we need a global solution to climate change. It’s going to have to be many-pronged — many people have to be involved to solve this highly complex problem.”

Co-authors on this study are Holly Elser of the University of Pennsylvania; Timothy Frankland of the Kaiser Permanente Hawaii Center for Integrated Health Research; Chen Chen and Tarik Benmarhnia of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego; Sara Tartof and Gina Lee of Kaiser Permanente Southern California; Elizabeth Rose Mayeda of UCLA; Dr. Alexander Northrop of Columbia University; and Jacqueline Torres of UC San Francisco. This research was funded by the National Institute on Aging and the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences.

Study link: jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaneurology/article-abstract/2827124

[mightystargazer]

Readinglist 2020

Another year gone, another (audio)booklist completed! Not as many as past years, but that´s because I watched a lot of series instead.

Here goes!

Stephen Leather The House on Gable Street

Scott Sigler Pandemic

Jennifer McMahon The Invited

Robert R. McCammon Swan Song

Peter James The House on Cold Hill

Michael McBride Subterrestrial

Karl Beecher Interstellar Caveman

Flint Maxwell Dead Haven

Flint Maxwell Dead Hope

Flint Maxwell Dead Nation

Flint Maxwell Dead Coast

Flint Maxwell Dead End

Andrzej Sapkowski The Last Wish

Andrzej Sapkowski Season of Storms

Andrzej Sapkowski Sword of Destiny

Andrzej Sapkowski Blood of Elves

Andrzej Sapkowski Time of Contempt

Andrzej Sapkowski Baptism of Fire

Andrzej Sapkowski The Tower of the Swallow

Andrzej Sapkowski Lady of the Lake

Nicholas Sansbury Smith Extinction Ashes

Jonathan Maberry Rage

T.W. Piperbrook The Reckoning

T.W. Piperbrook The Change

Jeremy Robinson Infinite

Bobby Akart The Shift

Bobby Akart The Pulse

Bobby Akart The Collapse

Chuck Dixon Blooded

Eoin Colfer Highfire

India Hill Brown The Forgotten Girl

Jeff Strand Cyclops Road

Kevin Hearne First Dangle and Other Stories

Douglas Preston Gideon’s Sword

Douglas Preston Gideon’s Corpse

Douglas Preston The Lost Island

Douglas Preston Beyond the Ice Limit

Douglas Preston The Ice Limit

Douglas Preston The Pharaoh Key

Adrienne Lecter Uprising

Adrienne Lecter Retribution

David Morrell Creepers

David Morrell Scavenger

Greig Beck The Void

Greig Beck From Hell

Peter Clines Terminus

James Herbert Moon

Damian Dibben Tomorrow

Dean Koontz Ricochet Joe

Jack Hunt As We Fall

James Herbert The Dark

Jeremy Robinson Tribe

Michael McBride Subhuman

Michael McBride Forsaken

Mark Tufo Asabron

Dean Koontz 77 Shadow Street

George Hill Uprising USA

J R Grey Supervillainy and Other Poor Career Choices

Simone St. James The Sun Down Motel

Mike Evans Origins

Mike Evans Surviving the Turned

Mike Evans Strangers

Mike Evans White Lie

Mike Evans Civil War

Mike Evans Divided

Mike Evans Flight

Keith C. Blackmore Make Me King, Mountain Man

Dean Koontz Darkness Under the Sun

Craig DiLouie One Of Us

Mira Grant Alien Echo

Ambrose Ibsen The Splendor of Fear

Daniel Kraus Bent Heavens

Dean Koontz Watchers

Jack Townsend Tales from the Gas Station 2

Jeff Strand Dead Clown Barbecue

Patrick F. McManus Strange Encounters of the Bird Kind

Scott Cawthon The Silver Eyes

Scott Cawthon The Twisted Ones

Scott Cawthon The Fourth Closet

Eoin Colfer The Fowl Twins

Richard Laymon The Traveling Vampire Show

Peter Meredith The Queen Unthroned

Peter Meredith The Queen Enslaved

Peter Meredith The Queen Unchained

Luke Duffy When There's No More Room in Hell

Larry Levin Oogy

Joseph  Duncan The Oldest Living Vampire

Joseph  Duncan The Oldest Living Vampire on the Prowl

Jeff Strand Sick House

Douglas Adams Dirk Gentlys Holistic Detective Agency

Patrick F. McManus Mosquito Bay

Clive Barker Mister B Gone

Jeremy Robinson Tether

James Herbert The Survivor

Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child Thunderhead

Darcy Coates The Carrow Haunt

Adam Nevill The Ritual

Ben Kissel The Last Book on the Left

Craig Robertson The Galaxy According to Giddeon

Kc Wayland We're Alive season 1

Kc Wayland We're Alive season 2

Kc Wayland We're Alive season 3

Kc Wayland We're Alive season 4

Stephen King If It Bleeds

Patric F McManus Scritch's Creek

Luke Duffy The Dead Walk

Jeff VanderMeer Annihilation

Jeff VanderMeer Authority

Jeff VanderMeer Acceptance

Adrian Tchaikovsky The Expert System's Brother

Amanda M. Lee Freaky Days

Amanda M. Lee Freaky Lies

Amanda M. Lee Freaky Hearts

Amanda M. Lee Freaky Games

Amanda M. Lee Freaky Places

Amanda M. Lee Freaky Reapers

Amanda M. Lee Freaky Rites

Amanda M. Lee Freaky Witches

Amanda M. Lee Freaky Fangs

André Alexis Fifteen Dogs

Cherie Priest The Family Plot

Danielle Trussoni The Ancestor

Michael McBride Burial Ground

Mary Roach Stiff

Dean Koontz Devoted

Grady Hendrix The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires

James Herbert The Jonah

Mark Tufo Bitfrost

Robert Bevan 7d6

Scott Carson The Chill

Ambrose Ibsen Beyond

Creepypasta Creepypasta storytime

Darcy Coates Craven Manor

Greg F. Gifune Children of Chaos

Joe Hill Full Throttle

Jonathan Janz Exorcist Falls

Linda S. Godfrey Monsters Among Us

Michael Bray Something in the Dark

Terry Pratchett The Colour of Magic

Terry Pratchett Light Fantastic

Terry Pratchett Equal Rites

Terry Pratchett Mort

Terry Pratchett Sourcery

Terry Pratchett Wyrd Sisters

Terry Pratchett Pyramids

Terry Pratchett Guards Guards

Terry Pratchett Eric

Terry Pratchett Moving Pictures

Terry Pratchett Reaper Man

Terry Pratchett Witches Abroad

Terry Pratchett Small Gods

Terry Pratchett Lords and Ladies

Terry Pratchett Men at Arms

Terry Pratchett Soul Music

Terry Pratchett Intreresting Times

Dean Koontz Breathless

Terry Pratchett Maskerade

Terry Pratchett Feet of Clay

Terry Pratchett Hogfather

Terry Pratchett Jingo

Terry Pratchett The Last Continent

Dean Koontz By the Light Of the Moon

Terry Pratchett Carpe Jugulum

Terry Pratchett The Fifth Elephant

Terry Pratchett The Truth

Terry Pratchett Thief of Time

Terry Pratchett The Last Hero

Dean Koontz After the Last Race

Adrienne Lecter Green Fields Book 12

Dean Koontz Chase

Terry Pratchett The Amazing Maurice

Terry Pratchett Night Watch

Terry Pratchett The Wee Free Men

Terry Pratchett Monstrous Regiment

Terry Pratchett A Hat Full of Sky

Terry Pratchett Going Postal

Terry Pratchett Thud

Terry Pratchett Wintersmith

Terry Pratchett Making Money

Terry Pratchett Unseen Academicals

Terry Pratchett I Shall Wear Midnight

Terry Pratchett Snuff

Terry Pratchett Raising Steam

Terry Pratchett The Shepherds Crown

Dean Koontz Shattered

Terry Pratchett Mrs Bradshaws Handbook

Terry Pratchett The Folklore of Discworld

Terry Pratchett The Science of Discworld I

Terry Pratchett The Science of Discworld II

Terry Pratchett The Science of Discworld III

Terry Pratchett The Science of Discworld IV

Dean Koontz Darkfall

Mark Tufo Hvergelmir

Stephen R. George Nightscape

Alan Dean Foster To the Vanishing Point

Barry J. Hutchison A Lot of Weird Space Shizz

Drew Hayes The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales

Drew Hayes Undeath and Taxes

Drew Hayes Bloody Acquisitions

Drew Hayes The Fangs of Freelance Fred

Drew Hayes Deadly Assessments

Drew Hayes Undeasding Bells Fred

Guillermo del Toro Blackwood Tapes 01

Mark Tufo The Bleed

David Haynes Dead Crow

Alex North The Shadows

Adam Nevill Apartment 16

David Gerrold Hella

DC Alden UFO Down

Rachel Aukes 100 Days in Deadland

Rachel Aukes Deadland's Harvest

Rachel Aukes Deadland Rising

Dean Koontz Nightmare Journey

Mark Tufo The Trembling Path

Drew Hayes Underqualified Advice

Tim Lebbon Eden

Eden

Jeff Strand Wolf Hunt 1

Jeff Strand Wolf Hunt 2

Jeff Strand Wolf Hunt 3

L.G. Estrella Two Necromancers, a Bureaucrat, and an Army of Golems

Rick Gualtieri Strange Days

Rick Gualtieri Everyday Horrors

Jeff VanderMeer A Peculiar Peril

Dean Koontz The Taking

John Connolly A Book of Bones

John Connolly The Dirty South

Neil Gaiman The Sandman

Greig Beck The Siberian Incident

Robert A. Heinlein Between Planets

TW Brown Zomblog

TW Brown Zomblog II

TW Brown The Final Entry

TW Brown Snoe

TW Brown Snoe's War

TW Brown Snoe's Journey

Adam Nevill The Reddening

Dean Koontz The Darkest Evening Of The Year

Bernard Taylor The Godsend

Carole Stivers The Mother Code

Spencer Quinn A Cat was Involved

Spencer Quinn Tail of Vengeance

Spencer Quinn Dog on It

Spencer Quinn Thereby Hangs a Tail

Spencer Quinn To Fetch a Thief

Spencer Quinn The Dog Who Knew Too Much

Spencer Quinn A Fistful of Collars

Spencer Quinn The Iggy Chronicles

Spencer Quinn The Sounds and the Furry

Spencer Quinn Paw and Order

Spencer Quinn Scents and Sensibilty

Spencer Quinn Heart of Barkness

Spencer Quinn Of Mutts and Men

Mark Tufo United States of Apocalypse

Robert Bevan Critical Failures VIII

Jeremy Robert Johnson The Loop

Nathan Hystad Red Creek

Nathan Hystad Return to Red Creek

Tom Abrahams The Scourge

Gary Small M.D The Naked Lady Who Stood on Her Head

Dean Koontz The Voice Of The Night

Mark Tufo The Spirit Clearing

Robert Paolini To Sleep in a Sea of Stars

Orson Scott Card Treasure Box

Ted Dekker House

Darcy Coates Hunted

Dean Koontz The Vision

Mark Tufo Encounters

Mark Tufo Reckoning

Mark Tufo Conquest

Mark Tufo From the Ashes

Mark Tufo Into the Fire

Mark Tufo Victory's Defeat

Mark Tufo Defeat's Victory

Brandon Sanderson The Original

Dean Koontz Elsewhere

Mike Baron Florida Man

Keith C Blackmore The Majestic 311

L.G. Estrella Two Necromancers a Dragon and a Vampire

L.G. Estrella The Hungry Dragon Cookie Company

L.G. Estrella a Dwarf Kingdom and a Sky City

Bobby Adair Zero Day

Bobby Adair Infected

Bobby Adair Destroyer

Bobby Adair Dead Fire

Bobby Adair Torrent

Bobby Adair Bleed

Bobby Adair City of Stin

Bobby Adair Grind

Bobby Adair Sanctum

Darcy Coates Ghost Camera

Susanna Clarke Piranesi

Marc-Uwe Kling QualityLand

Darcy Coates The Folcroft Ghosts

Charles Stross Dead Lies Dreaming

D.M. Siciliano Inside

Jim C. Hines Tamora Carter

Jamie McFarlane Junkyard Pirate

Yudhanjaya Wijeratne The Salvage Crew

Andy Mulvihill Action Park

Darcy Coates The Haunting of Blackwood House

Luke Arnold Dead Man in a Ditch

Iain Reid Foe

Micaiah Johnson The Space Between Worlds

Richard Kadrey Hollywood Dead

Richard Kadrey Ballistic Kiss

Orson Scott Card Lost and Found

Greig Beck To the Center of the Earth

Jenny Lawson Let's Pretend This Never Happened

Jenny Lawson Furiously Happy

Guy Adams Arkham County

James Patterson The Warning

James S. Murray Don't Move

Neal Asher Dark Intelligence

Luke Arnold The Last Smile in Sunder City

Jeff Menapace Dark Halls

Darcy Coates The Haunting of Rookward House

Laurel Hightower Crossroads

Pierce Brown Red Rising

Bobby Adair The Liar

Erik Henry Vick Demon King

Alister Hodge The Cavern

Linda S. Godfrey Monsters Among Us

Aaron Mahnke Dreadful Places

R. R. Haywood A Town Called Discovery

Kate Alice Marshall Rules for Vanishing

Ted Dekker The Girl Behind the Red Rope

Steve Alten Primal Waters

Steve Alten Hell's Aquarium

Steve Alten Nightstalkers

Steve Alten Generations

Adam Savage Every Tool's a Hammer

Darcy Coates Black Winter

Eoin Colfer Deny All Charges

David Moody Isolation

Jonathan Maberry Ink

Stephen Graham Jones The Only Good Indians

Barry J. Hutchison The Hunt for Reduk Topa

Lily Brooks-Dalton Good Morning, Midnight

[lgbtq-writers-caucus-blog]

Queer Journeys: A Celebration of the University of Wisconsin Press’s 80th Anniversary. 

(Raphael Kadushin, Alden Jones, Brian Bouldrey, Lucy Bledsoe, Guillermo Reyes)

The University of Wisconsin Press has long been dedicated to publishing the strongest works of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction by and about LGBTQ writers. It has also shown an ongoing engagement with issues of travel. Join five UW Press authors as they read from their work in celebration of UW Press’s 80th anniversary, spotlighting its commitment to ethically engaged literature that explores how LGBTQ people move through our ever-changing world.