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Background:Many studies have reported the associations between long-term exposure to PM2.5 and increased risk of death. However, to our knowledge, none has used a causal modeling approach or controlled for long-term temperature exposure, and few have used a general population sample.Objective:We estimated the causal effects of long-term PM2.5 exposure on mortality and tested the effect modifications by seasonal temperatures, census tract–level socioeconomic variables, and county-level health conditions.Methods:We applied a variant of the difference-in-differences approach, which serves to approximate random assignment of exposure across the population and hence estimate a causal effect. Specifically, we estimated the association between long-term exposure to PM2.5 and mortality while controlling for geographical differences using dummy variables for each census tract in New Jersey, a state-wide time trend using dummy variables for each year from 2004 to 2009, and mean summer and winter temperatures for each tract in each year. This approach assumed that no variable changing differentially over time across space other than seasonal temperatures confounded the association.Results:For each interquartile range (2 μg/m3) increase in annual PM2.5, there was a 3.0% [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.2, 5.9%] increase in all natural-cause mortality for the whole population, with similar results for people > 65 years old [3.5% (95% CI: 0.1, 6.9%)] and people ≤ 65 years old [3.1% (95% CI: –1.8, 8.2%)]. The mean summer temperature and the mean winter temperature in a census tract significantly modified the effects of long-term exposure to PM2.5 on mortality. We observed a higher percentage increase in mortality associated with PM2.5 in census tracts with more blacks, lower home value, or lower median income.Conclusions:Under the assumption of the difference-in-differences approach, we identified a causal effect of long-term PM2.5 exposure on mortality that was modified by seasonal temperatures and ecological socioeconomic status.Citation:Wang Y, Kloog I, Coull BA, Kosheleva A, Zanobetti A, Schwartz JD. 2016. Estimating causal effects of long-term PM2.5 exposure on mortality in New Jersey. Environ Health Perspect 124:1182–1188; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1409671

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Transcriptome-based gene expression analysis identifies many critical salt-responsive genes in radish and facilitates further dissecting the molecular mechanism underlying salt stress response. Salt stress severely impacts plant growth and development. Radish, a moderately salt-sensitive vegetable crop, has been studied for decades towards the physiological and biochemical performances under salt stress. However, no systematic study on isolation and identification of genes involved in salt stress response has been performed in radish, and the molecular mechanism governing this process is still indistinct. Here, the RNA-Seq technique was applied to analyze the transcriptomic changes on radish roots treated with salt (200 mM NaCl) for 48 h in comparison with those cultured in normal condition. Totally 8709 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) including 3931 up- and 4778 down-regulated genes were identified. Functional annotation analysis indicated that many genes could be involved in several aspects of salt stress response including stress sensing and signal transduction, osmoregulation, ion homeostasis and ROS scavenging. The association analysis of salt-responsive genes and miRNAs exhibited that 36 miRNA-mRNA pairs had negative correlationship in expression trends. Reverse-transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) analysis revealed that the expression profiles of DEGs were in line with results from the RNA-Seq analysis. Furthermore, the putative model of DEGs and miRNA-mediated gene regulation was proposed to elucidate how radish sensed and responded to salt stress. This study represents the first comprehensive transcriptome-based gene expression profiling under salt stress in radish. The outcomes of this study could facilitate further dissecting the molecular mechanism underlying salt stress response and provide a valuable platform for further genetic improvement of salt tolerance in radish breeding programs.

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