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The massive blackout that occurred in August 2003 left over 50 million people in the northeastern and midwestern parts of the United States without electricity and caused billions of dollars in economic losses. This event highlighted the importance of sustainable and resilient energy infrastructure. Our study examines the impact of this blackout on the sustainability of financial markets by analyzing the liquidity and information asymmetry of U.S. stocks listed on major exchanges. Our results show that the blackout had a negative impact on the financial market's liquidity, as evidenced by a significant widening of bid–ask spreads and a decrease in the market quality index. We also find an increase in information asymmetry during the blackout period, as measured by higher realized spreads. Furthermore, our study reveals that the blackout had a border impact on global financial markets and the negative effect on liquidity persisted even after two weeks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper applies the ordinary quantile regression approach to examine the impact of fuel economy of vehicles and gasoline prices on motor vehicle travel. The dataset used includes observations with a survey date before September 2008 from the 2009 National Household Travel Survey to avoid potential problems from the wild volatility of gasoline prices in late 2008 and early 2009. The regression results indicate that for every 10 % increase in fuel economy of vehicles, annual vehicle miles traveled increase by 0.9 to 1.7 % along its distribution. For every 10 % increase in average gasoline prices, annual vehicle miles decline by 0.86 to 2.65 % along the vehicle miles traveled (VMT) distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Using panel data from 85 urban areas over a 20-year period and applying a system panel data approach, this paper examines the relationship between travel demand in terms of per-capita VMT and urban spatial characteristics. Regression results show that road density and urban spatial size have positive and statistically significant effects on travel demand in the US urban areas. Urban population density and urban congestion have negative and statistically significant effects on travel demand. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Importance: Spouses share common socioeconomic, environmental, and lifestyle factors, and multiple studies have found that spousal diabetes status was associated with diabetes prevalence. But the association of spousal diabetes status and ideal cardiovascular health metrics (ICVHMs) assessed by the American Heart Association's Life's Essential 8 measures with incident diabetes has not been comprehensively characterized, especially in large-scale cohort studies., Objective: To explore the association of spousal diabetes status and cardiovascular health metrics with risk of incident diabetes in Chinese adults., Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study included individuals in the China Cardiovascular Disease and Cancer Cohort without diabetes who underwent baseline and follow-up glucose measurements and had spouses with baseline glucose measurements. The data were collected in January 2011 to December 2012 and March 2014 to December 2016. The spousal study had a mean (SD) follow-up of 3.6 (0.9) years (median [IQR], 3.2 [2.9-4.5] years). Statistical analysis was performed from July to November 2022., Exposure: Spousal diabetes status was diagnosed according to the 2010 American Diabetes Association (ADA) criteria. All participants provided detailed clinical, sociodemographic, and lifestyle information included in cardiovascular health metrics., Main Outcomes and Measures: Incident diabetes, diagnosed according to 2010 ADA criteria., Results: Overall, 34 821 individuals were included, with a mean (SD) age of 56.4 (8.3) years and 16 699 (48.0%) male participants. Spousal diabetes diagnosis was associated with an increased risk of incident diabetes (hazard ratio [HR], 1.15; 95% CI, 1.03-1.30). Furthermore, participants whose spouses had uncontrolled glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) had a higher risk of diabetes (HR, 1.20; 95% CI, 1.04-1.39) but the risk of diabetes in participants whose spouses had controlled HbA1c did not increase significantly (HR, 1.10; 95% CI, 0.92-1.30). Moreover, this association varied with composite cardiovascular health status. Diabetes risk in individuals who had poor cardiovascular health status (<4 ICVHMs) was associated with spousal diabetes status (3 ICVHMs: HR, 1.50; 95% CI, 1.15-1.97), while diabetes risk in individuals who had intermediate to ideal cardiovascular health status (≥4 ICVHMs) was not associated with it (4 ICVHMs: HR, 1.01; 95% CI, 0.69-1.50)., Conclusions and Relevance: In this study, spousal diabetes diagnosis with uncontrolled HbA1c level was associated with increased risk of incident diabetes, but strict management of spousal HbA1c level and improving ICVHM profiles may attenuate the association of spousal diabetes status with diabetes risk. These findings suggest the potential benefit of couple-based lifestyle or pharmaceutical interventions for diabetes.