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Maximum likelihood estimates of gene frequencies and their standard errors are presented for 21 blood group and serum protein polymorphisms. The observed frequencies for certain high and low frequency antigens also are reported. The data come from a sample of 399 same-sex twin pairs and two sets of triplets from the Greater Philadelphia urban region encompassing roughly five counties in southeastern Pennsylvania and three counties of southern New Jersey. Analyses are carried out separately for the four subgroups created by subdividing the sample by race and co-twin. Total sample estimates are also calculated within the two socially defined racial groups. The gene frequency estimates generally appear to be consistent with previously reported data for U.S. urban populations. The frequency of the Fy allele in the Duffy system, however, seems to be the highest value thus far published for a white population. The white sample Fy allele very well may be a heterogeneous class in which only a very small fraction is comparable to the Fy allele common in the black sample.

The development of social area analysis as a research technique is highlighted, and two illustrative applications are presented. The first example applies social area analysis to the study of an urban region's demography and the distribution of social problems found there. The second example illustrates how social area analysis can be integrated within a larger evaluation effort. Suggestions for undertaking social area analyses and related demographic studies are presented.

Probleme der Verdichtungsraumforschung in der Region Rhein-Neckar. — Der polyzentrische Verdichtungsraum Rhein-Neckar weist eine Reihe von Merkmalen der Bevolkerungsmobilitat und Flachennutzungsentwicklung auf, die fur die Verdichtungsraume der Bundesrepublik Deutschland typisch sind: Negativer Wanderungssaldo mit einem Teil der Gemeinden der Peripherie durch den Randwanderungsprozeß und Flachennutzungskonkurrenz zwischen Wohnen und tertiärem Sektor in den citynahen Gebieten. Der Aufsatz untersucht die Motive der Randwanderer aufgrund einer Haushaltsbefragung und die Nutzungsänderungen und Zweitneubebauungen der Mannheimer Oststadt., Research, on the urban concentration zone of Rhine-Neckar and the problems which it presents. — The polynuclear conurbation of Rhine-Neckar shows, as regards the mobility of the population and the changes in land-use typical characteristics of large urbanized zones in West Germany. A negative migratory balance affects a part of the towns in the near outskirts : it is due to the process of suburbanization (Randwanderungsprozess). In areas near to the city, residential functions and tertiary functions are involved in fierce competition for the land. The present article tries, basing itself on a survey conducted amongst households in Mannheim, to show the motives which push the inhabitants to go and settle on the outskirts of the urban zone. It studies the modifications intervening in the use of space. Finally it deals with the phenomenon of reconstruction following on to voluntary demolitions., La conurbation polynucléaire Rhin-Neckar montre, en matière de mobilité de la population et de changements dans l'utilisation du sol, des caractères typiques des grandes zones urbanisées d'Allemagne fédérale. Un solde migratoire négatif affecte une partie des communes de la proche périphérie : il est dû au processus de suburbanisation (Randwanderungsprozess) . Dans les secteurs proches de la « city », les fonctions résidentielles et les fonctions tertiaires se livrent à une vive concurrence foncière. Le présent article cherche, en s'appuyant sur une enquête conduite auprès des ménages à Mannheim, à mettre en évidence les motifs qui poussent les habitants à aller s'établir en bordure de la zone urbaine. Il étudie les modifications intervenues dans l'emploi de l'espace. Il s'attache, enfin, au phénomène de reconstruction faisant suite à des démolitions volontaires., Boesler Klaus AchimBoesler Klaus Achim. Recherche sur la zone de concentration urbaine Rhin-Neckar et les problèmes qu'elle pose (6 fig., 4 tabl.). In: L'Espace géographique, tome 7, n°3, 1978. La géographie allemande contemporaine. pp. 219-231.

Coastal sand dunes in Japan are cultivated to a certain degree, but generally speaking, farming is inefficient there. In the northern part of the Shonai Plain the soil of the dunes was producing poor harvests for many years. Since a new national road was built through the region in 1966, however the land use has become more intensive. Owing to the new road, it has become easy to transport harvested crops from fields to farm-houses and also from the region to the market. As motor vehicles and hand cultivators came to be used more easily, the efficiency of labor was elevated. The paddy field with a vinyle sheet spread at the bottom somewhat like a swimming pool has increased in the number along this National Road. By pumping up und-erground water, the farmers have turned the hungry sandy soil into a productive land. Formerly there were various crops and livestocks in the region, but today the farmers raise only a few kinds of crops chiefly, which are paddy and vegetables including vegetable fruits. Especially, the production of vegetables such as Oriental melons, water melons, strawberry, and radish has increased. These are mostly shipped to the markets of the Tokyo metropolitan area, the Osaka urban region, and Hokkaido. Along the national road water melons and oriental melons are sold here and there at the retail stands managed by the producers themselves. Most of the farmers there are very small tillers living in the dune settlements, whose cultivated area is only 93 ares on the average. Men at the prime of life usually earn incomes from non-farming jobs, which fact implies that the main supporters of the agricultural production are people of the older generation and women. But, in early mornings or on Sundays it is possible to see men of the younger generation operating farm-machines, and in fact, they are part-time farmers. Under these circumstances, it is difficult for the farmers to manage a large area for vegetable growing by means of higher techniques as in the case of hothouses. Nevertheless, vegetable production is by no means small on the dune region, since there exist a large number of farmers, even if they are very small in size.

Self P.J.O. (1967) Regional Planning in Britain: Analysis and Evaluation, Reg. Studies 1, 3–10. The history of regional planning in Britain has been long and complex. With the new interest in economic regional planning, there is a contrast between the economic planning region, the city or urban region and the administrative or cultural region. The national and the regional contributions to regional planning need carefully distinguishing. The right machinery for regional planning raises difficult problems, and the experience of French planning offers possible lessons.

The creation of a metropolitan government in the Greater Vancouver urban region was a deliberate policy adopted by Municipal Affairs Department strategists in the mid-1960s even though for several years the Minister publicly argued that the regional district was not a metropolitan government. The policy was essentially to create a local federation variety of metropolitan government. The strategy was to gently impose an administrative structure without any functions at 1st so as to not unduly compel the local leaders or predetermine those matters on which inter-municipal cooperation was to be based. In time, the local leaders themselves became aware of the potential of this innocuous regional district. The province remained ready to impose an integration of those functions more efficiently performed at the regional level in the event of any recalcitrance developing within established bureaucracies or local political units which was inimical to the provincial policy. The uniqueness of the experiment in BC had two main features: the low-key initiative of the province and the basic flexibility of the new form of government which permitted adaptation to the forces for metropolitan functional integration coming from both the provincial level and the local level. The success in launching regional overnment in British Columbia was to a large extent a result of the heeding, by the strategists, of the experience in the United States, in other places in Canada, and an earlier attempt in the late 1950s in Vancouver. Sommaire. La creation d'un gouvernement metropoIitain dans la region urbaine du Grand Vancouver a ete une politique premeditee qui a ete adoptee par les strateges du Ministere des Affaires municipales am environs de 1965, bien que le Ministere ait affirme publiquement pendant longtemps que le “district regional” n'etait pas un gouvernement metropolitain. La politique a ete essentiellement de creer un genre de gouvernement metropolitain ressemblant a une federation de municipalites. La strategie a consiste d'abord dans l'imposition d'une structure administrative sans aucune function faint de be pas forcer la main aux chefs Iocaux ou de ne pas determiner a l'avance les questions qui serviraient de base a la collaboration intermunicipale. Plus tard, les chefs locaux se sont rendus compte du potentiel de ce “district regional” inoffensif. Le gouvernement provincial de son coteetait pret a imposer une integration regionale des fonctions qui s'executent mieux a ce niveau advenant le cas ou une resistance se developperait au sein des bureaucraties ou des cons& municipaux, des oppositions qui iraient a l'encontre de la politique provinciale. Les deux traits principaux de cette experience en Colombie-Britannique furent: l'initiative discrete de la province et f flexibilite de base de ce nouveau genre de gouvernement qui ont permis une adaptation aw forces locales et provinciales pour une integration metropolitaine des fonctions municipales. Le lancement du gouvemement regional en Colombie-Britannique fut un grand succes dua l'attention que les strateges ont porte aux expeiences americaines et canadiennes ainsi qu'a la tentative anterieure faite a Vancouver entre 1957 et 1960.

There is an increasing awareness of the need for background theory for planning, for a coherent body of ideas and concepts to provide perspective and to link together day-to-day operations. Downtown planners have sought this perspective from many sources, but they have largely ignored theoretical developments in contemporary social science. Emerging concepts in the general theories of location would seem to be fruitful ideas for them to explore more thoroughly. This kind of exploration could lead to substantial advances in downtown planning for such critical problem areas as: defining the functional nature of the CBD; explaining relationships between the CBD and other portions of the urban region; analyzing the internal structure of the CBD; and understanding variations among urban regions in CBD size and function.

(1973). The Emerging Urban Region in America. South African Geographical Journal: Vol. 55, No. 1, pp. 3-13.

Myklebost, H. 1968. Urbanization and Regional Concentration in Norway in the 1950s and 1960s. Norsk geogr. Tidsskr. 22, 227–244. This paper discusses the adequacy of the delimitation of ‘urban’ and ‘rural’ areas made in the 1960 census. Based on partly revised population figures, changes during the 1950–60 intercensal period are analysed. The results of applying Boustedt's definition of ‘urban region’ to Norwegian conditions are demonstrated, and regions determined in this way are used to bring forth major features of the redistribution of population taking place during 1950–60 and 1960–67.

G ROCERY retailing is often considered to be simply a ubiquitous convenience trade and thus of little value in the study of differences between shopping centers. Variations in the operational scale of individual establishments are, however, very significant in the study of such differences. Perhaps of even greater significance are the distribution patterns of the branches of large-scale grocery retailers (defined here to include both multiple and cooperative organizations). This paper attempts to show in what ways this is true and also illustrates the value of a scientific knowledge of a shopping center pattern to such traders. It is important to remember that a great variety of the operational details of retailing are affected by location. One trader has said, "As a retailer I have to be constantly aware of geography."

Pesquisa qualitativa, descritiva e exploratória, cujo objetivo foi conhecer e compreender as representações sobre o uso racional de medicamentos em três equipes da Estratégia Saúde da Família (ESF) da zona urbana do município de Dourados-MS, tendo como aporte teórico o conceito de representações de Stuart Hall. Como técnica utilizaram-se os grupos focais, e a avaliação de dados deu-se a partir da análise temática, modalidade da análise de conteúdo. Participaram da pesquisa 26 componentes. Verificou-se que os profissionais destacaram papel curativo e aspectos negativos dos medicamentos. Também apresentaram representações acerca dos pacientes, relatando que não compreendem o uso correto dos medicamentos, não aderem ao tratamento e se automedicam. Nota-se a necessidade de implantação de práticas educativas em saúde para promoção do uso racional de medicamentos. This qualitative, descriptive and exploratory study was performed with the objective to identify and understand the representations regarding the rational use of medications in three Family Health Strategy (FHS) teams in the urban region of Dourados, MS, founded on the theoretical framework of Stuart Hall's concept of representations. The chosen methodology was the focal group technique and the data were evaluated using thematic content analysis. There were a total of 26 participants. The professionals highlighted the curative role and the negative aspects of medications. They also presented representations regarding their patients, reporting that they do not understand the correct use of the medications, do not comply with the recommended treatment and engage in self-medication. There is a need to implement educational health practices to promote the rational use of medications. Investigación cualitativa, descriptiva y exploratoria, cuyo objeto fue conocer y comprender las representaciones sobre el uso racional de medicamentos en tres equipos de la Estrategia Salud de la Familia (ESF) da la zona urbana del municipio de Dourados-MS, teniendo como aporte teórico el concepto de representaciones de Stuart Hall. Como técnica, se utilizaron los grupos focales y la evaluación de datos se produjo mediante análisis temático, modalidad de análisis de contenido. Participaron de la investigación 26 individuos. Se verificó que los profesionales descararon el papel curativo y aspectos negativos de los medicamentos. También expresaron representaciones acerca de los pacientes, relatando que no comprenden el uso correcto de los medicamentos, no adhieren a los tratamientos y se automedican. Se demuestra la necesidad de implantación de prácticas educativas en salud, para la promoción del uso racional de medicamentos.

We prospectively measured the on-scene time, transport time, and IV line starting time for 97 patients receiving paramedic care in an urban region during an 18-month period. The overall success rate for IV line placement was 91%, and the average successful IV line starting time was 2.5 minutes. En route IV line attempts had similar success rates and starting times. The on-scene IV line starting times were shorter than the transport times in 86% of patients. We conclude that definitive IV line medical therapy, when available, can be delivered effectively by paramedics at the scene. We also conclude that en route IV line placement is feasible in trauma victims.

Data concerning ambulance utilization in a rural and an urban region were registered in a computer. In both regions approximately 30% of missions were emergencies. In the urban area, 20% of the emergency missions were due to trauma, compared with 10% in the rural area (P less than .01). The major symptoms were unconsciousness (34%) and shortness of breath (24%) in the rural region, while in the urban region pain (32%) was the dominating symptom. The response time in emergency missions, used as a measure of the service level of the emergency medical system, was shorter in the urban area than in the rural area (P less than .01): less than 15 minutes in 93% of emergencies in the urban area (mean time, 8.1 minutes) and in 78% of emergencies in the rural area (mean time, 10.2 minutes). Ambulance utilization was higher (P less than .01) in the urban region (0.37 missions/ambulance/hour) than in the rural region (0.22 missions/ambulance/hour). The study indicates that there are great differences between urban and rural areas with respect to the incidence and character of ambulance missions. This difference must be considered when analyzing the cost effectiveness of emergency medical services.

The author cites many discrepancies in using river basins as a framework for water resources planning, development, and management. He suggests that a national planning framework, an urban region framework, or increased attention to regional externalities might be viable. However, basically the author is seeking to elicit suggestions and recommendations from the readers.

In West Virginia from 1959 to 1975 there were 279 deaths caused by malignant melanoma. From 1959 to 1967 there were 8.4 such deaths per year and from 1968 to 1975, 25.4 per year (2P < .0005). This trend was observed throughout the state. The population-adjusted melanoma mortality of 1.45 per 100,000 from 1968 to 1975 contrasts with a rate of only 0.48 per 100,000 during the earlier period from 1959 to 1967. The rate of increase was greater in the southern portion of the state. The highest melanoma mortality was seen in the state's major agricultural area, while the lowest rate was seen in its most densely populated urban region. In our community, 102 new melanoma cases were diagnosed from 1969 to 1978. From 1969 to 1973, there were 33 new cases, 6.6 per year, and from 1974 to 1978, 13.8 per year (2P < .01). Men tended to be older at the time of diagnosis. The most common locations of the primary tumors were the lower extremity in women and the trunk and head and neck in men.

One of the aspects characterizing the relationship between core and periphery is the process of migration. We will attempt to build a conceptual model of the migration balance and ruralization rate in different parts of a national territory, in regard to the structure of core and periphery.

If a small comet or asteroid should strike the Earth tomorrow, the damage could be very great or relatively small, depending on where the projectile struck. There still remain unpopulated areas of our planet, and the explosive formation of even a 5-mile-wide crater in such a place (Western Australia, the Gobi Desert, the Sahara, or even central Nevada) would not dramatically affect most of the people in the world. On the other hand, such an impact in a heavily populated urban region would kill millions of people, dwarfing the effects of the Hiroshima or Nagasaki atom bomb. But what of still larger projectiles? At what point would the catastrophe become truly global, regardless of the exact point of impact? Our planet is a big place, but worldwide catastrophes caused by collisions are by no means impossible.

A total population screening of children born during 1962-1976 and living in the Gothenburg region at the end of 1980 was carried out in order to obtain prevalence figures for infantile autism and other childhood psychoses. It was found that the prevalence figure for infantile autism was 2.0 per 10,000 and for other childhood psychoses 1.9 per 10,000. Boys were much more often affected by infantile autism than girls. In the case of other psychoses, no such over-representation was seen. A majority of the children were mentally retarded, and only 4% had tested IQs exceeding 100. The results are in good agreement with the three earlier epidemiological studies concerned with childhood psychosis.

Recently, the suburban sprawl and the spatial diffusion of dwellings have considerably increased the built areas and menaced the conservation of a model of spatial organization, in Randstad Holland. But the reference to the concept has payed a major role in the planning decisions of national and local administration. And now, the spatial form is reproducing itself at a new scale : that one of southem Netherlands. These facts express either inertia or dynamics of space., Au cours de la période récente, l'étalement des aires urbanisées et l'explosion des localisations résidentielles ont provoqué un accroissement des consommations d'espace, susceptible de remettre en cause le modèle d'organisation de Randstad Holland. Mais le concept et la forme spatiale qui le représente ont continué de servir de références aux responsables nationaux et locaux de l'aménagement du territoire. Ils ont ainsi joué un rôle très actif dans l'évolution des structures régionales. Et ils paraissent, aujourd'hui, vouloir se reproduire dans des dimensions élargies à l'ensemble des Pays-Bas méridionaux. Une évolution qui exprime, à la fois, l'inertie et le dynamisme de l'espace., Michel Michel. Randstad Holland : un concept face au changement . In: Annales de Géographie, t. 94, n°526, 1985. pp. 690-719.

The mortality from leukaemias and lymphomas in a tropical urban region of Queensland (Townsville) and in the mainly tropical cane-farming regions of Queensland was investigated. It was found that, compared with the general population of Queensland, there were fewer deaths from neoplastic disease of the lymphatic tissues in women in both regions; that there were fewer deaths from neoplastic disease of the lymphatic tissues in men in Townsville, but not in the cane-growing areas; and that, during the period 1968-1981, there was a significantly lower number of deaths from leukaemia (13 deaths; SMR, 49; P less than 0.01) in women over 60 years of age in the cane-growing areas, which contrasted with a significantly greater number of deaths from leukaemia (61 deaths; SMR, 154; P less than 0.01) in men 60 years and over in the cane-growing areas.

In an urban region such as southern California, incorporation of air pollutants into the aqueous chemistry occuring within fog and cloud droplets can represent an important component of the regional air pollution. Field and laboratory studies have indicated that droplet-phase chemistry is important in SO_2 oxidation. In Los Angeles, the presence of coastal fog and low clouds in the morning has been observed to correlate well with high sulfate aerosol levels during the subsequent afternoon.

At the individual level, commuting can be seen as part of a search process that may lead to adjustments in terms of migration or change of workplace. The behaviour of commuters is affected by individual characteristics and factors related to housing, labour and transport markets. It can provide insight into factors related to different municipalities’ levels of attraction. In our study, we provide a longitudinal analysis of individual commuting behaviour during a one-year study period: we simultaneously address the dynamics of ending commuting by a migration event, a change of workplace, or both. Our study is situated in the urban region that surrounds lake Mälaren of Sweden, including its capital Stockholm. We draw on unique register data on the entire commuter population of that region and linked contextual data on the characteristics of the municipalities where the commuters live and work. Migration rates are strongly related to demographic variables, whereas the propensity to change workplace mainly varies with economic variables. We demonstrate that the attraction of a municipality in terms of residence increases with the general accessibility to workplaces and decreases with its level of housing prices. An increased supply of new dwellings in a municipality has a greater impact on the capacity to increase its population than has an increased supply of workplaces.

Summary Background Although mortality due to COVID-19 is, for the most part, robustly tracked, its indirect effect at the population level through lockdown, lifestyle changes, and reorganisation of health-care systems has not been evaluated. We aimed to assess the incidence and outcomes of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in an urban region during the pandemic, compared with non-pandemic periods. Methods We did a population-based, observational study using data for non-traumatic OHCA (N=30 768), systematically collected since May 15, 2011, in Paris and its suburbs, France, using the Paris Fire Brigade database, together with in-hospital data. We evaluated OHCA incidence and outcomes over a 6-week period during the pandemic in adult inhabitants of the study area. Findings Comparing the 521 OHCAs of the pandemic period (March 16 to April 26, 2020) to the mean of the 3052 total of the same weeks in the non-pandemic period (weeks 12–17, 2012–19), the maximum weekly OHCA incidence increased from 13·42 (95% CI 12·77–14·07) to 26·64 (25·72–27·53) per million inhabitants (p Interpretation A transient two-times increase in OHCA incidence, coupled with a reduction in survival, was observed during the specified time period of the pandemic when compared with the equivalent time period in previous years with no pandemic. Although this result might be partly related to COVID-19 infections, indirect effects associated with lockdown and adjustment of health-care services to the pandemic are probable. Therefore, these factors should be taken into account when considering mortality data and public health strategies. Funding The French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM)

This study presents an optimization methodology for reducing the size of an existing monitoring network of the sensors measuring polluting substances in an urban-like environment in order to estimate an unknown emission source. The methodology is presented by coupling the simulated annealing (SA) algorithm with the renormalization inversion technique and the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling approach. This study presents an application of the renormalization data-assimilation theory for optimally reducing the size of an existing monitoring network in an urban-like environment. The performance of the obtained reduced optimal sensor networks is analyzed by reconstructing the unknown continuous point emission using the concentration measurements from the sensors in that optimized network. This approach is successfully applied and validated with 20 trials of the Mock Urban Setting Test (MUST) tracer field experiment in an urban-like environment. The main results consist of reducing the size of a fixed network of 40 sensors deployed in the MUST experiment. The optimal networks in the MUST urban region are determined, which makes it possible to reduce the size of the original network (40 sensors) to ∼1/3 (13 sensors) and 1∕4 (10 sensors). Using measurements from the reduced optimal networks of 10 and 13 sensors, the averaged location errors are obtained as 19.20 and 17.42 m, respectively, which are comparable to the 14.62 m obtained from the original 40-sensor network. In 80 % of the trials with networks of 10 and 13 sensors, the emission rates are estimated within a factor of 2 of the actual release rates. These are also comparable to the performance of the original network, whereby in 75 % of the trials the releases were estimated within a factor of 2 of the actual emission rates.

Numerical simulations are carried out for the disturbed flow caused by three six-story buildings and a twenty-story tall tower respectively, as well as the distribution of automobile exhaust gas from a nearby road, based on the Peking University Model of Atmospheric Environment. The results show that the ventilation is better around the tall tower than around the three six-story residential buildings for the same number of households in the same urban region.

This paper presents a new methodology to derive and analyze strategies for a fully decarbonized urban transport system which combines conceptual vehicle design, a large-scale agent-based transport simulation, operational cost analysis, and life cycle assessment for a complete urban region. The holistic approach evaluates technical feasibility, system cost, energy demand, transportation time, and sustainability-related impacts of various decarbonization strategies. In contrast to previous work, the consequences of a transformation to fully decarbonized transport system scenarios are quantified across all traffic segments, considering procurement, operation, and disposal. The methodology can be applied to arbitrary regions and transport systems. Here, the metropolitan region of Berlin is chosen as a demonstration case. The first results are shown for a complete conversion of all traffic segments from conventional propulsion technology to battery electric vehicles. The transition of private individual traffic is analyzed regarding technical feasibility, energy demand and environmental impact. Commercial goods, municipal traffic and public transport are analyzed with respect to system cost and environmental impacts. We can show a feasible transition path for all cases with substantially lower greenhouse gas emissions. Based on current technologies and today’s cost structures our simulation shows a moderate increase in total systems cost of 13–18%.

Land use changes in Prague urban region (the capitol - Prague, the Prague-East and the Prague-West districts) are evaluated in the article in the time period of 1845-2000 and that is done on the data basis of the land use structure in the years 1845, 1948, 1990 and 2000. The evaluated time horizons are historical milestones in social development of Czechia, the stress is put on the last ten-year period of transformation. The LUCC Prague methodology was used for the evaluation of land use development. The intensity of occurred changes is analysed through the index of change, the typology of main landscape processes in individual partial phases of the evaluated period is analysed further. The cadastral territory of Čestlice was selected as a case study, in which the comparison ofland use structure in the years 1845 (reconstruction from cadastral maps) and 2003 (field mapping itself) was carried out in details.

The study was performed in an urban area to identify the main pollution sources. Dry and living bog moss samples were exposed in parallel, and their accumulative capability as biomonitoring tools was compared. The procedures of moss exposure, preparation, and element concentration measurement performance are recommended. Chemical composition of moss material was determined using instrumental neutron activation analysis in a research reactor located in Delft, the Netherlands. The element concentration levels were lower in living moss than in dry one. Chemometric methods were suggested to identify specific element profiles attributing to factors impacting moss composition in various urban locations.

This study investigates urban expansion using satellite images by means of decision level fusion of two different fuzzy change detectors. The aim of this study is taking the advantage of effects of various change detection techniques. These techniques are differentiated by the way they use the dataset which their fusion could lead us to gain complementary outputs and ultimately achieve higher accuracy in change detection. This study focuses on the use of this framework specifically for urban region expansion monitoring. Here outputs of two fuzzy change detectors based respectively on post classification comparison and spectral-temporal combined analysis methods of multi-temporal ASTER images are fused by using Sugeno fuzzy integral operator. Accuracy assessment that has been done by available land cover maps for fuzzy post classification comparison combined fuzzy spectral–temporal analysis and their combination technique has shown improvement of change detection accuracy over each single fuzzy change detector in urban expansion application.

Nomograms based on the ATDL model to calculate the concentration of pollutants in an urban area in a simple manner are presented. Their use for estimation of permissible emission rates in various grids of an urban region is also elucidated.

To the Editor.— Lest the medical profession (and other health workers) be seduced into a tranquil venture of international service, I would like to bring some reality to the correspondence of Charles Failmezger, MD, "On Volunteer Physicians in the Developing Nations" (241:132, 1979). He encourages short-term rotations (which in his case become even more abbreviated, with an average of less than two months spent in each country) while at the same time advising extensive prior preparations that he does not seem to include in his length of duty. I have been working for nearly 18 months in the same urban region of northeast Brazil, and even with on-site language training and experiences concerning local customs, I am just now at the periphery of understanding the people and environs here. The language problems should not be minimized. Whereas one may learn common expressions that help basic survival, involvement at a university

The propagation of sound from elevated noise sources into urban environs was studied with a series of model experiments. The experiments included the modeling of previous urban propagation field studies, the measurement of sound enhancement and barrier effects in an urban region, and the determination of the significance of building facades in urban propagation. Results of the study were expressed in the difference in sound level observed between a particular urban source‐receiver geometry and a corresponding open field geometry. The results expressed in this manner can be applied directly to many urban situations to predict sound levels from known noise sources. In addition to the model results, a more general method of sound level prediction based solely on urban geometries has been developed. With the model results and elementary psychoacoustic considerations, urban geometries which produce the most and least noise intrusion have been rank ordered for the specialized case of V/STOL aircraft. [Work supp...