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This paper examines the location pattern of various retail stores in Changchun, China. The centrographic method, the nearest neighbor index and the proximity to CBD are used to provide some baseline analyses of their spatial distributions. Major findings are derived from the street centrality indices measured in terms of a node's closeness, betweenness and straightness on the road network. The kernel density estimation (KDE) converts both store locations and centrality values at nodes to one unit (raster pixel) for correlation analysis. Results indicate that street centrality captures location advantage in a city and plays a crucial role in shaping the intraurban variation of commercial land use intensity. Specifically, specialty stores value various centralities most, followed by department stores, supermarkets, consumer product stores, furniture stores, and construction material stores. Among the stores with correlation coefficients above 0.5, specialty stores favor closeness most, department stores and supermarkets prefer betweenness, and consumer product stores value straightness most. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we use a Geographic Information System-based index to measure spatial accessibility of public high schools. The index is applied to the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area in 1990, 2000, and 2010. Overall, urban areas had consistently worse accessibility scores compared with suburban and rural areas. High schools with more African American students tended to have poorer accessibility levels. Schools with lower accessibility tended to be associated with poorer average student performance, and the effect strengthened between 2000 and 2010. In developing a better understanding of the accessibility of public high schools, this paper reaffirms the significance of space, place, and race, and challenges the notion of declining relevance of accessibility in Louisiana public education policymaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural - urban inequalities in health and access to health care have long been of concern in health-policy formulation. Understanding these inequalities is critically important in efforts to plan a more effective geographical distribution of public health resources and programs. Socially and ethnically diverse populations are likely to exhibit different rural - urban gradients in health and well-being because of their varying experiences of place environments, yet little is known about the interplay between social and spatial inequalities. Using data from the Illinois State Cancer Registry, we investigate rural - urban inequalities in late-stage breast cancer diagnosis both for the overall population and for African-Americans, and the impacts of socioeconomic deprivation and spatial access to health care. Changes over time are analyzed from 1988 - 92 to 1998 - 2002, periods of heightened breast cancer awareness and increased access to screening. In both time periods, the risk of late-stage diagnosis is highest among patients living in the most urbanized areas, an indication of urban disadvantage. Multilevel modeling results indicate that rural - urban inequalities in risk are associated with differences in the demographic characteristics of area populations and differences in the social and spatial characteristics of the places in which they live. For African-American breast cancer patients, the rural - urban gradient is reversed, with higher risks among patients living outside the city of Chicago, suggesting a distinct set of health-related risks and place experiences that inhibit early breast cancer detection. Findings emphasize the need for combining spatial and social targeting in locating cancer prevention and treatment programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tai is a family of related languages and dialects, a subgroup of the Tai-Kadai languages, spoken by more than 85 million speakers in southern China and Southeast Asia. This paper uses GIS to map the spatial distribution of Tai toponyms ( Muang, Chiang and Viang) and analyzes their relationship with terrain characteristics. In Tai, Muang means flat “basin”, Chiang means “town”, and Viang provides defense for a Chiang. These Tai toponyms are found at places with a significantly higher compound topographic index (or wetness index) than others. Watershed basins with more Muang toponyms are characterized by lower elevation, gentler slope, near zero concavity. All of these are consistent with physical conditions favorable for wet rice agriculture, culture, and commerce. The transnational spatial distribution of these toponyms and associated terrain characteristics reveal a significant regional pattern that reflects not only the geomorphology of the places where Tai expanded and settled, but also a common history and culture of naming places influenced by their wet rice agriculture and associated cultural practices and commerce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper examines the effect of spatial aggregation error on statistical estimates of the association between spatial access to health care and late-stage cancer. Methods: Monte Carlo simulation was used to disaggregate cancer cases for two Illinois counties from zip code to census block in proportion to the age-race composition of the block population. After the disaggregation, a hierarchical logistic model was estimated examining the relationship between late-stage breast cancer and risk factors including travel distance to mammography, at both the zip code and census block levels. Model coefficients were compared between the two levels to assess the impact of spatial aggregation error. Results: We found that spatial aggregation error influences the coefficients of regression-type models at the zip code level, and this impact is highly dependent on the study area. In one study area (Kane County), block-level coefficients were very similar to those estimated on the basis of zip code data; whereas in the other study area (Peoria County), the two sets of coefficients differed substantially raising the possibility of drawing inaccurate inferences about the association between distance to mammography and late-stage cancer risk. Conclusions: Spatial aggregation error can significantly affect the coefficient values and inferences drawn from statistical models of the association between cancer outcomes and spatial and non-spatial variables. Relying on data at the zip code level may lead to inaccurate findings on health risk factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on data from the third (1982), fourth (1990), and fifth (2000) Population Census of China, this research examines the changing patterns of population distribution in the Beijing metropolitan area in the post-reform era. In the mid-1980s, China launched a series of urban land use reforms aimed toward achieving a market economy. A direct impact of these reforms in Beijing was the restructuring of land uses, evidenced by the relocation of central-city residents to the suburbs to make room for commercial development. This residential suburbanization trend emerged during the 1980s and accelerated in the 1990s. Population change rates varied significantly across subdistricts, and variation was much greater in the 1990s than in the 1980s, indicating an increasingly diverse set of growth trajectories across metropolitan Beijing over time. Various population density functions are tested. The population density pattern is best characterized by a monocentric model in 1982, a dual-centered model in 1990, and a seven-centered model in 2000. This transition in Beijing's urban form toward polycentricity is similar to trends in most Western cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the study conducted regarding the disparities of the cancer risk between the urban and rural residents in Illinois. The study has used the 1998-2002 data from the Illinois State Cancer Registry and administered with the multilevel modeling to determine the factors affecting urban-rural variations. The result shows the need for more cancer screening and education programs to urban areas.

This article synthesizes two GIS-based accessibility measures into one framework, and applies the methods to examining spatial accessibility to primary health care in the Chicago tencounty region. The floating catchment area (FCA) method defines the service area of physicians by a threshold travel time while accounting for the availability of physicians by their surrounded demands. The gravity-based method considers a nearby physician more accessible than a remote one and discounts a physician's availability by a gravity-based potential. The former is a special case of the latter. Based on the 2000 Census and primary care physician data, this research assesses the variation of spatial accessibility to primary care in the Chicago region, and analyzes the sensitivity of results by experimenting with ranges of threshold travel times in the FCA method and travel friction coefficients in the gravity model. The methods may be used to help the US Department of Health and Human Services and state health departments improve designation of Health Professional Shortage Areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Explains intraurban variations of commuting in Chicago, Illinois, at the Traffic Analyzis Zone (TAZ) using Geographical Information Systems (GIS). Derivation of commute distances and times; Identification of major employment centers via GIS surface modeling; Variations of commuting among different TAZ.

Develops an intermediate-scale model to predict traffic emissions. Use of artificial neural networks and regressions; Microscopic traffic simulation software; Emission rates of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon and nitrogen oxide.

Purpose: To investigate the effects of aerosolized inhalation of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) combined with high-flow nasal cannulae oxygen therapy on serum inflammation, oxidative stress, and cognitive function in patients with severe pulmonary infection complicated with respiratory failure. Methods: A total of 50 patients diagnosed with severe pulmonary infection complicated with respiratory failure were randomly divided into the study and control groups, respectively. Serum oxidative stress, inflammation, and cognitive function were determined after treatment intervention. The effect of aerosol inhalation of NAC combined with high flow-nasal cannulae oxygen therapy was assessed. Results: General clinical data such as age, lung function, etc, did not show any difference between the study and control groups (p > 0.05). Dyspnea was scored in the Study group after treatment. Serum malondialdehyde (MDA), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) decreased (p < 0.05), while cognitive scores and serum total antioxidant capacity of the Study group increased (p < 0.05); There was no significant difference in serum superoxide dismutase levels between the two groups (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Aerosolized inhalation of NAC combined with high-flow nasal cannulae oxygen therapy has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, which can improve cognitive dysfunction in patients with severe pulmonary infection complicated with respiratory failure, and may provide a new clinical treatment strategy for severe pulmonary infection complicated with respiratory failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the relationship between street centrality and densities of commercial and service activities in the city of Bologna, northern Italy. Street centrality is calibrated in a multiple centrality assessment model composed of multiple measures such as closeness, betweenness, and straightness. Kernel density estimation is used to transform datasets of centrality and activities to one scale unit for analysis of correlation between them. Results indicate that retail and service activities in Bologna tend to concentrate in areas with better centralities. The distribution of these activities correlates highly with the global betweenness of the street network, and also, to a slightly lesser extent, with the global closeness. This confirms the hypothesis that street centrality plays a crucial role in shaping the formation of urban structure and land uses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]