Search

Land use mix refers to the integration of different land use types within a certain region, which is essential for sustainable cities. Comprehensive, accurate, and reasonable indices are priorities for evaluating the mixing degree, and current indices are mostly limited to two-dimensional (2-D) space. Based on three-dimensional (3-D) information from building and points of interest (POI) data, we improved the calculation methods of 2-D indicators and constructed a 3-D multi-aspect mix degree index, including single indicators (3-D diversity indicator, 3-D accessibility indicator and 3-D street block compatibility indicator) and a comprehensive indicator (3-D comprehensive mix degree indicator, CMDI 3D). Considering the street block as study unit, results showed that Shenzhen had a high level of land use mix, especially urban centers with better socioeconomic conditions, and CMDI 3D could delineate salient spatial heterogeneity. A comparative analysis revealed that CMDI 3D was less affected by spatial scales, negatively correlated with travel distance (r ≤ −0.145), and strongly intercorrelated with other single indicators (r ≥ 0.40), which proved its stability and capacity to provide additional characteristics. Compared with 2-D Indicators, empirical verification and stronger correlations with travel distance also validated the effectiveness and advantages of 3-D Indicators. The proposed index can significantly help to improve urban planning and management. • Land use mix is important for sustainable cities and urban planning. • 3-D multi-aspect mix degree index from diversity, accessibility & compatibility. • Building and POI data were integrated for index construction at street block level. • Comprehensive indicator CMDI 3D showed obvious spatial heterogeneity in Shenzhen. • 3-D Indicators had stronger correlations with travel distance than 2-D Indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of travel distance models is to better understand travel behavior so that policies can be implemented for reducing travel and with that the externalities of transport such as air pollution, congestion, and crashes. Hierarchical Bayesian models offer a flexible framework to analyze travel behavior by allowing the study of short term decisions of the activity and travel choices as well as long term decisions of residential and employment location. Since travel distance is censored at zero for a significant fraction of the observations, parameter estimates obtained by conventional regression methods are biased. Consistent parameter estimates can be obtained by using the Tobit model. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the application of fully Bayesian Tobit hierarchical models to the analysis of travel distance; this with the goal of accommodating the multilevel and censored nature of the data. Results show that the hierarchical Tobit Model performs significantly better than the non-hierarchical model as measure by the Deviance and Deviance Information Criteria. Further, the highly significant variance at the individual and location levels, demonstrates the importance of using a multilevel approach. The distance traveled increases with years of study and job qualification. In addition, all the members of the household travel less than the householder and women travel less than men. Industry sectors also show significant differences in travel time: workers in the secondary and tertiary sectors travel farther than workers in the primary sector. Land price is significantly correlated with distance traveled in both residence and employment locations.

Background: Surgical resection of extrahepatic biliary malignancies has been increasingly centralized at high-volume tertiary care centers. While this has improved outcomes overall, increased travel burden has been associated with worse survival for many other malignancies. We hypothesized that longer travel distances are associated with worse outcomes for these patients as well.Study Design: Data was analyzed from the US Extrahepatic Biliary Consortium database, which retrospectively reviewed patients who received resection of extrahepatic biliary malignancies at 10 high-volume centers. Driving distance to the patient's treatment center was measured for 1025 patients. These were divided into four quartiles for analysis: < 24.5, 24.5-57.2, 57.2-117, and < 117 mi. Cox proportional hazard models were then used to measure differences in overall survival.Results: No difference was found between the groups in severity of disease or post-operative complications. The median overall survival in each quartile was as follows: 1st = 1.91, 2nd = 1.60, 3rd = 1.30, and 4th = 1.39 years. Patients in the 3rd and 4th quartile had a significantly lower median household income (p = 0.0001) and a greater proportion Caucasian race (p = 0.0001). However, neither of these was independently associated with overall survival. The two furthest quartiles were found to have decreased overall survival (HR = 1.39, CI = 1.12-1.73 and HR = 1.3, CI = 1.04-1.62), with quartile 3 remaining significant after multivariate analysis (HR = 1.45, CI = 1.04-2.0, p = 0.028).Conclusions: Longer travel distances were associated with decreased overall survival, especially in the 3rd quartile of our study. Patients traveling longer distances also had a lower household income, suggesting that these patients have significant barriers to care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction In 2011, the first radiotherapy centre in Western NSW Local Health District (WNSWLHD) was opened in the city of Orange. Prior to this, patients travelled outside the health service, primarily to Sydney, to receive treatment. The aim of this study was to investigate if the establishment of the new rural radiotherapy service has changed the demographic profile, cancer type, treatment intent and number of patients treated. Methods Data were collected on WNSWLHD patients, 17 years of age and above, who received radiotherapy in either 2010 or 2012 in New South Wales (NSW) or Australian Capital Territory (ACT). The age, gender, treatment intent, cancer type and residential town were recorded. Results The number of patients who accessed radiation increased from 573 to 667 between 2010 and 2012. The corresponding radiotherapy utilisation (RTU) rates were 29.3% in 2010 and 33.4% in 2012, an improvement of 4.1% ( P = 0.01, 95% CI 1-7%). Patients travelled 128.5 km less for treatment in 2012 than in 2010 (338.7 km vs. 210.2 km, CI 111-145.5 km, P > 0.0001). All regions had an improvement in the RTU rates apart from the Remote region which decreased by 9% (31-20% in 2012). The number of palliative treatments increased significantly only within the Orange region. The number of male patients for treatments also significantly increased as there were 81 additional treatments (292 vs. 373) as did patients with a respiratory cancer (66 vs. 97). Conclusions A new radiotherapy service in a sparsely populated health district significantly changed the pattern of radiotherapy use for those who lived only in the Orange region. Treatment capacity at the Orange radiotherapy centre has doubled with the opening of a second linear accelerator since this study was conducted. Thus, a follow-up study is recommended to ascertain if radiotherapy rates remain low in the regions beyond Orange. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To explore whether family routines, service usage, and stress levels in families of children with autism spectrum disorder differ as a function of regionality. Methods: Secondary analysis of data was undertaken from 535 surveys. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to investigate differences between families living in densely populated (DP) areas and less densely populated (LDP) areas. Results: Families living in LDP areas were found to: (1) have reduced employment hours (a two-parent household: Exp (B) = 3.48, p <.001, a single-parent household: Exp (B) = 3.32, p =.011); (2) travel greater distance to access medical facilities (Exp (B) = 1.27, p =.006); and (3) report less severe stress levels (Exp (B) = 0.22, p =.014). Conclusions: There were no differences in family routines; however, flexible employment opportunities and travel distance to medical services need to be considered in families living in LDP areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzed 267 landslide landforms (LLs) in the Kumamoto area of Japan from the database of about 0.4 million LLs for the whole of Japan identified from aerial photos by the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience of Japan (NIED). Each LL in the inventory is composed of a scarp and a moving mass. Since landslides are prone to reactivation, it is important to evaluate the sliding-recurrence susceptibility of LLs. One possible approach to evaluate the susceptibility of LLs is slope stability analysis. A previous study found a good correlation ( R = 0.99) between the safety factor ( F ) and slope angle ( α) of F = 17.3 α . We applied the equation to the analysis of F for 267 LLs in the area affected by the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake ( M = 7.3). The F was calculated for the following three cases of failure: scarps only, moving mass only, and scarps and moving mass together. Verification with the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake event shows that the most appropriate method for the evaluation of LLs is to consider the failure of scarps and moving mass together. In addition, by analyzing the relationship between the factors of slope of entire landslide and slope of scarp for LLs and comparing the results with the Aso-ohashi landslide, the largest landslide caused by the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake, we also found that morphometric analysis of LLs is useful for forecasting the travel distance of future landslides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obtaining the routing distance between two addresses should not be a hassle with current technology. Unfortunately, this is more complicated than it first seems. Recently, several commands have been implemented for this purpose (traveltime, traveltime3, mqtime, osrmtime), but most of them became obsolete only a few months after their introduction or appear complicated to use. In this article, we introduce the community-contributed command georoute, which retrieves travel distance and travel time between two points defined either by their addresses or by their geographical coordinates. Compared with other existing commands, it is simple to use, efficient in terms of computational speed, and versatile regarding the information that can be provided as input. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite potential benefits from applying Tobler's law in a tourism context, the law has been used sparingly within the tourism literature. This study seeks to expand the use of Tobler's law in tourism research by examining the relationship between tourists' distance travelled to a destination and the perceived degree of emotional closeness such visitors have with community residents. In doing so, visitor data from three uniquely distinct Texas destinations were analyzed. Results suggest that visitors to the destinations not only differed in their average travel distances, but also the perceived levels of emotional solidarity with residents. Results supported Tobler's law in a tourism context, whereby results indicated that the further an individual travelled to a destination, the less they agreed with feeling close to destination residents. Implications and future research direction opportunities are offered at the close of the work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Generating a schedule for a professional sports league is an extremely demanding task. Good schedules have many benefits for the league, such as higher attendance and TV viewership, lower costs and increased fairness. The Australian Football League is particularly interesting because of an unusual competition format integrating a single round-robin tournament with additional games. Furthermore, several teams have multiple home venues and some venues are shared by multiple teams. This paper presents a 3-phase process to schedule the Australian Football League. The resulting solution outperforms the official schedule with respect to minimizing and balancing travel distance and breaks, while satisfying more requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Home-kindergarten travel is an important urban travel activity. This paper firstly discussed the relationship between excess kindergarten travel and residence-kindergarten spatial mismatch. And then questionnaires and GIS are used to provide some baseline analyses of their distribution pattern both statistically and spatially in Changchun. Thirdly, we provide an exploratory analysis of the causes of excess kindergarten travel and spatial mismatch. Results indicate that a) kindergartens in Changchun are highly accessible if children attend their nearest kindergartens, b) however, there is numerous excess travel and high degree of spatial mismatch, nearly 87.1% of the kindergarteners travel excessively, c) the excess travel distances in inner city are much shorter than other areas, and the corresponding spatial mismatch degree is lower. Two critical factors influencing excess kindergarten travel and residence-kindergarten spatial mismatch are summarized. Firstly, the actual causes are a) parents' personal preferences and kindergarten choice tendencies, b) Danwei owned kindergartens generally with higher quality, tendentious enrollment policies, charge threshold, and c) the widespread use of private cars. Secondly, the root causes are limited public expenditure on kindergarten education and its unbalanced allocation, as well as Chinese traditional concept and prevailing way of parenting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With environmental concerns on the rise, identifying the factors that affect travel demand for energy efficient and environmentally friendly means of transportation becomes critical. It is, thus, beneficial to identify the characteristics of new energy type – low CO 2 emissions – transport habits. Travel time is one such characteristic that has been extensively studied within the context of activity-based travel demand modeling. However, when travelers choose a new energy type with low CO 2 emissions transport mode, it is likely that travel time may be playing a secondary role in their mode choice criteria as opposed to travel distance, especially in highly congested urban areas. Within this context, the origin-destination distance of a trip has the potential to reveal interesting traveler preferences and trip patterns. This paper presents an exploratory empirical analysis of origin-destination distance for such new energy type mode transport habits, in the Metropolitan area of Athens, Greece. Using hazard-based econometric modeling and random parameters to account for the longitudinal nature of trip distance and unobserved heterogeneity, respectively, trip distance is found to be affected by a number of influential factors, such as traveler socio-economic and demographic characteristics, trip purpose, trip time, trip frequency, and time of day for the trip. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The public bikesharing (PBS) scheme has been recognized as a sustainable transport mode. However, to promote its use, it is crucial to understand the travel behavior of PBS subscribers. This study intends to determine the factors associated with PBS subscribers' annual public bike distance, which is yet to be noted in the literature. We build up a dataset for the PBS scheme in Seoul, South Korea, by combining its 2019 rental records with a questionnaire survey addressed to its subscribers. The combined dataset containing 1,652 PBS users' detailed personal information and yearly rental records enables us to explain the subscribers' annual PBS distance along with their socio-demographic characteristics, travel behavior, perceived benefit from PBS use, and land-use characteristics of their neighborhoods. By adopting mixed-effect gamma regression models, we identify that the heterogeneity of neighborhoods has around 7.5% random effects on subscribers' annual PBS travel distance on weekdays and weekends. Based on the combined data, we can explain the public bike travel behavior from both a long-term as well as user-oriented perspective. We expect this study to not only enhance policymakers' and planners' fundamental understanding of long-term public bike use patterns, but also help them prepare an integrated mobility system in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Travel is a major barrier to healthcare access for Veteran Affairs (VA) patients, and disproportionately affects rural Veterans (approximately one quarter of Veterans). The CHOICE/MISSION acts' intent is to increase timeliness of care and decrease travel, although not clearly demonstrated. The impact on outcomes remains unclear. Increased community care increases VA costs and increases care fragmentation. Retaining Veterans within the VA is a high priority, and reduction of travel burdens will help achieve this goal. Sleep medicine is presented as a use case to quantify travel related barriers., Objective: The Observed and Excess Travel Distances are proposed as two measures of healthcare access, allowing for quantification of healthcare delivery related to travel burden. A telehealth initiative that reduced travel burden is presented., Design: Retrospective, observational, utilizing administrative data., Subjects: VA patients with sleep related care between 2017 and 2021. In-person encounters: Office visits and polysomnograms; telehealth encounters: virtual visits and home sleep apnea tests (HSAT)., Main Measures: Observed distance: distance between Veteran's home and treating VA facility. Excess distance: difference between where Veteran received care and nearest VA facility offering the service of interest. Avoided distance: distance between Veteran's home and nearest VA facility offering in-person equivalent of telehealth service., Key Results: In-person encounters peaked between 2018 and 2019, and have down trended since, while telehealth encounters have increased. During the 5-year period, Veterans traveled an excess 14.1 million miles, while 10.9 million miles of travel were avoided due to telehealth encounters, and 48.4 million miles were avoided due to HSAT devices., Conclusions: Veterans often experience a substantial travel burden when seeking medical care. Observed and excess travel distances are valuable measures to quantify this major healthcare access barrier. These measures allow for assessment of novel healthcare approaches to improve Veteran healthcare access and identify specific regions that may benefit from additional resources., (© 2023. The author(s).)

Objectives: To characterize the clinical features, treatment, and outcome of children diagnosed with retinoblastoma (RB) at Vietnam National Cancer Hospital., Methods: The study enrolled all RB patients newly diagnosed at Vietnam National Cancer Hospital from January 2018 to December 2022. The primary endpoint was overall survival (OS) and the eye salvage rate., Results: In total, 139 patients were enrolled, 51.8% patients were male. Median age was 18.9 months. Most patients presented with leukocoria (63.3%), followed by strabismus (14.4%), and 43.9% had bilateral disease. Of 200 eyes, 129 (64.5%) were classified as group E. Extraocular extension was noted in 10 of 139 patients (7.2%). About one-third of the patients lived more than 300 kilometers (km) away from these hospitals, and 17.3% of the patients belonged to minority groups, both of which were dominated by group E and extraocular or high-risk eyes at the time of consultation. Primary enucleation was done for 57 eyes (28.5%), and 51 of 61 patients (83.6%) received eye salvage therapy in bilateral RB group. At study closure, 127 children were alive at the last follow-up, 12 cases were confirmed dead. The 5-year OS and progression-free survival (PFS) rates were 90.3% and 85.9%, respectively. In particular, ethnic minority, distance to hospital more than 150 km, and extraocular disease were significantly associated with higher mortality among children with RB treated in Vietnam National Cancer Hospital., Conclusions: There is a need to support for screening RB with early symptoms in grassroots medical facilities and raise awareness among patients' families through health education programs. Besides, caring and supporting treatment for patients from the ethnic minority and who live far from hospitals are also extremely necessary., (© 2023 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

The layout of temporary facilities in a construction site deals with the selection of the most efficient layout in order to operate efficiently and cost-effectively. The layout design seeks the best arrangement of facilities within the available area. In the design process of the layout, many objectives must be considered to effectively utilize people resources, equipment, space, and energy. The research aims to design practical scheme to locate the temporary facilities in construction sites with less travel distance between them, so it has been to follow the scientific methodology of the research included two phases, the first was the study of theoretical research and previous studies relating to research, and represented the second phase of the study process which has been used in two ways, namely: a survey field for a number of experienced in construction sites management and analysis of answers and compare them with the theoretical study while the second way to use the results of phases theory and practice in the design of a mathematical model to accomplish the aim of the research to reach optimum planning for the sites of temporary facilities in construction sites and using the software Matlab to find in the minimum transition between each pair of these facilities and minimum distance between all of the facilities The results showed through a survey of experts need to design places of temporary facilities right before starting the implementation of the project...

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify key factors associated with negative co-parenting experiences in parents raising a child with autism spectrum disorder. Methods: Questionnaires were sent to families with one or more children with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. Parents of 142 children with autism spectrum disorder indicated that the diagnosis had a very negative impact on their co-parent relationship. A multivariate logistic regression model was run to analyze the association of these experiences with various demographic, family and community factors. Results: Three factors were associated with negative co-parenting relationships: (1) family stress due to the child's diagnosis, (2) effects of the diagnosis on parents' relationship with their other children and (3) distance travelled to the nearest medical facility. Conclusions: Findings highlight the need to further explore family dynamics, particularly the relationships between the co-parenting alliance, other family members and the extra-familial environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To assess whether poor geographic accessibility to prenatal care, as indicated by long distance trips to prenatal care, produced high blood pressure (HPB) during pregnancy.Methods: Using the 2007 Los Angeles Mommy and Baby Study for women without hypertension prior to pregnancy (n = 3405), we compared self-reported HBP by travel distance to prenatal care controlling for age, race/ethnicity, marital status, education, household income, weight status, and physical activity.Results: Results of the multilevel logistic regression shows traveling more than 50 mi to prenatal care is associated with an increased odds for having HPB during pregnancy (odds ratio [OR] = 2.867, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.079,7.613), as compared with a travel distance shorter than 5 mi. Traveling 5-14 mi (OR = 0.917, 95% CI = 0.715-1.176), 15-29 mi (OR = 0.955, 95% CI = 0.634-1.438), or 30-50 mi (OR = 1.101, 95% CI = 0.485-2.499) were not significantly associated with more risk of HBP during pregnancy.Conclusion: To our knowledge, no previous studies have examined the association between poor geographic accessibility to care and the possible harms of travel burdens for pregnant women. Future research that replicates these findings can assist in developing recommendations for pregnant women and health-care accessibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modelling of tourists' length of stay (LOS) is an expanding topic of study. A common thread in this literature is the use of sophisticated statistical/econometric methods. The present study builds on and extends an article critical of the statistical craftsmanship in prior LOS modelling studies. On the basis of an updated assessment of current practice and two small-scale case studies, two main conclusions are drawn. First, the available evidence suggests that the ordinary least squares (OLS) regression model produces qualitatively similar findings to much more complicated methods, such as duration and count data models. The principle of parsimony and the so-called KISS rule thus dictate that OLS regression analysis should be the preferred estimation technique in LOS modelling studies. Second, the quality of LOS modelling studies will most likely be improved by intensifying the use of the long-established tools of the trade explicated in influential econometric textbooks rather than by testing new estimation methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study continuously recorded working elements and log hauling activities of log trucks. The variables measured were travel distance, number of logs and log volume which were regressed with hauling time and productive machine hour (m³ PMH-1) using stepwise method via data analysis in Excel. Travel distance and the number of logs hauled per truck were found to be significantly corelated with hauling time, while all the three variables were significantly corelated with productivity. The equation models for both hauling time and productivity were developed using significantly tested variables. On average, productivity of free delay time of log hauling at the study area was 8.36 ± 2.49 m³ PMH-1 and the operation cost of log truck was RM25.08. Thus, the unit cost of log hauling activities was estimated at RM3.80 m-3. The developed prediction model of hauling time, productivity and cost analysis could be used to plan timber harvesting activities with improved productivity and decreased cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent earthquakes caused many large-scale rock slope failures. The scale and impact of rock slope failures are very large, and the form of failure differs depending upon the geological structures of slopes. First, the author briefly describes some model experiments to investigate the effects of shaking or faulting due to earthquakes on rock slopes. Then, fundamental characteristics of the rock slope failures induced by the earthquakes are described and evaluated according to some empirical and theoretical models. Furthermore, the observations for slope failures in relation to earthquake magnitude and epicenter or hypocenter distance were compared with several empirical relations available in the literature. Some of major rock slope failures induced by earthquakes are selected, and the post-failure motions are simulated and compared with observations. In addition, the effects of tsunamis on rock slopes in view of observations in the reconnaissances of the recent mega-earthquakes are explained and are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Using administrative data from Iowa Medicaid and a large private dental insurer, we compared distance to the nearest primary care dentist for children ages 6-15 in 2012. Additionally, we examined rates of provider bypass in both populations as an indicator of spatial accessibility to dental care.Methods: We calculated measures of travel burden, including distance to the nearest primary care dentist and distance to current primary care dentist. Distance outcomes and rates of bypass, traveling beyond the nearest dentist for care, were compared by insurance type.Results: We found that Medicaid-enrolled children lived farther from the nearest dentist and farther from their current dentist than privately insured children. However, rates of bypass were higher among the privately insured population. These results were consistent among urban and rural residents; additionally, both rural populations demonstrated greater travel distances than urban dwellers.Conclusions: Travel burden was greater among Medicaid-enrolled children. Lower rates of bypass, in conjunction with lower rates of dental utilization in this population, may indicate a distance threshold beyond which dental care becomes unattainable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physical inactivity of children and adolescents is a major public health challenge of the modern era but, when adequately promoted and nurtured, active travel offers immediate health benefits and forms future sustainable and healthy travel habits. This study explores jointly the choice and the extent of active travel of young adolescents while considering walking and cycling as distinct travel forms, controlling for objective urban form measures, and taking both a “street-buffer” looking at the immediate home surroundings and a “transport-zone” looking at wider neighborhoods. A Heckman selection model represents the distance covered while cycling (walking) given the mode choice being bicycle (walk) for a representative sample of 10–15 year-olds from the Capital Region of Denmark extracted from the Danish national travel survey. Results illustrate the necessity of different urban environments for walking and cycling, as the former relates to “street-buffer” urban form measures and the latter also to “transport-zone ” ones. Results also show that lessening the amount and the density of car traffic, diminishing the movement of heavy vehicles in local streets, reducing the conflict points with the density of intersections, and intervening on crash frequency and severity, would increase the probability and the amount of active travel by young adolescents. Last, results indicate that zones in rural areas and at a higher percentage of immigrants are likely to have lower probability and amount of active travel by young adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Township-level physician-to-population and hospital bed-to-population ratios have been widely adopted as indicators of health care accessibility in Taiwan; however, these indicators cannot reflect actual healthcare-seeking behaviors of patients. Therefore, the aims of this study were to establish actual patient flow for seeking healthcare and to clarify the factors influencing preferences for seeking healthcare. Methods: We estimated the residence and collected the locations of healthcare visits for each patient from the nationwide Longitudinal Health Insurance Database in 2010 to establish an origin-destination matrix. The patient flow among townships could be conducted from the matrix. The weighted travel distance of healthcare visits was developed as a new indicator of accessibility. The gravity model was then used to analyze the patient flow and assess the influences of travel distance and healthcare resources. Results: Using the weighted travel distance, eastern Taiwan and the coastal areas of Yunlin and Chiayi were identified as the poorest accessibility for healthcare resources. The results of the gravity model showed that travel distance was the major factor correlated negatively with the volumes of outpatient and inpatient/emergency flow; however, the abundance of healthcare resources positively influenced the preference of inpatient/emergency patients from their residence to neighborhood regions for seeking healthcare. Conclusions: The weighted travel distance could properly reflect the access of healthcare. We conclude that travel distance is the major factor which influences patient flow for seeking healthcare. In contrast, people tend to choose the healthcare facilities with abundant resources for seeking inpatient/emergency healthcare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we introduce the osrmtime command, which calculates the distance and travel time between two points using latitude and longitude information. The command uses the Open Source Routing Machine (OSRM) and OpenStreetMap to find the optimal route by car, by bicycle, or on foot. The procedure is specially built for large georeferenced datasets. Because it is fast, the command uses the full computational capacity of a PC, allows the user to make unlimited requests, and is independent of the Internet and commercial online providers. Hence, there is no risk of the command becoming obsolete. Moreover, the results can be replicated at any time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the relationships between land-use, transportation infrastructure, household, and individual characteristics and the resulting average and daily trip distances using data from the 1999 Mid-Ohio Area Household Travel Survey. Spatial error models are developed to analyze the determinants of average and daily trip distances at the person level. First, new neighborhood categories are created usingK-means cluster analysis and several land-use and built-environment variables. Then, these new neighborhood categories (such as central city residential areas, medium-density suburbs, low-density suburbs, etc.) are used as independent variables to explain the resulting average and total trip distances, while controlling for sociodemographics, access to transit and bicycle facilities, and spatial autocorrelation. The results indicate that the residential location characteristics are a significant factor in explaining trip distances; people who live in areas that are away from urban centers and with a low mix of employment and population travel longer distances. For the Central Ohio Region, residing in lowest-density suburbs may add up to 44% to average trip distances and 33% to daily trip distances. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

OBJECTIVES: There have been no previous reports examining how the travel distance affects the outcomes of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. In this study, we examined the influence of the distance from home to the hospital on patients with NSCLC who underwent surgical resection. METHODS: From 2006 to 2011, 607 consecutive patients with NSCLC who had undergone pulmonary resection were enrolled. The patients were divided into three groups according to the distance from their home to the hospital: 0 < 10, 10-30 and >30 km. We analysed the short-term and long-term outcomes according to the group. RESULTS: Two hundred and ninety-six patients lived less than 10 km from the hospital, 111 patients lived 10-30 km and 200 patients lived more than 30 km. There were no differences in the demographics, including age, European Cooperative Oncology Group performance status, histological type, surgical procedure and pathological stage, between the three groups. The mean postoperative hospital stay was as follows: 13.9 days in the <10 km group, 13.3 days in the 10-30 km group and 14.3 days in the >30 km group (P = 0.04). There were no significant differences in the median length of follow-up (50, 47, 43 months, P = 0.24), disease-free survival (DFS) (5-year DFS, 68.1, 68.2 and 70.1%, P = 0.89) or overall survival (OS) (5-year OS, 80.6, 78.8 and 79.4%, P = 0.99) between the three groups. CONCLUSIONS: The distance between home and the hospital was not found to influence the long-term outcomes of the patients with surgically resected NSCLC. Therefore, the travel distance should not represent a contraindication to surgical resection and postoperative therapy for NSCLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]