Shake table tests on clutter levels of typical medicine shelves and contents subjected to earthquakes

Overturned shelves and fallen objects scattered on floors are one of the most frequently observed forms of nonstructural damage after earthquakes. The term ‘clutter’ is adopted in this study to represent this type of damage. Clutter may cause obstructions and thus hinder the use of a room. Making a seismic evaluation of clutter is a daunting task, due to the diversity of the types of shelves and objects and the way the objects are stored. Nonetheless, in order to achieve performance‐based seismic evaluation, especially for critical facilities such as hospitals, it is reasonable to undertake the estimation of clutter when examining the association between the performance of structural and nonstructural elements. Of particular interest in this paper is clutter caused by objects stored on medicine shelves in pharmacies, which are one of the critical departments for delivering post‐earthquake emergency care. Shake table tests were conducted on three conventional types of medicine shelves. Sinusoidal waves and earthquake motions were input uniaxially. The results of the tests using the sinusoidal wave input indicated the relationship between the input excitation intensity and clutter level expressed in scattering distance from the front of the shelf. Tests using earthquake motion input were then conducted and the results were compared with those for sinusoidal waves. Based on a comparison of the results from these tests, criteria for the seismic evaluation of clutter caused by medicine shelves due to earthquakes were proposed. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Traces of the New Zealand psychiatric hospital: Unpacking the place of stigma

We survey the status of former public psychiatric hospitals, asking what has happened to the land and buildings. Drawing on Anderson's notion of traces, we argue for the transcendent role of stigma in closure processes and in subsequent reuse. We examine the extent to which evidence of mental health care remains at former hospital sites and developed a fivefold classification of end uses – retained health care; trans‐institutionalisation (to new institutional uses); residential; commercial; and dereliction. We conclude that while stigma is pervasive in shaping traces of the psychiatric hospital, its effects are filtered by locality‐specific factors including commercial potential.     

上海市公共卫生中心防止二次污染设计浅谈

主要通过工程实例结合传染病医院特别是烈性传染病医院的设计特点,探讨给水输送的防回流污染、排水输送的防渗漏污染、排水通气管的防大气污染等问题以及解决问题所采取的相应措施,强调重视给水排水专业防止二次污染设计是确保传染病医院设计的重要性。     

近代城市医院的空间布局及演化——以广州市为例

以广州市为例,引用广州志书资料和民国文献档案资料,采用历史文献、统计和空间分析方法,通过复原广州医院历史分布图,发现广州近代医院在景观扩散模式上,早期阶段属于墨渍式迁移扩散,之后,转向以区位条件优次为主要选址依据的等级扩散;在选址布局上,形成以老城高优势度区域为中心,自中心向外围环状递减的等级区域分布格局,而公立医院和私立医院密集于城市中心,教会医院和慈善医院散布在城市外围,在类型上,呈现为外围型和中心型相结合的空间形态。研究显示,广州近代医院的空间布局,主要受人口、经济和交通因素的影响,同时,政治、宗教、城区环境和医院特殊性等外部条件起着一定的制约或促进作用。     

基于出租车GPS数据的居民就医时空特征分析

城市医疗服务在很大程度上影响着城市居民的生活质量,在公共服务领域中发挥着极其重要的作用。近年来,中国城市化发展过程中产生了海量的大数据,基于这些海量数据分析居民就医出行特征对于优化和改善城市医疗资源布局具有重要意义。本文以北京市主要医疗机构空间位置数据为基础,基于出租车GPS移动轨迹数据,采用时空统计分析方法,研究了出租车出行模式下的居民就医出行时空特征。结果表明,利用医院的OD（Origin-Destination）网络结构特征分析,可以识别出不同医院的服务范围以及受众的时空分布模式。市区尤其是四环以内医院的就医网络密集、紧凑,就医密度较高,而四环以外尤其是郊区周边,就医网络稀疏、分散,医疗资源的级别及地理位置影响了居民的就医倾向。本研究基于浮动车GPS数据开展居民就医时空行为模式挖掘研究,可以为城市医疗资源供需分析和优化配置提供决策支持。     

基于实时路况的成都市医院可达性分析

以社区居民点为研究最小单元,利用高德地图获取高峰及平峰时间段的实时路况信息,计算基于实时路况的社区居民点至医院的最优路线下的通达时间,采用高斯两步移动搜寻法对医院进行可达性分析。搜寻分析了成都市五城区704个居民点在工作日6个时段内到达99所二级以上医院的可达性。结果表明:在15 min阈值内,成都市就医可达性时段差异显著,各时段可达性一般及以上的等级累积频率由高到低依次是夜晚、中午、上午、下午、早高峰、晚高峰。可达性分布不均衡,随着搜寻阈值的增大,可达性等级有向较好和一般等级靠拢的趋势。     

Experimental assessment of the seismic performance of hospital cabinets using shake table testing

An experimental investigation of hospital building equipment is presented. Dynamic properties and seismic performance of typical ambulatory freestanding cabinets are assessed by unidirectional and bidirectional shake table tests, also considering the presence of internal partitions and cabinet contents. Vulnerability analysis is performed according to the most recent and reliable assessment methods, evaluating the influence of different parameters of the sample cabinets. The performance criteria referred within this research are the limit states reached by the specimens (ie, rocking and overturning) and by their contents (ie, overturning and breaking). Fragility curves are evaluated for the components and the contents, considering both acceleration and velocity intensity measures, and also using dimensionless intensity measures developed in recent studies. The outcomes of the present study confirm the findings of previous laboratory tests and numerical simulations carried out by the same authors and provide a further insight for the reliable seismic performance assessment of hospital cabinets and their contents.     

Performance‐based metamodel for healthcare facilities

This paper introduces an organizational model describing the response of the Hospital Emergency Department (ED). The metamodel is able to estimate the hospital capacity and the dynamic response in real time and to incorporate the influence of the damage of structural and non‐structural components on the organizational ones. The waiting time is the main parameter of response and it is used to evaluate the disaster resilience index of healthcare facilities. Its behaviour is described using a double exponential function and its parameters are calibrated based on simulated data. The metamodel covers a large range of hospital configurations and takes into account hospital resources, in terms of staff and infrastructures, operational efficiency and existence of an emergency plan, maximum capacity and behaviour both in saturated and over‐capacitated conditions. The sensitivity of the model to different arrival rates, hospital configurations, and capacities and the technical and organizational policies applied during and before the strike of the disaster has been investigated. This model becomes an important tool in the decision process either for the engineering profession or for the policy makers. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Regional Measure of Neighborhood Multiple Environmental Deprivation: Relationships with Health and Health Inequalities

The health impacts of simultaneous exposure to multiple adverse environmental factors are of concern in the United Kingdom. UK-wide indicators exist, but context-specific finer resolution measures are lacking. An environmental deprivation index was developed for 398 neighborhoods (average population = 760) in a Scottish council area, including measures of air pollution, noise pollution, traffic environment, undesirable land uses, and crime. Adverse environmental conditions were related to ill health in the region and implicated in wider socioeconomic health inequalities. The results suggest an independent role for environmental deprivation in explaining poor health and health inequalities.     

Analysis of the geographical accessibility of neurosurgical emergency hospitals in Sapporo city using GIS and AHP

To improve the geographical accessibility of neurosurgical emergency hospitals for elderly people, we developed several alternative site plans for a new neurosurgical emergency hospital in Sapporo, Japan. Hospitals, population data, routes, and the numerical information for the Analytic Hierarchy Process computations were input into a Geographical Information System. Pairwise comparison revealed the following weights which were assigned to each of the four criteria: 0.674 for availability of hospital beds; 0.169 for the maximum road distance of the shortest routes; 0.101 for the elderly population within a 3‐km radius; and 0.056 for the median road distance of the shortest routes. The alternative proposed could cover 4000 more elderly people in the 3‐km radius of the hospitals. The integration of Geographical Information Systems and the Analytic Hierarchy Process constitutes a powerful tool for analysing traffic conditions in mid‐sized cities and for suggesting city planning to improve prognosis of stroke.