Food deserts,activity patterns, & social exclusion: The case of Tokyo,Japan

This study attempts to identify areas with a high level of discrepancy in the probability for an individual to exceed the threshold of walking time for grocery shopping. It is based on an assumption that a higher discrepancy is associated with more relative disadvantages for socially excluded people, the elderly, with no car and unemployed. A geographically weighted logistic model that incorporates individual constraints and spatial accessibility is developed to yield a probability, capturing the spatial variation of relations of factors. In the city of Tokyo, the north-eastern area shows a significant discrepancy for the socially excluded group. The distribution of high level of discrepancy differs compared to that of the area with low accessibility. This study's methodology and results provide convincing evidence that in determining food desert areas, relative accessibility estimated with personal attributes should be taken into account.     

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.     

气象要素对南京市呼吸系统疾病的影响研究

利用2007—2012年南京市逐日气象资料和同期某三甲医院呼吸系统疾病逐日急诊和门诊就诊人数资料,采用常规统计方法,分析了主要气象要素与疾病就诊人数的关系,揭示了气象条件对人群呼吸系统疾病的影响程度,为当地居民防病养生提供气象指导。结果表明:呼吸系统疾病发病与气象要素之间存在1~2 d的滞后效应,且与日平均气温、日最高气温和日最低气温的相关最显著,尤其当平均气温低于0℃时,全人群就诊人数明显增加;此外,当寒潮过程发生时,全人群和老年人(65岁)就诊人数增加率分别为35%和53%,且表现出1 d的滞后性;与之相比,儿童(6岁)就诊人数没有表现出滞后效应,寒潮结束当日,就诊人数增加了2倍以上。