Geocoding health data with Geographic Information Systems: a pilot study in northeast Italy for developing a standardized data-acquiring format

Introduction. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have become an innovative and somewhat crucial tool for analyzing relationships between public health data and environment. This study, though focusing on a Local Health Unit of northeastern Italy, could be taken as a benchmark for developing a standardized national data-acquiring format, providing a step-by-step instructions on the manipulation of address elements specific for Italian language and traditions. Methods. Geocoding analysis was carried out on a health database comprising 268,517 records of the Local Health Unit of Rovigo in the Veneto region, covering a period of 10 years, starting from 2001 up to 2010. The Map Service provided by the Environmental Research System Institute (ESRI, Redlands, CA), and ArcMap 10.0 by ESRI\uae were, respectively, the reference data and the GIS software, employed in the geocoding process. Results. The first attempt of geocoding produced a poor quality result, having about 40% of the addresses matched. A procedure of manual standardization was performed in order to enhance the quality of the results, consequently a set of guiding principle were expounded which should be pursued for geocoding health data. High-level geocoding detail will provide a more precise geographic representation of health related events. Conclusions. The main achievement of this study was to outline some of the difficulties encountered during the geocoding of health data and to put forward a set of guidelines, which could be useful to facilitate the process and enhance the quality of the results. Public health informatics represents an emerging specialty that highlights on the application of information science and technology to public health practice and research. Therefore, this study could draw the attention of the National Health Service to the underestimated problem of geocoding accuracy in health related data for environmental risk assessment

A Tutorial on Geographic Information Systems: A Ten-year Update

This tutorial provides a foundation on geographic information systems (GIS) as they relate to and are part of the IS body of knowledge. The tutorial serves as a ten-year update on an earlier CAIS tutorial (Pick, 2004). During the decade, GIS has expanded with wider and deeper range of applications in government and industry, widespread consumer use, and an emerging importance in business schools and for IS. In this paper, we provide background information on the key ideas and concepts of GIS, spatial analysis, and latest trends and on the status and opportunities for incorporating GIS, spatial analysis, and locational decision making into IS research and in teaching in business and IS curricula

Using locational data in a novel mixed-methods sequence design: Identifying critical health care barriers for people with disabilities in Malawi

The primary aim of this study was to determine which health care barriers were most important for people with disabilities in Malawi. To accomplish this, we devised a sequential mixed-methods research design that integrated locational survey data and qualitative data from field studies. Our secondary aim was to evaluate this research design not only as a design-solution to our particular research objective, but as a tool with more general applicability within social sciences. Malawi has one of the most underserved health service populations in the world with chronic resource shortages and long travel distances where people with disabilities are at a particular disadvantage. Nevertheless, our results show that even in a resource scarce society such as Malawi it is the interpersonal relationships between patients and health service providers that has the largest impact on the perception of access among patients. Our results also suggest that the sequential mixed-methods design is effective in guiding researchers towards models with strong specifications.publishedVersio

Countermapping the Past : Reenvisioning Ancient Maya Spaces at Say Kah, Belize

Acknowledgments The fieldwork that contributed to this study was supported by the Wenner-Gren Foundation (Grant 9001), the National Geographic Society (Grants W377-14 and HJ-038R-17), the American Philosophical Society (Franklin Research Grant), the Curtiss T. and Mary G. Brennan Foundation, the Taft Research Center (University of Cincinnati), and the College of Arts and Sciences (University of Cincinnati), which the authors gratefully acknowledge. Our fieldwork was made possible by Dr. Fred Valdez, the Programme for Belize Archaeological Project (PfBAP), and the Belize Institute of Archaeology. Key project staff members who contributed to this work include: Lindsay Argo, Luke Aspland, Meredith Coats, Holly Dorning, Chris Motz, Beau Murphy, Anna Novotny, Colleen O’Brien, and Caleigh Richissin. Valuable feedback on the article came from Jeff Millar, Leila Rodriguez, and Stephanie Sadre-Orafai; we also thank Andrew Newman for helpful perspectives on countermapping. Finally, we are grateful for the detailed and thought-provoking comments of two anonymous reviewers, which helped clarify our thinking and strengthen our manuscript.Peer reviewedPostprin

Unsupervised Graph Deep Learning Reveals Emergent Flood Risk Profile of Urban Areas

Urban flood risk emerges from complex and nonlinear interactions among multiple features related to flood hazard, flood exposure, and social and physical vulnerabilities, along with the complex spatial flood dependence relationships. Existing approaches for characterizing urban flood risk, however, are primarily based on flood plain maps, focusing on a limited number of features, primarily hazard and exposure features, without consideration of feature interactions or the dependence relationships among spatial areas. To address this gap, this study presents an integrated urban flood-risk rating model based on a novel unsupervised graph deep learning model (called FloodRisk-Net). FloodRisk-Net is capable of capturing spatial dependence among areas and complex and nonlinear interactions among flood hazards and urban features for specifying emergent flood risk. Using data from multiple metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) in the United States, the model characterizes their flood risk into six distinct city-specific levels. The model is interpretable and enables feature analysis of areas within each flood-risk level, allowing for the identification of the three archetypes shaping the highest flood risk within each MSA. Flood risk is found to be spatially distributed in a hierarchical structure within each MSA, where the core city disproportionately bears the highest flood risk. Multiple cities are found to have high overall flood-risk levels and low spatial inequality, indicating limited options for balancing urban development and flood-risk reduction. Relevant flood-risk reduction strategies are discussed considering ways that the highest flood risk and uneven spatial distribution of flood risk are formed.Comment: 24 page

Investigating the Spatial and Statistical Dimensions of Mortuary Choice in the Historical-Period Old City Cemetery in Roslyn, Washington

The historical-period Old City Cemetery in Roslyn, Washington contains individuals from diverse social backgrounds and exhibits considerable variation in mortuary expression. As such, the Old City Cemetery offers a unique opportunity to explore potential differences in social group mortuary practices spatially and statistically. Using burials in Roslyn’s Old City Cemetery, this project developed a methods framework to assess mortuary practice through demographics, burial location, and monument/plot attributes. I tested correlations between demographics and mortuary expression using spatial-statistical cluster analysis (Ripley’s K-Function), spatial density analysis (Kernel Density Estimation), and non-spatial statistical significance assessments (Factor analysis and Pearson’s R), and identified several demographic-based mortuary trends. Similarities in some ages and nationalities were significantly associated with choice in burial location and monument/plot attributes in the Old City Cemetery, suggesting social dynamics in historical-period Roslyn valued these demographic designations. I did not identify any significant trends in choice between similar occupations or causes of death. Cemetery chronology and known decade-based norms appeared partially responsible for burial location siting and choice in monument or plot attributes. This project serves to recommend the viability and importance of incorporating both spatial and statistical dimensions into mortuary analysis of historical-period cemeteries, and I offer that this framework can be applied in such contexts to investigate mortuary expression and social dynamics

Concepts of Space, Refiguration of Spaces, and Comparative Research: Perspectives from Economic Geography and Regional Economics

Following the concept of refiguration of spaces proposed by KNOBLAUCH and LÖW (2017), in this article I emphasize interfaces for theory building, methods, and comparative research from an economic geography and regional economics perspective. Since the refiguration of spaces offers an abstract frame capable of grasping spatial relations of any order and across various scales, I will discuss the utilization of concepts of space in both subdisciplines by employing a textbook analysis. Moreover, I will include two examples of current economic phenomena where refiguration takes place. Namely, I will analyze the internationalization of companies and world trade interdependencies according to concepts of space, their implication on methods, and comparative research. In my findings, I show that the abstract frame of refiguration of spaces unlocks great potential if applied consistently. Economic geography has a great deal to offer for the micro-foundation in the refiguration of spaces, working with qualitative methods and forward-thinking concepts of space (e.g., relational or topical points of view for comparison). Regional economics allows for progress concerning the macro-foundation in the refiguration of spaces through the increased availability of regional or big data and advanced quantitative methods (e.g., manifold indexes capturing refiguration).In Anlehnung an das von KNOBLAUCH und LÖW (2017) vorgeschlagene theoretische Rahmenwerk der "Refiguration von Räumen" hebe ich in diesem Beitrag Schnittstellen und Transfermöglichkeiten für Theoriebildung, Methoden und vergleichende Forschung aus einer wirtschaftsgeografischen und regionalökonomischen Perspektive hervor. Da die "Refiguration von Räumen" einen abstrakten Rahmen bietet, um räumliche Beziehungen beliebiger Ordnung und über verschiedene Maßstäbe hinweg zu erfassen, erläutere ich zunächst anhand einer Lehrbuchanalyse, wie in beiden Teildisziplinen grundlegende Raumkonzepte verwendet werden. Anschließend greife ich mit der Internationalisierung von Unternehmen und globalen Handelsverflechtungen zwei maßgebliche ökonomische Entwicklungen heraus, die für eine Betrachtung der Refiguration von Räumen prädestiniert sind, und analysiere die methodischen Implikationen und Möglichkeiten verschiedener Raumkonzepte für eine vergleichende Forschung. Ich zeige, dass der abstrakte Rahmen des Konzepts der "Refiguration von Räumen" bei konsistenter Anwendung erhebliche Potenziale für beide Subdisziplinen eröffnen kann. Wirtschaftsgeograf*innen haben für die Mikrofundierung der Refiguration von Räumen einiges zu bieten, da sie mit qualitativen Methoden und mannigfaltigen Raumkonzepten arbeiten (z.B. relationale oder topische Ansätze für eine vergleichende Forschung). Die Verwendung von Konzepten aus der Regionalökonomie erlaubt umgekehrt eine bessere Makrofundierung der Refiguration von Räumen" durch die zunehmende Verfügbarkeit von Big Data, von regionalisierten Daten und fortgeschrittenen quantitativen Methoden (z.B. komplexe Indizes)