scholarly journals Spatial patterns of preventable perinatal mortality in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil

Author(s):  
Rita De Cássia de Sousa Nascimento ◽  
Maria Da Conceição Nascimento Costa ◽  
José Uéleres Braga ◽  
Márcio Santos da Natividade

OBJECTIVE To identify the spatial distribution patterns and areas of higher risk of preventable perinatal mortality in the city of Salvador, State of Bahia, Brazil. METHODS We carried out a spatial aggregated study in 2007, considering the weighting areas (census tracts contiguous sets) of Salvador, of which the center and north present low life conditions. Data were obtained from national vital statistics systems and the 2010 Census. Addresses of live births and stillbirths were geocoded by weighting area. The spatial distribution of the perinatal mortality rate was analyzed from thematic maps. Spatial dependence was evaluated by the Global and Local Geary’s and Moran’s Indexes. RESULTS Crude and smoothed perinatal mortality rates were high in areas situated to the north, west, and in center of Salvador. The smoothed rates in weighting areas ranged from 4.9/1,000 to 22.3/1,000 births. Of all perinatal deaths, 92.1% could have been prevented. We identified spatial dependence for preventable perinatal mortality for care in pregnancy, with neighboring areas with high risk in the north of the city. CONCLUSIONS The preventability potential of perinatal mortality was high in Salvador, in 2007. The spatial distribution pattern with higher rates in disadvantaged areas of the city suggests the existence of social inequalities in health. The characteristics of the process of urban development of Salvador, which has inadequate prenatal care, possibly influenced the magnitude and spatial distribution pattern of this mortality.

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 2918 ◽  
Author(s):  
DMSLB Dissanayake ◽  
Takehiro Morimoto ◽  
Yuji Murayama ◽  
Manjula Ranagalage ◽  
ENC Perera

The blooming of urban expansion has led to the improvement of urban life, but some of the negative externalities have affected the life quality of urban dwellers, both directly and indirectly. As a result of this, research related to the quality of life has gained much attention among multidisciplinary researchers around the world. A number of attempts have been made by previous researchers to identify, assess, quantify, and map quality of life or well-being under various kinds of perspectives. The objectives of this research were to create a life quality index (LQI) and identify the spatial distribution pattern of LQI in Kandy City, Sri Lanka. Multiple factors were decomposed, a hierarchy was constructed by the multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) method, and 13 factors were selected under two main criteria—environmental and socioeconomic. Pairwise comparison matrices were created, and the weight of each factor was determined by the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). Finally, gradient analysis was employed to examine the spatial distribution pattern of LQI from the city center to the periphery. The results show that socioeconomic factors affect the quality of life more strongly than environmental factors, and the most significant factor is transportation. The highest life quality zones (26% of the total area) were distributed around the city center, while the lowest zones represented only 9% of the whole area. As shown in the gradient analysis, more than 50% of the land in the first five kilometers from the city center comes under the highest life quality zone. This research will provide guidance for the residents and respective administrative bodies to make Kandy City a livable city. It the constructed model can be applied to any geographical area by conducting necessary data calibration.


Diversity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 170
Author(s):  
Gladys N. Benitez ◽  
Glenn D. Aguilar ◽  
Dan Blanchon

The spatial distribution of corticolous lichens on the iconic New Zealand pōhutukawa (Metrosideros excelsa) tree was investigated from a survey of urban parks and forests across the city of Auckland in the North Island of New Zealand. Lichens were identified from ten randomly selected trees at 20 sampling sites, with 10 sites classified as coastal and another 10 as inland sites. Lichen data were correlated with distance from sea, distance from major roads, distance from native forests, mean tree DBH (diameter at breast height) and the seven-year average of measured NO2 over the area. A total of 33 lichen species were found with coastal sites harboring significantly higher average lichen species per tree as well as higher site species richness. We found mild hotspots in two sites for average lichen species per tree and another two separate sites for species richness, with all hotspots at the coast. A positive correlation between lichen species richness and DBH was found. Sites in coastal locations were more similar to each other in terms of lichen community composition than they were to adjacent inland sites and some species were only found at coastal sites. The average number of lichen species per tree was negatively correlated with distance from the coast, suggesting that the characteristic lichen flora found on pōhutukawa may be reliant on coastal microclimates. There were no correlations with distance from major roads, and a slight positive correlation between NO2 levels and average lichen species per tree.


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