scholarly journals A dasymetric method to apportion tornado casualty counts spatially

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tyler Fricker ◽  
James Elsner ◽  
Victor Mesev ◽  
Thomas H. Jagger

This paper describes a dasymetric technique to spatially apportion casualty counts from tornado events in the U.S. Storm Prediction Center's database. Apportionment is performed with respect to the proportion of damage path area and to the underlying population density. The method is illustrated with raster grids on tornadoes occurring between 1955 and 2015 within the most tornado-prone region of the United States. Validation of the results using county- and grid-level data reveals strong correlation between dasymetric estimated and location-specific counts. On a broad spatial scale the method provides a better estimate of where casualties have occurred than counting the number of casualty-producing tornadoes. Case studies using the 1974 Xenia, OH and the 1994 Piedmont, AL tornadoes highlight limitations of the method and indicate that results will be improved with more precise tornado path information. Future work that includes socioeconomic variables (demographics, ethnicity, poverty and housing stock/value) might allow populations to be profiled with regards to vulnerability.

Author(s):  
Kevin M. Fitzpatrick ◽  
Don Willis

Health is increasingly subject to the complex interplay between the built environment, population composition, and the structured inequity in access to health-related resources across communities. The primary objective of this paper was to examine cardiometabolic disease (diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, stroke) markers and their prevalence across relatively small geographic units in the 500 largest cities in the United States. Using data from the American Community Survey and the 500 Cities Project, the current study examined cardiometabolic diseases across 27,000+ census tracts in the 500 largest cities in the United States. Earlier works clearly show cardiometabolic diseases are not randomly distributed across the geography of the U.S., but rather concentrated primarily in Southern and Eastern regions of the U.S. Our results confirm that chronic disease is correlated with social and built environment factors. Specifically, racial concentration (%, Black), age concentration (% 65+), housing stock age, median home value, structural inequality (Gini index), and weight status (% overweight/obese) were consistent correlates (p < 0.01) of cardiometabolic diseases in the sample of census tracts. The paper examines policy-related features of the built and social environment and how they might play a role in shaping the health and well-being of America’s metropolises.


Mathematics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 655 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hoang Pham

In this paper, we discuss an explicit model function that can estimate the total number of deaths in the population, and particularly, estimate the cumulative number of deaths in the United States due to the current Covid-19 virus. We compare the modeling results to two related existing models based on a new criteria and several existing criteria for model selection. The results show the proposed model fits significantly better than the other two related models based on the U.S. Covid-19 death data. We observe that the errors of the fitted data and the predicted data points on the total number of deaths in the U.S. on the last available data point and the next coming day are less than 0.5% and 2.0%, respectively. The results show very encouraging predictability for the model. The new model predicts that the maximum total number of deaths will be approximately 62,100 across the United States due to the Covid-19 virus, and with a 95% confidence that the expected total death toll will be between 60,951 and 63,249 deaths based on the data until 22 April, 2020. If there is a significant change in the coming days due to various testing strategies, social-distancing policies, the reopening of community strategies, or a stay-home policy, the predicted death tolls will definitely change. Future work can be explored further to apply the proposed model to global Covid-19 death data and to other applications, including human population mortality, the spread of disease, and different topics such as movie reviews in recommender systems.


SURG Journal ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-51
Author(s):  
Kathryn Swierzewski

This study examines the effect assortative mating by education has on income inequality by household. In contrast to the majority of other literature in this field which focus on the United States (U.S.) as a whole, this study makes use of state-level data to examine the marriage mating market with respect to education attainment. It also examines how homogamous partnerships increase income inequality across households by analyzing changes in the Gini coefficient over time. Panel data for this analysis is from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS-International and IPUMS-USA) from the U.S. Census of the Population. Assortative mating by education is shown in this analysis to be a contributing factor to increasing inequality among homogamous heterosexual partnerships in the U.S. from 1960 to 2005. Keywords: assortative mating; education level; United States (state-level, from 1960-2005); income inequality (household); labour economics; welfare economics


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuji Okazaki ◽  
Shuhei Yoshida ◽  
Saori Kashima ◽  
Soichi Koike ◽  
Masatoshi Matsumoto

Abstract Background: Family physicians are known to distribute more equally among the population than other physicians. The maturity of family medicine, i.e. the length of its history as a part of healthcare system and the population of qualified family medicine experts, may affect the distribution, but this has not been shown in the literature. This study compares the geographic distribution of family physicians in Japan and the United States (U.S.), both of which are developed countries without a physician allocation system by the public sector, but the two countries differ greatly in the maturity of family medicine as a clinical specialty.Methods: This is a cross-sectional international comparative study using publicly available online database on the number of physicians in Japan (Board-certification Database of Japan Primary Care Association, and Survey of Physicians, Dentists and Pharmacists by Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare) and the U.S. (Area Resource File by Health Resources and Services Administration). The municipalities in Japan and counties in the U.S. were divided into quintile groups according to population density. The number of family physicians per unit population in each group of areas was calculated. The geographic distribution of all physicians in Japan was simulated assuming that the proportion of family physicians among all physicians in Japan (0.16%) was increased to that in the U.S (11.8%).Results: The distribution of family physicians in Japan noticeably shifted to the areas with the lowest population density. In contrast, family physicians in the U.S. distributed equally across areas. The distribution of physicians with other specialties (general internists, pediatricians, surgeons and obstetricians/gynecologists) shifted heavily to the areas with highest population density in both countries. The simulation analysis showed the geographic maldistribution of all physicians improved substantially if the proportion of family physicians in Japan increases to that in the U.S. Conclusion: The distribution of family physicians is more equal than other medical specialists, and the immaturity of family medicine can even lead to a rural-biased distribution. In a country with emerging family medicine such as Japan, increasing the number of family physicians may effectively mitigate the urban-rural imbalance of physician supply.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuji Okazaki ◽  
Shuhei Yoshida ◽  
Saori Kashima ◽  
Soichi Koike ◽  
Masatoshi Matsumoto

Abstract Background: Family physicians are known to distribute more equally among the population than other physicians. The maturity of family medicine, i.e. the length of its history as a part of healthcare system and the population of qualified family medicine experts, may affect the distribution, but this has not been shown in the literature. This study compares the geographic distribution of family physicians in Japan and the United States (U.S.), both of which are developed countries without a physician allocation system by the public sector, but the two countries differ greatly in the maturity of family medicine as a clinical specialty.Methods: This is a cross-sectional international comparative study using publicly available online database on the number of physicians in Japan (Board-certification Database of Japan Primary Care Association, and Survey of Physicians, Dentists and Pharmacists by Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare) and the U.S. (Area Resource File by Health Resources and Services Administration). The municipalities in Japan and counties in the U.S. were divided into quintile groups according to population density. The number of family physicians per unit population in each group of areas was calculated. The geographic distribution of all physicians in Japan was simulated assuming that the proportion of family physicians among all physicians in Japan (0.16%) was increased to that in the U.S (11.8%).Results: The distribution of family physicians in Japan noticeably shifted to the areas with the lowest population density. In contrast, family physicians in the U.S. distributed equally across areas. The distribution of physicians with other specialties (general internists, pediatricians, surgeons and obstetricians/gynecologists) shifted heavily to the areas with highest population density in both countries. The simulation analysis showed the geographic maldistribution of all physicians improved substantially if the proportion of family physicians in Japan increases to that in the U.S. Conclusion: The distribution of family physicians is more equal than other medical specialists, and the immaturity of family medicine can even lead to a rural-biased distribution. In a country with emerging family medicine such as Japan, increasing the number of family physicians may effectively mitigate the urban-rural imbalance of physician supply.


Author(s):  
Rosina Lozano

An American Language is a political history of the Spanish language in the United States. The nation has always been multilingual and the Spanish language in particular has remained as an important political issue into the present. After the U.S.-Mexican War, the Spanish language became a language of politics as Spanish speakers in the U.S. Southwest used it to build territorial and state governments. In the twentieth century, Spanish became a political language where speakers and those opposed to its use clashed over what Spanish's presence in the United States meant. This book recovers this story by using evidence that includes Spanish language newspapers, letters, state and territorial session laws, and federal archives to profile the struggle and resilience of Spanish speakers who advocated for their language rights as U.S. citizens. Comparing Spanish as a language of politics and as a political language across the Southwest and noncontiguous territories provides an opportunity to measure shifts in allegiance to the nation and exposes differing forms of nationalism. Language concessions and continued use of Spanish is a measure of power. Official language recognition by federal or state officials validates Spanish speakers' claims to US citizenship. The long history of policies relating to language in the United States provides a way to measure how U.S. visions of itself have shifted due to continuous migration from Latin America. Spanish-speaking U.S. citizens are crucial arbiters of Spanish language politics and their successes have broader implications on national policy and our understanding of Americans.


2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 130-134

This section, updated regularly on the blog Palestine Square, covers popular conversations related to the Palestinians and the Arab-Israeli conflict during the quarter 16 November 2017 to 15 February 2018: #JerusalemIstheCapitalofPalestine went viral after U.S. president Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and announced his intention to move the U.S. embassy there from Tel Aviv. The arrest of Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi for slapping an Israeli soldier also prompted a viral campaign under the hashtag #FreeAhed. A smaller campaign protested the exclusion of Palestinian human rights from the agenda of the annual Creating Change conference organized by the US-based National LGBTQ Task Force in Washington. And, UNRWA publicized its emergency funding appeal, following the decision of the United States to slash funding to the organization, with the hashtag #DignityIsPriceless.


Author(s):  
Richard F. Kuisel

There are over 1,000 McDonald's on French soil. Two Disney theme parks have opened near Paris in the last two decades. And American-inspired vocabulary such as “le weekend” has been absorbed into the French language. But as former French president Jacques Chirac put it: “The U.S. finds France unbearably pretentious. And we find the U.S. unbearably hegemonic.” Are the French fascinated or threatened by America? They Americanize yet are notorious for expressions of anti-Americanism. From McDonald's and Coca-Cola to free markets and foreign policy, this book looks closely at the conflicts and contradictions of France's relationship to American politics and culture. The book shows how the French have used America as both yardstick and foil to measure their own distinct national identity. France has charted its own path: it has welcomed America's products but rejected American policies; assailed Americ's “jungle capitalism” while liberalizing its own economy; attacked “Reaganomics” while defending French social security; and protected French cinema, television, food, and language even while ingesting American pop culture. The book examines France's role as an independent ally of the United States, but he also considers the country's failures in influencing the Reagan, Bush, and Clinton administrations. Whether investigating France's successful information technology sector or its spurning of American expertise during the AIDS epidemic, the book asks if this insistence on a French way represents a growing distance between Europe and the United States or a reaction to American globalization. Exploring cultural trends, values, public opinion, and political reality, this book delves into the complex relationship between two modern nations.


Author(s):  
Timothy Matovina

Most histories of Catholicism in the United States focus on the experience of Euro-American Catholics, whose views on social issues have dominated public debates. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the Latino Catholic experience in America from the sixteenth century to today, and offers the most in-depth examination to date of the important ways the U.S. Catholic Church, its evolving Latino majority, and American culture are mutually transforming one another. This book highlights the vital contributions of Latinos to American religious and social life, demonstrating in particular how their engagement with the U.S. cultural milieu is the most significant factor behind their ecclesial and societal impact.


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