Urban Bicyclists

Author(s):  
Elizabeth Cahill Delmelle ◽  
Jean-Claude Thill

As issues related to oil dependency, rising gas prices, and global warming come to the forefront of topics of concern for Americans, the need for alternative modes of transportation has become critical. Urban settings are seemingly ideal for bicycling to become a significant mode, given the greater compactness of destinations. However, in the United States, bicycling is both scarcely used and very dangerous, as bicyclists are 12 times more likely to be killed than automobile drivers. The purpose of this research is to gain greater insights into the geographic dimensions of traffic crash intensity that bicyclists may experience in American cities. Bicycle crashes are studied in Buffalo, New York, for the years 2003 and 2004. The geographic distribution of crashes is determined and compared for both youth and adult bicyclists and factors of crash hazard intensity are statistically identified. Density of development and physical road characteristics such as roadway and intersection functional class are examined, as well as socioeconomic and demographic variables and potential trip attractors. Given the spatial nature of these variables, a spatially weighted regression model is incorporated to account for spatial dependencies of the dependent variables and of their model residuals. The results of the analysis indicate clear distinctions between youth and adult bicycle crashes, both in terms of the neighborhoods where victims reside and in terms of the neighborhoods where these two demographic groups are found to be more frequently involved in a crash with a motorized vehicle.

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. F. Veenis ◽  
J. J. Brugts

AbstractExacerbations of chronic heart failure (HF) with the necessity for hospitalisation impact hospital resources significantly. Despite all of the achievements in medical management and non-pharmacological therapy that improve the outcome in HF, new strategies are needed to prevent HF-related hospitalisations by keeping stable HF patients out of the hospital and focusing resources on unstable HF patients. Remote monitoring of these patients could provide the physicians with an additional tool to intervene adequately and promptly. Results of telemonitoring to date are inconsistent, especially those of telemonitoring with traditional non-haemodynamic parameters. Recently, the CardioMEMS device (Abbott Inc., Atlanta, GA, USA), an implantable haemodynamic remote monitoring sensor, has shown promising results in preventing HF-related hospitalisations in chronic HF patients hospitalised in the previous year and in New York Heart Association functional class III in the United States. This review provides an overview of the available evidence on remote monitoring in chronic HF patients and future perspectives for the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of these strategies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 100 ◽  
pp. 60-86
Author(s):  
Javier P. Grossutti

AbstractMarble mosaic and terrazzo were a very common type of stone paving in Venice, Italy, especially between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. Throughout the period, migrant craftsmen from the nearby Alpine foothills area of Friuli (in northeastern Italy) virtually monopolized the Venetian marble mosaic and terrazzo trade. Thus, on February 9, 1583, the Venetian Council of Ten granted maestro (master) Sgualdo Sabadin from Friuli and his fellow Friulian workers of the arte dei terazzeri (art of terrazzo) the capacity to establish a school guild dedicated to St. Florian. The first chapters of the Mariegola de’ Terazzeri (Statutes of the Terrazzo Workers Guild), which set the rules for the guild of terrazzo workers, was completed three years later, in September 1586.From the 1830s onward, Friulian craftsmen began to export their skills and trade from Venice across Europe and later, at the turn of the twentieth century, overseas to several American cities. Prior to reaching America, mosaic and terrazzo workers left from their work places outside Italy, initially from Paris. Friulian mosaic and terrazzo workers were regarded as the “aristocracy” of the Italian American building workforce due to their highly specialized jobs: This contrasted with the bulk of Italians in the United States who were largely employed as unskilled. The New York marble mosaic- and terrazzo-paving trade was completely in the hands of the Italian craftsmen, who demonstrated a strong tendency to become entrepreneurs. They made use of their craftsmanship comparative advantages to build a successful network of firms that dominated the domestic market, in a similar fashion to what had already been occurring in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and other European countries.This paper argues that immigrants can be powerful conduits for the transfer of skills and knowledge, and emphasizes the importance of studying skilled migrant artisan experiences. A closer look at ethnic migration flows reveals a variety of entrepreneurial experiences, even in groups largely considered unskilled. The Italian marble mosaic and terrazzo workers’ experience sheds new light on ethnic entrepreneurship catering for the community as a whole, it reveals a remarkable long-lasting craftsmanship experience, thus demonstrating the successful continuity in business ownership and the passing down of craftsmanship knowledge across family generations. Creativity skills and innovative productive methods adopted by firms appear as a key factor that allowed these artisans to control the trade for such a long time.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Robert G. Mogull

This paper examines and compares U.S. poverty rates on two levels, with data obtained from the decennial censuses of 1960 through 2000. First, rates of poverty for five demographic groups are contrasted within each of the three most populous metropolises of the nation—Chicago, Los Angeles/Long Beach, and New York. Second, rates for each demographic group are contrasted among the three metropolises. The statistical evidence reveals both large differences among the individual demographic groups and also in the trends among the three most populous American cities.


Author(s):  
Carla Jaynes ◽  
Trent Lethco ◽  
Yennga Khuong ◽  
Vincent Riscica

Over the past 20 years, federal transportation policy and funding initiatives—such as the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991; the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century; Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users; Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery Grants; and the Partnership for Sustainable Communities—have opened doors to establishing sustainable transportation policy in the United States. However, these initiatives have not always resulted in transformative change. A clear path to actionable, sustainable transportation policy requires a change within the local and regional agencies tasked with establishing and implementing the policy. This paper documents the incremental changes in departments of transportation and planning in seven American cities (Charlotte, North Carolina; Chicago, Illinois; Houston, Texas; Los Angeles, California; New York; Portland, Oregon; and Washington, D.C.) that have enabled a shift toward sustainable transportation policy. Interviews with key transportation leaders in each city revealed the methods used to implement more sustainable transport. These methods serve as a blueprint for other leaders who wish to create similar changes in their own cities.


Author(s):  
Suleiman Osman

Gentrification is one of the most controversial issues in American cities today. But it also remains one of the least understood. Few agree on how to define it or whether it is boon or curse for cities. Gentrification has changed over time and has a history dating back to the early 20th century. Historically, gentrification has had a smaller demographic impact on American cities than suburbanization or immigration. But since the late 1970s, gentrification has dramatically reshaped cities like Seattle, San Francisco, and Boston. Furthermore, districts such as the French Quarter in New Orleans, New York City’s Greenwich Village, and Georgetown in Washington DC have had an outsized influence on the political, cultural, and architectural history of cities. Gentrification thus must be examined alongside suburbanization as one of the major historical trends shaping the 20th-century American metropolis.


2010 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Bauerle Bass ◽  
Sheryl Burt Ruzek ◽  
Lawrence Ward ◽  
Thomas F. Gordon ◽  
Alexandra Hanlon ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTBackground: An influenza pandemic, such as that of the H1N1 virus, raises questions about how to respond effectively to a lethal outbreak. Most plans have focused on minimizing impact by containing the virus through quarantine, but quarantine has not been used widely in the United States and little is known about what would be the public's response. The purpose of this study was to investigate factors that influence an individual's decision to comply with a hypothetical avian influenza quarantine order.Methods: A total of 1204 adult Pennsylvania residents participated in a random digit dial telephone sample. The residents were interviewed regarding their attitudes about and knowledge of avian influenza and about compliance with quarantine orders, including staying at home or traveling to a government-designated facility.Results: Analysis of variance showed differences among demographic groups in willingness to comply with quarantine orders, with women and individuals not presently employed more willing to stay at home or to travel to a government-designated facility if ordered. Those who did not regularly attend religious services were significantly less willing than those who did attend regularly to comply with any type of quarantine order. Regression analysis indicated that demographic variables, overall knowledge of avian influenza, attitudes about its severity, and the belief that the respondent and/or his or her significant other(s) may contract it were predictive.Conclusions: The results of this study can provide health planners and policy makers with information for improving their efforts to conduct a quarantine successfully, including crafting messages and targeting information to certain groups of people to communicate risk about the epidemic.(Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2010;4:135-144)


Author(s):  
Fredrick Dahlgren ◽  
Lauren Rossen ◽  
Alicia Fry ◽  
Carrie Reed

Background. In the United States, infection with SARS-CoV-2 caused 380,000 reported deaths from March to December 2020. Methods. We adapted the Moving Epidemic Method to all-cause mortality data from the United States to assess the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic across age groups and all 50 states. By comparing all-cause mortality during the pandemic with intensity thresholds derived from recent, historical all-cause mortality, we categorized each week from March to December 2020 as either low severity, moderate severity, high severity, or very high severity. Results. Nationally for all ages combined, all-cause mortality was in the very high severity category for 9 weeks. Among people 18 to 49 years of age, there were 29 weeks of consecutive very high severity mortality. Forty-seven states, the District of Columbia, and New York City each experienced at least one week of very high severity mortality for all ages combined. Conclusions. These periods of very high severity of mortality during March through December 2020 are likely directly or indirectly attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic. This method for standardized comparison of severity over time across different geographies and demographic groups provides valuable information to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and to identify specific locations or subgroups for deeper investigations into differences in severity.


2015 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 343-364
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Macaulay-Lewis ◽  
Jared Simard

From Jerash to New York: Columns, Archaeology, and Politics at the 1964–65 World’s Fair analyzes the Column of Jerash, presented to New York City by the government of Jordan as a permanent memento of that country’s participation in the 1964–65 New York World’s Fair. Elizabeth Macaulay-Lewis and Jared Simard offer the first scholarly documentation and assessment of the column, which still stands at the site of the fair in Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens, New York, and confirm that it originated from Jerash, but not from the Temple of Artemis. The gift of the column was part of King Hussein of Jordan’s policy of archaeological diplomacy, which included the donation of artifacts to American cities and universities to strengthen ties between Jordan and the United States. Macaulay-Lewis and Simard explore the competing narratives of biblical and classical history and archaeology in the American-Israel and Jordan Pavilions at the 1964–65 World’s Fair and the controversy that erupted over the inclusion of a mural about Palestinian refugees in the Jordan Pavilion.


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