Environmental and Economic Factors of Migration from Urban to Rural Areas: Evidence from Poland

The net migration rate is highly diversified and noticeable chiefly in municipalities directly adjacent to large cities. This trend is still maintained in Poland and is now becoming even more visible than previously. Most of the studies conducted to date have not focused on extracting economic and environmental factors or determining the role of individual factors in those decisions. Furthermore, they have not analysed the issue of differences in motives and directions of migration. Thus, the aim of the research was to establish the factors that determine contemporary migrations from the city to suburban areas and to outline the role of economic and environmental factors. For this purpose, 164 interviews were conducted with individuals who had migrated from the city to the countryside surrounding one of the most important urban centres in Central Europe—Wrocław. In the research, the multiple snowball sampling technique was used. It was found that the factors with the most significant impact on the decision to move from the city to the countryside were those of an environmental nature, whereas the selection of a specific location (village) was to a greater extent determined by economic factors. Compared to their previous place of residence, the respondents most positively rated the environmental benefits of living in the countryside, whereas economic factors, especially insufficient sewage and energy infrastructure, in addition to poor services and transport, were downvoted. The results therefore imply the need for better planning of suburban settlement patterns that takes account of the availability and development of the infrastructure network. The settlement dispersion, as shown through spatial studies, leads to higher unit costs, which generate higher public services costs and thus increasing local expenditures.

Spaces of Care and Graphic Medicine

While there are several studies that focus on care settings in relation to verbal narratives, only a few studies have paid attention to how comics in general, and graphic medicine in particular, engage critical care environments and settings. Drawing strengths from the underground and alternative comics and capitalizing on health humanities, graphic medicine, a recent development in the comics genre, concentrates on the issues related to health, illness, and care. Coined by Ian Williams in 2007, graphic medicine refers to the intersection of comics and concerns of healthcare. Graphic medicine has always engaged informal, formal, and biomedical caregiving settings. Against this backdrop, the present article, drawing on relevant theoretical debates on spatial studies and care, examines Stan Mack’s Janet& Me (2004), Joyce Farmer’s Special Exits (2014), and Sarah Leavitt’s Tangles (2012). In so doing, the article seeks to delineate care facilities (family, hospitals, among others) and their impact on patients.

Georaphic Information System of Land Suitablility for Commodities Featured in Sawang District North Aceh

Actually, Sawang is the largest sub-district in North Aceh, ±38,465 ha or 11.67% of the total area of North Aceh. Consists of thirty nine villages. 3,449 ha are paddy fields and 35,016 ha are non-paddy fields. The use of non-rice field land is usually used by the surrounding community for gardens, forests, and ponds of 27,997 ha. In order to support government programs in improving people's welfare and creating job opportunities, it can be done by developing the potential of agriculture and plantations. Therefore, integrated and complete information is needed regarding the characteristics of land in North Aceh, especially Sawang Sub - District, which is suitable for planting certain types of plants in support of optimal and sustainable land use policies. The purpose of this study is to analyze the nature of the land that is suitable for use as an agricultural area or plantation of superior commodities. The specific purpose of the research is to provide recommendations to local governments to determine policies for the use of vacant land with appropriate plant types. The research steps include preliminary studies, identification of superior commodities, mapping of vacant land, testing of land suitability parameters, determination of land suitability, policy recommendations. Based on the results of the research that has been carried out, the researchers conclude that cocoa is considered the most appropriate plant among several other options, referring to the results of several parameters and observations that have been made, either through spatial studies based on mapping techniques, using special software, or the study of chemical elements, as a support for plant growth, through the results of laboratory tests that have been carried out by the research team.

Suburban Morphology Dynamics: The Case of the Tricity Agglomeration, Poland

Suburbanization is a phase of the development of cities that consists in the growth of the suburban zone at the expense of the city center, which becomes gradually depopulated. The phenomenon of uncontrolled suburbanization (urban sprawl) causes infrastructural (including transport), environmental, social, economic, and legal problems. This paper presents the results of a study of the phenomenon of suburbanization conducted on the basis of vector data using two methods: one based on the use of a grid of primary square fields, and one based on the use of concentric zones/rings. The analyses were conducted in the surroundings of the Tricity agglomeration, which is located in the northern part of Poland on the Gulf of Gdansk, and covered the period from 2000 to 2018. Using a grid of primary fields, the areas of the greatest increase and decrease in the developed areas, irrespective of administrative boundaries, were determined for the selected periods, and the areas of the constant positive and negative balance of the buildings were identified. Using concentric rings, the process of the shifting of the new development zones was traced. The paper also refers to the route of the Pomeranian Metropolitan Railway (PKM), which was commissioned in 2015, and its potential impact on suburbanization in the Tricity area. The results made it possible to trace the suburbanization process in time and space and to learn the advantages and disadvantages of the use of vector data in spatial studies.

Area-Level Determinants in Colorectal Cancer Spatial Clustering Studies: A Systematic Review

The increasing pattern of colorectal cancer (CRC) in specific geographic region, compounded by interaction of multifactorial determinants, showed the tendency to cluster. The review aimed to identify and synthesize available evidence on clustering patterns of CRC incidence, specifically related to the associated determinants. Articles were systematically searched from four databases, Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, and EBSCOHost. The approach for identification of the final articles follows PRISMA guidelines. Selected full-text articles were published between 2016 and 2021 of English language and spatial studies focusing on CRC cluster identification. Articles of systematic reviews, conference proceedings, book chapters, and reports were excluded. Of the final 12 articles, data on the spatial statistics used and associated factors were extracted. Identified factors linked with CRC cluster were further classified into ecology (health care accessibility, urbanicity, dirty streets, tree coverage), biology (age, sex, ethnicity, overweight and obesity, daily consumption of milk and fruit), and social determinants (median income level, smoking status, health cost, employment status, housing violations, and domestic violence). Future spatial studies that incorporate physical environment related to CRC cluster and the potential interaction between the ecology, biology and social determinants are warranted to provide more insights to the complex mechanism of CRC cluster pattern.

SPATIAL STUDIES IN THE RUSSIAN REGIONALISTS WORKS: A NARRATIVE REVIEW

The purpose of this article is to streamline relatively new (over the last ten-year period) information in the field of regional and spatial research for a better understanding of the subject field of regionalistics. The article was implemented in the form of a review as one of the promising types of scientific publication and generally meets international criteria and the traditions of their compilation. Taking into account the initial stage of the study of the socio-economic space among the extensive typology of reviews used in international practice, the most common appearance is a narrative review, one of whose characteristic features is subjective selection of information. Preference in selection of articles was given to the works of famous regionalists; At the same time, not only publications, “directly” reflect the trends in the development of socio-economic space, but also studies made by conjugate topics and disciplines. Structuring articles were carried out on various reasons. The main grouping of publications: 1) in the context of scientific schools and personalities; 2) depending on the direction of publications disclosing certain trends in the development of socio-economic space (“differentiation — leveling” differences, “compression — expansion”, “Integration — fragmentation”). The complexity and problems of the formation of regional and spatial research reviews are revealed, promising directions for analyzing information on spatial subjects associated with the preparation of a systematic review are shown.

The Phylogeographic Shortfall in Hexapods: A Lot of Leg Work Remaining

In the 21st century, phylogeography has experienced dramatic growth in the data and methods used by the field. Insect (more generally, hexapod) phylogeography has contributed to major advances and many of the influential papers included hexapods as model systems. In this literature review, we: (i) highlight recent phylogeographic work in hexapod systems, and (ii) identify broader trends and critical future steps in the field. We include a summary of useful methodological approaches and identify the methods used to approach different questions asked in phylogeographic studies. An updated summary of the applications that phylogeography has contributed to the field of entomology, including spatial studies, conservation, systematics, pest control, and invasive species, is included to highlight vital work in the field. Special attention is devoted to investigations which seek to use multi-species data to understand community ecological and evolutionary processes. Finally, we overview the main challenges, opportunities, and emerging areas, highlighting the “phylogeographic shortfall” that exists between the number of described hexapod species vs. the number of species that have been the focus of phylogeographic investigation.

Epidemics of chikungunya, Zika, and COVID-19 reveal bias in case-based mapping

Explosive epidemics of chikungunya, Zika, and COVID-19 have recently occurred worldwide, all of which featured large proportions of subclinical infections. Spatial studies of infectious disease epidemics typically use symptomatic infections (cases) to estimate incidence rates (cases/total population), often misinterpreting them as infection risks (infections/total population) or disease risks (cases/infected population). We examined these three measures in a pediatric cohort (N≈3,000) over two chikungunya epidemics and one Zika epidemic and in a household cohort (N=1,793) over one COVID-19 epidemic in Nicaragua. Across different analyses and all epidemics, case incidence rates considerably underestimated both risk-based measures. Spatial infection risk differed from spatial disease risk, and typical case-only approaches precluded a full understanding of the spatial seroprevalence patterns. For epidemics of pathogens that cause many subclinical infections, relying on case-only datasets and misinterpreting incidence rates, as is common, results in substantial bias, a general finding applicable to many pathogens of high human concern.

Spatial distribution of under immunization among children 12–23 months old in Butajira HDSS, southern Ethiopia

Background Immunization is essential to prevent between 2 and 3 million deaths globally each year and it is widely accepted that it is one of the most cost-effective health interventions. Despite all its advantages, immunization in Ethiopia is still far from the target set by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to achieve universal immunization by all countries in 2030. The 2016 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS) reported an overall full immunization rate of only 38.3%. The objective of this study was to evaluate the spatial distribution of under immunization in 12 to 23 months old children and further identify the determinants of under immunization clustering in the Butajira Health and Demographic Surveillance Site (HDSS). Methods We conducted a community based sectional survey from March to April, 2016 in Butajira HDSS. We collected data on immunization status from a total of 482 children between the age of 12 to 23 months. We randomly selected household and interviewed mothers and /or observed vaccination cards when available to collect data on child’s immunization status. We also collected the geographic location of all villages within the ten Kebeles using a Handheld Global Positioning System (GPS) (Garmin GPSMAP®). We analyzed the spatial distribution of under immunization and clustering using the SatScan® software which employs a purely spatial Bernoulli’s model. We also ran a logistic regression model to help evaluate the causes of clustering. Results We found that only 22.4% [95% CI: 18.9, 26.4%] of children were fully immunized. This study identified one significant cluster of under immunization among children 12–23 months of age within the Butajira HDSS (relative risk (RR) = 1.24,P < 0·01). We found that children residing in this cluster had more than 1.24 times risk of under immunization compared with children residing outside of the identified cluster. We found significant differences with regard to Maternal Tetanus Toxoid immunization status and place of delivery between cases found within a spatial cluster and cases found outside the cluster. For example, the odds of home delivery is more than two times [AOR 2.21: 95%CI; 1.06, 4.63] among children within an identified spatial cluster than the odds among children found outside the identified cluster. Conclusions Under immunization of 12–23 months old children and under immunization with specific vaccines such as Polio, BCG, DPT (1–3) and Measles clustered geographically. Spatial studies could be effective in identifying geographic areas of under immunization for targeted intervention like in this study to gear health education to the specific locality.

Defining and Characterising Clusters in Palaeolithic Sites: a Review of Methods and Constraints

Spatial analysis studies in Palaeolithic archaeology arise as indispensable research tools for understanding archaeopalaeontological sites. In general terms, spatial studies have been specialised in the description of the distribution of materials and in the definition of accumulation areas, with the aim of distinguishing intentional activities or studying postdepositional processes. In recent decades, the development of GIS tools has enabled huge strides forward in the field of spatial archaeology research, such as spatial inferential statistics. These tools are particularly useful in the identification and location of clustering from statistical criteria, facilitating the subsequent analysis of accumulations through other archaeological, taphonomic and spatial techniques, such as fabric analysis or directional distribution. The cluster analysis, and its contextualisation considering all the archaeological and stratigraphical variables, allows the inference of some of the processes and factors that could have taken part in the accumulation of materials, as well as assessing how this affected the composition and preservation of the archaeological assemblage. The present article reviews the more traditional and innovative methods for studying horizontal distribution patterns and the objective definition of clusters, highlighting the parameters, uses and limitations of these techniques. We present an application of these methods to different Palaeolithic sites, going through different scenarios, such as location (open-air vs. cave), context, scale (large vs. small area), excavation methodology and spatial record methods.