Research on the Matching Relationship between the Supply of Urban Ecological Recreational Space and the Demand of Residents—A Case Study of an Urban Development Area in Wuhan

An urban ecological recreational space (UERS), which connects the natural environment with urban residents, is an important guarantee for developing a livable city and improving the well-being of residents. However, there is a serious imbalance between the supply of UERSs and the demand of residents in many big, rapidly developing cities. Previous studies usually used indicators such as scale or quantity to measure the supply level of UERS enjoyed by residents, ignoring its own quality differences. Therefore, taking the urban development area of Wuhan as the research object, we measured the quality of UERS from four dimensions using the entropy method and designed a method to measure the supply service level under the hierarchical travel threshold to analyze the supply level of UERSs based on a community unit. Finally, combined with the demand characteristics of different groups, the matching relationship between supply and demand of UERSs in each community is quantitatively analyzed. The results show the following: (1) The quality of UERS in urban development area of Wuhan varies greatly and its distribution is extremely uneven. (2) The level of supply services and the demand level vary greatly, and the overall performance has a trend of decreasing from the city center to the periphery. (3) The overall matching relationship between supply and demand of UERS is not ideal, and more than half of the communities are in supply deficit or without services. Our study provides a novel perspective on quantifying the supply–demand relationship of UERS. It can more accurately guide decision-makers and planners in determining areas with mismatches between the supply and demand of UERSs and in making targeted layouts of UERSs and relevant policies.

Evaluation of Health Resource Allocation Efficiency Based on Data Envelopment Analysis 2014–2018 in Two Dimensions of Time-Region

Since the new health care reform, China’s health care system has become increasingly mature and perfect, and the health awareness and needs of residents have also increased, which has raised higher requirements for the scientific understanding of the current status of health care resource allocation and making it achieve the goal of efficient operation. This paper evaluates the allocation of health resources in China from 2014 to 2018 in two dimensions: time and space by reviewing the China Health and Health Statistical Yearbook from 2014 to 2020, collecting data on the number of medical institutions, number of beds, per capita medical budget expenditure, number of consultations, and bed utilization rate during the study time interval, and analyzing them using data envelopment analysis. The results show that there are regional differences in the supply level of medical and health resources in China. Although the supply level is mainly on the rise, there are differences in the supply level of medical and health resources among provinces. The polarization phenomenon exists between eastern, central, and western regions, the urban and rural areas, the urban hospitals, and grassroots-level health care organizations.

Creation of a State Drug Shortage Dashboard in the COVID-19 Pandemic

Purpose: Drug shortages are anticipated to worsen with time as the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues. The aim of this study is to track drug shortages within Illinois and identify causes and trends to this time-sensitive problem. Methods: In order to communicate between health systems within the state, the Illinois Council of Health-System Pharmacists (ICHP) developed a medication shortage dashboard, which collects information from health systems in the state on current drug shortages. Classes of medications inquired about included: anti-infectives, neuromuscular blocking agents (NMBAs), sedatives/analgesics, vasopressors, and “others.” Data was gathered from 6 different medication shortage dashboards, ranging from May 20, 2020 to June 22, 2020 and was used to track drug shortages within Illinois. Additionally, this data was analyzed in conjunction with the number of hospital beds utilized by COVID-19 patients at the time. Results: Illinois’s medication shortage dashboard tracked the supply level of 42 medications used in the treatment of patient’s hospitalized with COVID-19. Data from an average of 75 health systems was analyzed each week (average response rate: 52%). For each medication, health systems identified if they had ample supply, mild shortage, moderate shortage, or critical shortage. Overall the trends of these medications positively correlated with the number of hospital beds utilized by COVID-19 patients in Illinois ( r2 = 0.7). Conclusion: The data from this study supports the conclusion that increased hospital bed utilization by COVID-19 patients is correlated with increased drug shortages of medications used in the treatment of COVID-19. It is imperative that health systems take appropriate action to prevent and manage drug shortages.

A Simplified Methodology for Optimal Location and Setting of Valves to Improve Equity in Intermittent Water Distribution Systems

In this paper, a simplified methodology to increase the water distribution equity in existing intermittent water distribution systems (WDSs) is presented. The methodology assumes to install valves in the water distribution network with the objective to re-arrange the flow circulation, thus allowing an improved water distribution among the network users. Valve installation in the WDS is based on the use of algorithms of sequential addition (SA). Two optimization schemes based on SA were developed and tested. The first one allows identifying locations of gate valves in order to maximize the global distribution equity of the network, irrespectively of the local impact of the valves on the supply level of the single nodes. Conversely, the second scheme aims to maximize the global equity of the network by optimizing both location and setting (opening degree) of control valves, to include the impact of the new flow circulation on the supply level of each node. The two optimization schemes were applied to a case study network subject to water shortage conditions. The software EPA Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) was used for the simulations in the wake of previous successful applications for the analysis of intermittent water distribution systems. Results of the application of the SA algorithms were also compared with those from the literature and obtained by the use of the multi-objective Non-Dominated Sorted Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA II). The results show the high performance of SA algorithms in identifying optimal position and settings of the valves in the WDS. The comparison pointed out that SA algorithms are able to perform similarly to NSGA II and, at the same time, to reduce significantly the computational effort associated to the optimization process.

Combined Influence of Nutrient Supply Level and Tissue Mechanical Properties on Benign Tumor Growth as Revealed by Mathematical Modeling

A continuous mathematical model of non-invasive avascular tumor growth in tissue is presented. The model considers tissue as a biphasic material, comprised of a solid matrix and interstitial fluid. The convective motion of tissue elements happens due to the gradients of stress, which change as a result of tumor cells proliferation and death. The model accounts for glucose as the crucial nutrient, supplied from the normal tissue, and can reproduce both diffusion-limited and stress-limited tumor growth. Approximate tumor growth curves are obtained semi-analytically in the limit of infinite tissue hydraulic conductivity, which implies instantaneous equalization of arising stress gradients. These growth curves correspond well to the numerical solutions and represent classical sigmoidal curves with a short initial exponential phase, subsequent almost linear growth phase and a phase with growth deceleration, in which tumor tends to reach its maximum volume. The influence of two model parameters on tumor growth curves is investigated: tissue hydraulic conductivity, which links the values of stress gradient and convective velocity of tissue phases, and tumor nutrient supply level, which corresponds to different permeability and surface area density of capillaries in the normal tissue that surrounds the tumor. In particular, it is demonstrated, that sufficiently low tissue hydraulic conductivity (intrinsic, e.g., to tumors arising from connective tissue) and sufficiently high nutrient supply can lead to formation of giant benign tumors, reaching tens of centimeters in diameter, which are indeed observed clinically.

Methodology to Increase Flexibility in Inter-Region Flow Control for Urban Traffic

Perimeter control is used to regulate transfer flows between urban regions. The greedy control (GC) method takes either the minimum or the maximum for the control inputs. Although it has the advantage of simplicity for real-time feasibility, a few existing studies have shown that it can sometimes have negative impacts because of unnecessary transfer flow restrictions. To reduce unnecessary restrictions, this study provides a method that gives flexibility to ease the strict conditions of the conventional GC. First, we propose a modification as a way of granting exceptions to the flow restriction under specific conditions. Second, we develop an algorithm to determine the threshold dynamically for accepting the exception, by comparing the possible outflow loss of the subject region and the possible outflow gain of its neighboring regions. The test results show that this flexible greedy control can handle the balance between the transfer demands and the greed of regions for securing the supply level, while increasing the performance in both vehicle hours traveled and trip completion.