Cartographic Tools Research Articles

Mapas analíticos: una mirada sobre la organización y sus procesos de trabajo

The center of the discussion that this paper tries to face is the challenge of a method. An analytical look is searched for about the health organizations that have a mode of production depending on the "alive work in action", which in its own, provides a high complexity to the scene, since this alive work, while being operated in action in the work processes, contains a great power to form networks with a high capacity of subjectivity. We suggest the unions of workers build the cartography: a) the "maps of conflicts", b) the "maps of unusual acts", c) the "maps of useless acts", and from these maps, we may proceed with the discussion, analysis and self-analysis of the processes lived in the work situation. Through this experience, it was proved the efficiency of the "analytical maps" as cartographic tools. Applied to the work processes, we captured the continuous and non-continuous movements of the alive work in its dynamics, also revealing the affection and manifestations of desire in the production of the reality. These maps had the function of the "lens" of the cartographer to visualize the work process and the production of reality in its micropolicy.

Geografia e saúde coletiva no Brasil

Resumo Este artigo faz uma reflexão a respeito da importância da geografia para a pesquisa em saúde coletiva no Brasil. Por meio de uma revisão bibliográfica narrativa, o autor descreve os principais temas abordados, agrupando os artigos selecionados de três das principais revistas brasileiras da área - Revista de Saúde Pública, Cadernos de Saúde Pública e Saúde e Sociedade - por escolas do pensamento geográfico. Discute também os avanços alcançados, assim como os desafios teóricos e metodológicos da saúde coletiva com base nos conhecimentos geográficos. Observou-se a importância do geoprocessamento em saúde para estudos de distribuição espacial, principalmente de doenças infectocontagiosas e parasitárias. Da mesma forma, foi possível identificar o crescimento da produção científica em estudos com base no pensamento crítico, com destaque para as publicações recentes na revista Saúde e Sociedade. A comparação dos trabalhos publicados também proporcionou a identificação de desafios metodológicos a serem enfrentados para o estudo da saúde coletiva com embasamento ainda maior de conhecimentos geográficos, como o uso de modelos preditivos e análise de superfícies de tendências, assim como o desenvolvimento de novas ferramentas cartográficas para a compreensão da realidade social em transformação e movimento.

Adapting and Reacting to Measure an Extreme Event: A Methodology to Measure Disaster Community Resilience

The 2005 UN Hyogo Declaration introduced the concept of resilience in the field of disaster risk reduction (DRR) unifying environmental sustainability and civil protection concepts. Crucial in this new approach is the development of a new quantitative adaptive strategy, which starting from the risk analysis of a territory, aims at strengthening a symbiotic and adaptive relationship between human communities and their surrounds. This paradigmatic shift needs new analytical and measuring tools in order to describe, evaluate and develop sustainable DRR strategies. Traditional cartographic tools, such as hazard, vulnerability, or risk maps, cannot appropriately represent the overall resilience of a territory (inclusive of its social and environmental dimensions). This article proposes a methodological approach to map such community resilience by assessing energy and resource consumption to maintain the stability of the social-ecological system. Starting from the identification of the complex relations between socioeconomic processes and disasters, this method computes a resilience score or index, integrating hazard and vulnerability factors with emergency management actions (e.g. community planning, mitigation and disaster response capabilities). Such index will enable, inter-alia, the drawing of maps of resilience, necessary to planners and policy makers to assess the effects and sustainability of different DRR strategies and policies.

Creating dialogues: Exploring the ‘good early childhood educator’ in Chile

The aim of this study was to explore the different ways in which a number of Chilean stakeholders conceptualise the ‘good early childhood educator’ in Chile. In a context where new foreign narratives are increasingly dominating the field and the recent standardisation of the educators’ professional role is being implemented, this research constitutes a critical and alternative viewpoint, analysing the situation as a whole and creating dialogues between key actors in order to open possibilities to new understandings. Twenty-three participants, including early childhood educators, teacher educators and key informants from national providers of early childhood education, were interviewed. Adopting a postmodern approach to grounded theory (situational analysis), the participants’ discourses were analysed and compared, together with a diversity of identified elements and human and non-human actors. Shared meanings, conflicts, tensions and local understandings were identified in the data and cartographic tools were used to illustrate them. The article concludes with some reflections on the new possibilities these findings can bring to the future of structures and discourses within the early childhood profession in Chile and worldwide.

Updated Bouguer anomalies of the Iberian Peninsula: a new perspective to interpret the regional geology

ABSTRACTBouguer anomaly maps are powerful cartographic tools used mainly by geoscientists and natural resources' companies (oil, mining, etc.) since they reflect rock density distribution at different depths, allowing the identification of different tectonic features. At upper crustal levels, Bouguer anomaly maps can help, for instance, in characterizing possible ore deposits, ground water reservoirs, petroleum resources, CO2 storage sites and sedimentary basins; at deeper crustal levels they can help to further refine seismic velocity models or other integrated geophysical models and thus help in deciphering the lateral density variations within the crust and the geometry of the base of the crust. This new Bouguer anomaly map at a 1:1,500,000 scale is based on the compilation of 210,283 gravity stations covering the Iberian Peninsula (c. 583,254 km2). The new map upgrades previous maps in two ways: (1) it is built up from a database with a 15% more spatial coverage than previous compilations and (2) it is freely available. This map show shorter wavelengths than previous published maps thus allowing investigation of smaller geological features.

Software for spatial analysis and visualisation of cluster randomised trials - a review of available tools

In this context we define spatial analysis to mean Statistical Inference which takes into account spatial data, including but not limited to spatial exploratory data analysis. Groups in a Cluster randomised trial (CRT) are often defined geographically, giving spatial structure to the data. Taking account of the spatial aspects in the design and analysis of such a trial is important as it may influence results. In addition, the hierarchical structure imposed by the design should be adjusted for in the analysis. Therefore selecting software for spatial analysis of CRTs necessitates the capacity to accommodate for both spatial and clustering effects. The range of spatial software available is broad in focus and capabilities, with a plethora of options to choose from determining what tool to use is not necessarily straight forward. In the last decade due to rapid development of spatial methods in Statistical packages and the expansion of Statistical toolboxes in Geographical Information Systems there is substantial overlap in abilities. This review provides a comparison of current software options offering spatial analytical and visualisation techniques. First giving a brief account of the numerous cartographic visualisation tools, then focusing on what differentiates the capabilities of the analytical software. In regards to the latter we'll give special attention to multi-level modelling in both a Frequentist and Bayesian framework. Therefore demonstrating the flexibility of the options now available for the Analysis of CRTs taking into account spatial aspects.

Schools of thoughts in heritage and tourism management of the historic city

Goal and objectives of the dissertationGoalThe goal of the doctoral thesis is to analyze the tourist use of the historic city and how this process affects to urban heritage in two cities from the British and Mediterranean contexts, namely Plymouth and Malaga.Objectives* To analyse common and different aspects in heritage preservation and management in Europe, focusing on the British and Spanish models.* To examine how the heritage framework has evolved in selected cases and which is the current framework in relation to legislation and the role of administrations involved.* To study the historic evolution of urban tourism in both cities and the current relevance of tourism-related activities.* To analyse the different stakeholders and initiatives affecting the tourist use of the historic city in both cases, dividing them into four aspects: heritage and culture, tourism, urban planning and economy.* To compare how both cities compete in bidding for major events, regenerating their waterfront and developing creative neighbourhoods.* To develop strategies and proposals to achieve a better balance in the tourist use of Malaga's historic city.MethodologyThe general work plan is based on Brito's diagram (2009) for approaching the concept of the tourist-historic city (Ashworth and Tunbridge, 2000). It consists of analysis of the historic city as a heritage asset, study of the urban cultural tourism phenomenon and work on the definition and management of the tourist-historic city.The analysis of the British and Spanish models has been made comparing the conceptualisation of heritage, legal framework, weight of the public, private and third sectors, distribution of duties among public agencies, funding and listing process.Each study case follows the same process as the theoretical framework. At first, the evolution of heritage preservation and management is analyzed since late 19th century until the first decade of 21st century through a qualitative research based on documents from public archives, urban plans and other administrative documents. The current framework is a comparative analysis on designation of protected historic sectors, national and local listing, heritage at risk, evolution of listing criteria and comparison with other cities from the region.The evolution of urban tourism is based on documents from public archives, urban plans and other administrative documents. There is a specific section for the evolution of references appearing in guidebooks from 1820 to 1990, following the methodology of Marine-Roig (2011) and Gali Espelt (2005). References have been given a specific value and grouped in 12 thematic categories that reflect the evolution on the interest to visit the selected cities. This methodology has been applied to analyze current guidebooks and other sources of information for tourists as well, making it possible to compare present and past main tourist attractions and services.The current impact of tourism-related activities is based on the definition of the tourist system made by De la Calle Vaquero (2006). Data has been collected from fieldwork, leaflets, webpages, routes, current guidebooks, direction signs, panels and plaques. References have been given a specific value and grouped in categories. Information has been processed using a virtual cartography tool, following the methodology of Salerno, Casonato and Villa (2011) and Olukole and Balogun (2011) and finally presented in 13 intensity maps.The study of stakeholders and initiatives on policies affecting management of tourist use in the historic city is based on fieldwork and qualitative analysis of plans and projects from the public administration, public-private agencies, private companies and third sector organisations.ResultsIn an area of the same size, there are 327 listed assets in Plymouth, while in Malaga there are only 45. …

Las técnicas geomáticas aplicadas en la agricultura: el catastro agrícola en Cuba

Las técnicas geomáticas, geoinformáticas o de geoinformación, como se prefiera nombrarlas, son un conjunto de tecnologías geoespaciales así como programas informáticos especializados para el análisis de los datos y su representación espacial. Entre las más importantes destacan la teledetección, los Sistemas de Información Geográfica (SIG), los Sistemas de Posicionamiento Global (GPS) y la cartografía, así como el software para el procesamiento digital y representación CAD, entre otros. Hoy en día sería casi imposible gestionar los procesos agrarios sin recurrir al empleo de alguna de estas técnicas. Una de las herramientas cartográficas temáticas fundamentales son los mapas catastrales, definidos como documentos cartográficos que representan los bienes inmuebles de un área agrícola con suficiente detalle espacial para facilitar la gestión a nivel de parcelas, sub-parcelas e incluso a escala intraparcelaria. Precisamente el trabajo tiene como objetivo demostrar la necesidad e importancia del empleo de las herramientas catastrales para lograr una gestión agraria y territorial eficiente. Para ello se hace analiza el avance del catastro como sistema en Cuba, llegando a la concepción contemporánea y se particulariza en los catastros especializados para el sector, mostrando un ejemplo concreto que permite a los directivos y especialistas de las pymes apreciar sus bondades.Revista Ciencias Espaciales, Volumen 8, Número 2 Otoño, 2015; 11-28

Cloud-based Atlassing

The Internet has evolved into a powerful tool for cartography, highly useful both from the mapmaker’s and the user’s point of view. With the recent emergence of cloud computing, these benefits are taken even a step further. Using the example of atlases, this article discusses theoretical and practical opportunities of cloud-based cartography. Two broad topics are dealt with. The first, addressed in sections 1 and 2, concerns how cartography gradually evolved into the cloud, and how cloud computing can provide solutions for the challenges faced by geospatial sciences. The second topic, covered in chapters 3, 4 and 5, addresses issues of atlas cartography: starting with a critical review on current literature, we will argue that the fundamental characteristic of digital atlases is not so much the use of digital maps, but rather the combination of these maps. Based on this assumption we will show, how digital atlases facilitate the synthesis of different maps, and how atlas production can benefit from a cloud-based approach. We shall close the paper with a look at how the cloud can transform future school atlases from products to processes (termed ‘atlassing’), executed in a stand-alone mode, or as part of learning management systems.

Germany’s Wild East: Constructing Poland as Colonial Space by Kristin Kopp (review)

Reviewed by: Germany’s Wild East: Constructing Poland as Colonial Space by Kristin Kopp Kristin Poling Germany’s Wild East: Constructing Poland as Colonial Space. By Kristin Kopp. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 2012. Pp. viii + 255. Cloth $85.00. ISBN 978-0472118441. In Germany’s Wild East, Kristin Kopp adds a compelling case to the growing body of scholarship arguing for the inclusion of Poland within studies of German colonialism. Focusing on the discursive colonization that she sees as the necessary complement of material colonization, Kopp argues that from the middle of the nineteenth century on Germans understood Polish space with a diffusionist worldview much like the Eurocentric diffusionism that J.M. Blaut found to underwrite English and French overseas colonial projects in the same era (The Colonizer’s Model of the World: Geographic Diffusionism and Eurocentric History [1993]). Accordingly, Germans saw themselves as cultural agents capable of expansion and improvement, while understanding Poles as the passive beneficiaries of German culture. By the end of the nineteenth century, Kopp argues that this diffusionist worldview provided an “inner connection between all German settlements” (2), whether overseas or in the Slavic [End Page 673] East. Reinventing the long history of settlement in the East going back to the Middle Ages as a story of persistent German colonization legitimized new overseas colonial ambitions by grounding them in centuries of history and German identity. At the same time, the proximity and instability of the German-Polish border produced anxieties about Germans’ effectiveness as colonizers and their supposedly unique vulnerability to the threat of “reverse diffusion,” whether in the form of territorial loss or cultural regression on the borders of settlement. Kopp writes with clarity and great appeal about a wide range of sources, including literature both high and low, maps, and film. While she is at times revisiting well-treaded ground, particularly in the first three chapters on representations of Poland in literary sources, she brings something new to her analyses of Gustav Freytag’s Soll und Haben (1855), Clara Viebig’s Das schlafende Heer (1904), and Theodor Fontane’s Effi Briest (1895). Using the lens of colonial discourse and providing rich historical contextualization for each of her studies, Kopp gives a nuanced interpretation of how representations of German-Polish relations evoked global colonial geographies, while also challenging the stable boundary between colonizer and colonized. This is well demonstrated by her examination of the image of the “black Pole” in inner colonial literature from the period around 1900. These novels valorized German settlement campaigns in the eastern reaches of Prussia that were intended to displace Poles and tip the population balance in ethnically mixed areas to create a German majority. Kopp argues that the repeated identification of blonde Germans and dark-haired Poles in expansionist novels evoked the racial categories of overseas colonial literature, but also “reveal[ed] an anxiety of racial containment” (78) that was all the more pronounced because the actual borders between German and Pole were uncertain. The final two chapters treat postcolonial discourse about the German East after World War I. In the first of these, Kopp shows how mapmakers deployed cartographic tools to legitimize German irredentist and expansionist claims, with reference to the chapter’s ample and useful illustrations. One way in which cartographers justified German eastward expansion was by mapping not just the bounds of German settlement, but also the more elusive territory of German Kulturboden, that expansive area deemed to have been shaped by German culture at some point in the past, even if containing negligible German population in the present. In the face of postwar losses, the emphasis on Kulturboden allowed a retreat to a happier past while justifying more aggressive German territorial claims. The fifth and final chapter, then, looks at the idea of Kulturboden in the interwar period through a captivating close reading of Fritz Lang’s two-part Nibelungen (1924). Kopp persuasively argues that the film is about not only the trauma of border violations, but also the status of eastern lands as German Kulturboden degraded by its primitive Asiatic inhabitants. To represent the threat from the East, Lang assembled the visual world of the Huns out of a mishmash...

MediEVAL : un nouvel outil d’évaluation de la prise en charge médicamenteuse

A new methodology to evaluate the medication-use system based on a risk cartography tool, has been developed. This work has been promoted by the Observatoire du médicament et des dispositifs médicaux stériles et de l'innovation thérapeutique (OMEDIT) from Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (PACA)-Corse regions. This new methodology has been developed with Excel (Microsoft(®)) and has led to the mediEVAL tool. It consists in two categories of Excel files: evaluating Excel files (1 for each job of the medication-use system) and synthesis Excel files which allow to compile a group of evaluating files for a defined area (department, hospital…). mediEVAL is a new tool to evaluate quality and risk management of the entire medication-use system which has to be used by private or public hospitals of PACA and Corsica areas in their appropriate medication-use contract. Then, the OMEDIT can get data to provide an inventory of fixtures of the PACA-Corse area medication-use system situation.

Dynamic of the Vegetation in the Surrounding Zones of the Coastal Village of Playa Florida, Camagüey, Cuba

A study about the dynamic of vegetation during the last 50 years was made in the surrounding areas of the coastal village Playa Florida, south coast of the province of Camaguey, Cuba. The information to analyze the changes of the coastal vegetation, considered those located below the lever curve of 5 m, was obtained from 1:50 000 cartographic maps of 1956 and 1977, and a satellite photo of 2010. The covered area for every type of vegetation was calculated using digital cartography tools. It was observed an increase of the mangrove area that includes mangrove, lagoons and herbaceous vegetation up to the tide line. It is explained by the fact of the displacement of the mangrove to the terrestrial zone has been higher that the backward of the coastal line, mainly due to the natural sinking of the marine platform and the erosion produced in the beach by human activity.

Aplicaciones cartográficas para la valoración de superficies de escorrentía. Riu Girona (Alicante)

En el presente artículo se plantea una metodología centrada en elaborar una cartografía que sirva para evaluar las diferentes superficies de escorrentía que se encuentran en una cuenca. El marco geográfico sobre el cual se aplica a modo de experimento es el río Girona, localizado en el norte de la provincia de Alacant. Para llevar a cabo la metodología ha sido imprescindible revisar investigaciones sobre coeficiente de escorrentía para llegar a confeccionar una fórmula matemática que ayudara a obtenerlo. Para ello se ha trabajado con distintas variables espaciales integradas en un Sistema de Información Geográfica, con tal de realizar combinaciones entre pendientes, litología y usos del suelo y cubierta vegetal. Dentro de la metodología seguida, el proceso de fotointerpretación ha jugado un papel importantísimo como método de adaptación a la escala de trabajo y como herramienta de evaluación de la superficie.

The geomorphologic and pedo-morphologic maps of Skhirat (Feriana, Tunisia) at the 1:50,000 scale

Land planning and land restoration in drylands affected by desertification require a good understanding of the active geomorphic processes, their intensities and spatial patterns. Traditional Soil and Land Suitability maps do not incorporate this information and may be partially inadequate in that regard, because they necessarily give a ‘static’ representation of the land. The geomorphology of the study area (Feriana district, Central Western Tunisia) is complex, including relict landforms, such as Quaternary pediments, fossil sand dunes, and the evidence of ancient endorheic systems. On the other hand the area is characterized by active and intense geomorphic processes: water and wind erosion, aeolian deposition, and localized present-day endorheism accompanied by water logging and salt accumulation processes. The soils reflect the imprints of multiple past and present pedogenic and geomorphic processes.In this study a Geomorphologic and a Pedo-morphologic Map were produced to provide the local decision makers with cartographic tools to best plan land use options and land restoration. The Maps were drawn at the 1:50,000 scale based on detailed photo-interpretation and on dedicated field surveys.

Eco-sostenibilità dell'agricoltura e spazio rurale: profili territoriali di vulnerabilità al degrado delle terre

Drought, land degradation, and desertification are global problems which involve different climatic, soil, vegetation, agricultural and demographic factors. Originally attributed to the most arid regions of the world, the risk of desertification has rapidly increased in temperate regions. In Mediterranean Europe, high human pressure, climatic changes, and intensive agriculture development has combined to produce land consumption, a key factor in starting desertification processes. Unfortunately, the effect of agriculture on land degradation has been poorly considered as far as quantitative indicators and cartographic tools are concerned. The aim of this paper is to introduce a system of agro-environmental indicators aimed at improving a model for desertification risk assessment, especially focusing on land quality, farm management and the impact of agricultural practices. Based on a multivariate exploratory strategy including non-hierarchical cluster analysis and linear discriminant analysis, thirty-two indicators have been included in an Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) application to define the contribution of agriculture to land sensitivity in the Region of Lazio (Latium), Italy. Finally, new findings achieved in the context of the agricultural impact on the environment have been discussed as an original contribution to the study of desertification. Nell’Europa Mediterranea la pressione demografica unita alle variazioni climatiche e ad uno sviluppo agricolo a tratti intensivo hanno contribuito al degrado del territorio rurale che risulta cosi piu esposto al rischio di desertificazione. Dal punto di vista del monitoraggio, tale fenomeno non ha ancora avuto una sistematizzazione adeguata, nonostante i numerosi approcci proposti, tra cui spicca il modello ESA (Environmentally Sensitive Areas), che rappresenta ad oggi uno standard condiviso a livello internazionale anche se criticato in alcune sue componenti. L’obiettivo di questo lavoro e proporre un sistema di indicatori ed una metodologia di analisi integrata che possano contribuire al monitoraggio permanente del livello di vulnerabilita degli spazi rurali ai fenomeni di degrado delle terre superando i limiti intrinseci del modello ESA. L’approccio ha previsto l’identificazione di 32 indicatori derivanti da fonti censuarie su cui e stata applicata una strategia esplorativa basata su analisi dei gruppi, al fine di individuare partizioni territoriali omogenee in termini di vulnerabilita. Le variabili maggiormente significative nel determinare tali gruppi sono state identificate mediante analisi discriminante. La classificazione territoriale cosi ottenuta e stata verificata attraverso confronto con tre indici di vulnerabilita indipendenti. La metodica e stata applicata a livello comunale nella regione Lazio ed ha individuato nelle variabili di intensificazione dell’agricoltura e di uso insostenibile delle risorse naturali a scala locale gli indicatori che maggiormente caratterizzano i comuni classificati come vulnerabili, posti lungo la costa e nelle pianure interne. I risultati proposti consentono di discutere il contributo degli indicatori agro-ambientali nello studio del rischio di desertificazione nel Mediterraneo.

Cartographic Procedure for the Analysis of Aeolian Erosion Hazard in Natural Parks (Central System, Spain)

AbstractCartographic analysis of the hazard of erosion is a useful tool for the planning and management of natural parks, helping to establish measures for protection and correction. Such parks, which offer spectacular landscape views and natural beauty, must be conserved with all their resources. Accordingly, park managers must have the cartographic tools for hazard planning, which is necessary for the rational and sustainable handling of human activities and the establishment of preventive and corrective measures. The present work describes a cartographic procedure using GIS that determines the risk of aeolian erosion. The method was applied to two protected natural parks in the central mountain system in Spain. This cartographic method revealed a weak risk of hazard of erosion in low‐lying areas or valley floors, with increasing risk in areas of deflation. These areas were explored by mapping geomorphological domains and slopes, characterising different surficial deposits: colluvium, piedmonts, debris cone, alluvial fans and river terraces. Aeolian erosion on cultivated surfaces with gentle slopes was observed to be low, but in sectors with little agricultural activity and undulated reliefs, the hazard of erosion is important owing to the high analytical and textural erodibility and scant vegetation cover of these sectors. These parameters were studied on the basis of the mapping of soils and soil profiles. Additionally, the cartography of vegetation and the wind index in the cartographic procedure allowed for the different degrees of aeolian erosion to be better quantified. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

VISUALISATION SUPPORT FOR EXPLORING URBAN SPACE AND PLACE

Abstract. Urban research is fundamentally underpinned by heterogeneous, highly varied data. The availability and quantity of digital data sources is increasing rapidly. In order to facilitate decision-making and support processes related to urban policy and management, such data has to be readily analysed, synthesised and the results readily communicated to support evidence based decision-making. In this paper, we consider the current state of play of visualisation as it supports urban research. In doing so we firstly consider visualisation environments such as geographical information systems (GIS) and Cartography tools, digital globes, virtual simulation environments, building information models and gaming platforms. Secondly, we consider a number of visualisation techniques with a focusing on GIS and Cartography tools including space time cubes, heat maps, choropleth maps, flow maps and brushing. This review of visualisation environments and techniques is undertaken in the context of the Australian Urban Research Infrastructure Network project (www.aurin.org.au). AURIN is tasked with developing a portal and associated e-Infrastructure, which provides seamless access to federated data, modelling and visualisation tools to support the urban researcher community in Australia. We conclude by outlining future research and development opportunities in developing the AURIN visualisation toolkit by reflecting on the value of visualisation as a data exploration and communication tool for researchers and decision-makers to assist with the study and management of the urban fabric.

Geographical epidemiology of antibacterials in the preschool age

BackgroundThematic maps allow a more rapid and immediate reading of the geographical differences in the distribution of data referred to a specific territory. The aim of this study was to show, for the first time, the application of some statistical and cartographic tools in the analysis of drug utilization in the pediatric population of an Italian region, and to assess the intra-regional difference in the antibiotic prescriptions.MethodsTo assess the type of geographic distribution of the prescriptions, the analyses were based on the standardized prevalence rate (z-score) calculated at the local health unit, health district, and municipality levels. Pearson’s coefficient of correlation was used to evaluate the correlation with hospitalization and the Moran’s I index was used to evaluate the existence of spatial autocorrelation. With the use of Getis-Ord’s G statistic, clusters of areas with high and low levels of prevalence were identified and mapped. The probability of receiving at least one prescription of antibacterials during the year for all the children included in the study was evaluated with a logistic regression model.ResultsWith the use of the maps it was possible to see that the prescriptions were not correlated with the health status of the population, but with the tendency of the pediatrician to prescribe drugs. This was also confirmed by the logistic regression model constructed to estimate the probability of receiving at least one prescription of antibacterials considering, as independent variables: age, sex, prevalence of hospitalizations in the district of residence, prescriptive attitude of the pediatrician, sex of the pediatrician, pediatrician’s age group, and duration of the pediatrician’s contract with the local health unit (LHU).ConclusionsThe priority actions to rationalize the use of antibacterials in the preschool age should concentrate on the active participation of the pediatricians in permanent education activities. Moreover, the competent authorities should increasing their efforts to limit unnecessary prescriptions and increase appropriateness of prescribing.RiassuntoIntroduzioneLe mappe tematiche consentono una più rapida ed immediata lettura delle differenze geografiche nella distribuzione di dati riferiti ad un territorio specifico. Lo scopo dello studio è mostrare, per la prima volta, l’applicazione di alcuni strumenti statistici e cartografici, nell’analisi dell’uso dei farmaci nella popolazione pediatrica di una regione italiana e valutare le differenze intra-regionali.MetodiPer valutare il tipo di distribuzione geografica delle prescrizioni, sono stati calcolati i tassi di prevalenza standardizzati (punteggi-z) a livello di ASL, Distretti Sanitari e Comuni. Per valutare la correlazione con le ospedalizzazioni è stato usato il coefficiente di correlazione di Pearson; per valutare l’esistenza di autocorrelazione spaziale è stato usato l’indice I di Moran. Tramite l’uso della statistica G di Getis-Ord sono stati identificati cluster di aree ad alto e basso livello di prevalenza. Infine con un modello di regressione logistica è stata stimata la probabilità di ricevere almeno una prescrizione nel corso dell’anno per tutti i pazienti inclusi nello studio.RisultatiCon l’uso delle mappe è possibile vedere che le prescrizioni non sono correlate con lo stato di salute della popolazione, ma sono correlate con l’attitudine prescrittiva del pediatra. Questo è confermato anche dal modello di regressione logistica costruito per stimare la probabilità di ricevere almeno una prescrizione considerando come variabili indipendenti l’età, il sesso, la prevalenza di ricoveri nel distretto di residenza, l’attitudine prescrittiva del pediatra, la classe di età del pediatra e la durata della convenzione del pediatra con l’Azienda Sanitaria Locale (ASL).ConclusioniGli interventi primari per razionalizzare l’uso degli antibiotici in età prescolare dovrebbero concentrarsi sulla partecipazione attiva dei pediatri in attività di educazione permanente. Inoltre il contenimento delle prescrizioni di ASL e Distretti dovrebbe prevedere un ulteriore controllo da parte delle autorità competenti in merito all’appropriatezza prescrittiva.

Accessibility of Prague by Roadway Transport from 1920 to 2020

This paper analyzes the automobile accessibility of Prague from the Czech territory over a 100-year period: from the creation of independent Czechoslovakia to the planned completion of an arterial network of motorways and high-speed roadways in 2020. Using publications containing information about the evolution of the road network in Czechia, we digitised historical maps and created geo-databases of the road infrastructure. We then produced accessibility models and performed accessibility analyses for four years – 1920, 1960, 2001 and 2020, using ArcGIS 9.3. These were compared and changes in accessibility were identified using cartographic tools.

Converging Themes in Cartography and Computer Games

Maps and games have a long history of co-evolution, and after many years of parallel and sometimes independent development, we see today a convergence of mapping and gaming technologies. This report presents five broad themes in current-day computer gaming and cartography, highlighting some of the connections between these two dynamic fields and arguing for the potential of combining modern cartographic theory, tools, and practice with gaming approaches.