Tony H. Grubesic

Community Rates of Breastfeeding Initiation: A Geospatial Analysis of Kentucky

Background: Breastfeeding initiation rates vary considerably across racial and ethnic groups, maternal age, and education level, yet there are limited data concerning the influence of geography on community rates of breastfeeding initiation. Objective: This study aimed to describe how community rates of breastfeeding initiation vary in geographic space, highlighting “hot spots” and “cool spots” of initiation and exploring the potential connections between race, socioeconomic status, and urbanization levels on these patterns. Methods: Birth certificate data from the Kentucky Department of Health for 2004-2010 were combined with county-level geographic base files, Census 2010 demographic and socioeconomic data, and Rural-Urban Continuum Codes to conduct a spatial statistical analysis of community rates of breastfeeding initiation. Results: Between 2004 and 2010, the average rate of breastfeeding initiation for Kentucky increased from 43.84% to 49.22%. Simultaneously, the number of counties identified as breastfeeding initiation hot spots also increased, displaying a systematic geographic pattern in doing so. Cool spots of breastfeeding initiation persisted in rural, Appalachian Kentucky. Spatial regression results suggested that unemployment, income, race, education, location, and the availability of International Board Certified Lactation Consultants are connected to breastfeeding initiation. Conclusion: Not only do spatial analytics facilitate the identification of breastfeeding initiation hot spots and cool spots, but they can be used to better understand the landscape of breastfeeding initiation and help target breastfeeding education and/or support efforts.

The spatio-temporal relationship between alcohol outlets and violence before and after privatization: A natural experiment, Seattle, Wa 2010–2013

Alcohol-related violence is a well-documented public health concern, where various individual and community-level factors contribute to this relationship. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of a significant policy change at the local level, which privatized liquor sales and distribution. Specifically, we explored the relationship between alcohol and violence in Seattle, WA, 2010-2013, via hierarchical spatio-temporal disease mapping models. To measure and map this complex spatio-temporal relationship at the census block group level (n=567), we examined a variety of models using integrated nested Laplace approximations and used the deviance information criterion to gauge model complexity and fit. For each additional off-premises and on-premises alcohol outlet in a given census block group, we found a significant increase of 8% and 5% for aggravated assaults and 6% and 5% for non-aggravated assaults, respectively. Lastly, our maps showed variation in the estimated relative risks across the city of Seattle.

Optimizing oil spill cleanup efforts: A tactical approach and evaluation framework

Although anthropogenic oil spills vary in size, duration and severity, their broad impacts on complex social, economic and ecological systems can be significant. Questions pertaining to the operational challenges associated with the tactical allocation of human resources, cleanup equipment and supplies to areas impacted by a large spill are particularly salient when developing mitigation strategies for extreme oiling events. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the application of advanced oil spill modeling techniques in combination with a developed mathematical model to spatially optimize the allocation of response crews and equipment for cleaning up an offshore oil spill. The results suggest that the detailed simulations and optimization model are a good first step in allowing both communities and emergency responders to proactively plan for extreme oiling events and develop response strategies that minimize the impacts of spills.

Urban governance and big corporations in the digital economy: An investigation of socio-spatial implications of Google Fiber in Kansas City

Abstract In February 2010, Google challenged US cities to compete for being the site of its first attempt at building ultra-high-speed fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network, promising speeds up to one hundred times faster than pre-existing broadband services. More than 1100 cities applied. Kansas City, however, was announced as the winner of the competition. This paper explores the rollout of Google Fiber in Kansas City from three different perspectives. First, we provide a close examination of urban governance and the Fiber project – highlighting numerous regulatory concessions and incentives provided to Fiber during the construction phase. Second, we explore the ways in which pre-existing digital divides and socio-economic inequalities impacted the Fiber plan for Kansas City. Finally, in an effort to better understand the geographic intricacies of Fiber service, this paper uses a novel data mining technique and exploratory spatial data analysis to highlight the provision footprints for two counties in the Kansas City metropolitan area. We conclude with a discussion of the salient policy implications of projects like Fiber for urban governance, highlighting both the promises and stark realities of such ventures.

Breastfeeding Support: A Geographic Perspective on Access and Equity

Background: Clinical lactation professionals, breastfeeding peer counseling, and mother-to-mother support are important sources of information and guidance for helping mothers initiate and maintain breastfeeding in the early weeks, months, and years postpartum. However, there is limited information concerning the geographic barriers that mothers face when seeking this support. Research aim: This study aimed to identify the geographic barriers to breastfeeding support, delineate gaps in access, assess inequities in the distribution of local support, and highlight the underlying differences in access and equity for different demographic and socioeconomic groups. Methods: The locations of formal breastfeeding support resources were collected for the state of Ohio for 2016 and were combined with demographic and socioeconomic estimates and derived transportation catchment areas to conduct an analysis of spatial access and equity. Results: Significant geographic gaps in formal breastfeeding support exist within the state of Ohio. Although urban areas benefit from a higher density of support options, including a wide variety of clinical experts and mother-to-mother support groups, inequities in exurban and rural areas were more strongly aligned with socioeconomic status than geography. In particular, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children offices in rural Ohio offer breastfeeding support to income-qualifying mothers but cannot address the needs of mothers who do not qualify. Conclusion: Spatial analytical approaches facilitate a more nuanced view of access and equity to breastfeeding support options, helping to both decompose important structural differences in the state of Ohio and identify locations that could benefit from additional breastfeeding support resources.

Comparative approaches for assessing access to alcohol outlets: exploring the utility of a gravity potential approach

BackgroundA growing body of research recommends controlling alcohol availability to reduce harm. Various common approaches, however, provide dramatically different pictures of the physical availability of alcohol. This limits our understanding of the distribution of alcohol access, the causes and consequences of this distribution, and how best to reduce harm. The aim of this study is to introduce both a gravity potential measure of access to alcohol outlets, comparing its strengths and weaknesses to other popular approaches, and an empirically-derived taxonomy of neighborhoods based on the type of alcohol access they exhibit.MethodsWe obtained geospatial data on Seattle, including the location of 2402 alcohol outlets, United States Census Bureau estimates on 567 block groups, and a comprehensive street network. We used exploratory spatial data analysis and employed a measure of inter-rater agreement to capture differences in our taxonomy of alcohol availability measures.ResultsSignificant statistical and spatial variability exists between measures of alcohol access, and these differences have meaningful practical implications. In particular, standard measures of outlet density (e.g., spatial, per capita, roadway miles) can lead to biased estimates of physical availability that over-emphasize the influence of the control variables. Employing a gravity potential approach provides a more balanced, geographically-sensitive measure of access to alcohol outlets.ConclusionsAccurately measuring the physical availability of alcohol is critical for understanding the causes and consequences of its distribution and for developing effective evidence-based policy to manage the alcohol outlet licensing process. A gravity potential model provides a superior measure of alcohol access, and the alcohol access-based taxonomy a helpful evidence-based heuristic for scholars and local policymakers.

Oil spill modeling: Risk, spatial vulnerability, and impact assessment

Oil spill modeling is fundamental for planning and preparing for, as well as responding to and mitigating, actual spill events. As a result, significant research effort has been directed toward developing analytical approaches for deepening our understanding of spill risk, community vulnerability, oil behavior, spill outcomes, and impacts. The purpose of this paper is to provide a synthesis of the oil spill risk assessment and impact modeling literature, with a focus on the vulnerability of local environmental, ecological, and community systems, as well as the geographic processes associated with modeling spills and transforming these data into a robust and meaningful impact assessments. The results of this progress report reveal a number of methodological and substantive commonalities across the scientific literature. Moreover, the synthesis of this literature should provide researchers with a strong foundation for pursuing future work in this domain.

Future Shock: Telecommunications Technology and Infrastructure in Regional Research

Telecommunications technologies and their associated infrastructure play a critical role in shaping regions. From economic development and competitiveness, to shaping how citizens participate in a digital society, broadband and wireless telecommunications systems are key general purpose technologies that will continue to influence regions for many years to come. The purpose of this chapter is to explore key challenges in the continued development of the telecommunications ecosystem highlighting how future technologies might impact regions. Challenges discussed include: (1) infrastructure deployment, (2) shifting needs and uses of telecommunications systems, and, (3) future technologies. Implications for regional research and policy are addressed.

An Alternative Classification Scheme for Uncertain Attribute Mapping

The reality of uncertain data cannot be ignored. Anytime that spatial data are used to assist planning, decision making, or policy generation, it is likely that error or uncertainty in the data will propagate through processing protocols and analytic techniques, potentially leading to biased or incorrect decision making. The ability to directly account for uncertainty in spatial analysis efforts is critically important. This article focuses on addressing data uncertainty in one of the most important and widely used exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) techniques—choropleth mapping—and proposes an alternative map classification method for uncertain spatial data. The classification approach maximizes within-class homogeneity under data uncertainty while explicitly integrating spatial characteristics to reduce visual map complexity and to facilitate pattern perception. The method is demonstrated by mapping the 2009 to 2013 American Community Survey estimates of median household income in Salt Lake County, Utah, at the census tract level.

Spatial uncertainty in cluster detection

Advances in GIS are increasingly focused on providing more sophisticated spatial analytical capabilities. Much of this work assumes no attribute and positional uncertainties in data. While there has been considerable research devoted to enhanced data creation techniques and metadata associated with error and uncertainty, little has been done to characterize or better understand error/uncertainty impacts in spatial analysis. This paper explores issues associated with the detection and significance of clusters under known positional uncertainty. Multiple equally likely data instances in which positional certainty is not assumed are assessed for existence of clusters. Results suggest that identified patterns can vary significantly when there is error or uncertainty in spatial data.