BackgroundGeographic information systems have advanced the ability to both visualize and analyze point data. While point-based maps can be aggregated to differing areal units and examined at varying resolutions, two problems arise 1) the modifiable areal unit problem and 2) any corresponding data must be available both at the scale of analysis and in the same geographic units. Kernel density estimation (KDE) produces a smooth, continuous surface where each location in the study area is assigned a density value irrespective of arbitrary administrative boundaries. We review KDE, and introduce the technique of utilizing an adaptive bandwidth to address the underlying heterogeneous population distributions common in public health research.ResultsThe density of occurrences should not be interpreted without knowledge of the underlying population distribution. When the effect of the background population is successfully accounted for, differences in point patterns in similar population areas are more discernible; it is generally these variations that are of most interest. A static bandwidth KDE does not distinguish the spatial extents of interesting areas, nor does it expose patterns above and beyond those due to geographic variations in the density of the underlying population. An adaptive bandwidth method uses background population data to calculate a kernel of varying size for each individual case. This limits the influence of a single case to a small spatial extent where the population density is high as the bandwidth is small. If the primary concern is distance, a static bandwidth is preferable because it may be better to define the "neighborhood" or exposure risk based on distance. If the primary concern is differences in exposure across the population, a bandwidth adapting to the population is preferred.ConclusionsKernel density estimation is a useful way to consider exposure at any point within a spatial frame, irrespective of administrative boundaries. Utilization of an adaptive bandwidth may be particularly useful in comparing two similarly populated areas when studying health disparities or other issues comparing populations in public health.

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Background: Travel time is an important metric of geographic access to health care. We compared strategies of estimating travel times when only subject ZIP code data were available.

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A review of the impacts of deicers used in winter maintenance practices of Portland cement concrete and asphalt concrete roadways and airport pavements is presented. Traditional and relatively new deicers are incorporated in this review, including sodium chloride, magnesium chloride, calcium chloride, calcium magnesium acetate, potassium acetate, potassium formate, sodium acetate, and sodium formate. The detrimental effects of deicers on Portland cement concrete exist through three main pathways: 1) physical deterioration such as "salt scaling"; 2) chemical reactions between deicers and cement paste (a cation-oriented process, especially in the presence of magnesium chloride and calcium chloride); and 3) deicers aggrevating aggregate-cement reactions (such as the anion-oriented process in the case of chlorides, acetates, and formates affecting alkali-silica reactivity and the cation-oriented process in the case of calcium chloride and magnesium chloride affecting alkali-carbonate reactivity). The deicer impacts on asphalt concrete pavements had been relatively mild until acetate-and formate-based deicers were introduced in recent years. The damaging mechanism seems to be a combination of chemical reactions, emulsifications and distillations, as well as the generation of additional stress in the asphalt concrete.