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Abstract:Although a large body of literature has been produced on the theoretical definitions and measurements of accessibility, the extent to which such indicators are used in planning practice is less clear. This research explores the gap between theory and application by seeking to understand what the new wave of accessibility instruments (AIs) prepared for spatial and transport planning practice purports to offer the users of AIs. Starting from the question of how urban and transport planners are designing AIs, the article analyzes and describes the AIs developed over the last decade (mainly in Europe), offering a structured overview and a clear categorization of how accessibility measures can be applied. The paper identifies AI characteristics, and considers their usability, based on AI developer perceptions. IntroductionAccessibility instruments (AIs) are a type of planning support system (PSS) designed to support integrated land-use transport analysis and planning through providing explicit knowledge on the accessibility of land uses by different modes of transport at various geographical scales. They measure, interpret and/or model accessibility and are developed to support the many research tasks involved in planning practice (analysis, design support, evaluation, monitoring, etc.). Although there exists an extensive literature on the analysis and the classification of accessibility measures and indicators incorporated in these AIs (Geurs and van Eck 2001;Geurs and van Wee 2004), less attention has been paid to the planning issues that they seek to support or to their usability and employability for the various planning goals in actual practice. This research aims to fill this gap and provide insights on the two following research questions: How has the new wave of accessibility instruments (AIs) prepared for spatial and transport-planning practice been designed? What is the usability of these planning instruments as perceived by their developers? To provide an answer to these questions, the paper draws on the outcomes of , accessibility analysis and instruments offer a highly suitable framework to support the development of combined land-use and transport strategies, so as to achieve the coordination and synergy required to attain city sustainability goals (Holden 2012;Stead, Geerlings, and Meijers 2004). Indeed, a focus on accessibility makes the overall goal of the land-use and transport system explicit and offers a direct link between the characteristics of flows (i.e., speeds and travel time) and the characteristic of places (i.e., the number of relevant activities in a given area). Because of these features, it represents a potentially powerful approach that planning practitioners can employ to develop and test effective strategies for sustainable cities (Straatemeier 2008), and that could act as good accelerators for a better coordination between urban and transport planning.The second reason for focusing on AIs, and in particular on their usability in planning practice, is that although both the...

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IntroductionUrban passenger mobility has undergone significant changes over the past few decades, with travel patterns becoming increasingly complex and therefore more difficult to predict and manage. Transport policy has traditionally been responsible for the management of mobility patterns. Originally, transport policy aimed at providing an answer to travel needs by offering the necessary transport infrastructure and servicesö the predict and provide paradigm. As part of the new requirements for sustainable development, there has been a general recognition of the need to manage the demand side of travel. The new predict and prevent paradigm requires a broader approach to mobility management, which clearly surpasses the boundaries of traditional transport planning.From a variety of constraints and motivations influencing travel behaviour, landuse and transport systems offer the baseline exogenous conditions steering travel patterns. Land use raises the need to move in order to participate in dispersed urban activities, while transport systems provide the conditions to satisfy these mobility needs. Other aspects, such as socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, lifestyles, cultural backgrounds, and energy issues further influence travel behaviour. Nevertheless, if the urban structure does not provide the necessary conditions to enable mobility to be sustainable, then policy actions on other fields have only limited potential. Focusing on the ability of local planning to contribute to sustainable travel behaviour, this research is centred on the land-use and transport system. Indeed, the need for the integration of land-use and transport policies has been recognised by several authors (

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Fresh-frozen lung and tracheal-aspirate specimens obtained from 112 infants who died in Santiago, Chile, during 1998-2000 were analyzed for the presence of Pneumocystis DNA, by use of nested DNA amplification of the large subunit mitochondrial rRNA, and for the presence of viruses, by use of culture and immunofluorescence. Pneumocystis DNA was detected in specimens from 45 (51.7%) of 87 infants who died in the community and from 5 (20%) of 25 infants who died in the hospital (P=.006). Primary infection with Pneumocystis was highly frequent among infants who die unexpectedly in the community. Infection with viruses was more common in infants who died in the hospital.

The role of meat in squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus (ESCC) has been considered conflictive. For this reason, we decided to conduct a case-control study on meat consumption and ESCC. Data included 234 newly diagnosed and microscopically examined ESCC and 2,020 controls with conditions not related to tobacco smoking nor alcohol drinking and without changes in their diets. We studied total meat, red meat, beef, lamb, processed meat, poultry, fish, total white meat, liver, fried meat, barbecued meat, boiled meat, heterocyclic amines, nitrosodimethylamine, and benzo[a]pyrene in relation with the risk of ESCC. Red meat, lamb, and boiled meat were directly associated with the risk of ESCC, whereas total white meat, poultry, fish, and liver were mainly protective against this malignancy.

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