ObjectivesThis paper presents a geographic information system (GIS)-based proximal area method and gravity method for identifying areas with physician shortages. The innovation of this paper is that it uses the appropriate methods to discover each type of health resource and then integrates all these methods to assess spatial access to health resources using population distribution data. In this way, spatial access to health resources for an entire city can be visualized in one neat package, which can help health policy makers quickly comprehend realistic distributions of health resources at a macro level.MethodsFirst, classify health resources according to the trade areas of the patients they serve. Second, apply an appropriate method to each different type of health resource to measure spatial access to those resources. Third, integrate all types of access using population distribution data.ResultsIn case study of Shanghai with the fusion method, areas with physician shortages are located primarily in suburban districts, especially in district junction areas. The result suggests that the government of Shanghai should pay more attention to these areas by investing in new or relocating existing health resources.ConclusionThe fusion method is demonstrated to be more accurate and practicable than using a single method to assess spatial access to health resources.
Although the self-condensing atom transfer radical polymerization (SCATRP) of inimers with typical comonomers has been extensively performed, there have been few reports to correlate the reactivity ratio with the growth of the molecular weights (MWs) and the development of branched structures. Thus, the SCATRP of inimers of different reactivity ratios, namely, 4-chloromethylstyrene (CMS) and maleimide (MI) inimers, with a large excess of styrene (St) were carried out, respectively, to examine the effect. The conversion and MW were monitored by gas chromatography, gel permeation chromatography, and multiangle laser light scattering. The results suggested that CMS merely functioned as an initiator for St at the early stage; this led to linear macroinimers, which underwent SCATRP and gave rise to randomly branched polystyrene (PS) only at high conversion. The MI inimers formed charge-transfer complexes with St and underwent the SCATRP to result in hyperbranched copolymers at first; this initiated the atom transfer radical polymerization of St and led to star-shaped PS. With the objective of improving the processability and melt fluidity, the physical properties of poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) (PPO) blends with linear, randomly branched, and starshaped PS were compared. In comparison with those with linear PS, the PPO/branched PS blends exhibited a higher glass-transition temperature, a higher melt flow index, and a comparable thermal stability because of the spherical architecture of the branched PS.
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