Geographical distribution of at fault drivers involved in fatal traffic collisions in Tehran, Iran

Road Accident Hotspots on Jordan’s Highway Based on Geometric Designs Using Structural Equation Modeling

One of the primary objectives of transportation engineering is to increase the safety of road infrastructure. This study seeks to determine the relationship between geometric design parameters in relation to road accident criteria based on accident hotspots on Jordan’s Desert Highway. The road accident data (from 2016 to 2019) were collected from the Jordan Traffic Department. The spatial pattern of hotspots was identified using a GIS tool named Getis-Ord Gi* based on the severity index of road accidents. A topographic survey was conducted to investigate the road alignment and intersections at hotspot locations. The study utilized the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique via SmartPLS to highlight the correlation between geometric designs in relation to road accidents. The hotspot analysis (Gits-Ord Gi) discovered 80 road accident hotspots along the highway. The study found that horizontal alignment and road intersections significantly impact road accidents in hotspot locations. Furthermore, vertical alignment has no effect on road accidents in hotspot areas. The study enhanced the comprehension of the factors associated with road geometrics and intersections that affect the occurrence of road accidents.

GIS-based risk mapping of cutaneous leishmaniasis: a survey in an endemic area of Central Iran

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a vector-borne infectious disease that is affected by various environmental agents. The main objective of this study was to determine the spatial distribution of CL incidence by using Geographical Information System (GIS). This is a cross-sectional study that was conducted during 5 years from 2014 to 2018 in Isfahan, Iran. We used the required data on each leishmaniasis patient that were recorded from 44 counties of Isfahan in the databases and archive of the Provincial Health Centre. We used GIS for determining the incidence of CL in the high-risk foci. Moran index was used to identify high risk points (clustering in similar values) compared to the values of neighborhood points. Hot spot analysis was conducted by Getis-Ord-Gi. The highest incidence of the disease occurred in the age group of 18-64 years and 61.6% of patients were male. According to seasonal distribution, autumn (58.6%) had the highest frequency. Time trend of incidence showed that it had both decreasing and increasing, and there was a sudden upward trend of disease in 2018 except only two counties. The hot spots were involved the central areas of the Isfahan province slightly toward to the north and southeast of the province. Moran index showed that the differences for all points were not significant (p-value>0.05). Varzaneh (placed in southeast of Isfahan) was the hottest spot and had the worst position for leishmaniasis compared to all years and all cities.