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Effect of asymmetrical street aspect ratios on microclimates in hot, humid regions

Qaid A, Ossen DR

Int J Biometeorol, 2015 Jun;59(6):657-77.
PMID: 25108376 DOI: 10.1007/s00484-014-0878-5

Asymmetrical street aspect ratios, i.e. different height-to-width (H1/W-H2/W) ratios, have not received much attention in the study of urban climates. Putrajaya Boulevard (northeast to southwest orientation) in Malaysia was selected to study the influence of six asymmetrical aspect ratio scenarios on the street microclimate using the Envi-met three-dimensional microclimate model (V3.1 Beta). Putrajaya Boulevard suffers from high surface and air temperature during the day due to the orientation, the low aspect ratio and the wide sky view factor. These issues are a common dilemma in many boulevards. Further, low and high symmetrical streets are incompatible with tropical regions as they offer conflicting properties during the day and at night. These scenarios are examined, therefore, to find asymmetrical streets which are able to reduce the impact of the day microclimate on boulevards, and as an alternative strategy fulfilling tropical day and night climatic conditions. Asymmetrical streets are better than low symmetrical streets in enhancing wind flow and blocking solar radiation, when tall buildings confront winds direction or solar altitudes. Therefore, mitigating heat islands or improving microclimates in asymmetrical streets based on tall buildings position which captures wind or caste shades. In northeast to southwest direction, aspect ratios of 0.8-2 reduce the morning microclimate and night heat islands yet the negative effects during the day are greater than the positive effects in the night. An aspect ratio of 2-0.8 reduces the temperature of surfaces by 10 to 14 °C and the air by 4.7 °C, recommended for enhancing boulevard microclimates and mitigating tropical heat islands.

Matched MeSH terms: Transportation/statistics & numerical data*
Analyzing the relationships between travel mode indicators and the number of passenger transport fatalities at the city level

Asadi-Shekari Z, Moeinaddini M, Sultan Z, Shah MZ, Hamzah A

Traffic Inj Prev, 2016 08 17;17(6):650-5.
PMID: 26890058 DOI: 10.1080/15389588.2015.1136739

OBJECTIVE: A number of efforts have been conducted on travel behavior and transport fatalities at the neighborhood or street level, and they have identified different factors such as roadway characteristics, personal indicators, and design indicators related to transport safety. However, only a limited number of studies have considered the relationship between travel behavior indicators and the number of transport fatalities at the city level. Therefore, this study explores this relationship and how to fill the mentioned gap in current knowledge.
METHOD: A generalized linear model (GLM) estimates the relationships between different travel mode indicators (e.g., length of motorway per inhabitants, number of motorcycles per inhabitant, percentage of daily trips on foot and by bicycle, percentage of daily trips by public transport) and the number of passenger transport fatalities. Because this city-level model is developed using data sets from different cities all over the world, the impacts of gross domestic product (GDP) are also included in the model.
CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the results imply that the percentage of daily trips by public transport, the percentage of daily trips on foot and by bicycle, and the GDP per inhabitant have negative relationships with the number of passenger transport fatalities, whereas motorway length and the number of motorcycles have positive relationships with the number of passenger transport fatalities.

Matched MeSH terms: Transportation/statistics & numerical data*
Cross-national comparisons of socioeconomic differences in the prevalence of leisure-time and occupational physical activity, and active commuting in six Asia-Pacific countries

Bauman A, Ma G, Cuevas F, Omar Z, Waqanivalu T, Phongsavan P, et al.

J Epidemiol Community Health, 2011 Jan;65(1):35-43.
PMID: 20943821 DOI: 10.1136/jech.2008.086710

This study describes physical activity patterns and their association with socioeconomic factors in six countries in the Asia-Pacific region, and examines whether physical activity associations with socioeconomic status follow similar patterns across the six countries.

Matched MeSH terms: Transportation/statistics & numerical data*
Fulltext Community Needs Assessment in Relation to Urban Heat Effects: A Study in Greater Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Wong LP, Alias H, Aghamohammadi N, Nik Sulaiman NM

Biomed Environ Sci, 2018 09;31(9):705-711.
PMID: 30369349 DOI: 10.3967/bes2018.095
Matched MeSH terms: Transportation/statistics & numerical data
Fulltext Fatal occupational injuries among non-governmental employees in Malaysia

Abas AB, Mohd Said DA, Aziz Mohammed MA, Sathiakumar N

Am. J. Ind. Med., 2013 Jan;56(1):65-76.
PMID: 22544443 DOI: 10.1002/ajim.22056

BACKGROUND: In Malaysia, surveillance of fatal occupational injuries is fragmented. We therefore analyzed an alternative data source from Malaysia's Social Security organization, the Pertubuhan Keselamatan Sosial (PERKESO).
METHODS: We conducted a secondary data analysis of the PERKESO database comprised of 7 million employees from 2002 to 2006.
RESULTS: Overall, the average annual incidence was 9.2 fatal occupational injuries per 100,000 workers. During the 5-year period, there was a decrease in the absolute number of fatal injuries by 16% and the incidence by 34%. The transportation sector reported the highest incidence of fatal injuries (35.1/100,000), followed by agriculture (30.5/100,000) and construction (19.3/100,000) sectors. Persons of Indian ethnicity were more likely to sustain fatal injuries compared to other ethnic groups.
CONCLUSIONS: Government and industry should develop rigorous strategies to detect hazards in the workplace, especially in sectors that continuously record high injury rates. Targeted interventions emphasizing worker empowerment coupled with systematic monitoring and evaluation is critical to ensure success in prevention and control measures.

Matched MeSH terms: Transportation/statistics & numerical data*
Associations of occupational, transportation, household and leisure-time physical activity patterns with metabolic risk factors among middle-aged adults in a middle-income country

Chu AH, Moy FM

Prev Med, 2013;57 Suppl:S14-7.
PMID: 23276774 DOI: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2012.12.011

This study investigates physical activity in different domains and its association with metabolic risk factors among middle-aged adults.

Matched MeSH terms: Transportation/statistics & numerical data*
Fulltext Cluster Analysis Evaluating PM2.5, Occupation Risk and Mode of Transportation as Surrogates for Air-pollution and the Impact on Lung Cancer Diagnosis and 1-Year Mortality

Abdul Wahab S, Hassan A, Latif MT, Vadiveel Y, Jeyabalan T, Soo CI, et al.

Asian Pac J Cancer Prev, 2019 07 01;20(7):1959-1965.
PMID: 31350951 DOI: 10.31557/APJCP.2019.20.7.1959

Objective: Epidemiological studies have reported the close relationship between risk for lung cancers and air pollution
in particular, for non-smoking related lung cancers. However, most studies used residential address as proxies which may
not estimate accurately an individual’s air pollution exposure. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify risk factors
such as occupation and mode of transportation associated with lung cancer diagnosis and death. Methods: Subjects
with lung cancer (n=514) were evaluated both by chart reviews for clinical data and interviews to determine residential
address for ten years, main occupation and main mode of transportation. Annual particulate matter with diameter size
less than 2.5 micrometre (PM2.5) concentration were calculated based on particulate matter with diameter size less than
10 micrometre (PM10) data recorded by Malaysian Department of Environment. Logistic regression analysis, cluster
analysis and the Cox regression analysis were performed to the studied variables. Results: This study concurred with
previous studies that lung adenocarcinoma were diagnosed in predominantly younger, female non-smokers compared
to the other types of lung cancers. Lung adenocarcinoma subjects had annual PM2.5 that was almost twice higher than
squamous cell carcinoma, small cell carcinoma and other histological subtypes (p=0.024). Independent of smoking,
the κ -means cluster analysis revealed two clusters in which the high risk cluster involves occupation risk with air
pollution of more than four hours per day, main transportation involving motorcycle and trucks and mean annual PM2.5
concentration of more than 30 based on residential address for more than ten years. The increased risk for the high-risk
cluster was more than five times for the diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma (OR=5.69, 95% CI=3.14-7.21, p<0.001).
The hazard ratio for the high-risk cluster was 3.89 (95% CI=2.12-4.56, p=0.02) for lung adenocarcinoma mortality at
1 year. Conclusion: High-risk cluster including PM2.5, occupation risk and mode of transportation as surrogates for
air-pollution exposure was identified and highly associated with lung adenocarcinoma diagnosis and 1-year mortality.

Matched MeSH terms: Transportation/statistics & numerical data*
Fulltext Work related injury and illness: exploring the return-to-work program in Malaysia

Awang H, Mansor N, Rodrigo SK

Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health, 2015 Nov;46(6):1124-33.
PMID: 26867371

Illness and injury have a significant impact on employees, their families and employers. The consequences faced by an injured worker could lead to disability, which could then lead to inability to work. This study examined the patterns of the Return to Work (RTW) using data from The Social Security Organisation (SOCSO) of Malaysia RTW database from 2010 to 2013. Factors of successful return to work, employees' salary upon returning to formal employment were also investigated. Gender, age, year of injury, industry, and job hierarchy were found to be significant predictors of employees' salary upon returning to work. Although there are other costs involved on the part of employers and employees, themselves, in the long term the financial returns that can be brought back by injured workers who have successfully returned to work combined with the qualitative benefits substantially outweighs the costs of RTW program.

Matched MeSH terms: Transportation/statistics & numerical data