Daily Incidents Research Articles

The impact of COVID‐19 stay‐at‐home orders on domestic violence assaults: A study of New South Wales

AbstractIntroduction of stay‐at‐home orders during the COVID 19 pandemic led to immediate disruption of individuals' daily routines with confinement to their households and changes in risk factors of domestic violence. Utilising data from the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR), I estimate the causal impact of stay‐at‐home orders on domestic violence assaults in New South Wales. Since adoption dates for these restrictions varied across LGAs, I implement a staggered difference‐in‐difference (DiD) specification. I find a 21% decline in daily domestic violence assault incidents during stay‐at‐home order periods compared to pre‐restriction incidence levels. These results are robust under weekly frequency and extrapolated fixed effects models. I further utilise google search term data as a proxy of consistent reporting rates and unemployment data to identify household power dynamics. Analysis of both data sets support estimates of declines in domestic violence during stay‐at‐home order periods.

Advances in postmortem fingerprinting: Applications in disaster victim identification.

Postmortem fingerprinting is the fastest and most reliable way to scientifically identify unknown decedents from mass fatality incidents. In disaster victim identification (DVI), fingerprints, DNA, and dental examinations are the three primary methods of identification. Additional secondary identifiers such as comparative medical radiography, scars, marks, and tattoos can also be used if viable antemortem information can be located. As DNA technology continues to evolve, RAPID DNA may now identify a profile within 90 min if the remains are not degraded or comingled. When there are true unknowns, however, there is usually no DNA, dental, or medical records to retrieve for a comparison without a tentative identity. It is imperative to understand how to properly collect postmortem prints following various postmortem changes, which databases are available to search against, and what additional resources are available prior to any such event occurring. With advances in technology, automated fingerprint searching is faster than ever before. Mobile devices can now search all the major databases within a matter of minutes from a cell phone or tablet utilizing a peripheral fingerprint scanner. Preliminary research into the application of WD-40® when utilizing optical-capacitive scanners has shown to greatly increase the efficacy of capturing usable fingerprints. This additional step allows for the digital capture of fingerprints in even complicated settings, both in daily cases and DVI incidents. This article outlines all the available ways to obtain postmortem fingerprints in complex cases, and how they can be applied to efficiently and effectively used in the DVI process.

Predictive modeling of severe weather impact on individuals and populations using Machine Learning

In this work, Machine Learning (ML) techniques are used to develop tools capable of accurately predicting the impact of severe weather events. We use readily accessible predictors, including daily meteorological data, basic demographics, geographic and terrain features, along with the number of daily meteorological incidents reported to the emergency services. The model was built using disaggregated data from the 947 municipalities from the region of Catalonia between January 1, 2015 and June 30, 2021. Catalonia’s region is situated in the northeastern part of Spain along the Mediterranean Basin, and frequently experiences storms with strong winds and intense rainfall. In 2020, such weather events resulted in 64 injuries and damages amounting to approximately 70 million USD. The ML-based model presented in this study shows a predictive capacity for extreme weather risk superior to that of the daily meteorological warning system of the Meteorological Service of Catalonia. In addition, the model has been used to estimate how urbanization modifies the extreme weather impact. Given the expected increase in the intensity, frequency, and duration of extreme weather events in the context of global warming, the methodology presented in this work could be helpful in developing tools to assist emergency service managers and policy makers in making rapid and effective decisions.

Associations between violent crime inside and outside, air temperature, urban heat island magnitude and urban green space

There are more incidents of violence in summer and on hot days, a trend likely to be exacerbated by climate change. Urban areas experience additional temperature modulation due to the urban form, however, to date, no studies have considered the effect of the urban heat island (UHI) or green space with respect to the temperature–violence relationship. This study modelled the relationship between the number of daily violent crime incidents that occurred inside or outside between July 2013 and June 2018, and the average surface UHI or percentage greencover (including grasses, shrubs and trees) within each local government area in Greater Sydney, Australia. Panelised negative binomial time series regression models indicated that the violent crime rate was associated with higher surface UHI for crimes committed outside (p = 0.006) but not inside (p = 0.072). Greater percentage of all vegetation was associated with significantly lower rates of violent crime committed outside (p = 0.011) but was not associated with violent crimes committed inside (p = 0.430). More socio-economic disadvantage was associated with higher rates of violent crime committed inside (p = 0.002) but not outside (p = 0.145). Greater temperature was non-linearly associated with higher rates of violent crime committed both inside and outside (p < 0.001). The findings of this study are important because both violence and heat exposure are critical health issues and will be stressed by urbanisation and climate change. The expansion of green space and/or reduction in UHI may mitigate these effects.

Dysfunctional Social Systems, Experiential Traits and Sheer Wickedness: Interrogating the Vicissitudes of Criminal Violence in South Africa

The daily incidents of violent crimes are rampant in South Africa. This incident of violent attacks has placed the country in a bad light in the global ranking of violent countries. Not only has this fact not changed, but it has worsened with recent incidents occasioned by the COVID-19 lockdown. From its description as the world’s ‘murder capital’ and rape capital due to the prevalence of criminal activities, criminal violence in South Africa has grown in intensity. This paper argued that the scourge of criminal violence in South Africa is, partly, a manifestation of a dysfunctional social system that has entrenched the culture of violence as an instrument of interaction in a society characterised by individualistic instinct and consciousness. Exacerbated by the lived experiential traits imbued with wickedness, violent criminal activities have created a society living in fear of instant death and degradation. The research used an interpretivism method from several South African studies, including the culture of violence, criminal violence, and the justice system, to discuss the criminal justice system. This paper submits that a deliberate and conscientious approach, through a reformed criminal justice system as well as societal re-orientation, would be necessary to recalibrate the subconsciousness of citizens to be attuned to the appropriate social order stimulated by responsive and responsible governance structures.

Extreme Heat and Suicide Watch Incidents Among Incarcerated Men

ImportanceExtreme heat poses a distinct risk to the 2.1 million incarcerated people in the United States, who have disparately high rates of behavioral health conditions. Suicide is a leading cause of death among people in prisons.ObjectiveTo examine associations of extreme heat, solitary confinement, and an indicator of suicidal behaviors among incarcerated men in a Deep South US prison system.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsThis longitudinal case series panel study included adult men in prisons in Louisiana, a state with one of the largest prison systems in the United States that has been engaged in litigation due to lack of air conditioning and extreme heat. The unit of analysis was prison facility-days. A facility-level data set was created by merging administrative data files, which included demographic characteristics, health classification, housing location and movement, disciplinary records, and involvement in suicide-watch incidents for all incarcerated men in Louisiana during the observation period. Individual-level variables were aggregated to facility-days to merge in daily maximum heat index data from the US Local Climatological Data, which were linked to the zip codes of prisons. The observation period was January 1, 2015, to December 31, 2017. Data set construction occurred from August 2020 to September 2022, and analysis was conducted from December 2022 to February 2023.ExposureThe focal exposure was extreme heat days. Daily maximum heat index data were categorized into 6 bins (<30 °F, 30-39 °F, 40-49 °F, 50-59 °F, 70-79 °F, and ≥80 °F) and as an indicator for any facility-day where the maximum heat index exceeded the 90th percentile of heat indices for total days in observation period. Conditional fixed-effects negative binomial regression models were used to calculate incident rate ratios to test associations between extreme heat and suicide watch incidents, while controlling for covariates.Main Outcomes and MeasuresThe focal outcome was daily count of suicide watch incidents that were recorded in a carceral system database. Covariates included daily percentages of incarcerated persons at each prison with serious mental illness diagnosis, daily rate of solitary confinement, and total facility population.ResultsThe sample of 6 state-operated prisons provided 6576 facility-days for the analysis. Results suggest a dose-responsive association between extreme heat and daily counts of suicide-watch incidents; compared with days with temperatures between 60 and 69 °F, the rate of daily suicide incidents increased by 29% when the heat index reached the level of caution (ie, 80-89 °F) and by 36% when reaching extreme caution (90-103 °F) (80-89 °F: incidence rate ratio [IRR], 1.29; 95% CI, 1.17-1.43; P < .001; 90-103 °F: IRR, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.15-1.61; P < .001). Compared with other days, those with the extreme heat indicator were significantly associated with a 30% increase in the incident rate of daily suicide-watch incidents (IRR, 1.30; 95% CI, 1.18-1.45; P < .001).Conclusions and RelevanceFindings suggest an association between extreme heat and an indicator of suicidality among an incarcerated sample, contribute to an emerging literature exploring linkages between climatological events and health outcomes in prisons, and may have implications for legal interventions and advocacy seeking to abate heat-induced morbidity and mortality in carceral contexts.

Canada’s cannabis legalization and police-reported cannabis-related criminal incidents among youth, 2015–2021

BackgroundWe previously reported that the 2018 Canadian Cannabis Act, allowing youth to possess up to 5 g dried cannabis or equivalent for personal use/sharing, was associated with short-term (76 days) post-legalization reduction in police-reported cannabis-related crimes among youth. To establish whether the change might be sustained, we now estimate this association during a much longer time period by including an additional three years of post-legalization data. MethodsUsing national daily police-reported criminal incident data from January 1, 2015–December 31, 2021 from the Canadian Uniform Crime Reporting Survey (UCR-2), the study employed Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (SARIMA) time series models to assess the associations between legalization and youth (12–17 years) cannabis-related offenses (male, n = 34,508; female, n = 9529). ResultsLegalization was associated with significant reductions in both male and female police-reported cannabis-related offenses: females, 4.04 daily incidents [95% confidence interval (CI), 3.08; 5.01], a 62.1% decrease [standard error (se), 34.3%]; males, 12.42 daily offenses (95% CI, 8.99; 15.86), a reduction of 53.0% (se, 22.7%). There was no evidence of associations between cannabis legalization and patterns of property or violent crimes. ConclusionsResults suggest that the impact of the Cannabis Act on reducing cannabis-related youth crimes is sustained, supporting the Act’s objectives to reduce cannabis-related criminalization among youth and associated effects on the Canadian criminal justice system.

Firearm Violence Surrounding the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Reopening Phenomenon

IntroductionPast research has demonstrated a “reopening phenomenon” of increased firearm violence associated with the initial lifting of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic-related restrictions after the first wave. Now, with widespread societal reemergence from stay-at-home measures, we hypothesize another spike in firearm violence in the United States (US). Thus, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the trends in firearm violence before and after extensive community reopenings during the COVID-19 pandemic. MethodsThe Gun Violence Archive was utilized to collect data on daily firearm violence incidents, injuries, and deaths as well as on types of firearm violence. Mann–Whitney U-tests were performed for trends and types of firearm violence “before” (12/14/20-4/9/21) versus “after” (4/10/21-7/31/21) widespread societal reopening in the US. Additional analyses also sought to compare the after reopening time-period to historical data (2017-2020) of similar calendar dates, to better control for possible annual/seasonal variation. ResultsMedian daily firearm violence incidents (153 versus 176, P < 0.001), injuries (89 versus 121, P < 0.001) and deaths (54 versus 58, P < 0.001) increased from before versus after reopening. Compared to all historical years, in the after reopening time-period there were consistent increases in total as well as mass shooting incidents/injuries/deaths (all P < 0.05). ConclusionsFirearm violence incidents, injuries, and deaths increased after societal reemergence from the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, there has been an increase in mass shootings despite a relative lull initially brought on by the pandemic. This suggests the “reopening phenomenon” has worsened an already substantial national firearm epidemic.

Recent Links between Zoonosis and a Catastrophic Global Climate Change

COVID-19 has caused widespread fear, a global health catastrophe, and a fall in the global economy. There has been a conflict over COVID-19 cases over the last couple of years. Daily incidents prompted previously unheard-of preventative measures, incarcerating a considerable percentage of the world's population and establishing "social distance" as the newly accepted standard of behavior. All recent outbreaks within the past few decades share a common characteristic: they are zoonotic viruses that spread through human contact and wreak havoc on mankind. COVID-19, EBOLA, Zika virus, avian flu, the West Nile virus, SARS, and MERS all exhibit this characteristic. In essence, zoonotic viruses that spread from animals to humans cause 70% of all infectious diseases worldwide. COVID-19 has taught humanity how terrible life can be. Its link to climate change is likewise not obscured from humans. As zoonotic diseases become more common, humans must consider the larger picture, including their connection to climate change. We can learn how to limit climate change by addressing pandemics and the reasons behind those triggers.&#x0D; This paper aims to analyses recent zoonotic virus outbreaks linked to climate change over the past few decades and ponders the possible consequences for humanity and its future. The paper also discusses potential causes of epidemics that happened in the past linked with the climate crisis as well as mitigation strategies for the climate crisis to prevent them from disrupting our daily lives.

Implementation of the Convention against Torture in Taiwan: Filling the Gap in the International Struggle against Torture?

AbstractThe universal system of protection against torture established by the United Nations (UN) is confronted with daily incidents of torture and other cruelties in all regions of the world. Moreover, despite the ratification of UN treaties, most governments lack a genuine commitment to address these abuses. In contrast, the anti-torture safeguards under the UN Convention against Torture and its Optional Protocol are currently being implemented in Taiwan, even though Taiwan is not part of the UN and cannot participate in the international human rights dialogue. The process of incorporation of UN anti-torture documents by a non-UN member is all but easy. This article shows, however, that commitment to combat torture goes beyond the UN treaty system and might be a welcome contribution towards the current debate on fostering compliance with human rights treaties both in Asia-Pacific and around the globe.

Effect of weather variables on the incidence of trauma: A retrospective study at a single tertiary hospital center for 4 years.

The occurrence of trauma is associated with various factors, including weather. We aimed to elucidate the relationship between local weather factors and the incidence of trauma to effectively manage and treat patients in a community setting. A retrospective study was conducted at a single center from January 2016 to December 2019. The study participants were trauma patients in the Cheongju area where the regional trauma center is located. Weather data including average daily temperature (°C), rainfall duration (hours), amount of rainfall (mm), average relative humidity (%), wind speed (m/s), and total sunlight hours per day were collected. One-way analysis of variance, correlation analysis, and linear regression analysis were performed. The average age of the participants (n = 3352) was 52.69 years. As regards seasonal difference in the incidence of trauma, there were more patients in spring than in winter (2.42/day vs 2.06/day, P = .05). The highest number of average daily trauma incidents occurred from April to June, and the difference between this value and that from January to February was significant (F = 2.20, P = .01). According to the distributed lag nonlinear model (DLnM), the relative risk is greater than 1 when the mean temperature is high (>15°C) compared to when the temperature is low (<15°C). The trauma patient prevalence was the highest at high wind speed (4.5 m/s). When the total amount of sunlight was long (>Ref. 8 hours), the trauma patient prevalence was relatively higher than the median value (lag = 0). DLnM analysis results showed that the relative risk of trauma patients increased as the amount of precipitation increased, and the incidence of trauma increased when the relative humidity was 40% to 50%. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that high average daily temperatures and long average daily total sunlight hours resulted in an increased incidence of trauma (F = 6.605, P < .001). An increase in temperature, an increase in the daily sunlight hours, an increase in rainfall, high wind speed, and relative humidity of 40% to 50% are associated with a relatively high risk of trauma.

Daily Creativity: The Role of Personal Resources and Daily Negative Incidents

Being required to be creative during most of their working days is a daily challenge for innovators. Prior research indicated that innovator’s personal resources may help them to be creative in their working environments. This study examines two very different personal resources. Specifically, we examine an innovator’s resilience and sensor-processing sensitivity as potential drivers for their daily creativity. In an aim to also investigate when these two personal resources are most (or least) beneficial, we also include the moderating role of experienced daily negative incidents. As this study examines the effects of more stable personal resources (i.e., resilience and sensor-processing sensitivity) on daily creativity, we applied an experience sampling research design to collect our data. 138 innovators responded to our baseline survey capturing the stable constructs and to at least two daily survey entries., The results indicate that high levels of resilience could help employees to be creative and that this relationship is not moderated by daily negative incidents. We did not find a significant relationship between sensitivity and daily creativity, but when an individual is exposed to negative incidents on a given day, sensitivity is negatively related to creativity.

When to resume bariatric surgery after COVID-19 pandemic?: results of patients\u2019 and surgeons\u2019 survey

BackgroundCoronavirus Disease 2019 is affecting most countries around the world, including Poland. In response, all elective surgeries have been postponed. We asked patients and surgeons when they want bariatric surgery to resume after pandemic. The main aim of the study was to determine patients’ and surgeons’ expectations about when to resume bariatric surgery regarding COVID-19 pandemic state.MethodsThe study was conducted in two groups: Group 1—bariatric patients; Group 2—bariatric surgeons. Two online surveys were distributed.ResultsA total of 895 patients, 299 before, 596 after surgery and 32 surgeons took part in survey. All patients and surgeons declared willingness to resume bariatric surgeries after pandemic and responded that they should be resumed immediately the World Health Organization announces end of pandemic (42%). The majority of patients before surgery answered that bariatric procedures should be resumed immediately the number of daily incidents begins to decrease (53%). In the patient group, current body mass index (p < 0.001) and contact with COVID+/quarantined persons (p < 0.001) had impact on the response to resumption of bariatric procedures.ConclusionsPatients opted to wait for bariatric surgery until the oncological queue has become shorter. Surgeons presented a readiness to resume both procedures in parallel.

Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest in London during the COVID-19 pandemic

AimThere is an emerging potential link between the COVID-19 pandemic and incidence and outcomes from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). We aimed to describe the incidence, characteristics and outcomes from OHCA in London, UK during the first wave of the pandemic. MethodsWe examined data for all OHCA patients attended by the London Ambulance Service from 1st March to 30th April 2020 and compared our findings to the previous year. We also compared OHCA characteristics and short-term outcomes for those suspected or confirmed to have COVID-19 with those who were not. Additionally, we investigated the relationship between daily COVID-19 cases and OHCA incidents. ResultsWe observed an 81% increase in OHCAs during the pandemic, and a strong correlation between the daily number of COVID-19 cases and OHCA incidents (r=0.828, p<0.001). We report an increase in OHCA occurring in a private location (92.9% vs 85.5%, p<0.001) and an increased bystander CPR (63.3% vs 52.6%, p<0.001) during the pandemic, as well as fewer resuscitation attempts (36.4% vs 39.6%, p=0.03) and longer EMS response times (9.3 vs 7.2min, p<0.001). Survival at 30 days post-arrest was poorer during the pandemic (4.4% vs 10.6%, p<0.001) and amongst patients where COVID-19 was considered likely (1.0% vs 6.3%, p<0.001). ConclusionsDuring the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in London, we saw a dramatic rise in the incidence of OHCA, accompanied by a significant reduction in survival. The pattern of increased incidence and mortality closely reflected the rise in confirmed COVID-19 infections in the city.

HUMAN ACTIVITY RECOGNITION BASED ON SMARTPHONE SENSOR DATA USING CNN

Abstract. Human activity recognitions have been widely used nowadays by end users thanks to extensive usage of smartphones. Smartphones, by self-containing low-cost sensing technology, can track our daily activities for serving healthcare, sport, interactive AR/VR games and so on. However, smartphone technology is evolving and the techniques of using the data that smartphones go through are also improving. In this study, we used built-in sensing technologies (accelerometer and gyroscope) available in nearly every smartphone to detect the most common 5 daily activities of human by taking the data of these sensors and extract the features for a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) model. We prepare a dataset and use TensorFlow to train the collected data from the sensors then filtered it to be processed. We also discuss the differences in CNN model accuracy with different optimizers. To demonstrate the model, we developed an android application that successfully predict an activity. We believe that after improving this application, it can be used for especially lonely old people to immediately warn authorities in case of any daily incidents.

The Influence of Extreme Heat on Police and Fire Department Services in 23 U.S. Cities.

Recent research suggests that extreme heat affects the demand for emergency services, including police and fire department incidents. Yet there is limited understanding of impacts across U.S. cities, with varying population sizes, and between different climates. This study sought to examine the daily utilization of police and fire department services, during hot days in 23 U.S. cities representing six climate zones using relative risk (RR) and time series analyses of daily police and fire department incidents. The warm season analyses utilized three temperature metrics: daily maximum temperature (TMAX), daily maximum heat index (HIMAX), and the preceding daily minimum temperature (TMIN). Across these cities, the RR of police department incidents on days where TMAX was at or above the 95th percentile significantly increased within a range from 3% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.3%, 6.3%) to 57% (95% CI: 24.5%, 89.7%), compared with a nonhot day. At the same temperature thresholds, the RR of fire department dispatches increased from 6% (95% CI: 3.0%, 8.6%) to 18% (95% CI: 15.2%, 21.6%). These results remained consistent across temperature metrics and consecutive days of extreme heat. The estimated effects of daily maximum temperature, daily maximum heat index, and daily minimum temperature were nonlinear for police and fire department incidents across all cities. These findings inform climate change adaptation strategies, preparing budgets and personnel for emergency agencies to ensure resilience as periods of extreme heat increase in frequency, severity, and duration.

«DAILY ACCIDENTS OF DAMASCUS» BY AHMAD AL-BUDAIRI AND THE SERIES «URBAN STUDIES: PRIMARY SOURCES AND RESEARCH» AT ODESSA NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

This publication is a comprehensive review of the book «Daily Incidents of Damascus» by Ahmad al-Budayri, an Arabic author of the XVIII century.Text refers to the widespread genre of Arab-Muslim literature «hawadis» - daily incidents. A translation of this work with extensive commentaries and a analytic preface made by a scholar F.O. Nofal opens the book series “Urban Studies: Primary Sources and Studies” at the Odessa I. I. Mechnikov National University. In this regard, it is made an attempt to connect the urban issues of the unassuming story of a simple barber of the XVIII century with contemporary problems of urban studies as an interdisciplinary field of scientific research and practice.Background. The Faculty of Philosophy has a long tradition of investigation of the city phenomenon as part of various scientific projects, for example “Academic Jewish Studies” with Hebrew University in Jerusalem(the first issue of series “Jewish Studies in Odessa”is published under the title “Mom of the Cities of Israel ...”, international scientific seminar “Strategies for working with otherness. Regional Judaica in Odessa”). All these projects are somehow related to the theoretical and practical problems of urban studies. In addition, the “Philosophical Oriental Studies” series has recently been established in Odessa National University. And the first book in this series became a monograph of Faris Nofal “The category of “faith” in classical Islamic theology. Historical and philosophical essays” (2016). Thus, the necessary background was created for a synthetic contemplation of the problems of urban and oriental studies.Objectives. The purpose of this publication is to show the heuristic possibilities of the synthesis of modern urban and oriental studies using an example of the book «Daily Incidents of Damascus» by Ahmad al-Budayri, that was first translated from Arabic and has became available to Ukrainian and Russian philosophy and Humanities.Methods. We consider that the most fruitful areas of modern re-reading of «Daily Incidentsof Damascus» in the light of urbanism are the theoretical and methodological trends studies of everyday life in cities, “biography of the city”, “own logic of cities”,urban discourse, urban anthropology.Research. Based on the published text, it is difficult to get an idea of an integral and coherent picture of the life of the Middle Eastern city. Al-Budairi writes his story without looking back at the canon and the metropolitan example. This is his own biography, derived from the background of urban routine. A small ordinary man who does not identify himself with either the Caliphate or the Ottoman Empire dissolves in everyday life and puts forward his view of the events in which his city participates. He constantly criticizes power and appeals to the will of Allah. In this case, according to the translator and the author of the preface, we are dealing with the product of a “new Arab consciousness” and an example of a new urban “philosophy”.Conclusion. The published text of the chronicler al-Budairi allows us to look at the city with different eyes. The Havadis genre, updated by the author of “Everyday Incidents…”, is the result of a turn to habits and everyday life, to natural world-experience, and pre-reflexive knowledge. No less valuable is the fact that it allows you to plunge into the atmosphere of a traditional Muslim city, while usually urbanism takes as a model a modern western city. Thus, there is every reason to consider such a synthesis of traditional oriental studies and the modern t urbanism of the XXI century relevant and promising for the development of the philosophical and interdisciplinary urban studies.

Crime prevention of bus pickpocketing in Beijing, China: does air quality affect crime?

In recent years, along with the development of the urban public transport system, bus pickpocketing crimes have garnered increasing attention. In this paper, a complete and clear structure including finding patterns based on data, applying criminological theory to explain patterns, and using empirical investigation method to verify theoretical explanation are presented. We found that temperature and season are not clearly correlated with bus pickpocketing. The AQI and PM2.5 indices, however, demonstrated significant correlations with daily bus pickpocketing incidents: the worse the air quality, the more bus pickpocketing occurred. Then two empirical investigations were carried out to verified that crime pattern theory and rational choice theory can be used to explain the impact of air quality on bus pickpocketing crime. Furthermore, we utilized the SVM method to predict daily bus pickpocketing crime risk with an accuracy rate of 81%. The results of this paper can provide early warnings of urban bus pickpocketing and help police reduce crimes.

Disease Burden on Health Facilities in Governorates South of Karbala During the Arbaeenia Mass Gathering in Iraq in 2014: Cross-Sectional Study.

BackgroundMillions of Iraqi pilgrims travel annually from the southern governorates to Karbala and pass through Thiqar, Muthana, and Diwania Governorates to join the Arbaeenia mass gathering event. During this event, participants are at high risk for diseases and death and stifle local health care resources. In addition, the mass gathering causes considerable burden on health facilities in the hosting localities.ObjectiveThis study aims to estimate the disease burden on health facilities caused by the pilgrims passing through Thiqar, Muthana, and Diwania Governorates en route to Karbala in Iraq.MethodsThis cross-sectional study was conducted on all health facilities in three governorates (Thiqar, Muthana, and Diwania) situated along the southern way to Karbala from Basra. The study started on December 11, 2014, and ended on December 24, 2014. The morbidity and mortality were collected from surveillance logbooks and death registers. Drug purchase data were obtained from the personnel in charge of the pharmacies. The study period was divided into three phases on the basis of the timing of the mass gathering event: pre-event, the event, and postevent.ResultsThere were 884,834 incidents reported during the study. The majority of incidents were reported during the event phase (95%) and were attended mostly at mobile clinics (77%). The average daily incidents during the pre-event, event, and postevent phases were 4300, 56,040, and 4548 incidents, respectively. Musculoskeletal disorders were the most common illness reported (55%). The average number of daily deaths was 43, 36, and 45 during the pre-event, event, and postevent, respectively, and these values did not differ significantly. Cardiovascular diseases (43.5%), injuries (29.8%), and respiratory illnesses (12%) were the leading causes of deaths. Approximately US $1.3 million was spent on drug purchases during this mass gathering in the three governorates.ConclusionsThe Arbaeenia mass gathering causes a tremendous disease and economic burden on governorates that pilgrims pass through to attend this mass gathering in Karbala. Although Iraq’s Ministry of Health is aware of the high burden of this mass gathering on the health facilities in these governorates, more work is needed to ensure quality services during the event.

Active and syndromic surveillance for mass gatherings: BOOM festival 2018, Portugal

Purpose: To describe the implementation and results of an active syndromic surveillance team in a planned and recurrent international mass gathering (MG) allowing early detection of outbreaks, and thereby, allowing intervention by local, national and international authorities. Methods & Materials: A field team of 17 health-care workers performed active and syndromic surveillance at Boom Festival 2018 between 21st and 29th of July 2018, in Portugal. Data including demographic characteristics, signs, symptoms, and environmental exposure was collected during admission at Boom Medical Service (BMS). Paper records were transcribed and analyzed with Microsoft Excel® 2016 (v 16.0). Descriptive analysis was performed and reported daily to relevant stakeholders. Results: Approximately 30,000 people from 147 countries attended the BOOM Festival, and 3,100 healthcare episodes occurred, including 451 (14.5%) complaints of gastrointestinal symptoms. During the Festival, there was a considerable increase in the incidence of gastrointestinal symptoms and an early warning alert for a possible outbreak of acute gastroenteritis was issued to the national health authorities on 24th of July. Interventions were carried out in collaboration with local public health authorities to control the outbreak and to address possible common-sources of infection. Contaminated food or water were suspected, and a person-to-person transmission was not excluded since several cases mentioned attending another MG and symptom onset before arrival at the festival. The concern about an early stage outbreak was valid since 62.5% (n = 282) of the cases with gastrointestinal symptoms were reported between 26th-29th of July. Conclusion: Active and syndromic surveillance are essential for timely data collection and analysis in MGs, delivering a comprehensive snapshot of daily incidents, enabling rapid response to possible outbreaks and providing early-warning alerts for stakeholders. Nevertheless, enhancements are needed: data sharing and improved communication channels between stakeholders and similar international MG are necessary to create an effective syndromic surveillance system. Author response to letter from Gomez et al.International Journal of Infectious DiseasesVol. 91PreviewThe abstract by Maki et al. (2019) contained limited information from a poster presented in a late-breaking session at the Seventh International Meeting on Emerging Diseases and Surveillance. The work had IRB approval (HFHS #12383), and informed consent was obtained prior to collecting samples. Full-Text PDF Open AccessBacterial colonization in point-of-use filters and deaths in Flint, MichiganInternational Journal of Infectious DiseasesVol. 91PreviewThe study by Maki et al. (2019) examined the effects of point-of-use (PoU) filters on bacterial infections in residents of Flint, Michigan homes. The authors noted that 12 pathogens (including Pseudomonas aeruginosa) were detected in PoU filters in 10 Flint homes and that residents of 70% of these homes had severe respiratory infections. Additionally alarming, the authors reported an astounding 50% mortality rate in their study sample. Full-Text PDF Open Access