Factors In Urban Area Research Articles

COVID-19 knowledge, attitude and frequent hand hygiene practices among taxi drivers and associated factors in urban areas of Ethiopia.

Although several studies have been conducted on COVID-19 knowledge, attitude and prevention practices among healthcare workers and the general population, there has not been any study among taxi drivers in Ethiopia, including Dessie City and Kombolcha Town, the lack of which hinders providing evidence-based interventions to this target group. Thus, this study was designed to contribute to proper planning of COVID-19 intervention measures among taxi drivers in Dessie City and Kombolcha Town, Ethiopia. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 417 taxi drivers in Dessie City and Kombolcha Town during July to August, 2020. The data was collected using a structured questionnaire and an observational checklist. The collected data was checked, coded and entered to EpiData version 4.6 and exported to Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25.0 for data cleaning and analysis. The outcome variables of this study were good or poor knowledge, positive or negative attitude and good or poor frequent hand hygiene practices towards COVID-19. Bivariate (Crude Odds Ratio [COR]) and multivariable (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR]) logistic regression analysis were employed to identify factors significantly associated with good knowledge, positive attitude and good frequent hand hygiene practices among taxi drivers. Significance level of variables was declared at a p < 0.05 from the adjusted analysis. Out of the total 417 taxi drivers, 69.8% [95% CI: 65.2-73.9], 67.6% [95%CI: 63.1-72.2] and 66.4% [95% CI: 62.1-71.0] of the drivers had good knowledge, positive attitude and good frequent hand hygiene practices, respectively. Educational level (AOR = 7.55, 95% CI = 4.55-12.54), place of residence (AOR = 5.41, 95% CI = 1.4-20.08) and attitude towards COVID-19 prevention (AOR = 1.67, 95% CI = 1.02-2.74) were factors associated with good knowledge about COVID-19. Further, age of taxi drivers greater than 30 years (AOR = 3.01, 95% CI = 1.76-5.13), educational level of secondary or above (AOR = 3.16, 95% CI = 1.88-5.31), income (AOR = 3.36, 95% CI = 1.48-7.61), and knowledge about COVID-19 (AOR = 2.1, 95% CI = 1.21-3.54) were factors associated with positive attitude towards COVID-19 prevention. In addition, attitude towards COVID-19 (AOR = 5.5, 95% CI = 3.40-8.88) and educational level (AOR = 1.84, 95% CI = 1.15-2.95) were the factors associated with good frequent hand hygiene practices. We concluded that the rates of good knowledge, positive attitude and good frequent hand hygiene practices were relatively low among taxi drivers in Dessie City and Kombolcha Town. We strongly recommended providing training about COVID-19 prevention measures for taxi drivers that considers age, education status and attitude areas essential to improve their knowledge, attitude and frequent hand hygiene practices to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Study on Coupled Relationship between Urban Air Quality and Land Use in Lanzhou, China

The intensification of global urbanization has exacerbated the negative impact of atmospheric environmental factors in urban areas, thus threatening the sustainability of future urban development. In order to ensure the sustainability of urban atmospheric environments, exploring the changing laws of urban air quality, identifying highly polluted areas in cities, and studying the relationship between air quality and land use have become issues of great concern. Based on AQI data from 340 air quality monitoring stations and urban land use data, this paper uses inverse distance weight (IDW), Getis-Ord Gi*, and a negative binomial regression model to discuss the spatiotemporal variation of air quality in the main urban area of Lanzhou and its relationship with urban land use. The results show that urban air quality has characteristics of temporal and spatial differentiation and spatially has characteristics of agglomeration of cold and hot spots. There is a close relationship between urban land use and air quality. Industrial activities, traffic pollution, and urban construction activities are the most important factors affecting urban air quality. Green spaces can reduce urban pollution. The impact of land use on air quality has a seasonal effect.

Climate change adaptation with green roofs: Instrument choice and facilitating factors in urban areas

ABSTRACT Although green roofs are considered as a no-regret adaptation measure that helps to address various impacts of climate change, they are still rather rare. This paper explores three major European cities that have policies in place that are supposed to facilitate the installation of green roofs. We ask what approaches were chosen by local authorities to promote green roofs and which factors facilitated their implementation. Our analysis is based on implementation literature in general as well as adaptation policy literature in particular. It combines literature reviews and eleven interviews with policymakers and other stakeholders. The study reveals that immediate threats and particular events (e.g., urban heat islands or floods), an overall social and political environment favoring green solutions, so-called change agents, and a supportive framing determine if green roofs are considered as an attractive solution. However, even when multiple benefits of green roofs are beyond doubt, local governments largely prefer fiscal incentives over mandatory policies.

Application of gravity exploration in urban active fault detection

Active faults are a major source of danger for destructive earthquakes. It is an important task for urban earthquake disaster prevention to find out the spatial location and structural attributes of active faults. At present, the most effective geophysical exploration method for detecting and locating urban concealed active faults is shallow seismic exploration, while other geophysical exploration methods are seldom used. In the detection of active faults in Shanghai, seismic exploration is greatly influenced by human factors in urban areas and the efficiency is low. In this paper, through the comparison and analysis of the alignment of seismic and gravity, it is found that the interpretation results of gravity exploration have a good correspondence with the fault structures interpreted by shallow seismic exploration. At the same time, gravity method reveals that there may be other fault anomalies near the fault anomalies identified in previous literature. It illustrates the effectiveness and feasibility of high-precision gravity detection methods in the detection of urban active fault, and also provides important reference significance for active fault detection in other regions.

Evapotranspiration estimation using three-temperature model and influencing factors of Nanning City, China

Evapotranspiration is the key element of hydrological energy cycle and climate system. It is of great significance to estimate the spatiotemporal variation of evapotranspiration and its response to climate and land use changes for understanding the effects of water cycle and ecological processes in urban basins. Based on the three-temperature model and MODIS Image, we estimated and analyzed the spatiotemporal variation of evapotranspiration in Nanning City from 2001 to 2018, and examined the influence and driving mode of main climate factors and land use types on evapotranspiration. The results showed that the annual average evapotranspiration of Nanning City ranged from 495.7 to 781.1 mm during 2001-2018, with the inter annual relative variability ranging from -22.5% to 23.1%, showing an overall upward trend. The regional evapotranspiration showed a distribution pattern of high north-south and low middle, with the urban evapotranspiration being significantly lower than suburban area. The evapotranspiration had a significant multiple correlation with climate factors. The influence of temperature on the evapotranspiration was stronger than precipita-tion. Evapotranspiration was temperature driven in suburbs, but was driven by multiple factors in urban area. The average evapotranspiration of different land use types in Nanning was forests (823.4 mm) > grasslands (675.6 mm) > croplands (582.9 mm) > urban area (346.6 mm). The change of land use type was the main underlying surface factor leading to the significant change of regional evapotranspiration.

Soundscape mapping for spatial-temporal estimate on bird activities in urban forests

Soundscape mapping provides a unique perspective to explain the complicated spatial-temporal change of bird activities in urban forests. Most studies of soundscapes have used multi-point distribution to record sounds, which is challenging for explaining complex interferences factors in urban areas. In this study, we used soundscape mapping to explore the habitat selection of bird communities in the context of spatial-temporal structural changes. We selected the transition area from city to forest in Shenzhen, China, as the study area, set up 30 recording points which arranged in grid patterns (5 × 6), and used synchronic recording methodology to collect sounds. Aural species identification, power spectral density (PSD), and normalized-difference sound index (NDSI) were used to quantify sounds. Passerine birds (92.11 %) were found to comprise the first acoustic communities. Changes in bird species populations among seasons were noted, with spring having the most abundant bird species number (n = 59) and the most abundant ecoacoustic events. Bird communities with different frequency band clusters having different preferences for vegetation characteristics were detected. A significant two-way interaction between the accessibility of recording points and seasons on bird activities was found in this study. Urban forest spatial structure had a great effect on bird activities, and specifically through the shape of forest vertical structure complexity and forest edge effect. Our study shows the broader application potential of soundscape mapping in urban forest ecosystem research.

Factors Affecting Migration Trend and Its Impact on the Socioeconomic Conditions of the World Community

The study was carried out in Feb, 2020. The major objectives were to analyze the factors which affect the migration trend and its impact on the socioeconomic conditions of the world. Total 48 articles were downloaded from the net and study each article 10 times and analyzed the situation and draw the conclusion. The conclusion indicates that due to full and pushes factors the people migrate from one region to other region of the world for their common interest. The push factors are terrorism, poverty, non availability of health facilities, lack of employments, lack of education facilities, and unfavorable situation in the country. Due to these factors they migrate to other region in the world where the situation is good and the mentioned facilities are available which attract to them to their site. Sometime these factors are called full factors. The situation in the urban sector is better than the rural. So mostly people migrate from rural region to urban region or those countries where the jobs situation is available. Similarly push factors like inadequate health facilities, inadequate education facilities, terrorism, and conflicts in village are the main factors which push the peoples to urban areas and other countries of the world where the opportunities of livelihood is more . Like push factors there are some pull factors in urban area and other countries of the world which attract the peoples to their sites. Better health facilities, better education facilities, higher employments opportunity, bright children futures and many others things which attract the peoples of rural areas to urban areas and other countries of the world. Majority people from other countries come to Dubai and America for the purpose of good opportunities. The review also reported that after rural-urban migration Joint families convert in to nuclear family and It also affect the socio-economic conditions of migrant household. The dissimilarity between rural-urban incomes shows that there was a large differentiation in the daily wage as well as monthly earning of the rural-urban areas in the world. After migration to urban area the economic situation was improved while few one fail in their mission and live a distress life in the urban area. The occupation of the majority of the respondents changes from farming to private job, driving and business. Due to availabilities of better amenities their livelihood values were enhanced up to certain level in urban community. Furthermore their educational ratio and health status improved with migration. After the migration active/earning members of household were improved. So the study recommends that to create good situation and opportunities in the country for controlling the migration because sometime the imbalances occurred in different region of the world which make the environment of the urban area distress due to more pressure population on the urban sector.

Compliance of lung cancer screening with low-dose computed tomography and influencing factors in urban area of Henan province

Objective: To evaluate the compliance of low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) screening for high-risk groups of lung cancer and influencing factors in urban area of Henan province during 2013-2017. Methods: Cluster sampling method was used to select the residents of 40-74 years old in Henan for cancer risk factor investigation and lung cancer risk assessment. Subjects with high risk of lung cancer received LDCT screening. The differences of LDCT receiving rates between groups were compared with χ(2) tests, and the time trend of rates were tested with the Cochran- Armitage trend test. The potential factors correlating to the compliance of LDCT screening were identified with multivariate logistic regression models. Results: Overall, 35 672 participants who met the inclusion criteria were included in this analysis, and 13 383 of them received LDCT screening, the receiving rate was 37.52%. The receiving rate varied greatly across cities, ranging from 38.47% to 26.73% (P<0.05). Moreover, the receiving rate varied greatly across periods, ranging from 29.22% during 2013-2014 to 43.30% during 2014-2015, and the receiving rate increases gradually as the screening year increases (P<0.001). The multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that: being female, age 45-69 years, with education level of junior high school/high school, previous smoking, drinking or previous drinking, infrequent physical exercise, history of tuberculosis, history of chronic bronchitis, history of emphysema, history of asthma bronchiectasis and family history of lung cancer were positive factors for receiving LDCT screening (All P<0.05). Conclusions: The overall compliance of LDCT screening in high-risk population of lung cancer was still not high in urban area of Henan. Implementation of effective interventions targeting the specific high-risk populations might improve the overall compliance of LDCT screening in the future.

Analysis of endoscopic screening compliance and related factors among high risk population of upper gastrointestinal cancer in urban areas of Henan Province from 2013 to 2017

Objective: To study the compliance of endoscopic screening for high-risk population of upper gastrointestinal cancer and relevant factors in urban areas of Henan Province, 2013-2017. Methods: The study participants were from the Cancer Screening Program in Urban Henan Province, China. From October 2013 to October 2017, 43 423 residents, who were evaluated as high-risk population for upper gastrointestinal cancer, were recruited from Zhengzhou, Zhumadian and Anyang. The cancer risk assessment questionnaire was used to collect basic demographic characteristics, dietary habits, living environment and habits, psychology and emotions, disease history and family history of cancer, and women's physiological and reproductive history. The data of endoscopic screening was obtained from hospitals participating in the Cancer Screening Program. Multivariate logistic regression model was applied to explore potential factors related to the compliance of endoscopic screening. Results: The age of study participants was(55.49±8.15) years old, and 44.00% (19 105) were male. About 18.41% of study subjects (7 996) took the endoscopic screening. The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that females, individuals aged 45-64 years old, with junior high school education or above, unmarried/divorced/widowed, previous smoking, alcohol drinking, infrequent physical exercise, history of reflux esophagitis, history of superficial gastritis, history of gastric ulcer, history of duodenal ulcer, history of gastric polyps and family history of upper gastrointestinal cancer were more likely to accept endoscopic screening. Conclusion: The overall participation rate of endoscopic screening among high-risk population of upper gastrointestinal cancer was still low in urban areas of Henan Province. Gender, age, education, marital status, smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, history of upper gastrointestinal disease and family history of upper gastroin testinal cancer were associated with the compliance of endoscopic screening.

Assessment of overweight and obesity among urban adolescents

Background: Obesity is defined as the abnormal growth of adipose tissue due to enlargement of fat cell size or increase in their number or a combination of both. Adolescents are nutritionally vulnerable age group considering their increased nutritional needs, eating patterns, lifestyle and susceptibility to environmental influences. The present study was conducted with aims to access the prevalence of overweight and obesity among urban adolescents and to study various factors associated with overweight and obesity.Methods: A community based cross sectional study of 872 adolescents of both sexes in urban population of Pune, Maharashtra, India was conducted to assess prevalence and various factors influencing overweight and obesity, especially type of diet, frequency of junk foods, physical activity and sleeping habits. The Body Mass Index (BMI) and Waist-Hip Ratio (WHR) were used to define overweight and obesity as per WHO growth standards.Results: The prevalence of overweight and obesity in urban adolescents according to BMI were 17.4% and 6.9% respectively with overall prevalence being 24.3% but with Waist-Hip Ratio (WHR) it was 43.1%. Risk factors in urban areas were consumption of fast/junk food, carbonated drink, physical inactivity while afternoon sleep was not a significant factor.Conclusions: This study showed an increased prevalence of overweight and obesity in urban adolescents especially in those who have more consumption of fast food, carbonated drink, those who were either inactive or engaged in physical activity for less than 30 min/day were strongly associated with overweight and obesity.

Prevalence of under-nutrition among under five children and its associated factors in urban area of Municipal Corporation of Nanded

Prevalence of under-nutrition among under five children and its associated factors in urban area of Municipal Corporation of Nanded

Exploring the inner relationship among neighborhood environmental factors affecting quality of life of older adults based on SLR–ISM method

Neighborhood environment and indoor environment are two main living environments to older adults during their daily life. Until now, many researchers have already paid attention to the improvement in the indoor environment for older adults, but few researchers notice that neighborhood environment also plays a critical role in the quality of life (QoL) of older adults, especially older adults who are aging in place. This article aims to explore the complex inner relationship between neighborhood environment and QoL of older adults based on systematic literature review (SLR) and interpretative structural modeling (ISM). All neighborhood environmental factors related to QoL of older adults are searched, screened, quality assessed, counted, and then identified according to SLR protocol. Then, based on the questionnaire survey and the one-to-one interview, the ISM of all identified neighborhood environmental factors is established to clarify the inner relationship among those factors in urban areas, and the role of each neighborhood environmental factor is analyzed by MICMAC analysis. This inner relationship among neighborhood environmental factors can provide valuable retrofit strategies of neighborhood environment to improve QoL of older adults efficiently.

Exploring the spatial relationship between primary road distance to antenatal clinics and HIV prevalence in pregnant females of Lilongwe, Malawi.

While urbanization in a sub-Saharan African (SSA) context can lead to greater independence in women, various sociological, biological, and geographical factors in urban areas may keep women at a higher risk for HIV than men. Access to major roads during Malawi's transition into rapid urbanization may leave women disproportionately vulnerable to HIV infection. It is not well established whether women who report to health clinics closer to major roads have higher or lower levels of HIV. In this study we explored the spatial heterogeneity of HIV prevalence among pregnant females in Lilongwe District, Malawi. Using Geographic Information Systems, we visually represented patterns of HIV prevalence in relation to primary roads. HIV prevalence data for 2015 were obtained from 44 antenatal clinics (ANC) in Lilongwe District. ANC prevalence data were aggregated to the administrative area and mapped. Euclidean distance between clinics and two primary roads that run through Lilongwe District were measured. A correlation was run to assess the relationship between area-level ANC HIV prevalence and clinic distance to the nearest primary road. ANC HIV prevalence ranged from 0% to 10.3%. Clinic to major road distance ranged from 0.1 to 35 km. Correlation results ( r= -0.622, p = 0.002) revealed a significant negative relationship between clinic distance to primary road and HIV prevalence, indicating that the farther the clinics stood from primary roads, the lower the reported antenatal HIV prevalence. Overall, the clinic catchments through which the major roads run reported higher ANC HIV prevalence. Antenatal HIV prevalence decreases as ANC distance from primary roads increases in Lilongwe, Malawi. As urbanization continues to grow in this region, road distance may serve as a good indicator of HIV burden and help to guide targeted prevention and treatment efforts.

Influence of vegetation heterogeneity and landscape characteristics on anuran species composition in aquatic habitats along an urban-rural gradient in southeastern Brazil

Amphibians are exposed to a number of negative factors in urban areas and the influence of a specific variable can vary among different ecological systems. This study provides information on the an...

Effects of Living Alone on Social Capital and Health Among Older Adults in China.

Social capital has been connected with positive health outcomes across countries, including China. Given the rise in the number of seniors living alone, there is a need to examine the health benefits of social capital, accounting for living arrangements. Data from the 2005 Chinese General Social Survey were used to test research hypotheses. Controlling for demographics, elders living alone possessed similar level of social capital compared with elders living with others. While bonding and linking social capital were significant factors in urban areas and linking social capital was a significant factor in rural areas, the relationship between living alone and health did not differ based on the level of social capital possession. When the traditional intergenerational living arrangement has not been a valid option for many older adults in China, seeking new way of family caring, and developing appropriate social and institutional structures to assist elders living alone, becomes critical.

Cryptosporidiosis: A Disease of Tropical and Remote Areas in Australia.

Cryptosporidiosis causes gastroenteritis and is transmitted to humans via contaminated water and food, and contact with infected animals and people. We analyse long-term cryptosporidiosis patterns across Australia (2001–2012) and review published Australian studies and jurisdictional health bulletins to identify high risk populations and potential risk factors for disease. Using national data on reported cryptosporidiosis, the average annual rate of reported illness was 12.8 cases per 100 000 population, with cycles of high and low reporting years. Reports of illness peak in summer, similar to other infectious gastrointestinal diseases. States with high livestock densities like New South Wales and Queensland also record a spring peak in illnesses. Children aged less than four years have the highest rates of disease, along with adult females. Rates of reported cryptosporidiosis are highest in the warmer, remote regions and in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations. Our review of 34 published studies and seven health department reports on cryptosporidiosis in Australia highlights a lack of long term, non-outbreak studies in these regions and populations, with an emphasis on outbreaks and risk factors in urban areas. The high disease rates in remote, tropical and subtropical areas and in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations underscore the need to develop interventions that target the sources of infection, seasonal exposures and risk factors for cryptosporidiosis in these settings. Spatial epidemiology can provide an evidence base to identify priorities for intervention to prevent and control cryptosporidiosis in high risk populations.

Air quality forecasting system for Southeastern Brazil

Southeastern Brazil, the most populous and developed region of the country, faces various environmental problems associated with the growth of its population in urban areas. It is the most industrialized area in the country, comprising the metropolitan areas of Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, and other major cities. Air quality is a major concern, because the reported concentrations of certain regulated pollutants, typically ozone and fine particulate, have exceeded national standards. Due to the difficulty in taking measurements over many different areas, air quality modeling is a useful tool to estimate air pollutant concentrations. For southeastern Brazil, air quality modeling has been performed mostly with the Brazilian Regional Atmospheric Modeling System with Simplified Photochemical Module and the Weather Research and Forecast with Chemistry models. One of the main objectives was to study the evolution of air quality associated with improved vehicle emission factors in urban areas, the impact of climate change on air quality, and the relationship between pollutant concentrations and health. Knowledge of mobile source emission factors has been continuously expanded by in-tunnel measurements and dynamometer protocols, which provide accurate data as inputs to photochemical air quality models. The spatial distribution of the mobile source emissions was constructed based on open access data related to the streets and traffic distribution. The mobile emission module was combined to the chemistry modeling and this implementation can be an example to be applied to other places that do not have a spatial distribution of this kind of source. Forecasts of pollutant concentrations can inform public policies, including those addressing the effects of pollutants on health of the general population, and studies of the impacts of using different fuels and implementation of emissions regulations programs.

GIS Based Methodology for the Geotechnical Evaluation of Landslide Areas

Nowadays, information about possible land use and the future stability of soil is highly demanded by contractors or insurance companies. GIS based applications offer quick survey, evaluation and prognosis. Real conditions for construction and other activity is require further study, but it is a quick and useful solution to help in the decision-making process. The article is dedicated to the problems of landslides, as risk factors in urban areas. The benefits of GIS application for methods of geotechnical survey and monitoring are summarized. It focuses on the following aspects: data obtaining and processing, stability analysis and its results and final data presentation and visualization. The article proves that GIS can be used even in complicated conditions of landslide areas.

Alzheimer disease and its influencing factors in urban area of Dongguan

Objective To investigate the prevalence and factors of Alzheimer disease in the urban area of Dongguan.Methods 2348 residents from 28 communities in Dongguan were spot-checked by multistage random cluster sampling method.And univariate and multivariate analysis were used to analyze the factors influencing Alzheimer disease.Results Univariate analysis showed that the main factors affecting the incidence of Alzheimer disease were age,whether living alone,character,education level,whether having genetic history,and whether doing exercise.The multivariate analysis showed that the independent factors affecting the incidence of Alzheimer disease were age,whether living alone,character,education level,whether having genetic history,and whether doing exercise.Conclusions If one is in advanced age,lives alone,introverted,has low educational level,is lack of exercise,or has genetic history,he/she has a high possibility having Alzheimer disease. Key words: Alzheimer disease; Influencing factors; Inverstigation

Exploring on Urban Land Development Intensity based on Artificial Neural Network Methods

A modest development intensity for urban land benefits both ecological protection and living spaces improvement. It is an important indicator for urban land development intensity (ULDI) to measure the city livable and sustainable development. As an example of Chongqing Metropolitan Area, firstly, spatial database about land development intensity and its driving factors was established in sample regions, and BP artificial neural network methods were used to construct the land development intensity simulation model based on data driven in urban area with the help of MATLAB7 software. Secondly, two different scheme and algorithm were adopted to simulate land development intensity. Artificial neural network methods were detected by comparing the difference between real development intensity and the simulation results. Lastly, the land development intensity in Chongqing Metropolitan Area (9 districts ) was simulated. Meanwhile, the results were compared by using the methods of neural network forecasting model and the multiple linear regression model with a wider range. The results shows that: (1) BP artificial neural network method is a good way to simulate the ULDI; (2) it is important to choose the reasonable driving factors and training algorithm; (3) the research scale has a certain impact on the results. Although the BP artificial neural network method can not explicitly explain the relationship between land development intensity and its driving factors in urban area, when data is sufficient, it is better to evaluate the ULDI than the method of regression analysis.