PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Improving road safety to tackle crime

Improving road safety in cities could result in a lower rate of violent crime, according to research from UCL.

2021-02-24
(Press-News.org) Improving road safety in cities could result in a lower rate of violent crime, according to research from UCL. Experts analysing crime and car accident data in Mexico City found a surprisingly high level of synchronicity between the two on a weekly cycle, suggesting that applying more resources to prevent road accidents would improve crime rates by enabling more efficient policing. For the paper, published today in Cities as Complex Systems special issue in PLOS ONE, experts plotted the time and locations of nearly one million car accidents and 200,000 violent crimes from January 2016 to March 2020 in Mexico City, creating a 'heartbeat' - so-called because of its resemblance to an electrocardiogram - of the city. The pattern of crash and crime occurrences were similar day by day, repeating on the weekly cycle, the concept of which had previously been unexplored. Experts observed 'valleys' during the night and peaks in the evening, where at a city level, crime peaked at 7.5 times more than in the depth of valleys, and car accidents peaked at 12.3 times. Lead author Dr Rafael Prieto Curiel (UCL CASA) explained: "Distinct parts of the city have different heartbeats in terms of crime and of crashes. A neighbourhood with bars and restaurants has a different heartbeat than a residential neighbourhood or one with offices or schools. The land-use of the region can help us explain why we observe distinct heartbeats and make projections and forecasts". Crime and road accidents have been observed and analysed together before, but not in terms of cyclic behaviour. The team analysed both by capturing weekly occurrences of crime and accidents, using geotagged data capturing time and location. This created the heartbeat of the city. This heartbeat was then analysed for a more specific location, relating to distance from the Mexico City Metro and other public transport stations, to create 'tiles' of the city. Nearby tiles were found to have similar heartbeats, in that they saw peaks and valleys in crime and crashes at similar times during the week. These peaks and valleys related to economic activities, such as residents commuting to work. The team further observed that crimes and crashes reach their respective intensity peak on Friday night and valley on Tuesday morning. The mathematical method the team used can be applied to other cities. Using the weekly cycle makes it easier to predict peaks and valleys in the near future, with potential implications on city policing. Whereas most cities have resources - albeit of differing levels - in place to tackle and prevent crime, road safety has had comparatively less resource attributed to it. Dr Prieto Curiel added: "Focusing more on preventing road accidents would improve crime prevention in urban areas and give more resource to police tackling crime. Serious road accidents usually require the presence of police officers to divert traffic and secure the area. "Unfortunately, due to the temporal synchronisation between crashes and crime, the times when more officers are engaged with road accidents is also when they are most needed due to the high levels of crime. Therefore, road accidents reduce the presence of police officers and could increase response time to other emergencies." Road accidents kill more than 1.35 million people around the world each year and 50 million people suffer non-fatal injuries in a crash. Three times more people are killed by cars than all types of crime and violence combined. Additionally, crime and road accidents are becoming a more relevant urban problem. In Mexico, some of its cities suffer nearly twice the number of crimes per capita than the national level, so most of the urban population fears crime, In the US, for example, 54% of road accident deaths in 2018 occurred in urban areas, up from less than 40% in 2000.

INFORMATION:



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

New research at UH Rainbow studies the impact of face masks on heart ra

2021-02-24
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Researchers at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital (UH Rainbow) published new findings today that wearing a face mask - either a cloth mask or a surgical mask - did not impair the ability of subjects to get air in and out of their bodies. The study measured heart rate, transcutaneous carbon dioxide tension, and oxygen levels in 50 adult volunteers at the conclusion of six 10-minute phases: Sitting quietly and then walking briskly without a mask; sitting quietly and then walking briskly while wearing a cloth mask; and sitting quietly and then walking ...

New technology shows potential to improve potency and durability benefits in gene therapy

2021-02-24
WATERTOWN, Mass. - Gene therapy has traditionally been conceptualized as a one-time, curative treatment option; however, research shows that there may be a need for subsequent doses years after initial treatment. While adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors are a core part of this powerful therapeutic approach, they present two key challenges in gene therapy. The first challenge is their immunogenicity. In gene therapy, the formation of neutralizing antibodies (Nabs) in response to AAV vector administration precludes retreatment of a patient due to the potentially dangerous immune response that would occur after a second or third administration of the therapy. The second obstacle relates to their durability. AAV vectors ...

Scientists describe earliest primate fossils

Scientists describe earliest primate fossils
2021-02-24
A new study published Feb. 24 in the journal Royal Society Open Science documents the earliest-known fossil evidence of primates. A team of 10 researchers from across the U.S. analyzed several fossils of Purgatorius, the oldest genus in a group of the earliest-known primates called plesiadapiforms. These ancient mammals were small-bodied and ate specialized diets of insects and fruits that varied by species. These newly described specimens are central to understanding primate ancestry and paint a picture of how life on land recovered after the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event 66 million years ago that wiped out all dinosaurs -- except for birds -- and led to the rise of mammals. Gregory Wilson Mantilla, a University of Washington professor of biology and curator of vertebrate ...

Revive the map: 4D building reconstruction with machine learning

Revive the map: 4D building reconstruction with machine learning
2021-02-24
A research team from Skoltech and FBK (Italy) presented a methodology to derive 4D building models using historical maps and machine learning. The implemented method relies on the geometric, neighbourhood, and categorical attributes to predict building heights. The method is useful for understanding urban phenomena and changes contributing to defining our cities' actual shapes. The results were published in the MDPI Applied Sciences journal. Historical maps are the most powerful source used to analyze changes in urban development. Nevertheless, maps represent the 3D world ...

Record-high Arctic freshwater will flow to Labrador Sea, affecting local and global oceans

Record-high Arctic freshwater will flow to Labrador Sea, affecting local and global oceans
2021-02-24
Freshwater is accumulating in the Arctic Ocean. The Beaufort Sea, which is the largest Arctic Ocean freshwater reservoir, has increased its freshwater content by 40% over the past two decades. How and where this water will flow into the Atlantic Ocean is important for local and global ocean conditions. A study from the University of Washington, Los Alamos National Laboratory and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows that this freshwater travels through the Canadian Archipelago to reach the Labrador Sea, rather than through the wider marine passageways that connect to seas in Northern Europe. The open-access study was published Feb. 23 ...

Diabetes patients use of mobile health app found to improve health outcomes, lower medical costs

2021-02-24
Emerging smart mobile health (or mHealth) technologies are changing the way patients track information related to diagnosed conditions. A new study examined the health and economic impacts of mHealth technologies on the outcomes of diabetes patients in Asia. The study concluded that compared to patients who did not use mHealth applications, patients who used the apps had better health outcomes and were able to regulate their health behavior more effectively. They also had fewer hospital visits and lower medical costs. The study was conducted by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and New York University ...

Study identifies strengths and challenges of responding to dual disasters

2021-02-24
New Orleans, LA -- A new study of how the 2020 major hurricanes and the COVID-19 pandemic affected each other as well as disaster response found that although prior experience enabled community-based organizations to respond to the pandemic, the pandemic is also creating new challenges to preparing for and responding to natural disasters. The research is published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, available here. "Two major crises hit Louisiana and coastal communities in the Southeastern United States in 2020 - a significant increase in the frequency and severity of hurricanes, and the COVID-19 pandemic," says Benjamin Springgate, MD, MPH, Chief of Community & Population Medicine at ...

A combination therapy for treating severe neurological childhood disorders

2021-02-24
A study aiming to develop a new therapeutic technique could bring a revolution in our approach to treating rare, fatal Sanfilippo syndrome, a disorder that affects children as young as 2 years old and leads to childhood dementia and premature death. "We are using a combination of gene therapy, stem cells and small molecules to restore metabolic defects in the patient's brain cells" says Dr. Alexey Pshezhetsky, Professor at CHU Ste-Justine and lead GlycoNet Investigator on this project. "First results in the mouse models of the disease are very encouraging." Sanfilippo syndrome belongs to a group of rare diseases known as lysosomal storage disorders. The syndrome occurs in ...

Bearded seals are loud - but not loud enough

2021-02-24
ITHACA, N.Y. - During mating season, male bearded seals make loud calls to attract a mate. How loud? Well, even their "quiet" call can still be as ear-rattling as a chainsaw. These elaborate vocalizations are essential for bearded seal reproduction, and have to be loud enough to be heard over the cacophony of their equally loud brethren. But in the rapidly changing Arctic soundscape, where noise from industrial activities is predicted to dramatically increase in the next 15 years, bearded seals may need to adjust their calling behavior if they are ...

New study charts the complexity of SARS-CoV-2 neutralization

2021-02-24
Washington, DC - February 24, 2021 - In the absence of effective treatments for COVID-19, many countries have approved the therapeutic use of blood plasma from recovering patients because it contains antibodies against the coronavirus. But not every type of antibody can neutralize the virus and render it noninfectious. New research published this week in mSphere, an open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology, explores variation in virus neutralization capabilities, which can vary widely by type of antibody. "What we need for plasma therapy is not only high levels of antibodies but also high neutralization capability," said virologist Michael Schindler, Ph.D, at University Hospital Tübingen, ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Eindhoven University of Technology and JMIR Publications announce unlimited open access publishing agreement

Orphan nuclear receptors in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease development

A technological breakthrough for ultra-fast and greener AI

Pusan National University researchers identify key barriers hindering data-driven smart manufacturing adoption

Inking heterometallic nanosheets: A scalable breakthrough for coating, electronics, and electrocatalyst applications

Adults with autism show similar brain mapping of body parts as typically developing adults

Uncovering behavioral clues to childhood maltreatment

Premenstrual symptoms linked to increased risk of cardiovascular disease

Newly discovered remains of ancient river landscapes control ice flow in East Antarctica

Newly discovered interstellar object 'may be oldest comet ever seen'

Animal-inspired AI robot learns to navigate unfamiliar terrain

Underserved youth less likely to visit emergency department for concussion in Ontario, study finds

‘Molecular shield’ placed in the nose may soon treat common hay fever trigger

Beetles under climate stress lay larger male eggs: Wolbachia infection drives adaptive reproduction strategy in response to rising temperature and CO₂

Groundbreaking quantum study puts wave-particle duality to work

Weekly injection could be life changing for Parkinson’s patients

Toxic metals linked to impaired growth in infants in Guatemala

Being consistently physically active in adulthood linked to 30–40% lower risk of death

Nerve pain drug gabapentin linked to increased dementia, cognitive impairment risks

Children’s social care involvement common to nearly third of UK mums who died during perinatal period

‘Support, not judgement’: Study explores links between children’s social care involvement and maternal deaths

Ethnic minority and poorer children more likely to die in intensive care

Major progress in fertility preservation after treatment for cancer of the lymphatic system

Fewer complications after additional ultrasound in pregnant women who feel less fetal movement

Environmental impact of common pesticides seriously underestimated

The Milky Way could be teeming with more satellite galaxies than previously thought

New study reveals surprising reproductive secrets of a cricket-hunting parasitoid fly

Media Tip Sheet: Symposia at ESA2025

NSF CAREER Award will power UVA engineer’s research to improve drug purification

Tiny parasitoid flies show how early-life competition shapes adult success

[Press-News.org] Improving road safety to tackle crime
Improving road safety in cities could result in a lower rate of violent crime, according to research from UCL.