INTRODUCING A GRAPH-BASED NEURAL NETWORK FOR NETWORKWIDE TRAFFIC VOLUME ESTIMATION

Traffic volumes are an essential input to many highway planning and design models; however, collecting this data for all the roads in a network is not practical nor cost-effective. Accordingly, transportation agencies must find ways to leverage limited ground truth count data to obtain reasonable estimates at scale on all the network segments. One of the challenges that complicate this estimation is the complex spatial dependency of the links’ traffic state in a transportation network. A graph-based model is proposed to estimate networkwide traffic volumes to address this challenge. This model aims to consider the graph structure of the network to extract its spatial correlations while estimating link volumes. In the first step, a proof-of-concept methodology is presented to indicate how adding the simple spatial correlation between the links in the Euclidian space improves the performance of a state-of-the-art volume estimation model. This methodology is applied to the New Hampshire road network to estimate statewide hourly traffic volumes. In the next step, a Graph Neural Network model is introduced to consider the complex interdependency of the road network in a non-Euclidean domain. This model is called Fine-tuned Spatio-Temporal Graph Neural Network (FSTGCN) and applied to various Maryland State networks to estimate 15-minute traffic volumes. The results illustrate significant improvement over the existing state-of-the-art models used for networkwide traffic volume estimation, namely ANN and XGBoost

Comparison of Depression and Spiritual Well-being in Chronic Pain Patients and Healthy Control Group

For downloading the full-text of this article please click here.Background and Objective: The results of some recent studies suggest that spiritual well-being is related to physical health of individuals. The purpose of this study was to compare depression and spiritual well-being in patients with chronic pain and healthy people.Methods: This is a cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study. The target population in this study included the patients with chronic pain and healthy individuals in Shiraz in the period 2017-2018. The total number of participants was 600, 300 with chronic pain and 300 healthy individuals, who were selected using available sampling and cluster sampling methods, respectively. The participants completed the Spiritual Well-being Questionnaire of Paloutzian and Ellison was and the Patient Health Questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used to describe demographic variables. To compare demographic characteristics, t-test and chi-square were used. Also, to compare the symptoms of depression and spiritual well-being in the patients with chronic pain and healthy participants, t-test was used. In this study, all the ethical considerations have been observed and the authors reported no conflict of interest.Results: No significant differences were found between the healthy participants and the chronic pain patients regarding demographic variables. Based on the results of t-test, depression was significantly higher in patients with chronic pain (9.97±6.30) compared to the healthy group (8.67±5.09) (P<0.006). Also, the results of t-test showed that spiritual well-being (73.78±12.10) was significantly lower in the patients with chronic pain than the healthy participants (87.14±15.03) (P<0.000).Conclusion: According to the results, people with chronic pain had lower levels of spiritual well-being and higher levels of depression than the healthy people. Therefore, it seems that performing psycho-spiritual interventions to reduce depression and promote the level of spiritual well-being of the community is an important step in preventing pain or reducing the severity of pain in patients with chronic pain. For downloading the full-text of this article please click here.Please cite this article as: Shaygan M, Mozafari M, Zahedian-Nasab N, Shayegan L, Bagheri S. Comparison of Depression and Spiritual Well-being in Chronic Pain Patients and Healthy Control Group. Journal of Pizhūhish dar dīn va salāmat. 2020;6(2):100-114.https://doi.org/10.22037/jrrh.v6i2.2325

مقایسۀ سلامت معنوی و نشانه‌های افسردگی در بیماران مبتلا به درد مزمن در مقایسه با افراد سالم

خلفية البحث وأهدافه: تشير بعض الدراسات الى ان هناك علاقة بين الصحة الروحية والصحة الجسدية. ومع ذلك فإن نتائج هذه الدراسات متناقضة. كان الغرض من هذه الدراسة، مقارنة الصحة الروحية وأعراض الاكتئاب بين المصابين بألم مزمن وبين الأصحاء. منهجية البحث: هذا البحث عبارة عن دراسة مستعرضة وصفية تحليلية. اشتمل المجتمع المستهدف، المصابين بألم مزمن والأصحاء في مدينة شيراز عام 18-2017. بلغ العدد الإجمالي للعينات 600، من بينهم تم اختيار 300 مريض يعاني من آلام مزمنة والذي ذهب إلى عيادات الألم وكذلك تم اختيار 300 شخص من الأصحاء. تم اخذ العينية المتاحة من المجموعة الأولى العينة العنقودية من المجموعة الثانية ثم تمت الاجابة على استبيان الصحة الروحية لـ"بالوتزيان" و"اليسون" و"صحة المريض". من أجل وصف المتغيرات الديموغرافية تم استخدام الإحصائيات الوصفية، ولمقارنة الخصائص الديموغرافية تم استخدام اختبارT  ومربع كاي، كما تم استخدام اختبارT  لغرض مقارنة أعراض الاكتئاب والصحة الروحية بين االمجموعتين. تمت مراعاة جميع الموارد الأخلاقية في هذا البحث واضافة الى هذا فإن مؤلفي البحث لم يبلغوا عن اي تضارب في المصالح. الكشوفات: ظهرت الكشوفات انه ليس هناك فروق ذات دلالة احصائية بين مجموعة الأصحاء ومجموعة المصابين بآلام مزمنة من حيث المتغيرات الديموغرافية. كما انه كان مستوى اعراض الإكتئاب لدى المصابين بآلام مزمنة (۳۰/۶±۹۷/۹) اعلى بكثير (09/5±67/8) من مجموعة الأصحاء (006/0>P). وإضافة الى هذا فإن الصحة الروحية في المصابين بآلام مزمنة كانت اقل بكثير (00/0>P) مقارنة بالأشخاص الأصحاء (03/15±14/87). الاستنتاج: يبدو أن اجراء التدخلات النفسية والاجتماعية لغرض تقليل أعراض الإكتئاب وتعزيز مستوى الصحة الروحية لدى أفراد المجتمع يعتبر خطوة مهمة في الحد من شدة الألم أو تقليله لدى المرضى الذين يعانون من آلام مزمنة.   يتم استناد المقالة على الترتيب التالي: Shaygan M, Mozafari M, Zahedian-Nasab N, Shayegan L, Bagheri S. Comparison of Depression and Spiritual Well-being in Chronic Pain Patients and Healthy Control Group. Journal of Pizhūhish dar dīn va salāmat. 2020;6(2):100-114. https://doi.org/10.22037/jrrh.v6i2.23258Background and Objective: The results of some recent studies suggest that spiritual well-being is related to physical health of individuals. The purpose of this study was to compare depression and spiritual well-being in patients with chronic pain and healthy people. Methods: This is a cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study. The target population in this study included the patients with chronic pain and healthy individuals in Shiraz in the period 2017-2018. The total number of participants was 600, 300 with chronic pain and 300 healthy individuals, who were selected using available sampling and cluster sampling methods, respectively. The participants completed the Spiritual Well-being Questionnaire of Paloutzian and Ellison was and the Patient Health Questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used to describe demographic variables. To compare demographic characteristics, t-test and chi-square were used. Also, to compare the symptoms of depression and spiritual well-being in the patients with chronic pain and healthy participants, t-test was used. In this study, all the ethical considerations have been observed and the authors reported no conflict of interest. Results: No significant differences were found between the healthy participants and the chronic pain patients regarding demographic variables. Based on the results of t-test, depression was significantly higher in patients with chronic pain (9.97±6.30) compared to the healthy group (8.67±5.09) (P<0.006). Also, the results of t-test showed that spiritual well-being (73.78±12.10) was significantly lower in the patients with chronic pain than the healthy participants (87.14±15.03) (P<0.000). Conclusion: According to the results, people with chronic pain had lower levels of spiritual well-being and higher levels of depression than the healthy people. Therefore, it seems that performing psycho-spiritual interventions to reduce depression and promote the level of spiritual well-being of the community is an important step in preventing pain or reducing the severity of pain in patients with chronic pain.   Please cite this article as: Shaygan M, Mozafari M, Zahedian-Nasab N, Shayegan L, Bagheri S. Comparison of Depression and Spiritual Well-being in Chronic Pain Patients and Healthy Control Group. Journal of Pizhūhish dar dīn va salāmat. 2020;6(2):100-114. https://doi.org/10.22037/jrrh.v6i2.23258سابقه و هدف: نتایج برخی مطالعات اخیر حاکی از این است که سلامت معنوی با سلامت جسمی افراد در ارتباط است. بااین‌حال، نتایج موجود دربارۀ این ارتباط ضد و نقیض می‌باشد. هدف از مطالعۀ حاضر، مقایسۀ سلامت معنوی و نشانه‌های افسردگی در افراد مبتلا به درد مزمن در مقایسه با افراد سالم بود. روش کار: این پژوهش مطالعه‌ای مقطعی از نوع توصیفی-تحلیلی است. جامعۀ هدف بیماران مبتلا به درد مزمن و افراد سالم شهر شیراز در سال 96 و ۹۷ بودند. تعداد کل نمونه ۶۰۰ نفر بود که ۳۰۰ نفر از آنان افراد دارای درد مزمن مراجعه‌کننده به درمانگاه‌های درد و ۳۰۰ نفر افراد سالم بودند که به‌ترتیب به‌روش نمونه‌گیری دردسترس و خوشه‌ای انتخاب شدند و به پرسش‌نامه‌های سلامت معنوی پالوتزین و الیسون؛ و سلامت بیمار پاسخ دادند. برای توصیف متغیّرهای جمعیت‌شناختی از آمار توصیفی، برای مقایسۀ ویژگی‌های جمعیت‌شناختی از آزمون t و کای اسکوئر؛ و برای مقایسۀ نشانه‌های افسردگی و سلامت معنوی در دو گروه از آزمون t استفاده شد. در این پژوهش همۀ موارد اخلاقی رعایت شده است و مؤلفان مقاله هیچ‌گونه تضاد منافعی گزارش نکرده‌اند. یافته‌ها: نتایج نشان داد تفاوت معنی‌داری بین گروه افراد سالم و گروه مبتلا به درد مزمن در زمینۀ متغیّرهای جمعیت‌شناختی وجود نداشت. همچنین، میزان نشانه‌های افسردگی در افراد دارای درد مزمن (۳۰/۶±۹۷/۹) به‌طور معناداری بیشتر از افراد ساالم (09/5±67/8) بود (006/0>P) و سلامت معنوی در افراد دارای درد مزمن (10/12±78/73) در مقایسه با افراد سالم (03/15±14/87) به‌طور معنی‌داری پایین‌تر بود (00/0>P). نتیجه‌گیری: به نظر می‌رسد انجام مداخلات روانی-معنوی در جهت کاهش نشانه‌های افسردگی و ارتقای سطح سلامت معنوی افراد جامعه گامی مهم در جهت پیشگیری یا کاهش شدت درد در بیماران مبتلا به درد مزمن باشد. استناد مقاله به این صورت است: Shaygan M, Mozafari M, Zahedian-Nasab N, Shayegan L, Bagheri S. Comparison of Depression and Spiritual Well-being in Chronic Pain Patients and Healthy Control Group. Journal of Pizhūhish dar dīn va salāmat. 2020;6(2):100-114.  https://doi.org/10.22037/jrrh.v6i2.2325

Transferability of a Machine Learning-Based Model of Hourly Traffic Volume Estimation—Florida and New Hampshire Case Study

This paper focuses on the problem of model transferability for machine learning models used to estimate hourly traffic volumes. The presented findings enable not only an increase in the accuracy of existing models but also, simultaneously, reduce the cost of data needed for training the models—making statewide traffic volume estimation more economically feasible. Previous research indicates that machine learning volume estimation models that leverage GPS probe data can provide transportation agencies with accurate estimates of hourly traffic volumes—which are fundamental for both operational and planning purposes—and do so with a higher level of accuracy than the prevailing profiling method. However, this approach requires a large dataset for model calibration (i.e., input and continuous count station data), which involves significant monetary investment and data-processing effort. This paper proposes solutions, which allow the model to be prepared using a much smaller dataset, given that a previously collected dataset, which may be gathered in a different place and time period, exists. Based on a broad selection of experiments, the results indicate that the proposed approach is capable of achieving similar model performance while collecting data for a 5 times shorter time period and utilizing 1/4 of the number of continuous count stations. These findings will help reduce the cost of preparing and maintaining the traffic volume models and render the traffic volume estimations more financially appealing