Aggressive Driving is a Major Cause of Traffic Accidents and Road Rage in Jordan

Motor vehicle accidents are a major cause of death among Jordanians. Roughly 700 people died last year in car accidents out of a total population of five million people. Many factors contribute to this. Some involve planning, design, construction, operation, surface condition, and policing of the roadways. The most deadly factor is human error. This includes unawareness of traffic rules and roadway condition; lack of driving skills; poor judgment; failure to interact and adjust to prevailing roadway conditions; and most importantly, aggressive driving. Preliminary findings of a survey questionnaire conducted in this study show that improper engineering design, inadequate traffic control, lack of traffic management, and traffic congestion are the main factors leading to aggressive driving and road rage on Jordan roadways. The study includes 200 questionnaires. The main objective of this study is to identify aggressive driving behaviors in Jordan and underline their effect on traffic safety. In addition, the study attempts to increase drivers’ awareness of their actions on the roadway and point out the consequences associated with these actions. Many drivers justify their aggressive driving as temporary retaliatory measures to counteract other aggressive drivers, and therefore, this leads to road rage and traffic chaos. Aggressive driving behaviors such as pushing a car off the roadway, deliberate obstruction of passing vehicles, pursuing a vehicle, excessive high speed, and tailgating are considered at the top of the list according to the study findings. Most drivers admit that driving 20km/hr above speed limit causes danger to pedestrians but not to other vehicles

Aggressive Driving is a Major Cause of Traffic Accidents and Road Rage in Jordan

Motor vehicle accidents are a major cause of death among Jordanians. Roughly 700 people died last year in car accidents out of a total population of five million people. Many factors contribute to this. Some involve planning, design, construction, operation, surface condition, and policing of the roadways. The most deadly factor is human error. This includes unawareness of traffic rules and roadway condition; lack of driving skills; poor judgment; failure to interact and adjust to prevailing roadway conditions; and most importantly, aggressive driving. Preliminary findings of a survey questionnaire conducted in this study show that improper engineering design, inadequate traffic control, lack of traffic management, and traffic congestion are the main factors leading to aggressive driving and road rage on Jordan roadways. The study includes 200 questionnaires. The main objective of this study is to identify aggressive driving behaviors in Jordan and underline their effect on traffic safety. In addition, the study attempts to increase drivers’ awareness of their actions on the roadway and point out the consequences associated with these actions. Many drivers justify their aggressive driving as temporary retaliatory measures to counteract other aggressive drivers, and therefore, this leads to road rage and traffic chaos. Aggressive driving behaviors such as pushing a car off the roadway, deliberate obstruction of passing vehicles, pursuing a vehicle, excessive high speed, and tailgating are considered at the top of the list according to the study findings. Most drivers admit that driving 20km/hr above speed limit causes danger to pedestrians but not to other vehicles

The Relation Between Speed-Lane Choice and Road Accidents in Jordan

More than 96% of traffic casualties in Jordan take place on nonintersection roadway segments. Speed variation and improper lane change are considered to be some of the main factors contributing to these casualties. This research paper describes an attempt made to study speed-lane choice behavior in Jordan. Drivers’ behaviors with regard to their choice of speed and/or traveled lane are assessed. One-fifth of the observed drivers are speeding and one-forth of them changes lanes along the tested segment. Two models are developed and investigated to describe the relationships between speed and lane choice using binary and linear regression models. Results indicate that driving behavior varies with respect to roadway geometry and lane. Speed influences the driver choice of lane changing and his/her decision about changing lanes influences his/her speed choice

A Quantitative Approach to Estimate the Damage Inflicted by Traffic Pollution on Historic Buildings in Al-Salt City, Jordan

Traffic in the city of Al-Salt is not only putting pedestrians at risk and threatening the health of citizens, it is also damaging the town's historic buildings. Most stone buildings in the heritage-rich city are suffering adverse effects from vehicle-related pollution. This effect is highly visible soiling and discoloration from deposited carbon particles in the form of fine soot on most buildings. The level and progress of the damage depends on the geology of the stone and the proximity of the structure from traffic congestion. The accumulation of soot leads to the buildup of black sulfate (gypsum) skins on the limestone facade which causes the sound stone behind it to disintegrate. It is vital to the well-being of this historic treasure that the volume of the city traffic must be reduced and traffic flow improved. The main objective of this study is to qualitatively and quantitatively assess the damage caused to buildings of historical and cultural value by traffic pollution. Age of vehicles running on city’s streets and the rate of their emissions are quantified and analyzed. Several field investigations and laboratory tests were conducted to identify the chemical relations between pollutants and stone decay on these buildings. Keywords: Traffic pollution, tailpipe emission, vehicular emission, historic buildings, limeston

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P < 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

Mortality from gastrointestinal congenital anomalies at 264 hospitals in 74 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries: a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study

Summary Background Congenital anomalies are the fifth leading cause of mortality in children younger than 5 years globally. Many gastrointestinal congenital anomalies are fatal without timely access to neonatal surgical care, but few studies have been done on these conditions in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared outcomes of the seven most common gastrointestinal congenital anomalies in low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries globally, and identified factors associated with mortality. Methods We did a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of patients younger than 16 years, presenting to hospital for the first time with oesophageal atresia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, intestinal atresia, gastroschisis, exomphalos, anorectal malformation, and Hirschsprung’s disease. Recruitment was of consecutive patients for a minimum of 1 month between October, 2018, and April, 2019. We collected data on patient demographics, clinical status, interventions, and outcomes using the REDCap platform. Patients were followed up for 30 days after primary intervention, or 30 days after admission if they did not receive an intervention. The primary outcome was all-cause, in-hospital mortality for all conditions combined and each condition individually, stratified by country income status. We did a complete case analysis. Findings We included 3849 patients with 3975 study conditions (560 with oesophageal atresia, 448 with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, 681 with intestinal atresia, 453 with gastroschisis, 325 with exomphalos, 991 with anorectal malformation, and 517 with Hirschsprung’s disease) from 264 hospitals (89 in high-income countries, 166 in middleincome countries, and nine in low-income countries) in 74 countries. Of the 3849 patients, 2231 (58·0%) were male. Median gestational age at birth was 38 weeks (IQR 36–39) and median bodyweight at presentation was 2·8 kg (2·3–3·3). Mortality among all patients was 37 (39·8%) of 93 in low-income countries, 583 (20·4%) of 2860 in middle-income countries, and 50 (5·6%) of 896 in high-income countries (p<0·0001 between all country income groups). Gastroschisis had the greatest difference in mortality between country income strata (nine [90·0%] of ten in lowincome countries, 97 [31·9%] of 304 in middle-income countries, and two [1·4%] of 139 in high-income countries; p≤0·0001 between all country income groups). Factors significantly associated with higher mortality for all patients combined included country income status (low-income vs high-income countries, risk ratio 2·78 [95% CI 1·88–4·11], p<0·0001; middle-income vs high-income countries, 2·11 [1·59–2·79], p<0·0001), sepsis at presentation (1·20 [1·04–1·40], p=0·016), higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score at primary intervention (ASA 4–5 vs ASA 1–2, 1·82 [1·40–2·35], p<0·0001; ASA 3 vs ASA 1–2, 1·58, [1·30–1·92], p<0·0001]), surgical safety checklist not used (1·39 [1·02–1·90], p=0·035), and ventilation or parenteral nutrition unavailable when needed (ventilation 1·96, [1·41–2·71], p=0·0001; parenteral nutrition 1·35, [1·05–1·74], p=0·018). Administration of parenteral nutrition (0·61, [0·47–0·79], p=0·0002) and use of a peripherally inserted central catheter (0·65 [0·50–0·86], p=0·0024) or percutaneous central line (0·69 [0·48–1·00], p=0·049) were associated with lower mortality. Interpretation Unacceptable differences in mortality exist for gastrointestinal congenital anomalies between lowincome, middle-income, and high-income countries. Improving access to quality neonatal surgical care in LMICs will be vital to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 of ending preventable deaths in neonates and children younger than 5 years by 2030

Kinetic modeling of liquid generation from oil shale in fixed bed retort

Kinetics of shale oil generation in a fixed bed retort is modeled using a second order rate equation. Samples from Ellajjun oil shale deposits are tested in 350-550 °C temperatures range. In each run, 400 g are charged to reactor and heated in a range of 2.2-10 °C min-1. Shale oil liquid is condensed at 0 ± 2 °C and its rate measured as function of time and temperature. Increasing heating rate from 2.2 to 10 °C min-1 decreased activation energy from 115 to 71.2 kJ mol-1 and frequency factor from 2.85 x 107 to 9.0 x 103 correspondingly. The generated data are modeled using Coats and Redfern differential and integral models. Good agreement has been obtained.Kinetic modeling Oil shale Heating rate Pyrolysis Fixed bed Shale oil