مطالب

INTRODUCTION: The dearth of data and accurate climate information has made it difficult to study the relationship between human health and climate change. To study the surface heat island in the urban areas, land surface temperature must be calculated, and since no space sensor is capable of frequent thermal imaging at the required spatial resolution for urban studies, this study aimed to propose a method for urban temperature changing characteristics, and provide the results to the city managers and officials in health domains. METHODS: SADFAT temporal and spatial integration model was used to prepare the data. Following that, changes in the spatial and temporal pattern of surface temperature data in Tehran were studied using exploratory methods of spatial data analysis, and the results were evaluated by classical statistical methods (normalization process, classification, and comparison of temperature classes of images). The heat island ratio index was employed to investigate the temporal changes in the intensity of the heat island. FINDINGS: Temporal changes in the ratio of heat island in Tehran during 2017 showed that from the Julian days 1 to 81 (January 12 to April 2), as well as 153 to 281 (June 12 to October 16), the value of the intensity of the heat island in Tehran was higher than the average (about 0.067) due to changes in vegetation, climate, and air pollution, for 210 days in a year. CONCLUSION: The diagram of periodic and irregular fluctuations of thermal islands showed that it was not logical to compare the spatial pattern of thermal islands without considering the time of location. These daily and weekly fluctuations in the intensity of the heat island, as well as the human exposure to it, cause a wide range of diseases, such as hypothermia, heatstroke, as well as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, which consequently lead to death.

INTRODUCTION: Landslides are one of the recurrent natural problems that are widespread throughout the world, especially in mountainous areas, and cause a significant injury to and loss of human life and damage to properties and infrastructures. This study aimed to assess landslide susceptibility using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) in Binalood Mountains, Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran. METHODS: Since the Binalood Mountains range has a high potential for landslides occurrence, the present study went through to map landslide susceptibility. To accomplish this, the AHP method was used, and then, receiver operating characteristic/area under the curves (AUCs) were prepared to evaluate the performance of the susceptibility map. Multiple data, such as lithology, distance to faults, land use, distance to roads, altitude, slope, aspect, stream power index, topographic wetness index, rainfall, distance from rivers, slope length index, and topographic location index, were considered for delineating the landslide susceptibility maps. These thematic layers were assigned suitable weights on the Saaty's scale according to their relative importance in landslide occurrence in the study area. The assigned weights of the thematic layers and their features were subsequently normalized using the AHP technique. Finally, all thematic layers were integrated by a weighted linear combination method in a geographic information system tool to generate landslide susceptibility maps. FINDINGS: The landslide susceptibility maps are split into five classes, namely very low, low, moderate, high, and very high. The results showed that the geological factor was the most important factor affecting the occurrence of landslides in the study area. Generally, 47.8% of the total area was considered high and very high-risk areas. The prediction accuracy of this map showed the values of AUC equal to 81.7% that showed the AHP model had very good accuracy. CONCLUSION: Overall, AHP is acceptable for landslide susceptibility mapping in the study area. A landslide susceptibility map is a useful tool to help with land management in landslide-prone areas. The results revealed that the predicted susceptibility levels were found to be in good agreement with the past landslide occurrences. Possibly, this map can be used by the concerned authorities in disaster management planning to prepare rescue routes, service centers, and shelters.

INTRODUCTION: This study was investigated to represent and measure the impact of social responsibility components on crisis prevention in a conceptual model. Therefore, according to the research model, this study proposed 17 hypotheses about the existence of social responsibility among the employees of organizations involved in helping the victims of natural and man-made disasters, which would lead to crisis prevention. METHODS: This applied research was performed based on the descriptive-survey research method with a correlational approach using field study to collect data. The statistical population of this study consisted of 250 managers and experts of the Crisis Management Organization and the general departments of crisis management of the provinces (subdivisions of the Provincial Governments). The samples were selected using the relative stratified random sampling method, and the final sample size was determined at 150 individuals using Cochran's formula. To collect information, a 17-item researcher-made questionnaire was employed consisting of three main components (i.e., macro environment, organizational factors, and individual factors) and items for each of these three components. The responses were rated on a 5-point Likert scale (from 1=very low to 5=very high). Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to check the normality of the distribution of variables. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 26 and the t-test and confirmatory factor analysis modeling was used in AMOS24 software FINDINGS: The results showed that the significance levels obtained for all factors, except technological and geographical factors, were less than 0.05; therefore, all these factors were different from the average of the community. On the other hand, since the mean differences were positive in all factors, all components of social responsibility, except technological and geographical factors, had an impact on crisis prevention. CONCLUSION: It can be said that the special attention of managers, authorities, and employees to the vital issue of social responsibility, especially in their daily activities, not only would help improve intra-organizational communication and increase employee motivation but also would lead to preventing crises.