Imperial Palace Momiji, originally uploaded by micpohling.
Think I will really miss this when I am gone… 😦
OECD and Malaysia : Vehicle, Road Accidents and Deaths
April 26, 2007 at 5:26 am (Health, Malaysia, OECD, Statistic)
The data here shows the normalized number (divide by the population of respective country) of vechicle, passenger car, number of accidents, deaths and number of person injured due to road traffic accident are compared here among selected OECD countries.
US has the highest number of vehicles and passenger cars (779, 765 respectively) while Malaysia as a developing nation has the lowest number (254, 222).
US has the highest number of accidents per 1000 persons (6.90), followed by Austria and Canada (5.36 and 5.04 respectively). On the other hand, Finland and Denmark have low number of accidents per 1000 persons: 1.25 and 1.28 accidents per 1000 persons.
Greece has the highest number of deaths:19.62 persons out of 100 000 population died due to road accidents. Portugal followed closely: 17.11 persons per 100 000 population. On the other hand, Switzerland, Sweden, Netherlands and UK have low road accidents fatalities, less than 7 people died per 100 000 population.
US has the highest number of persons injured in road accidents: 10.21 persons out of 1000 people were injured in traffic accidents. Canada and Austria have relatively high number as well: 7.18 and 1.02 respectively. On the other hand, Denmark has the least number of people injured in traffic accidents, 1.59 persons, almost 6.5x lower than US’s number. This is followed by Finland, 1.64. On average, 4.39 people out from 1000 population injured due to road accidents.
Analysis:
Both number of vechicles and passenger cars have positive impact on causing the higher number of accidents happening, but it seemed that passenger cars factor is stronger (as strong as 0.65, 1 is the perfect) than vehicle factor. This is also true in number of person injured in traffic accident. However, the deaths caused by road traffic accidents does not show any increase or decrease with the number of vehicle or passenger cars around.
source:
1) UNECE, Road Traffic Accidents
2) WHO DALY Deaths
3) World Bank Data: Infrastructure
Gene: Type 2 Diabetes
April 26, 2007 at 12:40 am (Gene, Health)
Source: Gene test to spot adults who might get diabetes , 12-02-2007
An international team of scientists has identified five different genetic variants that are linked to the condition, which is caused both by family inheritance and lifestyle factors such as poor diet, obesity and smoking. The five variants are thought together to account for about 70 per cent of the genetic risk of type 2 diabetes, the form of the disease that generally strikes in adulthood.
Such a test could be used in a screening programme to pick up those who are most at risk, who could then alter their diet and exercise patterns accordingly. Professor Philippe Froguel of Imperial College, London, one of the leaders of the study, said: “The two major reasons why people develop type 2 diabetes are obesity and a family link. Our new findings mean that we can create a good genetic test to predict people’s risk of developing this type of diabetes.
One of the five genes, SLC30A8, is involved in transporting the mineral zinc in the body, and is known to be involved in secreting insulin, a hormone that is important to metabolising sugar.
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