An evaluation of sleepiness, and sleep on-route in South African long- distance truck drivers

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Michelle Lydia Baker
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Sleep Duration ◽  
Gold Standard ◽  
Epworth Sleepiness Scale ◽  
Nrem Sleep ◽  
Truck Drivers ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Validated Questionnaires ◽  
Drive Time

The hypothesis that South African long-distance drivers are sleepy at the wheel, and have shortened sleep duration on-route at truck stops arose. The possibility of using gold standard questionnaires for employment in operational settings was also considered. Although many questionnaires, and simulator studies have been used to assess sleepiness in long-distance truck drivers, few studies have monitored drivers on-route, whilst driving. The subjective component involved the use of both the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) and the Sleep Wake Activity Inventory (SWAI), which are validated . questionnaires developed for assessing sleepiness. Objectively on-route physiological polysomnography (PSG), using specific parameters, was used to record the occurrence of microsleeps and Stage1 NREM sleep, according to international criteria, to monitor drivers, whilst driving, as well as sleep, at a truck stop (N=16). The objective polysomnographic results showed an overall propensity to lapses in consciousness (microsleeps) and progression to sleepiness (Stage1 NREM). A mean total sleepiness score of 19% was calculated across the total drive time, which averaged four hours. This was extrapolated to alcohol levels of BAC 0.05 - 0.1 as described by Williamson & Feyer, (2000).

scholarly journals Shorter sleep duration is associated with potential risks for overwork-related death among Japanese truck drivers: use of the Karoshi prodromes from worker’s compensation cases

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomohide Kubo ◽  
Shun Matsumoto ◽  
Takeshi Sasaki ◽  
Hiroki Ikeda ◽  
Shuhei Izawa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sleep Duration ◽  
Mixed Model ◽  
Response Rate ◽  
Multiple Logistic Regression Analysis ◽  
Truck Drivers ◽  
Work Schedule ◽  
Multiple Logistic Regression ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
Potential Risks ◽  
Night Shifts

Abstract Purpose We aimed to cross-sectionally investigate how work and sleep conditions could be associated with excessive fatigue symptoms as an early sign of Karoshi (overwork-related cerebrovascular and cardiovascular diseases; CCVDs). Methods We distributed a questionnaire regarding work, sleep, and excessive fatigue symptoms to 5410 truck drivers, as the riskiest occupation for overwork-related CCVDs, and collected 1992 total samples (response rate: 36.8%). The research team collected 1564 investigation reports required for compensation for Karoshi. Of them, 190 reports listed the prodromes of Karoshi, which were used to develop the new excessive fatigue symptoms inventory. Results One-way analyses of variance showed that the excessive fatigue symptoms differed significantly by monthly overtime hours (p < 0.001), daily working time (p < 0.001), work schedule (p = 0.025), waiting time on-site (p = 0.049), number of night shifts (p = 0.011), and sleep duration on workdays (p < 0.001). Multivariate mixed-model regression analyses revealed shorter sleep duration as the most effective parameter for predicting excessive fatigue symptoms. Multiple logistic regression analysis confirmed that the occurrences of CCVDs were significantly higher in the middle [adjusted ORs = 3.56 (1.28–9.94)] and high-score groups [3.55 (1.24–10.21)] than in the low-score group. Conclusion The findings suggested that shorter sleep duration was associated more closely with a marked increase in fatigue, as compared with the other work and sleep factors. Hence, ensuring sleep opportunities could be targeted for reducing the potential risks of Karoshi among truck drivers.

scholarly journals Systematic placement of an enigmatic Southeast Asian taxon Eupetes macrocerus and implications for the biogeography of a main songbird radiation, the Passerida

2007 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 323-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Knud A Jønsson ◽  
Jon Fjeldså ◽  
Per G.P Ericson ◽  
Martin Irestedt
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Plate Tectonics ◽  
Molecular Data ◽  
Sister Taxon ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Biogeographic History ◽  
Basal Group ◽  
History Of ◽  
Biogeographic Regions ◽  
Wallace’S Line

Biogeographic connections between Australia and other continents are still poorly understood although the plate tectonics of the Indo-Pacific region is now well described. Eupetes macrocerus is an enigmatic taxon distributed in a small area on the Malay Peninsula and on Sumatra and Borneo. It has generally been associated with Ptilorrhoa in New Guinea on the other side of Wallace's Line, but a relationship with the West African Picathartes has also been suggested. Using three nuclear markers, we demonstrate that Eupetes is the sister taxon of the South African genus Chaetops , and their sister taxon in turn being Picathartes , with a divergence in the Eocene. Thus, this clade is distributed in remote corners of Africa and Asia, which makes the biogeographic history of these birds very intriguing. The most parsimonious explanation would be that they represent a relictual basal group in the Passerida clade established after a long-distance dispersal from the Australo-Papuan region to Africa. Many earlier taxonomic arrangements may have been based on assumptions about relationships with similar-looking forms in the same, or adjacent, biogeographic regions, and revisions with molecular data may uncover such cases of neglect of ancient relictual patterns reflecting past connections between the continents.

Empire and High Finance: South Africa and the International Gold Standard 1890–1914

1982 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 529-548 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Jacques Van-Helten
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Gold Standard ◽  
Financial Crises ◽  
Mining Industry ◽  
International Liquidity ◽  
Monetary Relations ◽  
Marketing Costs ◽  
Gold Producer ◽  
The Impact

Within twelve years of the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand in 1886 the Transvaal was producing over one quarter of the world's annual output of gold. The Transvaal's emergence as a major gold producer took place at a time when global monetary relations were dominated by the operations of the gold standard. This article illustrates the impact of the Witwatersrand discoveries on the working of the international gold standard to 1914 and suggests that newly mined gold from South Africa eased international liquidity problems by facilitating an expansion of the gold base and money supplies without the dangers of inflation. Transvaal gold was shipped to London and sold in the City's bullion market. The establishment by South African mining companies of a complex London network of brokerage, insurance, refining and marketing facilities of gold is considered in detail. It is demonstrated that, when faced with a fixed price of gold and rising working costs on the Rand, the mining industry actively sought to minimize the marketing costs of gold in London to offset general cost inflation and to increase revenue. Finally, at the turn of the century, the Bank of England still occupied a hegemonic position in the international financial system, although, as this article shows, this hegemony was subject to periodic financial crises such as the collapse of Barings in 1890. The Bank‘s problems were thought to stem from a severe shortage of gold reserves. Recently, it has been argued that by the late 1890s British politicians and financiers encouraged the overthrow of the Kruger regime in the Transvaal in order to gain physical control over the Rand mines and thereby ease the Bank's shortages of gold. However, there are problems with this formulation and the article concludes with an alternative consideration of the complex relationship between the supplies of newly mined Transvaal gold, the international gold standard and the Bank of England's financial crises.

Musculoskeletal Disorders and its Associated Risk Factors in Long-distance Truck Drivers from Allahabad, India

2022 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 0-0
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Musculoskeletal Disorders ◽  
Work Experience ◽  
Musculoskeletal Disorder ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Truck Drivers ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
High Prevalence ◽  
Associated Risk Factors

Occupational driving has often been associated with a high prevalence of pain in the neck, shoulder, wrist/hand, back and knee. The present study was undertaken to find out the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and associated risk factors among long-distance truck drivers from Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 108 long-distance truck drivers. They were interviewed and examined as per a pre-designed, pre-tested semi-structured interview questionnaire. Results indicate that 78% of long-distance truck drivers had musculoskeletal disorder. The most common symptoms were low back pain (40%) followed by shoulder pain (26%), knee pain (24%), and neck pain (20%). Age, education, addiction, years of work experience, hours of driving were significantly associated with musculoskeletal morbidity (P&lt;0.001). Long-distance truck drivers with continued driving exposure have a high prevalence of a musculoskeletal disorder.

Perspectives from Four Stages of Development

2019 ◽  
pp. 159-178
Author(s):  
Eleanor M. Fox ◽  
Mor Bakhoum
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Gold Standard ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
The United States ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
The European Union ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Developed Countries

This chapter identifies four clusters of nations based on state of development, in order to highlight significant qualitative differences that may call for different law and policies. The first cluster comprises the least developed sub-Saharan African countries with the most resource-challenged competition authorities, such as Benin and Togo. The second cluster compromises nations that have advanced economically to a perceptibly higher level. The third cluster is a “group” of one—South Africa. With all of its challenges, the South African competition regime is as close to a gold standard as there is in sub-Saharan Africa. Finally, for comparison, the fourth cluster comprises the developed countries, led in particular by the European Union and the United States. These nations have open economies, fairly robust markets, good infrastructure, and good institutions. The chapter proceeds to identify, from the point of view of each of the clusters, the most fitting competition framework nationally and globally. The chapter proposes how the divergences can be brought into sympathy.

Prevalence and pattern of stimulants use among long-distance truck drivers in a truck part in Kaduna State, Nigeria

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 445
Author(s):  
SBabandi Zaharaddeen ◽  
AbdulhakimA. Olorukooba ◽  
Aminu Lawal ◽  
Ibrahim Abdullahi ◽  
Salamatu Belgore ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Truck Drivers ◽  
Long Distance

How Malleable is the ‘Gold Standard’?: A Case Study in Respect of South Africa’s Access to Information Regime

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wilhelm Peekhaus
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Gold Standard ◽  
Genetically Engineered ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Government Information ◽  
Genetically Engineered Plants ◽  
Société Civile ◽  
Environmental Organisation ◽  
Information Regime

This paper examines the difficulties encountered by Biowatch, a South African civil society environmental organisation, in its attempts to obtain access to government information in respect of genetically engineered plants. The elaboration of the case is based on interviews conducted with the Director of Biowatch and the organisation’s legal counsel.Cette communication porte sur les difficultés rencontrées par Biowatch, une organisation environnementale de la société civile sud-africaine, lors de ses tentatives d’obtenir accès aux données gouvernementales relativement aux plantes issues du génie génétique. L’élaboration du cas se base sur des entrevues menées auprès du directeur de Biowatch et le conseiller juridique de l’organisation.

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