1,309 research outputs found
Monitoring device for early warning signs of operator fatigue in open cut mines
Full text linkAn investigation into technologies to detect impaired performance due to driver fatigue was undertaken. From this, a new forced-choice stimulus-reaction device was developed specifically to detect driver impairment in operators of haul trucks in open cut mines. The device was developed in conjunction with personnel from the mining industry to suit the harsh conditions of the mining environment. The technology was trialled in three open cut mines and in a driving simulator at Murdoch University in Western Australia. Data were collected on the performance of drivers and analysed to validate the technology. A significant positive correlation was found between measures of reduced operator reaction performance and measures of eye closure. It was found that the device detected few false alarms and missed few bouts of tiredness as indicated by eye closures. It is suggested that the device would be a useful tool to assist with the detection of driver fatigue in open cut mining environments.
The forced-choice reaction-monitoring device was used to assess the performance of drivers in a gold mine in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. The fly-in-fly-out haul truck drivers worked 14 consecutive 12-hour night shifts, had a day off, then worked 13 consecutive 12-hour day shifts. A total of more than 3,500 hours of real-time objective performance data were collected and analysed. The main findings were that the objective performance data showed patterns of low performance that did not fit some of the performance data that would be expected from examination of past literature. Many findings are discussed in light of these anomalies. Another important finding is that the subject's background and sleep pathology is a possible predictor for poor performance on the forced-choice reaction task.
The system was also used to measure the performance of drivers with rising blood alcohol levels in a driving simulator. Subjects drank vodka with a mixer while driving for two hours starting at both 20:00 hrs and 22:00 hrs, with a week in between the two trials. The fatigue monitor detected reaction times slower than 3 SD of baseline performance at low levels of BAC. Performance at 22:00 hrs was marginally more impaired than performance at 20:00 hrs. Drivers at low BAC levels tended to compensate easier on the reaction task at 20:00 hrs compared to at 22:00 hrs. The ARRB fatigue monitor shows good capacity to detect poor performance due to low and medium measures of BAC.
The research undertaken within this thesis has provided data that challenges contemporary research that generally suggests that time on task is one of the largest influences of fatigue at work. It appears that both circadian influences and individual lifestyle habits will have an equal or greater impact on fatigue risk at work
Rethinking Eurasianism: the Eurasian Union Project of N.A. Nazarbaev
No full textThe article is dedicated to the analysis of basic patterns of the Eurasian Union Project of N.A. Nazarbaev. The author explains the reasons determined absence of interest from the direction of Russian leaders and governments of other CIS’s countries to the initiative of Kazakhstan President in 1990’s and the renewal of Eurasianism in 2000’s. The author also emphasizes the factors defining a special role of Kazakhstan in the processes of integration on the area of Eurasia
Work schedules, wages, and employment in a general equilibrium model with team production
Full text linkAn analysis of working hours, wages, and employment when production requires coordinating the work schedules of heterogeneous workers. The author shows that this coordination aspect of production can have important policy implications.Hours of labor ; Employment (Economic theory) ; Wages
Nitric oxide Host-protective or host-destructive during African trypanosomiasis?
No full textSIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN003830 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo
Environmental impacts during the operational phase of residential buildings
No full textTo date, the focus in the field of sustainable building has been on new building design. However, existing residential buildings inflict great environmental burden through three causes: continuous energy consumption, regular building maintenance and replacements. This publication analyses and compares these three causes of environmental burden and shows that material resources needed for replacements generally have a limited potential to reduce environmental impact. Reducing energy consumption for climate control and electrical appliances is much more effective. According to the author, sustainable measures should be tested for shifts in the kind of environmental impact caused due to the use of alternative types of energy resources and altered material quantities. The sustainability of the electricity supply is essential to decrease the total environmental impact of the residential building stock.Sustainable and Healthy HousingOTB Research Institut
Animal Blood Sacrifice in Left-Hand Path and Satanic Milieu: Case Study of the Author N.A-A.218
No full textKrvavá zvířecí oběť v Left-Hand Path a satanském milieu: Případová studie autora N.A-A.218 Matouš Mokrý English Abstract: The main aim of this paper was to study the meaning and nature of Chaos-gnostic animal sacrifice in the texts of N.A-A.218, to describe its social functions and to put it in its social and discoursive context, and thus to provide further understanding of its occurrence within the Left-Hand Path and satanic milieu whose dominant actors have rejected the act of animal sacrifice. The work deals in more detail mainly with discourses found in the texts of N.A- A.218 which are expressing the conception of sacrificial blood as magically potent substance constituting the seat of animal's life; do ut des principle; traditionality and duty of animal sacrifice and the conception of sacrifice as gradual killing of one's own ego which constitutes the part of a Chaos-gnostic's personality that is tying him to the demiurgic material world and its society. Whereas the discourses of blood as a magically potent substance and do ut des principle harmonize the Chaos-gnostic animal sacrifice with intuitive conceptions arising in connection with animal sacrifice across individual human cultures, the discourse of compulsory tradition shapes animal sacrifice as a tool of building, maintaining and control of..
Characteristics of included studies, arranged by author and year.
No full text<p>WM = wire myograph, PM = pressure myograph, PPM = pressure-perfusion myograph, WOP = whole organ perfusion, IV = <i>in vivo</i>. n.a. = not applicable.</p>#<p>data received by email.</p><p>Characteristics of included studies, arranged by author and year.</p
Patterns of stimulant drug use on Western Australian heavy transport routes
No full textIn July 1997, 236 truck drivers were interviewed at three truck stops in Western Australia. The interviews collected information on driver fatigue and stimulant drug taking as a fatigue countermeasure. Drivers have become more aware of fatigue as a problem within the industry over the past two years, however, 27% of drivers reported using stimulant drugs to combat driver fatigue. Interstate drivers use more prescription and illicit stimulant drugs to keep awake while intrastate drivers use more over the counter stimulants. Over the counter stimulants are not perceived as drugs by intrastate drivers because they are easily and legally obtainable and this is reflected within many of their responses.
The most frequent way that drivers obtained stimulant drugs was through a doctor, a chemist or illegal prescription. Anecdotal evidence from the drivers suggests that increasing pressure from the public and the media to eliminate illegally prescribed stimulant use by drivers has made them harder to obtain. Therefore, without fatigue issues within the industry being addressed, an increase in street purchases of illicit stimulants may occur. Prohibition of stimulant drug use without changing industry practices eliminates a fatigue countermeasure and could lead to a serious increase in fatigue-related crashes. The results of this study will help to identify “at risk” groups of drivers who can be targeted for education on fatigue and drug issues
Outsourcing and Skill Imports: Foreign High-Skilled Workers on H-1B and L-1 Visas in the United States
Full text linkThis working paper looks in detail at the H-1B and L-1 visa programs for temporary employment in the United States. Based on official data from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services and the US Department of State, H-1B and L-1 visa issuance rapidly increased in the late 1990s, followed by a marked slowdown after 2001. This points to the highly cyclical nature of both visa programs. Indian nationals and immigrants working in computer-related occupations dominate the H1-B and L-1 population in the United States, but these two groups are also found to be the most cyclical segment, with very large declines in inflows after 2001. The total population of H-1B visaholders in 2003 is estimated to range between 387,000 and 746,000, of which 160,000 to 306,000 were Indian nationals. As all data on H-1B/L-1 visaholders are gross numbers and gross jobs data for comparable categories are absent, the extent of the impact of these visa programs on the US labor market cannot be gauged precisely. A broad range of US industries and educational institutions are found to be employing H-1B recipients, with the IT industry being the dominant sector. Evidence of aggressive wage-cost cutting, including paying H-1B recipients only the legally mandated 95 percent of the prevailing US wage, is found among some H-1B employers, although no systematic abuse of the system is present.Outsourcing, offshoring, high-skilled labor, immigration, H1B/L-1 visas
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