Injury and risk-taking behavior - a systematic review

There is a substantial body of work in the scientific literature discussing the role of risk-taking behavior in the causation of injury. Despite the quantity of diverse writings on the subject most is in the form of theoretical commentaries. This review was conducted to critically assess the empirical evidence supporting the association between injury and risk-taking behavior. The review found six case-control studies and one retrospective cohort study, which met all the inclusion criteria. Meta-analysis was not possible due to the diversity of the independent and outcome variables in each of the studies reviewed. Overall the review found that risk-taking behavior, however it is measured, is associated with an increased chance of sustaining an injury except in the case of high skilled, risk-taking sports where the effect may be in the other direction. Drawing specific conclusions from the research presented in this review is difficult without an agreed conceptual framework for examining risk-taking behavior and injury. Considerable work needs to be done to provide a convincing evidence base on which to build public health interventions around risk behavior. However, sufficient evidence exists to suggest that effort in this area may be beneficial for the health of the community. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Efficiently computing weighted proximity relationships in spatial databases

Spatial data mining recently emerges from a number of real applications, such as real-estate marketing, urban planning, weather forecasting, medical image analysis, road traffic accident analysis, etc. It demands for efficient solutions for many new, expensive, and complicated problems. In this paper, we investigate the problem of evaluating the top k distinguished “features” for a “cluster” based on weighted proximity relationships between the cluster and features. We measure proximity in an average fashion to address possible nonuniform data distribution in a cluster. Combining a standard multi-step paradigm with new lower and upper proximity bounds, we presented an efficient algorithm to solve the problem. The algorithm is implemented in several different modes. Our experiment results not only give a comparison among them but also illustrate the efficiency of the algorithm.

Sleepiness, sleep-disordered breathing, and accident risk factors in commercial vehicle drivers

Sleep-disordered breathing and excessive sleepiness may be more common in commercial vehicle drivers than in the general population. The relative importance of factors causing excessive sleepiness and accidents in this population remains unclear. We measured the prevalence of excessive sleepiness and sleep-disordered breathing and assessed accident risk factors in 2,342 respondents to a questionnaire distributed to a random sample of 3,268 Australian commercial vehicle drivers and another 161 drivers among 244 invited to undergo polysomnography. More than half (59.6%) of drivers had sleep-disordered breathing and 15.8% had obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. Twenty-four percent of drivers had excessive sleepiness. Increasing sleepiness was related to an increased accident risk. The sleepiest 5% of drivers on the Epworth Sleepiness Scale and Functional Outcomes of Sleep Questionnaire had an in-creased risk of an accident (odds ratio [OR] 1.91, p = 0.02 and OR 2.23, p < 0.01, respectively) and multiple accidents (OR 2.67, p < 0.01 and OR 2.39, p = 0.01), adjusted for established risk factors. There was an increased accident risk with narcotic analgesic use (OR 2.40, p < 0.01) and antihistamine use (OR 3.44, p = 0.04). Chronic excessive sleepiness and sleep-disordered breathing are common in Australian commercial vehicle drivers. Accident risk was related to increasing chronic sleepiness and antihistamine and narcotic analgesic use.

Risk taking from the participant's perspective: The case of driving and accident risk

Although perceived health risk plays a prominent role in theories of health behavior. its empirical role in risk taking is less clear. In Study 1 (N = 129), 2 measures of drivers' risk-taking behavior were found to be unrelated to self-estimates of accident concern but to be related to self-ratings of driving skill and the perceived thrill of driving. In Study 2 (N = 405), out of a wide range of potential influences, accident concern had the weakest relationship with risk taking. The authors concluded that although health risk is a key feature in many theories of health behavior and a central focus for researchers and policy makers, it may not be such a prominent factor for those actually taking the risk.

Women drivers' behaviour, socio-demographic characteristics and accidents

The purpose of this study was to examine factors which affect driving behaviour and accident rates in women in Australia. Two groups of women (aged 18-23 and 45-50 years) participating in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health, completed a mailed questionnaire on driver behaviour and road accidents. Self reported accident rates in the last 3 years were 1.87 per 100 000 km for the young drivers (n = 1199) and 0.59 per 100 000 km for the mid-age drivers (n = 1564); most accidents involved damage only, not injury. Mean scores for lapses obtained using the Driver Behaviour Questionnaire, were similar in the two age groups and similar to those found in other studies. In contrast, scores for errors and violations for the young women were higher than for the mid-age group and previous reports using the same instruments. Riskier driving behaviour among young women was associated with stress and habitual alcohol consumption. In the mid-age group, poorer driver behaviour scores were related to higher levels of education, feeling rushed, higher habitual alcohol consumption and lower life satisfaction scores. Accident rates in both groups were significantly related to lapses. Women born in non-English speaking countries had significantly higher risk of accidents compared to Australian-born women: relative risk = 3.40, 95% confidence interval (1.93, 5.98) for the young drivers; relative risk = 1.77, 95% confidence interval (1.11, 2.83) for mid-age drivers. These findings support the need for road safety campaigns targeted at young women to reduce dangerous driving practices, such as speeding,'tail gating' and overtaking on the inside. There is also a need for further research to understand how lifestyle characteristics are associated with higher risk of accidents and to explore factors which might account for the higher risk for women drivers who were born overseas. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

An object-oriented neural network approach to short-term traffic forecasting

This paper discusses an object-oriented neural network model that was developed for predicting short-term traffic conditions on a section of the Pacific Highway between Brisbane and the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. The feasibility of this approach is demonstrated through a time-lag recurrent network (TLRN) which was developed for predicting speed data up to 15 minutes into the future. The results obtained indicate that the TLRN is capable of predicting speed up to 5 minutes into the future with a high degree of accuracy (90-94%). Similar models, which were developed for predicting freeway travel times on the same facility, were successful in predicting travel times up to 15 minutes into the future with a similar degree of accuracy (93-95%). These results represent substantial improvements on conventional model performance and clearly demonstrate the feasibility of using the object-oriented approach for short-term traffic prediction. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Giardia trophozoites in dog hookworm, Ancylostoma caninum: accident or hyperparasitism?

During the course of transmission electron microscopic studies of adult Ancylostoma caninum removed from a dog, several Giardia trophozoites were found in sections of the buccal cavity, oesophagus and intestine of several hookworms. Although the protozoa appeared viable, this unusual finding probably represents accidental uptake by, rather than an established infection of, the hookworm. It is feasible, however, that the trophozoites might have survived and even multiplied in this aberrant site. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Book review of: 'Textual traffic: Colonialism, modernity and the economy of text' by S. Shankar

No abstract

The calculation of accident risks in fitness for work assessments: diseases that can cause sudden incapacity

Risk equations have been developed to assist in determining fitness for work of people with diseases that may cause rapid loss of control. The four equations calculate the frequency of fatal injury to the person with the disease, the frequency of fatal injury to colleagues in the workplace, and the cost of fatal injury and property damage to the employer, it is suggested that the additional risk of fatal injury to the person with the disease should not exceed the fatal injury rate in high-risk industries such as forestry, fishing and mining. it is also suggested that the additional risk of fatal injury to each colleague should be no more than one-tenth of the fatal injury rate due to motor vehicle accidents in the community. Two hypothetical case examples are given, demonstrating the use of the equations. The equations highlight the need to examine the risks associated with individuals, their specific jobs and their workplaces. They also highlight significant uncertainties in the determination of fitness, which perhaps have been underestimated in the past. Wherever possible, redundant defences should be utilized to prevent accidents in the event of sudden incapacity.

Traffic and residue cover effects on infiltration

Wheel traffic can lead to compaction and degradation of soil physical properties. This study, as part of a study of controlled traffic farming, assessed the impact of compaction from wheel traffic on soil that had not been trafficked for 5 years. A tractor of 40 kN rear axle weight was used to apply traffic at varying wheelslip on a clay soil with varying residue cover to simulate effects of traffic typical of grain production operations in the northern Australian grain belt. A rainfall simulator was used to determine infiltration characteristics. Wheel traffic significantly reduced time to ponding, steady infiltration rate, and total infiltration compared with non-wheeled soil, with or without residue cover. Non-wheeled soil had 4-5 times greater steady infiltration rate than wheeled soil, irrespective of residue cover. Wheelslip greater than 10% further reduced steady infiltration rate and total infiltration compared with that measured for self-propulsion wheeling (3% wheelslip) under residue-protected conditions. Where there was no compaction from wheel traffic, residue cover had a greater effect on infiltration capacity, with steady infiltration rate increasing proportionally with residue cover (R-2 = 0.98). Residue cover, however, had much less effect on infiltration when wheeling was imposed. These results demonstrated that the infiltration rate for the non-wheeled soil under a controlled traffic zero-till system was similar to that of virgin soil. However, when the soil was wheeled by a medium tractor wheel, infiltration rate was reduced to that of long-term cropped soil. These results suggest that wheel traffic, rather than tillage and cropping, might be the major factor governing infiltration. The exclusion of wheel traffic under a controlled traffic farming system, combined with conservation tillage, provides a way to enhance the sustainability of cropping this soil for improved infiltration, increased plant-available water, and reduced runoff-driven soil erosion.