Attention performance among Brazilian truck drivers and its association with amphetamine use: pilot study

The aim of this article was to describe the attention functioning of twenty-two truck drivers and its relationship with amphetamine use. Those drivers who reported using amphetamines in the twelve months previous to the interview had the best performance in a test evaluating sustained attention functioning. Although amphetamine use may initially seem advantageous to the drivers, it may actually impair safe driving. The findings suggest the importance of monitoring the laws regarding amphetamine use in this country.

Violence against metropolitan bus drivers and fare collectors in Brazil

OBJECTIVE To analyze the correlation between sociodemographic factors and working conditions of bus workers in a metropolitan area and violence against them.METHODS This cross-sectional study used a nonprobabilistic sample estimated according to the number of workers employed in bus companies located in three cities in the Belo Horizonte metropolitan region in 2012 (N = 17,470). Face-to-face interviews were conducted using a digital questionnaire. The factors associated with violence were analyzed in two stages using Poisson regression, according to each level. The magnitude of the association was evaluated using prevalence ratios with robust variance and a statistical significance of 5%, and 95% confidence intervals were obtained.RESULTS The study sample comprised 782 drivers and 691 fare collectors; 45.0% participants reported at least one act of violence in the workplace in the last 12 months, with passengers being predominantly responsible. The age of the bus workers was inversely associated with violence. Chronic diseases, sickness absenteeism, and working conditions were also associated with violence.CONCLUSIONS The findings on the correlation between violence and working conditions are essential for implementing prevention strategies by transportation service managers.

Occupational conditions and the risk of the use of amphetamines by truck drivers

OBJECTIVE To test whether the occupational conditions of professional truck drivers are associated with amphetamine use after demographic characteristics and ones regarding mental health and drug use are controlled for.METHODS Cross-sectional study, with a non-probabilistic sample of 684 male truck drivers, which was collected in three highways in Sao Paulo between years 2012 and 2013. Demographic and occupational information was collected, as well as data on drug use and mental health (sleep quality, emotional stress, and psychiatric disorders). A logistic regression model was developed to identify factors associated with amphetamine use. Odds ratio (OR; 95%CI) was defined as the measure for association. The significance level was established as p < 0.05.RESULTS The studied sample was found to have an average age of 36.7 (SD = 7.8) years, as well as low education (8.6 [SD = 2.3] years); 29.0% of drivers reported having used amphetamines within the twelve months prior to their interviews. After demographic and occupational variables had been controlled for, the factors which indicated amphetamine use among truck drivers were the following: being younger than 38 years (OR = 3.69), having spent less than nine years at school (OR = 1.76), being autonomous (OR = 1.65), working night shifts or irregular schedules (OR = 2.05), working over 12 hours daily (OR = 2.14), and drinking alcohol (OR = 1.74).CONCLUSIONS Occupational aspects are closely related to amphetamine use among truck drivers, which reinforces the importance of closely following the application of law (Resting Act (“Lei do Descanso”); Law 12,619/2012) which regulates the workload and hours of those professionals. Our results show the need for increased strictness on the trade and prescription of amphetamines in Brazil.

Manpower analysis in transportation safety. Final report.

Transportation Department, Office of University Research, Washington, D.C.

Manpower analysis in transportation safety /

Mode of access: Internet.

Maine occupational staffing patterns for railroads, trucking and warehousing, and transportation by air (regulated industries), June 1976 /

Mode of access: Internet.

Epidemiology of leisure, transportation, occupational, and household physical activity: prevalence and associated factors

Background: To estimate the prevalence of and identify factors associated with physical activity in leisure, transportation, occupational, and household settings. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study aimed at investigating living and health conditions among the population of São Paulo, Brazil. Data on 1318 adults aged 18 to 65 years were used. To assess physical activity, the long version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire was applied. Multivariate analysis was conducted using a hierarchical model. Results: The greatest prevalence of insufficient activity related to transportation (91.7%), followed by leisure (77.5%), occupational (68.9%), and household settings (56.7%). The variables associated with insufficient levels of physical activity in leisure were female sex, older age, low education level, nonwhite skin color, smoking, and self-reported poor health; in occupational settings were female sex, white skin color, high education level, self-reported poor health, nonsmoking, and obesity; in transportation settings were female sex; and in household settings, with male sex, separated, or widowed status and high education level. Conclusion: Physical activity in transportation and leisure settings should be encouraged. This study will serve as a reference point in monitoring different types of physical activities and implementing public physical activity policies in developing countries

Epidemiology of Leisure, Transportation, Occupational, and Household Physical Activity: Prevalence and Associated Factors

Background: To estimate the prevalence of and identify factors associated with physical activity in leisure, transportation, occupational, and household settings. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study aimed at investigating living and health conditions among the population of So Paulo, Brazil. Data on 1318 adults aged 18 to 65 years were used. To assess physical activity, the long version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire was applied. Multivariate analysis was conducted using a hierarchical model. Results: The greatest prevalence of insufficient activity related to transportation (91.7%), followed by leisure (77.5%), occupational (68.9%), and household settings (56.7%). The variables associated with insufficient levels of physical activity in leisure were female sex, older age, low education level, nonwhite skin color, smoking, and self-reported poor health; in occupational settings were female sex, white skin color, high education level, self-reported poor health, nonsmoking, and obesity; in transportation settings were female sex; and in household settings, with male sex, separated, or widowed status and high education level. Conclusion: Physical activity in transportation and leisure settings should be encouraged. This study will serve as a reference point in monitoring different types of physical activities and implementing public physical activity policies in developing countries.

Assessing the ex ante economic impacts of transportation infrastructure policies in Brazil

This paper uses a fully operational inter-regional computable general equilibrium (CGE) model implemented for the Brazilian economy, based on previous work by Haddad and Hewings, in order to assess the likely economic effects of road transportation policy changes in Brazil. Among the features embedded in this framework, modelling of external scale economies and transportation costs provides an innovative way of dealing explicitly with theoretical issues related to integrated regional systems. The model is calibrated for 109 regions. The explicit modelling of transportation costs built into the inter-regional CGE model, based on origin-destination flows, which takes into account the spatial structure of the Brazilian economy, creates the capability of integrating the inter-regional CGE model with a geo-coded transportation network model enhancing the potential of the framework in understanding the role of infrastructure on regional development. The transportation model used is the so-called Highway Development and Management, developed by the World Bank, implemented using the software TransCAD. Further extensions of the current model specification for integrating other features of transport planning in a continental industrialising country like Brazil are discussed, with the goal of building a bridge between conventional transport planning practices and the innovative use of CGE models. In order to illustrate the analytical power of the integrated system, the authors present a set of simulations, which evaluate the ex ante economic impacts of physical/qualitative changes in the Brazilian road network (for example, a highway improvement), in accordance with recent policy developments in Brazil. Rather than providing a critical evaluation of this debate, they intend to emphasise the likely structural impacts of such policies. They expect that the results will reinforce the need to better specifying spatial interactions in inter-regional CGE models.

Effects of time delay and transportation on isolation of pathogenic fungi from skin biopsies

BACKGROUND - It is not clear how culture media used during transport and the interval between the biopsy procedure and final processing can affect the successful isolation of fungi. OBJECTIVE - The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of late inoculation of skin biopsies, transported in different sterile fluids, on the isolation rate of pathogenic fungi. METHODS -A total of 278 punch biopsy specimens were collected from 47 patients with suspected lesions of invasive mycoses. Each biopsy was transported in vials with Sabouraud medium with chloramphenicol or saline solution and finally inoculated on Sabouraud agar and 2% chloramphenicol after a 48-72-hour (early) or after 72-hour-7-day (late) interval, comprising four groups of study. RESULTS - The medians of isolation rate of the four sporotrichosis groups were 100%. For paracoccidioidomycosis, the medians ranged from 50% to 84%, with no statistically significant difference among the groups (p=0.88). CONCLUSION - It was concluded that skin biopsies can be transported in Sabouraud medium or saline solution within a 7-day interval from specimen collection up to final inoculation, at room temperature, maintaining viability and growth rate of fungus in culture.

Analysis of Apical Root Transportation Associated with Protaper Universal F3 and F4 Instruments by Using Digital Subtraction Radiography

Introduction: The aim of this study was to assess the occurrence of apical root transportation after the use of Pro Taper Universal rotary files sizes 3 (F3) and 4 (F4). Methods: Instruments were worked to the apex of the original canal, always by the same operator. Digital subtraction radiography images were produced in buccolingual and mesiodistal projections. A total of 25 radiographs were taken from root canals of human maxillary first molars with curvatures varying from 23-31 degrees. Quantitative data were analyzed by intraclass correlation coefficient and Wilcoxon nonparametric test (P = .05). Results: Buccolingual images revealed a significantly higher degree of apical transportation associated with F4 instruments when compared with F3 instruments in relation to the original canal (Wilcoxon test, P = .007). No significant difference was observed in mesiodistal images (P = .492). Conclusions: F3 instruments should be used with care in curved canals, and F4 instruments should be avoided in apical third preparation of curved canals. (J Endod 2010;36:1052-1055)

Canal transportation and centring ability of RaCe rotary instruments

Evaluate, through computerized tomography, canal transportation and centring ability of RaCe rotary instruments after preparation of mesiobuccal root canals in maxillary molar teeth. Twenty-seven teeth were submitted to three cone beam tomographic analyses, one preoperatively, and two after preparation with file size 35, .02 taper and size 50, .02 taper. Canal transportation and centring ability were measured with reference to the distance between the noninstrumented portion of the root canals and the mesial and distal periphery of the root, compared with images obtained after the preparation with size 35 and 50 instruments. Canal transportation after preparation with the size 35 file was 0.030 +/- 0.253 mm and after the size 50 file was 0.057 +/- 0.317 mm. The centring ratio values after preparation with the size 35 file was 0.42 +/- 0.32 and after the size 50 file was 0.54 +/- 0.29, with no significant statistical difference between the groups. RaCe instruments allowed the preparation of curved root canals with preparation diameters larger than those normally used with minimal canal transportation and adequate centring ability.

An heuristic approach for optimal location of gas supply units in transportation system

The best places to locate the Gas Supply Units (GSUs) on a natural gas systems and their optimal allocation to loads are the key factors to organize an efficient upstream gas infrastructure. The number of GSUs and their optimal location in a gas network is a decision problem that can be formulated as a linear programming problem. Our emphasis is on the formulation and use of a suitable location model, reflecting real-world operations and constraints of a natural gas system. This paper presents a heuristic model, based on lagrangean approach, developed for finding the optimal GSUs location on a natural gas network, minimizing expenses and maximizing throughput and security of supply.The location model is applied to the Iberian high pressure natural gas network, a system modelised with 65 demand nodes. These nodes are linked by physical and virtual pipelines – road trucks with gas in liquefied form. The location model result shows the best places to locate, with the optimal demand allocation and the most economical gas transport mode: by pipeline or by road truck.