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PubMed2006

Rail commuting duration and passenger stress.

Over 100 million Americans commute to work every weekday. Little is known, however, about how this aspect of work, which may indeed be the most stressful aspect of the job for some, affects human health and well-being. The authors studied a sample of 208 male and female suburban rail commuters who took the train to Manhattan, New York. The greater the duration of the commute, the larger the magnitude of salivary cortisol elevations in reference to resting baseline levels, the less the commuter's persistence on a task at the end of the commute, and the greater the levels of perceived stress. These effects were not moderated by gender. Commuting stress is an important and largely overlooked aspect of environmental health.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

Non-commutativity in the brain.

In non-commutative algebra, order makes a difference to multiplication, so that a x b not equal to b x a. This feature is necessary for computing rotary motion, because order makes a difference to the combined effect of two rotations. It has therefore been proposed that there are non-commutative operators in the brain circuits that deal with rotations, including motor circuits that steer the eyes, head and limbs, and sensory circuits that handle spatial information. This idea is controversial: studies of eye and head control have revealed behaviours that are consistent with non-commutativity in the brain, but none that clearly rules out all commutative models. Here we demonstrate non-commutative computation in the vestibulo-ocular reflex. We show that subjects rotated in darkness can hold their gaze points stable in space, correctly computing different final eye-position commands when put through the same two rotations in different orders, in a way that is unattainable by any commutative system.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Omission of active commuting to school and the prevalence of children's health-related physical activity levels: the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Study.

BACKGROUND: Active commuting to school by walking or bicycle is a potential source of continuous moderate activity for children that has been largely ignored in surveys of physical activity. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the analytical impact of omitting active commuting to school (walking or bicycling) on conclusions about children's physical activity levels. METHODS: The Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Study (RLMS) is the first nationally representative household survey in the Russian Federation. More than 6400 households from all regions of Russia were surveyed eight times between 1992 and 1998. Analysis was conducted using physical activity data (school physical education classes, out-of-school active pursuits and active commuting to school) obtained by parent-proxy on 1094 (572 boys, 522 girls) school-aged Russian children (mean age 10.2 +/- 1.9 years) participating in the November 1998 round of the RLMS. Data were examined according to prevalence of achievement of health-related physical activity guidelines, active commuting to school behaviours included then omitted. RESULTS: Omitting active commuting to school resulted in a statistically significant decrease in the prevalence of achievement of health-related guidelines from 12% to 20%, similar for both genders. Likewise, the prevalence of sedentarism (defined as not meeting any of the guidelines) was increased by 17-22%. CONCLUSIONS: The present findings suggest that, in order to avoid misclassification bias of children's physical activity levels, it is necessary to include questions about mode of commuting to school. The findings also carry practice implications: the commonplace need to get to and from school may be a missed opportunity for children's health-related physical activity in motorized societies.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1991

Commuter exposures to VOCs in Boston, Massachusetts.

This study examines the commuter's exposure to six gasoline-related volatile organic compounds (VOCs): benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, m-/p-xylene, o-xylene, and formaldehyde. The VOC concentrations to which commuters were exposed in four different commuting modes (driving, subway, walking, and biking) in Boston, Massachusetts, are compared. The VOC concentrations in participants' homes and offices were also measured. Factors that could influence in-vehicle VOC concentrations, such as different traffic patterns, car model and vehicle ventilation conditions, were also evaluated. Driving a private car was associated with higher VOC concentrations and commuting on urban roadways resulted in the highest VOC concentrations. The use of car heaters resulted in higher in-vehicle VOC concentrations. The longer the subway commuters stayed underground, the higher their VOC exposures. The home-to-work car or subway commute represented about 10 to 20 percent of an individual's total VOC exposure for these compounds.

Air Pollutants↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Environmental exposure of commuters in Mexico City to volatile organic compounds as assessed by blood concentrations, 1998.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the extent of exposure for Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) among nonoccupationally exposed commuters in Mexico City. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Blood concentrations of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, m-/p-xylene, o-xylene and methyl tert-butyl ether were determined on samples collected from participants after the morning commute. RESULTS: Median blood concentrations of benzene (0.11 microg/l), ethylbenzene (0.081 microg/l), m-/p-xylene (0.32 microg/l) and toluene (0.56 microg/l) in the Mexico City participants were all approximately two times higher than in a nonsmoking subset of the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey population of the United States. On the other hand, median VOC blood levels were similar to medians observed in other studies involving commuters in specific U.S. cities, despite the fact that only half the Mexico City study participants commuted by personal vehicles compared with all U.S. commuters. CONCLUSIONS: These results reflect the extent of the air pollution problem in Mexico City. The surrounding topography exacerbates the problems caused by heavy vehicular traffic, poor emission-control devices on older vehicles, and poor maintenance practices. Elevated levels of gasoline components in the blood of nonoccupationally exposed commuters emphasize the need for regulatory initiatives and mass-transit options to reduce hydrocarbon emissions and thus reduce the risk for nonoccupational exposure for the residents of Mexico City.

Adult↗

PubMed1998

Commuting in multi-nodal urban systems: an empirical comparison of three alternative models.

"This paper analyses whether the basic monocentric model of urban structure and commuting explains actual commuting in Europe, i.e. The Netherlands. As in the USA much wasteful commuting is established. The basic model has a low degree of explanatory power. In order to get more in line with actual commuting, the paper elaborates two alternatives to the basic model. Besides a deconcentrated model, a cross-traffic model is developed. Particularly the latter is quite successful in explaining actual commuting. The paper pleads for endogenising employment and stresses heterogeneity in labour demand and supply."

Behavior↗

PubMed1990

Objective and subjective dimensions of travel impedance as determinants of commuting stress.

The stressful characteristics of commuting constraints are conceptualized in terms of both physical and perceptual conditions of travel impedance. This study develops and operationalizes the concept of subjective impedance, as a complement to our previously developed concept of impedance as a physically defined condition of commuting stress. The stress impacts of high-impedance commuting were examined in a study of 79 employees of two companies in the follow-up testing of a longitudinal study. Subjective impedance was overlapping but not isomorphic with physical impedance, and these two dimensions have differential relationships with health and well-being outcomes. The physical impedance construct received further confirmation in validational analyses and in predicted effects on various illness measures and job satisfaction. The newly constructed subjective impedance index was significantly related to evening home mood, residential satisfaction, and chest pain. Job change was also influenced primarily by commuting satisfaction. The results are discussed within an ecological framework emphasizing interdomain transfer effects and situational moderators of commuting stress.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

Vehicle occupants' exposure to aromatic volatile organic compounds while commuting on an urban-suburban route in Korea.

This study identified in-auto and in-bus exposures to six selected aromatic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) for commutes on an urban-suburban route in Korea. A bus-service route was selected to include three segments of Taegu and one suburban segment (Hayang) to satisfy the criteria specified for this study. This study indicates that motor vehicle exhaust and evaporative emissions are major sources of both auto and bus occupants' exposures to aromatic VOCs in both Taegu and Hayang. A nonparametric statistical test (Wilcoxon test) showed that in-auto benzene levels were significantly different from in-bus benzene levels for both urban-segment and suburban-segment commutes. The test also showed that the benzene-level difference between urban-segment and suburban-segment commutes was significant for both autos and buses. An F-test showed the same statistical results for the comparison of the summed in-vehicle concentration of the six target VOCs (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and o,m,p-xylenes) as those for the comparison of the in-vehicle benzene concentration. On the other hand, the in-vehicle benzene level only and the sum were not significantly different among the three urban-segment commutes and between the morning and evening commutes. The in-auto VOC concentrations were intermediate between the results for the Los Angeles and Boston. The in-bus VOC concentrations were about one-tenth of the Taipei, Taiwan results.

Air Pollutants↗

PubMed2005

Physical activity and active commuting to elementary school.

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to determine if fifth-grade students who walked or bicycled to school on a regular basis were more physically active than those that did not. METHODS: The sample consists of 219 fifth-grade students (10.3 +/- 0.6 yr, 44% male, 58% minority) from eight randomly selected urban and suburban elementary schools. Students wore an Acti-Graph physical activity monitor during the same week that they completed a daily survey to report their mode of transportation to and from school. Students were categorized on the number of reported active commuting trips, to and from school, per week (regular;>or=5 (N=11), irregular; 1-4 (N=25), nonactive; 0 (N=183)). RESULTS: Compared with both other groups, regular active commuters accumulated 3% more minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA; P=0.04) during weekdays. This weekday difference was because of regular active commuters accumulating 8.5% more minutes of MVPA both before and after school (P <or= 0.01). No difference in physical activity was seen among groups during school or in the evening. Based on the mean number of minutes the students wore their monitors on weekdays (800 min.d), the 3% difference translates into approximately 24 additional minutes of MVPA per day for the regular active commuters. CONCLUSION: Walking to school was associated with approximately 24 additional minutes of MVPA per day in fifth-grade students. Additional observational and experimental research in larger, more diverse samples is needed to further clarify the effects of active commuting to school on total daily physical activity and other health outcomes.

Bicycling↗

PubMed1998

Long commuting time, extensive overtime, and sympathodominant state assessed in terms of short-term heart rate variability among male white-collar workers in the Tokyo megalopolis.

To investigate the possible effects of long commuting time and extensive overtime on daytime cardiac autonomic activity, the short-term heart rate variability (HRV) both at supine rest and at standing rest of 223 male white-collar workers in the Tokyo Megalopolis was examined. Workers with a one-way commute of 90 min or more exhibited decreased vagal activity at supine rest and increased sympathetic activity regardless of posture, and those doing overtime of 60 h/month or more exhibited decreased vagal activity and increased sympathetic activity at standing rest. These findings suggest that chronic stress or fatigue resulting from long commuting time or extensive overtime caused these individuals to be in a sympathodominant state. Although these shifts in autonomic activities are not direct indicators of disease, it can be hypothesized that they can induce cardiovascular abnormalities or dysfunctions related to the onset of heart disease. Assessment of the daily and weekly variations in HRV as a function of daily life activities (such as working, commuting, sleeping, and exercising) among workers in Asia-Pacific urban areas might be one way of studying the possible effects of long commuting time, and extensive overtime, on health.

Adult↗

PubMed1994

Uptake of carbon monoxide in Los Angeles commuters.

The uptake of carbon monoxide in Los Angeles commuters was measured by determining carbon monoxide concentrations in expired air before and after commuting. Estimates of exposure were made by determining carbon monoxide concentration in air collected within each car during each trip. There was a definite increase in expired air carbon monoxide concentration during the morning commute trip, but not during the afternoon trip. No consistent differences by geographic area were noted. Multiple correlation analysis showed that the post-commuting values depended more upon precommuting expired air values than upon carbon monoxide measured within the car. Smokers showed consistently higher values of carbon monoxide than nonsmokers, and the effect of smoking was several times greater than that of exposure to carbon monoxide levels experienced during commuting.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Longer distance commuting as a substitute for migration in Britain: a review of trends, issues and implications.

"Drawing on analyses of commuting data from secondary sources as well as on selected results from a research project on long-distance commuting in Britain, this article investigates the extent to which, and why, households may choose to substitute longer distance commuting for migration. Reasons for long-distance weekly commuting, and associated advantages and disadvantages from individual, household and employer perspectives, are outlined. The evidence points to increasing complexity in home and working lives, with important implications for housing, transport and human resource management policies, as well as for family life."

Behavior↗

PubMed1987

Long-distance commuting and population change in Georgia, 1960-80.

The authors investigate counter-urbanization and population change in Georgia between 1960 and 1980 by examining commuting patterns. "The immediate objective is to construct the entire set of commuting fields of both large metropolitan areas to metropolitan and nonmetropolitan employment centers. We then proceed to the relationship between commuting from nonmetropolitan areas to all levels of Georgia's urban hierarchy and population change in these nonmetropolitan settings. By matching population growth and decline areas with explicit employment ties...the nature of the population changes is much better understood." Data from the 1960, 1970, and 1980 censuses for 581 Census County Divisions (CCDs) in Georgia are analyzed. It is concluded that "most nonmetropolitan growth taking place in Georgia is associated with intensification of metropolitan commuting fields along with growth of nonmetropolitan centers and their influence along the very periphery of metropolitan spheres of employment influence. However, a significant share of Georgia's nonmetropolitan population revitalization is explained by growth independent of direct metropolitan influence. It would appear then that nonmetropolitan growth centers are an important part of the basis for population decentralization in Georgia. Metropolitan spill-over alone cannot account for counterurbanization on this portion of the American economic landscape."

Americas↗

PubMed2001

Kindergartners' understanding of additive commutativity within the context of word problems.

Baroody and Gannon (1984) proposed that children's understanding of additive commutativity progresses through several levels of understanding based on a unary view of addition (change meaning) before developing a "true" level of understanding based on a binary conception (part-whole meaning). Resnick (1992) implied that children have both a unary and a binary conception of additive commutativity from the earliest stages of development. Fifty-three 5- and 6-year-old (M = 6-0) kindergartners' unary and binary understanding of additive commutativity was investigated using performance on tasks involving change-add-to and part-part-whole word problems, respectively. The data were inconsistent with the predictions of both models and suggest three alternate theoretical explanations. Moreover, the data indicate that success on a task involving change-add-to problems may be a more rigorous test of understanding of additive commutativity than that involving part-part-whole problems.

Analysis of Variance↗

PubMed1991

Exposure of commuters to volatile aromatic hydrocarbons from petrol exhaust.

Twenty-two volatile aromatic hydrocarbons were determined in the air of an automobile during commuting. Sampling was made on Tenax cartridges and laboratory determinations were carried out using thermal desorption combined with temperature-programmed capillary gas chromatography. Selected hydrocarbons representative of petrol exhaust were determined in the automobile and in an electric commuter train during eight parallel commuter trips. In the automobile, the concentrations of benzene were 35-70 micrograms/m3 and those of total aromatic hydrocarbons 200-400 micrograms/m3. The petrol exhaust levels were 5-10 times higher in the automobile than in the compartment of the commuter train.

Air Pollution↗

PubMed2006

Personal, family, social, and environmental correlates of active commuting to school.

BACKGROUND: Active commuting to school may be an important opportunity for children to accumulate adequate physical activity for improved cardiovascular risk factors, enhanced bone health, and psychosocial well-being. The purpose of this study was to examine personal, family, social, and environmental correlates of active commuting to school among children. METHODS: Cross-sectional study of 235 children aged 5 to 6 years and 677 children aged 10 to 12 years from 19 elementary schools in Melbourne, Australia. Self-administered questionnaires were completed by parents, and the older children. The shortest possible routes to school were examined using a geographic information system. RESULTS: Among both age groups, negative correlates of active commuting to school included parental perception of few other children in the neighborhood and no lights or crossings for their child to use, and an objectively assessed busy road barrier en route to school. In younger children, an objectively assessed steep incline en route to school was negatively associated with walking or cycling to school. Good connectivity en route to school was negatively associated with walking or cycling to school among older children. Among both age groups, children were more likely to actively commute to school if their route was <800 meters. There were no associations with perceived energy levels or enjoyment of physical activity, weight status, or family factors. CONCLUSIONS: For children, creating child-friendly communities and providing skills to safely negotiate the environment may be important. Environmental correlates of active transport in children and adults may differ and warrant further investigation.

Bicycling↗

PubMed1999

Risky behavior of bus commuters and bus drivers in Karachi, Pakistan.

Buses account for a disproportionate number of road traffic accident fatalities in Karachi, Pakistan and other developing countries. Potentially dangerous bus driving and commuting practices that increase risk of road accidents and the effect of traffic police on bus behavior are evaluated. A total of 250 episodes each of disembarking and embarking commuters, buses stopping and moving on the road at ten of Karachi's highest risk intersections for traffic injuries were observed. Of the disembarking passengers, 33% did not wait for the bus to stop; 54% stepped off in the center of the road and 84% did not look out for traffic. Among the embarking commuters, 38% got on moving buses; 73% climbed on buses filled to their outer foot boards and 83% waited for buses on the street. Males were more likely than females to jump off a moving bus (43% versus 1.6%, P < 0.001), get on a moving bus (49% versus 12%, P < 0.001), and run to catch a bus (45% versus 8%, P < 0.001). At the bus stops, 30% of the buses did not stop completely; 46% stopped away from the stop and 79% stopped in the center of the road. Where traffic police were present buses were more likely to race (9% versus 3%, P = 0.05) and to cut off other vehicles (13% versus 2%, P = 0.001) than where police were absent. Risky behavior is common among both Karachi bus drivers and bus commuters. The traditional efforts to regulate bus traffic through traffic police is ineffective.

Accidents, Traffic↗

PubMed2003

Specimen materials, target values and commutability for external quality assessment (proficiency testing) schemes.

BACKGROUND: The objective of external quality assessment is to evaluate clinical acceptability of laboratory results. It is desirable to evaluate intermethod harmonization and traceability to a reference system. METHODS: Conventional matrix-modified processed materials are used in most programs, because they can be produced in large quantities, can have multiple abnormal analytes in the same vial and have excellent stability. The principal limitation of these materials is non-commutability which makes them unsuitable for traceability or harmonization evaluation. Peer group evaluation is used which allows an individual laboratory to confirm appropriate use of a measurement technology and a manufacturer to monitor uniformity in their calibration transfer process. Authentic clinical specimen pools provide commutability but are limited by the quantity available and number of analytes at pathologic levels in the same vial. Hybrid approaches have used authentic clinical specimen pools in conjunction with non-commutable processed materials to determine method-specific matrix-corrected target values which have enabled evaluation of traceability to reference methods. CONCLUSIONS: Conventional processed materials are limited by non-commutability. Pooled clinical specimens are limited by availability. When used together, external quality assessment can evaluate traceability to reference systems and harmonization between test procedures.

Clinical Laboratory Techniques↗