Objective: The primary purpose of this study was to examine the association between variations in visual behavior measures and subjective sleepiness levels across age groups over time to determine a quantitative method of measuring drivers' sleepiness levels.
Method: A total of 128 volunteer drivers in 4 age groups were asked to finish 2-, 3-, and 4-h continuous driving tasks on expressways, during which the driver's fixation, saccade, and blink measures were recorded by an eye-tracking system and the subjective sleepiness level was measured through the Stanford Sleepiness Scale. Two-way repeated measures analysis of variance was then used to examine the change in visual behavior measures across age groups over time and compare the interactive effects of these 2 factors on the dependent visual measures.
Results: Drivers' visual behavior measures and subjective sleepiness levels vary significantly over time but not across age groups. A statistically significant interaction between age group and driving duration was found in drivers' pupil diameter, deviation of search angle, saccade amplitude, blink frequency, blink duration, and closure duration. Additionally, change in a driver's subjective sleepiness level is positively or negatively associated with variation in visual behavior measures, and such relationships can be expressed in regression models for different period of driving duration.
Conclusions: Driving duration affects drivers' sleepiness significantly, so the amount of continuous driving time should be strictly controlled. Moreover, driving sleepiness can be quantified through the change rate of drivers' visual behavior measures to alert drivers of sleepiness risk and to encourage rest periods. These results provide insight into potential strategies for reducing and preventing traffic accidents and injuries. 相似文献
Sulfur dioxide(SO_2) and benzene homologs are frequently present in the off-gas during the process of sewage sludge drying. A laboratory scale biofilter was set up to co-treat SO_2 and o-xylene in the present study. SO_2 and o-xylene could be removed simultaneously in a single biofilter. Their concentration ratio in the inlet stream influenced the removal efficiencies. It is worth noting that the removal of SO_2 could be enhanced when low concentrations of o-xylene were introduced into the biofilter. Pseudomonas sp., Paenibacillus sp., and Bacillus sp. were the main functional bacteria groups in the biofilter. Sulfur-oxidizing bacteria(SOB) and o-xylene-degrading bacteria(XB) thrived in the biofilter and their counts as well as their growth rate increased with the increase in amount of SO_2 and o-xylene supplied. The microbial populations differed in counts and species due to the properties and components of the compounds being treated in the biofilter. The presence of mixed substrates enhanced the diversity of the microbial population. During the treatment process, bioaerosols including potentially pathogenic bacteria, e.g., Acinetobacter lwoffii and Aeromonas sp., were emitted from the biofilter. Further investigation is needed to focus on the potential hazards caused by the bioaerosols emitted from waste gas treatment bioreactors. 相似文献