A Review of the Study of the Political Status of Indigenous Peoples in the Global Context

This paper reviews the literature examining indigenous peoples in the global community. Recent studies tend to focus on one of three themes: definition of indigenousness, relationships with the state, and the role of indigenous peoples in the international governing structure. This paper will examine each of these themes. I begin by exploring definitions of indigenousness, looking at the differing definitions employed by the international governing organizations, indigenous peoples, and the academic literature. In the next section, I explore the relationship between indigenous peoples and the state. The indigenous–state relationship is dominated by the influence of the state. Indigenous groups reject this dominance, seeking freedoms from the state, disputing land rights, and using the weight of morals to motivate the state. However, the state structure itself might enable indigenous groups to attain freedoms and rights. In the final section, I explore discussions of the role of indigenous peoples in the international community.     

Shiftwork effects in nuclear power workers: A field study using portable computers

This field study of nuclear power shiftworkers reports the use of hand-held computers to record alertness levels, cognitive task performance and workload ratings. Subjective ratings and performance tasks (Search and Memory-5 (SAM-5); Choice Reaction Time (CRT) were completed on the computers at 2-h intervals during selected shifts in the work schedule by maintenance crews and reactor operators. Sleep duration and quality data were also obtained during the 35-day shift cycle. Workload remained relatively stable across shifts. The night-shift was associated with shorter sleep durations and poorer sleep quality. Significantly lower levels of alertness and poorer perforniance for components of the performance tasks were also observed on the night-shift. Tinic-on-shift effects on alertness were evident, where by for the night-shift, especially, alertness dropped dramatically during the early hours. Components of SAM-5 performance showed differential time-on-shift patterning relative to each shift whereas CRT was unresponsive to time-on-shift effects. Significant variations were observed in alertness and performance components during the 12-h night-shift. Perhaps paradoxically, performance on the 12-h night-shift appeared to improve rather than deteriorate during the early-hour period that was associated with the greatest drop in alertness. This was suggestive of extra effort expenditure during this critical period.     

Migration,the Urban Informal Sector,and Earnings in the Philippines*

This study investigates several issues pertaining to the urban informal sector and cityward migration in Philippine cities. The analysis of cross-sectional national demographic data reveals the four major patterns. First, the pattern of migrants' participation in the urban labor market varies greatly between male and female migrants. The widely held notion that migrants tend to enter the urban occupational structure through the informal sector seems to apply mainly to female migrants. Second, the informal sector must not be identified with urban poverty. Our data suggest that informal economies provide a wide range of income opportunities and that there is a great deal of overlap between formal- and informal-sector workers' incomes. Third, the effects of rural background and informal sector involvement seem to vary between Manila and the secondary cities. Fourth, sectoral boundaries do not seem to constitute a significant mobility barrier, but, due to the general lack of occupational mobility opportunities in Philippine cities, only a small proportion of those working in the informal sector are likely, to move out of it.     

A review of the non-auditory effects of noise on health

This paper reviews epidemiological studies, human experimental studies, and animal research on the non-auditory effects of noise on health. The following topics are covered: vegetative responses (e.g., blood pressure, digestion), biochemical effects, excretion of catecholamines, sleep, physical illness, subjective annoyance, and mental health. Combined effects of noise and other occupational health hazards on physiological functioning and health are also reviewed. Overall, the results suggest that there are non-auditory health effects. However, these require confirmation in prospective, longitudinal studies with interventions reducing noise levels.     

On-shift and daily variations in self-report and performance measures in rotating-shift and permanent night nurses

An intensive study was conducted of the influence of type of shift system, type of shift, and time-into-shift on a battery of on-shift and daily measures obtained from 61 female nurses over a 28-day period. Thirty-two rotating-shift nurses and 28 permanent night nurses recorded data on a hand-held computer at the start and end of each day, and every 2-h during their shifts. The measures included a sleep diary, self-ratings of mood, workload, and personal disruption, and two cognitive performance tasks. These results suggest that the permanent night nurses were no worse off and for some measures were actually better off than the rotating-shift nurses after controlling for differences in age and shiftwork experience; the night-shift was problematic for the rotating-shift nurses but so was the early shift; mood deteriorated and reaction time got slower over the course of the night-shift but extra long responses (which may correspond to lapses of attention) and rated workload were lower on the night-shift. The relatively large number of consecutive night-shifts worked by the rotating-shift nurses, the uneven distribution of workload between shifts, and the long night-shift may have contributed to these results.     

Climatic change and migration from Oceania: Implications for Australia,New Zealand and the United States of America

It is possible that climatic change may stimulate population movements as people turn to migration as one strategy of adaptation. This paper attempts to assess possible migration flows which may occur, in response to climatic shifts over the next thirty years, from small island states in the south-west Pacific ocean region to the United States, Australia and New Zealand. It is argued that the small island states appear vulnerable to climatic change, with low coral atolls being most at risk. Adverse impacts of climatic change will be one extra pressure on small island states, many of which are already struggling to cope with sustainable management of their natural resources and with the demands of their rapidly growing populations for education, housing and employment. The migration strategy is likely to entail significant medium-term health, psychological and social costs for some Pacific island migrants as they try to move or cope with life in western industrialised societies.