Current Status Of Work Research Articles

A taxonomical review on impact assessment of optimally placed DGs and FACTS controllers in power systems

In the present scenario of all over the world like develops and undeveloped countries are fastly used Distributed Generations (DGs) and Flexible Alternating Current Transmission Systems (FACTS) controllers in power systems for reactive power supports so that the overall power system performances are improved such as minimization of real and reactive power losses, environmental pollutions and maximization of loadability of system, power system stability, the short circuit capacity of the line and also enhancement of voltage profile, available power transfer capacity of the system, reliability as well as security of the system and more flexible operations of the system. This survey paper presents a taxonomical review on impact assessment of DGs and FACTS controllers in power systems from different power system performance viewpoints and reveals the current status of research work in this field.

Level of functioning, perceived work ability, and work status among psychiatric patients with major mental disorders

BackgroundMajor mental disorders are highly disabling conditions that result in substantial socioeconomic burden. Subjective and objective measures of functioning or ability to work, their concordance, or risk factors for them may differ between disorders. MethodsSelf-reported level of functioning, perceived work ability, and current work status were evaluated among psychiatric care patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder (SSA, n=113), bipolar disorder (BD, n=99), or depressive disorder (DD, n=188) within the Helsinki University Psychiatric Consortium Study. Correlates of functional impairment, subjective work disability, and occupational status were investigated using regression analysis. ResultsDD patients reported the highest and SSA patients the lowest perceived functional impairment. Depressive symptoms in all diagnostic groups and anxiety in SSA and BD groups were significantly associated with disability. Only 5.3% of SSA patients versus 29.3% or 33.0% of BD or DD patients, respectively, were currently working. About half of all patients reported subjective work disability. Objective work status and perceived disability correlated strongly among BD and DD patients, but not among SSA patients. Work status was associated with number of hospitalizations, and perceived work disability with current depressive symptoms. ConclusionsPsychiatric care patients commonly end up outside the labour force. However, while among patients with mood disorders objective and subjective indicators of ability to work are largely concordant, among those with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder they are commonly contradictory. Among all groups, perceived functional impairment and work disability are coloured by current depressive symptoms, but objective work status reflects illness course, particularly preceding psychiatric hospitalizations.

The Emerging Adulthood Years: Finding One’s Way in Career and Intimate Love Relationships

ABSTRACTThis study examines career and intimate love pathways in 100 Israeli emerging adults (fifty-four men) who were followed from age twenty-two to twenty-nine. In a semistructured interview at the age of twenty-nine, participants were asked about current work and educational status and changes in recent years. They were also asked to reflect on the meaning of the processes they followed. Following the completion of the career interview, participants were asked to talk about their current romantic status, their past romantic experiences, difficulties in relationships and past separations, and how they coped with these. Analyses of interviews yielded four distinctive career pursuit pathways and four intimate love pathways that varied on the continuum of stability–variability, and were associated with different levels of concurrent well-being. Analysis of the interviews showed that changes that young people make along the way do not necessarily indicate confusion, but might represent their efforts to find their own paths toward settling down. Personality measures, such as self-criticism, dependency and efficacy, measured seven years earlier, predicted pathway affiliation at age twenty-nine. In addition, parental support was found to serve as a protective or risk factor associated with adaptive pursuit of career and intimate love goals. By employing this mixed-method approach, the findings demonstrate the diverse development of career and intimate love pathways during emerging adulthood, and indicate the importance of personality and parental support in the process of development during the transition to adulthood.

Sociální práce v armádě - možnosti a výzvy v českém prostoru

The paper focuses on the topic of social work in the Czech Armed Forces, its possibilities and specific implementation. Based on the broad definition of the objectives of social work in an international context reflects the current status of social work with military personnel in an Armed Forces in the past 25 years. On the basis of two different surveys among professional soldiers, realized by different methods and at different stages of development of a professional army support the idea, that soldiers feel the lack of social work in the long term, and in the specific areas of their lives, which are inevitably professionally determined.

Factors Associated with Insomnia among Elderly of a Selected Community of Lalitpur

Insomnia is a common health problem among elderly. An analytical cross-sectional study was aimed to identify the factors associated with insomnia among elderly. Non-probability purposive sampling technique was used for the selection of 64 elderlies of Ward No. 2 of Karyabinayak Municipality, Lalitpur. Data collection was done from 18th to 30th of September 2016 by using structured interview schedule related to socio-demographic variables and Pittsburgh Insomnia Rating Scale. Descriptive and inferential statistics namely chi-square test was used to analyze data using SPSS software version 16 and findings were presented on the relevant tables and figures. The findings of the study revealed that 40.6% of the respondents have insomnia. Furthermore, there is significant association of health problems during night sleep with insomnia (p=0.003). However, there is no significant association of age, gender, marital status, educational status, current working status, financial dependency, disease and medicine use at present with insomnia. Based on the findings of this study, it is concluded that insomnia is present among less than half elderly and the elderly who have health problems during night sleep have insomnia. Therefore, the awareness program regarding insomnia should be raised for early detection and appropriate management in order to decrease sleep related health problems and improve quality of life.

Postcardlogbook

‘Postcardlogbook’ is the “travel diary” of a rereading of Derrida's ‘Envois’ more than thirty years after its publication. It was penned during and after a period of research into the 1974–75 ‘La vie la mort’ seminar, undertaken at the University of California, Irvine, and mimics Derrida's own transatlantic voyages that provided the context for his text. My article borrows a series of formal devices that attempt to maintain it as a peripheral reading of the ‘Envois’. Notably, it refrains from quoting directly from the text or from entering into its substance. It nevertheless addresses, however indirectly, the intellectual climate in Paris at the time the ‘Envois’ were written, and draws comparisons with the current scene, with the current status of Derrida's work, and with problems of a more or less post-literary age.

Working experiences of rehabilitation specialized nurses: a qualitative research

Objective To explore the working experiences of rehabilitation specialized nurses and provide references for the development of rehabilitation nursing. Methods Through phenomenological study of qualitative research, 8 rehabilitation specialized nurses in our hospital were selected by purpose sampling method in September 2015, and were interviewed about the current status of work and existing problems. Interview data was analyzed by Colaizzi method. Results Interview results showed that: working experiences with positive effect were mainly reflected in the following themes: change of cognition of rehabilitation concept, improvement of rehabilitation nursing ability, increased job satisfaction, a more clear role. On the contrary, the negative aspects were: difficulties of patient′s evaluation, lack of time engaging in rehabilitation nursing, difficulty of charge, weak strength of rehabilitation team. Conclusions Nursing managers should attach great importance to the cultivation and use of rehabilitation specialist nurses, modify the related system, and promote the development of rehabilitation nursing. Nursing managers also should pay attention to nurses′ emotional experience; provide development platform for rehabilitation specialist nurses; and provide interventions and support in many aspects to perfect the related system, so as to promote the development of rehabilitation nursing. Key words: Rehabilitation; Specialized nurses; Qualitative study

Study on the relationship among job stress, job burnout and organizational commitment in ICU nurses

Objective To investigate the current working status and explore the relationship among job stress, job burnout and organizational commitment in ICU nurses. Methods By using cluster random sampling method, 233 nurses from 5 general hospitals were selected to accept investigation by Commitment Questionnaire and Nurses' general situation questionnaire. Results The job stress and job burnout were both significant negatively correlated with organizational commitment(r=-0.33, P < 0.01; r=-0.22, P < 0.01).The management issues and interpersonal relationships and decreased personal accomplishment both had significant impact on affective commitment and continuance commitment of ICU nurses(r=0.539, P < 0.01; r=0.387, P < 0.01). The management issues and interpersonal relationships, professional and career issues and emotional exhaustion had significant predictive power on normative commitment(r=0.458, P < 0.01). Conclusion It generally was in a higher level of job stress in ICU nurses, which indicates that hospital mangers should try to eliminate the causes ,assist them to reduce job stress and relieve the job burnout. Key words: Intensive care unit; Nurses; Job stressor; Job burnout; Organizational commitment

An inquiry into self-identification with retirement

ABSTRACTThe aim of this qualitative study was to explore patterns in self-identification with being retired using deductive thematic analysis informed by the life course perspective. For this study, a set of women who self-identified as retired (n = 60) were asked to describe their current work status, major career interruptions, and factors that marked their retirement. This study provides important insights into the heterogeneity in women’s retirement including a subset of individuals who self-identified as retired, not based on their own work force transitions but on that of their spouse or peers. Findings highlight the importance of recognizing that the construction of retirement identity can be context driven, varied, and subjective.

Review of the Current State of Knowledge on the Effects of Radiation on Concrete

A review of the current state of knowledge on the effects of radiation on concrete in nuclear applications is presented. Emphasis is placed on the effects of radiation damage as reflected by changes in engineering properties of concrete in the evaluation of the long-term operation (LTO) and for Plant Life or Aging Management of nuclear power plants (NPPs) in Japan, Spain, and the United States. National issues and concerns are described for Japan and the US followed by a discussion of the fundamental understanding of the effects radiation on concrete. Specifically, the effects of temperature, moisture content, and irradiation on ordinary Portland cement paste and the role of temperature and neutron energy spectra on radiation induced volumetric expansion (RIVE) of aggregate-forming minerals are described. This is followed by a discussion of the bounding conditions for extended operation, the significance of accelerated irradiation conditions, the role of temperature, creep, and how these issues are being incorporated into numerical and meso-scale models. From these insights on radiation damage, analyses of these effects on concrete structures are reviewed and the current status of work in Japan and the US are described. Also discussed is the recent formation of a new international scientific andmore » technical organization, the International Committee on Irradiated Concrete (ICIC), to provide a forum for timely information exchanges among organizations pursuing the identification, quantification, and modeling of the effects of radiation on concrete in commercial nuclear applications. Lastly, the paper concludes with a discussion of research gaps including: 1) interpreting test-reactor data, 2) evaluating service-irradiated concrete for aging management and to inform radiation damage models with the Zorita NPP (Spain) serving as the first comprehensive test case, 3) irradiated-assisted alkali-silica reactions, and 4) RIVE under constrained conditions.« less

The GINGER project and status of the GINGERino prototype at LNGS

GINGER (Gyroscopes IN GEneral Relativity) is a proposal for measuring in a ground-based laboratory the Lense-Thirring effect, known also as inertial frame dragging, that is predicted by General Relativity, and is induced by the rotation of a massive source. GINGER will consist in an array of at least three square ring lasers, mutually orthogonal, with about 6-10 m side, and located in a deep underground site, possibly the INFN - National Laboratories of Gran Sasso. The tri-axial design will provide a complete estimation of the laboratory frame angular velocity, to be compared with the Earths rotation estimate provided by IERS with respect the fixed stars frame. Large-size ring lasers have already reached a very high sensitivity, allowing for relevant geodetic measurements. The accuracy required for Lense-Thirring effect measurement is higher than 10-14 rad/s and therefore Earth angular velocity must be measured within one part in 10-9. A 3.6 m side, square ring laser, called GINGERino, has been recently installed inside the Gran Sasso underground laboratories in order to qualify the site for a future installation of GINGER. We discuss the current status of the experimental work, and in particular of the GINGERino prototype.

Patient Preference for Once-Weekly Dosing in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Japan.

Background: Among several factors that impair adherence to available therapies in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is the complexity of the dosing regimen. Moreover, the value of a once-weekly (QW) administration of oral medications for T2DM compared to once, twice, or thrice daily (QD, BID, TID) regimens is unclear. This study aims to identify subgroups and patient characteristics correlated with a preference for QW dosing compared to daily dosing using survey-based methods. Methods: This was a cross-sectional online survey study among patients with T2DM in Japan. Patients with T2DM were categorized into one of the three groups: (1) patients on treatment with oral hypoglycemic agent(s) only, (2) patients on combination treatment with oral hypoglycemic agent(s) and insulin, and (3) patients diagnosed with or suspected to have T2DM with no current or past experience with T2DM drug treatment (treatment naïve). Preliminary logistic regressions and classification and regression tree analysis (QW/QD dosing preferences as the dependent variable) were conducted to identify key predictors of dosing preference, followed by an evaluation of frequencies and trends in dosing preferences by the identified factors (subgroups). Results: Current treatment regimen, age, and work status were identified as the major demographic factors that were most predictive of QW preference. While, overall, 55.5% preferred QD and 33.3% preferred QW, the preference toward QW is higher in a specific cohort of patients that is treatment naïve (i.e., patients diagnosed with T2DM and/on diet/exercise therapy with no current or past experience with T2DM drug treatment) than who are on treatment, younger (age ≤64 years old), working full-time than part-time, and/or currently taking 0 or 1 drugs or more than 6 drugs (68.67% versus 30.12%). The most commonly cited reasons for QW preference were (1) "less burdensome because they didn't have to take it every day" (47.8%), (2) "less psychological burden" (14.6%), and (3) "forget to take it less often"(12.5%). Conclusion: Patients with T2DM vary in terms of preference for dosing regimens. Daily dosing was preferred over QW dosing in the overall population, however, preference for QW was higher in younger, full-time working, treatment naïve subjects, who are/or currently taking 0 or 1 drugs or more than 6 drugs.

Physical and mental functioning in colorectal cancer (CRC) survivors by work status.

126 Background: Comorbidities and treatment-related symptoms (sx) affect overall function and may impact return to work. We evaluated SF-12 physical and mental functioning in CRC working (W) and non-working (NW) survivors. Methods: 300 Stage I-III CRC survivors age 25-70 years identified by PA Cancer Registry who completed curative therapy 3-5 years prior to study and were employed at diagnosis were surveyed with validated measures via mail-survey procedures. Current work status (working/not working), demographics, and medical factors (diagnosis, treatment, comorbidities) were assessed, as was fatigue, insomnia, distress, cognitive sx, neuropathy, bowel sx, and urinary sx. Study approved by PA Department of Health; participants (pts) provided informed consent. Results: Pts average age 57 yrs (80% &lt; 65 yrs), 56% male, 87% white, 67% educated beyond high school, 73% married. 56% had rectal cancer, 51% had chemotherapy, 39% had radiation therapy, 16% had an ostomy. Work status at survey: 226 pts (75%) W; 74 pts (25%) NW. Higher comorbidity number was associated with lower physical (PCS) component scores in both W and NW groups (p = 0.004 and 0.013), and with lower mental (MCS) component scores in the NW group (p = 0.004). Among W pts, predictors of lower PCS were fatigue (p = 0.001), bowel problems (p &lt; 0.001), neuropathy (p = 0.009), and being male (p = 0.03). Predictors of lower MCS were fatigue (p = 0.003), cognitive issues (p &lt; 0.001), and distress (p &lt; 0.001). Among NW pts, predictors of lower PCS were fatigue (p = 0.02), neuropathy (p = 0.007), ostomy presence (p = 0.015), and being unmarried (p = 0.007). Predictors of lower MCS were distress (p &lt; 0.001) and younger age (p = 0.007). Conclusions: Both W and NW CRC survivors have significant comorbidity and sx burden associated with poorer physical and mental functioning. Fatigue, neuropathy, and distress were predictors in both groups, while cognitive and bowel sx predicted poorer function among W survivors. Intervening on these modifiable sx may increase survivors’ return to work and improve functioning for those who do. Next steps will focus on intensive management of modifiable sx to determine the effect on physical and mental functioning and potential for returning to work after treatment.

Transformative Role of Epigenetics in Child Development Research: Commentary on the Special Section.

Lester, Conradt, and Marsit (2016) have assembled a set of articles that bring to readers of Child Development the scope and impact of the exponentially growing research on epigenetics and child development. This commentary aims to place this work in a broader context of theory and research by (a) providing a conceptual framework for developmental scientists who may be only moderately familiar with this emergent field; (b)considering these contributions in relation to the current status of work, highlighting its transformative nature; (c) suggesting cautions to keep in mind, while simultaneously clarifying that these do not undermine important new insights; and (d) identifying the prospects for future work that builds on the progress reflected in this special section.

Psychological Distress Is Associated with Greater Perceived Disability and Pain in Patients Presenting to a Shoulder Clinic.

Shoulder disorders are a common cause of disability and pain. The Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI) is a frequently employed and previously validated measure of shoulder pain and disability. Although the SPADI has high reliability and construct validity, greater differences between individual patients are often observed than would be expected on the basis of diagnosis and pathophysiology alone. This study aims to determine how psychological factors (namely depression, catastrophic thinking, and self-efficacy) affect pain and perceived disability in the shoulder. A cohort of 139 patients completed a sociodemographic survey and elements from the SPADI, Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (PSEQ), Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS), and Patient Health Questionnaire Depression Scale (PHQ-2). Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine the association of psychosocial factors, demographic characteristics, and specific diagnosis with shoulder pain and disability. The SPADI score showed medium correlation with the PCS (r = 0.43; p < 0.001), PHQ-2 (r = 0.39; p < 0.001), and PSEQ (r = -0.45; p < 0.001). Current work status (F = 4.35; p = 0.006) and body mass index (r = 0.27; p = 0.002) were also associated with the SPADI score. In the multivariate analysis, greater catastrophic thinking (estimate, 0.003; p = 0.029), lower self-efficacy (estimate, -0.005; p = 0.001), higher body mass index (estimate, 0.006; p = 0.048), and being disabled (estimate, 0.15; p = 0.017) or retired (estimate, 0.16; p < 0.001) compared with being employed were associated with worse SPADI scores. The primary diagnosis did not have a significant relationship (p > 0.05) with the SPADI. Catastrophic thinking and decreased self-efficacy are associated with greater shoulder pain and disability. Our data support the notion that patient-to-patient variation in symptom intensity and magnitude of disability is more strongly related to psychological distress than to the specific shoulder diagnosis.

Factors Associated With Muscle Strength Among Rural Community-Dwelling Older Women in Southern Brazil.

Muscle strength is an important predictor of disability, mortality, and health complications among older adults. The objective of this study was to verify the sociodemographic factors, lifestyle, and health conditions associated with inadequate muscle strength in older women in a rural community in the South of Brazil. This was a cross sectional study employing a probabilistic sample (2010-2011) of 270 older adult women (≥ 60 years). Handgrip strength (HGS) was measured with a dynamometer (Takei, Japan). Lower limb muscle strength (LLMS) was assessed through the "chair stand test." The variables analyzed were age, literacy, current work status, living arrangement, occupation throughout life, smoking, sitting time, number of morbidities, history of falls, and cognitive function. The prevalence ratio was used as a measure of association, by Poisson regression analysis (crude and adjusted). The mean age of the older women was 73.2 (standard deviation, 8.8) years. The proportion of women who presented with inadequate HGS and LLMS was 18.8% (95% confidence interval, 13.8-23.7) and 29.8% (95% confidence interval, 23.9-35.6), respectively. Inadequate strength in the 2 tests was associated with age, the condition of not working, and altered cognitive function. Inadequate strength in the LLMS test was associated with having fallen during the last year. Factors associated with muscle strength are specific to the test. The following sociodemographic and health variables were positively associated with inadequate strength on the HGS and LLMS tests: advancing age, not working, and altered cognitive function. A history of falls is associated with inadequate performance on the LLMS test.

Leisure and social participation in patients 4–10 years after aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage

Objective: To investigate the long-term resumption of leisure and social activities in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (aSAH) and to determine the role of executive dysfunction and aneurysms in anterior brain regions in particular.Method: Leisure and social functioning of 200 patients with aSAH having anterior or posterior aneurysms was determined using the Role Resumption List (RRL). Executive functioning was investigated using the Dysexecutive Questionnaire (DEX) and sub-scales Social Convention (SC) and Executive Cognition (EC). Mood, fatigue and cognitive problems were investigated with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and Brain Injury Symptom Checklist (BISC).Results: Of all patients, 46.5% reported complete return to previous leisure activities and 61.5% reported no changes in social interactions. HADS depression score, fatigue, DEX-EC sub-scale score and work status post-aSAH were predictors of leisure resumption. For social re-integration, HADS depression score, cognitive problems and fatigue were predictors. Aneurysm location did not influence leisure and social re-integration.Conclusions: A substantial number of the patients still experience problems in resuming previous activities in the chronic phase post-aSAH, influenced by cognitive, executive and depressive problems, as well as current work status and fatigue. Aneurysm location does not seem to influence this resumption.

Contraceptive Use and Its Socio-economic Determinants among Women in North-East and North-West Regions of Nigeria: A Comparative Analysis

This study investigated the socio-economic factors associated with reported contraceptive use by women of reproductive age in northern Nigeria. Bivariate and logistic regression analysis was applied to successive Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS: 1999-2013) data to examine the relationship between reported use of modern contraceptives (the dependent variable) and the socioeconomic status (age, rural-urban residence, education, religion, current work status, marital status, and number of living children) of these women in the north-east (NE) and north-west (NW) geo-political zones (GPZs). The results indicated that women’s socio-economic status were positively associated with use of modern contraceptives in the NW in 1999 (AOR=2.15; 95%CI=1.47, 3.14), 2003 (AOR=1.64; 95%CI=1.30, 2.08) and 2013 (AOR=1.30; 95%CI=1.12, 1.50) and also in the north-east in 2008 (AOR=0.74; 95%CI=0.64, 0.86). Contraceptive use could increase as FP programmes better respond to the socio-economic and cultural circumstances of women in northern Nigeria.

A study on the effects of labor market entry for the elderly people with disability

Working-age adults with severe disabilities face many barriers to reaching their employment potential. One important barrier is the concern that working will result in the loss of Medicaid benefits, which cover many needed healthcare services for people with disabilities at little or no cost. Now offered by over 30 states, Medicaid buy-in programs address this concern by allowing people with disabilities to retain Medicaid while they work and increase earnings. Prior reports of buy-in programs have not examined whether work outcomes vary with characteristics of buy-in enrollees. Using data from a statewide survey of Massachusetts buy-in program members, we found type of disabling condition to predict three work outcomes: current work status of all members; annual earnings over $10,000 among currently working members; and future work intentions of currently non-working members. Members with developmental or psychiatric disabilities were generally more likely to work but had lower earnings than other members. Members with a physical disability were generally less likely to work than other members, but when working tended to have higher earnings. Those with co-occurring psychiatric and physical disabilities had the poorest work outcomes. Across all conditions, few members had earnings at levels consistent with economic self-sufficiency. Policy and practice implications are discussed.

Professional activity of people with epilepsy

The aim of the study was to determine the occupational activity of epileptic patients. Particular attention was paid to employment of people with epilepsy, the way the workplace is informed about the disease, impact of education on employment opportunities and the relationship between clinical type of epilepsy and professional activity. Patients were recruited from the neurological outpatient clinic in Warszawa and asked to fill in a customized questionnaire, containing questions on their socio-demographic, clinical and employment status. The study included 197 adult patients with epilepsy (64 professionally active and 133 inactive). As many as 47.7% of respondents declared that the disease impeded their employment, and 77.2% admitted that the occurrence of seizure at work had negatively affected their comfort. As many as 42.2% professionally active respondents had revealed the disease at work. There was a statistically significant difference between individuals with primarily generalized seizures and those with partial and secondarily generalized seizures (30.61% vs. 2.63%, p<0.05). Education had also a significant positive impact on employment (47.06% employed with university degree vs. 9.76% with primary education, p<0.05). No significant correlations between duration of the disease or number of the epileptic seizures, independent of their type and revealing the disease in the workplace, were observed (p>0.05). Neither current work status had impact on opinions about difficulties in finding a job (p>0.05). Epilepsy is a great obstacle to finding and maintaining employment. Less than 1/2 of patients inform the workplace about their illness, mainly due to previous negative experiences. Since education significantly enables the employment, programs aimed at promoting vocational activation of patients should facilitate access to learning.