Vacation Days Research Articles

Circadian rhythm of wrist temperature and night shift-work

Due to the increasing industrialization of society, the work in shifts is becoming increasingly common, as well as the development of night work, although with a pronounced negative effect on the workers sleep, performance and health. Objective: to investigate the patterns of sleep-wake cycle and the circadian rhythmicity of peripheral body temperature, through measures taken at the wrist of nursing students who study during the day and work on the night shift. longitudinal descriptive study, with a quantitative approach, involving 27 adult subjects, nursing assistants and technicians who worked on the night shift and were students of undergraduate nursing at a private college in São Paulo State, during the daytime. The following instruments were used: Identification Form, Morningness Eveningness Questionnaire of Horne and Östberg, Sleep Diary, for 32 days, divided into school term and school vacations, and a thermistor (Thermochron iButton) on the non-dominant hand wrist to check the temperature of the wrist every 30 min. The adjustment of the temperature data of the wrist to a cosine curve, within a 24-h period, a significant rhythmicity was verified in 35.3% of subjects in the school term and 93.7% of subjects in the vacation period, apart from the existence of different rhythms of the 24 h such as 12 h and 16 h. There was a statistically significant difference in the time that the acrophase occurred, when comparing the school term on the days-off and on working days ( p < 0.0001), school vacation on the days-off and working days ( p < 0.0001). The sleep time during the school vacation was higher when compared to the school term, as well as on the days off and on the days when the subjects did not sleep immediately after work. There was a significant difference when comparing the sleep time on the vacation period and days off (8:34) and school term and days off (7:24), p < 0.0001, and also on vacation on working days (5:11) and school term on working days (4:19), p = 0.0496. For the Middle Phase of Sleep (MPS) there was a statistically significant difference between the school and vacation periods on working days and days off. The presence of rhythms different than 24 h, was observed especially during the school term, and the phase transfer of the wrist temperature, according to the period of work/study, with phase opposition on working days when compared to days off. The greatest spectral power was observed in the 24-h rhythm, either during school term or vacation, confirming the hypothesis that the region of the wrist shows a well-defined and robust rhythmic expression. The findings reinforce the idea that the study favors the establishment of routine, but has little influence in displacing the body temperature, which proved to be strongly influenced by the night shift work. Similar to the acrophase, the MPS showed great diversity in times of occurrence, but with a phase relation maintained between the rhythms on the different times of study. CAPES.

The Extra Burden of Infliximab Infusions in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Infliximab (IFX) infusions require repeated hospitalizations. The median duration of each hospitalization stay, including time for infusion and the cost for the health care system, are unknown. We assessed the extra burden of IFX infusions in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). This was a prospective cross-sectional study enrolling all consecutive patients with IBD treated with IFX at the Nancy IBD Unit (January to March 2012). Four parameters were assessed: median travel duration, median time that patients stayed at the IBD unit, reimbursement for transport by the health care system, and impact of IFX infusions on their work. Among 137 IBD patients, 48.9% were women, 74.5% had Crohn's disease, and the median age was 35 (range, 18-65) years. The median travel duration backward and forward from home to the Nancy IBD unit was 2 (range, 0.5-4) hours. The patients stayed at the IBD unit for a median period of 4.5 (range, 2.8-6.7) hours. For 63.5% of the patients (87/137), transport was reimbursed by the health care system. Of the patients receiving IFX infusions, 10.9% (15/137) were unemployed, 24.8% (34/137) had the agreement of their employer to spend 1 day at the hospital for their IFX infusion, 27.0% (36/137) asked specifically a vacation for the IFX infusion, and 13.9% (19/137) were in sick leave. The patients spend a median of 6.5 hours outside their home for each IFX infusion, and they often take a day of vacation or rest. This represents an extra burden for IFX-treated patients and for the health care system.

The Caring Majority: Building a Coalition Around Domestic Workers' Rights

The Caring Majority: Building a Coalition Around Domestic Workers' Rights

An Exploratory Study of Wellness Travel: Differences Between U.S. and Non-U.S. Travelers

Wellness tourism has become an increasingly popular trend as many resorts and destinations now offer these activities and amenities. Given that the “wellness travel” term is relatively new for U.S. travelers, it is unknown how they may differ in their wellness and travel choices from non U.S. travelers. Convenience samples of tourists in the US and Europe were surveyed about their differences in wellness travel motivations and perceived wellness. T-tests revealed significant differences. U.S. travelers were more likely to want to participate in outdoor activities such as hiking and camping when traveling compared to non U.S. travelers. Non U.S. travelers felt more physically well compared to the U.S. travelers. U.S. travelers felt more socially well than non U.S. travelers. Future research could explore other variables not examined here, such as obesity rates, economic conditions, and vacation days allowed from work.

Intertemporal demand for international tourist air travel

This study investigated dynamic international tourism travel demand by constructing an intertemporal travel choice model. In the model, the utility functions comprise two factors: individuals’ ability to travel and external environmental factors in different years. Individuals are assumed to pursue a maximised aggregated utility, with various discounts on past and future years subject to time and budget constraints. A questionnaire was designed to calibrate and explore individuals’ preferences for international tourism travel from Taiwan. The study collected historic data over the past decade to estimate parameter values for the external environmental factor. The variables, such as travel budget, holiday and vacation days, travel expense and number of travel days are shown to significantly affect individual travel demand. The results support the argument that negative external events, such as an emerging influenza pandemic or economic crisis, have an adverse impact on international travel demand. Moreover, the utility of past travel experience declines at a slower rate than that of expected future travel. The findings imply that past travel experience has an unexpectedly strong impact on future travel decisions. The results also show that travellers tend not to travel until their saving budget has accumulated enough to cover travel expenses. Travellers with high incomes in Taiwan could undertake outbound international travel almost every year.

The Service Component of Interventional Radiology

“I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.” —Albert Schweitzer Interventional radiologists as a whole intrigue me. I find my colleagues to be everything from tremendous teachers, to brilliant scientists, to extraordinary physicians, to savvy administrators. I have never had difficulty in enjoying a conversation with anyone in the field (although I must admit that they are unlikely to be saying the same thing about me). There is one component, however, of which I am most proud of our field: the willingness of our colleagues to give of themselves. I would like to share some examples with you. Through my involvement in the Society of Interventional Radiology (the other SIR), I have been fortunate to get to know many remarkable people. Many of these dedicated individuals are staff members, who truly are the engine that makes the society and in many ways the field as exciting and forward thinking as it is. The current executive director of the SIR (Sue Holzer) and immediate past executive director (Pete Lauer) are two of the most dedicated and professional individuals with whom I've been associated, even given the fact that no two people could be more polar opposites of one another in terms of style. Other staff members with whom I've had the pleasure of working—Erica Holland, Jeff Nielsen, Beth Allgaier, Joy Gornal (who might as well be family), and many others—bring the same dedication to our field. The other side of the coin, however, is the motivated and giving physician volunteers who serve on the committees, Executive Council, and Operations Committee of the SIR. These individuals give their time, and often deplete their academic and vacation days, to serve the society and the field as a whole. And the most amazing thing is this: The society can't even begin to find roles for all of the member volunteers who want to become involved for no reason other than to serve their specialty. Finally, there are those who have served not just our specialty but the general radiology community as well. I know of at least two (Anne Roberts and Matt Mauro, with Alan Matsumoto and Jean LaBerge on deck) who have held high-level positions in the SIR and the American College of Radiology, and Gary Becker served as an editor of our journal long before moving on to his current position as executive director of the American Board of Radiology. Service to the society and to the field of radiology as a whole is laudable and, in the instances just given (as well as many others), altruistic to the level of absurdity. I mean, really—don't these people sleep? Service, however, can take many forms. I am familiar with many interventional radiologists who make an effort to serve on committees at local hospitals, institutional review boards at their institutions, and groups that serve their community. I know of interventional radiologists who take their limited free time to assume leadership positions with their church groups and coach their kids' baseball teams (although, in reality, he shouldn't have—his results were pretty miserable—the coach, not the deacon). Brain Stainken, MD, a past president of the SIR, travels the world in an attempt to help developing countries adopt interventional techniques. My own partner, Dave Kumpe, MD, has been instrumental in the development of IR in Korea and China, and Matt Johnson, MD, gave a short presentation that I missed at the last SIR annual meeting about introducing IR to Kenya. They don't do this for the fun of it, not while trying to juggle their real job and family lives; they do it because they are passionate about what they do. The same can be said for everyone else who gives of their time in ways recognized and unrecognized, within the field and outside of it. True service is performed without the expectation for a reward at the end. The interventional radiologists who serve are incredible to me, and I have been fortunate to have been exposed to so many quality individuals who have taught me so much over the past two dozen or so years. Although I may never be a teacher like Kaufman, a scientist like Geschwind, a clinician like Funaki, or run my section like Rilling, I still feel that I can make a difference through service to my field and my community. And at the end of the day, that might just have to be enough.

Rethinking Existing HR Technologies for New Gains in Employee Engagement and Benefits

The economic recession has affected businesses and employees around the world. As pay rates continue to remain stagnant, many companies are looking for ways to provide greater total compensation through non-momentary benefits, such as flexible work schedules, trainings and additional vacation days. However, identifying opportunities to provide better benefits does not have to be a complex process. By rethinking how an organization leverages their existing HR technologies, HR executives can uncover opportunities to provide more robust total compensation

Being Difficult for the Patient

Being Difficult for the Patient

Vacation (after-) effects on employee health and well-being, and the role of vacation activities, experiences and sleep

Most vacations seem to have strong, but rather short-lived effects on health and well-being (H&W). However, the recovery-potential of relatively long vacations and the underlying processes have been disregarded. Therefore, our study focused on vacations longer than 14 days and on the psychological processes associated with such a long respite from work. In the present study, we investigated (1) how health and well-being (H&W) develop during and after a long summer vacation, (2) whether changes in H&W during and after vacation relate to vacation activities and experiences and (3) whether changes in H&W during and after vacation relate to sleep. Fifty-four employees reported their H&W before, three or four times during and five times after vacation. Vacations lasted 23 days on average. Information on vacation experiences, work-related activities and sleep was collected during vacation. Vacation activities were assessed immediately after vacation. H&W increased quickly during vacation, peaked on the eighth vacation day and had rapidly returned to baseline level within the first week of work resumption. Vacation duration and most vacation activities were only weakly associated with H&W changes during and after vacation. Engagement in passive activities, savoring, pleasure derived from activities, relaxation, control and sleep showed strong relations with improved H&W during and to a lesser degree after vacation. In conclusion, H&W improved during long summer vacations, but this positive effect was short-lived. Vacation experiences, especially pleasure, relaxation, savoring and control, seem to be especially important for the strength and persistence of vacation (after-) effects.

Designing interfaces for explicit preference elicitation: a user-centered investigation of preference representation and elicitation process

Two problems may arise when an intelligent (recommender) system elicits users’ preferences. First, there may be a mismatch between the quantitative preference representations in most preference models and the users’ mental preference models. Giving exact numbers, e.g., such as “I like 30 days of vacation 2.5 times better than 28 days” is difficult for people. Second, the elicitation process can greatly influence the acquired model (e.g., people may prefer different options based on whether a choice is represented as a loss or gain). We explored these issues in three studies. In the first experiment we presented users with different preference elicitation methods and found that cognitively less demanding methods were perceived low in effort and high in liking. However, for methods enabling users to be more expressive, the perceived effort was not an indicator of how much the methods were liked. We thus hypothesized that users are willing to spend more effort if the feedback mechanism enables them to be more expressive. We examined this hypothesis in two follow-up studies. In the second experiment, we explored the trade-off between giving detailed preference feedback and effort. We found that familiarity with and opinion about an item are important factors mediating this trade-off. Additionally, affective feedback was preferred over a finer grained one-dimensional rating scale for giving additional detail. In the third study, we explored the influence of the interface on the elicitation process in a participatory set-up. People considered it helpful to be able to explore the link between their interests, preferences and the desirability of outcomes. We also confirmed that people do not want to spend additional effort in cases where it seemed unnecessary. Based on the findings, we propose four design guidelines to foster interface design of preference elicitation from a user view.

Diabetes technology and the human factor

When developing new technologies for human use the developer should take into consideration not only the efficacy and safety of the technology but also the desire and capabilities of the potential user. Any chronic disease is a challenge for both the patient and his/her caregivers. This statement is especially true in the case of patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) where adherence to therapy is crucial 24 hours a day 365 days a year. No vacation days are possible for the T1DM patient. It is therefore obvious why any new technology which is developed for helping patients cope with the disease should take into consideration the 'human factor' before, during and after the production process starts. There is no doubt that technology has changed the life of patients with T1DM in the last few decades, but despite the availability of new meters, new syringes, new sophisticated insulin pumps and continuous glucose sensors and communication tools, these technologies have not been well utilised by many patients. It is therefore important to understand why the technology is not always utilised and to find new ways to maximise use and benefits from the technology to as many patients as possible. The present chapter will review papers published in the last year where the patient's ability or willingness was an important factor in the success of the technology. We will try to understand why insulin pumps, glucose sensors and self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) are not used enough or appropriately, whether there is a specific group that finds it more difficult than others to adopt new technologies and what can be done to overcome that issue. For this chapter we chose articles from a Public Medicine review of the literature related to human factors affecting the outcome of studies and of user acceptance of continuous glucose monitoring, insulin infusion pump therapy. We also searched the literature in the field of psychology in order to accurately define the problems that the users of technology are facing (such as adherence, quality of life, motivations, executive functioning etc.) Those articles that had the most important contributions to understanding human factors as well as those highlighting the interface between technology and psychology, were chosen for this review, with emphasis on articles that provide insight into future studies and acceptance of emerging technologies for glycemic control.

Social and cultural factors as a determinate of ICT expenditures: an empirical study

Information and communication technologies (ICT) have come to hold an important place in strategies for promoting economic growth and development in developing countries. It is known that ICT expenditures as a percent of GDP vary between countries. An elevated rate of ICT expenditures as a percent of GDP indicates that a country is closing the digital divide gap. The primary purpose of the paper is to identify social and cultural variables that explain variations in ICT expenditures measured as a percent of GDP. A multiple regression equation is estimated to examine the impact of selected social and cultural variables on ICT expenditures. The dependent variable is ICT expenditures as a percent of GDP. The independent variables include math and science education, freedom of press, percentage of English speaking, percentage of Protestant, and number of vacation days. This study suggests two factors that give countries an advantage in assimilating information and communication technologies. One is a high quality of math and science education. Another is a government that protects freedom of the press.

Children's Play: a tool for Public Health interventions

All children need to spend some time playing outdoors. In Northern European countries, schools are equipped with outdoor facilities where children can play during breaks between lessons. The Italian school system, oriented to a mnemonic learning approach, has attached a poor importance to the role of playing for kindergarten age children, and Italian kindergartens are not so well equipped for children's active play. Furthermore, Italian teachers and parents worried that while playing outdoors, children might catch a cold or hurt themselves, and discourage active play outside. The equipment of kindergartens' open spaces with wooden games, where children can play in the morning or after school, resulted in children's increased time of playing outdoors. These playgrounds are also used during vacation day time by children to play and in the evenings, for theatrical and animation events. Finally, watching over their children when playing, "forced" parents to talk to each other creating a social network.

Han Ning Highway Traffic Accident Spatio-Temporal Analysis

Collecting the traffic accidents data of Han Ning highway in 2008, 2009 and 2010 three years, through two aspects of time and space to do statistical analysis and data mining of the traffic accidents of this highway. The result of the analysis is that accident rates have a certain relevance to time and space. From the time perspective, holidays and vacation days are accident high-risk days. From the space perspective, accident rate in the ascent and in the downhill are higher than on the straight road, cars go straight have a higher accident rate than in the corners, traffic accident rate in single-km single-lane tunnel is higher than outside the tunnel. Through the time and space distribution rule of the traffic accident, educating traffic participants follow the time and space distribution rule to restrict their behavior. Educating traffic managers obey the time and space distribution rule of traffic accident to adopt targeted management measures and engineering measures. Both of these two aspects have very important significance in reducing traffic accidents.

Diabetes technology and the human factor

When developing new technologies for human use the developer should take into consideration not only the efficacy and safety of the technology but also the desire and capabilities of the potential user. Any chronic disease is a challenge for both the patient and his/her caregivers. This statement is especially true in the case of patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) where adherence to therapy is crucial 24 hours a day 365 days a year. No vacation days are possible for the T1DM patient. It is therefore obvious why any new technology which is developed for helping patients cope with the disease should take into consideration the 'human factor' before, during and after the production process starts. There is no doubt that technology has changed the life of patients with T1DM in the last few decades, but despite the availability of new meters, new syringes, new sophisticated insulin pumps and continuous glucose sensors and communication tools, these technologies have not been well utilised by many patients. It is therefore important to understand why the technology is not always utilised and to find new ways to maximise use and benefits from the technology to as many patients as possible. The present chapter will review papers published in the last year where the patient's ability or willingness was an important factor in the success of the technology. We will try to understand why insulin pumps, glucose sensors and self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) are not used enough or appropriately, whether there is a specific group that finds it more difficult than others to adopt new technologies and what can be done to overcome that issue. For this chapter we chose articles from a Public Medicine review of the literature related to human factors affecting the outcome of studies and of user acceptance of continuous glucose monitoring, insulin infusion pump therapy. We also searched the literature in the field of psychology in order to accurately define the problems that the users of technology are facing (such as adherence, quality of life, motivations, executive functioning etc.) Those articles that had the most important contributions to understanding human factors as well as those highlighting the interface between technology and psychology, were chosen for this review, with emphasis on articles that provide insight into future studies and acceptance of emerging technologies for glycemic control.

Somatization Disorders: Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prognosis

Somatization Disorders: Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prognosis

Post-Birth Employment Leave Among Fathers in Britain and the United States

This study examines fathers’ use of family leave in Britain and the US. Using data from interviews with 83 working fathers in Britain and the United States, we find that almost all fathers take some leave, but British fathers take more leave on average while American fathers demonstrate a wider range of leave time. Much of this has to do with the national context within which these men experience becoming a father. British fathers commonly took one week of paid leave, a taken for granted benefit. Most American fathers, faced with unpaid leave, used vacation days to take time off around the birth of their child. In some cases, it was unclear how leave was counted. Other themes include difficulties with “family unfriendly” employers and the desire for more time off and better leave policies.

Biomeds Find Their Volunteer Spirit at Home and Abroad

A ltruism is the act of doing something to benefit someone else, while making a sacrifice of your own. Biomeds are, by their nature, altruistic. On the whole, we care about the patient (from a safety and wellness perspective), the hospital (from a financial perspective), and society (from a well-being perspective). Many of us exhibit this altruism through our churches and other volunteer activities. And some of our colleagues show that spirit by offering their professional skills in areas where they are critically needed.Biomeds, clinical engineers, and imaging engineers possess talents that are in demand around the world. It is these special skills—maintaining and operating medical equipment, and educating others in how to do the same—that we should offer to others.The American College of Clinical Engineering (ACCE) organized 45 trips between 1991 and July 2010 to other countries for the purpose of teaching clinical engineers about healthcare technology management. ACCE members volunteer their time, and travel costs are covered by the registration fees of the participants. Countries served by these professionals include many in South America, Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe. I had the opportunity to spend a week in Cuba in 2007.TriMedx, a provider of healthcare equipment services in Indianapolis, ID, has the TriMedx Foundation, which supports company employees who volunteer in other countries. TriMedx is unique in that it not only pays all travel costs of these employees, but it also gives them paid time off—meaning employees don't have to dip into their vacation days to do good works overseas.The Georgia Biomedical Instrumentation Society organizes periodic work days where members help Med-Share International check, repair, test, and prepare medical equipment for shipment to other countries. This kind of volunteer work is not only enjoyable, but it also fosters important professional relationships.What are the benefits of such volunteer efforts back at the workplace? First, some employees probably feel closer to their jobs because of company-paid volunteerism opportunities. I have spoken to many TriMedx employees who stay at their same jobs and resist outside job offers, in part, because of their ability to take these trips year after year.Second, when coworkers volunteer together, there is a bond created that exceeds anything that the normal workplace can engender. Building a playground with your fellow BMETs or taking care of the veterinary equipment for the local zoo can help to foster a sense of job security.A few years ago in Atlanta, several biomedical department employees volunteered to take inventory, maintain, and upgrade much of the veterinary equipment used at the Atlanta Zoo. We can say with pride that we had a role in the successful birth of a baby panda, due to our donated equipment, maintenance skills, and willingness to be on call in the case of an emergency at the zoo.A biomedical department is a team. We support each other, encourage each other, and share our victories and hardships. We sometimes get closer by organizing bowling or softball teams, but the real way to build bonds with coworkers and help others at the same time is to volunteer. I have no doubt that cohesive teams function better than a collection of unconnected individuals. Start building your team today, and include service to others in your team-building activities.

Financial Impact of a Dedicated Orthopaedic Traumatologist on a Private Group Practice

The purpose of the study was to demonstrate the financial impact of the addition of a dedicated orthopaedic traumatologist to a private group practice at a Level II community-based trauma system. Retrospective review of financial records. Level II trauma center and large group practice. Office billing and financial data were evaluated for the 12 months before the addition of a dedicated, hospital-based, orthopaedic traumatologist and for a 2-year period after the hiring. Outcomes such as payor mix, collection rates, time to breakeven, days off, call days, evenings worked, durable medical equipment, and x-ray and casting reimbursement were analyzed. The addition of a dedicated traumatologist was financially beneficial for the partnership. Existing practices increased 23% in charges and 32% in collections despite partners taking more vacation days and 14% less call. This was partially the result of increased nontrauma referrals, full clinic templates, and uninterrupted elective operating room schedules. Over a 2-year period, elective arthroplasty cases increased 13.1%, elective arthroscopy cases increased 35.4%, and total patient office visits increased 18.8%. The payor mix for trauma patients was poorer than the group average; however, this was offset by decreased overhead requirements. Collections rate for the trauma partner in evaluation and management, surgery, casting, durable medical equipment, and radiology improved dramatically after the first year to become just slightly less than other clinic-specialized practices. The cost of bringing on a new trauma partner is substantial but regained after 6 months. A dedicated orthopaedic traumatologist can be extremely beneficial to a group practice and to the traumatologist given the appropriate case volume, payor mix, and a relative value unit-based payment system.

Trends in Work Hours and Vacation Time Among Radiologists in the United States

The purpose of this study was to describe recent trends in weekly work hours and annual vacation days among full-time radiologists in the United States with separate data for academic radiologists, radiologists in multispecialty groups, and radiologists in private practice. We tabulated non-individually identified responses from the American College of Radiology 1995, 2003, and 2007 surveys of radiologists. These stratified random sample surveys had, respectively, 2,025, 1,924, and 487 responses and response rates of 75%, 63%, and 20%. Responses were weighted to make them representative of all U.S. radiologists. Respondents were assured of confidentiality. Mean weekly hours worked increased from 1995 to 2003 and from 2003 to 2007. The total increase was approximately 5 hours, or 10%. Mean vacation days also increased in both subperiods, from 27 in 1995 to 39 in 2007, yielding an approximately 5% decrease in days worked per year. The overall result was a mean increase of approximately 5% in annual work hours. In 2007, the 25th percentile of weekly hours was 45, and the 75th percentile was 55. The 25th percentile of annual vacation days was 25, and the 75th percentile was 50. Full-time radiologists responding about their own weekly hours reported, at the mean, working 10% more hours than they believed was the average for other full-time radiologists in the practice. Weekly hours and annual vacation days both have increased. The percentiles give radiologists a basis for comparison with other radiologists. Radiologists apparently often overestimate their work hours relative to the hours of others in their practices. Misperceptions of this kind might give rise to friction in radiology practices.