Work Shift Research Articles

The influencing factors of hearing protection device usage among noise-exposed workers in Guangdong Province: a structural equation modeling-based survey.

There are numerous complex barriers and facilitators to continuously wearing hearing protection devices (HPDs) for noise-exposed workers. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the relationship between HPD wearing behavior and hearing protection knowledge and attitude, HPD wearing comfort, and work-related factors. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 524 noise-exposed workers in manufacturing enterprises in Guangdong Province, China. Data were collected on hearing protection knowledge and attitudes, HPD wearing comfort and behavior, and work-related factors through a questionnaire. Using structural equation modeling (SEM), we tested the association among the study variables. Among the total workers, 69.47% wore HPD continuously, and the attitudes of hearing protection (26.17 ± 2.958) and total HPD wearing comfort (60.13 ± 8.924) were satisfactory, while hearing protection knowledge (3.54 ± 1.552) was not enough. SEM revealed that hearing protection knowledge had direct effects on attitudes (β = 0.333, p < 0.01) and HPD wearing behavior (β = 0.239, p < 0.01), and the direct effect of total HPD wearing comfort on behavior was β = 0.157 (p < 0.01). The direct effect also existed between work shifts and behavior (β=-0.107, p < 0.05). Indirect relationships mainly existed between other work-related factors, hearing protection attitudes, and HPD wearing behavior through knowledge. Meanwhile, work operation had a direct and negative effect on attitudes (β=-0.146, p < 0.05), and it can also indirectly and positively affect attitudes through knowledge (β = 0.08, p < 0.05). The behavior of wearing HPD was influenced by hearing protection knowledge, comfort in wearing HPD, and work-related factors. The results showed that to improve the compliance of noise-exposed workers wearing HPD continuously when exposed to noise, the HPD wearing comfort and work-related factors must be taken into consideration. In addition, we evaluated HPD wearing comfort in physical and functional dimensions, and this study initially verified the availability of the questionnaire scale of HPD wearing comfort.

Integrated psychological intervention programme for frontline healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. A qualitative study.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic put at risk the resilience of healthcare professionals by exposing them to high levels of stress. Our aim was to identify key elements for implementing the STEP programme, a psychological support service for healthcare professionals. qualitative design. The study participants were hospital healthcare staff. Anonymous questionnaires and transcriptions of group interventions and focus groups were used to identify professionals' preferences to receiving psychological support, needs, concerns, resilience (STEP1.0); constrained emotions and associated thoughts (STEP1.5); perception of self-efficacy on managing emotions (STEP2.0); and the professionals' profile requiring individual therapy. Three hundred professionals participated in the study, 100.0% in STEP 1.0 , 27.3% in STEP 1.5, 2.7% in STEP 2.0, and 10.0% in individual interventions. Two hundred and three (67.7%) participants reflected in the survey that they would prefer access to a face-to-face psychological service during working hours. Three consecutive phases with specific needs and concerns were identified: The "cognitive" phase, at the beginning of the pandemic, when infection and self-efficacy were major concerns, the "ventilation" phase, when constrained emotions associated with several factors were expressed; and the "recovery" phase, when the clinical overload decreased and professionals were able to focus on emotion management training. Several personal characteristics associated with referral to individual therapy were identified. Conclusions: The key characteristics of a psychological support service are proximity, face-to-face interaction during working shifts, and a chronological phase system adapted to different emerging needs.

Does work shift affect workers' sleep quality? a systematic review

Shift work in industry negatively affects the circadian cycle, resulting in impaired sleep quality (SQ), increased fatigue, attention deficits, and consequently reduced productivity and work performance. The aim of this study was to determine whether shift work affects the SQ of industrial workers, using the Pittsburg Scale as an assessment tool. This is a systematic review conducted according to the PRISMA guideline. It included studies that used the Pittsburgh scale to assess SQ, stratified the sample by work shift, written in English, original, and published in the last five years. A total of 276 studies were found, but three studies (Germany, India, and Australia) made up the review. Two of the studies reported worsening SQ in workers. The workers were aged between 18 and 41 years, and the daytime Pittsburgh scale scores ranged from 5.7 to 8.8 points, and the nighttime worker scores ranged from 3.6 to 7.8 points. The results were inconclusive, although two studies showed worse SQ in workers who perform their duties on different shifts.

Prevalence and predictors of burnout among nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic: A survey in teaching hospitals.

Occupational burnout is one of the most important consequences of the coronavirus disease pandemic, associated with psychological well-being, quality of care, and intention to leave the nursing profession. This is a major health problem with serious adverse consequences not only for nurses but also for patients and healthcare systems. To assess burnout and its associated factors in nurses who worked in teaching hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran. A cross-sectional study was conducted on nurses of two COVID-19 referral hospitals in Tehran, Iran. Data were collected using the sociodemographic form and Maslach burnout inventory-human service survey (MBI-HSS) questionnaire. Data were evaluated using SPSS software version 26. A total of 264 participants, 52.7% (n = 139) were males and the mean of them age was 34.41±9.71 years. Almost 50% of nurses experienced burnout, in each dimension. Emotional exhaustion was associated significantly with job retention intention (P = 0.01) and depersonalization was significantly associated with gender (P = 0.02), age (P = 0.01), educational level (P = 0.004), work shifts (P = 0.006), and job retention intention (P = 0.02). In addition, personal accomplishment score was significantly associated with age (P = 0.002), marital status (P = 0.03), educational level (P = 0.03), work shift (P = 0.04) and job retention intention (P = 0.01). The burnout rate in the COVID-19 era is high among nurses associated with improper care. Psychosocial support is needed to improve mental well-being among health care workers during unpredictable conditions like pandemics.

Work Stress, Fatigue, Shift Work, Workload Intensity, and Patient Safety Incidents Among Nurses

The prevalence of Patient Safety Incidents (PSIs) in Indonesia from 2015 to 2019 has increased. However, there have been limited previous studies addressing the correlation between work stress, fatigue, shift work, workload intensity, and patient safety incidents among nurses. This study aims to examine the correlation between work stress, fatigue, shift work, workload intensity, and patient safety incidents among nurses. The cross-sectional study was conducted from September to November 2023. The purposive sampling technique was used to obtain a sample of 157 respondents. Data collection used questionnaires and internal reporting of PSIs. Data analysis was performed using descriptive and Chi-Square tests. There was a significant correlation between work stress (OR=3.361, 95% CI=1.688-6.693), fatigue (OR=5.690, 95% CI=1.873-17.284), shift work (OR=1.062, 95% CI=0.560-2.015), workload intensity (OR=2.227, 95% CI=1.155-4.297), and patient safety incidents among nurses. Nurses need to be aware of their levels of stress and fatigue, and they should develop stress management and coping strategies to overcome these challenges, enabling them to work optimally. Hospital management should pay increased attention to the issues of stress and fatigue experienced by nurses, particularly those with heavy workloads and night shifts.

Association Between In-hospital Mortality and the Institutional Factors of Intensive Care Units with a Focus on the Intensivist-to-bed Ratio: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Purpose: To elucidate the relationship between in-hospital mortality and the institutional factors of intensive care units (ICUs), with a focus on the intensivist-to-bed ratio. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted using a Japanese ICU database, including adult patients admitted between April 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021. We used a multilevel logistic regression model to investigate the associations between in-hospital mortality and the following institutional factors: the intensivist-to-bed ratios on weekdays or over weekends/holidays, different work shifts, hospital-to-ICU-bed ratio, annual-ICU-admission-to-bed ratio, type of hospital, and the presence of other medical staff. Results: The study population comprised 46 503 patients admitted to 65 ICUs. The in-hospital mortality rate was 8.1%. The median numbers of ICU beds and intensivists were 12 (interquartile range [IQR] 8-14) and 4 (IQR 2-9), respectively. In-hospital mortality decreased significantly as the intensivist-to-bed ratio at 10 am on weekdays increased: the average contrast indicated a 20% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1%-38%) reduction when the ratio increased from 0 to 0.5, and a 38% (95% CI: 9%-67%) reduction when the ratio increased from 0 to 1. The other institutional factors did not present a significant effect. Conclusions: The intensivist-to-bed ratio at 10 am on weekdays had a significant effect on in-hospital mortality. Further investigation is needed to understand the processes leading to improved outcomes.

Strategy to evaluate the impact of formaldehyde in anatomical pathology laboratory part II

Formaldehyde (FA) is a hazardous chemical, highly used in the anatomical pathology laboratories. The adverse health effects related to FA occupational exposure are generally related to long-term exposure, however the short-term exposure to peak concentrations are equally of high concern. The occupational monitoring commonly uses the 8h-Time Weight Average (TWA) metric to assess the exposure, but for those chemicals with acute effects, also the15min short-term exposure is strongly recommended. In this study, the occupational monitoring was carried out in an anatomical pathology laboratory with an in-continuous, instantaneous, and direct reading instrument for 65 work shifts (WS). In none of these, the FA European Union (EU) TWA occupational limit (620 g/m3) was exceeded. Differently, in 40 WS the EU Short Term Exposure Limit (STEL) (740 g/m3) was exceeded, even several times a WS. In sight of this, the 8h-TWA metric only could give poor information of the exposure scenario, involving peak emissions, then a 15min peak exposure assessment, via in continuous monitoring, could help managing the risk. In addition, using the inference equation, an Action Value (AV) of the 8h-TWA above which the 15min measurements are strongly recommended, equal to 23.1 g/m3, is suggested for FA.

Exposure to gallium arsenide nanoparticles in a research facility: a case study using molecular beam epitaxy

We evaluated GaAs nanoparticle-concentrations in the air and on skin and surfaces in a research facility that produces thin films, and to monitored As in the urine of exposed worker. The survey was over a working week using a multi-level approach. Airborne personal monitoring was implemented using a miniature diffusion size classifier (DiSCMini) and IOM sampler. Environmental monitoring was conducted using the SKC Sioutas Cascade Impactor to evaluate dimensions and nature of particles collected. Surfaces contamination were assessed analyzing As and Ga in ghost wipes. Skin contamination was monitored using tape strips. As and Ga were analyzed in urines collected every day at the beginning and end of the shift. The greatest airborne exposure occurred during the cutting operations of the GaAs Sample (88883 np/cm3). The highest levels of contamination were found inside the hood (As max = 1418 ng/cm2) and on the laboratory floor (As max = 251 ng/cm2). The average concentration on the worker’s skin at the end of the work shift (3.36 ng/cm2) was more than 14 times higher than before the start of the shift. In weekly urinary biomonitoring an average As concentration of 19.5 µg/L, which was above the Società Italiana Valori di Riferimento (SIVR) reference limit for the non-occupational population (2.0 – 15 µg/L), but below the ACGIH limit (30 µg/L). Overall, airborne monitoring, surface sampling, skin sampling, and biomonitoring of worker confirmed the exposure to As of workers. Systematic cleaning operations, hood implementation and correct PPE management are needed to improve worker protection.

The Impact of Resilience on Workplace Violence Experienced by Mental Health Nurses: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Background. Violence at work against healthcare professionals is a frequent and pervasive problem. There are growing data that indicate nurses are especially susceptible to experiencing violent acts at work. Resilience helps strengthen nursing competency in the proper management of stressful circumstances, like being exposed to workplace violence. Aim. The aim of the study is to assess the impact of resilience on workplace violence among mental health nurses. Method. A cross-sectional research design was used to conduct this study with a convenience sample of 361 nurses recruited from a governmental psychiatric hospital in Saudi Arabia. Tools. Data were collected using two tools: the first tool was the workplace violence questionnaire, which collected nurses’ demographic, job, and workplace violence data, and the second was the resilience at work scale to assess nurses’ resilience. Results. This survey found that 70.4% of nurses experienced workplace violence in the last year, and fewer than half were resilient at work. Close to one-third (33.5%) of nurses were terrified and confused after workplace violence. The most violent repercussions were psychological (46.8%): dread, tension, and worry. Additionally, 48.8% of nurses exhibited high work resilience. Conclusion. A considerable percentage of mental health nurses encountered instances of violence during the provision of care inside mental health hospital settings. The variables of nationality (non-Saudi nurses), rotating work shift, educational levels, and exhibiting a lower level of resilience were found to have a statistically significant correlation with instances of workplace violence. Recommendation. Training programs and educational initiatives should be developed and implemented to equip nurses with the necessary knowledge and skills to effectively respond to and prevent workplace violence incidents. By providing comprehensive training, healthcare organizations can empower nurses to address and mitigate workplace violence, ultimately creating a safer and more supportive work environment.

Assessment of the Saudi Population’s Knowledge and Awareness Toward a Sedentary Lifestyle Risk Factors in the Post-COVID-19 Era

ABSTRACT Introduction: Sedentary behaviors have been on the rise, potentially exacerbated by lockdowns, remote work, and lifestyle shifts during the pandemic, emphasizing the need to assess public awareness regarding associated health risks. This study investigated the knowledge and awareness levels of the Saudi population regarding sedentary lifestyle risk factors in the post-COVID-19 era. Methodology: This cross-sectional study included 400 participants and was conducted from May 2023 to July 2023 using a questionnaire distributed randomly through social media in multiple regions of Saudi Arabia. Results: The majority of the participants were females (57.1%), aged 15–25 years (54.3%), had a higher educational degree (65.4%) and were single (62%). Most (62%) of the participants reported declined/physical activity levels in the post-COVID-19 era. Our study found that 65% of the participants had increased usage of online shopping and delivery applications after the pandemic, and a significant portion (66%) had less than 150–300 min of moderate aerobic activity weekly. Barriers, such as bad weather and insufficient time for exercise, had significant impacts. Conclusion: This study provides valuable insights into the Saudi population’s demographic characteristics, knowledge, and behaviors related to physical activity and health.

Missed nursing care and its associated factors in public hospitals of Bahir Dar City, Northwest Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study

ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of missed nursing care and its associated factors among public hospitals in Bahir Dar City, Northwest Ethiopia.DesignAn institution-based cross-sectional study...

Use of aripiprazole long-acting injectable release as a stabiliser. About a case

IntroductionA 56-year-old patient diagnosed with bipolar affective disorder type II, who remains stable, with no manifest episodes, thanks to aripiprazole 60mg daily.ObjectivesThe aim is to carry out a brief review of the use of the drug as the only stabiliser in bipolar affective disorder.MethodsA 56-year-old patient, who has been suffering from episodes of hypomania since the age of 40, with episodes of depression. After poor tolerance to the use of the usual stabilisers, and the impossibility of using antidepressants due to hypomanic swings, it was decided to start treatment with aripiprazole orally, up to a maximum of 60mg daily. Despite the fact that the patient, with this treatment, had no side effects and remained more stable psychopathologically, the patient did not comply adequately with the correct dosage, due to his rotating work shifts. This fact explained that although he acknowledged an improvement, he continued with episodes of depressive symptoms lasting several days followed by episodes of hypomanic characteristics.ResultsFor this reason, it was decided to change treatment to aripiprazole long-acting injectable, in order to ensure linear blood levels of the drug. Initially, it was decided to prescribe 400mg every 28 days. However, after the first administration, 20 days later, the patient began to show dysphoric mood, with marked emotional lability, living in an egodystonic manner. For this reason, the dose was increased to 600mg on a monthly basis. Since then, after a year and a half with the same treatment, the patient has been stable and in line. There has been no further decompensation of the underlying psychopathology and no side effects.ConclusionsAripiprazole in TAB is superior to placebo in type I patients, mainly affecting manic and mixed episodes, but not so much in depressive episodes. It has also been observed that it not only acts in the acute phases, but also has a stabilising function, preventing manic episodes.One study showed that up to 65% of patients on oral aripiprazole in whom it was replaced by AOM remained clinically stable. In the same study, approximately 50% of those who completed 52 weeks of follow-up were able to maintain clinical stability.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

The Impact of Stress and Workload on Performance Moderated by Work Shift

The objective of this research is to investigate the impact of stress and workload on the performance of PT Cheil Jedang Feed Medan's employees, moderated by work shifts. The study is explanatory and employs a quantitative approach. Primary data was collected by distributing questionnaires to a sample of 101 employees. The sample size was determined using the saturated sampling technique. The data was analyzed using multiple linear regression and moderation regression analysis. The study found that workload has a significant negative impact on employee performance, but work stress does not. Furthermore, the work shift variable has no significant moderating effect on the impact of stress and workload on employee performance at PT Cheil Jedang Feed Medan. Based on the results of this research, it turns out that these variables contribute minimally to employee performance. Practical suggestions that need to be perfected by PT Cheil Jedang Feed Medan are improvements in the aspect of the speed of rotation of working hours between employees and the provision of rest periods according to the relatively high level of stress and workload felt by employees

Examining Barriers and Perceptions in Reporting Medication Administration Errors among Nurses at the Tertiary Care Hospitals in Peshawar Pakistan

Medication administration is vital for patient safety, yet medication errors can lead to life-threatening situations and increased mortality rates. Nurses, being essential members of the healthcare team, are constantly present with patients and regularly tasked with drug administration, facing a significant burden of medication errors compared to other healthcare providers. Objectives: To explore the barriers and perceptions of nurses' regarding medication errors reporting in public sector tertiary care hospitals. Methods: A convenient sample of 209 staff nurses participated in this cross-sectional survey from June to October 2022. A three-part questionnaire was used to gather information on the general characteristics of nurses, the causes of medication errors, and the justifications for not reporting them. Results: The Pharmacy supplies inappropriate doses to this unit with a mean of (2.53 ± 1.28) and an insufficient number of staff nurses in each working shift (4.23 ± 0.76) were the two least and most significant contributing factors to medication errors. Additionally, the two most and least significant factors for not reporting medication errors were that nurses may be held accountable if the patient suffered harm (3.94 ± 1.16) and that nurses did not agree with the hospital's definition of a medication error (2.33 ± 1.26) on average. Conclusions: The main causes of drug mistakes and failure to reveal them were nursing and management issues. Moreover, attempt to establish a blame-free culture to motivate reporting errors.

Mathematical Description of Harmful Industrial Factors for Assessing the Quarry Workers' Occupational Risk

Mining industry is highly important in the economy of each country. At the same time, the mining industry is an industry with a high level of morbidity among workers. Quarry workers are often exposed to hazardous environments, while at the same time a low level of process safety organization. This study aims to develop a mathematical description of modelling the values of harmful factors in the production environment at the workplaces of quarry workers, which will help ensure high-quality engineering control during the work shift. The initial statistical data for the development of mathematical models were obtained directly by the authors through personal observations of the technological process and measurements of the level of harmful factors in the working environment. Measurements were taken using portable digital devices. To develop mathematical description based on accumulated statistical data, polynomial regression was used. The construction of models using polynomial regression is based on the property of functional dependencies, which can be formulated as follows: with a gradual increase in the complexity of the model (polynomial degree), the magnitude of errors (approximation error, forecast error) monotonically decreases. As a result, fourth-order polynomial equations were obtained to model the values of dust concentration and noise level at certain time intervals of the work shift. The correlation coefficient of these models is R = 0.98 and R = 0.99, and the relative error is 9.76% and 6.11% of dust concentration and noise level respectively, which indicates sufficient accuracy of the model. It was established that the studied harmful factors during a normal production process, have a level of impact at which early forms of occupational diseases develop. The proposed mathematical description of modelling the values of these factors makes it possible for high-quality engineering control over current technology processes in order to avoid abnormal excesses of the values. Further research, according to the authors, should be aimed at identifying and mathematically describing other potentially harmful and dangerous factors in the working environment. The originality of the current study lies in the fact that an attempt was made to propose a non-classical approach to quickly identify deteriorating working conditions directly in the work process using mathematical modelling.

Physical Ergonomics Monitoring in Human–Robot Collaboration: A Standard-Based Approach for Hand-Guiding Applications

Human–robot collaboration stands as one of the research frontiers in industrial applications due to the possibility for human operators to be supported by robots in carrying out their tasks in a shared workspace. However, advances in this field can be slowed down by the lack of standards regarding the safety and ergonomics of such applications. This article aims at reducing this gap by presenting an adaptation of the standard ISO 11228-3 for the ergonomic evaluation of hand-guiding applications through the OCRA index. This innovative methodology is innovatively applied to a drilling application in which a human operator hand-guides a collaborative robotic system consisting of a Franka Emika Panda robot, a force/torque sensor and an IMU suit to track the motion of the operator’s body. The SaRAH app, a MATLAB 2020a-based software tool developed on purpose, implements the ergonomic assessment procedure, allowing the proper redesign of the working shift (offline mode) or providing the worker suggestions to improve his/her behavior (online mode) so as to reduce the ergonomic risk.

Нормативы по обслуживанию лабораторных животных в питомниках зоолаборантами

The foundation of all research using laboratory animals is to meet the basic needs of any living organism. The personnel responsible for the life support of laboratory animals belongs to category “A”. The purpose of our research was to create an approach for rationing the working day of zoo laboratory laboratory animals. Based on the goal, the following tasks were set: To characterize the work tasks of zoolaborants depending on the type of laboratory animals being serviced. Determine the time of manipulations performed by zoolaborants. Establish standards for the maintenance of laboratory animals for 1 employee for 1 work shift. As a result of the study, the main work tasks of zoo assistants serving mice, rats, gerbils, hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits, dwarf pigs, ferrets, cats, dogs, Javanese macaques and common igrunks were characterized. Differences in labor tasks have been established depending on the type of maintenance of laboratory animals (cages or boxes). When servicing rodents, rabbits and ferrets contained in cages that require replacement, the work tasks of zoolaborants are divided into: preparation of clean cells for replacement, cell replacement, feeding, watering, cleaning/general cleaning and disinfection. When servicing cats, dogs, dwarf pigs that are kept in boxes, labor tasks are cleaning the box, feeding and watering. For primates (Javanese macaques and common monkeys) kept in stationary cages that do not require cell replacement, the work tasks of zoo laboratory assistants are cleaning the cage, feeding and wate­ring. The average execution time of each labor task by a zoolaborant has been established, depending on the type of laboratory animals served. The standards of service of animals for 1 employee for 1 work shift are calcula­ted. The data obtained make it possible to plan the number of zoolaborants and the production rate depending on the type and number of animals served. Together, the above factors can influence the formation of calculations of the full-time (normative) number of employees involved in the maintenance of laboratory animals when crea­ting a nursery or when introducing a new type of test systems.

Influence of Intraoperative Active and Passive Breaks in Simulated Minimally Invasive Procedures on Surgeons' Perceived Discomfort, Performance, and Workload.

Laparoscopic surgeons are at high risk of experiencing musculoskeletal discomfort, which is considered the result of long-lasting static and awkward body postures. We primarily aimed to evaluate whether passive and active work breaks can reduce ratings of perceived discomfort among laparoscopic surgeons compared with no work breaks. We secondarily aimed to examine potential differences in performance and workload across work break conditions and requested the surgeons evaluate working with passive or active work breaks. Following a balanced, randomized cross-over design, laparoscopic surgeons performed three 90 min laparoscopic simulations without and with 2.5 min passive or active work breaks after 30 min work blocks on separate days. The simulation included the following tasks: a hot wire, peg transfer, pick-and-place, pick-and-tighten, pick-and-thread, and pull-and-stick tasks. Ratings of perceived discomfort (CR10 Borg Scale), performance per subtask, and perceived workload (NASA-TLX) were recorded, and the break interventions were evaluated (self-developed questionnaire). Statistical analyses were performed on the rating of perceived discomfort and a selection of the performance outcomes. Twenty-one participants (9F) were included, with a mean age of 36.6 years (SD 9.7) and an average experience in laparoscopies of 8.5 years (SD 5.6). Ratings of perceived musculoskeletal discomfort slightly increased over time from a mean level of 0.1 to 0.9 but did not statistically significantly differ between conditions (p = 0.439). Performance outcomes of the hot wire and peg transfer tasks did not statistically significantly differ between conditions. The overall evaluation by the participants was slightly in favor regarding the duration and content of active breaks and showed a 65% likelihood of implementing them on their own initiative in ≥90 min-lasting laparoscopic surgeries, compared with passive breaks. Both passive and active breaks did not statistically significantly influence ratings of perceived discomfort or perceived workload in a 90 min simulation of laparoscopic surgery, with an overall low mean level of perceived discomfort of 0.9 (SD 1.4). As work breaks do not lead to performance losses, rest breaks should be tested in real-life situations across a complete working shift, where perceived discomfort may differ from this laboratory situation. However, in this respect, it is crucial to investigate the acceptance and practicality of intraoperative work breaks in feasibility studies in advance of assessing their effectiveness in follow-up longitudinal trials.

Factors Affecting Nursing Work Teams: A Cross-Sectional Study in Teaching Hospitals Affiliated with Shiraz University of Medical Sciences

Background: Nurses, as vital members of healthcare system, play a crucial role in improving society's health, which makes it very important to develop work teams among them. This study aims to investigate the factors affecting nursing work teams in teaching hospitals affiliated with Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in 2022.&#x0D; Methods: This study was a cross-sectional study conducted in 2022 on a sample of 267 nurses from teaching hospitals affiliated with Shiraz University of Medical Sciences who were selected using simple random sampling and the stratified method proportional to the size. Data collection tool used in this study was a valid and reliable questionnaire comprising 2 parts: nurses' demographic characteristics and 39 items related to factors affecting work teams. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 23 software through Spearman correlation coefficient, Mann-Whitney, and Kruskal-Wallis tests, and finally, multiple linear regression (the Backward method).&#x0D; Results: The results showed that the dimensions of "team goals" (22.93 ± 5.44) and "personality traits" (8.41 ±1.79) obtained the highest and lowest mean scores, respectively. Furthermore, the results of linear regression analysis showed that the effectiveness of work teams had a significant inverse relationship with the number of shifts (p = 0.034) and a significant direct relationship with employment in the intensive care units (p = 0.032).&#x0D; Conclusion: Based on the findings, several suggestions can be made to enhance the effectiveness of nursing work teams, including hiring adequate staff to reduce the number of nurses' work shifts, particularly in the intensive care units, ncouraging other hospital wards to follow the example of the work in intensive care units, establishing a system for determining and adjusting nurses' work shifts based on their opinions and priorities, conducting monthly, quarterly, and annual assessment based on attendance and participation in nursing work teams, encouraging more active nurses in this field, and considering various rewards for effective nursing work teams.

NOx Emission Prediction of Diesel Vehicles in Deep Underground Mines Using Ensemble Methods

The mining industry faces persistent challenges related to hazardous gas emissions. Diesel engine-powered wheeled vehicles are commonly used during work shifts and are a primary source of nitrogen oxides (NOx) in underground mines. Despite diesel engine manufacturers providing gas generation data, mining companies need to predict NOx emissions from numerous load-haul-dumping (LHD) vehicles operating under dynamic conditions and not always equipped with gas sensors. This study focused on two ensemble methods: bootstrap aggregation (bagging) and least-square boosting (boosting) to predict NOx emissions. These approaches combine multiple weaker statistical models to yield a robust result. The innovation of this research is in the statistical analysis and selection of LHD vehicles’ working parameters, which are most suitable for NOx emission prediction; development of the procedure of source data cleaning and processing, model building and analyzing factors, which may influence the accuracy; and the comparison of two ensemble methods and showing their advantages and limitations for this specific engineering application, which was not previously reported in the literature. For datasets obtained from the same LHD vehicle and different operators, the more efficient bagging method gave a coefficient of determination R2 &gt; 0.79 and the RMSE (root mean square error) was under 30 ppm, which is comparable with the measurement accuracy for transient regimes of physical NOx sensors available in the market. The obtained insights can be utilized as input for mine ventilation systems, enhancing mining transport management, reducing workplace air pollution, improving work planning, and enhancing personnel safety.