Health and psychosocial effects of flexible working hours

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether any impairments in health and social lives can be found under different kinds of flexible working hours, and whether such effects are related to specific characteristics of these working hours. METHODS: Two studies - a company based survey (N=660) and an internet survey (N=528) - have been conducted. The first one was a questionnaire study (paper and pencil) on employees working under some 'typical' kinds of different flexible working time arrangements in different companies and different occupational fields (health care, manufacturing, retail, administration, call centres). The second study was an internet-based survey, using an adaptation of the questionnaire from the first study. RESULTS: The results of both studies consistently show that high variability of working hours is associated with increased impairments in health and well-being and this is especially true if this variability is company controlled. These effects are less pronounced if variability is self-controlled; however, autonomy does not compensate the effects of variability. CONCLUSIONS: Recommendations for an appropriate design of flexible working hours should be developed in order to minimize any impairing effects on health and psychosocial well-being; these recommendations should include - besides allowing for discretion in controlling one's (flexible) working hours - that variability in flexible working hours should be kept low (or at least moderate), even if this variability is self-controlled.

Housing conditions as a social determinant of low birthweight and preterm low birthweight

OBJECTIVE: To assess the relationship between housing conditions and low birthweight and preterm low birthweight among low-income women. METHODS: A case-control study was conducted with post-partum women living in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Southeast Brazil, in 2003-2005. Two groups of cases, low birthweight (n=96) and preterm low birthweight infants (n=68), were compared against normal weight term controls (n=393). Housing conditions were categorized into three levels: adequate, inadequate, and highly inadequate. Covariates included sociodemographic and anthropometric characteristics, risk behaviors, violence, anxiety, satisfaction during pregnancy, obstetric history and prenatal care. RESULTS: Poor housing conditions was independently associated with low birthweight (inadequate - OR 2.3 [1.1;4.6]; highly inadequate - OR 7.6 [2.1;27.6]) and preterm low birthweight (inadequate - OR 2.2 [1.1;4.3]; highly inadequate - OR 7.6 [2.4;23.9]) and factors associated with outcomes were inadequate prenatal care and previous preterm birth. Low income and low maternal body mass index remained associated with low birthweight. CONCLUSIONS: Poor housing conditions were associated with low birthweight and preterm low birthweight.

Morphological and thermal analyses of flexible polyurethane foams containing commercial calcium carbonate

One filler often utilized in flexible polyurethane foams is calcium carbonate (CaCO3) because it is non-abrasiveness, non-toxicity and facilitated pigmentation. However, it is observed that the excess of commercial CaCO3 utilized in industry possibly causing permanent deformations and damaging the quality of the final product. The effect of different concentrations of commercial CaCO3, in flexible foams, was studied. Different concentrations of CaCO3 were used for the synthesis of flexible polyurethane foams, which were submitted to morphological and thermal analyses to verify the alterations provoked by the progressive introduction of this filler.

Physiological evaluation of heat stress in gestating sows under different housing systems in bedding and concrete floor

The purpose of this paper was to observe the use of bedding (wood shavings) in physiological variables that indicate thermal stress in gestating sows. The experiment was conducted in order to evaluate the effect of two types of floor (concrete and wood shavings). Worse microclimatic conditions were observed in bedding systems (P<0.05), with an increase in temperature and enthalpy of 1.14 ºC and 2.37 kJ.kg dry air-1, respectively. The floor temperature at the dirty area was higher in the bedding presence in comparison to its absence. In spite of the worse microclimatic conditions in the bedding, the rectal temperature did not differ significantly (P>0.05) but the skin surface temperature was higher in the bedding systems. The same occurred with the respiratory rates. The physical characteristics of the floor material influenced the rate of heat loss by conductance. Estimated values were 35.04 and 7.99 W m-2 for the conductive heat loss between the animal and floor for treatments with or without bedding, respectively. The use of bedding in sow rearing has a negative impact on microclimatic conditions, what implies in thermoregulatory damages.

Importance of flexible bronchoscopy in decannulation of tracheostomy patients

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the importance of flexible bronchoscopy in tracheostomy patients in the process of decannulation to assess the incidence and types of laryngotracheal injury and compare the presence of such lesions with clinical criteria used for decannulation. METHODS: We studied 51 tracheostomized patients aged between 19 and 87 years, with tracheal stent for a mean of 46 ± 28 days and with clinical criteria for decannulation. They were submitted to tracheostomy tube occlusion tolerance testfor 24 hours, and then to flexible bronchoscopy. We described and classified the diagnosed laryngotracheal changes. We compared the clinical criteria for decannulation indication with the bronchoscopy-diagnosed laryngotracheal injuries that contraindicated decannulation. We identified the factors that could interfere in decannulation and evaluated the importance of bronchoscopy as part of the process. RESULTS: Forty (80.4%) patients had laryngotracheal alterations. Of the 40 patients considered clinically fit to decannulation, eight (20%) (p = 0.0007) presented with laryngotracheal injuries at bronchoscopy that contraindicated the procedure. The most frequent laryngeal alteration was vocal cords lesion, in 15 (29%) individuals, and granuloma, the most prevalent tracheal lesion, in 14 (27.5%) patients. CONCLUSION: flexible bronchoscopy showed a large number of laryngotracheal injuries, the most frequent being the vocal cords injury in the larynx and the granuloma in the trachea, which contributed to increase the decannulation procedure safety.

Modeling and control of multibody system with flexible appendages

The objective of this work is to describe the design and the implementation of an experiment to study the dynamics and the active control of a slewing multi-link flexible structure. The experimental apparatus was designed to be representative of a flexible space structure such as a satellite with multiple flexible appendages. In this study we describe the design procedures, the analog and digital instrumentation, the analytical modeling together with model validation studies carried out through experimental modal testing and parametric system identification studies in the frequency domain. Preliminary results of a simple positional control where the sensor and the actuator are positioned physically at the same point is also described.

Application of the center manifold theory to the study of slewing flexible Non-ideal structures with nonlinear curvature: a case study

In this paper is Analyzed the local dynamical behavior of a slewing flexible structure considering nonlinear curvature. The dynamics of the original (nonlinear) governing equations of motion are reduced to the center manifold in the neighborhood of an equilibrium solution with the purpose of locally study the stability of the system. In this critical point, a Hopf bifurcation occurs. In this region, one can find values for the control parameter (structural damping coefficient) where the system is unstable and values where the system stability is assured (periodic motion). This local analysis of the system reduced to the center manifold assures the stable / unstable behavior of the original system around a known solution.

The interaction of housing condition and acute immobilization stress on the elevated plus-maze behaviors of protein-malnourished rats

Protein malnutrition induces structural, neurochemical and functional alterations in the central nervous system, leading to behavioral alterations. In the present study, we used the elevated plus-maze (EPM) as a measure of anxiety to evaluate the interaction between acute immobilization and housing conditions on the behavior of malnourished rats. Pups (6 males and 2 females) were fed by Wistar lactating dams receiving a 6% (undernourished) or 16% (well-nourished) protein diet. After weaning, the animals continued to receive the same diets ad libitum until 49 days of age when they started to receive a regular lab chow diet. From weaning to the end of the tests on day 70, the animals were housed under two different conditions, i.e., individual or in groups of three. On the 69th day, half of the animals were submitted to immobilization for 2 h, while the other half were undisturbed, and both groups were tested 24 h later for 5 min in the EPM. Independent of other factors, protein malnutrition increased, while immobilization and social isolation per se decreased, EPM exploration. Analysis of the interaction of diet vs immobilization vs housing conditions showed that the increased EPM exploration presented by the malnourished group was reversed by acute immobilization in animals reared in groups but not in animals reared individually. The interaction between immobilization and housing conditions suggests that living for a long time in social isolation is sufficiently stressful to reduce the responses to another anxiogenic procedure (immobilization), while living in groups prompts the animals to react to acute stress. Thus, it is suggested that housing condition can modulate the effects of an anxiogenic procedure on behavioral responses of malnourished rats in the EPM.

Profits and votes: Entrepreneurs and the government in Brazilian housing policy

ABSTRACTAfter more than twenty years of low housing construction output, the housing policy recovered its momentum in the country with the ascent of the Partido dos Trabalhadores (Workers' Party, PT) to the seat of the federal government. This article demonstrates - through the analysis of documents, interviews and research conducted with businessmen - that the impetus of such a state policy is a part of the PT electoral strategy, which is based on economic growth and the expansion of social programs. The research analyses the dovetailing of interests between the Lula (the Brazilian President from 2003 to 2010) administration and the civil construction business - the latter concerned with expanding its business, and the former with increasing the supply of jobs and the level of economic activity. This process culminated in the launching of the largest social housing program to be implemented in the country. Minha Casa, Minha Vida (My House, My Life), is a project in whose planning building companies played a key role, performing feasibility studies and carrying out social housing projects.