Developing an Effective Construction Training Program for American Supervisors with Hispanic Craft Workers, 2005

In the construction industry, Hispanics have the highest rate of fatal work injuries among the racial/ethnic groups, and productivity in the field is limited by the language barrier between Hispanic workers and their supervisors and the level of education of many Hispanic craft workers. This research developed a training program designed to facilitate the integration process between American supervisors and Hispanic craft workers in a practical and cost-effective way, thus improving productivity and lowering fatality rates. The Iowa State University research team conducted a survey of 38 American supervisors, representing 14 Iowa construction companies. Survey results confirm that communication is the main problem experienced by American supervisors in the job site. Many American supervisors also use or depend on a link-person (an individual who interprets tasks to the rest of the Hispanic crew) to communicate to the Hispanic crew members. Research findings show that language differences affect productivity and workplace safety in the construction industry. Additionally, the educational levels of Hispanic workers indicate that they may not have the literacy skills necessary to understand training materials. This research developed two training courses designed to expand the Spanish communication skills of American supervisors. The research team modified the English-as-a-second-language course developed in Phase I into the Spanish as a Second Language (SSL) Survival Course. A series of technical training courses were also developed, titled Concrete Pavement Construction Basics (CPCB), that cover general practices in concrete pavement construction. They are much shorter and more specialized than the SSL course. The CPCB courses provide American supervisors simple and practical communication tools on a variety of topics to choose from according to their specific needs.

Molecular and social regulation of worker division of labour in fire ants.

Reproductive and worker division of labour (DOL) is a hallmark of social insect societies. Despite a long-standing interest in worker DOL, the molecular mechanisms regulating this process have only been investigated in detail in honey bees, and little is known about the regulatory mechanisms operating in other social insects. In the fire ant Solenopsis invicta, one of the most studied ant species, workers are permanently sterile and the tasks performed are modulated by the worker's internal state (age and size) and the outside environment (social environment), which potentially includes the effect of the queen presence through chemical communication via pheromones. However, the molecular mechanisms underpinning these processes are unknown. Using a whole-genome microarray platform, we characterized the molecular basis for worker DOL and we explored how a drastic change in the social environment (i.e. the sudden loss of the queen) affects global gene expression patterns of worker ants. We identified numerous genes differentially expressed between foraging and nonforaging workers in queenright colonies. With a few exceptions, these genes appear to be distinct from those involved in DOL in bees and wasps. Interestingly, after the queen was removed, foraging workers were no longer distinct from nonforaging workers at the transcriptomic level. Furthermore, few expression differences were detected between queenright and queenless workers when we did not consider the task performed. Thus, the social condition of the colony (queenless vs. queenright) appears to impact the molecular pathways underlying worker task performance, providing strong evidence for social regulation of DOL in S. invicta.

Venom alkaloid and cuticular hydrocarbon profiles are associated with social organization, queen fertility status, and queen genotype in the fire ant Solenopsis invicta.

Queens in social insect colonies advertise their presence in the colony to: a) attract workers' attention and care; b) gain acceptance by workers as replacement or supplemental reproductives; c) prevent reproductive development in nestmates. We analyzed the chemical content of whole body surface extracts of adult queens of different developmental and reproductive stages, and of adult workers from monogyne (single colony queen) and polygyne (multiple colony queens) forms of the fire ant Solenopsis invicta. We found that the composition of the most abundant components, venom alkaloids, differed between queens and workers, as well as between reproductive and non-reproductive queens. Additionally, workers of the two forms could be distinguished by alkaloid composition. Finally, sexually mature, non-reproductive queens from polygyne colonies differed in their proportions of cis-piperidine alkaloids, depending on their Gp-9 genotype, although the difference disappeared once they became functional reproductives. Among the unsaturated cuticular hydrocarbons characteristic of queens, there were differences in amounts of alkenes/alkadienes between non-reproductive polygyne queens of different Gp-9 genotypes, between non-reproductive and reproductive queens, and between polygyne and monogyne reproductive queens, with the amounts increasing at a relatively higher rate through reproductive ontogeny in queens bearing the Gp-9 b allele. Given that the genotype-specific piperidine differences reflect differences in rates of reproductive maturation between queens, we speculate that these abundant and unique compounds have been co-opted to serve in fertility signaling, while the cuticular hydrocarbons now play a complementary role in regulation of social organization by signaling queen Gp-9 genotype.

Transnational private authority and the participation of workers' organizations in the regulatory space surrounding the employment relationship

Most corporate codes of conduct and multi-stakeholder sustainability standards guarantee workers' rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining, but many authors are sceptical about the concrete impact of codes and standards of this kind. In this paper we use Hancher and Moran's (1998) concept of 'regulatory space' to assess the potential of private transnational regulation to support the growth of trade union membership and collective bargaining relationships, drawing on some preliminary case study results from a project on the impact of the International Finance Corporation's (IFC) social conditionality on worker organization and social dialogue. One of the major effects of neoliberal economic and industrial policy has been the routine exclusion of workers' organizations from regulatory processes on the grounds that they introduce inappropriate 'political' motives into what ought to be technical decision-making processes. This, rather than any direct attack on their capacity to take action, is what seems best to explain the global decline in union influence (Cradden 2004; Howell 2007; Howe 2012). The evidence we present in the paper suggests that private labour regulation may under certain conditions contribute to a reversal of this tendency, re-establishing the legitimacy of workers' organizations within regulatory processes and by extension the legitimacy of their use of economic and social power. We argue that guarantees of freedom of association and bargaining rights within private regulation schemes are effective to the extent that they can be used by workers' organizations in support of a claim for access to the regulatory space within which the terms and conditions of the employment relationship are determined. Our case study evidence shows that certain trade unions in East Africa have indeed been able to use IFC and other private regulation schemes as levers to win recognition from employers and to establish collective bargaining relationships. Although they did not attempt to use formal procedures to make a claim for the enforcement of freedom of association rights on behalf of their members, the unions did use enterprises' adherence to private regulation schemes as a normative point of reference in argument and political exchange about worker representation. For these unions, the regulation was a useful addition to the range of arguments that they could deploy as means to justify their demand for recognition by employers. By contrast, the private regulation that helps workers' organizations to win access to regulatory processes does little to ensure that they are able to participate meaningfully, whether in terms of technical capacity or of their ability to mobilize social power as a counterweight to the economic power of employers. To the extent that our East African unions were able to make an impact on terms and conditions of employment via their participation in regulatory space it was solely on the basis of their own capacities and resources and the application of national labour law.

Long live the queen: studying aging in social insects

Aging is a fascinating, albeit controversial, chapter in biology. Few other subjects have elicited more than a century of ever-increasing scientific interest. In this review, we discuss studies on aging in social insects, a group of species that includes ants and termites, as well as certain bee and wasp species. One striking feature of social insects is the lifespan of queens (reproductive females), which can reach nearly 30 years in some ant species. This is over 100 times the average lifespan of solitary insects. Moreover, there is a tremendous variation in lifespan among castes, with queens living up to 500 times longer than males and 10 times longer than workers (non-reproductive individuals). This lifespan polymorphism has allowed researchers to test the evolutionary theory of aging and Y more recently Y to investigate the proximate causes of aging. The originality of these studies lies in their use of naturally evolved systems to address questions related to aging and lifespan determination that cannot be answered using the conventional model organisms.

Occupational UV exposure in French outdoor workers.

OBJECTIVES: Occupational ultraviolet (UV) exposure was evaluated in a population-based sample in France. METHODS: A random survey was conducted in 2012 in individuals aged 25 to 69 years. The median daily standard erythemal UV dose (SED) was estimated from exposure time and place and matched to satellite UV records. RESULTS: A total of 889 individuals were exposed to solar UV with highest doses observed among gardeners (1.19 SED), construction workers (1.13 SED), agricultural workers (0.95 SED), and culture/art/social science workers (0.92 SED). Information and communication technology, industry, and transport workers were highly exposed (>0.70 SED). Significant factors associated with high occupational UV exposure were sex (P < 0.0001), phototype (P = 0.0003), and taking lunch outdoors (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: This study identified not only expected occupations with high UV exposure but also unexpected occupations with high exposures. This could serve as a basis for future prevention.

Using narratives to study the impact of social networks on the educational paths of immigrant students

This paper presents the qualitative data collection process aimed at the study of the impactsocial relations and networks have on educational paths of immigrant students. In theframework of a R & D longitudinal study funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation(2012-2014), the research team tracked the path of 87 immigrant students, from whom only 17successfully achieved the transition through the first and second year of Post-16 Education.A vast range of literature notes that relationships are an important part of migration process andsocial integration analysis, as well as school history in terms of success or failure. Through thefieldwork researchers collect the personal networks of all immigrant students from 3 highschools who were at that time attending last course of compulsory school. The network structureinfluences their social capital and therefore determines the resources, goods and types of supportindividuals can access. All these aspects are influential elements in the configuration anddevelopment of academic trajectories of immigrant students.At the end of the second year of Post-16 Education (two years later), the study captures personalnetworks of these students again, analyses and discusses their evolution and influence on theirpaths through qualitative interviews. Such interviews facilitated the discussion of theirrelationships while providing interesting narratives that are presented in the text. In order to do so, the biographical interpretive narrative method of interviewing is implemented.

Using narratives to study the impact of social networks on the educational paths of immigrant students

This paper presents the qualitative data collection process aimed at the study of the impactsocial relations and networks have on educational paths of immigrant students. In theframework of a R & D longitudinal study funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation(2012-2014), the research team tracked the path of 87 immigrant students, from whom only 17successfully achieved the transition through the first and second year of Post-16 Education.A vast range of literature notes that relationships are an important part of migration process andsocial integration analysis, as well as school history in terms of success or failure. Through thefieldwork researchers collect the personal networks of all immigrant students from 3 highschools who were at that time attending last course of compulsory school. The network structureinfluences their social capital and therefore determines the resources, goods and types of supportindividuals can access. All these aspects are influential elements in the configuration anddevelopment of academic trajectories of immigrant students.At the end of the second year of Post-16 Education (two years later), the study captures personalnetworks of these students again, analyses and discusses their evolution and influence on theirpaths through qualitative interviews. Such interviews facilitated the discussion of theirrelationships while providing interesting narratives that are presented in the text. In order to do so, the biographical interpretive narrative method of interviewing is implemented.

Tie Strength and Family Formation : which Personal Relationships are Influential ?

Based on the analysis of qualitative interviews in western Germany, we argue that personal relationships have a strong impact on individuals' family formation processes and fertility intentions. We identify persons who influence individuals' fertility choices. Strong ties, such as those among core family members (i.e., parents and siblings), are an important contributing factor, but we are also able to show that weak ties, such as those among colleagues, and acquaintances need to be considered when examining social influence on family formation processes. Apart from single network partners, we have identified influential groups of persons. Such groups serve as a comparative standard regarding the timing of having one's first child and subsequent children.

Governance by Contract? The impact of the International Finance Corporation's Social Conditionality on Worker Organization and Social Dialogue

This study considers the question of the relationship between private labour regulation and workers' capacity to take collective action through the lens of an empirical study of the International Finance Corporation's (IFC) 'performance standards' system of social and environmental conditionality. The study covered some 150 IFC client businesses in four world regions, drawing on data made public by the IFC as well as the results of a dedicated field survey that gathered information directly from workers, managers and union representatives. The study found that the application of the performance standards system has had remarkably little impact on union membership and social dialogue. In those few cases where change could be causally linked to the standards, the effect depended on the presence of workers' organizations that already had the capacity to take effective action on behalf of their members. The study also uncovered some prima facie evidence of breaches of freedom of association rights occurring with no reaction from IFC. The study concludes that the lack of impact is largely due to the private contractual structure that supposedly guarantees standards compliance.

Labor market experience and well-being after firm closure. Survey evidence on displaced manufacturing workers in Switzerland

This study examines how plant closure affected individuals' careers and lives about two years after they lost their job. We analyze the displaced workers' reemployment prospects and study for reemployed workers the characteristics of their new jobs in terms of reemployment sectors, wages, and job quality. Additionally, we inquire how workers' sociability and subjective well-being were affected by job loss. Our analysis is based on our own survey conducted in Switzerland in 2011. The survey included the workforce of five manufacturing companies that had closed down two years earlier. We addressed the risk of biases typically prevailing with observational data by complementing it with register data from the public unemployment insurance. Moreover, we use a control group based on matched data from the Swiss Household Panel. We find that workers experience strongly diverging outcomes after plant closure: on the one hand, high proportions of the workers experience a smooth transition after plant closure. More than two-thirds of the workers returned to employment, more than half of them within less than six months. With respect to their social lives, we find that positive changes in relationships with their spouse, family and friends are more frequent than negative changes. On the other hand, for a small group of workers plant closure had a detrimental effect. Close to twenty percent remained unemployed. About ten percent of the workers were long-term unemployed and subsequently often were reemployed in jobs of lower quality. Unemployed workers and workers who dropped out of the labor force were particularly prone to find their subjective well-being decreasing. The most vulnerable subgroup in our study were workers over 55. This result stands in striking contrast to a large body of literature that considers labor market institutions to be primarily biased against young workers. Our findings show that older workers not only take longer to find a job but are also less likely to return to employment. Moreover, if they manage to find a job, they experience the severest cuts in wages and job quality of all cohorts. From a life-course perspective this result is remarkable since it shows that workers are not protected from hardship in their late careers. In light of the current demographic changes this finding may have important policy implications. -- Cette étude analyse l'impact des fermetures d'entreprises sur les travailleurs licenciés. Plus précisément, nous examinons les chances de réinsertion des travailleurs dans le marché du travail et - pour ceux qui l'ont fait avec succès - dans quels secteurs, pour quels salaires et avec quelle qualité d'emploi ils sont réengagés. Nous nous intéressons également aux répercussions engendrées par la perte de l'emploi sur la sociabilité et le bien-être subjectif des travailleurs concernés. Notre analyse se base sur les données d'une enquête que nous avons menée en 2011. Cette enquête cible le personnel de cinq entreprises industrielles suisses qui avaient fermé leurs portes deux ans auparavant. Pour dépasser les biais typiques liés aux données d'observation, nous utilisons en complément des données administratives issues de l'assurance chômage publique. De plus, nous utilisons un groupe de contrôle basé sur des données appariées provenant du Panel Suisse de Ménage. Nos analyses montrent des résultats fortement contrastés. D'un côté, la majeure partie des travailleurs ont vécu une transition professionnelle plutôt facile : plus des deux tiers des personnes ont retrouvé un travail et parmi elles plus de la moitié en moins de six mois. Par rapport aux relations sociales, tant avec leur partenaire, qu'avec les membres de leur famille et leurs amis, les changements expérimentés étaient plus fréquemment positifs que négatifs. De l'autre côté, cependant, pour une petite partie de travailleurs la fermeture de leur entreprise a eu des conséquences très négatives sur leur carrière et leur bien-être. Au moment de notre enquête, presque vingt pourcents des travailleurs étaient au chômage. Les personnes au chômage et celles qui avaient quitté le marché du travail ont été particulièrement affectées par une diminution de leur bien-être subjectif. Les plus vulnérables parmi les travailleurs licenciés étaient ceux qui étaient âgés de plus de 55 ans. Notre analyse montre que les travailleurs âgés ont beaucoup moins fréquemment retrouvé un travail. Pour les personnes de plus de 55 ans qui ont tout de même retrouvé un emploi, la réinsertion a durée plus longtemps, les pertes de salaire étaient plus conséquentes et la diminution de la qualité de l'emploi plus grande que pour les autres cohortes. Au vu des changements démographiques actuels, ce résultat interpellant peut avoir des implications politiques importantes.

Transnational private authority, regulatory space and workers' collective competences: Bringing local contexts and worker agency back in

The impact of transnational private regulation on labour standards remains in dispute. While studies have provided some limited evidence of positive effects on 'outcome standards' such as wages or occupational health and safety, the literature gives little reason to believe that there has been any significant effect on 'process rights' relating primarily to collective workers' voice and social dialogue. This paper probes this assumption by bringing local contexts and worker agency more fully into the picture. It outlines an analytical framework that emphasizes workers' potential to act collectively for change in the regulatory space surrounding the employment relationship. It argues that while transnational private regulation on labour standards may marginally improve workers access to regulatory spaces and their capacity to require the inclusion of enterprises in them, it does little to increase union leverage. The findings are based on empirical research work conducted in Sub-Saharan Africa.

La percepció social entorn al delicte i els condicionants que operen en aquesta percepció al municipi de Sant Joan de Vilatorrada

L'objectiu general d'aquesta investigació social és aprofundir en el coneixement de la percepció social entorn al delicte, així com en els condicionants que operen en aquesta percepció al municipi de Sant Joan de Vilatorrada. S'incidirà en el coneixement d'aquesta percepció a partir de la por al delicte i la inseguretat ciutadana, dos fenòmens similars, però no exactament iguals. I els condicionants responen als factors que tenen una influència sobre la por al delicte i la inseguretat ciutadana. D'aquests factors se n'han detectat 34, i només s'estudiaran els nou més rellevants amb la finalitat de saber quin d'ells és el més influent. Tal com s'ha comentat, l'àmbit d'estudi és la població de Sant Joan de Vilatorrada, tot justificant-se pel fet de permetre incorporar el factor de tenir un centre penitenciari al mateix municipi en el qual es resideix. La metodologia escollida és la quantitativa, tot utilitzant la tècnica de l'enquesta. Per altra banda, la mostra és de 2.030 subjectes, tenint present que s'ha obtingut a partir d'una fórmula destinada a calcular les poblacions finites. Finalment, s'han presentat quatre limitacions de l'estudi, tot optant per aportar diverses solucions.

Environmental influence on the phenotype of ant workers revealed by common garden experiment

Many organism traits vary along environmental gradients. Common garden experiments provide powerful means to disentangle the role of intrinsic factors, such as genetic or maternal effects, from extrinsic environmental factors in shaping phenotypic variation. Here, we investigate body size and lipid content variation in workers of the socially polymorphic ant Formica selysi along several independent elevation gradients in Switzerland. We compare field-collected workers and workers sampled as eggs from the same colonies but reared in common laboratory conditions. Overall, field-collected workers from high elevation are larger than those from low elevation, but the trend varies substantially among valleys. The same pattern is recovered when the eggs are reared in a common garden, which indicates that body size variation along elevation gradients and valleys is partly explained by genetic or maternal effects. However, both body size and lipid content exhibit significantly greater variation in field-collected workers than in laboratory-reared workers. Hence, much of the phenotypic variation results from a plastic response to the environment, rather than from genetic differences. Eggs from different elevations also show no significant difference in development time in the common garden. Overall, selection on individual worker phenotypes is unlikely to drive the altitudinal distribution of single- and multiple-queen colonies in this system, as phenotypic variation tends to be plastic and can be decoupled from social structure. This study provides insights into the interplay between individual phenotypic variation and social organization and how the two jointly respond to differing environmental conditions.

Supporting older people’s independent living at home through social and health care collaboration

Tässä tutkimuksessa tarkasteltiin ikäihmisten kotona asumista sosiaali- ja terveydenhuollon yhteistyön näkökulmasta. Tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli lisätä ymmärrystä iäkkäiden kotihoidon asiakkaiden voimavaroista arjesta selviytymisen näkökulmasta, ja tutkia miten asiakkaiden hoito sosiaali- ja terveydenhuollon yhteistyönä toteutuu. Tutkimus oli poikkileikkaustutkimus, jossa sovellettiin kuvailevaa ja vertailevaa tutkimusasetelmaa. Tutkimusaineisto kerättiin yhden länsisuomalaisen kunnan kotihoidon asiakkailta (≥65 v.) ja heitä hoitavilta ammattihenkilöiltä. Kotihoidon 21 iäkästä asiakasta kuvasivat omia voimavarojaan arjesta selviytymisen näkökulmasta sekä kokemuksiaan hoidon toteutumisesta ammattihenkilöiden yhteistyönä. Aineisto kerättiin avoimella haastattelulla ja analysoitiin sisällön analyysillä. Lisäksi 25 kotihoidon ammattihenkilöä: 13 kotipalvelun työntekijää, 11 kotisairaanhoitajaa ja lääkäri kuvasivat kokemuksiaan iäkkään asiakkaan hoidon toteutumisesta ammattihenkilöiden yhteistyönä. Aineisto kerättiin fokusryhmähaastattelulla ja analysoitiin sisällön analyysillä. Näiden tulosten sekä aikaisemman kirjallisuuden perusteella laadittiin strukturoitu kyselylomake, jolla analysoitiin ja vertailtiin asiakkaiden ja ammattihenkilöiden näkemyksiä siitä, miten asiakkaiden hoito sosiaali- ja terveydenhuollon yhteistyönä toteutui. Esitestausten jälkeen kyselylomake lähetettiin 200 kotihoidon asiakkaalle ja 570 heitä hoitavalle kotihoidon työntekijälle: 485 kotipalvelun työntekijälle, 81 kotisairaanhoitajalle ja 4 lääkärille. Kyselyyn vastasi 120 asiakasta (60 %) ja 370 ammattihenkilöä (65 %). Ryhmien välisten erojen tarkastelussa käytettiin ristiintaulukointia, Pearsonin khin neliötestiä ja Fisherin tarkan todennäköisyyden testiä. Iäkkäiden asiakkaiden kuvauksissa voimavarat muodostuivat elämänhallinnan tunteesta ja toimintatahdon säilymisestä. Asiakkaat ammensivat arkeen voimaa harrastuksista ja sosiaalisesta verkostosta, mutta ulkopuolisten asettamat elämisen ehdot, terveydentilan heikkeneminen sekä yksinäisyys asettivat ikäihmisen ja hänen voimavaransa suurten haasteiden eteen. Tulokset osoittivat, että ammattihenkilöiden toiminta oli osittain ristiriidassa ikäihmisten omien odotusten kanssa, eikä se kaikilta osin tukenut asiakkaiden omia voimavaroja. Ammattihenkilöt tekivät hoitoon liittyviä päätöksiä ja toimintoja asiakkaiden puolesta, vaikka asiakkaille itselleen oli tärkeää elämänhallinnan tunne ja toimintatahdon säilyminen. Asiakkaiden voimavarojen tukemista moniammatillisena yhteistyönä vaikeuttivat ammattihenkilöiden vaikeus tunnistaa asiakkaiden omia voimavaroja sekä niitä uhkaavia tekijöitä, tiedon kulun ongelmat, tavoitteeton ja epäyhtenäinen tapa toimia sekä ammattihenkilöiden vastakkain asettuvat näkemyserot ja toimintatavat. Asiakkaiden ja ammattihenkilöiden näkemykset toteutetusta hoidosta erosivat toisistaan tilastollisesti merkitsevästi (p<0.05). Asiakkaat arvioivat sekä itsenäiseen toimintaan tukemisen että fyysisen, psyykkisen ja sosiaalisen tuen toteutuneen työntekijöitä huonommin. Yhteistyön kehittämishaasteita kotihoidossa ovat asiakkaan oman elämänsä asiantuntijuuden vahvistaminen, toimintakulttuurin muuttaminen asiakaslähtöiseksi tavoitteelliseksi toiminnaksi, ammattihenkilöiden roolien ja vastuun selkiyttäminen sekä tiedon kulun menetelmien kehittäminen. Tutkimus vahvistaa gerontologisen hoitotieteen tietoperustaa ja tuottaa uutta tietoa, jota voidaan soveltaa sosiaali- ja terveysalan koulutuksessa ja johtamisessa