It’s Not About the Work Ethic

Journal review:Sascha O. Becker and Ludger Woessmann, “Was Weber Wrong? A Human Capital Theory of Protestant Economic History,” The Quarterly Journal of Economics, May 2009.

An Inquiry Into The Theory, Causes And Consequences Of Monitoring Indicators Of Health And Safety At Work

This paper engages in an interdisciplinary survey of the current state of knowledge related to the theory, determinants and consequences of occupational safety and health (OSH). First, it synthesizes the available theoretical frameworks used by economists and psychologists to understand the issues related to the optimal provision of OSH in the labour market. Second, it reviews the academic literature investigating the correlates of a comprehensive set of OSH indicators, which portray the state of OSH infrastructure (social security expenditure, prevention, regulations), inputs (chemical and physical agents, ergonomics, working time, violence) and outcomes (injuries, illnesses, absenteeism, job satisfaction) within workplaces. Third, it explores the implications of the lack of OSH in terms of the economic and social costs that are entailed. Finally, the survey identifies areas of future research interests and suggests priorities for policy initiatives that can improve the health and safety of workers.

Predictors of temporary and permanent work disability in patients with inflammatory bowel disease: results of the swiss inflammatory bowel disease cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Inflammatory bowel disease can decrease the quality of life and induce work disability. We sought to (1) identify and quantify the predictors of disease-specific work disability in patients with inflammatory bowel disease and (2) assess the suitability of using cross-sectional data to predict future outcomes, using the Swiss Inflammatory Bowel Disease Cohort Study data. METHODS: A total of 1187 patients were enrolled and followed up for an average of 13 months. Predictors included patient and disease characteristics and drug utilization. Potential predictors were identified through an expert panel and published literature. We estimated adjusted effect estimates with 95% confidence intervals using logistic and zero-inflated Poisson regression. RESULTS: Overall, 699 (58.9%) experienced Crohn's disease and 488 (41.1%) had ulcerative colitis. Most important predictors for temporary work disability in patients with Crohn's disease included gender, disease duration, disease activity, C-reactive protein level, smoking, depressive symptoms, fistulas, extraintestinal manifestations, and the use of immunosuppressants/steroids. Temporary work disability in patients with ulcerative colitis was associated with age, disease duration, disease activity, and the use of steroids/antibiotics. In all patients, disease activity emerged as the only predictor of permanent work disability. Comparing data at enrollment versus follow-up yielded substantial differences regarding disability and predictors, with follow-up data showing greater predictor effects. CONCLUSIONS: We identified predictors of work disability in patients with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Our findings can help in forecasting these disease courses and guide the choice of appropriate measures to prevent adverse outcomes. Comparing cross-sectional and longitudinal data showed that the conduction of cohort studies is inevitable for the examination of disability.

The role of career adaptability and work conditions on general and professional well-being.

This study, conducted with a representative sample of employed and unemployed adults living in Switzerland (N = 2002), focuses on work conditions (in terms of professional insecurity and job demands), career adaptability, and professional and general well-being. Analyses of covariance highlighted that both unemployed and employed participants with low job insecurity reported higher scores on career adaptability and several dimensions (notably on control) than employed participants with high job insecurity. Moreover, structural equation modeling for employed participants showed that, independent of work conditions, adaptability resources were positively associated both with general and professional well-being. As expected professional outcomes were strongly related to job strain and professional insecurity, emphasizing the central role of the work environment. Finally, career adaptability partially mediated the relationship between job strain and professional insecurity, and the outcome well-being.

Semigroup analysis of structured populations with distributed states-at-birth arising in mathematical aquaculture

Motivated by the modelling of structured parasite populations in aquaculture we consider a class of physiologically structured population models, where individuals may be recruited into the population at different sizes in general. That is, we consider a size-structured population model with distributed states-at-birth. The mathematical model which describes the evolution of such a population is a first order nonlinear partial integro-differential equation of hyperbolic type. First, we use positive perturbation arguments and utilise results from the spectral theory of semigroups to establish conditions for the existence of a positive equilibrium solution of our model. Then we formulate conditions that guarantee that the linearised system is governed by a positive quasicontraction semigroup on the biologically relevant state space. We also show that the governing linear semigroup is eventually compact, hence growth properties of the semigroup are determined by the spectrum of its generator. In case of a separable fertility function we deduce a characteristic equation and investigate the stability of equilibrium solutions in the general case using positive perturbation arguments.

Gestor d'entorns virtuals per a l'execució de tasques d'altes prestacions

Amb l'evolució de la tecnologia les capacitats de còmput es van incrementant i problemes irresolubles del passat deixen de ser-ho amb els recursos actuals. La majoria d'aplicacions que s'enfronten a aquests problemes són complexes, ja que per aconseguir taxes elevades de rendiment es fa necessari utilitzar el major nombre de recursos possibles, i això les dota d'una arquitectura inherentment distribuïda. Seguint la tendència de la comunitat investigadora, en aquest treball de recerca es proposa una arquitectura per a entorns grids basada en la virtualització de recursos que possibilita la gestió eficient d'aquests recursos. L'experimentació duta a terme ha permès comprovar la viabilitat d'aquesta arquitectura i la millora en la gestió que la utilització de màquines virtuals proporciona.

Análisis y sintonización de aplicaciones paralelas/distribuidas de bioinformática: caso de estudio mpiBLAST

En termes de temps d'execució i ús de dades, les aplicacions paral·leles/distribuïdes poden tenir execucions variables, fins i tot quan s'empra el mateix conjunt de dades d'entrada. Existeixen certs aspectes de rendiment relacionats amb l'entorn que poden afectar dinàmicament el comportament de l'aplicació, tals com: la capacitat de la memòria, latència de la xarxa, el nombre de nodes, l'heterogeneïtat dels nodes, entre d'altres. És important considerar que l'aplicació pot executar-se en diferents configuracions de maquinari i el desenvolupador d'aplicacions no port garantir que els ajustaments de rendiment per a un sistema en particular continuïn essent vàlids per a d'altres configuracions. L'anàlisi dinàmica de les aplicacions ha demostrat ser el millor enfocament per a l'anàlisi del rendiment per dues raons principals. En primer lloc, ofereix una solució molt còmoda des del punt de vista dels desenvolupadors mentre que aquests dissenyen i evaluen les seves aplicacions paral·leles. En segon lloc, perquè s'adapta millor a l'aplicació durant l'execució. Aquest enfocament no requereix la intervenció de desenvolupadors o fins i tot l'accés al codi font de l'aplicació. S'analitza l'aplicació en temps real d'execució i es considra i analitza la recerca dels possibles colls d'ampolla i optimitzacions. Per a optimitzar l'execució de l'aplicació bioinformàtica mpiBLAST, vam analitzar el seu comportament per a identificar els paràmetres que intervenen en el rendiment d'ella, com ara: l'ús de la memòria, l'ús de la xarxa, patrons d'E/S, el sistema de fitxers emprat, l'arquitectura del processador, la grandària de la base de dades biològica, la grandària de la seqüència de consulta, la distribució de les seqüències dintre d'elles, el nombre de fragments de la base de dades i/o la granularitat dels treballs assignats a cada procés. El nostre objectiu és determinar quins d'aquests paràmetres tenen major impacte en el rendiment de les aplicacions i com ajustar-los dinàmicament per a millorar el rendiment de l'aplicació. Analitzant el rendiment de l'aplicació mpiBLAST hem trobat un conjunt de dades que identifiquen cert nivell de serial·lització dintre l'execució. Reconeixent l'impacte de la caracterització de les seqüències dintre de les diferents bases de dades i una relació entre la capacitat dels workers i la granularitat de la càrrega de treball actual, aquestes podrien ser sintonitzades dinàmicament. Altres millores també inclouen optimitzacions relacionades amb el sistema de fitxers paral·lel i la possibilitat d'execució en múltiples multinucli. La grandària de gra de treball està influenciat per factors com el tipus de base de dades, la grandària de la base de dades, i la relació entre grandària de la càrrega de treball i la capacitat dels treballadors.

The behavioral relevance and top-down susceptibility of early, low level multisensory interactions in humans

Abstract (English)General backgroundMultisensory stimuli are easier to recognize, can improve learning and a processed faster compared to unisensory ones. As such, the ability an organism has to extract and synthesize relevant sensory inputs across multiple sensory modalities shapes his perception of and interaction with the environment. A major question in the scientific field is how the brain extracts and fuses relevant information to create a unified perceptual representation (but also how it segregates unrelated information). This fusion between the senses has been termed "multisensory integration", a notion that derives from seminal animal single-cell studies performed in the superior colliculus, a subcortical structure shown to create a multisensory output differing from the sum of its unisensory inputs. At the cortical level, integration of multisensory information is traditionally deferred to higher classical associative cortical regions within the frontal, temporal and parietal lobes, after extensive processing within the sensory-specific and segregated pathways. However, many anatomical, electrophysiological and neuroimaging findings now speak for multisensory convergence and interactions as a distributed process beginning much earlier than previously appreciated and within the initial stages of sensory processing.The work presented in this thesis is aimed at studying the neural basis and mechanisms of how the human brain combines sensory information between the senses of hearing and touch. Early latency non-linear auditory-somatosensory neural response interactions have been repeatedly observed in humans and non-human primates. Whether these early, low-level interactions are directly influencing behavioral outcomes remains an open question as they have been observed under diverse experimental circumstances such as anesthesia, passive stimulation, as well as speeded reaction time tasks. Under laboratory settings, it has been demonstrated that simple reaction times to auditory-somatosensory stimuli are facilitated over their unisensory counterparts both when delivered to the same spatial location or not, suggesting that audi- tory-somatosensory integration must occur in cerebral regions with large-scale spatial representations. However experiments that required the spatial processing of the stimuli have observed effects limited to spatially aligned conditions or varying depending on which body part was stimulated. Whether those divergences stem from task requirements and/or the need for spatial processing has not been firmly established.Hypotheses and experimental resultsIn a first study, we hypothesized that auditory-somatosensory early non-linear multisensory neural response interactions are relevant to behavior. Performing a median split according to reaction time of a subset of behavioral and electroencephalographic data, we found that the earliest non-linear multisensory interactions measured within the EEG signal (i.e. between 40-83ms post-stimulus onset) were specific to fast reaction times indicating a direct correlation of early neural response interactions and behavior.In a second study, we hypothesized that the relevance of spatial information for task performance has an impact on behavioral measures of auditory-somatosensory integration. Across two psychophysical experiments we show that facilitated detection occurs even when attending to spatial information, with no modulation according to spatial alignment of the stimuli. On the other hand, discrimination performance with probes, quantified using sensitivity (d'), is impaired following multisensory trials in general and significantly more so following misaligned multisensory trials.In a third study, we hypothesized that behavioral improvements might vary depending which body part is stimulated. Preliminary results suggest a possible dissociation between behavioral improvements andERPs. RTs to multisensory stimuli were modulated by space only in the case when somatosensory stimuli were delivered to the neck whereas multisensory ERPs were modulated by spatial alignment for both types of somatosensory stimuli.ConclusionThis thesis provides insight into the functional role played by early, low-level multisensory interac-tions. Combining psychophysics and electrical neuroimaging techniques we demonstrate the behavioral re-levance of early and low-level interactions in the normal human system. Moreover, we show that these early interactions are hermetic to top-down influences on spatial processing suggesting their occurrence within cerebral regions having access to large-scale spatial representations. We finally highlight specific interactions between auditory space and somatosensory stimulation on different body parts. Gaining an in-depth understanding of how multisensory integration normally operates is of central importance as it will ultimately permit us to consider how the impaired brain could benefit from rehabilitation with multisensory stimula-Abstract (French)Background théoriqueDes stimuli multisensoriels sont plus faciles à reconnaître, peuvent améliorer l'apprentissage et sont traités plus rapidement comparé à des stimuli unisensoriels. Ainsi, la capacité qu'un organisme possède à extraire et à synthétiser avec ses différentes modalités sensorielles des inputs sensoriels pertinents, façonne sa perception et son interaction avec l'environnement. Une question majeure dans le domaine scientifique est comment le cerveau parvient à extraire et à fusionner des stimuli pour créer une représentation percep- tuelle cohérente (mais aussi comment il isole les stimuli sans rapport). Cette fusion entre les sens est appelée "intégration multisensorielle", une notion qui provient de travaux effectués dans le colliculus supérieur chez l'animal, une structure sous-corticale possédant des neurones produisant une sortie multisensorielle différant de la somme des entrées unisensorielles. Traditionnellement, l'intégration d'informations multisen- sorielles au niveau cortical est considérée comme se produisant tardivement dans les aires associatives supérieures dans les lobes frontaux, temporaux et pariétaux, suite à un traitement extensif au sein de régions unisensorielles primaires. Cependant, plusieurs découvertes anatomiques, électrophysiologiques et de neuroimageries remettent en question ce postulat, suggérant l'existence d'une convergence et d'interactions multisensorielles précoces.Les travaux présentés dans cette thèse sont destinés à mieux comprendre les bases neuronales et les mécanismes impliqués dans la combinaison d'informations sensorielles entre les sens de l'audition et du toucher chez l'homme. Des interactions neuronales non-linéaires précoces audio-somatosensorielles ont été observées à maintes reprises chez l'homme et le singe dans des circonstances aussi variées que sous anes- thésie, avec stimulation passive, et lors de tâches nécessitant un comportement (une détection simple de stimuli, par exemple). Ainsi, le rôle fonctionnel joué par ces interactions à une étape du traitement de l'information si précoce demeure une question ouverte. Il a également été démontré que les temps de réaction en réponse à des stimuli audio-somatosensoriels sont facilités par rapport à leurs homologues unisensoriels indépendamment de leur position spatiale. Ce résultat suggère que l'intégration audio- somatosensorielle se produit dans des régions cérébrales possédant des représentations spatiales à large échelle. Cependant, des expériences qui ont exigé un traitement spatial des stimuli ont produits des effets limités à des conditions où les stimuli multisensoriels étaient, alignés dans l'espace ou encore comme pouvant varier selon la partie de corps stimulée. Il n'a pas été établi à ce jour si ces divergences pourraient être dues aux contraintes liées à la tâche et/ou à la nécessité d'un traitement de l'information spatiale.Hypothèse et résultats expérimentauxDans une première étude, nous avons émis l'hypothèse que les interactions audio- somatosensorielles précoces sont pertinentes pour le comportement. En effectuant un partage des temps de réaction par rapport à la médiane d'un sous-ensemble de données comportementales et électroencépha- lographiques, nous avons constaté que les interactions multisensorielles qui se produisent à des latences précoces (entre 40-83ms) sont spécifique aux temps de réaction rapides indiquant une corrélation directe entre ces interactions neuronales précoces et le comportement.Dans une deuxième étude, nous avons émis l'hypothèse que si l'information spatiale devient perti-nente pour la tâche, elle pourrait exercer une influence sur des mesures comportementales de l'intégration audio-somatosensorielles. Dans deux expériences psychophysiques, nous montrons que même si les participants prêtent attention à l'information spatiale, une facilitation de la détection se produit et ce toujours indépendamment de la configuration spatiale des stimuli. Cependant, la performance de discrimination, quantifiée à l'aide d'un index de sensibilité (d') est altérée suite aux essais multisensoriels en général et de manière plus significative pour les essais multisensoriels non-alignés dans l'espace.Dans une troisième étude, nous avons émis l'hypothèse que des améliorations comportementales pourraient différer selon la partie du corps qui est stimulée (la main vs. la nuque). Des résultats préliminaires suggèrent une dissociation possible entre une facilitation comportementale et les potentiels évoqués. Les temps de réactions étaient influencés par la configuration spatiale uniquement dans le cas ou les stimuli somatosensoriels étaient sur la nuque alors que les potentiels évoqués étaient modulés par l'alignement spatial pour les deux types de stimuli somatosensorielles.ConclusionCette thèse apporte des éléments nouveaux concernant le rôle fonctionnel joué par les interactions multisensorielles précoces de bas niveau. En combinant la psychophysique et la neuroimagerie électrique, nous démontrons la pertinence comportementale des ces interactions dans le système humain normal. Par ailleurs, nous montrons que ces interactions précoces sont hermétiques aux influences dites «top-down» sur le traitement spatial suggérant leur occurrence dans des régions cérébrales ayant accès à des représentations spatiales de grande échelle. Nous soulignons enfin des interactions spécifiques entre l'espace auditif et la stimulation somatosensorielle sur différentes parties du corps. Approfondir la connaissance concernant les bases neuronales et les mécanismes impliqués dans l'intégration multisensorielle dans le système normale est d'une importance centrale car elle permettra d'examiner et de mieux comprendre comment le cerveau déficient pourrait bénéficier d'une réhabilitation avec la stimulation multisensorielle.

EAACI Position Paper: prevention of work-related respiratory allergies among pre-apprentices or apprentices and young workers.

ABSTRACT: Apprenticeship is a period of increased risk of developing work-related respiratory allergic diseases. There is a need for documents to provide appropriate professional advice to young adults aiming to reduce unsuitable job choices and prevent impairment from their careers. The present document is the result of a consensus reached by a panel of experts from European and non-European countries addressed to allergologists, pneumologists, occupational physicians, primary care physicians, and other specialists interested in this field, which aims to reduce work-related respiratory allergies (rhinoconjunctivitis and asthma) among allergic or nonallergic apprentices and other young adults entering the workforce. The main objective of the document is to issue consensus suggestions for good clinical practice based on existing scientific evidence and the expertise of a panel of physicians.

Validation of the German version of the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale and its relation to orientations to happiness and work stress

Career adapt-ability has recently gained momentum as a psychosocial construct that not only has much to offer the field of career development, but also contributes to positive coping, adjustment and self-regulation through the four dimensions of concern, control, curiosity and confidence. The positive psychology movement, with concepts such as the orientations to happiness, explores the factors that contribute to human flourishing and optimum functioning. This research has two main contributions; 1) to validate a German version of the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale (CAAS), and 2) to extend the contribution of adapt-abilities to the field of work stress and explore its mediating capacity in the relation between orientations to happiness and work stress. We used a representative sample of the German-speaking Swiss working population including 1204 participants (49.8% women), aged between 26 and 56 (Mage = 42.04). Results indicated that the German version of the CAAS is valid, with overall high levels of model fit suggesting that the conceptual structure of career adapt-ability replicates well in this cultural context. Adapt-abilities showed a negative relationship to work stress, and a positive one with orientations to happiness. The engagement and pleasure scales of orientations to happiness also correlated negatively with work stress. Moreover, career adapt-ability mediates the relationship between orientations to happiness and work stress. In depth analysis of the mediating effect revealed that control is the only significant mediator. Thus control may be acting as a mechanism through which individuals attain their desired life at work subsequently contributing to reduced stress levels.

Evolution of endurance during a multidisciplinary treatment of chronic low back pain and its influence of work capacity

Introduction: Low back pain is a common disorder touching up to 80% of the population, with redundancies of up to 70%. A small proportion would go on to develop chronic low back pain (LBP) with reduced work capacity and they would count for the majority of the costs. Up to day, a multi-disciplinary treatment program is one of the best approaches. In the program one of the mile-stones is restoration of function. The aim of this study was to follow patients, according to the endurance change after the program and its influence on workability during one year after inclusion in a such program. Method: Patients were following a multidisciplinary treatment for 3 weeks including physiotherapy, occupation measures combined with an educational program with behavioural and psychological interventions on an outpatient program. We studied the endurance with the help of the Bruce test, accomplished at the beginning and at the end of the program. On the other hand the patients filled out pain questionnaires and PACT score according their own impression on workability. Results: There were a clear relation between the increase in the cardiovascular endurance and the increased workability. Almost every patient presented an increase in the VO2 max, even though the workability did not follow. This increase were associated with a decrease in pain apprehension. Conclusion: A multidisciplinary treatment program, teaching the patients how to care with their pain and to accept it even if it persist is successful in lowering the global pain. If the program allows the patients to strengthen the endurance, the workability will increase in parallel. In this way the patients were able to reduce the consummation of medicaments and to increase the work capacity.

Loss of ability to work and ability to live independently in Parkinson's disease.

OBJECTIVE: Ability to work and live independently is of particular concern for patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). We studied a series of PD patients able to work or live independently at baseline, and evaluated potential risk factors for two separate outcomes: loss of ability to work and loss of ability to live independently. METHODS: The series comprised 495 PD patients followed prospectively. Ability to work and ability to live independently were based on clinical interview and examination. Cox regression models adjusted for age and disease duration were used to evaluate associations of baseline characteristics with loss of ability to work and loss of ability to live independently. RESULTS: Higher UPDRS dyskinesia score, UPDRS instability score, UPDRS total score, Hoehn and Yahr stage, and presence of intellectual impairment at baseline were all associated with increased risk of future loss of ability to work and loss of ability to live independently (P ≤ 0.0033). Five years after initial visit, for patients ≤70 years of age with a disease duration ≤4 years at initial visit, 88% were still able to work and 90% to live independently. These estimates worsened as age and disease duration at initial visit increased; for patients >70 years of age with a disease duration >4 years, estimates at 5 years were 43% able to work and 57% able to live independently. CONCLUSIONS: The information provided in this study can offer useful information for PD patients in preparing for future ability to perform activities of daily living.

Work values, endogenous sentiments and redistribution

We examine the interactions between individual behavior, sentiments and the social contract in a model of rational voting over redistribution. Agents have moral "work values". Individuals' self-esteem and social consideration of others are endogenously determined comparing behaviors to moral standards. Attitudes toward redistribution depend on self-interest and social preferences. We characterize the politico-economic equilibria in which sentiments, labor supply and redistribution are determined simultaneously. The equilibria feature different degrees of "social cohesion" and redistribution depending on pre-tax income inequality. In clustered equilibria the poor are held partly responsible for their low income since they work less than the moral standard and hence redistribution is low. The paper proposes a novel explanation for the emergence of different sentiments and social contracts across countries. The predictions appear broadly in line with well-documented differences between the United States and Europe.