Introduction: perspectives on work-life balance

Work-life balance has emerged as a major concern for researchers trying to map the dimensions and causes of the issue, for policy makers searching for uncontroversial solutions to the problem and for individuals trying to construct satisfying and productive lives. There is some agreement over the main contributors to the work-life balance 'problem': the increase in female participation in the workforce since the 1960s; changes to work from the mid-1970s, in particular greater work intensification, an increase in alternative work schedules away from the standard working week and the growth of casual jobs (particularly in Australia); and a de-differentiation of roles, which has contributed to greater spill-over between work and other roles.

These factors are embedded in economic, social and cultural changes that characterise the post-World War II development of late capitalism in the more developed economies. Each is itself the result of a set of complex processes of change. We do not attempt here to detail these changes in all their complexity but draw out those elements that are most important in attempting to understand the work-life issue in terms of causal forces, mediating support systems and the effects of work-life balance or 'imbalance' on individuals, households, communities and societies.

This issue of Labour and Industry brings together three papers that focus on different work-life balance issues as a result of differing causal forces, different configurations of work/life activities, varying outcomes and variations in terms of support available. In particular, the problem of work-life balance is examined through an analysis of change in attitudes to mothers working in Australia, a study of agency or labour hire, and a study of young professionals. These papers were first presented at the WorkTimes/LifeTimes Colloquium held in Geelong, Victoria in December 2004. The aim of this colloquium was to explore issues around working time and the impact that this has on other aspects of people's lives. Specialists in the area of working time, time use, employee relations, and work-family came together to share the results of their respective research areas and to debate the theoretical and policy implications of their findings.

Minimizing bounded uncertainty impact on scheduling with earliest start and due-date constraints via interval computation

Bounded uncertainty is a major challenge to real life scheduling as it increases the risk and cost depending on the objective function. Bounded uncertainty provides limited information about its nature. It provides only the upper and the lower bounds without information in between, in contrast to probability distributions and fuzzymembership functions. Bratley algorithm is usually used for scheduling with the constraints of earliest start and due-date. It is formulated as . The proposed research uses interval computation to minimize the impact of bounded uncertainty of processing times on Bratley’s algorithm. It minimizes the uncertainty of the estimate of the objective function. The proposed concept is to do the calculations on the interval values and approximate the end result instead of approximating each interval then doing numerical calculations. This methodology gives a more certain estimate of the objective function.

Influenza symptoms and their impact on elderly adults: randomised trial of AS03-adjuvanted or non-adjuvanted inactivated trivalent seasonal influenza vaccines.

Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are particularly relevant in influenza vaccine trials in the elderly where reduction in symptom severity could prevent illness-related functional impairment.

The impact on the stationary state income of a pay-as-you-go system of social security

A model of overlapping generations in continuous time is composed. IndividuaIs pass through two distinct time periods during their life times. During the first period, they work, save and have a death probability equal to zero. During the second, from the periods T after birth, their probability of death changes to p and then they retire. Capital stock and the stationary state in come are calculated for two situations: in the first, people live from their accumulated capital after retirementj in the second, they live from a state transfer payment through income taxo To simplify matters, in this preliminary version, it is supposed that there is no population growth and that the instantaneous elasticity substitution of consumption is unitary.

Mucociliary clearance and its relation with the level of physical activity in daily life in healthy smokers and nonsmokers

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Is walking in daily life a moderate intensity activity in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease?

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

A longitudinal study of quality of life of elderly with mandibular implant-supported fixed prostheses

Objectives: To verify the consequences of implant-supported fixed oral rehabilitation on the quality of life (QL) of elderly individuals.Material and methods: Fifteen patients were studied, being 10 females and five males; all were aged > 60 years, were completely edentulous, wore removable dentures on both arches, and were treated with implant-supported fixed dentures. Three QL questionnaires were applied, two related to the oral conditions (Oral Impact on Daily Performance - OIDP - and Oral Health Impact Profile, short version - OHIP-14) and one dealing with global aspects (World Health Organization Quality of Life - WHOQOL-BREF), before 3, 6, and 18 months after surgical placement of implants.Results: Scores in the OIDP and OHIP-14 questionnaires were better after dental treatment. The WHOQOL-BREF was less sensitive, confirming the higher reliability of specific questionnaires (focal) compared with general questions in such situations.Conclusion: Treatment with implant-supported fixed prostheses improved QL in the elderly; these effects are better detected by specific instruments focused on the subject.

Ruminal acidosis challenge impact on ruminal temperature in feedlot cattle

The objective of this experiment was to determine if ruminal temperature rise coincides with pH reduction using an acidosis challenge model. Twelve ruminally cannulated steers (518 ± 28 kg BW) were administered ruminal temperature-monitoring devices that recorded temperature every 2 min. Steers were fed a 63% concentrate diet at 1.6% BW for 20 d before being randomly assigned to 1 of 3 acidosis challenge treatments: no dietary change (CON), onehalf of daily DMI replaced with cracked corn (HALF), or all of daily DMI replaced with cracked corn (CORN). The challenge was initiated by ruminally dosing steers with their treatment diets. Ruminal pH and rectal temperatures (Trec) were recorded every 3 h for 72 h. All steers were offered CON diets at 24 and 48 h after challenge. Ruminal pH showed a treatment × day effect (P = 0.01). Ruminal pH of CORN steers was lower (P = 0.03) than that of HALF steers on d 1, was lower (P ≤ 0.004) than that of HALF and CON steers on d 2, and tended to be lower (P ≤ 0.10) than that of HALF and CON steers on d 3. Treatment did not affect (P ≥ 0.42) RecT. Ruminal temperature (Trum) showed a treatment · d-1 × h-1 after feeding interaction (P < 0.01). At 3 h after challenge, Trum of CORN and HALF steers was higher (P ≤ 0.01) than that of CON steers. On d 2, Trum of CORN steers was higher (P ≤ 0.03) than that of CON between 6 and 12 h after feeding. From 15 to 21 h after feeding on d 2, Trum of HALF steers was higher (P < 0.01) than that of CORN and CON steers. On d 3, at the time of feeding until 3 h later, Trum of CORN steers was lower (P ≤ 0.04) than that of all other steers. Rectal temperature was correlated (P ≤ 0.01) with Trum on all days for CON and CORN steers. Ruminal pH was negatively correlated (P ≤ 0.04) with Trec on d 2 and Trum on d 1 in CORN steers, and Trum was negatively correlated (P ≤ 0.02) with ruminal pH in HALF and CON steers on d 1 and 3, respectively. The amount of time above Trum of 39.0°C or 39.45°C was correlated (P ≤ 0.05) with the time spent below a ruminal pH of 5.5 in CORN steers; however, time above Trum of 39.0°C did not differ (P = 0.87) among treatments. Results indicate that there is a negative relationship between Trum and ruminal pH during an acidotic episode; therefore, Trum monitoring can detect a potential acidotic episode. © 2012 American Society of Animal Science. All rights reserved.

Psychosocial impact on anophthalmic patients wearing ocular prosthesis

The aim of this study was to assess the improvement in psychosocial awareness of anophthalmic patients wearing ocular prostheses and its relationship with demographic characteristics, factors of loss/treatment, social activity, and relationship between professional and patient. Surveys including a form for evaluation of psychosocial pattern were conducted with 40 anophthalmic patients rehabilitated with ocular prosthesis at the Center of Oral Oncology in the authors' dental school from January 1998 to November 2010. The improvement in psychosocial awareness was assessed by comparing the perception of some feelings reported in the period of eye loss and currently. Wilcoxon tests were applied for comparison of patients' perception between the periods. χ2 tests were used to assess the relationship between the improvement in psychosocial awareness and the variables of the study. In addition, the logistic regression model measured this relationship with the measure of odds ratio. The feelings of shame, shyness, preoccupation with hiding it, sadness, insecurity and fear were significant for improvement in psychosocial awareness. It was concluded that the anophthalmic patients wearing an ocular prosthesis has significant improvement in psychosocial awareness after rehabilitation. © 2012 International Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons.

Classification of crucifer cultivars based on the life-history of diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella)

We compared different cultivars and hybrids of crucifers in relation to development and life-history of diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella) to classify the plants according to their resistance to the pest. The plants used were Manteiga da Geórgia kale, Bola de Neve cauliflower, Ramoso Piracicaba Precoce broccoli, Chato-de-quintal cabbage, and the hybrid cabbages Midori, TPC668, TPC308, and TPC681. We evaluated performance daily until the pupal stage. Pupae were assessed individually to determine the pupal weight, performance, and pupal period. We determined the sex ratio, fecundity, fertility, and longevity of the emerged adults and calculated their reproductive potential. Cabbage hybrids TPC668, TPC308, and TPC681 do not support the development and reproduction of the diamondback moth. These hybrids show a level of resistance that is similar to that found the commercially available hybrid Midori and cultivar Chato de Quintal, which are known to be resistant to the diamondback moth. This finding implies that the capitata (cabbage) cultivars are the most suitable for planting because they are more resistant to pest than the cultivar's moth, acephala (kale). © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.

Transport planning and its impact on city competitiveness

The economic and productive development of a region is closely tied to its transport infrastructure. Adequate transport infrastructure enables companies to increase their production levels as a result of lowered logistical costs, inventory savings and access to larger supply and labour markets. The competitiveness of a city depends on elements of its economy and other aspects such as social disciplines. Despite being a rather broadly defined concept, it is widely used to categorise and compare cities, projecting the image of a prosperous city in the public eye. The aim of this issue of the Bulletin is to identify the role played by investments in transport in the competitiveness of a specific city and to demonstrate the need for adequate transport planning to ensure that economic development does not interfere with the quality of life of city dwellers.

Calorie restriction increases cerebral mitochondrial respiratory capacity in a NO center dot-mediated mechanism: Impact on neuronal survival

Calorie restriction (CR) enhances animal life span and prevents age-related diseases, including neurological decline. Recent evidence suggests that a mechanism involved in CR-induced life-span extension is NO-stimulated mitochondrial biogenesis. We examine here the effects of CR on brain mitochondrial content. CR increased eNOS and nNOS and the content of mitochondria] proteins (cytochrome c oxidase, citrate synthase, and mitofusin) in the brain. Furthermore, we established an in vitro system to study the neurological effects of CR using serum extracted from animals on this diet. In cultured neurons, CR serum enhanced nNOS expression and increased levels of nitrite (a NO product). CR serum also enhanced the levels of cytochrome c oxidase and increased citrate synthase activity and respiratory rates in neurons. CR serum effects were inhibited by L-NAME and mimicked by the NO donor SNAP. Furthermore, both CR sera and SNAP were capable of improving neuronal survival. Overall, our results indicate that CR increases mitochondrial biogenesis in a NO-mediated manner, resulting in enhanced reserve respiratory capacity and improved survival in neurons. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Physical Activity In Daily Life In Brazilian COPD Patients During and After Exacerbation

Background: Although hospitalization is recognized as an important cause of reduction in physical activity in daily life (PADL) in COPD, there is only one study evaluating this effect, and it was performed in European COPD patients who have a lower PADL than that of South American COPD patients. Objectives: To investigate the effect of hospitalization due to acute exacerbation of PADL in Brazilian COPD patients and to evaluate the factors that determines the physical activity levels during hospitalization and after discharge. Methods: PADL was quantified using a 3-axis accelerometer on the 3rd day of hospitalization and 1 month after discharge in Brazilian COPD patients who were hospitalized due to disease exacerbation. Six-minute walking distance (6MWD), lower limb strength and pulmonary function were also evaluated. Results: A total of 20 patients completed the study. During hospitalization, patients spent most of the time (87%) lying down or sitting; however, 1 month after they were walking >40 min/day. In addition, patients with prior hospitalization had a lower level of physical activity compared to those without a previous history of hospitalization. The time spent walking during hospitalization was significantly explained by the quadriceps strength (r(2) = 0.29; p < 0.05), while 1 month after, the time spent walking was only significantly explained by the 6MWD (r(2) = 0.51; p = 0.02). Conclusions: Brazilian COPD patients are inactive during hospitalization but become active 1 month after discharge. Previously hospitalized are more inactive both during and after exacerbation. The quadriceps strength and 6MWD explain the physical activity levels during hospitalization and at home, respectively.