Working hours, work-life conflict and health in precarious and "permanent" employment

OBJECTIVE: The expansion of precarious employment in OECD countries has been widely associated with negative health and safety effects. Although many shiftworkers are precariously employed, shiftwork research has concentrated on full-time workers in continuing employment. This paper examines the impact of precarious employment on working hours, work-life conflict and health by comparing casual employees to full-time, "permanent" employees working in the same occupations and workplaces. METHODS: Thirty-nine convergent interviews were conducted in two five-star hotels. The participants included 26 full-time and 13 casual (temporary) employees. They ranged in age from 19 to 61 years and included 17 females and 22 males. Working hours ranged from zero to 73 hours per week. RESULTS: Marked differences emerged between the reports of casual and full-time employees about working hours, work-life conflict and health. Casuals were more likely to work highly irregular hours over which they had little control. Their daily and weekly working hours ranged from very long to very short according to organisational requirements. Long working hours, combined with low predictability and control, produced greater disruption to family and social lives and poorer work-life balance for casuals. Uncoordinated hours across multiple jobs exacerbated these problems in some cases. Health-related issues reported to arise from work-life conflict included sleep disturbance, fatigue and disrupted exercise and dietary regimes. CONCLUSIONS:This study identified significant disadvantages of casual employment. In the same hotels, and doing largely the same jobs, casual employees had less desirable and predictable work schedules, greater work-life conflict and more associated health complaints than "permanent" workers.

Low dynamic muscle strength and its associations with fatigue, functional performance, and quality of life in premenopausal patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and low disease activity: a case–control study

Abstract Background The purpose of the present study was to compare dynamic muscle strength, functional performance, fatigue, and quality of life in premenopausal systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients with low disease activity versus matched-healthy controls and to determine the association of dynamic muscle strength with fatigue, functional performance, and quality of life in SLE patients. Methods We evaluated premenopausal (18–45 years) SLE patients with low disease activity (Systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity index [SLEDAI]: mean 1.5 ± 1.2). The control (n = 25) and patient (n = 25) groups were matched by age, physical characteristics, and the level of physical activities in daily life (International Physical Activity Questionnaire IPAQ). Both groups had not participated in regular exercise programs for at least six months prior to the study. Dynamic muscle strength was assessed by one-repetition maximum (1-RM) tests. Functional performance was assessed by the Timed Up and Go (TUG), in 30-s test a chair stand and arm curl using a 2-kg dumbbell and balance test, handgrip strength and a sit-and-reach flexibility test. Quality of life (SF-36) and fatigue were also measured. Results The SLE patients showed significantly lower dynamic muscle strength in all exercises (leg press 25.63%, leg extension 11.19%, leg curl 15.71%, chest press 18.33%, lat pulldown 13.56%, 1-RM total load 18.12%, P < 0.001-0.02) compared to the controls. The SLE patients also had lower functional performance, greater fatigue and poorer quality of life. In addition, fatigue, SF-36 and functional performance accounted for 52% of the variance in dynamic muscle strength in the SLE patients. Conclusions Premenopausal SLE patients with low disease activity showed lower dynamic muscle strength, along with increased fatigue, reduced functional performance, and poorer quality of life when compared to matched controls.

Reliable and Fast Hand-Offs in Low-Power Wireless Networks

Hand-off (or hand-over), the process where mobile nodes select the best access point available to transfer data, has been well studied in wireless networks. The performance of a hand-off process depends on the specific characteristics of the wireless links. In the case of low-power wireless networks, hand-off decisions must be carefully taken by considering the unique properties of inexpensive low-power radios. This paper addresses the design, implementation and evaluation of smart-HOP, a hand-off mechanism tailored for low-power wireless networks. This work has three main contributions. First, it formulates the hard hand-off process for low-power networks (such as typical wireless sensor networks - WSNs) with a probabilistic model, to investigate the impact of the most relevant channel parameters through an analytical approach. Second, it confirms the probabilistic model through simulation and further elaborates on the impact of several hand-off parameters. Third, it fine-tunes the most relevant hand-off parameters via an extended set of experiments, in a realistic experimental scenario. The evaluation shows that smart-HOP performs well in the transitional region while achieving more than 98 percent relative delivery ratio and hand-off delays in the order of a few tens of a milliseconds.

Welfare regimes, work-life balance public policies and gender equality - parental leaves in Portugal and Sweden

Comunicação apresentada na "European Sociological Association Conference" em Lisboa de 2 a 5 de Setembro de 2009.

Depression as a Clinical Determinant of Dependence and Low Quality of Life in Elderly Patients with Cardiovascular Disease

Background:The aging process promotes a progressive increase in chronic-degenerative diseases. The effect of these diseases on the functional capacity has been well recognized. Another health parameter concerns “quality of life related to health”. Among the elderly population, cardiovascular diseases stand out due to the epidemiological and clinical impact. Usually, these diseases have been associated with others. This set of problems may compromise both independence and quality of life in elderly patients who seek cardiologic treatment. These health parameters have not been well contemplated by cardiologists.Objective:Evaluating, among the elderly population with cardiovascular disease, which are the most relevant clinical determinants regarding dependence and quality of life.Methods:This group was randomly and consecutively selected and four questionnaires were applied: HAQ, SF-36, PRIME-MD e Mini Mental State.Results:The study included 1,020 elderly patients, 63.3% women. The group had been between 60 and 97 years-old (mean: 75.56 ± 6.62 years-old). 61.4% were independent or mild dependence. The quality of life total score was high (HAQ: 88.66 ± 2.68). 87.8% of patients had a SF-36 total score > 66. In the multivariate analysis, the association between diagnoses and high degrees of dependence was significant only for previous stroke (p = 0.014), obesity (p < 0.001), lack of physical activity (p = 0.016), osteoarthritis (p < 0.001), cognitive impairment (p < 0.001), and major depression (p < 0.001). Analyzing the quality of life, major depression and physical illness for depression was significantly associated with all domains of the SF-36.Conclusion:Among an elderly outpatient cardiology population, dependence and quality of life clinical determinants are not cardiovascular comorbidities, especially the depression.

Die Entwicklung einer Work-Life-Balance-Konzeption als Element und Instrument des betrieblichen Gesundheitsmanagements : Theoretische Grundlagen und deren Umsetzung in der Praxis unter besonderer Berücksichtigung des Projektmanagements

[s.c.]

When several queens reign: how polygyny affects social life in ants

Astract: The aim of this thesis was to investigate how the presence of multiple queens (polygyny) affects social organization in colonies of the ant Formica exsecta. This is important because polygyny results in reduced relatedness among colony members and therefore reflects a potential paradox for altruistic cooperation being explained by inclusive fitness theory. The reason for this is that workers in polygynous colonies rear no longer only their siblings (high inclusive fitness gain) but also more distantly ox even unrelated brood (low or no inclusive fitness gain). All research projects conducted in this thesis are novel and significant contributions to the understanding of the social evolution of insect societies. We used a mixture of experimental and observational methodologies in laboratory and field colonies of F. exsecta to examine four important aspects of social life that are impacted by polygyny. First, we investigated the influence of queen number on colony sex allocation and found that the number of queens present in a colony significantly affects colony sex ratio investment. The data were consistent with the queen-replenishment hypothesis, which is based on the observation that newly mated queens are often recruited back to their parental nest. According to this theory, colonies containing many queens should only produce males due to local resource competition (i.e. related queens compete for common resources), whereas colonies hosting few queens benefit most from producing new queens to ensure colony survival. Second, we examined how reproduction is partitioned among nestmate queens. We detected a novel pattern of reproductive partitioning whereby a high proportion of queens were completely specialized in the production of only a subset of offspring classes produced within a colony, which might translate into great differences in reproductive success between queens. Third, we could demonstrate that F. exsecta workers indiscriminately reared highly related and unrelated brood although such nepotistic behaviour (preferential rearing of relatives) would be predicted by inclusive fitness theory. The absence of nepotism is probably best explained by its negative effects on overall colony efficiency. Finally, we conducted a detailed population genetic analysis, which revealed that the genetic population structure is different for queens and workers. Our data were best explained with queens forming family-based groups (multicolonial population structure), whereas workers from several nests seemed to be grouped into larger unites (unicolonial population structure) with workers moving freely between neighbouring nests. Altogether, the presented work significantly increased our understanding of the complex organization of polygynous social insect colonies and shows how an important life history trait such as queen number affects social organization at various levels. Résumé: Le but de cette thèse était d'étudier comment la présence de plusieurs reines par colonie (polygynie) influence la vie sociale chez la fourmi Formica exsecta. Ce sujet est important parce que la polygynie chez les insectes sociaux présente un passible paradoxe au niveau de la théorie du "fitness inclusive". Ce paradoxe est basé sur le fait que les ouvrières n'élèvent plus uniquement leurs frères et soeurs (gain de "fitness inclusive" maximale), mais également des individus moins ou pas du tout apparentés (gain de "fitness inclusive" réduit ou absent). Tous les projets de recherche présentés au cours de cette thèse apportent une meilleure compréhension et connaissance au niveau de l'organisation des colonies chez les insectes sociaux. Nous avons employé des méthodes d'observation et de laboratoire afin de mettre en évidence des aspects importants de la vie sociale chez les fourmis influencés par la polygynie. Quatre aspects ont été caractérisés : (1) l'influence du nombre de reines sur le sexe ratio produit par la colonie. Nous avons démontré que les colonies contenant beaucoup de reines produisaient rarement des reines tandis que les colonies contenant peu de reines souvent investissaient beaucoup de ressources dans la production des reines. Ces résultats sont en accord avec la "queen-replenishment hypothesis" qui est basé sur l'observation que les nouvelles reines sont recrutées dans la colonie où elles étaient nées. Cette hypothèse postule que la production des reines est défavorable dans les colonies contenant beaucoup de reines, parce que ces reines apparentées, rentrent en compétition pour des ressources communes. Au contraire, la production des reines est favorable dans des colonies contenant peu de reines afin d'assurer la survie de la colonie ; (2) comment les reines dans une colonie répartissent leur reproduction. Nous avons mis en évidence un nouveau pattern de cette répartition où une grande proportion de reines est complètement spécialisée dans la production d'un seul type de couvain ce qui probablement aboutit à des différences significatives entre reines dans le succès reproducteur ; (3) la capacité des ouvrières à discriminer un couvain de soeur d'un couvain non apparenté. Les résultats ont montré que les ouvrières ne font pas de discrimination entre le couvain de soeur et le couvain non apparenté ce qui n'est pas en accord avec la théorie de la "fitness inclusive". Cette absence de discrimination est probablement due à des effets négatifs comme par exemple la diminution de la production du couvain; (4) la structure génétique d'une population de F. exsecta. Nous avons mis en évidence que la structure génétique entre des groupes de reines est significativement différente de la structure génétique entre des groupes d'ouvrières. Les données suggèrent que les reines forment des groupes basés sur une structure familiale tandis que les ouvrières sont groupées dans des unités plus grandes.

Health-related quality-of-life in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma in the FIRST trial: lenalidomide plus low-dose dexamethasone versus melphalan, prednisone, thalidomide.

We compared the health-related quality-of-life of patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma aged over 65 years or transplant-ineligible in the pivotal, phase III FIRST trial. Patients received: i) continuous lenalidomide and low-dose dexamethasone until disease progression; ii) fixed cycles of lenalidomide and low-dose dexamethasone for 18 months; or iii) fixed cycles of melphalan, prednisone, thalidomide for 18 months. Data were collected using the validated questionnaires (QLQ-MY20, QLQ-C30, and EQ-5D). The analysis focused on the EQ-5D utility value and six domains pre-selected for their perceived clinical relevance. Lenalidomide and low-dose dexamethasone, and melphalan, prednisone, thalidomide improved patients' health-related quality-of-life from baseline over the duration of the study across all pre-selected domains of the QLQ-C30 and EQ-5D. In the QLQ-MY20, lenalidomide and low-dose dexamethasone demonstrated a significantly greater reduction in the Disease Symptoms domain compared with melphalan, prednisone, thalidomide at Month 3, and significantly lower scores for QLQ-MY20 Side Effects of Treatment at all post-baseline assessments except Month 18. Linear mixed-model repeated-measures analyses confirmed the results observed in the cross-sectional analysis. Continuous lenalidomide and low-dose dexamethasone delays disease progression versus melphalan, prednisone, thalidomide and has been associated with a clinically meaningful improvement in health-related quality-of-life. These results further establish continuous lenalidomide and low-dose dexamethasone as a new standard of care for initial therapy of myeloma by demonstrating superior health-related quality-of-life during treatment, compared with melphalan, prednisone, thalidomide.

Understanding the complexity in low dimensional systems

Complex System is any system that presents involved behavior, and is hard to be modeled by using the reductionist approach of successive subdivision, searching for ''elementary'' constituents. Nature provides us with plenty of examples of these systems, in fields as diverse as biology, chemistry, geology, physics, and fluid mechanics, and engineering. What happens, in general, is that for these systems we have a situation where a large number of both attracting and unstable chaotic sets coexist. As a result, we can have a rich and varied dynamical behavior, where many competing behaviors coexist. In this work, we present and discuss simple mechanical systems that are nice paradigms of Complex System, when they are subjected to random external noise. We argue that systems with few degrees of freedom can present the same complex behavior under quite general conditions.

Psychological well-being of the parents and child development, behavior, and quality of life in very low birth weight infants

The parents of premature infants, especially the mothers, are at increased risk for distress. Infants born prematurely are at risk for developmental problems. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the psychological well-being of both parents is associated with child development in very low birth weight (VLBW, ≤1500g) children. The burden of prematurity-related morbidity to the children and to the family was also assessed. A cohort of 201 VLBW infants born during 2001–2006 in the Turku University Hospital, Finland, and their parents were studied (I–IV). One study included a control group (n=166) of full-term infants (IV). The psychological well-being of the parents was evaluated by assessments of depressive symptoms, parenting stress, the sense of coherence and general family functioning. Cognitive, behavioral, and socio-emotional development, and the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of the children were determined when the children were 2 to 8 years old. The psychological well-being of the parents was associated with the cognitive, behavioral and social development of the VLBW children. The VLBW infants with prematurity-related morbidities had a poorer HRQoL and the general functioning of the family was inferior compared to the control children and their families. 64.5% of the VLBW children survived without morbidities. Most of the VLBW children did not have significant behavior problems (93%), had normal social skills (63%), had no emotional problems (64%), and had no problems in executive functioning (62%). Only 3% of the surviving VLBW infants had significant cognitive delay. In conclusion, the depressive symptoms and stress of the parents can be risk factors for disadvantageous child development, while a strong sense of coherence can be protective. Parents of the premature children with developmental delays might also experience more depressive symptoms and stress than other parents. Prematurity-related morbidities were a burden to the VLBW child as well as to the family.