Ontogenetic specialism in predators with multiple niche shifts prevents predator population recovery and establishment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Leeuwen, A.; Huss, M.; Gårdmark, A.; de Roos, A.M.

2014-01-01

The effects of ontogenetic niche shifts on community structure and dynamics are underexplored, despite the occurrence of such shifts in the majority of animal species. We studied the form of niche shifts in a predator that exhibits multiple ontogenetic niche shifts, and analyzed how this life

Forms of Life, Forms of Reality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Piergiorgio Donatelli

2015-10-01

Full Text Available The article explores aspects of the notion of forms of life in the Wittgensteinian tradition especially following Iris Murdoch’s lead. On the one hand, the notion signals the hardness and inexhaustible character of reality, as the background needed in order to make sense of our lives in various ways. On the other, the hardness of reality is the object of a moral work of apprehension and deepening to the point at which its distinctive character dissolves into the family of connections we have gained for ourselves. The two movements of thought are connected and necessary.

Quality of life, life satisfaction and happiness in shift- and non-shiftworkers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lipovcan LJ Kaliterna

2004-12-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: To investigate the quality of life, life satisfaction, happiness and demands of work in workers with different work schedules. METHODS: The survey was carried out on professional workers in social care. Some were shiftworkers whose schedule included night shifts (N=311, some were shiftworkers without night shifts (N=207 and some were non-shiftworkers (N=1,210. Surveys were mailed and the response rate was 86%. For the purpose of this study several variables were selected from the Survey: The Quality of Life Profile, which measures importance, satisfaction, control and opportunities in nine domains of life plus measures of happiness, life satisfaction and demands of work. RESULTS: While both groups of shiftworkers, compared to non-shiftworkers, reported needing more physical effort to complete their work, and reported 'being' more physically tired, no differences were found in reports of overall happiness, life satisfaction or total quality of life. However, night-shiftworkers reported greater percentage of time unhappy than the other two groups of workers. In analyses of the quality of life, night-shiftworkers were less satisfied with domains of spiritual 'being' and physical and community 'belonging' than day-shiftworkers and non-shiftworkers. They also reported having fewer opportunities to improve their physical 'being', leisure, and personal growth than the other two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Quality of life in specific domains in night-shiftworkers was rated worse than in other groups of workers. Domain-based quality of life assessment gives more information regarding the particular needs of workers than overall or global measures of well-being.OBJETIVO: Estudar a qualidade de vida, satisfação pessoal, felicidade e exigências do trabalho entre trabalhadores com diferentes horários de trabalho. MÉTODOS: Realizou-se uma pesquisa entre profissionais da área de assistência social. Alguns trabalhavam em turnos noturnos (N=311 e

Response shift in parents' assessment of health-related quality of life of children with new-onset epilepsy.

Science.gov (United States)

Sajobi, Tolulope T; Speechley, Kathy N; Liang, Zhiying; Goodwin, Shane W; Ferro, Mark A; Wiebe, Samuel

2017-10-01

Diagnosis of epilepsy is known to impact health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of children with new-onset epilepsy and can also influence their conceptualization and valuation of HRQOL construct, also known as response shift. This study investigates the presence of response shift in a cohort of children with new-onset epilepsy. Data are from the HEalth-Related QUality of Life in children with Epilepsy Study, a prospective cohort study of 373 children with new-onset epilepsy. Hypotheses about the presence of reconceptualization, reprioritization, and recalibration response shift were tested in the Quality of Life in Childhood Epilepsy (QOLCE-55) Questionnaire, a parent-reported, disease-specific HRQOL measure, using Oort's structural equation model between baseline and 1-year follow-up. Model fit was assessed using log-likelihood ratio test, root mean square error of approximation, and comparative fit index. Small positive uniform recalibration response shift effects were observed on physical, emotional, and social functioning domains of the QOLCE-55, but negligibly small negative nonuniform recalibration response shift effect was observed on social functioning domain. There was no significant change in overall QOLCE-55 scores over time after adjusting for response shift effects. Parents of children with new-onset epilepsy are likely to positively recalibrate (upward bias) their assessments of their children's HRQOL over a 1-year period after diagnosis. This study highlights the potential benefits of response shift as a desired consequence in parents' perception of changes in HRQOL of children with new-onset epilepsy. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Natural goodness and the political form of human life

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Müller Jan

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Ethical Naturalism attempts to explain the objective normativity effective in human practices by reference to the relation between a living individual and the life-form it exhibits. This explanation falls short in the case of human beings (1 - not merely because of their essential rationality, but because the idea of normativity implicit in practice is dependent on the form of normativity’s being made explicit (2. I argue that this explicit form of normativity’s force and claim - the law in general - implies a tension between an explicit norm’s claim to absoluteness and the particularity of the situational case it is applied to. This tension may seem to produce an inherent violence corrupting the very idea of objective normativity inherent in the human form of life (3; in fact, it shows that the human form of life is essentially political. That the human form of life is essentially political does not contradict the idea of objective normativity - provided that this objectivity is not derived from a conception of “natural goodness”, but rather from the actuality of human practice and its principle, justice (4.

Detection of Life Forms, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Gaia Genomics proposes to develop an instrument for the detection of earthborn and/or planetary life forms that are based on a nucleic acid paradigm. Highly...

Shifting schedules: the health effects of reorganizing shift work.

Science.gov (United States)

Bambra, Clare L; Whitehead, Margaret M; Sowden, Amanda J; Akers, Joanne; Petticrew, Mark P

2008-05-01

Approximately one fifth of workers are engaged in some kind of shift work. The harmful effects of shift work on the health and work-life balance of employees are well known. A range of organizational interventions has been suggested to address these negative effects. This study undertook the systematic review (following Quality Of Reporting Of Meta [QUORUM] analyses guidelines) of experimental and quasi-experimental studies, from any country (in any language) that evaluated the effects on health and work-life balance of organizational-level interventions that redesign shift work schedules. Twenty-seven electronic databases (medical, social science, economic) were searched. Data extraction and quality appraisal were carried out by two independent reviewers. Narrative synthesis was performed. The review was conducted between October 2005 and November 2006. Twenty-six studies were found relating to a variety of organizational interventions. No one type of intervention was found to be consistently harmful to workers. However, three types were found to have beneficial effects on health and work-life balance: (1) switching from slow to fast rotation, (2) changing from backward to forward rotation, and (3) self-scheduling of shifts. Improvements were usually at little or no direct organizational cost. However, there were concerns about the generalizability of the evidence, and no studies reported on impacts on health inequalities. This review reinforces the findings of epidemiologic and laboratory-based research by suggesting that certain organizational-level interventions can improve the health of shift workers, their work-life balance, or both. This evidence could be useful when designing interventions to improve the experience of shift work.

Disability and Bureaucratic Forms of Life

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thomas Abrams

2015-06-01

Full Text Available This paper employs a hybrid actor-network theory/phenomenological approach to a frequent bother in the lives of disabled persons: bureaucratic forms. I argue that these forms are key sites where disabled personhood emerges, something I examine through the lens of what philosopher Annemarie Mol calls ‘ontological politics’. To be disabled is to be entered into the bureaucratic form of life. These forms translate human existence into a categorize-able, transportable and combinable object, to be administered through ‘centers of calculation’. Combining Heidegger’s fundamental ontology with Latour’s theory of paperwork, I suggest that these forms represent disability in terms of ‘objective presence’, as a mere pre-existing thing, rather than a human way of being. I conclude with suggestions for further phenomenological research that takes embodied difference as its point of departure.

Urban Form and City Life

OpenAIRE

Luque-Valdivia, J. (José)

2011-01-01

The compact city is often presented as an answer to sustainable urban development, the paper tries to stress the influence of urban form of the compact city itself in the kind of civic life La ciudad compacta se presenta con frecuencia como una respuesta al desarrollo urbano sostenible; el paper trata de identificar la influencia la forma urbana propia de la ciudad compacta en el tipo de vida ciudadana

Shift work to balance everyday life - a salutogenic nursing perspective in home help service in Sweden.

Science.gov (United States)

Agosti, Madelaine Törnquist; Andersson, Ingemar; Ejlertsson, Göran; Janlöv, Ann-Christin

2015-01-01

Nurses in Sweden have a high absence due to illness and many retire before the age of sixty. Factors at work as well as in private life may contribute to health problems. To maintain a healthy work-force there is a need for actions on work-life balance in a salutogenic perspective. The aim of this study was to explore perceptions of resources in everyday life to balance work and private life among nurses in home help service. Thirteen semi-structured individual interviews and two focus group interviews were conducted with home help service nurses in Sweden. A qualitative content analysis was used for the analyses. In the analyses, six themes of perceptions of recourses in everyday life emerged; (i) Reflecting on life. (ii) Being healthy and taking care of yourself. (iii) Having a meaningful job and a supportive work climate. (iv) Working shifts and part time. (v) Having a family and a supporting network. (vi) Making your home your castle. The result points out the complexity of work-life balance and support that the need for nurses to balance everyday life differs during different phases and transitions in life. In this salutogenic study, the result differs from studies with a pathogenic approach. Shift work and part time work were seen as two resources that contributed to flexibility and a prerequisite to work-life balance. To have time and energy for both private life and work was seen as essential. To reflect on and discuss life gave inner strength to set boundaries and to prioritize both in private life and in work life. Managers in nursing contexts have a great challenge to maintain and strengthen resources which enhance the work-life balance and health of nurses. Salutogenic research is needed to gain an understanding of resources that enhance work-life balance and health in nursing contexts.

The smallest form of life yet?

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

ously unsuspected form of life (Uwins et al 1998). Because it is so much ... Curiously, though, most living creatures appear to be microbes; and among microbes, prokaryotes (in- cluding both the ... Haldane J B S 1927 On being the right size; in Possible Worlds and Other Essays (London: Chatto and. Windus). Raup D M ...

Generating All Circular Shifts by Context-Free Grammars in Greibach Normal Form

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Asveld, Peter R.J.

2007-01-01

For each alphabet Σn = {a1,a2,…,an}, linearly ordered by a1 < a2 < ⋯ < an, let Cn be the language of circular or cyclic shifts over Σn, i.e., Cn = {a1a2 ⋯ an-1an, a2a3 ⋯ ana1,…,ana1 ⋯ an-2an-1}. We study a few families of context-free grammars Gn (n ≥1) in Greibach normal form such that Gn generates

Infrastructure and automobile shifts: positioning transit to reduce life-cycle environmental impacts for urban sustainability goals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chester, Mikhail; Pincetl, Stephanie; Elizabeth, Zoe; Eisenstein, William; Matute, Juan

2013-01-01

Public transportation systems are often part of strategies to reduce urban environmental impacts from passenger transportation, yet comprehensive energy and environmental life-cycle measures, including upfront infrastructure effects and indirect and supply chain processes, are rarely considered. Using the new bus rapid transit and light rail lines in Los Angeles, near-term and long-term life-cycle impact assessments are developed, including consideration of reduced automobile travel. Energy consumption and emissions of greenhouse gases and criteria pollutants are assessed, as well the potential for smog and respiratory impacts. Results show that life-cycle infrastructure, vehicle, and energy production components significantly increase the footprint of each mode (by 48–100% for energy and greenhouse gases, and up to 6200% for environmental impacts), and emerging technologies and renewable electricity standards will significantly reduce impacts. Life-cycle results are identified as either local (in Los Angeles) or remote, and show how the decision to build and operate a transit system in a city produces environmental impacts far outside of geopolitical boundaries. Ensuring shifts of between 20–30% of transit riders from automobiles will result in passenger transportation greenhouse gas reductions for the city, and the larger the shift, the quicker the payback, which should be considered for time-specific environmental goals. (letter)

Infrastructure and automobile shifts: positioning transit to reduce life-cycle environmental impacts for urban sustainability goals

Science.gov (United States)

Chester, Mikhail; Pincetl, Stephanie; Elizabeth, Zoe; Eisenstein, William; Matute, Juan

2013-03-01

Public transportation systems are often part of strategies to reduce urban environmental impacts from passenger transportation, yet comprehensive energy and environmental life-cycle measures, including upfront infrastructure effects and indirect and supply chain processes, are rarely considered. Using the new bus rapid transit and light rail lines in Los Angeles, near-term and long-term life-cycle impact assessments are developed, including consideration of reduced automobile travel. Energy consumption and emissions of greenhouse gases and criteria pollutants are assessed, as well the potential for smog and respiratory impacts. Results show that life-cycle infrastructure, vehicle, and energy production components significantly increase the footprint of each mode (by 48-100% for energy and greenhouse gases, and up to 6200% for environmental impacts), and emerging technologies and renewable electricity standards will significantly reduce impacts. Life-cycle results are identified as either local (in Los Angeles) or remote, and show how the decision to build and operate a transit system in a city produces environmental impacts far outside of geopolitical boundaries. Ensuring shifts of between 20-30% of transit riders from automobiles will result in passenger transportation greenhouse gas reductions for the city, and the larger the shift, the quicker the payback, which should be considered for time-specific environmental goals.

The impact of shift patterns on junior doctors' perceptions of fatigue, training, work/life balance and the role of social support.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, M; Tucker, P; Rapport, F; Hutchings, H; Dahlgren, A; Davies, G; Ebden, P

2010-12-01

The organisation of junior doctors' work hours has been radically altered following the partial implementation of the European Working Time Directive. Poorly designed shift schedules cause excessive disruption to shift workers' circadian rhythms. Interviews and focus groups were used to explore perceptions among junior doctors and hospital managers regarding the impact of the European Working Time Directive on patient care and doctors' well-being. Four main themes were identified. Under "Doctors shift rotas", doctors deliberated the merits and demerits of working seven nights in row. They also discussed the impact on fatigue of long sequences of day shifts. "Education and training" focused on concerns about reduced on-the-job learning opportunities under the new working time arrangements and also about the difficulties of finding time and energy to study. "Work/life balance" reflected the conflict between the positive aspects of working on-call or at night and the impact on life outside work. "Social support structures" focused on the role of morale and team spirit. Good support structures in the work place counteracted and compensated for the effects of negative role stressors, and arduous and unsocial work schedules. The impact of junior doctors' work schedules is influenced by the nature of specific shift sequences, educational considerations, issues of work/life balance and by social support systems. Poorly designed shift rotas can have negative impacts on junior doctors' professional performance and educational training, with implications for clinical practice, patient care and the welfare of junior doctors.

Developing the Scale for Quality of Life in Pediatric Oncology Patients Aged 13-18: Adolescent Form and Parent Form.

Science.gov (United States)

Bektas, Murat; Akdeniz Kudubes, Aslı; Ugur, Ozlem; Vergin, Canan; Demirag, Bengü

2016-06-01

This study aimed to develop the Scale for Quality of Life in Pediatric Oncology Patients Aged 13-18: Adolescent Form and Parent Form. We used the child and parent information form, Visual Quality of Life Scale, and our own scale, the Scale for Quality of Life in Pediatric Oncology Patients Aged 13-18: Adolescent Form and Parent Form. We finalized the 35-item scale to determine the items, received opinions from 14 specialists on the scale, and pilot-tested the scale in 25 children and their parents. We used Pearson correlation analysis, Cronbach α coefficient, factor analysis and receiver operating characteristics analysis to analyze the data. The total Cronbach α of the parent form was .97, the total factor load was .60-.97 and the total variance was 80.4%. The cutoff point of the parent form was 85.50. The total Cronbach α of the adolescent form was .98, the total factor load was .62-.96, and the total variance explained was 83.4%. The cutoff point of the adolescent form was 75.50. As a result of the parent form factor analysis, we determined the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin coefficient as .83, the Barlett test χ(2) as 12,615.92; the factor coefficients of all items of the parent form ranged from .63 to .98. The factor coefficients of all items of the adolescent form ranged from .34 to .99. As a result of the adolescent form factor analysis, we determined the KMO as .79, and the Barlett test χ(2) as 13,970.62. Conclusively, we found that the adolescent form and the parent form were valid and reliable in assessing the children's quality of life. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Plant/life form considerations in the rangeland hydrology and erosion model (RHEM)

Science.gov (United States)

Resilience of rangeland to erosion has largely been attributed to adequate plant cover; however, plant life/growth form, and individual species presence can have a dramatic effect on hydrologic and erosion dynamics on rangelands. Plant life/growth form refers to genetic tendency of a plant to grow i...

Evolutionary aspects of life forms in angiosperm families

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kremer, P; van Andel, J

1995-01-01

The distribution patterns of life forms among extant families, subclasses and classes are described with the aim of detecting evolutionary trends. The explosive diversification of angiosperms constrains the possibilities for detecting such trends. Moreover, the extant groups of seed plants are only

'Futureless persons': shifting life expectancies and the vicissitudes of progressive illness.

Science.gov (United States)

Gibson, Barbara E; Zitzelsberger, Hilde; McKeever, Patricia

2009-05-01

Medical technological advances can have profound effects on people's lives by extending the life course and creating uncertain futures. This is the case for a number of persons with 'diseases of childhood' who can now survive well into adulthood with technological support. This paper draws on a Canadian qualitative study of young men with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD)which examined the effects of a shifting life expectancy on personal identities. Engaging with Pierre Bourdieu's central concept of habitus, we discuss the temporal dimensions of social exclusion and marginalised identities. Participants' narrative accounts revealed how their dispositions were orientated to a shortened lifespan that exerted damaging effects regardless of actual lifespan. Compounding their material, social and symbolic isolation was a temporal isolation whereby the men had lived every day anticipating that it could be their last for as much as a decade. The findings suggest a need to re-orient medical and social discourses to serve and include adults with DMD and other conditions previously limited to childhood in their communities.

Building on transformative learning and response shift theory to investigate health-related quality of life changes over time in individuals with chronic health conditions and disability.

Science.gov (United States)

Barclay-Goddard, Ruth; King, Judy; Dubouloz, Claire-Jehanne; Schwartz, Carolyn E

2012-02-01

A major goal of treatment for people living with chronic illness or disability is self-management leading to optimized health-related quality of life. This change process has been described in the adult education literature as transformative learning, while in health-related quality of life research, response shift has emerged as a key concept. Response shift and transformative learning literature were reviewed, and the theoretical frameworks of the 2 concepts were compared and contrasted. Response shift is described as a change in internal standards, values, or definition of a construct (eg, health-related quality of life) over time, commonly seen in individuals with chronic illness. In the context of chronic illness, transformative learning is described as a complex process of personal change including beliefs, feelings, knowledge, and values. Transformative learning is often triggered by the diagnosis of a chronic illness. This results in a critical reflection of taken-for-granted assumptions and leads to new ways of thinking, influencing personal changes in daily living. Comparing the models of response shift and transformative learning in chronic illness, the catalyst in response shift appears comparable with the trigger in transformational learning; mechanisms to process of changing; and perceived quality of life to outcomes. Both transformative learning and response shift have much to offer health care providers in understanding the learning process for the person living with chronic illness or disability to optimize their quality of life. Suggestions for future research in response shift and transformative learning in individuals with chronic health conditions and disability are proposed. Copyright © 2012 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The impact of shift and night work on health related quality of life of working women: findings from the Korea Health Panel.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Woorim; Kim, Tae Hyun; Lee, Tae-Hoon; Choi, Jae Woo; Park, Eun-Cheol

2016-11-28

Night and shift work status has been associated with health related quality of life (HRQoL) in economically active women. This study aimed to investigate the association between night or shift work status and HRQoL of economically active women and to further analyze how marital status interplays in the objected relationship. Data were from the Korea Health Panel, 2011 to 2013. A total of 2238 working women were included for analysis. Work status was categorized into day work, night work, and rotating shift work and its association with HRQoL, measured using the EuroQol-5D (EQ-5D) index, was investigated using the generalized estimating equation (GEE) model. Compared to the day work reference group, the night work group (β: -0.9757, P = 0.0202) and the rotating shift work group (β: -0.7947, P = 0.0363) showed decreases in EQ-5D scores. This trend was maintained regardless of marital status, although decreases in health related quality of life were particularly pronounced among night shift workers with a spouse. Night and rotating shift work status was associated with HRQoL of economically active women as individuals working night and rotating shifts showed decreases in EQ-5D scores compared to individuals working day shifts. The findings of this study signify the importance of monitoring the HRQoL status of women working night and rotating shifts as these individuals may be comparatively vulnerable to reduced HRQoL.

Life forms of succulent representatives of the family Asclepiadaceae

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marina Gaidarzhy

2013-04-01

Full Text Available The life forms of succulent’s representatives of the family Asclepiadaceae of the tropical and subtropical plants from the collection of O.V. Fomin Botanical garden according to author classification are characterized.

Key genes involved in desiccation tolerance and dormancy across life forms

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Costa, M.C.D.; Farrant, Jill M.; Oliver, Melvin J.; Ligterink, Wilco; Buitink, Julia; Hilhorst, H.M.W.

2016-01-01

Desiccation tolerance (DT, the ability of certain organisms to survive severe dehydration) was a key trait in the evolution of life in terrestrial environments. Likely, the development of desiccation-tolerant life forms was accompanied by the acquisition of dormancy or a dormancy-like stage as a

Trends in Education-Specific Life Expectancy, Data Quality, and Shifting Education Distributions: A Note on Recent Research.

Science.gov (United States)

Hendi, Arun S

2017-06-01

Several recent articles have reported conflicting conclusions about educational differences in life expectancy, and this is partly due to the use of unreliable data subject to a numerator-denominator bias previously reported as ranging from 20 % to 40 %. This article presents estimates of life expectancy and lifespan variation by education in the United States using more reliable data from the National Health Interview Survey. Contrary to prior conclusions in the literature, I find that life expectancy increased or stagnated since 1990 among all education-race-sex groups except for non-Hispanic white women with less than a high school education; there has been a robust increase in life expectancy among white high school graduates and a smaller increase among black female high school graduates; lifespan variation did not increase appreciably among high school graduates; and lifespan variation plays a very limited role in explaining educational gradients in mortality. I also discuss the key role that educational expansion may play in driving future changes in mortality gradients. Because of shifting education distributions, within an education-specific synthetic cohort, older age groups are less negatively selected than younger age groups. We could thus expect a greater concentration of mortality at younger ages among people with a high school education or less, which would be reflected in increasing lifespan variability for this group. Future studies of educational gradients in mortality should use more reliable data and should be mindful of the effects of shifting education distributions.

Shift Work: Improving Daytime Sleep

Science.gov (United States)

... night. Good daytime sleep is possible, though, if shift work is a necessary part of your work life. ... mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/expert-answers/shift-work/faq-20057991 . Mayo Clinic Footer Legal Conditions and ...

77 FR 38582 - Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Domestic Client Life-Cycle Multi-Purpose Forms

Science.gov (United States)

2012-06-28

... Request; Domestic Client Life-Cycle Multi-Purpose Forms AGENCY: International Trade Administration. ACTION..., 0625-0237, and 0625-0238. These collections include all client intake, events/activities and export... Client Life-cycle Multi-Purpose Forms, previously titled Export Information Services Order Forms, are...

What Possible Life Forms Could Exist on Other Planets: A Historical Overview

Science.gov (United States)

Raulin Cerceau, Florence

2010-04-01

Speculations on living beings existing on other planets are found in many written works since the Frenchman Bernard de Fontenelle spoke to the Marquise about the inhabitants of the solar system in his Entretiens sur la pluralité des mondes (1686). It was an entertainment used to teach astronomy more than real considerations about the habitability of our solar system, but it opened the way to some reflections about the possible life forms on other planets. The nineteenth century took up this idea again in a context of planetary studies showing the similarities as well as the differences of the celestial bodies orbiting our Sun. Astronomers attempted to look deeper into the problem of habitability such as Richard Proctor or Camille Flammarion, also well-known for their fine talent in popular writings. While the Martian canals controversy was reaching its height, they imagined how the living forms dwelling in other planets could be. Nowadays, no complex exo-life is expected to have evolved in our solar system. However, the famous exobiologist Carl Sagan and later other scientists, formulated audacious ideas about other forms of life in the light of recent discoveries in planetology. Through these few examples, this paper underlines the originality of each author’s suggestions and the evolution and contrast of ideas about the possible life forms in the universe.

What possible life forms could exist on other planets: a historical overview.

Science.gov (United States)

Raulin Cerceau, Florence

2010-04-01

Speculations on living beings existing on other planets are found in many written works since the Frenchman Bernard de Fontenelle spoke to the Marquise about the inhabitants of the solar system in his Entretiens sur la pluralité des mondes (1686). It was an entertainment used to teach astronomy more than real considerations about the habitability of our solar system, but it opened the way to some reflections about the possible life forms on other planets. The nineteenth century took up this idea again in a context of planetary studies showing the similarities as well as the differences of the celestial bodies orbiting our Sun. Astronomers attempted to look deeper into the problem of habitability such as Richard Proctor or Camille Flammarion, also well-known for their fine talent in popular writings. While the Martian canals controversy was reaching its height, they imagined how the living forms dwelling in other planets could be. Nowadays, no complex exo-life is expected to have evolved in our solar system. However, the famous exobiologist Carl Sagan and later other scientists, formulated audacious ideas about other forms of life in the light of recent discoveries in planetology. Through these few examples, this paper underlines the originality of each author's suggestions and the evolution and contrast of ideas about the possible life forms in the universe.

Monitoring and evaluation of wire mesh forming life

Science.gov (United States)

Enemuoh, Emmanuel U.; Zhao, Ping; Kadlec, Alec

2018-03-01

Forming tables are used with stainless steel wire mesh conveyor belts to produce variety of products. The forming tables will typically run continuously for several days, with some hours of scheduled downtime for maintenance, cleaning and part replacement after several weeks of operation. The wire mesh conveyor belts show large variation in their remaining life due to associated variations in their nominal thicknesses. Currently the industry is dependent on seasoned operators to determine the replacement time for the wire mesh formers. The drawback of this approach is inconsistency in judgements made by different operators and lack of data knowledge that can be used to develop decision making system that will be more consistent with wire mesh life prediction and replacement time. In this study, diagnostic measurements about the health of wire mesh former is investigated and developed. The wire mesh quality characteristics considered are thermal measurement, tension property, gage thickness, and wire mesh wear. The results show that real time thermal sensor and wear measurements would provide suitable data for the estimation of wire mesh failure, therefore, can be used as a diagnostic parameter for developing structural health monitoring (SHM) system for stainless steel wire mesh formers.

Sleep and satisfaction in 8- and 12-h forward-rotating shift systems: Industrial employees prefer 12-h shifts.

Science.gov (United States)

Karhula, Kati; Härmä, Mikko; Ropponen, Annina; Hakola, Tarja; Sallinen, Mikael; Puttonen, Sampsa

2016-01-01

Twelve-hour shift systems have become more popular in industry. Survey data of shift length, shift rotation speed, self-rated sleep, satisfaction and perceived health were investigated for the associations among 599 predominantly male Finnish industrial employees. The studied forward-rotating shift systems were 12-h fast (12fast, DDNN------, n = 268), 8-h fast (8fast, MMEENN----, n = 161) and 8-h slow (8slow, MMMM-EEEE-NNNN, n = 170). Satisfaction with shift system differed between the groups (p effects on sleep and alertness were rare (8%) in the 12fast group (53% 8fast, 66% 8 slow, p effects of the current shift system on general health (12fast 4%, 8fast 30%, 8slow 41%, p work-life balance (12fast 8%, 8fast 52%, 8slow 63%, p effects of shift work were dependent on both shift length and shift rotation speed: employees in the 12-h rapidly forward-rotating shift system were most satisfied, perceived better work-life balance and slept better than the employees in the 8fast or especially the employees in the 8-h slowly rotating systems.

Life forms of endemic carabid beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae in the forest eco-systems of gorgany mountains

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. S. Pushkar

2010-09-01

Full Text Available In the forest ecosystems of Gorgany Mountains 11 endemic carabids are found. It is about 12.2 % of all ground-beetles fauna of the investigated region. As a result of the morphometric analysis the life forms of endemic carabids are determined. The system of ground beetles’ life forms developed by I. Sharova (1981 is supplemented. All endemics we have rated among 1 class (Zoophages, 2 subclasses (Epigeobionts, Stratobionts and 5 life forms. The analysis of the carabid beetles’ life form spectrum in the forest ecosystems of Gorgany mountains attests to their broad settlement of ecological niches in the investigated region.

Shift work-related health problems in

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Khavaji

2010-04-01

Full Text Available Background and aimsShift work is a major feature of working life that affects diverse aspects of human life. The main purposes of this study were to investigate shift work-related health problems and their risk factors among workers of "12-hour shift" schedule.MethodsThis cross-sectional study was carried out at 8 petrochemical industries in Asalooyeh area. Study population consisted of 1203 workers including 549 shift worker (46% and 654 day worker (54%. Data on personal details, shift schedule and adverse effects of shift work werecollected by anonymous questionnaire. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS, version 11.5. The level of significance was set at 5%.ResultsAlthough, the results showed that health problems among shift workers was more prevalent than day workers, but the differences were just significant in gastrointestinal and musculoskeletal disorders (p<0.05. Multiple linear regressions indicated that in addition to shift working, other variants such as long work hours, type of employment, second job, number of children and job title were associated with health problems.ConclusionPrevalence rates of gastrointestinal and musculoskeletal problems among shift workers were significantly higher than that of day workers. Although, working in shift system was the main significant factor associated with the reported problems, but other demographic andwork variables were also found to have association.

Exploring the Response Shift Phenomenon in Childhood Patients With Cancer and Its Effect on Health-Related Quality of Life

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brinksma, Aeltsje; Tissing, Wim J. E.; Sulkers, Esther; Kamps, Willem A.; Roodbol, Petrie F.; Sanderman, Robbert

Purpose/Objectives: To explore the response shift phenomenon in pediatric patients with cancer and to determine its effects on ratings of health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Design: Retrospective pre- and post-test design. Setting: Pediatric oncology department in the northern part of the

Shift Work and Quality of Personal, Professional, and Family Life among Health Care Workers in a Rehabilitation Center in Greece.

Science.gov (United States)

Skoufi, Georgia I; Lialios, Georgios A; Papakosta, Styliani; Constantinidis, Theodoros C; Galanis, Petros; Nena, Evangelia

2017-01-01

Adverse work schedules and conditions may affect the physical, mental, and social wellbeing of workers, impairing quality of life and causing conflict between family and work roles. To compare quality of life, professional quality of life (ProQOL), and work/family conflict (WFC) between shift workers and nonshift workers and explore possible associations with demographic characteristics. : A cross-sectional study was conducted in a rehabilitation center in Central Greece, recording demographic, occupational, and family characteristics. Participants answered the World Health Organization-5 Well-Being Index, the ProQOL questionnaire [compassion satisfaction (CS), and the burnout (BO) and secondary traumatic stress scales], and the WFC scale. IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 19.0 for Windows. Ninety-one employees (68.7% shift workers) participated, with mean age 33.5. Females reported higher compassion/satisfaction level ( P = 0.031). Nursing profession was associated with higher levels of BO ( P = 0.021), impact of work to family life ( P = 0.008), and impact of family to work (FtW), and WFC ( P = 0.008). Parenthood increased the impact of FtW ( P = 0.008) and predispose to WFC ( P = 0.023). In general, wellbeing was significantly correlated with CS ( r = 0.368, P health.

Shift work and health of nurses branch of anesthesiology and intensive care

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna Grabowska- Gaweł

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Admission: Shift work and the associated inversion biological rhythms leads over time to a number of changes in the functioning of the body. Some are compensation after a rest and do not constitute a direct threat to health, while others eventually lead to irreversible psychosomatic. Objective of the work: Identify factors resulting from shift work and their impact on health, and psychosomatic individual spheres of nursing department of anaesthesiology and intensive therapy ii individual spheres of life. research Methodology: The study was conducted in 60 nurses using a survey questionnaire containing sociodemographic data and issues covering the most troublesome factors in shift work, the negative impact on their mental and somatic sphere, used forms of relaxation and the impact on individual spheres of life. In order to determine the hierarchy of the factors affecting the individual spheres of applied five-scale assume "0" for no effect, "1" little effect "2" moderate effect, "3" high impact "4" a very large impact. Results: The largest group (51.7% were women between 31 and 40 years of age (Avg. 35.0 + - 3.7 years, married (76.9%, having children (72.3%. The largest (46.8% group is working on his post for less than 10 years. For 72% of the most troublesome is night work, work days generally free from work (38%, differentiation of responsibilities per shift (32%. The most frequent symptoms of psychiatric is chronic fatigue (55%, irritability (40%, and somnolence (45%. Somatic reported 94%, these being mainly back pain and lower extremities, appetite disorders and gastrointestinal disorders. In the opinion of 67% of shift work greatly reduces the duties of parental partnerships (68% and household chores (67%. Conclusions: 1. Shift work in most subjects affects the health psychosomatic revealing back pain, lower limbs, gastric disorders and eating disorders, and chronic fatigue, irritability and sleepiness. 2. Shift work significantly reduces

Long-term use of cover crops and no-till shift soil microbial community life strategies in agricultural soil

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, Jeffrey; Scow, Kate

2018-01-01

Reducing tillage and growing cover crops, widely recommended practices for boosting soil health, have major impacts on soil communities. Surprisingly little is known about their impacts on soil microbial functional diversity, and especially so in irrigated Mediterranean ecosystems. In long-term experimental plots at the West Side Research and Extension Center in California’s Central Valley, we characterized soil microbial communities in the presence or absence of physical disturbance due to tillage, in the presence or absence of cover crops, and at three depths: 0–5, 5–15 and 15–30 cm. This characterization included qPCR for bacterial and archaeal abundances, DNA sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene, and phylogenetic estimation of two ecologically important microbial traits (rRNA gene copy number and genome size). Total (bacterial + archaeal) diversity was higher in no-till than standard till; diversity increased with depth in no-till but decreased with depth in standard till. Total bacterial numbers were higher in cover cropped plots at all depths, while no-till treatments showed higher numbers in 0–5 cm but lower numbers at lower depths compared to standard tillage. Trait estimates suggested that different farming practices and depths favored distinctly different microbial life strategies. Tillage in the absence of cover crops shifted microbial communities towards fast growing competitors, while no-till shifted them toward slow growing stress tolerators. Across all treatment combinations, increasing depth resulted in a shift towards stress tolerators. Cover crops shifted the communities towards ruderals–organisms with wider metabolic capacities and moderate rates of growth. Overall, our results are consistent with decreasing nutrient availability with soil depth and under no-till treatments, bursts of nutrient availability and niche homogenization under standard tillage, and increases in C supply and variety provided by cover crops. Understanding how

Cross-Cultural Adaptation of the Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment Form to Brazil.

Science.gov (United States)

Mayoral, Vania F S; Fukushima, Fernanda B; Rodrigues, Aniela M; Carvalho, Raissa P; Carvalho, Larissa P; Pinheiro, Leandro A F V; Polegato, Bertha F; Minicucci, Marcos F; Bassett, Rick; Moss, Alvin H; Steinberg, Karl E; Vidal, Edison I O

2018-02-12

The Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) paradigm is considered one of the most important strategies to respect patients' values at the end of life in the United States. The cross-cultural adaptation of POLST entailed several methodological considerations, which may be informative for international researchers who may also consider bringing POLST to their countries as a means to promote care at the end of life that is consistent with patients' preferences. To report the methods and outcome of the cross-cultural adaptation of the POLST form to Brazil. Cross-cultural adaptation study. Twenty physicians and 10 patients at a university hospital participated in the pilot tests. The cross-cultural adaptation process included choosing which existing POLST form(s) to use as a source, deciding the intended reading level, which healthcare professionals should be allowed to sign the form, and consultation with attorneys, bioethicists, and members of the National POLST Paradigm Task Force. Pilot tests occurred in two stages using different approaches. First, 20 physicians were trained about POLST and asked for any unclear aspects related to the form. Second, trained investigators completed POLST forms after engaging in advance care planning conversations with 10 hospitalized patients or patients' surrogates. This report provides a basis for future cross-cultural adaptations of POLST to other countries. The authors hope such new adaptations will broaden the possibilities of research using POLST and also may promote wider provision of care at the end of life that is consistent with patients' preferences.

Machiavellianism, Discussion Time, and Group Shift

Science.gov (United States)

Lamm, Helmut; Myers, David G.

1976-01-01

Social-emotional and rational-cognitive explanations of group risky shift on choice dilemmas (hypothetical life situations) were evaluated by comparing shift in groups of low Mach (emotional) and high Mach (non-emotional) subjects. Effects of Machiavellian beliefs on social functioning are examined. Group composition was not observed to affect…

Multiscale regime shifts and planetary boundaries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hughes, T.P.; Carpenter, S.; Rockstrom, J.; Scheffer, M.; Walker, B.

2013-01-01

Life on Earth has repeatedly displayed abrupt and massive changes in the past, and there is no reason to expect that comparable planetary-scale regime shifts will not continue in the future. Different lines of evidence indicate that regime shifts occur when the climate or biosphere transgresses a

From Caterpillar to Butterfly: A Window for Looking into Students' Ideas about Life Cycle and Life Forms of Insects

Science.gov (United States)

Cinici, Ayhan

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was a qualitative analysis of high school students' ideas about life cycle and life forms of the butterfly. For this purpose, open-ended questions and drawing methods were applied to 194 high school students from the ninth to eleventh grades and 14 to 16 years of age in Erzurum, Turkey. Students' drawings were categorised…

Reconsidering the psychometrics of quality of life assessment in light of response shift and appraisal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Schwartz Carolyn E

2004-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract The increasing evidence for response shift phenomena in quality of life (QOL assessment points to the necessity to reconsider both the measurement model and the application of psychometric analyses. The proposed psychometric model posits that the QOL true score is always contingent upon parameters of the appraisal process. This new model calls into question existing methods for establishing the reliability and validity of QOL assessment tools and suggests several new approaches for describing the psychometric properties of these scales. Recommendations for integrating the assessment of appraisal into QOL research and clinical practice are discussed.

Reconsidering the psychometrics of quality of life assessment in light of response shift and appraisal

Science.gov (United States)

Schwartz, Carolyn E; Rapkin, Bruce D

2004-01-01

The increasing evidence for response shift phenomena in quality of life (QOL) assessment points to the necessity to reconsider both the measurement model and the application of psychometric analyses. The proposed psychometric model posits that the QOL true score is always contingent upon parameters of the appraisal process. This new model calls into question existing methods for establishing the reliability and validity of QOL assessment tools and suggests several new approaches for describing the psychometric properties of these scales. Recommendations for integrating the assessment of appraisal into QOL research and clinical practice are discussed. PMID:15038830

Shifted-modified Chebyshev filters

OpenAIRE

ŞENGÜL, Metin

2013-01-01

This paper introduces a new type of filter approximation method that utilizes shifted-modified Chebyshev filters. Construction of the new filters involves the use of shifted-modified Chebyshev polynomials that are formed using the roots of conventional Chebyshev polynomials. The study also includes 2 tables containing the shifted-modified Chebyshev polynomials and the normalized element values for the low-pass prototype filters up to degree 6. The transducer power gain, group dela...

Astrobiological neurosystems rise and fall of intelligent life forms in the universe

CERN Document Server

Cranford, Jerry L

2015-01-01

This book explains why scientists believe that life may be more common in the Universe than previously considered possible. It presents the tools and strategies astronomers and astrobiologists are using in their formal search for habitable exoplanets as well as more advanced forms of life in other parts of our galaxy. The author then summarizes what is currently known about how and where organic molecules critical to our form of carbon-based life are manufactured. The core of the book explains (and presents educated guesses) how nervous systems evolved on Earth, how they work, and how they might work on other worlds. Combining his knowledge of neuroscience, computers, and astrobiology the author jumps into the discussion whether biological nervous systems are just the first step in the rise of intelligence in the Universe. The book ends with a description from both the psychologist’s and the neuroscientist’s viewpoints, exactly what it is about the fields of astrobiology and astronomy that “boggles...

Long-lived, charge-shift states in heterometallic, porphyrin-based dendrimers formed via click chemistry.

Science.gov (United States)

Le Pleux, Loïc; Pellegrin, Yann; Blart, Errol; Odobel, Fabrice; Harriman, Anthony

2011-05-26

A series of multiporphyrin clusters has been synthesized and characterized in which there exists a logical gradient for either energy or electron transfer between the porphyrins. A central free-base porphyrin (FbP), for example, is equipped with peripheral zinc(II) porphyrins (ZnP) which act as ancillary light harvesters and transfer excitation energy to the FbP under visible light illumination. Additional energy-transfer steps occur at the triplet level, and the series is expanded by including magnesium(II) porphyrins and/or tin(IV) porphyrins as chromophores. Light-induced electron transfer is made possible by incorporating a gold(III) porphyrin (AuP(+)) into the array. Although interesting by themselves, these clusters serve as control compounds by which to understand the photophysical processes occurring within a three-stage dendrimer comprising an AuP(+) core, a second layer formed from four FbP units, and an outer layer containing 12 ZnP residues. Here, illumination into a peripheral ZnP leads to highly efficient electronic energy transfer to FbP, followed by charge transfer to the central AuP(+). Charge recombination within the resultant charge-shift state is intercepted by secondary hole transfer to the ZnP, which occurs with a quantum yield of around 20%. The final charge-shift state survives for some microseconds in fluid solution at room temperature.

How do employees prioritise when they schedule their own shifts?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nabe-Nielsen, Kirsten; Lund, Henrik; Hansen, Åse Marie

2013-01-01

to their family life, having consecutive time off, leisure-time activities, rest between shifts, sleep, regularity of their everyday life, health and that the work schedule balanced. Thus, employees consider both their own and the workplace's needs when they have the opportunity to schedule their own shifts. Age......We investigated how employees prioritised when they scheduled their own shifts and whether priorities depended on age, gender, educational level, cohabitation and health status. We used cross-sectional questionnaire data from the follow-up survey of an intervention study investigating the effect...... of self-scheduling (n = 317). Intervention group participants were asked about their priorities when scheduling their own shifts succeeded by 17 items covering family/private life, economy, job content, health and sleep. At least half of the participants reported that they were giving high priority...

Tool Wear and Life Span Variations in Cold Forming Operations and Their Implications in Microforming

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anders E. W. Jarfors

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The current paper aims to review tooling life span, failure modes and models in cold microforming processes. As there is nearly no information available on tool-life for microforming the starting point was conventional cold forming. In cold forming common failures are (1 over stressing of the tool; (2 abrasive wear; (3 galling or adhesive wear, and (4 fatigue failure. The large variation in tool life observed in production and how to predict this was reviewed as this is important to the viability of microforming based on that the tooling cost takes a higher portion of the part cost. Anisotropic properties of the tool materials affect tool life span and depend on both the as-received and in-service conditions. It was concluded that preconditioning of the tool surface, and coating are important to control wear and fatigue. Properly managed, the detrimental effects from surface particles can be reduced. Under high stress low-cycle fatigue conditions, fatigue failure form internal microstructures and inclusions are common. To improve abrasive wear resistance larger carbides are commonly the solution which will have a negative impact on tooling life as these tend to be the root cause of fatigue failures. This has significant impact on cold microforming.

Insomnia in shift work.

Science.gov (United States)

Vallières, Annie; Azaiez, Aïda; Moreau, Vincent; LeBlanc, Mélanie; Morin, Charles M

2014-12-01

Shift work disorder involves insomnia and/or excessive sleepiness associated with the work schedule. The present study examined the impact of insomnia on the perceived physical and psychological health of adults working on night and rotating shift schedules compared to day workers. A total of 418 adults (51% women, mean age 41.4 years), including 51 night workers, 158 rotating shift workers, and 209 day workers were selected from an epidemiological study. An algorithm was used to classify each participant of the two groups (working night or rotating shifts) according to the presence or absence of insomnia symptoms. Each of these individuals was paired with a day worker according to gender, age, and income. Participants completed several questionnaires measuring sleep, health, and psychological variables. Night and rotating shift workers with insomnia presented a sleep profile similar to that of day workers with insomnia. Sleep time was more strongly related to insomnia than to shift work per se. Participants with insomnia in the three groups complained of anxiety, depression, and fatigue, and reported consuming equal amounts of sleep-aid medication. Insomnia also contributed to chronic pain and otorhinolaryngology problems, especially among rotating shift workers. Work productivity and absenteeism were more strongly related to insomnia. The present study highlights insomnia as an important component of the sleep difficulties experienced by shift workers. Insomnia may exacerbate certain physical and mental health problems of shift workers, and impair their quality of life. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Work shift duration: a review comparing eight hour and 12 hour shift systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, L; Folkard, S; Tucker, P; Macdonald, I

1998-04-01

Shiftwork is now a major feature of working life across a broad range of industries. The features of the shift systems operated can impact on the wellbeing, performance, and sleep of shiftworkers. This paper reviews the current state of knowledge on one major characteristic of shift rotas-namely, shift duration. Evidence comparing the relative effects of eight hour and 12 hour shifts on fatigue and job performance, safety, sleep, and physical and psychological health are considered. At the organisational level, factors such as the mode of system implementation, attitudes towards shift rotas, sickness absence and turnover, overtime, and moonlighting are discussed. Manual and electronic searches of the shiftwork research literature were conducted to obtain information on comparisons between eight hour and 12 hour shifts. The research findings are largely equivocal. The bulk of the evidence suggests few differences between eight and 12 hour shifts in the way they affect people. There may even be advantages to 12 hour shifts in terms of lower stress levels, better physical and psychological wellbeing, improved durations and quality of off duty sleep as well as improvements in family relations. On the negative side, the main concerns are fatigue and safety. It is noted that a 12 hour shift does not equate with being active for only 12 hours. There can be considerable extension of the person's time awake either side of the shift. However, the effects of longer term exposure to extended work days have been relatively uncharted in any systematic way. Longitudinal comparative research into the chronic impact of the compressed working week is needed.

See-sawing between work and home: Shift-working mothers’ perceptions on work/family balance

OpenAIRE

Huhtala, Eija; Uusiautti, Satu; Määttä, Kaarina

2012-01-01

Recent public discourse and studies are filled with issues related to work/family balance. Shift work concretely affects family life considerably already starting from the schedule the family has to follow because of one or both parents’ work shifts. The purpose of this study is to contribute by dissecting shift worker-mothers’ perceptions on the balance between shift work and family life. This research was a qualitative study where eight shift-working mothers were interviewed. This phenomeno...

"A hard day's night?" The effects of Compressed Working Week interventions on the health and work-life balance of shift workers: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Bambra, C; Whitehead, M; Sowden, A; Akers, J; Petticrew, M

2008-09-01

To systematically review studies of the effects of the Compressed Working Week on the health and work-life balance of shift workers, and to identify any differential impacts by socio-economic group. Systematic review. Following QUORUM guidelines, published or unpublished experimental and quasi-experimental studies were identified. Data were sourced from 27 electronic databases, websites, bibliographies, and expert contacts. Fourty observational studies were found. The majority of studies only measured self-reported outcomes and the methodological quality of the included studies was not very high. Interventions did not always improve the health of shift workers, but in the five prospective studies with a control group, there were no detrimental effects on self-reported health. However, work-life balance was generally improved. No studies reported differential impacts by socio-economic group; however, most of the studies were conducted on homogeneous populations. This review suggests that the Compressed Working Week can improve work-life balance, and that it may do so with a low risk of adverse health or organisational effects. However, better designed studies that measure objective health outcomes are needed.

How do employees prioritise when they schedule their own shifts?

Science.gov (United States)

Nabe-Nielsen, Kirsten; Lund, Henrik; Ajslev, Jeppe Z; Hansen, Åse Marie; Albertsen, Karen; Hvid, Helge; Garde, Anne Helene

2013-01-01

We investigated how employees prioritised when they scheduled their own shifts and whether priorities depended on age, gender, educational level, cohabitation and health status. We used cross-sectional questionnaire data from the follow-up survey of an intervention study investigating the effect of self-scheduling (n = 317). Intervention group participants were asked about their priorities when scheduling their own shifts succeeded by 17 items covering family/private life, economy, job content, health and sleep. At least half of the participants reported that they were giving high priority to their family life, having consecutive time off, leisure-time activities, rest between shifts, sleep, regularity of their everyday life, health and that the work schedule balanced. Thus, employees consider both their own and the workplace's needs when they have the opportunity to schedule their own shifts. Age, gender, cohabitation and health status were all significantly associated with at least one of these priorities. Intervention studies report limited health effects of self-scheduling. Therefore, we investigated to what extent employees prioritise their health and recuperation when scheduling their own shifts. We found that employees not only consider both their health and family but also the workplace's needs when they schedule their own shifts.

Work-life balance among shift workers: results from an intervention study about self-rostering.

Science.gov (United States)

Albertsen, Karen; Garde, Anne Helene; Nabe-Nielsen, Kirsten; Hansen, Ase Marie; Lund, Henrik; Hvid, Helge

2014-04-01

The aims of the study were to explore the effects of the implementation of IT-based tools for planning of rosters among shift workers on work-family-related outcomes and to interpret the results in light of the different implementation processes. A quasi-experimental intervention study was conducted with 12-month follow-up at 14 intervention and 14 reference worksites in Denmark. Workplaces planning to introduce IT-supported self-rostering were recruited, and three different kinds of interventions were implemented. Intervention A and B aimed at increasing workers satisfaction and well-being, while intervention C was designed to optimize the personnel resources. Questionnaire data were collected from 840 employees at baseline and 784 at follow-up. Process evaluation encompassed interviews with about 25 employees and 15 managers at baseline and follow-up. Work-family-related outcomes were work-life conflicts, work-life facilitation, marital conflicts and time with children. An overall decline in work-family conflicts and increase in work-family facilitation were found in the total intervention group. More specifically, in group B, work-family conflicts and marital conflicts decreased while work-family facilitation increased. In group C, work-family conflicts increased while work-family facilitation and time spend with children decreased, and no significant changes were observed in the reference group and in group A. An overall positive effect of the implementation of self-rostering was found on the balance between work and private life. However, results from the process evaluation suggested that the organizational aim with the intervention was crucial for the effect.

Warming off southwestern Japan linked to distributional shifts of subtidal canopy-forming seaweeds.

Science.gov (United States)

Tanaka, Kouki; Taino, Seiya; Haraguchi, Hiroko; Prendergast, Gabrielle; Hiraoka, Masanori

2012-11-01

To assess distributional shifts of species in response to recent warming, historical distribution records are the most requisite information. The surface seawater temperature (SST) of Kochi Prefecture, southwestern Japan on the western North Pacific, has significantly risen, being warmed by the Kuroshio Current. Past distributional records of subtidal canopy-forming seaweeds (Laminariales and Fucales) exist at about 10-year intervals from the 1970s, along with detailed SST datasets at several sites along Kochi's >700 km coastline. In order to provide a clear picture of distributional shifts of coastal marine organisms in response to warming SST, we observed the present distribution of seaweeds and analyzed the SST datasets to estimate spatiotemporal SST trends in this coastal region. We present a large increase of 0.3°C/decade in the annual mean SST of this area over the past 40 years. Furthermore, a comparison of the previous and present distributions clearly showed the contraction of temperate species' distributional ranges and expansion of tropical species' distributional ranges in the seaweeds. Although the main temperate kelp Ecklonia (Laminariales) had expanded their distribution during periods of cooler SST, they subsequently declined as the SST warmed. Notably, the warmest SST of the 1997-98 El Niño Southern Oscillation event was the most likely cause of a widespread destruction of the kelp populations; no recovery was found even in the present survey at the formerly habitable sites where warm SSTs have been maintained. Temperate Sargassum spp. (Fucales) that dominated widely in the 1970s also declined in accordance with recent warming SSTs. In contrast, the tropical species, S. ilicifolium, has gradually expanded its distribution to become the most conspicuously dominant among the present observations. Thermal gradients, mainly driven by the warming Kuroshio Current, are presented as an explanation for the successive changes in both temperate and

Analytic matrix elements with shifted correlated Gaussians

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fedorov, D. V.

2017-01-01

Matrix elements between shifted correlated Gaussians of various potentials with several form-factors are calculated analytically. Analytic matrix elements are of importance for the correlated Gaussian method in quantum few-body physics.......Matrix elements between shifted correlated Gaussians of various potentials with several form-factors are calculated analytically. Analytic matrix elements are of importance for the correlated Gaussian method in quantum few-body physics....

Precarity in late life: Understanding new forms of risk and insecurity.

Science.gov (United States)

Grenier, Amanda; Phillipson, Chris; Laliberte Rudman, Debbie; Hatzifilalithis, Stephanie; Kobayashi, Karen; Marier, Patrik

2017-12-01

Population aging and longevity in the context of declining social commitments, raises concerns about disadvantage and widening inequality in late life. This paper explores the concept of precarity as a means to understand new and sustained forms of risk and insecurity that affect late life. The article begins with a review of the definition and uses of precarity in a range of scholarly fields including social gerontology. It then draws on illustrations from three locations of experience including older women, aging with a disability, and the foreign-born, to outline how precarity renders visible the disadvantages carried into late life, and new insecurities that emerge at the moment of needing care in the context of austerity. The argument being put forward is that precarity can be used to illustrate how risks and insecurities, experienced over time, in longevity, and the context of austerity, can deepen disadvantage. This lens thus holds the potential to challenge individual interpretations of risk, and situate experiences of disadvantage in the economic and political context. We conclude that contemporary conditions of austerity and longevity intersect to produce and sustain risk and disadvantage into late life. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

GAY RELATIONSHIPS AS ALTERNATIVE FORMS OF FAMILY-MARRIAGE LIFE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ewa Perlińska

2006-01-01

Full Text Available My research and deliberation made in this study show that homosexuality is only one of the signs of human diversity - one from innumerable number of personality features. Therefore, one cannot talk about "gay identity", "homosexual personality", because, as far as I am concerned, it doesn't exist. Artificially generted gay population is only a group of peple being much different from one another and having only one common feature - their sexual orientation. Besides they differ from one another as much as one man from another. Gay relationships take on countless forms, but all of them, as the results of my research indicate, fulfil the majority of family in traditional point of view functions. The deliberation points out at one more conclusion - one cannot examine gay relationships as a separate model of family-marriage life. It should be forgotten about their different psyhosexual orientation and treat their trlationships, together with other interpersonal relationships, equally. Only from such position one can discern in their specific alternative models of family-marriage life.

The life forms of lichens on different substrates in Yelanetsko-Ingulskiy region (Mikolayivska and Kirovogradska oblast, Ukraine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tatyana O. Boiko

2012-03-01

Full Text Available The article reveals the issue of distribution of lichens life forms on different substrates, which are present in the Yelanetsko- Ingulskiy region. The largest number of life forms of the lichens is characteristic for granite outcrops, and the lowest – for gneisses. This fact is associated with features of substrate morphostructure and density, microclimatic conditions of different ecotopes in which lichens grow.

Understanding life together: A brief history of collaboration in biology

Science.gov (United States)

Vermeulen, Niki; Parker, John N.; Penders, Bart

2013-01-01

The history of science shows a shift from single-investigator ‘little science’ to increasingly large, expensive, multinational, interdisciplinary and interdependent ‘big science’. In physics and allied fields this shift has been well documented, but the rise of collaboration in the life sciences and its effect on scientific work and knowledge has received little attention. Research in biology exhibits different historical trajectories and organisation of collaboration in field and laboratory – differences still visible in contemporary collaborations such as the Census of Marine Life and the Human Genome Project. We employ these case studies as strategic exemplars, supplemented with existing research on collaboration in biology, to expose the different motives, organisational forms and social dynamics underpinning contemporary large-scale collaborations in biology and their relations to historical patterns of collaboration in the life sciences. We find the interaction between research subject, research approach as well as research organisation influencing collaboration patterns and the work of scientists. PMID:23578694

Counterion influence on chemical shifts in strychnine salts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Metaxas, Athena E.; Cort, John R.

2013-05-01

The highly toxic plant alkaloid strychnine is often isolated in the form of the anion salt of its protonated tertiary amine. Here we characterize the relative influence of different counterions on 1H and 13C chemical shifts in several strychnine salts in D2O, methanol-d4 (CD3OD) and chloroform-d (CDCl3) solvents. In organic solvents, but not in water, substantial variation in chemical shifts of protons near the tertiary amine was observed among different salts. These secondary shifts reveal differences in the way each anion influences electronic structure within the protonated amine. The distributions of secondary shifts allow salts to be easily distinguished from each other as well as from the free base form. The observed effects are much greater in organic solvents than in water. Slight concentration-dependence in chemical shifts of some protons near the amine was observed for two salts in CDCl3, but this effect is small compared to the influence of the counterion. Distinct chemical shifts in different salt forms of the same compound may be useful as chemical forensic signatures for source attribution and sample matching of alkaloids such as strychnine and possibly other organic acid and base salts.

Life form succession in plant communities on colliery waste tips

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Down, C G

1973-01-01

Five disused colliery waste tips in the Somerset Coalfield, 12, 15, 21, 55 and 98 years old, respectively, were examined to determine the life forms of the naturally-occurring vascular plant species. Hemicryptophytes comprised between 68 and 79% of the number of species on each tip. Rosette hemicryptophytes comprised 31.8% of the species on the 12-year tip, declining to 11.8% on the 98-year tip. It is suggested that artificial planting of rosette hemicryptophytes may be beneficial in reclamation schemes. 3 tables.

Combined chemical shift changes and amino acid specific chemical shift mapping of protein-protein interactions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schumann, Frank H.; Riepl, Hubert [University of Regensburg, Institute of Biophysics and Physical Biochemistry (Germany); Maurer, Till [Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH and Co. KG, Analytical Sciences Department (Germany); Gronwald, Wolfram [University of Regensburg, Institute of Biophysics and Physical Biochemistry (Germany); Neidig, Klaus-Peter [Bruker BioSpin GmbH, Software Department (Germany); Kalbitzer, Hans Robert [University of Regensburg, Institute of Biophysics and Physical Biochemistry (Germany)], E-mail: hans-robert.kalbitzer@biologie.uni-regensburg.de

2007-12-15

Protein-protein interactions are often studied by chemical shift mapping using solution NMR spectroscopy. When heteronuclear data are available the interaction interface is usually predicted by combining the chemical shift changes of different nuclei to a single quantity, the combined chemical shift perturbation {delta}{delta}{sub comb}. In this paper different procedures (published and non-published) to calculate {delta}{delta}{sub comb} are examined that include a variety of different functional forms and weighting factors for each nucleus. The predictive power of all shift mapping methods depends on the magnitude of the overlap of the chemical shift distributions of interacting and non-interacting residues and the cut-off criterion used. In general, the quality of the prediction on the basis of chemical shift changes alone is rather unsatisfactory but the combination of chemical shift changes on the basis of the Hamming or the Euclidian distance can improve the result. The corrected standard deviation to zero of the combined chemical shift changes can provide a reasonable cut-off criterion. As we show combined chemical shifts can also be applied for a more reliable quantitative evaluation of titration data.

A work-life perspective on sleep and fatigue—looking beyond shift workers

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SKINNER, Natalie; DORRIAN, Jill

2015-01-01

This study examines sleep and fatigue through a work-life lens. Whilst most often thought of as an issue for shift workers, this study observed that self-reported insufficient sleep and fatigue were prevalent for workers on standard daytime schedules. Using a representative sample of 573 daytime workers (51.3% men; 70.7% aged 25−54 yr) from one Australian state, it was observed that 26.4% of daytime workers never or rarely get the seven hours of sleep a night that is recommended for good health. Those with parenting responsibilites (29.4%) or working long (45+) hours (37.4%) were most likely to report insufficient sleep. Whereas mothers in full-time work were most likely to report frequent fatigue (42.5%). This study highlights the common experience of insufficient sleep and fatigue in a daytime workforce, with significant implications for health and safety at work and outside of work. Stronger and more effective legislation addressing safe and ‘decent’ working time is clearly needed, along with greater awareness and acceptance within workplace cultures of the need to support reasonable workloads and working hours. PMID:26027709

Shift work and cognitive aging: a longitudinal study.

Science.gov (United States)

Bokenberger, Kathleen; Ström, Peter; Dahl Aslan, Anna K; Åkerstedt, Torbjörn; Pedersen, Nancy L

2017-09-01

Objectives The few studies of shift work and late life cognitive functioning have yielded mixed findings. The aim of the present study is to estimate the association between shift-work experience and change in cognitive performance before and after retirement age among older adults who were gainfully employed. Methods Five hundred and ninety five participants with no dementia were followed up for a mean of 17.6 standard deviation (SD) 8.8 years from a Swedish population-based sample. Participants had self-reported information on any type of shift-work experience (ever/never) in 1984 and measures of cognitive performance (verbal, spatial, memory, processing speed, and general cognitive ability) from up to 9 waves of cognitive assessments during 1986-2012. Night work history (ever/never) from 1998-2002 was available from a subsample (N=320). Early adult cognitive test scores were available for 77 men. Results In latent growth curve modeling, there were no main effects of "any-type" or night shift work on the mean scores or rate of change in any of the cognitive domains. An interaction effect between any-type shift work and education on cognitive performance at retirement was noted. Lower-educated shift workers performed better on cognitive tests than lower-educated day workers at retirement. Sensitivity analyses, however, indicated that the interactions appeared to be driven by selection effects. Lower-educated day workers demonstrated poorer cognitive ability in early adulthood than lower-educated shift workers, who may have selected jobs entailing higher cognitive demand. Conclusion There was no difference in late-life cognitive aging between individuals with a history of working shifts compared to those who had typical day work schedules during midlife.

Adaptation to shift work: physiologically based modeling of the effects of lighting and shifts' start time.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Svetlana Postnova

Full Text Available Shift work has become an integral part of our life with almost 20% of the population being involved in different shift schedules in developed countries. However, the atypical work times, especially the night shifts, are associated with reduced quality and quantity of sleep that leads to increase of sleepiness often culminating in accidents. It has been demonstrated that shift workers' sleepiness can be improved by a proper scheduling of light exposure and optimizing shifts timing. Here, an integrated physiologically-based model of sleep-wake cycles is used to predict adaptation to shift work in different light conditions and for different shift start times for a schedule of four consecutive days of work. The integrated model combines a model of the ascending arousal system in the brain that controls the sleep-wake switch and a human circadian pacemaker model. To validate the application of the integrated model and demonstrate its utility, its dynamics are adjusted to achieve a fit to published experimental results showing adaptation of night shift workers (n = 8 in conditions of either bright or regular lighting. Further, the model is used to predict the shift workers' adaptation to the same shift schedule, but for conditions not considered in the experiment. The model demonstrates that the intensity of shift light can be reduced fourfold from that used in the experiment and still produce good adaptation to night work. The model predicts that sleepiness of the workers during night shifts on a protocol with either bright or regular lighting can be significantly improved by starting the shift earlier in the night, e.g.; at 21:00 instead of 00:00. Finally, the study predicts that people of the same chronotype, i.e. with identical sleep times in normal conditions, can have drastically different responses to shift work depending on their intrinsic circadian and homeostatic parameters.

Adaptation to shift work: physiologically based modeling of the effects of lighting and shifts' start time.

Science.gov (United States)

Postnova, Svetlana; Robinson, Peter A; Postnov, Dmitry D

2013-01-01

Shift work has become an integral part of our life with almost 20% of the population being involved in different shift schedules in developed countries. However, the atypical work times, especially the night shifts, are associated with reduced quality and quantity of sleep that leads to increase of sleepiness often culminating in accidents. It has been demonstrated that shift workers' sleepiness can be improved by a proper scheduling of light exposure and optimizing shifts timing. Here, an integrated physiologically-based model of sleep-wake cycles is used to predict adaptation to shift work in different light conditions and for different shift start times for a schedule of four consecutive days of work. The integrated model combines a model of the ascending arousal system in the brain that controls the sleep-wake switch and a human circadian pacemaker model. To validate the application of the integrated model and demonstrate its utility, its dynamics are adjusted to achieve a fit to published experimental results showing adaptation of night shift workers (n = 8) in conditions of either bright or regular lighting. Further, the model is used to predict the shift workers' adaptation to the same shift schedule, but for conditions not considered in the experiment. The model demonstrates that the intensity of shift light can be reduced fourfold from that used in the experiment and still produce good adaptation to night work. The model predicts that sleepiness of the workers during night shifts on a protocol with either bright or regular lighting can be significantly improved by starting the shift earlier in the night, e.g.; at 21:00 instead of 00:00. Finally, the study predicts that people of the same chronotype, i.e. with identical sleep times in normal conditions, can have drastically different responses to shift work depending on their intrinsic circadian and homeostatic parameters.

Phenological shifts conserve thermal niches in North American birds and reshape expectations for climate-driven range shifts.

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Socolar, Jacob B; Epanchin, Peter N; Beissinger, Steven R; Tingley, Morgan W

2017-12-05

Species respond to climate change in two dominant ways: range shifts in latitude or elevation and phenological shifts of life-history events. Range shifts are widely viewed as the principal mechanism for thermal niche tracking, and phenological shifts in birds and other consumers are widely understood as the principal mechanism for tracking temporal peaks in biotic resources. However, phenological and range shifts each present simultaneous opportunities for temperature and resource tracking, although the possible role for phenological shifts in thermal niche tracking has been widely overlooked. Using a canonical dataset of Californian bird surveys and a detectability-based approach for quantifying phenological signal, we show that Californian bird communities advanced their breeding phenology by 5-12 d over the last century. This phenological shift might track shifting resource peaks, but it also reduces average temperatures during nesting by over 1 °C, approximately the same magnitude that average temperatures have warmed over the same period. We further show that early-summer temperature anomalies are correlated with nest success in a continental-scale database of bird nests, suggesting avian thermal niches might be broadly limited by temperatures during nesting. These findings outline an adaptation surface where geographic range and breeding phenology respond jointly to constraints imposed by temperature and resource phenology. By stabilizing temperatures during nesting, phenological shifts might mitigate the need for range shifts. Global change ecology will benefit from further exploring phenological adjustment as a potential mechanism for thermal niche tracking and vice versa.

When Is a Fish Not a Fish? Questions Raised by a Nage Life-Form Category

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gregory Forth

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Speakers of a Central-Malayo-Polynesian language, the Nage inhabit the central region of the eastern Indonesian island of Flores. Their folk taxonomy of animals (ana wa contains three named life-form taxa, one of which is ika, fish. A review of component folk-generic taxa, however, reveals that Nage do not classify five kinds of freshwater fish as ‘fish’ (ika, even though they further apply ika to various marine fish (including sharks and rays as well as to marine mammals. The article considers this peculiarity of Nage folk zoological taxonomy, and how it might affect an understanding of ika as denoting a ‘fish’ life-form taxon. The main conclusion is that the five excluded categories—distinguished largely on morphological and behavioural grounds, and  conveniently designated as the ‘tebhu cluster’, after one of their members—are contrasted primarily with freshwater species which Nage do classify as ‘fish’ (ika. Specified by name as ika lowo (‘river fish’, these are further contrasted with another named folk-intermediate taxon of ‘marine fish’ (ika mesi. From this, it is argued that, as a life-form category, ika should be understood as implicitly including the five members of the ‘tebhu cluster’ as a third, albeit covert, folk-intermediate taxon.

Performance and sleepiness in nurses working 12-h day shifts or night shifts in a community hospital.

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Wilson, Marian; Permito, Regan; English, Ashley; Albritton, Sandra; Coogle, Carlana; Van Dongen, Hans P A

2017-10-05

Hospitals are around-the-clock operations and nurses are required to care for patients night and day. The nursing shortage and desire for a more balanced work-to-home life has popularized 12-h shifts for nurses. The present study investigated sleep/wake cycles and fatigue levels in 22 nurses working 12-h shifts, comparing day versus night shifts. Nurses (11day shift and 11 night shift) were recruited from a suburban acute-care medical center. Participants wore a wrist activity monitor and kept a diary to track their sleep/wake cycles for 2 weeks. They also completed a fatigue test battery, which included the Psychomotor Vigilance Test (PVT) and the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS), at the beginning, middle and end of 4 duty shifts. Daily sleep duration was 7.1h on average. No overall difference in mean daily sleep duration was found between nurses working day shifts versus night shifts. Objective performance on the PVT remained relatively good and stable at the start, middle, and end of duty shifts in day shift workers, but gradually degraded across duty time in night shift workers. Compared to day shift workers, night shift workers also exhibited more performance variability among measurement days and between participants at each testing time point. The same pattern was observed for subjective sleepiness on the KSS. However, congruence between objective and subjective measures of fatigue was poor. Our findings suggest a need for organizations to evaluate practices and policies to mitigate the inevitable fatigue that occurs during long night shifts, in order to improve patient and healthcare worker safety. Examination of alternative shift lengths or sanctioned workplace napping may be strategies to consider. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Political Economy of Longevity: Developing New Forms of Solidarity for Later Life

Science.gov (United States)

Phillipson, Chris

2015-01-01

Aging populations now exert influence on all aspects of social life. This article examines changes to major social and economic institutions linked with old age, taking the period from the mid-20th century to the opening decades of the 21st century. These developments are set within the context of the influence of globalization as well as the impact of the 2008 financial crisis, these restructuring debates around the longevity revolution. The article examines how the basis for a new framework for accommodating longevity can be built, outlining ways of securing new forms of solidarity in later life. PMID:25678722

Using structural equation modeling to detect response shift in quality of life in patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xuxia; Xu, Xiaomeng; Han, Hongjuan; He, Runlian; Zhou, Liye; Liang, Ruifeng; Yu, Hongmei

2018-05-03

ABSTRACTBackground:Our study aims to detect different types of response shifts (RS) and true changes of quality of life (QOL) measurement in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) using structural equation modeling (SEM) in domain level. Patients with AD aged over 60 years old were collected from the Department of Neurology and Geriatrics in Taiyuan Central Hospital, China. The 12-item Short Form (SF-12) Health Survey was measured in 238 patients with AD prior to hospitalization and one month following discharge. RS was detected by SEM approach. The statistical process consisted of four steps and fitted four models. We interpreted changes of parameters in models to detect RS and to assess true change. The results showed reprioritization of social functioning (SF) (χ2 = 4.13, p < 0.05), reconceptualization of role limitations due to emotional problems (RE) (χ2 = 17.03, p < 0.001), uniform recalibration of bodily pain (BP) (χ2 = 12.24, p < 0.001), and non-uniform recalibration of mental health (MH) (χ2 = 4.41, p < 0.05), respectively. The true changes of common factors were deteriorated in general physical health (PHYS) (-0.10, χ2 = 8.30, p < 0.005) and improved in general mental health (MENT) (+0.29, χ2 = 20.95, p < 0.001). The effect-sizes of RS were only small. This study showed that patients with AD occurred three types of RS and true changes one month following discharge. RS had effects on the QOL of patients. Better understanding of potential changes in QOL in patients with AD is crucial.

Health effects of the shift work system

OpenAIRE

Yüzügüllü, Didem Ata; Aytaç, Necdet; Akbaba, Muhsin

2018-01-01

Technological advances and the changes to methods ofproduction in many industrialized countries led to the introduction of shiftwork systems to ensure the continuity in operation of industries. Shift workhas long been known to disrupt circadian rhythm,sleep, and work-life balance.Alfredsson et al. carried out a study of 334 cases with myocardial infarctionand 882 controls, who were selected randomly from the general population in thesame region. The shift-work exposure was assessed from the o...

Shift in cytotype frequency and niche space in the invasive plant Centaurea maculosa.

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Treier, Urs A; Broennimann, Olivier; Normand, Signe; Guisan, Antoine; Schaffner, Urs; Steinger, Thomas; Müller-Schärer, Heinz

2009-05-01

Polyploidy is often assumed to increase the spread and thus the success of alien plant species, but few empirical studies exist. We tested this hypothesis with Centaurea maculosa Lam., a species native to Europe and introduced into North America approximately 120 years ago where it became highly invasive. We analyzed the ploidy level of more than 2000 plants from 93 native and 48 invasive C. maculosa populations and found a pronounced shift in the relative frequency of diploid and tetraploid cytotypes. In Europe diploid populations occur in higher frequencies than tetraploids and only four populations had both cytotypes, while in North America diploid plants were found in only one mixed population and thus tetraploids clearly dominated. Our results showed a pronounced shift in the climatic niche between tetraploid populations in the native and introduced range toward drier climate in North America and a similar albeit smaller shift between diploids and tetraploids in the native range. The field data indicate that diploids have a predominately monocarpic life cycle, while tetraploids are often polycarpic. Additionally, the polycarpic life-form seems to be more prevalent among tetraploids in the introduced range than among tetraploids in the native range. Our study suggests that both ploidy types of C. maculosa were introduced into North America, but tetraploids became the dominant cytotype with invasion. We suggest that the invasive success of C. maculosa is partly due to preadaptation of the tetraploid cytotype in Europe to drier climate and possibly further adaptation to these conditions in the introduced range. The potential for earlier and longer seed production associated with the polycarpic life cycle constitutes an additional factor that may have led to the dominance of tetraploids over diploids in the introduced range.

Long-term Shifting Patterns in Quality of Life After Distal Subtotal Gastrectomy: Preoperative- and Healthy-based Interpretations.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Seung Soo; Chung, Ho Young; Kwon, Ohkyoung; Yu, Wansik

2015-06-01

The study assessed long-term shifting patterns in quality of life (QoL) after distal subtotal gastrectomy relative to an estimated healthy population QoL (HPQoL), and compared them to shifting patterns interpreted in terms of a preoperative QoL baseline. QoL data from 127 gastric cancer patients who underwent open distal subtotal gastrectomy were obtained at the preoperative period and at 6, 12, 18, 24, and 36 months after surgery. QoL data obtained from 127 age- and sex-adjusted healthy individuals were used to estimate HPQoL. The study used the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QoL Questionnaire Core 30 (QLQ-C30) and a gastric cancer module (QLQ-STO22) to assess QoL. Comparisons were made between preoperative-based and healthy-based interpretations of longitudinal QoL shifting patterns. Among the persistently deteriorated QoL variables indicated by the preoperative-based interpretation (physical functioning, role functioning, cognitive functioning, nausea and vomiting, dyspnea, diarrhea, dysphagia, eating restrictions, dry mouth, and body image), eating restrictions and body image concerns were the only factors indicated by a healthy-based interpretation. In this interpretation, financial difficulties were evident at the preoperative period and persisted for at least 36 months. When preoperative QoL was used as a baseline, decreased QoL due to financial difficulties was not revealed. Persistent QoL deterioration after distal subtotal gastrectomy is primarily due to financial difficulties, eating restrictions, and body image concerns. Preoperative-based interpretation of postoperative QoL may exaggerate the persistency of reduced QoL and conceal on-going QoL deterioration after surgery.

Reversing into Meritocracy: Shifting the Culture of Physics

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Bertschinger, Edmund

Culture is the dark energy of our lives: it is an invisible force that shapes our environment for work and life. Physics culture often includes the assumption that people have equal access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, race, or any other demographic characteristic. Numerous studies show this is false, yet the invisible force of meritocracy shapes many departments, and its passive acceptance can foster inequitable working environments. Department chairs and other leaders play a key role in shifting institutional culture to leverage the power of diversity, improve student and employee success, and enhance the quality of life for everyone. I will describe steps taken at MIT to shift our cultural direction so that we are not driving in reverse on the highway of meritocracy.

The association of body size in early to mid-life with adult urinary 6-sulfatoxymelatonin levels among night shift health care workers.

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Ramin, Cody A; Massa, Jennifer; Wegrzyn, Lani R; Brown, Susan B; Pierre-Paul, Jeffrey; Devore, Elizabeth E; Hankinson, Susan E; Schernhammer, Eva S

2015-05-06

Adult body mass index (BMI) has been associated with urinary melatonin levels in humans; however, whether earlier-life body size is associated with melatonin, particularly among night shift workers, remains unknown. We evaluated associations of birth weight, body shape (or somatotype) at ages 5 and 10, BMI at age 18 and adulthood, weight change since age 18, waist circumference, waist to hip ratio, and height with creatinine-adjusted morning urinary melatonin (6-sulfatoxymelatonin, aMT6s) levels among 1,343 healthy women (aged 32-53 at urine collection, 1996-1999) in the Nurses' Health Study (NHS) II cohort. Using multivariable linear regression, we computed least-square mean aMT6s levels across categories of body size, and evaluated whether these associations were modified by night shift work. Adult BMI was inversely associated with aMT6s levels (mean aMT6s levels = 34 vs. 50 ng/mg creatinine, comparing adult BMI ≥ 30 vs. accounting for adult BMI. Night shifts worked prior to urine collection, whether recent or cumulatively over time, did not modify the association between adult BMI and aMT6s levels (e.g., P interaction = 0.72 for night shifts worked within two weeks of urine collection). Our results suggest that adult BMI, but not earlier measures of body size, is associated with urinary aMT6s levels in adulthood. These observations did not vary by night shift work status, and suggest that adult BMI may be an important mechanism by which melatonin levels are altered and subsequently influence chronic disease risk.

$J/\\Psi$ mass shift in nuclear matter

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gastao Krein, Anthony Thomas, Kazuo Tsushima

2011-02-01

The $J/\\Psi$ mass shift in cold nuclear matter is computed using an effective Lagrangian approach. The mass shift is computed by evaluating $D$ and $D^*$ meson loop contributions to the $J/\\Psi$ self-energy employing medium-modified meson masses. The modification of the $D$ and $D^*$ masses in nuclear matter is obtained using the quark-meson coupling model. The loop integrals are regularized with dipole form factors and the sensitivity of the results to the values of form-factor cutoff masses is investigated. The $J/\\Psi$ mass shift arising from the modification of the $D$ and $D^*$ loops at normal nuclear matter density is found to range from $-16$~MeV to $-24$~MeV under a wide variation of values of the cutoff masses. Experimental perspectives for the formation of a bound state of $J/\\Psi$ to a nucleus are investigated.

A Navajo Paradigm for Long Life Happiness--and for Reversing Navajo Language Shift.

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House, Deborah

1997-01-01

Describes a Navajo model by which individuals may assume responsibility for reversing Navajo language shift. Argues that reversing Navajo language shift requires that Navajos acknowledge the problem, that Navajo principles of balance and the natural order be applied to the problem, and that Navajo individuals and families make a commitment to…

Evolution of larval competitiveness and associated life-history traits in response to host shifts in a seed beetle.

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Fox, C W; Messina, F J

2018-02-01

Resource competition is frequently strong among parasites that feed within small discrete resource patches, such as seeds or fruits. The properties of a host can influence the behavioural, morphological and life-history traits of associated parasites, including traits that mediate competition within the host. For seed parasites, host size may be an especially important determinant of competitive ability. Using the seed beetle, Callosobruchus maculatus, we performed replicated, reciprocal host shifts to examine the role of seed size in determining larval competitiveness and associated traits. Populations ancestrally associated with either a small host (mung bean) or a large one (cowpea) were switched to each other's host for 36 generations. Compared to control lines (those remaining on the ancestral host), lines switched from the small host to the large host evolved greater tolerance of co-occurring larvae within seeds (indicated by an increase in the frequency of small seeds yielding two adults), smaller egg size and higher fecundity. Each change occurred in the direction predicted by the traits of populations already adapted to cowpea. However, we did not observe the expected decline in adult mass following the shift to the larger host. Moreover, lines switched from the large host (cowpea) to the small host (mung bean) did not evolve the predicted increase in larval competitiveness or egg size, but did exhibit the predicted increase in body mass. Our results thus provide mixed support for the hypothesis that host size determines the evolution of competition-related traits of seed beetles. Evolutionary responses to the two host shifts were consistent among replicate lines, but the evolution of larval competition was asymmetric, with larval competitiveness evolving as predicted in one direction of host shift, but not the reverse. Nevertheless, our results indicate that switching hosts is sufficient to produce repeatable and rapid changes in the competition strategy

[The end of discrimination in social security for the elderly? Some remarks on the consequences of the paradigm shift in a life course perspective on gender].

Science.gov (United States)

Fachinger, Uwe

2008-10-01

Trying to analyse the effects of the paradigm shift in the old age social security system in Germany (GRV) from a life cycle gender perspective yields light and shade - it is a conglomeration of individual- and family-specific transfers, financed by a mix of contributions and taxes, and with measures of explicit and implicit, intended and not intended ex-post and ex-ante redistribution and discrimination.The paradigm shift has increased the complexity of the system and created additional elements of gender specific discrimination as well as reduced established elements of the so called "social compensation". Furthermore, the relevance of complementary private and occupational pensions will increase absolute and relative due to the reduction of the pension level. This will raise the importance of earnings in old age especially those that are without any elements of social security compensation or without elements of recognition of activities beside employment. Overall the paradigm shift has intensified the discrimination of women in two ways and the pension privatisation has caused redistribution from the bottom to the top. In other words, there is an increase in inter- and intra-gender discrimination. Due to the changes and the emphasis of aspects of an independent old age security savings for women the norm of the "male breadwinner model" has increased. The importance of "providing one's own pension" additionally creates distribution conflicts within a partnership. Because of the necessity of constant payments over time within a private insurance and the changes of an individual income and gender-specific life cycle, conflicts may occur time and again. The dependence of life-long partnerships on each other is not reduced or abolished with the strengthening of the individualistic model of protection, but is qualitatively and quantitatively improved. Against this background, the measures of the statutory pension system which are aimed towards the situation of a

Validation of the Spanish Version of the Food Allergy Quality of Life Questionnaire-Adult Form (S-FAQLQ-AF)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Antolin-Amerigo, D.; Cerecedo Carballo, [Unknown; Muriel, A.; Fernandez-Rivas, M.; Dieguez Pastor, M.; Flokstra-de Blok, B.; Dubois, A.; De la Hoz Caballer, B.

2015-01-01

Introduction: Specific food allergy quality of life questionnaires have been developed within the context of the EuroPrevall project. We aimed to adapt and validate the Food Allergy Quality of Life Questionnaire-Adult Form (FAQLQ-AF) in the Spanish language. Methods: The original English

[Shift and night work and mental health].

Science.gov (United States)

Sancini, Angela; Ciarrocca, Manuela; Capozzella, Assunta; Corbosiero, Paola; Fiaschetti, Maria; Caciari, Tiziana; Cetica, Carlotta; Scimitto, Lara; Ponticiello, Barnaba Giuseppina; Tasciotti, Zaira; Schifano, Maria Pia; Andreozzit, Giorgia; Tomei, Francesco; Tomei, Gianfranco

2012-01-01

Aim of our study was to evaluate the influence that shift work and night work could have on mental health. A review of literary articles from 1990 to 2011 on shift work and night work was carried out. The results of this review confirmed that the shift work and night work affect mental health with the onset of neuropsychological disorders such as mood disorders, anxiety, nervousness, depressive anxiety syndromes, chronic fatigue and chronic insomnia irritability, sleep disturbances, reduction in levels of attention, cognitive impairments, alteration of circadian rhythm. Night work and shift work cause severe desynchronization of the cronobiological rhythms and a disruption of social life with negative effects on performance at work, on health and on social relationships. In the light of these results and recognizing shift work and night work as risk factors for the health of workers is necessary to implement preventive and periodic health checks by the occupational doctor to ensure the health and safety of workers taking account of the different environmental and individual factors.

Online version of the food allergy quality of life questionnaire-adult form : validity, feasibility and cross-cultural comparison

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Goossens, N. J.; Flokstra-de Blok, B. M. J.; Vlieg-Boerstra, B. J.; Duiverman, E. J.; Weiss, C. C.; Furlong, T. J.; Dubois, A. E. J.

P>Background Food-allergic reactions occur in 3-4% of the adult population in Western countries. It has been shown that food allergy may impair health-related quality of life (HRQL). Food allergy quality of life questionnaires (FAQLQs) have been developed and validated, including an adult form

'A hard day's night ?' the effects of Compressed Working Week interventions on the health and work-life balance of shift workers: a systematic review.

OpenAIRE

Bambra, C.; Whitehead, M.; Sowden, A.; Akers, J.; Petticrew, M.

2008-01-01

Objective: To systematically review studies of the effects of the Compressed Working Week on the health and work-life balance of shift workers, and to identify any differential impacts by socio-economic group. Methods: Systematic review. Following QUORUM guidelines, published or unpublished experimental and quasi-experimental studies were identified. Data were sourced from 27 electronic databases, websites, bibliographies, and expert contacts. Results: Forty observational studies we...

The composition of the gut microbiota throughout life, with an emphasis on early life

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juan Miguel Rodríguez

2015-02-01

Full Text Available The intestinal microbiota has become a relevant aspect of human health. Microbial colonization runs in parallel with immune system maturation and plays a role in intestinal physiology and regulation. Increasing evidence on early microbial contact suggest that human intestinal microbiota is seeded before birth. Maternal microbiota forms the first microbial inoculum, and from birth, the microbial diversity increases and converges toward an adult-like microbiota by the end of the first 3–5 years of life. Perinatal factors such as mode of delivery, diet, genetics, and intestinal mucin glycosylation all contribute to influence microbial colonization. Once established, the composition of the gut microbiota is relatively stable throughout adult life, but can be altered as a result of bacterial infections, antibiotic treatment, lifestyle, surgical, and a long-term change in diet. Shifts in this complex microbial system have been reported to increase the risk of disease. Therefore, an adequate establishment of microbiota and its maintenance throughout life would reduce the risk of disease in early and late life. This review discusses recent studies on the early colonization and factors influencing this process which impact on health.

The composition of the gut microbiota throughout life, with an emphasis on early life

Science.gov (United States)

Rodríguez, Juan Miguel; Murphy, Kiera; Stanton, Catherine; Ross, R. Paul; Kober, Olivia I.; Juge, Nathalie; Avershina, Ekaterina; Rudi, Knut; Narbad, Arjan; Jenmalm, Maria C.; Marchesi, Julian R.; Collado, Maria Carmen

2015-01-01

The intestinal microbiota has become a relevant aspect of human health. Microbial colonization runs in parallel with immune system maturation and plays a role in intestinal physiology and regulation. Increasing evidence on early microbial contact suggest that human intestinal microbiota is seeded before birth. Maternal microbiota forms the first microbial inoculum, and from birth, the microbial diversity increases and converges toward an adult-like microbiota by the end of the first 3–5 years of life. Perinatal factors such as mode of delivery, diet, genetics, and intestinal mucin glycosylation all contribute to influence microbial colonization. Once established, the composition of the gut microbiota is relatively stable throughout adult life, but can be altered as a result of bacterial infections, antibiotic treatment, lifestyle, surgical, and a long-term change in diet. Shifts in this complex microbial system have been reported to increase the risk of disease. Therefore, an adequate establishment of microbiota and its maintenance throughout life would reduce the risk of disease in early and late life. This review discusses recent studies on the early colonization and factors influencing this process which impact on health. PMID:25651996

Shift work and its association with metabolic disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Brum, Maria Carlota Borba; Filho, Fábio Fernandes Dantas; Schnorr, Claudia Carolina; Bottega, Gustavo Borchardt; Rodrigues, Ticiana C

2015-01-01

Although the health burden of shift work has not been extensively studied, evidence suggests that it may affect the metabolic balance and cause obesity and other metabolic disorders. Sleep deprivation, circadian desynchronization and behavioral changes in diet and physical activity are among the most commonly mentioned factors in studies of the association between night work and metabolic disorders. Individual adaptation to night work depends greatly on personal factors such as family and social life, but occupational interventions may also make a positive contribution to the transition to shift work, such as exposure to bright lights during the night shift, melatonin use, shift regularity and clockwise rotation, and dietary adaptations for the metabolic needs of night workers. The evaluation of the impact of night work on health and of the mechanisms underlying this relationship can serve as a basis for intervention strategies to minimize the health burden of shift work. This review aimed to identify highlights regarding therapeutic implications following the association between night and shift work and metabolic disorders, as well as the mechanisms and pathways responsible for these relationships.

Herbivores sculpt leaf traits differently in grasslands depending on life form and land-use histories.

Science.gov (United States)

Firn, Jennifer; Schütz, Martin; Nguyen, Huong; Risch, Anita C

2017-01-01

Vertebrate and invertebrate herbivores alter plant communities directly by selectively consuming plant species; and indirectly by inducing morphological and physiological changes to plant traits that provide competitive or survivorship advantages to some life forms over others. Progressively excluding aboveground herbivore communities (ungulates, medium and small sized mammals, invertebrates) over five growing seasons, we explored how leaf morphology (specific leaf area or SLA) and nutrition (nitrogen, carbon, phosphorous, potassium, sodium, and calcium) of different plant life forms (forbs, legumes, grasses, sedges) correlated with their dominance. We experimented in two subalpine grassland types with different land-use histories: (1) heavily grazed, nutrient-rich, short-grass vegetation and (2) lightly grazed, lower nutrient tall-grass vegetation. We found differences in leaf traits between treatments where either all herbivores were excluded or all herbivores were present, showing the importance of considering the impacts of both vertebrates and invertebrates on the leaf traits of plant species. Life forms responses to the progressive exclusion of herbivores were captured by six possible combinations: (1) increased leaf size and resource use efficiency (leaf area/nutrients) where lower nutrient levels are invested in leaf construction, but a reduction in the number of leaves, for example, forbs in both vegetation types, (2) increased leaf size and resource use efficiency, for example, legumes in short grass, (3) increased leaf size but a reduction in the number of leaves, for example, legumes in the tall grass, (4) increased number of leaves produced and increased resource use efficiency, for example, grasses in the short grass, (5) increased resource use efficiency of leaves only, for example, grasses and sedges in the tall grass, and (6) no response in terms of leaf construction or dominance, for example, sedges in the short grass. Although we found multiple

Online version of the food allergy quality of life questionnaire-adult form: validity, feasibility and cross-cultural comparison

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Goossens, N. J.; Flokstra-de Blok, B. M. J.; Vlieg-Boerstra, B. J.; Duiverman, E. J.; Weiss, C. C.; Furlong, T. J.; Dubois, A. E. J.

2011-01-01

Food-allergic reactions occur in 3-4% of the adult population in Western countries. It has been shown that food allergy may impair health-related quality of life (HRQL). Food allergy quality of life questionnaires (FAQLQs) have been developed and validated, including an adult form (FAQLQ-AF). These

Copper-chromium compounds formed in the preparation of a low-temperature water gas shift catalyst

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sharkina, V I; Salomatin, G I; Boevskaya, E A

1978-12-01

IR and X-ray phase analyses of commercial water gas shift catalyst samples prepared by mixing solid chromic anhydride, basic copper carbonate (malachite), aluminum hydroxide, and water at 70/sup 0/-100/sup 0/C and 0.35:1 to 1.2:1 ratio of water to solid components (R) showed the formation of a basic copper chromate (BCC) CuCrO/sub 4/-2CuO-2H/sub 2/O at 80/sup 0/C (any R) and at 100/sup 0/C and R Vertical Bar3: 1.2:1, but at 100/sup 0/C and lower R (especially at R 0.7:1), a different, unidentified phase was formed. The samples containing these two phases had different colors; the high-temperature, low-water phase showed lower thermal stability but higher catalytic activity than the BCC. The BCC catalyst samples contained less unreacted malachite and their IR spectra contained a 3100-3200/cm band characteristic of hydroxyls associated by hydrogen bonds, and more molecular water, suggesting the formation of a hydroxo-polymeric structured system.

29 CFR 784.108 - Operations not included in named operations on forms of aquatic “life.”

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... subject matter of the exemptions is concerned with “aquatic forms of animal and vegetable life,” the..., novelties, liquid glue, isinglass, pearl essence, and fortified or refined fish oil is not within these... 29 Labor 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Operations not included in named operations on forms of...

Genome-resolved metaproteomic characterization of preterm infant gut microbiota development reveals species-specific metabolic shifts and variabilities during early life.

Science.gov (United States)

Xiong, Weili; Brown, Christopher T; Morowitz, Michael J; Banfield, Jillian F; Hettich, Robert L

2017-07-10

Establishment of the human gut microbiota begins at birth. This early-life microbiota development can impact host physiology during infancy and even across an entire life span. However, the functional stability and population structure of the gut microbiota during initial colonization remain poorly understood. Metaproteomics is an emerging technology for the large-scale characterization of metabolic functions in complex microbial communities (gut microbiota). We applied a metagenome-informed metaproteomic approach to study the temporal and inter-individual differences of metabolic functions during microbial colonization of preterm human infants' gut. By analyzing 30 individual fecal samples, we identified up to 12,568 protein groups for each of four infants, including both human and microbial proteins. With genome-resolved matched metagenomics, proteins were confidently identified at the species/strain level. The maximum percentage of the proteome detected for the abundant organisms was ~45%. A time-dependent increase in the relative abundance of microbial versus human proteins suggested increasing microbial colonization during the first few weeks of early life. We observed remarkable variations and temporal shifts in the relative protein abundances of each organism in these preterm gut communities. Given the dissimilarity of the communities, only 81 microbial EggNOG orthologous groups and 57 human proteins were observed across all samples. These conserved microbial proteins were involved in carbohydrate, energy, amino acid and nucleotide metabolism while conserved human proteins were related to immune response and mucosal maturation. We identified seven proteome clusters for the communities and showed infant gut proteome profiles were unstable across time and not individual-specific. Applying a gut-specific metabolic module (GMM) analysis, we found that gut communities varied primarily in the contribution of nutrient (carbohydrates, lipids, and amino acids

Investigation on the geographical distribution and life form of plant species in sub alpine zone Karsanak region, Shahrekord

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jahanbakhsh Pairanj

2011-09-01

Full Text Available This study was carried out in rangelands of Karsanak, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, which is regarded as one of the rich rangelands. Phytogeographically, this region is located in Irano-Turanian (zone of sub alpine. Endemic and rare plants were identified and geographical distribution and life form of identified plant species were investigated as well. Overall, 100 species from 17 families were identified from which 20 percent of identified species was endemic element of Irano-Turanian region. Results indicated that 75.7 percent of identified plants belonged to the Irano-Turanian and only 3 and 2 percent belonged to Euro-Siberian and Mediterranean regions respectively. The reason of high percentage of Irano-Turanian elements is probably the long distance of this region from other regions. Similarities of Irano-Turanian and Mediterranean were included 6.1 percent of identified plants and Irano-Turanian and Euro-Siberian included 2 percent. Results of life forms showed hemichryptophytes including 60 percent of life forms which indicate the cold and mountainous weather.

Nurse perceptions of workplace environment: differences across shifts.

Science.gov (United States)

Teclaw, Robert; Osatuke, Katerine

2015-11-01

To evaluate whether nurse work shift affected workplace perceptions. Although the importance of work schedule in shaping work attitudes, generally (and specifically for nurses) is well accepted, much work remains in characterising how and why nurses' perceptions might differ across shifts. Using an exploratory study of observational data, we examined whether shift influenced non-supervisory nurses' job perceptions in the Veterans Health Administration All Employee Survey (n = 14057; years 2008, 2010, 2012). The size of differences in item means (95% C.I.) across shifts was evaluated graphically. Using ordinal logistic regression, we accounted for the ordinal outcome variables and controlled for the demographic and survey year effects. Nurses' perceptions of workplace climate differed across shifts. Items with the greatest differences, consistent across years and analytic methods, involved supervisors and fairness. Night and weekend shift nurse ratings were more negative than for weekday shift nurses. Off-shift nurses are less satisfied with work/life balance, their supervisors and especially fairness. Overall satisfaction and turnover intention are not affected to the same extent. These results indicate several specific areas that nurse managers can address through workforce support and communication. Published 2014. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Body size, growth and life span: implications for the polewards range shift of Octopus tetricus in south-eastern Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

Ramos, Jorge E; Pecl, Gretta T; Moltschaniwskyj, Natalie A; Strugnell, Jan M; León, Rafael I; Semmens, Jayson M

2014-01-01

Understanding the response of any species to climate change can be challenging. However, in short-lived species the faster turnover of generations may facilitate the examination of responses associated with longer-term environmental change. Octopus tetricus, a commercially important species, has undergone a recent polewards range shift in the coastal waters of south-eastern Australia, thought to be associated with the southerly extension of the warm East Australian Current. At the cooler temperatures of a polewards distribution limit, growth of a species could be slower, potentially leading to a bigger body size and resulting in a slower population turnover, affecting population viability at the extreme of the distribution. Growth rates, body size, and life span of O. tetricus were examined at the leading edge of a polewards range shift in Tasmanian waters (40°S and 147°E) throughout 2011. Octopus tetricus had a relatively small body size and short lifespan of approximately 11 months that, despite cooler temperatures, would allow a high rate of population turnover and may facilitate the population increase necessary for successful establishment in the new extended area of the range. Temperature, food availability and gender appear to influence growth rate. Individuals that hatched during cooler and more productive conditions, but grew during warming conditions, exhibited faster growth rates and reached smaller body sizes than individuals that hatched into warmer waters but grew during cooling conditions. This study suggests that fast growth, small body size and associated rapid population turnover may facilitate the range shift of O. tetricus into Tasmanian waters.

Combination of a fast white-light interferometer with a phase shifting interferometric line sensor for form measurements of precision components

Science.gov (United States)

Laubach, Sören; Ehret, Gerd; Riebling, Jörg; Lehmann, Peter

2017-06-01

By means of an interferometric line sensor system, the form of a specimen can be measured by stitching several overlapping circular subapertures to form one 3D topography. This concept is very flexible and can be adapted to many different specimen geometries. The sensor is based on a Michelson interferometer configuration that consists of a rapidly oscillating reference mirror in combination with a high-speed line-scan camera. Due to the overlapping areas, movement errors of the scan axes can be corrected. In order to automatically adjust the line sensor in such a way that it is perpendicular to the measurement surface at a fixed working distance, a white-light interferometer was included in the line-based form-measuring system. By means of a fast white-light scan, the optimum angle of the sensor (with respect to the surface of the specimen) is determined in advance, before scanning the specimen using the line-based sinusoidal phase shifting interferometer. This produces accurate measurement results and makes it possible to also measure non-rotational specimens. In this paper, the setup of the line-based form-measuring system is introduced and the measurement strategy of the sensor adjustment using an additional white-light interferometer is presented. Furthermore, the traceability chain of the system and the main error influences are discussed. Examples of form measurement results are shown.

Life-forms and seasonal patterns in the pteridophytes in Zambia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jan Kornaś

2015-01-01

Full Text Available 146 species of pteridophytes occurring in Zambia were classified into Raunkiaer's life-form classes. The hemicryptophytes are dominant and include the most widely distributed species. The phanerophytes (tree-ferns and lianas and the epiphytes are rather scarce and limited to or concentrated in the higher-rainfall areas in the northern part of the country. Simplified diagrams of periodicity were constructed for all Zambian pteridophyte species. Three major types of seasonal pattern of growth and dormancy were distinguished: the evergreen type, the poikilohydrous type, and the "summer-green" type. The first of them is connected with the local conditions of continuously wet non-zonal sites, while the two others clearly reflect the peculiarities of the zonal climate of Zambia.

Effects of a 12-hour shift on mood states and sleepiness of Neonatal Intensive Care Unit nurses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tadeu Sartini Ferreira

Full Text Available Abstract OBJECTIVE To assess the effect of a 12-hour shift on mood states and sleepiness at the beginning and end of the shift. METHOD Quantitative, cross-sectional and descriptive study.It was conducted with 70 neonatal intensive care unit nurses. The Brunel Mood Scale (BRUMS, Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS, and a socio-demographic profile questionnaire were administered. RESULTS When the KSS and BRUMS scores were compared at the beginning of the shift associations were found with previous sleep quality (p ≤ 0.01, and quality of life (p ≤ 0.05. Statistical significant effects on BRUMS scores were also associated with previous sleep quality, quality of life, liquid ingestion, healthy diet, marital status, and shift work stress. When the beginning and end of the shift were compared, different KSS scores were seen in the group of all nurses and in the night shift one. Significant vigor and fatigue scores were observed within shift groups. CONCLUSION A good night’s sleep has positive effects on the individual`s mood states both at the beginning and the end of the shift. The self-perception of a good quality of life also positively influenced KSS and BRUMS scores at the beginning and end of the shift. Proper liquid ingestion led to better KSS and BRUMS scores.

Forming Life: Aesthetic Awareness in Mental Health Care

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arild Berg

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Using cross-disciplinary perspectives from artistic research, aesthetic theory, and mental health care, this article discusses qualities in sensuous surroundings in mental health facilities. Although the background for the article is in the increased awareness in aesthetic research concerning sensuous surroundings and their connection to health and well-being, this aesthetic research is only reflected to a small extent in research on mental health care surroundings. A further development of these perspectives is suggested in this article by introducing the concept of life forms from the art theorist Nicolas Bourriaud and the concepts of presentation and perception in theatrical communication from theatre researcher Willmar Sauter. These theories are discussed and exemplified on the basis of data from two mental health care wards: one from a psychogeriatric ward and the other from a polyclinic for eating disorders. Some essential qualities identified in the examples were that aesthetic environment and activity could be seen as formative to the “inner landscape”, and that different forms of sensuous activation and interaction could help patients escape communicative isolation. It is further demonstrated how participatory strategies can challenge artistic practice and that art can contribute to a health promoting and communicative space in mental health care. In the discussion section, it is argued that an activating, and possibly empowering, environment can be created through an increased awareness of the aesthetic strategies used in health care institutions. The study seeks to contribute to knowledge transfer in artistic practice and healthcare practice, as a part of a cross-disciplinary art didactic discourse, which intends to address specific societal challenges.

Precarity in late life: rethinking dementia as a 'frailed' old age.

Science.gov (United States)

Grenier, Amanda; Lloyd, Liz; Phillipson, Chris

2017-02-01

Approaches to ageing that are organised around productivity, success, and active late life have contributed to views of dementia as an unsuccessful, failed or 'frailed' old age. Operating through dominant frameworks, socio-cultural constructs and organisational practices, the 'frailties' of the body and mind are often used to mark the boundaries of health and illness in late life, and shape responses accordingly. Our concern is that both the taken for granted and the 'imagined' can further marginalise persons who occupy the locations of dementia and disablement. This article analyses the extent to which frailty and dementia are better understood in the context of new forms of insecurity affecting the life course. Drawing on the concept of 'precarity', this article shifts debates on the 'fourth age' away from age or stage-based thinking, into a recognition of the shared vulnerability and responsibilities for care. The argument of this article is that 'precarity' represents a 'new form of ageing', notably as regards its impact on the upper extremes of the life course. The article concludes with a call for a response that is grounded in an acknowledgement of the fragility and limitations which affect human lives, this requiring grounding in inclusive forms of citizenship. © 2017 Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness.

Mechanical spectral shift reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Doshi, P.K.; George, R.A.; Dollard, W.J.

1982-01-01

A mechanical spectral shift arrangement for controlling a nuclear reactor includes a plurality of reactor coolant displacer members which are inserted into a reactor core at the beginning of the core life to reduce the volume of reactor coolant-moderator in the core at start-up. However, as the reactivity of the core declines with fuel depletion, selected displacer members are withdrawn from the core at selected time intervals to increase core moderation at a time when fuel reactivity is declining. (author)

Life stage, not climate change, explains observed tree range shifts

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Máliš, F.; Kopecký, Martin; Petřík, Petr; Vladovič, J.; Merganič, J.; Vida, T.

2016-01-01

Roč. 22, č. 5 (2016), s. 1904-1914 ISSN 1354-1013 R&D Projects: GA MŠk(CZ) EE2.3.20.0267; GA ČR GPP505/10/P173 EU Projects: European Commission(XE) 278065 - LONGWOOD Institutional support: RVO:67985939 Keywords : elevational range shift * vegetation resurvey * temperate forests Subject RIV: EH - Ecology, Behaviour Impact factor: 8.502, year: 2016

Effects of Shift and Night Work in the Offshore Petroleum Industry: A Systematic Review

Science.gov (United States)

FOSSUM, Ingrid Nesdal; BJORVATN, Bjørn; WAAGE, Siri; PALLESEN, Ståle

2013-01-01

Shift and night work are associated with several negative outcomes. The aim of this study was to make a systematic review of all studies which examine effects of shift and night work in the offshore petroleum industry, to synthesize the knowledge of how shift work offshore may affect the workers. Searches for studies concerning effects on health, sleep, adaptation, safety, working conditions, family- and social life and turnover were conducted via the databases Web of Knowledge, PsycINFO and PubMed. Search was also conducted through inspection of reference lists of relevant literature. We identified studies describing effects of shift work in terms of sleep, adaptation and re-adaptation of circadian rhythms, health outcomes, safety and accidents, family and social life, and work perceptions. Twenty-nine studies were included. In conclusion, the longitudinal studies were generally consistent in showing that adaptation to night work was complete within one to two weeks of work, while re-adaptation to a daytime schedule was slower. Shift workers reported more sleep problems than day workers. The data regarding mental and physical health, family and social life, and accidents yielded inconsistent results, and were insufficient as a base for drawing general conclusions. More research in the field is warranted. PMID:23803497

Impact of shift work on critical care nurses.

Science.gov (United States)

Pryce, Cheryl

2016-01-01

Shift work is a common practice in the health care field to maintain 24-hour patient care. The purpose of this article is to recognize the negative impact of shift work on critical care nurses, and identify strategies to mitigate these effects. A review of the literature was completed, using the search terms: 'shift work, 'critical care', impact, and health. The literature revealed that shift work has an adverse effect on the health of a nurse. Some of the health implications include stress, sleep deprivation, cardiovascular disease, gastrointestinal symptoms, and mental health illnesses. Furthermore, shift work impacts a nurse's social life and may result in patient harm. Strategies to reduce the negative impact of shift work will be focused on educating critical care nurses and managers. These strategies include frontline staff maintaining a moderate amount of exercise, sustaining a well-balanced diet, using relaxation techniques, reducing the use of cigarettes, working an eight-hour work day, and napping during scheduled breaks. Recommendations for managers include implementing quiet time at the workplace, providing a safe space for staff to nap during breaks, facilitating an eight-hour work day, and encouraging a multidisciplinary team approach when managing workload.

Environmental tax shifting in Canada : theory and application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taylor, A.; Hornung, R.; Cairns, S.

2003-03-01

Canada's leading energy and resource companies along with the Pembina Institute for Appropriate Development have collaborated in the Triple E Tax Shift Research Collaborative which examines the use of environmental tax shifting in Canada. The objective is to design, evaluate and advance federal and provincial environmental tax shifts that will influence individual behaviour and decisions to improve ecological integrity through measurable reductions in materials and energy throughput, and to maintain or increase economic competitiveness through the creation of a tax framework that would encourage businesses to improve energy efficiency. Another objective is to increase employment and social benefits through more employment opportunities and improved quality of life. Environmental tax shifting means shifting a portion of a government's tax base onto goods, services and activities associated with harmful environmental impacts that add to societal costs. Tax shifting can be implemented by offering rebates to consumers of environmental significant goods, or by adjustments to existing taxes so that environmentally sensitive goods are taxed at a lower rate than environmentally harmful goods and services. Environmental tax shifting can also be implemented by reducing existing environmental taxes and introducing a carbon dioxide emissions tax. This report is the first product of the collaboration and is intended to promote public dialogue on the subject and identify ways to implement environmental tax shifting. tabs., figs

Isotope effects on chemical shifts in tautomeric systems with double proton transfer. Citronin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hansen, P.E.; Langgard, M.; Bolvig, S.

1998-01-01

Primary and secondary deuterium isotope effects on 1 H and 13 C chemical shifts are measured in citrinin, a tautomeric compound with an unusual doubly intramolecularly hydrogen bonded structure. The isotope effects are to a large extent dominated by equilibrium contributions and deuteration leads to more of the deuterated enol forms rather than the deuterated acid form. 1 H 13 C and 17 O nuclear shieldings are calculated using density functional ab initio methods. A very good correlation between calculated nuclear shieldings and experimental 1 H and 13 C chemical shifts is obtained. The tautomeric equilibrium can be analyzed based on the isotope effects on B-6 and C-8 carbons and shows an increase in the o-quinone form on lowering the temperature. Furthermore, upon deuteration the largest equilibrium shift is found for deuteration at OH-8 and the shift in the tautomeric equilibrium upon deuteration at OH-8 and the shift in the tautomeric equilibrium upon deuteration is increasing at lower temperature. (author)

Progress in the Use of Rapid Molecular Techniques to Detect Life Forms in Soil: Implications for Interplanetary Astrobiology Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Warmflash, D.; Larios-Sanz, M.; Fox, G. E.; McKay, D. S.

2002-01-01

To demonstrate the feasibility of two promising technologies, we have applied Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) as well as probes that target the 16S rRNA molecule to search for life in terrestrial soil samples, known to contain numerous life forms. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.

Shift work and cognition in the Nurses' Health Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Devore, Elizabeth E; Grodstein, Francine; Schernhammer, Eva S

2013-10-15

Rotating night-shift work, which can disrupt circadian rhythm, may adversely affect long-term health. Experimental studies indicate that circadian rhythm disruption might specifically accelerate brain aging; thus, we prospectively examined shift-work history at midlife as associated with cognitive function among older women in the Nurses' Health Study. Women reported their history of rotating night-shift work in 1988 and participated in telephone-based cognitive interviews between 1995 and 2001; interviews included 6 cognitive tests that were subsequently repeated 3 times, at 2-year intervals. We focused on shift work through midlife (here, ages 58-68 years) because cognitive decline is thought to begin during this period. Using multivariable-adjusted linear regression, we evaluated mean differences in both "average cognitive status" at older age (averaging cognitive scores from all 4 interviews) and rates of cognitive decline over time across categories of shift-work duration at midlife (none, 1-9, 10-19, or ≥20 years). There was little association between shift work and average cognition in later life or between shift work and cognitive decline. Overall, this study does not clearly support the hypothesis that shift-work history in midlife has long-term effects on cognition in older adults.

Shift work, emotional labour and psychological well-being of nursing staff

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christel Vermaak

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This study explored the effect of emotional labour and the psychological experience of shift work on the psychological well-being at work (PWBW of long term care nursing staff (n = 206. The ‘psychological experience of shift work’ construct defines the perception of the negative effect that working shifts has on the employees’ daily life. Correlation and multiple regression analyses were conducted. Support was found for the negative relationships between the psychological experience of shift work and PWBW, as well as the emotional labour dimension of surface acting and PWBW. A hierarchical regression analysis suggested that, when controlling for the effect of emotional labour and certain demographic variables (including number of dependents, tenure and actual shift worked, a significant amount of unique variance in PWBW, could be accounted for by the psychological experience of shift work. These results indicate that the PWBW of nursing staff is not only influenced by which shift the individual is on (i.e. day or night shift, but more so by the individuals’ psychological experience of shift work.

Circadian disruption and health: Shift work as a harbinger of the toll taken by electric lighting.

Science.gov (United States)

Stevens, Richard G

Electric light is one of the signature inventions of human beings. A problem, however, is that electric light can confuse our endogenous circadian rhythmicity. It has now become apparent that circadian biology is fundamental to the functioning and adaptation of almost all life forms. In the modern world, everyone is exposed to electric light during the day and night, and thereby can experience some level of circadian disruption. Perhaps as a canary in the coal mine, study of people whose work hours include nighttime (shift workers) is beginning to yield insights on the adverse health effects of circadian disruption from electric light.

Bayesian Estimation Of Shift Point In Poisson Model Under Asymmetric Loss Functions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

uma srivastava

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The paper deals with estimating  shift point which occurs in any sequence of independent observations  of Poisson model in statistical process control. This shift point occurs in the sequence when  i.e. m  life data are observed. The Bayes estimator on shift point 'm' and before and after shift process means are derived for symmetric and asymmetric loss functions under informative and non informative priors. The sensitivity analysis of Bayes estimators are carried out by simulation and numerical comparisons with  R-programming. The results shows the effectiveness of shift in sequence of Poisson disribution .

Effect of the first night shift period on sleep in young nurse students.

Science.gov (United States)

Fietze, Ingo; Knoop, Karsten; Glos, Martin; Holzhausen, Martin; Peter, Jan Giso; Penzel, Thomas

2009-12-01

In young hospital nurses being exposed to a night shift work schedule for the first time in their occupational life, sleep quality is investigated quantitatively. A main sleep period and supplementary sleep periods were defined and analyzed to investigate sleep behavior and quality. A total of 30 young nurses (26 women, 4 men), mean age 20.2 +/- 2.1 years participated. A 3 week nursing school period was followed by a 3 week work period with a 3-5 night shift sub-period and recovery days. Sleep-wake behavior was assessed with an actigraph, sleep diaries, Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS), and quality of life was assessed with a standard questionnaire (SF-36). Comparing the school period with the work shift period when excluding recovery days after night shift period significant increase of total sleep time within 24 h was found during the work days (ANOVA P night shift sub-period, there was just a small decline of the main sleep period at day (n.s.) which was not compensated by supplementary sleep episodes. The supplementary sleep during work day varied between 11 min (school period) and 18 min after recovery days from night shift (n.s.). Young healthy nurses tolerate the first night shift exposure very well, according to objective and subjective parameters related to quality of sleep. An increased sleep need during work days lead to longer total sleep time, but do not lead to longer supplementary sleep episodes. Young nurses tolerate the first rotating shift period and the first night shift period very well.

Dietary habits among persons hired on shift work.

Science.gov (United States)

Strzemecka, Joanna; Bojar, Iwona; Strzemecka, Ewa; Owoc, Alfred

2014-01-01

Shift-work determinates irregular nutrition habits. The quality as well as the quantity of meals consumed by shift-workers can significantly affects their health. The aim of this study was to evaluate the dietary habits of people performing shift work in the Bogdanka mine. The study was carried out in the Bogdanka mine in Leczna. The questionnaire, which was designed by the author of this dissertation, was conducted among 700 shift-workers, working underground. The results were subjected to statistical analysis based on STATISTICA v. 7.1 (StatSoft, Poland) software. Nearly half of respondents reported regular consumption of meals (40.0%) Interviewees admitted having warm meals during the day (81.4%). The most frequently consumed meal during the day was the hot one (50.9%), three meals and more were consumed the least frequently (8.1%). Almost half of respondents considered their eating habits as inappropriate (46.3%). Among those, nearly half (68.2%) stated that shift - work is the reason for their nutrition habits. More than half of respondents (66.0%) admitted that shift work hampers regular consumption of meals. Shift work makes nourishment and regular consumption difficult. It contributes to the limited amount of warm meals eaten during the day. In order to maintain preventive health care and the improvement of quality of life, shift workers should be provided with an easier access to meals (including warm one) at specified times of the day.

The Ethical Implications for Discovery of Extraterrestrial Life

Science.gov (United States)

Stuart, Jill

2012-05-01

Ethical frameworks seek to normatively structure our behaviour and preconstitute expectations with regards to moral activity towards each other as well as other creatures and even non-sentient objects such as the environment. This paper considers how ongoing ethical discussions relating to earth-based interactions can be used as analogies to inform nascent conversations about potential future encounters with extraterrestrial life—while also highlighting where these geocentric conversations may fail to capture the unique dynamics of potential extraterrestrial encounters. The paper specifically considers the spectrum of ethical frameworks currently used in earth-based interactions and how they might apply outside the geocentric referent; from ethics towards non- sentient life on earth such as plants and the environment; to ethics towards sentient but ‘unintelligent' life; to intelligent life nonetheless deemed less intelligent than humans. Next the paper considers interactions that we have yet to (knowingly) have encountered here on earth: the ethics of interactions with life more intelligent than ourselves; and finally the ethics of interaction with robotic ‘post-biological' forms, which some specialists in extraterrestrial communications have speculated will likely be the form of ‘creatures' to be encountered should contact with extraterrestrials ever be made. Finally the paper will address deeper philosophical-ethical questions about the significance of such an exercise in shifting ethical frameworks from an anthropocentric perspective.

Tool-life prediction under multi-cycle loading during metal forming: a feasibility study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hu Yiran

2015-01-01

Full Text Available In the present research, the friction and wear behaviour of a hard coating were studied by using ball-on-disc tests to simulate the wear process of the coated tools for sheet metal forming process. The evolution of the friction coefficient followed a typical dual-plateau pattern, i.e. at the initial stage of sliding, the friction coefficient was relatively low, followed by a sharp increase due to the breakdown of the coatings after a certain number of cyclic dynamic loadings. This phenomenon was caused by the interactive response between the friction and wear from a coating tribo-system, which is often neglected by metal forming researchers, and constant friction coefficient values are normally used in the finite element (FE simulations to represent the complex tribological nature at the contact interfaces. Meanwhile, most of the current FE simulations consider single-cycle loading processes, whereas many metal-forming operations are conducted in a form of multi-cycle loading. Therefore, a novel friction/wear interactive friction model was developed to, simultaneously, characterise the evolutions of friction coefficient and the remaining thickness of the coating layer, to enable the wear life of coated tooling to be predicted. The friction model was then implemented into the FE simulation of a sheet metal forming process for feasibility study.

Age-related differences in the control of weight-shifting within the surface of support

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Vries, E.; Caljouw, S.R.; Coppens, M.J.M.; Postema, K.; Verkerke, Gijsbertus Jacob; Lamoth, C.J.C.

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND AND AIM: An important reason for falling in elderly is incorrect weight-shifting¹. In many daily life activities quick and accurate weight-shifting is needed to maintain balance, especially in situations when balance is suddenly disturbed and anticipation on the upcoming movement is

The impact of shift work on intensive care nurses' lives outside work

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Hanne Irene; Larsen, Jette West; Thomsen, Tina Damgaard

2018-01-01

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To examine how shift work affects intensive care nurses' lives outside work. BACKGROUND: Shift work is unavoidable for many nurses. When attempting to minimise negative effects of shift work it is important to identify areas which affect nurses working shifts. DESIGN: A cross...... subsequently to plan interventions aimed at decreasing the negative effects. Interventions may include nurses having increased influence on their work schedules and education in sleep hygiene and dietary habits. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.......AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To examine how shift work affects intensive care nurses' lives outside work. BACKGROUND: Shift work is unavoidable for many nurses. When attempting to minimise negative effects of shift work it is important to identify areas which affect nurses working shifts. DESIGN: A cross......-sectional study. METHODS: A questionnaire survey among Danish intensive care nurses concerning experiences with shift work and family life, spare time activities, sleep and health. RESULTS: A total of 114 nurses (88%) participated. Shift work was found to influence the opportunities for spare time activities...

The development of the temporal macrostructure of life narratives across adolescence: beginnings, linear narrative form, and endings.

Science.gov (United States)

Habermas, Tilmann; Ehlert-Lerche, Silvia; de Silveira, Cybèle

2009-04-01

The ontogeny of the ability to describe people culminates in adolescence in the development of the life story. An overarching temporal macrostructure and framing by a prehistory and a future-oriented global evaluation of life helps integrate disparate autobiographical memories into a coherent story. Two life narratives each of 8-, 12-, 16-, and 20-year-olds (N=102) were analyzed in terms of how well-formed their beginnings and endings are and how much they follow a linear temporal order. By age 12, the majority of life narratives began with birth, ended in the present, and followed a chronological order. In late adolescence and early adulthood, more elaborate birth narratives and retrospective evaluations of life and outlooks into the future were added. These formal characteristics were related to biographical practices, biographical knowledge, and fluid intelligence. Text-analytical methods are proposed as a method for the analysis of biographical and autobiographical reasoning and understanding.

Organizational Life Cycles and Shifting Criteria of Effectiveness: Some Preliminary Evidence

OpenAIRE

Robert E. Quinn; Kim Cameron

1983-01-01

This paper discusses the relationships between stage of development in organizational life cycles and organizational effectiveness. We begin the paper by reviewing nine models of organizational life cycles that have been proposed in the literature. Each of these models identifies certain characteristics that typify organizations in different stages of development. A summary model of life cycle stages is derived that integrates each of these nine models. Next, a framework of organizational eff...

'From activating towards caring': shifts in care approaches at the end of life of people with intellectual disabilities; a qualitative study of the perspectives of relatives, care-staff and physicians.

Science.gov (United States)

Bekkema, Nienke; de Veer, Anke J E; Hertogh, Cees M P M; Francke, Anneke L

2015-07-25

Professionals and relatives increasingly have to deal with people with intellectual disabilities (ID) who are in need of end-of-life care. This is a specific type of care that may require a different approach to the focus on participation that currently characterizes the care for people with ID. This paper describes the shifts in care approaches and attitudes that relatives and professionals perceive as the death of a person with ID approaches, as well as the values underlying these shifts. A qualitative design was used to reconstruct the cases of twelve recently deceased people with ID. Relatives and professionals who were closest to the person at the end of their life were interviewed. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and data were analyzed inductively, using elements of thematic analysis. Five shifts were found: 1) adapting to a new strategy of comforting care, taking over tasks and symptom relief, 2) interweaving of emotional and professional involvement, 3) stronger reliance on the joint interpretation of signals expressing distress and pain, 4) magnified feeling of responsibility in medical decisions, 5) intensified caring relationship between 'two families': relatives and care staff. Six relational values were behind these shifts: 'being there' for the person with ID, 'being responsive' to the person's needs, 'reflection' on their own emotions and caring relationships, 'attentiveness' to the ID person's wishes and expressions of distress, 'responsibility' for taking joint decisions in the best interests of the person, and 'openness to cooperation and sharing' the care with others. End-of-life care for people with ID involves curtailing expectations of participation and skill acquirement, and an increase in teamwork featuring intensified comforting care, symptom management and medical decision making. Three caring relationships need to be fostered: the relationship with the person with ID, relationships among professionals and the relationship between

Generating All Circular Shifts by Context-Free Grammars in Chomsky Normal Form

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Asveld, P.R.J.

2005-01-01

Let $\\{a_1,a_2,\\ldots,a_n\\}$ be an alphabet of $n$ symbols and let $C_n$ be the language of circular shifts of the word $a_1a_2\\cdots a_n$; so $C_n = \\{a_1a_2\\cdots a_{n-1}a_n, a_2a_3\\cdots a_na_1, \\ldots,a_na_1\\cdots a_{n-2}a_{n-1}\\}$. We discuss a few families of context-free grammars $G_n$

Generating All Circular Shifts by Context-Free Grammars in Chomsky Normal Form

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Asveld, P.R.J.

2006-01-01

Let $\\{a_1,a_2,\\ldots,a_n\\}$ be an alphabet of $n$ symbols and let $C_n$ be the language of circular shifts of the word $a_1a_2\\cdots a_n$; so $C_n = \\{a_1a_2\\cdots a_{n-1}a_n, a_2a_3\\cdots a_na_1, \\ldots,a_na_1\\cdots a_{n-2}a_{n-1}\\}$. We discuss a few families of context-free grammars $G_n$

Objective working hour characteristics and work-life conflict among hospital employees in the Finnish public sector study.

Science.gov (United States)

Karhula, Kati; Puttonen, Sampsa; Ropponen, Annina; Koskinen, Aki; Ojajärvi, Anneli; Kivimäki, Mika; Härmä, Mikko

2017-01-01

This epidemiological cohort study, based on Finnish public sector data, investigated the associations between objective working hour characteristics and work-life conflict in day and shift work. The comprehensive data of hospital workers (n = 8 931, 92% women, average age 45 years), consisted of survey responses from 2012, linked with the payroll data of working hour characteristics from 91 days preceding the survey. Logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the associations between working hour characteristics and experiencing work-life conflict often/very often. The analyses were adjusted for age (50 years), sex, level of education, marital status, number of small (0-6 years) and school-aged (7-18 years) children, and the overall stressfulness of the life situation. We also conducted stratified analyses of age and sex on the basis of significant interactions. Difficulties in combining work and life were more often associated with shift work without night shifts and shift work with night shifts than with day work (41% and 34 versus 27%; OR for shift work with night shifts 1.78, 95% CI 1.59-2.00, OR for shift work without night shifts 1.42, 95% CI 1.26-1.60). A high proportion (> 25%) of long (> 40h, (OR 1.26, 95% 1.14-1.39) and very long (> 48h, OR 1.31, 95% CI 1.15-1.49) weekly working hours were associated with work-life conflict, and in the stratified analysis, the latter was also true among women (OR 1.54, 95% CI 1.25-1.89). Of the unsocial working hour characteristics, a relatively large amount (> 10% of all shifts) of evening (OR 1.56, 95% CI 1.41-1.72) and night shifts (OR 1.46, 95%CI 1.32-1.61), a high proportion (> 25% of all shifts) of quick returns (work (OR 1.44, 95% CI 1.31-1.58) were associated with work-life conflict. A large amount of single days off (> 25% of all days off) was associated with work-life conflict among men (OR 1.90, 95% CI 1.11-3.25), but not in the whole sample. When the two types of shift work were analyzed separately

Organic-soluble lanthanide nuclear magnetic resonance shift reagents for sulfonium and isothiouronium salts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wenzel, T.J.; Zaia, J.

1987-01-01

Lanthanide complexes of the formula [Ln(fod) 4 ] - (FOD, 6,6,7,7,8,8,8-heptafluoro-2,2-dimethyl-3,5-octanedione) are effective organic-soluble nuclear magnetic resonance shift reagents for sulfonium and isothiouronium salts. The shift reagent is formed in solution from Ln(fod) 3 and Ag(fod) or K(fod). The selection of Ag(fod) or K(fod) in forming the shift reagent is dependent on the anion of the organic salt. Ag(fod) is more effective with halide salts, whereas K(fod) is preferred with tetrafluoroborate salts. Resolution of diastereotopic hydrogen atoms was observed in the shifted spectra of certain substrates. Enantiomeric resolution was obtained in the spectrum of sec-butylisothiouronium chloride with a chiral shift reagent. The reagents can be employed in solvents such as chloroform and benzene

Reliability testing of the Danish version of the Kidney Disease Quality of Life Short Form

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Molsted, Stig; Heaf, James; Prescott, Lotte

2005-01-01

. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Translation into Danish and back-translation into English were performed. Pilot, field and internal consistency reliability tests were performed. RESULTS: Cronbach's alpha coefficients for the internal reliability test ranged from 0.77 to 0.93 for the eight generic scales. In a test......OBJECTIVE: The questionnaire Kidney Disease Quality of Life Short Form version 1.3 (KDQOL-SF) is valuable for assessing the health-related quality of life in patients treated with chronic dialysis. The aim of this study was to translate and test the reliability of the KDQOL-SF for use in Denmark...... involving all patients, two of the disease-specific scales had Cronbach's alpha coefficients of test of the scores...

Global regime shift dynamics of catastrophic sea urchin overgrazing

Science.gov (United States)

Ling, S. D.; Scheibling, R. E.; Rassweiler, A.; Johnson, C. R.; Shears, N.; Connell, S. D.; Salomon, A. K.; Norderhaug, K. M.; Pérez-Matus, A.; Hernández, J. C.; Clemente, S.; Blamey, L. K.; Hereu, B.; Ballesteros, E.; Sala, E.; Garrabou, J.; Cebrian, E.; Zabala, M.; Fujita, D.; Johnson, L. E.

2015-01-01

A pronounced, widespread and persistent regime shift among marine ecosystems is observable on temperate rocky reefs as a result of sea urchin overgrazing. Here, we empirically define regime-shift dynamics for this grazing system which transitions between productive macroalgal beds and impoverished urchin barrens. Catastrophic in nature, urchin overgrazing in a well-studied Australian system demonstrates a discontinuous regime shift, which is of particular management concern as recovery of desirable macroalgal beds requires reducing grazers to well below the initial threshold of overgrazing. Generality of this regime-shift dynamic is explored across 13 rocky reef systems (spanning 11 different regions from both hemispheres) by compiling available survey data (totalling 10 901 quadrats surveyed in situ) plus experimental regime-shift responses (observed during a total of 57 in situ manipulations). The emergent and globally coherent pattern shows urchin grazing to cause a discontinuous ‘catastrophic’ regime shift, with hysteresis effect of approximately one order of magnitude in urchin biomass between critical thresholds of overgrazing and recovery. Different life-history traits appear to create asymmetry in the pace of overgrazing versus recovery. Once shifted, strong feedback mechanisms provide resilience for each alternative state thus defining the catastrophic nature of this regime shift. Importantly, human-derived stressors can act to erode resilience of desirable macroalgal beds while strengthening resilience of urchin barrens, thus exacerbating the risk, spatial extent and irreversibility of an unwanted regime shift for marine ecosystems.

Blue shift in optical absorption, magnetism and light-induced superparamagnetism in γ-Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3} nanoparticles formed in dendrimer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Domracheva, Natalia E., E-mail: ndomracheva@gmail.com; Vorobeva, Valerya E. [Zavoisky Kazan Physical-Technical Institute (Russian Federation); Gruzdev, Matvey S. [Institute of Solution Chemistry (Russian Federation); Pyataev, Andrew V. [Kazan Federal University (Russian Federation)

2015-02-15

We are presenting the investigation of the optical, magnetic, and photoinduced superparamagnetic properties of single-domain γ-Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3} nanoparticles (NPs) with diameters of about 2.5 nm formed in second-generation poly(propylene imine) dendrimer. The optical absorption studies indicated direct allowed transition with the band gap (4.5 eV), which is blue shift with respect to the value of the bulk material. Low-temperature blocking of the NPs magnetic moments at 18 K is determined by SQUID measurements. The influence of pulsed laser irradiation on the superparamagnetic properties of γ-Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3} NPs was studied by EPR spectroscopy. It has been shown that irradiation of the sample held in vacuo and cooled in zero magnetic field to 6.9 K leads to the appearance of a new EPR signal, which decays immediately after the irradiation is stopped. The appearance and disappearance of this new signal can be repeated many times at 6.9 K when we turn on/turn off the laser. We suppose that the generation of conduction band electrons by irradiation into the band gap of the γ-Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3} changes the superparamagnetic properties of NPs. Graphical Abstract: Features of the behavior of single-domain γ-Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3} nanoparticles formed in dendrimer were found by UV-Vis and EPR spectroscopy: “blue” shift in optical absorption, a significant increase in the band gap width and variation of superparamagnetic properties under light irradiation.

Dietary habits among persons hired on shift work

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joanna Strzemecka

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Introduction. Shift-work determinates irregular nutrition habits. The quality as well as the quantity of meals consumed by shift-workers can significantly affects their health. Objective. The aim of this study was to evaluate the dietary habits of people performing shift work in the Bogdanka mine. Material and Methods. The study was carried out in the Bogdanka mine in Leczna. The questionnaire, which was designed by the author of this dissertation, was conducted among 700 shift-workers, working underground. The results were subjected to statistical analysis based on STATISTICA v. 7.1 (StatSoft, Poland software. Results. Nearly half of respondents reported regular consumption of meals (40.0% Interviewees admitted having warm meals during the day (81.4%. The most frequently consumed meal during the day was the hot one (50.9%, three meals and more were consumed the least frequently (8.1%. Almost half of respondents considered their eating habits as inappropriate (46.3%. Among those, nearly half (68.2% stated that shift – work is the reason for their nutrition habits. More than half of respondents (66.0% admitted that shift work hampers regular consumption of meals. Conclusions. Shift work makes nourishment and regular consumption difficult. It contributes to the limited amount of warm meals eaten during the day. In order to maintain preventive health care and the improvement of quality of life, shift workers should be provided with an easier access to meals (including warm one at specified times of the day.

Shift Colors

Science.gov (United States)

Publications & News Shift Colors Pages default Sign In NPC Logo Banner : Shift Colors Search Navy Personnel Command > Reference Library > Publications & News > Shift Colors Top Link Bar Navy Personnel Library Expand Reference Library Quick Launch Shift Colors Shift Colors Archives Mailing Address How to

Application of freezing and radiation technology on shelf-life of formed minced pork

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Todorovic, M.; Kustudic, M.

1994-01-01

The microflora of frozen, minced, formed pork was investigated with the aim to estimate the shelf-life of this product. The isolated microflora from frozen meat was identified by classical and up-to-date methods. The API 50 CHB system was applied for the Bacillus strains, whereas API 20A and enzymatic quick method API RAPID ID 32A was used for the Clostridium strains. Biochemical capabilities reading-out and identifications were performed on ATB instruments on the computer charts. The flavourings (pepper) were pretreated by radiation technology in the preventive purposes

Influence of motive activity on forming of proof skills of healthy way of life of students of higher educational establishments.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Trotsenko V.V.

2010-08-01

Full Text Available The estimation and the analysis of impellent activity of students is considered. The importance of impellent activity in forming a healthy way of life of students is shown. In research the data of questionnaire of students are used. sports priorities of students are revealed should to undertake in attention by development of the program of physical training. The wide spectrum of the reasons which interfere with exercises is revealed. These reasons should be considered during individual work with each student. It is proved, that impellent activity influences forming of proof skills of a healthy way of life of students.

Novice Nurses’ Perception of Working Night Shifts: A Qualitative Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohsen Faseleh Jahromi

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Nursing is always accompanied by shift working and nurses in Iran have to work night shifts in some stages of their professional life. Therefore, the present study aimed to describe the novice nurses’ perception of working night shifts. Methods: The present qualitative study was conducted on 20 novice nurses working in two university hospitals of Jahrom, Iran. The study data were collected through focus group interviews. All the interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using constant comparative analysis and qualitative content analysis. Results: The study findings revealed five major themes of value system, physical and psychological problems, social relationships, organizational problems, and appropriate opportunity. Conclusion: The study presented a deep understanding of the novice nurses’ perception of working night shifts, which can be used by the managers as a basis for organizing health and treatment systems.

Lanthanide shift reagents, binding, shift mechanisms and exchange

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boer, J.W.M. de

1977-01-01

Paramagnetic lanthanide shift reagents, when added to a solution of a substrate, induce shifts in the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrum of the substrate molecules. The induced shifts contain information about the structure of the shift reagent substrate complex. The structural information, however, may be difficult to extract because of the following effects: (1) different complexes between shift reagent and substrate may be present in solution, e.g. 1:1 and 1:2 complexes, and the shift observed is a weighed average of the shifts of the substrate nuclei in the different complexes; (2) the Fermi contact interaction, arising from the spin density at the nucleus, contributes to the induced shift; (3) chemical exchange effects may complicate the NMR spectrum. In this thesis, the results of an investigation into the influence of these effects on the NMR spectra of solutions containing a substrate and LSR are presented. The equations describing the pseudo contact and the Fermi contact shift are derived. In addition, it is shown how the modified Bloch equations describing the effect of the chemical exchange processes occurring in the systems studied can be reduced to the familiar equations for a two-site exchange case. The binding of mono- and bifunctional ethers to the shift reagent are reported. An analysis of the induced shifts is given. Finally, the results of the experiments performed to study the exchange behavior of dimethoxyethane and heptafluorodimethyloctanedionato ligands are presented

Tilt shift determinations with spatial-carrier phase-shift method in temporal phase-shift interferometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Qian; Wang, Yang; He, Jianguo; Ji, Fang; Wang, Baorui

2014-01-01

An algorithm is proposed to deal with tilt-shift errors in temporal phase-shift interferometry (PSI). In the algorithm, the tilt shifts are detected with the spatial-carrier phase-shift (SCPS) method and then the tilt shifts are applied as priori information to the least-squares fittings of phase retrieval. The algorithm combines the best features of the SCPS and the temporal PSI. The algorithm could be applied to interferograms of arbitrary aperture without data extrapolation for the Fourier transform is not involved. Simulations and experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of the algorithm. The statistics of simulation results show a satisfied accuracy in detecting tilt-shift errors. Comparisons of the measurements with and without environmental vibration show that the proposed algorithm could compensate tilt-shift errors and retrieve wavefront phase accurately. The algorithm provides an approach to retrieve wavefront phase for the temporal PSI in vibrating environment. (paper)

Compensation for unfavorable characteristics of irregular individual shift rotas.

Science.gov (United States)

Knauth, Peter; Jung, Detlev; Bopp, Winfried; Gauderer, Patric C; Gissel, Andreas

2006-01-01

Some employees of TV companies, such as those who produce remote TV programs, have to cope with very irregular rotas and many short-term schedule deviations. Many of these employees complain about the negative effects of such on their wellbeing and private life. Therefore, a working group of employers, council representatives, and researchers developed a so-called bonus system. Based on the criteria of the BESIAK system, the following list of criteria for the ergonomic assessment of irregular shift systems was developed: proportion of night hours worked between 22 : 00 and 01 : 00 h and between 06 : 00 and 07 : 00 h, proportion of night hours worked between 01 : 00 and 06 : 00 h, number of successive night shifts, number of successive working days, number of shifts longer than 9 h, proportion of phase advances, off hours on weekends, work hours between 17 : 00 and 23 : 00 h from Monday to Friday, number of working days with leisure time at remote places, and sudden deviations from the planned shift rota. Each individual rota was evaluated in retrospect. If pre-defined thresholds of criteria were surpassed, bonus points were added to the worker's account. In general, more bonus points add up to more free time. Only in particular cases was monetary compensation possible for some criteria. The bonus point system, which was implemented in the year 2002 for about 850 employees of the TV company, has the advantages of more transparency concerning the unfavorable characteristics of working-time arrangements, incentive for superiors to design "good" rosters that avoid the bonus point thresholds (to reduce costs), positive short-term effects on the employee social life, and expected positive long-term effects on the employee health. In general, the most promising approach to cope with the problems of shift workers in irregular and flexible shift systems seems to be to increase their influence on the arrangement of working times. If this is not possible, bonus point systems

Ecosystem regime shifts disrupt trophic structure.

Science.gov (United States)

Hempson, Tessa N; Graham, Nicholas A J; MacNeil, M Aaron; Hoey, Andrew S; Wilson, Shaun K

2018-01-01

Regime shifts between alternative stable ecosystem states are becoming commonplace due to the combined effects of local stressors and global climate change. Alternative states are characterized as substantially different in form and function from pre-disturbance states, disrupting the delivery of ecosystem services and functions. On coral reefs, regime shifts are typically characterized by a change in the benthic composition from coral to macroalgal dominance. Such fundamental shifts in the benthos are anticipated to impact associated fish communities that are reliant on the reef for food and shelter, yet there is limited understanding of how regime shifts propagate through the fish community over time, relative to initial or recovery conditions. This study addresses this knowledge gap using long-term data of coral reef regime shifts and recovery on Seychelles reefs following the 1998 mass bleaching event. It shows how trophic structure of the reef fish community becomes increasingly dissimilar between alternative reef ecosystem states (regime-shifted vs. recovering) with time since disturbance. Regime-shifted reefs developed a concave trophic structure, with increased biomass in base trophic levels as herbivorous species benefitted from increased algal resources. Mid trophic level species, including specialists such as corallivores, declined with loss of coral habitat, while biomass was retained in upper trophic levels by large-bodied, generalist invertivores. Recovering reefs also experienced an initial decline in mid trophic level biomass, but moved toward a bottom-heavy pyramid shape, with a wide range of feeding groups (e.g., planktivores, corallivores, omnivores) represented at mid trophic levels. Given the importance of coral reef fishes in maintaining the ecological function of coral reef ecosystems and their associated fisheries, understanding the effects of regime shifts on these communities is essential to inform decisions that enhance ecological

Evolution of complex life cycles

NARCIS (Netherlands)

ten Brink, J.A.

2018-01-01

The majority of all animal species have a metamorphosis, even though fossil evidence suggests that this life-history strategy only evolved a few times. It is thought that ontogenetic niche shifts, where individuals change their diet, habitat, and/or behaviour during their life, have been the first

Older adults and the arts: the importance of aesthetic forms of expression in later life.

Science.gov (United States)

Wikström, Britt-Maj

2004-09-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the importance of aesthetic forms of expression in a randomly selected Swedish population age 65 to 89. Data were based on semi-structured interviews with 166 participants. Results revealed dance, music, literature, and pictures were important for this group of elderly individuals in promoting successful aging, and the connection to their everyday life was apparent. Participants considered viewing natural scenes and looking in a photo album as important aesthetic activities. The aesthetic forms of expression contributed to physical and intellectual activities, as well as to interaction with other individuals. Aesthetic experiences were related to feelings of timelessness and spacelessness, and served as sources of gratification.

Lorentz invariance and the rotor Doppler shift experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rodrigues Junior, W.A.; Tiomno, J.

1984-01-01

It is shown that 'Rotor Doppler shift Experiments' provide a way to distinguish Einstein's Special Relativity (SR) from Lorentz's Aether Theory (LAT). Misconceptions in previous papers involving the Doppler shift experiments are examined. The theoretical and experimental data available on rotor Doppler shift experiments are analysed. Two models of SR violating theories are used to predict the output of a recently proposed experiment by Torr and Kolen. The first one corresponds to (strict) LAT and the other to an extended form of LAT Contrary to the first, the second theory leads to results in agreement with the preliminary experimental data of Torr et al indicating a breakdown both of SR and strict LAT. (Author) [pt

Lorentz invariance and the rotor Doppler shift experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rodrigues Junior, W.A.; Tiomno, J.

1984-01-01

It is shown that 'Rotor Doppler shift Experiments' provide a way to distinguish Einstein's Special Relativity (SR) from Lorentz's Aether Theory (LAT). Misconceptions in previous papers involving the Doppler shift experiments are examined. The theoretical and experimental data available on rotor Doppler shift experiments are analysed. Two models of SR violating theories are used to predict the output of a recently proposed experiment by Torr and Kolen. The first one corresponds to (strict) LAT and the other to an extended form of LAT. Contrary to the first, the second theory leads to results in agreement with the preliminary experimental data of Torr et al indicating a breakdown both of SR and strict LAT. (Author) [pt

Shifting coresidence near the end of life: comparing decedents and survivors of a follow-up study in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Zimmer, Zachary; Korinek, Kim

2010-08-01

What we know about transitions in coresidence of elders in China is based on panel data involving survivors. This article examines the tendency to and determinants of shifts in coresidence with adult children among the very old, comparing survivors of an intersurvey period with those who died (decedents). Data come from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey Baseline and follow-up surveys indicate shifts in coresidence, defined as change from not living with an adult child to living in the same household as an adult child, and the converse. Rates of shifting are adjusted for time to follow-up. Regressions examine predictors of shifts among four groups: baseline coresident and noncoresident survivors and decedents. Decedents and noncoresidents are more likely to shift than survivors and coresidents. Covariates related to physical and material need as well as marital status are the strongest predictors of shift. Thus, the needs of a very old person dominate coresidential shifts and stability, lending support to an altruistic notion of living arrangement decision making. In the end, we conclude that the period nearing the end oflife is a time offlux in living situation and that coresidential shifts are underestimated when those who die during afollow-up study are ignored.

The Third Perspective on Shifting Cultivation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sukanya Sharma

2017-11-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT There are two perspectives in which the understanding of food sustainability in the world is entangled. The first perspective which believes that food sustainability can be achieved by technology presents shifting cultivation as a reflection of a lower state of cultural evolution in comparison with more sophisticated societies (O’Brien 2002.The second perspective which believes in culture, in the ‘way of life’ paradigm valorise shifting cultivation as a form of indigenous genius, representing the indigenous people as perhaps the original environmentalist (Bandy et al.1993; Conklin 1957; Grandstaff 1981; Hong 1987. The biasness of both the perspectives is well visible. The task now is to document and evaluate indigenous strategies of shifting cultivation through a process of research and development. This process involves identification of promising indigenous practices, characterization of the practices, validation of the utility of the practice for other communities, extrapolation to other locations, verification with key farmers, and wide-scale extension. This can be treated as the third perspective available to the policy makers. By this, the detrimental effects of shifting cultivation can be mitigated and productivity increased (Mali 2003.

Written Language Shift among Norwegian Youth

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kamil ÖZERK

2013-07-01

Full Text Available In Norway there are two written Norwegian languages, Bokmål and Nynorsk. Of these two written languages Bokmål is being used by the majority of the people, and Bokmål has the highest prestige in the society. This article is about the shift of written language from Nynorsk to Bokmål among young people in a traditional Nynorsk district in the country. Drawing on empirical data we conclude that many adolescents are experiencing written language shift. We discuss various reasons for this phenomenon in the linguistic landscape of Norway. In our discussions we emphasize the importance of the school with regard to language maintenance and language revitalization. We call for a new language policy in the educational system that can prevent language shift. Having several dialects and two officially written forms of Norwegian in the country, creates a special linguistic landscape in Norway. Despite the fact that the Norwegian language situation is in several ways unique, it’s done very little research on how the existing policy works in practice. Our research reveals that the existing language policy and practice in the school system is not powerful enough to prevent language shift and language decay among the youngsters. The school system functions like a fabric for language shift.

Innovative Approaches to Task Shifting in Mental Health | CRDI ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Innovative Approaches to Task Shifting in Mental Health. Across the world, it is estimated that mental disorders account for 12% of disability-adjusted life years. This proportion is still increasing and projected to reach 15% by 2020. However, provision of mental health services has not matched the need, especially in ...

Systematic review of the relationship between quick returns in rotating shift work and health-related outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Vedaa, Øystein; Harris, Anette; Bjorvatn, Bjørn; Waage, Siri; Sivertsen, Børge; Tucker, Philip; Pallesen, Ståle

2016-01-01

A systematic literature search was carried out to investigate the relationship between quick returns (i.e., 11.0 hours or less between two consecutive shifts) and outcome measures of health, sleep, functional ability and work-life balance. A total of 22 studies published in 21 articles were included. Three types of quick returns were differentiated (from evening to morning/day, night to evening, morning/day to night shifts) where sleep duration and sleepiness appeared to be differently affected depending on which shifts the quick returns occurred between. There were some indications of detrimental effects of quick returns on proximate problems (e.g., sleep, sleepiness and fatigue), although the evidence of associations with more chronic outcome measures (physical and mental health and work-life balance) was inconclusive. Modern societies are dependent on people working shifts. This study systematically reviews literature on the consequences of quick returns (11.0 hours or less between two shifts). Quick returns have detrimental effects on acute health problems. However, the evidence regarding effects on chronic health is inconclusive.

The generation and gender shifts in medicine: an exploratory survey of internal medicine physicians

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lemaire Jane

2006-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Two striking demographic shifts evident in today's workforce are also apparent in the medical profession. One is the entry of a new generation of physicians, Gen Xers, and the other is the influx of women. Both shifts are argued to have significant implications for recruitment and retention because of assumptions regarding the younger generation's and women's attitudes towards work and patient care. This paper explores two questions regarding the generations: (1 How do Baby Boomer and Generation X physicians perceive the generation shift in work attitudes and behaviours? and (2 Do Baby Boomer and Generation X physicians differ significantly in their work hours and work attitudes regarding patient care and life balance? Gen Xers include those born between 1965 and 1980; Baby Boomers are those born between 1945 and 1964. We also ask: Do female and male Generation X physicians differ significantly in their work hours and work attitudes regarding patient care and life balance? Methods We conducted exploratory interviews with 54 physicians and residents from the Department of Medicine (response rate 91% and asked about their perceptions regarding the generation and gender shifts in medicine. We limit the analyses to interview responses of 34 Baby Boomers and 18 Generation Xers. We also sent questionnaires to Department members (response rate 66%, and this analysis is limited to 87 Baby Boomers' and 65 Generation Xers' responses. Results The qualitative interview data suggest significant generation and gender shifts in physicians' attitudes. Baby Boomers generally view Gen Xer physicians as less committed to their medical careers. The quantitative questionnaire data suggest that there are few significant differences in the generations' and genders' reports of work-life balance, work hours and attitudes towards patient care. Conclusion A combined qualitative and quantitative approach to the generation shift and gender shift in

Tax shifting in long-term gas sales contracts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Asche, Frank; Osmundsen, Petter; Tveteraas, Ragnar

2002-01-01

Producers or consumers faced with an increase in taxes are usually able to shift parts of it to other levels in the value chain. We examine who are actually bearing the burden of increased taxes on natural gas in the EU-area - consumers or exporters. Strategic trade policy and cross-border consumer tax shifting are of particular interest, as the EU-area increasingly is a net importer of gas. Traditional tax incidence theory presumes spot markets. Natural gas in the EU-area, however, is to a large extent regulated by incomplete long-term contracts. Still, spot market forces could be indicative for tax shifting, by determining the ex post bargaining power in contract renegotiations. By examining tax shifting in gas sales data we test whether this is the case. To investigate tax incidence, we estimate natural gas demand elasticities for the household sector in EU countries as well as a reduced form import equation. We test whether gas import prices, which are predominantly determined by long-term contracts, have been influenced by end-user tax shifts. (author)

The Relationship Between Shift Work and Men's Health.

Science.gov (United States)

Deng, Nanfu; Kohn, Taylor P; Lipshultz, Larry I; Pastuszak, Alexander W

2018-01-19

their efficacy. Non-standard shift work has been associated with a variety of negative health outcomes and urologic complications, especially with concurrent SWSD. Recognition of these increased risks among shift workers can potentially aid in more effective screening of chronic health and urologic conditions. Non-pharmacologic treatment of SWSD focuses on behavioral therapy and sleep hygiene while melatonin, hypnotics, and stimulants are used to alleviate insomnia and excessive sleepiness of SWSD. Further research into both pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic therapies for SWSD is needed to establish more definitive guidelines in the treatment of SWSD in order to increase productivity, minimize workplace accidents, and improve quality of life for shift workers. Deng N, Kohn TP, Lipshultz LI, et al. The Relationship Between Shift Work and Men's Health. Sex Med Rev 2018;XX:XXX-XXX. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Foliar stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes in woody Mediterranean species with different life form and post-fire regeneration.

Science.gov (United States)

Saura-Mas, S; Lloret, F

2010-01-01

Wildfire is an important ecological disturbance factor in most Mediterranean ecosystems. In the Mediterranean Basin, most shrub species can regenerate after fire by resprouting or seeding. Here, we hypothesize that post-fire regenerative syndromes may potentially co-vary with traits directly related to functional properties involved in resource use. Thus, seeders with a shorter life span and smaller size would have lower water-use efficiency (WUE) than re-sprouting species and would take up nutrients such as nitrogen from more superficial parts of the soil. To test this hypothesis, we compared leaf (13)C and (15)N signatures from 29 co-existing species with different post-fire regeneration strategies. We also considered life form as an additional explanatory variable of the differences between post-fire regenerative groups. Our data support the hypothesis that seeder species (which mostly evolved in the Quaternary under a Mediterranean climate) have lower WUE and less stomatal control than non-seeders (many of which evolved under different climatic conditions in the Tertiary) and consequently greater consumption of water per unit biomass. This would be related to their smaller life forms, which tend to have lower WUE and shorter life and leaf lifespan. Differences in (15)N also support the hypothesis that resprouters have deeper root systems than non-resprouters. The study supports the hypothesis of an overlap between plant functional traits and plant attributes describing post-disturbance resilience.

17 CFR 274.303 - Form N-27I-2, notice of withdrawal right and statement of charges for variable life insurance...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Form N-27I-2, notice of withdrawal right and statement of charges for variable life insurance contractholders required pursuant to... variable life insurance contractholders required pursuant to Rule 6e-2 (§ 270.6e-2 of this chapter). [41 FR...

The discussion of composition shift in organic Rankine cycle using zeotropic mixtures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou, Yaodong; Zhang, Fengyuan; Yu, Lijun

2017-01-01

Highlights: • The forming reasons of composition shift are well illuminated. • The influences of composition shift on ORC system are presented. • The influence factors of composition shift are well discussed. • The inner relation between temperature glide and composition shift is revealed. - Abstract: Zeotropic mixtures have been important candidates for working fluids in the organic Rankine cycle (ORC) because of the temperature glide characteristic. “Composition shift” is a widespread phenomenon for zeotropic mixtures’ application in thermodynamic systems and certainly needs to be considered in ORC. In this paper, the evaporator, condenser, expander and pump models are respectively developed and then the circulating composition is calculated. Based on that, the forming reasons of “composition shift” are well illuminated. The influences of composition shift on the system net power output and heat transfer process are presented and analysed. The influence factors including pressure, two-phase zone area, total charge mass and velocity difference between liquid and vapor phase are also carefully discussed. Besides, the inner relation between temperature glide and composition shift is also revealed at last. The results showed that the optimal charge concentration of the low boiling point component in practice should be a bit lower than the optimal concentration without considering composition shift. Besides, the local composition shift characteristic will affect the heat transfer process by altering the temperature along the heat exchanger. Reducing the two-phase zone area, increasing the total charge mass, increasing the evaporation pressure and reducing the slip ratio can mitigate the effect of composition shift. The simulation also reveals that the magnitudes of temperature glide and composition shift show a good linear relation by just altering the charge composition.

Digital phase-shifting atomic force microscope Moire method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Chiaming; Chen Lienwen

2005-01-01

In this study, the digital atomic force microscope (AFM) Moire method with phase-shifting technology is established to measure the in-plane displacement and strain fields. The Moire pattern is generated by the interference between the specimen grating and the virtual reference grating formed by digital image processes. The overlapped image is filtered by two-dimensional wavelet transformation to obtain the clear interference Moire patterns. The four-step phase-shifting method is realized by translating the phase of the virtual reference grating from 0 to 2π. The principle of the digital AFM Moire method and the phase-shifting technology are described in detail. Experimental results show that this method is convenient to use and efficient in realizing the microscale measurement

General phase-frequency shifting in the three-phase inductor-converter bridge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ehsani, M.; Kustom, R.L.; Fuja, R.E.; Barnard, T.J.

1979-01-01

A fundamental method of shifting phase frequency in the inductor-converter bridge (ICB) for the purpose of controlling the power in real time is presented. Transient switching sequences needed to implement phase-frequency shifting can be developed by the use of this method and the other five system constraints. Two of the constraints that have been expressed in equation form so far are presented. Finally, an alternative algorithm for computing the frequency shifting transient sequences in real time is suggested

Validation of archived chemical shifts through atomic coordinates

Science.gov (United States)

Rieping, Wolfgang; Vranken, Wim F

2010-01-01

The public archives containing protein information in the form of NMR chemical shift data at the BioMagResBank (BMRB) and of 3D structure coordinates at the Protein Data Bank are continuously expanding. The quality of the data contained in these archives, however, varies. The main issue for chemical shift values is that they are determined relative to a reference frequency. When this reference frequency is set incorrectly, all related chemical shift values are systematically offset. Such wrongly referenced chemical shift values, as well as other problems such as chemical shift values that are assigned to the wrong atom, are not easily distinguished from correct values and effectively reduce the usefulness of the archive. We describe a new method to correct and validate protein chemical shift values in relation to their 3D structure coordinates. This method classifies atoms using two parameters: the per-atom solvent accessible surface area (as calculated from the coordinates) and the secondary structure of the parent amino acid. Through the use of Gaussian statistics based on a large database of 3220 BMRB entries, we obtain per-entry chemical shift corrections as well as Z scores for the individual chemical shift values. In addition, information on the error of the correction value itself is available, and the method can retain only dependable correction values. We provide an online resource with chemical shift, atom exposure, and secondary structure information for all relevant BMRB entries (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/pdbe/nmr/vasco) and hope this data will aid the development of new chemical shift-based methods in NMR. Proteins 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. PMID:20602353

Conflict between work and family roles and satisfaction among nurses in different shift systems in Croatia: a questionnaire survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Simunić, Ana; Gregov, Ljiljana

2012-06-01

The objective of this study was to examine the perception of conflict between work and family roles and job, family, and life satisfaction among nurses in Croatia. One hundred and twenty-nine nurses (married mothers) working in hospitals in Zadar, Šibenik, and Split were divided in four groups according to their worktime schedule. The participants completed a survey, which included a set of sociodemographic-type questions, questions about the level and allocation of family responsibilities between spouses, and scales measuring the perceived negative effects of worktime, psychological demands of the work, work-family conflict, and semantic differential scales for measuring the affective and cognitive-evaluative component of job, family, and life satisfaction. This was the first study in Croatia to deal with work-family conflict among nurses or workers with different shift systems.The results of this study indicate that nurses working morning shifts only experienced less conflict between work and family than other groups of nurses, who worked the morning, afternoon, and the night shift. The cognitive-evaluative component of job satisfaction was the highest among morning shift nurses and the lowest in nurses who worked 12-hour shifts, while the affective component of life satisfaction was the lowest in nurses working irregular and backward rotated shifts. These results confirm that shiftwork makes the work-family role conflict even worse. They also support the view that the type of shift rotation matters.

Limited Effects of Set Shifting Training in Healthy Older Adults

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Petra Grönholm-Nyman

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Our ability to flexibly shift between tasks or task sets declines in older age. As this decline may have adverse effects on everyday life of elderly people, it is of interest to study whether set shifting ability can be trained, and if training effects generalize to other cognitive tasks. Here, we report a randomized controlled trial where healthy older adults trained set shifting with three different set shifting tasks. The training group (n = 17 performed adaptive set shifting training for 5 weeks with three training sessions a week (45 min/session, while the active control group (n = 16 played three different computer games for the same period. Both groups underwent extensive pre- and post-testing and a 1-year follow-up. Compared to the controls, the training group showed significant improvements on the trained tasks. Evidence for near transfer in the training group was very limited, as it was seen only on overall accuracy on an untrained computerized set shifting task. No far transfer to other cognitive functions was observed. One year later, the training group was still better on the trained tasks but the single near transfer effect had vanished. The results suggest that computerized set shifting training in the elderly shows long-lasting effects on the trained tasks but very little benefit in terms of generalization.

The World Bank's Shift Away from Neoliberal Ideology: Real or Rhetoric?

Science.gov (United States)

Adhikary, Rino Wiseman

2012-01-01

Some literature on World Bank education policies after 1999 tries to project a shift away of the Bank from its 1980s neoliberal mandate. This article argues that the shift is only in the form of rhetoric, which facilitates a hidden agenda of creating a worldwide higher education market, leaving the poor with primary education only. At the…

Monitoring of the sleep patterns of shift workers in the automotive industry.

Science.gov (United States)

Kawada, Tomoyuki; Shimizu, Takako; Kuratomi, Yushiro; Suto, Sachiko; Kanai, Tomoe; Nishime, Akemi; Nakano, Noriko

2011-01-01

The effect of shift schedules on the amount of sleep that workers receive is an important factor in workplace health and safety as well as the employees' overall quality of life. The objective of this study is to compare sleep period among workers engaging in each of the three-shift work. The amount of sleep (sleep period) that male workers with rotating shift schedules received was measured using accelerometers. The mean age of the 16 male workers enrolled in this study was 54.3 years (one standard deviation, 6.7 years). Thirteen participants ranged in age from 51 to 60 years of age, and the other three participants were 32, 48, and 50 years old. Work shifts were rotated on a weekly basis and were categorized into three periods: shift-1 (8:00 to 17:00), shift-2 (15:00 to 23:50), and shift-3 (23:30 to 8:15). Each work week consisted of 5 days. No significant differences were observed in the mean sleep period for each of the three shifts. However, the sleep periods during shift-1 or shift-2 tended to be longer than that obtained during shift-3. No effect of age on the length of the sleep period was observed. Rotating shift-work did not affect the amount of sleep that workers obtained. However, a comparison with previous study results suggests that morning shifts (starting at 6 AM) and day shifts (starting at 8 AM) may have different effects on sleep time.

Cortisol shifts financial risk preferences.

Science.gov (United States)

Kandasamy, Narayanan; Hardy, Ben; Page, Lionel; Schaffner, Markus; Graggaber, Johann; Powlson, Andrew S; Fletcher, Paul C; Gurnell, Mark; Coates, John

2014-03-04

Risk taking is central to human activity. Consequently, it lies at the focal point of behavioral sciences such as neuroscience, economics, and finance. Many influential models from these sciences assume that financial risk preferences form a stable trait. Is this assumption justified and, if not, what causes the appetite for risk to fluctuate? We have previously found that traders experience a sustained increase in the stress hormone cortisol when the amount of uncertainty, in the form of market volatility, increases. Here we ask whether these elevated cortisol levels shift risk preferences. Using a double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over protocol we raised cortisol levels in volunteers over 8 d to the same extent previously observed in traders. We then tested for the utility and probability weighting functions underlying their risk taking and found that participants became more risk-averse. We also observed that the weighting of probabilities became more distorted among men relative to women. These results suggest that risk preferences are highly dynamic. Specifically, the stress response calibrates risk taking to our circumstances, reducing it in times of prolonged uncertainty, such as a financial crisis. Physiology-induced shifts in risk preferences may thus be an underappreciated cause of market instability.

Cortisol shifts financial risk preferences

Science.gov (United States)

Kandasamy, Narayanan; Hardy, Ben; Page, Lionel; Schaffner, Markus; Graggaber, Johann; Powlson, Andrew S.; Fletcher, Paul C.; Gurnell, Mark; Coates, John

2014-01-01

Risk taking is central to human activity. Consequently, it lies at the focal point of behavioral sciences such as neuroscience, economics, and finance. Many influential models from these sciences assume that financial risk preferences form a stable trait. Is this assumption justified and, if not, what causes the appetite for risk to fluctuate? We have previously found that traders experience a sustained increase in the stress hormone cortisol when the amount of uncertainty, in the form of market volatility, increases. Here we ask whether these elevated cortisol levels shift risk preferences. Using a double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over protocol we raised cortisol levels in volunteers over 8 d to the same extent previously observed in traders. We then tested for the utility and probability weighting functions underlying their risk taking and found that participants became more risk-averse. We also observed that the weighting of probabilities became more distorted among men relative to women. These results suggest that risk preferences are highly dynamic. Specifically, the stress response calibrates risk taking to our circumstances, reducing it in times of prolonged uncertainty, such as a financial crisis. Physiology-induced shifts in risk preferences may thus be an underappreciated cause of market instability. PMID:24550472

Social Spirals through Everyday Group Life: Settings and Group Styles in a Comparative Perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sebastiano Citroni

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Everyday group life is generally neglected in the study of the ongoing shifts affecting voluntary associations. This paper is grounded on a comparative ethnography of three Milanese associations affected by transformations in forms of voluntary participation, repertoires of action, and in their relations with public institutions. The study focuses on group styles and settings to ascertain the role played by everyday group life in shaping the implications of these transformations for the production of inclusive outcomes by the observed associations. The author introduces three different results produced by the studied associations and account for them with the same overall argument, which focus on practices and spaces shaping everyday group life. The main findings illustrate that everyday group life works both as a filter through which transformations produce consequences and also as a site of autonomous elaboration through which associations’ outcomes are made and unmade.

Shift work and cardiovascular disease - pathways from circadian stress to morbidity.

Science.gov (United States)

Puttonen, Sampsa; Härmä, Mikko; Hublin, Christer

2010-03-01

In order to establish a causal relation between shift work and cardiovascular disease (CVD), we need to verify the pathways from the former to the latter. This paper aims to review the current knowledge of the mechanisms between shift work and CVD. Shift work can increase the risk of CVD by several interrelated psychosocial, behavioral, and physiological mechanisms. The psychosocial mechanisms relate to difficulties in controlling working hours, decreased work-life balance, and poor recovery following work. The most probable behavioral changes are weight gain and smoking. The plausible physiological and biological mechanisms are related to the activation of the autonomic nervous system, inflammation, changed lipid and glucose metabolism, and related changes in the risk for atherosclerosis, metabolic syndrome, and type II diabetes. The data provide evidence for possible disease mechanisms between shift work and CVD, but compelling evidence on any specific mechanism is missing.

Health promotion and work: prevention of shift work disorders in companies.

Science.gov (United States)

Richter, Kneginja D; Acker, Jens; Scholz, Friederike; Niklewski, Günter

2010-12-01

Workplace health promotion is a strategy to improve the health and well-being of people at work. The measures aim at the personal, organisational and work environment. Shift work is one of many reasons provoking increased job stress. According to worldwide epidemiological data, up to 30% of the working population are employed in shifts. Taking into consideration that shift work causes a large number of somatic and psychiatric diseases which bear considerable negative consequences for the health status and the quality of life, it seems to be important to initiate health promotion strategies for shift workers in the companies. The results of recent studies indicate that well-scheduled und targeted health programmes can change the lifestyle of shift working employees and have an impact on the risk factors involved. One problem, though, is a considerable time lag till effects become apparent; therefore, the long-term economic effects of workplace health promotion have not been evaluated sufficiently to date. These definitely positive effects highlight the demand for trainings and workshops for people in shift work. We urgently suggest a speedy implementation of the recommended strategies by companies with shift work systems. In our view, this poses a challenge to the "infant" interdisciplinary field of sleep medicine that should be solved.

Coaching "Callings" throughout the Adult Life Cycle.

Science.gov (United States)

Hudson, Frederic M.

2001-01-01

The process of "callings" continues throughout life. Coaching can connect the present to the future in a meaningful way. Callings represent a value shift requiring revision of the nature and scope of one's central purpose in life and meaningful activities. (JOW)

The STAR ESL, electronic shift and handover log

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hajdu, L; Lauret, J, E-mail: lbhajdu@bnl.gov

2008-07-01

Keeping a clear and accurate experiment log is important for any scientific experiment. The concept is certainly not new but keeping accurate while useful records for a Nuclear Physics experiment such as the Solenoidal Tracker at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (STAR at RHIC) is not a priori a simple matter - STAR operates 24 hours a day for six months out of the year with more than 24 shift crews operating 16 different subsystems (some located remotely). To meet the challenge of not only logging the information but passing it in a concise manner from one shift to another, the STAR experiment has designed an Electronic Shift-Log (ESL), a flexible application written in Java and interfacing with the Data Acquisition tools, Quality Assurance reporting, Online shift crews or remote personnel and experts as well as including features such as shift change-over (or handover) forms, tailored to the sub-group of interest. We will present an overview of STAR's Electronic Log, a system that is clear, reliable, safe, consistent, easy to use and globally viewable in real time with secure connections.

Spectral shift rod for the boiling water reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yokomizo, O.; Kashiwai, S.; Nishida, K.; Orii, A.; Yamashita, J.; Mochida, T.

1993-01-01

A Boiling Water Reactor core concept has been proposed using a new fuel component called spectral shift rod (SSR). The SSR is a new type of water rod in which a water level is formed during core operation. The water level can be controlled by the core recirculation flow rate. By using SSRs, the reactor can be operated with all control rods withdrawn through the operation cycle as well as that a much larger natural uranium saving is possible due to spectral shift operation than in current BWRs. The steady state and transient characteristics of the SSRs have been examined by experiments and analyses to certify the feasibility. In a reference design, a four times larger spectral shift width as for the current BWR has been obtained. (orig.)

Witwatersrand gold deposits formed by volcanic rain, anoxic rivers and Archaean life

Science.gov (United States)

Heinrich, Christoph A.

2015-03-01

The Witwatersrand Basin in South Africa is one of the best-preserved records of fluvial sedimentation on an Archaean continent. The basin hosts the worlds biggest gold resource in thin pebble beds, but the process for gold enrichment is debated. Mechanical accumulation of gold particles from flowing river water is the prevailing hypothesis, yet there is evidence for hydrothermal mobilization of gold by fluids invading the metasedimentary rocks after their burial. Earth's atmosphere three billion years ago was oxygen free, but already sustained some of the oldest microbial life on land. Here I use thermodynamic modelling and mass-balance calculations to show that these conditions could have led to the chemical transport and precipitation of gold in anoxic surface waters, reconciling the evidence for fluvial deposition with evidence for hydrothermal-like chemical reactions. I suggest that the release of sulphurous gases from large volcanic eruptions created acid rain that enabled the dissolution and transport of gold in surface waters as sulphur complexes. Precipitation of the richest gold deposits could have been triggered by chemical reduction of the dissolved gold onto organic material in shallow lakes and pools. I conclude that the Witwatersrand gold could have formed only during the Archaean, after the emergence of continental life but before the rise of oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere.

A Rule-Based Local Search Algorithm for General Shift Design Problems in Airport Ground Handling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Clausen, Tommy

We consider a generalized version of the shift design problem where shifts are created to cover a multiskilled demand and fit the parameters of the workforce. We present a collection of constraints and objectives for the generalized shift design problem. A local search solution framework with mul......We consider a generalized version of the shift design problem where shifts are created to cover a multiskilled demand and fit the parameters of the workforce. We present a collection of constraints and objectives for the generalized shift design problem. A local search solution framework...... with multiple neighborhoods and a loosely coupled rule engine based on simulated annealing is presented. Computational experiments on real-life data from various airport ground handling organization show the performance and flexibility of the proposed algorithm....

The response of different plant life forms to natural environment changes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Schmidt Svetlana

2011-03-01

Full Text Available This paper contains test results revealing norm and stress reactions of various life-form plants: trees — Betula pendula Roth, Tilia platyphyllos Scop., Pinus sylvetris L; water-plant -Galium palustre L.; grass — Solidago Canadensis; cereal — Secale cereal L. Collection and processing of the material was made in the area of Berlin/Brandenburg, Germany. Clark sensor-based method made it possible to determine the amount and rate of the oxygen evolution by plants in the dark and light phase. Under the reaction norm the average amount of the oxygen evolved and the average rate of metabolism processes during dark and light phases are changing simultaneously. Parabolic and periodic dependences of these changes during the vegetation period has been found. Under the stress reaction (drought, illness the rate of metabolism dark reactions is increased by 2—3 times as compared with light reactions. The obtained results may be use for bioindication of the climate change in the Baltic Region.

Eukaryotic Life Inhabits Rhodolith-forming Coralline Algae (Hapalidiales, Rhodophyta), Remarkable Marine Benthic Microhabitats

Science.gov (United States)

Krayesky-Self, Sherry; Schmidt, William E.; Phung, Delena; Henry, Caroline; Sauvage, Thomas; Camacho, Olga; Felgenhauer, Bruce E.; Fredericq, Suzanne

2017-04-01

Rhodoliths are benthic calcium carbonate nodules accreted by crustose coralline red algae which recently have been identified as useful indicators of biomineral changes resulting from global climate change and ocean acidification. This study highlights the discovery that the interior of rhodoliths are marine biodiversity hotspots that function as seedbanks and temporary reservoirs of previously unknown stages in the life history of ecologically important dinoflagellate and haptophyte microalgae. Whereas the studied rhodoliths originated from offshore deep bank pinnacles in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico, the present study opens the door to assess the universality of endolithic stages among bloom-forming microalgae spanning different phyla, some of public health concerns (Prorocentrum) in marine ecosystems worldwide.

The chemistry of cycloheptatriene. Part XVI : Sigmatropic shifts of hydrogen in methylcycloheptatriene

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Borg, ter A.P.; Kloosterziel, H.

1969-01-01

Upon heating 7-methylcycloheptatriene, the 3-, 1- and 2-isomers are successively formed by 1-5 shifts of hydrogen. The rate consts. at 140 Deg were detd. Photochem. 1-7 shifts of hydrogen are also reported: the 1-isomer yields preferentially the 7-isomer and little of the 2-isomer, while the

Faraday-Shielded dc Stark-Shift-Free Optical Lattice Clock

Science.gov (United States)

Beloy, K.; Zhang, X.; McGrew, W. F.; Hinkley, N.; Yoon, T. H.; Nicolodi, D.; Fasano, R. J.; Schäffer, S. A.; Brown, R. C.; Ludlow, A. D.

2018-05-01

We demonstrate the absence of a dc Stark shift in an ytterbium optical lattice clock. Stray electric fields are suppressed through the introduction of an in-vacuum Faraday shield. Still, the effectiveness of the shielding must be experimentally assessed. Such diagnostics are accomplished by applying high voltage to six electrodes, which are grounded in normal operation to form part of the Faraday shield. Our measurements place a constraint on the dc Stark shift at the 10-20 level, in units of the clock frequency. Moreover, we discuss a potential source of error in strategies to precisely measure or cancel nonzero dc Stark shifts, attributed to field gradients coupled with the finite spatial extent of the lattice-trapped atoms. With this consideration, we find that Faraday shielding, complemented with experimental validation, provides both a practically appealing and effective solution to the problem of dc Stark shifts in optical lattice clocks.

[Chronically ill--chronically forgotten?--communication/mobility/everyday life].

Science.gov (United States)

Mattern, R

2007-04-01

In the course of the recent years, the policy for the needs of disabled people has started a fundamental paradigm shift. Central elements of the current policy for the needs of disabled people are prevention, rehabilitation and integration. Self-determination instead of care forms the guiding principle. An indistinct definition of chronic disease makes it difficult to obtain a general idea of structures in the care and support for people with chronic diseases. The following compilation examines requirements in social legislation and questions the quality of life by means of the three exemplary aspects: communication, mobility and everyday life. Here the question remains whether the current focus on health neglects any relevant components of chronic diseases. It turns out that people with a chronic illness, although social legislation has improved, are neglected the more support they need. Care as an elementary social principle must be discussed on an interdisciplinary basis and in the context of the whole society.

Shift work in a security environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Longhouser, G.A. Jr.

1993-01-01

Human beings are diurnal species, normally active by day and asleep by night. Yet over thirty million Americans struggle with work schedules that include an off-normal work effort. The railroads, law enforcement, health services, Department of Defense, factory workers, chemical plants and public services, communications and utility workers must provide some form of around-the-clock effort. Shift work has been around since the advent of recorded history. There has always been a need for some type of off-normal service and assistance. The impact of shift work is replete with tales and factual evidence of an increased personnel error rate; disorders, both personal and family, and of course, increased accident events. In recent memory, the Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant incident, Union Carbide's explosion in Bhopal, and the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant catastrophe all occurred during off-normal working hours. Yet management overall has done little to correct the production-driven twelve hour, seven day week shift mentality of the nineteenth century. Most schedules in use today are nothing more than cosmetic variations of the old production schedules. This could be driven by a management consideration of the worker's response to change coupled with a reluctant buy-in of responsibility for the effects of change. Florida Power Corporation has developed for its nuclear security force, a unique work schedule which attempts to employ the sound principles of circadian rhythms coupled with a comprehensive training program to counter the problems associated with shift work. The results over the last four years have seen a marked reduction in the generic problems of personnel errors, absenteeism, unscheduled overtime and turnover rates. Utilization and understanding of this scheduling process for rotational shift work needs to be assessed to determine if the benefits are site specific or provide an expected response to the problems of shift work

Origin of Evolution versus Origin of Life: A Shift of Paradigm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marc Tessera

2011-06-01

Full Text Available The question of the primordial ancestor must be approached through the search for the origin of evolution, not through the search for the origin of life. There is a major issue with the concept of life because it is impossible to define, thus is not a scientific but a metaphysical concept. On the contrary, evolution may be defined by as few as three conditions. These do not necessarily involve biopolymers. However, such an approach must give clues to explain the emergence of distinct lineages to allow Darwinian natural selection. A plausible solution exists within an autotrophic lipidic vesicle-based model that is presented. The model requires the existence of hydrothermal sites such as the Lost City Hydrothermal Field leading to specific constraints. For this reason Mars and Europa may be questioned as possible cradles of evolution. If we replace the search for the origin of life by the one for the origin of evolution our priority first is to find a consensus on the minimal conditions that would allow evolution to emerge and persist anywhere in the universe.

Increasing Optimism Protects Against Pain-Induced Impairment in Task-Shifting Performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Boselie, Jantine J L M; Vancleef, Linda M G; Peters, Madelon L

2017-04-01

Persistent pain can lead to difficulties in executive task performance. Three core executive functions that are often postulated are inhibition, updating, and shifting. Optimism, the tendency to expect that good things happen in the future, has been shown to protect against pain-induced performance deterioration in executive function updating. This study tested whether this protective effect of a temporary optimistic state by means of a writing and visualization exercise extended to executive function shifting. A 2 (optimism: optimism vs no optimism) × 2 (pain: pain vs no pain) mixed factorial design was conducted. Participants (N = 61) completed a shifting task once with and once without concurrent painful heat stimulation after an optimism or neutral manipulation. Results showed that shifting performance was impaired when experimental heat pain was applied during task execution, and that optimism counteracted pain-induced deterioration in task-shifting performance. Experimentally-induced heat pain impairs shifting task performance and manipulated optimism or induced optimism counteracted this pain-induced performance deterioration. Identifying psychological factors that may diminish the negative effect of persistent pain on the ability to function in daily life is imperative. Copyright © 2016 American Pain Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Phylogenomic Census of Molecular Functions Identifies Modern Thermophilic Archaea as the Most Ancient Form of Cellular Life

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Arshan Nasir

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The origins of diversified life remain mysterious despite considerable efforts devoted to untangling the roots of the universal tree of life. Here we reconstructed phylogenies that described the evolution of molecular functions and the evolution of species directly from a genomic census of gene ontology (GO definitions. We sampled 249 free-living genomes spanning organisms in the three superkingdoms of life, Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukarya, and used the abundance of GO terms as molecular characters to produce rooted phylogenetic trees. Results revealed an early thermophilic origin of Archaea that was followed by genome reduction events in microbial superkingdoms. Eukaryal genomes displayed extraordinary functional diversity and were enriched with hundreds of novel molecular activities not detected in the akaryotic microbial cells. Remarkably, the majority of these novel functions appeared quite late in evolution, synchronized with the diversification of the eukaryal superkingdom. The distribution of GO terms in superkingdoms confirms that Archaea appears to be the simplest and most ancient form of cellular life, while Eukarya is the most diverse and recent.

A phylogenomic census of molecular functions identifies modern thermophilic archaea as the most ancient form of cellular life.

Science.gov (United States)

Nasir, Arshan; Kim, Kyung Mo; Caetano-Anollés, Gustavo

2014-01-01

The origins of diversified life remain mysterious despite considerable efforts devoted to untangling the roots of the universal tree of life. Here we reconstructed phylogenies that described the evolution of molecular functions and the evolution of species directly from a genomic census of gene ontology (GO) definitions. We sampled 249 free-living genomes spanning organisms in the three superkingdoms of life, Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukarya, and used the abundance of GO terms as molecular characters to produce rooted phylogenetic trees. Results revealed an early thermophilic origin of Archaea that was followed by genome reduction events in microbial superkingdoms. Eukaryal genomes displayed extraordinary functional diversity and were enriched with hundreds of novel molecular activities not detected in the akaryotic microbial cells. Remarkably, the majority of these novel functions appeared quite late in evolution, synchronized with the diversification of the eukaryal superkingdom. The distribution of GO terms in superkingdoms confirms that Archaea appears to be the simplest and most ancient form of cellular life, while Eukarya is the most diverse and recent.

A transactional framework for pediatric rehabilitation: shifting the focus to situated contexts, transactional processes, and adaptive developmental outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

King, Gillian; Imms, Christine; Stewart, Debra; Freeman, Matt; Nguyen, Tram

2018-07-01

A paradigm shift is taking place in pediatric rehabilitation research, practice, and policy - a shift towards the real-life contexts of clients rather than requiring clients to navigate the world of pediatric rehabilitation. This article proposes a conceptual framework to bring about a broader awareness of clients' lives and transactional processes of change over the life course. The framework draws attention to transactional processes by which individuals, situated in life contexts, change and adapt over the life course and, in turn, influence their contextual settings and broader environments. This framework is based on (a) basic tenets derived from foundational theories taking a life course perspective to change, and (b) transactional processes identified from relevant pediatric rehabilitation models that bring these foundational theories into the pediatric rehabilitation sphere. The framework identifies three types of transactional processes relevant to pediatric rehabilitation: facilitative, resiliency, and socialization processes. These processes describe how contexts and people mutually influence each other via opportunities and situated experiences, thus facilitating capacity, adaptation to adversity, and socialization to new roles and life transitions. The utility of the framework is considered for research, practice, service organizations, and policy. Implications for Rehabilitation The framework supports practitioners going beyond person and environment as separate entities, to provide services to the "situated person" in real-life contexts The framework shifts the focus from "body structures/functions" and "person in activity" to "person in changing and challenging life contexts" Working from a transactional perspective, practitioner-client conversations will change; practitioners will view client situations through a lens of opportunities and experiences, assess client experiences in real-life contexts, and strive to create context-based therapy

Validation of the Kidney Disease Quality of Life-Short Form: a cross-sectional study of a dialysis-targeted health measure in Singapore

OpenAIRE

Joshi, Veena D; Mooppil, Nandakumar; Lim, Jeremy FY

2010-01-01

Abstract Background In Singapore, the prevalence of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and the number of people on dialysis is increasing. The impact of ESRD on patient quality of life has been recognized as an important outcome measure. The Kidney Disease Quality Of Life-Short Form (KDQOL-SF™) has been validated and is widely used as a measure of quality of life in dialysis patients in many countries, but not in Singapore. We aimed to determine the reliability and validity of the KDQOL-SF™ for h...

New type shift operators for circular well potential in two dimensions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sun Guohua; Dong Shihai

2010-01-01

New type shift operators for circular well potential in two dimensions are identified. These so-called shift operators connect those quantum systems with the different potentials but with same energy spectrum. It should be noted that these operators depend on both the radial circular and angular variables r and φ. We find that the operators P ± =P x ±P y play the role of the shift operators. The radial linear momentum P r =-ih(∂)/(∂r) , the angular momentum L z =-ih(∂)/(∂φ) and the Hamiltonian form a complete set of commuting operators with the SO(2) symmetry.

Solution of generalized shifted linear systems with complex symmetric matrices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sogabe, Tomohiro; Hoshi, Takeo; Zhang, Shao-Liang; Fujiwara, Takeo

2012-01-01

We develop the shifted COCG method [R. Takayama, T. Hoshi, T. Sogabe, S.-L. Zhang, T. Fujiwara, Linear algebraic calculation of Green’s function for large-scale electronic structure theory, Phys. Rev. B 73 (165108) (2006) 1–9] and the shifted WQMR method [T. Sogabe, T. Hoshi, S.-L. Zhang, T. Fujiwara, On a weighted quasi-residual minimization strategy of the QMR method for solving complex symmetric shifted linear systems, Electron. Trans. Numer. Anal. 31 (2008) 126–140] for solving generalized shifted linear systems with complex symmetric matrices that arise from the electronic structure theory. The complex symmetric Lanczos process with a suitable bilinear form plays an important role in the development of the methods. The numerical examples indicate that the methods are highly attractive when the inner linear systems can efficiently be solved.

Do negative life events promote gerotranscendence in the second half of life?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Read, S.; Braam, A.W.; Lyyra, T.M.; Deeg, D.J.H.

2014-01-01

Objectives: Gerotranscendence has been defined as a developmental shift in meta-perspective from a materialistic and pragmatic view to a more cosmic and transcendent view. Although gerotranscendence has been argued to increase with age and life experiences, the results have been mixed and based on

Les 2x12h : une solution au conflit de temporalités du travail posté ? The 12-hour shifts system: A way to settle conflicting temporalities in shift work

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Béatrice Barthe

2009-11-01

Full Text Available Les horaires de travail en 2x12h semblent faciliter l’articulation des temporalités mise à mal par le travail posté, articulation avec les dimensions temporelles du fonctionnement humain : les rythmicités biologiques, l’organisation de la vie socio-familiale et la fatigue notamment. Dans un contexte social et économique favorable à la diffusion des 2x12h, cet article propose une synthèse des effets de ces horaires de travail posté sur la santé, sur la vie personnelle des opérateurs concernés et sur le travail. Même si, comparés aux autres systèmes d’horaires, les 2x12h semblent avoir des conséquences moindres sur la santé et la vie personnelle, cette synthèse montre l’importance d’autres facteurs (caractéristiques des personnes, temps d’exposition aux horaires, propriétés du système d’horaires, par exemple sur ces effets et la nécessité d’intégrer l’analyse du contenu du travail et des exigences du travail dans l’analyse de ces effets. Avant de penser le 2x12h comme une solution au conflit de temporalités du travail posté, la réflexion d’aménagement des horaires de travail se doit d’intégrer une analyse systémique et détaillée du travail, prenant en compte le contenu du travail, les exigences des tâches et les stratégies d’accord des temporalités mises en place par les opérateurs concernés au niveau de leur activité de travail.Twelve-hour shifts appear to facilitate the flow of temporalities involved in shift work schedules and the different temporal dimensions of human functioning: particularly biological rhythms, private life, and fatigue. In a social and economic context that favors the increase of 12-h shifts, this paper sums up the effects of 12-h shifts on health, personal life, and work. 12-h shifts seem to have less impact on health and personal life, when compared with other shift-work systems. This synthesis shows the importance of other factors (characteristics of the

Acclimation of bloom-forming and perennial seaweeds to elevated pCO2 conserved across levels of environmental complexity.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Dong; Schaum, Charlotte-Elisa; Lin, Fan; Sun, Ke; Munroe, James R; Zhang, Xiao W; Fan, Xiao; Teng, Lin H; Wang, Yi T; Zhuang, Zhi M; Ye, Naihao

2017-11-01

Macroalgae contribute approximately 15% of the primary productivity in coastal marine ecosystems, fix up to 27.4 Tg of carbon per year, and provide important structural components for life in coastal waters. Despite this ecological and commercial importance, direct measurements and comparisons of the short-term responses to elevated pCO 2 in seaweeds with different life-history strategies are scarce. Here, we cultured several seaweed species (bloom forming/nonbloom forming/perennial/annual) in the laboratory, in tanks in an indoor mesocosm facility, and in coastal mesocosms under pCO 2 levels ranging from 400 to 2,000 μatm. We find that, across all scales of the experimental setup, ephemeral species of the genus Ulva increase their photosynthesis and growth rates in response to elevated pCO 2 the most, whereas longer-lived perennial species show a smaller increase or a decrease. These differences in short-term growth and photosynthesis rates are likely to give bloom-forming green seaweeds a competitive advantage in mixed communities, and our results thus suggest that coastal seaweed assemblages in eutrophic waters may undergo an initial shift toward communities dominated by bloom-forming, short-lived seaweeds. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Assessing the Validity of the Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire--Short Form in Adults with ADHD

Science.gov (United States)

Mick, Eric; Faraone, Stephen V.; Spencer, Thomas; Zhang, Huabin F.; Biederman, Joseph

2008-01-01

Objective: The authors assessed the psychometric properties of the Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire-Short Form (Q-LES-QSF) in adults with ADHD. Method: One hundred fifty ADHD and 134 non-ADHD adults from a case-control study and 173 adults randomized to placebo or methylphenidate were assessed with the Q-LES-QSF and the…

Flora, life form and chorology of plants in Jozak – Chaminbid area, North Khorassan Province, Iran

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MOHABAT NADAF

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Floristic study of a region is of great importance as the list of plants represents the genetic resources of the area. The intended region (Jozak-Chaminbid with an area of ca. 3637.81 ha. is located in the western part of North Khorassan Province in the Maneh and Semelghan counties. Phytogeographically, this region is located in Khorassan-Kopet Dagh floristic province of the Irano-Turanian region. The mean altitude is 1415 meter and mean annual precipitation of the area is 559 mm. The plant species of the area were collected and identified according to the Floras. The floristic list of the area and its life forms and endemic species were presented. The results showed the presence of 53 families, 205 genera and 308 species. Among them 13 species were endemic to Khorassan-Kopet Dagh Province. The largest plant family was Asteraceae with 28 genera and 40 species. According to Raunkiaer’s life form categories, the identified species are categorized as hemicryptophytes 35.38%, therophytes 34.74%, cryptophytes (geophytes 12.33%, chamaephytes 11.03% and phanerophytes 6.49%. The high percentage of hemicryptophytes indicated that the area had a cold mountain climate. The chorotype of species was obtained on the basis of the available sources. Irano-Turanian plants were the most frequent chorotype of the area with 59%.

Response shift in the assessment of anxiety, depression and perceived health in urologic cancer patients: an individual perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Hinz, A; Finck Barboza, C; Zenger, M; Singer, S; Schwalenberg, T; Stolzenburg, J-U

2011-09-01

The assessment of quality of life in cancer patients is hampered because patients may change their frames of reference during the course of the disease. The aim of this study was to test individual differences in these response shift effects. Urologic cancer patients (n= 275) were examined during the stay in the hospital (T1), 2 weeks later (T2) and 3 months later (T3). Furthermore, at T3 they were asked to retrospectively assess their situation at T1 (then-test). The difference between this retrospective assessment and the original assessment at T1 was used to determine the response shift effect (recalibration). Anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire-2), depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-2) and health dissatisfaction (Questionnaire on Life Satisfaction) were obtained at all points in time. The effect sizes of the mean response shift effects (recalibration) ranged between 0.26 and 0.48. Nevertheless, a large proportion of the sample showed no response shift (22-38%) or even negative response shift effects (20-30%). There were significant correlations among the response shift measures of the domains (anxiety, depression and health dissatisfaction) with coefficients between 0.29 and 0.51. The results indicate that response shift should not only be assessed on the mean score level, since it is also a dimension of individual difference. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

A short form of the Diabetes Quality of Life for Youth questionnaire

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Skinner, T. C.; Hoey, H.; McGee, H. M.

2006-01-01

Aims/hypothesis: The aim of this study was to test the construct validity of the Diabetes Quality of Life for Youth (DQOLY) questionnaire in a large representative sample of young people with type 1 diabetes mellitus. Methods: The 52-item DQOLY questionnaire was completed by 2,077 adolescent...... of a revised questionnaire, two with four factors and one with six factors, with all models indicating the presence of one satisfaction scale, but with many of the impact and worry scale items either double loading or not loading on any factors. Subsequent confirmatory analysis indicated that compared...... with the original DQOLY scales, the six-factor solution was the best-fitting model. Conclusions/interpretation: The DQOLY factor structure does not show construct validity in a large, diverse representative sample of young people with type 1 diabetes. However, a revised (short-form) version of the DQOLY is proposed...

Are changes in objective working hour characteristics associated with changes in work-life conflict among hospital employees working shifts? A 7-year follow-up.

Science.gov (United States)

Karhula, Kati; Koskinen, Aki; Ojajärvi, Anneli; Ropponen, Annina; Puttonen, Sampsa; Kivimäki, Mika; Härmä, Mikko

2018-06-01

To investigate whether changes in objective working hour characteristics are associated with parallel changes in work-life conflict (WLC) among hospital employees. Survey responses from three waves of the Finnish Public Sector study (2008, 2012 and 2015) were combined with payroll data from 91 days preceding the surveys (n=2 482, 93% women). Time-dependent fixed effects regression models adjusted for marital status, number of children and stressfulness of the life situation were used to investigate whether changes in working hour characteristics were associated with parallel change in WLC. The working hour characteristics were dichotomised with cut-points in less than or greater than 10% or less than or greater than25% occurrence) and WLC to frequent versus seldom/none. Change in proportion of evening and night shifts and weekend work was significantly associated with parallel change in WLC (adjusted OR 2.19, 95% CI 1.62 to 2.96; OR 1.71, 95% CI 1.21 to 2.44; OR 1.63, 95% CI 1.194 to 2.22, respectively). Similarly, increase or decrease in proportion of quick returns (adjusted OR 1.45, 95% CI 1.10 to 1.89) and long work weeks (adjusted OR 1.26, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.52) was associated with parallel increase or decrease in WLC. Single days off and very long work weeks showed no association with WLC. Changes in unsocial working hour characteristics, especially in connection with evening shifts, are consistently associated with parallel changes in WLC. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Shift Work Disorder and Mental and Physical Effects of Shift Work

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Pinar Guzel Ozdemir

2018-03-01

Full Text Available With the growing prevalence of shift work all over the the world, the relationship between the daily lives of irregular lifestyles and rhythms is being investigated for those working as shift workers and their families. The effect of shift work on physical and mental health is a very important field of research in recent years. The onset and persistence of medical complications in shift workers includes impaired synchronization between work schedule rhythms and circadian clock. In this context, studies have been carried out showing the increased risk of sleep-wake disorders, gastrointestinal problems, and cardiovascular diseases. There is little information about the actual frequency, effect on health and treatment of shift work disorder, known as circadian rhythm sleep disorder. Shift work disorder includes insomnia and/or excessive sleepiness related with the work schedule. The aim of this rewiev, mentioning about the physical and mental effects of shift work, and to provide information about the diagnosis, clinic and treatment methods of shift-work disorder.

Does age affect the relationship between control at work and sleep disturbance for shift workers?

Science.gov (United States)

Loudoun, Rebecca Jane; Muurlink, Olav; Peetz, David; Murray, Georgina

2014-12-01

Among miners, shift work, aging and lack of control at work may be factors leading to increased sleep problems. Such risk factors may also operate in interaction, resulting in an even increased harm for sleep disruption. The present study aims at evaluating these relationships drawing on a sample of Australian mine and energy workers and their partners. The workers were mainly men. All performed shift work that included either nights (95%) or multiple shifts (92%), usually both (87%), while 36% were aged 50 years or above. The results show that low latitude over work activities is associated with higher sleep disturbances across the sample, though the effects are clearer amongst younger workers. By contrast, for younger workers, control over shift scheduling is not associated with sleep disturbances but for workers aged 50 or more, low control results in more sleep disturbance. Misalignment between shift workers and partner work schedules, and partner dissatisfaction with shift worker's employment and shift worker's work-life balance, are also associated with more sleep disturbances amongst shift workers.

Effect of shift work on hypertension: cross sectional study.

Science.gov (United States)

Yeom, Jeong Han; Sim, Chang Sun; Lee, Jiho; Yun, Seok Hyeon; Park, Sang Jin; Yoo, Cheol-In; Sung, Joo Hyun

2017-01-01

The need of efficient resource management and full-time accessibility to resources has increased with the development of industry, resulting in the increase of shift workers. Previous researches of past decades show that there are various health effects on shift workers. However, the definition and the form of shift work have varied from each research and occupational harmful factors except for shift work have not been excluded completely in previous researches. Therefore, in this research, we tried to find out the effect of shift work focusing on the hypertension. To complement previously mentioned weakness of other researches, we performed our research on participants to whom we could minimize other risk factors excluding shift work. This research examined 1,953 petrochemical plant male workers (shift work 1,075, day worker 878) who did medical checkup from 1st Jan. 2014 to 31th Dec. 2014 in a general hospital located in Ulsan, based on their medical records and questionnaires. With the questionnaire, we found out their basic information including age, social status, occupational history, and we took their physical measurements. Compared to day workers, shift workers' odds ratio of developing hypertension was 1.31 (95% CI 0.98-1.75). After adjusting confounding variables, adjusted odds ratio for entire subjects was 1.51 (95% CI 1.11-2.06). Also, for subjects who were in continuous service for over 20 years, odds ratio was 1.51 (95% CI 1.08-2.11). Shift workers had a higher chance of hypertension than day workers do. Particularly, the longer the workers work continuously, the risk of hypertension getting higher.

[The evaluation of the quality of life in the patients presenting with various forms of chronic otitis media].

Science.gov (United States)

Kosyakov, S Ya; Minavnina, Yu V; Gunenkov, A V

Chronic otitis media (COM) is a widespread pathological condition that affects up to 2% of the general population. Certain forms of this disease markedly deteriorate the quality of life of the patients which makes them overestimate the severity of harm to their health status and can be a cause of inflated expectations as regards the results of the planned surgical treatment. The linking element between the patient's expectations and the outcomes of the surgical intervention may be the recently developed questionnaires for the evaluation of the health-related quality of life (HRQoL). One of them, the COMQ-12 questionnaire, was devised to estimate the subjective reports by the patients concerning the deterioration of their quality of life attributable to chronic otitis media. The objective of the present study was to characterize the value of the 5-point Russian-language version of COMQ-12 for the evaluation of each of its 12 items concerning various aspects of health based on the personal opinions of the patients suffering from chronic otitis media The study included 108 patients 49 of whom were men and 59 women (45% and 55% respectively) at the age varying from 16 to 84 years. The COMQ-12 scores, according to the reports of individual patients, ranged from 4 to 43 of the 60 ones possible. The average score was 19.4 (SD=8.3). The overall median COMQ-12 score was 20, and the mode scored 14. The Cronbach-alpha index was equal to 0.860. The Russian-language version of the COMQ-12 questionnaire provides a reliable tool for the estimation of the quality of life in the patients presenting with various forms of chronic otitis media.

Simulation of climate-tick-host-landscape interactions: Effects of shifts in the seasonality of host population fluctuations on tick densities.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Hsiao-Hsuan; Grant, W E; Teel, P D; Hamer, S A

2015-12-01

Tick vector systems are comprised of complex climate-tick-host-landscape interactions that are difficult to identify and estimate from empirical observations alone. We developed a spatially-explicit, individual-based model, parameterized to represent ecological conditions typical of the south-central United States, to examine effects of shifts in the seasonal occurrence of fluctuations of host densities on tick densities. Simulated shifts in the seasonal occurrence of periods of high and low host densities affected both the magnitude of unfed tick densities and the seasonality of tick development. When shifting the seasonal densities of all size classes of hosts (small, medium, and large) synchronously, densities of nymphs were affected more by smaller shifts away from the baseline host seasonality than were densities of larval and adult life stages. When shifting the seasonal densities of only a single size-class of hosts while holding other size classes at their baseline levels, densities of larval, nymph, and adult life stages responded differently. Shifting seasonal densities of any single host-class earlier resulted in a greater increase in adult tick density than when seasonal densities of all host classes were shifted earlier simultaneously. The mean densities of tick life stages associated with shifts in host densities resulted from system-level interactions of host availability with tick phenology. For example, shifting the seasonality of all hosts ten weeks earlier resulted in an approximately 30% increase in the relative degree of temporal co-occurrence of actively host-seeking ticks and hosts compared to baseline, whereas shifting the seasonality of all hosts ten weeks later resulted in an approximately 70% decrease compared to baseline. Differences among scenarios in the overall presence of active host-seeking ticks in the system were due primarily to the degree of co-occurrence of periods of high densities of unfed ticks and periods of high densities

A New Kind of Shift Operators for Infinite Circular and Spherical Wells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guo-Hua Sun

2014-01-01

Full Text Available A new kind of shift operators for infinite circular and spherical wells is identified. These shift operators depend on all spatial variables of quantum systems and connect some eigenstates of confined systems of different radii R sharing energy levels with a common eigenvalue. In circular well, the momentum operators P±=Px±iPy play the role of shift operators. The Px and Py operators, the third projection of the orbital angular momentum operator Lz, and the Hamiltonian H form a complete set of commuting operators with the SO(2 symmetry. In spherical well, the shift operators establish a novel relation between ψlm(r and ψ(l ± 1(m±1(r.

Non-occupational physical activity levels of shift workers compared with non-shift workers

Science.gov (United States)

Loef, Bette; Hulsegge, Gerben; Wendel-Vos, G C Wanda; Verschuren, W M Monique; Bakker, Marije F; van der Beek, Allard J; Proper, Karin I

2017-01-01

Objectives Lack of physical activity (PA) has been hypothesised as an underlying mechanism in the adverse health effects of shift work. Therefore, our aim was to compare non-occupational PA levels between shift workers and non-shift workers. Furthermore, exposure–response relationships for frequency of night shifts and years of shift work regarding non-occupational PA levels were studied. Methods Data of 5980 non-shift workers and 532 shift workers from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition-Netherlands (EPIC-NL) were used in these cross-sectional analyses. Time spent (hours/week) in different PA types (walking/cycling/exercise/chores) and intensities (moderate/vigorous) were calculated based on self-reported PA. Furthermore, sports were operationalised as: playing sports (no/yes), individual versus non-individual sports, and non-vigorous-intensity versus vigorous-intensity sports. PA levels were compared between shift workers and non-shift workers using Generalized Estimating Equations and logistic regression. Results Shift workers reported spending more time walking than non-shift workers (B=2.3 (95% CI 1.2 to 3.4)), but shift work was not associated with other PA types and any of the sports activities. Shift workers who worked 1–4 night shifts/month (B=2.4 (95% CI 0.6 to 4.3)) and ≥5 night shifts/month (B=3.7 (95% CI 1.8 to 5.6)) spent more time walking than non-shift workers. No exposure–response relationships were found between years of shift work and PA levels. Conclusions Shift workers spent more time walking than non-shift workers, but we observed no differences in other non-occupational PA levels. To better understand if and how PA plays a role in the negative health consequences of shift work, our findings need to be confirmed in future studies. PMID:27872151

A Dynamic Programming-Based Heuristic for the Shift Design Problem in Airport Ground Handling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Clausen, Tommy

We consider the heterogeneous shift design problem for a workforce with multiple skills, where work shifts are created to cover a given demand as well as possible while minimizing cost and satisfying a flexible set of constraints. We focus mainly on applications within airport ground handling whe...... programming that allows flexibility in modeling the workforce. Parameters allow a planner to determine the level of demand coverage that best fulfills the requirements of the organization. Results are presented from several diverse real-life ground handling instances.......We consider the heterogeneous shift design problem for a workforce with multiple skills, where work shifts are created to cover a given demand as well as possible while minimizing cost and satisfying a flexible set of constraints. We focus mainly on applications within airport ground handling where...

Reduced Tolerance to Night Shift in Chronic Shift Workers: Insight From Fractal Regulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Peng; Morris, Christopher J; Patxot, Melissa; Yugay, Tatiana; Mistretta, Joseph; Purvis, Taylor E; Scheer, Frank A J L; Hu, Kun

2017-07-01

Healthy physiology is characterized by fractal regulation (FR) that generates similar structures in the fluctuations of physiological outputs at different time scales. Perturbed FR is associated with aging and age-related pathological conditions. Shift work, involving repeated and chronic exposure to misaligned environmental and behavioral cycles, disrupts circadian coordination. We tested whether night shifts perturb FR in motor activity and whether night shifts affect FR in chronic shift workers and non-shift workers differently. We studied 13 chronic shift workers and 14 non-shift workers as controls using both field and in-laboratory experiments. In the in-laboratory study, simulated night shifts were used to induce a misalignment between the endogenous circadian pacemaker and the sleep-wake cycles (ie, circadian misalignment) while environmental conditions and food intake were controlled. In the field study, we found that FR was robust in controls but broke down in shift workers during night shifts, leading to more random activity fluctuations as observed in patients with dementia. The night shift effect was present even 2 days after ending night shifts. The in-laboratory study confirmed that night shifts perturbed FR in chronic shift workers and showed that FR in controls was more resilience to the circadian misalignment. Moreover, FR during real and simulated night shifts was more perturbed in those who started shift work at older ages. Chronic shift work causes night shift intolerance, which is probably linked to the degraded plasticity of the circadian control system. © Sleep Research Society 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Sleep Research Society. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail journals.permissions@oup.com.

Experience with the shift technical advisor position

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Melber, B.D.; Olson, J.; Schreiber, R.E.; Winges, L.

1984-03-01

The provision of engineering expertise on shift at commercial nuclear power plants has mainly taken the form of the Shift Technical Advisor (STA). This person, acting in a capacity that is part engineer and part operator, is expected to advise the operations crew in the event of an emergency and review plant operating experience during normal circumstances. The position was mandated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission following the incident at Three Mile Island. This report expands on a growing body of knowledge regarding the effectiveness of the STA. The new data presented here come from interviews with plant personnel and utility officials from nine sites. Researchers from the Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) interviewed plant personnel, including the STA and immediate management, the shift supervisor and management, the training department, and ancillary staff, all of whom affect the intended performance of the STA. The conclusions of the report are that the design of the STA position results in limited contribution during emergencies; more comprehensive ways should be sought to provide the variety and specificity of engineering expertise needed during such times

Experience with the shift technical advisor position

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Melber, B.D.; Olson, J.; Schreiber, R.E.; Winges, L.

1984-03-01

The provision of engineering expertise on shift at commercial nuclear power plants has mainly taken the form of the Shift Technical Advisor (STA). This person, acting in a capacity that is part engineer and part operator, is expected to advise the operations crew in the event of an emergency and review plant operating experience during normal circumstances. The position was mandated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission following the incident at Three Mile Island. This report expands on a growing body of knowledge regarding the effectiveness of the STA. The new data presented here come from interviews with plant personnel and utility officials from nine sites. Researchers from the Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) interviewed plant personnel, including the STA and immediate management, the shift supervisor and management, the training department, and ancillary staff, all of whom affect the intended performance of the STA. The conclusions of the report are that the design of the STA position results in limited contribution during emergencies; more comprehensive ways should be sought to provide the variety and specificity of engineering expertise needed during such times.

Non-occupational physical activity levels of shift workers compared with non-shift workers.

Science.gov (United States)

Loef, Bette; Hulsegge, Gerben; Wendel-Vos, G C Wanda; Verschuren, W M Monique; Vermeulen, Roel C H; Bakker, Marije F; van der Beek, Allard J; Proper, Karin I

2017-05-01

Lack of physical activity (PA) has been hypothesised as an underlying mechanism in the adverse health effects of shift work. Therefore, our aim was to compare non-occupational PA levels between shift workers and non-shift workers. Furthermore, exposure-response relationships for frequency of night shifts and years of shift work regarding non-occupational PA levels were studied. Data of 5980 non-shift workers and 532 shift workers from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition-Netherlands (EPIC-NL) were used in these cross-sectional analyses. Time spent (hours/week) in different PA types (walking/cycling/exercise/chores) and intensities (moderate/vigorous) were calculated based on self-reported PA. Furthermore, sports were operationalised as: playing sports (no/yes), individual versus non-individual sports, and non-vigorous-intensity versus vigorous-intensity sports. PA levels were compared between shift workers and non-shift workers using Generalized Estimating Equations and logistic regression. Shift workers reported spending more time walking than non-shift workers (B=2.3 (95% CI 1.2 to 3.4)), but shift work was not associated with other PA types and any of the sports activities. Shift workers who worked 1-4 night shifts/month (B=2.4 (95% CI 0.6 to 4.3)) and ≥5 night shifts/month (B=3.7 (95% CI 1.8 to 5.6)) spent more time walking than non-shift workers. No exposure-response relationships were found between years of shift work and PA levels. Shift workers spent more time walking than non-shift workers, but we observed no differences in other non-occupational PA levels. To better understand if and how PA plays a role in the negative health consequences of shift work, our findings need to be confirmed in future studies. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Interpreting Quality of Life after Brain Injury Scores: Cross-Walk with the Short Form-36.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, Lindsay; Marsden-Loftus, Isaac; Koskinen, Sanna; Bakx, Wilbert; Bullinger, Monika; Formisano, Rita; Maas, Andrew; Neugebauer, Edmund; Powell, Jane; Sarajuuri, Jaana; Sasse, Nadine; von Steinbuechel, Nicole; von Wild, Klaus; Truelle, Jean-Luc

2017-01-01

The Quality of Life after Brain Injury (QOLIBRI) instruments are traumatic brain injury (TBI)-specific assessments of health-related quality of life (HRQoL), with established validity and reliability. The purpose of the study is to help improve the interpretability of the two QOLIBRI summary scores (the QOLIBRI Total score and the QOLBRI Overall Scale [OS] score). An analysis was conducted of 761 patients with TBI who took part in the QOLIBRI validation studies. A cross-walk between QOLIBRI scores and the SF-36 Mental Component Summary norm-based scoring system was performed using geometric mean regression analysis. The exercise supports a previous suggestion that QOLIBRI Total scores GOSE), as a measure of global function, are presented in the form of means and standard deviations that allow comparison with other studies, and data on age and sex are presented for the QOLIBRI-OS. While bearing in mind the potential imprecision of the comparison, the findings provide a framework for evaluating QOLIBRI summary scores in relation to generic HRQoL that improves their interpretability.

Patient life in hospital

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ludvigsen, Mette Spliid

Patient life in hospital.A qualitative study of informal relationships between hospitalised patients Introduction Within a patientology framework, this PhD dissertation is about an empirical study on patient life that provides insight into the nature of informal relationships between patients...... are created through stories about three roughly framed aspects of hospitalisation: A. Being together with fellow patients entails a constant dilemma, B. Relationships between patients are restricted and extended and C. Shifting perspectives in solidarity. Conclusion Patients' hospitalisation is strongly...

Depression in hemodialysis patients: the role of dialysis shift

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Flavio Teles

2014-03-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: Depression is the most important neuropsychiatric complication in chronic kidney disease because it reduces quality of life and increases mortality. Evidence demonstrating the association between dialysis shift and depression is lacking; thus, obtaining such evidence was the main objective of this study. METHOD: This cross-sectional study included patients attending a hemodialysis program. Depression was diagnosed using Beck's Depression Inventory. Excessive daytime sleepiness was evaluated using the Epworth Sleepiness Scale. RESULTS: A total of 96 patients were enrolled (55 males, age 48±14 years. Depression and excessive daytime sleepiness were observed in 42.7% and 49% of the patients, respectively. When comparing variables among the three dialysis shifts, there were no differences in age, dialysis vintage, employment status, excessive daytime sleepiness, hemoglobin, phosphorus levels, or albumin levels. Patients in the morning shift were more likely to live in rural areas (p<0.0001, although patients in rural areas did not have a higher prevalence of depression (p= 0.30. Patients with depression were more likely to be dialyzed during the morning shift (p= 0.008. Independent risk factors for depression were age (p<0.03, lower levels of hemoglobin (p<0.01 and phosphorus (p<0.01, and dialysis during the morning shift (p= 0.0009. The hospitalization risk of depressive patients was 4.5 times higher than that of nondepressive patients (p<0.008. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that depression is associated with dialysis shift, higher levels of phosphorus, and lower levels of hemoglobin. The results highlight the need for randomized trials to determine whether this association occurs by chance or whether circadian rhythm disorders may play a role.

Pedagogical terms of forming of healthy method of life of modern pupils

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Odarchenko V.I.

2012-10-01

Full Text Available The questions of conditioning forming of healthy method of life of pupils of general educational educational establishments are probed. In an experiment 156 pupils took part in age from 6 to 17 years. It is set that the characteristic feature of bodily condition of health of pupils is a result of the protracted unfavorable influence of socio-economic, ecological and pedagogical factors. An idea speaks out, that search of the new going near organization of an educational educate process at school it is necessary to send educations to humanizing. It will provide creation of optimum terms for spiritual growth of personality, valuable realization of psychophysical possibilities, maintainance and strengthening of health. It is well-proven that realization of the personality oriented approach taking into account basic valeological principles positively influences on the process of education of responsible attitude toward an own health as to the greatest individual and public value.

Academic involvement in shift technical advisor training for the utilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davidson, J.N.; Sain, L.H.

1981-01-01

One of the clearest conclusions reached of nearly every commission and panel formed in response to the Three Mile Island accident was the desirability of upgrading the educational background of those persons with direct operational responsibility in a nuclear power plant. The long term objective is for all shift supervisors to have engineering degrees as well as NRC senior operating licenses. In the interim, the utilities are required to provide in-depth engineering expertise on every shift in the person of a Shift Technical Advisor (STA). The training of STA's is complicated by the requirement to have college level instruction in plant specific topics which are not typically included in the curricula of degree-granting instructions. One possible response to this challenge is presented

A Pilot Study to Examine the Relationship Between Napping and Fatigue in Nurses Practicing on the Night Shift.

Science.gov (United States)

Neville, Kathleen; Velmer, Gillian; Brown, Shari; Robol, Nancy

2017-11-01

The aim of this study is to explore the relationship of night-shift napping on fatigue. Nurses' fatigue, especially at night, interferes with quality of life and job performance and impacts safety and health. Night-shift nurses completed the Brief Fatigue Inventory and a demographic information sheet to determine differences in fatigue between nurses who napped during their night shift as compared with nurses who did not nap. No statistically significant differences in global fatigue were found; differences in rotating shift, age, and, gender were identified. Rotating shifts, a 2nd job, and caring for family predicted fatigue. Based on this pilot study, further investigations of fatigue among night-shift nurses are needed as well as evidence-based support to promote sleep.

Impact of response shift on the assessment of treatment effects using the Oral Health Impact Profile.

Science.gov (United States)

Reissmann, Daniel R; Remmler, Antje; John, Mike T; Schierz, Oliver; Hirsch, Christian

2012-12-01

The assessment of changes in oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) is challenging because individuals' concepts and internal standards of OHRQoL may change over time. The aim of this study was to detect response shifts in OHRQoL assessments made using the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP). Oral health-related quality of life was assessed in a consecutive sample of 126 patients seeking prosthodontic care. Patients were asked to rate their OHRQoL before treatment started and 1 month after treatment was finished, using the German 49-item version of the OHIP. When rating their OHRQoL after treatment, patients were also asked to rate their pre-treatment OHRQoL without having access to their baseline data. The response shift was calculated as the difference in OHIP summary scores between the initial assessment and the retrospective baseline assessment. The OHIP mean scores decreased from 31.8 at the initial baseline assessment to 24.4 after treatment. The retrospective baseline assessment resulted in an OHIP mean score of 38.1, corresponding to a response shift of 6.3 OHIP points. The effect size (Cohen's d = 0.21) of the response shift was considered small. The response shift phenomenon and its magnitude have important implications for dental practice, where patients and dentists often assess perceived treatment effects retrospectively. © 2012 Eur J Oral Sci.

The effects of state anxiety and thermal comfort on sleep quality and eye fatigue in shift work nurses

OpenAIRE

Dehghan, Habibollah; Azmoon, Hiva; Souri, Shiva; Akbari, Jafar

2014-01-01

Psychological problems as state anxiety (SA) in the work environment has negative effect on the employees life especially shift work nurses, i.e. negative effect on mental and physical health (sleep quality, eye fatigue and comfort thermal). The purpose of this study was determination of effects of state anxiety and thermal comfort on sleep quality and eye fatigue in shift work nurses. Methods: This cross-sectional research conducted on 82 shift-work personnel of 18 nursing workstations of Is...

Research on Gear Shifting Process without Disengaging Clutch for a Parallel Hybrid Electric Vehicle Equipped with AMT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hui-Long Yu

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Dynamic models of a single-shaft parallel hybrid electric vehicle (HEV equipped with automated mechanical transmission (AMT were described in different working stages during a gear shifting process without disengaging clutch. Parameters affecting the gear shifting time, components life, and gear shifting jerk in different transient states during a gear shifting process were deeply analyzed. The mathematical models considering the detailed synchronizer working process which can explain the gear shifting failure, long time gear shifting, and frequent synchronizer failure phenomenon in HEV were derived. Dynamic coordinated control strategy of the engine, motor, and actuators in different transient states considering the detailed working stages of synchronizer in a gear shifting process of a HEV is for the first time innovatively proposed according to the state of art references. Bench test and real road test results show that the proposed control strategy can improve the gear shifting quality in all its evaluation indexes significantly.

Simulation-based medical education: time for a pedagogical shift.

Science.gov (United States)

Kalaniti, Kaarthigeyan; Campbell, Douglas M

2015-01-01

The purpose of medical education at all levels is to prepare physicians with the knowledge and comprehensive skills, required to deliver safe and effective patient care. The traditional 'apprentice' learning model in medical education is undergoing a pedagogical shift to a 'simulation-based' learning model. Experiential learning, deliberate practice and the ability to provide immediate feedback are the primary advantages of simulation-based medical education. It is an effective way to develop new skills, identify knowledge gaps, reduce medical errors, and maintain infrequently used clinical skills even among experienced clinical teams, with the overall goal of improving patient care. Although simulation cannot replace clinical exposure as a form of experiential learning, it promotes learning without compromising patient safety. This new paradigm shift is revolutionizing medical education in the Western world. It is time that the developing countries embrace this new pedagogical shift.

Blue and red shifted temperature dependence of implicit phonon shifts in graphene

Science.gov (United States)

Mann, Sarita; Jindal, V. K.

2017-07-01

We have calculated the implicit shift for various modes of frequency in a pure graphene sheet. Thermal expansion and Grüneisen parameter which are required for implicit shift calculation have already been studied and reported. For this calculation, phonon frequencies are obtained using force constants derived from dynamical matrix calculated using VASP code where the density functional perturbation theory (DFPT) is used in interface with phonopy software. The implicit phonon shift shows an unusual behavior as compared to the bulk materials. The frequency shift is large negative (red shift) for ZA and ZO modes and the value of negative shift increases with increase in temperature. On the other hand, blue shift arises for all other longitudinal and transverse modes with a similar trend of increase with increase in temperature. The q dependence of phonon shifts has also been studied. Such simultaneous red and blue shifts in transverse or out plane modes and surface modes, respectively leads to speculation of surface softening in out of plane direction in preference to surface melting.

OpenShift Workshop

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva; Rodriguez Peon, Alberto

2017-01-01

Workshop to introduce developers to the OpenShift platform available at CERN. Several use cases will be shown, including deploying an existing application into OpenShift. We expect attendees to realize about OpenShift features and general architecture of the service.

Paradigm shift in psychiatry: what may it involve?

Science.gov (United States)

Valent, Paul

2018-02-01

This study aims to examine the potential nature of an ongoing paradigm shift in psychiatry that has been suggested to be occurring. New findings in traumatology and neuroscience do form a potential platform for a paradigm shift. Prior conflicting paradigms are suggested to be due to biases arising from mental structures themselves. A new wholist perspective is proposed, which makes sense of and incorporates previous paradigms, and coheres recent understanding of right- and left-brain functioning and biopsychosocial traumatic processes and their ramifications. The perspective makes sense of the great variety of post-traumatic manifestations ranging from somatic to meaning-making dysfunctions. The wholist perspective may well be an important step in solidifying a fresh paradigmatic perspective in psychiatry.

Generalized shift-invariant systems and approximately dual frames

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Benavente, Ana; Christensen, Ole; Zakowicz, Maria I.

2017-01-01

Dual pairs of frames yield a procedure for obtaining perfect reconstruction of elements in the underlying Hilbert space in terms of superpositions of the frame elements. However, practical constraints often force us to apply sequences that do not exactly form dual frames. In this article, we...... consider the important case of generalized shift-invariant systems and provide various ways of estimating the deviation from perfect reconstruction that occur when the systems do not form dual frames. The deviation from being dual frames will be measured either in terms of a perturbation condition...

Contributors to shift work tolerance in South Korean nurses working rotating shift.

Science.gov (United States)

Jung, Hye-Sun; Lee, Bokim

2015-05-01

Shift workers have rapidly increased in South Korea; however, there is no published research exploring shift work tolerance among South Korean workers. This study aimed to investigate factors related to shift work tolerance in South Korean nurses. The sample comprised of 660 nurses who worked shifts in a large hospital in South Korea. A structured questionnaire included following comprehensive variables: demographic (age and number of children), individual (morningness and self-esteem), psychosocial (social support and job stress), lifestyle (alcohol consumption, physical activity, and BMI), and working condition factors (number of night shifts and working hours). Shift work tolerance was measured in terms of insomnia, fatigue, and depression. The results of hierarchical regressions indicate that all variables, except for three, number of children, BMI, and working hours, were related to at least one of the symptoms associated with shift work tolerance. Based on these results, we offer some practical implications to help improve shift work tolerance of workers. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Life politics, nature and the state: Giddens' sociological theory and The Politics of Climate Change.

Science.gov (United States)

Thorpe, Charles; Jacobson, Brynna

2013-03-01

Anthony Giddens' The Politics of Climate Change represents a significant shift in the way in which he addresses ecological politics. In this book, he rejects the relevance of environmentalism and demarcates climate-change policy from life politics. Giddens addresses climate change in the technocratic mode of simple rather than reflexive modernization. However, Giddens' earlier sociological theory provides the basis for a more reflexive understanding of climate change. Climate change instantiates how, in high modernity, the existential contradiction of the human relationship with nature returns in new form, expressed in life politics and entangled with the structural contradictions of the capitalist state. The interlinking of existential and structural contradiction is manifested in the tension between life politics and the capitalist nation-state. This tension is key for understanding the failures so far of policy responses to climate change. © London School of Economics and Political Science 2013.

Trophic shifts of a generalist consumer in response to resource pulses.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pei-Jen L Shaner

2011-03-01

Full Text Available Trophic shifts of generalist consumers can have broad food-web and biodiversity consequences through altered trophic flows and vertical diversity. Previous studies have used trophic shifts as indicators of food-web responses to perturbations, such as species invasion, and spatial or temporal subsidies. Resource pulses, as a form of temporal subsidies, have been found to be quite common among various ecosystems, affecting organisms at multiple trophic levels. Although diet switching of generalist consumers in response to resource pulses is well documented, few studies have examined if the switch involves trophic shifts, and if so, the directions and magnitudes of the shifts. In this study, we used stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes with a Bayesian multi-source mixing model to estimate proportional contributions of three trophic groups (i.e. producer, consumer, and fungus-detritivore to the diets of the White-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus receiving an artificial seed pulse or a naturally-occurring cicadas pulse. Our results demonstrated that resource pulses can drive trophic shifts in the mice. Specifically, the producer contribution to the mouse diets was increased by 32% with the seed pulse at both sites examined. The consumer contribution to the mouse diets was also increased by 29% with the cicadas pulse in one of the two grids examined. However, the pattern was reversed in the second grid, with a 13% decrease in the consumer contribution with the cicadas pulse. These findings suggest that generalist consumers may play different functional roles in food webs under perturbations of resource pulses. This study provides one of the few highly quantitative descriptions on dietary and trophic shifts of a key consumer in forest food webs, which may help future studies to form specific predictions on changes in trophic interactions following resource pulses.

Therapeutic Theodicy? Suffering, Struggle, and the Shift from the God’s-Eye View

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amber L. Griffioen

2018-03-01

Full Text Available From a theoretical standpoint, the problem of human suffering can be understood as one formulation of the classical problem of evil, which calls into question the compatibility of the existence of a perfect God with the extent to which human beings suffer. Philosophical responses to this problem have traditionally been posed in the form of theodicies, or justifications of the divine. In this article, I argue that the theodical approach in analytic philosophy of religion exhibits both morally and epistemically harmful tendencies and that philosophers would do better to shift their perspective from the hypothetical “God’s-eye view” to the standpoint of those who actually suffer. By focusing less on defending the epistemic rationality of religious belief and more on the therapeutic effectiveness of particular imaginings of God with respect to suffering, we can recover, (reconstruct, and/or (reappropriate more virtuous approaches to the individual and collective struggle with the life of faith in the face of suffering.

Expert system application for prioritizing preventive actions for shift work: shift expert.

Science.gov (United States)

Esen, Hatice; Hatipoğlu, Tuğçen; Cihan, Ahmet; Fiğlali, Nilgün

2017-09-19

Shift patterns, work hours, work arrangements and worker motivations have increasingly become key factors for job performance. The main objective of this article is to design an expert system that identifies the negative effects of shift work and prioritizes mitigation efforts according to their importance in preventing these negative effects. The proposed expert system will be referred to as the shift expert. A thorough literature review is conducted to determine the effects of shift work on workers. Our work indicates that shift work is linked to demographic variables, sleepiness and fatigue, health and well-being, and social and domestic conditions. These parameters constitute the sections of a questionnaire designed to focus on 26 important issues related to shift work. The shift expert is then constructed to provide prevention advice at the individual and organizational levels, and it prioritizes this advice using a fuzzy analytic hierarchy process model, which considers comparison matrices provided by users during the prioritization process. An empirical study of 61 workers working on three rotating shifts is performed. After administering the questionnaires, the collected data are analyzed statistically, and then the shift expert produces individual and organizational recommendations for these workers.

Ecological and life-history traits explain recent boundary shifts in elevation and latitude of western North American songbirds

Science.gov (United States)

Sonya K. Auer; David I. King

2014-01-01

Species are expected to move uphill or poleward in response to climate change, yet their distributions show idiosyncratic responses; many species are moving in the predicted direction, but others are not shifting at all or are shifting downhill or towards the equator. Fundamental questions remain about the causes of interspecific variation in range responses and...

The Impact of Shift Work on Brazilian Train Drivers with Different Chronotypes: A Comparative Analysis through Objective and Subjective Criteria

Science.gov (United States)

de Araújo Fernandes Jr., Silvio; Stetner Antonietti, Leandro; Saba, Amanda; Paulino de Faria, Alexandre; Maculano Esteves, Andrea; Tufik, Sergio; Túlio de Mello, Marco

2013-01-01

Objective The aim of this study was to compare sleep pattern, tiredness sensation and quality of life between different chronotypes in train drivers from a Brazilian transportation company. Subjects and Methods Ninety-one train drivers, working a rotary work schedule including night shift, were divided into three groups according to their chronotype (morning types, intermediate or evening types) and were assessed for their sleep and quality of life, as characterized by a subjective questionnaire and the Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT), applied before and immediately after the night shift. The pattern of activity and rest was measured for 10 days by actigraphy, and the chronotype was determined through the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire. Results Forty-one (45.1s%) individuals were classified as morning type, 44 (48.4s%) were classified as intermediate and 6 (6.6s%) as evening type. The evening types had a tendency to remain awake for a longer period of time before the night shift (p = 0.05) and scored worse overall for quality of life compared to morning types (p = 0.11). There was no significant difference between the groups regarding variability in the PVT performance, even when covaried by the period of waking time before the test. There was no significant difference either in feelings of fatigue before and after starting the shift. Conclusion Although the evening type number was small, evening type individuals scored worse relative to sleep and quality of life than morning type individuals. PMID:23328130

Reakcii rastenij raznyh zhiznennyh form na izmenenija prirodnoj sredy [The response of different plant life forms to natural environment changes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Schmidt Svetlana

2011-01-01

Full Text Available This paper contains test results revealing norm and stress reactions of various life-form plants: trees — Betula pendula Roth, Tilia platyphyllos Scop., Pinus sylvetris L; water-plant -Galium palustre L.; grass — Solidago Canadensis; cereal — Secale cereal L. Collection and processing of the material was made in the area of Berlin/Brandenburg, Germany. Clark sensor-based method made it possible to determine the amount and rate of the oxygen evolution by plants in the dark and light phase. Under the reaction norm the average amount of the oxygen evolved and the average rate of metabolism processes during dark and light phases are changing simultaneously. Parabolic and periodic dependences of these changes during the vegetation period has been found. Under the stress reaction (drought, illness the rate of metabolism dark reactions is increased by 2—3 times as compared with light reactions. The obtained results may be use for bioindication of the climate change in the Baltic Region.

What roles do team climate, roster control, and work life conflict play in shiftworkers' fatigue longitudinally?

Science.gov (United States)

Pisarski, Anne; Barbour, Jennifer P

2014-05-01

The study aimed to examine shiftworkers fatigue and the longitudinal relationships that impact on fatigue such as team climate, work life conflict, control of shifts and shift type in shift working nurses. We used a quantitative survey methodology and analysed data with a moderated hierarchical multiple regression. After matching across two time periods 18 months apart, the sample consisted of 166 nurses from one Australian hospital. Of these nurses, 61 worked two rotating day shifts (morning & afternoon/evening) and 105 were rotating shiftworkers who worked three shifts (morning afternoon/evening and nights). The findings suggest that control over shift scheduling can have significant effects on fatigue for both two-shift and three-shift workers. A significant negative relationship between positive team climate and fatigue was moderated by shift type. At both Time 1 and Time 2, work life conflict was the strongest predictor of concurrent fatigue, but over time it was not. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

Hydrazine-induced thermo-reversible optical shifts in silver-gelatin bionanocomposites

Science.gov (United States)

Aimé, Carole; Rietveld, Ivo B.; Coradin, Thibaud

2011-03-01

Bionanocomposites formed by in situ growth of silver nanoparticles within gelatin gels exhibit large (up to 100 nm) thermo-reversible optical shifts resulting from the enhancement of gel matrix scattering by the interaction of the biopolymer with the hydrazine reducing agent.

Implementing OpenShift

CERN Document Server

Miller, Adam

2013-01-01

A standard tutorial-based approach to using OpenShift and deploying custom or pre-built web applications to the OpenShift Online cloud.This book is for software developers and DevOps alike who are interested in learning how to use the OpenShift Platform-as-a-Service for developing and deploying applications, how the environment works on the back end, and how to deploy their very own open source Platform-as-a-Service based on the upstream OpenShift Origin project.

The effects of shift work and time of day on fine motor control during handwriting.

Science.gov (United States)

Hölzle, Patricia; Hermsdörfer, Joachim; Vetter, Céline

2014-01-01

Handwriting is an elaborate and highly automatised skill relying on fine motor control. In laboratory conditions handwriting kinematics are modulated by the time of day. This study investigated handwriting kinematics in a rotational shift system and assessed whether similar time of day fluctuations at the work place can be observed. Handwriting performance was measured in two tasks of different levels of complexity in 34 shift workers across morning (6:00-14:00), evening (14:00-22:00) and night shifts (22:00-6:00). Participants were tested during all three shifts in 2-h intervals with mobile testing devices. We calculated average velocity, script size and writing frequency to quantify handwriting kinematics and fluency. Average velocity and script size were significantly affected by the shift work schedule with the worst performance during morning shifts and the best performance during evening shifts. Our data are of high economic relevance as fine motor skills are indispensable for accurate and effective production at the work place. Handwriting is one of the most complex fine motor skills in humans, which is frequently performed in daily life. In this study, we tested handwriting repeatedly at the work place in a rotational shift system. We found slower handwriting velocity and reduced script size during morning shifts.

From Prioritizing Objects to Prioritizing Cues: A Developmental Shift for Cognitive Control

Science.gov (United States)

Chevalier, Nicolas; Dauvier, Bruno; Blaye, Agnès

2018-01-01

Emerging cognitive control supports increasingly adaptive behaviors and predicts life success, while low cognitive control is a major risk factor during childhood. It is therefore essential to understand how it develops. The present study provides evidence for an age-related shift in the type of information that children prioritize in their…

A Parent-Offspring Trade-Off Limits the Evolution of an Ontogenetic Niche Shift

NARCIS (Netherlands)

ten Brink, H.; de Roos, A.M.

2017-01-01

Many free-living animal species, including the majority of fish, insects, and amphibians, change their food and habitat during their life. Even though these ontogenetic changes in niche are common, it is not well understood which ecological conditions have favored the evolution of these shifts.

Acceptance of alternative forms of family life by students of the Bialskie region [Akceptacja alternatywnych form życia rodzinnego przez studentów powiatu bialskiego

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marzena RUSZKOWSKA

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The article describes the popularity of alternative forms of family life among young people living in urban and rural settings of the Bialski region. It contains a discussion of the results of a survey conducted at the turn of 2013/2014, and an attempt to answer the question whether and, if so how, informal relationships are an alternative to marriage and family, whether young people are aware of the legal consequences of staying in socalled free relationships, and whether they have an impact on a child if it results from such a relationship.

Compensating amplitude-dependent tune-shift without driving fourth-order resonances

Science.gov (United States)

Ögren, J.; Ziemann, V.

2017-10-01

If octupoles are used in a ring to correct the amplitude-dependent tune-shift one normally tries to avoid that the octupoles drive additional resonances. Here we consider the optimum placement of octupoles that only affects the amplitude-dependent tune-shift, but does not drive fourth-order resonances. The simplest way turns out to place three equally powered octupoles with 60 ° phase advance between adjacent magnets. Using two such octupole triplets separated by a suitable phase advance cancels all fourth-order resonance driving terms and forms a double triplet we call a six-pack. Using three six-packs at places with different ratios of the beta functions allows to independently control all amplitude-dependent tune-shift terms without exciting additional fourth-order resonances in first order of the octupole excitation.

Healthy Diet And Reduction Of Chronic Disease Risks Of Night Shift Workers.

Science.gov (United States)

Ferri, Giovanni M; Cavone, Domenica; Intranuovo, Graziana; Macinagrossa, Linda

2017-07-20

The large increase in epidemiological studies on night shift work is due to the important effects of night shift work on workers' health and psychophysical wellbeing. The short-term effects-insomnia, difficulties in managing work and private life, lower work performance, and more work and extra-work accidents-are easily studied. However, there are several long-term effects that are difficult to study because of the need for detailed exposure assessment and the long latency periods of these diseases. The aim was to collect epidemiologic evidence of diseases in night shift workers, describing their biological pathways and a set of dietary guidelines. This is a review on diet and health effects in night shift workers. Significant increases in the rate ratios and hazard ratios of different diseases were associated with modified eating behaviours and poor eating habits among night shift workers. Night shift work is a risk factor for disruption of the circadian rhythms and for some genetic deregulation because it produces the inversion of the sleep/wake cycle and modifies the alternation between activity and rest. A healthy diet and improved dietary practices, together with other factors, can reduce shift workers' chronic disease risk. The literature showed the importance of eating behaviour in order to prevent diseases in these workers; therefore, educational programmes are necessary to encourage several important lifestyle changes. The target of our future research will be the role of food components in some dietetic habits for the prevention of disease in night shift workers. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

3D phase-shifting fringe projection system on the basis of a tailored free-form mirror.

Science.gov (United States)

Zwick, Susanne; Heist, Stefan; Steinkopf, Ralf; Huber, Sandra; Krause, Sylvio; Bräuer-Burchardt, Christian; Kühmstedt, Peter; Notni, Gunther

2013-05-10

Phase-shifting fringe projection is an effective method to perform 3D shape measurements. Conventionally, fringe projection systems utilize a digital projector that images fringes into the measurement plane. The performance of such systems is limited to the visible spectral range, as most projectors experience technical limitations in UV or IR spectral ranges. However, for certain applications these spectral ranges are of special interest. We present a wideband fringe projector that has been developed on the basis of a picture generating beamshaping mirror. This mirror generates a sinusoidal fringe pattern in the measurement plane without any additional optical elements. Phase shifting is realized without any mechanical movement by a multichip LED. As the system is based on a single mirror, it is wavelength-independent in a wide spectral range and therefore applicable in UV and IR spectral ranges. We present the design and a realized setup of this fringe projection system and the characterization of the generated intensity distribution. Experimental results of 3D shape measurements are presented.

Current neurosurgical trainees' perception of the European Working Time Directive and shift work.

Science.gov (United States)

Tait, M J; Fellows, G A; Pushpananthan, S; Sergides, Y; Papadopoulos, M C; Bell, B A

2008-02-01

The introduction of the shift system in response to the European Working Time Directive has had an enormous impact on the running of neurosurgical units in the UK. This study seeks to establish what provisions are currently in place for out of hours cover and what has been the effect of the introduction of shifts in three main areas: patient safety, training and 'work/life balance'. The on-call registrar at each UK neurosurgical unit was contacted by telephone. Data regarding current emergency provision were sought. Registrars who had worked both on-calls and the shift system during their career as a neurosurgical registrar were asked to make a comparison. Data were collected from all 33 UK units. Twenty-two still use a traditional 24-h on-call system. Twenty-one on-call rotas were classed as non-resident although 12/21 of those officially on non-resident rotas were in fact resident whilst on call. Twenty-two registrars had worked both systems as a neurosurgical registrar. Twenty-one (95.45%) felt that traditional on-calls gave better clinical exposure. Twenty-one (95.45%) felt that on-calls allowed the provision of better patient care. Nineteen (86.36%) felt that on-calls were safer. Thirteen (59.09%) reported that they were more tired when doing shift work than on-calls. Fourteen (63.63%) found that the on-call system gives more useful spare time and more time to deal with family commitments. Current neurosurgery registrars feel the shift system is less safe, harmful to training and worse in terms of work/life balance. More than one-third of units are claiming to have non-resident on-call systems in order to appear compliant with EWTD when registrars are in fact resident.

Quality-adjusted life-years. Ethical implications for physicians and policymakers.

Science.gov (United States)

La Puma, J; Lawlor, E F

1990-06-06

Quality-adjusted life-years have been used in economic analyses as a measure of health outcomes, one that reflects both lives saved and patients' valuations of quality of life in alternative health states. The concept of "cost per quality-adjusted life year" as a guideline for resource allocation is founded on six ethical assumptions: quality of life can be accurately measured and used, utilitarianism is acceptable, equity and efficiency are compatible, projections of community preferences can substitute for individual preferences, the old have less "capacity to benefit" than the young, and physicians will not use quality-adjusted life-years as clinical maxims. Quality-adjusted life-years signal two shifts in the locus of control and the nature of the clinical encounter: first, formal expressions of community preferences and societal usefulness would counterbalance patient autonomy, and second, formal tools of resource allocation and applied decision analysis would counterbalance the use of clinical judgment. These shifts reflect and reinforce a new financial ethos in medical decision making. Presently using quality-adjusted life-years for health policy decisions is problematic and speculative; using quality-adjusted life-years at the bedside is dangerous.

Tune-shift with amplitude due to nonlinear kinematic effect

CERN Document Server

Wan, W

1999-01-01

Tracking studies of the Muon Collider 50 on 50 GeV collider ring show that the on-momentum dynamic aperture is limited to around 10 sigma even with the chromaticity sextupoles turned off. Numerical results from the normal form algorithm show that the tune-shift with amplitude is surprisingly large. Both analytical and numerical results are presented to show that nonlinear kinematic effect originated from the large angles of particles in the interaction region is responsible for the large tune-shift which in turn limits the dynamic aperture. A comparative study of the LHC collider ring is also presented to demonstrate the difference between the two machines. (14 refs).

Observation of Broadband Time-Dependent Rabi Shifting in Microplasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Compton, Ryan; Filin, Alex; Romanov, Dmitri A.; Levis, Robert J.

2009-01-01

Coherent broadband radiation in the form of Rabi sidebands is observed when a ps probe laser propagates through a weakly ionized, electronically excited microplasma generated in the focus of an intense pump beam. The sidebands arise from the interaction of the probe beam with pairs of excited states of a constituent neutral atom via the probe-induced Rabi oscillation. Sideband shifting of >90 meV from the probe carrier frequency results in an effective bandwidth of 200 meV. The sidebands are controlled by the intensity and temporal profile of the probe pulse; with amplitude and shift in agreement with the predictions of a time-dependent generalized Rabi cycling model.

Nonlinear frequency shift of finite-amplitude electrostatic surface waves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stenflo, L.

1989-01-01

The problem concerning the appropriate form for the nonlinear frequency shift arising from slow density modulations of electrostatic surface waves in a semi-infinite unmagnetized plasma is reconsidered. The spatial dependence of the wave amplitude normal to the surface is kept general in order to allow for possible nonlinear attenuation behaviour of the surface waves. It is found that if the frequency shift is expressed as a function of the density and its gradient then the result is identical with that of Zhelyazkov, I. Proceedings International Conference on Plasma Physics, Kiev, 1987, Vol. 2, p. 694, who assumed a linear exponential attenuation behaviour. (author)

Analysis of modal shift in South Africa: A qualitative investigation

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Venter, Karien

2013-07-01

Full Text Available The qualitative investigation into factors facilitating modal shift formed part of a larger research study that was conducted by the CSIR for the National Department of Transport. The aim of the study was to understand the factors that are most...

Shifted one-parameter supersymmetric family of quartic asymmetric double-well potentials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rosu, Haret C.; Mancas, Stefan C.; Chen, Pisin

2014-01-01

Extending our previous work (Rosu, 2014), we define supersymmetric partner potentials through a particular Riccati solution of the form F(x)=(x−c) 2 −1, where c is a real shift parameter, and work out the quartic double-well family of one-parameter isospectral potentials obtained by using the corresponding general Riccati solution. For these parametric double well potentials, we study how the localization properties of the two wells depend on the parameter of the potentials for various values of the shifting parameter. We also consider the supersymmetric parametric family of the first double-well potential in the Razavy chain of double well potentials corresponding to F(x)=1/2 sinh2x−2((1+√(2))sinh2x)/((1+√(2))cosh2x+1) , both unshifted and shifted, to test and compare the localization properties. - Highlights: • Quartic one-parameter DWs with an additional shift parameter are introduced. • Anomalous localization feature of their zero modes is confirmed at different shifts. • Razavy one-parameter DWs are also introduced and shown not to have this feature

Shifted one-parameter supersymmetric family of quartic asymmetric double-well potentials

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rosu, Haret C., E-mail: hcr@ipicyt.edu.mx [IPICYT, Instituto Potosino de Investigacion Cientifica y Tecnologica, Camino a la presa San José 2055, Col. Lomas 4a Sección, 78216 San Luis Potosí, S.L.P. (Mexico); Mancas, Stefan C., E-mail: mancass@erau.edu [Department of Mathematics, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, FL 32114-3900 (United States); Chen, Pisin, E-mail: pisinchen@phys.ntu.edu.tw [Leung Center for Cosmology and Particle Astrophysics (LeCosPA) and Department of Physics, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan (China)

2014-10-15

Extending our previous work (Rosu, 2014), we define supersymmetric partner potentials through a particular Riccati solution of the form F(x)=(x−c){sup 2}−1, where c is a real shift parameter, and work out the quartic double-well family of one-parameter isospectral potentials obtained by using the corresponding general Riccati solution. For these parametric double well potentials, we study how the localization properties of the two wells depend on the parameter of the potentials for various values of the shifting parameter. We also consider the supersymmetric parametric family of the first double-well potential in the Razavy chain of double well potentials corresponding to F(x)=1/2 sinh2x−2((1+√(2))sinh2x)/((1+√(2))cosh2x+1) , both unshifted and shifted, to test and compare the localization properties. - Highlights: • Quartic one-parameter DWs with an additional shift parameter are introduced. • Anomalous localization feature of their zero modes is confirmed at different shifts. • Razavy one-parameter DWs are also introduced and shown not to have this feature.

The effects of testing in shifts on a clinical in-course computerized exam.

Science.gov (United States)

Kreiter, C; Peterson, M W; Ferguson, K; Elliott, S

2003-03-01

Testing a large medical class over two days with a single-form computer-based test has generated questions related to test security and the influence of unequal test preparation times afforded by the testing method. An analysis of variance (anova) design was used to compare the scores for the two days for each of the three tests. In addition, a within-student match-paired t-test of standard score differences was used to examine the relative standing of students across tests administered on different days. Both the anova and the match-paired t-test failed to detect a difference between first and second day testing. This research suggests that using a single test form with shift-based computerised assessments, spread over as many as two days, does not seriously compromise the integrity of the results. Since creating multiple unique-item forms is often not possible, shift-based testing with a single test form appears to be a fair method of accommodating a large number of students.

Small-cell lung cancer patients are just 'a little bit' tired : response shift and self-presentation in the measurement of fatigue

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Westerman, Marjan J.; The, Anne-Mei; Sprangers, Mirjam A. G.; Groen, Harry J. M.; van der Wal, Gerrit; Hak, Tony

Background Response shift has gained increasing attention in the measurement of health-related quality of life (QoL) as it may explain counter-intuitive findings as a result of adaptation to deteriorating health. Objective To search for response shift type explanations to account for

Shift Work and Health: Current Problems and Preventive Actions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giovanni Costa

2010-12-01

Full Text Available The paper gives an overview of the problems to be tackled nowadays by occupational health with regards to shift work as well as the main guidelines at organizational and medical levels on how to protect workers’ health and well-being. Working time organization is becoming a key factor on account of new technologies, market globalization, economic competition, and extension of social services to general populations, all of which involve more and more people in continuous assistance and control of work processes over the 24 hours in a day. The large increase of epidemiological and clinical studies on this issue document the severity of this risk factor on human health and well being, at both social and psychophysical levels, starting from a disruption of biological circadian rhythms and sleep/wake cycle and ending in several psychosomatic troubles and disorders, likely also including cancer, and extending to impairment of performance efficiency as well as family and social life. Appropriate interventions on the organization of shift schedules according to ergonomic criteria and careful health surveillance and social support for shift workers are important preventive and corrective measures that allow people to keep working without significant health impairment.

Soil Forming Factors

Science.gov (United States)

It! What is Soil? Chip Off the Old Block Soil Forming Factors Matters of Life and Death Underneath It All Wise Choices A World of Soils Soil Forming Factors 2 A Top to Bottom Guide 3 Making a Soil Monolith 4 Soil Orders 5 State Soil Monoliths 6 Where in the Soil World Are You? >> A Top to

Forme di vita e relazione educativa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Viviana Segreto

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to show that the main object of pedagogical research is relationship among people who share the same context. The analysis follows a linguistic approach, from a theoretical and metaphysical kind of language to a language of forms of life. After the linguistic turn, particularly in Ludwig Wittgenstein, forsaking a Platonic language means throwing language in forms of life, and blending it with people and their lives. So an educational process has to leave the unique, traditional pattern to open itself to different voices of life.

Recognising life

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nissen, Morten

2013-01-01

’ – that the contemporary discursive pragmatics of more or less pharmaceutical life practices still include forms of transcendence – and by the wish to fertilize the field of bio-politics with the indexical inter-subjectivity of the concept of ideology, as derived from an antiessentialist reading of Hegelian......–Marxist traditions. The analysis unfolds as an ideology critique that reconstructs, and seeks ways to overcome, particular forms of recognition that are identifiable in the data and in the field of drug practices, and how these form part of the constitution of singular collectives and participants – in these life...

The prospect of alien life in exotic forms on other worlds.

Science.gov (United States)

Schulze-Makuch, Dirk; Irwin, Louis N

2006-04-01

The nature of life on Earth provides a singular example of carbon-based, water-borne, photosynthesis-driven biology. Within our understanding of chemistry and the physical laws governing the universe, however, lies the possibility that alien life could be based on different chemistries, solvents, and energy sources from the one example provided by Terran biology. In this paper, we review some of these possibilities. Silanes may be used as functional analogs to carbon molecules in environments very different from Earth; solvents other than water may be compatible for life-supporting processes, especially in cold environments, and a variety of energy sources may be utilized, some of which have no Terran analog. We provide a detailed discussion of two possible habitats for alien life which are generally not considered as such: the lower cloud level of the Venusian atmosphere and Titan's surface environment.

Split-shift work in relation to stress, health and psychosocial work factors among bus drivers.

Science.gov (United States)

Ihlström, Jonas; Kecklund, Göran; Anund, Anna

2017-01-01

Shift work has been associated with poor health, sleep and fatigue problems and low satisfaction with working hours. However, one type of shift working, namely split shifts, have received little attention. This study examined stress, health and psychosocial aspects of split-shift schedules among bus drivers in urban transport. A questionnaire was distributed to drivers working more than 70% of full time which 235 drivers in total answered. In general, drivers working split-shift schedules (n = 146) did not differ from drivers not working such shifts (n = 83) as regards any of the outcome variables that were studied. However, when individual perceptions towards split-shift schedules were taken into account, a different picture appeared. Bus drivers who reported problems working split shifts (36%) reported poorer health, higher perceived stress, working hours interfering with social life, lower sleep quality, more persistent fatigue and lower general work satisfaction than those who did not view split shifts as a problem. Moreover, drivers who reported problems with split shifts also perceived lower possibilities to influence working hours, indicating lower work time control. This study indicates that split shifts were not associated with increased stress, poorer health and adverse psychosocial work factors for the entire study sample. However, the results showed that individual differences were important and approximately one third of the drivers reported problems with split shifts, which in turn was associated with stress, poor health and negative psychosocial work conditions. More research is needed to understand the individual and organizational determinants of tolerance to split shifts.

Nonlinear dynamics exploration through normal forms

CERN Document Server

Kahn, Peter B

2014-01-01

Geared toward advanced undergraduates and graduate students, this exposition covers the method of normal forms and its application to ordinary differential equations through perturbation analysis. In addition to its emphasis on the freedom inherent in the normal form expansion, the text features numerous examples of equations, the kind of which are encountered in many areas of science and engineering. The treatment begins with an introduction to the basic concepts underlying the normal forms. Coverage then shifts to an investigation of systems with one degree of freedom that model oscillations

The essence of life.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Wentao

2016-09-26

Although biology has achieved great successes in recent years, we have not got a clear idea on "what is life?" Actually, as explained here, the main reason for this situation is that there are two completely distinct aspects for "life", which are usually talked about together. Indeed, in respect to these two aspects: Darwinian evolution and self-sustaining, we must split the concept of life correspondingly, for example, by defining "life form" and "living entity", separately. For life's implementation (related to the two aspects) in nature, three mechanisms are crucial: the replication of DNA/RNA-like polymers by residue-pairing, the sequence-dependent folding of RNA/protein-like polymers engendering special functions, and the assembly of phospholipid-like amphiphiles forming vesicles. The notion "information" is significant for us to comprehend life phenomenon: the life form of a living entity can just be defined by its genetic information; Darwinian evolution is essentially an evolution of such information, transferred across generations. The in-depth analysis concerning the essence of life would improve our cognition in the whole field of biology, and may have a direct influence on its subfields like the origin of life, artificial life and astrobiology. This article was reviewed by Anthony Poole and Thomas Dandekar.

Modifying effects of perceived adaptation to shift work on health, wellbeing, and alertness on the job among nuclear power plant operators.

Science.gov (United States)

Takahashi, Masaya; Tanigawa, Takeshi; Tachibana, Naoko; Mutou, Keiko; Kage, Yoshiko; Smith, Lawrence; Iso, Hiroyasu

2005-01-01

This study examined the relationship between perceived adaptation to shift work and shift-related problems. A total of 608 male operators at nuclear power plants completed a set of validated questionnaires including a modified version of the Standard Shiftwork Index, which covered adaptation to shift work, fit to job content, chronotypes, chronic fatigue, sleep, naps, shift work locus of control (SHLOC), psychological health, social/family life, daytime sleepiness, workload, alertness on the job, and lifestyle factors. Participants were divided into two groups according to their perceived level of adaptation to shift work. The good adaptation group showed better outcomes than the poor adaptation group in terms of fit to job content, chronic fatigue, daytime sleep before night shifts, social and family disruption, SHLOC, psychological health, and alertness during night shifts (pseffects of working shifts may be modified by perceptions of shift work adaptation.

Larger red-shift in optical emissions obtained from the thin films of globular proteins (BSA, lysozyme) – polyelectrolyte (PAA) complexes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Talukdar, Hrishikesh [Physical Sciences Division, Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology, Vigyan Path, Paschim Boragaon, Garchuk, Guwahati 781035, Assam (India); Kundu, Sarathi, E-mail: sarathi.kundu@gmail.com [Physical Sciences Division, Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology, Vigyan Path, Paschim Boragaon, Garchuk, Guwahati 781035, Assam (India); Basu, Saibal [Solid State Physics Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400 085 (India)

2016-09-30

Graphical abstract: Thin films of protein-polyelectrolyte complexes show larger red-shift in optical emission. - Highlights: • Globular proteins (lysozyme and BSA) and polyelectrolyte (sodium polyacrylic acid) are used to form protein-polyelectrolyte complexes (PPC). • Larger red-shift in optical emission is obtained from the thin films of PPC. • Red-shift is not obtained from the solution of PPC and pure protein thin films. • Larger red-shift from PPC films is due to the energy dissipation as non-radiative form through interactions with nearby atoms. • Red-shift in optical emission is independent on the thickness of the PPC film. - Abstract: Globular proteins (lysozyme and BSA) and polyelectrolyte (sodium polyacrylic acid) are used to form protein-polyelectrolyte complexes (PPC). Out-of-plane structures of ≈30–60 nm thick PPC films and their surface morphologies have been studied by using X-ray reflectivity and atomic force microscopy, whereas optical behaviors of PPC and protein conformations have been studied by using UV–vis, photoluminescence and FTIR spectroscopy respectively. Our study reveals that thin films of PPC show a larger red-shift of 23 and 16 nm in the optical emissions in comparison to that of pure protein whereas bulk PPC show a small blue-shift of ≈3 nm. A small amount of peak-shift is found to occur due to the heat treatment or concentration variation of the polyelectrolyte/protein in bulk solution but cannot produce such film thickness independent larger red-shift. Position of the emission peak remains nearly unchanged with the film thickness. Mechanism for such larger red-shift has been proposed.

Elevated Extinction Rates as a Trigger for Diversification Rate Shifts: Early Amniotes as a Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Brocklehurst, Neil; Ruta, Marcello; Müller, Johannes; Fröbisch, Jörg

2015-01-01

Tree shape analyses are frequently used to infer the location of shifts in diversification rate within the Tree of Life. Many studies have supported a causal relationship between shifts and temporally coincident events such as the evolution of “key innovations”. However, the evidence for such relationships is circumstantial. We investigated patterns of diversification during the early evolution of Amniota from the Carboniferous to the Triassic, subjecting a new supertree to analyses of tree balance in order to infer the timing and location of diversification shifts. We investigated how uneven origination and extinction rates drive diversification shifts, and use two case studies (herbivory and an aquatic lifestyle) to examine whether shifts tend to be contemporaneous with evolutionary novelties. Shifts within amniotes tend to occur during periods of elevated extinction, with mass extinctions coinciding with numerous and larger shifts. Diversification shifts occurring in clades that possess evolutionary innovations do not coincide temporally with the appearance of those innovations, but are instead deferred to periods of high extinction rate. We suggest such innovations did not cause increases in the rate of cladogenesis, but allowed clades to survive extinction events. We highlight the importance of examining general patterns of diversification before interpreting specific shifts. PMID:26592209

School Architecture, Curriculum, and Pedagogy: Shifts in the Discursive Space of the "School" as Forms of Governmentality.

Science.gov (United States)

Hennon, Lisa

The historical shifts in United States discourses of school architecture as they relate to reforms and inventions of new pedagogical techniques are examined using Michel Foucault's conceptualization of "governmentality" and related scholarship. The purpose is to question assumptions underlying two claims currently being made about school…

Josephson shift registers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Przybysz, J.X.

1989-01-01

This paper gives a review of Josephson shift register circuits that were designed, fabricated, or tested, with emphasis on work in the 1980s. Operating speed is most important, since it often limits system performance. Older designs used square-wave clocks, but most modern designs use offset sine waves, with either two or three phases. Operating margins and gate bias uniformity are key concerns. The fastest measured Josephson shift register operated at 2.3 GHz, which compares well with a GaAs shift register that consumes 250 times more power. The difficulties of high-speed testing have prevented many Josephson shift registers from being operated at their highest speeds. Computer simulations suggest that 30-GHz operation is possible with current Nb/Al 2 O 3 /Nb technology. Junctions with critical current densities near 10 kA/cm 2 would make 100-GHz shift registers feasible

Application of the World Health Organization Quality of Life Instrument, Short Form (WHOQOL-BREF) to patients with cataract.

Science.gov (United States)

Gholami, Ali; Araghi, Mahmood Tavakoli; Shamsabadi, Fatemeh; Bayat, Mahdiye; Dabirkhani, Fatemeh; Moradpour, Farhad; Mansori, Kamyar; Moradi, Yousef; Rajabi, Abdolhalim

2016-01-01

Cataract is a prevalent disease in the elderly, and negatively influences patients' quality of life. This study was conducted to study the application of the World Health Organization Quality of Life Instrument, Short Form (WHOQOL-BREF) to patients with cataract. In this cross-sectional study, 300 patients with cataract were studied in Neyshabur, Iran from July to October 2014. The Iranian version of the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire was used to measure their quality of life. Cronbach's alpha coefficient, Pearson's correlation coefficient, the paired t-test, the independent t-test, and a linear regression model were used to analyze the data in SPSS version 16.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). The mean age of the participants was 68.11±11.98 years, and most were female (53%). The overall observed Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the WHOQOL-BREF was 0.889, ranging from 0.714 to 0.810 in its four domains. The total mean score of the respondents on the WHOQOL-BREF was 13.19. The highest and lowest mean scores were observed in the social relationship domain (14.11) and the physical health domain (12.29), respectively. A backward multiple linear regression model found that duration of disease and marital status were associated with total WHOQOL scores, while age, duration of disease, marital status, and income level were associated with domains one through four, respectively (pmeasurement of the quality of life of patients with cataract. It was also found that the patients with cataract who were surveyed reported a relatively moderate quality of life.

TIPS (trigger an IIF paradigm shift)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kilcup, P.E. Glen [Intel Corporation, MS: F9-016, 4100 Sara Road, Rio Rancho, NM 87124 (United States)]. E-mail: glen.w.kilcup@intel.com; Hickox, Dick [Intel Corporation, MS: F9-016, 4100 Sara Road, Rio Rancho, NM 87124 (United States); Reynaga, Adolfo [Intel Corporation, MS: F9-016, 4100 Sara Road, Rio Rancho, NM 87124 (United States)

2007-04-11

Challenge: New Mexico Corporate Services (NMCS) recordable injuries have been averaging 2-4 per year for the last 5 years with no statistical improvement. However, we believe all NM employees must go home incident and injury free every day and just as healthy as they came to work. In addition, we have received feedback from several sources, that indicates some employees are reluctant to report injuries. These indicators showed us that continuing our current strategies, making incremental improvement and changes, would not give us the improvement desired. We needed a paradigm shift to get everyone completely engaged in the IIF (Incident and Injury Free) culture, in order to achieve true IIF results. Methods/Strategies: We formed a small (3-person) taskforce consisting of safety representatives from EHS, Site Services and CS Operations. We reviewed 5 years worth of data to determine what was injuring our people. We also decided to review all injuries, not simply those classified as recordable by OSHA standards. First we identified the types of injury information needed to get a true picture of our safety issues. We analyzed IRB (Incident Review Board) data showing us the following factors and whether any of them contributed to the injury: - Date - Incident Description - Severity - Root Cause - Type of Injury - Season - Work Group/Shift - Area - Improper evaluation of hazard - Inadequate work procedures - Incorrect Mental Model - Inadequate PPE Requirement - Failure to Follow or Unaware of PPE Requirement - Shortcut or Schedule Pressure - Last or First Day of Shift or Adjacent to Holiday - OT - Aggravate Existing Condition - Inadequate Training or Passdown - Experience in Task - Corrective Action Taken - Overall Quality of Response. Once this information was collected for all injuries in an Excel file, we graphed it several ways to help reveal trends: - Shift 7 had double the injuries of shift 5 - Night shift injuries were relatively high but lower than Shift 7 -Shift

TIPS (trigger an IIF paradigm shift)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kilcup, P.E. Glen; Hickox, Dick; Reynaga, Adolfo

2007-01-01

Challenge: New Mexico Corporate Services (NMCS) recordable injuries have been averaging 2-4 per year for the last 5 years with no statistical improvement. However, we believe all NM employees must go home incident and injury free every day and just as healthy as they came to work. In addition, we have received feedback from several sources, that indicates some employees are reluctant to report injuries. These indicators showed us that continuing our current strategies, making incremental improvement and changes, would not give us the improvement desired. We needed a paradigm shift to get everyone completely engaged in the IIF (Incident and Injury Free) culture, in order to achieve true IIF results. Methods/Strategies: We formed a small (3-person) taskforce consisting of safety representatives from EHS, Site Services and CS Operations. We reviewed 5 years worth of data to determine what was injuring our people. We also decided to review all injuries, not simply those classified as recordable by OSHA standards. First we identified the types of injury information needed to get a true picture of our safety issues. We analyzed IRB (Incident Review Board) data showing us the following factors and whether any of them contributed to the injury: - Date - Incident Description - Severity - Root Cause - Type of Injury - Season - Work Group/Shift - Area - Improper evaluation of hazard - Inadequate work procedures - Incorrect Mental Model - Inadequate PPE Requirement - Failure to Follow or Unaware of PPE Requirement - Shortcut or Schedule Pressure - Last or First Day of Shift or Adjacent to Holiday - OT - Aggravate Existing Condition - Inadequate Training or Passdown - Experience in Task - Corrective Action Taken - Overall Quality of Response. Once this information was collected for all injuries in an Excel file, we graphed it several ways to help reveal trends: - Shift 7 had double the injuries of shift 5 - Night shift injuries were relatively high but lower than Shift 7 -Shift

TIPS (trigger an IIF paradigm shift).

Science.gov (United States)

Kilcup P E, Glen; Hickox, Dick; Reynaga, Adolfo

2007-04-11

New Mexico Corporate Services (NMCS) recordable injuries have been averaging 2-4 per year for the last 5 years with no statistical improvement. However, we believe all NM employees must go home incident and injury free every day and just as healthy as they came to work. In addition, we have received feedback from several sources, that indicates some employees are reluctant to report injuries. These indicators showed us that continuing our current strategies, making incremental improvement and changes, would not give us the improvement desired. We needed a paradigm shift to get everyone completely engaged in the IIF (Incident & Injury Free) culture, in order to achieve true IIF results. We formed a small (3-person) taskforce consisting of safety representatives from EHS, Site Services and CS Operations. We reviewed 5 years worth of data to determine what was injuring our people. We also decided to review all injuries, not simply those classified as recordable by OSHA standards. First we identified the types of injury information needed to get a true picture of our safety issues. We analyzed IRB (Incident Review Board) data showing us the following factors and whether any of them contributed to the injury: - Date - Incident Description - Severity - Root Cause - Type of Injury - Season - Work Group/Shift - Area - Improper evaluation of hazard - Inadequate work procedures - Incorrect Mental Model - Inadequate PPE Requirement - Failure to Follow or Unaware of PPE Requirement - Shortcut or Schedule Pressure - Last or First Day of Shift or Adjacent to Holiday - OT - Aggravate Existing Condition - Inadequate Training or Passdown - Experience in Task - Corrective Action Taken - Overall Quality of Response. Once this information was collected for all injuries in an Excel file, we graphed it several ways to help reveal trends: Shift 7 had double the injuries of shift 5. Night shift injuries were relatively high but lower than Shift 7. Shift 5 had no severe (recordable

Negotiating Life Chances

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Korzenevica, Marina

to and negotiate both educational and labour mobility - both of which are associated with the chance of a better life. This thesis is about young people (aged 16-31): How they negotiate their life chances and how they contribute to transformations of the socio-political space of their communities in two villages...... becoming. Aspirations prevail over political interests: young people navigate and negotiate their engagement in party and community politics by making calculations concerning their own mobility, life strategies and obligations to kin. In this way, young men engage in, but also balance and shift......, conversely, can only aspire to educational mobility due to gender norms. Furthermore, many of their hopes of ‘becoming somebody’ collapse upon marriage. Women find that they cannot continue their education, nor use the skills they have acquired in local politics, as they need to follow traditional...

Trend in coral-algal phase shift in the Mandapam group of islands, Gulf of Mannar Marine Biosphere Reserve, India

Science.gov (United States)

Machendiranathan, M.; Senthilnathan, L.; Ranith, R.; Saravanakumar, A.; Thangaradjou, T.; Choudhry, S. B.; Sasamal, S. K.

2016-12-01

The present study revealed proliferation of macro-algae modifying coral reef ecosystems in a different manner due to diseases and sedimentations in the Mandapam group of islands in the Gulf of Mannar. Benthic surveys were conducted with major attack of seven coral reefs diseases with high sedimentation rate, nine species of fleshy macro-algae ( Turbinaria ornata, Turbinaria conaides, Caulerpa scalpelliformis, Caulerpa racemosa, Kappaphycus alvarezii, Padina gymnosphora, Sargassum wightii, Ulva reticulata and Calurpa lentillifera) proliferation against major corals life forms (Acropora branching, Acropora digitate, Acropora tabulate, coral massive, coral submassive, coral foliose and coral encrusting). The results confirm that diseased corals most favor to macro-algae growth (15.27%) rather than the sedimentation covered corals (8.24 %). In the degradation of coral life forms, massive corals were more highly damaged (7.05%) than any other forms. Within a short period of time (May to September), coral coverage shrank to 17.4% from 21.9%, macro-algae increased 23.51% and the average sedimentation rate attained 77.52 mg cm-2d-1 with persisting coral reef diseases of 17.59%. The Pearson correlation showed that the coral cover decreased with increasing macro-algae growth, which was statistically significant ( r = -0.774, n = 100, P K. alvarezii, P. gymnosphora and C. lentillifera increased with percentages of 6.0, 5.8, 5.7, 4.9, 4.2, 3.7, 2.7 and 1.9, respectively. If this trend continues, the next generation of new recruit corals will undoubtedly lead to a phase shift in Gulf of Mannar corals.

Shifting Attention

Science.gov (United States)

Ingram, Jenni

2014-01-01

This article examines the shifts in attention and focus as one teacher introduces and explains an image that represents the processes involved in a numeric problem that his students have been working on. This paper takes a micro-analytic approach to examine how the focus of attention shifts through what the teacher and students do and say in the…

Life form and water source interact to determine active time and environment in cryptogams: an example from the maritime Antarctic.

Science.gov (United States)

Schlensog, Mark; Green, T G Allan; Schroeter, Burkhard

2013-09-01

Antarctica, with its almost pristine conditions and relatively simple vegetation, offers excellent opportunities to investigate the influence of environmental factors on species performance, such information being crucial if the effects of possible climate change are to be understood. Antarctic vegetation is mainly cryptogamic. Cryptogams are poikilohydric and are only metabolically and photosynthetically active when hydrated. Activity patterns of the main life forms present, bryophytes (10 species, ecto- and endohydric), lichens (5 species) and phanerogams (2 species), were monitored for 21 days using chlorophyll a fluorescence as an indicator of metabolic activity and, therefore, of water regime at a mesic (hydration by meltwater) and a xeric (hydration by precipitation) site on Léonie Island/West Antarctic Peninsula (67°36'S). Length of activity depended mainly on site and form of hydration. Plants at the mesic site that were hydrated by meltwater were active for long periods, up to 100 % of the measurement period, whilst activity was much shorter at the xeric site where hydration was entirely by precipitation. There were also differences due to life form, with phanerogams and mesic bryophytes being most active and lichens generally much less so. The length of the active period for lichens was longer than in continental Antarctica but shorter than in the more northern Antarctic Peninsula. Light intensity when hydrated was positively related to the length of the active period. High activity species were strongly coupled to the incident light whilst low activity species were active under lower light levels and essentially uncoupled from incident light. Temperatures were little different between sites and also almost identical to temperatures, when active, for lichens in continental and peninsular Antarctica. Gradients in vegetation cover and growth rates across Antarctica are, therefore, not likely to be due to differences in temperature but more likely to

Responses of Lithium-Modified Bath to a Shift in Heat Input/Output Balance and Observation of Freeze-Lining Formation During the Heat Balance Shift

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Jingjing; Taylor, Mark; Dorreen, Mark

2018-02-01

In the aluminum electrolysis process, new industrial aluminum/electricity power markets demand a new cell technology to extend the cell heat balance and amperage operating window of smelters by shifting the steady states. The current work investigates the responses of lithium-modified bath system when the input/output balance is shifted in a laboratory analogue to the industrial heat balance shift. Li2CO3 is added to the cryolite-AlF3-CaF2-Al2O3 system as a bath modifier. A freeze deposit is formed on a `cold finger' dipped into the bath and investigated by X-ray diffraction analysis and electron probe X-ray microanalysis. The macro- and micro-structure of the freeze lining varies with the bath superheat (bath temperature minus bath liquidus temperature) and an open crystalline layer with entrapped liquid dominates the freeze thickness. Compared with the cryolite-AlF3-CaF2-Al2O3 bath system, the lithium-modified bath freeze is more sensitive to the heat balance shift. This freeze investigation provides primary information to understand the variation of the side ledge in an industrial cell when the lithium-modified bath system is used.

[Gender influence on health related quality of life among resident physicians working in an emergency department].

Science.gov (United States)

Fernández-Prada, María; González-Cabrera, Joaquín; Torres G, Francisco; Iribar-Ibabe, Concepción; María Peinado, José

2014-02-01

The high emotional burden of physicians working in emergency departments may affect their quality of life perception. To evaluate health related quality of life among resident physicians performing shifts at an emergency department. Seventy one physicians aged 26,3 ± 1,7 years (47 women), working as residents in an emergency department, answered the short version of the Short-Form Health Survey Questionnaire (SF-36®). This questionnaire analyses eight domains: physical function, body pain, general health, vitality, social function, emotional role and mental health. Women had a significantly worse perception than a reference population in four dimensions of the SF-36, especially mental health and social functioning. Men had scores similar to the reference population. Among women, vitality is the best predictor of mental health and social functioning. Women working as residents in an emergency department have a worse perception of their quality of life than men performing the same job.

Regulating Emotions during Difficult Multiattribute Decision Making: The Role of Pre-Decisional Coherence Shifting.

Science.gov (United States)

Carpenter, Stephanie M; Yates, J Frank; Preston, Stephanie D; Chen, Lydia

2016-01-01

Almost all real-life decisions entail attribute conflict; every serious choice alternative is better than its competitors on some attribute dimensions but worse on others. In pre-decisional "coherence shifting," the decision maker gradually softens that conflict psychologically to the point where one alternative is seen as dominant over its competitors, or nearly so. Specifically, weaknesses of the eventually chosen alternative come to be perceived as less severe and less important while its strengths seem more desirable and significant. The research described here demonstrates that difficult multiattribute decision problems are aversive and that pre-decisional coherence shifting aids individuals in regulating that emotional discomfort. Across three studies, attribute conflict was confirmed to be aversive (Study 1), and skin conductance responses and ratings of decision difficulty both decreased in participants who coherence shifted (Study 2). Coherence shifting was also diminished among decision makers who were depleted of regulatory resources, known to be required for common emotion regulation mechanisms. Further, coherence shifting was shown to be relatively common among people who reported strong suppression tendencies in everyday emotion regulation (Study 3). Overall, the data suggest that, at least in part, coherence shifting serves as a tool that helps decision makers manage the pre-decisional discomfort generated by attribute conflict. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Locus of control, quality of life, anxiety, and depression among Malaysian breast cancer patients: The mediating role of uncertainty.

Science.gov (United States)

Pahlevan Sharif, Saeed

2017-04-01

The main objective of this study was to investigate the mediating role of uncertainty in the relationship between locus of control with quality of life, anxiety, and depression. A descriptive and correlational survey was conducted in a private hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A convenience sample of 118 Malaysian breast cancer patients voluntarily participated in the study and responded to a set of questionnaires including: socio-demographic questionnaire, the short form of Locus of Control Scale, the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast (FACT-B), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and the Short-Form Mishel Uncertainty in Illness Scale (SF-MUIS). The results revealed that breast cancer patients with higher internal locus of control and lower external locus of control experience a higher quality of life, lower anxiety, and lower depression. Also, uncertainty mediated the relationship between locus of control with quality of life and depression (quasi-significant). The findings indicated the need for early, targeted psychological interventions seeking to gradually shift cancer patients' locus of control from external to internal in order to improve their quality of life and reduce their depression and anxiety. Moreover, health care providers by providing relevant information to cancer patients, especially for externally oriented patients, can reduce their uncertainty which in turn would improve their quality of life. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Third ventricle midline shift on computed tomography as an alternative to septum pellucidum shift

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Santiago, Carlos Francis A.; Oropilla, Jean Quint L; Alvarez, Victor M.

2000-01-01

The cerebral midline shift is measured using the displacement from midline of the third ventricle. It is an easily determined criterion from which CT scans of patients with spontaneous intracerebral hematoma may be investigated. Midline shift is a significant criteria in which to gauge the neurological status of patients. In a retrospective study of 32 patients with spontaneous unilateral intracerebral hemorrhage, a midline third ventricle shift correlated well with septum pellucidum shift. A greater than 7 mm midline third ventricle shift was associated with a significantly lower Glasgow Coma scale score compared a shift less than 7mm. For the septum pellucidum, a greater than 10 mm shift was similarly associated with a significantly lower Glasgow Coma scale score. (Author)

Rethinking Suffering: Allowing for Suffering that is Intrinsic at End of Life.

Science.gov (United States)

Rattner, Maxxine; Berzoff, Joan

2016-01-01

The dilemma so central to the work of providers of palliative and end-of-life care is the paradox of their professional and ethical duty to try to relieve suffering and the limitations of so doing. While the capacity to sit with suffering at the end of life is critical to clinical work, the idea that some intrinsic suffering cannot necessarily always be relieved may model for patients and families that suffering can be borne. Clinicians who encounter unrelievable suffering may feel a sense of failure, helplessness, moral distress, and compassion fatigue. While tolerating suffering runs counter to the aims of palliative care, acknowledging it, bearing it, and validating it may actually help patients and families to do the same. "Sitting with suffering" signals a paradigm shift within the discipline of palliative care, as it asks clinicians to rethink their role in being able to relieve some forms of psychosocial suffering intrinsic to dying.

Effects of extended work shifts and shift work on patient safety, productivity, and employee health.

Science.gov (United States)

Keller, Simone M

2009-12-01

It is estimated 1.3 million health care errors occur each year and of those errors 48,000 to 98,000 result in the deaths of patients (Barger et al., 2006). Errors occur for a variety of reasons, including the effects of extended work hours and shift work. The need for around-the-clock staff coverage has resulted in creative ways to maintain quality patient care, keep health care errors or adverse events to a minimum, and still meet the needs of the organization. One way organizations have attempted to alleviate staff shortages is to create extended work shifts. Instead of the standard 8-hour shift, workers are now working 10, 12, 16, or more hours to provide continuous patient care. Although literature does support these staffing patterns, it cannot be denied that shifts beyond the traditional 8 hours increase staff fatigue, health care errors, and adverse events and outcomes and decrease alertness and productivity. This article includes a review of current literature on shift work, the definition of shift work, error rates and adverse outcomes related to shift work, health effects on shift workers, shift work effects on older workers, recommended optimal shift length, positive and negative effects of shift work on the shift worker, hazards associated with driving after extended shifts, and implications for occupational health nurses. Copyright 2009, SLACK Incorporated.

Image forming apparatus

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

2005-01-01

An image H(x, y) for displaying a target image G(x, y) is displayed on a liquid-crystal display panel and illumination light from an illumination light source is made to pass therethrough to form an image on a PALSLM. Read light hv is radiated to the PALSLM and a phase-modulated light image alpha...... (x, y) read out of the PALSLM is subjected to Fourier transform by a lens. A phase contrast filter gives a predetermined phase shift to only the zero-order light component of Fourier light image alpha f(x, y). The phase-shifted light image is subjected to inverse Fourier transform by a lens...... to project an output image O(x, y) to an output plane. A light image O'(x, y) branched by a beam sampler is picked up by a pickup device and an evaluation value calculating unit evaluates conformity between the image O(x, y) and the image G(x, y).; A control unit performs feedback control of optical...

Strong eld ionization of naphthalene: angular shifts and molecular potential

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dimitrovski, Darko; Maurer, Jochen; Christensen, Lauge

We analyze the photoelectron momentum distributions from strong eld ionization of xed-in-space naphthalene molecules by circularly polarized laser pulses. By direct comparison between experiment and theory, we show that the angular shifts in the photoelectron momentum distributions are very...... sensitive to the exact form of the molecular potential....

The Genetic Architecture Underlying the Evolution of a Rare Piscivorous Life History Form in Brown Trout after Secondary Contact and Strong Introgression

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arne Jacobs

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Identifying the genetic basis underlying phenotypic divergence and reproductive isolation is a longstanding problem in evolutionary biology. Genetic signals of adaptation and reproductive isolation are often confounded by a wide range of factors, such as variation in demographic history or genomic features. Brown trout (Salmo trutta in the Loch Maree catchment, Scotland, exhibit reproductively isolated divergent life history morphs, including a rare piscivorous (ferox life history form displaying larger body size, greater longevity and delayed maturation compared to sympatric benthivorous brown trout. Using a dataset of 16,066 SNPs, we analyzed the evolutionary history and genetic architecture underlying this divergence. We found that ferox trout and benthivorous brown trout most likely evolved after recent secondary contact of two distinct glacial lineages, and identified 33 genomic outlier windows across the genome, of which several have most likely formed through selection. We further identified twelve candidate genes and biological pathways related to growth, development and immune response potentially underpinning the observed phenotypic differences. The identification of clear genomic signals divergent between life history phenotypes and potentially linked to reproductive isolation, through size assortative mating, as well as the identification of the underlying demographic history, highlights the power of genomic studies of young species pairs for understanding the factors shaping genetic differentiation.

Work and Life Integration: Faculty Balance in the Academy

Science.gov (United States)

Ehrens, Holly

2016-01-01

Faculty work life integration has evolved as an important area of research in the academic workplace. The evolution in thinking about faculty work life integration has progressively shifted focus from the problems of women and parents to research that considers both men and women, married and single, with or without children as participants in the…

Modelling a Nurse Shift Schedule with Multiple Preference Ranks for Shifts and Days-Off

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chun-Cheng Lin

2014-01-01

Full Text Available When it comes to nurse shift schedules, it is found that the nursing staff have diverse preferences about shift rotations and days-off. The previous studies only focused on the most preferred work shift and the number of satisfactory days-off of the schedule at the current schedule period but had few discussions on the previous schedule periods and other preference levels for shifts and days-off, which may affect fairness of shift schedules. As a result, this paper proposes a nurse scheduling model based upon integer programming that takes into account constraints of the schedule, different preference ranks towards each shift, and the historical data of previous schedule periods to maximize the satisfaction of all the nursing staff's preferences about the shift schedule. The main contribution of the proposed model is that we consider that the nursing staff’s satisfaction level is affected by multiple preference ranks and their priority ordering to be scheduled, so that the quality of the generated shift schedule is more reasonable. Numerical results show that the planned shifts and days-off are fair and successfully meet the preferences of all the nursing staff.

Shift systems in nuclear power plants - aspects for planning, shift systems, utility practice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grauf, E.

1986-01-01

This lecture contains the most important aspects of shift structure and shift organisation. The criteria for shift planning involving essential tasks, duties, laws and regulations, medical aspects, social aspects, will be presented. In the Federal Republic of Germany some basic models were established, which will be shown and explained with special reference to the number of teams, size of shift crews and absence regulations. Moreover, the lecture will deal with rotation systems and provisions for the transfer of shift responsibilities. By example of a utility plant commissioning time scale (1300 MW PWR) the practice of shift installations will be shown as well as the most important points of education and training. Within this compass the criteria and requirements for training and education of operational personnel in the Federal Republic of Germany will also be touched. (orig.)

Blue Shifting Tuning of the Selective Reflection of Polymer Stabilized Cholesteric Liquid Crystals (Postprint)

Science.gov (United States)

2017-08-08

crystal (MLC-2079, Merck). The polymer stabi- lizing network was formed within the samples by photoinitiated polymerization with 50–700 mW cm2 of 365...AFRL-RX-WP-JA-2017-0347 BLUE-SHIFTING TUNING OF THE SELECTIVE REFLECTION OF POLYMER STABILIZED CHOLESTERIC LIQUID CRYSTALS (POSTPRINT...BLUE-SHIFTING TUNING OF THE SELECTIVE REFLECTION OF POLYMER STABILIZED CHOLESTERIC LIQUID CRYSTALS (POSTPRINT) 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER FA8650-16-F

[THE INFLUENCE OF SHIFT WORK ON WORKER'S HEALTH STATUS (REVIEW)].

Science.gov (United States)

Chernikova, E F

2015-01-01

The article provides an overview of domestic and foreign works on the impact of the replaceable labor on the efficiency, general state of health, the health and the dream of workers. Many hours shifts and overtime work were found to disturb likely familiar rhythms (sleep, wakefulness, performance), change the metabolic and hormonal metabolisms, reducing the recovery period between duties, contribute to more rapid development of fatigue. The consequence of circadian dyschrony may be the development of diseases of the cardiovascular system and cancer incidence. Studies have shown that sleep disorders are associated with metabolic changes, and particularly, obesity. In persons working in shifts, there are more often registered as individual features of the metabolic syndrome and the whole syndrome. It is noted that persons forming this group are at higher risk of developing diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Thus, the problem of shift work is presented to be very important. Knowledge of ways and mechanisms that explain the impact of shift work on health is necessary to evaluate the professional risk. In the system of health measures the attention should be given to the rationalization of work and rest regimens, prevention of fatigue, struggle with sleep disorders and obesity.

Quality of life in the contemporary politics of healthcare: … but what is a life?

Science.gov (United States)

Phillips, Catherine R

2018-03-01

'Quality of life' (QoL) is a ubiquitous phrase in medicine. There is considerable literature on the meaning of 'quality' in 'quality of life', but little on the meaning of 'life'. And yet, rooted in measurements of QoL, is a conceptualization of 'a life' used to judge 'quality'. In this article I focus on 'life' within institutional healthcare, arguing that for patients who are considered elderly, their life is defined against functionality. I use an autoethnographic method to enter this conversation, underlining the disjuncture between patients' understanding of 'a life', and that of healthcare professionals. I draw on the writings of the Italian philosopher Georgio Agamben to interrogate 'life', shifting the conversation of QoL from one of measurement and administration to one of political order. I discuss both the formal, evidence-based tools and the nature of their application. I conclude by arguing that QoL tools and their application, produce a particular kind of life, and that what is at stake in the invocation of 'quality of life' in health care is our very experience of aging and our embodiment. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Nurses' shift reports

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Buus, Niels; Hoeck, Bente; Hamilton, Bridget Elizabeth

2017-01-01

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To identify reporting practices that feature in studies of nurses' shift reports across diverse nursing specialities. The objectives were to perform an exhaustive systematic literature search and to critically review the quality and findings of qualitative field studies...... of nurses' shift reports. BACKGROUND: Nurses' shift reports are routine occurrences in healthcare organisations that are viewed as crucial for patient outcomes, patient safety and continuity of care. Studies of communication between nurses attend primarily to 1:1 communication and analyse the adequacy...... and accuracy of patient information and feature handovers at the bedside. Still, verbal reports between groups of nurses about patients are commonplace. Shift reports are obvious sites for studying the situated accomplishment of professional nursing at the group level. This review is focused exclusively...

Towards a conceptual framework for the study of shifts in modes of environmental governance : experiences form the Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Driessen, P.P.J.; Dieperink, C.; Laerhoven, F.S.J. van; Runhaar, H.A.C.; Vermeulen, W.J.V.

2012-01-01

In the last decade, many authors have observed shifts from government to governance in the environmental policy domain. However, a clear conceptual framework to differentiate between modes of environmental governance is lacking and our understanding of when, how and why environmental governance

[Sleep quality of nurses working in shifts - Hungarian adaptation of the Bergen Shift Work Sleep Questionnaire].

Science.gov (United States)

Fusz, Katalin; Tóth, Ákos; Fullér, Noémi; Müller, Ágnes; Oláh, András

2015-12-06

Sleep disorders among shift workers are common problems due to the disturbed circadian rhythm. The Bergen Shift Work Sleep Questionnaire assesses discrete sleep problems related to work shifts (day, evening and night shifts) and rest days. The aim of the study was to develop the Hungarian version of this questionnaire and to compare the sleep quality of nurses in different work schedules. 326 nurses working in shifts filled in the questionnaire. The authors made convergent and discriminant validation of the questionnaire with the Athens Insomnia Scale and the Perceived Stress Questionnaire. The questionnaire based on psychometric characteristics was suitable to assess sleep disorders associated with shift work in a Hungarian sample. The frequency of discrete symptoms significantly (pshifts. Nurses experienced the worst sleep quality and daytime fatigue after the night shift. Nurses working in irregular shift system had worse sleep quality than nurses working in regular and flexible shift system (pworking in shifts should be assessed with the Hungarian version of the Bergen Shift Work Sleep Questionnaire on a nationally representative sample, and the least burdensome shift system could be established.

An assessment of factorial structure and health-related quality of life in problem drug users using the Short Form 36 Health Survey

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Buchholz, Angela; Krol, Anneke; Rist, Fred; Nieuwkerk, Pythia T.; Schippers, Gerard M.

2008-01-01

AIMS: To confirm the factorial structure of the Short Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36) in problem drug users and to compare their health-related quality of life (HRQOL) with general Dutch population norms. METHOD: Data of 394 participants from the Amsterdam Cohort Study among drug users, who had

Age differences in strategy shift: retrieval avoidance or general shift reluctance?

Science.gov (United States)

Frank, David J; Touron, Dayna R; Hertzog, Christopher

2013-09-01

Previous studies of metacognitive age differences in skill acquisition strategies have relied exclusively on tasks with a processing shift from an algorithm to retrieval strategy. Older adults' demonstrated reluctance to shift strategies in such tasks could reflect either a specific aversion to a memory retrieval strategy or a general, inertial resistance to strategy change. Haider and Frensch's (1999) alphabet verification task (AVT) affords a non-retrieval-based strategy shift. Participants verify the continuation of alphabet strings such as D E F G [4] L, with the bracketed digit indicating a number of letters to be skipped. When all deviations are restricted to the letter-digit-letter portion, participants can speed their responses by selectively attending to only that part of the stimulus. We adapted the AVT to include conditions that promoted shift to a retrieval strategy, a selective attention strategy, or both strategies. Item-level strategy reports were validated by eye movement data. Older adults shifted more slowly to the retrieval strategy but more quickly to the selective attention strategy than young adults, indicating a retrieval-strategy avoidance. Strategy confidence and perceived strategy difficulty correlated with shift to the two strategies in both age groups. Perceived speed of responses with each strategy specifically correlated with older adults' strategy choices, suggesting that some older adults avoid retrieval because they do not appreciate its efficiency benefits.

Age Differences in Strategy Shift: Retrieval Avoidance or General Shift Reluctance?

Science.gov (United States)

Frank, David J.; Touron, Dayna R.; Hertzog, Christopher

2013-01-01

Previous studies of metacognitive age differences in skill acquisition strategies have relied exclusively on tasks with a processing shift from an algorithm to retrieval strategy. Older adults’ demonstrated reluctance to shift strategies in such tasks could reflect either a specific aversion to a memory retrieval strategy or a general, inertial resistance to strategy change. Haider and Frensch’s (1999) alphabet verification task (AVT) affords a non-retrieval-based strategy shift. Participants verify the continuation of alphabet strings such as D E F G [4] L, with the bracketed digit indicating a number of letters to be skipped. When all deviations are restricted to the letter-digit-letter portion, participants can speed their responses by selectively attend only to that part of the stimulus. We adapted the AVT to include conditions which promoted shift to a retrieval strategy, a selective attention strategy, or both strategies. Item-level strategy reports were validated by eye movement data. Older adults shifted more slowly to the retrieval strategy but more quickly to the selective attention strategy than young adults, indicating a retrieval-strategy avoidance. Strategy confidence and perceived strategy difficulty correlated with shift to the two strategies in both age groups. Perceived speed of responses with each strategy specifically correlated with older adults’ strategy choices, suggesting that some older adults avoid retrieval because they do not appreciate its efficiency benefits. PMID:23088195

Non-occupational physical activity levels of shift workers compared with non-shift workers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Loef, Bette; Hulsegge, Gerben; Wendel-Vos, G C Wanda; Verschuren, W M Monique; Vermeulen, Roel C H; Bakker, Marije F.; van der Beek, Allard J.; Proper, Karin I

2017-01-01

OBJECTIVES: Lack of physical activity (PA) has been hypothesised as an underlying mechanism in the adverse health effects of shift work. Therefore, our aim was to compare non-occupational PA levels between shift workers and non-shift workers. Furthermore, exposure-response relationships for

Effects of a 12-hour shift on mood states and sleepiness of Neonatal Intensive Care Unit nurses.

Science.gov (United States)

Ferreira, Tadeu Sartini; Moreira, Clarice Zinato; Guo, James; Noce, Franco

2017-03-09

To assess the effect of a 12-hour shift on mood states and sleepiness at the beginning and end of the shift. Quantitative, cross-sectional and descriptive study.It was conducted with 70 neonatal intensive care unit nurses. The Brunel Mood Scale (BRUMS), Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS), and a socio-demographic profile questionnaire were administered. When the KSS and BRUMS scores were compared at the beginning of the shift associations were found with previous sleep quality (p ≤ 0.01), and quality of life (p ≤ 0.05). Statistical significant effects on BRUMS scores were also associated with previous sleep quality, quality of life, liquid ingestion, healthy diet, marital status, and shift work stress. When the beginning and end of the shift were compared, different KSS scores were seen in the group of all nurses and in the night shift one. Significant vigor and fatigue scores were observed within shift groups. A good night's sleep has positive effects on the individual`s mood states both at the beginning and the end of the shift. The self-perception of a good quality of life also positively influenced KSS and BRUMS scores at the beginning and end of the shift. Proper liquid ingestion led to better KSS and BRUMS scores. Evaluar el efecto de un turno de 12 horas en estados de ánimo y somnolencia al principio y al final del turno. Estudio cuantitativo, transversal y descriptivo.Se realizó con 70 enfermeras de unidades de cuidados intensivos neonatales. Se administró la Escala de Humor Brunel (BRUMS), la Escala de Somnolencia de Karolinska (KSS) y un cuestionario de perfil sociodemográfico. Cuando se compararon las puntuaciones de KSS y BRUMS al comienzo del turno se encontraron asociaciones con calidad de sueño previa (p ≤ 0,01) y calidad de vida (p ≤ 0,05). Los efectos estadísticos significativos en las puntuaciones de BRUMS también se asociaron con la calidad previa del sueño, la calidad de vida, la ingestión de líquidos, la dieta saludable, el

Cultural adaptation and validation of the Filipino version of Kidney Disease Quality of Life--Short Form (KDQOL-SF version 1.3).

Science.gov (United States)

Bataclan, Rommel P; Dial, Ma Antonietta D

2009-10-01

Chronic kidney disease is the 10th leading cause of death among Filipinos. Those with chronic kidney disease are exposed to stressors which effect their daily lives. Therefore, assessment of health-related quality of life is important in these patients. The objective of the present study was to translate the Kidney Disease Quality of Life--Short Form version 1.3 (KDQOL-SF ver. 1.3) into Filipino and measure its validity and reliability. Translation and cultural adaptation began with two translations into Filipino, with reconciliation of the forward translators. Pretesting with 10 renal patients, review by experts (nephrologist, translator and dialysis nurse) and back-translation was also done. The final questionnaire was administered to 80 patients with chronic renal disease undergoing haemodialysis for at least 3 months, who could understand Filipino, and were without life-threatening or terminal conditions at the time of the test. A convenience sample of 30 patients from the group had a repeat test 10-14 days after to determine test-retest reliability. Test-retest reliability was assessed by intraclass correlation coefficient and internal consistency reliability was measured by determining the Cronbach's alpha value. Validity was measured using Pearson's correlation between the overall health rating scale and the items from the questionnaire. All of the items showed good test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient >0.40), ranging from 0.58 (social interaction) to 0.98 (role--emotional). Internal consistency reliability values were acceptable, with Cronbach's alpha ranging from 0.60 (cognitive function) to 0.80 (physical functioning and role--physical). Regarding construct validity, overall health rating in kidney disease-targeted scales was significantly correlated with symptoms/problems, effects of kidney disease and burden of kidney disease. All items in the SF 36 scales had significant correlation with overall health rating (P < 0.05) except

Forms of Address in Post-Revolutionary Iranian Persian: A Sociolinguistic Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Keshavarz, Mohammad Hossein

1988-01-01

Provides a sociolinguistic account of the forms of address used in present-day Iranian Persian. The shift from power to solidarity as a result of the Islamic Revolution has resulted in a sociolinguistic simplification of address forms. (Author/CB)

Cross-cultural adaptation of the korean version of the minneapolis-manchester quality of life instrument-adolescent form.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Hyeon Jin; Yang, Hyung Kook; Shin, Dong Wook; Kim, Yoon Yi; Kim, Young Ae; Yun, Young Ho; Nam, Byung Ho; Bhatia, Smita; Park, Byung Kiu; Ghim, Thad T; Kang, Hyoung Jin; Park, Kyung Duk; Shin, Hee Young; Ahn, Hyo Seop

2013-12-01

We verified the reliability and validity of the Korean version of the Minneapolis-Manchester Quality of Life Instrument-Adolescent Form (KMMQL-AF) among Korean childhood cancer survivors. A total of 107 childhood cancer patients undergoing cancer treatment and 98 childhood cancer survivors who completed cancer treatment were recruited. To assess the internal structure of the KMMQL-AF, we performed multi-trait scaling analyses and exploratory factor analysis. Additionally, we compared each domains of the KMMQL-AF with those of the Karnofsky Performance Status Scale and the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS). Internal consistency of the KMMQL-AF was sufficient (Cronbach's alpha: 0.78-0.92). In multi-trait scaling analyses, the KMMQL-AF showed sufficient construct validity. The "physical functioning" domain showed moderate correlation with Karnofsky scores and the "psychological functioning" domain showed moderate-to-high correlation with the RCMAS. The KMMQL-AF discriminated between subgroups of different adolescent cancer survivors depending on treatment completion. The KMMQL-AF is a sufficiently reliable and valid instrument for measuring quality of life among Korean childhood cancer survivors.

Theoretical estimation of pnicogen bonds and hydrogen bonds in small heterocyclic complexes: Red-shifts and blue-shifts ruled by polarization effects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oliveira, Boaz G.

2014-01-01

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • This paper definitively discusses the interaction strength. • Analyses of the red-shifts and blue-shift. • Stretch frequencies of the hydrogen bonds and pnicogen bonds in heterocyclic compounds. • Theoretical calculations derived from topological parameters of the Quantum Theory of Atoms in Molecules (QTAIM). • The analysis of the Natural Bond Orbital (NBO) in line with the Bent’s rule of the chemical bonding. - Abstract: The occurrence of pnicogen bonds (N⋯P) and hydrogen bonds (F⋯H or Cl⋯H) in heterocyclic complexes formed by C 2 H 5 N⋯PH 3 , C 2 H 5 N⋯PH 2 F and C 2 H 5 N⋯PH 2 Cl was investigated at the B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) level of theory. Analysis of the infrared spectra revealed the appearance of both red and blue shifts for the P–H bonds. However, in the case of the P–F and P–Cl bonds only red shifts were observed. The phenomenology of these vibration modes was interpreted on the basis of the QTAIM atomic radii as well as the contributions of the s and p orbitals determined via NBO calculations. The results of this latter investigation are consistent with the rehybridization theory and the Bent rule for chemical bonding. The charge transfer between N and P was determined in order to verify whether these atoms present an acid or base profile upon the formation of the pnicogen bonds

Pharmacological interventions for sleepiness and sleep disturbances caused by shift work

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juha Liira

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Shift work results in sleep-wake disturbances, which cause sleepiness during night shifts and reduce sleep length and quality in daytime sleep after the night shift. In its serious form it is also called shift work sleep disorder. Various pharmacological products are used to ameliorate symptoms of sleepiness or poor sleep length and quality. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effects of pharmacological interventions to reduce sleepiness or to improve alertness at work and decrease sleep disturbances whilst of work, or both, in workers undertaking shift work. METHODS: Search methods: We searched CENTRAL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, PubMed and PsycINFO up to 20 September 2013 and ClinicalTrials.gov up to July 2013. We also screened reference lists of included trials and relevant reviews. Selection criteria: We included all eligible randomised controlled trials (RCTs, including cross-over RCTs, of pharmacological products among workers who were engaged in shift work (including night shifts in their present jobs and who may or may not have had sleep problems. Primary outcomes were sleep length and sleep quality while of work, alertness and sleepiness, or fatigue at work. Data collection and analysis: Two authors independently selected studies, extracted data and assessed risk of bias in included trials. We performed meta-analyses where appropriate. MAIN RESULTS: We included 15 randomised placebo-controlled trials with 718 participants. Nine trials evaluated the effect of melatonin and two the effect of hypnotics for improving sleep problems. One trial assessed the effect of modafinil, two of armodafinil and one examined cafeine plus naps to decrease sleepiness or to increase alertness.

Attitude dynamics and control of a spacecraft using shifting mass distribution

Science.gov (United States)

Ahn, Young Tae

Spacecraft need specific attitude control methods that depend on the mission type or special tasks. The dynamics and the attitude control of a spacecraft with a shifting mass distribution within the system are examined. The behavior and use of conventional attitude control actuators are widely developed and performing at the present time. However, the advantage of a shifting mass distribution concept can complement spacecraft attitude control, save mass, and extend a satellite's life. This can be adopted in practice by moving mass from one tank to another, similar to what an airplane does to balance weight. Using this shifting mass distribution concept, in conjunction with other attitude control devices, can augment the three-axis attitude control process. Shifting mass involves changing the center-of-mass of the system, and/or changing the moments of inertia of the system, which then ultimately can change the attitude behavior of the system. This dissertation consists of two parts. First, the equations of motion for the shifting mass concept (also known as morphing) are developed. They are tested for their effects on attitude control by showing how shifting the mass changes the spacecraft's attitude behavior. Second, a method for optimal mass redistribution is shown using a combinatorial optimization theory under constraints. It closes with a simple example demonstrating an optimal reconfiguration. The procedure of optimal reconfiguration from one mass distribution to another to accomplish attitude control has been demonstrated for several simple examples. Mass shifting could work as an attitude controller for fine-tuning attitude behavior in small satellites. Various constraints can be applied for different situations, such as no mass shift between two tanks connected by a failed pipe or total amount of shifted mass per pipe being set for the time optimum solution. Euler angle changes influenced by the mass reconfiguration are accomplished while stability

Substitution of Soybean Meal and Cornmeal to Moisture, PH, Bacterial Colony Forming and Shelf Life of Rejected Duck Meatballs

OpenAIRE

Deni, Novia; Juliyarsi, Indri; Melia, S; Vermalida, W.A

2013-01-01

This study aimed to determine the effect of substitution of soybean meal with cornmeal to moisture, pH, bacterial colony forming and the shelf life of rejected duck meatballs. This research material using duck meat Coast (Indian Runner) salvage as much as 4000 grams were obtained from the Livestock Anduring Padang and soybean meal with Mungbean trademarks and cornmeal with cornstarch trademarks respectively of 600 grams were obtained at Raya Padang market. The research method used was experim...

How do trees and the small life forms under the ground talk to each other and other outside things: Can they make our world hot (or cool) again?

Science.gov (United States)

Sihi, D.

2017-12-01

Trees use water and a bad stuff in air as food with the help of sun light and store the bad stuff in it's body parts (both the parts above the ground and under the ground). However, trees (both above and under ground parts) also return part of the same bad stuff stored in their food to air as it grows. After death, these trees become part of the dead things under the ground and a large part of the bad stuff can be locked under the ground for quite a long time. But, small life forms living under the ground, eat these dead things and return part of the bad stuff locked in these dead things under the ground to the air. The small life forms living under the ground can also make two other stuff (which are even more bad) while eating these dead things under the ground and return them to the air. All of these bad stuffs returned to the air make the air hot. Different things (like sun light, rain, water in the air and under the ground) could make it easier or harder in either storing or returning each of these bad stuffs by the trees or life forms living under the ground in different ways. We study how trees and the small life forms living under the ground talk to each other and to other things mentioned above, and decide how much of those bad stuffs to store and return. But, we do not know well how each of these things can change one another and how trees and small life forms living under the ground will respond to these changes. So, we are yet to understand how much the air will be hotter (if more bad stuff are returned to the air than stored in trees and under the ground) or cooler (if less bad stuffs are returned to the air than stored in trees and under the ground) in tomorrow's world.

Adaptation to Shift Work: Physiologically Based Modeling of the Effects of Lighting and Shifts’ Start Time

Science.gov (United States)

Postnova, Svetlana; Robinson, Peter A.; Postnov, Dmitry D.

2013-01-01

Shift work has become an integral part of our life with almost 20% of the population being involved in different shift schedules in developed countries. However, the atypical work times, especially the night shifts, are associated with reduced quality and quantity of sleep that leads to increase of sleepiness often culminating in accidents. It has been demonstrated that shift workers’ sleepiness can be improved by a proper scheduling of light exposure and optimizing shifts timing. Here, an integrated physiologically-based model of sleep-wake cycles is used to predict adaptation to shift work in different light conditions and for different shift start times for a schedule of four consecutive days of work. The integrated model combines a model of the ascending arousal system in the brain that controls the sleep-wake switch and a human circadian pacemaker model. To validate the application of the integrated model and demonstrate its utility, its dynamics are adjusted to achieve a fit to published experimental results showing adaptation of night shift workers (n = 8) in conditions of either bright or regular lighting. Further, the model is used to predict the shift workers’ adaptation to the same shift schedule, but for conditions not considered in the experiment. The model demonstrates that the intensity of shift light can be reduced fourfold from that used in the experiment and still produce good adaptation to night work. The model predicts that sleepiness of the workers during night shifts on a protocol with either bright or regular lighting can be significantly improved by starting the shift earlier in the night, e.g.; at 21∶00 instead of 00∶00. Finally, the study predicts that people of the same chronotype, i.e. with identical sleep times in normal conditions, can have drastically different responses to shift work depending on their intrinsic circadian and homeostatic parameters. PMID:23308206

[End of life decisions, the Dutch form through Spanish eyes].

Science.gov (United States)

Belloc Rocasalbas, M; Girbes, A R J

2011-03-01

Abroad, but also in The Netherlands, there are many misunderstandings concerning end of life decisions and euthanasia. In general, euthanasia does not play any role in the intensive care units, simply because it does not fulfill the conditions to carry it out. However, there is still confusion, merely due to the assumption that the Dutch situation is different because of their legislation on euthanasia. The use of the unclear terminology such as "passive euthanasia", "voluntary euthanasia" or "involuntary euthanasia" contributes to the confusion of lay people and physicians, and should therefore be avoided. End of life decisions in intensive care patients are in fact a structural part of work of intensivists. Collecting all necessary information including the wishes and will of the patient, medical expertise and acknowledging limitations of medical treatment will help to determine futility of treatment goals. Once it is determined that surviving the intensive care unit with a quality of life acceptable for the patient is beyond reach, the goal of treatment should be improved and the dying process optimized. Stopping a treatment modality at the request of a will-competent patient or because of futility is not euthanasia. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier España, S.L. y SEMICYUC. All rights reserved.

Regulating Emotions during Difficult Multiattribute Decision Making: The Role of Pre-Decisional Coherence Shifting.

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Stephanie M Carpenter

Full Text Available Almost all real-life decisions entail attribute conflict; every serious choice alternative is better than its competitors on some attribute dimensions but worse on others. In pre-decisional "coherence shifting," the decision maker gradually softens that conflict psychologically to the point where one alternative is seen as dominant over its competitors, or nearly so. Specifically, weaknesses of the eventually chosen alternative come to be perceived as less severe and less important while its strengths seem more desirable and significant. The research described here demonstrates that difficult multiattribute decision problems are aversive and that pre-decisional coherence shifting aids individuals in regulating that emotional discomfort. Across three studies, attribute conflict was confirmed to be aversive (Study 1, and skin conductance responses and ratings of decision difficulty both decreased in participants who coherence shifted (Study 2. Coherence shifting was also diminished among decision makers who were depleted of regulatory resources, known to be required for common emotion regulation mechanisms. Further, coherence shifting was shown to be relatively common among people who reported strong suppression tendencies in everyday emotion regulation (Study 3. Overall, the data suggest that, at least in part, coherence shifting serves as a tool that helps decision makers manage the pre-decisional discomfort generated by attribute conflict. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Enhancing Life Purpose amongst Thai Adolescents

Science.gov (United States)

Balthip, Karnsunaphat; McSherry, Wilfred; Petchruschatachart, Usanee; Piriyakoontorn, Siriwan; Liamputtong, Pranee

2017-01-01

This article describes experiences that enhanced life purpose in 21 Thai adolescents living in Southern Thailand. Thailand is undergoing rapid change from technology, a globalizing economy, and shifting social norms. A phenomenological analysis of in-depth interviews and stories to better understand how Thai youth themselves experience and…

The work environment disability-adjusted life year for use with life cycle assessment: a methodological approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Scanlon, Kelly A; Gray, George M; Francis, Royce A; Lloyd, Shannon M; LaPuma, Peter

2013-03-06

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a systems-based method used to determine potential impacts to the environment associated with a product throughout its life cycle. Conclusions from LCA studies can be applied to support decisions regarding product design or public policy, therefore, all relevant inputs (e.g., raw materials, energy) and outputs (e.g., emissions, waste) to the product system should be evaluated to estimate impacts. Currently, work-related impacts are not routinely considered in LCA. The objectives of this paper are: 1) introduce the work environment disability-adjusted life year (WE-DALY), one portion of a characterization factor used to express the magnitude of impacts to human health attributable to work-related exposures to workplace hazards; 2) outline the methods for calculating the WE-DALY; 3) demonstrate the calculation; and 4) highlight strengths and weaknesses of the methodological approach. The concept of the WE-DALY and the methodological approach to its calculation is grounded in the World Health Organization's disability-adjusted life year (DALY). Like the DALY, the WE-DALY equation considers the years of life lost due to premature mortality and the years of life lived with disability outcomes to estimate the total number of years of healthy life lost in a population. The equation requires input in the form of the number of fatal and nonfatal injuries and illnesses that occur in the industries relevant to the product system evaluated in the LCA study, the age of the worker at the time of the fatal or nonfatal injury or illness, the severity of the injury or illness, and the duration of time lived with the outcomes of the injury or illness. The methodological approach for the WE-DALY requires data from various sources, multi-step instructions to determine each variable used in the WE-DALY equation, and assumptions based on professional opinion. Results support the use of the WE-DALY in a characterization factor in LCA. Integrating

Stabilization of the E* Form Turns Thrombin into an Anticoagulant

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bah, Alaji; Carrell, Christopher J.; Chen, Zhiwei; Gandhi, Prafull S.; Di Cera, Enrico; (WU-MED)

2009-07-31

Previous studies have shown that deletion of nine residues in the autolysis loop of thrombin produces a mutant with an anticoagulant propensity of potential clinical relevance, but the molecular origin of the effect has remained unresolved. The x-ray crystal structure of this mutant solved in the free form at 1.55 {angstrom} resolution reveals an inactive conformation that is practically identical (root mean square deviation of 0.154 {angstrom}) to the recently identified E* form. The side chain of Trp215 collapses into the active site by shifting >10 {angstrom} from its position in the active E form, and the oxyanion hole is disrupted by a flip of the Glu192-Gly193 peptide bond. This finding confirms the existence of the inactive form E* in essentially the same incarnation as first identified in the structure of the thrombin mutant D102N. In addition, it demonstrates that the anticoagulant profile often caused by a mutation of the thrombin scaffold finds its likely molecular origin in the stabilization of the inactive E* form that is selectively shifted to the active E form upon thrombomodulin and protein C binding.

Reduction and Analysis of Low Temperature Shift Heterogeneous Catalyst for Water Gas Reaction in Ammonia Production

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Zečević, N.

2013-09-01

Full Text Available In order to obtain additional quantities of hydrogen after the reforming reactions of natural gas and protect the ammonia synthesis catalyst, it is crucial to achieve and maintain maximum possible activity, selectivity and stability of the low temperature shift catalyst for conversion of water gas reaction during its lifetime. Whereas the heterogeneous catalyst comes in oxidized form, it is of the utmost importance to conduct the reduction procedure properly. The proper reduction procedure and continuous analysis of its performance would ensure the required activity, selectivity and stability throughout the catalyst’s service time. For the proper reduction procedure ofthe low temperature shift catalyst, in addition to process equipment, also necessary is a reliable and realistic system for temperature measurements, which will be effective for monitoring the exothermal temperature curves through all catalyst bed layers. For efficiency evaluation of low shift temperature catalyst reduction and its optimization, it is necessary to determine at regular time intervals the temperature approach to equilibrium and temperature profiles of individual layers by means of "S" and "die off" temperature exothermal curves. Based on the obtained data, the optimum inlet temperature could be determined, in order to maximally extend the service life of the heterogeneous catalyst as much as possible, and achieve the optimum equilibrium for conversion of the water gas. This paper presents the methodology for in situ reduction of the low temperature shift heterogeneous catalyst and the developed system for monitoring its individual layers to achieve the minimum possible content of carbon monoxide at the exit of the reactor. The developed system for temperature monitoring through heterogeneous catalyst layers provides the proper procedure for reduction and adjustment of optimum process working conditions for the catalyst by the continuous increase of reactor inlet

Chemical shift imaging: a review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brateman, L.

1986-01-01

Chemical shift is the phenomenon that is seen when an isotope possessing a nuclear magnetic dipole moment resonates at a spectrum of resonance frequencies in a given magnetic field. These resonance frequencies, or chemical shifts, depend on the chemical environments of particular nuclei. Mapping the spatial distribution of nuclei associated with a particular chemical shift (e.g., hydrogen nuclei associated with water molecules or with lipid groups) is called chemical shift imaging. Several techniques of proton chemical shift imaging that have been applied in vivo are presented, and their clinical findings are reported and summarized. Acquiring high-resolution spectra for large numbers of volume elements in two or three dimensions may be prohibitive because of time constraints, but other methods of imaging lipid of water distributions (i.e., selective excitation, selective saturation, or variations in conventional magnetic resonance imaging pulse sequences) can provide chemical shift information. These techniques require less time, but they lack spectral information. Since fat deposition seen by chemical shift imaging may not be demonstrated by conventional magnetic resonance imaging, certain applications of chemical shift imaging, such as in the determination of fatty liver disease, have greater diagnostic utility than conventional magnetic resonance imaging. Furthermore, edge artifacts caused by chemical shift effects can be eliminated by certain selective methods of data acquisition employed in chemical shift imaging

Star-forming Filament Models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Myers, Philip C.

2017-01-01

New models of star-forming filamentary clouds are presented in order to quantify their properties and to predict their evolution. These 2D axisymmetric models describe filaments that have no core, one low-mass core, and one cluster-forming core. They are based on Plummer-like cylinders and spheroids that are bounded by a constant-density surface of finite extent. In contrast to 1D Plummer-like models, they have specific values of length and mass, they approximate observed column density maps, and their distributions of column density ( N -pdfs) are pole-free. Each model can estimate the star-forming potential of a core-filament system by identifying the zone of gas dense enough to form low-mass stars and by counting the number of enclosed thermal Jeans masses. This analysis suggests that the Musca central filament may be near the start of its star-forming life, with enough dense gas to make its first ∼3 protostars, while the Coronet filament is near the midpoint of its star formation, with enough dense gas to add ∼8 protostars to its ∼20 known stars. In contrast, L43 appears to be near the end of its star-forming life, since it lacks enough dense gas to add any new protostars to the two young stellar objectsalready known.

Star-forming Filament Models

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Myers, Philip C., E-mail: pmyers@cfa.harvard.edu [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)

2017-03-20

New models of star-forming filamentary clouds are presented in order to quantify their properties and to predict their evolution. These 2D axisymmetric models describe filaments that have no core, one low-mass core, and one cluster-forming core. They are based on Plummer-like cylinders and spheroids that are bounded by a constant-density surface of finite extent. In contrast to 1D Plummer-like models, they have specific values of length and mass, they approximate observed column density maps, and their distributions of column density ( N -pdfs) are pole-free. Each model can estimate the star-forming potential of a core-filament system by identifying the zone of gas dense enough to form low-mass stars and by counting the number of enclosed thermal Jeans masses. This analysis suggests that the Musca central filament may be near the start of its star-forming life, with enough dense gas to make its first ∼3 protostars, while the Coronet filament is near the midpoint of its star formation, with enough dense gas to add ∼8 protostars to its ∼20 known stars. In contrast, L43 appears to be near the end of its star-forming life, since it lacks enough dense gas to add any new protostars to the two young stellar objectsalready known.

Adaptation of Shift Sequence Based Method for High Number in Shifts Rostering Problem for Health Care Workers

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Mindaugas Liogys

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Purpose—is to investigate a shift sequence-based approach efficiency then problem consisting of a high number of shifts.Research objectives:• Solve health care workers rostering problem using a shift sequence based method.• Measure its efficiency then number of shifts increases.Design/methodology/approach—Usually rostering problems are highly constrained. Constraints are classified to soft and hard constraints. Soft and hard constraints of the problem are additionally classified to: sequence constraints, schedule constraints and roster constraints. Sequence constraints are considered when constructing shift sequences. Schedule constraints are considered when constructing a schedule. Roster constraints are applied, then constructing overall solution, i.e. combining all schedules.Shift sequence based approach consists of two stages:• Shift sequences construction,• The construction of schedules.In the shift sequences construction stage, the shift sequences are constructed for each set of health care workers of different skill, considering sequence constraints. Shifts sequences are ranked by their penalties for easier retrieval in later stage.In schedules construction stage, schedules for each health care worker are constructed iteratively, using the shift sequences produced in stage 1.Shift sequence based method is an adaptive iterative method where health care workers who received the highest schedule penalties in the last iteration are scheduled first at the current iteration.During the roster construction, and after a schedule has been generated for the current health care worker, an improvement method based on an efficient greedy local search is carried out on the partial roster. It simply swaps any pair of shifts between two health care workers in the (partial roster, as long as the swaps satisfy hard constraints and decrease the roster penalty.Findings—Using shift sequence method for solving health care workers rostering problem

Adaptation of Shift Sequence Based Method for High Number in Shifts Rostering Problem for Health Care Workers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mindaugas Liogys

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Purpose—is to investigate a shift sequence-based approach efficiency then problem consisting of a high number of shifts. Research objectives:• Solve health care workers rostering problem using a shift sequence based method.• Measure its efficiency then number of shifts increases. Design/methodology/approach—Usually rostering problems are highly constrained.Constraints are classified to soft and hard constraints. Soft and hard constraints of the problem are additionally classified to: sequence constraints, schedule constraints and roster constraints. Sequence constraints are considered when constructing shift sequences. Schedule constraints are considered when constructing a schedule. Roster constraints are applied, then constructing overall solution, i.e. combining all schedules.Shift sequence based approach consists of two stages:• Shift sequences construction,• The construction of schedules.In the shift sequences construction stage, the shift sequences are constructed for each set of health care workers of different skill, considering sequence constraints. Shifts sequences are ranked by their penalties for easier retrieval in later stage.In schedules construction stage, schedules for each health care worker are constructed iteratively, using the shift sequences produced in stage 1. Shift sequence based method is an adaptive iterative method where health care workers who received the highest schedule penalties in the last iteration are scheduled first at the current iteration. During the roster construction, and after a schedule has been generated for the current health care worker, an improvement method based on an efficient greedy local search is carried out on the partial roster. It simply swaps any pair of shifts between two health care workers in the (partial roster, as long as the swaps satisfy hard constraints and decrease the roster penalty.Findings—Using shift sequence method for solving health care workers rostering

26 CFR 1.6052-2 - Statements to be furnished employees with respect to wages paid in the form of group-term life...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... such statement is the only employer paying the employee remuneration in the form of group-term life... director may grant an extension of time not exceeding 30 days in which to furnish such statements. The application shall be addressed to the district director with whom the income tax returns of the applicant are...

Shift work to balance everyday life - a salutogenic nursing perspective in home help service in Sweden

OpenAIRE

Agosti, Madelaine T?rnquist; Andersson, Ingemar; Ejlertsson, G?ran; Janl?v, Ann-Christin

2015-01-01

Background: Nurses in Sweden have a high absence due to illness and many retire before the age of sixty. Factors at work as well as in private life may contribute to health problems. To maintain a healthy work–force there is a need for actions on work-life balance in a salutogenic perspective. The aim of this study was to explore perceptions of resources in everyday life to balance work and private life among nurses in home help service. Methods: Thirteen semi-structured individual interviews...

Energy shifts in the binary encounter peak of 0.5 MeV/amu Cuq+ +H2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hidmi, H.I.; Richard, P.; Sanders, J.M.; Zouros, T.J.M.

1993-01-01

The energy shifts from the classical prediction in the binary encounter peak of Cu q+ as a function of the charge state q has been experimentally measured. The data showed that this shift increases by increasing the charge state of the projectile. We fitted the energy shift to an equation of the form ΔE=aq n and obtained a value for the exponent n. The data is also compared to the Bohr-Lindhard calculation which predicts an exponent n=0.5. Good agreement was found between our data and the Bohr-Lindhard model

[Relationship between fatigue recovery after late-night shifts and stress relief awareness].

Science.gov (United States)

Kakamu, Takeyasu; Tsuji, Masayoshi; Hidaka, Tomoo; Kumagai, Tomohiro; Hayakawa, Takehito; Fukushima, Tetsuhito

2014-01-01

To examine the factors related to fatigue accumulation by irregular shift workers after the late-night shift. We studied employees of a company in the transportation industry in Fukushima prefecture. The company transports passengers, and many employees, including the crew, engage in irregular shift work. We performed the investigation by using a self-administered questionnaire which was sent to 89 employees in October, 2011. Of the 89 who were given the survey, 84 replied, and 52 of those employees had worked the late-night shift (straddling midnight) at least once during September. In answer to the question "How long does it take you to recover after working the late-night-shift?" choices were "I don't feel tired ", "I recover the next day", "I recover in two or three days", and "It takes more than three days". We classified the choices into two groups of: 1) "I don't feel tired" and "I recover the next day", and 2) "I recover in two or three days" and "It takes more than three days". Other questions were asked about age, BMI, weekday average duration of sleep, whether or not a nap was taken before the late-night shift, risk of lifestyle-related diseases (hypertension, dyslipidemia, and diabetes), awareness of life stress accumulation, and exercise habits. Thirty-two employees answered that they recovered from the late-night shift by the next day, whereas 20 employees answered that it took more than 2 days to recover after the late-night-shift. The group who answered that recovery time after the late-night shift took more than 2 days significantly (p=0.035) felt that their stress management was insufficient. Age, BMI, weekday average duration of sleep, whether or not a nap was taken before the late-night shifts, risk of lifestyle-related diseases, and exercise habits showed no significant association with fatigue accumulation. The group who answered that their stress management was insufficient significantly chose liquor (p=0.045) and cigarettes (p=0.030) for

Home language shift and its implications for Chinese language teaching in Singapore

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li Li

2016-12-01

Full Text Available In a bilingual society like Singapore, home language environment (HLE of Singaporean children is becoming increasingly concerned, especially for those who are yet to have formal education in schools. The reported rapid shift of family language has increased the tensions among families, schools and communities. This study examined some of the many facets of Singaporean Chinese preschoolers’ HLE, and further discussed how these facets are related to children’s Chinese language proficiency in oral and written forms. Three hundred and seventy-six Singaporean Chinese six-year olds completed Chinese oral and written language proficiency screening. Their parents completed a HLE survey. The findings revealed the possible trend of home language shift from Mandarin Chinese to English in the younger generation. Aside from home language use factors, the importance of other facets that form a rich language environment is also highlighted for children's language development.

Comparison of sleep disturbances in shift workers and people working with a fixed shift

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zohreh Yazdi

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Background: Different types of sleep disturbances can have a serious negative effect on a person’s ability, function and overall well-being. One of the most important issues that can result in sleep disturbances are occupational causes, the most important among them is shift work. The objective of this study was to compare the prevalence of sleep disturbances between shift work and non-shift workers. Material and Methods: This study was designed as a case-control study in 196 shift workers and 204 non-shift workers in a textile factory. The data were collected by using a comprehensive questionnaire including Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index questionnaire, Berlin Questionnaire, Epworth Sleepiness Scale, Insomnia Severity Index and Restless Leg Syndrome Questionnaire. Data analyses were carried out using the SPSS software version 13 by student's t-test, Chi square and multiple logistic regressions. Results: The duration of night sleep in shift workers was less than day workers (p<0.001. Prevalence of poor sleep quality and insomnia were higher in shift workers significantly than non shift workers (p<0.001, OR=2.3 95% CI: 1.7-2.9. The most prevalent type of insomnia was problems in initiating sleep (P=0.022, OR=2.2 95% CI: 1.5-3.2. There was no difference in the prevalence of excessive day-time sleepiness, restless leg syndrome, snoring, obstructive sleep apnea and different types of parasomnias between two groups. Conclusion: Reduced length of sleep and higher prevalence of poor sleep quality and insomnia in shift workers emphasizes the importance of serious attention to sleep disorders in shift workers.

Solid-state NMR studies of form I of atorvastatin calcium.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Wei David; Gao, Xudong; Strohmeier, Mark; Wang, Wei; Bai, Shi; Dybowski, Cecil

2012-03-22

Solid-state (13)C, (19)F, and (15)N magic angle spinning NMR studies of Form I of atorvastatin calcium are reported, including chemical shift tensors of all resolvable carbon sites and fluorine sites. The complete (13)C and (19)F chemical shift assignments are given based on an extensive analysis of (13)C-(1)H HETCOR and (13)C-(19)F HETCOR results. The solid-state NMR data indicate that the asymmetric unit of this material contains two atorvastatin molecules. A possible structure of Form I of atorvastatin calcium (ATC-I), derived from solid-state NMR data and density functional theory calculations of various structures, is proposed for this important active pharmaceutical ingredient (API).

Occupational stress experienced by residents and faculty physicians on night shifts.

Science.gov (United States)

Tür, Feriyde Çalişkan; Toker, İbrahim; Şaşmaz, Cafer Tayyar; Hacar, Serkan; Türe, Burcu

2016-03-22

Occupational stress is an undesired factor causing discomfort for healthcare workers. Stressors in work can lead to dissatisfaction and in turn, this may affect patient care adversely. The aim of this study was to evaluate the occupational stress among residents and faculty physicians of various medical specialties working night shifts. Residents and faculty physicians working night shifts in the emergency departments, medical and surgical wards were questioned with Swedish Demand Control Support Questionnaire. Also, various factors (specialty, marital status, sex, number of patients during a typical shift, number of night shifts per month, decision about career making in that specialty, having chronic disease and/or sleep problem) originated from social life or working conditions were investigated that could affect the demand, job-control and job strain model. Of the 108 participants, the mean age was 31 ± 6 years, 40.7% were female, and 78.7% were residents. Job strain was similar among the three physician groups (p > 0.05). Job control and social support was found to be lower among residents while job stress was higher. The social support-scores were lower in residents who were responsible for more than 60 patients, and who had a chronic disease. The demand-scores were lower in faculty physicians who worked 1 to 4 night shifts per month. Job strain was higher in residents with respect to faculty physicians. Stress and psychosocial risk factors are considered critical issues in the field of occupational health. Workload and job stress are stated as predictors of workers' health, productivity, and motivation. We found a few job stressors by physician working night shifts such as number of taken care of patient, having chronic disease. But, these physicians were significantly residents, due to their high workload sense. Interestingly, job stress was not more by emergency physicians than others. Job strain was found to be higher among the residents as

Chemical shift homology in proteins

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Potts, Barbara C.M.; Chazin, Walter J.

1998-01-01

The degree of chemical shift similarity for homologous proteins has been determined from a chemical shift database of over 50 proteins representing a variety of families and folds, and spanning a wide range of sequence homologies. After sequence alignment, the similarity of the secondary chemical shifts of C α protons was examined as a function of amino acid sequence identity for 37 pairs of structurally homologous proteins. A correlation between sequence identity and secondary chemical shift rmsd was observed. Important insights are provided by examining the sequence identity of homologous proteins versus percentage of secondary chemical shifts that fall within 0.1 and 0.3 ppm thresholds. These results begin to establish practical guidelines for the extent of chemical shift similarity to expect among structurally homologous proteins

A Garden-Based Approach to Teaching Life Science Produces Shifts in Students' Attitudes toward the Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Fisher-Maltese, Carley; Zimmerman, Timothy D.

2015-01-01

Recently, schools nationwide have expressed a renewed interest in school gardens, viewing them as innovative educational tools. Most of the scant studies on these settings investigate the health/nutritional impacts, science learning potential, or emotional dispositions of students. However, few studies examine the shifts in attitudes that occur…

Sleep, quality of life and mood of nursing professionals of pediatric intensive care units

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Priscilla Caetano Guerra

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract OBJECTIVE To assess sleep, quality of life and mood of nursing professionals of pediatric intensive care units. METHOD Quantitative, cross-sectional and descriptive study. Professionals grouped by morning, afternoon and evening shifts were assessed by means of the instruments: Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire; Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index; Epworth Sleepiness Scale; Generic questionnaire for the assessment of quality of life (SF-36; Beck Depression Inventory; Beck Anxiety Inventory; State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. RESULTS Sample consisted of 168 professionals, with prevalence of neutral typology (57.49%. There was no statistical significance regarding sleep, despite scores showing a poor quality of sleep and excessive daytime sleepiness for the three shifts. Quality of life did not reveal any statistical significance, but in the field "social role functioning" of the evening shift, a lower score was observed (p<0.007. There was no statistical significance regarding levels of anxiety and depression. CONCLUSION The results suggest that these professionals may present sleeping problems, but they do not have lower scores of quality of life or mood disorders. Likely explanations for these findings may include an adaptation to their work type over time and the fact that working with children is rewarding.

Shift Work, Chronotype, and Melatonin Patterns among Female Hospital Employees on Day and Night Shifts.

Science.gov (United States)

Leung, Michael; Tranmer, Joan; Hung, Eleanor; Korsiak, Jill; Day, Andrew G; Aronson, Kristan J

2016-05-01

Shift work-related carcinogenesis is hypothesized to be mediated by melatonin; however, few studies have considered the potential effect modification of this underlying pathway by chronotype or specific aspects of shift work such as the number of consecutive nights in a rotation. In this study, we examined melatonin patterns in relation to shift status, stratified by chronotype and number of consecutive night shifts, and cumulative lifetime exposure to shift work. Melatonin patterns of 261 female personnel (147 fixed-day and 114 on rotations, including nights) at Kingston General Hospital were analyzed using cosinor analysis. Urine samples were collected from all voids over a 48-hour specimen collection period for measurement of 6-sulfatoxymelatonin concentrations using the Buhlmann ELISA Kit. Chronotypes were assessed using mid-sleep time (MSF) derived from the Munich Chronotype Questionnaire (MCTQ). Sociodemographic, health, and occupational information were collected by questionnaire. Rotational shift nurses working nights had a lower mesor and an earlier time of peak melatonin production compared to day-only workers. More pronounced differences in mesor and acrophase were seen among later chronotypes, and shift workers working ≥3 consecutive nights. Among nurses, cumulative shift work was associated with a reduction in mesor. These results suggest that evening-types and/or shift workers working ≥3 consecutive nights are more susceptible to adverse light-at-night effects, whereas long-term shift work may also chronically reduce melatonin levels. Cumulative and current exposure to shift work, including nights, affects level and timing of melatonin production, which may be related to carcinogenesis and cancer risk. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 25(5); 830-8. ©2016 AACR. ©2016 American Association for Cancer Research.

Femtosecond-pulse inscription of fiber Bragg gratings with single or multiple phase-shifts in the structure

Science.gov (United States)

Wolf, Alexey; Dostovalov, Alexandr; Skvortsov, Mikhail; Raspopin, Kirill; Parygin, Alexandr; Babin, Sergey

2018-05-01

In this work, long high-quality fiber Bragg gratings with phase shifts in the structure are inscribed directly in the optical fiber by point-by-point technique using femtosecond laser pulses. Phase shifts are introduced during the inscription process with a piezoelectric actuator, which rapidly shifts the fiber along the direction of its movement in a chosen point of the grating with a chosen shift value. As examples, single and double π phase shifts are introduced in fiber Bragg gratings with a length up to 34 mm in passive fibers, which provide corresponding transmission peaks with bandwidth less than 1 pm. It is shown that 37 mm π -phase-shifted grating inscribed in an active Er-doped fiber forms high-quality DFB laser cavity generating single-frequency radiation at 1550 nm with bandwidth of 20 kHz and signal-to-noise ratio of >70 dB. The inscription technique has a high degree of performance and flexibility and can be easily implemented in fibers of various types.

Quality of life in chemical warfare survivors with ophthalmologic injuries: the first results form Iran Chemical Warfare Victims Health Assessment Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Mousavi, Batool; Soroush, Mohammad Reza; Montazeri, Ali

2009-01-19

Iraq used chemical weapons extensively against the Iranians during the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988). The aim of this study was to assess the health related quality of life (HRQOL) in people who had ophthalmologic complications due to the sulfur mustard gas exposure during the war. The Veterans and Martyrs Affair Foundation (VMAF) database indicated that there were 196 patients with severe ophthalmologic complications due to chemical weapons exposure. Of these, those who gave consent (n = 147) entered into the study. Quality of life was measured using the 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) and scores were compared to those of the general public. In addition logistic regression analysis was performed to indicate variables that contribute to physical and mental health related quality of life. The mean age of the patients was 44.8 (SD = 8.7) ranging from 21 to 75 years. About one-third of the cases (n= 50) reported exposure to chemical weapons more than once. The mean exposure duration to sulfur mustard gas was 21.6 years (SD = 1.2). The lowest scores on the SF-36 subscales were found to be: the role physical and the general health. Quality of life in chemical warfare victims who had ophthalmologic problems was significantly lower than the general public (P chemical warfare victims with ophthalmologic complications suffer from poor health related quality of life. It seems that the need for provision of health and support for this population is urgent. In addition, further research is necessary to measure health related quality of life in victims with different types of disabilities in order to support and enhance quality of life among this population.

Transition of shifting cultivation and its impact on people’s livelihoods in the Miombo Woodlands of Northern Zambia and South-Western Tanzania

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grogan, Kenneth Joseph; Birch-Thomsen, Torben; Lyimo, James

2013-01-01

population, government policies, and an increasing commercialization/market integration. Questionnaires, focus group meetings, and in-depth interviews reveal that despite the breakdown of the traditional shifting cultivation practices, a general improvement of livelihoods has taken place. This has happened...... through adaptation and diversification in both agricultural practices and livelihood activities. However, it is also seen that because of the often rapidly changing external factors (market conditions and policies), life in the shifting cultivation communities involves a continual shift of emphasis among...... a variety of livelihood strategies....

The Partisan Trajectory of the American Pro-Life Movement: How a Liberal Catholic Campaign Became a Conservative Evangelical Cause

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel K. Williams

2015-04-01

Full Text Available This article employs a historical analysis of the religious composition of the pro-life movement to explain why the partisan identity of the movement shifted from the left to the right between the late 1960s and the 1980s. Many of the Catholics who formed the first anti-abortion organizations in the late 1960s were liberal Democrats who viewed their campaign to save the unborn as a rights-based movement that was fully in keeping with the principles of New Deal and Great Society liberalism, but when evangelical Protestants joined the movement in the late 1970s, they reframed the pro-life cause as a politically conservative campaign linked not to the ideology of human rights but to the politics of moral order and “family values.” This article explains why the Catholic effort to build a pro-life coalition of liberal Democrats failed after Roe v. Wade, why evangelicals became interested in the antiabortion movement, and why the evangelicals succeeded in their effort to rebrand the pro-life campaign as a conservative cause.

Investigation of DOTA-Metal Chelation Effects on the Chemical Shift of ¹²⁹ Xe

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jeong, K; Slack, CC; Vassiliou, CC; Dao, P; Gomes, MD; Kennedy, DJ; Truxal, AE; Sperling, LJ; Francis, MB; Wemmer, DE; Pines, A

2015-09-17

Recent work has shown that xenon chemical shifts in cryptophane-cage sensors are affected when tethered chelators bind to metals. Here in this paper, we explore the xenon shifts in response to a wide range of metal ions binding to diastereomeric forms of 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7,10-tetraacetic acid (DOTA) linked to cryptophane-A. The shifts induced by the binding of Ca²⁺, Cu²⁺, Ce³⁺, Zn²⁺, Cd²⁺, Ni²⁺, Co²⁺, Cr²⁺, Fe³⁺, and Hg²⁺ are distinct. In addition, the different responses of the diastereomers for the same metal ion indicate that shifts are affected by partial folding with a correlation between the expected coordination number of the metal in the DOTA complex and the chemical shift of ¹²⁹Xe. Lastly, these sensors may be used to detect and quantify many important metal ions, and a better understanding of the basis for the induced shifts could enhance future designs.

Effect of Shift Work on Nocturia.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Jin Wook

2016-01-01

To identify the circadian sensitive component of nocturia by comparing nocturia in patients who voluntarily choose a disrupted circadian rhythm, that is, shift workers, with those who maintain normal day-night cycles. Between 2011 and 2013, a total of 1741 untreated patients, 1376 nonshift workers and 365 shift workers, were compared for nocturia indices based on frequency volume charts (FVCs). General linear model of 8-hour interval urine production and frequency were compared between FVCs of nonshift workers, FVCs of night-shift workers, and FVCs of day-shift workers. Nocturia frequency was increased in the night-shift workers (2.38 ± 1.44) compared with nonshift workers (2.18 ± 1.04) (P night-shift workers, 0.34 ± 0.13 for nonshift workers, P = .24), nocturnal bladder capacity index increased significantly (1.41 ± 1.06 for night-shift workers, 1.26 ± 0.92 for nonshift workers, P shift (P shift changes (P = .35). Patients in alternating work shifts showed increased nocturia, especially during their night shift. These changes tended to be more associated with decreased nocturnal bladder capacity than increased nocturnal polyuria. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Associations between number of consecutive night shifts and impairment of neurobehavioral performance during a subsequent simulated night shift.

Science.gov (United States)

Magee, Michelle; Sletten, Tracey L; Ferguson, Sally A; Grunstein, Ronald R; Anderson, Clare; Kennaway, David J; Lockley, Steven W; Rajaratnam, Shantha Mw

2016-05-01

This study aimed to investigate sleep and circadian phase in the relationships between neurobehavioral performance and the number of consecutive shifts worked. Thirty-four shift workers [20 men, mean age 31.8 (SD 10.9) years] worked 2-7 consecutive night shifts immediately prior to a laboratory-based, simulated night shift. For 7 days prior, participants worked their usual shift sequence, and sleep was assessed with logs and actigraphy. Participants completed a 10-minute auditory psychomotor vigilance task (PVT) at the start (~21:00 hours) and end (~07:00 hours) of the simulated night shift. Mean reaction times (RT), number of lapses and RT distribution was compared between those who worked 2-3 consecutive night shifts versus those who worked 4-7 shifts. Following 4-7 shifts, night shift workers had significantly longer mean RT at the start and end of shift, compared to those who worked 2-3 shifts. The slowest and fastest 10% RT were significantly slower at the start, but not end, of shift among participants who worked 4-7 nights. Those working 4-7 nights also demonstrated a broader RT distribution at the start and end of shift and had significantly slower RT based on cumulative distribution analysis (5 (th), 25 (th), 50 (th), 75 (th)percentiles at the start of shift; 75th percentile at the end of shift). No group differences in sleep parameters were found for 7 days and 24 hours prior to the simulated night shift. A greater number of consecutive night shifts has a negative impact on neurobehavioral performance, likely due to cognitive slowing.

Change from an 8-hour shift to a 12-hour shift, attitudes, sleep, sleepiness and performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Lowden, A; Kecklund, G; Axelsson, J; Akerstedt, T

1998-01-01

The present study sought to evaluate the effect of a change from a rotating 3-shift (8-hour) to a 2-shift shift (12 hour) schedule on sleep, sleepiness, performance, perceived health, and well-being. Thirty-two shift workers at a chemical plant (control room operators) responded to a questionnaire a few months before a change was made in their shift schedule and 10 months after the change. Fourteen workers also filled out a diary, carried activity loggers, and carried out reaction-time tests (beginning and end of shift). Fourteen day workers served as a reference group for the questionnaires and 9 were intensively studied during a week with workdays and a free weekend. The questionnaire data showed that the shift change increased satisfaction with workhours, sleep, and time for social activities. Health, perceived accident risk, and reaction-time performance were not negatively affected. Alertness improved and subjective recovery time after night work decreased. The quick changes in the 8-hour schedule greatly increased sleep problems and fatigue. Sleepiness integrated across the entire shift cycle showed that the shift workers were less alert than the day workers, across workdays and days off (although alertness increased with the 12-hour shift). The change from 8-hour to 12-hour shifts was positive in most respects, possibly due to the shorter sequences of the workdays, the longer sequences of consecutive days off, the fewer types of shifts (easier planning), and the elimination of quick changes. The results may differ in groups with a higher work load.

SHIFT: server for hidden stops analysis in frame-shifted translation.

Science.gov (United States)

Gupta, Arun; Singh, Tiratha Raj

2013-02-23

Frameshift is one of the three classes of recoding. Frame-shifts lead to waste of energy, resources and activity of the biosynthetic machinery. In addition, some peptides synthesized after frame-shifts are probably cytotoxic which serve as plausible cause for innumerable number of diseases and disorders such as muscular dystrophies, lysosomal storage disorders, and cancer. Hidden stop codons occur naturally in coding sequences among all organisms. These codons are associated with the early termination of translation for incorrect reading frame selection and help to reduce the metabolic cost related to the frameshift events. Researchers have identified several consequences of hidden stop codons and their association with myriad disorders. However the wealth of information available is speckled and not effortlessly acquiescent to data-mining. To reduce this gap, this work describes an algorithmic web based tool to study hidden stops in frameshifted translation for all the lineages through respective genetic code systems. This paper describes SHIFT, an algorithmic web application tool that provides a user-friendly interface for identifying and analyzing hidden stops in frameshifted translation of genomic sequences for all available genetic code systems. We have calculated the correlation between codon usage frequencies and the plausible contribution of codons towards hidden stops in an off-frame context. Markovian chains of various order have been used to model hidden stops in frameshifted peptides and their evolutionary association with naturally occurring hidden stops. In order to obtain reliable and persuasive estimates for the naturally occurring and predicted hidden stops statistical measures have been implemented. This paper presented SHIFT, an algorithmic tool that allows user-friendly exploration, analysis, and visualization of hidden stop codons in frameshifted translations. It is expected that this web based tool would serve as a useful complement for

Data on the electromagnetic pion form factor and p-wave

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dubnicka, S.; Meshcheryakov, V.A.; Milko, J.

1980-01-01

The pion form factor absolute value data (free of the omega meson contribution) are unified with the P-wave isovector ππ phase shift. The resultant real and imaginary parts of the pion form factor are described by means of the Pade approximation. All the data, which involve the pion form factor experimental points from the range of momenta - 0.8432 GeV 2 2 , the pion charge radius, and the P-wave isovector ππ phase shift in the elastic region (including also the generally accepted value of the scattering length) are mutually consistent. The data themselves through the Pade approximation reveal that the aforementioned consistency can be achieved only if the pion form factor left-hand cut from the second Riemann sheet is taken into account. Almost in all of the considered Pade approximations one stable pion form factor zero is found in the space-like region, which might indicate the existence of a diffraction minimum in the differential cross section for elastic e - π scattering as a consequence of the constituent structure of the pion like in the case of the electron elastic scattering on nuclei

Density functional theory study on water-gas-shift reaction over molybdenum disulfide

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shi, X. R.; Wang, Shengguang; Hu, J.

2009-01-01

. The pathway for water-gas-shift reaction on both terminations has been carefully studied where the most favorable reaction path precedes the redox mechanism, namely the reaction takes place as follows: CO + H2O --> CO + OH + H --> CO + O + 2H --> CO2 + H-2. The most likely reaction candidates for the formate......Density functional theory calculations have been carried out to investigate the adsorption of reaction intermediates appearing during water-gas-shift reaction at the sulfur covered MoS2 (1 0 0)surfaces, Mo-termination with 37.5% S coverage and S-termination with 50% S coverage using periodic slabs...... species HCOO formation is the surface CO2 reaction with H as a side reaction of CO2 desorption on S-termination with 50% S coverage. The formed HCOO species will react further with adsorbed hydrogen yielding H2COO followed by breaking its C-O bond to form the surface CH2O and O species....

Assessment of the effects of the Japanese shift to lead-free solders and its impact on material substitution and environmental emissions by a dynamic material flow analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fuse, Masaaki; Tsunemi, Kiyotaka

2012-01-01

Lead-free electronics has been extensively studied, whereas their adoption by society and their impact on material substitution and environmental emissions are not well understood. Through a material flow analysis (MFA), this paper explores the life cycle flows for solder-containing metals in Japan, which leads the world in the shift to lead-free solders in electronics. The results indicate that the shift has been progressing rapidly for a decade, and that substitutes for lead in solders, which include silver and copper, are still in the early life cycle stages. The results also show, however, that such substitution slows down during the late life cycle stages owing to long electronic product lifespans. This deceleration of material substitution in the solder life cycle may not only preclude a reduction in lead emissions to air but also accelerate an increase in silver emissions to air and water. As an effective measure against ongoing lead emissions, our scenario analysis suggests an aggressive recycling program for printed circuit boards that utilizes an existing recycling scheme. -- Highlights: ► We model the life cycle flows for solder-containing metals in Japan. ► The Japanese shift to lead-free solders progresses rapidly for a decade. ► Substitution for lead in solders slows down during the late life cycle stages. ► The deceleration of substitution precludes a reduction in lead emissions to air.

What is the impact of shift work on the psychological functioning and resilience of nurses? An integrative review.

Science.gov (United States)

Tahghighi, Mozhdeh; Rees, Clare S; Brown, Janie A; Breen, Lauren J; Hegney, Desley

2017-09-01

To synthesize existing research to determine if nurses who work shifts have poorer psychological functioning and resilience than nurses who do not work shifts. Research exploring the impact of shift work on the psychological functioning and resilience of nurses is limited compared with research investigating the impact of shifts on physical outcomes. Integrative literature review. Relevant databases were searched from January 1995-August 2016 using the combination of keywords: nurse, shift work; rotating roster; night shift; resilient; hardiness; coping; well-being; burnout; mental health; occupational stress; compassion fatigue; compassion satisfaction; stress; anxiety; depression. Two authors independently performed the integrative review processes proposed by Whittemore and Knafl and a quality assessment using the mixed-methods appraisal tool by Pluye et al. A total of 37 articles were included in the review (32 quantitative, 4 qualitative and 1 mixed-methods). Approximately half of the studies directly compared nurse shift workers with non-shift workers. Findings were grouped according to the following main outcomes: (1) general psychological well-being/quality of life; (2) Job satisfaction/burnout; (3) Depression, anxiety and stress; and (4) Resilience/coping. We did not find definitive evidence that shift work is associated with poorer psychological functioning in nurses. Overall, the findings suggest that the impact of shift work on nurse psychological functioning is dependent on several contextual and individual factors. More studies are required which directly compare the psychological outcomes and resilience of nurse shift workers with non-shift workers. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Quality of life in South East Asian patients who consult for dyspepsia: Validation of the short form Nepean Dyspepsia Index

OpenAIRE

Mahadeva, Sanjiv; Wee, Hwee-Lin; Goh, Khean-Lee; Thumboo, Julian

2009-01-01

Abstract Background Treatment objectives for dyspepsia include improvements in both symptoms and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). There is a lack of disease-specific instruments measuring HRQoL in South East Asian dyspeptics. Objectives To validate English and locally translated version of the Short-Form Nepean Dyspepsia Index (SF-NDI) in Malaysian patients who consult for dyspepsia. Methods The English version of the SF-NDI was culturally adapted locally and a Malay translation was de...

OpenShift cookbook

CERN Document Server

Gulati, Shekhar

2014-01-01

If you are a web application developer who wants to use the OpenShift platform to host your next big idea but are looking for guidance on how to achieve this, then this book is the first step you need to take. This is a very accessible cookbook where no previous knowledge of OpenShift is needed.

Shift designs for freight handling personnel at air cargo terminals

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rong, Aiying; Grunow, Martin

2009-01-01

This paper presents an integrated mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model for determining manpower requirements and related personnel shift designs for the build-up and break-down of the unit load devices (ULDs) at the air cargo terminal to minimize manpower costs. To utilize the manpower...... resources efficiently, we implement a new mechanism for demand leveling. In addition, we consider the qualification hierarchy between build-up and break-down workers. A case study based on the real-life data shows that the model is useful for manpower planning at air cargo terminals and the integrated...

The shifting cross-media news landscape

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schrøder, Kim Christian; Steeg Larsen, Bent

2010-01-01

and lifestyles. Theoretically the study is anchored in Habermas’s notion of the public sphere, and its recent reconceptualizations in theories of ‘cultural citizenship’, 'civic agency' and 'public connection'. The project operationalizes these theories through the concept of users' perceived “worthwhileness......The article offers new insights for democracy and for news producers by mapping the use and users of today’s cross-media news landscape, as the everyday consumption of news across the range of available news media and formats is shifting as a result of transformations of technology, culture......” of news media, a user-anchored concept which incorporates the different functionalities of the situational cross-media use of news by citizen/consumers in everyday life. Empirically the article presents the findings of a large-scale survey that traces the imminent challenges facing players in the news...

Shift Verification and Validation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pandya, Tara M. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Evans, Thomas M. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Davidson, Gregory G [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Johnson, Seth R. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Godfrey, Andrew T. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

2016-09-07

This documentation outlines the verification and validation of Shift for the Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors (CASL). Five main types of problems were used for validation: small criticality benchmark problems; full-core reactor benchmarks for light water reactors; fixed-source coupled neutron-photon dosimetry benchmarks; depletion/burnup benchmarks; and full-core reactor performance benchmarks. We compared Shift results to measured data and other simulated Monte Carlo radiation transport code results, and found very good agreement in a variety of comparison measures. These include prediction of critical eigenvalue, radial and axial pin power distributions, rod worth, leakage spectra, and nuclide inventories over a burn cycle. Based on this validation of Shift, we are confident in Shift to provide reference results for CASL benchmarking.

What controls glycolysis in bloodstream form Trypanosoma brucei?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bakker, B.M.; Michels, P.A.M.; Opperdoes, F.R.; Westerhoff, H.V.

1999-01-01

On the basis of the experimentally determined kinetic properties of the trypanosomal enzymes, the question is addressed of which step limits the glycolytic flux in bloodstream form Trypanosoma brucei. There appeared to be no single answer; in the physiological range, control shifted between the

Choice Shifts in Groups

OpenAIRE

Kfir Eliaz; Debraj Ray

2004-01-01

The phenomenon of "choice shifts" in group decision-making is fairly ubiquitous in the social psychology literature. Faced with a choice between a ``safe" and ``risky" decision, group members appear to move to one extreme or the other, relative to the choices each member might have made on her own. Both risky and cautious shifts have been identified in different situations. This paper demonstrates that from an individual decision-making perspective, choice shifts may be viewed as a systematic...

Shift work--problems and its impact on female nurses in Udaipur, Rajasthan India.

Science.gov (United States)

Rathore, H; Shukla, K; Singh, S; Tiwari, G

2012-01-01

Abstract : There is good evidence that shift work has negative effects on workers health, safety and performance. It is quite appropriate that attention is paid to this very important feature of socio-technical systems, which may adversely affect mental and physical health, social life and safety of shift workers. Research into the impact of shift work on professionals has consistently identified a range of negative outcomes in physical, psychological, and social domains (Akerstedt, 1988; Costa, Lievore, Casaletti, Gaffuri, & Folkard, 1989; Kogi, 2005; Paley & Tepas, 1994). Hospitals, the biggest employer in the health care field, employ more night shift workers than any other industry. It can therefore be inferred that in medical domain high percentage of workforce may be affected by problems related to shift work. Thus the present study will provide knowledge base for the problems faced by the female nurses. The present study was undertaken with an objective of getting an insight into the problems faced by female nurses in shift work. . It was found that the female nurses in India worked on roaster pattern of change in shift every seven days. They did not have a say in the change of duties, it could only be done on mutual grounds. Partners of younger group did not much adjust to their shift pattern this created stress among the nurses.The results showed that the female nurses in both the age groups i.e. 30-45 years and 45-60 years faced many problems related to health and well being, fatigue, social and domestic situations. They could not give much time to their children in particular. Travelling in nights was risky for them. Common problem was the insufficient sleep during night shifts. The nurses had to cater to the needs of the family, children in particular along with the adjustments to be made due to shift work. They had to sometimes do the night duties and attend social functions as a part of their duty. Children and husband in some cases did not cooperate

Life's Late Digital Revolution and Why It Matters for the Study of the Origins of Life.

Science.gov (United States)

Baum, David A; Lehman, Niles

2017-08-25

The information contained in life exists in two forms, analog and digital. Analog information is manifest mainly in the differing concentrations of chemicals that get passed from generation to generation and can vary from cell to cell. Digital information is encoded in linear polymers such as DNA and RNA, whose side chains come in discrete chemical forms. Here, we argue that the analog form of information preceded the digital. Acceptance of this dichotomy, and this progression, can help direct future studies on how life originated and initially complexified on the primordial Earth, as well as expected trajectories for other, independent origins of complex life.

Benefits of task-shifting HIV care to nurses in terms of health-related quality of life in patients initiating antiretroviral therapy in rural district hospitals in Cameroon [Stratall Agence Nationale de Recherche sur le SIDA (ANRS) 12110/Ensemble pour une Solidarité Thérapeutique Hospitalière en Réseau (ESTHER) substudy].

Science.gov (United States)

Suzan-Monti, M; Blanche, J; Boyer, S; Kouanfack, C; Delaporte, E; Bonono, R-C; Carrieri, P M; Protopopescu, C; Laurent, C; Spire, B

2015-05-01

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends task-shifting HIV care to nurses in low-resource settings with limited numbers of physicians. However, the effect of such task-shifting on the health-related quality of life (HRQL) of people living with HIV (PLHIV) has seldom been evaluated. We aimed to investigate the effect of task-shifting HIV care to nurses on HRQL outcomes in PLHIV initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART) in rural district hospitals in Cameroon. Outcomes in PLHIV were longitudinally collected in the 2006-2010 Stratall trial. PLHIV were followed up for 24 months by nurses and/or physicians. Six HRQL dimensions were assessed during face-to-face interviews using the WHO Quality of Life (WHOQOL)-HIV BREF scale: physical health; psychological health; independence level; social relationships; environment; and spirituality/religion/personal beliefs. The degree of task-shifting was estimated using a consultant ratio (i.e. the ratio of nurse-led to physician-led visits). The effect of task-shifting and other potential correlates on HRQL dimensions was explored using a Heckman two-stage approach based on linear mixed models to adjust for the potential bias caused by missing data in the outcomes. Of 1424 visits in 440 PLHIV (70.5% female; median age 36 years; median CD4 count 188 cells/μL at enrolment), 423 (29.7%) were task-shifted to nurses. After multiple adjustment, task-shifting was associated with higher HRQL level for four dimensions: physical health [coefficient 0.7; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.1-1.2; P = 0.01], psychological health (coefficient 0.5; 95% CI 0.0-1.0; P = 0.05), independence level (coefficient 0.6; 95% CI 0.1-1.1; P = 0.01) and environment (coefficient 0.6; 95% CI 0.1-1.0; P = 0.02). Task-shifting HIV care to nurses benefits the HRQL of PLHIV. Together with the previously demonstrated comparable clinical effectiveness of physician-based and nurse-based models of HIV care, our results support the WHO recommendation

Quality of life in chemical warfare survivors with ophthalmologic injuries: the first results form Iran Chemical Warfare Victims Health Assessment Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Soroush Mohammad

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Iraq used chemical weapons extensively against the Iranians during the Iran-Iraq war (1980–1988. The aim of this study was to assess the health related quality of life (HRQOL in people who had ophthalmologic complications due to the sulfur mustard gas exposure during the war. Methods The Veterans and Martyrs Affair Foundation (VMAF database indicated that there were 196 patients with severe ophthalmologic complications due to chemical weapons exposure. Of these, those who gave consent (n = 147 entered into the study. Quality of life was measured using the 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36 and scores were compared to those of the general public. In addition logistic regression analysis was performed to indicate variables that contribute to physical and mental health related quality of life. Results The mean age of the patients was 44.8 (SD = 8.7 ranging from 21 to 75 years. About one-third of the cases (n= 50 reported exposure to chemical weapons more than once. The mean exposure duration to sulfur mustard gas was 21.6 years (SD = 1.2. The lowest scores on the SF-36 subscales were found to be: the role physical and the general health. Quality of life in chemical warfare victims who had ophthalmologic problems was significantly lower than the general public (P Conclusion The study findings suggest that chemical warfare victims with ophthalmologic complications suffer from poor health related quality of life. It seems that the need for provision of health and support for this population is urgent. In addition, further research is necessary to measure health related quality of life in victims with different types of disabilities in order to support and enhance quality of life among this population.

Shifting the Balance: Relationship as Power in Organizational Life.

Science.gov (United States)

Davidson, Sandra J

2015-01-01

Power has traditionally been studied and experienced within organizations from a hierarchical and positivist perspective. However, organizational complexity has never been greater, and in our attempts to find new ways to live amid this complexity we seek alternative theoretical perspectives that may better represent and inform our experiences of organizational life. This article summarizes the positivist view of power within organizations and the limitations of attempting to study power from this perspective. Power is then reconceptualized and explored using the complex responsive process (CRP) analysis. This is an exemplar of how narrative inquiry guided by CRP may be used as a frame for reflexivity and reflection amid organizational power dynamics. The narrative description used in this paper was based on the author's experience and reflection upon a nursing faculty meeting in a large public university. By becoming aware of the power relations in which we engage, and by reflecting upon them using CRP, we may come to understand power relations in a different way. In the act of examining and reflecting on our habitual roles in power relations, we may open up the potential for personal and organizational transformation. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Real - time Optimization of Distributed Energy Storage System Operation Strategy Based on Peak Load Shifting

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Qian; Lu, Guangqi; Li, Xiaoyu; Zhang, Yichi; Yun, Zejian; Bian, Di

2018-01-01

To take advantage of the energy storage system (ESS) sufficiently, the factors that the service life of the distributed energy storage system (DESS) and the load should be considered when establishing optimization model. To reduce the complexity of the load shifting of DESS in the solution procedure, the loss coefficient and the equal capacity ratio distribution principle were adopted in this paper. Firstly, the model was established considering the constraint conditions of the cycles, depth, power of the charge-discharge of the ESS, the typical daily load curves, as well. Then, dynamic programming method was used to real-time solve the model in which the difference of power Δs, the real-time revised energy storage capacity Sk and the permission error of depth of charge-discharge were introduced to optimize the solution process. The simulation results show that the optimized results was achieved when the load shifting in the load variance was not considered which means the charge-discharge of the energy storage system was not executed. In the meantime, the service life of the ESS would increase.

Night shift work exposure profile and obesity: Baseline results from a Chinese night shift worker cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Miaomiao; Feng, Wenting; Wang, Feng; Zhang, Liuzhuo; Wu, Zijun; Li, Zhimin; Zhang, Bo; He, Yonghua; Xie, Shaohua; Li, Mengjie; Fok, Joan P C; Tse, Gary; Wong, Martin C S; Tang, Jin-Ling; Wong, Samuel Y S; Vlaanderen, Jelle; Evans, Greg; Vermeulen, Roel; Tse, Lap Ah

2018-01-01

This study aimed to evaluate the associations between types of night shift work and different indices of obesity using the baseline information from a prospective cohort study of night shift workers in China. A total of 3,871 workers from five companies were recruited from the baseline survey. A structured self-administered questionnaire was employed to collect the participants' demographic information, lifetime working history, and lifestyle habits. Participants were grouped into rotating, permanent and irregular night shift work groups. Anthropometric parameters were assessed by healthcare professionals. Multiple logistic regression models were used to evaluate the associations between night shift work and different indices of obesity. Night shift workers had increased risk of overweight and obesity, and odds ratios (ORs) were 1.17 (95% CI, 0.97-1.41) and 1.27 (95% CI, 0.74-2.18), respectively. Abdominal obesity had a significant but marginal association with night shift work (OR = 1.20, 95% CI, 1.01-1.43). A positive gradient between the number of years of night shift work and overweight or abdominal obesity was observed. Permanent night shift work showed the highest odds of being overweight (OR = 3.94, 95% CI, 1.40-11.03) and having increased abdominal obesity (OR = 3.34, 95% CI, 1.19-9.37). Irregular night shift work was also significantly associated with overweight (OR = 1.56, 95% CI, 1.13-2.14), but its association with abdominal obesity was borderline (OR = 1.26, 95% CI, 0.94-1.69). By contrast, the association between rotating night shift work and these parameters was not significant. Permanent and irregular night shift work were more likely to be associated with overweight or abdominal obesity than rotating night shift work. These associations need to be verified in prospective cohort studies.

Night shift work exposure profile and obesity: Baseline results from a Chinese night shift worker cohort

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, Wenting; Wang, Feng; Zhang, Liuzhuo; Wu, Zijun; Li, Zhimin; Zhang, Bo; He, Yonghua; Xie, Shaohua; Li, Mengjie; Fok, Joan P. C.; Tse, Gary; Wong, Martin C. S.; Tang, Jin-ling; Wong, Samuel Y. S.; Vlaanderen, Jelle; Evans, Greg; Vermeulen, Roel; Tse, Lap Ah

2018-01-01

Aims This study aimed to evaluate the associations between types of night shift work and different indices of obesity using the baseline information from a prospective cohort study of night shift workers in China. Methods A total of 3,871 workers from five companies were recruited from the baseline survey. A structured self-administered questionnaire was employed to collect the participants’ demographic information, lifetime working history, and lifestyle habits. Participants were grouped into rotating, permanent and irregular night shift work groups. Anthropometric parameters were assessed by healthcare professionals. Multiple logistic regression models were used to evaluate the associations between night shift work and different indices of obesity. Results Night shift workers had increased risk of overweight and obesity, and odds ratios (ORs) were 1.17 (95% CI, 0.97–1.41) and 1.27 (95% CI, 0.74–2.18), respectively. Abdominal obesity had a significant but marginal association with night shift work (OR = 1.20, 95% CI, 1.01–1.43). A positive gradient between the number of years of night shift work and overweight or abdominal obesity was observed. Permanent night shift work showed the highest odds of being overweight (OR = 3.94, 95% CI, 1.40–11.03) and having increased abdominal obesity (OR = 3.34, 95% CI, 1.19–9.37). Irregular night shift work was also significantly associated with overweight (OR = 1.56, 95% CI, 1.13–2.14), but its association with abdominal obesity was borderline (OR = 1.26, 95% CI, 0.94–1.69). By contrast, the association between rotating night shift work and these parameters was not significant. Conclusion Permanent and irregular night shift work were more likely to be associated with overweight or abdominal obesity than rotating night shift work. These associations need to be verified in prospective cohort studies. PMID:29763461

Risk perceptions starting to shift? U.S. citizens are forming opinions about nanotechnology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Priest, Susanna; Greenhalgh, Ted; Kramer, Victoria

2010-01-01

This article presents early results from an opinion formation study based on a 76-member panel of U.S. citizens, with comparison data from a group of 177 nanotechnology experts. While initially similar to the expert group in terms of their perceptions of the risks, benefits, and need for regulation characterizing several forms of nanotechnology, the first follow-up survey indicates that the panel is beginning to diverge from the experts, particularly with respect to perceptions of the levels of various 'societal' risks that nanotechnology might present. The data suggest that responding to public concerns may involve more than attention to physical risks in areas such as health and environment; concerns about other forms of risk actually appear more salient.

Flexible working arrangements in healthcare: a comparison between managers of shift workers and 9-to-5 employees.

Science.gov (United States)

Mercer, Danielle; Russell, Elizabeth; Arnold, Kara A

2014-01-01

This study examined healthcare managers' perceptions of flexible working arrangements and implementation barriers. Work-life conflict can lead to negative health implications, but flexible working arrangements can help manage this conflict. Little research has examined its implementation in 24/7/365 healthcare organizations or within groups of employees working 9 AM to 5 PM (9-5) versus shift-work hours. Questionnaires regarding perceptions to, benefits of, and barriers against flexible working arrangements were administered to managers of 9-5 workers and shift workers in an Atlantic Canadian healthcare organization. Few differences in perceptions and benefits of flexible working arrangements were found between management groups. However, results indicate that the interaction with patients and/or the immediacy of tasks being performed are barriers for shift-work managers. The nature of healthcare presents barriers for managers implementing flexible working arrangements, which differ only based on whether the job is physical (shift work) versus desk related (9-5 work).

Cultures of Work-Life Balance in Higher Education: A Case of Fragmentation

Science.gov (United States)

Lester, Jaime

2015-01-01

In response to demographic shifts, colleges and universities implemented new policies, adopted new practices, and created professional development opportunities to gain support for work-life balance. Research on work-life balance reveals gender disparities, lack of policy usage, and a lack of cultural change with little understanding of the ways…

The northward shifting neophyte Tragopogon dubius is just as effective in forming mycorrhizal associations as the native T. pratensis.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Grunsven, R.; Yuwati, T.; Kowalchuk, George; van der Putten, W.H.; van Veenendaal, E.

2014-01-01

Background: As a consequence of climate warming, many organisms are shifting their range towards higher latitudes and altitudes. As not all do so at the same speed, this may disrupt biotic interaction. Release from natural enemies through range expansion can result in invasiveness, whereas loss of

Shift schedule, work-family relationships, marital communication, job satisfaction and health among transport service shift workers.

Science.gov (United States)

Iskra-Golec, Irena; Smith, Lawrence; Wilczek-Rużyczka, Ewa; Siemiginowska, Patrycja; Wątroba, Joanna

2017-02-21

Existing research has documented that shiftwork consequences may depend on the shift system parameters. Fast rotating systems (1-3 shifts of the same kind in a row) and day work have been found to be less disruptive biologically and socially than slower rotating systems and afternoon and night work. The aim of this study was to compare day workers and shift workers of different systems in terms of rotation speed and shifts worked with regard to work-family and family-work positive and negative spillover, marital communication style, job satisfaction and health. Employees (N = 168) of the maintenance workshops of transportation service working different shift systems (day shift, weekly rotating 2 and 3‑shift system, and fast rotating 3-shift system) participated in the study. They completed the Work- Family Spillover Questionnaire, Marital Communication Questionnaire, Minnesota Job Satisfaction Questionnaire and the Physical Health Questionnaire (a part of the Standard Shiftwork Index). The workers of quicker rotating 3-shift systems reported significantly higher scores of family-to-work facilitation (F(3, 165) = 4.175, p = 0.007) and a higher level of constructive style of marital communication (Engagement F(3, 165) = 2.761, p = 0.044) than the workers of slower rotating 2-shift systems. There were no differences between the groups of workers with regard to health and job satisfaction. A higher level of work-family facilitation and a more constructive style of marital communication were found among the workers of faster rotating 3-shift system when compared to the workers of a slower rotating 2-shift system (afternoon, night). This may indicate that the fast rotating shift system in contrary to the slower rotating one is more friendly for the work and family domains and for the relationship between them. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2017;30(1):121-131. This work is available in Open Access model and licensed under a CC BY-NC 3.0 PL license.

Shift schedule, work–family relationships, marital communication, job satisfaction and health among transport service shift workers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Irena Iskra-Golec

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Objectives: Existing research has documented that shiftwork consequences may depend on the shift system parameters. Fast rotating systems (1–3 shifts of the same kind in a row and day work have been found to be less disruptive biologically and socially than slower rotating systems and afternoon and night work. The aim of this study was to compare day workers and shift workers of different systems in terms of rotation speed and shifts worked with regard to work–family and family–work positive and negative spillover, marital communication style, job satisfaction and health. Material and Methods: Employees (N = 168 of the maintenance workshops of transportation service working different shift systems (day shift, weekly rotating 2 and 3‑shift system, and fast rotating 3-shift system participated in the study. They completed the Work– Family Spillover Questionnaire, Marital Communication Questionnaire, Minnesota Job Satisfaction Questionnaire and the Physical Health Questionnaire (a part of the Standard Shiftwork Index. Results: The workers of quicker rotating 3-shift systems reported significantly higher scores of family-to-work facilitation (F(3, 165 = 4.175, p = 0.007 and a higher level of constructive style of marital communication (Engagement F(3, 165 = 2.761, p = 0.044 than the workers of slower rotating 2-shift systems. There were no differences between the groups of workers with regard to health and job satisfaction. Conclusions: A higher level of work–family facilitation and a more constructive style of marital communication were found among the workers of faster rotating 3-shift system when compared to the workers of a slower rotating 2-shift system (afternoon, night. This may indicate that the fast rotating shift system in contrary to the slower rotating one is more friendly for the work and family domains and for the relationship between them. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2017;30(1:121–131

Electromagnetic form factors of hadrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zidell, V.S.

1976-01-01

A vector meson dominance model of the electromagnetic form factors of hadrons is developed which is based on the use of unstable particle propagators. Least-square fits are made to the proton, neutron, pion and kaon form factor data in both the space and time-like regions. A good fit to the low-energy nucleon form factor data is obtained using only rho, ω, and phi dominance, and leads to a determination of the vector meson resonance parameters in good agreement with experiment. The nucleon-vector meson coupling constants obey simple sum rules indicating that there exists no hard core contribution to the form factors within theoretical uncertainties. The prediction for the electromagnetic radii of the proton is in reasonable agreement with recent experiments. The pion and kaon charge form factors as deduced from the nucleon form factors assuming vector meson universality are compared to the data. The pion form factor agrees with the data in both the space and time-like regions. The pion charge radius is in agreement with the recent Dubna result, but the isovector P-wave pion-pion phase shift calculated from the theory disagrees with experiment. A possible contribution to the form factors from a heavy rho meson is also evaluated

Quality of Life, Sleep, and Health of Air Traffic Controllers With Rapid Counterclockwise Shift Rotation.

Science.gov (United States)

Sonati, Jaqueline Girnos; De Martino, Milva Maria Figueiredo; Vilarta, Roberto; da Silva Maciel, Érika; Sonati, Renato José Ferreira; Paduan, Paulo Cézar

2016-08-01

Rotating shiftwork is common for air traffic controllers and usually causes sleep deprivation, biological adaptations, and life changes for these workers. This study assessed quality of life, the sleep, and the health of 30 air traffic controllers employed at an international airport in Brazil. The objective was to identify health and quality of life concerns of these professionals. The results identified physical inactivity, overweight, excess body fat, low scores for physical and social relationships, and sleep deprivation for workers in all four workshifts. In conclusion, these workers are at risk for chronic non-transmittable diseases and compromised work performance, suggesting the need for more rest time before working nightshifts and work environments that stimulate physical activity and healthy diets. © 2016 The Author(s).

Dynamics and computation in functional shifts

Science.gov (United States)

Namikawa, Jun; Hashimoto, Takashi

2004-07-01

We introduce a new type of shift dynamics as an extended model of symbolic dynamics, and investigate the characteristics of shift spaces from the viewpoints of both dynamics and computation. This shift dynamics is called a functional shift, which is defined by a set of bi-infinite sequences of some functions on a set of symbols. To analyse the complexity of functional shifts, we measure them in terms of topological entropy, and locate their languages in the Chomsky hierarchy. Through this study, we argue that considering functional shifts from the viewpoints of both dynamics and computation gives us opposite results about the complexity of systems. We also describe a new class of shift spaces whose languages are not recursively enumerable.

Patterns of shift work in the power industry: the need for circadian chronohygiene in bioengineering at the man-machine interface

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ehret, C.F.; Cahill, A.L.

1982-01-01

The most serious single omission in extant studies of human error rate prediction is in the failure to identify the contribution made by the stresses and stressors associated with shift-work. Furthermore, where shift work studies have been made, they have been chiefly in the form of descriptive characterizations of problems arising from the various ROTAS rather than in the form of interventions designed specifically to ameliorate such problems. In this paper, through an interplay of experiments involving animal models as simulators and human subjects we want first to characterize in biochemical and physiological terms the connections of circadian rhythms to the problems of the shift worker, and next to show some of the fairly simple steps that can be taken to ameliorate such problems

Shifting Focus: From Hydration for Performance to Hydration for Health.

Science.gov (United States)

Perrier, Erica T

2017-01-01

Over the past 10 years, literature on hydration biomarkers has evolved considerably - from (de)hydration assessment towards a more global definition of biomarkers of hydration in daily life. This shift in thinking about hydration markers was largely driven by investigating the differences that existed between otherwise healthy individuals whose habitual, ad-libitum drinking habits differ, and by identifying physiological changes in low-volume drinkers who subsequently increase their water intake. Aside from obvious differences in urinary volume and concentration, a growing body of evidence is emerging that links differences in fluid intake with small, but biologically significant, differences in vasopressin (copeptin), glomerular filtration rate, and markers of metabolic dysfunction or disease. Taken together, these pieces of the puzzle begin to form a picture of how much water intake should be considered adequate for health, and represent a shifting focus from hydration for performance, toward hydration for health outcomes. This narrative review outlines the key areas of research in which the global hydration process - including water intake, urinary hydration markers, and vasopressin - has been associated with health outcomes, focusing on kidney and metabolic endpoints. It will also provide a commentary on how various hydration biomarkers may be used in hydration for health assessment. Finally, if adequate water intake can play a role in maintaining health, how might we tell if we are drinking enough? Urine output is easily measured, and can take into account differences in daily physical activity, climate, dietary solute load, and other factors that influence daily water needs. Today, targets have been proposed for urine osmolality, specific gravity, and color that may be used by researchers, clinicians, and individuals as simple indicators of optimal hydration. However, there remain a large number of incomplete or unanswered research questions regarding the

A global view of shifting cultivation: Recent, current, and future extent.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andreas Heinimann

Full Text Available Mosaic landscapes under shifting cultivation, with their dynamic mix of managed and natural land covers, often fall through the cracks in remote sensing-based land cover and land use classifications, as these are unable to adequately capture such landscapes' dynamic nature and complex spectral and spatial signatures. But information about such landscapes is urgently needed to improve the outcomes of global earth system modelling and large-scale carbon and greenhouse gas accounting. This study combines existing global Landsat-based deforestation data covering the years 2000 to 2014 with very high-resolution satellite imagery to visually detect the specific spatio-temporal pattern of shifting cultivation at a one-degree cell resolution worldwide. The accuracy levels of our classification were high with an overall accuracy above 87%. We estimate the current global extent of shifting cultivation and compare it to other current global mapping endeavors as well as results of literature searches. Based on an expert survey, we make a first attempt at estimating past trends as well as possible future trends in the global distribution of shifting cultivation until the end of the 21st century. With 62% of the investigated one-degree cells in the humid and sub-humid tropics currently showing signs of shifting cultivation-the majority in the Americas (41% and Africa (37%-this form of cultivation remains widespread, and it would be wrong to speak of its general global demise in the last decades. We estimate that shifting cultivation landscapes currently cover roughly 280 million hectares worldwide, including both cultivated fields and fallows. While only an approximation, this estimate is clearly smaller than the areas mentioned in the literature which range up to 1,000 million hectares. Based on our expert survey and historical trends we estimate a possible strong decrease in shifting cultivation over the next decades, raising issues of livelihood security

Associations of rotational shift work and night shift status with hypertension: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Manohar, Sandhya; Thongprayoon, Charat; Cheungpasitporn, Wisit; Mao, Michael A; Herrmann, Sandra M

2017-10-01

The reported risks of hypertension (HTN) in rotating shift and night shift workers are controversial. The objective of this meta-analysis was to assess the association between shift work status and HTN. A literature search was performed using MEDLINE, EMBASE and Cochrane Database from inception through October 2016. Studies that reported odds ratios (OR) comparing the risk of HTN in shift workers were included. A prespecified subgroup analysis by rotating shift and night shift statuses were also performed. Pooled OR and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated using a random-effect, generic inverse variance method. The protocol for this study is registered with International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews; no. CRD42016051843. Twenty-seven observational studies (nine cohort and 18 cross-sectional studies) with a total of 394 793 individuals were enrolled. The pooled ORs of HTN in shift workers in cohort and cross-sectional studies were 1.31 (95% CI, 1.07-1.60) and 1.10 (95% CI, 1.00-1.20), respectively. When meta-analysis was restricted only to cohort studies in rotating shift, the pooled OR of HTN in rotating shift workers was 1.34 (95% CI, 1.08-1.67). The data regarding night shift and HTN in cohort studies was limited. The pooled OR of HTN in night shift workers in cross-sectional studies was 1.07 (95% CI, 0.85-1.35). Based on the findings of our meta-analysis, shiftwork status may play an important role in HTN, as there is a significant association between rotating shift work and HTN. However, there is no significant association between night shift status and risk of HTN.

Micropatch Antenna Phase Shifting

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Thursby, Michael

2000-01-01

.... We have been looking at the ability of embedded element to adjust the phase shift seen by the element with the goal of being able to remove the phase shifting devices from the antenna and replace...

Micropatch Antenna Phase Shifting

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Thursby, Michael

1999-01-01

.... We have been looking at the ability of embedded element to adjust the phase shift seen by the element wit the goal of being able to remove the phase shifting devices from the antenna and replace...

The Development of Attentional Networks: Cross-Sectional Findings from a Life Span Sample

Science.gov (United States)

Waszak, Florian; Li, Shu-Chen; Hommel, Bernhard

2010-01-01

Using a population-based sample of 263 individuals ranging from 6 to 89 years of age, we investigated the gains and losses in the abilities to (a) use exogenous cues to shift attention covertly and (b) ignore conflicting information across the life span. The participants' ability to shift visual attention was tested by a typical Posner-type…

The end of leadership?: The shift of power in local congregations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ian Nell

2015-08-01

Full Text Available In a qualitative study recently carried out by the author amongst ministers in a Circuit of Dutch Reformed Congregations in a suburban context in the Western Cape, South Africa, respondents were asked whether they sensed a ‘shift of view’ concerning the role of leadership during the past 20 years in their respective congregations. The research results paint a picture of ‘the end of leadership’ at least in some form. One can also sense a ‘shift of power’ over the past two decades in these local congregations, indicating the changing dynamics of leadership. There seems to be a shift of power from the individual leader to the team, the group and the network. The aim of this paper is, firstly, to present some of the empirical results and then to reflect on the underlying reasons for this shift of power by giving a description of some broader philosophical and sociological perspectives influencing this state of affairs. This will be followed by a description of, and reflection on, theological developments on the Trinity and power that might help to understand the ‘end of leadership’ in some ways. The paper concludes with some thoughts on the role of power and leadership processes at work in local faith communities.

Database proton NMR chemical shifts for RNA signal assignment and validation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barton, Shawn; Heng Xiao [University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (United States); Johnson, Bruce A., E-mail: bruce@onemoonscientific.com [University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (United States); Summers, Michael F., E-mail: summers@hhmi.umbc.edu [University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (United States)

2013-01-15

The Biological Magnetic Resonance Data Bank contains NMR chemical shift depositions for 132 RNAs and RNA-containing complexes. We have analyzed the {sup 1}H NMR chemical shifts reported for non-exchangeable protons of residues that reside within A-form helical regions of these RNAs. The analysis focused on the central base pair within a stretch of three adjacent base pairs (BP triplets), and included both Watson-Crick (WC; G:C, A:U) and G:U wobble pairs. Chemical shift values were included for all 4{sup 3} possible WC-BP triplets, as well as 137 additional triplets that contain one or more G:U wobbles. Sequence-dependent chemical shift correlations were identified, including correlations involving terminating base pairs within the triplets and canonical and non-canonical structures adjacent to the BP triplets (i.e. bulges, loops, WC and non-WC BPs), despite the fact that the NMR data were obtained under different conditions of pH, buffer, ionic strength, and temperature. A computer program (RNAShifts) was developed that enables convenient comparison of RNA {sup 1}H NMR assignments with database predictions, which should facilitate future signal assignment/validation efforts and enable rapid identification of non-canonical RNA structures and RNA-ligand/protein interaction sites.

Analyzing Permutations for AES-like Ciphers: Understanding ShiftRows

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Beierle, Christof; Jovanovic, Philipp; Lauridsen, Martin Mehl

2015-01-01

Designing block ciphers and hash functions in a manner that resemble the AES in many aspects has been very popular since Rijndael was adopted as the Advanced Encryption Standard. However, in sharp contrast to the MixColumns operation, the security implications of the way the state is permuted...... by the operation resembling ShiftRows has never been studied in depth. Here, we provide the first structured study of the influence of ShiftRows-like operations, or more generally, word-wise permutations, in AES-like ciphers with respect to diffusion properties and resistance towards differential- and linear...... normal form. Using a mixed-integer linear programming approach, we obtain optimal parameters for a wide range of AES-like ciphers, and show improvements on parameters for Rijndael-192, Rijndael-256, PRIMATEs-80 and Prøst-128. As a separate result, we show for specific cases of the state geometry...

Transfusion Refusal and the Shifting Limits of Multicultural Accommodation.

Science.gov (United States)

DeMichelis, Carey

2017-12-01

The refusal of blood products by Jehovah's Witness patients has provoked court proceedings, social science research, and contemporary fiction, all of which emphasize a seemingly intractable conflict between religious and secular ways of being. This article takes a different approach, focusing instead on the space that Witness patients have carved out for their accommodation in a major pediatric research hospital. Using discourse analysis and interview data, I map the way moralizing discourses surrounding Witness families have shifted over the past 70 years alongside advancements in bloodless medicine. I argue that Witnesses have helped to enable their present accommodation and recognition by marshaling particular forms of economic, human, and social capital, and consider whether their success might be attainable by other treatment-resisting patient groups. Thus, this article explores the shifting limits of multicultural accommodation and the conditions that make understanding, collaboration, and compromise possible.

Impact of 12h shift patterns in nursing: a scoping review.

Science.gov (United States)

Harris, Ruth; Sims, Sarah; Parr, Jenny; Davies, Nigel

2015-02-01

To provide a comprehensive scoping review of evidence of the impact and effectiveness of 12h shifts in the international nursing literature, supplemented by a review of evidence in other, non-nursing related industries. A search of the academic literature was undertaken in electronic databases (AMED, MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsychInfo, Scopus, HMIC, the Cochrane Library, Business Source Premier, Econ Lit, ASSIA and Social Policy and Practice). A total of 158 potentially relevant nursing research papers and reviews were published between 1973 and 2014. Two reviewers independently reviewed the articles, leaving 85 primary research studies and 10 review papers in the nursing field to be included in the scoping review. Thirty-one relevant primary research papers and reviews were also identified in the non-nursing related industries literature. Research into 12h nursing shifts fell within five broad themes: 'risks to patients', 'patient experience', 'risks to staff', 'staff experience' and 'impact on the organisation of work'. There was inconclusive evidence of the effects of 12h shift patterns in all five themes, with some studies demonstrating positive impacts and others negative or no impacts. This also mirrors the evidence in other, non-nursing related industries. The quality of research reviewed is generally weak and most studies focus on the risks, experience and work/life balance for staff, with few addressing the impact on patient outcomes and experience of care or work productivity. There is insufficient evidence to justify the widespread implementation or withdrawal of 12h shifts in nursing. It is not clearly understood where there are real benefits and where there are real and unacceptable risks to patients and staff. More research focusing on the impact of 12h nursing shifts on patient safety and experience of care and on the long term impact on staff and work organisation is required. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Influences on Dietary Choices during Day versus Night Shift in Shift Workers: A Mixed Methods Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Bonnell, Emily K; Huggins, Catherine E; Huggins, Chris T; McCaffrey, Tracy A; Palermo, Claire; Bonham, Maxine P

2017-02-26

Shift work is associated with diet-related chronic conditions such as obesity and cardiovascular disease. This study aimed to explore factors influencing food choice and dietary intake in shift workers. A fixed mixed method study design was undertaken on a convenience sample of firefighters who continually work a rotating roster. Six focus groups ( n = 41) were conducted to establish factors affecting dietary intake whilst at work. Dietary intake was assessed using repeated 24 h dietary recalls ( n = 19). Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, and interpreted using thematic analysis. Dietary data were entered into FoodWorks and analysed using Wilcoxon signed-rank test; p night shift. Energy intakes (kJ/day) did not differ between days that included a day or night shift but greater energy density (ED energy , kJ/g/day) of the diet was observed on night shift compared with day shift. This study has identified a number of dietary-specific shift-related factors that may contribute to an increase in unhealthy behaviours in a shift-working population. Given the increased risk of developing chronic diseases, organisational change to support workers in this environment is warranted.

A compressed shift schedule: dealing with some of the problems of shift work

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cunningham, J B [Victoria University, Victoria, BC (Canada). School of Public Administration

1989-07-01

This study examines some of the psychological and behavioural effects of a 12-hour compressed shift schedule on coal miners in two organisations in Western Canada. It suggests that young, married compressed shift workers are more satisfied with their family relationship. They spend less of their leisure time with spouses when working shifts, and do not spend any more time with them on their days off. They have less time available for many leisure activities on their workdays. The extra time on days off is not reallocated to the leisure activities they were unable to do on their workdays. Some extra leisure time on days off may be spent on personal hobbies. There is no suggestion that the compressed shift schedule has any negative effect on the individual's health. 38 refs., 3 tabs.

The RNA World: Life Before DNA and Protein

Science.gov (United States)

Joyce, Gerald F.

1993-01-01

All of the life that is known, all organisms that exist on Earth today or are known to have existed on Earth in the past, are of the same life form: a life form based on DNA and protein. It does not necessarily have to be that way. Why not have two competing life forms on this planet? Why not have biology as we know it and some other biology that occupies its own distinct niche? Yet that is not how evolution has played out. From microbes living on the surface of antarctic ice to tube worms lying near the deep-sea hydrothermal vents, all known organisms on this planet are of the same biology. Looking at the single known biology on Earth, it is clear that this biology could not have simply sprung forth from the primordial soup. The biological system that is the basis for all known. life is far too complicated to have arisen spontaneously. This brings us to the notion that something else something simpler, must have preceded life based on DNA and protein. One suggestion that has gained considerable acceptance over the past decade is that DNA and protein-based life was preceded by RNA-based life in a period referred to as the 'RNA world'. Even an RNA-based life form would have been fairly complicated - not as complicated as our own DNA- and protein-based life form - but far too complicated, according to prevailing scientific thinking, to have arisen spontaneously from the primordial soup. Thus, it has been argued that something else must have preceded RNA-based life, or even that there was a succession of life forms leading from the primordial soup to RNA-based life. The experimental evidence to support this conjecture is not strong because, after all, the origin of life was a historical event that left no direct physical record. However, based on indirect evidence in both the geological record and the phylogenetic record of evolutionary history on earth, it is possible to reconstruct a rough picture of what life was like before DNA and protein.

Shift work as an oxidative stressor

OpenAIRE

Pasalar Parvin; Farahani Saeed; Sharifian Akbar; Gharavi Marjan; Aminian Omid

2005-01-01

Abstract Background Some medical disorders have higher prevalence in shift workers than others. This study was designed to evaluate the effect of night-shift-working on total plasma antioxidant capacity, with respect to the causative role of oxidative stress in induction of some of these disorders. Methods Two blood samples were taken from 44 workers with a rotational shift schedule, one after their day shift and one after their night shift. The total plasma antioxidant capacity of each worke...

Rules for Phase Shifts of Quantum Oscillations in Topological Nodal-Line Semimetals

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Cequn; Wang, C. M.; Wan, Bo; Wan, Xiangang; Lu, Hai-Zhou; Xie, X. C.

2018-04-01

Nodal-line semimetals are topological semimetals in which band touchings form nodal lines or rings. Around a loop that encloses a nodal line, an electron can accumulate a nontrivial π Berry phase, so the phase shift in the Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) oscillation may give a transport signature for the nodal-line semimetals. However, different experiments have reported contradictory phase shifts, in particular, in the WHM nodal-line semimetals (W =Zr /Hf , H =Si /Ge , M =S /Se /Te ). For a generic model of nodal-line semimetals, we present a systematic calculation for the SdH oscillation of resistivity under a magnetic field normal to the nodal-line plane. From the analytical result of the resistivity, we extract general rules to determine the phase shifts for arbitrary cases and apply them to ZrSiS and Cu3 PdN systems. Depending on the magnetic field directions, carrier types, and cross sections of the Fermi surface, the phase shift shows rich results, quite different from those for normal electrons and Weyl fermions. Our results may help explore transport signatures of topological nodal-line semimetals and can be generalized to other topological phases of matter.

Influences on Dietary Choices during Day versus Night Shift in Shift Workers: A Mixed Methods Study

Science.gov (United States)

Bonnell, Emily K.; Huggins, Catherine E.; Huggins, Chris T.; McCaffrey, Tracy A.; Palermo, Claire; Bonham, Maxine P.

2017-01-01

Shift work is associated with diet-related chronic conditions such as obesity and cardiovascular disease. This study aimed to explore factors influencing food choice and dietary intake in shift workers. A fixed mixed method study design was undertaken on a convenience sample of firefighters who continually work a rotating roster. Six focus groups (n = 41) were conducted to establish factors affecting dietary intake whilst at work. Dietary intake was assessed using repeated 24 h dietary recalls (n = 19). Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, and interpreted using thematic analysis. Dietary data were entered into FoodWorks and analysed using Wilcoxon signed-rank test; p shift schedule; attitudes and decisions of co-workers; time and accessibility; and knowledge of the relationship between food and health. Participants reported consuming more discretionary foods and limited availability of healthy food choices on night shift. Energy intakes (kJ/day) did not differ between days that included a day or night shift but greater energy density (EDenergy, kJ/g/day) of the diet was observed on night shift compared with day shift. This study has identified a number of dietary-specific shift-related factors that may contribute to an increase in unhealthy behaviours in a shift-working population. Given the increased risk of developing chronic diseases, organisational change to support workers in this environment is warranted. PMID:28245625

The Regime Shift Associated with the 2004–2008 US Housing Market Bubble

Science.gov (United States)

Cheong, Siew Ann

2016-01-01

The Subprime Bubble preceding the Subprime Crisis of 2008 was fueled by risky lending practices, manifesting in the form of a large abrupt increase in the proportion of subprime mortgages issued in the US. This event also coincided with critical slowing down signals associated with instability, which served as evidence of a regime shift or phase transition in the US housing market. Here, we show that the US housing market underwent a regime shift between alternate stable states consistent with the observed critical slowing down signals. We modeled this regime shift on a universal transition path and validated the model by estimating when the bubble burst. Additionally, this model reveals loose monetary policy to be a plausible cause of the phase transition, implying that the bubble might have been deflatable by a timely tightening of monetary policy. PMID:27583633

Characterization of inclusions in terrestrial impact formed zircon: Constraining the formation conditions of Hadean zircon from Jack Hills, Western Australia

Science.gov (United States)

Faltys, J. P.; Wielicki, M. M.; Sizemore, T. M.

2017-12-01

Due to the discovery and subsequent geochemical analysis of Hadean terrestrial material (e.g. detrital zircon from Jack Hills, Western Australia), a dramatic paradigm shift has occurred in the hypothesized near surface conditions of the first 500 million years of Earth's evolution. From a hellish setting riddled with impactors and not fit for life to a much milder environment that may have been uniquely suitable for the origin of life. Geochemical analyses of these ancient materials have been used to suggest the presence of water at or near the surface as well as the existence of continental crust during the Hadean, both of which have been suggested as necessary for the origin of life. However, the intensity of extraterrestrial bombardment during the Hadean and the effects of such events on the origin of life remains poorly understood. Clearly, as evidenced by Phanerozoic impact events, extraterrestrial impactors have the potential to dramatically effect the environment, particularly the biosphere. Early Earth likely experienced multiple large impact events, as evidenced by the lunar record, however whether those impacts were sufficient to frustrate the origin of life remains an open question. Although multiple lines of evidence, including the inclusion population, suggest the formation of Hadean zircon from Jack Hills as crystallizing in an under-thrust environment from S-type magmas, a recent study has suggested their formation in an impact melt environment analogous to a portion of the Sudbury Igneous Complex at the Sudbury impact structure. To determine between these two formation scenarios we have under-taken an inclusion study of terrestrial impact formed zircon from four of the largest terrestrial impact structures (Sudbury, Canada; Manicouagan, Canada; Vredefort, South Africa; Morokweng, South Africa), to compare to the vast inclusion dataset that exists for Jack Hills zircon. Preliminary data suggests a different inclusion population, from Hadean zircon

Computational study of hydrogen shifts and ring-opening mechanisms in α-pinene ozonolysis products

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kurtén, Theo; Rissanen, Matti P.; Mackeprang, Kasper

2015-01-01

, sterically unhindered) H-shifts of all four peroxy radicals formed in the ozonolysis of α-pinene using density functional (ωB97XD) and coupled cluster [CCSD(T)-F12] theory. In contrast to the related but chemically simpler cyclohexene ozonolysis system, none of the calculated H-shifts have rate constants...... products in the α-pinene ozonolysis system, additional ring-opening reaction mechanisms breaking the cyclobutyl ring are therefore needed. We further investigate possible uni- and bimolecular pathways for opening the cyclobutyl ring in the α-pinene ozonolysis system....

Fiber-Optic Refractometer Based on an Etched High-Q ?-Phase-Shifted Fiber-Bragg-Grating

OpenAIRE

Zhang, Qi; Ianno, Natale J.; Han, Ming

2013-01-01

We present a compact and highly-sensitive fiber-optic refractometer based on a high-Q p-phase-shifted fiber-Bragg-grating (pFBG) that is chemically etched to the core of the fiber. Due to the p phase-shift, a strong pFBG forms a high-Q optical resonator and the reflection spectrum features an extremely narrow notch that can be used for highly sensitivity refractive index measurement. The etched pFBG demonstrated here has a diameter of ~9.3 μm and a length of only 7 mm, leading to a refractive...

Faktor Dan Penjadualan Shift Kerja

OpenAIRE

Maurits, Lientje Setyawati; Widodo, Imam Djati

2008-01-01

Work shift has negative effect in physical and mental health, work performance and job accident. Disturbance of circadian rhythms is indicated as source of the problems. This article explores some researches related to the impacts of work shift and establishes basic principles of work shift scheduling that considers human need and limitation.

Visual attention shifting in autism spectrum disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Richard, Annette E; Lajiness-O'Neill, Renee

2015-01-01

Abnormal visual attention has been frequently observed in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Abnormal shifting of visual attention is related to abnormal development of social cognition and has been identified as a key neuropsychological finding in ASD. Better characterizing attention shifting in ASD and its relationship with social functioning may help to identify new targets for intervention and improving social communication in these disorders. Thus, the current study investigated deficits in attention shifting in ASD as well as relationships between attention shifting and social communication in ASD and neurotypicals (NT). To investigate deficits in visual attention shifting in ASD, 20 ASD and 20 age- and gender-matched NT completed visual search (VS) and Navon tasks with attention-shifting demands as well as a set-shifting task. VS was a feature search task with targets defined in one of two dimensions; Navon required identification of a target letter presented at the global or local level. Psychomotor and processing speed were entered as covariates. Relationships between visual attention shifting, set shifting, and social functioning were also examined. ASD and NT showed comparable costs of shifting attention. However, psychomotor and processing speed were slower in ASD than in NT, and psychomotor and processing speed were positively correlated with attention-shifting costs on Navon and VS, respectively, for both groups. Attention shifting on VS and Navon were correlated among NT, while attention shifting on Navon was correlated with set shifting among ASD. Attention-shifting costs on Navon were positively correlated with restricted and repetitive behaviors among ASD. Relationships between attention shifting and psychomotor and processing speed, as well as relationships between measures of different aspects of visual attention shifting, suggest inefficient top-down influences over preattentive visual processing in ASD. Inefficient attention shifting may be

The Forms and Functions of Real-Life Moral Decision-Making.

Science.gov (United States)

Krebs, Dennis L.; Denton, Kathy; Wark, Gillian

1997-01-01

Observes that the Kohlbergian model of morality does not give a good account of the ways in which people make moral decisions in their everyday lives. Argues that a functional model of moral judgment and moral behavior derived from evolutionary theory may supply a better account of real-life morality. (DSK)

Transformative Shifts in Art History Teaching: The Impact of Standards-Based Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Ormond, Barbara

2011-01-01

This article examines pedagogical shifts in art history teaching that have developed as a response to the implementation of a standards-based assessment regime. The specific characteristics of art history standards-based assessment in the context of New Zealand secondary schools are explained to demonstrate how an exacting form of assessment has…

The adaptive radiation of lichen-forming Teloschistaceae is associated with sunscreening pigments and a bark-to-rock substrate shift.

Science.gov (United States)

Gaya, Ester; Fernández-Brime, Samantha; Vargas, Reinaldo; Lachlan, Robert F; Gueidan, Cécile; Ramírez-Mejía, Martín; Lutzoni, François

2015-09-15

Adaptive radiations play key roles in the generation of biodiversity and biological novelty, and therefore understanding the factors that drive them remains one of the most important challenges of evolutionary biology. Although both intrinsic innovations and extrinsic ecological opportunities contribute to diversification bursts, few studies have looked at the synergistic effect of such factors. Here we investigate the Teloschistales (Ascomycota), a group of >1,000 lichenized species with variation in species richness and phenotypic traits that hinted at a potential adaptive radiation. We found evidence for a dramatic increase in diversification rate for one of four families within this order--Teloschistaceae--which occurred ∼ 100 Mya (Late Cretaceous) and was associated with a switch from bark to rock and from shady to sun-exposed habitats. This adaptation to sunny habitats is likely to have been enabled by a contemporaneous key novel phenotypic innovation: the production in both vegetative structure (thallus) and fruiting body (apothecia) of anthraquinones, secondary metabolites known to protect against UV light. We found that the two ecological factors (sun exposure and rock substrate) and the phenotypic innovation (anthraquinones in the thallus) were all significant when testing for state-dependent shifts in diversification rates, and together they seem likely to be responsible for the success of the Teloschistaceae, one of the largest lichen-forming fungal lineages. Our results support the idea that adaptive radiations are driven not by a single factor or key innovation, but require a serendipitous combination of both intrinsic biotic and extrinsic abiotic and ecological factors.

Shift work as an oxidative stressor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pasalar Parvin

2005-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Some medical disorders have higher prevalence in shift workers than others. This study was designed to evaluate the effect of night-shift-working on total plasma antioxidant capacity, with respect to the causative role of oxidative stress in induction of some of these disorders. Methods Two blood samples were taken from 44 workers with a rotational shift schedule, one after their day shift and one after their night shift. The total plasma antioxidant capacity of each worker was measured through the FRAP method. The impacts of age and weight were also assessed. Results The total plasma antioxidant capacity was measured in 44 shift-workers with a mean age of 36.57 years (SD: 10.18 and mean BMI of 26.06 (SD: 4.37 after their day and night shifts. The mean reduction of total plasma antioxidant capacity after the night shift was 105.8 μmol/L (SD: 146.39. Also, a significant correlation was shown between age and weight and total plasma antioxidant capacity. Age and weight were found to be inversely related to total plasma antioxidant capacity; as age and weight increased, the total plasma antioxidant capacity decreased. Conclusion Shift work can act as an oxidative stressor and may induce many medical disorders. Aging and obesity in shift workers makes them more sensitive to this hazardous effect.

SimShiftDB; local conformational restraints derived from chemical shift similarity searches on a large synthetic database

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ginzinger, Simon W. [Center of Applied Molecular Engineering, University of Salzburg, Department of Molecular Biology, Division of Bioinformatics (Austria)], E-mail: simon@came.sbg.ac.at; Coles, Murray [Max-Planck-Institute for Developmental Biology, Department of Protein Evolution (Germany)], E-mail: Murray.Coles@tuebingen.mpg.de

2009-03-15

We present SimShiftDB, a new program to extract conformational data from protein chemical shifts using structural alignments. The alignments are obtained in searches of a large database containing 13,000 structures and corresponding back-calculated chemical shifts. SimShiftDB makes use of chemical shift data to provide accurate results even in the case of low sequence similarity, and with even coverage of the conformational search space. We compare SimShiftDB to HHSearch, a state-of-the-art sequence-based search tool, and to TALOS, the current standard tool for the task. We show that for a significant fraction of the predicted similarities, SimShiftDB outperforms the other two methods. Particularly, the high coverage afforded by the larger database often allows predictions to be made for residues not involved in canonical secondary structure, where TALOS predictions are both less frequent and more error prone. Thus SimShiftDB can be seen as a complement to currently available methods.

SimShiftDB; local conformational restraints derived from chemical shift similarity searches on a large synthetic database

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ginzinger, Simon W.; Coles, Murray

2009-01-01

We present SimShiftDB, a new program to extract conformational data from protein chemical shifts using structural alignments. The alignments are obtained in searches of a large database containing 13,000 structures and corresponding back-calculated chemical shifts. SimShiftDB makes use of chemical shift data to provide accurate results even in the case of low sequence similarity, and with even coverage of the conformational search space. We compare SimShiftDB to HHSearch, a state-of-the-art sequence-based search tool, and to TALOS, the current standard tool for the task. We show that for a significant fraction of the predicted similarities, SimShiftDB outperforms the other two methods. Particularly, the high coverage afforded by the larger database often allows predictions to be made for residues not involved in canonical secondary structure, where TALOS predictions are both less frequent and more error prone. Thus SimShiftDB can be seen as a complement to currently available methods

Fuzzy Determination of Target Shifting Time and Torque Control of Shifting Phase for Dry Dual Clutch Transmission

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhiguo Zhao

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Based on the independently developed five-speed dry dual clutch transmission (DDCT, the paper proposes the torque coordinating control strategy between engine and two clutches, which obtains engine speed and clutch transferred torque in the shifting process, adequately reflecting the driver intention and improving the shifting quality. Five-degree-of-freedom (DOF shifting dynamics model of DDCT with single intermediate shaft is firstly established according to its physical characteristics. Then the quantitative control objectives of the shifting process are presented. The fuzzy decision of shifting time and the model-based torque coordinating control strategy are proposed and also verified by simulating under different driving intentions in up-/downshifting processes with the DCT model established on the MATLAB/Simulink. Simulation results validate that the shifting control algorithm proposed in this paper can not only meet the shifting quality requirements, but also adapt to the various shifting intentions, having a strong robustness.

Photophysical properties of neutral and dissociated forms of rosmarinic acid

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Danaf, Nader Al [Department of Chemistry, American University of Beirut, Beirut (Lebanon); Department of Life Sciences and Chemistry, Jacobs University Bremen, Bremen (Germany); Melhem, Racha Abi [Department of Chemistry, American University of Beirut, Beirut (Lebanon); Assaf, Khaleel I.; Nau, Werner M. [Department of Life Sciences and Chemistry, Jacobs University Bremen, Bremen (Germany); Patra, Digambara, E-mail: dp03@aub.edu.lb [Department of Chemistry, American University of Beirut, Beirut (Lebanon)

2016-07-15

Polyphenols are bioactive components that have attracted attention by chemists over many years. Rosmarinic acid (RA) is a polyphenol that is widely investigated for its broad range of potential applications as an anti-carcinogenic agent, an anti-inflammatory drug, and antioxidant. The spectroscopic properties of this molecule are addressed in details in this study. The absorption and fluorescence of RA are investigated at different pH values, characterizing the dissociated forms of RA. In a similar manner, RA was characterized in a set of different solvents. The spectral shifts of RA in the different solvents were addressed by using the Lippert–Mataga and the Stokes' shift vs. E{sub T}30 plots, which revealed two sets of linearity for the behavior of RA in polar protic and aprotic solvents. The lifetime decay profile of the dissociated forms of RA and those of RA in different solvents are characterized by bi-exponential lifetime decay functions. A theoretical study on the molecular structure of the different dissociated forms of RA is also reported. The simulated UV–vis spectra of the dissociated forms of RA were studied and compared to the experimental spectra by performing TDDFT calculations. Besides the UV-simulated spectra, the frontier molecular orbitals (FMO) of the different RA dissociated forms were also calculated.

Photophysical properties of neutral and dissociated forms of rosmarinic acid

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Danaf, Nader Al; Melhem, Racha Abi; Assaf, Khaleel I.; Nau, Werner M.; Patra, Digambara

2016-01-01

Polyphenols are bioactive components that have attracted attention by chemists over many years. Rosmarinic acid (RA) is a polyphenol that is widely investigated for its broad range of potential applications as an anti-carcinogenic agent, an anti-inflammatory drug, and antioxidant. The spectroscopic properties of this molecule are addressed in details in this study. The absorption and fluorescence of RA are investigated at different pH values, characterizing the dissociated forms of RA. In a similar manner, RA was characterized in a set of different solvents. The spectral shifts of RA in the different solvents were addressed by using the Lippert–Mataga and the Stokes' shift vs. E T 30 plots, which revealed two sets of linearity for the behavior of RA in polar protic and aprotic solvents. The lifetime decay profile of the dissociated forms of RA and those of RA in different solvents are characterized by bi-exponential lifetime decay functions. A theoretical study on the molecular structure of the different dissociated forms of RA is also reported. The simulated UV–vis spectra of the dissociated forms of RA were studied and compared to the experimental spectra by performing TDDFT calculations. Besides the UV-simulated spectra, the frontier molecular orbitals (FMO) of the different RA dissociated forms were also calculated.

Shifting the life-history paradigm: discovery of novel habitat use by hawksbill turtles

Science.gov (United States)

Gaos, Alexander R.; Lewison, Rebecca L.; Yañez, Ingrid L.; Wallace, Bryan P.; Liles, Michael J.; Nichols, Wallace J.; Baquero, Andres; Hasbún, Carlos R.; Vasquez, Mauricio; Urteaga, José; Seminoff, Jeffrey A.

2012-01-01

Adult hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) are typically described as open-coast, coral reef and hard substrate dwellers. Here, we report new satellite tracking data on female hawksbills from several countries in the eastern Pacific that revealed previously undocumented behaviour for adults of the species. In contrast to patterns of habitat use exhibited by their Caribbean and Indo-Pacific counterparts, eastern Pacific hawksbills generally occupied inshore estuaries, wherein they had strong associations with mangrove saltwater forests. The use of inshore habitats and affinities with mangrove saltwater forests presents a previously unknown life-history paradigm for adult hawksbill turtles and suggests a potentially unique evolutionary trajectory for the species. Our findings highlight the variability in life-history strategies that marine turtles and other wide-ranging marine wildlife may exhibit among ocean regions, and the importance of understanding such disparities from an ecological and management perspective. PMID:21880620

Gene-expression signatures of Atlantic salmon's plastic life cycle.

Science.gov (United States)

Aubin-Horth, Nadia; Letcher, Benjamin H; Hofmann, Hans A

2009-09-15

How genomic expression differs as a function of life history variation is largely unknown. Atlantic salmon exhibits extreme alternative life histories. We defined the gene-expression signatures of wild-caught salmon at two different life stages by comparing the brain expression profiles of mature sneaker males and immature males, and early migrants and late migrants. In addition to life-stage-specific signatures, we discovered a surprisingly large gene set that was differentially regulated-at similar magnitudes, yet in opposite direction-in both life history transitions. We suggest that this co-variation is not a consequence of many independent cellular and molecular switches in the same direction but rather represents the molecular equivalent of a physiological shift orchestrated by one or very few master regulators.

Long-term storage life of light source modules by temperature cycling accelerated life test

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sun Ningning; Tan Manqing; Li Ping; Jiao Jian; Guo Xiaofeng; Guo Wentao

2014-01-01

Light source modules are the most crucial and fragile devices that affect the life and reliability of the interferometric fiber optic gyroscope (IFOG). While the light emitting chips were stable in most cases, the module packaging proved to be less satisfactory. In long-term storage or the working environment, the ambient temperature changes constantly and thus the packaging and coupling performance of light source modules are more likely to degrade slowly due to different materials with different coefficients of thermal expansion in the bonding interface. A constant temperature accelerated life test cannot evaluate the impact of temperature variation on the performance of a module package, so the temperature cycling accelerated life test was studied. The main failure mechanism affecting light source modules is package failure due to solder fatigue failure including a fiber coupling shift, loss of cooling efficiency and thermal resistor degradation, so the Norris-Landzberg model was used to model solder fatigue life and determine the activation energy related to solder fatigue failure mechanism. By analyzing the test data, activation energy was determined and then the mean life of light source modules in different storage environments with a continuously changing temperature was simulated, which has provided direct reference data for the storage life prediction of IFOG. (semiconductor devices)

Shift work and health--a critical review of the literature on working hours.

Science.gov (United States)

Harrington, J M

1994-09-01

Working outside normal hours either by extended days or shift work is a fact of industrial society. Its economic advantages must be weighed against detrimental effects on the individual worker in the form of circadian rhythm disturbance, poorer quality and quantity of sleep and increased fatigue. The link between shift work and increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality has strengthened in recent years. The case for an association with gastrointestinal disease remains quite good. Evidence of poorer work performance and increased accidents, particularly on the night shift, is persuasive, although individual factors may be as important as workplace factors. Correct shift work scheduling is important and for rotating shifts, rapid forward rotation is the least disruptive option. The compressed working week of 10 to 12-hour shifts is gaining popularity but evidence is too scant at present to suggest there are many long-term health and safety risks provided the rest day block is preserved. Optimal hours for the working week cannot be formulated on present scientific evidence, though working more than 48-56 hours a week probably carries serious health and safety implications. The inherent conflict between the interest of the worker and the enterprise over unsocial hours can be mitigated by improvements in working conditions especially at night and by advice to the worker on coping strategies. Further research is needed on the effects of the compressed working week, as well as the influence of culture, task and gender on any health effects. Studies to define individual characteristics which may cause shift work intolerance would be of great practical use.

Individual vulnerability to insomnia, excessive sleepiness and shift work disorder amongst healthcare shift workers. A systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Booker, Lauren A; Magee, Michelle; Rajaratnam, Shantha M W; Sletten, Tracey L; Howard, Mark E

2018-03-27

Shift workers often experience reduced sleep quality, duration and/or excessive sleepiness due to the imposed conflict between work and their circadian system. About 20-30% of shift workers experience prominent insomnia symptoms and excessive daytime sleepiness consistent with the circadian rhythm sleep disorder known as shift work disorder. Individual factors may influence this vulnerability to shift work disorder or sleep-related impairment associated with shift work. This paper was registered with Prospero and was conducted using recommended standards for systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Published literature that measured sleep-related impairment associated with shift work including reduced sleep quality and duration and increased daytime sleepiness amongst healthcare shift workers and explored characteristics associated with individual variability were reviewed. Fifty-eight studies were included. Older age, morning-type, circadian flexibility, being married or having children, increased caffeine intake, higher scores on neuroticism and lower on hardiness were related to a higher risk of sleep-related impairment in response to shift work, whereas physical activity was a protective factor. The review highlights the diverse range of measurement tools used to evaluate the impact of shift work on sleep. Use of standardised and validated tools would enable cross-study comparisons. Longitudinal studies are required to establish causal relationships between individual factors and the development of shift work disorder. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Homogeneous bilateral block shifts

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Douglas class were classified in [3]; they are unilateral block shifts of arbitrary block size (i.e. dim H(n) can be anything). However, no examples of irreducible homogeneous bilateral block shifts of block size larger than 1 were known until now.

Quantized beam shifts in graphene

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

de Melo Kort-Kamp, Wilton Junior [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Sinitsyn, Nikolai [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Dalvit, Diego Alejandro Roberto [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2015-10-08

We predict the existence of quantized Imbert-Fedorov, Goos-Hanchen, and photonic spin Hall shifts for light beams impinging on a graphene-on-substrate system in an external magnetic field. In the quantum Hall regime the Imbert-Fedorov and photonic spin Hall shifts are quantized in integer multiples of the fine structure constant α, while the Goos-Hanchen ones in multiples of α². We investigate the influence on these shifts of magnetic field, temperature, and material dispersion and dissipation. An experimental demonstration of quantized beam shifts could be achieved at terahertz frequencies for moderate values of the magnetic field.

Effect of resonance line shape on precision measurements of nuclear magnetic resonance shifts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kachurin, A.M.; Smelyanskij, A.Ya.

1986-01-01

Effect of resonance line shape on the systematic error of precision measurements of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) shifts of high resolution (on the center of NMR dispersion line) is analysed. Effect of the device resonance line form-function asymmetry is evaluated; the form-function is determined by configuration of the spectrometer magnetic field and enters the convolution, which describes the resonance line form. It is shown that with the increase of the relaxation line width the form-function effect on the measurement error yields to zero. The form-function effect on measurements and correction of a phase angle of NMR detection is evaluated. The method of semiquantitative evaluation of resonance line and NMR spectrometer parameters, guaranteeing the systematic error of the given infinitesimal, is presented

Early-life supplementation of vitamins A and D, in water-soluble form or in peanut oil, and allergic diseases during childhood.

Science.gov (United States)

Kull, Inger; Bergström, Anna; Melén, Erik; Lilja, Gunnar; van Hage, Marianne; Pershagen, Göran; Wickman, Magnus

2006-12-01

Early vitamin supplementation is given routinely to infants in many countries, but it is unclear whether this affects the risk of allergic diseases. We sought to study the association between early-life supplementation of vitamins A and D in water-soluble form or in peanut oil and allergic diseases up to 4 years of age. A prospective birth cohort of 4089 newborn infants was followed for 4 years using parental questionnaires repeatedly to collect information on exposure and health. At 4 years, the response rate was 90%, and allergen-specific IgE levels to food and airborne allergens were measured in 2614 of the participating children. Vitamins A and D were given to 98% of the children in infancy, and vitamins based in peanut oil dominated (90%). Children supplemented with vitamins A and D in water-soluble form during the first year of life had an almost 2-fold increased risk of asthma (adjusted odds ratio [OD], 2.18; 95% CI, 1.45-3.28), food hypersensitivity (adjusted OR, 1.89; 95% CI, 1.33-2.65), and sensitization to common food and airborne allergens (adjusted OR, 1.88; 95% CI, 1.34-2.64) at age 4 years compared with those receiving vitamins in peanut oil. No increased risk of IgE antibodies to peanut was seen in children receiving vitamins in peanut oil. Supplementation of vitamins A and D in water-soluble form seems to increase the risk of allergic disease up to the age of 4 years compared with supplementation with the same vitamins given in peanut oil. Vitamins A and D in oil does not seem to increase the risk of allergic disease during childhood.

Interpretation of the extreme physical information principle in terms of shift information

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vstovsky, G.V.

1995-01-01

It is shown that Fisher information (FI) can be considered as a limiting case of a related form of Kullback information---a shift information (SI). The compatibility of the use of SI with a basic physical principle of uncertainty is demonstrated. The scope of FI based theory is extended to the nonlinear Klein-Gordon equation

Fluid Shifts

Science.gov (United States)

Stenger, M. B.; Hargens, A. R.; Dulchavsky, S. A.; Arbeille, P.; Danielson, R. W.; Ebert, D. J.; Garcia, K. M.; Johnston, S. L.; Laurie, S. S.; Lee, S. M. C.;

Temperature shift effect on the Chlorobaculum tepidum chlorosomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Joseph Kuo-Hsiang; Xu, Ying; Muhlmann, Guillermo M; Zare, Farrokh; Khin, Yadana; Tam, Sun W

2013-05-01

Chlorobaculum [Cba.] tepidum is known to grow optimally at 48-52 °C and can also be cultured at ambient temperatures. In this paper, we prepared constant temperature, temperature shift, and temperature shift followed by backshift cultures and investigated the intrinsic properties and spectral features of chlorosomes from those cultures using various approaches, including temperature-dependent measurements on circular dichroism (CD), UV-visible, and dynamic light scattering. Our studies indicate that (1) chlorosomes from constant temperature cultures at 50 and 30 °C exhibited more resistance to heat relative to temperature shift cultures; (2) as temperature increases bacteriochlorophyll c (BChl c) in chlorosomes is prone to demetalation, which forms bacteriopheophytin c, and degradation under aerobic conditions. Some BChl c aggregates inside reduced chlorosomes prepared in low-oxygen environments can reform after heat treatments; (3) temperature shift cultures synthesize and incorporate more BChl c homologs with a smaller substituent at C-8 on the chlorin ring and less BChl c homologs with a larger long-chain alcohol at C-17(3) versus constant-temperature cultures. We hypothesize that the long-chain alcohol at C-17(3) (and perhaps together with the substituent at C-8) may account for thermal stability of chlorosomes and the substituent at C-8 may assist self-assembling BChls; and (4) while almost identical absorption spectra are detected, chlorosomes from different growth conditions exhibited differences in the rotational length of the CD signal, and aerobic and reduced chlorosomes also display different Qy CD intensities. Further, chlorosomes exhibited changes of CD features in response to temperature increases. Additionally, we compare temperature-dependent studies for the Cba. tepidum chlorosomes and previous studies for the Chloroflexus aurantiacus chlorosomes. Together, our work provides useful and novel insights on the properties and organization of

Major and minor form of hereditary hyperekplexia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tijssen, MAJ; Vergouwe, MN; van Dijk, JG; Rees, M; Frants, RR; Brown, P

Hyperekplexia is a hereditary neurological disorder characterized by excessive startle responses. Within the disorder two clinical forms can be distinguished. The major form is characterized by continuous generalized stiffness in the first year of life and an exaggerated startle reflex, accompanied

Isotope shifting capacity of rock

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blattner, P.; Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Lower Hutt

1980-01-01

Any oxygen isotope shifted rock volume exactly defines a past throughput of water. An expression is derived that relates the throughput of an open system to the isotope shift of reservoir rock and present-day output. The small isotope shift of Ngawha reservoir rock and the small, high delta oxygen-18 output are best accounted for by a magmatic water source

Sensory Processing: Advances in Understanding Structure and Function of Pitch-Shifted Auditory Feedback in Voice Control

OpenAIRE

Charles R Larson; Donald A Robin

2016-01-01

The pitch-shift paradigm has become a widely used method for studying the role of voice pitch auditory feedback in voice control. This paradigm introduces small, brief pitch shifts in voice auditory feedback to vocalizing subjects. The perturbations trigger a reflexive mechanism that counteracts the change in pitch. The underlying mechanisms of the vocal responses are thought to reflect a negative feedback control system that is similar to constructs developed to explain other forms of motor ...

Climate-driven range shifts of the king penguin in a fragmented ecosystem

Science.gov (United States)

Cristofari, Robin; Liu, Xiaoming; Bonadonna, Francesco; Cherel, Yves; Pistorius, Pierre; Le Maho, Yvon; Raybaud, Virginie; Stenseth, Nils Christian; Le Bohec, Céline; Trucchi, Emiliano

2018-03-01

Range shift is the primary short-term species response to rapid climate change, but it is often hampered by natural or anthropogenic habitat fragmentation. Different critical areas of a species' niche may be exposed to heterogeneous environmental changes and modelling species response under such complex spatial and ecological scenarios presents well-known challenges. Here, we use a biophysical ecological niche model validated through population genomics and palaeodemography to reconstruct past range shifts and identify future vulnerable areas and potential refugia of the king penguin in the Southern Ocean. Integrating genomic and demographic data at the whole-species level with specific biophysical constraints, we present a refined framework for predicting the effect of climate change on species relying on spatially and ecologically distinct areas to complete their life cycle (for example, migratory animals, marine pelagic organisms and central-place foragers) and, in general, on species living in fragmented ecosystems.

ICT in everyday life - the role of the user

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Frissen, V.A.J.; Lieshout, M.J. van

2006-01-01

The history of innovation processes related to information and communication technologies (ICT) is an interesting mix of both massive market failures and successful and even groundbreaking innovations with the potential to bring about radical shifts in everyday life. To forecast these successes or

Disability and Quality of Life among People Living With HIV/AIDS in ...