Taking the long view of adolescent work quality.

Following Schulenberg's research on teenage employment and vocational development, we ask to what extent do job dimensions reflecting the quality of work experience during mid-adolescence (e.g., work stress, autonomy, learning and advancement opportunities, hourly pay, wage satisfaction, and work hours) predict the same work experiences during the ensuing occupational career? Using longitudinal data from the Youth Development Study (N = 711 individuals over 3164 occasions), and hybrid panel models to control for unobserved time-stable selection influences, we find a high level of continuity of work quality from adolescence to mid-life. Multiple dimensions of adolescent work quality are associated with the same dimensions of work quality in adulthood, even after controlling for educational attainment and other time-varying adult confounders.

Design of Hardware and Software Equipment for Monitoring Selected Operating Parameters of the Irrigator.

The aim of this paper was to design a device for monitoring the work of irrigation technology (in our case, irrigation by sprinkler). Two devices for monitoring selected irrigation operating parameters for two hose reel irrigation machines were designed. During the monitored period of connection of the equipment to the sprinkler, 15 irrigation doses were carried out for both sprinklers. Irrigation operating characteristics working pressure, hose reel speed and selected weather conditions temperature and humidity were monitored. When evaluating the results, we proved the need to monitor the operation of the sprinkler not only by the coefficient of variation Cv, but also by introducing the coefficient of non-uniformity a. The results obtained indicate variability with respect to a particular irrigation dose and the applicable assessment method. The results were reviewed by one-way ANOVA analysis where observed coefficients and irrigation dose were considered as dependence factors. The results indicate a statistically significant impact of the applied quality coefficient of work and thus the impact of a particular device (p < 0.05, Fcrit = 2.77). When evaluating the effect of the included irrigation dose, we also showed a statistically significant effect in both facilities (p < 0.05, F = 1.92). By checking the operation of the hose reel irrigation machine, we managed to successfully apply the proposed classifications, which also perform the function of fault prediction. The proposed facilities show that proper plant operation and timely response can help create more efficient and sustainable irrigation services, not only saving water but also reducing costs for the owner.

Older working adults in the HEAF study are more likely to report loneliness after two years of follow-up if they have negative perceptions of their work quality.

BACKGROUND: Loneliness is an important public health issue associated with mortality and morbidity. Often researched amongst older people, less is known about risk factors for loneliness among adults aged 50-64 years who are in work. We investigated (a) if exit from the workforce increases the odds of loneliness; (b) whether adverse psychosocial work factors are associated with increased odds of loneliness over 2 years of follow-up; and (c) whether the association is stronger among subjects still working compared with those who have exited the workforce. METHODS: Data came from the Health and Employment After Fifty (HEAF) study, a large population cohort who provided questionnaire information about work and health at baseline and 2 annual follow-ups. Logistic regression was used to explore the association between psychosocial risk factors and loneliness at follow-up 2, with adjustment for loneliness at baseline, sex, age, self-rated health, living alone, and mental health diagnosis. RESULTS: Of the initial 8134 participants, 4521 were working at baseline and provided data for this analysis. Of those, 507 (11.2%) were defined as lonely at 2 years' follow-up. Exiting the workforce was not significantly associated with loneliness (OR = 1.1, 95%CI: 0.7-1.7). However, negative psychosocial work factors predicted loneliness at follow-up. After mutual adjustment, lack of choice at work (OR: 1.5, 95%CI: 1.1-1.9), often lying awake worrying about work (OR: 1.4, 95%CI: 1.0-1.9) and perceived not coping with physical demands of the job (OR: 1.3, 95%CI: 1.0-1.7) were independent predictors, with associations robust to adjustment for demographic factors and health. Associations were only slightly altered when we restricted the sample to those who remained in work until the end of follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Loneliness amongst middle-aged working adults is not predicted by permanent work exit but is predicted by individuals' perceptions about their work. Provision of good-quality work, matched to the capacity of the older worker, could prevent loneliness.

Psychosocial work conditions associated with sickness absence among hospital employees.

BACKGROUND: Meaningfulness of the job, collaboration among colleagues, trustworthiness of the closest superior and bullying have previously been shown to be major covariates of intention to quit the job. AIMS: To test if these elements of the psychosocial work environment are also the most essential covariates of sickness absence. METHODS: A cross-sectional questionnaire study of hospital employees which sought information on elements of the psychosocial work environment, general health status, life style, age, gender and profession. Data on sickness absence were obtained from the employer's salary database. RESULTS: A total of 1809 hospital employees took part with a response rate of 65%. The mean age was 43 (range: 20-69) and 75% were female. Totally, 363 study participants (20%) had at least 14 days sickness absence (defined as high absence) during the preceding year. Associations between high sickness absence and 29 psychosocial work elements were analysed, adjusting for relevant confounders. Following multiple logistic regression analysis, three elements had an independent statistically significant association with high sickness absence: no exposure to bullying (odds ratio (95% confidence interval) 0.50 (0.33-0.77)), high meaningfulness of the job (0.71 (0.52-0.97)) and high trustworthiness of the closest superior (0.70 (0.54-0.92)). CONCLUSIONS: Elements of the psychosocial work environment which have previously been shown to have a significant independent association with intention to quit the job were also the most essential covariates of high sickness absence.

A Blockchain-Based Life-Cycle Environmental Management Framework for Hospitals in the COVID-19 Context.

During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emergency, many hospitals were built or renovated around the world to meet the challenges posed by the rising number of infected cases. Environmental management in the hospital life cycle is vital in preventing nosocomial infection and includes many infection control procedures. In certain urgent situations, a hospital must be completed quickly, and work process approval and supervision must therefore be accelerated. Thus, many works cannot be checked in detail. This results in a lack of work liability control and increases the difficulty of ensuring the fulfillment of key infection prevention measures. This study investigates how blockchain technology can transform the work quality inspection workflow to assist in nosocomial infection control under a fast delivery requirement. A blockchain-based life-cycle environmental management framework is proposed to track the fulfillment of crucial infection control measures in the design, construction, and operation stages of hospitals. The proposed framework allows for work quality checking after the work is completed, when some work cannot be checked on time. Illustrative use cases are selected to demonstrate the capabilities of the developed solution. This study provides new insights into applying blockchain technology to address the challenge of environmental management brought by rapid delivery requirements.

Long-term work quality of patients with mild traumatic brain injury: The associations with postconcussion symptoms.

Return to work (RTW) has always been a determinant functional outcome in patients with mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI). However, the quality of long-term RTW was still unclear. This study thus aims to examine long-term work quality and to reveal its associating factors. A total of 110 patients with MTBI was prospectively recruited. Post-concussion symptoms (PCS) and RTW were evaluated by the Checklist of Post-Concussion Symptoms (CPCS) and Work Quality Index (WQI) respectively at one-week and long-term evaluation (M = 2.90 years, SD = 1.29) post-injury. Only 16% of patients can successfully RTW at one-week post-injury, while 69% of patients have retained their jobs at long-term evaluations. Importantly, 12% of patients had to work under the adverse impacts of PCS at one-week after MTBI, and long-term WQI was significantly associated with PCS at one-week post-injury. Almost 1/3 of patients still had unfavorable long-term work quality even though they could return to work. Thus, a careful evaluation of the early PCS endorsement and work quality for patients with MTBI is merited.

Technical Accuracy of Dental Laboratories in the Quality and Shade Matching of Porcelain Fused to Metal Crowns: An In Vitro Study.

Dental laboratories (LABs) are integral to the performance of a dentist in providing successful oral rehabilitation. The aim of this study was to compare the adaptation, contour, contacts, and shade matching of different government and commercial dental LABs in the fabrication of porcelain fused to metal (PFM) crowns. Thirty-two dental LABs were selected to fabricate PFM crowns (one PFM crown each). Marginal adaptation, contour, proximal contacts, and shade matching were evaluated. Evaluation of the crowns' quality was performed following modified USPHS/FDI criteria. Visual and colorimeter assessments were employed to evaluate shade matching. Differences between groups were examined by Pearson's Chi-square and Fisher's exact test. The quality of marginal adaptation of crowns was good in 81.25%, however the quality of contours, contacts, and shade matching was compromised in 43.75%, 59.38%, and 39% of all LABs, respectively. Visual and colorimeter shade matching was acceptable in 62.5% and 80% of LABs in the cervical third and middle third regions of crowns, respectively, however in the incisal third the shade matching was unacceptable in nearly 60% of LABs. Commercial laboratories showed significantly better contours and shade matching, but not marginal adaptation. However, no significant differences were found in comparison of proximal contacts between the groups.

Life-course trajectories of employment quality and health in the U.S.: A multichannel sequence analysis.

The organization of employment in the U.S. has changed dramatically since the 1970s, causing decreased power and security for workers across many dimensions of the employment relationship. Multidimensional employment-quality (EQ) measures can be used to capture these changes and test their association with health. However, most public-health EQ studies have used cross-sectional, unidimensional data. We addressed these limitations using a longitudinal, multidimensional EQ measure and data on 2779 1985-2017 Panel Study of Income Dynamics respondents. First, using a multichannel sequence-analysis approach, we identified gender-specific clusters of mid-career (ages 29-50) EQ trajectories based on respondents' employment stability, material rewards, working-time arrangements, collective organization, and power relations. Next, we examined cross-cluster variation in respondent characteristics. Finally, we estimated the gender-specific associations between cluster-membership and post-sequence-analysis-period prevalence of poor/fair self-rated health (SRH) and moderate mental illness (Kessler-K6≥5). We identified five clusters among women and seven among men. Respondents in poor-EQ clusters were disproportionately people of color and less-educated; they also tended to report worse health. For example, among women, the prevalence of poor/fair SRH and moderate mental illness was lowest among standard-employment-relationship-like-non-union workers and the becoming self-employed, and greatest among minimally-attached, returning-to-the-labor-force, and precariously-employed workers. Meanwhile, among men, the prevalence of the outcomes was lowest among stably-high-wage workers and the wealthy self-employed, and greatest among exiting-the-labor-force and precariously-employed workers. Given the potential role of EQ in health inequities, researchers and practitioners should consider EQ in their work.

"I want to break free". The role of working conditions on retirement expectations and decisions.

We investigate the role of working conditions on the desire to retire as soon as possible and on the probability of transition from employment to either full or partial retirement, using different measures of work quality. We find that low work quality strongly correlates with the desire to retire as soon as possible of "young-old" workers. This might be explained by the deterioration of employer-employee match with age due to reduced incentives for firms to invest in training and work practises that enhance workability of their senior workers. When we move from intentions to decisions, the role of work quality is less clear-cut and it mainly plays a role in the transitions from employment to full retirement.

Quality of life at sea in Polish seafarer's evaluation.

BACKGROUND: Work at sea is highly burdening, hazardous and stressful. Environmental, physical, and psychosociological factors have a great impact on the seafarer's quality of life and work. The research is a part of a broader psychological project performed on people working at sea in Poland during a period of 2011-2014. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This report presents the self-evaluation of life quality conducted by a total of 1,700 Polish seafarers who took part in the study. The average age of the group was 45. Following methods were used: WHOQOL-BREF and the "Survey for people working at sea". RESULTS: Polish seafarers gave the highest rates to their social relationships (16.27), then the psychological functioning (15.62), and environment (15.51). The physical domain gave the lowest rates (14.63). CONCLUSIONS: The results have shown that quality of life of Polish seafarers is quite high.

Calidad de vidallaboral y liderazgo en trabajadres asistenciales y administrattivos en un centro oncológico de bogotá (Colombia)* / Work quality of life and leadership in administrative staff and health care personnel of an oncological center in Bogotá (Colombia)

El propósito de este estudio fue describir la Calidad de vida laboral (CVL) y el estilo de liderazgo percibido por el personal administrativo/asistencial de un centro oncológico y estimar la asociación entre ellas, considerando las características sociodemográficas. Para ello se aplicó el Cuestionario de Vida Profesional [CVP-35] y el Test de Adjetivos de Pitcher [pat] a 38 trabajadores de la salud, que constituyen el 97.2 % del total del personal que labora en el centro. En general, los participantes presentan una CVL satisfactoria, caracterizada principalmente por motivación intrínseca, lo cual fue más evidente en el personal asistencial. Se observó una percepción de ausencia de liderazgo o características poco deseables de este, lo cual, aunque no determina la CVL, sí constituye un factor modulador de la misma; las variables sociodemográficas no guardaron relación con la CVL. Por último se resalta la responsabilidad social que tienen los directivos en el bienestar de los trabajadores de la salud y, consecuentemente, en la atención al paciente. Se discuten estos hallazgos y lo pertinente de utilizar las categorías emergentes del pat.

The aim of this study was to describe the work Quality of Life (wql) and perceived leadership style by administrative staff/and health care personnel in an oncological center and estimate the association between them, considering socio-demographic characteristics. We applied the Professional Life Questionnaire [plq-35] and Pitcher Adjectives Test [PAT] to 38 health workers that represent 97.2 % of the total personal that work at the center. In general, participants have a satisfactory wql, mainly characterized by intrinsic motivation, which was most evident in the care team. With respect to leadership, lack of leadership or undesirable features of it were perceived, which do not determine the wql but constitute a modulator factor. Socio-demographic variables were not related to the wql. Finally it highlights the social responsibility that managers have on welfare of health workers, and consequently, on the patient care. We discuss these findings, and the relevance of using the emerging categories of pat.

Modelo integrativo de la calidad de vida laboral percibida a partir de la inseguridad laboral, la jornada laboral y el salario, para hombres y mujeres trabajadores de empresas de la ciudad de Bogotá en diferentes rangos de edad / Integrative model of quality of working life perceived of job insecurity, working hours and wages, for men and women workers in enterprises of the city of Bogotá in different age ranges

El estudio de la calidad de vida laboral percibida (CVLP) ha estado dirigido a examinar aspectos aislados de las diferentes variables que determinan su percepción. La presente investigación tuvo por objetivo la integración de tres variables de reconocida importancia en la literatura científica: la inseguridad laboral, la jornada laboral y el salario, a fin de establecer en qué grado su combinación explica la CVLP. Para ello se tomó una muestra de 100 personas que laboraban en 3 empresas del sector de servicios de la ciudad de Bogotá y se les aplicaron dos instrumentos: la prueba PCVL, diseñada por Gómez (2007) y un cuestionario de aspectos socio-laborales diseñado para efectos de la presente investigación. Los datos fueron analizados bajo el modelo de ecuaciones estructurales e indicaron que solo el salario en su atributo de cuantía predice y explica de manera significativa la CVLP en toda la muestra. También se encontró que la edad y el género tienen un efecto significativo para moderar el efecto de las tres variables de estudio sobre la CVLP y algunas de sus dimensiones. El estudio en general muestra que el modelo inicial debe continuar replanteándose para mejorar su capacidad explicativa.

Perceived Work Quality of Life (PWQL) research had been focused to examine isolated topics about different variables that determine its perception. The present research had like goal to integrate three variables more recognized in scientific literature: work insecurity, working day and salary, to establish the grade these link variables explaining PWQL. With these objective a sample of 100 people who worked in three service's sector enterprises of Bogotá were taken to applied them two test: PWQL Test, designed by Gómez (2007) and Work Social Topics Questionnaire designed to present research.. Outputs were analyzed under Structural Equation Model and these showed that just salary's amount of attribute predicts and explain meaningful PWQL in all sample. Age and gender have significant effect to moderate three study variable's effect about PWQL and some dimensions of this was founded too. Study in general way shows that initial model must continue rethinking to improve explanatory capacity.

A Universidade como espaço promotor de qualidade de vida: vivências e expressões dos alunos de enfermagem / The University as a place that promotes quality of life: perceptions and experiences of nursing students

Considerando o processo de formação vivenciado, particularmente, pelos alunos de graduação em enfermagem da PUC/SP e suas relações com a qualidade de vida, esta pesquisa teve como objetivos: identificar as percepções que o aluno de graduação em enfermagem tem em relação a sua qualidade de vida atual e a futura qualidade de vida no trabalho; compreender e analisar as principais demandas por ele evidenciadas no resgate das situações vividas e as estratégias de enfrentamento utilizadas que impactam na melhoria da sua qualidade de vida. A pesquisa foi qualitativa, e os dados foram obtidos por meio de entrevistas individuais, na primeira fase. A análise dos temas resgatados dos discursos na primeira fase, nortearam os temas disparadores dos cinco encontros de grupo focal na segunda fase. Nesse sentido trata-se de uma modalidade de pesquisa-ação. Os dados gerados nos encontros grupais foram analisados e segundo a modalidade da análise temática, estruturada nas categorias: qualidade de vida; qualidade de vida no trabalho; qualidade de vida dos trabalhadores de enfermagem e qualidade de vida de estudantes universitários. Após análise foi realizada uma adaptação do Modelo Ecológico de QVE proposto por Benjamin (1994) considerado capaz de apreender a qualidade de vida dos alunos de enfermagem. Os resultados evidenciaram que a Universidade é um espaço que propicia vivências de promotoras e não promotoras de qualidade de vida dos alunos. Ficou evidente a necessidade de implantação de encontros sistematizados, no curriculum, nos quais os alunos e professores tenham a oportunidade de discutir a construção individual e coletiva de estratégias de enfrentamento das situações geradoras de desgaste favorecendo o fortalecimento da qualidade de vida dos mesmos.

Considering the perceptions about the development process experienced specifically by the nursing students from PUC/SP and their relation with quality of life, this research has had the following objectives: identify the perceptions the nursing students have in relation to their present quality of life and their future quality of life at work; understand and analyse the main requirements evidenced by them in rescuing the situations they have lived and the directions and suggested confrontation strategies that may impact on improving their quality of life. The research was the qualitative mode and, in the first stage, the data were obtained through individual interviews. The analysis of the topics taken from this first stage guided the starting themes of the five meetings of the focus group in the second stage. Because of this it is a research-action tipe. The data obtained in the group meetings were analysed according to the thematic analyses mode based on the following categories: quality of life at work, quality of life of nursing workers and quality of life of university students. After the analysis was done, it was adjusted to the "Students Ecological Model of Quality of Life" proposed by Benjamin (1994), considered able to grasp the quality of life of nursing students. The results showed that the University is a place that provides perceptions that promote or not students quality of not students quality of life. It was very clear the need to implement systematic meetings in the curriculum so that both students and teachers may have the opportunity to discuss the individual and collective development of strategies to face the stressing situation they experience so that they may strengthen their quality of life.