Npp Twice A Week

I have just returned from Stockholm and our first meeting with our new enlarged Board of Directors. We had a very nice and intense meeting, much due to our host Mariana Back at her institution “The Museum of Science and Technology” in Stockholm. We discussed future activities during the coming year and made a number of decisions. They will be available to you when the minutes are ready. In our plan of action is to formulate a Strategy Document for our academy, to arrange a “Conference of Future Studies” in Stockholm (preliminary dates 5-6 March 2010) and an “Academic Festival” in Strömstad 17-19 June 2010 – please put these dates in your calendar! Plans for the Festival includes a few popular science lectures in the Town Park, as a beginning of the development a “Strömstad Science Week” within the next couple of years.These and many other suspect arguments in the application were criticized in a broad external review process organized by the government in 2001 and the parliament in 2002. Some of the reviews were also published (Lampinen 2002). Although the review of the application by many experts showed errors in arguments related to environmental, employment, security of energy supply and economics, only the security shortcomings mentioned by the Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) were corrected, due to the legal authority STUK has in this matter. Omitting the other application shortcomings revealed by the review was possible because the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) had almost full control of the application process. The Finnish Nuclear Energy Act offers, in principle, a very broad and democratic-decision making framework. But in practice a few civil servants at the Energy department of MTI have concentrated power in the process as responsible authorities in environmental impact assessment, DiP, building permit and utilisation permit processes; major owners of applicant companies and other relevant companies; supervisors of relevant national authorities; as well as main experts, formulators and implementers of Finnish energy and climate policy, research and funding. One result of this concentrated power has been the ability of MTI to prevent external expert arguments of choice from being seriously considered. No resources were allocated for the independent evaluation of criticism presented in the expert statements and no policies were implemented for dealing with them. The MTI established a public-private partnership success story with the applicant companies, where the MTI also had considerable influence as a major shareholder on behalf of the Finnish government. Consequently, the MTI could guarantee smooth handling of nuclear facility applications despite criticism presented in the review process, the only exception being the STUK that is administered under the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.

FAQ om innehållet: Många frågor har ställts om val och utformning av innehållet. För det första så var det oerhört givande att under festivitas i Strömstad ta del av de olika bidragen. Ett önskemål var dock att i lugn och ro kunna fördjupa sig lite mer i innehållet i presentationerna. Därav rekommendationen att bygga vidare på det som presenterades muntligt och på alldeles för kort tid. Enligt kognitiv psykologi skedde dock en priming, dvs våra synapser ”värmdes upp” så att nästa gång vi kommer i kontakt med stoffet så fattar vi mer. Det som vi, åhörare, njöt av att ta del av var säkert sådant som låg presentatören varmt om hjärtat. Så ”Låt hjärtat vara med…” som schlagern lyder.The reasons why a handful of civil servants at Ministry of State and Industry could control the nuclear reactor application process is analyzed in articles of Erika Säynässalo and Matti Kojo in the new book. From political science perspective Finland can be defined as a strong administrative state, where administrators have been given abundant power to set and enforce policies outside of the realm of public policy. Although the president, the parliament and the ministers have the power formally as defined by the Constitution, they have informally delegated it to civil servants. This is in contrary to the situation in Sweden and almost all the other Western countries, where elected politicians are responsible for formulating policies.

Design har blivit ett uttryck på modet, och det finns väl anledning också för vår akademi att fundera i de banor som uttrycket väcker och även vidga associationsområdet. Allt från en vidgad webbdesign, över akademins tillväxt och formella status till kreativitet inom utbildningsdesign. Det sist nämnda ligger naturligt nog mig nära med den förankring jag har inom det didaktiska området. Den kontakt vi redan upprättat med gymnasieskolan bekräftades av dess rektor som angeläget att utveckla. Men detta är inget enmansverk från en av akademins ledamöter. Alla medlemmar kan beroende på respektive bakgrund här bidra. Exempel på detta är fokus på lärares hälsa, ämnesuppdatering i förhållande till senaste forskning och didaktisk innovation i undervisningen. Detta är i linje med Strömstads akademis signum.

These Finnish developments have often been quoted as a success story and the beginning of a global renewal of nuclear power. Therefore, it has been seen important to get deeper understanding of the Finnish nuclear power policy available in English. A book titled ”The Renewal of Nuclear Power in Finland”, written by six Finnish energy researchers, was released by Palgrave-Macmillan in the UK (Kojo & Litmanen 2009). The release event and press conference took place at University of Helsinki on September 15.The administrative power has functioned in the field of renewable energy in opposite way compared to the nuclear power case. Renewable energy promotion, both domestic and even EU directive level, has received a lot of administrative resistance, as explained by Lampinen (2009). In addition to nuclear power, fossil energy has also benefited from the unofficial administrative energy policy. Imported fossil traffic fuels have received very substantial tax support since the mid-1960s against domestic renewable fuels despite large number of initiatives by parliament members to abolish the fossil fuel subsidies (Lampinen 2008).Hösten är skördetiden och det kan vi i fullt mått säga också gäller vårt första verksamhetsår som akademi. Dagarna i Strömstad 26 och 27 juli är oförglömliga, så innehållsrika och kontrastartade. Första dagen i stadskärnan med doktorshatt och kostym på; andra dagen på Koster i shorts och tröja. Och solen flödade båda dagarna. Vem kunde då ana att invigningen av Sveriges första marina nationalpark, som vi då fick en guidad förhandserfarenhet av, skulle också bli en möjlighet för vidgad verksamhet för vår akademi. En avdelad grupp inom vår styrelse, med Aadu Ott som sammankallande, tar nu hand om denna möjlighet.

(2) The Earth is a planet alive with a dead sister and a dead brother. Venus is too hot for life due (also) to too much greenhouse gas, while Mars is too cold due (also) to too little greenhouse gas.Nu, när champagnekorkarna har slutat smälla, så föreligger planer på att i samarbete med Strömstad kommun studera hur akademin skulle kunna verka på det praktiska planet för att kunna ge ett bidrag till utvecklingen av kunskap, forskning och lärande.Att akademin bör vara med i designandet av utbildningsområdet, hör enligt mitt förmenande till ett av de mest aktuella områdena för akademins vidgade verksamhet.Lampinen A (2002) Observations on handling national economic costs in Finnish energy economics policy (in Finnish). The Finnish Economic Journal 98: 207-219.

Finnish government and parliament made a positive decision-in-principle (DiP) according to the Finnish Nuclear Energy Act (990/1987) in 2001 and 2002 on the application of nuclear power company Teollisuuden Voima (TVO). It resulted in building a new nuclear reactor in addition to the existing 4 reactors built in the 1970s. The Olkiluoto-3 reactor is now under construction as the third reactor unit of the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant (see Annex). The project has been proven a financial disaster (Kanter 2009) but, however, three companies have applied for permissions to build 3-4 new nuclear reactors. Government and parliament decisions on these new applications will take place in 2010.Ett första test på vad rektor och lärare skulle vilja önska sig av vår akademi, avseende utbildning och lärande genomförde styrelsen vid sitt möte 2 april i Strömstad. Det var en entusiastisk utbildningsansvarig politikersamling och likaledes lärargrupp med rektor i ledningen som aktivt diskuterade vår roll och deras förväntningar på oss inom Strömstads akademi som har utbildning och lärande som prioriterat område.

Arbetet med den planerade antologi, Forskaren i det postmoderna samhället, fortskrider enligt planerna. På styrelsemötet antogs följande rekommendationer: Till redaktörer utsågs Aadu Ott & Carl E. Olivestam. Alla akademiledamöter inbjuds att medverka med en artikel om max 10 A4-sidor. Medverkande i den akademiska högtiden i Strömstad föreslås bygga på sina anföranden. Medverkan är kostnadsfri och utan honorar. Anmälan om medverkan sker till red. kommitté (OA & CEO) senast den 1 november, sista dagen för manus är den 1 december. Utgivningen planeras kunna ske i februari 2010.Vi planerar också att ge ut en antologi med titeln Forskaren i det postmoderna samhället. De presentationer som vi fick ta del av i Strömstad visar på att akademin har en bredd och ett djup som det är svårt att överträffa. Vi har fått in några bidrag, antologin inleds av en intervju med förre landshövdingen Kjell A. Mattson som Torbjörn Ott har gjort. Mattson berättar på ett livfullt sätt hur det moderna Strömstad har tagit form och om de utmaningar som väntar.

Lampinen A (2009) An Analysis of the Justification Arguments in the Application for the New Nuclear Reactor in Finland. In: Kojo & Litmanen 2009, 41-68.Frågan är: Vad och hur skall vi forska och undervisa om inför en okänd framtid? Nog behövs det en annan utbildning för att kunna arbeta flexibelt i en rörlig mosaik än i en av andra strukturerad äggkartong?

My article on the justification arguments given by the applicant as substantiation for building the Olkiluoto-3 reactor is one of nine chapters of the book (Lampinen 2009). Analysis of these arguments may be valuable for future decisions on new nuclear reactors both in Finland and elsewhere.Under det av Lars B. ovan nämnda besöket i Stockholm så visade Carl O. upp en intressant byggnad för Aadu O. Det var det gamla ”Bilpalatset”. Efter många turer så omvandlades detta stora och enhetliga företag, i samband med lågkonjunkturen, till ett företagshotell där ett stort antal mindre företag hyr in sig. Författaren Andy Hargreaves har skrivit boken ”Läraren i det postmoderna samhället”. Den tes han driver är att ett grundläggande drag i vårt samhälle består av en konflikt mellan modernism och postmodernism. Modernismens metafor är äggkartongen med enkel och överskådlig struktur, gärna stort så att skalfördelar uppkommer. Postmodernismens metafor är istället den rörliga mosaiken, människor går in i och ur projekt och svarar hela tiden på nya utmaningar. Detta kändes igen i den omvandling av Bilpalatset som en gång levde på att sälja Mercedes bilar till att härbärgera ett otal olika mindre företag.

There are no uranium mines in Finland, although the issue has occasionally been under discussion and studies have been conducted since the 1950’s. Mine feasibility studies are currently being made by Areva, the contractor of the new reactor, and other foreign companies in several locations. They have given rise to local citizens’ movements opposing uranium mines.The conference on “Future Studies” will, among other items of the program, include the formation of a couple of interdisciplinary R&D projects. Which ones will of course be decided by you Fellows of the Academy, but one on Public Understanding of Science PUS is proposed. As you might remember, I talked about a subset called PURE – Public Understanding of Renewable Energy – during our Festival this year. There is however another subset that would interest me to participate in, PUA or Public Understanding of Astronomy. I made a first test of these thoughts during the Nordic Planetarium Association Conference in Sandnes, Norway 4-6 September, giving some reasons why PUA is important: Vi planerar också för en tvärvetenskaplig konferens som syftar till att behandla frågor om framtiden: På spaning efter den tid som kommer är den preliminära titeln och platsen blir Tekniska Museet i Stockholm, där vi kan hämta inspiration. Analysis of the arguments presented in the DiP application indicates that some of them are valid, whereas some are unlikely to be correct and some have already been proven false. As an example of the latter, the current minimum construction cost estimates are over 100 % higher than the upper limit of the cost range given in the application; the current estimate for reactor construction time is at least 70 % more than the estimate given in the application, with significant cost implications as well; and the target of at least 50 % share for domestic investments will not be achieved. Both low cost and fast building time, with its impact on fulfilling the Kyoto Protocol target, were major arguments for getting support from members of Parliament. The low cost argument was connected in the application with high cost argument for new renewable power generation that the new nuclear power was competing with. The decision was a major part of the Finnish Kyoto Protocol commitment policy. It defined nuclear power as the main means for achieving the national greenhouse gas limitation target of stabilizing emissions at 1990 level by the average of 2008-2012.

Thus, although MTI and VTT have sometimes found it appropriate to call nuclear energy a domestic energy source, uranium fuel, reactor technology and steam turbines have never been produced in Finland. They have always been imported.

Om skolförändringarna finns ännu bara organisatoriska förslag som offentliggjorts, det nu närmaste av det slaget kommer under maj månad. Här finns det anledning att beklaga att nära nog inget av innehållslig karaktär kommer fram från de få invigda på departement och möjligen Skolverk.

On 9 September I, and also our Board Member Sven Moosberg, were present during the inauguration of Sweden’s 29th National Park, and the firs Maritime one, the “Koster Sea National Park”. I attended as a representative of Strömstad Academy, and I got the chance to give a short presentation of us during the gala dinner. Important for us will be future collaboration with the “Koster Sea National Park”, and also with the Aldén Centre for Maritime Biology at Tjärnö just south of Strömstad. I have been able to meet with researchers from the Centre, and also from the Norwegian Centre of Excellence in Energy and Energy Refuse in Halden (Halden and Strömstad are as much Twin Cities as Minneapolis and St Paul with only a couple of bridges in between). Collaboration across the Norwegian/Swedish border can become quite rewarding for us.(3) Our Universe is 13.5 billion years old, the Earth 4.5 billion years old, and life on earth 3.5 billion years old – in sharp disagreement with the holy books of the Abrahamic religions. This image of the United States of America at night is a composite assembled from data acquired by the Suomi NPP satellite in April and October 2012. The image was made possible by the new satellite’s “day-night band” of the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), which detects light in a range of wavelengths from green to near-infrared and uses filtering techniques to observe dim signals such as city lights, gas flares, auroras, wildfires, and reflected moonlight. Den här filen innehåller extrainformation som troligen lades till av en digitalkamera eller skanner när filen skapades. Om filen har modifierats kan det hända att vissa detaljer inte överensstämmer med den modifierade filen.

Flashback finansieras genom donationer från våra medlemmar och besökare. Det är med hjälp av dig vi kan fortsätta erbjuda en fri samhällsdebatt. Tack för ditt stöd!Today we’re discussing a phenomenon we’ve noticed in recent weeks since business ghouls and their East Sacramento toadies began to publicize an ADA lawsuit against the region’s unhoused community, wherein they are attempting to pit folks with disabilities against folks without homes (as if there isn’t a massive overlap between the two communities).

We then take a moment to discuss former Sacramento resident Tyre Nichols, the 29-year-old Black man who was beaten and killed by police for no reason in Memphis, TN.A man who experts say appears to be a serial killer has been terrorizing the people of Davis this week, carrying out three stabbings that killed two and severely injured one. Two of the victims were unhoused. We also take a moment for the far-right attacks in the Sacramento region against trans rights, and how both the community and media responded to the threat. We’re discussing the recent storylines of bad behavior by the Sacramento Fire Department, as well as the recent firing of racist firebrand Tucker Carlson from Fox News.

Today we’re turning to Dr Flo to give us the lowdown on the FDA’s change in blood donation rules, and how they’ve loosened restrictions on gay and bisexual men. It’s a good step forward on an archaic screening system. But they still haven’t gone far enough.This week a group of people managed to shut the city council meeting down, sparking outrage from Sacramento’s Very Serious People in the political consulting class.

And on Tuesday, March 14, UC-Davis will be hosting Charlie Kirk, the far-right founder of Tea Party USA who recently said of the trans community that ”someone should have just took care of it the way we used to take care of things in the 1950s.”We then dive into the horrible streak of deaths of unhoused Sacramentans taking place over the last few days during a time in which city council and–in particular–City Manager Howard Chan refused to open up respite centers during a horrific timeline of inclement weather.Beyond that, today we’re discussing the rising concerns with Florida governor Ron Desantis sending undocumented folks to California, and our officials’ responses.

We then heard from Councilmember Caity Maple, who may have turned over a new leaf. She questions the cops’ ShotSpotter program and its efficacy. Should we really be throwing our money toward an unreliable program that yields so few results, or should tax dollars go toward actually helping our most vulnerable neighbors?Today we’re discussing the special election in District 6 for the Los Angeles City Council. Nury Martinez was pushed out of office after racist comments emerged in a secret audio file.

We’re then joined by our friends with Social Justice Politicorps, who welcome every Sacramento resident to take part on their site in filling out local officials’ report cards.Just one day after council members attended a vigil for Nichols, they proceeded to vote for the police to receive a $400,000 tank. Only council members Katie Valenzuela and Mai Vang voted against it. Rather than take accountability for her awful vote, Councilmember Maple this week published her own op-ed in the Bee, arguing that the tank she voted for was, in fact, a ”tractor,” and claiming that she was the true victim in the situation. We then discuss Dianne Feinstein, the 89-year-old US senator from California who has been absent from the Capitol since she came down with shingles in February. While this hasn’t terrible affected votes on the Senate floor, it has had grave effects in the Senate Judiciary Committee, which needs her present if Democrats want to outvote the GOP on President Biden’s judge nominations. Oddly enough, when Sacramento community members showed up to remind the nazis that they weren’t welcome in our city, they stopped coming to the meetings. We then dive into canvassing in Arden Arcade and the challenges with slumlords and tenants’ rights in the region, as well as the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors’ vote to protect landlords, but not the nearly 600 vulnerable residents who may end up on the streets thanks to the nonprofit dissolving.

Today we discuss a fascinating Sacramento City Council meeting discussing a proposed Sacramento Police Department budget that left at least three members on the dais questioning why we consider to spend our money on resources that simply do not prevent crime.

Governor Gavin Newsom recently announced that he would convert San Quentin prison from one of the worst carceral establishments in history into a rehabilitative and instructive facility that would help incarcerated folks find their way back into society upon release. On Friday, March 10, a group run by far-right Canadian Jordan Peterson and Chloe Cole is holding a ”detransition” rally alongside the California Republican Convention. Meanwhile, the Center for Disease Control is recommending that every adult who has had a Johnson & Johnson shot (as long as they’re at least two months removed) get a booster of any kind. Kempa went with Pfizer for round two. It was nice.American billionaires got some $1.2 trillion richer since coronavirus hit. And don’t think the workers haven’t noticed. The big question: Is this the start of a mass movement, or just a moment?We discuss the victims, the community’s response, and the fact that police refused to follow up on a tip by one victim’s friend two hours before her attack.

Today we open with a chat about Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz getting owned by Senator Bernie Sanders over his union busting crimes and the absurdity of the billionaire ”victim.”We discuss the potential effects of that, as well as another new tactic for the state to commit violence against residents who have next to nothing: Government officials are now regularly using inclement weather as a reason to push unhoused folks out of the places they’ve come to call home. This week, park rangers are pushing folks out of the ”island” encampment in Sacramento–without offering any semblance of shelter–under the guise of public health.

If you follow Sacramento politics, you likely saw the backlash to Councilmember Caity Maple’s vote to give the Sacramento Police Department a tank just two years after she launched a run for office on a platform of demilitarizing the police.Resident epidemiologist Dr. Flo talks us through the big news of the week related to COVID-19. Here in California, the state is setting up 4,000 sites to give out 1.2 million vaccines for kids aged 5-11 in the first week of availability.We recorded this episode a day early, so we did not know the result of the vote quite yet. You’ll notice that we were far too optimistic in our guesses of how it would pan out.

Today we do a fun little recap of the nazis who had been showing up to Sacramento City Council meetings in recent weeks, such as religious zealot Ryan Messano, Proud Boy Jeffrey Perrine, and ”Scotty” from the dumbest white nationalist group in history.

The crew ends the episode with Dr. Flo sharing her expertise on what it means for Californians now that state and federal COVID emergency declarations are finally coming to an end. Is it time to celebrate? To hide? Tune in to learn more!Today we’re discussing a disturbing story coming out of Sacramento County, where officials–seemingly unable to find a place to properly shelter the region’s foster youth–have decided to illegally ’house’ them in a former youth detention center’s cells. Finally, we discuss an anachronistic piece written by former cop/former state assembly member (and current sheriff of Sacramento County) Jim Cooper, arguing for a redux of the drug war. In response, V:RC host Dr Flo wrote a brilliant, personal op-ed in the Sacramento Bee on the collective trauma that tanks in our police force can have on the community.For improved prevention of health issues among blue-collar workers, there is a need for an overview of the physical activity at work and leisure using technical long-term measurements in blue-collar sectors investigation of differences between the sectors. Thus, the objective of this paper was to provide an overview and investigate differences in physical activities and body postures at work and leisure among blue-collar sectors. The Dphacto cohort consists of 1087 workers from manufacturing, transportation and cleaning sectors (901 blue-collar and 186 white-collar workers) in Denmark. Eligible workers provided physical activity and heart rate measurements over several days with follow-up on health-related outcomes by self-report and registers. Considerable differences in sitting, standing, time on feet (walking, shuffling and standing combined) and forward bending of the back were found between work and leisure, and between the sectors. This overview of physical activity at work and leisure can be useful for better prevention of work-related health issues among blue-collar workers.

Aim: To synthesize existing research to determine if nurses who work shifts have poorer psychological functioning and resilience than nurses who do not work shifts.Background: 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. Design: Integrative literature review. Data Sources: 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. Review Methods: 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. Results: 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. Conclusion: More studies are required which directly compare the psychological outcomes and resilience of nurse shift workers with non-shift workers. The Job Demand–Control and Job Demand–Control–Support (JDCS) models are theoretical approaches that are commonly used to understand the relationship among work characteristics, health, and well-being. In the European context, minimal studies on the main effects and multiplicative model in relation to individual well-being have been conducted. To fill this significant research gap, the present study analyzed the relationship among job demands, job control, social support, and the well-being of certain occupational groups in the European hospitality sector. The JDCS model is critical for the future of the hospitality industry due to its significant role in employees’ well-being, strain, and conflict. Different logistic regression models were employed to test the proposed hypotheses. Findings of the data collected from approximately 2000 hospitality employees (a heterogeneous sample in a homogeneous occupational field given the need to use additional homogeneous samples for improved analysis) in Europe confirm the strain (only among managers) and iso-strain hypotheses of the JDCS model across three occupational groups. Alshahrani, B., Alumran, A. (2020). The Effect of Psychosocial Work Environment on the Health-Related Quality of Life of Health Care Providers. Research Square.

Fernandes, C., Pereira, A. (2016). Exposure to psychosocial risk factors in the context of work: a systematic review. Revista de saude publica, 50, S. 24.

Objectives: This study aimed to examine the association between negative life events, job stressors (low job control or high psychosocial job demands) and offspring asthma phenotypes (early-onset transient, early-onset persistent and late-onset asthma). Methods: In a population-based cohort study comprising 547 533 liveborn singletons, we determined negative life events and offspring asthma at age six years using data from Danish nationwide registers. We assessed job demands and job control from gender-specific job exposure matrices. Prevalence ratios (PR) of each asthma phenotype were estimated using log-binomial regression. Results: Maternal exposure to negative life events prenatally was not significantly associated with offspring asthma. Among mothers with low job demands, low job control was associated with increased risk for early-onset transient asthma [PR=1.14, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.09–1.19], early-onset persistent asthma (PR=1.17, 95% CI 1.11–1.23), and late-onset asthma (PR=1.06, 95% CI 1.00–1.14). Among mothers with high job demands, low job control was not associated with offspring asthma apart from a reduced risk of early-onset persistent asthma (PR=0.94, 95% CI 0.90–0.97). These associations were independent of child sex and parental atopic history. Conclusions: Maternal stressors in private life do not seem to influence offspring asthma significantly. Low job control is associated with offspring asthma, which is modified by maternal psychosocial job demands. Our findings warrant further exploration.Hansen, P.W., Schlünssen, V., Fonager, K. et al. (2022). Association of perceived work pace and physical work demands with occupational accidents: a cross-sectional study of ageing male construction workers in Denmark. BMC Public Health, 22, 18. Purpose: To assess whether working in preschools increases the risk of hearing-related symptoms and whether age, occupational noise, and stressful working conditions affect the risk. Methods: Questionnaire data on hearing-related symptoms were analysed in women aged 24–65 (4718 preschool teachers, and 4122 randomly selected general population controls). Prevalence and risk ratio (RR) of self-reported hearing loss, tinnitus, difficulty perceiving speech, hyperacusis and sound-induced auditory fatigue were assessed by comparing the cohorts in relation to age and self-reported occupational noise and stressful working conditions (effort–reward imbalance and emotional demands). RR was calculated using log-binomial regression models adjusted for age, education, income, smoking, hearing protection, and leisure noise. Incidence rates and incidence rate ratios (IRR) were calculated for retrospectively reported onset of all symptoms except sound-induced auditory fatigue. Results: Compared to the controls, preschool teachers had overall more than twofold RR of sound-induced auditory fatigue (RR 2.4, 95% confidence interval 2.2–2.5) and hyperacusis (RR 2.3, 2.1–2.5) and almost twofold for difficulty perceiving speech (RR 1.9, 1.7–2.0). Preschool teachers had a threefold IRR of hyperacusis (IRR 3.1, 2.8–3.4) and twofold for difficulty perceiving speech (IRR 2.4, 2.2–2.6). Significantly although slightly less increased RR and IRR were observed for hearing loss and tinnitus. RR and IRR were generally still increased for preschool teachers when stratified by age and occupational exposure to noise and stress. Conclusions: This large cohort study showed that working as preschool teacher increases the risk of self-reported hearing-related symptoms, indicating a need of preventative measures. Nature of psychosocial risk as to the unseen hazards in the working population, potentially exposing the workers towards the adverse effect of mental health. Compromising the well- being of mental health could lead to deterioration of work performance. The objective of this study is to analyze the constructed measure of psychosocial risk factors and work performance of manufacturing workers using statistical analysis. Then, the constructed measure is used to find the correlations between the two factors. A set of the questionnaire is administered to 258 manufacturing workers. The questionnaires were adapted and adopted from Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ III), NIOSH Generic Job Stress Questionnaire, and Individual Work Performance Questionnaire (IWPQ 1.0) and the instrument were found to be reliable (Cronbach Alpha value = 0.7 ). After conducting Exploratory Factor Analysis by using Principal Component Analysis, the construct validity to conduct data collection in the manufacturing industry is tested. Using eight factors understudy that already extracted using factor analysis, it is found that there are significant psychosocial risk factors present in the manufacturing industry. As for the association between psychosocial and work performance, it is found that there is a significant association between psychosocial risk factors and work performance. This study is essential to explore the presence of psychosocial risk factors that underlies in the manufacturing industry, which might affect worker performance and well-being. For future research, it is recommended so that this study can be replicated to other manufacturing industry or different types of industries to see the robustness of the developed instruments. At the same time, the issue of psychosocial risk factors and workers’ performance also can be identified, and the mitigation can be planned. Garthus-Niegel, S., Nubling, M., Letzel, S., Hegewald, J., Wagner, M., Wild, P.S., Blettner, M., Zwiener, I., Latza, U., Jankowiak, S., Liebers, F., Seidler, A. (2016). Development of a mobbing short scale in the Gutenberg Health Study. International archives of occupational and environmental health, 89 (1), S. 137–146. Steel, J.S., Luyten, J., Godderis, L. (2021). Development and validation of an occupational health triage tool. Occupational Medicine, Vol 71 (6-7), 267–276.

The aim of this study was to examine both direct and indirect associations of the personality traits of extraversion, neuroticism and conscientiousness with life satisfaction through work engagement and job satisfaction. The study population consisted of 2229 academics (57.1% men) throughout Czech public universities, who completed a questionnaire comprising measures of employee personality traits (BFI-10), work engagement (Utrecht Work Engagement Scale short form), job satisfaction (job satisfaction short scale from the COPSOQ-II) and general life satisfaction (Satisfaction With Life Scale). Structural equation modeling was used to analyz
e the relationships. The strongest predictor of life satisfaction was neuroticism, the effect of which manifested itself through both direct and indirect pathways. Extraversion and conscientiousness had positive indirect influences on job satisfaction through work engagement, but their direct influences on job satisfaction were negative. While extraversion also had a direct influence on life satisfaction, conscientiousness did not directly influence life satisfaction. Judges are the central actors in the organization and functioning of the judicial system. Concerns about work efficiency, driven by the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice, led countries to adopt a set of reforms in line with private sector ideals applied to the public field to better manage their financial and human resources. In the last decades, the Portuguese judicial system has undergone a reform based on New Public Management principles by adopting the new Law on the Organization of the Judiciary System (LOSJ), significantly altering judges’ duties, who beyond their traditional role of applying the law, perform the additional role of court-of-law judge-manager. The objective of this study is to explore the influence of role conflict and role ambiguity in occupational burnout among judges and to analyze the influence of calling orientation as a moderating variable, so as to present a conceptual model of role-stress management among the judiciary. Theoretically, this work contributes to the literature on role-stress management through its introduction of calling moderation, as well as to the literature on the positive influence of calling on burnout. In terms of its practical implications, the work contributes to a reconsideration of the current organizational structure of judicial work. Domagała, A., Bała, M.M., Storman, D., Peña-Sánchez, J.N., Swierz, M.J., Kaczmarczyk, M., Storman, M. (2018). Factors Associated with Satisfaction of Hospital Physicians: A Systematic Review on European Data. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 15, 2546.This study attempted to examine the structural characteristics of the social network of nursing units by dividing them into a job-related advice network and a friendship network, and to analyze the relationship between nurse organizational commitment and intent to leave. The subjects were 420 nurses working in 4 hospitals and 30 nursing units. Data were analyzed using UCINET 6.0, SPSS 20.0 and HLM 7.0. In job-related advice networks, degree centrality of head nurse contributed to organizational commitment. Network density contributed to intent to leave. In friendship networks, closeness centrality of head nurses and betweenness centrality of charge nurse contributed to organizational commitment. Density and betweenness centrality of charge nurses contributed to intent to leave. Accordingly, it is necessary to foster good relationships between nurses and to develop various types of strategies for building effective networks. Background: The association between physician self-reported empathy and burnout has been studied in the past with diverse findings. We aimed to determine the association between empathy and burnout among United States emergency medicine (EM) physicians using a novel combination of tools for validation. Methods: This was a prospective single-center observational study. Data were collected from EM physicians. From December 1, 2018 to January 31, 2019, we used the Jefferson scale of empathy (JSE) to assess physician empathy and the Copenhagen burnout inventory (CBI) to assess burnout. We divided EM physicians into different groups (residents in each year of training, junior/senior attendings). Empathy, burnout scores and their association were analyzed and compared among these groups. Results: A total of 33 attending physicians and 35 EM residents participated in this study. Median self-reported empathy scores were 113 (interquartile range (IQR): 105 – 117) in post-graduate year (PGY)-1, 112 (90 – 115) in PGY-2, 106 (93 – 118) in PGY-3 EM residents, 112 (105 – 116) in junior and 114 (101 – 125) in senior attending physicians. Overall burnout scores were 43 (33 – 50) in PGY-1, 51 (29 – 56) in PGY-2, 43 (42 – 53) in PGY-3 EM residents, 33 (24 – 47) in junior attending and 25 (22 – 53) in senior attending physicians separately. The Spearman correlation (ρ) was -0.11 and β-weight was -0.23 between empathy and patient-related burnout scores. Conclusion: Self-reported empathy declines over the course of EM residency training and improves after graduation. Overall high burnout occurs among EM residents and improves after graduation. Our analysis showed a weak negative correlation between self-reported empathy and patient-related burnout among EM physicians. Most health care systems face a challenge to balance efficiency and quality under the pressure of limited resources and budget cuts. Consequently, hospital employees may face stressful working conditions, which may increase the risk of health problems as well as poor co-operation between staff. Combined, these may increase the risk of inefficiency, poor quality of care or even malpractice.1,2 The Well-being in Hospital Employees (WHALE) study is an ongoing prospective, observational cohort on work environment among all health care employees within the Capital Region of Denmark. The data are collected to continuously monitor the well-being of employees, in order to develop targets for potential intervention.Background: This study investigates whether a typology of work exposure can be established among older workers in Germany. Work exposure comprises physical work, working time quality, work intensity, skills & discretion, social environment, leadership, continued education, earnings and work prospects. Methods: Latent profile analysis was conducted on a representative sample of the socially insured workforce in Germany born in 1959 or 1965 (N = 6277). Seven year-prospective associations between the typology and work-related outcomes (physical and mental health, work ability and work-privacy-conflict) were investigated to establish the distinctness of the profiles. Results: Five profiles were identified: “Poor Quality” (19%), “Relaxed Manuals” (30%), “Strained non-Manuals” (16%), “Smooth Running” (33%) and “High Flying” (3%). These profiles exhibited diverging patterns of association with the selected outcomes, thus representing qualitatively distinct subgroups of older workers in Germany. Conclusions: We conclude that a typological approach may broaden the understanding of the ageing work force and the complex interplay of the overall work situation with outcomes of high individual and social relevance such as health, work ability and employment. The five work profiles identified in this study may constitute crucial clusters needed to reliably mirror today’s over-all work exposure patterns in the older work force in Germany. They may allow for the comprehensible monitoring of quality of work and personal life among the older work force during their last working years and their transition to retirement in current times of extending working lives.

Hildt-Ciupińska, K. & Pawłowska-Cyprysiak, K. (2021). Care for health among Polish men, taking into account social and economic factors, as well as the type of work. Medycyna pracy.

van Oostrom, S.H., Nachat, A., Loef, B. et al. (2020). The mediating role of unhealthy behaviors and body mass index in the relationship between high job strain and self-rated poor health among lower educated workers. Int Arch Occup Environ Health.Background and objectives: Psychosocial factors may be associated with multisite pain, which is characterized by pain symptoms in more than one part of the body. The aim of the present study was to determine associations between psychosocial factors and multisite pain in a population of workers. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 195 workers (educators, administrative technicians, healthcare workers, cleaners, and zookeepers). Psychosocial factors were evaluated using the short form of the second version of the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire. Multisite pain was identified using the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire. Results: Multisite pain was associated with quantitative demands (OR=1.31; 95% CI: 1.06-1.63), work pace (OR=1.20; 95% CI: 1.01-1.43), emotional demands (OR=1.39; 95% CI: 1.18-1.63), commitment to the workplace (OR=0.75; 95% CI: 0.62-0.91), predictability (OR=0.86; 95% CI: 0.76-0.99), job satisfaction (OR=0.53; 95% CI: 0.32-0.88), work-family conflict (OR=1.37; 95% CI: 1.16-1.62), justice (OR=0.81; 95% CI: 0.69-0.94), general health perception (OR=0.54; 95% CI: 0.38-0.76), burnout (OR=1.41; 95% CI: 1.17-1.69), and stress (OR=1.41; 95% CI: 1.18-1.68). Conclusion: Several psychosocial factors were associated with multisite pain, indicating that these factors could be considered in the multisite pain management.

Fugitive emissions are unavoidable releases that occur continuously throughout a process plant or wherever there are connections or seals between the process fluids and the external environment. The daily exposure of workers to such emissions, typically spread across an entire chemical plant, poses a serious threat to their health and safety. Previous works have focused on assessing the occupational health risks in chemical plants through indexes such as the inherent occupational health index and the integrated inherent safety index. The indexes serve as good proxy indicators for potential sources of occupational hazards (chemicals, process conditions) and process equipment. However, by considering the Source-Path-Receptor (SPR) model, the eventual health risk is also dependent on the path and receptor, where a potential leakage and exposure can occur, respectively. Typically, chemical plants are fitted with controls and mitigation measures known as protection layers (PL) to control hazards. Hence, the occupational health risks in chemical plants due to fugitive emissions require a more holistic methodology for assessment and evaluation. Therefore, a hybrid framework for assessing the occupational health risks from fugitive emissions was developed by adopting and integrating the concepts of source-path-receptor, layers of protection and hierarchy of control. The generic protection layers identified were classified according to the traditional hierarchy of controls. At the source, the protection layers identified were hazard elimination/substitution, inherently safer design, and engineering controls. Next, the maintenance and equipment reliability were identified as PL along the exposure path. Finally, at the receptor, worker-exposure was linked to management systems, procedural safety behaviour and culture. Therefore, the proposed methodology can be used for benchmarking and performance tracking of occupational health risk in a chemical plant over time, as the methodology includes the time-varying parameters of plant maintenance, management system compliance, safety behaviour and culture.

Objective: We investigated the contribution of physical and psychosocial work factors to social inequalities in self-rated health (SRH) in a sample of Danish 40 and 50 years old occupationally active women and men. Methods: In this longitudinal study, the study population consisted of 3338 Danish women and men. Data were collected by postal questionnaires in 2000 (baseline) and 2006 (follow-up). The independent variable, socioeconomic position (SEP), was assessed by the highest achieved educational level at baseline. We conducted gender-stratified parallel multiple mediation analyses. In the mediation analyses, SEP was categorised as SEP I, II, III, VI and V among men. Among women, SEP was dichotomised into SEP I–IV and V. The outcome, SRH, was assessed at baseline and follow-up. A wide range of physical and psychosocial work factors were included as potential mediators. Results: We found a social gradient in SRH across all levels of SEP among men. Among women, we only found a poorer SRH among those with the lowest SEP. Mediation analyses showed that work factors together accounted for 56% of the social inequalities in SRH among men and 44% among women. In both genders, ergonomic exposures and job insecurity seemed to play the major role for social inequalities in SRH. For women only, we also found noise to contribute to the social inequalities in SRH. Conclusion: Physical and psychosocial work factors partially explained social inequalities in SRH among both genders. Improvement of the working environment can potentially contribute to the reduction of social inequalities in health.Török, E., Clark, A.J., Jensen, J.H., et al (2018). Work-unit social
capital and long-term sickness absence: a prospective cohort study of 32 053 hospital employees. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 75:623-629.Background: Psychosocial working conditions were previously analyzed using the first recruitment wave of the Gutenberg Health Study (GHS) cohort (n = 5000). We aimed to confirm the initial analysis using the entire GHS population at baseline (N = 15,010) and at the five-year follow-up. We also aimed to determine the effects of psychosocial working conditions at baseline on self-rated outcomes measured at follow-up. Methods: At baseline, working GHS participants were assessed with either the Effort-Reward-Imbalance questionnaire (ERI) (n = 4358) or with the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ) (n = 4322); participants still working after five years received the same questionnaire again (ERI n = 3142; COPSOQ n = 3091). We analyzed the association between working conditions and the outcomes job satisfaction, general health, burnout, and satisfaction with life at baseline, at follow-up and also prospectively from baseline to follow-up using linear regression models. We examined the outcome variance explained by the models (R2) to estimate the predictive performance of the questionnaires. Results: The models’ R2 was comparable to the original baseline analyses at both t0 and t1 (R2 range: ERI 0.10–0.43; COPSOQ 0.10–0.56). However, selected scales of the regression models sometimes changed between assessment times. The prospective analysis showed weaker associations between baseline working conditions and outcomes after five years (R2 range: ERI 0.07–0.19; COPSOQ 0.07–0.24). This was particularly true for job satisfaction. After adjusting for the baseline levels of the outcomes, fewer scales still explained some of the variance in the distribution of the outcome variables at follow-up. The models using only data from t0 or t1 confirmed the previous baseline analysis. We observed a loss of explained variance in the prospective analysis models. This loss was greatest for job satisfaction, suggesting that this outcome is most influenced by short-term working conditions. Conclusions: Both the COPSOQ and ERI instruments show good criterion validity and adequately predict contemporaneously measured self-reported measurements of health and (occupational) well-being. However, the COPSOQ provides a more detailed picture of working conditions and might be preferable for improvment strategies in workplaces. Additional prospective research with shorter follow-up times would be beneficial for estimating dose-response relationships.

Purpose: To determine the prospective relation between workplace violence and the risk of long-term sickness absence (LTSA), and study if work-unit social capital could buffer this effect. As an explorative analysis, the association between work-unit social capital and workplace violence is also tested. Methods: The study is based on the Well-being in HospitAL Employees (WHALE) cohort, including healthcare employees in Denmark. The study sample consisted of 30,044 employees nested within 2304 work-units. Exposure to workplace violence and threats of violence during the past 12 months was measured by self-report. Work-unit social capital was computed by aggregating the mean individual responses within work-units. LTSA was defined as one or more episodes of ≥ 29 consecutive sickness absence days initiated within 2 years following baseline. Results: Employees experiencing workplace violence had a higher risk of LTSA (OR = 1.55; 95% CI 1.39–1.72), but there was no evidence in support of work-unit social capital buffering the effect of workplace violence on LTSA (RERI = 0.24; 95%CI: − 0.36 to 0.84; p = 0.12 for multiplicative interaction). High compared to low work-unit social capital was associated with a lower prevalence of workplace violence (OR = 0.47; 95% CI 0.36–0.61). Conclusion: There was a prospective association between workplace violence and LTSA, but work-unit social capital did not buffer this effect. Furthermore, the results revealed an inverse association between work-unit social capital and workplace violence. The findings indicate that in order to effectively reduce LTSA, preventive interventions need to both prevent workplace violence and strengthen social capital.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine whether a successful implementation of an intervention could result in an effect evaluated independently from a process evaluation. It was achieved by evaluating the effects of an intervention, the “employeeship program,” designed to strengthen the psychosocial work environment through raising employees’ awareness and competence in interpersonal relationships and increasing their responsibility for their everyday work and working environment. Design/methodology/approach: An employeeship intervention program was developed to improve the psychosocial work environment through reducing conflict among employees and strengthening the social community, empowering leadership, and increasing trust in management. An earlier process evaluation of the program found that it had been implemented successfully. The present effect evaluation supplemented this by examining its effect on the psychosocial work environment using two waves of the organization’s internal survey and comparing changes in the intervention unit at two points and against the rest of the organization. Findings: The intervention was effective in improving the psychosocial work environment through reducing conflicts among employees and strengthening the social community, empowering leadership, and increasing trust in management. Research limitations/implications: More attention should be paid to developing and increasing positive psychosocial experiences while simultaneously reducing negative psychosocial experiences, as this employeeship intervention demonstrated. Practical implications: An intervention focusing on employeeship is an effective way to achieve a healthier psychosocial work environment with demonstrable benefits for individuals and the working unit. Originality/value: Although organizational-level interventions are complex processes, evaluations that focus on process and effect can offer insights into the workings of successful interventions.Objectives: This study examined the association of leisure‐time physical activity (LTPA) with the risk of long‐term sickness absence (LTSA). Methods: A total of 10 427 subjects from the general working population in Denmark answered questions about physical activity habits, health and work environment in the 2010 Danish Work Environment Cohort Study (DWECS). Data on LTSA (≥6 consecutive weeks during 2‐year follow‐up) were obtained from the Danish Register for Evaluation of Marginalization (DREAM). Cox regression analysis censored for competing events and adjusted for potential confounders (age, sex, BMI, smoking habits, depression, cancer, back diseases, previous LTSA, occupational social class, and psychosocial work environment) estimated the association between the predictor (LTPA) and the outcome variable (LTSA). During the 2‐year follow‐up period, 9.2% of the studied population experienced LTSA. Results: In the general working population, moderate LTPA was not associated with LTSA (HR = 0.89, 95% CI: 0.72‐1.09), while high LTPA showed a tendency (HR = 0.77, 95% CI: 0.59‐1.01). In subgroup analyses, women below the age of 45 years with high LTPA showed a significantly lower risk of LTSA when compared with their low LTPA counterparts (HR = 0.44, 95% CI: 0.25‐0.78). Conclusion: The results suggest that high levels of physical activity during leisure are associated with a lowered risk of LTSA, especially among younger women.

Chanchai, W., Songkham, W., Ketsomporn, P., Sappakitchanchai, P., Siriwong, W. (2017). Effects of Physical and Psychosocial Work Environment Factors on Musculoskeletal Symptoms Among Hospital Orderlies at a Tertiary Care Hospital. EC Orthopaedics, 7 (2), S. 47–56.Introduction: Recent evidence consistently highlights the adverse work environment of long-haul professional drivers, whose task structure typically involves the performance of extensive shifts, driving under stressful working conditions. In this regard, job stress and fatigue – that are highly prevalent in this workforce – seem to play a crucial role in explaining this group’s negative traffic safety outcomes. The aim of this study was to assess whether work-related fatigue is a mechanism that mediates the relationship between job stress, health indicators and occupational traffic crashes of long-haul truck drivers (LHTD). Methods: The data used in this study were collected from 521 Spanish long-haul truck drivers (97% males) from all 17 regions of Spain, with a mean age of 47 years. Results: Utilizing structural equation models (SEM), it was found that work-traffic crashes of long-haul truck drivers could be explained through work-related fatigue that exerts a full mediation between job stress (job strain), health-related factors and traffic crashes suffered during the previous two years. Discussion: Overall, the findings of this research support that a) stressful working conditions and health issues of drivers have significant effects on traffic crashes, and b) fatigue is a mechanism relating stress-related factors and work-traffic crashes of long-haul drivers. This study highlights the need of stress- and fatigue-management policies and interventions, in order to reduce the crash risk of long-haul truck drivers.Martini, M., Viotti, S., Converso, D., Battaglia, J., & Loera, B. (2018). When social support by patrons protects against burnout. A study among Italian public library workers. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 62 (2), 096100061876371.

The number of migrant workers in Germany has increased over the last decades and will probably further increase in the context of a growing cultural diversity of the population and shortage of skilled professionals. Since migrant workers face different challenges, they may experience poorer psychosocial work environments than non-migrants. A negative psychosocial work environment can increase burnout and depression symptoms. To this date no study has investigated differences in the perceived psychosocial work environment in the mental health field. The aim of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of a cross sectional study comparing the perceived psychosocial work environment of migrants and non-migrant workers in inpatient mental health centres in Germany. The study was conducted in four inpatient mental health centres in Germany using the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire. All staff members (N = 659) categorized in seven professional groups were invited to participate in the study. The feasibility of the study was determined by four criteria (1) Implementation of the study in inpatient mental health centres (2) Representativity of the sample (3) Reliability and usability of the questionnaire and (4) Variability of collected data. Three of four feasibility criteria were achieved. The study was successfully implemented in four mental health centres, the usability of the used questionnaire was confirmed as well as the variability of the data. The targeted response rate was partially met, and the total number of migrant workers could not be provided, which limits the representativity of the sample. In conclusion, a main study is feasible, but an effort must be put in an effective recruitment strategy to obtain valid results.Bodendieck, E., Jung, F., Luppa, M. (2022). Burnout and work-privacy conflict – are there differences between full-time and part-time physicians?. BMC Health Serv
ices Research, 22, 1082.