Analysis of the workload imposed on the workers of the imprint and cutting/welding sectors of a flexible packaging manufacturer

This article presents a study on the evaluation of the workload imposed to workers of two sectors of a flexible packaging manufacturer that operates in three shifts. The workers are allocated in one of the shifts (morning, evening and night shifts) without evaluation of their chronotype and/or social needs. The Imprint sector has a more dynamic work, which is done only by man due to the effort demanded by handling loads. The work in the Cutting/Welding sector is static, done mainly by women. The results showed that the overall workload was the same in the Imprint and Cutting/Welding sectors, because physical effort for load handling is higher in the former but the latter involves high static load. The levels of urinary catecholamines and salivary cortisol were consistent with the workers biological clock showing that none of the workers changed his/her biological cycle to accommodate to the time of the shift schedule.     

Metabolic impact of shift work

In developing countries, shift work represents a considerable contingent workforce. Recently, studies have shown that overweight and obesity are more prevalent in shift workers than day workers. In addition, shift work has been associated with a higher propensity for the development of many metabolic disorders, such as insulin resistance, diabetes, dislipidemias and metabolic syndrome. Recent data have pointed that decrease of the sleep time, desynchronization of circadian rhythm and alteration of environmental aspects are the main factors related to such problems. Shortened or disturbed sleep is among the most common health-related effects of shift work. The plausible physiological and biological mechanisms are related to the activation of the autonomic nervous system, inflammation, changes in lipid and glucose metabolism, and related changes in the risk for atherosclerosis, metabolic syndrome, and type II diabetes. The present review will discuss the impact of shift work on obesity and metabolic disorders and how disruption of sleep and circadian misalignment may contribute to these metabolic dysfunctions.     

Ergonomic work analysis of airbus pilots job in Brazil

This article is the result of a case study of ergonomic work analysis carried out in a Brazilian airline company, focused on the safety of the activity of Airbus pilots from the company's national lines. The study was divided in three parts, each one with different approach. First step is how critical situations such as accidents and incidents are dealt with during flight. Then it comes to discuss about adversities found in the working place, the airbus cockpit, and the development of risk map. Last but not least, the study focused in how the irregular working journey compromises the biological clock of the pilots end may cause social issues.     

EXPERIMENTAL COMPARISONS OF AUCTIONS UNDER SINGLE-AND MULTI-UNIT DEMAND

An English clock auction and a sealed-bid auction with lowest accepted-bid pricing are studied in a controlled laboratory setting. Buyers bid for either a single unit or two units of the good. The sealed-bid auction generates more revenue than the English clock auction in both cases. The revenue from the English clock auction is lower in the two-unit demand environment than in the single-unit demand environment, due to strategic demand reduction on the part of bidders. (JEL C92, D44)     

Mature unwed mothers in Israel: Socio-moral and psychological dilemmas

Today, more than ever, women can control their own fertility and dissociate it from long-term intimacy. Among the types of nonmarital fertility, one of the least studied and often most controversial is the phenomenon of childbearing out of wedlock among mature women who are threatened by their own biological clock. It is estimated that there are about 3,000 mature unwed mothers in Israel. No psychological study of this population has so far been undertaken. This article attempts to delineate the demographic characteristics, the reasons for pregnancy, and the moral dilemma of 50 unwed mothers who deliberately decide to give birth as single mothers when they are over the age of 30.Ruth Linn is a senior lecturer in Education, School of Education, Haifa University, Israel 31999. Her research interests include conscientious objection, moral judgment of men and women, socio-moral conflicts in the family, and early childhood education. She received her Ed.D. from the School of Education at Boston University.     

RESPONSE-TIME MEASUREMENT IN SURVEY RESEARCH A METHOD FOR CATI AND A NEW LOOK AT NONATTITUDES

The paper introduces a methodology for measuring accuratelythe time it takes respondents to answer questions in computer-assistedtelephone surveys. The methodology, which is completely invisibleto respondents, comprises a computer "clock," capable of timingresponses with millisecond accuracy, and a "voice-key" thatconverts sounds emitted by respondents into signals capableof triggering the computer clock. Response times to questionson a range of attitude questions, including stable and unstableattitudes, were measured. The results revealed orderly normsin the latencies associated with various types of survey questions.The latencies associated with the expression of stable and unstableattitudes are discussed in the context of the notion of "nonattitudes"and shed new light on this controversial thesis. Overall, ourresults demonstrate that response latencies can be measuredprecisely and reliably in telephone surveys and that the datafrom such measurement open new windows on the cognitive dynamicsof survey responses.     

FIXED REVENUE AUCTIONS: THEORY AND BEHAVIOR

In this paper, we study auctions in which the revenue is fixed but the quantity is determined by the auction mechanism. Specifically, we investigate the theory and behavior of English quantity clock, Dutch quantity clock, last‐quantity sealed bid, and penultimate‐quantity sealed bid auctions. For theoretically equivalent fixed quantity and fixed revenue auctions, we find that fixed revenue auctions are robust to all the previously observed empirical regularities in fixed quantity auctions. (JEL C9, D4, L2)     

I've Got You Under My Skin: Marital Biography and Biological Risk

Social relationships shape adult health in profound ways. This study informs our understanding of this association by investigating how the transitions, timing, and exposures to marriage are associated with types of biological risk presumed to serve as pathways to disease and disability. Drawing on the 2005–2006 National Social Health and Aging Project (N = 1,062), the authors evaluated how marital biography was associated with cardiovascular, metabolic, and chronic inflammation risk. The results showed that the effects of marital biography were highly sensitive to gender, the dimension of marital biography, and type of biological risk. For example, marital exposure was protective of cardiovascular risk for women, but not men, whereas an earlier age at first marriage had a pernicious effect on chronic inflammation among men, but not women. Health behaviors did not explain these associations. The implications of these findings are discussed as they pertain to under‐the‐skin risk processes and chronic morbidity.     

Bargaining Experiments With Deadlines and Random Delays

In many bargaining environments there are random delays in the transmission of proposals. Two computerized bargaining experiments are designed to study behavior with this condition. A clock starts counting down from three minutes when the first offer is sent. In one experiment the clock is not stopped once the bargaining begins; in the other it is paused during the time an agent thinks about a counteroffer. All proposals are randomly delayed. Results are compared to a control design with no such delays. Delays create a first mover advantage, and agreements are more uniformly spread across a bargaining period.     

Irregular working times and metabolic disorders among truck drivers: a review

A number of studies to better understand the complex physiological mechanism involved in regulating body weight have been conducted. More specifically, the hormones related to appetite, leptin and ghrelin, and their association to obesity have been a focus of investigation. Circadian patterns of these hormones are a new target of research. The behaviour of these hormones in individuals subject to atypical working times such as shiftwork remains unclear. Shiftwork is characterized by changes in biological rhythms and cumulative circadian phase changes, being associated with high rates of obesity and metabolic syndrome. Truck drivers, who work irregular shifts, frequently present a high prevalence of obesity, which might be associated with work-related factors and/or lifestyle. In this context, the aim of this paper was to discuss the relationship of body mass index, appetite-related hormones and sleep characteristics in truck drivers who work irregular shifts compared with day workers.     

Global speed: a time view on transnationality

One of the most challenging aspects of the current processes of globalization is the accelerating pace with which communication, technological information, people and goods are ‘spinning’ around the world. With the growth of our spatial scope to a global level, we have become used to acceleration in a highly competitive world, which results in a feeling of real‐time experience, or instantaneity. The ways in which we deal with acceleration are determined by a specific understanding of the relationship between time and organization: from a Western perspective, managerial practices are based on the ratio‐economic, and therefore limited, idea of clock time. From a transcultural perspective, however, other modes of time interfere with the rigidity and linearity of clock‐time‐based organization. Moreover, on a global level a more encompassing, holistic understanding of time can be important to analyse tensions and contradictions in current managerial practices. It therefore seems important to introduce a perspective of time plurality into debates on transnational organization. How does a view of time complexity affect the management of cohesion and loyalty in the current practices of managers who deal with transnational networks?     

Imperative for an Arab model of public relations as a framework for diplomatic,corporate and nongovernmental organization relationships

This paper advocates a morally/ethically defensible “organic theory” of public relations that is in opposition to the public relations literature that predominantly suggests that only those publics that have direct consequences for the organization are publics with whom public relations practitioners should deal. A biological metaphor can be used in supporting this “organic” theory of public relations in which the organization is an organ and society is a body as a whole.This paper concludes that the process of public relations, as well as the outcomes, is critically important in maintaining a metabolic balance and harmony within society itself—a requisite for the health and well-being of nation-states, corporations and nongovernmental organizations. Much of this process involves communication as a ritual, rather than communication as transmission of information; it involves interpersonal communication, rather than mass communication. It involves relationship-building as opposed to persuasion. Much of this process has been found traditionally in Arab culture, and these rich traditions should be recognized and examined for their utility and value in developing an Arab model of public relations to help resolve the plethora of 21st Century issues that threaten global stability and ultimately the well-being of all cultures and societies.     

Metabolic syndrome and the menopause

The metabolic syndrome consists of a combination of risk factors that include abdominal obesity, atherogenic dyslipidaemia, hypertension and insulin resistance. It increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. The increased risk of cardiovascular disease is higher in women than in men. The first manifestation of metabolic syndrome may occur in pregnancy presenting as gestational diabetes or preeclampsia. Both conditions are associated with increased insulin resistance. Also metabolic syndrome is more common in polycystic ovarian syndrome. It has been suggested that there is a metabolic syndrome resulting from the menopause due to estrogen deficiency, as many of the risk factors are more prevalent in postmenopausal women. Also estrogen replacement improves insulin sensitivity and reduces the risk of diabetes. The key elements in managing the metabolic syndrome are weight reduction, increasing physical activity and diet modification. If blood pressure, lipid and glycaemic control are not achieved through these interventions then pharmacological therapy will be required.     

Soup and Supervision: the Metropolitan Watch and Clock Making Trade 1797–18171

Abstract In this paper Foucaultian theory is deployed to elucidate the significance of philanthropy as a channel of power through which artisanal culture was transformed. It is my contention that in the period 1797–1817 the transformative effects of war, government taxation policy and ‘trade adventurers’ upon London's artisanal culture were reinforced by the discourse and practice of philanthropy. In order to illustrate the transformative power effects of philanthropy two significant moments in the historical sociology of metropolitan artisanal culture are examined; the 1797 and 1817 crises in the clock and watch trade.     

Metabolic rift or metabolic shift? dialectics,nature, and the world-historical method

In the flowering of Red-Green Thought over the past two decades, metabolic rift thinking is surely one of its most colorful varieties. The metabolic rift has captured the imagination of critical environmental scholars, becoming a shorthand for capitalism’s troubled relations in the web of life. This article pursues an entwined critique and reconstruction: of metabolic rift thinking and the possibilities for a post-Cartesian perspective on historical change, the world-ecology conversation. Far from dismissing metabolic rift thinking, my intention is to affirm its dialectical core. At stake is not merely the mode of explanation within environmental sociology. The impasse of metabolic rift thinking is suggestive of wider problems across the environmental social sciences, now confronted by a double challenge. One of course is the widespread—and reasonable—sense of urgency to evolve modes of thought appropriate to an era of deepening biospheric instability. The second is the widely recognized—but inadequately internalized—understanding that humans are part of nature.     

My Interesting Campus Life

<正>It is tempting to think that campus life must be boring,it is monotonous with classes that last all day and endless homework as well as studying……The routine repeats again and again,but I think my campus life is interesting.You don’t think so?Please listen to what I say."Ring,ring,ring"my alarm clock sounds off,I change to my school uniform,finish washing,pack my backpack and quickly go to school.     

The Social Limits of State Control: Time, the Industrial Wage Relation, and Social Identity in Stalinist Hungary, 1948–1953

The article argues that the Stalinist state in post-war Hungary aimed to use the wage relation as a central component of its policies to rationalise the organisation of production in industry. It attempted this by trying to discipline workers through the introduction of a form of "payment by results" which subordinated the workforce to the discipline of "clock time." In complete contrast to state intentions, the planned economy developed its own rhythms and it was to these that the workforce came to respond. These responses led to a high degree of informal conflict on Hungarian shop floors, a process which re-shaped worker identity, making it more particular in its nature. The implication behind this argument is that the Stalinist state was less powerful than many have suggested, and that research should focus more on the economy if the roots of social change under state socialism are to be found.     

HOW TIME FLIES:

We formulate a comprehensive theory that accounts for variation in the perception of time. According to our theory, lived time is perceived to pass slowly (protracted duration) when conscious information processing is high; lived time is perceived to be synchronized with clock time (synchronicity) when conscious information processing is moderate; and lived time is perceived to have passed quickly (temporal compression) when conscious information processing is low. We examine that portion of the theory concerning temporal compression in light of empirical materials. Since episodic memory erodes as time passes, we hypothesize that this generates the experience of temporal compression by lowering the density of conscious information processing. Our data were drawn from three different age cohorts, and we find strong support for the hypothesis.     

Effects of androgens in men with the metabolic syndrome

The metabolic syndrome is well recognized as the association between obesity, elevated blood lipids, hypertension, hepatic steatosis, impaired glucose tolerance/diabetes mellitus type II and increased risk for cardiovascular disease. Recently, several publications have demonstrated that uisceral accumulation of fat seems to be more important than general obesity and that several endocrine disturbances should be included in this syndrome. The first observations concerning the importance of body fat distribution and endocrine disturbances, however, were made in the 1940s and later confirmed by further research. Concerning the endocrine disturbances, we have specifically found that abdominal, i.e. visceral, type of obesity is associated with low levels of sex steroids in both men and women, increased Cortisol activity as well as a blunted growth hormone action. In several hormonal intervention studies, we have also demonstrated favorable effects on visceral obesity, insulin sensitivity, blood lipids and blood pressure. Furthermore, recent results from our research group have indicated that this complex of signs and diseases is associated with psychiatric signs such as mental stress, signs of melancholy and decreased life satisfaction. In order to explain better the possible pathogenesis of these risk factors and diseases, the term ‘the neuroendocrine syndrome’ seems to be more adequate. This article willfocus on important biological mechanisms in hormonal intervention strategies, especially androgen treatment, for patients with this syndrome.     

Men's sexual health and the metabolic syndrome

The aim of this article is to provide an overview of the current literature on the impact of the metabolic syndrome on male sexual health and current developments in the management of sexually dysfunctional men with a metabolic syndrome. The increasing prevalence across the world of the metabolic syndrome-a cluster of cardiovascular disease risk factors-causes the metabolic syndrome to be considered the most important threat to male sexual health of the 21st century. It has been shown to have a negative impact on male sexual function through its relationship with cardiovascular disease risk, its association with hypogonadism, and associated psychosocial factors. Besides established pharmacological and hormonal interventions, lifestyle modification programs are considered important therapeutic tools.