The impact of a social systems scientist on a country

The process of evaluation of the impact of a social systems scientist (S<sup>3</sup>) on a country can be framed as a play (the impact of a person) within a play (the inquiry). Impact can be focused in terms of the social structure (stage), roles involved, change and the diffusion processes that characterize the development of the ‘plays’. Different meanings of the terms social systems science and country are given depending on the intentions, knowledge and context of the inquiry. A person is usually evaluated by first selecting a role through which he is viewed. Selection of the role is not a neutral decision. The main roles associated with S<sup>3</sup> and Russell Ackoff were scientist, educator, consultant-adviser, planner-designer, social reformer, social philosopher, entertainer and preacher. A strong criterion for evaluation could be the degree of participation of a person in the development of a paradigm, ideal or myth and its nurturing institution.     

Effects of government policies on the work of home care personnel and their occupational health and safety

The health sector in Québec (Canada) is dealing with profound macro-economic and macro-organizational changes. This article is interested in the impact of these changes on the work of home health aides (HHAs) and home care nurses and their occupational health and safety (OHS). The study was carried out in the home care services (HCS) of four local community service centres (CLSC) with different organizational characteristics. It is based on an analysis by triangulation of 66 individual and group interviews, 22 observed workdays and 35 observed multidisciplinary or professional meetings, as well as on administrative documents. HHAs are experiencing an erosion of their job because the relational and affective aspects of their work are disappearing. This may be due to an increase in their physical workload, leading to an increase in musculoskeletal problems and, to a lesser extent, in psychological health problems. Nurses are seeing an increase in the volume of invisible work that they have to do, which also has the effect of decreasing the relational aspects of their activity. The increasingly numerous psychological health problems are the consequence of this change in their profession. This study also shows that managers' decisions at the local level can reduce or increase the work constraints of HHAs and nurses. Examples of good practices for HHAs are the stabilization of clienteles and the possibility of organizing their itinerary, while for nurses, it is in how clientele follow-up tools are implemented. This article discusses the effects of government policies and decisions on the work and OHS of home care personnel. To address this subject, we use a specific analysis of the workload of home health aides (HHAs) and nurses. We will show the relationships between managers' organizational choices to respond to governmental constraints and the resulting work changes. We will also look at their consequences on occupational health and safety (OHS) and on the work of different personnel.     

Repartnering Following Divorce: Implications for Older Fathers' Relations With Their Adult Children

<i>This study examined the implications of postdivorce fathers' new unions and additional (step)children for two aspects of older fathers' relations with adult children born from a prior relationship: frequency of social contact and fathers' financial transfers. Data from multiple waves of the Health and Retirement Study (</i>N<i> = 13,017 observations on 4,997 adult children belonging to 1,917 ever‐divorced fathers) were used to estimate multilevel models. The results indicated that divorced fathers who go on to form a new union have weaker relations with adult children from a prior union than their postdivorce counterparts who remain single. This finding partly reflects the detrimental effects of repartnered older fathers' new biological children and stepchildren. There is no difference between older remarried and cohabiting fathers' intergenerational ties. Moreover, fathers' additional biological children and stepchildren have similarly negative effects on fathers' relations with adult children from a previous union</i>.     

Individual vs. couple behavior: an experimental investigation of risk preferences

In this article, we elicit both individuals’ and couples’ preferences assuming prospect theory (PT) as a general theoretical framework for decision under risk. Our experimental method, based on certainty equivalents, allows to infer measurements of utility and probability weighting at the individual level and at the couple level. Our main results are twofold. First, risk attitude for couples is compatible with PT and incorporates deviations from expected utility similar to those found in individual decision making. Second, couples’ attitudes towards risk are found to be consistent with a mix of individual attitudes, women being more influent on couples’ preferences at low probability levels.     

Adjacent vertex-distinguishing edge coloring of graphs with maximum degree Δ

An adjacent vertex-distinguishing edge coloring, or avd-coloring, of a graph <em>G</em> is a proper edge coloring of <em>G</em> such that no pair of adjacent vertices meets the same set of colors. Let <span class="a-plus-plus inline-equation id-i-eq1"> <span class="a-plus-plus equation-source format-t-e-x">$\operatorname {mad}(G)$</span> </span> and Δ(<em>G</em>) denote the maximum average degree and the maximum degree of a graph <em>G</em>, respectively. In this paper, we prove that every graph <em>G</em> with Δ(<em>G</em>)≥5 and <span class="a-plus-plus inline-equation id-i-eq2"> <span class="a-plus-plus equation-source format-t-e-x">$\operatorname{mad}(G) < 3-\frac {2}{\Delta}$</span> </span> can be avd-colored with Δ(<em>G</em>)+1 colors. This completes a result of Wang and Wang (J. Comb. Optim. 19:471–485, <span class="a-plus-plus citation-ref citationid-c-r10">2010</span>).     

Getting tuned in to those who are different: The role of empathy as mediator between diversity and performance

We present a theoretical model on the processes that mediate and moderate the diversity-performance relationship. Past research on this topic—for example the categorization elaboration model (van Knippenberg et al. 2004)—has often focused on information elaboration as mediator. Complementing this cognitive perspective, we propose that group diversity can also stimulate group members to engage with each other emotionally, resulting in higher levels of empathy—an emotional state which arises from the comprehension and apprehension of fellow group members’ emotional state. Empathy, in turn, is likely to enhance performance through processes within a single group member and through processes between group members. At the core of the model lies the proposition that group- as well as individual-level empathy mediate the relationship between diversity of organizational units and the performance of individual members and groups at large (multilevel mediation). Furthermore, we specify moderating conditions for the relationship between diversity and empathy. Diversity beliefs and diversity climates are introduced as second-order moderators.     

On the location of new facilities for chain expansion under delivered pricing

We study the problem of locating new facilities for one expanding chain which competes for demand in spatially separated markets where all competing chains use delivered pricing. A new network location model is formulated for profit maximization of the expanding chain assuming that equilibrium prices are set in each market. The cannibalization effect caused by the entrance of the new facilities is integrated in the objective function as a cost to be paid by the expanding chain to the cannibalized facilities. It is shown that the profit of the chain is maximized by locating the new facilities in a set of points which are nodes or iso-marginal delivered cost points (points on the network from which the marginal delivered cost equals the minimum marginal delivered cost from the existing facilities owned by the expanding chain). Then the location problem is reduced to a discrete optimization problem which is formulated as a mixed integer linear program. A sensitivity analysis respect to both the number of new facilities and the cannibalization cost is shown by using an illustrative example with data of the region of Murcia (Spain). Some conclusions are presented.