Musculoskeletal disorders and psychosocial risk factors among workers of the aircraft maintenance industry

During the recent decades Brazil has experienced an exponential growth in the aviation sector resulting in an increasing workforce. The aircraft maintenance industry stands out, where the workers have to handle different kind of objects. The aim of this study was to evaluate psychosocial indicators as well as musculoskeletal symptoms and disorders among aircraft maintenance workers. One hundred and one employees were evaluated (32.69 ± 8.25 yr, 79.8 ± 13.4 kg, and 1.75 ± 0.07 m). Musculoskeletal symptoms and disorders were assessed through the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ) and a standardized physical examination. The Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) were applied to evaluate psychosocial indicators. Results of the NMQ indicate the lower back as the most affected body region. On the other hand, the physical examination has shown clinical diagnosis of shoulder disorders. Neck, upper back and ankle/foot were also reported as painful sites. Most of workers have active work-demand profile and high work engagement levels. We suggest that musculoskeletal symptoms may be related to high biomechanical demand of the tasks performed by workers, what must be further investigated.     

Intermediary objects in the workspace design process: means of experience transfer in the offshore sector

The aim of this paper is to discuss the use of intermediary objects in the workspace design process of offshore accommodations module. The integration of ergonomics in the design process can lead to better work conditions, more effectiveness in the work process and less health and safety issues. Moreover, it is more efficient in terms of cost if ergonomics is considered from the initial phases of the project, as the potential costs of the redesign, the possible losses and the down-time in the operation of the platform would be more increased. The goal, then, is to discuss the integration of ergonomics and users involvement in the design process of accommodations modules, focusing on the transfer of information from reference situations by the use of intermediary objects during the process. In this paper we will present two tools developed to be used as intermediary object(s) aiming at transferring the experience from the use to the design in the specific field of offshore accommodations module.     

The Global Compact for Migration: what could it mean for women and gender relations?

ABSTRACT

Under half of international migrants throughout the world are women. While large movements of people, human rights and humanitarian crises, and migrant deaths are not new, the public attention given to the arrivals of refugees and migrants to the shores of Europe has compelled governments to engage in a multilateral manner. In September 2016, the United Nations General Assembly held its first-ever summit dedicated to large movements of refugees and migrants, reaffirming the importance of existing legal instruments to protect refugees and migrants, and also foreseeing the development of two new Global Compacts: one on refugees, and the other for safe, orderly and regular migration. This article examines the process to elaborate the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration from a gender-responsive perspective. It takes into consideration the advocacy role that the Women in Migration Network and other civil society stakeholders have played in its development, identifies the various opportunities and gaps within the Global Compact, and explores how women’s organisations and development organisations can promote change for women in migration under the new Global Compact.     

The effect of immigration on the labor market performance of native-born workers: some evidence for Spain

This paper provides an approximation to the labor market effects of immigrants in Spain, a country where labor market institutions and immigration policy exhibit some peculiarities, during the second half of the 1990s, the period in which immigration flows accelerated. By using alternative data sets, we estimate both the impact of legal and total immigration flows on the employment rates and wages of native workers, accounting for the possible occupational and geographical mobility of immigrants and native-born workers. Using different samples and estimation procedures, we have not found a significant negative effect of immigration on either the employment rates or wages of native workers.

Applying narrative analysis to the process of confirming or disregarding cases of suspected sexual abuse

This article analyses discourse about sexual abuse at a detention home for young women. At the centre of attention is staff members’ struggle with the process of confirming or disregarding cases of alleged sexual abuse. The determining factor for establishing an act as sexual abuse was whether or not the act involved a person who was defined as a victim. A core issue in the process was an evaluation of the credibility of the alleged abused girl and the degree of consent. The unintended result was that many of the girls’ narratives were never confirmed. The article argues that there is no objective ‘given’ regarding the definition of sexual abuse. To be involved in the process of understanding and establishing an act as sexual abuse means being involved in a process of social definition. To be able to handle such involvement constitutes a fundamental professional issue in social work. Adopting a narrative approach to the process of confirming or disregarding cases of suspected sexual abuse shifts the focus from developing categories of social problems and work on the basis of them to developing ways of listening to young people and allowing their narratives to provide a point of departure.     

Capability indices for Birnbaum–Saunders processes applied to electronic and food industries

Process capability indices (PCIs) are tools widely used by the industries to determine the quality of their products and the performance of their manufacturing processes. Classic versions of these indices were constructed for processes whose quality characteristics have a normal distribution. In practice, many of these characteristics do not follow this distribution. In such a case, the classic PCIs must be modified to take into account the non-normality. Ignoring the effect of this non-normality can lead to misinterpretation of the process capability and ill-advised business decisions. An asymmetric non-normal model that is receiving considerable attention due to its good properties is the Birnbaum–Saunders (BS) distribution. We propose, develop, implement and apply a methodology based on PCIs for BS processes considering estimation, parametric inference, bootstrap and optimization tools. This methodology is implemented in the statistical software {tt R}. A simulation study is conducted to evaluate its performance. Real-world case studies with applications for three data sets are carried out to illustrate its potentiality. One of these data sets was already published and is associated with the electronic industry, whereas the other two are unpublished and associated with the food industry.     

Migration-related land use dynamics in increasingly hybrid peri-urban space: insights from two agricultural communities in Bolivia

This article investigates the impact of transnational labor migration on agriculture in urbanizing communities in Bolivia. Previous research shows that the characteristics of rural out-migration communities affect whether agricultural practices are intensified and improved. Using a mixed methods approach, two closely located peri-urban communities with distinct prerequisites for agricultural development are analyzed. This study shows weak migration-induced changes in agriculture and concludes that transnational migration does not necessarily accelerate an ongoing urbanization process. It shows that remittances function to maintain farming for subsistence and as a secondary livelihood activity. However, major investments in agricultural intensification are not attractive due to the communities’ proximity to the main cities. This article highlights the need for nuanced conceptualization when studying migration-driven agricultural change in hybrid peri-urban spaces.     

Crawling Experience Predicts Avoidance of Real Cliffs and Water Cliffs: Insights from a New Paradigm

This study examined the influence of age, crawling‐onset age, and crawling experience on infants’ adaptive behavior in situations that can lead to dangerous falls. Thirty‐one infants with variable amounts of crawling experience were tested in a new paradigm that used a real cliff and a water cliff, with a harness system to guarantee safety. Consistent with previous findings obtained in studies with real and visual cliffs, infants with more crawling experience were more likely to avoid the real cliff. More importantly, greater crawling experience was associated with a greater likelihood of avoiding the water cliff. The new paradigm offers exciting opportunities to study the development of adaptive behavior in risky environments.     

Civil Society and Social Innovation in Public Arenas in Brazil: Trajectory and Experience of the Movement Against Electoral Corruption (MCCE)

In recent decades, the Brazilian Movement Against Electoral Corruption (MCCE) has been promoting social innovation in the public sphere, which led to mobilization towards the creation of two popular initiatives in Brazil: the “Law Against Vote-Buying” (Law 9840/1999) and the “Clean Record Law” (Complementary Law 135/2010). This paper explores how the collectives of MCCE engage in social innovation in the public arena of electoral corruption in Brazil. The analysis shows social innovation as a driving force of social change promoted by the association of a multitude of actor networks both in the long term and at the interface of macro and microscales of social reality. Therefore, social innovation in the Brazilian electoral corruption arena occurs simultaneously as a process and an outcome produced by the collective actions of different public groups that can reflect, organize and reform a cause, manage trial situations and create new solutions for this public problem.     

The glass ceiling – where is it? Women's and men's career prospects in the private vs. the public sector in Sweden 1979–2000

Previous research suggests that women have more limited career opportunities than men. Using Swedish longitudinal data, covering the period between 1979 and 2000, more light is shed on the association between hierarchical levels and differences between men's and women's career opportunities in terms of occupational transitions. The analyses indicate that women face the greatest hinderance to advancement at lower hierarchical levels and that these disadvantages attenuate with higher hierarchical levels. These results contradict the common idea of a glass ceiling, ie that problems for women accrue with increasing hierarchical levels. The findings point to the need for focusing more on gender inequalities at low hierarchical positions although the glass ceiling hypothesis cannot be dismissed altogether. Moreover, the results do not support the view that the gender penalty in careers is larger in the private sector as compared to the public sector.