Individual and Contextual Correlates of Economic Difficulties in Old Age in Europe

With data drawn from the second public release version of the “Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe” (SHARE), we scrutinize individual and contextual (regional) correlates of economic difficulties among older Europeans, aged 65 or more. A logistic multi-level regression model with random intercept shows that the risk of being relatively poor varies considerably among the aged. We verified that the factors affecting poverty in each area are not merely the weighted sum of the effect of the more disadvantaged people within the same area, which also exists: poverty appears also significantly influenced by the specific context of residence.     

Implementation of Jefferson-d’Hondt rule in the formation of a parliamentary committee

Same parliaments, to form a committee of size $q$ , use a voting process like the following: every parliamentary member votes for one out of a fixed set of candidates, and those $q$ candidates receiving more votes are elected for the committee. Assuming total discipline of vote, this is a game form in which players are the parliamentary groups. We investigate, according to some natural hypotheses about preferences, the likely distribution of the members of this committee. The main results are: (a) when fractional votes are allowed, there is a complete agreement between the distribution among the groups of the elected candidates that are outcomes of a Nash equilibrium and the distribution that, according to the size of the groups, would compute the Jefferson-d’Hondt allocation rule, and (b) when fractional votes are not allowed, there is a near agreement for a majority of situations.     

受众心理分析视角的网络谣言治理

网络受众是网络谣言传播的主体,其不同的心理状态推动了网络谣言的生成与传播。网络受众的心理状态主要表现为泄愤心理、从众心理、窥私心理、投射心理以及选择心理等多种复杂的心理状态。这些心理状态的成因在于社会主义民主法制不健全、政府公信力低以及受众理性精神不足。唯有通过加强民主法制建设,健全网络法治监管,建立信息发布机制,建立辟谣中介组织以及加强网络媒介素养教育等途径,才能培育成熟的网络受众心理,从而提升网络谣言治理的成效。     

Maximum force levels in different positions of shoulder and elbow

The number of occupational diseases in Mexico is alarming and clearly it is important to do studies with the purpose of improving the design of workstations. The objective of this research is to determine the maximum force levels in different positions of shoulder and elbow. An experiment was conducted with 16 subjects between 18 and 28 years old: 8 male and 8 female. We considered 16 different positions, working with the right and left arm to perform the tasks of pull and push. The tasks consisted of pushing or pulling a dynamometer for a period of 3 seconds as hard as possible. The results were presented in tables. The tables show the mean, standard deviation and range of force levels in different positions.     

Proposal for an integrative methodology to development the ergonomic program

This paper collects the experience for both, academic and professional practice, and deal with the stages and level of involvement from different elements in the organization. The work is focused in some kind of concentric cycles, the very outside circle is formed by those that interact with ergonomic process in a year period, and the inner cycles are those that acts in a daily or weekly intervention. The success of the program still depending on the good will of the managers, but any action directed on benefit of the people at work, enable the moral as well as indicators for health and safety.     

Burnout syndrome, working conditions, and health: a reality among public high school teachers in Brazil

The objective of the study was to evaluate the occurrence of Burnout Syndrome in 100 teachers of six public high schools and its correlation with working conditions in a southeast city of Brazil. Characterization of the sample occurred after application of a socio-demographic questionnaire. Evaluation of the working conditions was done by means of an Ergonomic Working Analysis. The presence of Burnout Syndrome was evaluated by means of the Maslach Burnout Inventory. The sample presented the predominance of women, with an average age of 40.4 and the majority married with children. Roughly 50% had less than 10 years of service, and more than half of the teachers taught more than 18 classes per week. Hoarseness after work was principally reported among women, which required many days off for health treatment. Environmental conditions reflect inadequacy in relation to noise, light, humidity and temperature. Presence of pain in the upper limbs was especially high among women. Risk of musculoskeletal disorders in the upper limbs predominated as moderately important to significant. We also identified an average distance walked by teachers of 1.5 Km and an average of 4.2 Kg of school supplies carried between classes. The Burnout Syndrome presented a high score for depersonalization principally among men, but it has association with both sexes. Emotional exhaustion correlates with noise, depersonalization, and personal fulfillment, in addition to the high number of weekly lessons. It can be concluded that Burnout syndrome is present among teachers, principally in terms of depersonalization, deserving the attention of government officials and the schools, as well as the teachers themselves.     

The contribution of ergonomics to risk analysis in the design process: the case of a future control room

The aim of this paper is to highlight how ergonomics contributes to risk analysis and risk management in a design project for a new reactor, the French EPR (European Pressurized Reactor). An iterative ergonomics design process has been conducted over the last 10 years through a Human Factors Engineering program at the French energy company EDF. A parallel has been drawn between a risk management process and this ergonomics process based on International Organization for Standardization (ISO) publications such as ISO/IEC Guide 73, ISO Guide 51, etc. The contribution of ergonomics to risk analysis is illustrated by an example: the automatic diagnosis, which is a very important technical device for safety. Five main types of risk have been identified via ergonomic analyses during the different design stages. Counter-measures have been implemented and their efficacy tested within the scope of new campaigns to assess human factors. However, the management of risks in such a design project requires the participation both of the different design entities involved in the project and of other experts in aspects of risk management, such as human reliability. The organization of collaborative participation remains a challenge to be addressed.     

The impact of the European Youth Guarantee on active labour market policies: A convergence analysis

The European Union’s (EU) Youth Guarantee aims to improve the labour market situation of young people. Rather than prescribing a uniform policy model, it acknowledges that supportive measures need to align with national, regional and local circumstances. It thus seeks to promote mutual policy learning through the open method of coordination. As an innovative measure, the EU has deployed funding programmes to support the domestic measures related to the Youth Guarantee. We therefore examined in this study whether this mix of recommendations and financial incentives has entailed a convergence of member state policies. Our analysis of policy outputs for the period 2007?2014 yields a mixed empirical picture. There is catching‐up convergence regarding policies’ sectoral coverage but increasing divergence concerning the number of adopted policy instruments. The first two years of financial incentives did not produce any effect on enhancing policy experimentation among less active member states. We offer an optimistic and a pessimistic interpretation of these findings.     

微信朋友圈：“互联网+”场域中的身份建构与文化表达

微信朋友圈是近年国内兴起的一种社会文化现象.微信中的朋友圈与现实社会中的朋友圈有共性,但差异更为明显."熟悉"的"陌生人"和"陌生"的"熟人"是微信朋友圈人际关系的两种主要状态.基于互联网等现代通讯媒介,"朋友"在微信场域中具有多重身份认同和身份建构.通过多样化的象征符号及其表达,微信朋友圈的即时互动和超地域性使其具备了现实朋友圈难以企及的社会资本动员能力和文化张力.微信红包、微信点赞、微言众听、微群讨论甚至微商广告等等,构成了"互联网+"时代微信朋友圈的基本业态和常态.微信朋友圈的出现和流行,在某种程度上看是文化与技术融合的现代性产物.作为文化与技术融合的当代社会交往媒介和载体,微信朋友圈已开始出现了一些后现代社会生活的端倪.     

中国省域大气环境效率的测算

基于区域技术异质性假定与共同边界理论,文章将大气污染排放物视为非期望产出,利用考虑投入产出松弛变量的SBM-Undesirable方法系统考察2006-2013年中国省域大气环境效率与大气环境治理技术的差异性,运用面板计量Tobit回归模型定量考察省域大气环境效率水平及其治理技术的影响机制.结果表明,中国大气环境效率较低且区域差异明显,三大区域之间大气环境治理技术落差较大,大气污染减排潜力巨大;经济增长、产业结构优化、科技创新、提升贸易开放度有利于促进大气环境效率及其治理技术的改善,相比之下,煤炭消费比重的提高与财政分权则起到了明显抑制作用.