The elderly in the shopping centers: the usability study of semipublic spaces as attractiveness generator

This article aims to study the importance of the attributes of usability and attractiveness for the semi-public spaces of Shopping Centers considering the elderly users, the psycho-cognitive and bio-physiological changes resulting from the aging process, as well as their expectations of the built space. Through a qualitative study of theoretical review with a multidisciplinary focus in architecture, ergonomics, gerontology, environmental psychology and management, the conditions of the elderly users were identified, and also the attributes related to usability and attractiveness, collected in order to understand and organize their interrelationships, to suggest recommendations about the drafting of Shopping Centers, aiming to generate projects and environments that should promote the efficient and satisfactory use for elderly and may also create a competitive advantage for these enterprises.     

Colour, vision and ergonomics

This paper is based on a research project - Visual Communication and Inclusive Design-Colour, Legibility and Aged Vision, developed at the Faculty of Architecture of Lisbon. The research has the aim of determining specific design principles to be applied to visual communication design (printed) objects, in order to be easily read and perceived by all. This study target group was composed by a selection of socially active individuals, between 55 and 80 years, and we used cultural events posters as objects of study and observation. The main objective is to overlap the study of areas such as colour, vision, older people's colour vision, ergonomics, chromatic contrasts, typography and legibility. In the end we will produce a manual with guidelines and information to apply scientific knowledge into the communication design projectual practice. Within the normal aging process, visual functions gradually decline; the quality of vision worsens, colour vision and contrast sensitivity are also affected. As people's needs change along with age, design should help people and communities, and improve life quality in the present. Applying principles of visually accessible design and ergonomics, the printed design objects, (or interior spaces, urban environments, products, signage and all kinds of visually information) will be effective, easier on everyone's eyes not only for visually impaired people but also for all of us as we age.     

Physical and psychosocial indicators among office workers from public sector with and without musculoskeletal symptoms

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMD) are the result of the combination of different risk factors. They are very common among computer workers, mainly when neck and upper limbs are considered. Forty-two office workers from a public university participated in this study. They were divided into two groups: Symptomatic Subjects (SS, n=20) and Asymptomatic Subjects (AS, n=22), according to the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ). Psychosocial indicators were assessed using the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) and Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES). Workplaces were evaluated according to the Ergonomic Workplace Analysis (EWA), proposed by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health. The NMQ showed higher weekly prevalence of complaints on neck, shoulders and wrist/hands (p=0.00) among SS. The annual prevalence of symptoms on wrist/hands was also higher among SS (p=0.02). The JCQ did not show any difference between groups (p>0.05). Higher proportion of servers with 'high level' of engagement, dedication and absorption, according to UWES, was identified among SS (p<0.01). EWA showed worse scores for 'Work Site', 'Job Content' and 'Repetitiveness of the Work' among SS (p<0.05). Servers are exposed to physical and psychosocial risk factors that can contribute to the development of WRMD. Work conditions need to be change in order to improve musculoskeletal health.     

Taking care of you and care for others: an analysis of the activity of the work of technical and nursing assistants of a psychiatric institution for children and adolescents

Our objective in this study, the analysis of potential fields of risk management in nursing work in psychiatric care to adolescents and children, while settings that go from the relationship between technical and organizational determinants of work activity and the skills of operators. It was established focus on the work process of the Technical and Nursing Assistants to seek for response elements in an attempt to understand the health-disease process experienced by these workers. It was used for analysis and data collection, through the method of Ergonomic Work Analysis (EWA), fifteen workers of nursing staff - T&NA, between effectives and contractors, and the strategies of action and regulation of these workers in relation to the interface that they deal with. The results show that the workers are exposed to all charges in an intense and specific way, causing physical and mental wear, as it approaches the psychological distress, exposure to the psychic pressure, not only through contact with the object of work, but the complexity of these relationships that are involved in nursing staff.     

Communal Goals,Campus Racial Climate Perceptions,and Cultural Differences in Perceived Academic Satisfaction

Although some research has examined Latino collectivism and Latino students' campus climate perceptions, there remains a gap in the literature regarding the interactive effects of these two constructs. Therefore, the authors examined the moderating effect that perceptions of campus racial climate may have on the relationship between communal goals and academic major satisfaction for Latino students in comparison with European American students. Contrary to prediction, perceptions of a positive university campus racial climate moderated the relationship between communal goals and academic satisfaction for European American students but not Latino students. Specifically, European Americans endorsing higher communal goals were more likely to report higher academic satisfaction when holding a positive perception of the university's racial climate. However, a main effect was observed whereby communal goals were a significant positive predictor of academic satisfaction for Latino students. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Juvenile delinquency in Romania: a comparison between minors in prisons and re-education services

This article assesses the relationships between the individual and family characteristics of minors and juvenile delinquency in Romania. This cross-sectional study involved Romanian delinquent minors, 285 of whom were incarcerated in prisons in Romania and 280 subject to educational measures in re-education services in Romania. The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that delinquency in incarcerated minors is associated with age, the offence committed, drug use, school dropout rates, recidivism, family alcoholism, the relationship with the biological parents, and the number of biological siblings. The study provides baseline data to identify at-risk minors in order to develop prevention programmes. We have adopted a public health approach to analysing delinquency and targets risk factors.     

Why a fixed workweek?

The main goal of this article is to explain why the fixed workweek appeared. To this purpose we differentiate between “jobs” and “hours per job”. We consider an economy where hours and number of workers are substitutes in production but in which hiring a worker entails a fixed cost plus a variable cost per hour worked. As a consequence, firms would like workers to work as many hours as possible. In an unregulated economy, workers work more hours that they would like to at the on-going wage rate. This situation characterizes the economy of today’s industrialized countries in the 19th century.     

Child Care Choices in Spain

In this paper we examined the determinants of child care choices among families with young children in Spain, by means of a conceptual framework that encompassed need, costs, and availability. Based on data from the Spanish Time Use Survey and Household Budget Survey, our study indicated that, regardless of model specification, the age of the child, the mother’s labor force decisions, and the prices of child care services available were the most important factors that mothers considered when they chose a type of child care. Day care center services substituted for babysitters when the price of babysitters rose; and relative and parent care substituted for day care centers when these services became more expensive. We found no different sensitivity to price changes for working and non-working mothers. From a public policy perspective, child care price subsidies were found to have much stronger effects on child care decisions than child allowances or public provision of school slots.     

Modes of engagement of immigrants with their home societies: types and measurements of engagement

The objective of this article is to review how transnational engagement has been traditionally measured and then offer a proposal for measurements corresponding to how immigrants perceive their transnational practices. Based on the traditional conceptual model of immigrant transnationalism, a system of indicators was developed in accordance with a broad and integral view of the connection with their home societies. This system of indicators was applied to an Andean sample population residing in the Basque Country, Spain, and analysed using factor analysis to produce an empirical model of engagement from the traditional conceptual one. Results show the importance of the private aspect of the relationships with origin and the existence of a continuum in the immigrant connection with their home countries that ranges from the personal to the community. Moreover, two types of intensity of this connection stand out: the first suggests a mere interest in the place of origin while the second implies an active connection with their home countries, both personal and community based.