Preventive and curative importance of the baropodometric analysis for ergonomics and occupational health

The pressure distribution on the plantar surface may reveal information not only about the feet structure, also it may bring out information about the entire body posture not only on health but also pathologic conditions. The application in ergonomics and occupational health gives access to the postural correction that on a long term may provoke professional injuries giving presition and security. This study is on 132 workers of Universidad de las Américas.     

Immigration Policy in Australia,Canada, New Zealand,and the United States: An Overview of Recent Trends

Immigration policies in most host nations of the west have undergone significant changes in recent years. Based on the four country‐specific papers that appear in this section of the journal, and also on our own research, we present an overview of these changes and their context. In all countries, economic considerations play a central role in shaping immigration policy and greater importance is given to scientific research. Several common policy changes are noted in Australia, Canada and New Zealand which include: a shift away from a human capital focus toward more targeted selection based on labor market demand for specific skills, increased emphasis on temporary foreign worker programs, attraction of international students, an overhauling of the refugee system, and regionalization of immigration. In the U.S., while adoption of some of these changes has often surfaced in public policy and academic discussions, legalization of unauthorized migrants remains an important policy debate, with recent arguments focusing on the economic benefits of legalization.     

Poverty and gender perspective in productive projects for rural women in Mexico: impact evaluation of a pilot project

The objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of a pilot study that promoted productive and capacity-building activities among deprived rural women of Mexico. The evaluation design is observational; 1,278 women are interviewed, and the comparison group is estimated by propensity score matching. The results show a positive impact on the carrying out of agricultural activities, in the autonomy of women in decision making, as does their perception of their role in the household. However, the project does not decrease the number of hours set aside for household chores or improve the women's technical and administrative skills.     

Defining Susceptibility for Microbial Risk Assessment: Results of a Workshop

An interdisciplinary workshop was convened by the George Washington University in June 2001 to discuss how to incorporate new knowledge about susceptibility to microbial pathogens into risk assessment and management strategies. Experts from government, academic, and private sector organizations discussed definitions, methods, data needs, and issues related to susceptibility in microbial risk assessment. The participants agreed that modeling approaches need to account for the highly specific nature of host-pathogen relationships, and the wide variability of infectivity, immunity, disease transmission, and outcome rates within microbial species and strains. Concerns were raised about distinguishing between exposure and dose more clearly, interpreting experimental and outbreak data correctly, and using thresholds and possibly linearity at low doses. Recommendations were made to advance microbial risk assessment by defining specific terms and concepts more precisely, designing explicit conceptual frameworks to guide development of more complex models and data collection, addressing susceptibility in all steps of the model, measuring components of immunity to characterize susceptibility, reexamining underlying assumptions, applying default methods appropriately, obtaining more mechanistic data to improve default methods, and developing more biologically relevant and continuous risk estimators. The interrelated impacts of selecting specific subpopulations and health outcomes, and of increasing model complexity and data demands, were considered in the contexts of public policy goals and resources required. The participants stated that zero risk is unattainable, so targeted and effective risk reduction and communication strategies are essential not only to raise pubic awareness about water quality but also to protect the most susceptible members of the population.     

A model for multinational corporate money management

A centralized multiple-period money management model is developed and applied to the case of a simulated US based MNC with subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, Canada and West Germany. Only the first of three period's decisions are intended for implementation in the moving horizon model. The inclusion of two future periods permits current actions to be executed with imperfect but valuable information contained in forecasts of future spot exchange rates produced by moving-horizon least-squares generators. For the set of assumptions invoked it is seen that the centralized model provides significantly better profit results than zero-net exposure approaches.     

Minimizing stress in the workplace: Whose responsibility is it?

Work-related stress is pervasive in today's society. Its far-reaching effects on worker health, productivity, and organizational commitment have caused legislators and researchers alike to rethink stress prevention strategies that will best serve all systems involved. This article identifies the issues limiting the development of primary stress reduction programs in the workplace and provides insight as to the emerging global legislative initiatives that support this issue.     

Review Essay: (Mis-)Reading/(Re-)Reading Marx

Qualitative Sociology -     

Gesture in Instruction: Evidence from Live and Video Lessons

Previous studies have shown that teachers’ gestures are beneficial for student learning. In this research, we investigate whether teachers’ gestures have comparable effects in face-to-face live instruction and video-based instruction. We provided sixty-three 7–10 year old students with instruction about mathematical equivalence problems (e.g., 3 + 4 + 5 = __ + 5). Students were assigned to one of four experimental conditions in a 2 × 2 factorial design that varied (1) instruction medium (video vs. live), and (2) instruction modality (speech vs. speech + gesture). There was no main effect of medium: The same amount of learning occurred whether instruction was done live or on video. There was a main effect of modality: Speech instruction accompanied by gesture resulted in significantly more learning and transfer than instruction conveyed through speech only. Gesture’s effect on instruction was stronger for video instruction than live instruction. These findings suggest that there may be a limit to gesture’s role in communication that results in student learning.