Construction and application of an indicator system to assess the ergonomic performance of large and medium-sized construction companies

This article proposes a system of indicators to evaluate the performance of companies in ergonomics for buildings. The system was developed based primarily on studies related to the performance evaluation of the construction industry and on Brazilian standards of ergonomics and work safety and had also the contribution of national and international indicators related to ergonomics, work safety, quality, sustainability, quality of work life and to organizational behavior. The indicators were named, classified and their components were assigned to compose the theoretical model SIDECE--System of Performance Indicators in Ergonomics for Building Construction (as for the Portuguese acronym), serving the major goals of ergonomics: health, safety and workers' satisfaction and production efficiency. The SIDECE is being validated along with the building construction companies in the city of Natal, Brazil, whose practical results, deriving from the application of instruments to collect field data, are under process, to be presented on the occasion of the 18th World Congress on Ergonomics. It is intended that the SIDECE be used by building construction companies as a support tool for excellence management.     

Neighborhood processes, self-efficacy, and adolescent mental health

Self-efficacy beliefs are central to mental health. Because adolescents' neighborhoods shape opportunities for experiences of control, predictability, and safety, we propose that neighborhood conditions are associated with adolescents' self-efficacy and, in turn, their internalizing problems (i.e., depression/anxiety symptoms). We tested these hypotheses using three waves of data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (N = 2,345). Results indicate that adolescents living in violent neighborhoods tended to report lower self-efficacy beliefs, partly because they were more likely to experience fear in their neighborhood. However, moving out of Chicago neighborhoods marked by violence and low collective efficacy to neighborhoods outside of the city was associated with adolescents' increased self-efficacy (vs. staying in such neighborhoods), an association explained by adolescents' school-related experiences. Finally, through self-efficacy, these neighborhood processes had an indirect association with adolescents' internalizing problems. Results partially support a model linking neighborhood conditions, cognitions about the self, and emotions.     

On hierarchies and communication

Many economic and political organizations have some relational structure, meaning that participating agents do not only differ with respect to certain individual characteristics such as wealth and preferences, but also belong to some relational structure in which they usually take different positions. Two examples of such structures are communication networks and hierarchies. In the literature, the distinction between these two types of relational structures is not always clear. In models of restricted cooperation, this distinction should be defined by properties of the set of feasible coalitions. We characterize the sets of feasible coalitions in communication networks and compare them with sets of feasible coalitions arising from hierarchies.     

Impulsivity traits and gambling cognitions associated with gambling preferences and clinical status

Impulsivity (and related traits reward/punishment sensitivity and tolerance to delayed rewards) and gambling cognitions have been linked to gambling. However, their independent associations with gambling preferences and clinical status have never been dissociated. The current study applied a data-driven strategy to identify gambling preferences, based on gambling frequency in several modalities. The two resulting factors were used to classify gambling disorder patients (GDPs) and non-problem recreational gamblers (RGs) into Type I (preferring cards, casino games and skill-based bets) and Type II (preferring slot machines, lotteries/pools and bingo). Participants were assessed in impulsivity, delay discounting, reward/punishment sensitivity, gambling-related cognitions, gambling severity, gambling frequency and average amount gambled per episode. GDPs scored higher than RGs in positive and negative urgency, delay discounting, reward sensitivity and intensity of gambling-related cognitions, but less in lack of perseverance. Additionally, Type II gamblers had greater difficulties delaying gratification, whereas Type I gamblers showed higher cognitive distortion and reward sensitivity levels. In practical terms, the finding that some characteristics are equally pervasive in disordered gamblers independently of their preferences (affect-driven impulsivity), whereas others (distorted cognitions, reward sensitivity, delay discounting) are more prominent in one type or the other, provides a basis to establish targets’ priority in therapy.     

Latent Tuberculosis Infection Screening Acceptability among Migrant Farmworkers

Latent tuberculosis (TB) infection is routinely diagnosed using the tuberculin skin test (TST). New methods of detection more specific than TST such as QuantiFERON TB Gold In‐Tube (QFT‐GIT) have been developed but evidence remains limited on their acceptability among migrant farmworkers. This article examined the acceptability of screening tests among migrant farmworkers working on the Arizona‐Mexico border. We conducted a cross‐sectional survey of migrant farmworkers via questionnaire. Of 83 participants interviewed, 53 (63.9%) believed that TB was a serious disease that could result in death and 59 (71.1%) considered TB a health concern in their community. Sixty‐four participants (77.1%) rated QFT‐GIT test as performing better than TST. Our study demonstrates preference for QFT‐GIT results over TST, and highlights migrant farmworkers’ considering themselves at risk of TB and TB as a health concern. Policies that create easy access and culturally appropriate, affordable healthcare for this vulnerable population should be encouraged.     

Variance Estimation and Asymptotic Confidence Bands for the Mean Estimator of Sampled Functional Data with High Entropy Unequal Probability Sampling Designs

For fixed size sampling designs with high entropy, it is well known that the variance of the Horvitz–Thompson estimator can be approximated by the Hájek formula. The interest of this asymptotic variance approximation is that it only involves the first order inclusion probabilities of the statistical units. We extend this variance formula when the variable under study is functional, and we prove, under general conditions on the regularity of the individual trajectories and the sampling design, that we can get a uniformly convergent estimator of the variance function of the Horvitz–Thompson estimator of the mean function. Rates of convergence to the true variance function are given for the rejective sampling. We deduce, under conditions on the entropy of the sampling design, that it is possible to build confidence bands whose coverage is asymptotically the desired one via simulation of Gaussian processes with variance function given by the Hájek formula. Finally, the accuracy of the proposed variance estimator is evaluated on samples of electricity consumption data measured every half an hour over a period of 1 week.     

Different Factors for Different Causes: Analysis of the Spatial Aggregations of Fire Ignitions in Catalonia (Spain)

The present study analyzes the effects of different socioeconomic factors on the frequency of fire ignition occurrence, according to different original causes. The data include a set of documented ignition points in the region of Catalonia for the period 1995–2008. The analysis focused on the spatial aggregation patterns of the ignitions for each specific ignition cause. The point‐based data on ignitions were interpolated into municipality‐level information using kernel methods as the basis for defining five ignition density levels. Afterwards, the combination of socioeconomic factors influencing the ignition density levels of the municipalities was analyzed for each documented cause of ignition using a principal component analysis. The obtained results confirmed the idea that both the spatial aggregation patterns of fire ignitions and the factors defining their occurrence were specific for each of the causes of ignition. Intentional fires and those of unknown origin were found to have similar spatial aggregation patterns, and the presence of high ignition density areas was related to high population and high unemployment rates. Additionally, it was found that fires originated from forest work, agricultural activities, pasture burning, and lightning had a very specific behavior on their own, differing from the similarities found on the spatial aggregation of ignitions originated from smokers, electric lines, machinery, campfires, and those of intentional or unknown origin.     

Price and consumer behaviour—A review

The concepts of the traditional theory of demand have not been found suitable for realistic studies of consumers' behaviour. Since 1954, however, new lines of exploration have evolved, of which that of Professor Jean Stoetzel has proved most fruitful. The idea that, since price served as a powerful indicator of quality, the consumer bent on a purchase will approach the market with two price limits in mind was verified and further developed by the Nottingham University Consumer Study Group. The theory has been successfully extended to the competition between leading brands and applied to the exploration of consumer behaviour during the decimalization period in the U.K. Advances have been made also in the quantitative study of other related problems, such as the price image of retail establishments and the relationship between pack size, price and purchasing behaviour.     

An empirical comparison of EM,SEM and MCMC performance for problematic Gaussian mixture likelihoods

We compare EM, SEM, and MCMC algorithms to estimate the parameters of the Gaussian mixture model. We focus on problems in estimation arising from the likelihood function having a sharp ridge or saddle points. We use both synthetic and empirical data with those features. The comparison includes Bayesian approaches with different prior specifications and various procedures to deal with label switching. Although the solutions provided by these stochastic algorithms are more often degenerate, we conclude that SEM and MCMC may display faster convergence and improve the ability to locate the global maximum of the likelihood function.