Perception of Mobile Phone and Base Station Risks

Perceptions of risks associated with mobile phones, base stations, and other sources of electromagnetic fields (EMF) were examined. Data from a telephone survey conducted in the German- and French-speaking parts of Switzerland are presented (N = 1,015). Participants assessed both risks and benefits associated with nine different sources of EMF. Trust in the authorities regulating these hazards was assessed as well. In addition, participants answered a set of questions related to attitudes toward EMF and toward mobile phone base stations. According to respondents' assessments, high-voltage transmission lines are the most risky source of EMF. Mobile phones and mobile phone base stations received lower risk ratings. Results showed that trust in authorities was positively associated with perceived benefits and negatively associated with perceived risks. People who use their mobile phones frequently perceived lower risks and higher benefits than people who use their mobile phones infrequently. People who believed they lived close to a base station did not significantly differ in their level of risks associated with mobile phone base stations from people who did not believe they lived close to a base station. Regarding risk regulation, a majority of participants were in favor of fixing limiting values based on the worst-case scenario. Correlations suggest that belief in paranormal phenomena is related to level of perceived risks associated with EMF. Furthermore, people who believed that most chemical substances cause cancer also worried more about EMF than people who did not believe that chemical substances are that harmful. Practical implications of the results are discussed.     

Domestic Outsourcing,Housework Time,and Subjective Time Pressure: New Insights From Longitudinal Data

Hiring household help could reduce housework time and alleviate subjective time pressure. Associations are assumed to be particularly apparent for women because they spend more time on housework than men. But empirical evidence on whether hiring help actually saves time or relieves time pressure is scant and inconclusive, chiefly because of data and methodological limitations. This study improves on earlier ones in that the authors examined panel data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey (n = 5,124 couples) that enable modeling techniques that take account of selection effects, possible reverse causality, and unobserved heterogeneity. Contrary to some earlier studies, the authors show that outsourcing does in fact reduce housework time, narrow gender gaps, and lower women's subjective time pressure. They conclude that domestic outsourcing may save time and reduce subjective pressure for some women, but one consequence may be increased inequality between women who can and cannot afford domestic help.     

Gender Inequality,Processes of Adaptation,and Female Local Initiatives in Cash Crop Production in Northern Tanzania

This article contributes to development research, as well as research studying inequality in agricultural systems. We use empirical data from an ethnographic study in the village of Mamba, in northern Tanzania (2006–2009). This study analyzes the question of changing gender relations and the patriarchal constraints to collective action under market liberalization of cash crops. Our findings demonstrate that the shift to a market economy has influenced the nature of production relations, deepening inequalities in gender relations and the position of women. However, some women circumvent their disadvantaged situations through their association with various types of collective action groups or networks. In order to investigate the different impacts on women's lives, we analyze women's interest and motivations for these collective actions. We also identify the processes of adaptation to the new production relations through the coffee trade network and tomato cultivation groups, two local initiatives. We analyze the differences between these two forms of collective action and theorize on their different impacts on women's empowerment.     

A new approach for bounding awards in bankruptcy problems

The solution for the contested garment problem, proposed in the Babylonic Talmud, suggests that each agent should receive at least some part of the resources whenever the claim exceeds the available amount. In this context, we propose a new method to define lower bounds on awards, an idea that has underlied the theoretical analysis of bankruptcy problems from its beginning (O’Neill, Math Soc Sci 2:345–371, 1982) to present day (Dominguez and Thomson, Econ Theory 28:283–307, 2006). Specifically, starting from the fact that a society establishes its own set of commonly accepted equity principles, our proposal ensures to each agent the smallest amount she gets according to all the admissible rules. We analyze its recursive application for different sets of equity principles.     

Fertility Intentions and Residential Relocations

This research addresses the question of whether fertility intentions (before conception) are associated with residential relocations and the distance of the relocation. We empirically tested this using data from two birth cohorts (aged 24–28 and 34–38 in the first survey wave) of the German Family Panel (pairfam) and event history analysis. Bivariate analyses showed that coupled individuals relocated at a higher rate if they intended to have a(nother) child. We found substantial heterogeneity according to individuals’ age and parental status, particularly for outside-town relocations. Childless individuals of average age at family formation—a highly mobile group—relocated at a lower rate if they intended to have a child. In contrast, older individuals who already had children—the least-mobile group—relocated at a higher rate if they intended to have another child. Multivariate analyses show that these associations are largely due to adjustments in housing and other living conditions. Our results suggest that anticipatory relocations (before conception) to adapt to growing household size are importantly nuanced by the opportunities and rationales of couples to adjust their living conditions over the life course. Our research contributes to the understanding of residential mobility as a by-product of fertility decisions and, more broadly, evidences that intentions matter and need to be considered in the analysis of family life courses.     

Impact of caring for children with medical complexity on parents’ employment and time

Objectives: This study examined parental care of children with medical complexity (CMC) in terms of time spent providing care and impacts on employment and career.

Methods: We recruited caregivers of 153 CMC in a tertiary center complex care program to participate in a cross-sectional mail survey.

Results: Among 95 respondents (62% of eligible), 75% of primary caregivers and 53% of spouses experienced employment losses and one-third experienced negative career outcomes attributed to care for CMC. On weekdays during the day (6 a.m.–6 p.m.), 55% of caregivers provided care for 8 hours or more. On weekday evenings and nights, half of caregivers provided care for at least 6 hours, including 53% of caregivers who provided care from midnight to 6 a.m.; these proportions were higher on weekends. Compared to employed caregivers, non-employed caregivers reported spending more time providing care on weekdays (P?=?.001), but less time providing care on weekend evenings (P?=?.019). On weekend days and weekday evenings/nights, employment was not associated with duration of care.

Conclusions: Caring for CMC frequently impacts employment and careers of caregivers and spouses. Employed and non-employed caregivers invest substantial time in care. Research on CMC should include indirect costs of family care in terms of employment, income, and time.     

How Parents Communicate Right and Wrong: A Study of Memorable Moral Messages Recalled by Emerging Adults

The family communication process through which emerging adults form their moral outlook is examined through the lenses of Negotiated Morality Theory and Vygotskian Developmental Theory. Analyses were performed on the context, content, and type of 470 memorable messages reported by 303 emerging adults. Results indicated that messages were spontaneously delivered rather than planned, communicated at home, and received at around 16 years of age. Messages most often concerned relational ethics, self-honoring, honesty/fraudulence, careless/harmful acts, and personal qualities. Eleven distinct forms of communication were used by parents, including forecasting the future, empathy-enhancing, virtue-prioritizing, commanding, and identity-making. As expected, the nature of the messages varied by the gender of the parent and the age of the child at the time of the message. Parental messages appear to be influential as young adults negotiate cultural, religious, and peer sources of morality. Implications for parents and moral educators are explored.     

The development of a universal approach to testing of walkway slip resistance in the U.S

The measurement of walkway slip resistance is required to assess the risk of slipping. Unlike other countries, the U.S. has not decided upon a single approach to the measurement of slip resistance. Several types of tribometers are available to measure slip resistance however, the measured value of the slip resistance of a given surface has been found to be tribometer specific. The introduction of ASTM International Standard F2508 Standard Practice for Validation and Calibration of Walkway Tribometers Using Reference Surfaces, has produced a method which allows validation of each type of tribometer and the values generated during testing.     

Support system for management of shares ergonomic

This article discusses the development of a computerized support to demands for treatment of a wide spectrum and diverse nature. Developed under SPM platform (Situa??o, Problema e Melhoria), the practitioner seeks to provide an ergonomic aid from the identification and characterization of the processes of analysis demands. The interest of a technological support the practice of ergonomics is a domestic origin, which already features a wide universe. For purposes of this article will be drawn the line defined by the universe in the Federal Public Service occupations within the guidelines set Subsystem Integrated System for Health Care Workers of the Federal Government. The development of this system initially intended to assist the practitioner in ergonomics mapping situations in which the federal public servant has been undergoing for the second time that can classify and then treat them.