Search

This column article examines the complexities surrounding employee leaves due to disabilities, pregnancy, or other extended absences. Also discussed are some of the legal considerations around employee leave, including a brief review of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The author advocates for proactive planning when possible and a person-centric approach to effectively support employees during absence and upon return. These strategies aim to foster an inclusive and supportive environment for individuals requiring leaves within library settings, promoting equitable representation and effective support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractMenstrual leave is a policy allowing menstruators to take paid or unpaid time off work if experiencing painful menstrual cycle-related symptoms or illnesses. Scholars have displayed an increased interest in menstrual leave, primarily owing to the rise in companies offering menstrual leave. Efforts have been made to theorise the potential benefits and drawbacks of menstrual leave. Building on prior work, this article conducts a thematic analysis of twelve menstrual leave policy announcements from companies in five countries. Guided by an intersectional feminist theoretical framework, the article uncovers two themes in menstrual leave policy announcements: (1) recognition of menstrual stigma and the potential to normalise menstruation and menstrual health; and (2) the potential for increased worker power. It subsequently develops two critical arguments: (1) menstrual leave may perpetuate (hetero)sexist beliefs and attitudes, and (2) menstrual leave may reify individual responsibility to manage menstruation and facilitate a positive culture around menstrual leave. This research adds to menstruation literature by being one of the few studies to investigate company-level menstrual leave policy announcements in a transnational context. A broader conceptualisation of menstrual leave, including the transition to ‘menstrual flexibility’ as an umbrella term, could help such policies become equity tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is aimed at ascertaining the prevalence and predictors of common mental disorders (CMD) among Brazilian graduate students (N = 5266) during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Employing the Self‐Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ‐20), the study found that CMD prevalence was 63.5%. Variables such as not feeling well psychologically in the past year, the necessity to take leave of absence from activities, residence in different regions, female gender, studying for a master's degree, extension of deadlines, experience of setbacks in education, COVID‐19 risk group membership, self‐medication practices, seeking medical assistance, and prior psychological counseling emerged as predictors of CMD. The findings reveal the vulnerability of graduate students to CMDs and risk factors amenable to institutional intervention. To this end, the study provides support for strategies promoting mental health in this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides an overview of the experiences of two workers at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) who are members of a union. The workers discuss their roles as a conservationist and an art handler, as well as the challenges they face in their positions. The article also highlights the formation of a union at the PMA, the negotiations for a fair contract, and the subsequent strike and ratification of the contract. The workers share their perspectives on the improvements achieved through the contract and hope that their success will inspire other cultural institutions to improve labor conditions. [Extracted from the article]

Growing up in a military family with long-term and frequently absent parents presents unique psychosocial challenges to children and families. The purpose of this paper is to examine what growing up in a military family with absent parents looks like from a child’s perspective, what the biggest challenges are, and how children cope with them. We took a life course approach and conducted retrospective, semi-structured in-depth interviews with 13 adult children from 11 military families in Slovenia, which revealed that prolonged parental absences leave a strong impression on children’s individual biographies and everyday life. This influence is evident in their present and past everyday life throughout their life trajectories. It particularly affects relationships with parents and relationships between parents, leads to frequent changes in daily routines and disrupts the family balance as well as causes anxiety and fear for the parent. From the children’s perspective, it also affects their parents’ parenting practices (how their parents raised them) and how they manage their lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Inpatient suicide remains difficult to predict. This study aimed to identify individual patient predictors to help identify those at greater risk. Methods: This case–control study was undertaken in an independent mental health service in Ireland. Cases were drawn from all admissions to the service between March 2004 and February 2019. Controls were matched for date of admission. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted. Results: Thirty‐three cases of inpatient suicide were compared to 132 controls. The inpatient suicide rate was 76.2 per 100,000 admissions. The rate of inpatient suicide fell in line with national rates despite less restrictive practices being implemented in the service. Males accounted for 66% of cases. Hanging was the most common method of suicide overall and among male patients, and drowning was the most common among females. Male gender, tertiary referral, an adverse psychosocial event during admission, a period of absence without leave and expressing hopelessness were identified as independent risk factors for inpatient suicide. Substance use, involuntary detention, family history of suicide, and number of previous admissions were not significant. Conclusions: While not highly sensitive, a period of absence without leave, tertiary referral and hopelessness are important predictors of inpatient suicide risk that treating teams should consider in care planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phyllosphere is an important but underestimated habitat for a variety of microorganisms, with limited knowledge about leaf endophytes as a crucial component of the phyllosphere microbiome. In this study, we investigated the mechanisms of communities and co-occurrence networks of leaf endophytes in response to forest thinning in a temperate forest. As we expected, contrasting responses of fungal and bacterial endophytes were observed. Specifically, the diversity of leaf endophytic fungi and the complexity of their co-occurrence networks increased significantly with thinning intensity, whereas the complexity of endophytic bacterial co-occurrence networks decreased. In particular, microbiota inhabiting damaged leaves seem to be more intensively interacting, showing an evident fungi–bacteria trade-off under forest thinning. In damaged leaves, besides the direct effects of thinning, thinning-induced changes in neighbor tree diversity indirectly altered the diversity of leaf fungal and bacterial endophytes via modifying leaf functional traits such as leaf dry matter content and specific leaf area. These findings provide new experimental evidence for the trade-offs between leaf endophytic fungi and bacteria under the different magnitudes of deforestation, highlighting their dependence on the presence or absence of leaf damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2004, California became the first state to require that employers provide paid family leave (PFL) to their employees. This paper examines the effect of California's PFL law on time spent caregiving to parents and to grandchildren by older adults aged 50–79. To identify the effect of the law, the paper uses the 1998–2016 waves of the Health and Retirement Study and a difference-in-differences approach comparing outcomes in California to other states before and after the implementation of the law. Results suggest that the law induced a switch in caregiving behavior with older adults spending less time caring for grandchildren and more time helping parents. Focusing on women, results further suggest that PFL affected older adults both through their own leave-taking and through reallocations of their caregiving time in response to leave-taking by new parents. The findings motivate thinking more broadly when calculating the costs and benefits of PFL policies; to the extent that California's PFL law enabled older adults to provide more care for their parents they otherwise would not have received, such an outcome represents an indirect benefit of the policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women and workers over 50 disproportionately provide care for aging family members worldwide, including the 101 million who are care-dependent. Paid leave for adult health needs, which temporarily replaces employment income for workers providing care, can critically support both caregivers' economic outcomes and care recipients' wellbeing. We created quantitatively comparable data on paid leave policies that can be used to meet adult family members' health needs in all United Nations member states. Globally, 112 countries fail to provide any paid leave that can be used to meet the serious health needs of an aging parent, spouse, or adult child. These gaps have profound consequences for older workers providing care as well as care access by aging, ill, and disabled adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To assess changes in young parents' health behaviors following implementation of New York State's Paid Family Leave Program (NYSPFL). Methods: We used synthetic control (N = 117,552) and difference-in-differences (N = 18,973) models with data from the nationally representative Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) from 2011 to 2019 to provide individual-level estimates of the effects of NYSPFL on self-reported exercise in the past month and average daily sleep of adults aged 21–30 years living with one or more children under 18 years of age in New York and comparison states. Results: Synthetic control model results indicate that the NYSPFL increased the likelihood of exercise in the past month among mothers, single parents, and low-income parents by 6.3–10.3% points (pp), whereas fathers showed a decrease in exercise (7.8 pp). Fathers, single parents, and those with two or more children showed increases in daily sleep between 14 and 21 min per day. Conclusions for practice: State paid family and medical leave laws may provide benefits for health behaviors among young parents with children under 18, particularly those in low-income and single-parent households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Paid parental leave policies may promote breastfeeding, which can have short- and long-term health benefits for both members of the birthing person-infant dyad. In the United States, where 56% of the workforce qualifies for unpaid federal medical leave, certain states have recently enacted paid parental and family leave policies. We aimed to assess the extent to which living in states with versus without paid family leave was associated with feeding regimens that included breastfeeding. Methods: In this cross-sectional analysis of the 2021 National Immunization Survey-Child, we assessed feeding outcomes: (1) exclusively breastfed (only fed breastmilk—never infant formula—both before and after six months of age), (2) late mixed breastfeeding (formula after six months), (3) early mixed breastfeeding (breastfed, formula before six months), and (4) never breastfed. We conducted Pearson χ2 to compare social-demographic characteristics and multivariable nominal regression to assess extent to paid family leave was associated with breastfeeding regimens, compared with never breastfeeding. Results: Of the 35,995 respondents, 5,806 (25% of weighted respondents) were from states with paid family leave policies. Compared with never breastfeeding, all feeding that incorporated breastfeeding—exclusive breastfeeding, late mixed feeding (breastfed, formula introduced after six months), and early mixed feeding (breastfed, formula introduced before six months)—were more prevalent in states with paid family leave policies. The adjusted prevalence ratio (aPR) and differences in adjusted prevalence compared with never breastfeeding in states with versus without paid family leave policies were: aPR 1.41 (95% CI 1.15, 1.73), 5.36% difference for exclusive breastfeeding; aPR 1.25 (95% CI 1.01, 1.53), 3.19% difference for late mixed feeding, aPR 1.32 (95% CI 1.32, 1.97), 5.42% difference for early mixed feeding. Conclusion: States with paid family leave policies have higher rates of any breastfeeding and of exclusive breastfeeding than states without such policies. Because all feeding types that incorporate breastfeeding were higher in states with paid family leave policies, expansion of paid family leave may improve breastfeeding rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the university student body becomes more diversified and students' lives less linear, student retention carries increased importance for universities, including the conversion of deferrers and the re-enrolment of leave-taking students. This paper is based on a broader research project which explored national patterns of deferral and leave of absence in Australia and the policies and strategies for re-engaging the students who defer or take leave. Through a mixed research design, the study explores the extent to which students are positioned at the centre of deferral and leave of absence policy, informed by relationship marketing concepts. This study suggests that many universities have moved towards greater consideration of student perspectives and individualised approaches to building a trustworthy and supportive relationship with deferral and leave-taking students, based on data analytics of individual students' information and circumstances. Despite such efforts, there remain both limitations and tensions within these approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes that the main trope of Georges Perec's novel, La disparition (1969), is anagnorisis, or a scene of literary recognition. Though Perec borrows a classical trope described by Aristotle, his novel stands out in that it is not a character that the reader must recognize but an unexpected and unannounced void, namely, the absence of the letter E from the entire text. Framing this exercise in literary constraint as a modernist mystery novel, Perec aligns the stakes of noticing, or not noticing, his missing letter with postwar debates about literature's capacity to help us understand existence. On the one hand, Perec decries the inability of traditional literature to capture the complexity of a post-Holocaust world. On the other hand, he deplores the literary nihilism he attributes to the nouveau roman movement. It is to escape this impasse that Perec embarks on his mission to renew anagnorisis and, more broadly, literary meaning-making. To do so, he sets in place new forms whose ultimate purpose is to help us begin to recognize the profound meaning of the absences left behind by the traumas of the twentieth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fusarium verticillioides is one of the most important fungal pathogens causing maize ear and stalk rots, thereby undermining global food security. Infected seeds are usually unhealthy for consumption due to contamination with fumonisin B1 (FB1) mycotoxin produced by the fungus as a virulence factor. Unveiling the molecular factors that determine fungal development and pathogenesis will help in the control and management of the diseases. Kex2 is a kexin-like Golgi-resident proprotein convertase that is involved in the activation of some important proproteins. Herein, we identified and functionally characterized FvKex2 in relation to F. verticillioides development and virulence by bioinformatics and functional genomics approaches. We found that FvKex2 is required for the fungal normal vegetative growth, because the growth of the ∆Fvkex2 mutant was significantly reduced on culture media compared to the wild-type and complemented strains. The mutant also produced very few conidia with morphologically abnormal shapes when compared with those from the wild type. However, the kexin-like protein was dispensable for the male role in sexual reproduction in F. verticillioides. In contrast, pathogenicity was nearly abolished on wounded maize stalks and sugarcane leaves in the absence of FvKEX2 gene, suggesting an essential role of Fvkex2 in the virulence of F. verticillioides. Furthermore, high-performance liquid chromatography analysis revealed that the ∆Fvkex2 mutant produced a significantly lower level of FB1 mycotoxin compared to the wild-type and complemented strains, consistent with the loss of virulence observed in the mutant. Taken together, our results indicate that FvKex2 is critical for vegetative growth, FB1 biosynthesis, and virulence, but dispensable for sexual reproduction in F. verticillioides. The study presents the kexin-like protein as a potential drug target for the management of the devastating maize ear and stalk rot diseases. Further studies should aim at uncovering the link between FvKex2 activity and FB1 biosynthesis genes. Key points: •The kexin-like protein FvKex2 contributes significantly to the vegetative growth of Fusarium verticillioides. •The conserved protein is required for fungal conidiation and conidial morphology, but dispensable for sexual reproduction. •Deletion of FvKEX2 greatly attenuates the virulence and mycotoxin production potential of F. verticillioides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the association between taking a leave of absence from medical school and placement into graduate medical education (GME) by race and ethnicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Post-anarchism poses a profound challenge to the fundamental tenets of traditional anarchism, particularly its veneration of science and reason, its overarching narrative of human emancipation, and its reliance on a sanguine conception of innate human goodness. However, this challenge inadvertently erodes the utopian aspirations inherent in traditional anarchism, leaving a conspicuous absence of a tangible alternative. Yet, a sense of utopia remains integral to the impetus for political engagement. This article seeks to address the implicit quandary of political engagement within post-anarchism by examining the works of Max Stirner through the lens of existentialism. By juxtaposing Stirner's notions of involuntary egoism, ownness, the un-man, and insurrection with the philosophical perspectives of Sartre, Camus, and De Beauvoir, we discover that, despite its anti-political inclination, post-anarchism finds solace in the tragic and ceaseless nomadic pursuit of societal amelioration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Parental leave and breastfeeding breaks influence the ability to initiate and continue breastfeeding. We investigated how eligibility criteria in the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and Affordable Care Act (ACA) affect access to unpaid parental leave and breastfeeding breaks and assessed affordability and alternative policy models. Methods: We used family income data to assess the affordability of unpaid leave by race and ethnicity. We used 2017-2018 US Current Population Survey data to determine the percentage of private sector workers aged 18-44 years who met the minimum hour (1250 hours of work during a 12-month period), tenure (12 months), and firm size (≥50 employees) requirements of FMLA and ACA. We analyzed eligibility by gender, race and ethnicity, and age. We also examined parental leave and breastfeeding break policies in 193 countries. Results: Most Latinx (66.9%), Black (60.2%), and White (55.3%) workers were ineligible and/or unlikely to be able to afford to take unpaid FMLA leave. Of 69 534 workers, more women (16.9%) than men (10.3%) did not meet the minimum hour requirement. Minimum tenure excluded 23.7% of all workers and 42.2% of women aged 18-24 years. Minimum firm size excluded 30.3% of all workers and 37.7% of Latinx workers. Of 27 520 women, 28.8% (including 32.9% of Latina women) were excluded from ACA breastfeeding breaks because of firm size. Nearly all other countries guaranteed mothers paid leave regardless of firm size or minimum hours and guaranteed ≥6 months of paid leave or breastfeeding breaks. Conclusions: Adopting a comprehensive, inclusive paid parental leave policy and closing gaps in breastfeeding break legislation would remove work-related barriers to breastfeeding; reduce racial, ethnic, and gender inequities; and align US national policies with global norms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reasons for maternal infanticide have rarely been approached. The absence of analysis leaves plenty of opportunity to maintain the assumption that the infanticidal mother is a mad or bad mother. Examining a mother's possible motivations to kill her child from clinical, sociological, psychoanalytical, and political angles can decrease harm and perhaps help us to understand why maternal infanticide is an inevitable part of human life. Moreover, interpreting her act—asking, What does this mean?—can further illuminate what she needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, light use efficiency (LUE) models driven by remote sensing data have been widely employed to estimate the gross primary productivity (GPP) of different terrestrial ecosystems at global or regional scales. Furthermore, the two-leaf light use efficiency (TL-LUE) model has been reported to improve the accuracy of GPP estimation, relative to the big-leaf MOD17 model, by separating the entire canopy into sunlit and shaded leaves through the use of constant clumping index estimation (Ω). However, ignoring obvious seasonal changes in the vegetation clumping index (CI) most likely results in GPP estimation errors since the CI tends to present seasonal changes, especially with respect to the obvious presence or absence of leaves within the canopy of deciduous vegetation. Here, we propose a TL-CLUE model that considers the seasonal difference in the CI based on the TL-LUE model to characterize general changes in canopy seasonality. This method composites monthly CI values into two or three Ω values to capture the general seasonal changes in CI while attempting to reduce the potential uncertainty caused during CI inversion. In theory, CI seasonality plays an essential role in the distribution of photosynthetically active radiation absorbed by the canopy (APAR). Specifically, the seasonal difference in CI values mainly considers the state of leaf growth, which is determined by the MODIS land surface phenology (LSP) product (MCD12Q2). Therefore, the one-year cycle (OYC) of leaf life is divided into two (leaf-off and leaf-on) or three seasons (leaf-off, leaf-scattering, and leaf-gathering) according to this MODIS LSP product, and the mean CI of each corresponding season for each vegetation class is computed to smoothen the uncertainties within each seasonal section. With these two or three seasonal Ω values as inputs, the TL-CLUE model by which the seasonal differences in CI are incorporated into the TL-LUE model is run and evaluated based on observations from 84 eddy covariance (EC) tower sites across North America. The results of the analysis reveal that the TL-LUE model widely overestimates GPP for most vegetation types during the leaf-on season, particularly during the growth peak. Although the TL-LUE model shows that the temporal characteristics of GPP agree with the EC observations in terms of general trends, the TL-CLUE model further improves the accuracy of GPP estimation by considering the seasonal changes in the CI. The result of GPP estimation from the TL-CLUE model shows a lower error (RMSE = 2.46 g C m−2 d−1) than the TL-LUE model (RMSE = 2.75 g C m−2 d−1) and somewhat decreases the eight-day GPP overestimation in the TL-LUE model with a constant Ω by approximately 9.76 and 8.970% when adapting three and two Ωs from different seasons, respectively. The study demonstrates that the uncertainty of seasonal disturbance in the CI, quantified by a standard deviation of approximately 0.071 relative to the mean CI of 0.746, is diminished through simple averaging. The seasonal difference in CI should be considered in GPP estimation of terrestrial ecosystems, particularly for vegetation with obvious canopy changes, where leaves go through the complete physiological processes of germination, stretching, maturity, and falling within a year. This study demonstrates the potential of the MODIS CI application in developing ecosystem and hydrological models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The opinions of the faculty members on the assistant physicians' use of leave of absence after night shift matter, given that they play an essential role in their training. In this context, this study was carried out to review the opinions of faculty members on the consequences of assistant physicians' use of leave of absence after night shift. This single-center, cross-sectional survey study, based on voluntary participation, was conducted with the faculty members of Van Yuzuncu Yil University Faculty of Medicine between February and March 2023. The study population consisted of faculty members in surgical and internal medical science departments. Faculty members in basic medical science departments were not included in the study since assistant physicians in basic medical science departments do not work the night shift. The survey consisted of nine items with checkboxes on participants' demographic data and the consequences of assistant physicians' use of a leave of absence after night shift on the clinic's functioning, medical specialty training, patient turnovers, and relationships inside and outside the clinic. Of the 137 faculty members, 98 (71.53%) faculty members, 46 in surgical medical science departments and 52 in internal medical science departments, participated in the survey between February and March 2023 in an electronic environment. Of the respondents, 76 (77.5%) were male, and 22 (22.5%) were female. The mean age of the participants was 42.72 ± 4.9 (min. 34, max. 57) years. Of the 98 faculty members who participated in the survey, 84.0% and 79.6% stated that assistant physicians' use of leave of absence after night shift adversely affected the medical specialty training and the clinic's functioning, respectively. In general, faculty members expressed the opinion that assistant physicians' use of leave of absence after night shift negatively affected the medical specialty training, the functioning of the clinic, and the work carried out in collaboration with other clinics. There is a need for more comprehensive studies on assistant physicians' use of leave of absence after night shift. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to investigate potential associations among workaholism, work engagement, work stress, and paid time off (PTO) usage. Although recovery from daily work stressors is essential for continued work success, almost one-third of PTO provided in the U.S. is not utilized. Therefore, a deeper investigation of who relinquishes this benefit (that enhances health and wellbeing) and, instead, does not use PTO days is crucial. Full-time employees (N = 302) in a variety of occupations in the U.S. were surveyed. Specifically, they were assessed on workaholism, work engagement, work stress, and PTO usage and potential relationships were examined. Our findings demonstrated that workaholism is negatively associated with PTO usage and positively related to work stress. Additionally, work stress is negatively linked to PTO usage and work engagement. Continued research on PTO usage, worker characteristics, and work-life initiatives may improve employee benefit packages, which could yield monetary savings for organizations. Furthermore, work-life initiatives enhance employee health and wellbeing, thereby increasing job performance and positively influencing organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In April 2020, nearly 1.6 billion learners were out of school. While a growing body of literature has documented the detrimental impact of these closures on children, less attention has been devoted to the steps countries took to mitigate the impact of these closures on working families. Paid leave is recognized as an important policy tool to enable working parents the time they need to respond to family needs without risking job or income loss. This article uses a novel data set to assess whether countries had policies in place prior to the pandemic to respond to increased care needs and the extent to which policies were introduced or expanded during the pandemic to fill the gap. Only 48 countries had policies in place prior to the pandemic that could be used to respond to the care needs created by school and childcare center closures. In the vast majority of these countries, the duration of leave in these policies was too short to meet the care needs of the pandemic or relied on parents reserving extended parental leave options. Only 36 countries passed new legislation during the pandemic, but the majority of those that did covered the full duration of closures. As countries continue to face COVID-19 and consider how to better prepare for the next pandemic, emergency childcare paid leave policies should be part of pandemic preparedness frameworks to prevent further exacerbating inequalities. The policies introduced during the pandemic offer a wide range of approaches for countries to identify feasible solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As parental leave policies increasingly encourage new fathers to take paternal leave, the present experimental study explores evaluations of male and female workers who do (or do not) complete work‐related tasks during leave. In line with our preregistered hypotheses, not completing work‐related tasks during leave resulted in costs for men's (but not women's) evaluations and recommendations, whereas working during leave benefited women's (but not men's) evaluations and recommendations. Parallel evaluations of workers' agency suggest prescriptive gender norms underlie these different responses to men's and women's behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Capitalism, collective bargaining, Democratic Party, industry, labor, middle class, union democracy B Precision Scheduled Railroad [is] an overarching strategy that most major railroads have adopted of deskilling and cutting everything to the bone... It is corporate railroading for the twenty-first century. b Railroad workers operate under the federal Railway Labor Act (RLA), which also governs airline workers. Keywords: capitalism; collective bargaining; Democratic Party; industry; labor; middle class; union democracy EN capitalism collective bargaining Democratic Party industry labor middle class union democracy 73 77 5 06/07/23 20230501 NES 230501 Editor's Note For this article, I New Labor Forum i 's "Working-Class Voices" columnist Kressent Pottenger interviewed Nick Wurst, a freight train conductor for CSX. [Extracted from the article]

The birth of a new child continues to exacerbate gender specialization among different-sex couples. This study considers the potential of paid leave policies to intervene in this key life-course juncture and promote greater gender equality in paid and unpaid work. While previous research has examined the impact of paid leave policies on paid or unpaid work among mothers or fathers separately, this study provides an integrated framework and examines comprehensively how these benefits shape both mothers' and fathers' paid and unpaid work outcomes. I use data from the Current Population Survey 1990–2020 and the American Time Use Survey 2003–2019 and quasi-experimental differences-in-differences models to examine the impact of the introduction of paid leave policies in California and New Jersey. The results show that the policy increased mothers' and fathers' short-term time off from paid work after new births, increased mothers' care work more than fathers', and increased fathers' housework more than mothers'. I call this pattern differentiated egalitarianism , denoting changes increasing men's involvement in housework while simultaneously reproducing mothers' primary caregiver role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Employee sickness absence increased steadily in recent years posing an important challenge for organizations and research. The present study addresses this need by analysing the causal link of transformational leadership and sickness absence, while also taking into consideration the context of leadership by studying the moderation effect of a leader's perceived organizational support (POS) in that association. Design/Method: 57 middle managers of two Spanish companies were randomly assigned to either the control (n = 22) or intervention (n = 35) condition. Multigroup linear regression in MPlus was carried out to compare the effect of transformational leadership on follower sick leave during a 6 months pre and post-test period for both groups, while also taking into account the moderation effect of a leader's POS. Findings: The analysis confirmed the association between transformational leadership and sick leave days due to short-term spells, moderated by the leader's levels of POS. Moreover, this relationship was stronger within the intervention as compared to the control group. Conclusion: The present research provides causal evidence for the link between transformational leadership and sickness absence, and offers an evidence-based and actionable leadership training method for organizations seeking to reduce employee sick leave. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking a leave of absence (LoA) has been identified as an important precursor and risk factor for attrition for many university students. This study describes a proactive outreach intervention to students on LoA through the lens of Tinto's theory of student integration. Historical trends in the university of interest indicate just under 9% of students took a LoA between 2013 and 2018. Outreach reduced risk of attrition by approximately 9%. This proportion was maintained after controlling for equity and demographic factors, prior academic achievement and discipline of study (risk reduction approximately 8%). To our knowledge, this study is the first to describe these data and link them to theoretical models, proposing the importance of a transition pedagogy or re-integration model for students returning from LoA. Significantly, this research highlights the importance of social integration and assistance in overcoming problems with academic integration and external commitments, to students from all backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cancer patients, while receiving treatment, face several challenges with respect to their jobs and are sometimes forced to quit them. This study aimed to identify the factors affecting the continuation of work in patients with cancer who expressed a willingness to work. A total of 515 patients who were diagnosed with cancer within the last five years and who were willing to work were included. The factors that decreased the likelihood of working were being an adolescent or young adult, long-term absenteeism, fatigue, dyspnea, and economic problems. Factors that increased the likelihood of working were household income of 10 million yen or more, absenteeism of less than 7 months, and role functions. Our findings suggest that, to support the continuation of work, it is crucial to alleviate symptoms, such as fatigue and breathing difficulties, for patients with cancer, and provide support to ensure that their leave of absence does not exceed 7 months. In particular, psychological, social, and physical support to adolescents and young adults with cancer and those with economic problems are essential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The American College of Radiology (ACR) passed a historic paid family/medical leave (PFML) resolution at its April 2022 meeting, resolving that "diagnostic radiology, interventional radiology, radiation oncology, medical physics, and nuclear medicine practices, departments and training programs strive to provide 12 weeks of paid family/medical leave in a 12-month period for its attending physicians, medical physicists, and members in training as needed." The purpose of this article is to share this policy beyond radiology so that it may serve as a call to action for other medical specialties. Such a PFML policy (1) supports physician well-being, which in turn supports patient care; (2) is widely needed across American medical specialties; and (3) should not take nearly a decade to achieve, as it did in radiology, especially given increasing physician burnout and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Supported by information on the step-by-step approach used to achieve radiology-specific leave policies and considering current and normative policies at the national level, this article concludes by reviewing specific strategies that could be applied toward achieving a 12-week PFML policy for all medical specialties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shared parental leave made some maternity leave transferable in the UK. The aim was to improve the position of working parents, particularly mothers, by encouraging fathers to take on more of a caring role. It has been widely acknowledged that the legislation has failed to achieve this. This article considers whether the reasons for this failure are due to the specifics of the UK's legislative scheme itself or the model of transferable maternity leave. Comparing the experience of other countries with transferable maternity leave shows that solving many of the issues with the UK legislation would not be enough to encourage fathers to care. Instead, such comparison shows that the model of transferable maternity leave can never be the most effective tool to encourage fathers to care because it will always prioritise mothers' caring role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within debates surrounding "Levi's Paradox"--the idea that through their survival, survivors are not necessarily the "complete witnesses" of the Holocaust--the Muselmann is frequently posited as able to reconcile this conundrum. Within testimonial literature, these emaciated prisoners were perceived as ghost-like entities who were neither alive nor dead but somehow between life and death. The observed absence left in witness narratives thereby appears to be testimony from inside the experience of these Muselmänner. What is ubiquitously overlooked in such analyses is that the Muselmann primarily functions as a metaphor--rendering the absent dead legible in language. Ignoring this risks instrumentalizing the Muselmann, which threatens to allow the metaphor to become shorthand for something more generic--obfuscating the reality that Muselmänner signify real Holocaust victims. However, all metaphors contain a potential for semantic flexibility. Cannot the Muselmann's ability to pollute rigid dichotomies therefore be approached productively and more ethically when refocalizing him as a ghostly entity in testimonial literature? By examining passages from Primo Levi's If This Is a Man and Charlotte Delbo's Auschwitz and After, this article asks: if the Muselmann is viewed as a ghostly or spectral metaphor--a haunting force within the Holocaust's literary corpus--how might this spectral witness be able to draw attention to erasure and historical blind spots? Constituting an ethical and an interpretive undertaking, this refocalization simultaneously allows one to speak with the Muselmann and enables these anonymous victims to manifest themselves anew as haunting forces through literary testimony. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: By the end of 2022, nearly 20 million workers in the United States have gained paid-sick-leave coverage from mandates that require employers to provide benefits to qualified workers, including paid time off for the use of preventive services. Although the lack of paid-sick-leave coverage may hinder access to preventive care, current evidence is insufficient to draw meaningful conclusions about its relationship to cancer screening. METHODS: We examined the association between paid-sick-leave mandates and screening for breast and colorectal cancers by comparing changes in 12- and 24-month rates of colorectal-cancer screening and mammography between workers residing in metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) that have been affected by paid-sick-leave mandates (exposed MSAs) and workers residing in unexposed MSAs. The comparisons were conducted with the use of administrative medical-claims data for approximately 2 million private-sector employees from 2012 through 2019. RESULTS: Paid-sick-leave mandates were present in 61 MSAs in our sample. Screening rates were similar in the exposed and unexposed MSAs before mandate adoption. In the adjusted analysis, cancer-screening rates were higher among workers residing in exposed MSAs than among those in unexposed MSAs by 1.31 percentage points (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.28 to 2.34) for 12-month colorectal cancer screening, 1.56 percentage points (95% CI, 0.33 to 2.79) for 24-month colorectal cancer screening, 1.22 percentage points (95% CI, -0.20 to 2.64) for 12-month mammography, and 2.07 percentage points (95% CI, 0.15 to 3.99) for 24-month mammography. CONCLUSIONS: In a sample of private-sector workers in the United States, cancer-screening rates were higher among those residing in MSAs exposed to paid-sick-leave mandates than among those residing in unexposed MSAs. Our results suggest that a lack of paid-sick-leave coverage presents a barrier to cancer screening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Using XGBoost (XGB), this study demonstrates how flexible machine learning modelling can complement traditional statistical modelling (multinomial logistic regression) as a sensitivity analysis and predictive modelling tool in occupational health research. Design: The study predicts welfare dependency for a cohort at 1, 3, and 5 years of follow-up using XGB and multinomial logistic regression (MLR). The models' predictive ability is evaluated using tenfold cross-validation (internal validation) and geographical validation (semi-external validation). In addition, we calculate and graphically assess Shapley additive explanation (SHAP) values from the XGB model to examine deviation from linearity assumptions, including interactions. The study population consists of all 20–54 years old on long-term sickness absence leave due to self-reported common mental disorders (CMD) between April 26, 2010, and September 2012 in 21 (of 98) Danish municipalities that participated in the Danish Return to Work program. The total sample of 19.664 observations is split geospatially into a development set (n = 9.756) and a test set (n = 9.908). Results: There were no practical differences in the XGB and MLR models' predictive ability. Industry, job skills, citizenship, unemployment insurance, gender, and period had limited importance in predicting welfare dependency in both models. On the other hand, welfare dependency history and reason for sickness absence were strong predictors. Graphical SHAP-analysis of the XGB model did not indicate substantial deviations from linearity assumptions implied by the multinomial regression model. Conclusion: Flexible machine learning models like XGB can supplement traditional statistical methods like multinomial logistic regression in occupational health research by providing a benchmark for predictive performance and traditional statistical models' ability to capture important associations for a given set of predictors as well as potential violations of linearity. Trial registration: ISRCTN43004323. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1849, John Colpoys Haughton embarked for a period of rest and recuperation at the Cape of Good Hope. This article uses correspondence between Haughton, an Indian army officer in South Africa, and his family in Britain to explore personal experiences of furlough and to foreground the role of the Cape Colony as a site of recovery and recuperation. Haughton's example emphasises the importance of health and well-being in facilitating, or curtailing, the mid-nineteenth-century British Empire and those in its service. His experiences illuminate broader issues in Britain's nineteenth-century world: the logistics and practicalities of embarking on an extended leave of absence; the representation of the Cape as a place of healthfulness; the complex relationship between ideas of home and belonging for those on furlough there; and the enduring significance of familial connections. The correspondence generated during Haughton's sojourn at the Cape illustrates the wider mechanics of imperial careering and communication in the period, highlighting the familial and personal networks that existed in parallel with professional, economic and military connections, and demonstrating the continued importance of these social ties. Although Haughton arrived at the Cape in search of health, and his letters were ostensibly about 'the little nothings of our life', they tell us just as much about the mid-nineteenth-century empire. Ultimately, Haughton's example takes us across oceans, connecting people and places on three continents, and underlining the dynamic and complex lines of communication that criss-crossed the British Empire in the middle of the nineteenth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Direct support professionals (DSPs) may be at increased risk of contracting COVID-19 due to the proximal nature of their work. In response to the pandemic a three-wave study was launched to understand experiences of DSPs. An on-line national survey found that 70% of DSPs were vaccinated. Vaccinated DSPs were older and had higher education levels. Among the unvaccinated, 56% reported concerns about COVID-19 vaccination safety. Unvaccinated DSPs were more likely to report that the people they supported were also unvaccinated. Encouraging DSPs to get vaccinated to protect the people they support is essential. Paid time off, arranging for vaccinations, and setting an expectation for vaccination may encourage vaccination uptake among DSPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies have shown positive impact of family policies on women's labour market participation over the last decades. How, then, does it influence the types of jobs women obtain when they (re-)enter the labour market? Using multi-level modelling, this study examines how different work–family balance policies (that is, leave policies, childcare services) shape gendered labour market patterns and whether or not it mitigates women's overrepresentation among the labour market Outsiders across Europe. I use European Working Conditions Survey 2015 data and cover 30 European countries. Specifically focusing on women's relative likelihood of being labour market Outsiders compared to men, I find that certain policies help women avoid being Outsiders, while the others may reinforce the existing gender inequality in the labour market. This resonates with the welfare state paradox and family policy trade-off literature that the policies that do not disrupt the gender norms may in turn maintain or enhance them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on advocating for paid family leave legislation in Pennsylvania to support NICU families, highlighting the detrimental impacts of current policies on infant health outcomes and family well-being. Topics include efforts by the Family-Centered Care Taskforce to gather support through a letter campaign and their broader advocacy for Zero Separation policies in NICUs across the U.S., aiming to standardize family inclusion and support practices.

The article discusses a taxonomic issue regarding the naming of a plant species in the Chrysobalanaceae family. The original name given to the species, Licania minutiflora, was found to be illegitimate due to a different species already having that name. The author proposed a new name, Licania minuscula, for the species. However, recent molecular studies have led to the reclassification of Licania into different genera, and the species in question now falls under the genus Hymenopus. Therefore, the correct name for the species is Hymenopus minusculus. The article provides information about the characteristics and distribution of Hymenopus species, as well as the endangered status of Hymenopus minusculus. [Extracted from the article]

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the extent to which national laws and policies shape public health and economic security. Paid leave policies enable parents to meet children's health needs while maintaining job and income security. These policies matter immensely to children's health every year. Yet, little is known about the extent to which policies exist to support the full range of childhood health needs. Using a novel dataset constructed from legislative text in 193 countries, this study assesses whether laws in place in 2019 are adequate to support meeting children's everyday, serious, and disability-related health needs. Globally, only half of the countries guaranteed working parents access to any paid leave that could be used to meet children's health needs. Only a third addressed everyday health needs, including leave that matters to reducing infectious disease spread. For serious health needs, even when paid leave was available, it was often too short for complex health conditions. Moreover, although all children require parental presence at medical appointments and for serious illness, fewer countries guaranteed paid leave to care for older children than younger. Addressing these gaps is crucial to supporting child health and working families during times of public health crisis and every year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coffee crop has been growing increasingly in Brazil and, in view of this, technologies are constantly being developed to obtain greater productivity. In this context, the effect of polyethylene mulching as a source of fertilizer on coffee production has been studied. The objective of this work was to evaluate the incidence of leaf miner and red mite in coffee as a function of the use of polyethylene mulching and controlled and conventional release fertilizer. The research was carried out in the experimental area of the Federal University of Uberlândia - Campus Monte Carmelo, Minas Gerais, with the cultivar IPR 100, in a randomized block design with four blocks. The following treatments were tested: T1 - double-faced white/black mulching with conventional fertilizer; T2 - white/black double-sided mulching with controlled release fertilizer; T3 - double-sided silver/black mulching with conventional fertilizer; T4 - silver/black double-sided mulching with controlled release fertilizer; T5 - No mulching with conventional fertilizer; T6 - No mulching with controlled release fertilizer. The evaluations took place fortnightly from July 2020 to December 2020, upon verification of the presence or absence of leaf miner and red mite caterpillars. Population density peaks for leaf miner occurred from July to October 2020, and for red mite in August, due to low relative humidity and precipitation. Thus, it is concluded that the use of double-sided silver/black mulching provided greater attractiveness to the coffee leaf miner. The fertilizer sources did not influence the probability of occurrence of this insect pest. In addition, conventional fertilizers, as well as those of controlled release, and the absence/presence of soil coverings, did not influence the incidence of red mite in coffee trees in the Cerrado Mineiro region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: National data on the satisfaction of radiology residents enrolled in standardized residency training (SRT) are rather scarce in China. This study identified a set of potential factors concerning SRT satisfaction among radiology residents as well as the association between SRT satisfaction and post-competency and well-being. Methods: A total of 3666 radiology residents who were receiving SRT during 2020 in China were recruited across all 31 provinces. The cumulative odds logistic regression was used to examine the potential factors associated with SRT satisfaction as well as associations between satisfaction and well-being, burnout, professional identity and competency. Results: The prevalence of satisfaction with SRT was 68.6%. Participants who were male, worked in central China, aged more than 28 years old, had long working hours and claimed increased workload during the COVID-19 pandemic were more likely to be unsatisfied with the SRT program. Participants who were more satisfied with the radiation protection were more likely to report higher degree of SRT satisfaction (OR = 3.00, 95% CI 2.58–3.50). In addition, SRT satisfaction was positively associated with well-being, professional identity, competency and lower burnout. Conclusions: Perceived satisfaction can be introduced into hospital management, as it may reflect the overall situation of the residents during residency training and influence radiologists' well-being, professional identification and competency. Appropriate measures should be taken to reduce the risk of radiation exposure, ensure employee safety (such as risk assessment system and paid time off), provide radiology residents with fair treatment and guarantee the time out of working for optimizing their professional ability. Key points: The radiology residents at all levels in China were systematically landscaped. 68.6% of the 3666 residents reported satisfaction with the residency training. Radiation protection was significantly associated with residency satisfaction. Satisfaction significantly impacts radiology residents' well-being, professional identity and self-reported competency. The findings provide new insights into sustaining and improving the radiology residency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy's advisory addressing the high levels of stress among parents of children under 18, highlighting the need for policy measures and support to improve their mental health and well-being.

This study is to investigate the surface dissipation and foliar penetration of acetamiprid following application to live tea plants in the presence and absence of two adjuvants (Alligare 90® and Peptoil®). SERS mapping protocol with a self-assembled AuNP mirror as substrates was utilized for in situ and real time pesticide analysis. The surface dissipation analysis showed that acetamiprid with Alligare 90® had the lowest dissipation rate (34%) compared to acetamiprid alone (60%) or with Peptoil® (44%), indicating the addition of Alligare 90® was more effective in reducing the surface dissipation of acetamiprid than Peptoil®. The study also investigated the foliar penetration of acetamiprid into tea leaves with and without adjuvants using SERS and LC-MS/MS. The study concludes that the two adjuvants tested can enhance spreadability, surface stability, and foliar penetration of acetamiprid applied on tea leaves. The information will facilitate the development and application of efficient and safe pesticide formulations. [Display omitted] • Quantification of the surface dissipation and foliar penetration of acetamiprid on tea leaves with and without adjuvants. • In situ SERS mapping method with AuNP mirror is the first to be used to study the behavior of chemicals on complex matrices. • Two adjuvants enhanced the spreadability of the acetamiprid insecticide. • The adjuvant Alligare 90® was more effective in reducing the surface dissipation of acetamiprid than adjuvant Peptoil®. • The two adjuvants improved the foliar penetration of acetamiprid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]