Search

Background and Aims: Although the evidence is uncertain, existing estimates for hepatitis C virus (HCV) in sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA) indicate a high burden. We estimated HCV seroprevalence and viraemic prevalence among the general population in SSA. Methods: We searched Medline, Embase, Web of Science, APA PsycINFO, and World Health Organization Africa Index Medicus for community‐based studies. Study quality was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal tool, and heterogeneity using the index of heterogeneity (I2). Two approaches were deployed. First, we used random‐effects meta‐analysis to pool prevalence. Second, to derive representative estimates, we weighted each country's HCV seroprevalence using 2021 United Nations country population sizes. Results: We synthesized 130 studies. Overall, SSA HCV seroprevalence from the random‐effects model was 4.17% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.71–4.66, I2 = 99.30%). There were no differences between males (4.31%) and females (4.03%). Seroprevalence was 2.25%, 3.31%, and 16.23% for ages ≤20, 21–64, and ≥65 years, respectively, and was higher in rural (6.63%) versus urban (2.93%). There was indication of decrement overtime from 5.74% to 4.35% to 3.03% in the years 1984–2000, 2001–2014, and 2015–2023, respectively. The weighted overall SSA HCV seroprevalence was estimated to be 2.30% (95% CI: 1.59–3.00) with regional variation: Africa‐Southern (.79%), Africa‐Central (1.47%), Africa‐Eastern (2.71%), and Africa‐Western (2.88%). HCV viremia among HCV seropositives was 54.77% (95% CI: 47.80–61.66). Conclusions: HCV seroprevalence in SSA remains high. Populations aged ≥65 years, rural communities, Africa‐Western, and some countries in Africa‐Central and Africa‐Eastern appear disproportionately affected. These results underline the need for governmental commitment to achieve the 2030 global HCV elimination targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conspiracy theories accusing specific groups of secret malevolent actions can foster a perception of the world as a dangerous place. In our research, we contend that both adherence and exposure to conspiracy beliefs can serve as a potential cause of certain psychological problems in the form of paranoid thoughts. This hypothesis was tested in three studies conducted among Polish and British participants. In Study 1 (longitudinal, N = 603), we found that conspiracy beliefs exerted a positive overtime effect on paranoid thoughts. Experimental studies 2 (N = 384) and 3 (N = 445), showed that being exposed to conspiracy theories (vs. control stimuli) heightened paranoid thoughts. In Study 3, we proposed a potential mechanism explaining this effect, according to which exposure to conspiracies increased paranoid thoughts via only negative intense emotions. Our work adds to the discussion on the consequences of conspiracy beliefs and has implications for mental health research, underlining the importance of designing interventions limiting the adverse effects of conspiracy beliefs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To investigate long‐term alveolar ridge bone changes in patients treated with the split‐crest technique (SCT) with simultaneous implant placement. Materials and Methods: Alveolar ridge width (ARW) was measured with a caliper immediately before (ARW1) and after SCT (ARW2) with a caliper. Existing CBCT scans taken at least 5 years postoperatively were used to assess the healed ARW (ARWF), buccal bone thickness (BBT), and lingual/palatal bone thickness (L/PBT) at 0, 3, and 5 mm apically from implant platform level (IPL). The distance between IPL and buccal bone crest (IPL‐BBC) was also measured. Findings were compared with Wilcoxon and Student's t tests (p <.05). Results: Records of thirty patients with 85 implants were included. Eleven patients (31 implants) presented CBCT scans taken in two separate occasions, resulting in 116 measurements. Tomographic follow‐up ranged from 5 to 18 years (11.5 ± 4.18 years). Mean ARW increased from 3.2 ± 0.6 to 6.6 ± 0.48 mm after SCT, but significantly reduced overtime to 4.46 ± 0.83 mm (ARWF) (p <.0001). Mean BBT was 0.5 ± 0.9, 1.3 ± 0.9, and 2.0 ± 1.2 mm, while mean L/PBT was 0.9 ± 0.7, 1.6 ± 0.9, and 2.1 ± 1.0 mm at 0, 3, and 5 mm from IPL, respectively. IPL‐BBC distance varied up to 8.7 mm (1.4 ± 2.0 mm), with 56/116 measurements (51/85 implants) showing IPL‐BBC = 0 mm. Conclusion: Although SCT with simultaneous implant placement can predictably increase ARW postoperatively, ARW tended to significantly reduce over time, due to reductions in BBT and L/PBT, especially coronally. Nonetheless, 60% of the implants still presented some buccal bone at IPL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shoe manufacturing companies often use overtime work but neglect the impacts and importance of physical recovery time. Ergonomic methods aim to analyze this, but they focus on deterministic aspects, which limits their ability to evaluate working conditions amid variations over time. This research explores how a simulation model can mitigate these limitations and enhance analysis of overtime and physical recovery on worker absenteeism. The objective was developed a simulation model using System Dynamics (SD) to represent working conditions and assess the influence of overtime and recovery time in Brazil's footwear industry. An Ergonomic Analysis of Work was conducted in a large company's production cell. Using SD, were constructed a causal and simulation model to analyze three scenarios. An additional hour of work increased physical overload by 44%, leading to 5, 4 leave requests, and 48 days of absenteeism per year. Increasing recovery time by 15 min reduced overload to 38,96%, resulting in 4, 9 leave requests and 13,68 days of absenteeism. The SD simulation model mitigated the limitations of ergonomic methods in understanding the dynamic relationships over time, emphasizing the importance of actively managing overtime and physical recovery time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The detection efficiency (DE) of the World Wide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN) is evaluated in Southeast Asia by comparing WWLLN data with the Earth Network Total Lightning Network (ENTLN) data taking into account time, distance, and peak‐current parameters. The performance of WWLLN is evaluated in the months of November and December in two different years (2020–2021). These periods are selected to assess the change (if any) in DE overtime and the inclusion of new stations. The strokes between the two networks were considered matched if they fell within a time criterion of 100 µs and a location difference of 25 km. Using this criterion, 5.2 × 106 WWLLN strokes were matched with ENTLN cloud‐to‐ground (CG) lightning strokes in November‐December 2020, resulting in a DE of 32.9%. Similarly, 4.6 × 106 WWLLN strokes were found to match in November‐December 2021, yielding a DE of 36.5%. Analysis of the peak‐currents reveals that DE is lowest (<10%) for a peak‐current below ±10 kA. However, for peak‐current exceeding ±50 kA, the DE increases to ∼60%. During November‐December 2021, WWLLN reported 38.95 × 106 lightning strokes globally; amongst them, Dhaka station detected 0.5 × 106 strokes, contributing to a 1.3% increase in the global DE. Dhaka station detects most lightning strokes within 8 × 103 km, which diminishes to zero after 10 × 103 km. The Dhaka station recorded a larger number of strokes at longer detection distances during midnight (22:00–02:00) than during noon (10:00–14:00). The results signify a positive impact of the Dhaka station on WWLLN's DE during the mentioned period. Plain Language Summary: This comprehensive study delves into the detection efficiency (DE) of the World‐Wide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN) in Southeast Asia, compared to Earth Network Total Lightning Network (ENTLN) data. A matching strategy is involved to identify the matched strokes between two networks. Spanning key intervals in November‐December 2020 and 2021, this study unveils significant results, highlighting an enhanced DE in WWLLN. This investigation delves into the repercussions of adding or removing detection stations. Establishing a WWLLN station in Dhaka emerges as significant, detecting over 0.5 × 106 lightning strokes and contributing to a notable global DE augmentation during the investigation period. This study identified a total count of cloud‐to‐ground (CG) lightning strokes in the specified region during the investigation period, with a WWLLN DE for CG strokes. The study unveils nuanced DE dynamics based on peak‐currents, showing the lowest detection efficiency below for lower peak‐currents and a remarkable surpass for higher peak‐currents value. Key Points: In Southeast Asia, the detection efficiency of World Wide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN) improved by 3.6% in 1 year (2020–2021)In the region of interest, the detection efficiency of the WWLLN is lower than 10% for 10 kA peak‐currents but surpasses 60% for 50 kADuring November–December 2021, WWLLN Dhaka station detected 500 × 103 lightning strokes, contributing to a 1.3% increase in global detection efficiency [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Unpaid overtime—describing a situation where extra hours are worked but not paid for—is a common feature of the labor market that, together with other forms of wage theft, costs workers billions of dollars annually. In this study, we examine the association between unpaid overtime and mental health in the Canadian working population. We also assess the relative strength of that association by comparing it against those of other broadly recognized work stressors. Methods: Data were drawn from a survey administered to a heterogeneous sample of workers in Canada (n = 3691). Generalized linear models quantified associations between unpaid overtime, stress, and burnout, distinguishing between moderate (1−5) and excessive (6 or more) hours of unpaid overtime. Results: Unpaid overtime was associated with higher levels of stress and burnout. Relative to those working no unpaid overtime, men working excessive unpaid overtime were 85% more likely to report stress (prevalence ratios [PR]: 1.85, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.26−2.72) and 84% more likely to report burnout (PR: 1.84, 95% CI: 1.34−2.54), while women working excessive unpaid overtime were 90% more likely to report stress (PR: 1.90, 95% CI: 1.32−2.75) and 52% more likely to report burnout (PR: 1.52; 95% CI: 1.12−2.06). The association of excessive unpaid overtime with mental health was comparable in magnitude to that of shift work and low job control. Conclusions: Unpaid overtime may present a significant challenge to the mental health of working people, highlighting the potential role of wage theft as a neglected occupational health hazard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper critically examines the notion of working time flexibility of platform takeaway riders and its impact on them in China. Drawing on 25 interviews with platform and takeaway delivery company managers and takeaway riders as well as secondary data, the study finds that the management model adopted by the platform companies and their agency companies often encourages riders to extend their working hours by being designed into the rider's earning system, status level and various incentive schemes. Driven by profits, takeaway delivery platform companies pursue speed and impose harsh punishments for poor customer reviews. Severe competition and the platforms' aggressive pricing and commissioning practices mean that takeaway riders' remuneration is tightly squeezed, with no subsidies or overtime payment, and with rules for bonuses that make it increasingly difficult to earn. Working excessively long and intense hours is the only way that riders can increase their income, which suggests that rider-oriented working time flexibility is virtually non-existent. We propose the notion of fragmented employment relationships and fragmented working time to conceptualise working time flexibility in the takeaway delivery context in China. We accentuate the need to examine the quality of working time flexibility when examining this practice. We call for state interventions to provide a greater level of social protection than the takeaway riders are currently experiencing to advance the decent work agenda as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides a first assessment of the causal impact of the 2018–2021 reform in Korea meant to combat its long working‐hour culture. The reform consists of lowering the statutory limit on total weekly working hours from 68 to 52. We apply a difference‐in‐difference approach in which we take advantage of the stepwise implementation of the reform by firm size using individual‐level data. We present three main findings. First, the introduction of the 52‐h limit reduced but far from eliminated the incidence of working more than 52 h. Second, there is some evidence that the introduction led to a reallocation of working hours, with more employees shifting from working fulltime to working overtime within the new limit (41–52 h). Third, and more tentatively, this reallocation more likely took place within firms to account for fewer overtime hours worked by their employees, rather than within households to compensate for any income effects. Overall, our results show that a lower statutory limit can help to lessen a long working‐hour culture, but is an insufficient measure by itself to fully eradicate it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IPUMS Demographic and Health Surveys (IPUMS DHS), through its intuitive website (http://dhs.ipums.org/), eliminate barriers to overtime and cross‐national analyses with the DHS. IPUMS DHS recently released simplified reproductive calendar data. These calendar data are harmonized across samples, distinguish "not in universe" cases from "no" responses, and do not require destringing. Variable names are hot links to important documentation, such as survey‐question text and comparability concerns. Analysts can also select consistently coded variables relating to the woman, her household, and her social and environmental context without merging files. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The share of paid‐for overtime hours within total paid‐for hours worked in Britain has declined from 5.4% to 2.0% between 1997 and 2020. We investigate this decline, focussing on its distribution across full‐time (f/t) and part‐time males and females and across 19 one‐digit industries. It is established that f/t males are dominant in the decline both of overtime working and overtime hours. We explore the implications of the decline on the share of overtime pay within total pay as well as on the gender pay gap. We test for economic, structural and cyclical influences on overtime working via a two‐part regression model that allows us to differentiate between the incidence of overtime working and weekly overtime hours of overtime employees. We examine how paid‐for overtime has varied with collective bargaining coverage, low pay, the 2008 financial crisis, the arrival of Covid‐19, job mobility and the public/private sector dichotomy. Combined marginal effects of changes in the incidence of overtime working and weekly overtime hours are also provided. The influence of the decline of collective bargaining in the last two decades on overtime working is highlighted using Blinder–Oaxaca decompositions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.) is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

We model the scheduling problem of a single operating room for outpatient surgery, with uncertain case durations and an objective function comprising waiting time, idle time, and overtime costs. This stochastic scheduling problem has been studied in diverse forms. One of the most common approaches used is the sample average approximation (SAA). Our contribution is to study the use of SAA to solve this problem under few historical data using families of log t distributions with varying degrees of freedom. We analyze the results of the SAA method in terms of optimality convergence, the effect of the number of scenarios, and average computational time. Given the case sequence, computational results demonstrate that SAA with an adequate number of scenarios performs close to the exact method. For example, we find that the optimality gap, in units of proportional weighted time, is relatively small when 500 scenarios are used: 99% of the instances have an optimality gap of less than 2.6 7% (1.74%, 1.23%) when there are 3 (9, many) historical samples. Increasing the number of SAA scenarios improves performance, but is not critical when the case sequence is given. However, choosing the number of SAA scenarios becomes critical when the same method is used to choose among sequencing heuristics when there are few historical data. For example, when there are only three (nine, many) historical samples, 99% of the instances have less than 25.38% (13.15%, 6.87%) penalty in using SAA with 500 scenarios to choose the best sequencing heuristic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To examine the nature and prevalence of Cambodian nurses' work hours and overtime and related factors Background: The chronic shortage of nursing workforce is a major cause of overtime among nurses. Introduction: Nursing shortage and working overtime among nurses negatively affect nurse and patient outcomes, but nurses' work hours and overtime in Cambodia have not been comprehensively examined. Methods: A multicenter cross‐sectional study was conducted in four Cambodian hospitals. Data were collected from 253 nurses providing direct nursing care using a questionnaire. The STROBE checklist was used for reporting this study. Results: More than a fifth of staff nurses worked more than 48 h, which is the legal work hour limit in Cambodia. Two major reasons for working mandatory or voluntary overtime, on‐call or 24‐h on‐call were (a) not wanting to let down colleagues and (b) able to get all work done. The number of patients cared for was related to whether or not nurses worked 48 h or more. Conclusion: Overtime work and adverse nurse scheduling are common in Cambodia. Implications for nursing and health policy: Nurse managers and healthcare institutes in Cambodia need to monitor Cambodian nurses' work hours, which are often beyond the legal work hour limit. Moreover, it is important to understand why nurses work overtime and develop health policies, strategies, and programs that can help promote patient and nurse safety and retain qualified nursing staff. The 24‐h on‐call practice needs to be regulated according to the labor policy in healthcare institutes to prevent adverse nurse and patient outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What changes affected the working time of employees required to work from home by the 2020 French health measures? Drawing on a qualitative survey of a municipal water company, based on interviews, direct observations, and questionnaires, the author shows how telework prompted by the COVID‐19 pandemic restructured working time and redistributed the power of regulation. During lockdown periods, working hours were extended and work rhythms changed, with considerable variation depending on the family configuration: confinement with family was not conducive to extended working hours, instead tending to fragment them, whereas isolated teleworkers experienced the opposite effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As for the TFT‐LCD (Thin Film Transistor Liquid Crystal Display),pads corrosion of COG (Chip on Glass) are incident to happen in product line. And if the Q‐time (queue time) is over‐time between cleaning and bonding process, the pad area of single panel which kept in air may have pad corrosion problems. On the analysis of pads corrosion, we found that the corrosion layers are mainly ITO and Copper of source /gate, which are associated with the pad surface's residual water and particle. In addition, we also found that cleaning water and the detergent have a great relevance with the corrosion by simulation experiments, and the corrosion can be accelerated by ions in water stains. Meanwhile, we put forward some countermeasures to solve this problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physicians belong to the risk group for sleep disorders as a result of work related stress, excessive working time, large amount of on‐call duties and shift work. Poor sleep quality of healthcare providers threatens not only their safety, but also the safety of their patients. This study examines if there are any differences in how working either long hours or at night duties relates to self‐reported sleep time, sleep quality and daytime sleepiness in primary care physicians. We analyzed data from a survey research of 807 participants. Respondents were divided into four groups based on their reported work hours per week and number of nights on duty per month. Overtime was associated with shorter sleep time and worse subjective sleep quality even when compared with that of participants who work on night duties. All investigated groups of participants reported short sleep latencies which suggests that sleep debt is a common problem in this population. Surprisingly in the case of poor sleep quality participants rarely used recommended methods like regular physical activity or specialist advice. The most frequently reported answer was that they do nothing to improve sleep and every third participants uses hypnotics to do that. These results suggest that primary care physicians despite being at high risk for sleep disorders due to working overtime and at night, pay less attention to their sleep quality and do not use recommended strategies to improve it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: For linear continuous multiple‐input multiple‐output systems with vector relative degree, which operate repetitively with an input‐driven motion and a following autonomous motion over a finite time interval, this article proposes an iteratively moving average operator (IMAO) based D‐type iterative learning control (ILC) method to address the iteratively varying input trail lengths and random initial state shifts. The proposed ILC algorithm has a rectifying action to random initial state shifts at the designed initial time interval. From the terminal time of rectifying action to the end of control input, it makes the ILC tracking error convergent into a bounded range, the bound of which is proportional to the initial state shifts. Specifically, as the initial state shifts remain fixed, the ILC tracking error can be driven to zero at the relevant time interval along the iteration axis. An example manifests the validity of the proposed IMAO based D‐type ILC algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aimed to examine the effects of work environments and occupational fatigue on care left undone in rotating shift nurses, and to identify the indirect (mediation) effect of work environments on care left undone through nurses' occupational fatigue in South Korean acute care hospitals. Design: This study employed a cross‐sectional design using an online survey to collect data from 488 rotating shift nurses of acute care hospitals in Korea between November and December 2018. Methods: A mobile schedule management application for shift nurses was used to advertise the study and to send a link to the online survey. The survey included questions on the nurses' work environment characteristics, care left undone activities, and the Korean version of the Occupational Fatigue Exhaustion/Recovery scale. Poisson regression was used to explore the relationships among work environments, occupational fatigue, and care left undone. Hayes' Model 4 and a bootstrapping analysis were used to identify the mediating effect of occupational fatigue on the relationship between work environments and care left undone. Findings: The average number of tasks left undone was 3.45 (SD = 2.19). The higher the acute and chronic fatigue levels noted among nurses, the higher were the occurrences of care left undone. Conversely, the higher the intershift recovery level, the lower were the occurrences of care left undone. The results showed a positive relationship between care left undone and overtime hours and the number of patients per nurse. Moreover, nurses' occupational fatigue mediated the relationship between work environments and care left undone. Night shifts per month and the number of consecutive days off had an indirect effect on care left undone through occupational fatigue. Conclusions: High levels of occupational fatigue and poor intershift recovery among nurses can lead to care left undone. Nurses' occupational fatigue mediates the effect of work environment on care left undone. Clinical Relevance: It is crucial for healthcare administrators and leaders to develop policies and mandatory regulations to facilitate better working conditions for nurses, consequently reducing their occupational fatigue and decreasing the occurrence of care left undone in acute care hospitals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Postoperative mortality rate is one of six surgical indicators identified by the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery for monitoring access to high-quality surgical care. The primary aim of this study was to measure the postoperative mortality rate in Tanzania's Lake Zone to provide a baseline for surgical strengthening efforts. The secondary aim was to measure the effect of Safe Surgery 2020, a multi-component intervention to improve surgical quality, on postoperative mortality after 10 months. Methods: We prospectively collected data on postoperative mortality from 20 health centers, district hospitals, and regional hospitals in Tanzania's Lake Zone over two time periods: pre-intervention (February to April 2018) and post-intervention (March to May 2019). We analyzed postoperative mortality rates by procedure type. We used logistic regression to determine the impact of Safe Surgery 2020 on postoperative mortality. Results: The overall average in-hospital non-obstetric postoperative mortality rate for all surgery procedures was 2.62%. The postoperative mortality rates for laparotomy were 3.92% and for cesarean delivery was 0.24%. Logistic regression demonstrated no difference in the postoperative mortality rate after the Safe Surgery 2020 intervention. Conclusions: Our results inform national surgical planning in Tanzania by providing a sub-national baseline estimate of postoperative mortality rates for multiple surgical procedures and serve as a basis from which to measure the impact of future surgical quality interventions. Our study showed no improvement in postoperative mortality after implementation of Safe Surgery 2020, possibly due to low power to detect change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For several years now, the Natural Resources Canada research facility at CanmetENERGY Devon (AB, Canada) has been performing experiments in a pilot‐scale spill tank using 1200 L of river water to examine the physical and chemical behaviors of various crude oil/water mixtures under varying water temperature regimes. Because oil toxicity can be modulated by weathering of the petroleum products, the present study aimed to assess changes in fish embryotoxicity to mixed sweet blend crude oil as it weathered at air and water temperatures of 14 °C and 15 °C, respectively, for 28 d. The physicochemical behavior of the oil was also monitored. Water samples were taken from the spill tank 5 times during the 28‐d experiment on days 1, 6, 14, 21, and 28 and were used to perform toxicity exposures using fathead minnow embryos (Pimephales promelas). For each water sampling day, newly fertilized embryos were exposed to a serial dilution of the spill tank water, noncontaminated river water (used in the spill tank), and a reconstituted water laboratory control. Embryos were raised until hatching. Although mortality was not significantly altered by the oil contamination over the time period, malformation occurrence and severity showed concentration‐dependent responses to all contaminated water collected. The results suggest that days 14, 21, and 28 were the most toxic time periods for the fish embryos, which corresponded to increasing concentrations of unidentified oxidized organic compounds detected by a quadropole–time‐of‐flight system. The present study highlights a novel area for oil research, which could help us to better understand the toxicity associated with oil weathering for aquatic species. Environ Toxicol Chem 2021;40:127–138. © 2020 Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada. Reproduced with the permission of the Minister of Natural Resources Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyse the implications of habit formation relating to wages in a multiperiod efficiency‐wage model. If employees have such preferences, their existence provides firms with incentives to raise wages and reduce employment over time. Greater intensity does not necessarily have the same consequences, because wage adjustments counteract the initial level impact. The firm's response additionally depends on the wage dependency of dismissal costs, because such costs make an increasing wage profile over time more attractive and mitigate the effects of greater intensity of habit formation. We further show that short‐lived productivity shocks have long‐lasting wage and employment consequences. Moreover, habit concerns by firm owners reduce wages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mining is a multi‐billion‐dollar industry spanning major to artisanal and small‐scale mines, with diverse local to regional socio‐economic and environmental impacts. Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) has large deposits of minerals, which has made it a global epicenter for investors in the extractive industries. Here, we identified and mapped 469 company‐owned and community‐managed mines across SSA, most of which are formal, to explore their distribution and areal extents and understand the potential threats they pose to conservation. The dominant eight commodities in SSA are gold, copper, iron, limestone, uranium, diamond, bauxite and petroleum, making up 405 mines and occupying 85% of the 3,055 km2 total areal extent. Mining significantly expanded between 2000 and 2018, with 260 (58%) new mines created and major expansion of many older mines. Hotspots of mining activity are apparent in the copper‐belt of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia, Ghana and the Niger‐Delta region of Nigeria. These mining 'hotspots' are distributed in close proximity to regions of high carbon stocks and value to biodiversity conservation, with the areal extent of mines more than doubling between 2000 and 2018 to 1,192 km2 within 10 km of a protected area, suggesting susceptibility to deforestation and other environmental consequences. The identification of mines and their changing spatial extent is imperative for monitoring future encroachments in SSA and to conservation and habitat recovery. Furthermore, Africa needs to introduce sustainable mineral development policies to safeguard and protect its forests, especially reducing the frequency of protected area downgrading, downsizing and degazettement events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extratropical cyclones, a major phenomenon of the mid‐latitude atmospheric dynamics, show strong variability over a range of time scales. Future projections hint at an increase of cyclonic intensity and the associated precipitation, an important fact to be considered when developing future risk assessments. This review presents a first overview of studies which (a) puts the current variability and projected future climate changes of extratropical cyclone characteristics in a long‐term perspective, (b) shows connections to natural external forcings, and (c) deepens our understanding of cyclone intensification processes for past climate periods. We summarize the current state of knowledge for two periods in the past—the last millennium and the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, 21,000 years ago). For these two periods, the sparse information from paleo proxy archives are compared to climate modeling results on global and regional scales. For example, strong changes of the climate mean state, induced by orbital forcing and associated feedbacks, show strong effects on different cyclone characteristics, for example, a southward shift of the storm tracks over the North Atlantic during the LGM. Other findings indicate that dynamic processes could play at least an equally important role as thermodynamic processes for the variations of cyclone‐induced precipitation. This is in contrast to the projected future changes in cyclone‐related precipitation, which are driven primarily by thermodynamic processes. The review demonstrates how a paleoclimatic view can foster an extended process understanding and be instrumental to better understand future changes in extratropical cyclones and associated characteristics. This article is categorized under:Paleoclimates and Current Trends > Modern Climate Change [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among the family of elemental 2D materials, antimonene is predicted to have a desirable combination of bandgap tunability and exceptional physical properties. However, there is a lack of a facile synthesis technique to prepare high‐quality antimonene with large aspect ratios on standard SiO2 substrates, hindering wide scale exploration of this material. Here, a physical vapor deposition process to controllably achieve millimeter‐scale, β‐phase, monocrystalline antimonene nanosheets on a SiO2 dielectric substrate is reported. The temperature gradient across the deposition tube is exploited to realize either large‐area nanosheets or single antimonene crystals on‐demand. The composition and quality of the nanosheets and crystals is assessed using spectroscopy, diffraction, and microscopy techniques which suggest the formation of the β‐phase allotrope. The band structure of as‐synthesized nanosheets which matches the theoretically calculated values is experimentally extracted. Finally, contrary to earlier reports, the oxidation of antimonene under ambient conditions over a period of time indicating the need for further experimental studies of the material's stability is revealed. The reported controllable growth of antimonene nanosheets and single crystals on conventional dielectric substrates opens a spectrum of possible applications of this material in electronics and optoelectronics devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through years of development, the triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) has been demonstrated as a burgeoning efficient energy harvester. Plenty of efforts have been devoted to further improving the electric output performance through material/surface optimization, ion implantation or the external electric circuit. However, all these methods cannot break through the fundamental limitation brought by the inevitable electrical breakdown effect, and thus the output energy density is restricted. Here, a method for enhancing the threshold output energy density of TENGs is proposed by suppressing the breakdown effects in the high‐pressure gas environment. With that, the output energy density of the contact‐separation mode TENG can be increased by over 25 times in 10 atm than that in the atmosphere, and that of the freestanding sliding TENG can also achieve over 5 times increase in 6 atm. This research demonstrates the excellent suppression effect of the electric breakdown brought by the high‐pressure gas environment, which may provide a practical and effective technological route to promote the output performance of TENGs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is a reflection on Tivers' (1978) paper from a physical geography point of view. I discuss four elements of the original paper: the increase in women in the field of geography, fieldwork, family role, and "everyday sexism." Alongside this, I provide a reflection of my own experience as a UK physical geographer over the last 40 years and discuss the major changes over that time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visual word recognition is facilitated by the presence of orthographic neighbors that mismatch the target word by a single letter substitution. However, researchers typically do not consider where neighbors mismatch the target. In light of evidence that some letter positions are more informative than others, we investigate whether the influence of orthographic neighbors differs across letter positions. To do so, we quantify the number of enemies at each letter position (how many neighbors mismatch the target word at that position). Analyses of reaction time data from a visual word naming task indicate that the influence of enemies differs across letter positions, with the negative impacts of enemies being most pronounced at letter positions where readers have low prior uncertainty about which letters they will encounter (i.e., positions with low entropy). To understand the computational mechanisms that give rise to such positional entropy effects, we introduce a new computational model, VOISeR (Visual Orthographic Input Serial Reader), which receives orthographic inputs in parallel and produces an over-time sequence of phonemes as output. VOISeR produces a similar pattern of results as in the human data, suggesting that positional entropy effects may emerge even when letters are not sampled serially. Finally, we demonstrate that these effects also emerge in human subjects' data from a lexical decision task, illustrating the generalizability of positional entropy effects across visual word recognition paradigms. Taken together, such work suggests that research into orthographic neighbor effects in visual word recognition should also consider differences between letter positions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hand hygiene is crucial to avoid healthcare‐associated infections and the transmission of COVID‐19. Although the WHO has issued global hand hygiene recommendations for healthcare, adherence remains challenging. Considering social‐cognitive theories such as the health action process approach (HAPA) can help to improve healthcare workers' adherence. This study aimed to observe adherence and to assess determinants in obstetric hospitals during and after the onset of the COVID‐19 pandemic. Methods: In all, 267 observations of behaviour were conducted in two German obstetric university hospitals over three time periods (pre‐COVID‐19 pandemic, heightened awareness, and strict precautions). In addition, 115 healthcare workers answered questionnaires regarding social‐cognitive determinants of hand hygiene behaviour. Multiple regression and multiple mediation analyses were used to analyse associations. Results: Adherence to hand hygiene recommendations increased from 47 per cent pre‐COVID‐19 pandemic to 95 per cent just before lockdown while simple measures against the pandemic were taken. Self‐efficacy was associated with the intention to sanitise hands (β =.397, p <.001). Coping self‐efficacy mediated the association of intention with hand hygiene adherence. Conclusions: Obstetric healthcare workers seem to adapt their hand hygiene behaviour to prevent infections facing the global COVID‐19 pandemic. To further improve interventions, social‐cognitive determinants should be considered, especially intention and (coping) self‐efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dry and wet extremes affect agricultural production, infrastructure, and socioeconomic well‐being of about 1.4 billion people in India. Despite the profound implications of dry and wet extremes, their changes in the observed and projected climate in India are not well quantified. Here, using the observations from multiple sources, we show that the area affected by dry extremes during the monsoon season (June–September) and water‐year (June–May) has significantly increased (~1% per decade; p value < 0.05) over the last six decades (1951–2015) in India. On the other hand, the area affected by wet extremes does not exhibit any significant trend over the same time period. Dry and wet extremes in the monsoon season are corroborated with the positive phase and negative phase of the sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in the tropical Pacific Ocean (Niño 3.4 region). Global climate models (GCMs) project an increase of more than 25–30% (±3–6%) in the combined area affected by the dry and wet extremes in India by the end of the 21st century. The frequency of both dry and wet extreme years is also projected to increase in the majority of India (>80%) under a warmer world if the global mean temperature rises above 1.5°C (or 2°C) from a preindustrial level. Moreover, the population exposed to the dry and wet extremes is likely to increase threefold under the projected 2°C warmer world. Therefore, limiting global mean temperature rise below 2°C can substantially reduce the area and population exposure due to dry and wet extremes in India. Key Points: The area affected by dry extremes has significantly increased (~1% per decade) during 1951–2015 in IndiaClimate models project increase in the combined area affected by the dry and wet extremes in India (25–30%) by the end of the 21st centuryThe population exposed to the dry and wet extremes is likely to increase threefold under a (2°C) warmer world climate [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extreme climate events have been identified both in meteorological and long‐term proxy records from the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) realm. However, the potential of palaeoclimate data for understanding mechanisms triggering climate extremes over long time scales has not been fully exploited. A distinction between proxies indicating climate change, environment, and ecosystem shift is crucial for enabling a comparison with forcing mechanisms (e.g. El‐Niño Southern Oscillation). In this study we decouple these factors using data analysis techniques [multiplex recurrence network (MRN) and principal component analyses (PCA)] on multiproxy data from two lakes located in different climate regions – Lonar Lake (ISM dominated) and the high‐altitude Tso Moriri Lake (ISM and westerlies influenced). Our results indicate that (i) MRN analysis, an indicator of changing environmental conditions, is associated with droughts in regions with a single climate driver but provides ambiguous results in regions with multiple climate/environmental drivers; (ii) the lacustrine ecosystem was 'less sensitive' to forcings during the early Holocene wetter periods; (iii) archives in climate zones with a single climate driver were most sensitive to regime shifts; (iv) data analyses are successful in identifying the timing of onset of climate change, and distinguishing between extrinsic and intrinsic (lacustrine) regime shifts by comparison with forcing mechanisms. Our results enable development of conceptual models to explain links between forcings and regional climate change that can be tested in climate models to provide an improved understanding of the ISM dynamics and their impact on ecosystems. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During its 70‐year existence, China's modern banking system has typically been ill used by its government. Nevertheless, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Chinese government made effective use of ten years and a lot of capital to restructure its banks. And on the eve of the global financial crisis in 2008, China's principal banks had cleaned up their bad loans and received or raised large amounts of equity, in part by listing their shares internationally. In so doing, such banks may well have positioned themselves to face the crisis with the strongest balance sheets in the world. But since then, in the wake of the global financial crisis, China's banks have used securitization models—originating for the most part in the U.S.—to create products similar to the mortgage‐backed securities that nearly brought down the global banking system. The collapse of such securities in 2008 compelled China to undertake a massive stimulus program driven by bank lending. This stimulus has lasted nearly a decade, with a second recent and massive injection prompted by the COVID‐19 pandemic. The net effect of such stimulus is that China's total bank assets are now over 3.5 times national GDP—as compared to 1.0 in the U.S.—and more than twice the total level of U.S. banking assets in an economy just two‐thirds the size. But even with such an increase, reported non‐performing assets have remained at remarkably low levels—though the report itself has been received with near universal skepticism. Fueling this skepticism, the scale and balance sheet quality of these banks do not compute when one takes a closer look at the banks' main borrowers: largely local government entities with limited revenue bases. In China, local governments do not enjoy taxing authority and their budgets consistently exceed their revenue, with the funding gaps filled by ever more bank loans. As a consequence, most local governments are effectively bankrupt. How, then, given the financial condition of their borrowers, do Chinese banks continue to report superlative earnings and clean balance sheets? The author discusses in detail the two main methods banks have used to meet their accounting requirements while obscuring asset quality: (1) converting bank loans into bonds issued by the same borrowers; and (2) the creation of massive amounts of wealth management products (or WMPs), which are retail deposits backed not just by Treasuries and other liquid securities (as in the U.S.), but in significant part by illiquid assets that create troublingly large maturity mismatches. After pointing out the similarity of such WMPs to the mortgage‐backed securities used by American banks a decade ago, the author emphasizes the irony that, having used American banks as models for restructuring, China's government has forced its banks to continue to follow in their path to what at some point is highly likely to be a painful reckoning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, acoustic emission was used to investigate the effects of ultraviolet radiation on the mechanical behavior of blends of polypropylene (PP) with ethylene‐octene copolymer (EOC) containing photo stabilizers. Together with traditional techniques, like infrared spectroscopy and microscopy, the data obtained from acoustic emission helped the understanding of the failure caused by photodegradation and the influence of the stabilizing additives. Parameters like number and intensity of hits, released energy and acoustic events were recorded and related to the estate of the degradation and to the stress‐strain behavior. The results confirmed the high sensitivity of PP/EOC blends to ultraviolet and the better performance of stabilized compounds, especially when hindered amine light stabilizers (HALS) were present. Acoustic emission experiments showed that in stabilized samples the crack propagation took place over a larger time interval, releasing more energy during failure and, hence, postponing the final fracture, from a few seconds for the neat blend to more than 500 seconds for the samples with 0.5% HALS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global network of terrestrial protected areas (PAs) has experienced a fourfold expansion since the 1970s. Yet, there is increasing debate around the role of the global PA estate in covering and sustaining threatened species, with serious ramifications for current PA financing and the setting of post‐2020 global conservation targets. By comparing "past" (1970s) and current distribution range of 237 mammals, and measuring the proportion of range covered by PAs in the past and in the present, we show that a small number of PAs have now become the last bastions of hope for ensuring the persistence of many mammal species. For 187 species (∼79% of those analyzed) the proportion of range covered by PAs has doubled over the time period, with 10% of all species now having most of their current range protected. This increase in proportional protection over time is largely due to a retreat of species distribution (outside existing PAs) and, in smaller part, to PA expansion. It is clear that adequately resourcing those PAs critical in sustaining mammal species is now essential, to avert a worldwide rapid mammal loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This paper stresses out the struggle of organizations when managing multiple variants of the same business process. Each variant constitutes a response to structural and/or functional needs that overtime become unsustainable due to the multiplicity and complexity of these needs. To mitigate this struggle, a knowledge‐based approach for capturing these versions into a single configurable business process and splitting this process into fragments is discussed in the paper. The approach builds a configuration knowledge base to track the business process variability (ie, particularities of each business process variant). Variants are represented as a new configurable process structure tree resulting from fragmenting a business process. Implementation of the approach is, also, reported in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY OF 222 PATIENTS WITH NEWLY DIAGNOSED PRIMARY CNS LYMPHOMA - OUTCOMES INDICATIVE FOR IMPROVED SURVIVAL OVERTIME Patients treated after 2012 received significantly more treatment with HD-MTX and rituximab, more consolidation treatments, and autologous stem cell transplantation. During this period, combination therapy became the treatment of choice, rituximab has been added to the induction therapy, and consolidation with irradiation was largely laid off and was mostly replaced by high-dose chemotherapy with or without autologous stem cell transplantation. [Extracted from the article]

A common assumption in public social service organizations is that workload may be positively associated with caseload. However, few empirical studies have examined what specific characteristics of caseload affect caseworkers' workloads in the child welfare system. This study attempts to address this gap by identifying specific individual and regional factors that influence both subjective and objective dimensions of workloads. Survey data were collected from 1,244 caseworkers at one public child welfare agency in a Midwestern state in the United States. The data indicated that both perceptions of unmanageable workloads and self‐reported overtime work were significantly higher when caseworkers had a greater number of cases than the state caseload standard for the investigations units and worked with at least two different types of cases simultaneously (e.g., working with both investigation and ongoing service cases). Additionally, sufficient staffing numbers to meet caseload demands at the regional level significantly decreased the odds ratio of having to do overtime work. The major findings suggest that the objective and subjective dimensions of workload vary by individual‐ and regional‐level variables. Practice implications are discussed for effective and efficient workload management in the public child welfare system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the field of neurogenetics is expanding rapidly and variant classification criteria evolve, genetic variants in databases are re‐evaluated overtime allowing updated classifications of pathogenicity predication. When caring for patients with genetic disorders, it is important to obtain the original genetic report and also consider an updated reanalysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coelomogenesis in the isocrinid sea lily, Metacrinus rotundus, is described through the swimming larval stages. After the late gastrula stage, the archenteron separates from the ectoderm to form an archenteral sac, which develops into a dumbbell shape consisting of anterior and posterior lobes, and a middle part connecting both lobes. The anterior and posterior lobes, and the middle part, become separated into an axo‐hydrocoel, the left and right somatocoels and an enteric sac, respectively. The hydrocoel forms from the left lower edge of the axo‐hydrocoel and becomes separated from the axocoel by the late dipleurula stage, when chambered organs and coelom X bud off from the anterior tip of the right and left somatocoels, respectively. Coelom X does not occur in comatulid crinoids (feather stars), and its fate is unclear. The pore canal extends from the axocoel. The hydrocoel differentiates into a crescent shape at the overtime semidoliolaria stage, a few days after the semidoliolaria becomes competent to settle. Coelomogenesis in M. rotundus is much simpler than in the comatulids and probably represents the ancestral mode of the crinoids. As each portion of the dumbbell sac differentiates almost in situ into each coelom, presumptive fates in the sac are easily followed in M. rotundus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We compare traditional and open‐access scheduling policies for outpatient medical practices in terms of the number of patients served and financial performance. Under a traditional scheduling policy, a patient schedules an appointment in advance and there is a significant possibility of patient no‐shows. In response, doctors overbook patients to reduce the idle time created by no‐shows. Under an open‐access scheduling policy, all appointments are scheduled the day of the appointment, thereby eliminating patient no‐shows but creating more randomness in the daily number of appointments. In contrast to earlier works, we consider the optimal average number of patients served and find that the open‐access policy may lead doctors to serve a greater number of patients but that the traditional policy may be more profitable by providing doctors more control over their schedule and ability to limit overtime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses considerations of labor-management relations and worker productivity in overtime decisions. Most managers are reluctant to add to their labor force until they are reasonably certain that they will need the new employees for a longer period of time. In the meantime, the short-term needs are typically met through overtime work, especially since premium pay for current employees is less costly than regular pay and all the fringe benefits that must be provided to new employees. However, if imprudent overtime decisions and assignments are made, the savings may be considerably less than anticipated. Or even worse, the poor overtime decision may be reflected in less-than-anticipated quantity of output, poor quality, increased waste and even damage, and deteriorating morale--the combination thereof resulting in overall costs greater than if the organization had hired new workers. The significance of overtime decisions can be put in even clearer perspective by considering the areas of labor-management relations and worker productivity more carefully.

Background: Research evidence suggests harmful effects of overtime work on risk of heart disease. However, whether withdrawing compensation for overtime work (time‐off or money) provides a relevant explanation of this association has not been explored. Methods: Using cohort data, we included 6345 employees from Germany (3079 men and 3266 women), and applied Poisson regression analysis to examine the prospective association of overtime work without compensation with risk of self‐reported incident heart disease over 2 years. Results: Uncompensated overtime work was associated with an elevated risk of heart disease after adjustment for relevant variables (RR = 1.85, 95%CI: 1.05‐3.25), compared to no overtime work. Stratified analyses indicated particularly strong effects among women and among employees with low socioeconomic position. Conclusions: In line with the stress‐theoretical model of effort‐reward imbalance at work, these findings document an important role of compensation on heart disease in the frame of overtime work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: Occupational hazards (OHs) and occupational injuries (OIs) may contribute to nurses needing sick time and to a high financial burden for hospitals. There is little published literature about nurse‐reported OHs/OIs and their relationships with work environments and working overtime in China. This study was designed to describe Chinese hospital registered nurses’ OHs/OIs and to explore the associations between work environments, working overtime, and nurse‐reported OHs/OIs. This cross‐sectional study was conducted in Guangdong province in China in 2014. The sample included 1,517 nurses from 111 medical/surgical units in 23 hospitals. The Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index was used to measure work environment. Overtime was calculated by subtracting scheduled work hours from actual work hours. Six items were used to measure nurse‐reported OHs/OIs. Descriptive statistics, Chi‐square tests, and two‐level logistic regression models were used to analyze the data. The percentages of nurses reporting OHs/OIs occurred in the year before the survey ranged from 47% to 80%. Nurses who worked in good (vs. poor) unit work environments were less likely to experience OHs/OIs (Odds ratio [OR] = 0.65–0.68, p < .05). Nurses who worked overtime (OR = 1.19–1.33, p < .05) and in Level 3 (largest) hospitals (OR = 1.45–1.80, p < .05) were more likely to experience OHs/OIs. We found that OHs/OIs were prevalent among hospital nurses in China. Better work environment and less nurse overtime were associated with fewer nurse OHs/OIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This article develops a framework for staffing in a service environment when multiple opportunities exist for prescheduling overtime prior to the start of a shift. Demand forecasts improve as the shift approaches, while the availability of workers to be scheduled for overtime decreases. First, a single-shift model is developed and used in computational studies to evaluate the benefits of time-staged overtime staffing, which include slightly lower costs and significant reductions in unscheduled overtime and outside agents. A multishift model is then developed to consider constraints on consecutive hours worked and minimum rest intervals between shifts. A multishift computational study shows how the benefits of time-staged overtime staffing depend on problem characteristics when interactions between shifts are considered. The article discusses how single-shift and multishift models relate to each other and alternative ways the models may be used in practice, including decentralized open shift management and centralized overtime scheduling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes the relation between works councils and overtime hours in Germany. The estimated effects differ considerably in dependence of standard contracted working time. Furthermore, we find differences across the quantiles of the overtime hours distribution and these differences between quantiles also vary between employees of establishment with and without works councils. By considering contracted working time effects and comparing conditional quantiles we find in some quantiles that employees of establishments with a works council have a higher amount of overtime hours if an employee regularly works 35 hours per week. This effect diminishes with increasing quantiles of the distribution of overtime hours. If an employee of a codetermined establishment regularly works 40 hours per week, overtime hours are reduced. This reduction becomes larger if higher quantiles are analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Evidence on the causal relationship between working overtime and the risk of coronary heart disease is limited. Methods We surveyed 2355 workers in Japan and conducted propensity-matched logistic regression analysis, using propensity-matched 438 pairs, to evaluate the associations between working overtime (more than 50 hr per week) and coronary risk factors: physical inactivity, cigarette smoking, sleep deprivation (<5 hr/day), psychological stress, overweight/obesity, and excessive alcohol consumption. The exposure and outcomes were self-reported. Results Among 2355 workers, 476 participants worked overtime. Propensity-matched analysis revealed that the associations between working overtime and sleep deprivation (odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals: 2.33, 1.39-3.88) and high stress (2.13, 1.60-2.82). The associations between working overtime and physical inactivity, current smoking, and overweight/obesity were not statistically significant. Excessive alcohol consumption was inversely associated with working overtime. Conclusions Working overtime was positively associated with two coronary risk factors: sleep deprivation and increased psychological stress. Am. J. Ind. Med. 58:229-237, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]