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The vast majority of European countries are struggling to embrace nursing as a profession and as a science. There are still not enough nurses with bachelor’s degrees and advanced practical skills, and clinical specialisations for nurses are being developed at the master’s level. Attention should be paid to recognising nurses as an equal healthcare workforce who need to be empowered to advance their profession and be provided with professional development opportunities. Changes needed include improving pay and working conditions, providing opportunities to improve skills and professional recognition, empowering nurses to deliver care, and harnessing the power of technology to better support nurses. The declining interest in nursing education and the often stereotypical and condescending view of the role and work of nurses on the healthcare team should be a warning signal to all who are working on healthcare reform.

Ovim radom obrađena je problematika rada od kuće, odnosno rada na izdvojenom mjestu rada, budući da se autori prvenstveno usmjeravaju na ovaj oblik rada. Uvodno su navedeni uvjeti koji su prethodili sve češćem korištenju ovakve mogućnosti rada. Obrađena je pravna regulativa EU-a o pitanju izdvojenog mjesta rada koja definira uvjete rada, sigurnost i zdravlje radnika na radu, odnos privatnog i poslovnog života radnika, zaštite podataka radnika te prava radnika na isključivanje. Istaknut je i Okvirni sporazum o radu na daljinu kojim se nastojao definirati način rada koji bi bio povoljniji i za radnika i za poslodavca na način kojim bi radnik imao na raspolaganju mogućnost obavljanja rada izvan prostorija poslodavca, čime bi se radniku omogućila veća fleksibilnost u radu, a time i povećala produktivnost rada. U radu se također obrađuje i regulativa rada na izdvojenom mjestu rada u nacionalnom zakonodavstvu te prikazuju pravni akti koji se nadovezuju na temeljne odredbe iz Zakona o radu, a odnose se na zaštitu i sigurnost na radu zaposlenika koji rade na izdvojenom mjestu rada. U svrhu dobivanja povratne informacije o stavu ispitanika o pitanju rada od kuće napravljen je anketni upitnik. Rezultati upitnika zajedno s komentarima i preporukama ispitanika prikazani su u posljednjem dijelu rada. Iz svih cjelina rada izveden je zaključak o mogućim daljnjim koracima o radu na izdvojenom mjestu rada, odnosno radu od kuće. The study focuses on the issues of working from home or other remote place, as the authors are primarily interested in this mode of work. Introductory notes describe the conditions that have contributed to the introduction of this, now frequently chosen option. EU regulations governing this issue have been examined, defining the work conditions, safety and health of workers, the private and business life of the workers, data protection of the workers and the right of the workers to shut off from the work duties. The paper also sheds light on the Frame Agreement on Remote Work intended to define the type of work that would be more favoured by the worker and by the employer, with the worker having the option to work away from the employer’s facilities, thus ensuring greater flexibility and, consequently, increasing productivity. Also examined are the regulations regarding remote work in the national law and legal acts mirroring the basic provisions contained in the Labour Act, with attention given to the safety and protection of workers working at remote locations. A questionnaire was designed to obtain feedback from the subjects regarding remote work. Data gathered in the questionnaire and the comments and suggestions are presented in the final part of the paper. Conclusions drawn from all the sections of the paper propose measures to be taken governing work from home, i.e. from remote workplace.

To address complex work conditions incredibly challenging to the stability of power line inspection robots, we design a walking mechanism and propose a variable universe fuzzy control (VUFC) method based on multi‐work conditions for flying‐walking power line inspection robots (FPLIRs). The contributions of this paper are as follows: (1) A flexible pressing component is designed to improve the adaptability of the FPLIR to the ground line slope. (2) The influence of multi‐work conditions on the FPLIR's walking stability is quantified using three condition parameters (i.e., slope, slipping degree and swing angle), and their measurement methods are proposed. (3) The VUFC method based on the condition parameters is proposed to improve the walking stability of the FPLIR. Finally, the effect of the VUFC method on walking stability of the FPLIR is teste. The experimental results show that the maximum climbing angle of the FPLIR reaches 29.1°. Compared with the constant pressing force of 30 N, the average value of slipping degree is 0.93°, increasing by 35%. The maximum and average values of robot's swing angle are reduced by 46% and 54%, respectively. By comparing with fuzzy control, the VUFC can provide a more reasonable pressing force while maintaining the walking stability of the FPLIR. The proposed walking mechanism and the VUFC method significantly improve the stability of the FPLIR, providing a reference for structural designs and stability controls of inspection robots.

Objective Our aim was to examine the contribution of past and current physical workload to occupational class differences in leisure-time physical inactivity. Methods Data were taken from the Finnish population-based Health 2000 Survey of employees aged ≥30 years (N=3355). We assessed physical activity during leisure time using a questionnaire and dichotomized responses to inactive versus active. Occupational class was classified into white- and blue-collar worker. Adjustments were made for current work-related factors, other measures of socioeconomic position, clinically diagnosed chronic diseases, other health behaviors, and history of physical workload. We applied sequential logistic regression to the analyses. Results Inactivity during leisure time was more common in blue-collar employees than in their white-collar counterparts [women odds ratio (OR) 1.50,95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.12-2.00; men OR 1.66,95% CI 1.30-2.12]. These occupational differences were not due to working hours, work schedule, or chronic diseases. Among women, current job strain decreased the occupational differences in leisure-time physical inactivity slightly (OR 1.37, 95% CI 0.99-1.04). Education and household income contributed to occupational differences for men (OR 1.45, 95% CI 1.02-2.07), but had no additional effect among women. The occupation differences in leisure-time physical inactivity disappeared after adjusting for smoking and body mass index in women (OR 1.33, 95% CI 0.97-1.83) and men (OR 1.27, 95% CI 0.88-1.82) and were further attenuated after adjusting for history of physical workload among men (OR 1.07, 95% CI 0.67-1.72). Conclusion Having a long history of exposure to physical work (among men) and a high current job strain (among women) contributed to occupational class differences in leisure-time physical inactivity.

Solar‐aided coal‐fired power generation (SAPG) has been attracting more and more attentions in recent years. However, the multi‐objective optimization of SAPG system considering off‐design work conditions has not been fully studied. In this paper, a general system integration optimization method (GIOM) has been developed for integration schemes optimization, and Nondominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm‐II (NSGA‐II) algorithm is used for multi‐objective optimization of SAPG system. As a case study, a SAPG system that refers to a real 600 MWe supercritical coal‐fired power plant is optimized based on a typical day. By simultaneous optimization of both initial investment (P) and solar net electric generation (Esolar), the solar subsystem design schemes are optimized as Pareto optimal set. At last, to maximum Esolar/P, the final design scheme is selected from the Pareto optimal set, whose Esolar and P are 237.6 MWh and 113.5 M$, respectively. The results show that, the final design scheme is a heliostat field with instantaneous optical efficiency of 63.24% at the design point, the receiver power rating is 133 MWt, the tower height is 136.6 m, and distances of successive rows of the three zones are 13.6, 17.7, and 24.5 m, respectively. A larger or smaller size of solar subsystem is considered to be uneconomical. The investment, the solar net electric generation, and Esolar/P of the Pareto front are shown in Figure 9. It can be seen that the maximum value of Esolar/P is 2.09. The corresponding design scheme results are as follows: [133.0 (RPR), 136.6 (HT), 0.8(R1), 1.0 (∆R1), 1.3 (∆R2), 1.8 (∆R3), 2.1 (∆R4), 2.5 (∆R5), 2.5 (∆R6)]. That is to say, the final design scheme is a heliostat field with 133.0 MWt receiver power rating and 136.6 m tower height.

Italy has been the first nation outside of Asia to face the COVID-19 outbreak. To limit viral transmission of infection, by March 10th, 2020, the Italian Government has ordered a national lockdown, which established home confinement, home (smart) working, and temporary closure of non-essential businesses and schools. The present study investigated how these restrictive measures impacted mothers and their pre-school children’s behavioral habits (i.e., sleep timing and quality, subjective time experience) and psychological well-being (i.e., emotion regulation, self-regulation capacity). An online survey was administered to 245 mothers with pre-school children (from 2 to 5 years). Mothers were asked to fill the survey thinking both on their habits, behaviors, and emotions and on those of their children during the quarantine, and retrospectively, before the national lockdown (i.e., in late February). A general worsening of sleep quality and distortion of time experience in both mothers and children, as well as increasing emotional symptoms and self-regulation difficulties in children, was observed. Moreover, even when the interplay between the behavioral and psychological factors was investigated, the factor that seems to mostly impact both mothers' and children's psychological well-being was their sleep quality. Overall, central institutions urgently need to implementing special programs for families, including not only psychological support to sustain families with working parents and ameliorating children's management.

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND Work conditions in primary care are associated with physician burnout and lower quality of care. OBJECTIVE We aimed to assess if improvements in work conditions improve clinician stress and burnout. SUBJECTS Primary care clinicians at 34 clinics in the upper Midwest and New York City participated in the study. STUDY DESIGN This was a cluster randomized controlled trial. MEASURES Work conditions, such as time pressure, workplace chaos, and work control, as well as clinician outcomes, were measured at baseline and at 12–18 months. A brief worklife and work conditions summary measure was provided to staff and clinicians at intervention sites. INTERVENTIONS Diverse interventions were grouped into three categories: 1) improved communication; 2) changes in workflow, and 3) targeted quality improvement (QI) projects. ANALYSIS Multilevel regressions assessed impact of worklife data and interventions on clinician outcomes. A multilevel analysis then looked at clinicians whose outcome scores improved and determined types of interventions associated with improvement. RESULTS Of 166 clinicians, 135 (81.3 %) completed the study. While there was no group treatment effect of baseline data on clinician outcomes, more intervention clinicians showed improvements in burnout (21.8 % vs 7.1 % less burned out, p  = 0.01) and satisfaction (23.1 % vs 10.0 % more satisfied, p  = 0.04). Burnout was more likely to improve with workflow interventions [Odds Ratio (OR) of improvement in burnout 5.9, p  = 0.02], and with targeted QI projects than in controls (OR 4.8, p  = 0.02). Interventions in communication or workflow led to greater improvements in clinician satisfaction (OR 3.1, p  = 0.04), and showed a trend toward greater improvement in intention to leave (OR 4.2, p  = 0.06). LIMITATIONS We used heterogeneous intervention types, and were uncertain how well interventions were instituted. CONCLUSIONS Organizations may be able to improve burnout, dissatisfaction and retention by addressing communication and workflow, and initiating QI projects targeting clinician concerns.

To reduce hydrogen consumption in fuel cell electric vehicles, mitigate power fluctuations, and maintain the battery system's state of charge, a novel transition process recognition method based on work condition recognition framework of energy management strategy is proposed. This method offers the advantages such as higher recognition rates and faster recognition speed comparing with the traditional condition recognition methods. A comparison is made with the commonly used LVQ recognition method, and the simulations are conducted to demonstrate the superiority of this condition recognition algorithm and the improved performance of the energy management strategy based on the present recognition method under mixed work conditions. 为降低燃料电池电动汽车的氢气消耗、降低燃料电池输出功率波动率及维持电池系统的荷电状态, 基于工况识别能量管理策略框架提出了一种新型转移过程工况识别方法, 该方法相较于传统的工况识别方法具有识别率高、识别速度快等优点。与常见的学习向量量化神经网络工况识别方法进行对比, 通过仿真分别验证了所提工况识别算法的优势, 同时所提基于工况识别方法的能量管理策略在混合工况下具有更优的性能表现。

Background In developing countries, traditional sources of employment and work practices have changed rapidly and work environment has appeared as an important factor associated with an increased prevalence of mental disorders in these countries. Aims To investigate the association between job strain and other work characteristics with psychological distress, and to estimate the contextual effects of different working environments on psychological distress, using cross-sectional data from an occupational cohort. Methods The subjects were 3,574 non-faculty civil servants working at university campuses in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Pró-Saúde Study). Psychological distress was measured by the 12-item General Health Questionnaire. Work characteristics were measured by the modified version of the Karasek model and through questions about night shift work and occupational status. Results After adjusting for age, education, income and other work characteristics, low social support at work and high job strain were associated with psychological distress. For low social support, the association was stronger in men (Prevalence Ratio = 2.02; 95% Confidence Interval 1.6–2.6) than in women (PR = 1.46; 95% CI 1.2–1.4). High job strain was similarly significant in both women (PR = 1.43; 95% CI 1.2–1.7) and men (PR = 1.30; 95% CI 1.0–1.7). Men having a routine non-manual work presented 29% more psychological distress than those undertaking professional roles. Night shift work did not show significant association with psychological distress. In the multilevel analysis, the prevalence of psychological distress did not vary significantly across work units. Conclusion Job strain and poor support at work seem important psychological stressors in the workplace in Brazil. Our findings are comparable to those found in more developed countries, providing additional evidence of an association between an adverse psychosocial work environment and psychological distress, being thus useful for policymakers in planning and promoting healthier and happier working force necessary for economic development.

Much has been written in the past two decades about women in academic science careers, but this literature is contradictory. Many analyses have revealed a level playing field, with men and women faring equally, whereas other analyses have suggested numerous areas in which the playing field is not level. The only widely-agreed-upon conclusion is that women are underrepresented in college majors, graduate school programs, and the professoriate in those fields that are the most mathematically intensive, such as geoscience, engineering, economics, mathematics/computer science, and the physical sciences. In other scientific fields (psychology, life science, social science), women are found in much higher percentages. In this monograph, we undertake extensive life-course analyses comparing the trajectories of women and men in math-intensive fields with those of their counterparts in non-math-intensive fields in which women are close to parity with or even exceed the number of men. We begin by examining early-childhood differences in spatial processing and follow this through quantitative performance in middle childhood and adolescence, including high school coursework. We then focus on the transition of the sexes from high school to college major, then to graduate school, and, finally, to careers in academic science. The results of our myriad analyses reveal that early sex differences in spatial and mathematical reasoning need not stem from biological bases, that the gap between average female and male math ability is narrowing (suggesting strong environmental influences), and that sex differences in math ability at the right tail show variation over time and across nationalities, ethnicities, and other factors, indicating that the ratio of males to females at the right tail can and does change. We find that gender differences in attitudes toward and expectations about math careers and ability (controlling for actual ability) are evident by kindergarten and increase thereafter, leading to lower female propensities to major in math-intensive subjects in college but higher female propensities to major in non-math-intensive sciences, with overall science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors at 50% female for more than a decade. Post-college, although men with majors in math-intensive subjects have historically chosen and completed PhDs in these fields more often than women, the gap has recently narrowed by two thirds; among non-math-intensive STEM majors, women are more likely than men to go into health and other people-related occupations instead of pursuing PhDs. Importantly, of those who obtain doctorates in math-intensive fields, men and women entering the professoriate have equivalent access to tenure-track academic jobs in science, and they persist and are remunerated at comparable rates—with some caveats that we discuss. The transition from graduate programs to assistant professorships shows more pipeline leakage in the fields in which women are already very prevalent (psychology, life science, social science) than in the math-intensive fields in which they are underrepresented but in which the number of females holding assistant professorships is at least commensurate with (if not greater than) that of males. That is, invitations to interview for tenure-track positions in math-intensive fields—as well as actual employment offers—reveal that female PhD applicants fare at least as well as their male counterparts in math-intensive fields. Along these same lines, our analyses reveal that manuscript reviewing and grant funding are gender neutral: Male and female authors and principal investigators are equally likely to have their manuscripts accepted by journal editors and their grants funded, with only very occasional exceptions. There are no compelling sex differences in hours worked or average citations per publication, but there is an overall male advantage in productivity. We attempt to reconcile these results amid the disparate claims made regarding their causes, examining sex differences in citations, hours worked, and interests. We conclude by suggesting that although in the past, gender discrimination was an important cause of women's underrepresentation in scientific academic careers, this claim has continued to be invoked after it has ceased being a valid cause of women's underrepresentation in math-intensive fields. Consequently, current barriers to women's full participation in mathematically intensive academic science fields are rooted in pre-college factors and the subsequent likelihood of majoring in these fields, and future research should focus on these barriers rather than misdirecting attention toward historical barriers that no longer account for women's underrepresentation in academic science.