Distress and job satisfaction after robbery assaults: a longitudinal study

Background: External/intrusive violence at work can result in psychological distress and can be an important risk to employee health and safety. However, the vast majority of workplace violence studies have employed cross-sectional and correlational research, designed to examine immediate reactions after being assaulted at work. Aims: To explore whether exposure to robbery as a traumatic event may contribute to the onset of typical symptoms of psychological distress (anxiety depression, dysphoria and loss of confidence) and job dissatisfaction over time. Methods: We collected data by using a two-wave panel design, in which employees working the days of bank robberies, in an Italian bank, filled in a questionnaire between 48 h and 1 week after the robbery (T1) and 2 months after the robbery (T2). We performed structural equation models to evaluate the fit of different models to our data. Results: There were 513 participants at T1 (58% women) and 175 (34%) participants at T2 (62% women). There was a simultaneous association in which psychological distress leads to job dissatisfaction both following robbery and 2 months later. Conclusions: Our findings support a synchronous effects model and suggest that interventions after suffering physical assaults, apart from helping employees to recover their health, should consider restoring their trust and confidence in the organization. This study contributes to understanding the dynamic relationships between a robbery at work and its outcomes over time, by addressing several methodological deficiencies in previous longitudinal studies.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

A Bootstrapped Modularised method of Global Sensitivity Analysis applied to Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Assessment

Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Assessment (PSHA) evaluates the probability of exceedance of a given earthquake intensity threshold like the Peak Ground Acceleration, at a target site for a given exposure time. The stochasticity of the occurrence of seismic events is modelled by stochastic processes and the propagation of the earthquake wave in the soil is typically evaluated by empirical relationships called Ground Motion Prediction Equations. The large uncertainty affecting PSHA is quantified by defining alternative model settings and/or model parametri-zations. In this work, we propose a novel Bootstrapped Modularised Global Sensitivity Analysis (BMGSA) method for identifying the model parameters most important for the uncertainty in PSHA, that consists in generating alternative artificial datasets by bootstrapping an available input-output dataset and aggregating the individual rankings obtained with the modularized method from each of those.The proposed method is tested on a realistic PSHA case study in Italy. The results are compared with a standard variance-based Global Sensitivity Analysis (GSA) method of literature. The novelty and strength of the proposed BMGSA method are both in the fact that its application only requires input-output data and not the use of a PSHA code for repeated calculations

MEMÓRIAS do Período Militar em Vitória Antes do Ai-5

Partindo do pressuposto que o projeto civil-burguês-militar foi bem sucedido no Espírito Santo, esse trabalho objetiva resgatar as memórias passadas nos quatro primeiros anos de intervenção militar (1964-1968) em Vitória, de forma a fazer um registro da memória desse período de acordo com fontes orais e documentais que demonstrem como e quais os grupos de poder locais interagiram com o período, ou até contribuíram para sua radicalização que culminou com a decretação do Quinto Ato Institucional. Dentro desta problemática, a pesquisa se propõe apontar as particularidades e semelhanças da história capixaba em relação à história nacional, analisando a influência mútua trocada por esses dois lados

Preferential closed channel blockade of HERG potassium currents by chemically synthesised BeKm‐1 scorpion toxin

The scorpion toxin peptide BeKm‐1 was synthesised by fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl solid phase chemistry and folded by air oxidation. The peptide's effects on heterologous human ether‐a‐go‐go‐related gene potassium current (I HERG) in HEK293 cells were assessed using 'whole‐cell' patch clamp. Blockade of I HERG by BeKm‐1 was concentration‐dependent, temperature‐dependent, and rapid in onset and reversibility. Blockade also exhibited inverse voltage dependence, inverse dependence on duration of depolarisation, and reverse use‐ and frequency‐dependence. Blockade by BeKm‐1 and recombinant ergtoxin, another scorpion toxin known to block HERG, differed in their recovery from HERG current inactivation elicited by strong depolarisation and in their ability to block HERG when the channels were already activated. We conclude that synthetic BeKm‐1 toxin blocks HERG preferentially through a closed (resting) state channel blockade mechanism, although some open channel blockade also occurs

MigrantWorkers and physical health: An umbrella review

Migrants are mainly employed in "3D jobs" which are dirty, dangerous, and difficult, are characterized by monotony and intense rhythms, and are found in sectors with higher risks such as construction, heavy industry, and agriculture. The aim of this study is to construct a systematic review in order to identify the main occupational risks and occupational diseases of this category. Research included articles published from 2013 to 2018 on major online databases (PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Scopus), which were obtained using a combination of keywords (migrant workers, expatriates, physical health, diseases, illnesses, travel, travelers, work, and occupational medicine). The online search included 1109 references. We excluded 977 studies because they were unrelated to physical health and another 64 due to duplication. There were 68 articles which were analyzed, including six reviews and 62 original articles. The main risks which emerged are developing infectious diseases, metabolic cardiovascular diseases and manifesting a lower quality of life, in particular due to difficulties in accessing local health services. It will be crucial to implement the role of occupational medicine in order to introduce multilevel interventions designed to prevent work-related injuries and illnesses, and to promote healthier working environments