Togetherness and (work)Place: Insights from Workers and Managers during Australian COVID-Induced Lockdowns

(1) Background: Pandemic-imposed lockdowns have heightened our awareness of the value of (work)place and made apparent the role it plays in establishing our sense of belonging and professional identity. The opportunity to work remotely during the pandemic has given us an appreciation of the benefits from access to increased flexibility, but there is consistent evidence emerging showing how much workers miss in-office social and learning interactions. This paper focuses on results about (i) reported perceived effectiveness and performance, (ii) sense of adjustment to remote working, and (iii) sense of belonging during the first two COVID-19-induced lockdowns, as reported by managers and workers in Australia in 2020. Findings shed light onto (i) how remote working experience affected our connection to, and the importance of, (work)place and (ii) how to harness insights towards creating spaces responsive to the activities we prefer to undertake in the workplace, permitting employees to choose the workstyle and pattern that suits their professional role and personal circumstances. (2) Methods: Correlational and thematic analyses were conducted on findings from 1579 online surveys focusing on remote working experiences during the first and second rounds of COVID-19-imposed lockdowns. A total of 668 managers and 911 workers from 12 different industry sectors participated in two rounds of the Bates Smart remote work survey (BSRWS). Surveys targeted knowledge workers of all career stages, age, and experience. (3) Results: Employees felt (i) technologically supported and productive whilst working from home, but (ii) aspects of connection, collaboration, and sense of belonging suffered; (iii) collaboration and togetherness are main motivators for returning to the office. Managers’ experiences were significantly different with (i) perceived productivity, collaboration, knowledge sharing, sense of belonging, and performance dropping; (ii) face-to-face interaction and business development were key priorities for returning to the office with (iii) challenges of mentoring and managing emotional wellbeing of teams evident. (4) Conclusions: From these surveys we conclude space is an enabler of organisational culture and professional identity, playing a critical role in establishing psychologically safe and equitable workplaces. This paper reports snapshot data showing knowledge workers’ experiences and effects of WFH under strict lockdown circumstances on wellbeing, productivity, and culture over time. It proposes two lenses (togetherness and place), through which the future workplace should be considered by industry and researchers alike

Indoor air quality and early detection of mould growth in residential buildings: a case study

Mould growth affects one in three homes, and it is the biggest cause for complaints and litigations filed to the relevant authorities in Australia, while also significantly affecting the physical and psychological health of the building’s occupants. Indoor mould is caused by excessive dampness, resulting from poor architectural specification, construction and maintenance practices, as well as inappropriate behaviour of the occupants. The consequences range from early biodeterioration of building materials, requiring anticipated renovation works, to deterioration of the indoor environment, posing a serious threat to the building’s occupants. This study investigates indoor air quality (IAQ) and mould growth, providing a snapshot of the current IAQ of Australian residential buildings regarding air pollutants. It uses a case study representative of the typical Australian suburban home to investigate the effects of unnoticed mould growth. The results of the monitoring campaign indicate that buildings with a high concentration of fungal spores are also more likely to present poor IAQ levels, high concentrations of particulate matters (PM10 and PM2.5) and carbon dioxide (CO2). This research suggests the need for the development of early detection strategies that could minimise the health hazard to people, thereby preventing the need for any major renovations

The negative influences of the new brazilian forest code on the conservation of riparian forests

More than one million hectares of riparian forests were degraded or altered in Mato Grosso State (Brazil) up to 2009. The aim of the research is to set a comparative scenario to show differences in the quantification of environmental liabilities in riparian forest areas resulting from the change in native vegetation protection rules due to the transition between Laws 4771/65 and 12651/2012. Data collection took place in a marginal stretch of Vermelho River in Rondonópolis County, Mato Grosso State. The following data set was taken into consideration: aerial images derived from unmanned aerial vehicle, Rapid Eye satellite images and orbital images hosted at Google Earth. The spatial resolution of those images was compared. The aerial photos composed a mosaic that was photo-interpreted to generate land use and occupation classes. The riparian forest areas of a rural property were used as parameter, and their environmental situation was compared in 05 meter and 100 meter strips. Thus, by taking into consideration the current rules, 23,501 m2 of area ceased to be an environmental liability within the riparian forest and became a consolidated rural area. According to the previous Forest Code, in a different scenario, that is, in a set of rural properties, the public authority would receive USD 68,600.00 in fines. The new Brazilian Forestry Code of 2012, which replaces the previous one made in 1965, exempts those responsible for rural property from regenerating previously deforested native vegetation — an obligation established by older Forest Code. We have shown that the new Forest Code has diminished the legal responsibility of the rural owners in relation to the maintenance of forest fragments in their properties

Differences in occupants' satisfaction and perceived productivity in high- and low-performance offices

© 2019 by the authors. This paper reports the results from a dataset comprising 9794 post-occupancy evaluation (POE) surveys from 77 Australian open-plan offices. This paper specifically focuses on a sub-set of 20 offices (n = 2133), identified from ranking 10 offices each, with the least (n = 1063) and highest (n = 1070) satisfaction scores, respectively. The satisfaction scores were evaluated on the basis of seven factors (i.e., building/office aesthetics and quality, thermal comfort and indoor air quality, noise distraction and privacy, personal control, connection to outdoor environment, maintenance and visual comfort, and individual space). Using the POE survey data from 20 offices, regression analyses and two-way ANOVA tests were carried out to understand the differences in occupants' satisfaction and perceived productivity arising from open-plan offices. According to the statistically significant regression analyses results, it was identified that building/office aesthetics and quality (β = 0.55, p < 0.001) and noise distraction and privacy (β = 0.33, p < 0.001) were the two strongest predictors contributing perceived productivity in low-performance offices. Two-way ANOVA test results for the 10 high-performance offices indicate that the perceived productivity was strongly associated with the office's physical configuration, the employees' working experience, and the working hours at that office

Suscetibilidade de linhagens de Biomphalaria glabrata a cepas de Schistosoma mansoni

Com duas linhagens de Biomphalaria glabrata foi estudada a suscetibilidade de cinco cepas de Schistosoma mansoni resistentes e suscetíveis a esquistossomicidas. Três cepas do trematódeo oriundas de Porto Rico apresentaram desenvolvimento mais lento e menor índice de infecção em B. glabrata brasileira quando comparados com o comportamento de duas cepas de S. Mansoni provenientes do Brasil. Por outro lado, as cepas brasileiras do parasita desenvolve ram bem e infectaram mais de 90% dos exemplares de B. glabrata portorriquenhos. Entre os resultados, ressalta-se que cepas resistentes a esquistossomicidas poderão ser introduzidas por pacientes em diferentes áreas geográficas como Brasil e Porto Rico.Five strains of Schistosoma mansoni resistant and susceptible to schistosomicides were studied for infectivity of 2 strains of Biomphalaria glabrata one of Puerto Rican origin and the other of Brazilian origin. Puerto Rican strains of S. Mansoni developed more slowly and had a lower infectivity in Brazilian B. glabrata than did the Brazilian S. mansoni. However, Brazilian S. Mansoni developed as well in Puerto Rican snails as in Brazilian snails, indicating that drug resistant strains could easily be moved by travel of infected persons from one area to another

CIDADE ABERTA: IMAGENS DE UM COTIDIANO NA SAÚDE MENTAL

Cidade Aberta versa sobre as relações de moradores de residências terapêuticas, exinternos de um hospital psiquiátrico, com as matérias de uma cidade. Após anos deinternamento propõe caminhar junto a eles, em parceria, na construção partilhada de um cotidiano que se faz em casa e sobretudo entre ruas, praças e parques da região da Grande Vitória- ES. O enfoque da análise se direciona às formas de relação e aos usos que os antigos internos e seus parceiros são capazes de construir nos serviços da rede assistencial e, principalmente, à imprevisibilidade das relações sociais, temporais, afetivas etc., que se dão no cotidiano do espaço social. Utiliza registros em cadernos de campo como ferramenta metodológica, inspirando-se neles para a produção de pequenas narrativas que compõem e ativam o fluxo de experiências associadas à reforma psiquiátrica e à necessidade de afirmação das conquistas da luta antimanicomial, ampliando o debate associado ao campo e tangenciando de forma problematizadora as formas de racionalidade e os modos de vida que se produzem na contemporaneidade. Os resultados apontam para a produção de um cuidado em saúdemental indissociável de uma dimensão ético-estético-política, afirmando práticas de potencialização de modos de vida e de reforçamento de uma saúde ampliada aos aspectos sociais, históricos e ao exercício singular dos usos produzidos no espaço urbano, ampliando o olhar para além da loucura conhecida como doença mental, buscando afetações e trocas com as mais diversas formas de sociabilidade. Isto vem acompanhado de uma reflexão que busca situar as práticas sociais dentro do contexto de um biopoder exercido nos cenários da cidade contemporânea, procurando reforçar e abrir espaço para as resistências possíveis diante dos empreendimentos de poder voltados para o controle e o apaziguamento das dimensões políticas de criação libertária de formas de vida, consideradas aqui como experiências éticas compartilhadas, abertas ao encontro e sempre em movimento. Palavras-chave: Saúde Mental. Cotidiano. Cidade. Modos de Vid

Avaliacao genetica e selecao em Eucalyptus grandis na regiao de Arapoti - PR.

Foram avaliados 17.916 indivíduos, pertencentes a 163 progênies de polinização aberta de 11 populações de Eucalyptus grandis, implantadas em duas fazendas na região de Arapoti - PR, visando a seleção de indivíduos com base em seus valores genéticos preditos. Foram obtidas estimativas médias da herdabilidade no sentido restrito, em nível de indivíduos e da acurácia seletiva, da ordem de 40 e 65%, respectivamente. A estimativa (0,75) da correlação genética entre médias de progênies, nas duas fazendas, indicou que a interação genótipo X ambiente não é problemática para o melhorista. Ganhos genéticos da ordem de 87 a 105% poderão ser obtidos com o estabelecimento das populações de melhoramento e de produção de sementes, respectivamente

Experiments on the MHD Effect on the Drainage of a LiPb Channel and Supporting Numerical Computations with the Level Set Method

To analyze the impact of the magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) effect on the fast draining of a LiPb channel (lithium-lead eutectic, 15.7 at. % Li) for a liquid metal fusion blanket such as the water-cooled lithium-lead test blanket system of ITER or DEMO, an experimental campaign was carried out with the support of the Integrated European Lead Lithium LOop experimental facility (IELLLO), installed at the ENEA Brasimone research center, Italy. The experiments were carried out by measuring the drainage time of the internal permanent magnet pump channel, normally used to circulate the LiPb in the loop, with and without the magnetic field. Moreover, this paper proposes a new numerical methodology to study the time delay induced by the MHD by using the commercial software COMSOL Multiphysics. In this way, it was possible to evaluate the LiPb fraction present at each time step in the computational domain and to estimate the time necessary for the complete drainage of the channel. The level set method was used to describe the transient behavior of the MHD flow under low-Rm approximation. The developed code was compared with the experimental results and showed good agreement, and it constitutes the first step in model validation as a possible application to ITER and DEMO. The experimental and numerical analyses performed in this work can be used as a benchmark case for MHD code development