ITALIAN ADAPTATION OF WARR’S JOB-RELATED AFFECTIVE WELL-BEING SCALE: FACTORIAL STRUCTURE AND RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE HSE MANAGEMENT STANDARDS INDICATOR TOOL

Standardized methodological frameworks including the UK Health and Safety Executive Manage-ment Standards (HSE-MS) have been proposed to aid comparison across organizations in quantifying job stressors. In contrast, the measurement of job strain (and job-related well-being) has been character-ized by lower standardization, resulting in multiple conceptualizations and indicators. Here, we evaluated the psychometrics of the Italian adaptation of Warr’s (1990a) Job-related Affective Well-being Scale (W-JAWS), and its suitability as a job strain indicator to be integrated with the HSE-MS approach. In line with previous studies, data from 541 civil servants supported a 4-factor measurement model (i.e., Anxi-ety, Comfort, Depression, and Enthusiasm), and highlighted linear relationships with multiple HSE-MS risk indicators (i.e., Demand, Control, Peer Support, Change, and Role). Overall, our findings qualify the W-JAWS as a suitable standardized job strain indicator tool, which could be used synergically within the HSE-MS approach to provide comparable results across organizations and countries

Hemodynamics of the heart's left atrium based on a Variational Multiscale-LES numerical model

In this paper, we investigate the hemodynamics of a left atrium (LA) by proposing a computational model suitable to provide physically meaningful fluid dynamics indications and detailed blood flow characterization. In particular, we consider the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations in Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE) formulation to deal with the LA domain under prescribed motion. A Variational Multiscale (VMS) method is adopted to obtain a stable formulation of the Navier-Stokes equations discretized by means of the Finite Element method and to account for turbulence modeling based on Large Eddy Simulation (LES). The aim of this paper is twofold: on one hand to improve the general understanding of blood flow in the human LA in normal conditions; on the other, to analyse the effects of the turbulence VMS-LES method on a situation of blood flow which is neither laminar, nor fully turbulent, but rather transitional as in LA. Our results suggest that if relatively coarse meshes are adopted, the additional stabilization terms introduced by the VMS-LES method allow to better predict transitional effects and cycle-to-cycle blood flow variations than the standard SUPG stabilization method

Luigi Cremona and Wilhelm Fiedler: the link between descriptive and projective geometry in technical instruction

This paper considers Luigi Cremona’s and Wilhelm Fiedler’s outlook on technical instruction at school and university level, their vision about the educational role of descriptive geometry and its relation to Monge’s original conception. Like Cremona, Fiedler sees a symbiosis between descriptive and projective geometry via the fundamental idea of central projection. The link between projective and descriptive geometry plays a double role: an educational one due to the graphical aspects of the two disciplines and a conceptual one due to the connection of theory to practice. Thus, projective and descriptive geometry contribute to form a class of scientifically educated people, and the link between them epitomizes – in the opinion of Cremona – the link between pure mathematics and its applications. According to Fiedler, the main scope of the teaching of descriptive geometry is the scientific construction and development of “Raumanschauung”, as stated in a paper published in the Italian journal Giornale di Matematiche. The textbooks by Fiedler (1871) and Cremona (1873) were used in Italy to develop the geometry programs for the sezione fisico matematica (physics and mathematics section) within technical secondary instruction. While the relation between projective and descriptive geometry – and, thus, between pure and applied mathematics – had a short life at secondary school level in Italy, at the turn of the century there was a new expansion at university level due to the important role that then mathematicians had in the creation of the Faculty of Architecture

Underwater Drone Architecture for Marine Digital Twin: Lessons Learned from SUSHI DROP Project

The ability to observe the world has seen significant developments in the last few decades, alongside the techniques and methodologies to derive accurate digital replicas of observed environments. Underwater ecosystems present greater challenges and remain largely unexplored, but the need for reliable and up-to-date information motivated the birth of the Interreg Italy-Croatia SUSHI DROP Project (SUstainable fiSHeries wIth DROnes data Processing). The aim of the project is to map ecosystems for sustainable fishing and to achieve this goal a prototype of an Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV), named Blucy, has been designed and developed. Blucy was deployed during project missions for surveying the benthic zone in deep waters of the Adriatic Sea with non-invasive techniques compared to the use of trawl nets. This article describes the strategies followed, the instruments applied and the challenges to be overcome to obtain an accurately georeferenced underwater survey with the goal of creating a marine digital twin

Computational fluid dynamics of blood flow in an idealized left human heart

We construct an idealized computational model of the left human heart for the study of the blood flow dynamics in the left atrium and ventricle. We solve the Navier-Stokes equations in the ALE formulation and we prescribe the left heart wall displacement based on physiological data; moreover, we consider the presence of both the mitral and aortic valves through the resistive method. We simulate the left heart hemodynamics by means of the finite element method and we consider the variational multiscale large eddy simulation (LES) formulation to account for the transitional and nearly turbulent regimes of the blood flow in physiological conditions. The main contribution of this paper is the characterization of the blood flow in an idealized configuration of the left heart aiming at reproducing function in normal conditions. Our assessment is based on the analysis of instantaneous and phase averaged velocity fields, blood pressure, and other clinically meaningful fluid dynamics indicators. Finally, we show that our idealized computational model can be suitably used to study and critically discuss pathological scenarios like that of a regurgitant mitral valve

Uncovering the main and interacting impact of workaholism on momentary hedonic tone at work: An experience sampling approach

: Workaholism is a current issue in modern organizations with well-characterized implications for individual health and well-being. Yet, the affective experience of workaholics at work and their emotional reactivity to job stressors have been poorly investigated, with the few available studies being cross-sectional or based on retrospective reports obtained outside the working time. Here, we conducted an experience sampling study to characterize workaholics' affective experience during work and their emotional reactivity to workday accumulation and momentary workload. A total of 139 full-time back-office workers participated in a 3-day protocol by reporting on their hedonic tone and momentary workload up to six times per workday. Multilevel modeling was used to investigate the relationship between trait workaholism and job-related hedonic tone as well as the cross-level interactions between workaholism and both workday accumulation and momentary workload. As expected, our results showed lower job-related hedonic tone for individuals with higher workaholic tendencies, with workaholism interacting with the two investigated job stressors. However, contrary to our hypotheses, we found that workaholism weakened, rather than strengthening, the negative trend of hedonic tone over the levels of both predictors, a result possibly explained by a blunted reactivity condition due to chronic job strain. Moreover, we corroborated previous findings suggesting worse outcomes in workaholic women compared to workaholic men. Organizations should consider taking action to monitor and manage the workaholism levels in the workforce and to create a psychosocial work environment that discourages the enactment of workaholic tendencies. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Workplace stress in real time: Three parsimonious scales for the experience sampling measurement of stressors and strain at work

Experience sampling methods are increasingly used in workplace stress assessment, yet rarely developed and validated following the available best practices. Here, we developed and evaluated parsimonious measures of momentary stressors (Task Demand and Task Control) and the Italian adaptation of the Multidimensional Mood Questionnaire as an indicator of momentary strain (Negative Valence, Tense Arousal, and Fatigue). Data from 139 full-time office workers that received seven experience sampling questionnaires per day over 3 workdays suggested satisfactory validity (including weak invariance cross-level isomorphism), level-specific reliability, and sensitivity to change. The scales also showed substantial correlations with retrospective measures of the corresponding or similar constructs and a degree of sensitivity to work sampling categories (type and mean of job task, people involved). Opportunities and recommendations for the investigation and the routine assessment of workplace stress are discussed

A Fluid-Structure Interaction Solver coupled to a Volume of Fluid method

The study of Fluid Structure Interaction (FSI) is becoming of great interest in many engineering applications. In this work we propose a new model to study the deformation of solid structures induced by a two-phase flow. We use a monolithic approach for the FSI problem while a Volume Of Fluid method (VOF) is considered for the reconstruction and advection of the interface. A PLIC method based on the ELVIRA algorithm for the reconstruction and a split algorithm for the interface advection is used. For an accurate reconstruction of the interface a huge number of computational elements are required and a multilevel algorithm coupled to an efficient compression-expansion technique is developed to reduce computational costs and memory requirements. An unstructured computational grid and a fine Cartesian mesh are used for the FSI and the VOF problem, respectively. The interaction between the two different grids is obtained by projecting the velocity field into the Cartesian grid and the Color function into the unstructured grid. This is performed with the MEDMEM libraries included in the Salome platform. The FSI problem is solved with a parallel multigrid C++ Finite Element code. Several test cases are presented