5,853 research outputs found
Sleep and Organizational Behavior: Implications for Workplace Productivity and Safety
The interaction between sleep and work-related behaviors influence many aspects of employee performance, safety, and health as well as organizational-level success. Although it is well established that quantity and quality of sleep can affect different types of task performance and personal health, the interactions between sleep habits and organizational behaviors have received much less attention. It is important to examine how sleep habits and workplace behaviors relate and the role of the underlying circadian rhythm on the potential impact of sleep and sleepiness in the workplace. Developing a deeper understanding of how sleep habits and sleepiness impact workers and the organization can help provide the necessary background for human resource management to develop more progressive support networks for employees that benefit both the worker and the organization. Human resources and employees should emphasize the impact of good sleep and sleep habits on organizational and individual productivity and safety
Non-hypothermic cold stress methodology for psychological research
Cold environments are a natural stressor and impact human performance through homeostatic response. Common methods of studying cold stress use expensive climate chambers and are out of reach of traditional labs. To safely study the effects of cold in a traditional lab setting, affordable methods of producing non-hypothermic cold stress should be explored. The current study developed and tested an affordable cold stress method using ice packs by measuring human psychological and physiological response. Forty-four participants were in a thermal neutral or cooled condition. Cold condition participants wore a cooling vest and sat on a cooling pack with a mild breeze for forty-five minutes. Results showed the stressor significantly lowered subjective feelings of comfort and raised perceptions of cold (p\u3c.001). Mean skin temperature taken continuously from three locations was also significant lower in the cold condition (p\u3c.001). Importantly, core temperature taken from the mouth and ear was not significantly impacted (p\u3e.05). These findings support the effectiveness of the method in producing a psychological cold stress response without resulting in hypothermia
An anisotropic distribution of spin vectors in asteroid families
Current amount of ~500 asteroid models derived from the disk-integrated
photometry by the lightcurve inversion method allows us to study not only the
spin-vector properties of the whole population of MBAs, but also of several
individual collisional families. We create a data set of 152 asteroids that
were identified by the HCM method as members of ten collisional families, among
them are 31 newly derived unique models and 24 new models with well-constrained
pole-ecliptic latitudes of the spin axes. The remaining models are adopted from
the DAMIT database or the literature. We revise the preliminary family
membership identification by the HCM method according to several additional
criteria - taxonomic type, color, albedo, maximum Yarkovsky semi-major axis
drift and the consistency with the size-frequency distribution of each family,
and consequently we remove interlopers. We then present the spin-vector
distributions for eight asteroidal families. We use a combined orbital- and
spin-evolution model to explain the observed spin-vector properties of objects
among collisional families. In general, we observe for studied families similar
trends in the (a_p, \beta) space: (i) larger asteroids are situated in the
proximity of the center of the family; (ii) asteroids with \beta>0{\deg} are
usually found to the right from the family center; (iii) on the other hand,
asteroids with \beta<0{\deg} to the left from the center; (iv) majority of
asteroids have large pole-ecliptic latitudes (|\beta|\gtrsim 30{\deg}); and
finally (v) some families have a statistically significant excess of asteroids
with \beta>0{\deg} or \beta<0{\deg}. Our numerical simulation of the long-term
evolution of a collisional family is capable of reproducing well the observed
spin-vector properties. Using this simulation, we also independently constrain
the age of families Flora (1.0\pm0.5 Gyr) and Koronis (2.5-4 Gyr).Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A (September 16, 2013
A Forward-Design Approach to Increase the Production of Poly-3-Hydroxybutyrate in Genetically Engineered Escherichia coli
Biopolymers, such as poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (P(3HB)) are produced as a carbon store in an array of organisms and exhibit characteristics which are similar to oil-derived plastics, yet have the added advantages of biodegradability and biocompatibility. Despite these advantages, P(3HB) production is currently more expensive than the production of oil-derived plastics, and therefore, more efficient P(3HB) production processes would be desirable. In this study, we describe the model-guided design and experimental validation of several engineered P(3HB) producing operons. In particular, we describe the characterization of a hybrid phaCAB operon that consists of a dual promoter (native and J23104) and RBS (native and B0034) design. P(3HB) production at 24 h was around six-fold higher in hybrid phaCAB engineered Escherichia coli in comparison to E. coli engineered with the native phaCAB operon from Ralstonia eutropha H16. Additionally, we describe the utilization of non-recyclable waste as a low-cost carbon source for the production of P(3HB)
Social Isolation and Sleep: Manifestation During COVID-19 Quarantines
Although researchers have investigated the impact of social isolation on well-being, the recent quarantines due to COVID-19 resulted in a social isolation environment that was unique to any examined in the past. Because sleep is one of the endogenous drives that impacts short and long-term health and well-being, it is important to consider how social isolation during the COVID-19 government-mandated quarantines affected sleep and sleep habits. A number of researchers have addressed this question during the last 2 years by examining several concepts related to possible changes in sleep during the quarantines. To best understand these recent results, the current mini review provides a background on the pre-pandemic literature on the effects of social isolation and loneliness with a focus on sleep and then summarizes the recent literature on sleep and sleep habits. In general, sleep was negatively impacted for many people during the pandemics but not all. One group that seemed to benefit from the pandemic in terms of sleep patterns, were younger people who could more easily adapt their sleep times to match their internal chronobiology. Given the potential broad impact of sleep on health and well-being, better understanding how social isolation impacts sleep is an important consideration for individuals, work organizations, and governments
Isotopic Production Cross Sections in Proton-Nucleus Collisions at 200 MeV
Intermediate mass fragments (IMF) from the interaction of Al,
Co and Au with 200 MeV protons were measured in an angular range
from 20 degree to 120 degree in the laboratory system. The fragments, ranging
from isotopes of helium up to isotopes of carbon, were isotopically resolved.
Double differential cross sections, energy differential cross sections and
total cross sections were extracted.Comment: accepted by Phys. Rev.
Understanding childrenâs constructions of meanings about other children: implications for inclusiveeducation
This paper explores the factors that influence the way children construct meanings about other children, and especially those who seem to experience marginalisation, within school contexts. The research involved an ethnographic study in a primary school in Cyprus over a period of 5 months. Qualitative methods were used, particularly participant observations and interviews with children. Interpretation of the data suggests that children's perceptions about other children, and especially those who come to experience marginalisation, are influenced by the following factors: other children and the interactions between them; adultsâ way of behaving in the school; the existing structures within the school; and the cultures of the school and the wider educational context. Even though the most powerful factor was viewed to be the adultsâ influence, it was rather the interweaving between different factors that seemed to lead to the creation of particular meanings for other children. In the end, it is argued that children's voices should be seen as an essential element within the process of developing inclusive practices.<br/
Expression of Interest: The Atmospheric Neutrino Neutron Interaction Experiment (ANNIE)
Neutron tagging in Gadolinium-doped water may play a significant role in
reducing backgrounds from atmospheric neutrinos in next generation proton-decay
searches using megaton-scale Water Cherenkov detectors. Similar techniques
might also be useful in the detection of supernova neutrinos. Accurate
determination of neutron tagging efficiencies will require a detailed
understanding of the number of neutrons produced by neutrino interactions in
water as a function of momentum transferred. We propose the Atmospheric
Neutrino Neutron Interaction Experiment (ANNIE), designed to measure the
neutron yield of atmospheric neutrino interactions in gadolinium-doped water.
An innovative aspect of the ANNIE design is the use of precision timing to
localize interaction vertices in the small fiducial volume of the detector. We
propose to achieve this by using early production of LAPPDs (Large Area
Picosecond Photodetectors). This experiment will be a first application of
these devices demonstrating their feasibility for Water Cherenkov neutrino
detectors.Comment: Submitted for the January 2014 Fermilab Physics Advisory Committee
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