Irrationality as a determinant of gender stereotyping towards women

Irrational thinking can be considered to be the key concept of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) and has been conceptualized as rigid und inflexible adherence to absolutistic thinking and person evaluations. Based on this definition we predicted a positive relation between irrationality and gender stereotyping towards women. Established reliable scales were used to assess the constructs in a non-student sample (N = 240). In line with assumptions we were able to detect a significant positive relation between irrationality and gender stereotyping while controlling for the Big Five, life satisfaction, sex and age. Implications for interventions concerning stereotypes are outlined

Nonequilibrium phonon backaction on the current noise in atomic-sized junctions

We study backaction effects of phonon heating due to tunneling electrons on the current noise in atomic-sized junctions. Deriving a generalized kinetic approximation within the extended Keldysh Green's functions technique, we demonstrate the existence of a characteristic backaction contribution to the noise in case of low external phonon damping. We provide a physically intuitive interpretation of this contribution at large voltage in terms of slow fluctuations of the phonon occupation, and show that it generally gives a significant correction to the noise above the phonon emission threshold.Comment: v2 - update: 4 pages, 1 figure, minor changes in the main text nearly identical to the published version; the manuscript is supplemented by an updated Mathematica notebook and a new supplementary note in PDF, which are parts of the associated .zip bundl

Identifying factors of health and safety (H&S) culture for the construction industry

Construction H&S performance improvement has in recent years become a priority and thus has gained industry-wide attention (Cheung et al, 2004 and Hamalainen et al, 2009) because of the economic benefits, the need to improve construction industry image, the need for organisations to be socially responsible and the need for an improved general regard and respect for people working in the construction industry. In addition, the legislative pressure coupled with debate concerning the personal responsibility that senior managers should bear for their organisations on H&S failures (Fitzgerald, 2005) has contributed to most organisations to focus on H&S improvement. However improving H&S performance in the construction industry has also proved to be somewhat challenging partly due to the industryʼs complex nature. Despite this complexity of the industry, H&S performance improvement remains a crucial issue and its importance or need has been demonstrated in numerous studies (Smallman and John, 2001; Lee et al, 2006; ILO, 2003; and Hoonakker et al, 2005)

Conceptual model of client health and safety (H&S) culture

Purpose: This paper presents a conceptual six factor client H&S culture model referred to as the LIP+3C. The factors leadership, involvement, procedures, commitment, communication and competence were theorised to explain the client H&S culture construct. The postulated model is based on theory obtained from literature as well as from a Delphi research. H&S culture has been recognised as the feasible way to improve H&S performance in the construction industry. Design/methodology/approach: A Delphi study as well as a synthesis of literature was conducted and resulted in a theorised conceptual model. To validate the model, a questionnaire survey with a response of 281 was conducted. Findings from the questionnaire survey were analysed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) with EQS version 6.1 software. Findings: The six factor client H&S culture model was found to be well fitting to the sample data through the confirmatory factor analysis. Consequently client H&S culture findings were that client culture could be explained by the level of leadership, involvement, procedures, commitment, communication and competence. Research limitations/implications: The size of the sample may affect the generalisability the findings in view of the complexity of the model. Practical implications: The proposed model in this study makes it possible to determine and predict the client H&S culture. The indicator variables can be used as check items for performance measurement and thus operationalize the concept of H&S culture. Originality/value: Adopting the LIP+3C culture model composed of elements that can easily be implemented and understood will contribute to improving the current H&S statu

An assessment of the needs of women-owned construction enterprises in South Africa for construction empowerment, development and sustainability (CODES)

Purpose of this paper: This paper reports on the findings of a needs assessment study of South African (SA) Women-Owned Enterprises in construction. The study was done in preparation for the rolling out of an empowerment initiative in South Africa. The study builds on the lessons learnt and recommendations from the ʻWomen-helping-Womenʼ study. Design/methodology/approach: Relevant literature was reviewed. A survey instrument was developed and professionally facilitated workshops, supervised by stakeholders, informed the needs assessment. Findings: Fair procurement, women friendly construction sites, a construction bank and relevant career-aligned training with mentoring will enable the respondents to transform their enterprises to be sustainable multi-skilled independent entities that are able to construct the infrastructure needed. Research limitations: Findings are based on views from respondents in SA registered with the Construction Industry development Board (CIDB) and also with legitimate e-mail addresses. Practical implications: Given the professionally facilitated workshops and stakeholder involvement in the instrument developed from start to finish the findings of the study proved to be reliable and valid and could be used for similar interventions. Value of paper: Knowledge sharing for auctioning by government, the building industry, development finance institutions and women associations on the critical skills shortage, gender equity and empowerment added value

Identification of health and safety performance improvement indicators for small and medium construction enterprises : a Delphi consensus study

This study sought to identify and validate a comprehensive set of health and safety (H&S) leading indicator metrics that will enable small and medium construction enterprises (SMEs) personnel to monitor the level of H&S performance in their projects. The Delphi approach was used where the opinion of H&S experts, academics and industry practitioners were canvassed on 64 potential indicator metrics, categorized in 10 elements or leading indicators that will enable H&S performance improvement e.g. reduction in accidents, injuries, diseases but to name a few. The experts rated each indicator metric on a 10-point Likert scale of impact, where 1= no major impact or 10% impact and 10 = major impact or 100% impact. Consensus was reached on 32 indicator metrics after four successive rounds of Delphi if the indicators attracted final scores of, percentage median impact of 90% to 100% which is 9.00 to 10.00 median rating and over 50% of respondents rating the indicator metrics in the band of 9.00 to 10.00 or 90% to 100% impact to improve H&S performance. The experts had the opportunity to reconsider their scores informed by the group median score in rounds 2, 3 and 4. The limitation of the study was the reliance of a structured questionnaire in the first round as experts were not allowed to add any new indicators, until the fourth round. This study contributes to the H&S body of knowledge where no consensus has been reached pertaining to the indicator metrics that have major impact to improve H&S performance at project level of construction SMEs in South Africa

The implementation of health and safety practices : do demographic attributes matter?

The purpose of this study was to investigate the personnel attributes perception on reliable and valid health and safety (H&S) practices within small- and medium-sized construction enterprises (SMEs) in South Africa. It explores whether these valid and reliable H&S practices could be implemented based on the demographic attributes, namely, years of experience in the construction industry, number of years working in the current organisation and educational level. Design/methodology/approach – A mixed method approach was used to conduct this research, namely, Delphi and questionnaire survey. A structured questionnaire consisting of 31 H&S practices categorised into five major H&S practices was developed from extensive literature review and the participation of 20 purposive sampled H&S experts. Sixteen H&S experts completed four iterations. A convenient sample of 1,450 SMEs was obtained. In total, 228 questionnaires were returned, of which 216 responses were useable for analysis. The data were analysed using exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis to determine the validity, reliability and acceptability of theH&Spractices. Finally, one-wayANOVAand t-test were conducted to determine personnel attributes perception on the implementation of the H&S practices. Findings – The five major H&S practices (constructs), namely, upper management commitment and involvement in H&S, employee involvement and empowerment in H&S, project supervision, project H&S planning and communication in H&S and H&S resources and training, were retained as reliable and valid practices of H&S within construction SMEs at project level. One-way ANOVA established no statistical significant difference on the respondents’ perception of the H&S practices. However, t-test revealed statistically significant difference on the respondents’ perception on, upper management commitment and involvement in H&S and H&S resources and training. The respondents with post-matric qualification strongly agreed that upper management are committed and involved in H&S. Originality/value – The findings may help construction SMEs to use these H&S practices to manage H&S in their projects. The SMEs may also consider the level of education of their personnel when implementing H&S practices of upper management and H&S resources and training

FSI of high performance high-lift devices with circulation control via conditioned coandã-jets

Current transport aircraft are limited to airports with comparatively long runways for take-off and landing. An aircraft with short take-off and landing capabilities is under investigation at the Collaborative Research Center 880. The aircraft employs circulation controlled high lift devices where high velocity air is blown through a slot in front of the flap. These high performance high-lift devices allow take-off and landing of the aircraft at runways of 800 m length. The curved flap leading edge induces a Coandˇa effect with the jet resulting in an attached flow up to the tip of the flap even at high deflection angles of up to 85 . Examination of the aeroelasticity of the wing is of high importance because of the sensitivity of the Coandˇa effect to perturbation through deformation and consequential change in flow. The large pressure gradients can play a significant role in the effective use of this jet system. Preliminary studies have shown an influence on aerodynamic performance due to slot deformation. Small changes in the aerodynamic characteristics can have adverse effects on the stall behavior. A flap section model of the wing is used to analyze the performance for several flight states. This high detail model allows capturing fine effects over the whole wing chord and on the slot region while still including wing deformations. The aerodynamic performance of the aeroelastic flap section model is compared to the characteristics of the rigid airfoil. The analyzed flight states give an insight into the influence of the deformation on the flow. Additionally the effects of jet momentum variation on aerodynamics is shown and the dominant stall phenomena presented. The local relative change in pressure can reach values between 10 and 20 % and has an influence on the stall behavior of the section. The change in aerodynamic performance illustrates the influence of small deformations on the sensitive circulation control

Climate readiness in smallholder agricultural systems: lessons learned from REDD+

The debate around the role that agriculture should play in mitigating climate change and sequestering greenhouse gases is politically complex and technically complicated. In many countries, and particularly in developing countries with a large smallholder population, the agricultural sector faces competing priorities, such as national food security goals, poverty alleviation, addressing natural resource degradation and adapting to the already visible effects of climate change. Many of these goals are closer to the immediate, short-term priorities of national decision-makers, relegating climate change mitigation to a secondary priority. It is therefore essential to implement mitigation strategies in concert with strategies that increase the resilience and increase the productivity of agricultural systems. Despite differences in the forestry and the agricultural sectors, experiences from the REDD+ process, and particularly its readiness phase, can offer useful lessons for an agricultural readiness process. The REDD+ readiness process created an overall coherent structure, framework and process of guiding countries towards developing the technical and institutional ability to integrate mitigation activities into their forestry sectors. An overview of the lessons learned from REDD+ Readiness, organized by objectives, governance, process, scope and finance, is provided in this working paper