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Religious accommodation in France: decoding managers' behaviour
No full textPurpose
This research aims to explain, in the secular French context, the intention of managers to accommodate religious expression at work (REW) when they are not obliged to do so. This paper seeks to understand the determinants of managerial positions on REW. Building on previous studies on how organisations and managers deal with religious expression, this research seeks to extend the evidence on this important aspect of managerial behaviour in relation to accommodating REW.
Design/methodology/approach
The hypotheses were tested using a structural equation model based on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) in diversity management (N = 151 French managers). This method highlights attitudinal and organisational determinants favourable to the intent to accommodate.
Findings
The present research provides new insight by identifying two main direct factors affecting managers' accommodation, namely, organisational flexibility (flexible hours, autonomy) and perceived consequences (advantages, disadvantages) and one indirect factor, religiosity. In line with the contradictions within diversity management, the perceived consequences are ambivalent and highly context dependent. One issue to explore is that managers seek to deal with religious expression by making it invisible.
Research limitations/implications
In the French context, the explanatory social norm might not be “religiosity” but rather “perceived secularity”. The authors recommend that future studies use qualitative methods with interviews and photo elicitation to extend this first study. Indeed, the complexity of the managerial position requires an in-depth understanding of managers' attitudes and behaviours with regard to religion. How do managers apply a common ground strategy and create unity despite differences? Is the desire to make arrangements invisible with a view to inclusive neutrality specific to France, or can it be generalised to managers in other countries? Does the intention to accommodate not essentially depend on the manager-employee relationship dynamic? This research raises questions for scholars about the relationship with the other and ethical managerial conduct.
Practical implications
France is a secular country where a debate is emerging on cases of discrimination due to REW. The results contribute to approaches to drafting company guidelines for managers and may help organisations anticipate the risks associated with REW. The discussion of the results reveals the importance of social norms in the sense of hypernorms (religiosity) and undoubtedly of secularism, nondiscrimination and gender equality in the decision-making process on accommodation. These inclusive norms should therefore be handled with care in the various guidelines that have been developed.
Originality/value
REW is increasing but is a neglected dimension of diversity management. This study helps explore this new field by promoting an understanding of managers' intention to accommodate in a specific secular context
Intracellular complement activation in podocytes aggravates immune kidney injury in trichloroethylene-sensitized mice
No full textTrichloroethylene (TCE) as a common organic solvent in industrial production can cause occupational medicamentosa-like dermatitis (OMDT) in some exposed workers. In addition to systemic skin damage, OMDT is also accompanied by severe kidney injury. Our previous studies show that complement(C) plays an important role in immune kidney injury caused by TCE. Specifically, C3 is mainly deposited on glomeruli. Recent studies have found that intracellular complement can be activated by cathepsin L(CTSL) and exert a series of biological effects. The purpose of this study was to explore where C3 on glomeruli comes from and what role it plays. A BALB/c mouse model of skin sensitization induced by TCE in the presence or absence of CTSL inhibitor(CTSLi,10mg/kg). In TCE sensitization-positive mice, C3 was mainly expressed on podocytes and the expression of CTSL significantly increased in podocytes. Kidney function test and related indicators showed abnormal glomerular filtration and transmission electron microscopy revealed ultrastructure damage to podocytes. These lesions were alleviated in TCE/CTSLi positive mice. These results provide the first evidence that in TCE-induced immune kidney injury, intracellular complement in podocytes can be over-activated by CTSL and aggravates podocytes injury, thereby damaging glomerular filtration function. Intracellular complement activation and cathepsin L in podocytes may be a potential target for treating immune kidney injury induced by TCE
Prices, Policing and Policy: The Dynamics of Crime Booms and Busts
No full textIn many historical episodes, criminal activity displays booms and busts. One clear example is the case of metal crime in the UK (and elsewhere) where, in the face of big increases in value driven by world commodity prices, thefts rose very sharply in the 2000s, after which they fell. This paper studies the respective roles of prices, policing and policy in shaping this crime boom and bust. Separate study of each reveals metal crime being driven up via sizeable and significant metal crime-price elasticities and driven down by changes in policing and policy. A regression-based decomposition analysis confirms that all three of the hypothesised factors considered in the paper – prices, policing and policy – were empirically important in the different stages of metal theft’s boom and bust
Stepping towards a low-carbon economy. Formic acid from biogas as case of study
No full textThe European Union has set an ambitious plan for addressing the Global Challanges in the coming years. One of these challenges is the use of biomass and the production of biomass-derived products following the spirit of a circular economy. Biogas obtained from biomass anaerobic digestion could play a pivotal role in this strategy. Herein an innovative strategy for synergizing biogas upgrading to biomethane and formic acid production from CO2 is presented. A profitability analysis of the combined biogas upgrading – CO2 utilization process was conducted to assess the economic viability of this novel approach. The profitability study focuses mainly on net present value and profitability index. Even though the process is environmentally favourable, negative profitability results are obtained. To revert the negative outputs, out of the market formic acid prices (1767–3135 €/t) would be needed to achieve a net present value equal to zero. The alternative of feed-in tariffs biomethane subsidies needs high values (121.1–269.4 €/MW) to reach profitable scenarios. These unsuccessful profitability results are ascribed to high consumables costs, mainly associated with the catalytic conversion of a CO2-rich feedstock. A 80% reduction of catalysts costs can considerably improve net present value up to 50%. This result indicates that further research is needed to find econimocally appealing catalysts to perform this process. The effect of biomethane subsidies as percentage of investment was also considered, evidencing encouraging results for small scale plants
Improving fatigue risk management in healthcare: A systematic scoping review of sleep-related/fatigue-management interventions for nurses and midwives
No full textBackground
Nurses and midwives make up almost 50% of the global healthcare shift working workforce. Shift work interferes with sleep and causes fatigue with adverse effects for nurses’ and midwives’ health, as well as on patient safety and care. Where other safety-critical sectors have developed Fatigue Risk Management Systems, healthcare is behind the curve; with published literature only focussing on the evaluation of discreet sleep-related/fatigue-management interventions. Little is known, however, about which interventions have been evaluated for nurses and midwives. Our review is a critical first step to building the evidence-base for healthcare organisations seeking to address this important operational issue.
Objectives
We address two questions: (1) what sleep-related/fatigue-management interventions have been assessed in nurses and midwives and what is their evidence-base? and (2) what measures are used by researchers to assess intervention effectiveness?
Design and data sources
The following databases were searched in November, 2018 with no limit on publication dates: MEDLINE, PsychINFO and CINAHL.
Review methods
We included: (1) studies conducted in adult samples of nurses and/or midwives that had evaluated a sleep-related/fatigue-management intervention; and (2) studies that reported intervention effects on fatigue, sleep, or performance at work, and on measures of attention or cognitive performance (as they relate to the impact of shift working on patient safety/care).
Results
The search identified 798 potentially relevant articles, out of which 32 met our inclusion criteria. There were 8619 participants across the included studies and all were nurses (88.6% female). We did not find any studies conducted in midwives nor any studies conducted in the UK, with most studies conducted in the US, Italy and Taiwan. There was heterogeneity both in terms of the interventions evaluated and the measures used to assess effectiveness. Napping could be beneficial but there was wide variation regarding nap duration and timing, and we need to understand more about barriers to implementation. Longer shifts, shift patterns including nights, and inadequate recovery time between shifts (quick returns) were associated with poorer sleep, increased sleepiness and increased levels of fatigue. Light exposure and/or light attenuation interventions showed promise but the literature was dominated by small, potentially unrepresentative samples.
Conclusions
The literature related to sleep-related/fatigue-management interventions for nurses and midwives is fragmented and lacks cohesion. Further empirical work is warranted with a view to developing comprehensive Fatigue Risk Management Systems to protect against fatigue in nurses, midwives, and other shift working healthcare staff.</p
Food restriction induces functional resilience to sleep restriction in rats
No full textStudy Objectives. Sleep restriction leads to performance decrements across cognitive domains but underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown. The impact of sleep restriction on performance in rodents is often assessed using tasks in which food is the reward. Investigating how the drives of hunger and sleep interact to modulate performance may provide insights into mechanisms underlying sleep loss related performance decrements.
Methods. Three experiments were conducted in male adult Wistar rats to assess: 1) Effects of food restriction on performance in the simple response latency task (SRLT) across the diurnal cycle (n=30); 2) Interaction of food restriction and sleep restriction (11-h) on SRLT performance, sleep EEG and event-related potentials (ERP) (n=10-13); 3) Effects of food restriction and sleep restriction on progressive ratio (PR) task performance to probe the reward value of food reinforcement (n=19).
Results. Food restriction increased premature responding on the SRLT at the end of the light period of the diurnal cycle. Sleep restriction led to marked impairments in SRLT performance in the ad libitum-fed group, which were absent in the food-restricted group. After sleep restriction, food restricted rats displayed a higher amplitude of cue-evoked ERP components during the SRLT compared to the ad libitum group. Sleep restriction did not affect PR performance while food restriction improved performance.
Conclusions. Hunger may induce a functional resilience to negative effects of sleep loss during subsequent task performance, possibly by maintaining attention to food-related cues.</p
Acoustic excitation of Tollmien-Schlichting waves due to localised surface roughness
No full textExperiments on the receptivity of two-dimensional boundary layers to acoustic disturbances from two-dimensional roughness strips were performed in a low-turbulence wind
tunnel on a at plate model. The freestream was subjected to a plane acoustic wave so that a Stokes Layer (SL) was created on the plate, thus generating a Tollmien-Schlichting
(T-S) wave through the receptivity process. An improved technique to measure the T-S component is described based on a retracting two-dimensional roughness, which
allowed for phase-locked measurements at the acoustic wave frequency to be made. This improved technique enables both protuberances and cavities to be explored in the range
30�m < jhj < 750�m (equivalent to 0:025 < jhj=��B
< 0:630 in relative roughness
height to the local unperturbed Blasius boundary layer displacement thickness). These depths are designed to cover both the predicted linear and non-linear response of the
T-S excitation. Experimentally, cavities had not previously been explored. Results show that a linear regime is identifiable for both positive and negative roughness heights up
to � 150 �m (jhj=��B
� 0:126). The departure from the linear behaviour is, however, dependent on the geometry of the surface imperfection. For cavities of signi�cant depth,
the non-linear behaviour is found to be milder than in the case of protuberances - this is attributed to the flow physics in the near field of the surface features. Nonetheless, results for positive heights agree well with previous theoretical work which predicted a
linear disturbance response for small-height perturbations
Renormalization of pionless effective field theory in the A-body sector
No full textCurrent models of inter-nucleon interactions are built within the frame of Effective Field Theories (EFTs). Contrary to traditional nuclear potentials, EFT interactions require a renormalization of their parameters in order to derive meaningful estimations of the observables. In this paper, a renormalization procedure is designed in connection with many-body approximations applicable to large-A systems and formulated within the frame of many-body perturbation theory. The procedure is shown to generate counterterms that are independent of the targeted A-body sector. As an example, the procedure is applied to the random phase approximation. This work constitutes one step towards the design of a practical EFT for many-body systems
Telephone interventions for symptom management in adults with cancer (Review)
No full textBackground
People with cancer experience a variety of symptoms as a result of their disease and the therapies involved in its management. Inadequate
symptom management has implications for patient outcomes including functioning, psychological well-being and quality of life (QoL).
Attempts to reduce the incidence and severity of cancer symptoms have involved the development and testing of psycho-educational
interventions to enhance patients' symptom self-management. With the trend for care to be provided nearer patients' homes, telephone-delivered
psycho-educational interventions have evolved to provide support for the management of a range of cancer symptoms. Early
indications suggest that these can reduce symptom severity and distress through enhanced symptom self-management.
Objectives
To assess the effectiveness of telephone-delivered interventions for reducing symptoms associated with cancer and its treatment.
To determine which symptoms are most responsive to telephone interventions.
To determine whether certain configurations (active ingredients, dosage) of telephone interventions mediate observed cancer symptom
outcome effects.
Search methods
We searched the following databases: the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL; 2019, Issue 1) in the Cochrane Library;
MEDLINE via OVID (1946 to January 2019); Embase via OVID (1980 to January 2019); CINAHL via Athens (1982 to January 2019); British
Nursing Index (1984 to January 2019); and PsychINFO (1989 to January 2019). Additionally, we searched conference proceedings to identify
published abstracts, and SIGLE and trial registers for unpublished studies. We also searched the reference lists of all included articles
for additional relevant studies. Finally, we hand searched the following journals: Cancer, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Psycho-oncology,
Cancer Practice, Cancer Nursing, Oncology Nursing Forum, Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, Palliative Medicine. Search was
restricted to publications published in English.
Selection criteria
We included randomised control trials (RCTs) and quasi-RCTs which compared one or more telephone interventions with each other, or
with other types of interventions (e.g. a face-to-face intervention) and/or usual care, with the stated aim of addressing any physical or psychological symptoms of cancer and its treatment, which recruited adult (over 18 years) men and women with a clinical diagnosis of
cancer, regardless of tumour type, stage of cancer, type of treatment and time of recruitment (e.g. pre, during or post treatment).
Data collection and analysis
Two review authors independently selected articles, extracted data, and appraised methodological quality and risk of bias. Disagreements
were resolved through discussion, involving the entire review team where necessary. Risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane's risk of
bias tool. We had planned to conduct meta-analyses using random effects models for symptoms where there were sufficient data to enable
this. Heterogeneity between study outcomes was planned to be determined through visual inspection of forest plots and calculation of
the I2 statistic. Where possible, outcomes are reported as standardised mean differences (SMDs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) and a
descriptive synthesis of study findings is presented. Findings are reported on according to symptom addressed and intervention type (e.g.
telephone only or telephone combined with other elements). As many studies had small samples, and baseline scores for study outcomes
often varied for intervention and control groups, change scores and associated standard deviations were used.
Main results
Thirty-two studies were eligible for the review; most had moderate risk of bias, mostly related to blinding. Collectively they recruited 6250
people. Interventions were studied in people with a variety of cancer types and across the disease trajectory although many participants
had breast cancer, early stage cancers and/or were starting treatment. Symptoms measured were anxiety, depression, emotional distress,
uncertainty, fatigue, pain, sexuality-related symptoms and general symptom intensity and/or distress.
Interventions were primarily (n = 24) delivered by nurses, most (n=16) had a background in oncology, research or psychiatry. Ten were
delivered solely by telephone; the rest combined telephone with additional elements (face-to-face consultation, and digital/online/printed
resources). Number of calls delivered ranged from 1 to 18; most provided 3 to 4 calls.
Twenty‐one studies provided evidence on effectiveness of telephone‐delivered interventions and the majority appeared to reduce symptoms of depression compared to control. Nine studies contributed quantitative change scores (CSs) and associated standard deviation results (or these could be calculated). Likewise, many telephone interventions appeared effective when compared to control in reducing anxiety (16 studies; 5 contributed quantitative CS results); fatigue (9 studies; 6 contributed to quantitative CS results); and emotional distress (7 studies; 5 contributed quantitative CS results). Due to significant clinical heterogeneity with regards to interventions introduced, study participants recruited, and outcomes measured, meta‐analysis was not conducted.
For other symptoms (uncertainty, pain, sexuality-related symptoms, dyspnoea and general symptom experience) there was limited evidence;
meta-analysis was similarly not possible and the results from individual studies were largely conflicting making conclusions about
their management through telephone-delivered intervention hard to draw. There was considerable heterogeneity across all trials for all
outcomes.
Overall, the certainty of the evidence was low for all outcomes in the review due to uncertainty over estimates. Outcomes were all
downgraded due to concerns about overall risk of bias profiles being frequently unclear and due to inconsistencies in results and general
heterogeneity.
Unsubstantiated evidence suggests that telephone interventions in some capacity may have a place in symptom management for adults with cancer. However, in the absence of reliable and homogeneous evidence, caution is needed in interpreting the narrative synthesis. Further, there were no clear patterns across studies regarding which forms of interventions (telephone alone versus augmented with other elements) are most effective. It is impossible to conclude with any certainty which forms of telephone intervention are most effective in managing the range of cancer‐related symptoms that people with cancer experience.
Authors' conclusions
Telephone interventions provide a convenient way of supporting self-management of cancer-related symptoms in adults with cancer.
They are becoming more important with the shift of care closer to patients' homes, need for resource/cost containment and potential
for voluntary-sector providers to deliver healthcare interventions. There is some evidence supporting use of telephone-delivered
interventions for symptom management in adults with cancer; most evidence relates to four commonly experienced symptoms -
depression, anxiety, emotional distress and fatigue. Some telephone-delivered interventions were augmented by combining them with
face-to-face meetings and provision of printed or digital materials. The review was unable to determine whether telephone alone or in
combination with other elements provides optimal reduction in symptoms; it appears most likely that this will vary by symptom. It is
noteworthy that, despite the potential for telephone interventions to deliver cost savings, none of the studies reviewed included any form
of health economic evaluation.
Further robust and adequately reported trials are needed across all cancer-related symptoms as the certainty of evidence generated in
studies within this review was largely low to moderate, and reporting was of variable quality. Efforts are needed by researchers to reduce
variability between studies in future. Studies in the review were characterised by both clinical and methodological diversity; the level of
diversity hindered comparison across studies. At the very least, efforts should be made to standardise outcome measures. Finally, studies
were compromised by having small samples, inadequate concealment of group allocation, lack of observer blinding and short length of follow up. Consequently, conclusions relating to symptoms most amenable to management by telephone-delivered intervention are
tentative.</p
Dynamic biogas production from anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge for on-demand electricity generation
No full textThe aim of this work was to study the potentials and benefits of dynamic biogas production from Anaerobic Digestion (AD) of sewage sludge. The biogas production rate was aimed to match the flexible demand for electricity generation and so appropriate feeding regimes were calculated and tested in both pilot and demonstration scale.
The results demonstrate that flexibilization capability exists for both conventional AD and advanced AD using Thermal Hydrolysis Process (THP) as pre-treatment. Whilst the former provides lower capability, flexible biogas production was achieved by the latter, as it provides a quick response. In all scenarios, the value of the biogas converted into electricity is higher than with a steady operational regime, increasing by 3.6% on average (up to 5.0%) in conventional and by 4.8% on average (up to 7.1%) with THP. The process has proven scalable up to 18m3 digester capacity in operational conditions like those in full scale.</p
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