An Overview of the Determinants That Escalates Cottage Industry

In Malaysia, Cottage Industry is a major source of revenue for the villagers. It's mostly small-scale operations that rely on local resources and conventional skills, with low upfront costs and quick returns. However, due to a lack of new technologies, infrastructure, and knowledge transfer, the industry might not be thriving right now. The aim of this research is to evaluate the current roles, challenges, and gaps in Perak's CI. This study was carried out via face-to-face interview on 10 stakeholders from different agencies. This study shows a number of factors affect a community's socioeconomic development and CI business. Internal and external factors, such as interest and self-motivation, as well as the positions of various organisations, as well as family and community support, all contribute to this.

Pain complaints after consecutive nights and quick returns in Norwegian nurses working three-shift rotation: an observational study

ObjectivesTo determine whether nurses working consecutive night shifts, or short transitions between shifts (quick returns (QRs)), yielded higher risk for pain complaints when compared with regular morning shifts. Sleep duration was tested as a potential mediator.DesignObservational diary study.SettingRandom hospitals.ParticipantsNurses with three-shift rotation (morning, evening and night), n=679, 22–63 years old.Outcomes measuresDaily ratings of working hours, sleep and subjective pain complaints in six anatomical regions (head, neck/shoulder/upper back, upper extremity, low back, lower extremity and abdomen) for 28 days. In addition, we assessed demographics, habitual sleep and pain complaints, work and lifestyle factors. It was tested (1) whether the risk for pain complaints was higher after workday 3 versus after workday 2, and whether the difference was larger for consecutive night shifts versus consecutive morning shifts, and (2) whether the risk for pain complaints was higher after QRs versus after two morning shifts. Risk for pain complaints refers to combined increased risk for any pain and risk for increased intensity.ResultsAdjusted analyses showed no shift type by workday interaction for pain complaints in the neck/shoulder/upper back, upper extremities, low back, lower extremities or abdomen. For headache, a strong trend indicated that the risk was higher on workday 3 compared with workday 2 for night shifts (OR 1.13, 95% CI 0.99 to 1.28). The risk was lowered if sleep duration was taken into account (OR 0.37, 95% CI 0.17 to 0.81). No conclusive support was found for the risk for pain complaints being higher after QRs, compared with after morning shifts.ConclusionsFor five of six pain complaints, the hypotheses were not supported by the current data. For headache, we found potential support for a sleep-relieving effect on headache after working several nights in a row. Pain complaints were not instigated or exacerbated by an evening-to-morning transition between shifts.

Age-group differences in associations of working hour characteristics and short sickness absences

Background Working-hour characteristics are linked to disturbed sleep, but little is known about their association with short sickness absences (SA). We investigated the association between working hour characteristics in shift work and the incidence of short (1-3 days) SA in three age groups. Methods The data was from the hospitals’ electronic working time records. The final sample was restricted to the first incidence of short SA (1-3 days) from 2008 to 2015 and to shift working employees (n = 12156, 89% women). Age groups were < 35 (n = 5652), 35-49 (n = 3592) and ≤ 50 years (n = 2545). Work shifts (morning, day, evening, and night), quick returns (< 11 hours between two work shifts), length of work shift and weekly working time were calculated for case-crossover study design to compare the working hour characteristics of the 28 days preceding SA (exposure window) and those of the 28 days before the exposure window (control window). Conditional logistic regression models were run for odds ratios (OR) with 95% Confidence Intervals (95%CI). Results Working hour characteristics, especially length of working hours, played the clearest role among those < 35 years of age. In this age group, exposure to > 25% of > 40 weekly working hours associated with an increased likelihood of short SA (OR 1.30, 95%CI 1.17-1.44), whereas weekly working hours had OR 1.02 (95%CI 1.02-1.03). Having only a few (≤ 4) quick returns decreased the likelihood of SA (ORs 0.31-0.54), whereas having ≥25 quick returns increased it (OR 2.75, 95%CI 2.44-3.11). The results showed mostly similar trends among those of 35-49 years of age whereas among older workers (≤ 50 years) only an association for quick returns was observed. Conclusions Long working hours increase the risk of short SA among those ≤ 49 years of age and several quick returns among all age groups. These working-hour characteristics should be avoided to minimize SA and increased costs for the employer, but also to maintain public health. Key messages Unhealthy working-hour characteristics should be paid special attention in shift scheduling to avoid sickness absence. Good shift scheduling could assist in maintaining workability and therefore public health.

Sustainable steel and composite constructions for multifunctional commercial buildings

Rising cost pressures and the prospect of quick returns have led to an increase in mono functional buildings since the 1970s. These prevent the adaptation to changing user requirements with little monetary outlay. Lack of marketability, increasing vacancy and early demolition are often the consequences. Main objective of the AIF/FOSTA research project P1118 is to develop planning recommendations for multifunctional usable buildings. Adaptability to changing needs will increase marketability and value stability as well as extend the lifetime of the buildings. This not only increases the economy but also the resource efficiency. First of all, the paper explains the ecological and economic requirements for modern buildings, which are based on current certification systems. In this context, the expected lifetime of primary and secondary building components are also dealt with. Subsequently, relevant types of use as well as requirements for essential building parameters are presented. In a comparison, the ecological expenses and costs are assessed for four selected composite structures. For the multifunctional building structures an extension of lifetime is considered and the environmental and monetary impacts are assessed. Furthermore, the influence of the structure on the building foundations is analysed. The investigations present the effects of the building masses on the foundations for two different soil conditions. Finally, the investigations show that variable usable buildings with a longer lifetime lead to a better sustainability.