Increasing inequalities in disability-free life expectancy among older adults in Sweden 2002–2014

Background: In an aging society with increasing old age life expectancy, it has become increasingly important to monitor the health development in the population. This paper combines information on mortality and disability and explores educational inequalities in disability-free life expectancy in the aging population in Sweden, and to what extent these inequalities have increased or decreased over time. Methods: A random sample of the Swedish population aged 77 years and above ( n=2895) provided information about disability in the population in the years 2002, 2004, 2011 and 2014. The prevalence of disability was assessed by five items of personal activities of daily living and incorporated in period life tables for the corresponding years, using the Sullivan method. The analyses were stratified by sex and educational attainment. Estimates at ages 77 and 85 years are presented. Results: Disability-free life expectancy at age 77 years increased more than total life expectancy for all except men with lower education. Women with higher education had a 2.7-year increase and women with lower education a 1.6-year increase. The corresponding numbers for men were 2.0 and 0.8 years. The educational gap in disability-free life expectancy increased by 1.2 years at age 77 years for both men and women. Conclusions: While most of the increase in life expectancy was years free from disability, men with lower education had an increase of years with disability. The educational differences prevailed and increased over the period as the gains in disability-free life expectancy were smaller among those with lower education.

Residential Construction with a Focus on Evaluation of the Life Cycle of Buildings

The article focuses on highlighting the role of life cycle costing (LCC) in the preparatory and implementation phase of residential projects. It involves the evaluation of several investment scenarios in the pre-investment phase, the choice between variants of the design of the entire building or its parts, and the choice of variants of structures and equipment with acceptable parameters. An innovative method of evaluating the life cycle of buildings is described in the article. This method was tested in selected residential projects realized by Skanska in the Czech Republic. Experience from construction practice shows that the choice of variants, constructions, or equipment of buildings only on the basis of the lowest acquisition costs (lowest bid prices) is wrong. The LCC calculation tool has been designed to model life cycle costs of individual variants of construction designs with different input parameters. It is possible to analyze the components or equipment that have the greatest impact on total life cycle costs. The article presents a tool that evaluates the long-term economic efficiency of the proposed residential buildings in terms of analysis of life cycle costs. The article will also expand the knowledge of the professional and general public about the importance of examining investment and operating costs already in the phase of construction preparation.

Biology of Attagenus fasciatus Thunberg (Coleoptera: Dermestidae) on four different diets of animal origin

Biology of dermestid beetle, Attagenus fasciatus was studied on four different diets of animal origin included dried silkworm pupae and moths of Bombyx mori, feathers of white leghorn and on an equal mixture of fur of goat and sheep under laboratory conditions, to know the dietary effect on the developmental process. The mean incubation period was 12-16 days. There were 10-12 larval instars. The life-cycle on four different diets of animal origin varied. On dried silkworm pupae, total larval period ranged from 243 to 298 days and total life-cycle 267-326 days; on dried silk moths, total larval period was 251-307 and total life-cycle 272-330 days; on feathers of white leghorn, total larval period was 264-329 and total life-cycle was 288-355 days, and on an equal mixture of fur of goat and sheep, total larval period was 273-317 and total life-cycle was 297-343 days.

A New Multi Echelon Repair Network Model with Multiple Upstream Locations for Level of Repair Analysis Problem

Level of repair analysis (LORA) determines (1) the best decision during a malfunction of each product component; (2) the location in the repair network to perform the decision and (3) the quantity of required resources in each facility. Capital goods have long life cycles and their total life cycle costs are extremely high. LORA, which can be done repeatedly during the life cycle of the product, both at design and product support phase, plays an important role in minimising the total life cycle costs of capital goods. It is mostly applied to systems that operate in different geographical areas and deployed in different regions, which include different subsystems with special technology and expertise, and have a complex product structure. In this study, we propose a new mathematical model to the LORA problem, which is more comprehensive and flexible than the other pure LORA models in the literature. The proposed model uses the multiple upstream approach that allows the transfer of the components from a location in the lower echelon to the predefined locations in the upper echelon and determines the material movement paths between each facility, defining the facilities’ locations in the repair network. The performance of the proposed model is tested on benchmark instances and the results are compared with the single upstream model. Computational experiments show that the proposed model is more effective than the single upstream model and reduces the total life cycle costs by 4.85% on average, which is an enormous cost saving when total life cycle costs of capital goods are considered.

Adapting to Environmental Changes: the Risks of Social and Technological Innovations

The initial methodological position mentioned in the article is the following statement: changes at any level contain a potential threat of damage — that is, a risk — and require developing a strategy for taking on these risks. The article expands on why scientific research is relevant, and speaks of how important it is for management practices to accumulate and generalize sociological knowledge about the social and personal determinants affecting how the population chooses its adaptation strategies in response to such changes in the institutional environment that violate their traditional way of life. The study object is the population, the subject — the main determinants that define how one adapts to the risks of environmental innovations. Adaptation in the context of this article is interpreted by the author as the process of choosing and implementing a decision pertaining to the types of actions that ensure the subject’s minimal vulnerability when dealing with the risks of a changing living environment. In order to identify the factors that influence choice of strategy for adapting to such environmental changes that may cause damage to a human being’s health and lifestyle, the projective situation method was used. Data from the 27th wave of RLMS–HSE was used as the empirical data base. The author correlates the interpretation of empirical data with the resource approach, specifically with the idea of “total life resource” (N.F. Naumova). The goal is to identify the relationship between choosing a particular strategy for adapting to the risks of environmental innovations and individual elements and indicators of total life resource. Our analysis allowed for us to propose an expanded typology of strategies for forced adaptation to the risks of environmental changes, as well as to identify a number of factors that determine the choice. Overall it can be argued that such a type of resource as one’s natural abilities seems to contribute to differentiation in the most significant way. If we look into individual factors, the following contribute to strategy differentiation: age, presence of and desire to achieve life goals, ability to adapt, emotional and psychological status, preferred method for solving problems, health, life satisfaction, gender, level of education, social status.

A Classification Review on Green Concrete

This paper is a short review of green concrete as claimed per latest related available literature. Green concrete refers to concrete mixture with lower carbon footprint, during its total life cycle, as compared to ordinary concrete mixture. This may be due to its composition of one or more green component (s) such as silica fume or fly ash, or to its capacity, as a building material, to reduce one or more pollutant (s) and/or to any other sustainable concrete procedure such as reduced raw materials depletion. A leading Italian concrete production group claims the provision of a new air scrubbing green concrete combining all of the above techniques. The claimed air scrubbing is based on a photocatalytic principle whereby natural or artificial light activates an oxidation process converting noxious pollutants into harmless compounds. Green concrete promotes sustainability in a creative way; thus, improving global human health.

The Relationship Between Burnout and Occupational Balance in Occupational Therapists in Tehran

Background and Objectives: Despite its many positive effects, having a job can expose people to stress and threats that negatively affect health and well-being, and consequently, upset their occupational balance. Occupational therapy is one of the most stressful jobs and always exposes therapists to health-related threats due to direct contact with patients and constant and repetitive movements. This study aimed to investigate burnout and occupational balance among occupational therapists in Tehran. Methods: This cross-sectional study investigated 166 occupational therapists working in the public and private clinics and centers of Tehran. Sampling was conducted using the multistage method. The participants completed demographic questionnaires, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, and the Life Balance Inventory. Then, the Spearman Statistical Test was used to examine the relationship between burnout and occupational balance. Results: The results revealed a strong (r= -0.29) and significant (P=0.001) negative relationship between emotional fatigue and the total life balance list, a strong (r= -0.32) and significant (P=0.0001) negative relationship between depersonalization and total life balance and identity, and a strong (r= -0.32) and significant (P=0.0001) negative relationship between success and total life balance list. Conclusion: According to the results of this study, burnout negatively affects the identity and interests of occupational therapists but does not affect their health and communication.