A Systematic Review of Evaluated Labor Market Initiatives Addressing Precarious Employment: Findings and Public Health Implications.

Precarious employment (PE) is a major determinant of population health and contributor to health and social inequities. The purpose of this article is to synthesize and critically appraise available evidence on labor market initiatives addressing PE identified through a systematic review. Of the 21 initiatives reviewed, grouped into four categories-labor market policies, legislation, and reforms; union strategies; apprenticeships and other youth programs; social protection programs-10 showed consistently positive outcomes and 11 a combination of negative, mixed, or inconclusive outcomes.

What is the Role of Minimum Wages in Addressing Precarious Employment in the Informal and Formal Sectors? Findings from a Systematic Review.

This article presents synthesized evidence from 16 studies examining initiatives with potential to mitigate workers' exposure to precarious employment through the adoption of minimum wage policies. All studies were set in low-income countries and focused on both formal and informal workers. A systematic review of evaluated initiatives addressing precarious employment identified the evidence.

The Health of Those Who Feed Us: An Assessment of Health Inequities Along the United States Food Chain.

While the health of all depends on the food chain, few studies have focused systematically on the health of food chain workers themselves (production, manufacturing, wholesale, retail, and commercial and institutional services). In this study we used 2018 and 2019 data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) to examine health-related metrics of food chain workers, combined and by industry sector, compared to non-food chain workers, among 32 U.S.

What extraordinary times tell us about ordinary ones: A multiple case study of precariously employed food retail and service workers in two U.S. state contexts during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Disease prevention relies on a complex interplay between social context and individual behaviors. Work and the employment conditions that shape it are key domains where this interplay occurs, a reality highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic. To explore the links between employment quality and social context as drivers of disease prevention, we conducted a multiple case study of food retail and services workers during COVID-19 in two U.

The association between precarious employment and stress among working aged individuals in the United States.

Objective: Precarious employment is a plausible stressor, which may adversely affect health. We investigated the association between multidimensional precarious employment and perceived and biological stress in the U.S.

A Price Too High: Injury and Assault among Delivery Gig Workers in New York City.

The occupational health burden and mechanisms that link gig work to health are understudied. We described injury and assault prevalence among food delivery gig workers in New York City (NYC) and assessed the effect of job dependence on injury and assault through work-related mechanisms and across transportation modes (electric bike and moped versus car). Data were collected through a 2022 survey commissioned by the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection among delivery gig workers between October and December 2021 in NYC.

Experiences of insecurity among non-standard workers across different welfare states: A qualitative cross-country study.

In recent decades, economic crises and political reforms focused on employment flexibilization have increased the use of non-standard employment (NSE). National political and economic contexts determine how employers interact with labour and how the state interacts with labour markets and manages social welfare policies. These factors influence the prevalence of NSE and the level of employment insecurity it creates, but the extent to which a country's policy context mitigates the health influences of NSE is unclear.

Workers' Health under Algorithmic Management: Emerging Findings and Urgent Research Questions.

Algorithms are increasingly used instead of humans to perform core management functions, yet public health research on the implications of this phenomenon for worker health and well-being has not kept pace with these changing work arrangements. Algorithmic management has the potential to influence several dimensions of job quality with known links to worker health, including workload, income security, task significance, schedule stability, socioemotional rewards, interpersonal relations, decision authority, and organizational trust. To describe the ways algorithmic management may influence workers' health, this review summarizes available literature from public health, sociology, management science, and human-computer interaction studies, highlighting the dimensions of job quality associated with work stress and occupational safety.

Non-Standard Employment and Unemployment during the COVID-19 Crisis: Economic and Health Findings from a Six-Country Survey Study.

The COVID-19 crisis is a global event that has created and amplified social inequalities, including an already existing and steadily increasing problem of employment and income insecurity and erosion of workplace rights, affecting workers globally. The aim of this exploratory study was to review employment-related determinants of health and health protection during the pandemic, or more specifically, to examine several links between non-standard employment, unemployment, economic, health, and safety outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden, Belgium, Spain, Canada, the United States, and Chile, based on an online survey conducted from November 2020 to June 2021. The study focused on both non-standard workers and unemployed workers and examined worker outcomes in the context of current type and duration of employment arrangements, as well as employment transitions triggered by the COVID-19 crisis.

Initiatives Addressing Precarious Employment and Its Effects on Workers' Health and Well-Being: A Systematic Review.

The prevalence of precarious employment has increased in recent decades and aspects such as employment insecurity and income inadequacy have intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this systematic review was to identify, appraise, and synthesise existing evidence pertaining to implemented initiatives addressing precarious employment that have evaluated and reported health and well-being outcomes. We used the PRISMA framework to guide this review and identified 11 relevant initiatives through searches in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and three sources of grey literature.

Molecular Features Behind Formation of α or β Co-Crystalline and Nanoporous-Crystalline Phases of PPO.

Guest molecular features determining the formation of α and β phases of poly(2-6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene) oxide (PPO) are explored by collecting literature data and adding many new film preparations, both by solution casting and by guest sorption in amorphous films. Independently of the considered preparation method, the α-form is favored by the hydrophobic and bulky guest molecules, while the hydrophilic and small guest molecules favor the β-form. Furthermore, molecular modeling studies indicate that the β-form inducer guests establish stronger dispersive interactions with the PPO units than the α-form inducer guests.

Dependence on Film Thickness of Guest-Induced Perpendicular Orientation in PPO Films.

For poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene)oxide (PPO) films exhibiting nanoporous-crystalline (NC) phases, orientation (i.e., crystalline polymer chain axes being preferentially perpendicular to the film plane) is obtained by crystallization of amorphous films, as induced by sorption of suitable low-molecular-mass guest molecules.

Recognizing careworkers' contributions to improving the social determinants of health: A call for supporting healthy carework.

Workers engaged in reproductive labor-the caring work that maintains society and supports its growth-contribute to societal health while also enduring the harms of precarious labor and substantial work stress. How can we conceptualize the effects of reproductive labor on workers and society simultaneously? In this commentary, we analyze four types of more relational and less relational careworkers-homeless shelter workers, school food workers, home care aides, and household cleaners-during the COVID-19 pandemic. We then make a case for a new model of societal health that recognizes the contributions of careworkers and healthy carework.

Initiatives addressing precarious employment and its effects on workers' health and well-being: a protocol for a systematic review.

Background: Precarious employment is a significant determinant of population health and health inequities and has complex public health consequences both for a given nation and internationally. Precarious employment is conceptualized as a multi-dimensional construct including but not limited to employment insecurity, income inadequacy, and lack of rights and protection in the employment relation, which could affect both informal and formal workers. The purpose of this review is to identify, appraise, and synthesize existing research on the effectiveness of initiatives aiming to or having the potential to eliminate, reduce, or mitigate workers' exposure to precarious employment conditions and its effects on the health and well-being of workers and their families.

COVID-19 and Precarious Employment: Consequences of the Evolving Crisis.

The world of work is facing an ongoing pandemic and an economic downturn with severe effects worldwide. Workers trapped in precarious employment (PE), both formal and informal, are among those most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Here we call attention to at least 5 critical ways that the consequences of the crisis among workers in PE will be felt globally: () PE will increase, () workers in PE will become more precarious, () workers in PE will face unemployment without being officially laid off, () workers in PE will be exposed to serious stressors and dramatic life changes that may lead to a rise in diseases of despair, and () PE might be a factor in deterring the control of or in generating new COVID-19 outbreaks.

Multiple threading of a triple-calix[6]arene host.

The synthesis of the triple-calix[6]arene derivative in which three calix[6]arene macrocycles are linked to a central 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene moiety is reported. Derivative is able to give multiple-threading processes in the presence of dialkylammonium axles. The formation of pseudo[2]rotaxane, pseudo[3]rotaxane, and pseudo[4]rotaxane by threading one, two, and three, respectively, calix-wheels of has been studied by 1D and 2D NMR, DOSY, and ESI-FT-ICR MS/MS experiments.

Intervention heroes of Mozambique from 1997 to 2015: estimates of maternal and child lives saved using the Lives Saved Tool.

Background: As one of several countries that pledged to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Mozambique sought to reduce child, neonatal, and maternal mortality by two thirds by 2015. This study examines the impact of Mozambique's efforts between 1997 and 2015, highlighting the increases in intervention coverage that contributed to saving the most lives.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of available household survey data was conducted using the Lives Saved Tool (LiST).

Using the Lives Saved Tool to aid country planning in meeting mortality targets: a case study from Mali.

Background: Mali is one of four countries implementing a National Evaluation Platform (NEP) to build local capacity to answer evaluation questions for maternal, newborn, child health and nutrition (MNCH&N). In 2014-15, NEP-Mali addressed questions about the potential impact of Mali's MNCH&N plans and strategies, and identified priority interventions to achieve targeted mortality reductions.

Methods: The NEP-Mali team modeled the potential impact of three intervention packages in the Lives Saved Tool (LiST) from 2014 to 2023.

A machine learning approach to graph-theoretical cluster expansions of the energy of adsorbate layers.

The accurate description of the energy of adsorbate layers is crucial for the understanding of chemistry at interfaces. For heterogeneous catalysis, not only the interaction of the adsorbate with the surface but also the adsorbate-adsorbate lateral interactions significantly affect the activation energies of reactions. Modeling the interactions of the adsorbates with the catalyst surface and with each other can be efficiently achieved in the cluster expansion Hamiltonian formalism, which has recently been implemented in a graph-theoretical kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) scheme to describe multi-dentate species.

Assessment of Cardiac Rate and Rhythm in Fetuses with Arrhythmia via Maternal Abdominal Fetal Electrocardiography.

Objective This study aims to report our experience using the Monica AN24 (Monica Healthcare Ltd., Nottingham, United Kingdom), a maternal transabdominal fetal electrocardiographic monitor, in a case series of fetuses with arrhythmias. Study Design We recorded fetal electrocardiograms (fECGs) on subjects with fetal arrhythmias diagnosed by fetal echocardiogram.

Evaluation of the effectiveness of care groups in expanding population coverage of Key child survival interventions and reducing under-5 mortality: a comparative analysis using the lives saved tool (LiST).

Background: Globally, less than half of Countdown Countries will achieve the Millennium Development Goal of reducing the under-5 mortality rate (U5MR) by two-thirds by 2015. There is growing interest in community-based delivery mechanisms to help accelerate progress. One promising approach is the use of a form of participatory mothers' groups, called Care Groups, for expanding coverage of key child survival interventions, an essential feature for achieving mortality impact.

Fetal cerebrovascular resistance and neonatal EEG predict 18-month neurodevelopmental outcome in infants with congenital heart disease.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate early markers of risk for neurobehavioral compromise in survivors with congenital heart disease (CHD).

Methods: Pregnant women in whom a fetal CHD had been diagnosed before 24 weeks' gestational age (GA) were enrolled in this prospective pilot study for serial Doppler ultrasound assessment of the fetal middle cerebral artery (MCA) and umbilical arteries. The cerebral-to-placental resistance ratio (CPR) and MCA pulsatility index (PI) Z-scores for GA were calculated.