title: Organizational interventions for balancing work and home demands: An overview

authors: Brough, Paula

subjects: work-life balance

abstract: The effective management of work and non-work demands can have a significant effect on workers' health and performance. The last decade especially has seen an explosion of work-life balance research, resulting in substantial theoretical and practical advances. However, the published literature on organizational interventions to improve work-life balance is extremely sparse. In this paper, we provide some prominent examples of empirical research concerning work-life balance organizational interventions and note that these fall into three main groups: initiatives addressing working time and/or working hours, collaborative action research focused on improving workplace equity and performance levels, and initiatives to embed work-life balance within organizational cultures. We also comment on some common difficulties faced by researchers in evaluating interventions. The specific examples presented here illustrate challenges to research on the effectiveness of work-life balance interventions. We encourage researchers to reconsider the use of merely descriptive rather than more rigorous research designs and to investigate the long-term effectiveness of organizational strategies to enhance work-life balance.

text: Organizational interventions for balancing work and home demands: An overview The effective management of work and non-work demands can have a significant effect on workers' health and performance. The last decade especially has seen an explosion of work-life balance research, resulting in substantial theoretical and practical advances. However, the published literature on organizational interventions to improve work-life balance is extremely sparse. In this paper, we provide some prominent examples of empirical research concerning work-life balance organizational interventions and note that these fall into three main groups: initiatives addressing working time and/or working hours, collaborative action research focused on improving workplace equity and performance levels, and initiatives to embed work-life balance within organizational cultures. We also comment on some common difficulties faced by researchers in evaluating interventions. The specific examples presented here illustrate challenges to research on the effectiveness of work-life balance interventions. We encourage researchers to reconsider the use of merely descriptive rather than more rigorous research designs and to investigate the long-term effectiveness of organizational strategies to enhance work-life balance.

year: 2010-07

title: Development of Cu-bearing powder metallurgy Ti alloys for biomedical applications

authors: Bolzoni, Leandro

abstract: Cu-bearing Ti alloys could be used as structural biomedical materials where the releasing of Cu ions is beneficial to lower infection incidences associated with surgical implants. The manufacturing of these alloys via powder metallurgy techniques can lower the production costs. In this study three ternary Cu-bearing Ti-xAl-yCu alloys were produced using conventional powder metallurgy. The mechanical properties increase with the amount of alloying elements. Samples of each composition were also forged to clarify the effect of subjecting them to hot deformation. Forging the samples improved the strength of the alloys due to the reduction of porosity and the refinement of the microstructural features. It is found that Ti–2Al–1Cu is the most ductile, Ti–6Al–4Cu is the strongest and Ti–10Al–5Cu has a purely elastic behaviour. Some of these powder metallurgy Ti-xAl-yCu alloys have better overall mechanical behaviour than their cast counterparts and therefore are valuable alternative to produce medical and dental implants with improved properties and reduced cost.

text: Development of Cu-bearing powder metallurgy Ti alloys for biomedical applications Cu-bearing Ti alloys could be used as structural biomedical materials where the releasing of Cu ions is beneficial to lower infection incidences associated with surgical implants. The manufacturing of these alloys via powder metallurgy techniques can lower the production costs. In this study three ternary Cu-bearing Ti-xAl-yCu alloys were produced using conventional powder metallurgy. The mechanical properties increase with the amount of alloying elements. Samples of each composition were also forged to clarify the effect of subjecting them to hot deformation. Forging the samples improved the strength of the alloys due to the reduction of porosity and the refinement of the microstructural features. It is found that Ti–2Al–1Cu is the most ductile, Ti–6Al–4Cu is the strongest and Ti–10Al–5Cu has a purely elastic behaviour. Some of these powder metallurgy Ti-xAl-yCu alloys have better overall mechanical behaviour than their cast counterparts and therefore are valuable alternative to produce medical and dental implants with improved properties and reduced cost.

year: 2019

title: New Zealand’s indigenous forests – their status and drivers of change

authors: Allen, Robert

abstract: New Zealand’s remaining indigenous forests and shrublands are of immense cultural, environmental, and economic significance. A representative plot-based sample of these forests and shrublands has recently allowed an unbiased depiction of their composition
and structure. This is necessary for international reporting, performance assessment and management prioritisation. Their composition, structure, and function are driven by a diverse array of factors, many of which are complexly interrelated. The imprint of disturbances is pervasive and it is necessary to understand disturbances to interpret human-related impacts. For example, understanding impacts of exotic browsing mammals is only possible within a context of forest ecosystem development and tree demographic processes. There are now extensive areas of shrublands successional to forest, often composed of mixtures of indigenous and exotic species. These shrublands expand the pportunities for ecosystem services from, for example, carbon sequestration to water quality. An increasing area of indigenous forests and shrublands are managed for distinctive Māori aspirations that include sustainable use.

text: New Zealand’s indigenous forests – their status and drivers of change New Zealand’s remaining indigenous forests and shrublands are of immense cultural, environmental, and economic significance. A representative plot-based sample of these forests and shrublands has recently allowed an unbiased depiction of their composition
and structure. This is necessary for international reporting, performance assessment and management prioritisation. Their composition, structure, and function are driven by a diverse array of factors, many of which are complexly interrelated. The imprint of disturbances is pervasive and it is necessary to understand disturbances to interpret human-related impacts. For example, understanding impacts of exotic browsing mammals is only possible within a context of forest ecosystem development and tree demographic processes. There are now extensive areas of shrublands successional to forest, often composed of mixtures of indigenous and exotic species. These shrublands expand the pportunities for ecosystem services from, for example, carbon sequestration to water quality. An increasing area of indigenous forests and shrublands are managed for distinctive Māori aspirations that include sustainable use.

year: 2015