Linguistics at Work: A Reader of Applications.

Linguistics at Work:. Reader of Applications. Dallin D. Oaks. ed. Orlando, FL: Harcourt Brace, 1998. 758 pp.     

Taiwanese American Transnational Families: Women and Kin Work

Taiwanese American Transnational Families: Women and Kin Work. Maria W. L. Chee. New York: Routledge, 2005. 272 pp.     

Shift Work and Obesity among Canadian Women: A Cross-Sectional Study Using a Novel Exposure Assessment Tool

Background/Objectives

It has been suggested that the association between shift work and chronic disease is mediated by an increase in obesity. However, investigations of the relationship between shift work and obesity reveal mixed findings. Using a recently developed exposure assessment tool, this study examined the association between shift work and obesity among Canadian women from two studies: a cohort of university alumni, and a population-based study.

Methods

Self-administered questionnaire data were used from healthy, currently employed females in a population-based study, the Ontario Women’s Diet and Health case-control study (n = 1611 controls), and from a subset of a of university alumni from the Canadian Study of Diet, Lifestyle, and Health (n = 1097) cohort study. Overweight was defined as BMI≥25 to <30, and obesity as BMI≥30. Reported occupation was converted to occupational codes and linked to a probability of shift work value derived from Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics data. Regular evenings, nights, or rotating work comprised shift work. Polytomous logistic regression estimated the association between probability of shift work, categorized as near nil, low, medium, and high probability of shift work, on overweight and obesity, controlling for detected confounders.

Results

In the population-based sample, high probability of shift work was associated with obesity (reference = near nil probability of shift work, OR: 1.88, 95% CI: 1.01–3.51, p = 0.047). In the alumni cohort, no significant association was detected between shift work and overweight or obesity.

Conclusions

As these analyses found a positive association between high probability of shift work exposure and obesity in a population-based sample, but not in an alumni cohort, it is suggested that the relationship between shift work and obesity is complex, and may be particularly susceptible to occupational and education-related factors within a given population.     

Maritime Archaeology: A Reader of Substantive and Theoretical Contributions.

Maritime Archaeology:. Reader of Substantive and Theoretical Contributions. Lawrence E. Babits and Hans Van Tilburg. eds. New York: Plenum Press, 1998. 590 pp.     

Recovery after Shift Work: Relation to Coronary Risk Factors in Women

Shift work increases the risk for developing cardiovascular disease. There is, however, little knowledge of what aspects of shift scheduling that are detrimental and what characteristics promote good health. The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether coronary risk factors deteriorate after a hard work period and whether recovery, in the form of a week off, was sufficient to improve them. A total of 19 women worked an extremely rapidly rotating and clockwise shift schedule at a paper and pulp factory. They underwent two health examinations, one at the end of the work period and one after the week off. In addition, the women were divided into a tolerant and a vulnerable group, depending on their satisfaction with their work hours. Most risk factors did not change, but total cholesterol and low‐density lipoprotein (LDL)‐cholesterol were lower after the working period than after the week‐off. In addition, vulnerable women had higher levels of total cholesterol and a higher ratio of total cholesterol/high‐density lipoprotein (HDL) than tolerant ones. In conclusion, the finding that a week‐off worsens cholesterol levels was against our hypothesis and suggests further studies on how activities/responsibilities outside the workplace affect shift‐working women. It was also shown that susceptible shift workers had worse lipid profiles.     

Glasgow Medical Women 1951-4: Their Contribution and Attitude to Medical Work

A questionary sent to 137 women who qualified in Glasgow during 1951–4 showed that of the 106 respondents 24% of the married women were unemployed and only 31% were working full-time. The married women had fewer qualifications than a matched group of male contemporaries, and fewer of those in hospital work were consultants. The married women in full-time work had fewer children and showed some differences in their background compared with those working part-time or unemployed. Most part-time workers were satisfied with their present posts and did not wish to work more.     

African Women: A Modern History

African Women:. Modern History. Catherine Coquery-Vidrovitch. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1997.308 pp.     

Same-Sex Cultures and Sexualities: An Anthropological Reader

Same-Sex Cultures and Sexualities: An Anthropological Reader. Jennifer Robertson, ed. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2005. 310 pp.