Relation between occupants' health problems, demographic and indoor environment subjective evaluations: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey study in Java Island, Indonesia

Oceanaut's personal acoustic comfort prediction model and sound environment improvement method in the cabin of a Deep-Sea manned submersible

In this study, a personal acoustic comfort prediction model (PACPM) for exploring the acoustic comfort of oceanauts in a deep-sea manned submersible cabin was proposed, and an oceanauts' task performance model (OTPM) was constructed in this study. Based on oceanauts' comfort and task performance, the change characteristics in six different pure-noise environments (the sound pressure levels of the noise audio are 40 dB (A), 45 dB (A), 50 dB (A), 55 dB (A), 60 dB (A), and 65 dB (A) respectively) were analysed. An effective method for improving acoustic comfort was proposed. According to the analysis, personal comfort at 40 and 45 dB(A) was higher than that at other noise levels. The oceanaut's comfort and task performance of normal-weight people were significantly higher than those of thin people. Meanwhile, a comprehensive consideration of the demographic characteristics and physiological responses can effectively improve the prediction accuracy of the personnel acoustic comfort. Furthermore, the 45 dB (A) pure-noise environment overlaid with 40 dB(A) fast-paced light music effectively improves oceanauts' comfort. Practitioner summary: This study provides a convenient and available method for analysing acoustic comfort in the cabins of deep-sea manned submersibles, including a quantitative prediction model and an effective method for sound environment improvements. These can be used to improve the comfort, task performance, and working efficiency of manned submersibles.

Leader instigated task conflict and its effects on employee job crafting; the mediating role of employee attributions

The role of leaders in conflict management remains the favorite area of researchers. This study aims to introduce a unique role of leaders in conflict named as leader instigated task conflict. We proposed that leader instigated task conflict promotes job crafting behaviors of employees by considering attributions regarding leader instigated conflict as mechanism for this relationship. Data were collected from 247 employees working in teams in marketing departments of different organizations across Pakistan. Data analyses was conducted through multilevel structural equation modeling. Findings revealed that leader instigated task conflict is positively related to promotion-focused job crafting and negatively related to prevention-focused job crafting via the mediating role of constructive conflict instigation attribution and destructive conflict instigation attribution respectively. The current study contributes to the literature on conflict by suggesting that leaders can be a source of task based conflict to achieve its positive outcomes. However, employee attributions play a vital role in achieving the positive outcomes of leader instigated task conflict, hence leaders must be careful about shaping constructive attributions of followers regarding their conflict instigation behavior in order to promote constructive behavioral responses of employees.

Indoor Thermal Comfort and Adaptive Thermal Behaviors of Students in Primary Schools Located in the Humid Subtropical Climate of India

This study investigated children’s perceptions and adaptive behaviors related to indoor thermal conditions of classrooms in primary schools with no air-conditioning systems during both summer and winter in Dehradun City, Uttarakhand, India. Responses were collected from 5297 school children aged 6–13 years. During the measurement periods, 100% and 94% of the samples were obtained under conditions outside an 80% thermally acceptable comfort range in winter and summer, respectively. The analysis using receiver operating characteristics suggested that the students had the least sensitivity to the temperature variation for all scales of the thermal sensation vote (TSV). Approximately 95.1% of students were “very satisfied”, “satisfied”, or “slightly satisfied” with the thermal conditions under the condition of “extreme caution” or “danger” of heat risk. In contrast, adaptive thermal behaviors, such as adjusting clothing insulation ensembles, opening or closing classroom windows and doors, and utilizing ceiling fans, were found to be the most affordable options for optimizing indoor thermal comfort. Children’s reports of thermal sensations and thermal satisfaction did not correspond to the actual physical environment. This draws attention to the adequacy of applying widely used methods of TSV-based identification of the thermal comfort range in classrooms for children, especially in hot environments. The findings of this study are expected to serve as an evidence-based reference for local governments and authorities to take appropriate measures to mitigate heat risks for schoolchildren in the future.