The authors examine job stress and work attitudes among temporary (i.e. fixed‐term) and permanently employed nurses, using data collected via a structured questionnaire filled out by 249 nurses in two hospitals in northern Taiwan. Temporary nurses in the sample were generally younger, less experienced, unmarried, or married without children. Questionnaire responses also indicate that they suffer from greater job stress and lower affective organizational and occupational commitments compared to their permanent counterparts. A positive correlation was found between perceived contract breaches and job stress and a negative correlation was identified between perceived contract breaches and affective occupational commitment. In both cases the effects were more intense among full‐time, permanently employed nurses. The paper ends with a discussion of implications for decision makers and researchers of non‐standard work arrangements. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Purpose This paper aims to use the Laplace Adomian decomposition method (LADM) to investigate the effects of thermal convection, thermal conduction, surface emissivity and thermal radiation on the heat dissipated by a continuously moving plate undergoing thermal processing. Design/methodology/approach In performing the analysis, it is assumed that the thermal conductivity and surface emissivity of the plate are both temperature-dependent. The accuracy of the LADM solutions is confirmed by comparing the results obtained for the temperature distribution within the plate with those reported in the literature based on the differential transformation method. Findings It is shown that the heat dissipated from the plate reduces as the Peclet number increases. By contrast, the dissipated heat increases as any one of the non-dimensionalized parameters of the system, i.e. Nc, Nr and B, increases. In addition, the temperature drop along the length of the plate reduces as parameter A increases owing to a more rapid heat transfer. Originality/value The results provide a useful source of reference for the choice of suitable materials and cooling fluids in a variety of practical applications.