Midwives experiences of participating in a midwifery research project: A qualitative study

Problem and background

In an earlier research project midwives were asked to perform women-centered care focusing on the assumption that the physiological process in the second stage of labour could be trusted and that the midwives role should be encouraging and supportive rather than instructing. There is no knowledge about how midwives participating in such a research project, uses their skills and experience from the study in their daily work.

Prisons as LULUs: Understanding the Parallels between Prison Proliferation and Environmental Injustices

Criminologists who examine prison siting and proliferation often take two approaches. On one hand, researchers explore citizens’ perceptions of prison siting in their community. Alternatively, they unpack consequences a prison brings to a region—often with attention toward whether they fuel economic growth. This discussion occasionally invokes the concept environmental sociologists commonly used to examine environmental injustices: LULUs (locally undesirable land uses). However, criminologists have not drawn on this concept to consider how environmental contamination and prison proliferation dovetail in the context of mass incarceration. Relatedly, environmental justice scholars have begun to suggest that prisons are rife with environmental justice issues that scholars in that subdiscipline should take seriously. Here, we draw these subfields into conversation with one another, as we see several important synergies. In particular, we heed Eason's (2017, Big House on the Prairie: Rise of the Rural Ghetto and Prison Proliferation. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press) call for a more robust theoretical framework interrogating the causes and consequences of the prison boom by making a case that environmental justice work on LULUs provides criminology an opportunity to understand prison proliferation more critically. In turn, we make the case that environmental justice scholars have inroads into the study of mass incarceration—especially as it relates to prison proliferation.     

一个新的考虑非期望产出的非径向-双目标DEA模型

如何实现对环境效率更准确的定量评价,是国际上从事DEA研究的学者们当前关注的问题之一。在传统DEA效率模型的基础上,综合考虑评价过程中期望产出与非期望产出之间的差异以及实际生产过程中人们追求期望产出最大化和非期望产出最小化的双重目标,构建非期望产出的非径向-双目标DEA环境效率评价模型,通过线性加权和法转化为一个求最大值的单目标线性规划问题。研究结果表明,这种新模型不仅可以分析DEA有效性与Pa-reto最优之间的关系,还利用决策单元的投影获得投入和产出的可调整量,从而提高考虑非期望产出的环境效率评价的精度。实证分析结果与现实情况的高度吻合,说明这种新的非径向-双目标DEA环境效率模型是有效的。     

Relationship between testosterone serum levels and lifestyle in aging men

Objective.?The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between serum levels of testosterone and free testosterone to lifestyle in aging males.

Methods.?Men between 45 and 85 years were assessed regarding body mass index (BMI), nicotine and alcohol consumption, stress level, physical and social activity, and sleeping quality by a self-administered questionnaire. In parallel, serum levels of testosterone (T), free testosterone (fT), LH, FSH, DHEA-S, E2 and SHBG were obtained.

Results.?In total, 375 men with a mean age of 59.9 years (9.2 ± SD) entered this study; 25.4% and 27.4% had hypogonadal testosterone or free testosterone serum levels, respectively. Nicotine consumption (smokers had higher levels of T and fT; p < 0.01), BMI (negative correlation to T; p < 0.01) and age (negative correlation to fT; p < 0.001) correlated with serum levels of testosterone or free testosterone. Physical and social activity, nicotine and alcohol consumption, stress level and sleep quality did not show a significant association with serum androgen levels.

Conclusion.?This prospective study of 375 men aged 45 to 85 years confirms the correlation between age, BMI and smoking with serum levels of testosterone and free testosterone, whereas the investigated variety of lifestyle factors did not show a significant association to serum androgen levels.     

Social Entrepreneurship: Action Grounded in Needs, Opportunities and/or Perceived Necessities?

The interest in social and/or societal entrepreneurship has increased rapidly during the past decade. Yet, the field is still young and fragmented and its heritage includes tensions and shortcomings. The theories grounded in entrepreneurship research tend to address the entrepreneurial ventures’ ability to recognise, explore and/or exploit opportunities. Other research argues instead that social entrepreneurial ventures respond to needs in society. However, none of these lines of research extensively problematise the issues of opportunities and needs. Furthermore, the discussion in this paper is related to a third concept, perceived necessities, as a suggestion to nuance our understanding of social entrepreneurship. The analysis in this paper is based on four social entrepreneurship cases.     

Zest for work? Assessment of enthusiasm and satisfaction with the present work situation and health--a 1.5-year follow-up study

The aim of the study was to investigate whether assessing zest for work is a valuable approach in occupational health work. The term "zest for work" comes from the expression "zest for life" and can roughly be interpreted as the degree of enthusiasm and satisfaction with the present work situation. The measurements comprise three components: listing important factors for the feeling of zest for work, attitude rating and stating whether it is possible to have any influence over the listed factors. Included in this study were 5539 employees, mainly women. Low zest for work was associated with job strain and insufficient social support and imposed an increased risk for poor health for working and long spells of sick leave. The results support that assessing zest for work can be useful in occupational health work.     

Testing linearity against nonlinear moving average models

Lagrange multiplier (LM) test statistics are derived for testing a linear moving average model against an asymmetric moving average model and an LM type test against an additive smooth transition moving average model. The latter model is introduced in the paper. The small sample performance of the proposed tests are evaluated in a Monte Carlo study and compared to Wald and likelihood ratio statistics. The size properties of the Lagrange multiplier test are better than those of other tests.     

社会保障支出与拉动内需——对农村养老保障问题的深入探讨

本文通过实证分析,探讨了农村养老保障问题与拉动内需之间的关系。结果认为农村居民消费水平与抚恤和社会福利救济费、养老保险、行政事业单位离退休经费呈显著正相关,并且社会保障支出项目对农村居民消费的作用存在地区差异,农村居民养老保险对消费的促进作用存在区域差异。由此提出建立健全农村养老保险制度,可以作为我国拉动内需、促进经济增长的突破口。     

Boundary dimensions of social innovation: negotiating conflicts and compatibilities when developing a national agenda

In order to add to the existing knowledge on the complex institutional dynamics of negotiating conflicts and compatibilities in innovation processes that address societal challenges and social needs, this article scrutinizes the scientific and societal debate on the theoretical and practical application of “social innovation” by means of the concept “boundary object” linked to institutional theory. A participatory case study of the development of an R&I agenda for social innovation in Sweden, formulated through dialog between stakeholders from the public, private and non-profit sectors, is presented. The results show that the unpredictable, emergent, evolving and adaptable character of needs, challenges and solutions in social innovation processes is made more theoretically and practically manageable by acknowledging social innovation as a boundary object. This is since this concept, despite its ambiguous character, helps balance complexity and usefulness in a way that serves to expand existing knowledge on institutional dynamics.