Simultaneous inference for functional data in sports biomechanics

AStA Advances in Statistical Analysis - The recent sports science literature conveys a growing interest in robust statistical methods to analyze smooth, regularly-sampled functional data. This...     

Work and Social Reproduction: Two Concepts for Interpreting the Post-Fordist Transition

This article discusses the definitions of the term “work” which could be applied to advanced industrial societies, and which cover an increasingly complex range of activities. The authors' definition can be viewed as an attempt to forge a significant link between economic and sociological analysis, in order to understand the complex connections, typical only of industrial societies, between different forms of work and employment, and the variety of patterns of social reproduction of diverse groups in different periods and contexts.     

Social Integration and Mental Well-Being Among Jail Inmates

Although social integration has consistently been linked to mental well-being among the general population, this relationship has not been explored for persons confined in total institutions. Jails, in particular, represent unique conditions that have the potential to alter the traditional relationship between social ties and mental health. Although previously unexamined, social ties maintained by jail inmates outside and inside of the institution are commonly presumed to weaken some of the adverse effects of a stressful environment and positively influence mental health. The current study explores the impact of social integration on mental well-being among 198 male and female inmates incarcerated in a large county jail. The impact of marital status, parental status, and social support (both inside and outside of the jail) on various dimensions of mental health was examined. The results indicate that rather than promoting mental well-being, social relationships inside and outside of the institution are associated with higher levels of distress. Specifically, married inmates report higher levels of depression and anxiety, and inmates with close social relationships inside of the jail report higher levels of hostility, although gender differences in these patterns are evident. The results of this study suggest that social integration may play a different role for persons incarcerated in total institutions than among the general population due to the unique conditions of social stigmatization and separation from support networks.     

Parents in high‐conflict custodial cases: negotiating shared care across households

Understanding the dynamics of custodial conflicts is important for reducing the level of such conflicts and improving the upbringing conditions for the children involved. The parents in these cases care for children living in two households, and our approach therefore draws on the knowledge of how ‘ordinary’ parents proceed in sharing care within and between locations. The paper is based on qualitative interviews with 15 Norwegian parents who were in contact with the child protection service during their custodial disagreements, indicating a high level of conflict and concerns about inadequate care. When describing and reflecting upon their practices of care, the parents speak from two main positions: as a concerned parent or an accused parent. These positions imply different approaches on how to share care, which offer insight into the mechanisms of getting stuck. Although the concerned parent worries about the child's well‐being while staying with the other parent and thereby aims to take a continuous responsibility across households, the accused parent perceives the co‐parent's involvement as undue and negotiates increased distance in parenting. Focusing on practices of care may contribute to turning the attention away from conflicts between former partners and towards the child's situation.     

Voices of 65 Young People Leaving Care in Sweden: “There Is So Much I Need to Know!”

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine young care leavers’ experiences of supportive and nonsupportive factors after leaving care. Telephone interviews were conducted with 65 young people, between 18 and 26 years old, who had left care in Sweden within the previous 3 months to 3 years. The care-leaving process was in many cases described by the young people as badly planned and compressed. Some interviewees received support from the formal network (social services, foster carers, residential homes, contact persons) for housing (37) and financial matters (36), but few received support from the formal network concerning employment (14) and education (11). Emotional support was mainly provided by partners and friends. Altogether, the results suggest that access to support is a helpful factor for young people leaving care, but also that many of our interviewees had no such access, from neither formal nor informal networks.     

Measuring Tourist Satisfaction Through a Dual Approach: The 4Q Methodology

Tourist satisfaction is one of the key factors in determining the success of a tourist destination, since it affects behavioural intentions, such as the willingness to revisit and recommend the destination. Therefore, much research has addressed the measuring of tourist satisfaction, either eliciting positive or negative evaluations of a holiday or destination. The spread between expected positive and negative characteristics can trigger a tourist experience. And the gap between expectations and perceptions will produce a feeling of satisfaction or dissatisfaction (Expectancy-Disconfirmation Paradigm, EDP). Under these conditions, this paper adopts a dual approach, considering tourist satisfaction and dissatisfaction as two distinct constructs; it also proposes a practical methodology, termed 4Q, for measuring these constructs in the field of tourism research. Lastly, two distinct composite indicators relating to Tourist Satisfaction (TS) and Tourist Dissatisfaction (TD) are proposed, for comparing the performance of tourist destinations over space and time, and addressing marketing strategies regarding different tourist segments.

     

The integrated assessment of occupational risks in a pharmaceutical manufacturing plant

Pharmaceutical plants are usually characterized by workplaces with quality levels generally higher than in other manufactoring sectors since healthcare products need to be produced in special conditions, keeping under a strong control hygiene, chemical and biological contaminants, and giving a particular emphasis on equipment maintenance. Limited physical work load, a low rate of injuries and work related pathologies together with a high level of quality process control contribute to consider pharma work conditions as generally light and safe. In this kind of contexts risk assessment cannot be based on factors individually considered, neither work load can be essentially measured on material handling and physical effort. Risk assessment and work environment improvements, on the contrary, have to be studied by an integrated view point. The paper presents methodologies and results of the applied research project IntegrARE (INTEGRated Assessment of Risks within Ergonomics) aimed at analyzing, in a big solid forms pharmaceutical plant, three different risk categories - architectural, ergonomic and active pharmaceutical ingredients risks - in order to highlight possible interactions on workers health, safety and wellbeing. After a detailed risk situations survey, singularly analyzed by a number of ad-hoc procedures, the study presents a methodology for integrated assessment of risks, aimed at identifying and evaluating integrated effects increasing or triggering risk situations for workers.     

Trees for urban environments in northern parts of Central Europe – a dendroecological study in north-east Romania and Republic of Moldavia

A limited number of species and genera currently dominate the tree stock in streets and urban sites. There has been considerable and persistent argumentation for the necessity of using a more varied and stress-tolerant selection of tree species. This paper reports results from a dendroecological study of six steppe forest reserves in north-east Romania and in the adjacent part of the Republic of Moldavia, where water stress regimes during the growing season and winter temperatures are comparable to those of inner city environments in northern parts of Central Europe and adjoining milder parts of Northern Europe (CNE-region). In each forest reserve, tree growth patterns were studied in five 20 m × 20 m plots, resulting in a total of 30 plots with an allocated area of 1.2 hectares. For all trees, height and diameter were measured and related to tree age by coring in order to detect the species growth and performance in these sites. In total 23 tree species were found, 13 of which were represented by 25 or more individuals with documented good growth in the study plots. The majority of these 13 species have very limited use in urban greenery in the CNE-region today and thus have the potential to increase the species diversity of the current urban tree population through further selection work.