Old age as a choice and as a necessity two interpretative repertoires

This article applies the method of discourse analysis to look at how older people talk about age and getting old. The data come from biographical interviews with people aged 90 years or over. The picture that emerges from these interviewees is one of ambivalence: old age is constructed through two contrasting repertoires that are described as the choice repertoire and the necessity repertoire. Talk about old age as a necessity produces it as a self-evident fact that the essence of old age is deterioration. Talk about old age as a choice is used to undermine the necessity repertoire and to argue for various and more positive definitions of old age among which one can make a choice. It is important to note that the contrast is not between cultural views and individual experience, but the ambivalence is rooted in people's minds. Both repertoires are reasonable and justifiable, which turns old age into a dilemma. Our thinking about old age is dilemmatic by nature     

No Evidence for Long-Term Causal Associations Between Symptoms of Premature Ejaculation and Symptoms of Anxiety,Depression, and Sexual Distress in a Large,Population-Based Longitudinal Sample

Premature ejaculation (PE) is one of the most common male sexual complaints, but its etiology is unclear. Psychological problems, such as symptoms of anxiety and depression, have traditionally been seen as causal or maintaining etiological components of PE, and previous cross-sectional studies have found weak positive associations between them. The aim of the present study was to test possible causal pathways over time between PE and symptoms of the psychological problems anxiety, depression, and sexual distress. A sample of 985 male Finnish twins and brothers of twins completed a questionnaire in 2006 and 2012. Significant bivariate correlations were found both within and across time between PE and the psychological problems. When fitting structural equation models to test hypothesized causal pathways, symptoms of anxiety and sexual distress at the first measurement time point did not predict future PE. Likewise, PE symptoms at the first measurement did not predict increments or decrements in anxiety, sexual distress, or depression later on. These null findings regarding hypothesized associations may partly be explained by the relatively long time between measurements, or that the measures possibly did not capture the aspects of anxiety that are related to PE.     

Type a behaviour and back pain

Type A behaviour and back pain     

EDUCATION AND MOBILITY

We show that the length of compulsory education has a causal impact on regional labor mobility. We reach this conclusion from an analysis of a quasi‐exogenous staged Norwegian school reform, using register data on the whole population. Based on the results, we conclude that part of the US–Europe difference, as well as the European North–South difference in labor mobility, is likely to be due to differences in levels of education in the respective regions.     

Bayesian inference for Gaussian excursion set generated Cox processes with set-marking

This work considers spatial Cox point processes where the random intensity is defined by a random closed set such that different point intensities appear in the two phases formed by the random set and its complement. The point pattern is observed as a set of point coordinates in a bounded region W?? ^d together with the information on the phase of the location of each point. This phase information, called set-marking, is not a representative sample from the random set, and hence it cannot be directly used for deducing properties of the random set. Excursion sets of continuous-parameter Gaussian random fields are applied as a flexible model for the random set. Fully Bayesian method and Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulation is adopted for inferring the parameters of the model and estimating the random set. The performance of the new approach is studied by means of simulation experiments. Further, two forestry data sets on point patterns of saplings are analysed. The saplings grow in a clear-cut forest area where, before planting and natural seeding, the soil has been mounded forming a blotched soil structure. The tree densities tend to be different in the tilled patches and in the area outside the patches. The coordinates of each sapling have been measured and it is known whether this location is in a patch or outside. This example has been a motivation for the study.     

Spatial Practises and Preferences of Older and Younger People: Findings from the Finnish Studies

There are strong tendencies in urban segregation, not only according to social class, gender and ethnic lines but also according to age. This paper draws on the findings of three studies conducted in Lahti, Finland, to examine the intergenerational aspects of spatial practise. It is argued that people look at their environment through a generational gaze, such that different generations have different spatial preferences and practises. In this article, an age-friendly living environment refers to one that appeals not only to older people but to people of all ages. Age-friendly environments have no segregating borderlines, but rather enable the meeting and communication of different aged people and sustain age integration. As older and young people are most dependent on their living environments, the paper concentrates on their use of space and attachment to place. Our special focus is on recreational activities and places: How and where older and young people spend leisure time? What are their favourite places? What is the importance of nature and different kind of urban spots for them? On the basis of the differences and similarities found out in their spatial practises and preferences, our aim is to discuss age-friendly environments that appeal to different aged people. The study is based on qualitative and quantitative data and draws out implications for future age-diverse communities.     

Towards a More Social Orientation in Gerontechnology: Case Study of the “Reminiscence Stick”

The purpose of this article is to investigate, through a case study, how social orientation can be realized in gerontechnology's objectives. The focus is on user-driven development process of an “mStick,” which is a tool for storing various biographical material: photographs, texts, audio and video clips, and using it in elderly care services. Qualitative data were collected in 11 pilot cases. The content analysis was used to investigate how the “Gerontechnology's Five Ways”: prevention, enhancement, compensation, care, and research, were applicable especially from the perspective of social implications. The mStick acts as a prevention by offering meaningful contents to life, as enhancement by offering a possibility to utilize elderly person's resources. It compensates weakening abilities by preventing the world from becoming narrower. In care, it helps to see patients as whole human beings with unique biography. In addition, mStick offers potential for, for example, applications in memory research. The implication of this study is to pay attention to gerontechnology's role in supporting the social nature of the human being. This may contribute to renewing caring culture towards a more social and biographical orientation. Limitations of this study include focusing on the early development and implementation process with no long-term use data.     

Can service innovations be procured? An analysis of impacts and challenges in the procurement of innovation in social services

This paper addresses the challenges that arise when service innovations are being promoted through public procurement. The academic and policy debate on public procurement of innovation has recently been very vivid, but it has mostly focused on procurement of technologies and tangible goods while considerably less attention has been paid to public procurement of innovation in services. By drawing on conceptual tools from the literature on service innovation and public procurement of innovation, the paper examines an empirical case of procurement of social services for substance abusers carried out by the city of Helsinki, Finland. In particular, the article analyzes whether the characteristics of services and service innovation are compatible with processes and requirements of public procurement. The article shows that service innovations can be procured, but the features of services and service innovation such as intangibility, interactivity, and difficulty to measure the impacts of new services affect the procurement process and set particular requirements for it.     

A characterization of the inverse autocorrelation function

The inverse autocorrelation function of a weakly stationary stochastic process X_t at lag h, γⁱ _h, is shown to equal the negative of the partial correlation between random variables X_t and X_t+h after elimination of the influence of random variables X_k, k≠t5,t+h.     

What Makes Performance-Related Pay Schemes Work? Finnish Evidence

We analyze how features of performance-related pay (PRP) schemes affect their perceived motivational effects using a Finnish survey for upper white-collar employees from 1999. The results show that the following features are important for a successful PRP scheme: (i) the employees have to feel they are able to affect the outcomes; (ii) the organizational level of the performance measurement should be close to the employee: individual and team level performance measurement increase the probability that the scheme is perceived to be motivating; (iii) employees should be familiar with the performance measures; (iv) the level of payments should be high enough and rewards frequent enough. Levels below the median do not generate positive effects; (v) employees should participate in the design of the PRP scheme.