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Across the OECD, public policies seek to support parents in achieving their desired work/life balance. This article introduces the background to and issues at stake in promoting equal partnerships in families in Germany. Families in Germany face considerable challenges to spending more time together and achieving a more gender-balanced reconciliation of work and family life, as paid work hours for fathers are long on full-time jobs and many women are in part-time jobs. Family policy can play an important role and Germany has made substantial progress in supporting families ahead of and after the birth of a child. Important in this regard are the parental leave reforms of 2007 and 2015 and the extension of childcare supports that better enable fathers and mothers to combine work and family commitments. The article assesses recent developments in family policies in Germany while also drawing from the experiences of countries with longstanding policies to support work/life balance and strengthen gender equality.

Online platform lending is typically understood as a challenge to incumbent banking institutions. Since its inception platform lending has been closely associated with particular financial and digital technological innovations that are thought to be changing how people engage in lending and borrowing around the world. In this article, I emphasize the deeply political aspect of these innovations. I claim that the platform lending model is built on the ostensible ‘infrastructural quality’ of credit providers across a number of national contexts. This helps explain why platform lending has emerged in its current form and why the firms involved tend to have a certain attachment to and association with the perceived merits of financial inclusion policy initiatives. The article further seeks to show that this infrastructural quality is politically contestable. When the politics of claims to infrastructure are taken seriously it is possible to demonstrate how platform lending, in spite of the ‘alternative’ and ‘democratizing’ discourses that surround the sector, is in fact built upon a particular set of political state and business-led agendas that essentially further entrench widespread dependence on debt.\ud \ud

Background For decades film has proved to be a powerful form of communication. Whether produced as entertainment, art or documentary, films have the capacity to inform and move us. Films are a highly attractive teaching instrument and an appropriate teaching method in health education. It is a valuable tool for studying situations most transcendental to human beings such as pain, disease and death. Objectives The objectives were to determine how this helps students engage with their role as health care professionals; to determine how they view the personal experience of illness, disease, disability or death; and to determine how this may impact upon their provision of patient care. Design, Setting and Participants The project was underpinned by the film selection determined by considerate review, intensive scrutiny, contemplation and discourse by the research team. 7 films were selected, ranging from animation; foreign, documentary, biopic and Hollywood drama. Each film was shown discretely, in an acoustic lecture theatre projected onto a large screen to pre-registration student nurses (adult, child and mental health) across each year of study from different cohorts (n = 49). Method A mixed qualitative method approach consisted of audio-recorded 5-minute reactions post film screening; coded questionnaires; and focus group. Findings were drawn from the impact of the films through thematic analysis of data sets and subjective text condensation categorised as: new insights looking through patient eyes; evoking emotion in student nurses; spiritual care; going to the moves to learn about the patient experience; self discovery through films; using films to link theory to practice. Results Deeper learning through film as a powerful medium was identified in meeting the objectives of the study. Integration of film into pre registration curriculum, pedagogy, teaching and learning is recommended. Conclusion The teaching potential of film stems from the visual process linked to human emotion and experience. Its impact has the power to not only help in learning the values that underpin nursing, but also for respecting the patient experience of disease, disability, death and its reality.

The article provides one of the first political economy accounts of the regulation of peer-to-peer (P2P) lending in the United Kingdom, drawing on interviews with platforms representing the vast majority of the market at the beginning of the regulatory process. The article links the regulation of P2P lending with debates about regulatory capture. It challenges conventional understandings of its consequences by showing how the regulation of P2P lending displays characteristics of regulatory capture but appears to have realised several aspects of regulators’ visions for a ‘socially useful finance’, rather than facilitating the kind of rent-seeking behaviour that has been identified in the case of other areas of finance. P2P lending is found to represent one of the latest forms of consumer and small business finance that works towards so-called ‘financial inclusion’, with ambiguous social outcomes that necessitate further critical investigation.

Children with a diagnosis of autism are more likely to experience anxiety than their typically developing peers. Research suggests that Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) could offer a way to help children with autism manage their anxiety but most evidence is based on clinical trials. This study investigated a school-based CBT programme using a quasi-experimental design incorporating the child and parent versions of the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale (Spence, J Abnorm Psy 106(2):280–297, 1997) and the Coping Scale for Children and Youth (Brodzinsky et al., J Appl Dev Psychol 13:195–214, 1992). Interview data was incorporated to help understand the process of change further. Children in the experimental condition had lower levels of anxiety, maintained at follow-up and changes were found in coping behaviours such as lower behavioural avoidance strategies but increased problem solving strategies at follow-up. Limitations of the research together with future directions are also discussed.

The United States is at a crossroads in its policies for families and women. Currently, the United States provides basic support for children, fathers, and mothers in the form of unpaid parental leave, child-related tax breaks, and limited public child care. In contrast, the other member states of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) empower families through paid parental leave and comprehensive investments in infants and children. The potential gains from strengthening these policies in the United States are enormous. Paid parental leave and subsidized child-care help to get and keep more women in the workforce, contribute to economic growth, offer cognitive and health benefits to children, and give parents options in defining their preferred work-life strategy. Indeed, the United States has been falling behind the rest of the OECD in many social and economic indicators by not adequately investing in children, fathers and mothers. Given the significant payoffs to these family supports, this article focuses on issues of reconciling work and care commitments for families with young children, and, in particular, on paid parental leave policies within the OECD and the United States.

Humour is a complex social and emotional experience which could constitute a positive resource for people endeavouring to live well with dementia. However, little is currently known about the shared use and value of humour in dyads where one person has dementia. The purpose of this study was therefore to explore how people with dementia and their care-partners experience, use and draw meaning from humour in relation to their shared experiences of dementia and their ongoing relationships. Ten participant dyads (the person with dementia and their spousal partner) took part in joint semi-structured interviews. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis revealed eight subthemes that were subsumed under three super-ordinate themes: ‘Humour Has Always Been There (and Always Will Be)’; ‘Withstanding Dementia’ and ‘Renewing the Value of Humour in Dementia’. Overall, the findings suggest that humour, in different forms, can represent a salient and enduring relationship strength that helps dyads maintain well-being and couplehood by providing a buffer against stressors associated with dementia. The findings highlight the potential value of integrating a dyadic perspective with strengths-based approaches in future research into how people live well with dementia.

Background:Psychosocial models suggest that the lived experience of dementia is affected by interpersonal factors such as the ways in which others view, talk about, and behave toward the person with dementia. This review aimed to illuminate how informal, everyday interpersonal relationships are experienced by people with dementia within their social contexts.Method:A systematic review of qualitative literature published between 1989 and May 2016 was conducted, utilizing the electronic databases PsycINFO, MEDLINE, and CINAHL-Complete. This was followed by a critical interpretative synthesis to understand how people with dementia perceive the attitudes, views, and reactions of other people toward them, and the subjective impact that these have.Results:Four major themes were derived from the findings of the 23 included studies: being treated as an “other” rather than “one of us”; being treated as “lesser” rather than a full, valued member of society; the impact of others’ responses; and strategies to manage the responses of others. Thus, people with dementia can feel outcast and relegated, or indeed feel included and valued by others. These experiences impact upon emotional and psychological well-being, and are actively interpreted and managed by people with dementia.Conclusion:Experiences such as loss and diminishing identity have previously been understood as a direct result of dementia, with little consideration of interpersonal influences. This review notes that people with dementia actively engage with others, whose responses can foster or undermine social well-being. This dynamic relational aspect may contribute to emerging understandings of social health in dementia.

The Tennessee Surgical Quality Collaborative analyzes NSQIP data from 21 participating hospitals. The Tennessee Surgical Quality Collaborative has reduced surgical complications, but causative factors are unclear. We sought to correlate surgical duration with complications to reveal mitigating strategies.Risk-adjusted Tennessee Surgical Quality Collaborative data on 104,632 general and vascular cases had a standard duration for 35 procedures (eg, breast, colectomy) calculated and NSQIP outcomes complication rates recorded. We derived a marginal time risk for each extra hour of operative time and reported per 1,000 cases.Procedures taking95% upper confidence standard time limit (n = 99,741) were deemed "not long" and had significantly fewer urinary tract infections, organ-space surgical site infection, sepsis/septic shock, prolonged intubation, and pneumonia. "Long" cases had increased rates of these complications and also deep venous thrombosis, deep incisional infection, and wound disruption. Per 1,000 cases, there were 116 occurrences per operating room hour. Surgical site infections occurred in 14.4/1,000 cases per hour; risk started at 42 minutes of operative time. Death, pneumonia, and prolonged intubation saw their risks begin before the operation. The highest marginal time risk was for sepsis, occurring 16.6 times per additional hour of operative time over standard. Studying only the 25,146 clean procedures, a significant correlation (p0.001) to operation duration persisted, despite an occurrence incidence of 4.5%.Duration of operation correlates with complications and time longer than a statewide established standard carries higher risk. To reduce risk of complications, these data support expeditious surgical technique and preoperative pulmonary training, and offer accurate outcomes assessment for patient counseling based on case duration. These data can be used directly to counsel individual surgeons to improve outcomes.

This study examined the role of expressed emotion (EE) in post-stroke depression (PSD) and the extent to which partner/spouse EE interacted with lesion laterality in PSD. The relationship between (i) lesion location and levels of PSD and (ii) levels of EE and levels of PSD were investigated. The role of perceived EE in PSD was also explored.Cross-sectional, between-subjects design.Measures applied to stroke survivors included Extended Activities of Daily Living Scale (EADL), Post-Stroke Depression Rating Scale (PSDRS) and Level of Expressed Emotion Scale (LEE); spouses/partners completed the LEE.The interaction between lesion laterality and levels of partner/spouse EE on PSD was not statistically significant (p = 0.63, F = 0.24, df = 1,56). However, a clear relationship was found between lesion laterality and PSD (p = 0.028). As levels of spouse/partner LEE scores increased, levels of PSD also increased (p = 0.039). Perceived EE scores illustrated a significant interaction between lesion laterality and levels of EE on PSD (p = 0.005, F = 8.591, df = 1,56).Whilst spouse/partner EE scores showed no interaction with lesion laterality to determine levels of PSD, a significant interaction was found when compared with stroke survivor perceived EE scores. Furthermore, left hemisphere (LHS) stroke survivors reported higher levels of depression than right hemisphere (RHS) stroke survivors. As levels of EE increased, PSD also increased, with LHS being greater than RHS.

Background:Literature indicates that people's experiences of receiving a diagnosis of dementia can have a lasting impact on well-being. Psychiatrists frequently lead in communicating a diagnosis but little is known about the factors that could contribute to potential disparities between actual and best practice with regard to diagnostic disclosure. A clearer understanding of psychiatrists’ subjective experiences of disclosure is therefore needed to improve adherence to best practice guidelines and ensure that diagnostic disclosure facilitates living well with dementia.Methods:This study utilized qualitative methodology. Semi-structured interviews conducted with 11 psychiatrists were analyzed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA).Results:Three superordinate and nine subordinate themes emerged from the data analysis. These included the following: (i) “The levels of well-being” (Continuing with life, Keeping a sense of who they are, Acceptance of the self), (ii) “Living well is a process” (Disclosure can set the scene for well-being, Positive but realistic messages, Whose role it is to support well-being?), and (iii) Ideal care versus real care (Supporting well-being is not prioritized, There isn't time, The fragmentation of care).Conclusions:Findings indicate that psychiatrists frame well-being in dementia as a multi-faceted biopsychosocial construct but that certain nihilistic attitudes may affect how well-being is integrated into diagnostic communication. Such attitudes were linked with the perceived threat of dementia and limitations of post-diagnostic care. Behaviors used to manage the negative affect associated with ethical and clinical tensions triggered by attempts to facilitate well-being at the point of diagnosis, and their impact on adherence to best practice disclosure, are discussed.

In this article We account for Mark Carney’s role in the naturalisation of gender in finance and explain how this depoliticises important questions of gendered finance. We demonstrate Mark Carney’s ability to embody a successful combination of ‘transnational business masculinity’ and ‘traditional bourgeois masculinity’. We sketch how the current monetary and financial stability concerns of the Bank of England appear to reproduce the uneven and exploitative effects of gendered finance. In this article we explore Mark Carney’s place in the gendered political economy of British central banking. We document the gendered narratives surrounding Carney around the time of his appointment as Governor of the Bank of England, suggesting that they worked to naturalise certain gender constructions in finance. We show how Carney seemingly had the ability to successfully embody a combination of two ideal-types of masculinity: both ‘transnational business masculinity’ and ‘traditional bourgeois masculinity’. We argue this contributed to three depoliticising moves, each of which gain their strength in part from the naturalisation of masculinities in finance, while obfuscating important questions of gendered finance. To elucidate the latter, we highlight some of the gendered outcomes that are obscured by the furore surrounding Carney’s character, suggesting that the monetary and financial stability concerns of the Bank under his stewardship are likely to reproduce the uneven and exploitative relations of gendered finance.

In recent years, significant studies of finance have explored, on the one hand, the ways in which a specific financial theory might act as a ‘performative utterance’ which through its use makes itself true and, on the other hand, the ways in which discourses and practices of finance might act as continuous performatives that constitute key categories of finance and the financial subject. On first glance, the idea of self-actualising financial theory might seem closer to J. L. Austin's original conception of the performative utterance. However, in this article, I argue for the need to reclaim the Austinian heritage for the broader and more generic understanding of performative finance as well. In this sense, I suggest, a return to Austin reveals the importance of maintaining a focus not only on the potential performance of financial theory, but also those discourses and practices of finance that make up the deeper layers of performativity. I use questions about the role of financial engineering in the sub-...

The article provides a critical analysis of the performative effects of invocations of trauma and traumatic imagery during the sub-prime crisis. We develop a pragmatic approach to performativity that foregrounds the ambiguity between the importance of performative utterances, on the one hand, and overlapping performativities that produce subjects capable of ‘‘hearing’’ such utterances, on the other. We argue that a performative effect of the traumatic narrative of the sub-prime crisis was to constitute it as ‘‘an event’’ with traumatic characteristics. Financial subjects came to anticipate the object of financial salvation through intervention to save the banks; and such a view worked to curtail the range of political possibilities that were thinkable. Lines of pragmatic resistance are suggested, which turn the logic of trauma toward broadly progressive ends. In this way, the political dimension of performativity is brought forward: if finance is performative, then this only invites the question of how we might perform it differently.

Many factors contribute to aggressive behaviour in dementia care settings. Esme Moniz-Cook and Chris Clarke consider a framework for understanding the causes and providing creative individually tailored solutions.

Improving the quality of life for people living with dementia is widely accepted as an important outcome in dementia care services. Positive psychology, the systematic study of strengths, capacities, and personal resources, is one framework for understanding how a person with dementia might achieve this. This study investigated the subjective experience of hope-a construct from the discipline of positive psychology in older people with early-stage dementia.Ten volunteer participants over the age of 65 years were recruited from a memory clinic in England. Semi-structured interviews were used to explore participants' hopes, in terms of their personal meaning, their resources, and the potential barriers and facilitators of hope in dementia. Interviews were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA).Eight themes were extracted, subsumed under two higher-order themes: 'live in hope or die in despair' and 'keep living and keep living well'. Participants described how their internalized hope-fostering beliefs that were often learned during childhood were challenged by the reality of hope-hindering experiences associated with old age and dementia. A balancing process of re-appraisal enhanced resolution and this sense of stability then allowed them to develop positive attitudes towards common age-related constraints in their health and social circumstances.The findings offer insight into the existence, nature, and relevance of hope in the lives of people with early-stage dementia. They provide a useful framework for developing hope-fostering strategies in early interventions that aim to assist individuals with dementia to maintain their quality of life.

The dissemination of images through online circuits of communication has altered our understanding of photographic representation as well as attendant issues of authenticity, provenance, and originality. In the American artist Sean Snyder's Untitled (Archive Iraq) series of digital photographs, images gathered from various websites are organized and re-presented as artworks, providing a subjective and provocative examination of photographic veracity and its role in contemporary warfare and propaganda. This essay looks at the series in relation to Snyder's wider artistic practice and its use of imagery appropriated from news agencies, satellite television, and online sources. In addition, the series raises the question of “who owns representation” in a highly fluid and contestable medium, and asks what purposes such images can be said to serve.

Objective: To examine prospectively the influence of demographic, amputation and psychosocial variables on positive psychological adjustment outcomes for lower limb amputees. Design: A quantitative questionnaire study with two time points: at the beginning of rehabilitation and at six-month follow-up. Multiple regression analyses were used to determine the contribution of demographic/amputation factors versus psychosocial factors to adjustment outcomes. Setting: A regional outpatient specialist mobility and rehabilitation centre in the UK. Subjects: Participants were recruited as a consecutive sample of new referrals with lower limb amputation. Main measures: Age, gender, level and cause of amputation were recorded. The following measures were used: Hope Scale, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), Trinity Amputation and Prosthetic Experiences Scale (TAPES) pain subscale initially and the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS) and full TAPES at six-month follow up. The measures were administered by two specialist nurses. Results: Ninety-nine patients provided data at both time points. Hope at the beginning of rehabilitation was related to positive mood (P Conclusions: The findings demonstrate prospectively the importance of psychosocial variables in the prediction of positive adjustment to lower limb amputation.

Hay's Political Analysis raises foundational issues for all social scientists, not least in its outline for a via media, or middle way, between positivist and interpretivist social science. In this view, social science should be firmly grounded in empirical study but take seriously the notion that there is no privileged vantage point from which to generate dispassionate knowledge claims about the social world. This article asks whether this apparent via media is coherent and meaningfully captures what it means to be doing positivist and interpretivist social science without, so to speak, conceding too much ground to the other approach.

High-voltage normally-on VJFETs of 0.19 cm2 and 0.096 cm2 areas were manufactured in seven photolithographic levels with no epitaxial regrowth and a single ion implantation event. A self aligned guard ring structure provided edge termination. At a gate bias of -36 V the 0.096 cm2 VJFET blocks 1980 V, which corresponds to 91% of the 12 μm drift layer’s avalanche breakdown voltage limit. It outputs 25 A at a forward drain voltage drop of 2 V (368 A/cm2, 735 W/cm2) and a gate current of 4 mA. The specific on-resistance is 5.4 mΩ cm2. The 0.19 cm2 VJFET blocks 1200 V at a gate bias of -26 V. It outputs 54 A at a forward drain voltage drop of 2 V (378 A/cm2, 755 W/cm2) and a gate current of 12 mA, with a specific on-resistance of 5.6 mΩ cm2. The VJFETs demonstrated low gate-to-source leakage currents with sharp onsets of avalanche breakdown.

This study investigated the role of Sense of Coherence (SoC) in late onset mood problems. The results suggested that SoC should be considered when formulating late onset mood problems and highlighted the need for further research investigating the application of positive psychology to older people.

This work utilizes silicon carbide (SiC) vertical JFETs in a cascode configuration to exploit the inherent advantages of SiC and demonstrate the device under application conditions. The all-SiC cascode circuit is made up of a low-voltage normally-off vertical JFET, and high-voltage normally on vertical JFET to form a normally-off cascode switch. In this work, a half-bridge inverter was developed with SiC cascode switches for DC to AC power conversion. The inverter uses high-side and a low-side cascode switches that are Pulse Width Modulated (PWM) from a 500 V bus to produce a 60 Hz sinusoid at the output. An inductor and a capacitor were used to filter the output, while a load resistor was used to model the steady-state current of a motor.

Anxiety and depression are common mental health problems in later life. Since worry and rumination are thought to underpin the respective primary cognitive processes in anxiety and depression, we developed a measure to distinguish worry from rumination in later life. The Ruminative Response Scale was adapted to include items that characterise the cognitive features of worry. We examined its properties using 92 clinical and non-clinical participants, aged over 65. Factor analysis demonstrated a three-factor structure: brooding, reflection and worry with internal consistencies of alpha = 0.72, alpha = 0.67 and alpha = 0.55 respectively. We found no evidence for concurrent validity of these factors using the Penn State Worry Questionnaire. Modest but significant associations between reflection and brooding (r = 0.36) and reflection and worry (r = 0.2) were found. Brooding and worry sub-scales remained unrelated. We suggest that it is possible to distinguish worry from rumination in older people and that differentiating between their key underlying characteristics in the assessment of mood problems may enhance the targeting and evaluation of cognitive-behavioural therapy for anxiety and depression in later life. Future research with a substantial clinical sample is needed to explore the underlying dimensions and correlates of worry in later life.

Aim: To investigate the effectiveness of a 6-week programme of exercise in patients discharged from hospital after critical illness compared to standard care. Methods: Multicentre phase 2 RCT of exercise versus standard care. Inclusion criteria:≥18 yrs, mechanical ventilation>96 hrs, no other rehabilitation programme. Primary outcome: physical functioning subscale(PF) of Short-Form-36(SF-36). Secondary outcomes: other SF-36 subscales, Incremental Shuttle Walk Test(ISWT), Functional Limitations Profile(FLP), Chronic Disease Self-efficacy Scale(CDSES), readiness to change(RTC), Hospital Anxiety and Depression(HADS), Rivermead Mobility Index(RMI). Data analysis:differences between groups using independent samples t-tests and analysis of covariance(p ≤0.05=significant). Results: 60 patients (30 per group); age 51(14)yrs; 34(57%)male; APACHE2 16(7); mechanical ventilation 303(251)hrs. 6 week follow-up completed by n=55 (29control, 26 intervention). Preliminary results:no significant difference in PF between groups at 6 weeks; significant differences in SF-36 role physical(RP), ISWT, FLP, CDSES and RTC in favour of exercise group. Conclusion: This is the first study of exercise rehabilitation initiated after discharge from hospital following critical illness to demonstrate significant improvements in functional outcomes and self-efficacy.

Little is known about how and to what extent people with dementia live positively with their condition. This study aimed to review and carry out a synthesis of qualitative studies where accounts of the subjective experiences of people with dementia contained evidence of positive states, experiences or attributes.A meta-synthesis was undertaken to generate an integrated and interpretive account of the ability of people with dementia to have positive experiences. A methodological quality assessment was undertaken to maximize the reliability and validity of this synthesis and to contextualize the findings with regard to methodological constraints and epistemological concepts.Twenty-seven papers were included. Three super-ordinate themes relating to positive experiences and attributes were identified, each with varying and complementing sub-themes. The first super-ordinate theme related to the experience of engaging with life in ageing rather than explicitly to living with dementia. The second theme related to engaging with dementia itself and comprised the strengths that people can utilize in facing and fighting the condition. The third theme captured how people with dementia might transcend the condition and seek ways to maintain identity and even achieve personal growth.This review provides a first step towards understanding what conceptual domains might be important in defining positive outcomes for people who live with dementia. Highlighting the potential for people to have positive experiences in spite of or even because of their dementia has important implications for de-stigmatizing dementia and will enhance person-centred approaches to care.