The vulnerability of the low-skilled

The low-skilled are a critical category for analyses of labour market marginalization. Class analysis has tended to depict low-skilled employees as sharing a broadly similar position with respect to both employment and labour market conditions. Their employment relationship is defined by a specific type of contract – the labour contract – characterized by precarious pay, low asset specificity and high job insecurity. This contrasts with employees who benefit from a service relationship which is designed to bind employees to the organization on a longer term basis. Recent neo-institutional theories however have emphasized the diversity of employment conditions between advanced capitalist societies, depending in particular on the nature of their production, employment and welfare regimes. An important issue is whether such divergences apply only to more skilled categories of the workforce (and hence lead to accentuated polarization) or also affect the employment conditions of the low-skilled. Are the low-skilled significantly more integrated into the labour market in some countries than in others and hence less vulnerable in times of economic restructuring? The paper will examine this by comparing a number of EU-15 countries that have been regarded as reflecting contrasting institutional regimes. It will focus in particular on the position of the low-skilled with respect to pay, training and job security

Epacris limbata sp. nov., a localised heath from eastern Tasmania

A description is given of Epacris limbata sp. nov., a new species of heath known from three locations on Tasmania's eastern coast. Notes on taxonomic affinities and habitat of the species are presented

Optimal indicators of socioeconomic status for health research

Objectives: This paper examines the relationship between various measures of SES and mortality for a representative sample of individuals. ; Methods: Data are from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. Sample includes 3,734 individuals aged 45 and above who participated in the 1984 interview. Mortality was tracked between 1984 and 1994 and is related to SES indicators using Cox event-history regression models. ; Results: Wealth has the strongest associations with subsequent mortality, and these associations differ little by age and sex. Other economic measures, especially family-size-adjusted household income, have significant associations with mortality, particularly for nonelderly women. ; Conclusions: By and large, the economic components of SES have associations with mortality that are at least as strong as, and often stronger than, more conventional components (e.g., completed schooling, occupation).Income distribution

A Comparative Analysis of Operation Bluestone: A Specialist Rape Investigation Unit - Summary Report

The file attached to this record is the author's final version.This summary report sets out the findings of an evaluation into the performance of a specialist rape investigation unit and a non-specialist comparator

Spending flexibility and safe withdrawal rates

Shortfall risk retirement income analyses offer little insight into how much risk is optimal, and how risk tolerance affects retirement income decisions. This study models retirement income risk in a manner consistent with risk tolerance in portfolio selection in order to estimate optimal asset allocations and withdrawal rates for retirees with different risk attitudes. We find that the 4 percent retirement withdrawal rate strategy may only be appropriate for risk averse clients with moderate guaranteed income sources. The ability to accept greater shortfall probabilities means that risk tolerant investors will prefer a higher withdrawal rate and a riskier retirement portfolio. A risk tolerant client may prefer a withdrawal rate of between 5 and 7 percent with a guaranteed income of $20,000. The optimal retirement portfolio allocation to stock increases by between 10 and 30 percentage points and the optimal withdrawal rate increases by between 1 and 2 percentage points for clients with a guaranteed income of$60,000 instead of $20,000.retirement planning; utility maximization; retirement spending goals; safe withdrawal rates

Presence of a pre-hospital enhanced care team reduces on scene time and improves triage compliance for stab trauma

© The Author(s). 2019 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.Background: A reduction in pre-hospital scene time for patients with penetrating trauma is associated with reduced mortality, when combined with appropriate hospital triage. This study investigated the relationship between presence of pre-hospital enhanced care teams (ECT) (Critical Care Paramedics (CCPS) or Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS)), on the scene time and triage compliance, of penetrating trauma patients in a UK ambulance service. The primary outcome was whether scene time reduces when an ECT is present. A secondary outcome was whether the presence of an ECT improved compliance with the trust's Major Trauma Decision Tree (MTDT). Methods: All suspected penetrating trauma incidents involving a patient's torso were identified from the Trust's computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system between 31st March 2017 and 1st April 2018. Only patients who sustained central penetrating trauma were included. Any incidents involving firearms were excluded due to the prolonged times that can be involved when waiting for specialist police units. Data relevant to scene time for each eligible incident were retrieved, along with the presence or absence of an ECT. The results were analysed to identify trends in the scene times and compliance with the MTDT. Results: One hundred seventy-one patients met the inclusion criteria, with 165 having complete data. The presence of an ECT improved the median on-scene time in central stabbing by 38% (29m50s vs. 19m0s, p = 0.03). The compliance with the trust's MTDT increased dramatically when an ECT is present (81% vs. 37%, odds ratio 7.59, 95% CI, 3.70-15.37, p < 0.0001). Conclusions: The presence of an ECT at a central stabbing incident significantly improved the scene time and triage compliance with a MTDT. Ambulance services should consider routine activation of ECTs to such incidents, with subsequent service evaluation to monitor patient outcomes. Ambulance services should continue to strive to reduce scene times in the context of central penetrating trauma.Peer reviewe

Utility Versus Creativity in Biomedical Musification

Sonification techniques provide a well-documented methodology for auditory display of data, which can be particularly useful when combined with other display types for the presentation and analysis of complex data streams (including multidimensional data arrays). Creativity in sonification often becomes a function of the chosen mapping scheme, whereby deliberate specification of data mapping to auditory events provides opportunities to creative expression. Thus, such techniques can be used as part of the music creation process, if mapping strategies are carefully designed with specific musical outcomes in mind. Increasingly this particular type of sonification is therefore referred to as musification. However, the creative decision making process involved in designing these mapping strategies can by its nature compromise the presentation of the data in terms of accuracy, and perhaps in terms of overall utility. This article reviews an example of this work with both creative and utilitarian ends, and considers techniques for the evaluation of the success versus the utility that musification of complex biological or biomedical data might achieve, whilst maintaining the necessary integrity of the source data

Efficacy of interventions that use apps to improve diet, physical activity and sedentary behaviour : a systematic review

Background: Health and fitness applications (apps) have gained popularity in interventions to improve diet, physical activity and sedentary behaviours but their efficacy is unclear. This systematic review examined the efficacy of interventions that use apps to improve diet, physical activity and sedentary behaviour in children and adults. Methods: Systematic literature searches were conducted in five databases to identify papers published between 2006 and 2016. Studies were included if they used a smartphone app in an intervention to improve diet, physical activity and/or sedentary behaviour for prevention. Interventions could be stand-alone interventions using an app only, or multi-component interventions including an app as one of several intervention components. Outcomes measured were changes in the health behaviours and related health outcomes (i.e., fitness, body weight, blood pressure, glucose, cholesterol, quality of life). Study inclusion and methodological quality were independently assessed by two reviewers. Results: Twenty-seven studies were included, most were randomised controlled trials (n = 19; 70%). Twenty-three studies targeted adults (17 showed significant health improvements) and four studies targeted children (two demonstrated significant health improvements). Twenty-one studies targeted physical activity (14 showed significant health improvements), 13 studies targeted diet (seven showed significant health improvements) and five studies targeted sedentary behaviour (two showed significant health improvements). More studies (n = 12; 63%) of those reporting significant effects detected between-group improvements in the health behaviour or related health outcomes, whilst fewer studies (n = 8; 42%) reported significant within-group improvements. A larger proportion of multi-component interventions (8 out of 13; 62%) showed significant between-group improvements compared to stand-alone app interventions (5 out of 14; 36%). Eleven studies reported app usage statistics, and three of them demonstrated that higher app usage was associated with improved health outcomes. Conclusions: This review provided modest evidence that app-based interventions to improve diet, physical activity and sedentary behaviours can be effective. Multi-component interventions appear to be more effective than standalone app interventions, however, this remains to be confirmed in controlled trials. Future research is needed on the optimal number and combination of app features, behaviour change techniques, and level of participant contact needed to maximise user engagement and intervention efficacy