Family, state, class and solidarity: re-conceptualising intergenerational solidarity through the grounded theory approach

The relationship between class and intergenerational solidarities in the public and private spheres calls for further conceptual and theoretical development. This article discusses the findings from the first wave of a qualitative longitudinal study entitled Changing Generations, conducted in Ireland in 2011–2012, comprising 100 in-depth interviews with men and women across the age and socioeconomic spectrums. Constructivist grounded theory analysis of the data gives rise to the following postulates: (1) intergenerational solidarity at the family level is strongly contoured by socioeconomic status (SES); (2) intergenerational solidarity evolves as family generations observe each others’ practices and adjust their expectations accordingly; (3) intergenerational solidarity within families is also shaped by the public sphere (the welfare state) that generates varying expectations and levels of solidarity regarding State supports for different age groups, again largely dependent on SES; (4) the liberal welfare state context, especially at a time of economic crisis, enhances the significance of intergenerational solidarity within families. We conclude by calling for research that is attuned to age/generation, gender and class, and how these operate across the family and societal levels.

Overlapping Notions of Self and Other: the Case of the Anabaptist Body

This paper examines the complex interrelations between notions of ͚“elf͛ and ͚Otheƌ͛ with regards to human bodies, taking as a case study the bodily experiences of Anabaptist Christians, both historically and in the present day. It first examines body practices and discourses through the lens of Anabaptist approaches to baptism and conscience and it relates these to the Foucauldian notion of care of the Self. It then looks at biopolitical relations between individuals and the state through an examination of oath-taking and anti-war protests. Finally, it discusses the roles of bodies and bodiliness in contemporary Anabaptist commemorative practices. 

New Ways of Looking at the State Apparatus and the State Archive in Nineteenth Century Ireland: Curiosities from that Phonetic Museum - Royal Irish Constabulary Reports and their Political Uses, 1879-91

This essay seeks to contextualise the intelligence work of the Royal Irish Constabulary, particularly in the 1880s, in terms of the wider British and imperial practice and, as a corollary, to reflect upon aspects of the structure of the state apparatus and the state archive in Ireland since the Union. The author contrasts Irish and British police and bureaucratic work and suggests parallels between Ireland and other imperial locations, especially India. This paper also defines the narrowly political, indeed partisan, uses to which this intelligence was put, particularly during the Special Commission of 1888 on 'Parnellism and crime', when governmentheld police records were made available to counsel for The Times. By reflecting on the structure of the state apparatus and its use in this instance, the author aims to further the debate on the governance of nineteenth-century Ireland and to explore issues of colonial identity and practice. The line of argument proposed in this essay is prefigured in Margaret O'Callaghan, British high politics and a nationalist Ireland: criminality, land and the law under Forster and Balfour (Cork, 199

The State, Compartmentalization and the Turn to Local Community: A Critique of the Political Thought of Alasdair MacIntyre

Alasdair MacIntyre condemns modern politics, specifically liberalism and the institutions of the liberal state, as irredeemably fallen. His core argument is that the liberal state encourages a disempowering ‘compartmentalization’ of people’s everyday roles and activities that undermines the intersubjective conditions of human flourishing. MacIntyre’s alternative is an Aristotelian politics centred on the notion of “practice.” Defined by justice and solidarity, this politics can only be realized, he claims, within local communities which oppose and resist the dictates of the administrative state and capitalist market. Here it is argued that MacIntyre’s notion of “practice” represents a compelling ethical-political ideal. However, the belief that this ideal is best realized within local communities is rejected. In privileging local community, MacIntyre relies on a reductive view of modern states and overlooks the institutional conditions of a just polity. Against this, it is argued that a politics of human flourishing cannot succeed without an emancipatory transformation of large-scale, trans-communal institutions, in particular the state.

Charge-state distribution and Doppler effect in an expanding photoionized plasma.

The charge state distributions of Fe, Na, and F are determined in a photoionized laboratory plasma using high resolution x-ray spectroscopy. Independent measurements of the density and radiation flux indicate unprecedented values for the ionization parameter ���¾=20 25 erg cm s-1 under near steady-state conditions. Line opacities are well fitted by a curve-of-growth analysis which includes the effects of velocity gradients in a one-dimensional expanding plasma. First comparisons of the measured charge state distributions with x-ray photoionization models show reasonable agreement.

Space and time resolved rotational state populations and gas temperatures in an inductively coupled hydrogen RF discharge

Gas temperature is of major importance in plasma based surface treatment, since the surface processes are strongly temperature sensitive. The spatial distribution of reactive species responsible for surface modification is also influenced by the gas temperature. Industrial applications of RF plasma reactors require a high degree of homogeneity of the plasma in contact with the substrate. Reliable measurements of spatially resolved gas temperatures are, therefore, of great importance. The gas temperature can be obtained, e.g. by optical emission spectroscopy (OES). Common methods of OES to obtain gas temperatures from analysis of rotational distributions in excited states do not include the population dynamics influenced by cascading processes from higher electronic states. A model was developed to evaluate this effect on the apparent rotational temperature that is observed. Phase resolved OES confirmed the validity of this model. It was found that cascading leads to higher apparent temperatures, but the deviation (similar or equal to 25 K) is relatively small and can be ignored in most cases. This analysis is applied to investigate axially and radially resolved temperature profiles in an inductively coupled hydrogen RF discharge.

Extraction of electrode kinetic parameters from microdisc voltammetric data measured under transport conditions intermediate between steady-state convergent and transient linear diffusion as typically applies to room temperature ionic liquids

The extraction of electrode kinetic parameters for electrochemical couples in room-temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) is currently an area of considerable interest. Electrochemists typically measure electrode kinetics in the limits of either transient planar or steady-state convergent diffusion for which the voltammetic response is well understood. In this paper we develop a general method allowing the extraction of this kinetic data in the region where the diffusion is intermediate between the planar and convergent limits, such as is often encountered in RTILs using microelectrode voltammetry. A general working surface is derived, allowing the inference of Butler-Volmer standard electrochemical rate constants for the peak-to-peak potential separation in a cyclic voltammogram as a function of voltage scan rate. The method is applied to the case of the ferrocene/ferrocenium couple in [C(2)mim][N(Tf)(2)] and [C(4)mim][N(Tf)(2)].

Identifying strategies to maximise recruitment and retention of practices and patients in a multicentre randomised controlled trial of an intervention to optimise secondary prevention for coronary heart disease in primary care.

Background Recruitment and retention of patients and healthcare providers in randomised controlled trials (RCTs) is important in order to determine the effectiveness of interventions. However, failure to achieve recruitment targets is common and reasons why a particular recruitment strategy works for one study and not another remain unclear. We sought to describe a strategy used in a multicentre RCT in primary care, to report researchers’ and participants’ experiences of its implementation and to inform future strategies to maximise recruitment and retention. Methods In total 48 general practices and 903 patients were recruited from three different areas of Ireland to a RCT of an intervention designed to optimise secondary prevention of coronary heart disease. The recruitment process involved telephoning practices, posting information, visiting practices, identifying potential participants, posting invitations and obtaining consent. Retention involved patients attending reviews and responding to questionnaires and practices facilitating data collection. Results We achieved high retention rates for practices (100%) and for patients (85%) over an 18-month intervention period. Pilot work, knowledge of the setting, awareness of change in staff and organisation amongst participant sites, rapid responses to queries and acknowledgement of practitioners’ contributions were identified as being important. Minor variations in protocol and research support helped to meet varied, complex and changing individual needs of practitioners and patients and encouraged retention in the trial. A collaborative relationship between researcher and practice staff which required time to develop was perceived as vital for both recruitment and retention. Conclusions Recruiting and retaining the numbers of practices and patients estimated as required to provide findings with adequate power contributes to increased confidence in the validity and generalisability of RCT results. A continuous dynamic process of monitoring progress within trials and tailoring strategies to particular circumstances, whilst not compromising trial protocols, should allow maximal recruitment and retention.

Evolution of Clay Morphology in Polypropylene/Montmorillonite Nanocomposites upon Equi-biaxial Stretching: A Solid-State NMR and TEM Approach

Solid-state NMR and TEM were used to quantitatively examine the evolution of clay morphology upon equibiaxial stretching of polypropylene/montmorillonite (PP-MMT) nanocomposites up to a stretch ratio (?= final length/initial length) of 3.5. 1 H spin-lattice relaxation times were measured by the saturation-recovery sequence. For the nanocomposites, initial portions of the magnetization recovery
curves (e~20 ms) were found to depend on v t, indicative of diffusion-limited relaxation and in agreement with calculations based on estimates of the spin-diffusion barrier radius surrounding the paramagnetic centers in the clay, the electron-nucleus coupling constant, and the spin-diffusion coefficient. Initial slopes of these magnetization recovery curves directly correlated with the fraction of clay/polymer interface. New clay surface was exposed as a near linear function of strain. Long-time portions of the magnetization recovery curves yielded information on the average interparticle separations, which decreased slowly before reaching a plateau at ?=~2.5 as particles aligned. TEM images supported these findings and were used to define and quantify degrees of exfoliation and homogeneity from the NMR data. Exfoliation, defined as (platelets/ stack)-1, increased from 0.38 (unstretched) to 0.80 at ? = 3.5 for PP-MMT nanocomposites stretched at
150 C and 16 s-1. A lower stretch temperature, 145 C, which is slightly below melting onset, led to an exfoliation degree of 0.87 at ?= 2.8, consistent with the ability of higher melt viscosities to allow for higher shear stress transfer. Exposure of new clay surface is attributed to aggregate breakup and orientation at low strains (? e ~2) and to platelets sliding apart at higher strains.