Another look at family adjustment

This chapter argues that in the international career context there is a need to conceptualise the adjustment of the family unit holistically. We discuss what that means and how it can be done. We note that to date the family has almost always been conceptualised as a hindrance to or a support for the working expatriate. However, in international assignments the family as a whole is expatriated and the family may become part of the expatriate resources with the line between work and family/personal life blurring. We draw on the Family Adjustment and Adaptation Response (FAAR) literature to argue that previous conceptions of adjustment have failed to capture the complexity of the process from the family perspective and we use that literature to develop our understanding of the process of adjustment of the family unit and suggest ways forward.

The impact of career capital on expatriates’ perceived marketability

We examine how the development of three types of career capital (knowing how, knowing whom, and knowing why) during an international assignment affects the perceived marketability of organizational expatriates. Using the perceived marketability perspective and long-term follow-up data, we show that knowing how is seen as the most transferable type of career capital, while the development of other aspects of career capital has little impact on perceived marketability. We also show that career capital development is more recognized in the external market than by current employers. Our findings expand our understanding of long-term career marketability among people who have completed international assignments.

The career competencies of self-initiated and assigned expatriates: assessing the development of career capital over time

Building on a modern careers approach, we assess the effects of working abroad on individuals’ career capital. Given the dearth of longitudinal studies, we return to a sample of economics graduates in Finland eight years later. We measure changes in three dimensions of career capital; ‘knowing how’, ‘knowing whom’, ‘knowing why’ and find that company assigned expatriates learn more than self-initiated expatriates. All three career capital areas benefit from international experience and all are increasingly valued over time. Based on our findings we conclude that a dynamic notion of career capital acquisition and use is needed. Managerial implications include the need for a wider view of talent management for international businesses.

Vikten av arbete : Patienternas arbete och dess betydelse på Säters hospital 1912-1942

Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka arten av och betydelsen av patientarbetet på Säters hospital mellan perioden 1912-1942.Det använda källmaterialet är årsberättelser, ekonomiska översikter, utgående skrivelser, skrivelser från Medicinalstyrelsen, protokoll och bilagor samt personalrullar från perioden mellan 1912-1942. Utifrån detta material så har arbetets omfattning sammanställs och även har innehållet av arbetet undersökts. Arbetets omfattning och innehåll har undersökts ur ett könsperspektiv. Betydelsen av arbetet har undersökts utifrån två perspektiv, det terapeutiska samt den ekonomiska betydelsen. När det gäller den ekonomiska betydelsen har man utgått från den enskilda patienten men även hospitalet. Resultaten visar, att när det gäller arbetets omfattning ökade antalet arbetstimmar radikalt efter 1930-talet eftersom arbetsterapin blev en mer accepterad form av terapi. När det gäller antalet arbetstimmar mellan könen var männen dominerande. Arbetets innehåll var fördelat efter kön samt efter vilken avdelning man var inlagd på. Det som styrde fördelningen av arbetet mellan könen var de traditionella uppfattningarna om könsrollerna. Den terapeutiska betydelsen var av mer betydelse för patienterna än den ekonomiska, medan den ekonomiska betydelsen var starkare för hospitalet.

Skolans demokratiska fostrande roll : Undersökning om gymnasieelevers uppfattning av skolans demokratiska fostrande roll samt om elevernas egna roll i skoldemokratin.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka hur gymnasieelever uppfattar skolans demokratiska fostrande roll samt hur den lokala skolan har lyckats i sin roll som demokratiska fostrare. För att svara på syftet har vi ställt följande frågeställningar: Hur medvetna är eleverna egentligen om skolans demokratiska fostrande roll? Vilken typ av regler anser eleverna vara de viktigaste? Stämmer de demokratiska mål som presenteras i den undersökta skolans arbetsplan och skolplan väl överens med de mål som finns i läroplanen Lpf 94 och skollagen?Det använda källmaterialet består av enkätundersökningar gjorda med elever som går årskurs 3 på gymnasiet samt även arbetsplan och skolplan från den undersökta skolan. Resultaten visar på att eleverna är medvetna om skolans demokratiska fostrande roll i de flesta aspekterna. Däremot visar undersökningen på att det praktiska arbetet kring skolans demokratiska fostran är bristfällig. Enligt resultaten är det regler som rör moraliska värderingar viktigast i skolan. Undersökningen visar även på att de demokratiska mål som presenteras i den undersökta skolans arbetsplan samt skolplan stämmer väl överens med de mål som finns i Lpf 94 samt skollagen. Generellt kan man säga att eleverna uppfattar skolans demokratiska fostrande roll positivt. Den undersökta skolan lyckas med att förmedla de demokratiska idéerna till eleverna men inte ge dem de rätta verktygen för att uppnå målen.

Flexibelt lärande? : En intervjustudie med lärare och rektorer angående deras uppfattningar, möjliggöranden och förverkliganden av flexibelt lärande samt dess påverkan på elevers lärande

Syftet med detta examensarbete är att undersöka hur lärare och rektorer på ett specifikt utbildningscentrum uppfattar, möjliggör och förverkligar flexibelt lärande samt få deras insikt i vad flexibelt lärande bidrar till när det gäller elevers lärande. För att uppnå syftet med denna undersökning har följande frågeställnings ställts: Hur uppfattas flexibelt lärande av lärare och rektorer, vad uppfattar rektorer och lärare som positivt samt negativt med flexibelt lärande, hur möjliggörs och förverkligas utbildningscentrumets vision om flexibelt lärande av lärare och rektorer samt hur ser lärare och rektorer på det flexibla lärandets funktion när det gäller elevers lärande?Det använda källmaterialet består av intervjuer gjorda med 2 rektorer och 4 lärare som arbetar med flexibelt lärande på ungdomsgymnasiet och vuxenutbildning på ett utbildningscentrum i mellersta Sverige. Resultaten visar på att den generella uppfattningen om flexibelt lärande hos rektorerna och lärarna är positiv. Man kan se utifrån intervjuerna att de positiva sakerna med flexibelt lärande ofta cirkulerar kring relationen mellan lärare och eleven, medan de negativa sakerna ofta berör mer praktiska saker som angår både lärare och elev. Möjliggörandet och förverkligandet kan man säga består till största del att tillgodose elevers önskemål och behov. Detta innebär att man inte begränsar sig på något sätt, eleverna erbjuds alla möjligheter till studier. Utifrån intervjuerna kan man dra slutsatsen att flexibelt lärande bidrar till elevers lärande på ett sådant sätt att kunskapen fördjupas och eleverna får en annan förståelse för den kunskap som dom skapar. Den problematik vi kan se när det gäller det flexibla lärandet utifrån intervjuerna är att det saknas en allmän rådande definition av begreppet flexibelt lärande och att den socialkonstruktivistiska teorin inte är tillräckligt förankrad. Detta är nödvändigt för att projektet Flexibelt lärande ska lyckas.

Challenging Folk Icons - Rewriting Woody and Santeri

Woody Guthrie’s song, “The 1913 Massacre,” written around 1940-41, has become something of a folk anthem for progressives, leftists, and labor supporters. It depicts the Italian Hall Disaster of December 24, 1913, in a plainspoken and colorful way, but has been (rightfully) described as “deeply flawed historically.” Much like Guthrie’s English-language folk songs, Finnish immigrant Santeri Mäkelä had a major impact on capturing the working-world around him. Mäkelä’s lyrics for the “Kaivantomiehen Laulu (The Miners’ Song)” were first published in Hancock, 1909, in “Uusi Työväen Laulukirja (The New Workers’ Songbook),” and was probably sung widely by Finnish strikers during the 1913-14 Michigan Copper Strike. Leading up to, and during this Strike Centennial year, there have been renewed performances of the song, both in Finland and the United States—but only in the original Finnish language. This presentation will delve into the accuracy, history, and lyrics of these two important, but historically problematic labor songs.

Liraglutide once a day versus exenatide twice a day for type 2 diabetes: a 26-week randomised, parallel-group, multinational, open-label trial (LEAD-6)

BACKGROUND: Unlike most antihyperglycaemic drugs, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists have a glucose-dependent action and promote weight loss. We compared the efficacy and safety of liraglutide, a human GLP-1 analogue, with exenatide, an exendin-based GLP-1 receptor agonist. METHODS: Adults with inadequately controlled type 2 diabetes on maximally tolerated doses of metformin, sulphonylurea, or both, were stratified by previous oral antidiabetic therapy and randomly assigned to receive additional liraglutide 1.8 mg once a day (n=233) or exenatide 10 microg twice a day (n=231) in a 26-week open-label, parallel-group, multinational (15 countries) study. The primary outcome was change in glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA(1c)). Efficacy analyses were by intention to treat. The trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00518882. FINDINGS: Mean baseline HbA(1c) for the study population was 8.2%. Liraglutide reduced mean HbA(1c) significantly more than did exenatide (-1.12% [SE 0.08] vs -0.79% [0.08]; estimated treatment difference -0.33; 95% CI -0.47 to -0.18; p<0.0001) and more patients achieved a HbA(1c) value of less than 7% (54%vs 43%, respectively; odds ratio 2.02; 95% CI 1.31 to 3.11; p=0.0015). Liraglutide reduced mean fasting plasma glucose more than did exenatide (-1.61 mmol/L [SE 0.20] vs -0.60 mmol/L [0.20]; estimated treatment difference -1.01 mmol/L; 95% CI -1.37 to -0.65; p<0.0001) but postprandial glucose control was less effective after breakfast and dinner. Both drugs promoted similar weight losses (liraglutide -3.24 kg vs exenatide -2.87 kg). Both drugs were well tolerated, but nausea was less persistent (estimated treatment rate ratio 0.448, p<0.0001) and minor hypoglycaemia less frequent with liraglutide than with exenatide (1.93 vs 2.60 events per patient per year; rate ratio 0.55; 95% CI 0.34 to 0.88; p=0.0131; 25.5%vs 33.6% had minor hypoglycaemia). Two patients taking both exenatide and a sulphonylurea had a major hypoglycaemic episode. INTERPRETATION: Liraglutide once a day provided significantly greater improvements in glycaemic control than did exenatide twice a day, and was generally better tolerated. The results suggest that liraglutide might be a treatment option for type 2 diabetes, especially when weight loss and risk of hypoglycaemia are major considerations.

High intestinal cholesterol absorption is associated with cardiovascular disease and risk alleles in ABCG8 and ABO: evidence from the LURIC and YFS cohorts and from a meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVES This study sought to determine whether high intestinal cholesterol absorption represents a cardiovascular risk factor and to link ABCG8 and ABO variants to cardiovascular disease (CVD). BACKGROUND Plant sterol-enriched functional foods are widely used for cholesterol lowering. Their regular intake yields a 2-fold increase in circulating plant sterol levels that equally represent markers of cholesterol absorption. Variants in ABCG8 and ABO have been associated with circulating plant sterol levels and CVD, thereby suggesting atherogenic effects of plant sterols or of cholesterol uptake. METHODS The cholestanol-to-cholesterol ratio (CR) was used as an estimate of cholesterol absorption because it is independent of plant sterols. First, we investigated the associations of 6 single nucleotide polymorphisms in ABCG8 and ABO with CR in the LURIC (LUdwisghafen RIsk and Cardiovascular health study) and the YFS (Young Finns Study) cohorts. Second, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate whether CR might be related to CVD. RESULTS In LURIC, the minor alleles of rs4245791 and rs4299376 and the major alleles of rs41360247, rs6576629, and rs4953023 of the ABCG8 gene and the minor allele of rs657152 of the ABO gene were significantly associated with higher CR. Consistent results were obtained for rs4245791, rs4299376, rs6576629, and rs4953023 in YFS. The meta-analysis, including 6 studies and 4,362 individuals, found that CR was significantly increased in individuals with CVD. CONCLUSIONS High cholesterol absorption is associated with risk alleles in ABCG8 and ABO and with CVD. Harm caused by elevated cholesterol absorption rather than by plant sterols may therefore mediate the relationships of ABCG8 and ABO variants with CVD.

Genome-wide association study on dimethylarginines reveals novel AGXT2 variants associated with heart rate variability but not with overall mortality.

AIMS The purpose of this study was to identify novel genetic variants influencing circulating asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) and symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA) levels and to evaluate whether they have a prognostic value on cardiovascular mortality. METHODS AND RESULTS We conducted a genome-wide association study on the methylarginine traits and investigated the predictive value of the new discovered variants on mortality. Our meta-analyses replicated the previously known locus for ADMA levels in DDAH1 (rs997251; P = 1.4 × 10(-40)), identified two non-synomyous polymorphisms for SDMA levels in AGXT2 (rs37369; P = 1.4 × 10(-40) and rs16899974; P = 1.5 × 10(-38)) and one in SLC25A45 (rs34400381; P = 2.5 × 10(-10)). We also fine-mapped the AGXT2 locus for further independent association signals. The two non-synonymous AGXT2 variants independently associated with SDMA levels were also significantly related with short-term heart rate variability (HRV) indices in young adults. The major allele (C) of the novel non-synonymous rs16899974 (V498L) variant associated with decreased SDMA levels and an increase in the ratio between the low- and high-frequency spectral components of HRV (P = 0.00047). Furthermore, the SDMA decreasing allele (G) of the non-synomyous SLC25A45 (R285C) variant was associated with a lower resting mean heart rate during the HRV measurements (P = 0.0046), but not with the HRV indices. None of the studied genome-wide significant variants had any major effect on cardiovascular or total mortality in patients referred for coronary angiography. CONCLUSIONS AGXT2 has an important role in SDMA metabolism in humans. AGXT2 may additionally have an unanticipated role in the autonomic nervous system regulation of cardiac function.

Monitoring asthma in children.

The goal of asthma treatment is to obtain clinical control and reduce future risks to the patient. To reach this goal in children with asthma, ongoing monitoring is essential. While all components of asthma, such as symptoms, lung function, bronchial hyperresponsiveness and inflammation, may exist in various combinations in different individuals, to date there is limited evidence on how to integrate these for optimal monitoring of children with asthma. The aims of this ERS Task Force were to describe the current practise and give an overview of the best available evidence on how to monitor children with asthma. 22 clinical and research experts reviewed the literature. A modified Delphi method and four Task Force meetings were used to reach a consensus. This statement summarises the literature on monitoring children with asthma. Available tools for monitoring children with asthma, such as clinical tools, lung function, bronchial responsiveness and inflammatory markers, are described as are the ways in which they may be used in children with asthma. Management-related issues, comorbidities and environmental factors are summarised. Despite considerable interest in monitoring asthma in children, for many aspects of monitoring asthma in children there is a substantial lack of evidence.

A role for estrogen receptor β in the regulation of growth of the ventral prostate

In normal rats and mice, immunostaining with specific antibodies revealed that nuclei of most prostatic epithelial cells harbor estrogen receptor β (ERβ). In rat ventral prostate, 530- and 549-aa isoforms of the receptor were identified. These sediment in the 4S region of low-salt sucrose gradients, indicating that prostatic ERβ does not contain the same protein chaperones that are associated with ERα. Estradiol (E2) binding and ERβ immunoreactivity coincide on the gradient, with no indication of ERα. In prostates from mice in which the ERβ gene has been inactivated (BERKO), androgen receptor (AR) levels are elevated, and the tissue contains multiple hyperplastic foci. Most epithelial cells express the proliferation antigen Ki-67. In contrast, prostatic epithelium from wild-type littermates is single layered with no hyperplasia, and very few cells express Ki-67. Rat ventral prostate contains an estrogenic component, which comigrates on HPLC with the testosterone metabolite 5α-androstane-3β,17β-diol (3βAdiol). This compound, which competes with E2 for binding to ERβ and elicits an estrogenic response in the aorta but not in the pituitary, decreases the AR content in prostates of wild-type mice but does not affect the elevated levels seen in ERβ knockout (BERKO) mice. Thus ERβ, probably as a complex with 3βAdiol, is involved in regulating the AR content of the rodent prostate and in restraining epithelial growth. These findings suggest that ligands specific for ERβ may be useful in the prevention and/or clinical management of prostatic hyperplasia and neoplasia.

A kinase-deficient transcription factor TFIIH is functional in basal and activated transcription.

Phosphorylation of the carboxyl-terminal domain (CTD) of the large subunit of RNA polymerase II has been suggested to be critical for transcription initiation, activation, or elongation. A kinase activity specific for CTD is a component of the general transcription factor TFIIH. Recently, a cyclin-dependent kinase-activator kinase (MO15 and cyclin H) was found to be associated with TFIIH preparations and was suggested to be the CTD kinase. TFIIH preparations containing mutant, kinase-deficient MO15 lack CTD kinase activity, indicating that MO15 is critical for polymerase phosphorylation. Nonetheless, these mutant TFIIH preparations were fully functional (in vitro) in both basal and activated transcription. These results indicate that CTD phosphorylation is not required for transcription with a highly purified system.