Hydropneumbox: yesterday, today, tomorrow

Викладено історію розвитку гідроприводу, як найважливішого засобу механізації і автоматизації виробничих процесів. Відзначено внесок вітчизняних вчених у становлення теорії гідравлічного і пневматичного привод у як науки. Підкреслено провідну роль України в розробці та виробництві елементів і систем гідропневмоприводів. Показані нові тенденції і принципи функціонування мехатронних гідропневмосистем, які забезпечили широкомасштабне впровадження їх в гнучкі автоматизовані виробництва.The prerequisites and history of the emergence and development of industrial hydraulic drive as the most important means of mechanization and automation of production processes is outlined. The contribution of domestic scientists in the process of establishing the theory of hydraulic and pneumatic actuator as science is noted. The leading role of Ukraine both in the past and in the post-Soviet space in the development and production of elements and systems of hydro-pneumatic actuators is underlined, the main enterprise-developers and manufacturers of this equipment are listed. Much attention is paid to the modern stage of development of this industry as an integral part of mechatronic systems. New trends and principles of the functioning of mechatronic hydropneumatic systems are shown, which ensured their large-scale introduction into flexible automated production. Examples of modern elements of mechatronic hydropneumatic systems and schemes of their use in industrial processes are given

Contemplating workplace change

Drawing on topical life histories of physicians in a particularly volatile public health sector environment, we build theory around the contemplation of workplace change. Overall, our study provides evidence as to why single or multiple independent factors, such as pay or job structure, may fail to predict or explain individual decisions to stay in or change workplaces. Instead, the contemplation process we argue is a complex, evolutionary, and context-dependent one that requires individualized interventions. Our findings reveal the prevalence of episodic context-self fit assessments prompted by triggering stimuli, two mechanisms by which thought processes evolved (reinforcement and recalibration), and four characteristic story lines that explain why the thought processes manifested as they did (exploring opportunities, solving problems, reconciling incongruence, and escaping situations). Based on our findings, we encourage practitioners to regularly engage in story-listening and dialogic conversations to better understand, and potentially affect the evolving socially constructed realities of staff members

Later life sex and Rubin’s ‘Charmed Circle'

Gayle Rubin’s now classic concept of the ‘charmed circle’ has been much used by scholars of sexuality to discuss the ways in which some types of sex are privileged over others. In this paper, I apply the concept of the charmed circle to a new topic– later life – in order both to add to theory about later life sex and to add an older-age lens to thinking about sex hierarchies. Traditional discursive resources around older people’s sexual activities, which treat older people’s sex as inherently beyond the charmed circle, now coexist with new imperatives for older people to remain sexually active as part of a wider project of ‘successful’ or ‘active’ ageing. Drawing on the now-substantial academic literature about later life sex, I discuss some of the ways in which redrawing the charmed circle to include some older people’s sex may paradoxically entail the use of technologies beyond the charmed circle of ‘good, normal, natural, blessed’ sex. Sex in later life also generates some noteworthy inversions in which types of sex are privileged and which treated as less desirable, in relation to marriage and procreation. Ageing may, furthermore, make available new possibilities to redefine what constitutes ‘good’ sex and to refuse compulsory sexuality altogether, without encountering stigma

Traversing ethical imperatives: Learning from stories from the field

In this chapter we integrate the lessons that are shared across this handbook through the rich, storied examples of ethics in critical research. We outline central themes to the handbook that cut across all of the sections. The notions of vulnerability and harm are pertinent in critical research not only as a duty to protect participants, but also as signifiers that are mobilised and can constrain what is achieved in critical research. The stories told in this handbook contribute to ongoing learning about ethics in critical research by drawing on ethically important moments in the unfolding research processes. We ask whether ethical critical research requires relational models of reciprocity between researchers and participants/co-researchers and appreciation of situated ethics in the bureaucratic review processes