Gendered support to older parents: do welfare states matter?

The aim of this study is to examine the association of welfare state policies and the gendered organisation of intergenerational support (instrumental help and personal care) to older parents. The study distinguishes between support to older parents provided at least weekly, i.e. time-intensive and often burdening support, and supplemental sporadic support. Three policy instruments were expected to be associated with daughters' and sons' support or gender inequality in intergenerational support respectively: (1) professional social services, (2) cash-for-care payments and (3) legal obligations to provide or co-finance care for parents. The analyses based on the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe showed that daughters provided somewhat more sporadic and much more intensive support than sons throughout Europe. While about half of all children who sporadically supported a parent were men, this applied to only one out of four children who provided intensive support. Logistic multilevel models revealed that legal obligations were positively associated with daughters' likelihood of giving intensive support to parents but did not affect the likelihood of sons doing so. Legal obligations thus stimulate support in a gender-specific way. Both legal obligations and cash-for-care schemes were also accompanied by a more unequal distribution of involvement in intensive support at the expense of women. Social services, in contrast, were linked to a lower involvement of daughters in intensive support. In sum, the results suggest that welfare states can both preserve or reduce gender inequality in intergenerational support depending on specific arrangement

Tillid i statens tjeneste

Københavns Kommune har gennem flere år arbejdet på at implementere ledelsesredskabet Lederens observation af undervisning. Den umiddelbare forventning hos både ledere og lærere er, at redskabet øger lederens mulighed for kontrol. Vi vil undersøge ledelsesredskabet Lederens observation af undervisning i lyset af tillid. Det empiri- ske materiale hertil er indsamlet i 2014 på seks skoler i Københavns Kommune. Artiklen stiller spørgsmålet, om tillid sættes på spil i denne ledelsesteknologi

Straf eller behandling: – faktorer af betydning for en stigende anvendelse af psykiatriske særforanstaltninger til ikke-sindssyge lovovertrædere i Danmark i perioden 2003-2013.

AbstractThe number of forensic psychiatric patients has steadily increased in many countries during the past 30 years. This increase has been especially pronounced in Denmark when viewed on a per capita basis. Explanations that consider the diversity of possible factors influencing the development are currently insufficient. Most forensic psychiatric patients suffer from psychotic conditions and are convicted under Section 16 of the Danish Penal Code. A smaller proportion is comprised of non-psychotic mentally-disordered offenders convicted under Section 69. In recent years, a hitherto unobserved increase has been seen in the use of treatment sanctions for the latter group. This article describes factors that may have contributed to this development during the period 2003-2013.This is a retrospective file-based study using comparative statistical analysis. The study utilizes 1,078 forensic psychiatric assessment reports concerning non-psychotic mentally-disordered offenders covering the years 2003, 2008, and 2013, together with statements from the Medico-Legal Council and all final verdicts. Results indicate a near doubling in the number of psychiatric sanctions given to non-psychotic mentally-disordered offenders. The total number of forensic psychiatric assessments required by the judicial authorities also increased, though not to the same extent. Geographical differences were found in, among other factors, requests from the police for forensic psychiatric assessments, psychiatric diagnoses and medical recommendations for the court. Interestingly, a significant decrease in the involvement of the Medico-Legal Council occurred during the 10-year study period

In vivo imaging of lymphocytes in the CNS reveals different behaviour of naïve T cells in health and autoimmunity

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Two-photon laser scanning microscopy (TPLSM) has become a powerful tool in the visualization of immune cell dynamics and cellular communication within the complex biological networks of the inflamed central nervous system (CNS). Whereas many previous studies mainly focused on the role of effector or effector memory T cells, the role of naïve T cells as possible key players in immune regulation directly in the CNS is still highly debated.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We applied <it>ex vivo </it>and intravital TPLSM to investigate migratory pathways of naïve T cells in the inflamed and non-inflamed CNS. MACS-sorted naïve CD4+ T cells were either applied on healthy CNS slices or intravenously injected into RAG1 -/- mice, which were affected by experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). We further checked for the generation of second harmonic generation (SHG) signals produced by extracellular matrix (ECM) structures.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>By applying TPLSM on living brain slices we could show that the migratory capacity of activated CD4+ T cells is not strongly influenced by antigen specificity and is independent of regulatory or effector T cell phenotype. Naïve T cells, however, cannot find sufficient migratory signals in healthy, non-inflamed CNS parenchyma since they only showed stationary behaviour in this context. This is in contrast to the high motility of naïve CD4+ T cells in lymphoid organs. We observed a highly motile migration pattern for naïve T cells as compared to effector CD4+ T cells in inflamed brain tissue of living EAE-affected mice. Interestingly, in the inflamed CNS we could detect reticular structures by their SHG signal which partially co-localises with naïve CD4+ T cell tracks.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The activation status rather than antigen specificity or regulatory phenotype is the central requirement for CD4+ T cell migration within healthy CNS tissue. However, under inflammatory conditions naïve CD4+ T cells can get access to CNS parenchyma and partially migrate along inflammation-induced extracellular SHG structures, which are similar to those seen in lymphoid organs. These SHG structures apparently provide essential migratory signals for naïve CD4+ T cells within the diseased CNS.</p