Looking Neat on the Street. Aesthetic Labor in Public Parking Patrol

Research on aesthetic labor has been confined to service encounters in private sector industries. Aesthetic labor theory is critical of the commercialism that drives management of service labor and points to the discrimination of employees on the grounds of their “looks” that this entails. Considering the common conception today of the public sector as a service provider, application of the theory of aesthetic labor is relevant to public sector service work. But the public sector has many other purposes and mechanisms than those pertaining to increased revenues that may influence the use of aesthetic labor. This paper analyzes the aesthetic labor of Danish parking attendants in an organizational ethnography. A change management process in this organization has applied the principles of aesthetic labor actively for the purposes of diversity and health and safety. The paper shows how managers apply aesthetic labor principles to promote health and safety and workforce diversity, but also that the use of aesthetics has ambivalent purposes. Aesthetic labor is not as unequivocally applied for commercial purposes as hitherto assumed

The case of municipal parking offices

This paper is about the work and management of parking patrol officers in a Danish municipal department responsible for parking law enforcement. The job as a parking officer is un-skilled and fairly light in terms of physical demands, but quite demanding in terms of contact and coping with disgruntled car-drivers. In recent years the municipality has developed a strict policy in regard to parking, increasing both the enforcement of parking rules and the prices for parking. Alongside this development, the municipal department has become renowned for management’s active and ambitious work to improve the working environment for parking officers, and to employ diversity management. Regarding parking officers as street-level bureaucrats (Lipsky 2010), the paper addresses the characteristics of their work and the challenges posed to the individual employee and manager. Becoming a parking officer is not only a matter of being able to cope with people on the street, but also being able to cope with colleagues and managements’ particular expectations to your personality. Since the department of parking is part of a public organisation these expectations become all the more complicated (Hoggett 1996). They rely not only on the revenue from parking tickets and organizational credibility, but also on the availability of unskilled work for job-seekers and integration and retention efforts in staff-management

Sustav socijalne skrbi i upravljanje ekonomskim rizikom nezaposlenosti: primjer Danske

Članak je posvećen razvoju danskog tržišta rada i politike rada tijekom 1990-ih. U prvom dijelu članka autori objašnjavaju stanje zaštite nezaposlenih početkom 1990- ih i opisuje sustav nezaposlenosti u 1993. Te su godine socijaldemokrati zamijenili konzervativce u danskoj vladi, a njihov je najveći politički prioritet bilo smanjivanje visokih stopa nezaposlenosti. Tako je iduće, 1994. godine započela reforma danskog sustava materijalne pomoći nezaposlenima. Pri kraju prvog dijela članka izlažu se pojedinosti o raspravi vezane za politiku tržišta rada početkom 1990-ih. Drugi dio rada objašnjava razvoj sustava materijalne pomoći u razdoblju od 1994. do 1999. Opisuje se sustav materijalno-pravne pomoći i zamjene dohotka za nezaposlene te navode stope zamjene. Konačno, u trećem se dijelu ocjenjuje razvoj sustava tijekom 1990- ih i buduća kretanja

Effect of mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists on proteinuria and progression of chronic kidney disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Hypertension and proteinuria are critically involved in the progression of chronic kidney disease. Despite treatment with renin angiotensin system inhibition, kidney function declines in many patients. Aldosterone excess is a risk factor for progression of kidney disease. Hyperkalaemia is a concern with the use of mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists. We aimed to determine whether the renal protective benefits of mineralocorticoid antagonists outweigh the risk of hyperkalaemia associated with this treatment in patients with chronic kidney disease. Methods: We conducted a meta-analysis investigating renoprotective effects and risk of hyperkalaemia in trials of mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists in chronic kidney disease. Trials were identified from MEDLINE (1966–2014), EMBASE (1947–2014) and the Cochrane Clinical Trials Database. Unpublished summary data were obtained from investigators. We included randomised controlled trials, and the first period of randomised cross over trials lasting ≥4 weeks in adults. Results: Nineteen trials (21 study groups, 1 646 patients) were included. In random effects meta-analysis, addition of mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists to renin angiotensin system inhibition resulted in a reduction from baseline in systolic blood pressure (−5.7 [−9.0, −2.3] mmHg), diastolic blood pressure (−1.7 [−3.4, −0.1] mmHg) and glomerular filtration rate (−3.2 [−5.4, −1.0] mL/min/1.73 m2). Mineralocorticoid receptor antagonism reduced weighted mean protein/albumin excretion by 38.7 % but with a threefold higher relative risk of withdrawing from the trial due to hyperkalaemia (3.21, [1.19, 8.71]). Death, cardiovascular events and hard renal end points were not reported in sufficient numbers to analyse. Conclusions: Mineralocorticoid receptor antagonism reduces blood pressure and urinary protein/albumin excretion with a quantifiable risk of hyperkalaemia above predefined study upper limit

Effect of mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists on proteinuria and progression of chronic kidney disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Hypertension and proteinuria are critically involved in the progression of chronic kidney disease. Despite treatment with renin angiotensin system inhibition, kidney function declines in many patients. Aldosterone excess is a risk factor for progression of kidney disease. Hyperkalaemia is a concern with the use of mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists. We aimed to determine whether the renal protective benefits of mineralocorticoid antagonists outweigh the risk of hyperkalaemia associated with this treatment in patients with chronic kidney disease. Methods: We conducted a meta-analysis investigating renoprotective effects and risk of hyperkalaemia in trials of mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists in chronic kidney disease. Trials were identified from MEDLINE (1966-2014), EMBASE (1947-2014) and the Cochrane Clinical Trials Database. Unpublished summary data were obtained from investigators. We included randomised controlled trials, and the first period of randomised cross over trials lasting ≥4 weeks in adults. Results: Nineteen trials (21 study groups, 1 646 patients) were included. In random effects meta-analysis, addition of mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists to renin angiotensin system inhibition resulted in a reduction from baseline in systolic blood pressure (-5.7 [-9.0, -2.3] mmHg), diastolic blood pressure (-1.7 [-3.4, -0.1] mmHg) and glomerular filtration rate (-3.2 [-5.4, -1.0] mL/min/1.73 m2). Mineralocorticoid receptor antagonism reduced weighted mean protein/albumin excretion by 38.7 % but with a threefold higher relative risk of withdrawing from the trial due to hyperkalaemia (3.21, [1.19, 8.71]). Death, cardiovascular events and hard renal end points were not reported in sufficient numbers to analyse. Conclusions: Mineralocorticoid receptor antagonism reduces blood pressure and urinary protein/albumin excretion with a quantifiable risk of hyperkalaemia above predefined study upper limit

Moderate Antiproteinuric Effect of Add-On Aldosterone Blockade with Eplerenone in Non-Diabetic Chronic Kidney Disease. A Randomized Cross-Over Study

Reduction of proteinuria and blood pressure (BP) with blockers of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) impairs the progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD). The aldosterone antagonist spironolactone has an antiproteinuric effect, but its use is limited by side effects. The present study evaluated the short-term antiproteinuric effect and safety of the selective aldosterone antagonist eplerenone in non-diabetic CKD.Open randomized cross-over trial.Forty patients with non-diabetic CKD and urinary albumin excretion greater than 300 mg/24 hours.Eight weeks of once-daily administration of add-on 25–50 mg eplerenone to stable standard antihypertensive treatment including RAS-blockade.24 hour urinary albumin excretion, BP, p-potassium, and creatinine clearance.The mean urinary albumin excretion was 22% [CI: 14,28], P<0.001, lower during treatment with eplerenone. Mean systolic BP was 4 mmHg [CI: 2,6], P = 0.002, diastolic BP was 2 mmHg [CI: 0,4], P = 0.02, creatinine clearance was 5% [CI: 2,8], P = 0.005, lower during eplerenone treatment. After correction for BP and creatinine clearance differences between the study periods, the mean urinary albumin excretion was 14% [CI: 4,24], P = 0.008 lower during treatment. Mean p-potassium was 0.1 mEq/L [CI: 0.1,0.2] higher during eplerenone treatment, P<0.001. Eplerenone was thus well tolerated and no patients were withdrawn due to hyperkalaemia.Open label, no wash-out period and a moderate sample size.In non-diabetic CKD patients, the addition of eplerenone to standard antihypertensive treatment including RAS-blockade caused a moderate BP independent fall in albuminuria, a minor fall in creatinine clearance and a 0.1 mEq/L increase in p-potassium