Based on a thorough review of the literature we introduce an integrated conceptualization of work-life balance involving two key dimensions: engagement in work life and nonwork life and minimal ...conflict between social roles in work and nonwork life. Based on this conceptualization we review much of the evidence concerning the consequences of work-life balance in terms work-related, nonwork-related, and stress-related outcomes. We then identify a set of personal and organizational antecedents to work-life balance and explain their effects on work-life balance. Then we describe a set of theoretical mechanisms linking work-life balance and overall life satisfaction. Finally, we discuss future research directions and policy implications.
Why have states throughout history regularly underestimated dangers to their survival? Why have some states been able to mobilize their material resources effectively to balance against threats, ...while others have not been able to do so? The phenomenon of "underbalancing" is a common but woefully underexamined behavior in international politics. Underbalancing occurs when states fail to recognize dangerous threats, choose not to react to them, or respond in paltry and imprudent ways. It is a response that directly contradicts the core prediction of structural realism's balance-of-power theory--that states motivated to survive as autonomous entities are coherent actors that, when confronted by dangerous threats, act to restore the disrupted balance by creating alliances or increasing their military capabilities, or, in some cases, a combination of both.
Consistent with the new wave of neoclassical realist research,Unanswered Threatsoffers a theory of underbalancing based on four domestic-level variables--elite consensus, elite cohesion, social cohesion, and regime/government vulnerability--that channel, mediate, and redirect policy responses to external pressures and incentives. The theory yields five causal schemes for underbalancing behavior, which are tested against the cases of interwar Britain and France, France from 1877 to 1913, and the War of the Triple Alliance (1864-1870) that pitted tiny Paraguay against Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay.
Randall Schweller concludes that those most likely to underbalance are incoherent, fragmented states whose elites are constrained by political considerations.
A moving, cross-national account of working mothers' daily lives-and the revolution in public policy and culture needed to improve them
The work-family conflict that mothers experience today is a ...national crisis. Women struggle to balance breadwinning with the bulk of parenting, and stress is constant. Social policies don't help. Of all Western industrialized countries, the United States ranks dead last for supportive work-family policies: No federal paid parental leave. The highest gender wage gap. No minimum standard for vacation and sick days. The highest maternal and child poverty rates. Can American women look to European policies for solutions?Making Motherhood Workdraws on interviews that sociologist Caitlyn Collins conducted over five years with 135 middle-class working mothers in Sweden, Germany, Italy, and the United States. She explores how women navigate work and family given the different policy supports available in each country.
Taking readers into women's homes, neighborhoods, and workplaces, Collins shows that mothers' desires and expectations depend heavily on context. In Sweden-renowned for its gender-equal policies-mothers assume they will receive support from their partners, employers, and the government. In the former East Germany, with its history of mandated employment, mothers don't feel conflicted about working, but some curtail their work hours and ambitions. Mothers in western Germany and Italy, where maternalist values are strong, are stigmatized for pursuing careers. Meanwhile, American working mothers stand apart for their guilt and worry. Policies alone, Collins discovers, cannot solve women's struggles. Easing them will require a deeper understanding of cultural beliefs about gender equality, employment, and motherhood. With women held to unrealistic standards in all four countries, the best solutions demand that we redefine motherhood, work, and family.
Making Motherhood Workvividly demonstrates that women need not accept their work-family conflict as inevitable.
Sagittal balance of the spine Le Huec, J. C.; Thompson, W.; Mohsinaly, Y. ...
European spine journal,
1/9, Volume:
28, Issue:
9
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
The static sagittal balance of the normal spine is a physiological alignment of the spine in the most efficient manner by the muscular forces. During gait, this balance is constantly thwarted by ...single-foot support. This analysis involves the study of parameters which are now well defined. The pelvic incidence is constant, and the sacral slope and the pelvic tilt are positional. The cervical parameters are the upper (O–C2) and lower cervical curvatures (C2–C7), the C7 slope, the spino-cranial angle and the vertical cervical offset. At the thoracic and lumbar level, they are, respectively, kyphosis and lordosis. The OD-HA (odontoid hip axis) angle is the most efficient parameter to analyse the global balance. The average values of these parameters are reported with the new 3D measurements by Le Huec et al. The relationship between these different parameters was analysed, and Roussouly proposed his classification of the different spine shape. Ageing makes it possible to show compensation mechanisms at three levels: spinal, pelvic and lower limbs. Understanding these different data allows for better planning of the surgical management of the patients. Global evaluation of the entire spine and the measurement of the aforementioned parameters allow to determine the extent of the correction to be performed during surgery. Taking these parameters into account also enables us to understand the complications involved in this type of surgery: transitional syndromes or junctional syndromes. Integration of these parameters into the study of gait is an area still under investigation.
Graphic abstract
These slides can be retrieved under Electronic Supplementary Material .
Introduo : A presena de restries visuais na infncia leva a desvios e difi - culdades nas habilidades sensrio-motoras. Objetivos : Verificar as respostas do treinamento sensrio-motor no equilbrio e ...coordenao de crianas com defici - ncia visual. Mtodos : Trata-se de um relato de casos no controlado, transversal. A amostra foi composta por duas crianas em idade escolar, com diagnstico oftalmolgico de baixa viso e cegueira total. Foram aplicados o Teste de equil - brio de Berg e o Teste de Coordenao Corporal para Crianas - Bateria de Testes KTK antes e aps 10 atendimentos, durao mdia de 50 minutos, duas vezes na semana. Resultados : Para a Criana 1 observou-se melhora de aproximada - mente 11% para coordenao e 13% no equilbrio; e para a Criana 2 verificou-se aumento de 17% na coordenao, e 6% para o equilbrio. Concluso : O protocolo utilizado trouxe benefcios para o equilbrio e resposta motora destas crianas com deficincia visual.
We review research on work-nonwork balance to examine the presence of the jingle fallacy-attributing different meanings to a single construct label-and the jangle fallacy-using different labels for a ...single construct. In 290 papers, we found 233 conceptual definitions that clustered into 5 distinct, interpretable types, suggesting evidence of the jingle fallacy. We calculated Euclidean distances to quantify the extent of the jingle fallacy and found high divergence in definitions across time and publication outlet. One exception was more agreement recently in better journals to conceptualize balance as unidimensional, psychological, and distinct from conflict and enrichment. Yet, over time many authors have committed the jangle fallacy by labeling measures of conflict and/or enrichment as balance, and disagreement persists even in better journals about the meanings attributed to balance (e.g., effectiveness, satisfaction). To examine the empirical implications of the jingle and jangle fallacies, we conducted meta-analyses of distinct operational definitions of balance with job, life, and family satisfaction. Effect sizes for conflict and enrichment measures were typically smaller than effects for balance measures, providing evidence of a unique balance construct that is not interchangeable with conflict and enrichment. To begin to remedy concerns raised by our review, we propose a definition of work-nonwork balance drawing from theory, empirical evidence from our review, and normative information about how balance should be defined. We conclude with a theory-based agenda for future research.
Precipitation in the high‐altitude Indus basin governs its renewable water resources affecting water, energy and food securities. However, reliable estimates of precipitation climatology and ...associated hydrological implications are seriously constrained by the quality of observed data. As such, quantitative and spatio‐temporal distributions of precipitation estimated by previous studies in the study area are highly contrasting and uncertain. Generally, scarcity and biased distribution of observed data at the higher altitudes and measurement errors in precipitation observations are the primary causes of such uncertainties. In this study, we integrated precipitation data of 307 observatories with the net snow accumulations estimated through mass balance studies at 21 major glacier zones. Precipitation observations are adjusted for measurement errors using the guidelines and standard methods developed under the WMO's international precipitation measurement intercomparisons, while net snow accumulations are adjusted for ablation losses using standard ablation gradients. The results showed more significant increases in precipitation of individual stations located at higher altitudes during winter months, which are consistent with previous studies. Spatial interpolation of unadjusted precipitation observations and net snow accumulations at monthly scale indicated significant improvements in the quantitative and spatio‐temporal distribution of precipitation over the unadjusted case and previous studies. Adjustment of river flows revealed only a marginal contribution of net glacier mass balance to river flows. The adjusted precipitation estimates are more consistent with the corresponding adjusted river flows. The study recognized that the higher river flows than the corresponding precipitation estimates by the previous studies are mainly due to underestimated precipitation. The results can be useful for water balance studies and bias correction of gridded precipitation products for the study area.
This study integrated precipitation data of 307 observatories with the net snow accumulations at 21 glaciers and adjusted them for measurement errors and ablation losses. The adjustments revealed average precipitation increase of 21.3% at the basin level, which ranged from 6 to 77% at sub‐basin scale with highest increases at higher altitudes during winter months. The contribution of net glacier mass balance to river flows is only marginal. Data quality‐driven underestimated precipitation is well‐recognized. Figure shows estimated biases from precipitation gauges due to measurement errors and spatial distribution of error‐adjusted annual precipitation.
Why too much work and too little time is hurting workers and companies—and how a proven workplace redesign can benefit employees and the bottom line
Today's ways of working are not working—even for ...professionals in good jobs. Responding to global competition and pressure from financial markets, companies are asking employees to do more with less, even as new technologies normalize 24/7 job expectations. In Overload , Erin Kelly and Phyllis Moen document how this new intensification of work creates chronic stress, leading to burnout, attrition, and underperformance. Flexible work policies and corporate lip service about work-life balance don't come close to fixing the problem. But this unhealthy and unsustainable situation can be changed—and Overload shows how.
Drawing on five years of research, including hundreds of interviews with employees and managers, Kelly and Moen tell the story of a major experiment that they helped design and implement at a Fortune 500 firm. The company adopted creative and practical work redesigns that gave workers more control over how and where they worked and encouraged managers to evaluate performance in new ways. The result? Employees' health, well-being, and ability to manage their personal and work lives improved, while the company benefited from higher job satisfaction and lower turnover. And, as Kelly and Moen show, such changes can—and should—be made on a wide scale.
Complete with advice about ways that employees, managers, and corporate leaders can begin to question and fix one of today's most serious workplace problems, Overload is an inspiring account about how rethinking and redesigning work could transform our lives and companies.
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