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There is currently a major debate about the future of pension provision in Britain. Much of that debate concerns levels and sources of income. But there is also growing interest in the role that assets and bequests might play in raising people's living standards in later life. Based on a major new survey of attitudes to inheritance and assets, this article argues that assets will not fill the pensions gap for those on the lowest incomes as these groups are least likely to have assets and among those that do, there is more support for the concept of preserving assets for inheritance than among more affluent groups. Bequests will also fail to help those most in need of a windfall as receipt of inheritances currently benefits the most affluent groups. However, among those with assets, there does seem to be more interest in liquidating assets, including housing assets, than previous research has suggested. Some people, therefore, are prepared to liquidate their assets in later life to supplement their income.

Research has long shown that employees working for non-profit organisations report a higher level of job satisfaction than workers in other sectors. This chapter investigates trends in job satisfaction using longitudinal data from the British Household Panel Survey (1992–2008/2009), through models which contain detailed information on individual, job and organisational characteristics. We use fixed-effects ordered-logit models to investigate job satisfaction taking account of our panel structure and the nature of the job satisfaction dependent variable. The results suggest an important, non-profit premium in job satisfaction which, contradicting the apparent bivariate evidence, is not changing over time (in appropriate models) – the warm glow of higher job satisfaction remains.

This paper aims to provide a view on the implications of large‐scale increases in demand for biomass production on water storage behaviours. In climates of high variability in rainfall, the pressures on farmers to build up on‐farm surface water supplies to the detriment of communities and businesses downstream is already present. Therefore, the added water storage pressures that arise from future demands for biomass need to be investigated.

This viewpoint presents a review of the issues surrounding the forecast for demand for agriculturally produced biomass and the increased demands on surface water storage created. The paper then presents the problem of unfair and unsafe water storage in agriculture through a review of the surrounding literature and policy in place in Australia.

The paper finds that if predicted skyrocketing future demand for biomass production for energy eventuates, then surface water on‐farm storages would be placed at increased risk as farmers experience pressure to store more water than they are entitled to. Increased demands from biomass production could mean that surrounding communities suffer increased threat from unfair water sharing in times of drought, and unsafe water storage in times of flood.

Policy should be developed rapidly to address the current unsustainable water storage management practices of farmers and sustainable biomass production. Water management behaviour certification should be introduced immediately to counter the risk of over storage in light of the demands of the future.

The paper provides an overview of the issues surrounding unfair and unsafe on farm water storage in dams in climate extremes placed in the context of a new and emerging demand on farmers to produce in an unsustainable manner.

Mark Klinedinst cuts straight to the chase with a chapter which examines the performance of commercial banks in the United States relative to credit unions which are financial cooperatives with democratic structures. Using panel data for the 1990s and early 2000s Mark shows that credit unions are more efficient than banks that are comparable in size, the metric being the assets per dollar of salary managed by the organization. Given that credit unions in the United States have not required a massive taxpayer bailout, the chapter offers food for thought as to what shape financial institutions should take in the United States going forward.

Prisoners have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) compared to the general population. Knowledge and risk perception of CVD can influence engagement in preventative behaviours that lower an individual’s CVD risk. This paper aims to explore prisoners’ knowledge of CVD, and prisoners and staff’s perceptions of prisoners’ CVD risk.

This was a qualitative study in which semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 prisoners and 11 prison and National Health Services staff in a Scottish prison. Data were analysed thematically using the framework method.

Most prisoners had limited knowledge of CVD as they could not describe it or could only identify one or two risk factors or cardiovascular events. Both prisoners and staff viewed prisoners’ CVD risk as either pertaining to one individual, or pertaining to the general prisoner population. Unhealthy behaviours that were believed to increase CVD risk were linked to three perceived consequences of imprisonment: mental health problems, boredom and powerlessness.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to explore the CVD knowledge of prisoners, and perceptions of CVD risk from the perspectives of prisoners and prison staff. Findings from this study indicate that CVD education needs to be a priority for prisoners, addressing knowledge of CVD, its risk and risk perceptions. Additionally, the findings indicate that individual and socio-environmental factors linked to prisoners’ CVD risk need to be targeted to reduce this risk. Future research should focus on socio-environmental interventions that can lead to reducing the CVD risk of prisoners.

Strong leadership in primary care is necessary to coordinate an effective pandemic response; however, descriptions of leadership roles for family physicians are absent from previous pandemic plans. This study aims to describe the leadership roles and functions family physicians played during the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada and identify supports and barriers to formalizing these roles in future pandemic plans.

This study conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews with family physicians across four regions in Canada as part of a multiple case study. During the interviews, participants were asked about their roles during each pandemic stage and the facilitators and barriers they experienced. Interviews were transcribed and a thematic analysis approach was used to identify recurring themes.

Sixty-eight family physicians completed interviews. Three key functions of family physician leadership during the pandemic were identified: conveying knowledge, developing and adapting protocols for primary care practices and advocacy. Each function involved curating and synthesizing information, tailoring communications based on individual needs and building upon established relationships.

Findings demonstrate the need for future pandemic plans to incorporate formal family physician leadership appointments, as well as supports such as training, communication aides and compensation to allow family physicians to enact these key roles.

The COVID-19 pandemic presents a unique opportunity to examine the leadership roles of family physicians, which have been largely overlooked in past pandemic plans. This study’s findings highlight the importance of these roles toward delivering an effective and coordinated pandemic response with uninterrupted and safe access to primary care.

The purpose of this paper is to present a simulation study using a model of a new optically pumped magnetometer sensor for application in the field of magnetoencephalography. The effects of sensor distance and orientation on the measurement information and the sensitivity to neuronal sources are investigated. Further, this paper uses a combinatorial optimization approach for sensor placement to measure spontaneous activity in the region of the occipital cortex.

This paper studies the effects of sensor distance and orientation on sensitivity to cortical sources and measurement information. A three-compartment model of the head, using the boundary element method, is applied. For sensor setup optimization, a combinatorial optimization scheme is developed.

The sensor distance to sources considerably affects the sensitivity and the retrieved information. A specific arrangement of four sensors for measuring spontaneous activity over the occipital part of the head is optimized by effectively avoiding position conflicts.

Individual head models, as well as more detailed noise and signal models, will increase the significance for specific-use cases in future studies.

Effects of sensor distance and orientation are specifically evaluated for a new optically pumped magnetometer. A discrete optimization scheme for sensor optimization is introduced. The presented methodology is applicable for other sensor characterization and optimization problems. The findings contribute significantly to the development of new sensors.